The Hypnotist Who Lost His Audience
Pulis goes back to his second season of management in 1993-94. His Bournemouth side was traveling to face the high-flying, Premier League version of Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup.
Looking to eliminate pre-match jitters, Pulis brought in a hypnotist for a session at the team hotel.
-
The Session: The hypnotist asked the players to sit in a circle in a pitch-black room and “feel the vibes.”
-
The Punchline: When the lights came up after two minutes of silence, the chairs were empty. The players had silently snuck out to the team bus, leaving the “expert” alone in the dark.
-
The Verdict: “I was amazed—he had made them all disappear!” Pulis writes. While the hypnosis was a bust, the prank bonding meant the team played without a single inhibition that night.
2. The Art of the Strategic Lie
Pulis argues that a manager’s job is often that of a storyteller. To get an extra 5% out of a player, he would frequently employ “white lies”:
-
The “Scout” Lie: Telling a winger that the England manager or a top-four scout was in the stands—even if they weren’t.
-
The “Siege” Lie: Convincing a team that the media and the referees were conspiring against them to build a “us against the world” mentality.
-
The “Injury” Lie: Keeping the opposition guessing by claiming a star player was out, only to have them leading the line on Saturday morning.
3. Why “Outside the Box” Usually Fails
Pulis admits that for every masterstroke, there was a flop. He references his attempt to use Al Pacino’s “inches” speech from Any Given Sunday during Stoke’s 2008 promotion run.
-
The Result: Stoke were 1-0 down and “useless” at half-time against Coventry.
-
The Lesson: Motivation isn’t a one-size-fits-all video. It’s about knowing which player needs a arm around the shoulder and which one needs a Al Pacino monologue (and knowing that sometimes, neither works).
