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At the end of November, Tony Pulis was unveiled as the new manager of Barclays Premier League side Crystal Palace. With previous club Stoke City, Pulis ended the Potters’ 23 years of exile from top-flight football when he led them to the Barclays Premier League. During a five year period under Pulis, Stoke finished no lower than 14th in the Premier League table and he led his side to four major cup quarter finals, an FA Cup semi-final and final.
Subsequently Stoke qualified for the Europa League and progressed to the latter stages of the competition where they were eventually eliminated by Spanish giants Valencia. Pulis will undoubtedly draw upon this extensive experience as he gets to work at Crystal Palace. So this month we’ve dipped back into the archives to pull out an interview he gave to the LMA’s ‘The Manager’ magazine just after Stoke City’s return to the top flight.
When I left home at the age of 16 to sign for Bristol Rovers I was one of six children, living in a three-bedroom terrace in South Wales. With no disrespect intended, I had no plans to return. I wanted to keep playing football and taking advantage of opportunities further afield.
When I was about 20, I took advice from respected coach Dave Burnside to do my preliminary and intermediate coaching badges, which I did and passed. Dave was impressed with how I handled them and urged me to go on to take the full coaching badge. Not only would it be great experience, he said, but it would be two weeks of great preparation for the new season. I’d been out injured, so the chance to get fully fit was a real bonus. I was as surprised as anybody that I actually passed it.
Taking the coaching badges opened up another field of opportunities for me. From an early age, it made me look at the game from a different perspective. Players tend to be concerned only about themselves and don’t question things or look at them from other people’s perspective.
I have worked with many great people in football and learned an awful lot, good and bad. Harry Redknapp is a very good coach and I don’t think he gives himself enough credit for that. He has a great knowledge and understanding of the game and taught me a lot, not only about coaching, but players and the football industry as a whole.
We travelled the length and breadth of the country to watch games and, on the way, we’d go through the Rothmans Football Directory and test one another on players. Harry knew them all and he knew which ones would bring him success. Football is his passion.
The approach to football management is different today than it was when I was starting out. Back then, I doubt anybody would have taken a job in the top flight without having first gained experience at a lower level. Working for Harry for a year as his assistant manager was very beneficial – it was my first taste of being responsible for professional players.
I believe you actually gain most strength from the bad times in your career. From a very young age, I learned to face glory and defeat in the same context; a pat on the back is only two feet away from a kick up the backside. You have to understand that football can be fickle – you can be flavour of the month one minute and perceived as absolutely useless the next. I try to keep my feet on the ground, believe in what I am doing and keep working hard.
You have to be very focused and driven. The budgets of the top four or five clubs in the Barclays Premier League mean they can attract the best players in the world. If you’re lucky enough to be able to sign that level of talent, you can relax a little bit in the knowledge that it should win you games. We have to work at a different level to them, and that takes drive, great spirit and togetherness.
You need good characters in your team who you know will always give it their best, whatever happens. If you lose a game, you have to know that they will dust themselves down and go out fighting again. That’s what I demand of my players. Our success is the result of a real team effort from everyone at the club. Everyone plays an important part, right down to our laundry lady, who I always make time to have a cup of tea and a chat with.
The desire to remain working in football – I want to be there tomorrow and every day thereafter. I have been in football since I was 16 and it is what I have always wanted to do. Playing was brilliant and, while management is tougher than it ever has been, I still love my job.
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