Tony Pulis 'understands' end of Stoke City reign Tony Pulis was disappointed to lose his job at Stoke City but said he understood the decision of the board to take the club in a different direction. Pulis, who led Stoke into the Premier League and kept them safe among the elite, left the club on Tuesday after seven years in charge. He also guided the club to the 2011 FA Cup final and defended his record of keeping them up despite having "no infrastructure in place to compete with the top Championship clubs we had left behind, never mind the top Premier League clubs." He said in a statement released through the League Managers' Association: "Although I am disappointed, I do understand what he [the chairman] means when he says the board feels a need to take the club in a different direction."