FUTURE OF PULIS IN DOUBT
TONY PULIS could quit as Middlesbrough boss at the end of the season – even if they win promotion.
He signed a contract for only 18 months when he joined in December 2017.
It runs out in June and he has yet to talk with chairman Steve Gibson about a new contract.
The pair enjoy a good relationship and any parting of the ways would not be acrimonious.
Pulis is understood to be considering his future for personal as much as footballing reasons, with his family based on the south coast.
That could persuade Pulis to move on whatever Boro’s fate, but ahead of today’s trip to Aston Villa even a play-off place is looking in jeopardy.
Boro have lost back-toback home games, with Pulis coming under fire from some Riverside fans unhappy with the team’s style of play.
Another concern for the Boro boss is that there will be no further parachute payments for the club, which will result in another round of cost-cutting.
Villa inflicted Boro’s heaviest defeat of the season in December when they won 3-0 on Teesside and Pulis believes that in the in-form Jack Grealish they possess one of the biggest talents in the country.
He said: “Jack Grealish would be a top player in the Premier League and is obviously a very important player for them.
“Villa are on a great run. Now that they have most of their key men back, they possess an exceptional squad.
“We need to be really well set up and more ruthless than we have been in the final third.”