NEWPORT'S Tony Pulis is delighted to be back in management after only three months away from the game, but admits that he feared he would be consigned to the football scrapheap.
Pulis, who took Stoke to 12th in the Championship last season, was given his P45 because of what his employers perceived to be a lack of interest in recruiting players from abroad.
He felt this was likely to count against him as he searched for a new job and he knew he was already saddled with a reputation as a no-nonsense manager who uses a direct style of football.
But Pulis' fears were ill-founded because at the end of last week he succeeded Bobby Williamson as the new manager of Plymouth - and he is promising the Home Park faithful value for money on the field.
"I think you get closeted," he said. "I think there's no doubt that people put you in a certain category. I don't think you will change certain people's opinions.
"I like my teams to be competitive. I think supporters pay good money at football clubs to see their team really compete.
"We play football. If we've got the players in the team to pass the ball, we will pass the ball, but players have got to understand that the work-ethic has got to be second to none.
"I've built teams over my career and those teams have been decent sides, decent footballing sides. "I'm certainly not a glossy manager, one of those pretty books in a bookshop that everyone picks up and, when you open it up, there's no substance inside.
"I think I'm probably that dusty one at the back that, when you pick it up and start reading it, you really enjoy it." Pulis also believes that his ability to work to a budget will stand him in good stead, something he thinks other managers could learn from.
"There are managers who are spending millions and millions of pounds that we are going to have to compete against. I've never had that luxury in my life. I've always been in a position when I've been fire-fighting.
"I still had a year of my contract with Stoke to run, so it was quite easy for me to sit at home and take the money, but I really wanted to step up, be involved.
"I want to be in there, I want to smell the dressing-room and see what we have got in there and what we haven't got in there. It should be a great challenge."
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