20-12-2015, 04:12
I agree 100% that Pulis' brand of football isn't exciting. However, what I find weird is that most fans failed to recognise that the brand of football under his predecessor was just as bad; but without the steel and organisation.
When Pepe Mel was fired, I wanted us to go for a Laudrup, Bielsa or Flores (Now at Watford) who I thought could keep us up playing a decent brand of football. Instead, JP opted for Alan Irvine, a manager who had never managed at this level and proved nothing in the lower level. A decision that to this day, hasn't been explained.
Make no mistake about it, Irvine's team was worse than this. We played against relegation threatened sides like Leicester and Hull and didn't have a single shot on goal. At home, the 2-0 loss to Newcastle was the worst performance I've seen in my life. To let a bog standard team like that dominate us was an absolute disgrace.
When JP made the decision to sack Irvine, we were in the doldrums and looked dead set to drop. Pulis was an obvious replacement because at that point we just needed points. Not only that, but for 2 years, the dressing room seemed a bit too 'powerful' to say the least.
To be fair to Pulis, he made us genuinely hard to beat and guided us to safety with ease. As well as that, the club doesn't appear to be a 'mess' like it was under Mel and Irvine, and for the latter part of Clarke's reign. It had started to feel like the players were controlling the club, this is no longer the case.
While I agree that Pulis' football is negative and sometimes not easy on the eye, but to be fair to him, there's been progress since he came in. Even when we lose at home, we give it a go. When Bournemouth beat us with an extra man for 65 minutes, we gave it a real go. Same when we lost to Leicester and Everton.
It's not pretty for the purist, but it's an improvement on what he inherited.
Unfortunately the negative football is commonplace in the league now. Mourinho has won the league mutliple times over with a 'defence first' mentality. Van Gaal is very similar and has been at a host of top clubs. Pulis just has the same mindset with a much lower budget... Same with Allardyce and the list goes on...
As long as there is ridiculous money at stake, the 'win first' mentality will remain.
When Pepe Mel was fired, I wanted us to go for a Laudrup, Bielsa or Flores (Now at Watford) who I thought could keep us up playing a decent brand of football. Instead, JP opted for Alan Irvine, a manager who had never managed at this level and proved nothing in the lower level. A decision that to this day, hasn't been explained.
Make no mistake about it, Irvine's team was worse than this. We played against relegation threatened sides like Leicester and Hull and didn't have a single shot on goal. At home, the 2-0 loss to Newcastle was the worst performance I've seen in my life. To let a bog standard team like that dominate us was an absolute disgrace.
When JP made the decision to sack Irvine, we were in the doldrums and looked dead set to drop. Pulis was an obvious replacement because at that point we just needed points. Not only that, but for 2 years, the dressing room seemed a bit too 'powerful' to say the least.
To be fair to Pulis, he made us genuinely hard to beat and guided us to safety with ease. As well as that, the club doesn't appear to be a 'mess' like it was under Mel and Irvine, and for the latter part of Clarke's reign. It had started to feel like the players were controlling the club, this is no longer the case.
While I agree that Pulis' football is negative and sometimes not easy on the eye, but to be fair to him, there's been progress since he came in. Even when we lose at home, we give it a go. When Bournemouth beat us with an extra man for 65 minutes, we gave it a real go. Same when we lost to Leicester and Everton.
It's not pretty for the purist, but it's an improvement on what he inherited.
Unfortunately the negative football is commonplace in the league now. Mourinho has won the league mutliple times over with a 'defence first' mentality. Van Gaal is very similar and has been at a host of top clubs. Pulis just has the same mindset with a much lower budget... Same with Allardyce and the list goes on...
As long as there is ridiculous money at stake, the 'win first' mentality will remain.