Rory Delap Departs from Stoke City Support Staff
Since joining Stoke City from Sunderland earlier this season, manager Alex Neil has slowly started to put his fingerprints on the club. And by fingerprints we mean not only player personnel decisions, but also support staff decisions with his coaching staff.
One of those first moves made by Neil with his staff was the appointment of a new goalkeeping coach Jonathan Gould back in December — Another move made by Neil was one that wasn’t only agreed on by Neil, but by the team’s front office.
That above-mentioned move was the appointment of Ricky Martin as the club’s new technical director, after Martin departed West Ham’s academy in late 2022. Although the move to hire Martin can be seen as an overall club move, there’s no hiding the fact that Martin and Neil have a past relationship. So again, Ricky Martin can be seen as at the very least a joint club/Alex Neil move.
In addition to those moves by Alex Neil, you can now add at least two more support staff departures on Monday, after the club and a report says Neil parted ways with two names from Stoke City.
Alex Neil Parts Ways With Two Staff Members
Stoke City announced on Monday via the team’s website, that former Stoke City player/now coach Rory Delap has “left his role as first team coach with immediate effect”.
The club’s website goes on to quote both Stoke City joint chairman John Coates and technical director Ricky Martin:
"According to the team’s website: “Joint Chairman John Coates said:” “Rory has been a magnificent servant for the Club, both as a player and a coach, and I would like to thank him for all his efforts. He will always be welcome at the bet365 Stadium.”The website also went on to say, “Technical Director Ricky Martin added:” “Our process of evolving the Club’s football operations remains ongoing and Rory leaves with our very best wishes.“I would like to thank Rory for his hard work and commitment over the years and I personally wish him well for the future.”"
The club’s website did not list or indicate manager Alex Neil has made an immediate quote on the matter — The website and also other media reports, also didn’t mention if the Delap coaching separation from the team would impact his son Liam Delap’s future with the club — Forward Liam Delap is currently on loan from Manchester City.
Elsewhere on Monday, another support staff departure from Stoke City was mentioned in a report that had also named the Delap departure. Per StokeonTrentLive, Alex Neil on Monday has also parted ways with club doctor David White.
Per the same report there were no immediate replacements named. But the club in the upcoming days could comment officially on David White’s situation and a possible replacement for the team.