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Stoke City manager

think no more than "stay in the Premier League and give" Europe our best "

There is a moment of doubt when Tony Pulis asked about the strength of her relationship with Peter Coates, chairman of Stoke City. "If I were fired tomorrow, the only thing I could hope and pray that I never was going to lose my friendship with him or the family Coates," says the director of Stoke. "They are a family wonderful, very honest and true to his word, I have great respect for what they did and Peter is more than a president, .. is a very good friend too. "

Pulis should be noted, is not about to lose his job and in any case, its close alliance with Coates should allow it to breathe more easily at a time when it is more difficult to sustain their period elapsed since the return to the Britannia Stadium in 2006 for a second term. At least that's the theory.

The reality is that Pulis has never taken anything for granted - "complacency is a word so disastrous," he said at one point during the interview - and, in his view, Coates and his relationship with the president's son and daughter of John and Denise, Bet365 who run the family business that has invested more than 50 million pounds in Stoke, has only increased the burden on his shoulders.

"John, son of Peter, is a bone called the football to his son Stan -. after Stanley Matthews When you have that is anchored in people working with most, probably more pressure, because I am so desperate not to disappoint as a family, because I know how they worked to put this club where it is, "said Pulis." For this reason, it is a heavier burden than the management of other clubs, friendship was born more than what we have achieved over the past five years. "

Meanwhile, Stoke won promotion to the Championship, finished 12 th, 11 th and 13 th in the Premier League, FA Cup reached the first final in their history and qualified for the Europe first time in 37 years. Pulis Coates described as "Stoke is the best manager ever," however, the Welshman knows that some fans want more. "You can not manage expectations," said Pulis. "I think what you have to do, it is sometimes said," Look what she was five and a half ago and take a look at what we have now. "People like to pick up the roses, but have never have time to feel. "

now would be a good time for a little perspective. Stoke, in the face of it, is on the slide. They lost their last four Premier League games, conceding 14 goals in the process, and the host Blackburn Rovers Saturday desperate for a cure to the alarming decline has scheduled a review of the adverse reality in a moment are about to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League.

It was the scene of Stoke supporters were expected after a major investment which included a loss reported 20 million pounds of Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios and Cameron Jerome in the time allowed. "It was £ 18 million," said Pulis. "And I think if you look at it, no disrespect, we paid for five players [this summer] that Liverpool paid [Jordan] Henderson. We [Matthew] Upson, [Jonathan] Woodgate, Jeronimo Palacios and Crouch. Henderson purchased. We are in the same league. or should be. "

Although the latter observation was delivered with a smile, Pulis would be the first to admit that there was little laughter in recent weeks. He was furious after 5-0 defeat against Bolton Wanderers, which he described as "in the last three or four shows in my eight years in the football club" and hopes that all those who had achieved this result without players during the break your system is turned off when Stoke lost 3-2 at home to Queens Park Rangers last Saturday.

"I also believe that more understanding of myself in relation to what we are trying to get out of the players. And after the Bolton game, I may have watched with eyes that require players to play three games a week should not be too much. But when you talk to other managers who have a lot more experience than me, and tell you what they experienced, they all said that [ Europe] is a hell of a lot of boys, especially its first go to him because he is very new. "

Pulis Stoke feel they were particularly unhappy with the amount of travel. "I saw an article with Dalglish [Kenny] the other day, in which he complains of having to go to London 48 hours before a match. However, had been to Timbuktu and back, "he added. "We played in Kiev, Split, Tel Aviv, we must go to Turkey. I think we've covered something like 15,000 miles and have already played 22 games. "

With nine games to come in December, Pulis said he thinks of no more than "stay in the Premier League again," especially when it is determined "to give our best efforts for Europe ". Trying to compete in club competitions two caused problems in the past, and although it has considerable strength in depth Pulis knows how difficult it can be the integration of new players and increased visibility, in a club where success has been based in a team philosophy.

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