Is it time for Pulis to move on?

Stoke City face Sunderland tonight in a game which a few weeks ago looked to be one that would have huge implications on Premiership survival for both teams, however after back to back wins over QPR and Norwich Stoke have edged away from relegation up to 11th.

Just a few weeks ago however Stoke looked to be a team on the brink of slipping back to the football league after a four year stay in the top flight. It now looks like they will be able to extend that stay for another year at least but one thing that has stood out this season for Stoke is that fans have begun to doubt manager Tony Pulis.

        Pulis is in his second stint at Stoke rejoining the club in 2006 where he  then led the Club back to the top flight in 2008, and turned the team into a very consistent mid table club, utilising the team’s strength and height to good affect making them a very hard team to beat.

        As well as helping to establish Stoke as a top flight team, Pulis also led them to the 2011 FA cup final which they subsequently lost to Man City however making it to the final earnt them a place in the Europa League. They put in a good effort in the tournament but were eventually knocked out by Valencia in the first knock out round.

        Since then though Stoke haven’t really progressed much further and that is one of the biggest complaints of Tony Pulis. Many feel he has taken the team as far as he can. This season in particular has seen a decline in the fortunes of the Potters as more and more teams are working out ways of beating Stoke.

          Stoke’s success in the Premiership has been largely based on direct football which takes advantage of the team’s strength and height with a particular emphasis on set pieces. This has been a style which has often earnt them criticism though as they have been branded a boring long ball team.  

The long-ball tag is something that Pulis has always been keen to amend but this season he has struggled to find an extra dimension to his teams play and they have suffered painful losses to teams they were previously beating as they have evolved whereas Stoke have not. The Britannia is no longer the fortress it once was and more teams are coming to Stoke and getting a positive result.

          It appears though that they have done just enough this year and managed to pull themselves to safety but is it enough for Pulis to keep his job as his doubters have grown in number many feel that a change would be good for all parties now. Some progression is needed and fans maybe feel that somebody new could build on Pulis’s principles and give the club that extra bit of dynamism they need to make the next step to become a consistent top half of the table club. 

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