[Sessegod]

I think the attacking football will come, TP specifically said in his interview after the game that he was disappointed with Brunt, Morrison and Gardner with their ball retention once we got the ball to them, once TP has his players in we will see quick counter attacking like we used to under RH.

[darbolina]

If fans want to see possession football without a cutting edge and which results in not winning many points, Villa park is a good place to see that these days.................

[Gilsey 56]

Does anyone actually think we have been playing attacking football over the last few years.
I must have been going to the wrong ground.
I do actually think at the moment we have no choice but to play the way we did the other night, lets stay in this league and give him a chance to biuld a solid side and i think he will.

[bartleygreen baggie]

Speaking to Stoke fans today at work they were highly critical of Pulis' purchases when he was the manager of Stoke; stating he signed a number of lemons for a lot of money! Dave Kitson and Tuncay Sanli for 5m each respectively being two of the ones they highlighted in particular.

[ex coseley kid]

Speaking to Stoke fans today at work they were highly critical of Pulis' purchases when he was the manager of Stoke; stating he signed a number of lemons for a lot of money! Dave Kitson and Tuncay Sanli for 5m each respectively being two of the ones they highlighted in particular.

Wow that's the equivalent of one Brown Ideye! 
Don't worry I'm just messin'!

[wba606]

 jones for 8 million and  palacios for over 10 million are probably his most worst signings 

[WBArgo]

In terms of buys, Tony Pulis isn't perfect and it's been mentioned above that some of his signings have been poor to say the least. However, I still believe he is better than our current scouting/signing system of the past two seasons and more importantly his management is his main quality.

[TheJacko2000]

Pulis' most important job now he's got the defence sorted is getting a tune out of Youssuff Mulumbu. Easily our best player at the top of his form.

[SirTonyM]

Speaking to Stoke fans today at work they were highly critical of Pulis' purchases when he was the manager of Stoke; stating he signed a number of lemons for a lot of money! Dave Kitson and Tuncay Sanli for 5m each respectively being two of the ones they highlighted in particular.

In the last 2 years we bought or loaned:

Anichebe 6 Mill
Ideye 10 Mill
Scott Sinclair (remember him), Anelka, Rosenberg, Samaras,Gamboa and Blanco who didn't start a game.

So I reckon Tony will fit in well

[tuamigos]

In the last 2 years we bought or loaned:

Anichebe 6 Mill
Ideye 10 Mill
Scott Sinclair (remember him), Anelka, Rosenberg, Samaras,Gamboa and Blanco who didn't start a game.

So I reckon Tony will fit in well

Looks we we unearth a lot of turds before we find a diamond (oh for another Lukaku)

[skyclad99]

Again we find ourselves knocking TP before he has even bought a player........he is after certain players for certain reasons, lets judge him once he has put the team together and we have seen them

Its pointless mentioning players he has bought that have not worked out, even the great Sir Alex bought a few turkeys... remember Djemba Djemba, or Veron [£28.1m!] to name a few......no manager has a perfect buying record, including TP... give the man a chance....!

[VVVAlbion]

Again we find ourselves knocking TP before he has even bought a player........he is after certain players for certain reasons, lets judge him once he has put the team together and we have seen them

Its pointless mentioning players he has bought that have not worked out, even the great Sir Alex bought a few turkeys... remember Djemba Djemba, or Veron [£28.1m!] to name a few......no manager has a perfect buying record, including TP... give the man a chance....!

Are you not aware of how this forum works?

Pulis record in the transfer market is not great and his attempted dealings in the transfer market were essentially his downfall at Palace. He may have a significant part in the final say as to who we buy and I do not expect we will purchase anyone he hasn't agreed to but I would have serious concerns if we handed over complete control to him (and haven't the club already come out and said this is not the case?) Essentially our transfer policy hasn't changed, just the personnel?

[skyclad99]

Fully aware of how this forum works thank you.

It is clear that TP appears to have a major say in who is or is not joining the club. This appears to be a departure from JP's policy and is a brave step. However, our recent record has been poor to put it mildly. Personally I welcome the move. Hopefully it will be a success, but if it does 'crash and burn' then only he will be responsible, and not some suits who still manage to retain their positions despite costing us millions.......

[baggiejohn]

I don't think there have been any major changes in our infrastructure since TP arrived. The HC has always had an input & indeed the final say into who comes in to the FC. I doubt if any of the players we are being associated with at the moment, have not been previously identified as potential from our "Scouting Mechanism".

IMO the contentious area is, players leaving. HC's are always going to try to hedge there bets & hold on to players who might be useful, on the other hand, with a finite budget, they have to release some, to fund the incoming players. It's a question of judgement on whether what you've got is better or worse than what's out there. Personally, I think we gave ourselves a mountain to climb by releasing 13 players at the same time as bringing in a new DoF & HC

As far as the departure of two of our long serving members of the scouting team, has anyone considered that it might be methodology that's determined it, as opposed to performance? Why would you need scouts on the ground to identify players, when there's a widely available global database?

[skyclad99]

I don't think there have been any major changes in our infrastructure since TP arrived. The HC has always had an input & indeed the final say into who comes in to the FC. I doubt if any of the players we are being associated with at the moment, have not been previously identified as potential from our "Scouting Mechanism".

