Tony Pulis isn't dead (yet)

[phonics]

They're going to get Big Sam in and change fucking nothing aren't they?

[Kikó]

Megson is back!

[Browning]

That and the "Celebs that are now dead" thread being bumped at the same time was genuinely concerning.

[Jimmy Floyd]

All managers now are basically in three categories:

- Proper English football man
- Enigmatic continental wunderkind with a poor command of English which adds an undeserved air of mystical knowledge
- Claude Puel

West Brom moving from 1 straight to 3 I reckon.

[Kikó]

Where does Gary Megson fit?

-Louis CK lookalike

[Jimmy Floyd]

He used to be a proper football man, but I don't know if you lose your membership card after a certain number of sackings.

[Spammer]

WBA need Tony Pulis to get out of this mess. I've heard he's available.

[Giggles]

Coleman would nearly have landed that. His agent must be shit.

[Disco]

He used to be a proper football man, but I don't know if you lose your membership card after a certain number of sackings.

Don't be mad, being a proper football man supercedes actually being competent at anything.

[Magic]

What sort of cuntish thread title is that?

[phonics]

My old man has chipped in. He says if it's Big Sam, they riot.

[Baz]

What sort of cuntish thread title is that?518331570172989440

[niko_cee]

Haven't they got a dodgy Asian owner? It'll be Zola or similar.

Koeman?

[Raoul Duke]

Koeman, followed by relegation trying to be a bit fancy, would be great. Shit club.

[Giggles]

I remember saying that once and Phonics had a breakdown.

[igor_balis]

:dance::dance::dance::dance::dance::dance::dance:: dance::dance::dance:

[igor_balis]

McInnes plz

[Raoul Duke]

Is that a regen?

[Lewis]

I like to think that phonics puts 'middle class (but my dad supports West Brom)' on surveys.

[igor_balis]

I'm not a very violent man but any one of you cunts who wants to make the cliched "WHAT DO THEY EXPECT DO THEY THINK THEY SHOULD BE WINNING 3-0 EVERY WEEK AND CHALLENGING FOR EUROPE HOPE THEY GET RELEGATED DELUDED CLUB SHIT FANS", having not actually watched any of our games this season or bothered to read what typical West Brom fans have actually been saying I'll pay Baz to use his hacker skills to find out where you work and I'll give you all a fucking kicking you twats.

[Lewis]

'Is this really what we mean by "Justice for Jeff"?'

[Raoul Duke]

At least you sold Berahinho

[igor_balis]

"don't know what you've got till it's gone" - would genuinely, on balance, be happy with Pulis going even if we go down.

[Offshore Toon]

Didn't you go to a game this season and then said you enjoyed the shit football?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Everton should appoint him innit.

[Kikó]

I'm not sure what West Brom fans are expecting? Champions league? Be careful what you wish for!!

[John]

I'll take him at Rangers. We could do with someone capable of organising a defence, it's been years since we've had that.

[igor_balis]

Didn't you go to a game this season and then said you enjoyed the shit football?

I think really I just enjoyed going to the footy with the lads for the first time in ages. Plus, that game we played Brunt and Nyom at fullback, and had a midfield 3 of Barry, Livermore and Morrison. Since Evans recovered from his injury he's shunted fucking Dawson to right back, and gone with 3DMs having signed Gregorz. We've gone to 2 newly promoted sides and played 3 DMs. I can tolerate gritty football, but that's just tactical incompetence.

[Giggles]

They should hire Martin O'Neill so the players don't have to transition to passing.

[Shindig]

A Tony Pulis Wales might be the most amazing or disappointing thing known to man. They'll either Greece their way to victory or Bale and Ramsey will spiral into depression.

[phonics]

I like to think that phonics puts 'middle class (but my dad supports West Brom)' on surveys.

My Dads the middle class one. It's the other side you have to watch for.

[Jimmy Floyd]

A Tony Pulis Wales might be the most amazing or disappointing thing known to man. They'll either Greece their way to victory or Bale and Ramsey will spiral into depression.

