Are Stoke starting to miss Pulis?

Its been over two years now since Tony Pulis left Stoke, and since Mark Hughes replaced him as manager of the Midlands club they have gone from strength to strength. However, the Potters are without a win from their first five games and currently sit second bottom in the Premier League.

While no one will be pressing the panic button yet, few Stoke fans would have expected them to be struggling after the big name signing of Xherdan Shaqiri. And although the football Stoke play has improved since Hughes took over, there will no doubt be fans who were concerned by the manner of the defeat against Arsenal.

Stoke seemed unable to cope with the pace of Arsenal striker Theo Walcott, who broke the offside trap to score Arsenal’s first. Walcott had a number of other chances, including a header he should have buried. The Stoke of old were famously efficient in clearing crosses from their own penalty area, a trait they did not show on Saturday. Comical defending gave Olivier Giroud the chance to score with his first touch, but the Frenchman missed the target. Giroud did get his goal late on to make it 2-0, but if it wasn’t for Jack Butland in the Stoke goal the margin of the defeat could have been much bigger.

Meanwhile, over at The Hawthorns, Pulis’ West Brom earned a goalless draw against Southampton. The game was poor and the Baggies never really looked like scoring, but neither did Southampton. There was a slight unrest from the home fans after the final whistle but a draw against a team who want to challenge for European football should have been seen as a good result, regardless of how the game played out.

It would be a surprise if Stoke were involved in a relegation battle this season given their performances over the past two years and the quality of players they now have at their disposal, but fans will hope for improved results in the coming weeks. And whilst Stoke fans should appreciate the changes Mark Hughes has made, West Brom fans should similarly get behind Pulis and back his methods, on the basis that the successes of Stoke and Crystal Palace have both been built on the solid foundations Pulis once laid.