FA must be careful - Pulis

Published May. 21, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

foxsports

Stoke City boss Pulis became the third manager this week to be warned as to his future conduct by the FA following comments about referee Howard Webb prior to his club's FA Cup semi-final against Bolton last month. Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlo Ancelotti have also been taken to task by the FA, also regarding comments about Webb, with the rules stipulating managers should not talk about officials prior to a game. Pulis had been praising the appointment of Webb for the game against Bolton and is concerned about where the current trend for warning managers is heading. "If you've got certain comments to make and they are not meant to be anything but a plus for Howard, why not say it?" said Pulis. "You are almost thinking 'should I be talking to the press?'. I will be speaking to the League Managers' Association because you don't want to be fined for something I think is normal. "The FA have to be careful in telling you what you can and cannot say. If they are telling you that you cannot tell the truth, then they are on sticky ground. "They've got to be careful because my comments weren't meant to be anything but a plus for Howard. "Other managers have to be careful because the FA seem to be telling us what you can or can't say. "I don't understand it and my concern is that it was so innocuous. Where does it stop and where are the guidelines?"