Sunday 10 May 2015 22:49, UK
Tony Pulis revealed that his latest great escape with West Brom has been the hardest of his managerial career after the Baggies mathematically secured their Premier League status with a 1-1 draw at Newcastle.
Pulis took over at The Hawthorns in January with the team just a point above the drop zone.
However, Pulis has transformed the side and realistically were already safe before this weekend’s games.
“We’re delighted, the job has been accomplished and we’re very, very pleased,” he said. “People won’t think it but this has been the toughest one I’ve had and they has been a lot of work put in, a lot of work behind the scenes put in.
“You get there through good organisation and discipline and plenty of effort and commitment. Everybody being together to get the results you need, it’s a relentless league.
“It’s very difficult managing at the bottom of the Premier League because you have the weight on your shoulders of everything. Not just the crowd, not just the fact it’s the greatest league in the world and you lose that status but also the money that is involved in the game now.
“You take all that into account and there is big pressure. You have to manage that pressure first and make sure if you get bad results that you don’t show it, you keep positive – you be honest with it but you keep positive and you keep driving the players forward. Luckily I’ve managed to do it again.”
The Welshman was not entirely happy with his side’s performance on the day but felt they created the better opportunities over the 90 minutes.
“We’re a little but disappointed with the changeover of possession,” Pulis admitted. “Once we got the ball we gave it away too cheaply at times but we created the best chances.
“I think we had the better clear cut chances, they had more possession but we don’t mind teams having possession as long as they’re going backwards and square and sideways.”
Overall though, Pulis was happy to complete a job well done with two games remaining.
“With the form of the bottom six or seven teams come the end of the season it was important that we picked the points up,” he added.
“When you look at the four games, playing Palace away is never easy, drawing with Liverpool, beating Man Utd and drawing at Newcastle, they’re fantastic results for the football club and it’s got us over the line.
“It’s now planning for next season – it never stops!”
