West Brom's Tony Pulis dilemma unlikely to get easier after Chelsea visit
The Hawthorns has been a managerial graveyard for Chelsea with both Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo lost their jobs following fixtures there. With the title secured in 2015, Jose Mourinho's side were defeated 3-0, a portent of the the following season's unravelling.
Antonio Conte bucked the trend by winning the league in West Bromwich last year. Few expect him to be at Chelsea next season although defeat on Saturday will not spell the end for him. Not yet. But it could for the man in the home dug-out.
No matter the faith in any manager, two wins in 20 league games puts him under severe pressure but what makes it far worse for Tony Pulis is that he is facing the triple whammy of poor results, disappointing performances and fan disenchantment.
So a heavy loss to Chelsea with – almost more significantly – a poor showing and a mutinous atmosphere among the supporters will place him in peril with an away trip to Tottenham Hotspur to come.
It seems, not for the first time, that ‘Pulis-ball’ is the problem and there is a real issue about style of football that many Premier League clubs face: if you play the percentages then what are you left with when the points are not forthcoming? Take away the wins and it is wan.
If Albion were to sack Pulis then they may want to turn to a manager with a proven track record of keeping teams up, of winning relegation battles and of creating the kind of solid side that is rarely in trouble.
Yes, a Tony Pulis-type. Or (and would it be possible if Pulis goes?) Sam Allardyce.
But there also comes a time when the fans, often more than the owners, want a bit more. When mere survival is not enough. What is the point of being in the Premier League if the football is boring? Staying there, yes. But when that status is in jeopardy there is not a lot left. Losing without entertaining is just losing.
This will all grate on Pulis. He has never endured relegation and not just as a manager. In four decades as a player, coach or manager it never happened. Even Conte, his opponent, has suffered that failure.
The argument for keeping Pulis is not just his track record and his acumen but that old chestnut: be careful what you wish for which can, alternatively, be known (by me at least) as the ‘Curbishley conundrum’ after what happened next when Alan Curbishley quit Charlton Athletic in 2006.
Publically it was about needing a new challenge but really it was a shared disenchantment with manager and fans no longer seeing eye to eye. Curbishley, the fans thought, was not the man to take the then Premier League club to the next level. Unfortunately Charlton are now in League One and have endured a miserable decade.
It does not mean the time was not right for Curbishley to go and Pulis’s links with Albion are nowhere near as deep. So it would not be such a wrench. But there are other examples.
More recently there is Crystal Palace who went from Allardyce to Frank de Boer, wanting to progress, but he only lasted four games are they now in a desperate fight against relegation under former Albion manager, Roy Hodgson. It is a dilemma. There is nothing wrong with ambition. But it is stating the obvious to say the right decisions must be made.
Liverpool look forward to glimpse of one that got away
Southampton face Liverpool and the focus at Anfield will be on Virgil Van Dijk, the one who got away from Jurgen Klopp amid accusations of tapping-up, a public apology, a transfer request – and a potential £60million fee that would have made the Dutch international the world’s most expensive defender.
It may still happen - and as early as January. Liverpool still want the player, he still wants to go, and Klopp probably feels a debt of loyalty while relations between the clubs have improved.
Southampton’s stance was understandable. But while Liverpool, with the sixth worst defensive record in the Premier League, are definitely suffering from not signing Van Dijk Southampton are hardly significantly better for keeping him. Without Van Dijk this season they conceded a goal every 107 minutes. With him they have conceded every 75 minutes while his return meant he replaced £15million Wesley Hoedt who was proving an adequate substitute.
Furthermore Southampton’s problems under former Liverpool defender Mauricio Pellegrino have not been conceding goals but scoring them, just as last season. They lack creativity. They lack a goal-scorer. It begs the question if they might not have been better cashing in and investing elsewhere.
Kane on verge of another record
Harry Kane is the type of player who knows the significance of every goal he scores, every record he breaks. It is one of the things that motivate him. So the Tottenham Hotspur striker will be well aware of the fact that if he finds the net against Arsenal in the north London derby he will become the first player to score in six consecutive league matches against an Arsene Wenger side.
At present Kane is level with former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who struck in five games in a rowbetween 1997 and 2000 – although Hasselbaink could justifiably argue it was a little harder to score against Arsenal in those days. Nevertheless Kane’s record against Arsenal is already even more impressive having scored 20 goals in 24 games.
No Ney, Jose
When the word is that players are find the manager’s video sessions and drills too long and boring then his future is in doubt. When that club is Paris Saint-Germain with Neymar, Thiago Silva etc. then it is unlikely that coach, Unai Emery, will last long. Even so PSG have zero interest in Jose Mourinho.
"Friends" reuinted
The feud between Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho has been one of the most sulphurous in recent memory. The pair meet at Old Trafford, with Manchester United hosting Newcastle United. Remarkably, though, it will be the first time they have faced each other since Aug 2007. Will time have mellowed them? Doubt it.
