Stoke City manager latest as Ryan Shawcross spells out what new boss will inherit
Ryan Shawcross is sure that whoever gets the gig as Stoke City’s next head coach will inherit a young squad with talented players ready to be shaped into a team that can haul the club forward.
Shawcross is standing in as caretaker manager and, having won his first game 1-0 against Sunderland at home on Sunday, is now preparing for a tough trip to Burnley tomorrow (3pm). That will quickly be followed by a home game against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday (12.30pm) when Stoke are expecting a big crowd after launching a £10 ticket offer.
It is busy behind the scenes as the hierarchy works through a list of potential contenders to replace Narcis Pelach permanently. Mark Robins has always been the bookies’ favourite and gone odds-on in the last 24 hours while other Championship bosses such as David Wagner and Neil Harris are currently without a club. The process is moving quickly.
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Stoke have been made aware of other candidates too, including some still in a job but tempted by the potential at the bet365 Stadium, particularly in terms of infrastructure, backing from the board and supporters and expected Financial Fair Play rule changes.
Shawcross, club legend and under-21s boss, believes there is a group of players as well who are ready to embrace a new identity, with a little bit of help likely to be on its way as the transfer window opens for business.
He said: “They’re a mouldable group and I think we’ll probably do a little bit of business in January to help them out and I assume we’ll look for a bit of experience.
“But there are some really good players in there, some talented lads. You saw signs of that against Sunderland. Listen, it wasn’t a perfect performance and there are things we need to get better but I think you could see the signs with this squad that if someone gets it right and mould it to what they want to do with a real identity to it that fits in with Stoke need, we can then can start going forward as a club.”
An update is expected today on Eric Bocat, who pulled out of the Sunderland game with a calf injury sustained in the warm-up. Ben Gibson was only on the bench after illness. Million Manhoef (knee), Ben Pearson (hamstring) and Jordan Thompson (groin) will miss out.
Stoke are underdogs at Turf Moor, where Burnley are yet to lose this season, but Shawcross wants the kind of fight he saw at the weekend.
He said: “You assess every game and this is away so there will be slight differences (from the Sunderland match) but I want the same sort of passion, the same sort of desire to defend the box. If you want to be successful in this league you have to be able to go to teams like Burnley and be resilient and try to hit them on the break and just show them you’re a good team.”
