How Tony Pulis saved West Bromwich season
When ex-Stoke and Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis arrived, West Bromwich Albion were sat in 16th and only one point above the relegation zone.
Nearly three months later, the Baggies are now comfortably in 13th in the Premier League and look almost certain to have avoided relegation. So how has Pulis turned the club around?
Pulis is a highly respected manager having coached for over 20 years, where he has honed his ability to rejuvenate failing clubs on only a very small budget. This, coupled with his focus on shoring up defensive lines, made him an ideal fit for West Brom. The Welshman can be described as an old school type manager who will endeavour to make each of his players feel valued, focussing on their individual strengths rather than weaknesses.
In a short amount of time the Pulis effect is already apparent at the Hawthorns. February was particularly good for both manager and players as Albion went through the entire month unbeaten, including three clean sheets and a Manager of the Month award.
Now with only a handful of games to go, including fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester United and a final day of the season trip to Arsenal, the 57-year-old will need to keep his squad focussed, particularly in defence.
Considering Albion only just avoided relegation last season by finishing 17th, anything higher after a season of uncertainty can be deemed a success. Pulis is already said to be looking to the future, with plans to reshape the squad come summer where he’ll look to strengthen key areas. After all, it hasn’t been plan sailing recently with the Baggies being knocked out of the FA Cup and suffering a 2-1 defeat, both at the hands of bitter local rivals Aston Villa.
One of Albion’s best signings under the guidance of Tony Pulis has been the acquisition of ex-Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher. Already given the captain’s armband, Fletcher has added some stability to the heart of Albion’s midfield and his arrival has unsurprisingly coincided with their resurgence.
Another positive has been the changes seen in Brown Ideye. The striker cost the club a record fee of £10million last year, but the Nigerian had little impact until Pulis started working with him. Ideye now looks a changed man who is slowly finding the net again, and crucially scored West Brom’s winner against Stoke.
Citing lack of support in the transfer market as his reason for quitting Palace hopefully Pulis will get the money to make the signings he needs in the summer and come the 2015/16 season he can focus less on staying up and more on pushing West Brom up the table.
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If any manager has the experience to guide a club like Albion to stability it is Tony Pulis so the powers that be would do well to keep him happy if they don’t want a new manager come August.
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