THIS!

As Mark Twain famously stated ""It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

Are we talking about the same Tony Pulis who avoided relegation with a 1-0 win in the Premier League, gave a professional contract to his son, eventually got relegated with Stoke and barely made it back despite the marquee signings, was renown for playing the most inaesthetic football in the Premier League and got sacked again after years of not improving the team, HAVING IN HIS LAST 2 SEASONS AT STOKE THE LEAST GOALS SCORES IN THE LEAGUE? That's less than teams like Bolton, Blackburn, Wolverhampton, Wigan, Reading, QPR or Fulham.

Yes, his WBA is doing good now. They are terrific on the counter attack and pretty much saved themselves from relegation this season, but the idiot manager is still playing Nyom as left back when he's a right footed player, Dawson as right back and Gardner as a winger. The team plays much better with Brunt as left back and the result mostly came when this was the organization, but Pulis sometimes just uses Nyom there, though they also have Galloway.

If he's won some points with WBA doesn't mean he's a manager for the future. He won't build anything at WBA. He won't make the team a better team in the next years. They just have a good run. They'll still be battling relegation next year. Let's put things into perspective for the next 5 years, not just consider the results from 19 games this fall.

Edited by mattteo (11 Jan 2017 1.21pm)

Or a wingback........

Will this be five? It's gonna be five! It IS five!

I was wondering that. Given he's never been relegated as a manager.

"It's almost like a moral decision. Except not really cos noone is going to find out," Jez, Peep Show

Ok, so he didn't get relegated. My mistake. But the other points still stand. His Stoke scored the least number of goals in the Premier League for 2 consecutive seasons and they weren't playing anything. This after he had been manager there for....how many years exactly? This is exactly the reference you need. Not what Pulis does in 6 months.

What's his legacy? What does he do in the long term? He had been training Stoke for such a long time (Kenwyne Jones, Ricardo Fuller, Cameron Jerome) and he took that team from scoring some goals to scoring the least number of goals.

I'm not saying he's the worst manager in the world. But he's overrated. Not everything he or Sam Allardyce (please don't make me call him Big Sam -barf- ) say is good, where this discussion started from.

Someone claimed that if they bid for Schlup, then Schlup must be worth it.
He's a decent player, but he's neither a left back nor a left midfielder. I wouldn't say I'd be unhappy with Schlup in the squad, just that there were other much cheaper options out there. The world doesn;t end with the Premier League, as Pulis and Allardyce seem to think. And as Pardew believed before them. That's why I don't have such a gigantic respect for them as managers. They don't do enough for the money they earn.

How you can say Big Sam is overrated and doesn't take teams forward. You're blinded by your dislike for the guy. Look what he built at Bolton given time. Signed players like N'Gotty, Okocha (spelling), Holdsworth, Ricketts to name a few. Sacked from Blackburn and Newcastle which was a shambles. The venkys ruined that club and 8 months at the poison chalice job was Ludacris. He took West Ham forward from relegation to mid table. Bilic reaped his rewards in his first season now look at West Ham.

Yannick Bolasie - Glenn Murray - Wilfried Zaha

Most exciting attacking trio at Selhurst Park in years.

Firstly I think it is distinctly unfair to suggest Allardyce doesn't look outside the premier league. He has been well known for bringing players in from abroad.

Secondly as far as I can see Pulis' Stoke was the lowest scoring team in one season only while in the top division (2011-12). They aren't high scorers, but otherwise never the lowest (and they still survived by 8 points that season).

Stoke and Swansea are the only two sides to have been promoted to the premier league and not relegated. Given where Swansea are now, I would say that's a pretty successful legacy.

I intensely dislike Pulis (and didn't want Allardyce as our manager) but your complaints just don't seem warranted.

Scoring record:
2008/9: 15th
2009/10: 17th
2010/11: 14th
2011/12: 20th
2012/13: 19th

In 12/13 they conceded 45 goals. That was only 2 more than Man Utd who finished top.

The only way of playing football isn't going all out attack. He takes the resources he has available at the club and does a job with them. The season they actually came closest to relegation (in terms of points) was actually the season they were the 14th top scorers. And that season they finished above Wolves and Blackburn (who both scored the same number of goals as Stoke), Bolton (who scored 6 more) and Blackpool (who scored 9 more).

Edited by OknotOK (11 Jan 2017 4.37pm)

"It's almost like a moral decision. Except not really cos noone is going to find out," Jez, Peep Show

I'm going to try again. He didn't have the lowest scoring team in the 2012/13 season. So it was one season for his 5 in the division.

And given your questionable use of statistics I'm going to be extremely sceptical of the claim that he turned them into the side with the least shots and possession. Especially as you then repeat the claim about least goals which was only true in one year. It may be true but I haven't seen anything that backs it up.

Of course he has had a hand in their survival over the last two years. And I would be very surprised if you'd find a Stoke fan who didn't acknowledge that.

A large number of the team (Butland, Whelan, Adam, Shawcross, Walters, Cameron, and Crouch) joined under Pulis. Of course he has had a legacy at the club.

Edited by OknotOK (11 Jan 2017 4.47pm)

"It's almost like a moral decision. Except not really cos noone is going to find out," Jez, Peep Show

[Link]

Hopefully the Schlupp deal is still on