[Standaman]

The November fact is true but the teams concerned have actually played one game less than ourselves so in all likelihood will overtake or equal our points total once the rest of the weekends games have been played. Not withstanding running at nearly 2 points across 16 games is a healthy return

[TheJacko2000]

The November fact is true but the teams concerned have actually played one game less than ourselves so in all likelihood will overtake or equal our points total once the rest of the weekends games have been played. Not withstanding running at nearly 2 points across 16 games is a healthy return

Woe is us. Third in that little graphic instead of top... Look at the other teams.


You're the last worthy bastion of anti Pulis on here. Time to fall on your sword?

[liverbaggie]

Hey boingus,are you really a baggie?
Don't get your thinking mate,why would tone want to leave to go from 8th to 18th?
Money or the challenge?
We will pay him as much as Leicester can.
Challenge,his final challenge is ours.
I think we will be a force next season, whereas Leicester will be in chumps league.
Perhaps you are a fox in the throsles nest.

[Standaman]

Woe is us. Third in that little graphic instead of top... Look at the other teams.


You're the last worthy bastion of anti Pulis on here. Time to fall on your sword?

Oddly enough I was merely ironing out the statistical wrinkle but as I said 2 points a game across 16 is pretty decent by any standards.

My argument has never been about results although where we currently are heading is uncharted for both club and coach but none the less is still at the top end of the range we could generally expect given favorable circumstances. We are not yet in the realm of Leicester miracles. 

On the subject of Leicester Pulis would go to there for the money provided it was a lot more than he could earn here and it was guaranteed regardless of how things turn out. Personally I don't think Leicester are going to go down that route but they are desperate and they are prepared to spend a lot of money to stave off the threat of relegation so it is not completely implausible.   

[boingusmaximus]

No wind up. A baggie for many many years. Just not a believer in the Pulis style.Hated the games against Stoke over the years. We are not much better even now. If our only ambition is to finish 8th then it won't last for long and we will eventually go down as we have over the past 100 years or so. We will not have a cup final to remember and who can tell me who finished 8th over the past 10 years without googling.?.
Today was typical. Had the ball for about half an hour of the match and finished up with virtually all defensive midfielders on the pitch against a team who have not won all year.
It is ok in the scheme of things but hardly memorable.
Give me Ranieri or someone with style any day.
I appreciate I am now in a minority.
If every team played in the Pulis style football would be dead as a spectacle. We rely on other teams trying to play. Look at the Derby cup game when they sat back, we did not know what to do.
Hey ho. Happy that there is some more atmosphere in the ground.
If I was the owner and had ambition I would get someone else in who can improve our image and style.
And of course see Tone ok financially which I suspect is his main motivation despite all the waffle.
No, I just can't bring myself to like him !

[baggiejohn]

Just appeared on my twitter feed... Haven't checked its veracity.
If true, shows the superb job TP is doing here.

Fantastic.

Ranieri, did the same last year, doesn't prove a thing.

We're having a good season, most of our players are on form, & the players & crowd are pulling in the same direction, enjoy it while we can.

Pulis has a reputation of grinding out results, at the moment, I couldn't think of a PL Manager (within reach) who I'd want to replace him.
At some stage the fans & the owners will want better performances in the domestic cups & a consistent top 10 position in the PL, if TP can't deliver that, he will be replaced.
I'm amazed John Williams has come out with the comments about TP's contract this week, unless it's to ward Leicester off.

[Nocky]

Just appeared on my twitter feed... Haven't checked its veracity.
If true, shows the superb job TP is doing here.

 Chelsea have 38 points since the start of November.

[AlbionBest]

No wind up. A baggie for many many years. Just not a believer in the Pulis style.Hated the games against Stoke over the years. We are not much better even now. If our only ambition is to finish 8th then it won't last for long and we will eventually go down as we have over the past 100 years or so. We will not have a cup final to remember and who can tell me who finished 8th over the past 10 years without googling.?.
Today was typical. Had the ball for about half an hour of the match and finished up with virtually all defensive midfielders on the pitch against a team who have not won all year.
It is ok in the scheme of things but hardly memorable.
Give me Ranieri or someone with style any day.
I appreciate I am now in a minority.
If every team played in the Pulis style football would be dead as a spectacle. We rely on other teams trying to play. Look at the Derby cup game when they sat back, we did not know what to do.
Hey ho. Happy that there is some more atmosphere in the ground.
If I was the owner and had ambition I would get someone else in who can improve our image and style.
And of course see Tone ok financially which I suspect is his main motivation despite all the waffle.
No, I just can't bring myself to like him !

