The Hypnotist Who Made the Team Vanish
During the 1993-94 season, Pulis was in charge of a young Bournemouth side facing a daunting League Cup tie away at Blackburn Rovers. Looking to settle the nerves, he hired a professional hypnotist.
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The Set-up: The hypnotist sat the players in a circle in a pitch-black room, telling them to “feel the vibes.”
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The “Trick”: After two minutes of intense silence, the hypnotist turned the lights back on to find… every single chair was empty.
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The Escape: The players had quietly discovered a side door in the dark and snuck out to the team bus, leaving the “expert” alone in the dark.
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The Result: Pulis recalls that while the hypnosis failed, the team was so loose and full of laughter that they played without fear.
2. Any Given Sunday… But Not This Saturday
Fast forward to April 2008. Pulis’s Stoke City were on the cusp of a historic promotion to the Premier League but faced a gritty away day at Coventry City.
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The Inspiration: Pulis played a highlight reel of the season’s goals, climaxing with the iconic Al Pacino “inches” speech from Any Given Sunday.
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The Impact: “I felt after our players heard a speech like that, only a victory could follow,” Pulis wrote.
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The Reality: At half-time, Stoke were 1-0 down and playing “absolutely useless” football.
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The Lesson: Pulis admits Pacino’s words were better than anything he could say, but it taught him that sometimes, external hype just can’t replace raw focus.
3. The Art of the “White Lie”
Pulis also admitted to a staple of the old-school manager: the tactical lie.
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The “Interest” Lie: Telling a player a big club was watching them to spark a performance.
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The “Injured” Lie: Telling the press a star player was out for weeks, only to name them in the starting XI on Saturday.
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The “Siege” Mentality: Fabricating a “nobody likes us” narrative to bind the squad together.
