Gary Megson reveals he spoke to former West Brom boss Tony Pulis before kick-off at Spurs
By Gerard Brand
Last Updated: 25/11/17 6:29pm
Caretaker manager Gary Megson revealed he called former West Brom boss Tony Pulis just 40 minutes before their 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
Megson's side put in a fine defensive performance in their first game without Pulis at Wembley, taking the lead early on through Salomon Rondon, until Harry Kane's late equaliser.
Megson explained in his pre-match interview how he had "spoken to Tony every day" since his sacking and would "speak to him in a minute", and again said after full-time that he had spoken to the Welshman "just to see what he was doing".
Asked if he had gone to Pulis for advice, Megson said: "No, none at all, I've spoken to Tony a lot of times. I spoke to him today at 2.20pm just to see what he was doing, but in terms of input, if that was the case, Tony could have just stayed and kept the job and carried on!
"I've been with him now for the last four months, and we're not suddenly going to change everything, we can't, we haven't got a big enough squad, we didn't have enough time, and it would be a little bit disrespectful to say: 'OK, whatever we've been doing for the last dozen games, we're going to do something different.'
2:59 "There were maybe one or two tweaks, but nothing majorly different. Today we had a lot of good performances from players."
Megson, who managed West Brom between 2000 and 2004, was delighted with his side's performance on Saturday, and says the draw is something the club can build on.
"In terms of the position we've found ourselves in, with what's happened to Tony, it was a big deal trying to make sure we kept everything on an even keel, and come to a place that has been a bit of graveyard for teams here, most notably Real Madrid. They did remarkably well.
"It's a strange thing to say but it's something for the club to build on, even from this stage."
Asked if there had been any progress on a potential permanent replacement for Pulis, Megson added: "I have no idea, I'm not on the board! I've taken the team for the last four days, I've taken the team down here last night, and it's gone really well in terms of preparation.
"If anything changes in the interim, it's nothing to do with anyone else other than the board, but we've got a huge game on Tuesday. "