Very harsh that!
Wonder who you'd replace him with?

[VVVAlbion]

Tony Pulis, as a manager, lost me at Stoke. West Brom lost me as a spectator at the end of last season and that is why I comment less on the football on here.
Obviously results are improving and that can be seen in our position in the table; which as an armchair Albion supporter now, is great. The impression that I get from on here, supporters of other teams and the media however is that we are just getting more effective at Pulisball. Undoubtedly it is better than last season (not too difficult) and maybe it is as good as we can expect but it will never be my cup of tea.
West Germany won World Cups being ruthless. Brazil won World Cups being brilliant. I know which I prefer to pay to watch.

[Hunnington Baggie]

Very harsh that!
Wonder who you'd replace him with?

I always advocated Lucian Favre in the summer before he went to Nice, much better manager overall with a history of academy use and strong technical passing play.

But we stayed with Tony and ended up having a great season after a poor pulisball style start... Nice's is better but ours is great to.

[boinging_along]

It's an actual joke that people are still criticising Pulis this season. We are doing better than at any point in the Premier League.

All this talk about our ambition being to finish 8th and we will end up getting relegated. I can't believe that's from an Albion fan, my suspicion is that we have a Wolf among us.

[Dexy]

The thing is while we still give the ball away cheap this thankfully is nothing like his Stoke side or the lazy Pulisball tag. Its not really like Palace either to be honest , don't get me wrong there is still plenty to work on but its a hell of a lot better to watch than previous years.
Bit of a swagger at times mixed with mental and physical toughness , its a pretty good combination.

[sing on our own]

Regarding Pulis I never heard one Albion fan defending him when he was Stoke manager and we all said what opposition fans say now about 'rather go down than watch that every week' so we can't criticise people for saying it. I never joined in the discussion about Mark Hughes a few weeks ago when everyone was condemning him as football changes so fast and he might end up managing us then most ofnyou will all have to pretend to like him and he's a 'top guy'

[tuamigos]

We are a better side now than when he came in.
I don't think we could have appointed a better manager, though at the time I must admit I didn't think so.
He said his aim is always to leave a club in a better situation than when he came in. At the moment that's true.
Whoever follows in his footsteps he's made it a hard act to follow.

[Jimmy]

In regards to the 'How do they watch that every week comments'.

They clearly dont watch us every week, our attacking play is fast, direct and devoid of the usual 15 passes sideways or backwards.

Vive la Baggies.

[boingusmaximus]

We have been better to watch in the past few months, but that was hardly difficult. We used to pride ourselves in having a bit of style, but that has gone now. This type of football is ok, but only if you actually win something. I do not see the attraction in being content to finish halfway. In all the sport I have ever played you are judged and remembered by success . Halfway is nothing. Have a look at the way various sports have had their funding cut due to lack of medal prospects. If that system applied in football we would not get a sniff. My point about relegation is that we will go down at some time in the future. Only a very few clubs are immune, the rest (including us) will have their spells in various divisions. We have always been relegated every so often, a good run from the 50s to the mid 70s about our longest spell in the top division. We won  the FA Cup twice and the league cup once in that spell and that is what we still base our history on. Trouble is that history is getting more and more distant. I just cannot see Pulis providing any more than we have now, which is ok, but will be forgotten in the future and will not add anything to our history.
Ranieri delivered the premier league title and champions league football. I would take that any day even if it meant relegation the following year. I think Leicester fans have had much more fun than we have. We last won the league in 1919, no one on here will have seen that!

   
   

[boinging_along]

Give em a chance ffs. You've written them all off without even seeing what they can do.  We have clearly improved since Pulis took over so let's see where that takes us and get behind the tram rather than picking faults that we are only 8th.

And stop rolling out Leicester, they achieved the unthinkable, they were 5000-1 shots for a reason, not because everyone underestimated how good they were.  Leicester will not happen again in our life times.  And their football was no better than ours is now anyway, really loads possession, very direct.

