Tony Pulis, Manager 2002-2005 & 2006- 2013 Tony Pulis left Stoke City by mutual consent on 21st May 2013. He will be remembered with many mixed memories. They will range from sheer joy to sheer frustration by supporters of our club. The joy that gripped supporters when Tony Pulis kept us in the Championship on 4th May 2003 as Stoke beat Reading 1-0. Tony had joined Stoke when it looked as if we were heading back to the 3rd tier of football, shipping goals and looking a complete mess as a team. He moulded a solid defence and made us a difficult team to beat and we somehow managed to retain our Championship status on the final day of the season. Conversely, supporters have grown frustrated over time with the stubborn attitude shown by Tony Pulis and the lack of ambition shown by his team in some games. I would on behalf of Stoke City Southern Supporters Club thank Tony Pulis for all his efforts as manager. He was the first manager to take our club to a F.A. Cup Final. In that season we had the opportunity to see that famous 5-0 battering of Bolton, a game which will live in the memory for many a day. The final against Manchester City was just a game too much. A wonderful occasion but one when the team either did not turn up or did not believe they could win. Thank you Tony Pulis for the adventure. Who can forget those wins against âthat team from North Londonâ as Tony says himself. The FA Cup win against Arsenal. The 3-1 win the week before the Cup Final. Oh what a full blooded affair that was. An abiding memory was seeing Tony Pulis run to the dugout at the start of the second half against Aston Villa (2011/2012) after his mother had died. We came back to win that game 2-1 and it was really an emotional day. Tell us how many other managers would have done that? With Manchester City qualifying for the Champions League we went automatically into the Europa League and this was another great adventure for all of us for which we had waited 35 years. Our last trips abroad were back in the early 1970âs and very short lived. Stoke City and Tony Pulis represented England in Europe in 6 different countries. Tony Pulis took us into the last 32 and we were the only representatives from the UK in the knockout stages. A great time was had by all and no doubt many of those reading this will be able to add their own stories. Tony Pulis is famed within Stoke-on-Trent for his charity work , for the Donna Louise Trust. He ran the London Marathon, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and ran with the Olympic torch through the Potteries in 2012. He encouraged team members to get involved with the local community and this was achieved to great effect. Stoke City in the shape of Peter Coates and Tony Pulis has provided stability over the past 7 years and the club has without doubt moved in the right direction. Games are well attended, the club did peak last year at 22,000 season ticket holders, the Academy has flourished under the eye of Peter Coates and is now one of the best in the country. So why has Tony left? We are told that the club wanted to go in a different direction. It seems that Tony Pulis could not or would not change his philosophy. A personal view is that there was also tension between the Academy and Tony Pulis. Also it might be seen as quite significant that season tickets sales for next season are down we believe to 16,000 at present We can only speculate and see what comes out into the press in the next 10 days or so. In conclusion, let me reiterate the gratitude of all supporters to Tony Pulis for taking our club to a whole different level. As we wait, at the time of writing, for the appointment of his successor, we should recognise that thanks to Tony Pulis, he has a great deal to live up to in ensuring further progress. I hope some of you will see that I think this is a balanced view and yes I could have said an awful lot more but that would never be published of course. Cris
Well written article, Cris, and thank you. Only time will tell whether the appointment of Mark Hughes as manager is the right move by the club. It will seem strange, initially, not to have Tony Pulis at the helm next season. He has been Stoke City for the last 10 or so years and he has taken us on a journey no one would have expected at the start of his tenure. However it seemed that over the last 18 months the team had lost it's way somewhat and the euphoria of the FA Cup run in 2011 and the Europa League adventure seemed to die away and the Premier League performances declined especially in the second half of each of the last 2 seasons. The views of the loyal supporters were predominantly that Pulis had taken the club as far as he could and his negativity away from home especially was becoming tiresome.
Spot on Cris, as usual. I think his negative approach,and always `bigging` up the opposition and giving the impression that `little ol` Stoke couldn`t really compete against the `big`clubs or at least having a `go` at them, (despite spending the best part of £90 million on players) eventually got to the players and fans. He just couldn`t change his style of play which worked for a while but was being increasingly `sussed` by almost every team. We only just hung on this year,but if he had stayed I think we would most definately have gone next season. We may still go down,and although I didn`t want Hughes initially,he HAS got to prove himself as a successful manager after the debacle at QPR, and it may just work out.However,be under no illusions, should he be only a little bit successful and a `bigger` club comes calling,he`ll be off like a shot!
Thanks for the comments both of you. For me the faults were as follows: 1 Always talking up the oppostion. 2. His negative approach away from home and also at home more and more. 3. Crass comments to the media. 4. Stupid substitutions being made. 5. Always saying how ell we played when we were either pretty ordinary or poor. The performances against Fulham, West Ham, and Villa probably sealed his fate. When we met Tony Scholes for an evening with the Head of Youth Development, and the Academy Manger on the evening prior to QPR, it was evident to me that Pulis was going after Southampton, whether we stayed up or not. For me, I hope Highes has learnt a big lesson from his days at QPR. He thought he was too big for Fulham and having done reasonably well there resigned and if I am correct, in the hope of landing a bigger club. I personally think he will appreciate the stability that the likes of Peter Coates offers and will welcome a fresh challenge without a demanding foreign investor looking over his shoulder at each move, which he had at Man City, Fulham and QPR. As you say time will tell.
Firstly many thanks for that well written article and probably how TP should be remembered in a respectful way by the club, supporters and city. I agree with the above points but for me the main issue was the frequent conduct issues within the club which led to the ousting and isolation of certain players (good & bad), which was on occassions unprofessional and on others blatently childish.
Chris, Thanks , you have remindeed me of some of the things I should be and am gratefull for under the TP stewardship. I am not his greatest fan but he did acheive some great things for Stoke City football club.
Smithers Completely agree. Discipline was a bugbear fro me as well. I did not agree how he would have double standards. One rule for Fuller and another for the rest. We shall not know what Pennant got upto but I do think that Pulis was vindicative in the extreme to the detriment of the club. Off topic I have written reports on all games for April and May if anybody is interested for our latest newsletter downhere. Please send PM
