Tony Pulis To Leave Stoke City After Seven Relatively Successful Years At The Britannia

Chris Wright

21st, May 2013

9 Comments

By Chris Wright

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Stoke City v Norwich City - Britannia Stadium

We’re guessing it has nothing to do with the pig’s head incident or the fact that the Real Madrid job is being freed up imminently, but Stoke City have just announced that Tony Pulis is to leave the club at season’s end after seven years in charge at The Britannia.

The news isn’t quite official yet, but Pulis has been in talks with chairman Peter Coates all this morning and, according to BBC Sport, the announcement isn’t far away now.

It’s easy to be snooty when it comes to Pulis. Of course he wasn’t the most cultured tactician in the game and Stoke were liable to descend into drudgerous hoofery at the drop of a hat – hence all the punchlines – but the man worked wonders at that football club. He obviously loved working at The Potters and really did give them his all.

You may hate his football, but you must admire his achievements: five consecutive seasons in the Premier League after a 23-year absence, one FA Cup Final and a maiden foray into European football no less. Not bad for a man who looks more like a market stall trader with every passing year.

The main problem, we suppose, is that it began grinding on fans and neutrals alike that Stoke were merely happy to consolidate their place in the top flight every season rather than aspire to something more than a team of mid-to-lower-table cloggers – though we must admit that when the calls for Pulis’ head began ramping up at the end of the season our immediate reaction was “who the hell do you think you are? You’re Stoke City for Christ’s sake!”

Pulis won’t be short of offers as and when they come up (he could easily navigate a side out of the Championship with his brand of tough-nut nous) and maybe this is the managerial crossroads the Potters needed to push on?

Either way, we wish both parties the best of luck in their future endeavours.

Posted in Managers, Newsnow, Stoke City

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9 Comments

  1. Bozza says:

    he is leaving to fill the vacancy of the manager position at Real Madrid!

  2. Bozza says:

    He is leaving to fill the vacancy of the manager position at Real Madrid!!

  3. usrick says:

    No matter how often you repeat it, I won’t believe it until it happens.

  4. Al says:

    they should have moved mountains to keep him, they will be relegated within a season or two. See Charlton under Curbishley as the prime example, fans got impatient as they were just threading water in the top half, he left and now I couldn’t even tell you what division they’re in

  5. squiggle says:

    Thank buggery. I don’t usually get football rivalries (Arsenal and Tottenham, for example, seem pretty similar sorts of teams so if I like one there’s not too much to dislike about the other) but I’ve really, really disliked Stoke under Tony Pulis.

    I don’t mind that their football hasn’t been attractive. Well, okay, I do. But what I mind much more (and what sets them apart from other teams) has been combination of thuggishness and whinging that makes me feel depressed just thinking about them.

  6. kdogleash says:

    I reckon he’ll take over at Liverpool if Brendan Rodgers is successfully lured to taking a step down to the 2nd biggest team in the world with the Madrid vacancy……

  7. The Shadow Knows says:

    How do u thread water, I tried once but it kept going over the sides

  8. KingB3113 says:

    These fans will only realize how good they’ve had it when they’re relegated

  9. […] night that Stoke City have appointed Mark Hughes as their new manager, replacing Tony Pulis who left the club last week after seven reasonably successful years at The […]

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