Steven Schumacher: Stoke City head coach can make 'tweaks' in January, says Ricky Martin
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Ricky Martin has been Stoke technical director since November 2022
New Stoke City head coach Steven Schumacher will still have funds at his disposal to make "tweaks" in January, despite this summer's big spending spree in the Potteries.
Potters technical director Ricky Martin and then manager Alex Neil made 18 signings, the most in the Championship.
Stoke are now floundering in 19th, but Schumacher has a few games to decide whether to bring in more in January.
"We did a lot over the summer. He has a foundation to build on," said Martin.
"But we've got the window to look to see if there are any little tweaks we need to make."
Schumacher's first match at the helm is Saturday's home date with Millwall, who he has already lost at home to once this season as Plymouth Argyle boss, 2-0 in October, in what ironically proved to be former Potters boss Gary Rowett's last win in charge of the Londoners.
This time Schumacher will be up against Joe Edwards, a mere seven matches into his managerial career, who has so far managed only one win - his very first game.
Millwall have slumped to 20th in the table, one place and one point behind Stoke. And, although both remain within touching distance of the Championship play-off places, if either can mount the sort of second half of the season revival so often seen in the second tier, in reality, both clubs are looking at what lies beneath them.
"Progress for us is quite simple," said Martin. "We need more points and we need to climb up the table - as simple as that.
"You can see the stats of where this club has finished since leaving the Premier League and it's simply not good enough."
Alex Neil's sacking was Stoke's first since Ricky Martin arrived at the club
Since being relegated from the top flight under Paul Lambert in May 2018, following Mark Hughes' dismissal in the January, the Potters have finished successively 16th, 15th, 14th, 14th and 16th, under a sequence of Rowett (29 games), Nathan Jones (38 games), Michael O'Neill (two years and nine months) and Neil (68 games).
But, 13 months on from Martin's move to Stoke, which was only two months after Neil's appointment as manager, he is only looking onwards and upwards - and was determined to find the right man as quickly as possible.
"There were 50 or 60 candidates under consideration," he said. "And it was intense. But to get an announcement within nine days shows how important we felt it was to get it right and also be quick with it.
"These games around Christmas are very important to us - and Steven can get to work as quickly as possible.
"He wants to set up his team in an attacking way. He really wants to be brave. He's prepared to make decisions and take risks. I like that."
But, while Schumacher has an altered job title to his predecessor, as Stoke become the latest club to employ a head coach rather than a manager, Martin makes it clear that they have dual responsibility for signings.
"Recruitments going forward will always be led up by the recruitment team, which is led by me," he said.
"We get a lot of recommendations. We then go through the data and reports and then submit that to the head coach. And each case has a different rationale.
"But then it comes down to myself and Steven."
Potters technical director Ricky Martin was talking to BBC Radio Stoke's Rob Adcock