Stoke City: Sky Sports pundit delivers Narcis Pelach play-off verdict after "encouraging" run | OneFootball

Since leaving his coaching role at Norwich to join Stoke City, Narcis Pelach was struggling, but the club's recent form may have ignited a turnaround

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman gave a brutal assessment of Stoke City's chances of securing a play-off spot this season, as he asserted that he really cannot see the Potters making it into the top six.

Goodman commented that Stoke's recent short run of form has really helped Pelach, who had only won one out of seven games after taking over the mantle from Steven Schumacher. The pundit believes there are a few ways one can view his current tenure, but that none of them look towards Stoke making it into the play-offs.

Don Goodman says Narcis Pelach was struggling at Stoke City until recently

Speaking to Football League World, via Gambling Zone, pundit Don Goodman outlined belief that there were multiple ways that supporters could view the former Norwich City coach's time in charge of the Potters.

Goodman said: "Seven points from the last three games has really helped Narcis Pelach's cause, as it looked like he was struggling before.

"You can look at Pelach and say, 'he's only won three out of 10', which is not going to get you to the play-offs, or say, 'he's only lost three out of his 10 games', which sounds much better.

"However, he was brought in as the hierarchy clearly thought that Stoke City should be challenging for the play-offs. If I'm honest, I really cannot see that happening. Stoke City and Pelach have a lot of work to do if they are to compete amongst the Championship's top sides."

Regardless of Pelach's current form at Stoke, it was a big risk for the club to sack Schumacher so early into his tenure, and subsequently replace him with someone who had no first-team managerial experience. Currently, this has not paid off.

Goodman rightly brings up the fact that Stoke's form can be twisted to show that they have only lost three of ten games, but when considering that their wins came against newly promoted Derby and Portsmouth, as well as an out-of-sorts Blackburn, it is not the viewing that Potters fans would have hoped for.

Stoke City look very unlikely to reach the play-offs

Further comments from Goodman suggest that Stoke's team really does not possess the quality to stake a claim on the play-offs this season.

He said: "It's impossible for me to say that he's improved the team, but the last three games have been a lot more encouraging. Had they not picked up those seven points, I don't think the Stoke fans would be viewing Pelach in a positive light.

"There's nothing I've seen from them this season to make me think they can make it into the top six. If Narcis Pelach is a long-term appointment, maybe they could do something next season with more time. I see Stoke as a pretty average Championship team at this moment in time. There are at least six better teams and probably more than Stoke so far this year."

When looking at the statistics, it is really hard to disagree with Goodman. Stoke have by no means been awful, but there is nothing here to suggest that they ought to be mounting a play-off charge. Tom Cannon has been the bright spark for the Potters, scoring six goals. However, the team's next closest goalscorer is Million Manhoef, who has only bagged three times.

Pelach's struggles may continue with Stoke

Regardless of the what-ifs of Pelach's tenure going forward, one thing is for certain and that is that Stoke have two wins from their last three games and are unbeaten in all three. This included a tough fixture against a resolute Millwall side who look unbreakable at the minute.

It is dubious whether Pelach has the credentials to carry Stoke towards the play-offs, but he can only focus on the next game. Luckily for the Spaniard, this comes against rock-bottom side QPR. With the tension at Loftus Road palpable, this would be the perfect game for Pelach to extend Stoke's unbeaten run and disprove his critics.