Pieters on new role and helping Stoke youngsters

The 37-year-old is back at the club coaching the under 21s and has also registered as an over-age player for them.

The idea is he can influence the youngsters out on the pitch as well as from the sidelines, a strategy used by Brighton’s academy with old boys Ben Barclay and Andrew Crofts and also by Manchester United with Tom Huddlestone.

In Pieters’ case, that’s meant playing 45 minutes for the under-21s in their pre-season game at Southern Premier League Central club Stratford Town last Saturday and then 50 minutes on Tuesday when they went to National League South side Salisbury.

So, the left sided defender has pulled on a Stoke shirt for the first time since he left in 2019 having clocked up more than 200 City games over six years, mostly in the Premier League.

The former Netherlands international helped organise the young Stoke team from centre half in the games this week. He said: “I am just honest with the players. I try to step into their shoes and ask them questions, ask them to give me answers with what they honestly think.

“With being on the pitch with them or on the sidelines, I can give them information and try to understand their thinking process and how they see the game.”

He said teaching young players how to look after themselves off the pitch is also part of the role.

He’s enjoying being back and stresses his role is to help players rather than get in the way of game time for youngsters.

He said: “It is only when they need me. But I am there training with them and playing some games now in pre-season.

“I think if you have someone with my experience next to you in a team I can read a game earlier than a young lad and put them in the right position.

“Instead of doing a talk at half time or after the game, nine out of ten times I can see it coming and do it straight away on the pitch.

“I think that benefits myself but also benefits the whole team and then, with reading the game and explaining why I made certain changes afterwards, hopefully helps them understand the game better.”

As Professional Development Coach, Pieters is also working with an under-21s staff that includes lead coach Sam Stockley and also Liam Lawrence.

City’s Sporting Director Jon Walters hinted about the move for Pieters in an interview with The Sentinel in June in which he talked about helping youngsters bridge the gap to senior football.

He said the idea was to, “get that experience of a really good pro in that group that can really help with a young midfielder, young striker, young centre-half – to share that know-how and what it takes to be a professional footballer.”

In that interview, Walters also emphasised the club’s determination to bring players through from their academy to their first team.

He said: “The owner (John Coates) wants people through the academy. We’ve got a lot of resources, we’re doing as much as we can. There is a whole raft of improvements for the academy building, with £3m-£4m being spent on that to give them the best facilities. We’re doing everything we can to improve everything.

“The structure is a big part of that. We want to get players through the academy to our first team. We want that identity. There’s nothing better than having someone come through from nine years old to play for the first team. I need to get the structure right with coaching and development right with players.

“The last time we had real serious players through would have been Harry Souttar, Nathan Collins, Tyrese Campbell. We probably had a period when we recruited at a certain age, spent a little bit of money. I want to be able to do that as well. You want to give them the best chance and you need the right coaches, the right individual development programme.”

Stoke’s subsequent changes have also included bringing in Jack Higgins as the new academy director.

Higgins joins Stoke after six years as academy manager at Fleetwood Town having previously worked as head of education at Burnley.

The transfer window is open, the rumours are flying, and everyone is talking about who Stoke City will sign and who they might sell.

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