Sometimes a rumour comes along that you badly, badly want to be true. And Tony Pulis applying for the Athletic Bilbao job is one of those times.
It would mean him replacing Argentinian tactical mastermind, Marcelo Bielsa who left the post last week. That's the Bielsa who is so revered by Pep Guardiola amongst others.
The murmurs seem to have begun yesterday evening with a short line in The Guardian's Fiver email, which read:
Former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has thrown his hat in the ring for the manager's job at Athletic Bilbao.
Which was followed again by an affirmation of his hat-throwing:
No, really. Former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has thrown his hat in the ring for the manager's job at Athletic Bilbao.
The rumour has since begun to spread across Twitter.
If Athletic hire Tony Pulis, I will parade around Reading town centre wearing a My Little Pony costume. — George Ankers (@georgeankers) June 11, 2013
Not sure what's a funnier/worse rumour - Cesc Fabregas to Manchester United or Tony Pulis, next manager at Athletic Bilbao. — Gary Linton (@AlbaEspana) June 11, 2013
Rumours about Tony Pulis possibly becoming Athletic Bilbao manager. Maybe Lionel Messi might find out what it's like to play Stoke after all
— Rock n Roll Football (@RnRFootball) June 11, 2013
Tony Pulis to Athletic Bilbao? Please, please, please make this a real thing. Here's me on @unibet bet.unibet.com/football/2013/…
— Iain Macintosh (@iainmacintosh) June 11, 2013
Pulis spoke to The Sun last month about his masterplan to revolutionise Stoke and his reverence for the Basque club.
Pulis revealed how Athletic Bilbao and Bayer Leverkusen had inspired and influenced his future plans.
He marveled at the way Marcelo Bielsa’s Bilbao pulled mighty Manchester United apart home and away in the Europa League last year — despite their policy of signing mainly Basque players.
He wanted to harness that local pride and passion to produce a new generation of locally-reared talent, which could be supplemented by the odd big-money buy. Pulis revealed: “I went out and saw Bilbao and was very, very impressed with their set-up.
“Obviously it’s the Basque area, very similar to South Wales in respect of the population.
“Yet Bilbao remain the only club outside Real Madrid and Barcelona never to have been relegated from La Liga.
“I wanted to know how they managed to consistently produce quality players and teams.“They are like us in many respects, a community club who are up against global giants, yet they consistently manage to punch above their weight.
“I was interested in the way Marcelo Bielsa trained and worked their lads.
He wanted to turn Stoke into the Bilbao of the Premier League but now that his dreams have been crushed, it sounds like he's going straight to the source in an attempt to fulfill his fantasy.
