TP's Tenure

You might be thinking "for Christ's sake, not another one of those Tony Pulis blog posts." It should be accepted by now that the Albion Head Coach is one of the most divisive figures in football, and my thoughts on him have never been hidden, but as the 2016/17 closed a little less than a week ago I feel I can give a real review of his tenure.

Two and a half seasons ago, Tony Pulis took charge of what West Bromwich Albion; a ship that had been on the verge of sinking for 18 months. Upon his arrival on New Year's Day 2015 he immediately set out his plan that he wanted our great club to become great again (that's right, "tinpot" brigade) and during an FA Cup 3rd round tie against Gateshead is influence was seen straight away. 40 minutes against opposition we should have turned over as easy as a pancake on Shrove Tuesday, we were made to look like the non-league side. This was a game in which Pulis was supposed be as much a spectator as you and I, but he'd had enough. Once his instructions were given, Saido Berahino scored the first of four stunners and we went on to win 7-0.

This was the biggest margin a Pulis side had ever won a game by, and with the right motivation, showed that the team he had been handed were capable of ultimately climbing up the table. Freezing out squad players Sebastian Blanco, Georgios Samaras, Jason Davidson and, upsettingly to me, Silvestre Varela, as well as sending stalwart regular Graham Dorrans on loan to Norwich City, the new Head Coach was clearly making his mark. The signing of my favourite captain Darren Fletcher was a move in the right direction to give a sense of real leadership to a group of great lads.

The latter end of 2014/15 endured the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,but ultimately we were better off than we were 12 months previously.

And that is where we should have said "thank you very much Tony for a job well done" before it began.

That summer Albion's recruitment shifted hugely in that Pulis wanted control of transfers (understandably as he'd be the one working with them directly). Dorrans left for Norwich permanently and much-loved Youssouf Mulumbu followed shortly after. Those on the periphery also departed and in came James McClean, Salomon Rondon and Jonny Evans, all capable replacements, as well as James Chester, Rickie Lambert and Anders Lindegaard. The latter three would come to be a main focus to why many are sceptical of Pulis' policy.

The 2015/16 was a very mixed bag. As I look back on it I cannot think of a single game in which I enjoyed it so much I can talk about it now with fondness (I know what those i know are thinking, Tottenham away was for different reasons!) like I do with others. Other than achieving safety it is not a season we can look back on and say it made a huge difference to the history of our club.

Last season is still very fresh in our minds, and compared to the aforementioned, more memories were made, albeit after a sluggish start and thoughts of "here we go again". The turning point was defeating reigning Champions Leicester City on their soil and we went on an outstanding run for four months without losing to a team below our 8th place standing. The belief of it being a "fantastic season" comes from this run, where a player Pulis has had a longstanding admiration for, Matt Phillips, was an integral cog. But let's not forget the returns of our own current longstanding figures who made a huge impact; James Morrison and Chris Brunt.

After putting Arsenal to the sword on 18th March, Albion didn't find the net again until 6th May! And the fact that right back Craig Dawson scored four of Albion's previous seven goals proved just where the weakness lay. We were extremely close to catching Everton in 7th place in February with a significant gap between us and 9th place. In the penultimate week Southampton finally overtook us; at one stage being around FOURTEEN points behind us, and Bournemouth completed the feat on the final day to make us drop to 10th. Tottenham Hotspur have been called "bottlers" for constantly ending their seasons with a whimper. To have been 8th place since November to let it slip from our grasp in the final TWO games in our "fantastic season", what does that make us?

Albion fans have the right to feel angry, upset and underwhelmed after finally having times to be happy, to have ended the previous two seasons in worst form under a manager with a great survival record than under the previous three who had been sacked for much less.

The argument that Pulis is yet to have his own squad at his disposal also frustrates many. Yes, we should be grateful he enticed Darren Fletcher and Jonny Evans to sign for "little old West Brom", but with jury still out on Matt Phillips due to his injury record (albeit he had an outstanding mid-season), and certainly Jake Livermore, who replaced Claudio Yacob in arguably the best form of his Albion career. Flops (under his stewardship) such as Callum McManaman, James Chester and Rickie Lambert still stick in the mind aswell.

The first few links of this summer to be John Terry and Charlie Taylor, both defenders, also feels quite disheartening when our biggest struggle is scoring goals. Not only that but the character of many Pulis regards is questionable. He tends to look at players with history of issues and will always bring controversy to our club.

Whilst I'm a big believer that all we should care about is how the player plays on the pitch, it is difficult to accept a player who we have booed in the past, although this is just part and parcel of football. And many say to me "who cares what others think of us? I love being hated!" I happen to at least want us to be respected. Tony Pulis is respected in the game, so why does the club he manages not get that respect?

Pulis is a "product of the Premier League brand", a phrase that makes me angry more than anything in the world of football. The club are happy for us to at least finish top half of the elite of English football, so if the Welshman guarantees that, no matter how tedious or in what way it is achieved, they will carry on with him.

From a personal perspective, Albion could be in League 2 with an 80 year old Gareth McAuley and I would still go home and away. I know a lot of fans would jump ship if we got relegated, and a lot of people I respect would lose their job, but coming from a supporter, I'd take entertainment and love of the game again lower down than mediocrity with nothing more to achieve than Premier League safety. Under the Pulis regime, it seems this is all we can ever hope for.