Luton Town boss Nathan Jones has been appointed as the new manager of Championship side Stoke City.
The 45-year-old has been tasked with turning the clubs fortunes around after Gary Rowett was sacked on Tuesday.
In a statement released on Wednesday, John and Peter Coates wrote: 'We have been following Nathan's career for sometime and when we met him were hugely impressed with his clear vision as to how he will achieve success at Stoke.'
In his first interview since taking the job, Jones admitted there have been offers from other clubs in the league but that Stoke 'is a club with wonderful tradition' and one he feels can challenge to go up to the Premier League.
'This is a wonderful club and I feel very proud that the owners have identified the work that myself and my team have been doing,' he told the club's in-house media channel Stoke City+ on Wednesday.
'Being a manager is manic anyway but everything that has happened over the past day, day and a half has been incredible really.
'It has been a whirlwind from start to finish, I am delighted to have it done, but the process has been very manic.
'I have to say that this was the toughest decision of my life, it really was - I know that is a cliche at times when managers move clubs, but it really was for me.
'The environment was special there, I had excellent relationships with key people, my relationship with the supporters was outstanding and I also had a group of players who dedicated every part of their life to performing well for the club.
'All of those key aspects combined enhanced both my reputation and that of Luton Town, so it was a very tough decision to make.
'As a manager you want to be in charge of a real structure, environment and culture that is conducive to winning games and I had that there, having worked tirelessly over the past three years to get it.
'To get me to leave that really needed something special and the people at Luton were fully aware of that.
'As soon as I spoke to Peter and John and heard their vision and listened to what they want to achieve, I knew this was a step that I wanted to take.
'This is a club with wonderful tradition, it has a Premier League structure in every regard, barring the league this year of course.
'I believe I am an appointment for the long-term here, I want to win games and I want to instil a culture and a philosophy that people are going to really get behind and be proud of.'
Jones has never managed in the Championship before but has left spectators impressed by his brand of football in the lower leagues.
Luton were struggling when he took the job at Kenilworth Road but their form since his appointment made impressive viewing.
Appointed in January 2016, the club won 11 of his first 21 games in charge to finish 11th, preventing themselves dropping through the trap door to non-league.
Thereafter, in his first full season as boss he navigated his players into the play-offs and last season they went one better as they secured automatic promotion.
In total Jones was in charge of Luton for 170 matches – winning 87, drawing 46 and losing 37.
His team earned a rave reviews for free-flowing, attacking football and backed that up scoring 301 times while conceding just 174.
According to Luton's official statement on his departure, Jones leaves with the best points per game ratio of any Luton boss in history – his 1.820 per game from 139 matches in charge bettering Allan Brown's 1.737 from 95 games.
The League One side added: 'We wish Nathan every success in his future career and would like to thank him for his service and the passion he has shown for our club.'
Rowett has been one of the division's finest managers in recent years but the Potteries club acted decisively amid unrest from supporters.
The club can see promotion slipping from sight and while Stoke's board feel the squad is one of the best in the Championship, they are eight points off the play-offs and lost 2-0 at home to Bristol City before drawing 1-1 at Shrewsbury in the FA Cup.