In an exclusive interview with BoyleSports , legendary former Premier League and Football League manager Tony Pulis has argued that the Championship is set to be more competitive next season.
Pulis also gives his thoughts on Liam Manning’s move to Norwich and whether or not some of the major performers from last season Sainz, Sargeant and Bellingham could be on this move this summer.
Coventry City’s Premier League Dream
Coventry City have got some very good players, and I think Frank Lampard’s record since taking over has been pretty exceptional. I really do think that given the opportunity, if you can bring one or two players in, they will be there or thereabouts next season.
I think the league will be stronger next year, without being disrespectful, I think you look at the number of points, the top three clubs accumulated over the 46 games, it was a little bit weaker than what it normally is.
I think next year it’s going to be a really tough league with Birmingham coming up, with Wrexham coming up, I think there's going to be a real challenge for those top six spots, but I do think Coventry will be there or thereabouts.
With Jack Rudoni, Frank will want to keep hold of his best players and the chairman seems pretty adamant that they want Premier League football in the next couple of years.
We will see how strong-willed they are as a football club. The kid won't do himself any harm having another season at Coventry or under Frank. So it'll be interesting to see how that one pans out.
Jobe Bellingham To Dortmund?
On Jobe Bellingham, his brother Jude took a similar route and that pathway has already been cleared for him. He knows what to expect and what to look forward to if he does go to Borussia Dortmund.
He's had a great season and done exceptionally well at Sunderland, it will be really disappointing to lose him, but it might give them the opportunity and a chance to invest in maybe two or three other players that makes the group stronger for next year.
Mannings Bold Move Bristol City To Norwoch
Liam Manning did a great job at Bristol City. A fantastic job. But he looked at it and pitted the two clubs against each other in respect of the quality within the groups and made his decision. He has made a decision that he's got a better opportunity to be successful at Norwich than he does at Bristol City. But he did a great job at City and I'm sure City will be disappointed that they've lost him.
It'll be interesting because the expectations at Norwich will be far greater than they were at Bristol City. I think the majority of people at City would have been absolutely delighted to have got in the playoffs. Although they would obviously have been disappointed when they got knocked out, they would have looked at that at the beginning of the season and said it would have been a great achievement. With Norwich, they have underachieved, without a shadow of a doubt they would have thought promotion or even top six would be sufficient for their supporters.
Not getting that, they would have been very disappointed that the season came and went without achieving any of those two objectives. Liam has probably looked at it and decided that he has got a better opportunity to get to Norwich in the top six. Those are decisions that people have to make in football, and it'll be disappointing for the Bristol City supporters, only time will tell how it pans out.”
Can Norwich Keep Their Best Players?
Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent are good players, and I felt that Norwich had some outstanding players last year. However, if you compare them to a side like Burnley, Burnley played as a team. I watched Norwich at times and although they played very good individual stuff for parts of games, I don't think they were consistent enough as a team.
With the new manager going in there, the one thing that maybe he has to look at is finding a consistent level of performance. If they do that and they keep the two players we've just spoken about, they will be up and around there. Without a shadow of a doubt.”
Ryan Mason’s Next Step At West Brom
Ryan Mason has done his work at Tottenham Hotspur and done well as a coach there, I’ve heard he is a good coach, but I would’ve given it to the lads that were already at the club. They’re good lads and are very committed to that football club. But Ryan's got a great opportunity. It's a fantastic football club.
I thought they were absolutely odds on at one stage to get into the playoffs, but they obviously dropped out for whatever reason. They probably need to add a little bit of a backbone to the group. If they do that, Ryan could have a very successful first year as a head coach.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Untapped Potential
Sheffield Wednesday are a massive club, I spent a short period of time there and the supporters are fantastic. I was very unfortunate there because it was during Covid, so I never really experienced the atmosphere at home or away with the supporters. But yeah, it needs to be sorted out. It's a Premier League club. It's one of the biggest clubs in England in respect of potential.
A club that really has to sort itself out and has to get moving in the right direction. The supporters are desperate for success. The chairman has put a hell of a lot of money into the football club. It's another club that has a manager that did really well keeping them up, but it faded away after Christmas last season.
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