Steven Schumacher leaves Plymouth to join Stoke City

The 39-year-old, who guided the Pilgrims to promotion from League One to the Sky Bet Championship, replaces Alex Neil, who was sacked earlier this month.

He will be joined at Stoke by assistant head coach Mark Hughes, first-team coach Peter Cavanagh and goalkeeper coach Darren Behcet.

“I was attracted to this club by its history and everything it represents and, once (Stoke chairman) John (Coates) and (Stoke technical director) Ricky (Martin) shared their vision with me, I knew it was an opportunity I wanted to take,” said Schumacher.

“The infrastructure, the stadium and the facilities are top-class, and so is the support of the fans.

“The values that resonate with me for a Stoke team are bravery and hard work, coupled with a desire to play attacking football and be a team our supporters can connect with.

“We have the players to do that and, if we can get back to a point where the bet365 Stadium is thought of as a tough venue to visit, we can really get it rocking again.”

Stoke are without a win from their last eight matches and sit 19th in the Championship, three places and three points behind Plymouth.

Neil’s 16-month tenure at Stoke came to an end on December 10 following a fourth consecutive defeat.

Schumacher, who spent two seasons at the Plymouth helm, becomes the club’s sixth permanent manager since 2018.

His first match in charge will be the visit of Millwall on Saturday.

Plymouth, who host Birmingham this weekend, said director of football Neil Dewsnip and first-team coach Kevin Nancekivell will take charge of the team until a replacement for Schumacher has been found.