Alex Neil: Owners' reputation key to Stoke City move, says new manager

Alex Neil (right) was in the stand to watch Stoke's game with Blackburn at the weekend

New Stoke City boss Alex Neil says the reputation of the club's owners was a "key factor" in his decision to leave Championship rivals Sunderland.

The 41-year-old has moved to the Potteries on a three-year deal after guiding Sunderland to promotion in May.

He told BBC Radio Stoke that the Coates family had an excellent reputation.

"There are so many different elements of support that you need as a manager. I think all of them are provided here," the Scot said.

"The ownership was arguably the key factor to why I came here because I do believe they do give you backing, they do give you time to make sure you can get the job done, and I don't think you can ask for any more than that as a manager."

Stoke sacked former Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill after just one win in their first five games of the new season.

Neil will take charge for the first time at home to Swansea City on Wednesday after seeing them win 1-0 at Blackburn Rovers at the weekend under O'Neill's former assistant Dean Holden, a result which left them 17th in the table.

"Where the club finds itself at the moment, I've picked up certainly two, maybe three clubs in not too dissimilar circumstances and I've managed to have success at them so I don't have any doubts that I can be a success here," said the former Hamilton, Norwich and Preston manager.

"It's a talented squad, it's certainly capable, so what we need to do is maximise that capability, we need to get it organised and bring clarity to their roles in possession and out of possession, and then we need to create a selfless culture that means the team is the most important thing, and everything we do is for the good of the team."

'Ready to be flexible'

Neil said he would not be tied to any preferred playing style.

"I'll try and utilise the players at my disposal as best I can to try and bring their best qualities out. Whether I play a 4-3-3, whether I play a 3-5-2, whether I play a box in the middle, I've played pretty much every formation you could think of, the deciding factor for me is the players," he said.

"You need to have your most effective players on the pitch and sometimes that means you have to juggle about other elements of the team. If it's not working I'm flexible about changing personnel, changing shape."

Stoke have not finished any higher than 14th since they were last relegated from the Premier League in 2018 and Neil will not be setting any long-term goals.

"They've been competing in the bottom half of the Championship for a number of years now and for what's been spent on the squad, for the size of the club, we want better than that," he added.

"Let's improve where we are, let's make sure this squad is working at his highest level and let's see where that takes us initially."