SWANS: ‘I’d be very surprised’: Tony Pulis can’t see Crystal Palace turning to Vitor Matos

Tony Pulis can’t see Crystal Palace turning to Vitor Matos, even if they part company with their manager.

The former Stoke City, Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion boss thinks the Premier League club would want someone who has managed in the top flight.

“Vitor Matos Crystal Palace? I can’t see it happening if they sack Pierre Sage,” he told CasinoHawks.

“I’m not sure Palace would go for a person who has not got Premier League experience. If they did go for him, I’d be very surprised, though that’ll keep all the Swans supporters happy.”

“Palace have got a manager, and he’s got a job to do there, so until it changes, we shouldn’t really be talking about it.”

‘They didn’t deserve to lose’: Pulis on Swansea’s West Ham defeat

Pulis felt for the Swans in last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to West Ham, their first home league loss of the season.

“I think Swansea were unfortunate against West Ham. They didn’t deserve to lose the game. They’ve surprised me as well, but their recruitment has been good,” he said.

Swansea are top of the Championship, a point clear after 11 games.

‘You play, you rest, you play, you rest’: why Pulis says the Championship is relentless

Pulis, who took Stoke City into the Premier League in 2008, thinks keeping it going will be the hard part.

“The Championship is a fabulous league, but it’s relentless. Week in, week out, the three-game weeks that are thrown up during the season are just phenomenal,” he said.

“You play, you rest, you play, you rest. There’s no time to reorganise or set things up on the training ground. You get weeks of non-stop football where you seriously have to look at the players and protect them to make sure they get through the games. So again, long season.”

He rates the Championship higher than it was last season. “There are some very, very good teams in that league. I think it’s a bit stronger than what it was last year, a bit more competitive,” he said.

‘The top three should go up automatically’: Pulis on the new play-off format

Pulis is no fan of this season’s new Championship play-off format. “Football-wise, I’ve always said over a gruelling season, whichever division you’re in, the top three teams should get promoted. But football has moved away from just football; it’s a business now,” he said.

He accepts the format is good for supporters. “It’s brilliant for the supporters, and if you’re looking at it as a business model to keep the supporters involved and glued to their teams, yeah. I’ll be really interested to see how it pans out at the end of the season.”

His son is in MLS with Real Salt Lake, where there is no promotion or relegation. “There’s never the added pressure that you have in this country where getting relegated can cause enormous financial loss,” Pulis said. “In America, you can go through a really poor season, and nothing really happens.”

Former Swans winger Scott Sinclair said this week that Swansea belong in the top flight.

The Swans go to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, 24 October (3pm).

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Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com