Is Tony Pulis the Premier League manager of the season?
08.05.09
Those who follow lower league football will know that Stoke City’s Tony Pulis has been a deeply unpopular figure for years.
He was controversial at Gillingham, despised at Bristol City, hated at Portsmouth, and fervently detested by many at Stoke until about 18 months ago. Plymouth fans weren’t entirely heartbroken to see the back of him either.
A deep surprise then at just how brilliant he has been in his first Premier League season.
Since he took over from Harry Redknapp at Bournemouth all those years ago, the angry yokel has moaned, groaned and booted his way through campaigns, yet he’s kept Stoke City afloat in the Premier League with quiet dignity. No explosions, no mad ranting like Hull’s Phil Brown, lots of long balls and superb home wins.
Of the three teams who came up from the Championship few fancied Stoke City to be the success story. WBA had the class, Hull City had the momentum. What did Stoke have? A manager in a cheap looking baseball cap and someone who could throw a ball to Jupiter.
“The fact that everyone had written us off actually appealed to the people in this area,” said Pulis. “It brought us all together. The more stick we took, and the more people have written us off, the more it helped us, without a question of doubt.”
This weekend Stoke travel to Hull City. A point will surely see them utterly safe. A defeat could even be enough! It’ll be 1-1. It’s always 1-1 between Hull and Stoke oddly enough.
In a season of some truly brilliant managerial performances, there surely have not been many better than Tony Pulis at Stoke.
Credit to Gianfranco Zola, Steve Bruce, David Moyes, Harry Redknapp, Martin O’Neill and in particular Roy Hodgson – all have been brilliant. But has anyone been better than Pulis? Possibly not…
So who has been your manager of the season?....
He was controversial at Gillingham, despised at Bristol City, hated at Portsmouth, and fervently detested by many at Stoke until about 18 months ago. Plymouth fans weren’t entirely heartbroken to see the back of him either.
A deep surprise then at just how brilliant he has been in his first Premier League season.
Since he took over from Harry Redknapp at Bournemouth all those years ago, the angry yokel has moaned, groaned and booted his way through campaigns, yet he’s kept Stoke City afloat in the Premier League with quiet dignity. No explosions, no mad ranting like Hull’s Phil Brown, lots of long balls and superb home wins.
Of the three teams who came up from the Championship few fancied Stoke City to be the success story. WBA had the class, Hull City had the momentum. What did Stoke have? A manager in a cheap looking baseball cap and someone who could throw a ball to Jupiter.
“The fact that everyone had written us off actually appealed to the people in this area,” said Pulis. “It brought us all together. The more stick we took, and the more people have written us off, the more it helped us, without a question of doubt.”
This weekend Stoke travel to Hull City. A point will surely see them utterly safe. A defeat could even be enough! It’ll be 1-1. It’s always 1-1 between Hull and Stoke oddly enough.
In a season of some truly brilliant managerial performances, there surely have not been many better than Tony Pulis at Stoke.
Credit to Gianfranco Zola, Steve Bruce, David Moyes, Harry Redknapp, Martin O’Neill and in particular Roy Hodgson – all have been brilliant. But has anyone been better than Pulis? Possibly not…
So who has been your manager of the season?....
Comments
Comments
RegorTtenneb
Its either him or Roy Hodgson. I just hope they dont pull a PFA and name Ferguson.
Comments
You must be logged-in to leave comments