Stoke City: Tony Pulis shrugs off fashion jibes

TONY Pulis isn't about to let a few jibes from Newcastle fans change his match-day attire.

Call it superstition – or simply bad taste – but the tracksuit and baseball cap combination is definitely staying.

Opposition fans will certainly have to come up with something far more hurtful than the Newcastle jibe of, "You're just a tramp in a tracksuit", to persuade TP to reassess his wardrobe.

After all, what else can he wear? As Manchester City fans pointed out a few weeks back, "Tony Pulis, you wear the club shop".

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Pulis responded to the Geordie taunts after Wednesday's win by declaring with a grin: "I thought it was good, pretty funny ... they can have a look at me in my suit now."

The Stoke boss was clutching three points as he spoke, but it's still the big 40 he wants in his cap.

Back-to-back home wins over Fulham and Newcastle in the past six days send Stoke to The Hawthorns tomorrow almost halfway towards that target already.

And that has Pulis worried about complacency creeping into the ranks before the calendar has even flicked over into December.

"The big thing is, we should never take our eye off the ball," he stresses.

"We are privileged to play in one of the greatest leagues in the world, if not the greatest, and to maintain that you have to keep your feet on the ground.

"Look at how many big teams are in the Championship and ask yourself why. It's because they have been complacent."

Not that he could possibly accuse Stoke's support of drifting into that kind of comfort zone just yet.

"Our supporters have not got complacent," he acknowledged, "and that's why we are where we are.

"But we must never think we've cracked it and ease up. Too many have made that mistake and look where they are now."

As the table shows, however, there isn't exactly any cause for complacency because Stoke's current position bears an uncanny resemblance to events at this stage in each of their previous four Premier League campaigns.