Tony Pulis will renew acquaintances with Stoke City today having said retaining Premier League status with Crystal Palace this season would constitute as impressive an achievement as any of those over his decade in the Potteries.
Pulis, who turned 56 this week, spent two spells at Stoke and hoisted them initially from the lower reaches of the second tier and, eventually, into the top flight.
Their five-year spell among the elite under his stewardship was marked by mid-table finishes, an appearance in the 2011 FA Cup final and a taste of the Europa League. Many among the visiting support at Selhurst Park intend to wear baseball caps in honour of the man who instigated that success before departing the Britannia Stadium last summer.
“I took them as far as the club wanted me to take them and that was fine,” Pulis said.
“The great thing about leaving a club, especially one that you’ve been at for so long, is that it was very amicable. The chairman and his family have just been wonderful to me - Peter Coates is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and we had a fantastic relationship.
“The important thing if you stay at a football club is that you manage it in respect of the way you think it should be managed. That’s why I was always so committed at Stoke. Everything that happened there – the training ground and stadium – I’ve got my fingerprints on. I left on good terms. It was a lovely way to leave.
There has been frustration to endure to date with Palace struggling to add reinforcements to a squad which currently props up the division. Attempts will continue but with his options dwindling, Pulis has reinstated the likes of Aaron Wilbraham and Steven Dobbie, neither of whom made Palace’s original 25-man Premier League list, to his squad in an attempt to bolster numbers.
The former may start today with Cameron Jerome ineligible against his parent club.
Stoke’s manager Mark Hughes thinks the fact that he is coming up against his predecessor will help him. “We have probably got a unique insight into how Tony sets up his teams,” he said.
“You would say that, given the personnel that are still here, they will have a better understanding than most opposition that Tony will go up against with his new team.”
Stoke striker Kenwyne Jones will not be involved because of his refusal to play against Liverpool last weekend and for which he was fined two weeks’ wages. Hughes has included a new forward in his squad in John Guidetti, who is on loan from Manchester City.
Guardian Service
