There’s a phrase regularly used among Stoke fans which is becoming quieter as the seasons go on. For those who follow Stoke City, West Brom is about as good as it gets in terms of a local derby, since their promotion in 2008. They take great pride that they “always beat West Brom” – but its relevance is fading. You see, it’s less to do with the two clubs and more to do with the style of play that the teams adopt.
As it turns out, in this pseudo-derby, it’s Tony Pulis who has the matchup by its balls, and can win with who he wants. Stoke fans boast for a reason – their record v West Brom under Pulis reads W5 D2 L1. With Pulis at the helm of neither managerial position, Stoke’s record is W2 D1 L0. But with Pulis at West Brom, Stoke have lost all three encounters thus far. 
Stoke are about 70% towards completely shaking off the stereotype which has dogged them from Pulis’ reign. Long balls, big brutes of players, and most goals coming from a scrappy goalmouth scramble. Under the guidance of Mark Hughes, they have emerged from their cocoon into Stokealona, with – frankly – Europa League-level players employing an attractive style of football. When Pulis and Stoke parted ways, the general mood amongst fans was that it was necessary; yes, he was the reason for their promotion to the Premier League, and for keeping them relatively out-of-danger, with consecutive upper-lower-half finishes.
But progress had stagnated. Not only that, but the supporters actually wanted to enjoy the spectacle they spent their Saturday afternoons watching. Towards the end of Pulis’s tenure, many quips were made by fans regarding stiff necks, who had grown tired of observing the long-ball strategy from the stands.
Giving the reins to Mark Hughes was initially met with a mixed reaction – his track record was consistently inconsistent; he was observed to have done well with Fulham and Blackburn but was acknowledged to have performed disastrously at Man City and QPR, his most recent post. However, many agreed that it was a necessary roll of the dice. At time of writing,
Chairman Peter Coates appears justified in his decision. Meanwhile, West Brom have now taken up Pulis, with whom, from under that baseball cap, comes his philosophy. Think of the Stoke of old; certainly not a team that would dominate with the ball, but more of a hit-and-hope side when they had possession.
Rough the opposing team up at the expense of a few cards, and score scrappy goals from the six-yard box. This is the Pulis philosophy, and statistics show that he has bestowed this upon his new club. West Brom are rock bottom for average possession, pipped only by Leicester for lowest pass success percentage, and far-and-away the leaders when it comes to percentage of shots in the six-yard box, so far this season. Stoke, meanwhile, are relatively mid-table for all statistics. 
For discipline, West Brom have picked up 40 bookings this season – the third-highest – while Stoke have only 29 – the third-lowest. Sometimes you don’t even need statistics to have such a dawning realisation. For me, the 2013-14 season, with Liverpool spectacularly missing out and Man United capitulating in their first season without Sir Alex Ferguson, was the most unpredictable, in terms of going against everything assumed in August by tabloid columnists.
But this season has been a whole new level of unpredictability; the kind where situations change drastically from matchday to matchday; unlikely challengers, the bigger boys being slaughtered, just about every team being competitive against any other opposition, and Ray Winstone continuing to bellow, imploring you to ‘av a tenner on that, when presumably most punters have been frightened into keeping their wallets closed, given that nothing is for certain in this season.
Despite all this, the one constant have been West Brom. As Chris Bickley noted in his Half-Time Review, the Baggies have been “so startlingly average and mediocre it’s scary”. He also pointed out that West Brom have been 13th for seven of the past eight weeks. This is Pulis territory. Stoke finished 12th, 11th, 13th, 14th and finally 13th again under Pulis, with such monotony viewed as respectably safe, but frustratingly so by the end of his Britannia tenure.
Perhaps, with seemingly every team currently looking over the shoulders, Baggies fans will take comfort in the predictability of Pulis’ league finishes. But how long until they become tired of the style of play, just as Stoke fans did before them? Maybe it’s time to talk about a cold, wet, Wednesday night at the Hawthorns.
(Team statistics taken from whoscored.com)