James McClean makes Tony Pulis admission about their time at West Brom together
James McClean raised the example of his time playing under Tony Pulis at West Brom in a debate over style versus substance in football.
The former Albion player was speaking on Irish TV station RTE Sport, as shared via X [19 June], in a discussion on teams’ playing styles at Euro 2024.
McClean argued the case for the performance not mattering if a positive result is picked up, which led to host Joanne Cantwell pointing out that the midfielder once played under Pulis.
That led the ex-Republic of Ireland international to interject with: “I had three years under Tony – three enjoyable years.
“The style of play was not for the purists, but we did quite well and had some good finishes in the Premier League.
“The grass is not always greener because after Tony left, we got relegated the same season. It’s about winning games of football.”
Tony Pulis set wheels in motion for West Brom relegation
Pulis was sacked as Albion boss in November 2017 following a run of just four wins in 22 Premier League games stretching back into the previous campaign.
That led to Alan Pardew being appointed and subsequently sacked five months later, with Darren Moore then ultimately unable to help the club beat the drop.
Pulis did indeed have a defined style of play, which worked wonders at Stoke City, but the negative style of football never went down well among The Hawthorns faithful.
Football is ultimately a results game, and if West Brom were playing this brand of football while flying high, fans would no doubt have accepted it.
The problem was everyone could see what was coming, with the damage done by the time of his departure as relegation followed later that campaign.
Football is very much a results business, but that is not to say those positive results cannot be achieved by playing a nice style of football – something that was never going to be possible under Pulis.
In other West Brom news, Don Goodman is anticipating further exits from The Hawthorns before the transfer window closes.
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