In an exclusive interview with BoyleSports , legendary former Premier League and Football League manager Tony Pulis has insisted that anything is possible for Wrexham as they chase promotion to the top flight.
Pulis has also backed Ipswich to have a strong return to the Championship season and hailed potential new Rangers boss Davide Ancelotti while also discussing a range of othe topics inluding James McClean’s potential boxing bout against Jake Paul.
Wrexham’s Promotion Prospects
Phil Parkinson has experience of Championship football. He'll understand what's needed. To get three promotions, I don't care what anybody says, to get three promotions on the bounce is just exceptional.
They are in such a positive place at the moment, the crowd are behind them massively and they'll have to be next year as well because the level moves up again, but nothing is impossible. The fans will really get behind them and it’s going to be an interesting league next year. Very, very interesting. It'll be interesting to see what Wrexham do and what they can achieve.
Davies To Wrexham?
To Ben Davies, I’d say that you should stay as high as you could for as long as you can. He's played quite regularly at Spurs this year and he's still in the national team and doing exceptionally well for them.
I think Craig Bellamy relies on him quite a bit as well with his experience. So I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to jump out of the Premier League at the moment. Maybe one day, but not this year, I'd be very, very keen if I was him to have another year at least in the Premier League.
Can Ipswich Bounce Back?
I know Mark Ashton and he’s a great lad, he’s backed Kieran McKenna like you wouldn’t believe. They had two promotions from the first division through to the Championship through to the Premier League. They had two really, really good seasons.
Mark has really, really backed Kieran and they backed him last year. They spent a hell of a lot of money last year bringing players in. They've just made a good return on Liam Delap going to Chelsea, that was a good deal, and they've made some money on that. Whether they reinvest or not, we'll have to wait and see.
Do they need to reinvest? Looking at the team last year, I still think they've got enough within the group to be very successful in the Championship next year. They'll have really, really good crowds and the start is important. If they get off to a good start, they might be favourites to finish top of the league.
Managers Pre-Season
They'll have their recruitment team working on it. I think the important thing is that they regroup, dust themselves down and make sure they get off to a really good pre-season. Pre-season is such an important time for managers. People think managers just go off and have six weeks on holiday. If you don't get everything in place for the start of the season, and a lot of it is done during the close season, then you could have a poor start.
If you have a poor start you could be out of a job after five or six games so I'm sure Kieran McKenna and Mark Ashton have butted heads together and sat down and worked out what they want and what they need. As I've said you know I'll be very very surprised if they don't have a really good season next year.
Ancelotti v Rodgers On The Cards?
I know Davide Ancelotti. I went over to Madrid last year doing the academy program and I watched him work. I spoke with him. Obviously, Carlo Ancelotti is legendary in football, especially in my era. But I was very, very impressed with Davide. He had a very, very good way about himself personally. I watched him coach and he was very organised.
The work that they did was very, very good. He was right on top of it. Carlo actually took a backwards step, really, in respect of letting Davide do it all. So he's worked with top players. He's been very successful with his dad and maybe for him to have a go himself. Are Rangers the right club for him?
If they're prepared to invest, there needs to be a lot of air in the bag at Rangers for someone to go in there now and be successful. Being successful is to get really a lot closer to what Brendan Rodgers has done at Celtic. So it'll be interesting. They tell me there are two or three top managers involved in respect of getting a job there, so it’ll be interesting who they go for.
Davide would be for me a great appointment in respect that they've got someone new, someone fresh, someone who's dynamic enough to want to be successful. The next thing is, have they got the right people recruiting the right players that are necessary to get that club closer to Celtic?
Tierney’s Potential Parkhead Homecoming
Celtic is a fabulous club, as are Rangers. I really thought about 25 years ago that they would bring both clubs into the Premier League, the two giants from Scotland and also a club from Ireland in but it never happened.
But the support for Celtic and Rangers around the world is just extraordinary. Kieran Tierney will know what it's like. He has been at a top club in Arsenal, but he will feel a lot more comfortable at Celtic. He had fantastic success there before he went to Arsenal and it sounds as though he's desperate to get back, desperate to get back home and play and enjoy his football again.
Readings New Ownership
I managed against Reading when they were getting promoted to the Premier League when Steve Coppell was there. It's a really, really good club. They have the potential to get back up there. It's just been poorly managed. I'm not saying that just on the football field, I think off the field as well. So supporters have got their wish with new owners.
Fingers crossed they put people in place who know what they're doing and then it's a gradual process. They did very, very well last year. It’s a big area as well, just outside of London, you can attract a lot of good players from the London clubs. It's just sorting it out behind the scenes.
“It's not just getting it right on the pitch, it's getting it right off the pitch as well.”
Bristol Rovers Relegation
I was really disappointed that Rovers got relegated last year. I think with the success that you've had on the one side of the town and then Rovers having dropped down again is really disappointing. I don't and I haven't got as many contacts as Rovers as I used to. But it was a fabulous club for me, a fabulous club for me starting out in my career.
They had wonderful, wonderful people there and it was a very, very, very well-run club. The base of everything is really having that solidity behind the scenes, giving people the opportunity, the chance to be successful, but to be smart and be clever and to put things in place that are going to make you successful on the pitch.
It's not just going to happen on the pitch without the recruitment, the academy and everything else being right. You have to have commitment to the supporters, to those that absolutely love the football club and travel thousands of miles every year watching them.
That commitment, the organisation and the running of football clubs behind the scenes, that's so, so important. I was talking to someone the other day about how it was always ex-managers or ex-players working behind the scenes and we’ve missed that; clubs are missing out on that.
Ronaldo’s Legacy
A lot of things revolving around Cristiano now will be commercial. So there'll be a lot of people out there looking at him, not just for the great footballer he is, but for commercial reasons as well. I didn't think he would last this long, but you've got to give him so much credit. For him to do what he's achieved, he must be so dedicated.
His attitude to living his life, eating the right foods, taking rest, training the right way, his preparation and everything connected with himself must be absolutely fantastic. He's earning a lot of money, everybody knows that, but the kid works really hard, and he's been very, very dedicated over his career. He's been one of the great players, without a question of a doubt.
James McClean v Jake Paul
James is a great lad, He's such a fit lad, James, and he looks after himself properly. He eats well. He is a real, real top, top professional athlete. Would I be in his corner if he goes into the ring? I'd be quite happy to be sitting in the front row watching him and not going up against him.”
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