London: Struggling Stoke City appointed Paul Lambert as their new manager on Monday after the Scot signed a two-and-half-year contract to replace the sacked Mark Hughes.

The club face Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Monday, but the 48-year-old former Aston Villa and Norwich City manager will take charge on Tuesday.

The Stoke owners, who had persisted with Hughes until the club was knocked out of the FA Cup by lower-division Coventry City, said they were impressed by Lambert’s pedigree as a Champions League-winning player for German giants Borussia Dortmund.

“Paul greatly impressed us with his knowledge of our squad and had a clear plan of how he would improve our results,” said chairman Peter Coates.

“He’s a man who backed himself as a player, none more so than when he turned down contract offers in Scotland to go on trial in the German Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, and it’s obvious he adopts the same approach as a manager.” Stoke are third from bottom of the Premier League after taking just 20 points from 22 games.

Lambert, who has also managed Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers, emerged as the preferred candidate and the club have acted swiftly to appoint him.

“We stated that we were looking to make an appointment as soon as possible, particularly given our position in the league and the overriding priority being retaining our place in the Premier League,” said a Stoke statement.

Agence France-Presse