Tony Pulis reveals the uncoventional way he's been keeping busy since leaving Middlesbrough

The experienced manager departed the Riverside Stadium last summer and has been keen to develop interests away from football during his spell outside the game.

That led him to further investigate the history behind the French general, while the 62-year-old even travelled to Corsica for a celebration of Napoleon’s birthday last September.

"I was absolutely fascinated about how he had come from this small island, actually how he was like a foreigner in France and how he picked his way through to being one of the greatest generals really that ever lived," said Pulis, speaking to ESPN.

"You can see that on a positive side or a negative side. I don't just read the good stuff about him. I read all the bad stuff about him as well. I'll make my own mind up then."

"I wanted to give myself the opportunity to open up my mind to everything else that's going on around my life, do things I've wanted to do but never had the time," he continued.

"I've been a great reader of history and of different leaders, and I wanted to be able to go and see different things. I know I'm very fortunate to be able to afford it and do it."

Pulis is currently reading up on explorer Ernest Shackleton as he continues to expand his education away from football.

For in the game itself, there are arguably few with more knowledge of the trials and tribulations of management – with Pulis having managed ten clubs at varying levels of the pyramid.

"As you get older, I think you've seen most of the stresses and strains," he said.

"You gain experience from it. No one forces you to be a manager. There's not a gun at your head saying you have to do it.

“You have to be strong enough and determined enough and understand your own structure as a person and your own strengths and your own weaknesses."