Every team he has managed have a strong identity and mirror his philosophy and, as a player and budding coach, I admire thatMatch day four of our debut Premier League season at Brighton and on Saturday we’re up against what is widely known in football as a “Tony Pulis team”. For some that reference to West Bromwich Albion and their manager is not a positive one. For me, however, it’s about as great an accolade as it gets for a football coach.Why? Last week I discussed teams changing system and identity from game to game and the lack of consistency in terms of performance you risk from that. It’s something you can never level at a “Tony Pulis team”. Related:...
Wenger seems determined to stay but teasing fans about his Arsenal future following defeat at West Brom leaves him open to accusations of self-indulgenceArsène knows. But he’s not telling. At least not publicly. A manager who for years has guaranteed stability is now cultivating uncertainty. That is pathetic in both senses of the word, achingly sad but also inadequate.Wenger revealed after his team’s miserable defeat at West Bromwich Albion that he has made up his mind about whether to accept the new contract that he was offered months ago by the club to which he has been so integral for more than two decades that it has become, in its contemporary form, his life’s work. Whatever he has decided has...
West Bromwich Albion are on a roll and their forceful manager’s ability to get the most out of a modest team has an admirer in José MourinhoTony Pulis recently said something very difficult to believe and it had nothing to do with that high court imbroglio. He said it after Salomón Rondón headed a hat‑trick against Swansea City on Wednesday, when the Venezuela striker offered a timely reminder of his expertise before Saturday’s home game with Manchester United, against whom Rondón scored the winning goal on their last visit to The Hawthorns.The odd remark Pulis made amid his praise for his striker was this: “He finds it extremely difficult to understand how hard every game is in the Premier League.”...
Encouraging signs in their past four games indicate there is sustainable change afoot at The Hawthorns with a trip to Premier League leaders Chelsea next upWhen Tony Pulis signed a one-year contract extension at West Bromwich Albion in October, he spoke of how he intended to move the club forward but warned against the scourge he has devoted his career to trying to eradicate: wishful thinking. “There’s a star in the sky and everyone is pointing at that star,” he tut-tutted. “They’re not looking at other things left, right and centre.”Pulis is not a manager who spends time gazing at stars but that is not to say he eschews high aims. And look, West Bromwich are suddenly seventh in the...
As he reaches his 1,000th match as a manager with West Brom’s trip to his old club Stoke, Tony Pulis is wearily accustomed to people denigrating his management style but says the secret of his longevity is his ability to adjustAutumn 1992. Tony Pulis is a rookie manager at Bournemouth setting out on the long road that has brought him to the point of his 1,000th match. His first company car, a gift from the chairman, Norman Hayward, has already been to the garage after smoke started pouring out of the dashboard on the M3 and Pulis is getting an early lesson in the economics of lower-division football.“The chairman has bought me a car that’s about 20 years old,” Pulis...