Tony Pulis has insisted that the only way he will leave West Bromwich Albion is if the club sack him. The head coach faced criticism from his own supporters during the defeat at Bournemouth last Saturday, and a change of ownership at the Hawthorns has added to the uncertainty around his future after a fractious couple of weeks. Yet the Welshman has vowed to see out the remainder of a contract that expires next summer.
Whether Pulis gets that opportunity remains to be seen. Albion have won only one of their past 14 matches and bookmakers have installed Pulis as favourite to be the first Premier League manager to lose his job amid growing unrest.
Fans have turned on Pulis because of the team’s style of play – the travelling supporters at Bournemouth sang “Tony Pulis, your football is shit” after Callum Wilson scored the only goal of the game. The 58-year-old has clashed with the board over the club’s summer transfer activity, publicly disagreeing with a statement that John Williams, the chairman, issued after the window closed.
Pulis said he did not regret those comments and, addressing the bigger picture surrounding his position, made it clear that he had no intention of resigning. “I won’t be leaving,” he said. “If I leave, it will be the club’s decision for me to leave, it won’t be my decision.”
Williams is remaining as chairman now that Guochuan Lai’s £170m takeover has gone through, with Albion’s Chinese owner also retaining the services of Jeremy Peace – the man from whom he bought the club – as a consultant.
When it was put to Pulis that a new owner often means a new manager, he replied: “I don’t see it that way. I see it that I’ve signed a contract and I’m going to see that contract through.” Although that scenario would probably suit all parties and almost certainly lead to a new head coach being appointed next summer, Albion may not be able to wait that long if results remain poor. With supporter unrest growing – Albion were booed off after the previous home match against Middlesbrough – the next three fixtures, before the international break, feel crucial. After West Ham on Saturday, Albion travel to Stoke and then Sunderland, all three of those clubs having made poor starts to the season.
Pulis feels that some of the flak he has received is unfair. He pointed out that Albion will be in the top half of the table if they beat West Ham, and was not impressed when the run of results was brought up.
“I think we have got to look at this in perspective, in respect of what we are and where we are as a football club,” he said. “It’s been difficult over the past couple of years because of the changeover and what’s been going on, but we’ve managed to maintain Premier League status. There are a lot of clubs in the Championship who would love to be where we are now.”
The new owner does not speak English and a question about when Pulis will sit down with the new hierarchy was met with a response suggesting nothing is imminent. “If I sit down with the owners,” Pulis interjected. “They’re in China. I’m not sure when they’re coming over, if they’re coming over, or if they’re over here now. But if I get a chance to speak to them I will find out what they want to do and how they see the club going. I think it’s important that we work together and it will be interesting to see how they see the club going.”
