Tony Pulis says he takes full responsibility for his spell in charge of Sheffield Wednesday, and insist his Owls squad had enough to avoid relegation from the Championship.

Pulis was appointed as Wednesday manager back in November 2020, replacing Garry Monk at Hillsbrough.

However, his spell at the club was remarkably short, with Pulis sacked in late December 2020, having won just one of his ten games as Owls manager.

Following his departure, Wednesday would go on to be relegated that season, finishing the campaign bottom of the Championship table, three points from safety, after being deducted six points for breaching EFL Profit and Sustainability rules.

Now it seems as though Pulis blames only himself for the way his time at the club worked out, with the fact games were behind closed doors at that time, seemingly not suiting him.

Indeed, the 65-year-old is also confident that the Wednesday side he had available to him, were good enough to avoid the drop into League One.

Reflecting on his time in charge of Sheffield Wednesday, Pulis told Yorkshire Live"I hold my hand up. It was during Covid and I found it very, very difficult to walk out at that stadium and the other grounds we went to, without any atmosphere and see it just empty. It was really difficult for me.

"It was my fault, nobody else's fault. I felt empty myself. There was no togetherness with the crowd, which I'd been used to for so many years.

"I suppose if I'd have started at the beginning (of Covid) and have been used to it, it may have been different. I really found it difficult to get myself going and up for things.

"I didn't feel right. It didn't suit me as a coach. I live off the crowd, the togetherness. I've always enjoyed that underdog challenge. I've managed there lots and also played at Hillsborough too. I know what the crowd are like.

"I still think the team was good enough to stay up, and should have stayed up - without a question.

"That short period of time I was there, for the reasons I've said, were very, very difficult. I think I let myself down as much as anyone else. It was me. It wasn't anyone else."

The Verdict

You do feel as though Pulis does deserve credit for his honesty here.

It was a tough time for many to be in the game at that point, and you can understand why someone who had been around it for as long as he had, might have found it particularly hard.

However, Pulis is clearly not shying away from anything here, and when you consider they had more points deducted than they actually went down by, he is probably right to say they were good enough to stay up.

Indeed, when you look at some of the players who were in that squad such as Barry Bannan, Josh Windass and Callum Paterson, it does feel like they ought to have had enough to secure safety.