Tony Pulis hits back after phone call with Stoke's Ryan Shawcross made public

West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis launched into a new tirade against his former club Stoke City on Saturday as the feud between the clubs showed no sign of dying down.

Stoke's Ryan Shawcross accused Albion of revealing details of Saido Berahino's failed drugs test just before the teams met last weekend, when Stoke were beaten 1-0.

Pulis responded with a voicemail on Shawcross's phone using the word “loser”, but was furious when that call was made public.

“It's absolutely disgraceful," he said after Albion's 2-2 draw at West Ham. “Firstly, the phonecall I made to Ryan is a private phonecall between me and Shawcross. And then, yes, I did mention losers, but I said about people with innuendos making allegations that weren’t true.

“And when you lose a game of football you can still be a winner by taking it on the chin and getting on with it.

“I did use the word loser but I meant it in that way and I actually said, ‘Ryan, you’ve never been that’. And then it has been spun in a horrible way.”

He appeared particularly upset that it was Stoke involved, after his long and successful association with the club he managed in two spells.

“Forget about the football club, or the people at the football club, and the supporters, Stoke-on-Trent is a wonderful place,” he said. “I was there for ten years and I have raised millions of pounds for the Donna Louise (a hospice), which is in Stoke-on-Trent.

Tony Pulis

“I’ve actually carried the Olympic Torch through Stoke-on-Trent. I took them from the Championship to the Premiership. I took them to an FA Cup final and to Europe. Do you think I’m gong to criticise that area and those people?

“Not just the people at the football club but people in the surrounding areas, who have been absolutely wonderful for me. So it’s absolutely disgraceful whoever has put that out.”