Source: Team_Talk
Pulis hits out at 'selective' Murphy
Stoke boss Tony Pulis believes Danny Murphy deliberately shied away from criticising bigger clubs in his recent rant about dangerous tackling.[LNB] Murphy claimed last week that players are being injured because certain managers are sending their teams out too fired up, with the Potters one of three clubs - along with Blackburn and Wolves - that he named specifically.[LNB]His comments have created a storm and after Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce yesterday challenged Murphy to publicly apologise for the remarks, Pulis has now had his say on the matter.[LNB]Reading a statement aloud at today's press conference, Pulis said: "Two challenges this season have been committed by top players who represented their countries at this summer's World Cup.[LNB]"One challenge on Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa by Nigel de Jong of Manchester City recently led to a broken bone.[LNB]"Another by Joe Cole, one of our most technically gifted players, resulted in a sending off for one of our most celebrated clubs in the country, Liverpool, who are currently managed by Roy Hodgson, someone I have great respect for.[LNB]"Even the technically best players are prone to making mistimed challenges. But have they really been sent out to hurt a fellow professional? I don't think so.[LNB]"How ironic it is that Danny Murphy chose not to discuss either challenge or manager in respect of those tackles. How selective can someone be?[LNB]"Maybe Murphy's pursuit of a new career in the media does not allow him to criticise, or fall out with the Premier League big boys.[LNB]"Instead, in my opinion, he has selected easy targets that are based on his own perception and not facts."[LNB]Pulis, like Allardyce, also feels Stoke are wrongly lambasted as a dirty team and pointed to the Premier League Discliplinary table to prove his point.[LNB]He added: "We currently lie seventh in the league and are 10th in the Disciplinary league. [LNB]"If you add that to last season we are currently joint 10th alongside Arsenal, which is quite a feat considering we spend a great deal more time without the ball than they do. This is not fabricated, this is fact.[LNB]"I firmly believe the game is cleaner today in terms of bad tackles than it ever has been before, but I wish I could say the same thing in terms of other ills such as simulation.[LNB]"Tackling is an art form and we must never take it out of our game, no matter how much is suits certain players and certain clubs. [LNB]"To do so, in my opinion, would destroy what makes the Premier League and English football in general so fantastic.[LNB]"We must guard against rash tackles, whether committed by most gifted players or just a mere mortal. However, we must also be realistic that we will never completely eradicate injuries in a contact sport."