I don't get where this 'right to win a trophy' comes from. Every club competing thinks they could win it. If you look at the last 15 years of competitors how many different winners do you think there are?  We aren't going to win the league any time soon unless something mental happens and we get a board thst will spend £500m+. There's no point getting on the teams back because we've not won the Premier League.

[baggiejohn]

I wouldn't have Ranieri at any price.

Flair players within a structure is fine, an unpredictable flair Manager - no thanks.

[section5]

Woe is us. Third in that little graphic instead of top... Look at the other teams.


You're the last worthy bastion of anti Pulis on here. Time to fall on your sword?

Says it all really

Head in clouds much? 

[wba13]

The likes off posters like VVV and maximus  are now minority posters who hav`n`t got a clue how TP now plays as he said himself he does`nt like tippy tap football and end up going nowhere he much prefere`s the counter attacking style, how those 2 posters can keep critisising the man for his Stoke and early Albion days are beyond me they just dislike the man .His style has changed wilh the players he has bought in we can now counter with pace and look dangerous every time we attack.If those fans got down to the shrine week in week out they would soon find out why at present we are the eighth best side in the Country instead of constantly critisising Bythe sound of it you could`nt have been at the Hawthorns  like thousands of us were during th e DARK days of GOULD BUCKLEY AND SAUNDERS NOW THOSE WERE DIER

[tommcneill]

Anyone who isnt enjoying this football I really dont know what too say

You want Mowbray football and winning the championship then fine you prefer lower league football, I love this style of football over possession based tippy tappy myself, counter attacking football at pace is the type of football I love and we are playing that

Some just dont want to like Pulis at any cost, they cant see that we are building a good side and want to criticise when there is not much to criticise about, as is a persons right.....but its not something I can subscribe too so will leave them to their critical ramblings.

We wanted a new owner who could help us invest better - we got it
We wanted a change in playing style - we go it
We wanted better players - we got them
We wanted rid of the deadwood and players that didnt want to be here - we got that
We didnt want to be in a relegation fight every year - we've changed that

Now it seems unless Pulis 'wins' something its irrelevant how we are playing or where we are in the league as it means nothing

You cant argue with or debate with people that literally do not like the manager whatever we do

[eaststandbaggie]

I remember those Dark days and bloody hell were they dark
If we got a corner there would mass excitement and euphoria
People raving about in the pub for a week
We were the only team in the league with 5 full backs
And 5,half backs
Thanks for reminding me I will start the psychology work all over again

[VVVAlbion]

The likes off posters like VVV and maximus  are now minority posters who hav`n`t got a clue how TP now plays as he said himself he does`nt like tippy tap football and end up going nowhere he much prefere`s the counter attacking style, how those 2 posters can keep critisising the man for his Stoke and early Albion days are beyond me they just dislike the man .His style has changed wilh the players he has bought in we can now counter with pace and look dangerous every time we attack.If those fans got down to the shrine week in week out they would soon find out why at present we are the eighth best side in the Country instead of constantly critisising Bythe sound of it you could`nt have been at the Hawthorns  like thousands of us were during th e DARK days of GOULD BUCKLEY AND SAUNDERS NOW THOSE WERE DIER

It's funny because if you actually read my posts I'm generally quite complimentary about TP. He is very good at what he does, I just don't enjoy the product that he provides and clearly it is my loss 

And actually the football might have been dire but following the Albion under Gould, Buckley and Saunders (actually,  maybe not Saunders  ) used to be fun. Less keyboard warriors telling you how to support your team 

[ian66]

I remember those Dark days and bloody hell were they dark
If we got a corner there would mass excitement and euphoria
People raving about in the pub for a week
We were the only team in the league with 5 full backs
And 5,half backs
Thanks for reminding me I will start the psychology work all over again

6,198 at The Hawthorns v Sunderland April 1987. Very dark days!!

[overseas baggie]

I was anti-Pulis until the end of October when several things changed.  His negative approach changed (an ultimatum from the new owners once the deal formally went through?), the return of Brunt and Morrison which better equipped us to play like we are now, TP's contract extension and a realisation that after his Palace legal issue he had to get the fans onside or his job here would soon be gone as well?

Whatever the reason, I like the football that we are now playing.  It's exciting and we play it well.  I'd rather have 35% possession, create 10 chances and see us score 2 or 3 goals than have 60% possession and do nothing with it.  The statistics that really matter are what we do in their box and what they do in our box.  All else is interesting but barely relevant. It's a results business.