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As with every managerial sacking, a market immediately opens up for his replacement. If Pulis has indeed been sacked in order to replace him with a manger who will play a better version of football Stoke have to be very careful with who they appoint. Blackburn wanted better football so sacked Allardyce and picked Steve Kean. Bolton appointed Owen Coyle to play prettier football. Both of those went down. Previously, Charlton parted with Curbishley to get in someone to take them ‘to the next level’, that man, Iain Dowie (yep), took them toward the drop. Wolves sacked McCarthy for the same reason, they’re in League One. QPR sacked Neil Warnock, they went down. All of these were because they tried to move to a different style of football too quickly, before they had the personnel, and just as importantly, the mindset at the club to do so. With this in mind, Stoke need to appoint a manger capable of getting playing better stuff but diving in with Di Matteo/Poyet/Martinez is risky. Here’s a look at the Pros and Cons of the main contenders.
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Rafa Benitez
‘Rafa Benitez?!’ I hear you say. Well, it actually makes a lot of sense. As in, a lot. When Benitez was at Valencia and Liverpool he found success not by playing free flowing football, but by building on a rock solid foundation with an array of sparkling attacking talent. He knows how to get great success out of relatively one dimensional players (Baraja, Kuyt, Sissoko) and also has an eye for an attacker (Torres, Lopez, Vicente). He finds a way to mould this solidity with attacking threat and get results. He is a big name and would require a significant transfer budget and free reign to change the way the club play and are perceived.Pros Could use the solid Stoke defence already in place and is capable of using direct tactics whilst he eases in higher quality attackers. Proven winner.Cons Not a ‘provincial club’ manager historically. Will he fancy the task in hand?Could he fit at Stoke? Yes. He has experience with their type of player and the tactical know how to slowly progress the team to a more aesthetically pleasing approach. If they get him, it would show they mean business.
Roberto Di MatteoDi Matteo is automatically linked because he has pedigree as a Champions League and FA Cup winner and would also look to bring a more possession based style to the club. At Chelsea he showed that he could use players that were given to him rather than hand chosen and put together a competitive side. The problem is, he is not a good candidate for this job. He will want to immediately overhaul everything and try to get Stoke playing ‘properly’ straight away if he is essentially appointed with the purpose of doing so. He is inexperienced and was sacked by West Brom last time he was at a similar sized club. Can he persuade Ryan Shawcross not to smash it long and coach him to pass it?Pros Proven winner with a defensive tactical approach which would be a continuation of current plans.Cons Very inexperienced with technically inferior players, might want to change things too quickly and undo underlying good qualities in an attempt to justify his appointment.Could he fit at Stoke? No. This could be an absolute disaster. If Stoke want to ‘change direction’ he will feel under pressure to do that quickly.
Gus PoyetPoyet is out of a job at Brighton after objecting to someone defecating in the Crystal Palace dressing room of all things. What will he think of pigs heads in lockers and bricks going through car windows? At Brighton he was given free reign to build a team fit for the Amex and he succeeded in doing so with good financial backing and a big contact book. His Brighton team was gradually infused with technicians which would bode well for a slow make over at Stoke which is the only stable way of going.Pros Has strong lower league experience and can spot a player. Very tactically flexible and would bring the prettier football that is possibly desired.Cons Never managed in the Premier League and like Di Matteo may feel he has to change style too quickly. Will he fancy Stoke’s ‘good banter’ dressing room?Could he fit at Stoke? Possibly but will he want to change too much of the culture. Would fans identify with him?
Mark HughesHughes has become a laughing stock after the QPR fiasco but his record with Blackburn and Fulham, which is more relevant to this job, was excellent. He maintained Blackburn in the top 8 for three years and had a good year at Fulham. He is able to set teams up to play directly. In fact, he got in to trouble at City because he couldn’t get them playing elegant, winning football. So he would be able to use what Stoke have and add some classier touches. A striker himself, he would no doubt have wisdom to pass on. If not for his QPR stint he would be much more fancied. He has a lot to prove and Stoke like that attitude.Pros He will be ferociously determined to prove that QPR was an aberration and will surely have learned a lot of lessons. That he failed at QPR is actually a pro as he should now know what to avoid doing when trying to take a club to the next level.Cons He has a tarnished reputation and his name is losing lustre. Will the players buy in to him?Could he fit at Stoke? Yes. He has done well at this size club and is comfortable with the type of personnel they have. Has learned his lessons elsewhere.
Selected others:Phil Neville – Neville would be a big risk but would show Stoke how to win, just as he did at Everton, with the ingrained pursuit of greatness bred in to him at Old Trafford.Roberto Martinez – Would try to utterly change the style to a pure version. Wouldn’t be able to use more than 2 or 3 of the current players which is too big a turnaround in too short a time.Steve McLaren – Has worked with limited and technical players so could possibly blend that but surely his three consecutive failures will count against himMartin O’Neill – O’Neill will be frothing at the indignity of his first sacking and will want to prove himself. Sacked at Sunderland in part because of wasted money on English based players and dire football. Maybe not different enough for what Stoke want.Harry Redknapp – Don’t rule this out. He’s still a big name and will fancy getting back in to the top flight.
