Stoke City

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Stoke City assistant manager James Rowberry has stepped down as Wales assistant coach to focus on his club role.

The 41-year-old has combined his national team duties alongside his position with the Potters since arriving in January 2025.

"It has been a great privilege to represent my country and something I will forever be proud to have had the opportunity to do," Rowberry explained.

"Given the huge honour it has been, this is not a decision I have taken lightly. However, it is a significant year-round commitment to balance both my Stoke City and Wales responsibilities.

"Alongside [sporting director] Jon [Walters], the gaffer, coaching staff and players, we are working tirelessly to bring success to Stoke City, and I firmly believe that, to be true to the commitment everyone is making here, I need to dedicate my full focus to the club."

The latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's A Cold Wet Tuesday Night podcast is out now.

Join Lucas Yeomans and Matt Sandoz as they discuss Stoke City's 4-0 win over Charlton Athletic.

Listen above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Stoke City are hoping to make it three successive Championship wins when they visit Cardiff City on Tuesday evening (19:45 BST).

The Bluebirds are seeking a first home win since returning to the second tier this season.

• Cardiff lost their last Championship game against Stoke City 1-0 in April 2025, but have not lost successive league games to the Potters since February 2008.

• Stoke are looking to win back-to-back away league games against Cardiff City for only the second time, after doing so in October 1999.

• Cardiff have drawn both of their home league games this season; only in 1977-78, 1990-91, 1999-00, and 2000-01 have they started a league campaign with draws in their first three home matches.

• Stoke have lost each of their past nine away league outings, their longest run in the Football League since losing 10 in a row in September 1952.

• Stoke are winless in nine away league games against newly-promoted opponents (D3 L6) since a 5-1 win at Sunderland in March 2023.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Championship match between Stoke City and Charlton Athletic.

Here are some of your comments:

Stoke City fans

Peter: 1000% better performance from the lads, full control from the midfield trio. A faster approach to their forward play with Justin Devenny the most outstanding player.

Andy: Long way to go but a bit more promising. Ipswich had a bad start last season and still managed promotion.

Mike: Great result following the win on Tuesday, showing a much better all-round performance. Now keep it going.

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Charlton Athletic fans

Ian: Nathan Jones needs to acknowledge this result is down to him, too many new players in the starting XI not having played together in a difficult away match. Stop fiddling, Nathan, and let our best players start, give the new players minutes from the bench. Yes it's a busy couple of weeks but the players need to buckle down and suck it up.

John: Oh well, back to scrappy, ill-disciplined so-called football. The great start to the season has been well and truly tarnished.

Duncan: The usual Charlton nosebleed followed by the inevitable nosedive. How can we beat the Hammers, then get pounded by Stoke a week later?

Adam Cottier
5 Live reporter

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Among the home support there was joy, and probably some disbelief, when the half-time whistle was sounded by referee Bobby Madley on Saturday. Stoke had scored four unanswered goals in quite some style.

That same referee's whistle had signalled what was to be the catalyst for Stoke's resounding win: the award of a penalty, scored so confidently by Justin Devenny for 1-0.

Stoke never looked back, dismantling Charlton with a ruthless statement of intent.

Debutant Devenny made an outstanding first impression in front of supporters, who will hope this Stoke performance is a sign of things to come with the club having spent the best part of the past decade in Championship obscurity.

In Devenny - and fellow recent signing Ethan Galbraith - Stoke have two midfielders with the ability to make things happen and score a good amount of goals. They are the kind of pairing that fill supporters with belief every time they get the ball.

Galbraith was a constant and willing figure in everything Stoke did well. Devenny, who made close to 50 Premier League appearances for Crystal Palace, looked the perfect addition alongside him, making Stoke more powerful and agile.

Mark Robins will take his team to Cardiff on Tuesday with renewed hope that Stoke can finally emerge as a force in the second tier.

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke commentator

Image source, Getty Images

First halves can't really go much better than Stoke's against Charlton.

Justin Devenny looked a proper player on debut, scored twice and provided a key pass for another goal, and George Hirst, the club's new first-choice number nine got off the mark too.

Ethan Galbraith has channelled his inner Paul Scholes during the early weeks of his Stoke career and got his third of the season, having never scored more than six in a campaign previously.

Galbraith looks like he could get double figures in goals this term, as does Devenny.

And Hirst did that in a very good Ipswich side last season, so a team that's been short on goals for a long time now looks like it carries a real threat.

That's despite losing more than 20 goals and assists from last season in the form of Sorba Thomas on deadline day.

If anything, the change to a back three brought about in part by his departure looks like it could symbolise the start of a new era.

The work done in the transfer window and the change in system has freshened things up and a 4-0 win has created belief in those changes on the terraces.

On paper at least, they face some more favourable fixtures over the next few weeks than those they had at the start of the season, so the Potters will have the chance to turn a great week into some real momentum.

Ged Scott
BBC Sport, West Midlands

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Stoke City boss Mark Robins says his side's 4-0 drubbing of Nathan Jones' Charlton Athletic was just like they could have scripted it.

After shipping four goals themselves at Molineux to suffer a third straight defeat, Stoke have hit back with two home wins in five days to catapult themselves back into the middle of the Championship table.

Of course, for years, old-school managers have always stated that league tables mean nothing at this time of year.

And this was classic proof. Stoke lost their first three. Charlton won their first three. What happened next? Robins' men win their next two and Jones, one of his predecessors in the Potters hot seat, fails to win his next two.

Jones argued that Stoke's penalty opener from Justin Devenny was the turning point before Ethan Galbraith, George Hirst and Devenny again wrapped up the three points before half-time. But, ahead of Tuesday's trip to winless Cardiff City, Robins was very happy with the way his side performed.

