TONY PULIS HAS made an immediate return to management just a month after departing West Brom, with the Welshman being appointed the new Middlesborough boss on St. Stephen’s Day.
Pulis has been in charge at the Hawthorns since the beginning of 2015, however form which has seen the club drop to 19th featuring two wins in 21 games saw the 59-year-old relieved of his duties at the end of November.
He takes over at Middlesborough from Gary Monk, who himself was dismissed on Saturday night four hours after overseeing a 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.
Monk took over at Riverside Stadium last June, but the side has dropped to 9th in recent weeks — 19 points adrift of Wolves in top spot.
Middlesbrough Football Club are delighted to confirm the appointment of Tony Pulis as manager
— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) December 26, 2017
➡️ https://t.co/vFepPbvrKv #UTB pic.twitter.com/ZXyIbNBWFb
“I wanted a challenge – a real challenge – and this reminds me so much of Stoke when I went there with Peter Coates. Steve Gibson is a football man who understands the game. I have great respect for him as a person and an owner,” said Pulis.
“I really am looking forward to this. The immediate challenge is finding out about the football club and as a team we have to get as many points as can, as quickly as we can.
“I wanted to come at this time because we have so many games in a short space of time, and I can assess everything.”
Boro take on Bolton Wanderers later this afternoon looking for their fourth win in their last eight Championship games.
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This is exciting news
They sacked Monk for playing boring football and they bring in Pulis!!
@Mick Power: That isn’t why they sacked Monk but whatever suits your narrative, mate.
Perfect job for him a decent squad that should be in the hunt to go up they just need to be better drilled and tougher to break down they need a new goalie and centre back and a winger
@Colm Connolly: don’t we all?!
Bit hasty of tony. Surely a relegation threatened premier league team would have hired him