[Tom_Wba]

Not sure where i should post this so set up a thread i just wanted to make a few observations about our manager and some of the players who have been brought in.

For me Tony Pulis gets away with so much as our manager some fans seem determined to justify every decision he makes yet we all slagged him off for years whilst he was at Stoke so why does it suddenly become acceptable now? I can't understand TP persistence with playing Craig Gardner he has become a scapegoat for many Albion fans but for me i find it hard to criticize him as he is just been asked to do a job he probably knows himself deep down that he's not good enough so lets get off his back and put the blame on the bloke that keeps picking him over other attacking options!.
The James Chester signing looks a very strange one at the moment too I think all Hull fans were sad to lose him and we all thought we signed a solid player at our level you don't suddenly become a poor player in the space of a couple of months yet I'm now seeing fans saying "Its easy to see why he hasn't been playing" etc. Another thing I completely disagree about! how about Pulis gives him a run in his natural position instead of playing an £8M!!! Centre back as a RB or even a midfield position, I agree he was beaten far to easily by Lukaku but he won't be the first or the last good defender to be beat by Lukaku TPs decision to swith Dawson & Chester at half time was bizarre to say the least i dread to think the reaction had Alan Irvine pulled some of these stunts
I can see a big fall out around Christmas time when Pulis goes to see Peace demanding to waste another £20M in January and Peace will more than likely say "No Chance" & quite rightly so too.

A very frustrated fan right now!

[Tibby Baggie]

I neither like nor dislike TP right now, and frankly the football isn't any better or worse than that we had during Hodgsons stint at the club and most fans thought the sun shone out of his arse.

We were nailed on to go down last season until he arrived and I'm reserving judgement until we see where we are come Xmas time.

[BaggieMan]

I was totally and utterly against the appointment of Pulis from the first mention of his name and remain so today.

Living in the North Staffordshire Moorlands virtually all of my friends are Stoke City supporters and never has a Manager/Head Coach divided a clubs fan base as he did with Stoke City and still today, that division of pro and anti Pulis still exists. However, ask the question "Would you take him back?" and one gets a 100% resounding "No chance"

Pulis is now generating a similar huge division in our club with his bewildering tactics, his failure in the transfer market (which was very evident when with Stoke) and his bizarre team selection of square pegs in round holes.

Whilst Pulis was at Stoke presenting the boring hoofball   we all despised him and his tactics. Being a results driven business, Irvine was justifiably sacked although I cannot accept it was a guaranteed 100% certainty we would have been relegated with him or Steve Clark or indeed Pepe Mel. Those who say we would have suffered the drop, must have a God given talent of seeing into the future.

Along comes the hated Pulis and all of a sudden many of those hypocrites who despised him and his footballing tactics became turncoats and Pulis was hailed as the Messiah and Saviour whereby, credit to the odd few, who could see the path of division we were treading.

In my opinion Pulis has been remarkably lucky in his management career - managing to survive at Stoke for so long before being sacked and benefiting from the inherited talent at Crystal Palace who were, in essence, Ian Holloway's team, that he abandoned in a display of disloyalty.  People will say he has never been relegated and never will be - again remarkable God given foresight. He had never lost a game as Manager when leading 2-0 until last night. Well Mr Pulis fans, 'never' can bite you in the bum very easily.

Where do we go from here?

If I were JP I wouldn't trust Pulis with my money in the January transfer window anymore than I'd trust a Dingle - look at the players we maybe could have signed and what we ended up with the exception of Evans. By January, it may be too late unless he starts putting out a team of round pegs in round holes  in the right positions and playing with pace, enthusiasm, skill and a determination to win.

I don't want to see my beloved West Brom who I have supported for over 50 years threatened with relegation each year or settling for a mid/low table finish - I want to see us playing attractive attacking football challenging for a top eight finish or maybe higher rather than the dross we are inevitably served up with these days.

[Tibby Baggie]

I was totally and utterly against the appointment of Pulis from the first mention of his name and remain so today.

Living in the North Staffordshire Moorlands virtually all of my friends are Stoke City supporters and never has a Manager/Head Coach divided a clubs fan base as he did with Stoke City and still today, that division of pro and anti Pulis still exists. However, ask the question "Would you take him back?" and one gets a 100% resounding "No chance"

Pulis is now generating a similar huge division in our club with his bewildering tactics, his failure in the transfer market (which was very evident when with Stoke) and his bizarre team selection of square pegs in round holes.

