Tony Pulis has revealed his sympathy for under-pressure managers and believes they should stick together.
His West Bromwich Albion side host Everton on Monday with the visitors unbeaten in their past five games and the hosts having won seven points from their last nine.
The Everton manager, Roberto Martínez, managed to keep John Stones from joining Chelsea this summer while Pulis and West Brom were able to ensure Saido Berahino stayed despite four bids from Tottenham.
Pulis said he empathised with Martínez’s situation and understands what other managers in the Premier League are going through, in all aspects of their job.
“Pressure is on you at times and you have to deal with it and handle it,” he said. “Then other times it’s not on you, it’s on someone else and you have great sympathy for other people because you know what they’re going through and what it’s all about it. It’s a tough old job this one.”
West Brom took Midlands bragging rights with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa last week to claim their third straight clean sheet in the Premier League. They have only conceded goals to Chelsea and Manchester City this season but Pulis, who will recall the strikers Salomón Rondón and Berahino after resting them in the League Cup defeat at Norwich in midweek, believes they can now strike the right balance between defence and attack.
He said: “We’ve played six games and have four clean sheets. The basis of what we work on and talk about, the lads have been very good at. Against Aston Villa we looked like we would score goals.
“We had looked threatening at times against Manchester City and Chelsea but without being really dominant in creating chances. Against Villa we should have scored more goals.”
