The Defenestration of Tony Pulis and the fallout for Sheffield Wednesday

Defenestration. The word has two meanings. The first is the 'physical act of pushing something or someone out of a window'. The second, 'the sudden removal of a figure from authority or power'. Whilst I certainly hope that Tony Pulis was not pushed out of a window, he has however been the subject of a sudden sacking as manager of Sheffield Wednesday football club after only 45 days and ten games in charge.

The Background

Fired on Monday evening, whilst preparing the team for a home fixture against the Wednesday anti-Christ Neil Warnock and his Middlesbrough side. Tony Pulis had allegedly taken training on Monday morning and named his team for Tuesday night fixture; not the behaviour of a manager assured of being fired. Tony Pulis is the Owls fifth manager in three years, four of which have been sacked. He may be one of many, but the Welshman’s release is by far chairman Dejphon Chansiri’s most radical sacking. The firing of Pulis reveals the wider picture of the mess that the football club is in.

The 'Wednesday Mess'

The departure of most of the five managers since 2018 have not come as a surprise to Owl’s fans, some even welcome changes. For example, the Dutchman Jos Luhukay became very unpopular with the fans by dropping key players and sending the club into a relegation dog fight in the 2018/19 season. Even Pulis’ direct predecessor, Gary Monk (manager September 2019-November 2020), did not convince all the supporters. The football was not exciting, the results were not good enough and the deterioration of a side that last Christmas sat in third place was a disaster to witness. In the last 23 matches of the 2019-20 season Wednesday won four games and only the English Football Leagues decision to delay the clubs 12-point deduction to the following season saved the Owls from the drop into the underworld of League One.

For Gary Monk, the irony of this current season was that he was trying to clean up Chansiri’s mess. In selling the Hillsborough stadium to a member of his own family to make a ‘profit’, Chansiri had been penalised for breaching the football leagues ‘Profitablility and Sustainability Rules’- the punishment being a deduction of twelve points (reduced to six) going into the 2020/21 season. Monk essentially had to start the season on minus six points, a job any manager in the Premier League, or indeed the world, would find a challenge. After poor results, including defeats to relegation rivals Rotherham United and Wycombe Wanderers, Monk was fired November 9th 2020. For the first time since the Reformation, a Monk was ousted from Sheffield (well probably). Monk got 11 months, traditionally seen as a short tenure in management. however, when compared to Pulis’ 45 days in charge, Monk was given ample time!

Monk won just two of his final 19 home games in charge at Wednesday.

Tony Pulis

When appointed on 13th November, Pulis was not the fans first choice. His traditional style of football, ‘hoof ball’ and ‘s***-housing’, was not the way fans wanted to see their already dull side play. Certainly, the likes of Paul Cook or 90’s captain Nigel Pearson would have been the fans prime candidate. One thing Pulis’ appointment gave fans was the assurance that the defence would be tightened up, but this meant attacking play would likely be sacrificed.

One relief was the immediate recall of reliable stopper Kieran Westwood (previously exiled by Gary Monk), but this was only a flicker of hope. Defeat on his debut at Preston away was followed by a string of draws and defeats. Humiliation at the hands of local rivals Barnsley at Hillsborough on the 12th December was followed by a 2-0 defeat at the hands of fellow relegation favourite Nottingham Forest.

The loss to Forest particularly outraged fans, especially when images revealed right back Moses Odubajo appearing to congratulate the Forest goal scorer Lewis Grabban immediately after he had made it 2-0. In a tweet following the match, Odubajo denied that he was complimenting Grabban, instead claiming that he was berating the Forest marksman for a foul in the build-up to the second goal. Whilst I personally believe that Odubajo was not ‘celebrating’ another team scoring against Wednesday, the implication that jovial images of a Wednesday player seeming happy despite conceding a goal had many Wednesdayites worried. Here was a club in trouble, offering nothing going forward, losing vital games against league rival with players that seemed disinterested in the outcomes of games.

