[HRK]

I don't believe that Pulis has changed his philosophy on football at all and I don't believe the club has told him to either.

Discussions will have been had about what the problems are and I have no doubt that Pulis will have told the Board that they need to stop messing about looking for 'bargains' to balance the books and invest in some real quality. He will have also reminded them what a good job he had done keeping the Club in the Premier League with, what was basically, an over bloated squad of journeymen....and Berahino!!

We are now starting to see the results of Tony Pulis's 'football philosophy' with the addition of some of his targets, Phillips (the QPR reject, as he was labeled by some on here), McLean (can't believe some still doubt him), Evans, Rondon and Chadli.

We are probably THE most organised and hard-working team currently in the Prem and very dangerous on the break. This hasn't happened by accident. It has happened because Tony Pulis persevered with his vision of how we should play, despite the vitriol aimed at him.

Hopefully, all those Baggies that decided to 'stay away' have a rethink and return to the Hawthorns and get behind a bunch of players who look like they enjoy their jobs.

Looking forward to a happy 2017...

PS. Did anyone notice the 'man-hug' Ben gave Shane Long...



Having said all that, we will probably lose to Hull now...

I also find it amusing that because we're now playing better it's not down to the players or Manager, but down to the Chairman having a word in Pulis' ear to say let's see some more expansive football! 

I've never been fond of Pulis but I'm warming to him now. We need to keep in mind why he was brought in by Peace, and that was to keep us up at all costs until he sold the club. And on a very modest budget in comparison to the clubs we're competing with. He'd gambled with some very dubious head coaches before and we were very lucky to have survived under the tenure's of Irvine and Mel.

Now that we're under the new owners we've seen our play begin improve and become more expansive because we're not just trying to stay up at all costs - we're aiming to achieve the ambition what the new owners said they have for us, which is for us to move up the league and establish ourselves as a mid table team. We're doing quite nicely on that front and going into the 2nd day of the window I think we'll see at least two good additions to the team. Schlupp is one I think will happen. Schneiderlin not so much.

On the topic of attendance there's a key point in the Chairman's New Year Message that should not be overlooked:

 "But to the supporters who have stood through the wind, rain and shine of another year in the life of West Bromwich Albion, our sincerest thanks."

For me it's the die-hards that need to be acknowledged not those who've stayed away; as those will soon be back in droves now that we're on the upward trajectory again. 

ATID!