Pulis vs Bojan
The duality of fan...
That photo. Hang it in the Louvre.
On 29th August 2015, Tony Pulis returned to the Bet365 Stadium for the first time since leaving Stoke City a little over two years previously. He brought with him a West Brom side very much moulded to the Pulisian ideal, once derided as “dross” by another West Brom manager in the days when it was proven Baggie Kryptonite. Stoke had moved in the opposite direction, towards ‘Stokealona’, their starry starting midfield containing alumni from Barca, Bayern and Inter.
Pulis deservedly received a rapturous reception from a home crowd also salivating at the prospect of a home debut for newly acquired record signing Xherdan Shaqiri. Gone though, were the days of “We Always Beat West Brom”, and Pulis, as he tended to do in head-to-heads against his successor Mark Hughes, outfoxed The Potters. The full suite of Dark Arts were employed and Stoke walked merrily like lemmings into every trap laid for them. Within half an hour, we were down to nine men; first Ibrahim Afellay responded to a late tackle from Craig Gardner with a little petulant slap, before Charlie Adam followed, for standing on Craig Dawson after another meaty challenge (though as ever with the hefty Dundonian, it wasn’t clear if this was done out of malice, clumsiness, or a combination of the two).
Stoke only had themselves to blame, but we’d seen enough of Pulis’ teams to know this game. Having for so long been the tricksters, we now found ourselves the rubes, and we were less than impressed - boos rang out for the man who’d been so warmly cheered before kick off. On the touchline meanwhile, relations between the respective coaching staff - already frosty - declined further, as West Brom’s own new record signing, Salomon Rondon, headed in what would prove the only goal of the game. At half time, as the benches emptied in the direction of the tunnel, one Stoke substitute vented his fury at the opposition manager whose antics he felt had brought the game into disrepute. Bojan Krkic was livid.
The remainder of that match - West Brom put 11 men behind the ball, Stoke’s nine gave it a good go but couldn’t find a breakthrough, both clubs trundled contentedly to mid-table finishes while quietly sewing the seeds of their impending relegations in a couple of years’ time - is far less interesting to me than that still of Bojan and Pulis squaring up to each other. Partly because it’s very funny - Pulis looks incredulous at the very idea of being reproached by this cherubic Scrappy Doo - but also because it’s the encapsulation, in a single image, of the culture war that raged among the support during those golden years. Be it on a philosophical or a personal level, a sizeable chunk of the fanbase never took to Pulis in spite of the success he brought to a famished football club, while many of those who adored him never shook off their deep suspicion of Hughes and his attempts to move the football in a more progressive, continental direction. The poignancy of the photo is that both eras were great - some of the very best in the club’s history, with so much to enjoy about each - and are now but an increasingly distant memory as we toil haplessly in the salt mines of the Championship.
The image gives its name to this blog, which exists primarily as an attempt to stop my brain from melting like a Viennetta left in the sun as I enter my forties. Its intention is to not just try and make sense of the oppressive drudgery of present day Stoke City, but also look back at the dizzying highs, terrifying lows and creamy middles of the club’s past. I hope you find something to enjoy, whether you’re Team Pulis or Team Bojan.