Stoke City told to follow Aston Villa and Sunderland example in new manager search | OneFootball

Sam Parkin has highlighted the examples of Sunderland and Aston Villa amid Stoke City’s search for a new first team manager.

Alex Neil was dismissed as manager earlier this week after 15 months in his role with the Potters.

The 42-year-old joined Stoke from Sunderland in August 2022 after leading the Black Cats to promotion back to the Championship.

However, he was unable to bring similar success to the Bet365 Stadium, having departed with the team sitting 20th in the second division table.

Parkin urges Stoke to follow Sunderland’s footsteps

Parkin believes that Stoke’s most obvious choice to replace Neil is former Birmingham City manager John Eustace.

However, he has claimed that the examples of Villa and Sunderland should be inspiration for the club if they are unable to appoint Eustace as the new boss.

“If it is not John Eustace, I expect them to be like Sunderland scouring the European leagues and come up with someone who can affect things quickly, a bit like Unai Emery at Aston Villa,” said Parkin, via the What the EFL?! podcast

“It is achievable.

“You have quality players, a big group of players, get them playing a brand of football repeatedly on the training ground week after week and hopefully see the results of that on match day.”

It remains to be seen who will be appointed as Neil’s replacement, with no arrival expected imminently.

Tony Mowbray and Eustace have both been named as potential front-runners, with Mowbray now also out of work following his departure from Sunderland.

Stoke will be looking for someone who could lift the club out of the relegation battle near the bottom of the Championship standings.

The Potters made a remarkable 19 summer signings in the previous transfer window, but have gone backwards in the table since then.

Paul Gallagher oversaw a 1-1 draw with managerless Swansea City midweek, which moved the team up to 19th in the second tier.

A late goal from Harry Darling secured a draw for the Swans, which continued Stoke’s winless run.

Neil’s last win as manager came on 28 October away to Middlesbrough.

Gallagher is likely to be in charge for this weekend’s clash against West Brom at the Hawthorns on 17 December.

Next steps for Stoke’s manager search

Eustace and Mowbray are both promising candidates that could do well with the club if given the right backing.

The pair were both dismissed from Championship rivals this season in surprising fashion.

Neither were doing a particularly poor job, and were ultimately let go due to a difference in direction from the owners.

However, while both have got good CVs and could do a great job with the club, it would be worthwhile scouring the European market for any promising up-and-coming coaches as there is a lot of great talent out there.