Stoke City: Jon Walters must not make Steven Schumacher mistake with Mark Robins
Stoke City are now on to their third permanent boss of the season so far, despite it only being January, and now they need to stick with new manager Mark Robins and not make the same mistake of sacking him too early like they did with Steven Schumacher back in September.
Stoke looked to be settled with Schumacher at the start of this season, after he had spent six months in the role last campaign and managed to keep the club afloat in the Championship with relative ease.
The ex-Plymouth Argyle head-coach was given a full transfer window to shape the Potters’ squad to his liking, and while they got off to a pretty inconsistent start to the season, it came as a huge shock to see him relieved of his duties in favour of rookie Norwich City coach Narcis Pelach.
Pelach’s reign in the Potteries felt doomed from the start, with a real lack of nous and experience as the main man in the dugout leading to a winless run of nine games over the Christmas period, which eventually saw him also sacked at the end of December with a record of just three wins in 18 games managed at the bet365 Stadium.
Highly-rated former Coventry City manager Mark Robins was soon hired as the Potters’ third boss of this term on New Year’s Day, and his reign is still in its very early stages, with clear anticipation from the Stoke board and fans alike that he will be the calm, experienced head needed to pull the club away from relegation danger over the next five months.
Sporting director Jon Walters has now built somewhat of a reputation for himself for hiring and firing managers at will, but that trend must end here with Robins, and the 55-year-old simply has to be given time to prove himself as Potters boss, given his previous impressive exploits with the Sky Blues.
Mark Robins has a top CV and must be given time as a result
Mark Robins is best known nowadays for his time with Coventry, which only ended a few short months ago, but prior to taking the job at the CBS Arena for the second time in March 2017, he was also a success while in charge of multiple different EFL clubs.
The Ashton-under-Lyne-born boss helped Rotherham United fight for promotion from League Two in both 2008 and 2009 in his first full-time managerial position, despite the club facing financial turmoil and hefty points deductions, and was soon poached by Barnsley, who he helped to keep in the Championship before departing Oakwell in 2011.
His first stint at Coventry in 2012 saw him become a fan-favourite, as he took them up the League One table, from relegation battlers to play-off contenders, before second-tier Huddersfield Town came calling halfway through the season, and he jumped ship to help them avoid the drop back down to the third-tier.
After surviving for another season, then being relieved of his Terriers duties just one game into the 2014/15 campaign, a competitive spell with League One Scunthorpe United followed, before he eventually took the reins with the Sky Blues once again in March 2017.
Robins’ success with Coventry in the years that followed has been well-documented, as he transformed the club on and off the pitch from League Two strugglers to perennial Championship play-off contenders, while winning the EFL Trophy in his first season in charge, as well as the League Two play-offs, League One title, and then coming within a kick of winning in both the Championship play-off final in 2022/23 and the FA Cup semi-final last season.
