TONY PULIS has revealed that referee Alan Wiley has been in contact with him after controversially ruling out an injury-time 'goal' from Ryan Shawcross goal in the Manchester City game on Tuesday evening.
The official from Burntwood made a number of contentious decisions during the Barclays Premier encounter at the Britannia Stadium which prompted City's manager to call for 'parity' in the aftermath of the game.
And while admitting his phone call wasn't about issuing an apology, he says it was a welcome gesture and other officials should follow suit in such circumstances.
"I spoke to Alan yesterday," Pulis revealed. "There aren't many referees who do that so I have to give him credit for that, huge credit.
"It obviously doesn't make things any easier because we should be sitting here on 33 points and not 31 after a win, but at least he gave me his side of the story which I appreciate a hell of a lot.
"He had seen it from a different angle and he thought Shay had been impeded by Ryan. Obviously myself, and 26,000 others didn't, but at least he had the decency to ring me up and put his point of view across.
"It was a really good chat, a really, really good chat to be honest with you and I have to say I am very pleased he rang the Club and did that.
"I think sometimes it comes across as it is us against them and that isn't the case at all. We are all in it together. They aren't out there playing against us, they are officiating the game.
"So after the game, if you can sit there with them and talk about things constructively then that can only be for the benefit of the game."
While the Potters' boss welcomed the FA's decision to charge Patrick Vieira with violent conduct after kicking out at Glenn Whelan, he still couldn't hide his disappointment at people continuing to pigeon hole his side.
"One thing that really does upset me is this football club's perception in the game," adds Pulis. "Take Glenn Whelan for example, when he got kicked by Vieira you didn't see him rolling around on the floor for twenty minutes like he had been hit by a truck. He got up straight away and he and the other lads weren't harassing the referee.
"Our players just got on with it, despite all of them and everyone else in the ground seeing what had just happened. We are a committed group of players who give absolutely everything in every game. We do things which other people may not like, but everything we do is within the rules.
"We are honest, and people will talk about Vieira not getting sent off, but I think people should be talking about how good we are. Glenn deserves a medal of honour for getting straight up like he did, but no one talks about that."
