Comment by Lou Macari

I WAS told something the other day that had me in stitches: Tony Pulis is refusing to play Liam Lawrence because of a personal grudge.

The Stoke City manager is keeping Lawrence on the substitutes’ bench, it seems, because he’s still upset that he tripped over his dog and got injured back in September.

If that’s true, Tony Pulis would probably be the first manager in history to put personal issues before the greater matter of winning enough games to stay in the Premier League.

It’s rubbish, of course, and you can assume there are a million other reasons why Lawrence hasn’t started a first-team match at a time when a lot of fans seem to be pleading for his recall.

We all know players become better the longer they are injured, particularly if the team is struggling for results, and maybe this has happened here.

It’s also likely that Pulis is concerned about Lawrence’s fitness and so, with that in mind, it is presumably an important reserve game tomorrow night for the winger to show he can handle a Premier League game.

It might also be that Pulis doesn’t share the same enthusiasm some fans seem to have for Lawrence’s ability at this level after watching him earlier in the season. I’m certainly not aware he was tearing up any trees before he was injured.

But whatever the reason, I’m convinced they aren’t personal because Tony, like any manager, knows he can’t afford such luxuries.

The game is all about opinions and I’m not surprised a player such as Richard Cresswell is seen as the fall guy by those same supporters wanting Lawrence immediately re-installed into the team.

Every club has this kind of player – one the fans may not immediately warm to because he hasn’t got a bag of tricks, but one a manager values for the less glamorous qualities he brings to the team.

Putting out the best team isn’t about putting out the 11 most eye-catching players.

But whatever your opinion in this debate, I would have thought the focus should have been on far more important matters.

No supporter can surely afford to waste their breath on individuals at a time when Stoke City need their fans like never before.

Stoke are back in action against Portsmouth on Saturday and Pompey’s win over Manchester City three days ago was obviously a blow.

But let’s not get too worried by Portsmouth winning at last because Man City haven’t exactly set the world alight on their travels – as Stoke know only too well.

David James came out with some interesting after-match comments that clearly pointed an accusing finger at former boss Tony Adams.

I’m afraid that is all too common these days, because players no longer have the same respect they once had for managers.

Maybe it’s because of their wealth and greater power, yet you don’t see that greater power persuading them to take more responsibility for poor results.

And wealth and power doesn’t seem to be bringing greater character into the dressing room.
I heard one commentator at the weekend forecasting that the manager would give his
players a right roasting during half-time.

But there was a time when the players themselves would have stood up and sorted things out among themselves before the manager even spoke ... because they were bigger men prepared to take bigger responsibility.

Now you get the impression they just sneak into the dressing room and look to the floor, waiting for the manager to take the initiative when things are going badly.

Good luck to Cherries in battle to beat the odds

I DON’T know whether anyone else in these parts has noticed, but Mission Impossible is looking like it might become the Great Escape at the bottom of the Football League.

I refer to Bournemouth as they look increasingly like beating the drop – and the odds – after pulling to within five points of safety. Not bad for a club docked 17 points at the start of the season due to their financial problems.

They certainly have my best wishes as they put the wind up the likes of Barnet, Grimsby and Chester.

How relieved Port Vale must be after getting enough points in the bag to make them safe, in all probability, from any late-season dramas at the foot of the table.

Bournemouth are now on their third manager this season after doing away with Kevin Bond and Jimmy Quinn ahead of Eddie Howe’s recent appointment.

Howe is a bit of a Bournemouth favourite after serving them well as a player, but I’ve also been impressed with his early attitude to management.

I was delighted to read the story about him getting his players on to Bournemouth beach for training at 9am one Saturday morning when their game was called off.

At that level of the professional game, especially, there is no substitute for proper fitness and application to the task in hand.

Now they might just follow in the admirable footsteps of Rotherham and overcome that 17-point deduction to ensure another campaign in the Football League.

The same can’t be said of Luton, sadly, but they also deserve a pat on the back after finally getting into credit on two points following their 30-point pre-season penalty.