Welshman Nathan Jones has vowed to put his own stamp on Stoke City after taking over as manager from the sacked Gary Rowett.
The Potters have moved quickly to snap-up the 45-year-old from Luton Town having agreed a compensation package with the League One outfit and having been turned down by ex-Fulham chief Slavisa Jokanovic
“This is not a job for me, this is a lifestyle. The fans will see that,” said the Ystrad-born Jones, whose playing career began at Merthyr Tydfil before he joined Luton.
“We will put a side out there that the club will be proud of. We will be a hard working, talented side that will play in a certain way which we will work religiously on.
“Along the way there will be some ups and downs, hopefully plenty of ups. But when we get our philosophy implemented and get working with the players, I’m sure they’re going to respond.”
Jones is one of the most highly-rated managers outside of the top flight since taking over at Luton in January 2016.
He guided the Hatters to promotion from League Two last season and they are currently second in League One.
Jones’ task will be to improve a Stoke side that was expected to be challenging for promotion from the Championship this season after being relegated from the Championship.
But they won just eight times in 26 matches under Rowett and are currently 14th with 35 points, one point behind Swansea City and eight points off the play-offs.
“We have been following Nathan’s career for some time and when we met him were hugely impressed with his clear vision as to how he will achieve success at Stoke,” said chairman Peter Coates and vice-chairman John Coates in a joint statement.
“Nathan is an incredibly driven and passionate individual and we are delighted to have secured his services for Stoke City.”