Pulis finally gained his first victory just before Christmas, a much needed 1-0 win over relegation rivals Coventry at Hillsborough. Then followed a 1-1 Boxing day draw at Blackburn Rovers. Two nights later the club announced that after ten games, six defeats and only one win, Tony Pulis had been sacked as the manager of Sheffield Wednesday. The fourth in three years.

Why was Pulis sacked?

Officially, the chairman claimed it was because of his poor record. ‘On the pitch, seven points from a possible thirty is not acceptable’, Chansiri claimed in the statement given on Monday night. However, is ten matches and no transfer window enough time to judge a manager on? On Chansiri’s logic of bad results resulting in sacking, surely Luhukay and Monk would have been sacked sooner.

The key to an understanding of Tony Pulis’ removal lies in another important quote in the club statement released on Monday night: ‘there are also other issues which have had a bearing on the decision’. Whilst this statement is rather vague, it alludes to further reasons for his early dismissal. Pulis had spoken to the media of his plans to make several signings in the January transfer window, claiming that he would be honest with Chansiri when he was appointed. It may have been this honesty must have cost him his job.

Chansiri’s ‘cash flow’ issues have been no secret, with players not being paid fully this season resulting in PFA intervention. Pulis’ desire to spend in January will have caused conflict with an owner not eager to spend money. This conflict over the January transfer window will have led to a deterioration in relations between chairman and manager. Pulis’ poor form on the pitch was thus a handy excuse for Chansiri to axe a manager he had clearly fallen out with.

Tony Pulis lost his job after just ten games in charge.

The Fallout

The sacking of Pulis has been the most shocking dismissal of Chansiri’s reign, not because the Welshman was particularly popular, but because of the wider implications it has for the club. Performances and results, as Chansiri said, had not been good enough under him. However, ten games are nothing to go on when judging a manager and whilst he did not play attractive football in his short time at Hillsborough, Owls fans know Pulis to be a manager capable to achieving success in relegation battles; having done it with Crystal Palace, West Brom and Stoke City.

Given time and resources, the Welshman could have dragged Wednesday to safety kicking and screaming. What Pulis’ sacking indicates is an owner not prepared to give managers the full backing they need to keep the Owls up. What increases this concern is that at this present time, the owner has not even been able to pay his players. Not releasing the accounts of the 2018/19 season also clouds the financial position of the club in a worried uncertainty.

The post-Pulis era started abruptly. Wednesday managed to win their fixture on Tuesday night. A battling 2-1 win over Middlesbrough gives the Owls not only a positive end to what has been a year that can only be described as atrocious, but also confidence ahead of a massive clash against relegation rivals Derby County at Hillsborough on New Year’s Day. January will be a vital month for the Owls. I am confident that adequate recruitment would see the club stay up but, as seen with Watford’s continuous sacking of managers last season, the continuous change of managers could well be Wednesday’s downfall.

So, who is going to take Wednesday forward?

With five different managers in three years, the Hillsborough hotseat can be described as a ‘poisoned chalice’. The problem Chansiri has now is finding appropriate candidates who would want the job. A top championship manager, seeing that Hillsborough’s hierarchy is not afraid to remove managers would not be likely to want to manage the Yorkshire side. Furthermore, seeing that even a well respected, experienced manager can only last 45 days, even the most ambitious of football coaches would not be attracted by position of managing Wednesday. After all, who would dare drink from a chalice so poisoned?

The 'Defenestration of Prague' started a major European conflict in the 17th century. Whilst this defenestration will not start a war (although after the 2020 we have just had, who knows?), it does reflect a type of conflict: the conflict Sheffield Wednesday managers have had and will always have with an owner unfamiliar with how football really works. It is baffling to think that the same owner almost led Wednesday to the promised land in 2016, ironically denied by the most talented manager he would later appoint in Steve Bruce. I wish Pulis’ successor well but, pending a miracle, it looks like it will be Gillingham away for the ‘mighty’ Wednesday next season.

Up the Owls! - Written by Gareth Johnson