[aries22]

Very, very risky strategy if true, Foxman.

[Tom_Wba]

Got to admit here, JP has done it again! TP is just the sort of manager we need, a good man manager with the experience and balls to do what is necessary and finally trying to get the fans back on board.

But, it makes you wonder, was this the plan all along? We spent a while without a manager in the summer until the cheap AI option was taken but was this on purpose as he was cheap to hire he’d be cheap to fire if and when a better option became available, which wasn’t there in the summer?

Makes you think.

And it turns out due to contractual problems Pulis couldn't take charge of a club any sooner than he has done, Irvine was only given a one year rolling contract so he probably was just a stop gap until the best man became available in our case TP

[Stairs]

Got to admit here, JP has done it again! TP is just the sort of manager we need, a good man manager with the experience and balls to do what is necessary and finally trying to get the fans back on board.

But, it makes you wonder, was this the plan all along? We spent a while without a manager in the summer until the cheap AI option was taken but was this on purpose as he was cheap to hire he’d be cheap to fire if and when a better option became available, which wasn’t there in the summer?

Makes you think.

There is no doubt that this has moved very quickly, unlike our usual process. I guess if not a long term plan, it was certainly a conversation that had been held more than a few weeks ago.

[wba_1996]

Just watching his interview he is clearly head and shoulders above anyone we have had since Hodgson in terms of knowledge of the club, the league and understanding exactly what we need moving forwards.

The best part was when he said, "We have won 4 games in 2014 which is b... we've got to change that". 4 wins in a year, just let that sink in... Can anyone see Pulis allowing his team to only win 4 games in a year?

---

Just checked that stat^ We have actually won 4 games this season, but only 7 this year. That is still a pretty damning statistic.

[WeeWillie]

Irvine was never going to last and I'm happy with Pulis, we can finish top 12 with a good Jan imo but obviously survival is the priority. He'll make our defence very solid and we do have some attacking talent and he'll probably add some more so I think we can be positive about this. I've always felt the issue of him being direct has been overstated, one of his main tactics is usually pace on the wings which we all want anyway.

Totally agree with this. I am very happy and confident again about our prospects.  

---

WeeWillie
I do not want Pulis, but I will support him and give him time, unlike those supporters who did not want or give Irvine a chance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's nailing colours to the mast time.
I wanted Pulis in as soon as he left Crystal Palace, and Irvine out. I think the overwhelming majority of Baggies fans didn't want Irvine in the first place and are glad he's gone. I know I am.
Sorry, WeeWillie. I only want Albion to prosper and do the best we can.

Hi Aries22, we've both nailed our colours to the mast and like you I want Albion to do the best we can.

I'm just nervous of Pulis and his style of hoofball, (unfortunately I worked in Stoke and none of their fans liked his style even though they were winning) but if he sets us up to play like he did with Palace, like everyone seems to think he will, then obviously I will be delighted.

[Squirrel Regis]

Wba1996,
He said we have won 4 HOME games in 2014 which is correct.
Shocking stat and quite correct that TP is all about winning football games.
C O Y B

[aries22]

A few things stand out from that BBC interview with Pulis at Palace:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There's another two years left on my contract," Pulis divulges. "I've got to sit down with Steve and talk about the future, what we've got to try to do.
"The club needs an upgrade everywhere. If you look at the training ground, if you look at the stadium, if you look at everything behind the scenes, the infrastructure, it needs an upgrade."
"We're in a better position than when I came in. It would be crazy to walk away, but there has to be a plan and some structure towards that plan."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TP has said he's impressed with Albion and impressed by the people there. Hopefully, the work JP has had carried out in the past few years on The Hawthorns stadium and the training ground and facilities, and all the pitches, means that we're already way ahead of Palace. I believe that backlog of infrastructure, the lack of a clear plan at Palace frustrated Pulis to the point where he couldn't put up with it any more. I don't think he'll suffer from that at Albion under JP.
The single most important issue TP will have at Albion is the playing squad, which is the only issue any manager or head coach should have. In that sense, it's understandable he should want - and has got - total control over who leaves and who comes in. As for shifting players out and nailing down the first-team squad nucleus, most of us could venture opinions about which players might be involved, but it'll be interesting to find out how TP sees it and what he does about it.
Which brings me to the belief the players have, both in themselves and in the management/coaching team. I think they will flourish under TP because he will bring leadership they haven't had since RH first arrived. It certainly seemed lacking under Pepe Mel with all those off-field ructions, and I can't imagine AI brought any of the required leadership whatsoever, so the players have drifted. But I am really confident TP will sort all that out and that we will become tighter and better.

[silverbaggie]

So Tony Pulis will only bring to the Albion a negative, hoofball system of playing will he?

