Stoke City have appointed Paul Lambert as their new manager 10 days after the sacking of Mark Hughes at the bet365 Stadium.
Lambert, 48, had been out of front-line management since leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers in May 2017.
A former Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Norwich City boss, Lambert takes over at Stoke with the club in the bottom three of the Premier League table, one place and one point behind 17th-placed Southampton.
Stoke are due to play Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday but the 48-year-old will not take charge until Tuesday. He was in the Old Trafford directors' box to watch his new side, however.
"Paul greatly impressed us with his knowledge of our squad and had a clear plan of how he would improve our results," Stoke chairman Peter Coates said.
"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 City are delighted to confirm the appointment of Paul Lambert as the Club's new manager.https://t.co/HPLKDZE3Zh#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/KyiQSrPmzA
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) January 15, 2018
Stoke sacked Hughes nine days ago, just hours after an embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of League Two club Coventry City.
Derby's Gary Rowett, Espanyol's Quique Sanchez Flores and Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill were all considered targets, but Rowett signed a new contract last week and the other two ruled themselves out of contention over the weekend.
"When the club made a managerial change nine days ago 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," read a statement from the club.
"The club reviewed a number of people against the criteria set and met with a small number of parties who had expressed an interest in the job."
Vice chairman John Coates said it was imperative the new manager had been in the Premier League before.
"We were determined to appoint someone with Premier League experience or an extensive knowledge of English football," he said.
"Paul has been successful in management at clubs with a strong and stable background and with local ownership -- the kind of foundation we are able to give to our managers.
"We look forward to working with Paul and supporting him to help achieve our goals."
Information from Press Association Sport was used in this report.