"Going to benefit me" - Steven Schumacher makes surprising Stoke City, Plymouth Argyle admission | OneFootball

Schumacher spoke publicly about his time with the Potters as a pundit on Sky Sports

Former Stoke City head coach Steven Schumacher has admitted that what he learned in the nine months he spent in charge of the Potters was more valuable to him than what he would have learned if he had stayed on as Plymouth Argyle boss last year.

Schumacher took the reins at the bet365 Stadium in December last year, with Stoke set to be in the midst of a tough relegation battle, and guided the club to safety with a game to spare in May after a successful first half-season in charge.

He was given the summer to make wholesale changes to his squad ahead of this term, but was shockingly relieved of his duties as head-coach by sporting director Jonathan Walters just five games into the new campaign, with the club in 13th place in mid-September.

The 40-year-old was succeeded by Norwich City assistant coach Narcis Pelach, and he revealed last month that he still hadn’t had a full explanation of why he was sacked, and has now gone on record once again to talk about his time with the Potters.

Steven Schumacher admits that time at Stoke City has improved his managerial skillset

Schumacher will likely still be reeling from the club's decision to relieve him of his duties, but he has had time to assess the decision and come to terms with it as he seeks another challenge as a head-coach.

It may have come as a surprise to many that he appeared as a pundit on Sky Sports' coverage of the Potters' 2-1 win over Derby County on Saturday afternoon, and he gave some insight into his feelings about his tenure as head-coach at the bet365 Stadium, when asked about their decision to sack him.

“I've had six weeks now to look back and reflect and take from it what I think is going to benefit me in the future," Schumacher said on Sky Sports, via Stoke-on-Trent Live.

"I think what I learned in nine months at Stoke City was so different than what I would have learned in the next three or four years if I had continued at (Plymouth) Argyle.

"I think in the long run, it'll make me a better manager and a better head coach."

Schumacher's comments speak to the size of the task at hand to return Stoke to their former glory, as despite winning the third-tier and beginning the Championship season with Plymouth, he still feels as if he added more strings to his managerial bow when in charge of the Potters.

Steven Schumacher still feels that his Stoke City sacking was unfair

Stoke were not doing too badly at the start of the campaign, hence why Schumacher's sacking came as a surprise to many Potters fans, neutrals, and the Liverpool-born boss himself.

The Potters had won two and lost three of their first five league games this season with him in charge, with two more victories in the EFL Cup, and he spoke more about the decision on Sky yesterday, as he insisted that he felt as if the team was heading in the right direction under his guidance.

Schumacher said, via Stoke-on-Trent Live: “The results under ourselves were not ground-breaking, it wasn’t anything extra special, but I just feel as though the team were playing okay.

"We had some tough games, three games away from home in the league and (West Brom), who I think were top of the league at the time, and we didn’t deserve to lose that game at home. We also won twice in the Carabao Cup, with a brilliant result away at Middlesbrough.

"I felt as though the team was moving in a decent direction. We brought in a centre-forward on deadline day in Tom Cannon who would have been key to how I wanted to play, and unfortunately he only had 70 minutes under ourselves, and then they chose to make a change.

“It’s disappointing but these things happen in football.”

It's fair to say that the 40-year-old was being quite diplomatic with his answers, which may be down to the time that has passed since the decision was made, and may not have been the case had he spoke publicly in the immediate aftermath of the decision.

It remains to be seen whether Stoke will progress further under new boss Pelach, but while he may not revel in their potential downfall, Schumacher will certainly have the last laugh if things turn sour under the Spaniard and Stoke are forced to make another managerial change.