Michael Appleton thanks West Brom boss Roy Hodgson from Pompey
Michael Appleton today thanked West Brom boss Roy Hodgson for giving him the springboard to become Portsmouth's new manager.
Michael Appleton today thanked West Brom boss Roy Hodgson for giving him the springboard to become Portsmouth's new manager.
Appleton started work at Pompey today after being unveiled as Steve Cotterill's successor yesterday.
And the former Baggies assistant boss admitted it was tough to say goodbye to the club he first joined as a player more than a decade ago, before rising through the Hawthorns coaching ranks.
He said: "It was difficult to leave," he admitted. "I spent almost 11 years at the club – it would have been 11 years in January.
"I remember turning up in 2001 as a player and then for reasons everybody knows, with my injury, I had to go down a different route and go into the coaching side.
"I have worked under a lot of good managers and Roy gave me the opportunity to work with him as his assistant in the Premier League over the last nine months or so."
Read the full story in today's Express & Star