Ex-Middlesbrough boss hits back at 'dinosaur' jibes and reveals Championship and China job offers

Ex-Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis has revealed he has had offers from China and the Championship since leaving the Riverside this summer.
Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis.Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis.
Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis.

Pulis – linked with the Sheffield Wednesday job earlier in the summer - has admitted the Boro job was ‘enjoyable but draining’ and his next role has to the right opportunity.

The former Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion boss has also hit back at claims he is a ‘dinosaur’ and insists there is still plenty left in the tank.

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“I had an offer to go and manage in China shortly after I left Boro but that was far too quick for me to get back in.

“I’ve been asked if I’d be interested in taking over national teams," he told The Telegraph.

“I’ve also had one or two approaches in the Championship but I felt they were too soon.

“Middlesbrough took a lot out of me, it was enjoyable but draining. It needs to be the right opportunity.”

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Reflecting on his disappointing spell at the Riverside, Pulis added: “The people who matter know the job I did. Steve [Gibson] is a fantastic man - I went to his wedding this summer - and he laid an enormous amount of money out to get the club promoted and trusted the manager before me to do it. And it didn’t work.

“In football if you don’t spend the money well enough it comes back to bite you, over not one season but two or three!

“There was a turnover of 32 players and we brought in over £50m (through the sales of Adama Traore, Ben Gibson, Patrick Bamford, Adam Forshaw and Cyrus Christie), and it was tough."

Pulis turns 62 in January but has no plans to retire.

He added: "I actually enjoy living in Jurassic Park! We push experience aside and forget about people far too quickly. People mark you down as a person who’s been in it too long and taken too many punches.

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“Age is just a number. For 18 months at Boro I was the first one in at training and one of the last out. I look at people like Manuel Pellegrini and Marcelo Bielsa and think they all have something to offer.”