July 2010
View attachment 139682
Breaking news on the Sky Sports Website
After a summer of speculation, Stoke City Chairman has acted swiftly to take control of the growing rumours that Tony Pulis was going to swap the Stoke City badge on his collection of caps to those of the Welsh FA.
Pulis, who boasts a record of never being relegated as a Manager in a near 20 year career was sacked on July 6th.
Peter Coates moved swiftly to appoint recently retired footballer Dave Hammel as the Manager on a 2 year contract instantly making the delighted Londoner a millionaire.
Despite hacks from Sky, BBC and ESPN gathering to break the impending story, it was local newspaper The Sentinel that broke the story in time for the evening edition.
View attachment 139683
The closest the amazed novice had got to management recently was sitting in the dug out at his beloved Chelsea and was already making plans to sell his season ticket for the coming year.
View attachment 139671
Hammel couldn't pass up the opportunity to manage at the top level of English football.
The attraction of Stoke was the amazing support the Stoke fans provided and the strong financial position the club was in.
His aim for the season was to take advantage of both of these positives and promised a mid table finish to a club nearing its 150th anniversary.
However money in the bank and a debt free position was not a substitute for success for the trophy starved fans and with the boards backing would strive to bring in a quality of player previously unheard of at the club.
Initial Review
Staff
The quality of backroom staff was perceived as being poor and Hammel quickly moved offer the staff opportunities outside the club.
He moved swiftly to hire staff he considered would improve the training the players would receive and improve the attributes of the players he chose to keep.
Brian Horton was brought in as Assistant due to his tactical nous.
Ray Clemence came in as Senior Goal Keeping coach.
Paul Winsper was hired to improve the already considerable strength and stamina of the giant Stoke squad.
Darren Wassall was poached from Derby and he jumped at the chance to work with senior players, an opportunity not provided to him at his previous club.
A continental flair was provided by Croatian International Robert Prosinecki.
The scouting network was also reviewed and the best scouts available on the tight budget were recruited.
View attachment 139675
Transfer Targets
Hammel was keen to depart from the previous Managers policy of buying cheap ageing players on big wages who terrorized keepers and defenders alike from corners, free kicks and bullet like throws.
His transfer strategy was to bring in young, fast and technically gifted youngsters from around the world who would improve the squad, provide excitement in a fast paced tactic and could be sold at a profit in these challenging economic times.
Coates and the board were delighted with the transfer targets in mind and promised both transfer funds and wages to match.
Due to his previous footballing experience the existing players in the squad did not appear to be too fazed with the sacking of Pulis and the abrupt end to his 5 year reign which had provided a return to top flight football for The Potters in 2008.
Hammel immediately sent his new scouts to
1) Brazil
2) Czech Republic
3) Argentina
4) Spain
and finally Humberside to provide detailed reports on the transfer targets in mind....
View attachment 139682
Breaking news on the Sky Sports Website
After a summer of speculation, Stoke City Chairman has acted swiftly to take control of the growing rumours that Tony Pulis was going to swap the Stoke City badge on his collection of caps to those of the Welsh FA.
Pulis, who boasts a record of never being relegated as a Manager in a near 20 year career was sacked on July 6th.
Peter Coates moved swiftly to appoint recently retired footballer Dave Hammel as the Manager on a 2 year contract instantly making the delighted Londoner a millionaire.
Despite hacks from Sky, BBC and ESPN gathering to break the impending story, it was local newspaper The Sentinel that broke the story in time for the evening edition.
View attachment 139683
The closest the amazed novice had got to management recently was sitting in the dug out at his beloved Chelsea and was already making plans to sell his season ticket for the coming year.
View attachment 139671
Hammel couldn't pass up the opportunity to manage at the top level of English football.
The attraction of Stoke was the amazing support the Stoke fans provided and the strong financial position the club was in.
His aim for the season was to take advantage of both of these positives and promised a mid table finish to a club nearing its 150th anniversary.
However money in the bank and a debt free position was not a substitute for success for the trophy starved fans and with the boards backing would strive to bring in a quality of player previously unheard of at the club.
Initial Review
Staff
The quality of backroom staff was perceived as being poor and Hammel quickly moved offer the staff opportunities outside the club.
He moved swiftly to hire staff he considered would improve the training the players would receive and improve the attributes of the players he chose to keep.
Brian Horton was brought in as Assistant due to his tactical nous.
Ray Clemence came in as Senior Goal Keeping coach.
Paul Winsper was hired to improve the already considerable strength and stamina of the giant Stoke squad.
Darren Wassall was poached from Derby and he jumped at the chance to work with senior players, an opportunity not provided to him at his previous club.
A continental flair was provided by Croatian International Robert Prosinecki.
The scouting network was also reviewed and the best scouts available on the tight budget were recruited.
View attachment 139675
Transfer Targets
Hammel was keen to depart from the previous Managers policy of buying cheap ageing players on big wages who terrorized keepers and defenders alike from corners, free kicks and bullet like throws.
His transfer strategy was to bring in young, fast and technically gifted youngsters from around the world who would improve the squad, provide excitement in a fast paced tactic and could be sold at a profit in these challenging economic times.
Coates and the board were delighted with the transfer targets in mind and promised both transfer funds and wages to match.
Due to his previous footballing experience the existing players in the squad did not appear to be too fazed with the sacking of Pulis and the abrupt end to his 5 year reign which had provided a return to top flight football for The Potters in 2008.
Hammel immediately sent his new scouts to
1) Brazil
2) Czech Republic
3) Argentina
4) Spain
and finally Humberside to provide detailed reports on the transfer targets in mind....