As shown in yesterday's game perhaps.

Come on you knockers get behind the man as well as the team.

[drewks]

A few things stand out from that BBC interview with Pulis at Palace:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There's another two years left on my contract," Pulis divulges. "I've got to sit down with Steve and talk about the future, what we've got to try to do.
"The club needs an upgrade everywhere. If you look at the training ground, if you look at the stadium, if you look at everything behind the scenes, the infrastructure, it needs an upgrade."
"We're in a better position than when I came in. It would be crazy to walk away, but there has to be a plan and some structure towards that plan."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TP has said he's impressed with Albion and impressed by the people there. Hopefully, the work JP has had carried out in the past few years on The Hawthorns stadium and the training ground and facilities, and all the pitches, means that we're already way ahead of Palace. I believe that backlog of infrastructure, the lack of a clear plan at Palace frustrated Pulis to the point where he couldn't put up with it any more. I don't think he'll suffer from that at Albion under JP.
The single most important issue TP will have at Albion is the playing squad, which is the only issue any manager or head coach should have. In that sense, it's understandable he should want - and has got - total control over who leaves and who comes in. As for shifting players out and nailing down the first-team squad nucleus, most of us could venture opinions about which players might be involved, but it'll be interesting to find out how TP sees it and what he does about it.
Which brings me to the belief the players have, both in themselves and in the management/coaching team. I think they will flourish under TP because he will bring leadership they haven't had since RH first arrived. It certainly seemed lacking under Pepe Mel with all those off-field ructions, and I can't imagine AI brought any of the required leadership whatsoever, so the players have drifted. But I am really confident TP will sort all that out and that we will become tighter and better.

Fablious post aires
Some really, really good points made there about TP, CP and us as a club as well as our possibly rudderless players

[Stathemwasthebestever]

A few things stand out from that BBC interview with Pulis at Palace:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There's another two years left on my contract," Pulis divulges. "I've got to sit down with Steve and talk about the future, what we've got to try to do.
"The club needs an upgrade everywhere. If you look at the training ground, if you look at the stadium, if you look at everything behind the scenes, the infrastructure, it needs an upgrade."
"We're in a better position than when I came in. It would be crazy to walk away, but there has to be a plan and some structure towards that plan."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TP has said he's impressed with Albion and impressed by the people there. Hopefully, the work JP has had carried out in the past few years on The Hawthorns stadium and the training ground and facilities, and all the pitches, means that we're already way ahead of Palace. I believe that backlog of infrastructure, the lack of a clear plan at Palace frustrated Pulis to the point where he couldn't put up with it any more. I don't think he'll suffer from that at Albion under JP.
The single most important issue TP will have at Albion is the playing squad, which is the only issue any manager or head coach should have. In that sense, it's understandable he should want - and has got - total control over who leaves and who comes in. As for shifting players out and nailing down the first-team squad nucleus, most of us could venture opinions about which players might be involved, but it'll be interesting to find out how TP sees it and what he does about it.
Which brings me to the belief the players have, both in themselves and in the management/coaching team. I think they will flourish under TP because he will bring leadership they haven't had since RH first arrived. It certainly seemed lacking under Pepe Mel with all those off-field ructions, and I can't imagine AI brought any of the required leadership whatsoever, so the players have drifted. But I am really confident TP will sort all that out and that we will become tighter and better.

Fablious post aires    
Some really, really good points made there about TP, CP and us as a club as well as our possibly rudderless players

Totally agree. If you strip back all the variables in a choice of manager (availability, tactical ability, coaching ability, reputation, ability to spot and land a bargain in the transfer market etc) TP fills a big hole for us....leadership. In 2005 I listened to Clive Woodward at a seminar. Clive is/was the ultimate scientific coach (training regimes, electrolyte measurement, Prozone stats all over the place, new shirts at half time because England did well in the 1st 10 minutes of a game, and at some point in the years leading up to the WC win, did not do well in the 1st 10 minutes of the second half) but, despite all of that, he emphasised the importance of leadership on the field for those crucial moments when wins are secured, defeats reversed etc.

We lack that. It is evident when you watch us from the body language and it is palpable when you look at the leads lost, goals conceded in the last 10 mins etc. Maybe TP can rectify that on the field (Lescott as Captain perhaps?). However, he certainly seems up for the task of doing it himself from the technical area as we do not have a Martin Johnson character in our team at the moment.

On a similar note, our best managers (Giles, Atkinson, Megson, Ardilles, with Hodgson probably the honourable exception) in my lifetime have come from the motivational/leadership side of the coin. TP fits this mould.

I worry about the longevity of the JP/TP project and I hope we retain a strategy of playing football the way, I believe, West Brom are meant to play it. Apart from those reservations, TP seems a great choice.