Bale playing an exact role replacement for Chris Brunt, winning throw-ins and taking set pieces. Ramsey out of the squad.

Back in the Stoke days Matthew Etherington was in the side purely to win throw-ins for Delap, no one ever noticed it but I did.

[Boydy]

My Dads the middle class one. It's the other side you have to watch for.

Isn't your mum some high-flying exec?

[Boydy]

If Michael O'Neill is gonna leave Northern Ireland I'd like to see him in the premier league so they should go for him.

[Giggles]

If Michael O'Neill is gonna leave Northern Ireland I'd like to see him in the premier league so they should go for him.

I thought he'd gone to Scotland already.

[igor_balis]

Pulis taking the Welsh job and moving Bale back to left back would be brilliant, in fairness. TBFH I think he'd do pretty well for them. I quite liked the mad conspiracy theory I read that he was deliberately tanking with us because he wanted to join Wales but get a payout for being sacked from us as well.

[Magic]

I thought he'd gone to Scotland already.

So did I.

[igor_balis]

As you're reading the thread and IIRC you're a Stoke fan, what are your thoughts on Pulis, nsd ?

[phonics]

Isn't your mum some high-flying exec?

Yep. Girl done good.

[nsd]

As you're reading the thread and IIRC you're a Stoke fan, what are your thoughts on Pulis, nsd ?

I agree with everything you've said, really. To fans of other teams, Pulis is as close as you can get to guaranteed survival every season, but the way he achieves that is some of the most mind-numbing, soul destroying 'entertainment' there is. Even disregarding the tactics, his habit of buying players then not playing them/playing them out of position/falling out with them for some arbitrary reason is massively frustrating. And of course, he always has 'plans' and 'intentions' of bringing in more technical players and improving the style of play, but these plans never seem to materialise and game after game it's Robert Huth at fullback and Charlie Adam on the wing (and of course, it's never his fault, it's always down to a lack of resources or the board having no ambition or the fans expecting too much). During his final season at Stoke when 90% of the fanbase had turned against him (and even before, when the dissent was quieter), we always got the whole 'be careful what you wish for, look at Charlton, who else could realistically do better), which is fine when you're not having to watch it every single week.

I don't deny that he did great things for Stoke, and for a brief moment in time (the latter half of our FA Cup Final season) the football was actually exciting to watch. But then, in true Tone fashion, he changes it for no reason whatsoever and we're back to 10 men behind the ball, hoofing it up to Sidibe and playing for throw-ins. Him and Stoke were the perfect fit for each other at one point, but he wasn't capable (and had no intention) of even trying to take us any further, and the sacking might even have come a season too late in the eyes of a lot of fans.

It doesn't help that despite the facade he puts forward in the media, he is a foul, petty, arrogant individual who can't let go of any perceived slight and has a giant chip on his shoulder. Hiring and firing him were probably two of the best decisions Peter Coates has ever made.

[Kikó]

What do you think of Hughes? I get the feeling he must be on borrowed time but it's never said.

[nsd]

What do you think of Hughes? I get the feeling he must be on borrowed time but it's never said.

I'm really torn on Hughes. He's a bit like Pulis in that he changed the setup for no reason when we were playing really, really well. At the end of last season, I 100% wanted him gone, then after a few games we were decent so it seemed like he'd got things in order again, so now I'm unsure. I think it would take a lot for Coates to sack a manager during the season, so we've probably got him until at least May.

He decided on this 3 at the back thing towards the end of last season, and it just doesn't suit the players we have. I also don't think he has a clue what he wants in front of the defence; the 3 CBs and wingbacks he's very clear on, but attacking wise it's all very disjointed and I don't think he's clear in what he wants from the players in their roles, so they're just kind of all over the place. At wingback we have probably our best striker on one side and Erik Pieters on the other, and he is absolutely hopeless in attacking positions. If we want to play this system he's decided on we need another 3/4 players for it to be really effective, and we've needed that for probably 18 months and there doesn't seem to have been any effort to really sort out the weak spots, so we're stuck with players who don't really fit into how he wants us to play. As much as I love him, it says a lot that we're still almost completely reliant on Peter Crouch up front.