Whilst Pulis was at Stoke presenting the boring hoofball   we all despised him and his tactics. Being a results driven business, Irvine was justifiably sacked although I cannot accept it was a guaranteed 100% certainty we would have been relegated with him or Steve Clark or indeed Pepe Mel. Those who say we would have suffered the drop, must have a God given talent of seeing into the future.

Along comes the hated Pulis and all of a sudden those hypocrites who despised him and his footballing tactics became turncoats and Pulis was hailed as the Messiah and Saviour whereby, credit to the odd few, who could see the path of division we were treading.

In my opinion Pulis has been remarkably lucky in his management career - managing to survive at Stoke for so long before being sacked and benefiting from the inherited talent at Crystal Palace who were, in essence, Ian Holloway's team, that he abandoned in a display of disloyalty.  People will say he has never been relegated and never will be - again remarkable God given foresight. He had never lost a game as Manager when leading 2-0 until last night. Well Mr Pulis fans, 'never' can bite you in the bum very easily.

Where do we go from here?

If I were JP I wouldn't trust Pulis with my money in the January transfer window anymore than I'd trust a Dingle - look at the players we maybe could have signed and what we ended up with the exception of Evans. By January, it may be too late unless he starts putting out a team of round pegs in round holes  in the right positions and playing with pace, enthusiasm, skill and a determination to win.

I don't want to see my beloved West Brom who I have supported for over 50 years threatened with relegation each year or settling for a mid/low table finish - I want to see us playing attractive attacking football challenging for a top eight finish or maybe higher rather than the dross we are inevitably served up with these days.

I can see where you're coming from BaggieMan but there's middle ground to this as well. 

To your first point of despising Pulis. I definitely was not a fan of him but the thing I actually despised were Stoke City FC, not Pulis. 

Secondly, to say that we would have stayed up last season without any intervention is ludicrous. Obviously no-one can say with 100% clarity that we would have gone down under Irvine as well, but we can agree in hindsight that JP is very shrewd and has made the right call on several occasions now when it comes down to changing the manager.

A division between supporters or frankly differing opinions as it's also known isn't something exclusive to us or Stoke, there'll always be people who love a particular player and those that will loathe the same player, for example. 

But calling people hypocrites for not jumping on the Pulis Out bandwagon is very silly. I don't want the bloke to manage my club any longer than is strictly necessary, yet I don't think another upheaval in coaching staff is the answer to our prayers in the short term either.

The rate we get through Head Coaches, I'm not sure anyone decent would want the job... Which is probably why we've ended up with Pulis in the first place.

[Beefy 1965]

Tibby get off this board........

Your to sensible and logical off with ya !!!!!

[Tibby Baggie]

Tibby get off this board........

Your to sensible and logical off with ya !!!!!  

[BaggieMan]

I can see where you're coming from BaggieMan but there's middle ground to this as well. 

To your first point of despising Pulis. I definitely was not a fan of him but the thing I actually despised were Stoke City FC, not Pulis. 

Secondly, to say that we would have stayed up last season without any intervention is ludicrous. Obviously no-one can say with 100% clarity that we would have gone down under Irvine as well, but we can agree in hindsight that JP is very shrewd and has made the right call on several occasions now when it comes down to changing the manager.

A division between supporters or frankly differing opinions as it's also known isn't something exclusive to us or Stoke, there'll always be people who love a particular player and those that will loathe the same player, for example. 

But calling people hypocrites for not jumping on the Pulis Out bandwagon is very silly. I don't want the bloke to manage my club any longer than is strictly necessary, yet I don't think another upheaval in coaching staff is the answer to our prayers in the short term either.

The rate we get through Head Coaches, I'm not sure anyone decent would want the job... Which is probably why we've ended up with Pulis in the first place.

Tibby...  I don't think you fully read or understood my post.

Firstly, Stoke City and the way they played under his management and tactics WAS Tony Pulis and what we see at our club is a complete duplicate of what he did at Stoke - players out of position, hoofball, four centre backs, poor acquisitions that resulted in divisions within the fan base.

Secondly, I clearly said Irvine was 'justifiably sacked'  and how can you say it was ludicrous is beyond me - my point is that nobody on this planet could guarantee that we would have been relegated under either Irvine, Mel or Clark.

