Ben Foster / Tony Pulis

Malaguena

Malaguena

Well-known member
A bit of light relief from the Corona threads. Extract from the BBC interview with Ben Foster about playing for Tony Pulis

Foster had a year at Birmingham, where he won the League Cup, before spending seven seasons at West Brom and playing under Tony Pulis. He recalls one particular ending to the 2016-17 campaign.

"It was the last game of the season. We were playing away at Swansea when they were in the Premier League and winning 1-0. They were a good team, slick. It was baking hot and we were not playing Tony Pulis football, it was lovely football.

"We get in half-time and he goes 'what are you doing?! What is that?' He holds up a picture of a pitch and draws a line from one 18-yard line all the way across to the other and scribbles out the middle of the pitch.

"He said 'forget that Barca stuff, get it in there and get round it'. Then we went and lost the game 2-1. It was incredible."

:D:D:D
 
Erimus74 said:
The same blokes team wouldn't have been anywhere near the foot of the table
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When he was being paid a premier league managers wages, with one of the best players in the league in his side I wouldnt expect him to be at the foot of the table.

Dont compare him to Woodgate, any half decent manager would have had that squad promoted. Huge failure he couldnt even make the playoffs
 
I'm not comparing him to Woodgate, who I dont actually mind, maybe gullable I was glad he got the job after listening to his ideas etc, yes talk is cheap, if he's still in a job next season, whenever that is then that will be his challenge, Pulis, he wasnt the best manager I've see at the Boro, he transformed Traore, any half decent manager wouldnt, Monk wasnt doing to well, teams to inconsistent
 
Erimus74 said:
I'm not comparing him to Woodgate, who I dont actually mind, maybe gullable I was glad he got the job after listening to his ideas etc, yes talk is cheap, if he's still in a job next season, whenever that is then that will be his challenge, Pulis, he wasnt the best manager I've see at the Boro, he transformed Traore, any half decent manager wouldnt, Monk wasnt doing to well, teams to inconsistent
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Did he transform him though? Or was he just forced to play him? Im not saying Pulis didnt have any sort of impact on him but a player of that quality would always shine if he was given a proper run in the team.

I like Woodgate and would like him to succeed, early signs arent the best but we will never progress if we change manager every season, we have the right idea in terms of promoting players from the academy and a number of players have improved under Woodgate, its the only way a team like ours can compete without spending millions on players. Hopefully he can learn from his mistakes this season, do feel that he needs help from somewhere though, very inexperienced coaching team behind him.
 
You cannot really compare what happened to something that didn't happen or a hypothetical situation.

For instance - If they had kept playing the 'Barca stuff' that they were playing in the first half they might have got beat 5-1.
 
JM14 said:
Did he transform him though? Or was he just forced to play him? Im not saying Pulis didnt have any sort of impact on him but a player of that quality would always shine if he was given a proper run in the team.

I like Woodgate and would like him to succeed, early signs arent the best but we will never progress if we change manager every season, we have the right idea in terms of promoting players from the academy and a number of players have improved under Woodgate, its the only way a team like ours can compete without spending millions on players. Hopefully he can learn from his mistakes this season, do feel that he needs help from somewhere though, very inexperienced coaching team behind him.
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I've always said the same regarding Traore.

Not saying this to discredit Pulis but I don't think it was a case of Pulis transforming Traore into a better player, I think it was simply down to Pulis actually playing him.

If Monk had have played Traore at the start of the season he would have done well - remember his performance away at Bolton?

Traore was dropped after being late for the coach to Barnsley, and Monk just seemed to give up on him after that.
 
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parmoboy said:
I've always said the same regarding Traore.

Not saying this to discredit Pulis but I don't think it was a case of Pulis transforming Traore into a better player, I think it was simply down to Pulis actually playing him.

If Monk had have played Traore at the start of the season he would have done well - remember his performance away at Bolton?

Traore was dropped after being late for the coach to Barnsley, and Monk just seemed to give up in him after that.
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Traore just needed regular games and someone to believe in him. Pulis did that, screamed instructions at him throughout the game and we seen the benefits.
 
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parmoboy said:
I've always said the same regarding Traore.

Not saying this to discredit Pulis but I don't think it was a case of Pulis transforming Traore into a better player, I think it was simply down to Pulis actually playing him.

If Monk had have played Traore at the start of the season he would have done well - remember his performance away at Bolton?

Traore was dropped after being late for the coach to Barnsley, and Monk just seemed to give up on him after that.
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This has been proven to be the case. No manager can transform a player into a £70-80m player. He gave him a run of games and it's as simple as that.
 
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