Tony Pulis raises John Coates "issue" at Stoke City - "they've got to sort it out" | OneFootball

Former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis believes the club have been too kind to their managers over the years

Former Stoke City boss Tony Pulis believes the club’s chairman, John Coates, has been too kind to the respective managers of the side over the years.

The 67-year-old spent three years with the Potters from 2002 until 2005, and then seven more from 2006 until 2013, in what was the most successful era in the club’s modern history.

They were regularly competitive in the Premier League, reaching the FA Cup final in 2011 and enjoying Europa League football the following season.

After Pulis left the club in 2013, Stoke’s fortunes began to change as they became progressively less competitive, suffering relegation to the Championship in 2018 – where they’ve remained ever since.

The Potters have backed their managers handsomely but haven’t seen the fruits of their labour, and Pulis believes that it could be argued Coates has been too accommodating to those in the dugout over the years.

“Recruitment has been poor” – Pulis gives stance on Stoke City’s mediocrity

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis

Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Peter Cziborra

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“I think that one of the issues at Stoke is that John Coates has been so helpful,” explained Pulis to OLBG. “He's given every manager everything they wanted and the recruitment has not been good.

“They're good managers without a shadow of doubt. Have a look at what Alex Neil has done at Millwall. At what Nathan Jones is now doing at Charlton.

“They've had good managers there, but the recruitment has been poor. And I don't think there's any question that what they've got to do, they've got to sort it out.

“Mark is a top, top man, great lad. They've got Jon Walters there now, they've got Ryan Shawcross there, they know the DNA of the football club, they know about the area, they know what the area's about, they know what the supporters want.

“I think what they've got to do, instead of chasing players all the time now, they've got to really, really knuckle down what they want. Get a smaller, more compact group of people together.

“This is me saying this from the outside, they need to really work them out into a system and get them playing for the football club. I'm sure he'll do it. He's got the experience to do it.”

Pulis believes owners are “absolutely desperate” for the Potters to be a success

The affection Pulis will forever hold for Stoke is clear to see, and understandable too, given the great successes they achieved together.

Both Pulis and the Potters never managed to hit the same heights once they parted ways, so it’s only natural for the former to take such a keen interest in the club’s success.

Stoke finished 18th in the Championship this season, just two points above the relegation zone. Mark Robins guided the Potters to safety, after previous boss Steven Schumacher was dismissed in September.

When speaking to OLBG, believes the senior figures at the Bet365 Stadium have made mistakes, purely due to the emotional stake they have in the side.

“I've talked about Gibbo (Steve Gibson) and Steve Lansdown, the Coates family are just, you just can't, you can't meet better people,” Pulis stated. “Wherever you are, you just can't meet better people than them.

“John has taken over from Peter and he is absolutely desperate for the football club to be a success. It's terrible to say, but maybe he's made mistakes and just given them everything to be successful instead of controlling it a little bit more in hindsight.

“But that's John. John is so desperate for the football club to be successful, he's actually, in some ways, he's actually not helped the situation by giving so much to the managers so early on maybe. Fingers crossed, they'll always be very, very dear to me, that football club.”