Tony Pulis: West Brom boss under pressure but not affected by criticism
Last updated on .From the section Football
West Brom boss Tony Pulis admitted he is under pressure after defeat at Huddersfield and called the club's run of results "one of the worst I've been on as a manager".
Rajiv van la Parra's goal gave the Terriers a 1-0 victory to leave the Baggies two points above the Premier League bottom three, with some away fans chanting for Pulis to be sacked.
"If you're on the run on we're on, I don't care which club you're at, you're going to get stick and you have to take it," Pulis told BBC WM.
West Brom have won just two of their past 20 Premier League games, the worst sequence of any team still in the top flight and, despite playing against 10 men for more than half an hour at the John Smith's Stadium, could not find a way through.
"It's not the first time it's happened to me as a manager," the 59-year-old added. "You know there are a certain amount of supporters who will give you a hard time.
"But my main concern is with the players. I want to protect them so they can just go out and play and give everything in every game.
"Everyone's still so together. It reminds me of my time at Stoke.
"John Williams [chief executive] popped in to have a chat with the lads after the game. He's a good man. He knows the game. But I'm not stupid enough to think you can get away with losing every week.
"We are in the results business and these results mean there's some pressure on me."
Pulis did not criticise his players, who have scored 13 times in that run of games stretching back to the start of April.
| Best and worst PL record since 1 April 2017 (of ever-present sides) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| Man City | 20 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 61 | 15 | 46 | 49 |
| West Brom | 20 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 27 | -14 | 12 |
"You can't fault my players, who have worked incredibly hard," he said.
"When Huddersfield went down to 10 men there were times when we could have displayed a little more care in the final third. But we were beaten by a wonder goal when it should have been a free-kick given our way.
"It hurts to go such a long time without winning a game. But things conspire against you at times and you don't get the breaks."
'Keep Pulis and stay up'
Former Birmingham midfielder and BBC Sport pundit Robbie Savage on 6-0-6:
"West Brom's fans were not happy with the team Tony Pulis selected and in the first half they were really poor. They had a go in the second half and could have got a draw against the 10 men of Huddersfield, but it's three wins in 27 games.
"If West Brom keep Tony Pulis then I believe they'll stay up, although not playing the most attractive football."
