TONY Pulis can shut up his critics forever at new club Crystal Palace.

The Pill-born boy done good is back as a Premier League manager after finally accepting the Eagles post.

I have serious suspicions Pulis considered the time right to take the Wales job if it had been offered to him, but the ex-Stoke boss still has a great opportunity to showcase his talents at Selhurst Park this term.

It's bemusing to hear people describing the post as a poisoned chalice or an opportunity nobody in their right mind would want, because the total opposite is true to my mind.

I think Pulis faces the ultimate 'can't lose' situation at Palace because everyone in the country who even half follows the Premier League expects the Eagles to be relegated.

So what does Pulis have to lose? If Palace go down with 20 odd points, people will say that it was inevitable whoever was in charge. He'll then be afforded the chance to re-build with vastly increased relegation parachute payments.

That doesn't sound so bad, and it's the worst case scenario for Pulis.

If he can make Palace competitive, to even battle the drop, will lead to plaudits. And if Pulis can keep the Eagles in the Premier League? It would re-define him as a manager.

I've offered the belief many times that Pulis is a victim of (ill-conceived) football snobbery and doesn't get half the credit he deserves.

However, by walking into a post with no expectation levels, he has an opportunity to right that wrong and shut up those who deride his supposed style of football.

The gameplan for Pulis is to establish Palace, as he did Stoke, among the regulars in the Premier League. When you look at how long Fulham, a club similar in stature to the Eagles, have managed that exact feat, it doesn't seem an impossible task.

The Palace job is far from a poisoned chalice, it's a golden opportunity.

Speaking of Pulis and Stoke, what about Mark Hughes' reaction to Wes Brown's red card?

"Dangerous," Mark? Really?

If that tackle was dangerous and worthy of a red card, Mark Hughes as a player wouldn't have EVER completed 90 minutes.