TONY PULIS is preparing to go head-to-head with the man who helped get him his big breakthrough in management when Stoke City travel to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
City's manager revealed that Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was the man who recommended him for the vacant manager's post at Bournemouth back in 1992.
Pulis was named as Redknapp's successor at the south coast club and has gone on to build a highly successful career in management since that first job.
"Harry actually recommended me for the job at Bournemouth, so I'm eternally grateful for that," revealed the Potters boss ahead of the Spurs match.
"We went our separate ways, I worked with the teams down in the lower leagues and he went to manage West Ham and continued into the Premiership and apart from a brief spell at Southampton, he's mainly managed in the Premiership."
"But when we bump into each other, we always have a chat, as we did when I saw him at the Fulham-Hull match on Monday evening."
Pulis added: "I hadn't seen him for a while so we had a coffee together before the game and then I had a good chat with him at half time." And he joked: "Harry told me his team for Saturday's match and I told him my team for the game."
City's manager was full of praise for the job that Redknapp has done since he took over at Spurs early last season when the club was in trouble.
"I think he's done a fantastic job. Everybody talks about the off-field stuff where Harry's concerned. He's a big horse man, you know, he loves a gamble as well, but he's absolutely crazy about football. I think if it wasn't for football, there'd be a massive, massive void in his life.
"Harry's spent quite a bit of money, but I think he's spent it on good players. They've all made a difference, Crouch and Defoe have been quality signings, he would have known them at Portsmouth, and they've definitely got goals in them."
*Tickets are selling fast for Stoke City's local derby with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Barclays Premier League.
The Club now has only a limited number of tickets available for the game at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday October 31st.
Tickets are available from the Britannia Stadium Ticket Office and the Potteries Shopping Centre Club Store with Category A prices applying for this game.
For more information, call the Britannia Stadium Ticket Office on 0871 663 2007 or you can book online by clicking below:
