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The same issues apply to the sports science and medical departments, who have come to the fore in most professional clubs. In my day, and especially early in my management career, I had a very simple and successful guide to know whether my fitness work was effective or not. If my players were moaning and sweating, I knew they were working hard enough! Every department I have mentioned has grown not only in size but also in expense. They each have a specific and important role, reflected by their cost to the club, and for me as a manager it was important each head of department was made accountable for their actions. I always felt fitness coaches and sports science departments should be challenged. They are vitally important to the manager's preparation so should shoulder responsibility for fitness levels and certain injuries. For example, injuries to knees, ankles and joints were always looked on differently to muscular injuries which, for me, were definitely classed as preventable. I worked with some fantastic doctors and medical teams, but they always knew they were working for the benefit of the club and not for the comfort of injured players. That was my thinking when we built a new training ground at Stoke. I only wanted two beds in the medical room but by the time they had finished it, there were five. I went to the club's chairman, Peter Coates, who said, 'what's the problem?'. I said, 'Peter, if you have two beds, you'll have two people injured in there. If you have five beds, there will be five of them lying there, because it is a comfort room for people who are not in the team and it breeds the wrong culture'. In the end I got what I wanted - two beds - and if you were not injured you were banned from going in. I didn't want anyone at my club thinking that an easy-ozy attitude was acceptable - and I'd stand by that today. Tony Pulis was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
