In charge of West Brom for the past three seasons or so, Tony Pulis enjoyed a rather successful time at the Hawthorns, coming 13th, 14th and 10th in the Premier League, yet something failed to click early in the 2017-18 campaign.
With the team struggling to get points on the board, the Baggies’ board took the executive decision to part ways with the former Stoke manager in November with the club just a point above the relegation zone following a 4-0 defeat to Chelsea.
While the results played a big part in him losing his job, Nacer Chadli, who was bought by the Welshman from Tottenham for around £14m, revealed in an interview with Sport/Foot there was more to it, especially in the West Brom dressing room.
The pair had a falling out during pre-season, with the Belgian refusing to adhere to his manager’s high intensity training, and the forward’s game time suffered from it.
Asked if he was relieved when the news arrived Pulis had been sacked, he said: “I’ve never wished for someone to lose their job. It’s not something you can be happy about. However, I think we got to the stage where the players weren’t ready to fight for the manager anymore.
“On a personal level, I was, of course, frustrated about not playing, but I always tried to work as hard as possible by focusing on my time with the national team. My problem was I didn’t have a direct contact with him since this summer, when I wanted to leave the club.”
Chadli then revealed Pulis played a ‘two-faced game’ with him during that time, telling him he could leave while trying to block a transfer behind his back, which the player didn’t appreciate at all.
The 59-year-old has since been replaced by Alan Pardew, and didn’t take long to bounce back at Middlesbrough in the Championship, where he’ll try and push for a playoff spot in the second half of the season.
