Tony Pulis blasts failed managers for stirring the pot as pundits

The head coach, who is nearly three years into his Albion reign, believes it is becoming increasingly difficult for managers to last more than five years at any one club.

He says impatient supporters now want immediate returns, and blames ‘experts’ in the media for stirring up speculation.

Pulis is under pressure from the Albion fans following a run of two wins in 19 league games, although he has the same number of points as he did at this stage of last season.

The Welshman has faith in his relationship with level-headed chairman John Williams, who is expected to give the head coach until Christmas to turn form around.

And he blames the growing industry of sports broadcasting for adding pressure to managers.

“The media pressure and speculation and everything else just reaches a little bit further every year,” he said. “You have to deal with it.

"I understand the media and I understand what they’ve got to do and how they’ve got to do it. We’ve got more experts on TV and more experts on the radio than we’ve ever had in our lives.

“Some of them have had a go at management and not done very well but they are absolutely fantastic on the radio and TV. It’s amazing that they failed as managers.”

Gary Neville, Alan Shearer, Paul Merson, and Dean Saunders are all prominent pundits who struggled when they tried out management – but Pulis refused to name who he was alluding to specifically during his outburst.

“There are too many,” he said. “We’d be here all day talking about it.

“He turns up, he turns up and someone else turns up and I think ‘blimey, there are millions of them now’. They’re all over the place. It’s a new industry.”

Although Pulis reckons pundits are to blame for stirring the pot, he doesn’t let it affect him.

“I never actually listen to it,” he said. “At half-time I usually go out and have a cup of tea then come back and watch the football.

“As a manager, you have to be that single minded. I think Fergie once said you’d be chucking yourself off the edge of a cliff every other week (if you listened to it).”

Pulis has spoken at length about building a lasting base at the Baggies during his time at the club and setting up a foundation that future managers will benefit from.

But he believes the immediate nature of modern society is making longevity more and more unlikely in the Premier League.

“Society is changing all the time and it is moving further away from what we had years ago where you could go into a football club and you could have five, six, seven years,” said Pulis. “I don't think that is relevant now. Things move so quickly.

“I am not talking about people at the bottom of the league neither. I am talking about people at the top of the league too.

“You have seen what happened with Mourinho at Chelsea – winning the title and three or four months later leaving the football club. Nobody thought that would happen but that is the way it is.

“It is moving that way and there is a shelf-life there for everybody.

“I don't think you will see anything like Sir Alex at United for 28 years. Wenger will be the last one to do that.”

Despite that, Pulis is confident that Albion’s experienced chairman John Williams is not as susceptible to outside influences as other club’s decision-makers.

And he’s happy with his relationship with the man who Guochuan Lai has charged to run the football club on his behalf.

“The relationship between manager and chairman is vital,” said Pulis. “I’ve got a good relationship with John, he’s a good man and he knows the score.

“He’s got a lot of experience of dealing with this.

"Everything’s settled at this football club, Within the football club, everything’s fine."