Analysis: Philosophical Tony Pulis accepts the end could be nigh

Football has been his life for more than 40 years, but with his job on the line, he was keen to play down its importance.

He told the packed-out press room about his Thursday afternoon, which was spent with a little boy at the Donna Louise Hospice in Stoke – a charity that looks after terminally ill children.

“That brings everything into perspective,” he said. “We live in a bubble, we get absolutely engrossed in this wonderful game of ours but there is actually a world outside of there as well.

“It’s nice to be able to prick that bubble at times and see what life is really about.”

Later on, when he was asked about pressure, the 59-year-old on the multi-million pound contract looked wistfully back at his humble beginnings in Pillgwenlly.

“This pressure on my job, compare that to other pressures people are under,” he said. “I came from a big family in south Wales and my father was under pressure to put food on the table. That’s pressure.”

There is truth in his words, of course, but cynics will argue this is just a man with his back against the wall, staring at a potential failure and telling himself it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Because, for the first time this season, there was an air of resignation to his words.

Pulis has been around the block enough times to know that two wins in 20 league games is enough for the chop. After all, it’s his worst run for more than a decade.

He openly admitted that he would understand it if he was sacked soon and it seems that barring a miracle against Chelsea or Tottenham, the end is nigh.

Pulis defended himself, which he has every right to, and was bullish at other times, just as you’d expect any manager with his job on the line to be.

Some of the old excuses reared their heads again, Thursday’s thigh injury to Nacer Chadli was the latest grievance held up as rotten luck.

He also held up his record at The Hawthorns with pride, and quite rightly the foundations he has put in place deserve to be recognised.

The squad, and the club, are in a stronger position than they were three years ago, even if the team is currently in the same predicament in the table and the football being played on the pitch is infuriating supporters.

But there was also an acceptance that things hadn’t been good enough this season. The issue is, he doesn’t seem capable of fixing it.

One local reporter asked him if the performance today was just as important as the result, but Pulis disagreed.

“If you say we’ll be poor but pick up three points I’ll take that,” he said. And right there is arguably the crux of the issue.

Pulis puts results above all else, it doesn’t matter if the performances are ugly as long as the points keep rolling in.

Some supporters agree with that, some begrudgingly accept it, others detest it. But it’s a method that normally keeps him employed, because it appeals to and appeases most owners.

However, now the results have dried up, the whole point of it has been lost.

Outsiders might question why a fanbase that was singing his name not that long ago are now so eager to see the back of him.

The answer lies in his approach, which quickly deteriorates into irrelevance without the points to back it up.

As someone who has, for the past 25 years, held the result up as the be-all-and-end-all, Pulis is aware of that.

Attention will now turn to the board, who could soon be facing a tough appointment – someone capable of recapturing the good will of the fans while guiding the club to safety this season.

Because their under-pressure head coach seems to have accepted that his bubble could soon be bursting.