West Brom's manager Tony Pulis is staying put despite missing game
As speculation mounted over the weekend that West Brom boss Tony Pulis was about to quit - it has been revealed there was a simple explanation as to why he missed his side's friendly with Delhi Dynamos.
Pulis, 58, was absent from Saturday's friendly because he was scouting his next Premier League opponents, Bournemouth.
The former Gillingham, Bristol City and Stoke City manager walked away from his previous job at Crystal Palace in August 2014.
That decision to leave was believed to involve a dispute over bonuses.
Pulis is understood to be disappointed by the club's failure to land some of his preferred targets this summer.
The Baggies broke their club record to sign Spurs' Nacer Chadli for £13m, but a move for Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho did not materialise.
Fuelled by a new £5.1bn three-year television deal, Premier League clubs spent a record £1.165bn during the summer, including £150m on transfer deadline day.
West Brom signed Belgium midfielder Chadli, QPR winger Matt Phillips, Watford full-back Allan Nyom, Everton full-back Brendan Galloway on loan and free agent striker Hal Robson-Kanu.
Chairman John Williams said in a statement that "Tony wanted five and got five", describing the head coach as "very selective and particular about the players he recruits".
He said the summer transfer window was an "extremely difficult market" and admitted not adding a "further quality midfielder player" was a "disappointment".
A £15m deal to bring in Malaga midfielder Ignacio Camacho, 26, was close, but I understand his recent injury record gave Pulis concern. Williams said the deal was not pursued for "footballing reasons".
Euro 2016 winner Carvalho, 24, a highly-rated defensive midfielder, was targeted for about £20m, with Pulis believed to be particularly disappointed a potential club-record deal was not done.
But for now, despite the disappointments Pulis is believed to have commited himself to new Chairman John Williams.
KJ