"If we could have written a script, then that would have been it," Robins told BBC Radio Stoke.

"We played really well. And there was a lot to be pleased about. We've got the penalty and then we've scored some good goals.

"Shooting has been really lacking for a long time, but they did that well.

"When you look at what we have, then you're looking for goals. We've got players that are really hungry for that.

"If we can get that throughout the team, well, then that really bodes well and I'd like to see us scoring more from set-plays too."

Image source, Getty Images

Charlton boss Nathan Jones felt "bitterly disappointed" with both his team and referee Bobby Madley on the former Stoke manager's latest return to the bet365 Stadium.

Jones was particularly upset with Madley's award of Stoke's 15th-minute penalty in the Addicks' 4-0 defeat, which he believed turned the game.

"I've gone in and seen him," Jones told BBC Radio London. "There were so many things that went against us.

"But straight after the penalty we went under for 20 minutes – and my teams don't normally do that.

"We've done it twice here. That's the thing that hurts me and hurts my teams, us going under like that.

"I'm bitterly disappointed with my own team's performance, but I'm as bitterly disappointed with another performance as well."

Jones knew he was in for a hostile reception back on a ground where he has lost on four of his five visits since being sacked by Stoke in November 2019.

"I'm definitely going to get it when I come back here," said Jones. "But I expected that. I had it when I was manager, so I'm definitely going to get it as an opposing manager.

"They need me to come here because they get better results when I come back.

"We've lost but we're in a really good position. We've started really well. We've got 10 points from five games, which is promotion form. We would have taken that but today it's fresh, it hurts and it's raw."

Charlton's winning start to the Championship came to an end against West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday but they are still yet to lose as they visit Stoke City on Saturday (12:30 BST).

Stoke, meanwhile, enjoyed their first points in the midweek, picking up all three against Norwich City on Tuesday.

• Stoke have only lost one of their last 14 home league games against Charlton (W11 D2), winning seven of their last eight, including three in a row since a 1-2 defeat in February 1998.

• Charlton have won four of their last seven league games against Stoke (L3), as many as their previous 20 beforehand (D5 L11).

• Stoke have picked up just three points across their opening four league games this season (W1 L3) and have conceded nine goals – both their worst returns at this stage of a campaign since 2019-20 (1 point, 10GA).

• Charlton Athletic have 10 points from their four Championship games so far this season, their most at this stage of a second tier campaign since 1992-93 (12).

• Tyreece Campbell has scored three goals in four league games for Charlton this season, already as many as he netted in 45 appearances last season.

The latest episode of BBC Radio Stoke's A Cold Wet Tuesday Night podcast is out now.

Matt Sandoz and Lucas Yeomans reflect on a hectic transfer deadline day for Stoke City and analyse the club's business throughout the summer window.

They also discuss the 1-0 win over Norwich City in the Championship.

Listen above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Mark Elliott
BBC Radio Stoke’s Stoke City Commentator

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Stoke City began life without Sorba Thomas in the perfect way, recording their first win of the season and putting in a defensive performance reminiscent of the better parts of last season.

Thomas has been their main attacking outlet over the past year and his departure brought about a change in formation and a need for greater variety going forward.

While there were teething problems for the 3-4-3 Stoke deployed in Tuesday's 1-0 win against Norwich there was plenty to be optimistic about too.

Having had barely any time to work on the change in system, Stoke were aggressive in their press when Norwich tried to play out from the back and resolute when they dropped into a low block.

While the team became stretched at times and lone striker George Hirst found himself isolated a little too often, there were times when they were able to get bodies forward in numbers, push the wing-backs high and cause the visitors problems.

Ethan Galbraith looks like a brilliant signing. He's so effective in possession in tight areas, helps the team build from deep and scored his second goal of the young season with a fine driven shot from the edge of the box.

Luke Graham put in his best performance of the season as he gets used to the rigours of the Championship after making the move from the Scottish Premiership, while American full-back Luca Bombino put in a debut full of quality and personality just a day or two after arriving in England.

Afterwards, captain Viktor Johansson said the win felt like the start of Stoke's season, and there was a palpable relief along with an outpouring of emotion from all in red and white at full-time as they recorded a much-needed first victory.

That win relieves some of the pressure that was building on players and staff, and with new signings still to integrate, another win against Charlton on Saturday would definitely leave the Potters looking up.

Stoke City manager Mark Robins admitted the "turbulence" around deadline day - and the sale of star man Sorba Thomas - threatened to overshadow their Championship game with Norwich.

Instead, the Potters, who had not won a league game since April, took the honours with a 1-0 win.

"We had to grind a win out somehow and we managed to do that, with a really well worked goal," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"We looked a threat on the counter-attack. They had loads of possession but as we know in this division it doesn't matter about possession.

"We needed to get a clean sheet and win a game and it didn't matter how we did it.

"Obviously there's a lot of turbulence around deadline day, so the lads deserve enormous credit for the way they've dug in and got the first three points.

"The confidence can start to come from that."

BBC Radio Stoke's Lucas Yeomans hosts a transfer deadline day special to discuss the business done by Stoke City, Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra.

The show, which runs from 22:00-23:00 BST, will offer the latest updates and analysis.

Listen to it here

Subscribe to Praise and Grumble on BBC Sounds

Simon Stone
Manchester United reporter

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Manchester United have suffered a shock departure from their academy ranks.

Striker Louie Bradbury has joined Stoke on a three-year contract.

Bradbury only signed his professional contract with United on 12 August and scored in a Premier League Under-18 victory at Everton on Saturday.

However, he had already decided to leave the club at that point.

The 17-year-old, who was part of the Wales squad for this summer's Under-19 European Championships, has chosen Stoke from multiple options, believing the pathway to senior football is clearer.