Thirdly, its not 'very silly'  and unless you are very new to West Brom forums Tibby, you must remember how Pulis and Stoke were repeatedly slated by Baggie supporters on the old BBC 606 and more recently on New 606 vilifying him for his crucifixion of football.  Many of those critics then welcomed him with open arms when he was appointed and many still regard him as the Messiah - thats where the hypocrisy comes in.

[Tibby Baggie]

I can see where you're coming from BaggieMan but there's middle ground to this as well. 

To your first point of despising Pulis. I definitely was not a fan of him but the thing I actually despised were Stoke City FC, not Pulis. 

Secondly, to say that we would have stayed up last season without any intervention is ludicrous. Obviously no-one can say with 100% clarity that we would have gone down under Irvine as well, but we can agree in hindsight that JP is very shrewd and has made the right call on several occasions now when it comes down to changing the manager.

A division between supporters or frankly differing opinions as it's also known isn't something exclusive to us or Stoke, there'll always be people who love a particular player and those that will loathe the same player, for example. 

But calling people hypocrites for not jumping on the Pulis Out bandwagon is very silly. I don't want the bloke to manage my club any longer than is strictly necessary, yet I don't think another upheaval in coaching staff is the answer to our prayers in the short term either.

The rate we get through Head Coaches, I'm not sure anyone decent would want the job... Which is probably why we've ended up with Pulis in the first place.

Tibby...  I don't think you fully read or understood my post.

Firstly, Stoke City and the way they played under his management and tactics WAS Tony Pulis and what we see at our club is a complete duplicate of what he did at Stoke - players out of position, hoofball, four centre backs, poor acquisitions that resulted in divisions within the fan base.

Secondly, I clearly said Irvine was 'justifiably sacked'  and how can you say it was ludicrous is beyond me - my point is that nobody on this planet could guarantee that we would have been relegated under either Irvine, Mel or Clark.

Thirdly, its not 'very silly'  and unless you are very new to West Brom forums Tibby, you must remember how Pulis and Stoke were repeatedly slated by Baggie supporters on the old BBC 606 and more recently on New 606 vilifying him for his crucifixion of football.  Many of those critics then welcomed him with open arms when he was appointed and many still regard him as the Messiah - thats where the hypocrisy comes in.

I can assure you I did read and understood everything you posted. When I replied with my post I was offering my opinion or take on it too, which is called a discussion. Discussion is how a forum works by the way.

Where I am new to this forum... I'm not new to the football discussion TheBaggieMan, either on the internet or off it. And yes I do remember the criticism aimed at Stoke and Pulis but calling those who don't slag him off at every opportunity hypocrites is very silly mate. 

The entire nature of my first post in this thread was answering a good question from Tom_WBA, and i did so by offering an indifferent view on Pulis and an honest comparison with a previous manager. I wasn't defending Pulis, and I wasn't making him out to be a "messiah"

[silverbaggie]

I think that the only thing that we can all agree upon is that Pulis's appointment has become very divisive for Baggie fans on this forum.

Personally I am becoming increasingly tired of the backbiting and argumentative nature that this forum is taking.

In addition, players such as Rondon being welcomed with open arms one moment and then, slated as being useless just a few weeks later.

I really do hope that none of Albion's players ever get to follow this forum as I doubt that it would enhance their morale at all.

I visit this forum daily but, unless the mood changes and the constant squabbling ceases, I doubt that I will in the future.

Albion's results are often depressing enough without all this cat calling.

Tibby:- you write a lot of sense my friend. Don't be discouraged!!

[talkSAFT]

Those used to be my sentiments, Silver, (ie the effect it might have on players' morale). But this lot probably need a kick up the arse at times, and it's exactly the same at any Club they might have come from, and any Club they'll go to. It will be water of these ducks' backs.
Players of old would stay all night, signing autographs for their young fans, but today's players see themselves above their fans.
There are exceptions, of course, and those exceptional players will understand fans' despair. (eg Morrison's frustration with Berahino!)

I therefore use the Forum these days to express my views, and get it off my chest. Let's continue to praise the blokes who give their all, and show our anger when players aren't upto it. I'd expect it if I was a player, and I'd probably smirk and say "What do you lot of losers know? What car do you drive?" if I got slated.

Come on, Silver, you're a great poster, and we look at your posts with great interest. We never totally agree with anyone, and that's probably a good thing!