Alignment across the club will be key to success

'TYPICAL' STOKE WINGER SORBA THOMAS AN EXAMPLE OF 'IDENTITY' BEING FORGED.

- PETE SMITH REPORTS...

HERE have been two or three buzz words in conversations about Stoke City over the not too distant past, including fitness and injuries.

Identity is another which has loomed large, which probably isn't a surprise considering the turnover in players and managers since 2018.

It is something that the club has tried to resolve with a tweak to its structure last year - can you believe it was only last year - and a sporting director, Jon Walters, who ties the cord between manager, head of recruitment, academy and the rest.

So that's led to another buzz word: alignment.

It was an interesting answer, then, when Mark Robins was asked about summer signing Sorba Thomas at his pre-match press conference before a trip to Southampton.

Was direct, quick and aggressive Thomas a typical Stoke City winger?

"I think that's something we look for and it's something that Jon Walters is about," said Robins.