Tony ’40 points’ Pulis hosts Sam ‘firefighter’ Allardyce this weekend. West Bromwich Albion are set for a top eight finish, while their visitors are languishing in the relegation zone despite a victory last time out. Allardyce was only appointed just before the turn of the year, but the former England manager has had a fairly disastrous time of it. Expected to drag a talented Crystal Palace squad away from the relegation fight, he has driven them deeper into trouble as Marco Silva’s Hull and Paul Clement’s Swansea have improved.
Since the turn of the year, Palace have lost six out of eight league matches and failed to score on five occasions. Allardyce’s status as the manager who never gets relegated is under severe threat and that is, in part, because of Silva, Clement and Middlesbrough’s Aitor Karanka. His difficulties at Palace are a reflection of a manager losing his aura of unbreakable confidence and, perhaps, a sign that his methods are outdated.
His opponent this weekend, Pulis, has reached new heights. Still focusing on getting his team past his beloved 40-point mark, the former Stoke City manager has developed a more-rounded team. Now that he’s managed to achieve that, perhaps he can let loose even more. Fluid in attack, typically ruthless at set pieces and solid defensively, Pulis’ West Brom side are his best yet. Even the man who brought us Rory Delap has changed his ways. Adaptation to his squad and to taking West Brom beyond the level where his Stoke side stagnated, Pulis is an increasingly versatile manager.
West Brom have scored only two fewer goals than Manchester United thus far (Jose Mourinho’s team have admittedly played a game less) and Pulis has proven he will relinquish some of the defensive stubbornness that has been his trademark to improve their attacking efficiency. Aided by the performances of Matt Phillips and Nacer Chadli, Pulis has set a team up as good on the front foot as their rear guard.
With different resources and time at their clubs, a direct comparison between Allardyce and Pulis may not be fair. What we can see, though, is that Pulis is a manager accepting of change and understanding that his tried and trusted methods are not always going to get him where he wants to be. Allardyce, on the other hand, has stifled the natural attacking flair of his Palace squad and seemingly created a disjointed unit. His January spending was questionable, too.
Swansea and Hull opted for bolder managerial hirings. Widely criticised for their decisions to appoint Clement and Silva, the two boards have been vindicated. While Hull suffered a frustrating draw at home to Burnley last weekend and remain in the relegation zone, their performances against Chelsea, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Manchester United show a team vastly improved under Silva. The former Olympiakos manager addressed squad weaknesses in January and has them looking as defensively secure as anyone in the league.
Clement’s Swansea defeated Liverpool, Leicester and Southampton and are currently the least likely to go down of the bottom seven. While their appointment of Bob Bradley did not work out, Carlo Ancelotti’s trusted right hand man has turned their fortunes around. A lack of managerial experience has been proven irrelevant in this case, as the man who served the greatest of management apprenticeships has quickly settled into the Premier League.
The successes of Silva and Clement currently leave Palace’s appointment of Allardyce looking bizarre. A man who had been humiliated on the greatest stage as England manager looks to have lost his once-golden touch. Two British managers previously relied upon to guarantee Premier League safety have seen their careers take vastly different paths over the last nine months, it may be time that thinking outside of the standard managerial box for bottom half teams becomes the norm.
Allardyce needs a positive result away at Pulis’ West Brom this weekend, while the hosts are aiming to chase down Everton for a top seven finish. That alone is symbolic of their career statuses.
[ad_pod id=’playwire’ align=’center’]
