Pulis: Managers Must Prioritise Their Own Health Amid Relentless Stress
Tony Pulis reflects on Vincent Kompany's health scare and explains how he learned to protect his physical and mental wellbeing during a management career marked by constant pressure.
Tony Pulis has used Vincent Kompany's recent health scare as a prompt to examine the physical and mental burden of football management, recalling figures such as Jock Stein, Graeme Souness, Sir Alex Ferguson, Gerard Houllier, Joe Kinnear and Harry Redknapp as reminders of the risks that come with the job. Pulis also cited a 25-year-old experiment in which then Leicester boss Dave Bassett and Bolton manager Sam Allardyce wore heart monitors during a game, with both reaching critical levels.
Pulis said the strain is not limited to matchdays. Taking charge at Bournemouth in 1992 made him realise how time-consuming and stressful the role was, and he chose to handle everything from scouting and signings to organising staff and coaching the first team. He acknowledged that this was common practice in English football at the time, but described his early personal management as poor, with long motorway journeys, irregular meals and little thought given to diet or fitness.
The pressure intensified when results turned, Pulis recalled, because responsibility for performances fell on him and criticism was directed at him. He said that aspect has not changed: managers can be scrutinised by strangers in the media without consideration of contributing factors, leaving winning games as the only real protection.
The turning point came before he left Bournemouth in 1994, when an Australian triathlete told him the job was harming his fitness and that stress could affect his life itself. Pulis decided his next job would come with a more manageable lifestyle, and he began working out early each morning. He later ran his first London Marathon at Gillingham in 1999, and has since taken on charity challenges including cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and rowing from Tower Bridge to the Eiffel Tower. Exercise, he said, helped his stress levels and sleep.
Pulis added that he has never read press coverage about himself or his team, and that family time, particularly Sundays, served as an important release valve. He now advises young managers to sustain their enthusiasm for self-care, describing it as dangerous not to under constant stress. While acknowledging management can still be lonely, Pulis said support has improved, pointing to the League Managers' Association's 'Fit To Manage' health testing programme and clubs' medical staff looking after coaching staff as well as players.
