Blackburn Rovers boss hopes friends will have benefits
11:20am Saturday 19th January 2013 in Sport
By Andy Cryer, Blackburn Rovers reporter
ALEX Ferguson, David Moyes, Roy Hodgson and Roberto Di Matteo. Michael Appleton certainly has a point when he says he has learned from the best.
But, as he prepares to take charge of Blackburn Rovers for the first time when Charlton visit Ewood Park this afternoon, the confident 37-year-old insists he will do things his way as he looks to achieve Premier League promotion.
Appleton’s arrival in the Rovers’ hot seat has been something of a whirlwind, having only been appointed as Blackpool manager two months ago, and, while he has learned from a host of mentors, he stresses the importance of believing in his own ability.
He said: “I had a fantastic education in football whether as a player or as a kid, starting as a kid at Man Utd then moving to Preston where we were very successful under a very good manager in David Moyes, who has gone on to prove himself as one of the best in the Premier League.
“Then moving on to West Brom where my career was cut short in terms of my actual playing career but then the education in terms of the coaching side kicked in.
“I have worked with some very very good managers, the likes of Tony Mowbray, Roberto Di Matteo and Roy Hodgson.
“If you have got anything about you, you will just take little bits. It is dangerous to try and model yourself on one person. You have got to be yourself. You have your own personality.
“From a personal point of view and a discipline point of view there are two or three names in there, that come right at the top of that list in terms of how they manage and control their players and run their football clubs.
“I think there are a couple in there who were more flamboyant and a little bit more laid back and you react to situations when you may have seen them react in a different way, more relaxed about it, maybe because they have come from a different culture and a different country.”
Appleton was assistant manager under Roy Hodgson at West Bromwich Albion and remains friends with the former Rovers boss.
“Roy has gone on to be England manager and I still speak to him regularly,” he said.
“He is someone who if I need an opinion will be straight with me, he won’t beat around the bush.
“When you have those type of allies in the game, when things are going wrong or not going to plan they give you an indication of two or three things you can do to rectify what’s going wrong.
“I speak to him quite regularly but because this one happened very quickly I never spoke to him directly about the Blackburn job before taking it, but I certainly spoke to him almost immediately after accepting it verbally.
“He spoke very highly of the football club. He had an indifferent time here but he said he fully enjoyed it and felt the challenge was right for me.
“We spoke about a couple of players that he’d worked with in the past in terms of Danny (Murphy) and Dickson (Etuhu), and he felt it was a challenge that was more than doable, especially for myself.”
Comments(18)
Is Eckersley playing?
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11:47am Sat 19 Jan 13
Bangkok Rover
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11:57am Sat 19 Jan 13
noddymcleod
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12:00pm Sat 19 Jan 13
givet82
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12:17pm Sat 19 Jan 13
A Darener wrote:To be fair, not every manager has worked with all those people. Saying PR firm earning there money is a bit of a cheap shot, 3 nil home win today and good luck Appleton from me!
PR firm certainly trying to earn their money. But whatever they are being paid it won't be enough to paint a rosy picture of the Venky's. but good try with MA.
leitchy
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12:21pm Sat 19 Jan 13
Nothing less will do today...they are below us in the league and were at home...TAKE THE GAME TO THEM !!
blueblooded
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12:55pm Sat 19 Jan 13
Good luck to you Mr Appleton.
RTID.
Supernova531
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1:02pm Sat 19 Jan 13
leitchy wrote:Completely agree, Mr Appleton simply must hit the ground running with a win today. I am concerned that Appleton seems to be very keen to interact with the media and hope that this is largely driven by our owners and not him.
Doing alot of talking off the pitch......Do it on the pitch starting with 3 points.
Nothing less will do today...they are below us in the league and were at home...TAKE THE GAME TO THEM !!
As Blackburn fans we tend not to be sucked in by all the hype due to the fact that most things that come out of Ewood these days are lies. So please Mr Appleton shut up and get on with your job, until you are winning games and progressing the club must of us have no interest in what you have to say.
YOUR JOB IS WINNING FOOTBALL MATCHES - GET ON WITH IT!!!!
MatthewCA
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1:08pm Sat 19 Jan 13
Best of luck.
srvp28
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1:16pm Sat 19 Jan 13
Supernova531 wrote:He's not been doing a lot of talking off the pitch, all these articles are taken from one press conference, where he was unveiled, and one interview. What do you expect him to do, refuse to answer the questions put to him?
leitchy wrote:Completely agree, Mr Appleton simply must hit the ground running with a win today. I am concerned that Appleton seems to be very keen to interact with the media and hope that this is largely driven by our owners and not him.
Doing alot of talking off the pitch......Do it on the pitch starting with 3 points.
Nothing less will do today...they are below us in the league and were at home...TAKE THE GAME TO THEM !!
As Blackburn fans we tend not to be sucked in by all the hype due to the fact that most things that come out of Ewood these days are lies. So please Mr Appleton shut up and get on with your job, until you are winning games and progressing the club must of us have no interest in what you have to say.
YOUR JOB IS WINNING FOOTBALL MATCHES - GET ON WITH IT!!!!
As for 'getting on with winning games', I wasn't aware that Appleton controlled time. Moronic comments to make.
BeardwoodB
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1:26pm Sat 19 Jan 13
Last season Rovers were a Prem side and Charlton a league 1 side.
The core basis of these clubs will still be of those leagues.
Charlton doing well to punch well above their weight and Rovers under achieving on a grand scale.
I see a 3 or 4 goal win for Rovers today and a decent finish to the season but don't think we've got the over all fight for playoff heroics.
dandy2
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2:05pm Sat 19 Jan 13
MatthewCA
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2:26pm Sat 19 Jan 13
A Darener
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2:28pm Sat 19 Jan 13
MatthewCA wrote:Trust you to spoil the optimism!
Friends with Steve Kean also ????
Supernova531
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5:13pm Sat 19 Jan 13
srvp28 wrote:Thank you for your comments but I think you will find that the moron is the one missing the principle being discussed here.
Supernova531 wrote:He's not been doing a lot of talking off the pitch, all these articles are taken from one press conference, where he was unveiled, and one interview. What do you expect him to do, refuse to answer the questions put to him?
leitchy wrote:Completely agree, Mr Appleton simply must hit the ground running with a win today. I am concerned that Appleton seems to be very keen to interact with the media and hope that this is largely driven by our owners and not him.
Doing alot of talking off the pitch......Do it on the pitch starting with 3 points.
Nothing less will do today...they are below us in the league and were at home...TAKE THE GAME TO THEM !!
As Blackburn fans we tend not to be sucked in by all the hype due to the fact that most things that come out of Ewood these days are lies. So please Mr Appleton shut up and get on with your job, until you are winning games and progressing the club must of us have no interest in what you have to say.
YOUR JOB IS WINNING FOOTBALL MATCHES - GET ON WITH IT!!!!
As for 'getting on with winning games', I wasn't aware that Appleton controlled time. Moronic comments to make.
Try to keep your comments friendly and amicable and objective if you can please, we are all entitled to express our view that is the whole point of this forum, but sadly some have to be offensive.
Justjes
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10:06pm Sat 19 Jan 13
noddy57
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10:20pm Sat 19 Jan 13
noddy57
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10:23pm Sat 19 Jan 13
A Darener says...
11:43am Sat 19 Jan 13