BAGGIES SET TO SACK PULIS AS FANS TURN OFF
THERE WAS APATHY NOT ANGER AS WEST BROM COLLAPSED TO CHELSEA ...AND THE BOSS, ONE OF FOOTBALL’S SURVIVORS, IS LOOKING DOOMED
TONY PULIS is a dead man walking with struggling West Brom poised to wield the axe.
Doomed Pulis challenged the club to back him or sack him after the 4-0 home loss to Chelsea.
Albion’s Chinese owners, who flew in for the game, spent the weekend discussing options with UK-based chairman John Williams. A change to relieve head coach Pulis of his duties
WEST BROM supporters made their feelings clear about Tony Pulis in the battering by Chelsea.
But it wasn’t that vitriolic at the Hawthorns. Instead, it was alarmingly apathetic.
There was apathy in the stands, where there were swathes of empty seats, and an apathy which seeped onto the pitch as the champions ended up strolling to a 4-0 victory.
It all added up to a funereal atmosphere, with Pulis the imminent victim.
But when the Welshman gets his expected P45, there should be respectful mourners because much of what he has done deserves credit.
His programme notes for Chelsea’s visit read like his own postscript to his reign.
They trumpeted saving the club from relegation when he arrived in January 2015 with the Baggies in the drop zone.
He eventually steered them to 13th, offloading a raft of dud signings and drilling the defence. Then came finishes of 14th and 10th as Pulis brought in better players including Jonny Evans, Nacer Chadli, Kieran Gibbs and Jake Livermore.
But despite an encouraging start with successive 1-0 wins in August over Bournemouth and Burnley, this season has become a nightmare.
He lost skipper Darren Fletcher to Stoke on a Bosman after a contract wrangle, while his long-term No.2 Dave Kemp retired in the summer.
Record £15million signing Chadli declined to go on the club’s pre-season boot camp to Austria. Albion tried to head off questions about Pulis’ own future by extending his contract until 2019 on the eve of the new campaign.
But he soon came under scrutiny as Albion struggled for goals and creativity again, employing his long-standing pragmatic tactics.
Chadli has played just twice in the Premier League amid injuries, Albion missing arguably their most creative spark who was such a force in their best run last term.
Further injuries to new boy Oliver Burke, defensive rock Craig Dawson and stalwart James Morrison have hit the small squad too.
Loanee midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak from Paris SaintGermain has been a massive disappointment. Pulis usually prides himself on a well-drilled, disciplined defence but his experiments with a back three have not worked.
Instead of scoring from setpieces, Albion have ended up conceding from them.
Chelsea’s third goal summed up how everything has gone wrong as Marcos Alonso ghosted in unmarked to score at the back post when Cesc Fabregas delivered.
Pulis could not buy his way out of trouble as the club’s Chinese owners are trying to run Albion profitably like predecessor Jeremy Peace.
But it may prove to be a false economy if they are kicking off next season in the Championship.
Pulis has, famously, never been relegated in his managerial career.
Ironically, if he was out of work at the moment, Pulis would have been the ideal man to save the club.
Albion fans may yet discover that sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.