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West Brom boss Tony Pulis set to be offered new contract at end of summer

Tony Pulis is set to be offered a new Albion contract around the start of next season.

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Baggies chairman John Williams plans to recommend owner Guochuan Lai renews Pulis's deal once the dust has settled from the summer transfer window.

The head coach was handed a one-year extension last October and is currently contracted until the end of next season, but Williams is keen to keep him at The Hawthorns beyond that.

"I could see see no reason why Tony's contract won't be renewed," said Williams. "It doesn't have to be a five-year contract, it could be renewed annually for the next five years, it depends.

"But I think he's very good for West Bromwich Albion and it would be my recommendation to my colleagues in China, that all things being equal, I would be more than happy to see his contract being extended.

"Honestly, hand on heart, I haven't had that conversation with Tony, because it doesn't feel like we need to have it. There's loads of time.

"But given his current contract it would probably be, get the summer window out of the way, let's sit down. That feels like the sort of time scale that would be appropriate."

The team has been in electric form since Pulis was handed a one-year extension in October, and Williams admitted that backing may have been a factor.

"That's more of a question for him than me but maybe it helped," he said. "It was a difficult time, there was a lot going on in the summer. I didn't quite grasp it. I would have preferred to have been here two or three weeks earlier.

"But on the basis that it showed Tony we wanted him to stay for at least another year, I guess the answer would be yes, that would have helped."

Williams admitted there was 'turbulence' at the start of his tenure, when Pulis hit back at his claims the head coach got the five players he wanted in the summer window.

But those teething problems have subsided and now, Williams says the pair are working well together.

"Actually my relationship with Tony has always been ok," he said. "I get on well with him, I like him, I respect him as a coach. I like him as a manager, he's having good results. He's very much on board with what we're trying to achieve.

"It was a little bit more turbulent I suspect in the summer when I arrived. It was an uncertain time for Tony but I have no issues with him at all.

"It's a crucially important relationship at any football club, between the chairman and the manager, probably the most important relationship. That needs to be working well, and it is."

Although Pulis is in line for a new contract at the end of the summer, Williams confirmed the Welshman's primary focus is the remaining 13 games of the season and finishing in the top half – something he's never done in the Premier League.

"The short-term ambition for Tony happens to suit the club as well because they dovetail," said the chairman. "And that is 'I want to lay this hoodoo of top 10'. That would be rather nice."

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