Mark Robins has spoken about the importance of alignment as Stoke City set about hiring a new head of recruitment.
Robins has an immediate focus of pulling Stoke away from the wrong end of the Championship and it is a huge game this weekend at home against a Swansea side (Saturday, 3pm) who are anxious that they can be dragged into the mix too.
But the club is also working behind the scenes to make sure that things are in place to move in the right direction in the long-term – and Lee Darnbrough has left a key vacancy after leaving his role in charge of the transfers department, one week after the end of a frustrating January window.
There were a couple of stand out signings for Robins at Coventry, like Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres, as he pulled them from League Two to the cusp of the Premier League over seven years but they were also able to more consistently get things right behind that
That is what Stoke will have to try to emulate – even if Robins is clear this is “a totally different challenge” – and making sure that the next big appointment is right will be vital.
Robins said: “We mentioned before about the team behind the team and the work that goes on behind that and how aligned everybody must be to get that functioning properly as well. There’s lots to do, there’s no doubt about that there’s lots to do. But good people work here, really good people, so there’s no criticism on that front. To have a successful team, everybody has to be in line.
