"I don't give a damn" - Sheffield Wednesday boss Tony Pulis on how he's portrayed

It’s fair to say that news of Tony Pulis’ appointment at Sheffield Wednesday last week was met with a degree of derision from some quarters in the Owls fan base.
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Top of the list of concerns by some margin was the style of play Pulis has become known to favour; a direct, combative, uncompromising philosophy that became synonymous with his time in the Premier League with Stoke City.

It’s an image Pulis, 62, believes he has been ‘pigeon holed’ into by years of tabloid caricature and speaking as Wednesday boss for the first time earlier this week expressed a little frustration with the fact it is his achievement in never being relegated that gets ‘more airtime’ than his loftier achievements.

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Speaking to The Star, Pulis laughed off any notion that he should look to shed such an image.

“I don’t give a damn, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve been in the game long enough now and I’ve taken some punches. It’s about getting off the ground and getting on with it.

“You start to understand the way the world is. It's a different one now to the one I started out in a million years ago now and I accept it for what it is, although I don’t agree with everything.”

Social media has been a hot topic around S6 already this season and Pulis expressed his concern at the hold it has over opinion, not only in football, but in life in general.

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“I think social media can be positive, but there are massive negatives as well,” he said. “We have to be very careful with that over the next few years.

Tony Pulis is the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday.Tony Pulis is the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday.
Tony Pulis is the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

“I have a real, real concern for my children and grandchildren especially that it takes over your life. There has to be a lot of scrutiny, I think, over the next few years on that.

“That’s the world we live in now and I have to accept it, I have to get on with it and live with it.

“My daughters and son probably wouldn’t agree with what I’ve just said because they’ve grown up as part of that culture, but as an old fogie, that’s my view.”

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