West Bromwich, England (SportsNetwork.com) - West Bromwich Albion have appointed Tony Pulis as manager to replace Alan Irvine, who was relieved of his duties on Dec. 30.
Pulis, 56, agreed to a 2 1/2 year contract with the struggling side and the former Stoke City and Crystal Palace boss will be tasked with trying to keep the club from relegation.
"Every successful club is built on unity and that is what I shall strive to help bring to Albion."
Pulis, who is Albion's fourth head coach in the past 12 months, managed Stoke City from 2006-2013 and steered Crystal Palace away from relegation last season.
A strong second half of the campaign saw the Eagles finish 11th, while Pulis won the Premier League manager of the year award, but he quit two days before the start of the current season.
"We need everyone together from top to bottom - the supporters, all the staff, the players, everyone who has an interest in the club's welfare. "With that, we can go forward together and hopefully take this club up the Premier League."
"It's nice to be back in and I'm looking forward to really getting going. It's the right club at the right time in lots of respects. I've got a decent record of going to places and helping them turn around. I think the fact the club has struggled, someone just told me they've only won four games at The Hawthorns in 2014, so there's got to be something wrong that has to be sorted out. I was with the players yesterday and today, they're a very, very decent group of lads and I just can't wait to get going."
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