Five reasons the end is nigh for Tony Pulis
Albion lost 4-0 at home to Chelsea yesterday, and it felt like it could be Pulis's last match at the club. Here are five reasons why the end is nigh.
1 FANS HAVE GIVEN UP THE GHOST
Supporters are the lifeblood of any club but this run under Pulis has drained the majority of Baggies dry. Many of them couldn’t even be bothered to protest on Saturday, preferring to either stay away altogether or head for the exit doors early.
A club is nothing without its fans, and there’s no escaping that Pulis is driving more and more away. Apathy is even more worrying than anger to the board because there’s no guarantee those leaving will return. And many won’t until they see a change in the dug-out.
2 PLAYERS NO LONGER BELIEVE
They came flying out of the blocks and even after Chelsea scored, they didn’t down tools. Afterwards, Pulis said he was happy with their attitude and there were quite a few who kept fighting until the end.
But at times the body language suggested this team without a victory in 11 games no longer believes it can win. Grzegorz Krychowiak was dragged off at half-time and the defending for the third goal smacked of a disjointed team simply going through the motions. Confidence is rock-bottom and some players looked sluggish.
3 THE COLD HARD STATS
It is now four defeats in a row and 11 games without a win. It is two wins in 21 league games and 12 points since March. Extrapolate that over a season and that’s 22 points. Forget the debate over style, Pulis used to be a cast-iron guarantee of survival, but right now he is far from that.
On top of that, they’ve only scored nine in 12 this season and 106 from his 107 total league games with the Baggies. Albion also have the lowest average possession in the league and have had fewer shots on target this season than everyone except Swansea. Grim to say the least.
4 EVEN PULIS SEEMS TO THINK IT WOULD BE BEST
After the game, the head coach spoke about the need to do ‘what’s right for the club’ but couldn’t bring himself to say that keeping him was the answer. He passed up the opportunity to fight for his job, and was almost pleading the board to put him out of his misery.
He’s no fool, he knows two wins in 21 league games is not good enough, and he knows his relationship with the fans is probably unable to be rescued. When your head coach gives up the ghost so publicly, then surely it cannot continue much longer.
5 AND IT WAS ALL IN FRONT OF GUOCHUAN LAI
Albion’s Chinese owner was always planning to come to Saturday’s and for five minutes he must have thought he picked wisely. But then the Chelsea goals started to come, and come, and come. He witnessed first hand the apathy and the fury from the fans, and while losing to Chelsea in itself is hardly disgraceful, failing to win in 11 games is. Lai had dinner with Pulis on Friday night, but based on what he saw the next day, it may have been a last supper.
