Quite rightly in my opinion Pulis has been taking a battering on here....BUT, is it really all down to him? Taking a few steps back and referring to a recent post from Sgt Potter regarding Swansea and their footballing philosophy, they have had 3 managers over the past few years, Martinez, Rodgers and now Laudrop, each one has had the same idea on how to play football. The common thread is the Chairman, Huw Jenkins, who has provided that continuity through his choice of manager, ergo, and it is not too much of an assumption that his team play the way HE wants them to play and is I presume, happy with the outcome (as he very well should be). Which eventually comes to my point, this is the second time Peter Coates has employed Pulis, Pulis was the only manager under consideration the second time around and has presumably been so since 2006. So the question is, Peter Coates must be happy at the way Stoke play and with the way Pulis manages his team. I know that is an extremely simplistic argument but like Occam's Razor, it is usually the most obvious answer that is correct. Or..here comes my long held Tax Loss conspiracy theory. Just a thought.
I blame TP fully. He has had the money and bought alot of rubbish and he has the players to play more effective football. The results are average to say the least so unless Coates has told him to lose more games than he wins and play **** football so the fans turn - I cant see who else the blame can be attributed to?
Probably several reasons. 1. He likes the bloke and feels a sense of loyality after getting us promoted and more suprisingly keeping us there in the first couple of seasons. 2. He's old and less likely to make emotional decisions; i.e. Fire & Hire. 3. Coates operates in more of an honary position and is the face of the club, its actually his daughter and the rest of the family (who control bet 365) who make the decisions. 4. Coates wants to be the saviour of Stoke City and hence (similiar to TP's views of players) doesn't want a manager to upstage him or the club. 5. TP is actually a YES man. 6. Coates made elementary mistakes in Stoke rise to premier league glory by allowing TP to spend and spend badly. The problem now being that the investment money has been spent and he is struggling to bring someone in who could manage the squad - hence known as the "TPIP" - Tony Pulis Insurance Policy. 7. TP gives good head?
I agree with that Smithers and would think that Coates trusts TP's word if not his ability. No 7 would explain an awful lot.
Yup - makes sense to me. Get your hat, get your coates, Leave your worries on the doorstep, Take good care of yourself, you belong to me. Oh well
As long as Pulis keeps Stoke City football club in the premier league, Coates will be happy. I do actually think though that the Pulis/Coates honeymoon period is starting to wane. Pulis has come out and said after our 2 last away defeats about other clubs having more resources at their disposal, which I think is a low blow towards Coates as I think he has put a stop on Pulis blowing his cash, hence the poor January transfer window!
Nicky I did kind of ask this question the other day... does Mr Coates actually (care) that a lot of the football is well, garbage? In fairness he HAS provided TP with more than enough money and I think Waddo is quite right. During that interview after the Arsenal game. Pulis seemed like he had lost a fortune and found a ten pence piece. In short, personally I think (he knows the money is no longer there, he can't offload the crap player's he brought in) He touched on this during the interview. He KNOWS as well as we do that FULL BACKS are a must. Can he keep us up this season? I think so but IMO we will not finish top half. Flip the coin and we LOSE vs Reading on Saturday we're looking down and not mid table security.
Is it possible that poor results are being engineered to maximise profits from betting stakes placed at 365 ?
Whaaaat - soap and water KKB. This on the same day as match fixing revalations!!! Shame on ye!!! Hang on though......