16-04-2015, 13:51
You're forgetting, Aries, that Tony Pulis is the HEAD COACH.
That tasks him with making sure the players at his disposal are fit; in the right frame of mind by the Saturday; understand the game plan; get a Churchillian team talk when necessary (eg the Villa and QPR games, and then, if they took no notice of him for those games, he makes it quite clear that he doesn't want them to play as if they couldn't give a toss - and give the ball away 20 to 30 times during the NEXT match!) I've never seen an Albion team play so poorly (within their capabilities) for so many games ON THE TROT.
"Who else at the time" and "keeping Alan Irvine" is irrelevant - those 2 questions are dead and buried.
He is not (officially) in charge of Buying and Selling, but he no doubt had some input when bringing in Fletcher and Manamana, and releasing Varelo, Blanco, Samaras, etc who he could at least have brought into the team if the players at his disposal put in poor performances.
We can only guess that Poco and Gamboa haven't got their hearts in it. Only guess. (Head Coach's job is to sit and talk to them, put an arm round their shoulders or fume at them) Same with Wisdom?
What about Mulumbu? Are we to suppose that his heart's not in it? If so, that's the 1st time in 5-6 years that he hasn't given everything for this Club. He's been far and away our best player over that period without any doubt. He's at his peak (28), and he's exactly what the team needs right now. If he's been carrying an injury for such a long time, the Head Coach should be having stern words with the Medical and Training Staff under his control.
The worst, very worst, example of TP's poor decision-making was on Saturday (at about the 55 minute marK) when, from our 1st forage into the Leicester half of the pitch for 1/2 hour. Morrison, if you remember, had bust a gut to win a freekick on the corner of their box. It was almost a relief for the defenders, and Lescott and GMac were dashing up, motivated by the thought that we could go 3-1 up, and take all the wind out of Leicester's sail......then the Head Coach ordered them back to the 1/2 way line with the purpose of clinging on to that lead for another 35 mins. (And he probably thought that a point would do!) That moment destroyed it for me, and I'm surprised to hear a good word for the bloke. Shocking!
Having said all of that, I'd absolutely love it if he parked the bus for 6 games, and we sneaked another couple of points for safety!
Even if that were the case, if TP was on a 6-month contract just to keep us up, I'd expect JP to go looking for a replacement at the end of May. I know we looked relegation candidates up until he took over. But our mid-season matches have been relatively easy, and we MIGHT have been a lot more adventurous in some of those games, but the last 1/2 dozen games have been much much worse than anything we've witnessed for years. TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT - or there will be thousands of season-tickets unsold come August.
That tasks him with making sure the players at his disposal are fit; in the right frame of mind by the Saturday; understand the game plan; get a Churchillian team talk when necessary (eg the Villa and QPR games, and then, if they took no notice of him for those games, he makes it quite clear that he doesn't want them to play as if they couldn't give a toss - and give the ball away 20 to 30 times during the NEXT match!) I've never seen an Albion team play so poorly (within their capabilities) for so many games ON THE TROT.
"Who else at the time" and "keeping Alan Irvine" is irrelevant - those 2 questions are dead and buried.
He is not (officially) in charge of Buying and Selling, but he no doubt had some input when bringing in Fletcher and Manamana, and releasing Varelo, Blanco, Samaras, etc who he could at least have brought into the team if the players at his disposal put in poor performances.
We can only guess that Poco and Gamboa haven't got their hearts in it. Only guess. (Head Coach's job is to sit and talk to them, put an arm round their shoulders or fume at them) Same with Wisdom?
What about Mulumbu? Are we to suppose that his heart's not in it? If so, that's the 1st time in 5-6 years that he hasn't given everything for this Club. He's been far and away our best player over that period without any doubt. He's at his peak (28), and he's exactly what the team needs right now. If he's been carrying an injury for such a long time, the Head Coach should be having stern words with the Medical and Training Staff under his control.
The worst, very worst, example of TP's poor decision-making was on Saturday (at about the 55 minute marK) when, from our 1st forage into the Leicester half of the pitch for 1/2 hour. Morrison, if you remember, had bust a gut to win a freekick on the corner of their box. It was almost a relief for the defenders, and Lescott and GMac were dashing up, motivated by the thought that we could go 3-1 up, and take all the wind out of Leicester's sail......then the Head Coach ordered them back to the 1/2 way line with the purpose of clinging on to that lead for another 35 mins. (And he probably thought that a point would do!) That moment destroyed it for me, and I'm surprised to hear a good word for the bloke. Shocking!
Having said all of that, I'd absolutely love it if he parked the bus for 6 games, and we sneaked another couple of points for safety!
Even if that were the case, if TP was on a 6-month contract just to keep us up, I'd expect JP to go looking for a replacement at the end of May. I know we looked relegation candidates up until he took over. But our mid-season matches have been relatively easy, and we MIGHT have been a lot more adventurous in some of those games, but the last 1/2 dozen games have been much much worse than anything we've witnessed for years. TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT - or there will be thousands of season-tickets unsold come August.