IMO the contentious area is, players leaving. HC's are always going to try to hedge there bets & hold on to players who might be useful, on the other hand, with a finite budget, they have to release some, to fund the incoming players. It's a question of judgement on whether what you've got is better or worse than what's out there. Personally, I think we gave ourselves a mountain to climb by releasing 13 players at the same time as bringing in a new DoF & HC

As far as the departure of two of our long serving members of the scouting team, has anyone considered that it might be methodology that's determined it, as opposed to performance? Why would you need scouts on the ground to identify players, when there's a widely available global database?

Good points, although I refuse to believe that as HC Irvine had any say on the players we acquired this summer........

[baggiejohn]

Good points, although I refuse to believe that as HC Irvine had any say on the players we acquired this summer........

It's fair to say that all the players who came in last summer put pen to paper after AI was appointed, but 13 players were released before he arrived. Therefore, although he had the opportunity to say no, the choice was either it's this player or nobody.

[skyclad99]

It's fair to say that all the players who came in last summer put pen to paper after AI was appointed, but 13 players were released before he arrived. Therefore, although he had the opportunity to say no, the choice was either it's this player or nobody.

I can see your point, have to admit that it was a very surreal few weeks last summer.......hopefully we have learnt from it.   

[chippyclarke]

At Stoke, Pulis had Peter Coates' huge cheque book to play with. As we well know, Jeremy's is considerably smaller!

[WBAinDEVON]

At Stoke, Pulis had Peter Coates' huge cheque book to play with. As we well know, Jeremy's is considerably smaller!

doesnt Coates own 888 and similar companires etc

[darbolina]

In simple terms the 'head coach/ manager' (leader of the playing side) needs to ensure players signed will fit into the squad/ team structure he has.

We can argue it was tail wagging dog before or we could argue the dog (Irvine/ Mel/ Clarke) didn't bark loud enough or have his plan for the squad clearly enough. Clarke winged to the press but the results didn't come.

That's all in the past now and it seems to me we still have 'layers' of recruitment like we've always had (scouting, reports, interviews, Terry Burton/ Merv Day/ Pulis discussing how the players will fit in, negotiations, lawyers). The big difference now seems (my perception) to be a Pulis knows clearly what he wants and will make sure he gets it, hence the apparent many bids we've submitted. Stoke fans I know have already predicted exactly the type of players we'll sign and they'll be proven right I'm sure. If the results happen on the pitch (like they have in Pulis' previous jobs, then I'm happy.....for a while at least  ).

The Everton and Hull matches reminded me of Roy's first six months in charge - solid, defend, get a result. This is what we've missed since Jan 2013 when Clarke began losing too much.

If in January and in the summer we add some good attackers to this squad, I think we'd be a pretty tough game for anyone with Pulis in charge. It seems in the past few years 10%-20% of our signings have come off so you'd hope it's not too difficult to try to improve this from now on!

[Mr Cynical]

I think that the switch to a more UK based team helps on the unity front.  Last week we had 10 UK based players (including big Vic) and only Yacob matured overseas.  This was one of Pulis' first goals.  (Recognising... there was definitely an element of this under Irvine too.)

Having seen him quickly move on players that initially seemed to offer a lot, but in reality have been pretty ineffective you can tell that Pulis means business, demands commitment and is pretty cut-throat when he needs to be.

With less than 11 days in this transfer window its difficult to see where the players that are really going to make a difference are going to come from.  Ejecting this many players before any arrivals suggests confidence that better players will arrive.  Fingers crossed, but (maybe I've been brainwashed over the years) I think its going to be very difficult to bring in more than a couple of players that are going to have a decent impact on the 1st team.  Historically we're lucky if there is one.

[charliemike]

There could be 5 or 6 gone . Leaves room for 4 decent signings .

[mulliganstired]

Pulis' most important job now he's got the defence sorted is getting a tune out of Youssuff Mulumbu. Easily our best player at the top of his form.

Yes, couldn't agree more. Mulumbu's been a bit out of sorts for a while, maybe sympathy for Anelka was part of it, but for Irvine to basically drop him from the first XI was bonkers.

[Baggie Crosser]

Maybe some of our Academy boys are going to get a chance, or do the Powers that Be think it's too much of a risk?
Other teams are willing to blood youngsters. Who is to say maybe a couple of ours may blossom with some exposure and responsibility.

[Albionic]

just throwing this out there, maybe TP has come in, he found a split dressing room, along newbies and oldies lines.
 
Now his doctrine of unity meanswork to unite or  keep 1 half ditch the other (regardless of skills). His decision then due to time constraints is do I ditch
a) the basically british, Premier League experienced, old guard, or
b) varied origin, no history of PL, newbies

so TP has come down on the side of the old guard (please note, I'm avoiding the word clique). Which seems pretty sensible.

Now he has to bring in replacements, who will gel with the old guard, what will they be??  Its a fair assumption that they will be British, ex-prem players, not top class (cost), so likely workmanlike, solid and that means performances will be ..............

Thoughts?