Michael Appleton: An introduction to the Leicester City caretaker

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LEICESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 31: Michael Appleton, manager of Portsmouth gives out instructions during the npower Championship match between Leicester City and Portsmouth at The King Power Stadium on December 31, 2011 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) /

Coaching Career begins

West Brom and the then boss Gary Megson kept on the ex-player as a coach. He began working with youth teams until he progressed to the first team to work as coach. He began working alongside Roberto Di Matteo and then assistant manager to Roy Hodgson.

From the stature of the names he is attached to even early on in his post-playing career, it’s fair to surmise that Michael Appleton was excellent at his job and earned himself the role.

At the age of 35, he was temporarily handed charge of first-team affairs for one game, securing a 3-3 against West Ham United.

Upon his departure from West Brom, Hodgson spoke highly of Appleton:

"“All we can do is bemoan the fact it is a great loss for us and congratulate Portsmouth on appointing an excellent manager, “We will miss him and, in an ideal world, we would have liked him to still be here with us.”"

Portsmouth and Blackpool

He then spent short stints as manager, firstly at Portsmouth (one year) and then at Blackpool. 11 games in three months gave him an unwanted record: Blackpool’s shortest serving manager.