Former chairman Peter Coates bought the club recently, and took over once more in the chair. He needed a new manager with Johan Boskamp having left following a year of arguments with the also departed Jan de Koning and John Rudge, the director of football currently on gardening leave.
He made no secret of the fact that he wanted to bring Pulis back and immediately contacted
Last summer Pulis was surprisingly sacked late in the day, the reason given that he didn't sign enough foreign players, instead concentrating on British based players, and the then Icelandic club appointed Boskamp within a couple of days.
But it has been a year of turmoil with all the falling out, the ugly scenes with the pitch invasion, and the Stoke fans got so wrapped up in their own problems they even forgot to abuse Steve Cotterill when we played at the Windy City recently.
There's been a mixed reaction amongst those fans to Pulis' return, some not happy with the style of football under the manager who initially joined Stoke as replacement for Cotterill, but they are getting the manager back who kept them in this division for three seasons.
It now leaves