Pulis leaves uncertain future to West Brom board

Tony Pulis said it was up to West Brom’s board to decide his future after a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea piled further pressure on the under-fire manager.

The Baggies were well beaten at the Hawthorns as they suffered a fourth consecutive Premier League loss and they will drop into the bottom three if West Ham beat Watford on Sunday.

Pulis revealed he had met with owner Guochuan Lai, who purchased West Brom in July 2016, amid mounting scrutiny of a winless run that stretches back to August.

And the former Stoke City and Crystal Palace boss hopes to have the chance to turn things around, if he remains wanted by the Midlands outfit.

“The board of directors will decide what they have to do. It’s up to them,” Pulis told the BBC.

“I have been in this position before. I feel for the players, they have worked hard but they have made basic mistakes.

“I spoke to the owners yesterday and they are really decent people. It’s not about them, it’s about what’s best for the football club. That is more important than anybody.

“I’ll keep ploughing along if they want me to.”

0-4 – This was Tony Pulis’ joint heaviest home @premierleague defeat, matching his 4-0 defeats to Man City (October 2016) and Chelsea (January 2013 as Stoke boss). Bleak. pic.twitter.com/J5VYGER7kK

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 18, 2017

Speaking after the match, West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster said the team had strayed too far from the fundamentals of Pulis’ game-plan.

“We could do with something going our way but that’s the harsh reality of the Premier League. There are 15 teams gunning to not get relegated,” Foster said.

“We have a scrap on our hands, we know that and we have to get back to basics.

“First and foremost we need to be solid and don’t concede goals. We have been trying to do too much and teams are punishing us.”