Legendary Prem supervisor admits set-piece coach resolution – ‘I did it my complete profession’

An iconic Premier League manager has given a brilliant answer on whether he would become a set-piece coach almost a decade on from his last job in the top-flight. Tony Pulis built an incredibly physical Stoke City side that became notorious in the country, and even around Europe, for being imposing and set-piece heavy.

Pulis guided Stoke to the Premier League in his second spell in charge of the club as runners-up in the 2007/08 Championship season, with the help of Rory Delap and his long throws.

In Stoke’s first season in the top-flight, around a quarter of their 38 league goals came from Delap’s long-throws, worth around nine points, as they finished 11 points clear of the relegation zone in 12th.

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While Delap only registered five assists in the Premier League via throw-ins, 25 goals were created directly from his throws across four years.

During his time as manager, Stoke scored 81 from set-pieces out of 188 Premier League goals during Pulis’ five years in charge.

Pulis masterminded the tactics across a management career spanning almost three decades, all without the need of a specialist set-piece coach as is seen in today’s game. The likes of Arsenal’s Nicolas Jover, and Austin MacPhee, now of Chelsea and formerly of Aston Villa, have become integral parts of the coaching setup in the dugout.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport, via sports betting sites, Pulis was asked whether he would come out of retirement to become a set-piece coach.

The 68-year-old brilliantly replied: “I was a set piece coach for 30 years! Along with everything else, we worked really hard on that all the way through my career. We worked out different combinations to score goals, offset plays, it wasn’t just a long throw.

“We would do it off corners and wide free kicks and even free kicks around the box. We’d spend a lot of time doing it and that would be stuff that I’d seen during my time growing up as a young coach and watching other coaches work, watching Venables, Dave Sexton, Bobby Robson and people like that, top, top people who put different sessions on.

“Or you’d watch a game, where someone did something different and you’d say, I like that, you know, playing around the wall.

“All the different ideas that other managers would use, you’d pick it up and use it yourself if it was necessary.

“So don’t put me in just as a set piece coach! That was one part of my job when I was managing and one part of the job that most of us managers, who were successful, actually cracked.”