Tony Pulis
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Anthony Richard "Tony" Pulis (born January 16 1958 in Newport) is a Welsh former football player and is currently the manager of Stoke City.[1] Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at the age of 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 - making him one of the youngest professional players ever to have obtained the qualification.[2] Pulis took his first steps into management at Bournemouth, where he was a player/coach and then Harry Redknapp's assistant.[2] He then took control when Redknapp left the club.[2] His most significant achievement to date was guiding Gillingham to second place in the Third Division which led to promotion. Pulis has a reputation within the game for achieving solid results on small budgets and also maintains the proud record of never being relegated as a manager.[2] He is sometimes criticised for using an overly negative and direct style of play, however Pulis has defended his approach.[3] Some refer to this approach as 'binary football'.[citation needed]
Managerial careerBournemouthPulis finished his playing career at Bournemouth, where he assumed a player/coach role.[2] He made 16 appearances, scoring one goal, while in this role. He was promoted to the position of manager in 1992, following Harry Redknapp's decision to leave the club for Premier League side West Ham United. Pulis spent two seasons (1992–93 and 1993–94) at Bournemouth, before moving on.[2] GillinghamHe then moved to Gillingham,[2] whom he managed for a further four seasons, turning a team that had struggled at the very bottom of the Football League into a promotion winning one in his first season, and laying the foundations for the club's eventual elevation to the First Division for the first time in their history. In the 1999 Division Two play-off final the Gills were 2–0 up with less than two minutes left, following goals by the prolific partnership of Robert Taylor and Carl Asaba, only to see Manchester City score twice, the equaliser in injury time, and after that win a penalty shoot-out 3–1.[4] Following the defeat, Pulis was controversially sacked by the club amidst claims of gross misconduct.[2] He later brought a £400,000 court case against Gillingham for unpaid bonuses,[5] which was settled out of court in 2001 for £75,000.[6] Bristol CityPulis was appointed manager of Bristol City in July 1999, prior to the start of the 1999–2000 season.[7] A previous long stint at bitter rivals Bristol Rovers meant that Pulis' appointment was met with mixed reception. He made several reasonably big purchases including Steve Jones and former Rovers player Peter Beadle, but his unpopularity hit an all time low only six months into his term as manager and when rumours surfaced of a switch to Portsmouth, home fans chanted for him to leave.[8] He moved on to Portsmouth shortly, where Milan Mandarić had recently taken over as chairman. On his return to Ashton Gate seven years later (with Stoke City) he was severely abused by the home fans. After the game, Pulis wound home fans up further by saying it "felt good to bring a team back wearing blue" (Bristol Rovers' colours).[9] Many fans polls and forums have listed him as the most unpopular Bristol City manager of the current generation.[10][11][12] PortsmouthIn January 2000, he left Bristol City to become manager of Portsmouth.[13][14] Neither was he a success at Fratton Park, lasting only 10 months in the job before being replaced by Steve Claridge in October 2000.[2][15][16] Stoke CityHe was then out of work for two years, before the resignation of Stoke's manager Steve Cotterill early into the 2002–03 season led to Pulis being given the job that November.[17] Pulis immediately found himself in a relegation battle and it looked likely that the club would be relegated back to Division One, only a year after being promoted. However, Pulis completed the signings of striker Ade Akinbiyi[18] and goalkeeper Mark Crossley,[19] on loan from Leicester City and Middlesbrough respectively, who helped turn around the club's bad run. Stoke avoided relegation on the final day of the 2002–03 season with a 1–0 win over Reading at the Britannia Stadium, with Akinbiyi scoring the only goal of the game.[20] In the following season, 2003–04 , Pulis guided the club to an 11th place finish.[21] Tensions grew between the manager and chairmain, Gunnar Gislason, in the 2004–05 season. Pulis was frustrated with his lack of transfer funds which led to Dave Brammer and Steve Simonsen, both of whom were free agents, being his only significant signings prior to the start of the season. However, Pulis did add Anthony Pulis, his son, and Lewis Buxton to his squad in January 2005.[22][23] The disagreement between Pulis and the club's Icelandic ownership culminated with Pulis parting company with the club on June 28 2005. He was sacked for "failing to exploit the foreign transfer market" by then Stoke chairman Gislason.[24] Following his dismissal, Pulis bemoaned the club's decision to sell Ade Akinbiyi to Championship rivals Burnley, stating: "We sold our top scorer and never replaced him."[25] Dutch manager Johan Boskamp was named as Pulis' successor on 29 June 2005, only a day after Pulis was sacked.[26] Plymouth ArgyleAfter taking over as manager at Championship side Plymouth Argyle,[27] Pulis managed to turn around a floundering team, to one that with the right investment could challenge for a top half/play off place in 2006-07. The turn-around coincided with the loan of West Ham United central defender Elliott Ward[28] and the club improved even further with the permanent signing of Lilian Nalis from Sheffield United F.C.[29] Plymouth Argyle ended the season 14th in the Championship table.[30] Second spell at Stoke CityIn May 2006 he was the subject of an approach from former club Stoke,[31] who had recently parted company with manager Johan Boskamp, following Peter Coates' takeover of the club. Plymouth reportedly turned down this approach.[32] However, on June 14 2006 it was announced that Pulis would indeed be returning as manager of Stoke City.[1] Pulis bolstered his squad for the 2006–07 with the permanent additions of Danny Higginbotham,[33] Ricardo Fuller[34] and Vincent Pericard.[35] His most notable coup was the loan signing of Lee Hendrie from Aston Villa.[36][37] Hendrie's arrival (along with the loan signings of Salif Diao,[38] Andy Griffin[39] and Rory Delap[40]) coincided with a change of form for the Potters following a poor start to the a season.[41] Stoke went as high as 4th in the table prior to the January transfer window.[42] Pulis was named manager of the month for April 2007, after Stoke picked up eleven points from five league games.[43] This unbeaten run lifted Stoke to 7th in the table, on equal points with sixth-place Southampton.[44] However, a 1–1 draw against QPR on the final day of the season[45] led to Stoke finishing eighth in the Championship.[46] Pulis sold several key players prior to the 2007–08 season; club captain Danny Higginbotham was one of a number of players to depart, joining Sunderland for £3m.[47] However, Pulis utilised the loan market again, signing five players on loan, including Ryan Shawcross from Manchester United.[48] Managerial stats
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