Stoke City have sacked head coach Narcis Pelach after just 19 matches in charge.

In September, the Potters made the surprise decision to part ways with Steven Schumacher despite the Englishman recording 13 wins in his 32 games at the bet365 Stadium.

Sporting director Jonathan Walters cited that he wanted to take the club in a different direction, waxing lyrical about the qualities that the Spaniard would bring to the Championship side.

However, the 36-year-old has delivered just three wins from his 19 matches in charge, the latest of his nine defeats coming against Leeds United on Boxing Day.

As a result, the Staffordshire outfit announced on Friday evening that they had removed Pelach from his position in the dugout.

'It wasn't the right fit'

Speaking after Stoke sacked Pelach, Walters suggested that he had got his decision to appoint the former Norwich City backroom staff member wrong.

He told the club's official website: "Narcis is a talented coach with huge potential, he works relentlessly hard and I have no doubt that he will go on to achieve success in the future.

"However, with the way results and performances have been in recent weeks, we have to accept with hindsight that he has proved not to be the right fit for this club at this time.

"I take full responsibility for that and I'm absolutely determined that we will now make the right choice to take us forward.

"Every decision we make is driven by our love of Stoke City and absolute determination to bring success to the club."

Where does Pelach leave Stoke?

Stoke head into their final game of the calendar year against Sunderland sitting in 19th position in the Championship table, three points above the relegation zone.

In his 18 league fixtures in charge, Pelach accumulated just the 16 points, the 21st worst return across that period.

Furthermore, Stoke have failed to prevail from any of their last nine fixtures, not winning since a 2-0 triumph at Blackburn Rovers on November 6. body check tags ::