1. The Hypnotist Who Lost His Audience
Pulis recalls a League Cup tie in the 1993-94 season when his Bournemouth side was set to face Premier League giants Blackburn Rovers. Looking for a psychological edge, he brought in a professional hypnotist.
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The Plan: The hypnotist sat the players in a circle in a pitch-black room to “feel the vibes.”
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The Result: When the lights came back on, the room was empty. The players had quietly snuck out of a side door, leaving the hypnotist alone in the dark.
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The Silver Lining: While the hypnosis failed, Pulis noted that the team was so busy laughing about the prank on the bus that all pre-match tension vanished. They played without inhibitions.
2. Al Pacino vs. Coventry City
During Stoke City’s historic 2007-08 promotion season, Pulis tried to use the power of Hollywood. Before a crucial away game at Coventry in April, he played the famous “inches” speech by Al Pacino from Any Given Sunday.
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The Expectation: Pulis felt that after hearing such a rousing speech about teamwork, victory was inevitable.
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The Reality: At half-time, Stoke were 1-0 down and, in Pulis’s own words, “absolutely useless.”
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The Lesson: “Pacino’s words were unbelievable… but it shows there is a time and a place for everything—and that time wasn’t then!”
3. Motivation in the Modern Game
Pulis’s reflections come at a time when the “old school” style of management is being compared to the modern, calmer approach of coaches like Michael Carrick, who is currently being hailed for his “Ferguson-like magic” at Manchester United.
While Pulis admits his “outside the box” thinking didn’t always work, he argues that the goal was always the same: to distract the players from pressure and build a sense of collective identity.
