Stoke City boss is carrying out suspicious acts as he holds individual meetings with players…

Stoke City boss is carrying out suspicious acts as he holds individual meetings with players…

Narcis Pelach had six one-to-one meetings with players today as he starts a promise to help each individual fulfil their potential as well as improve the Stoke City team.

Pelach has made it clear to players that he will have high demands and strict expectations since he took over as head coach last week and he has changed the training day to spend more time at Clayton Wood on the pitch and in meeting rooms. He believes that message has been well received from a young and hungry squad, which is preparing for a Championship away day at Middlesbrough on Saturday (3pm).

“The message I tell the players is that it’s my duty to make them better,” he said. “That’s your dream as a coach, you want to make players better, you want to have conversations with them five years later and there is an affection because they know you helped them. That’s why you’re a coach. There are good things and bad things in every job but this was my main reason I started coaching.

“Now I’m talking to Harry Toffolo, Jonathan Hogg, I’m talking to Ashley Barnes, players I’ve coached in the past and there is respect because I was able to help them in some moment. That’s what I want, that’s what makes me feel a coach.

“We are new here and they don’t know me but this is my aim: make Lewis Koumas a great player, make Tom Cannon a great player. All of them. Million Manhoef can be an amazing player but there is a lot of work to do. I spoke about this with him and he knows, he wants to do it, he wants to be here, he wants to become the best version of himself. Our duty as a coaching staff is to make this happen.

“If Million Manhoef doesn’t get to the level that we all expect then it’s our fault as coaches and it’s my fault. We’ll see but the work is every day.”

Manhoef, aged 22, has been Stoke’s biggest attacking threat so far this season and was used in a new central role last time out against Hull. He scored twice from the right wing as a sub in the Carabao Cup win at the Riverside last month and is expected to be utilised in different positions when needed over the coming weeks.

Pelach explained: “Playing as a 10 is something new for him but he enjoys it, he wants to be there, feels like it’s closer to the goal. He can still play outside and he will do it as well because the squad needs variations and games need variations. It’s my job to think about this and I see players playing in more than one position, not just him.

“In one game you will see him here, another you will see him there but I think he can do it. On another day he will have left the Hull game with a goal and an assist, easy. He just needed to choose his best pass better. He had Tom Cannon there for a goal and there was another chance when he could score but he wants to do things right on the next one, he knows it’s going to be a tough game away at Middlesbrough but he’s a good player and opponents need to worry about him.”

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