Outside of QPR his record is actually quite good, and we've had a few years of decent stability under him, I'd just like for us to show some ambition and try to progress from 9th place finishes.

In short, keep him for now because I just don't know who I'd want to replace him that would be realistic. I also don't think Coates would go for a non-British manager, or at least one that hadn't managed here before. I just know that if he went now, our list of options would be something like Pearson, Pardew, Allardyce, maybe Ranieri? Which is quite uninspiring. If we had to go the British route I'd like for us to take a chance on someone from the Championship like Lee Johnson or Rowett. Even Jokanovic from Fulham.

[Lewis]

Remember when Tony Pulis stuck a naked headbutt on James Beattie? That probably bought him that extra season.

[Kikó]

"don't know what you've got till it's gone" - would genuinely, on balance, be happy with Pulis going even if we go down.

Still true? :sherlock:

[phonics]

The speed at which I clicked this thread when I saw a new post was only matched by the disapointment to find it was an old thread.

[SvN]

Likewise, I saw the title and thought "Holy shit?!" then remembered what it was. It was a shit title then and still is now.

[Giggles]

In amongst our vast array of engineers, have we any mechanical wizards?

[igor_balis]

Still true? :sherlock:

I'm not sure. I hadn't considered the prospect of replacing him with Pardew, one of an extremely exclusive group of managers I dislike more and rate less than Pulis. Given the choice between the two I honestly probably would have stuck with Pulis, but I think we'd have gone down regardless. We were probably relegated by Pulis's awful recruitment policy in the summer, and it was just confirmed by waiting so late to get rid and replacing him with fucking Pardew.

[Magic]

In amongst our vast array of engineers, have we any mechanical wizards?

You'll need to pay consultancy fees.

[igor_balis]

In order of preference:

1. Originally only hire him for the half season he came in to save us from relegation, then part ways amicably with a nice bonus to him for keeping us up
2. Never appoint him in the first place
3. Get rid at the end of last season after an awful run of form and several seasons of shit football and filling our squad with overplaid slow shite
4. Get rid really early this season when it was obvious he'd lost it and there was still time to salvage our season
5. Get rid this season when it was probably too late, and replace with someone who wasn't Pardew
6. Just let the cunt have the rest of the season
7. Get rid this season when it was proabbly too late and replace with Pardew

[Lewis]

Has any club ever hired someone specifically to keep them up and then told them to fuck off having done so? The coconuts on any chairman who did that. :cool:

[igor_balis]

Has any club ever hired someone specifically to keep them up and then told them to fuck off having done so? The coconuts on any chairman who did that. :cool:

I dunno but I think it makes sense, especially with someone like Pulis who is really good at getting the best out of a dysyfunctional side and grinding out results, but is absolutely awful at long-term squad building and shit. That man shouldn't be trusted with a transfer budget. It's also why I think he'd be great managing a mediocre international side.

[Giggles]

You'll need to pay consultancy fees.

This was meant to be in the jobs thread. I was wondering where the fuck it was.

[phonics]

Igor did you see the stuff from the new Chairman coming in?

He's saying, 'I can't believe what happened in 12 months' but I can't see that much change in the lthat time for him to be not just blaming the guy who did the period between.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I dunno but I think it makes sense, especially with someone like Pulis who is really good at getting the best out of a dysyfunctional side and grinding out results, but is absolutely awful at long-term squad building and shit. That man shouldn't be trusted with a transfer budget. It's also why I think he'd be great managing a mediocre international side.

Totally absurd that Wales didn't hire him. They were probably scared of the bad publicity or something.

[Shindig]

I thought he did the long-term thing at Stoke well.