 Initially successful in keeping Stoke from relegation in 1983–84, his transfer dealings left the Potters unable to compete in the 1984–85 season, and he was sacked in April, with the club bottom of the First Division with just three wins all season.Financial constraints however had left him without an assistant, trainer or physiotherapist at the start of the season.After a break from football, he took the Olympic Team Position in Iraq, leaving prior to the Gulf War, in 1990.