On October 14th a man departed an important institution under a cloud, a decision that had great potential ramifications for the city of Portsmouth. But as Liam Fox left his position as Defence secretary he was replaced within hours. Meanwhile on the south coast Steve Cotterill left Pompey, however unlike the smooth transition of one of the Governments most important ministries, it has taken until today, 10th November for Pompey to replace their man. I tweeted just after Cotterill's departure hat the new managerial appointment would be a clear indication of CSI's ambition. Well Appleton's appointment, although a relief, is probably more negative than positive.
I have no special sources at the club, but this is what I think we can say about the managerial search. Lampitt stated on the football league show that the club had identified a short-list in the days after Cotterill's departure and had stuck to it over the past three weeks. He claims the club had over 50 applications but again noted that some of these had been 'more serious than others' (As an aside a friend and I once applied for the England job off our Champ Man Cvs and got a very polite rebuttal clarifying that European experience was a pre-requisite – I wonder if Lampitt would have included this in his 50?) He also clarified at the start of the search that the manager had to have Championship experience and 'understand' Portsmouth.
We know that 'fans favourite' Dave Jones was interested but never interviewed. Sean O'Driscoll was interviewed but then waited two weeks without an answer, Coppell was interviewed and seemingly rejected before finally compensation for Appleton was agreed. However I think we must acknowledge that the clubs first choice (at least) rejected the club – this is the best explanation for the delay and I can only speculate but this is probably a negative sign of ambition and or resources. If a manager is interested enough to speak to the club but then rejects the deal – the budget / ambition must be questionable. The three week delay implies that this may have happened more than once which would be worrying – the People (not the worlds most reputable source) has claimed the sticking point for other managers has been the wages – with Pompey only offering £2,000 pw.
The club have been criticised by some for not making an appointment sooner. But I dont know why, other than fans impatience. The caretaker managers have done a good job (in their six matches in charge Pompey average 1.8 points per game as opposed to SC 0.8 in the preceding 10 games). The international break is also a useful natural break in the season for a new man to come in.
As for Appleton he is an unknown quantity. I asked the nice fold at baggiesblog.co.uk about him. They pointed out that he has steadily risen through WBA's coaching ranks and Woy could have easily replaced him with someone he was more familiar with, but he chose to keep him, and that is a promising endorsement from a man well respected in the football world. But I have previously spoken about the need for excitement to be injected into Fratton Park and Appleton's appointment would not automatically bring that in the same way as the other inexperienced candidate OGS would have. However the fixture list has been relatively kind, the upcoming games include three home games out of the next five and Pompey have the 4th best home record in the Championship. The Southampton game is on the horizon. Victory there would buy him a lot of credit. Before that he has home games against managerless Leicester and 21st placed Coventry currently second bottom in the form table and the only club with a worse league away record than Pompey having scored 4 goals away in 8 games. The away games are against 18th placed Burnley who have won 2 of their 8 home games this year and 21st placed Watford who have won 3 of 8. These games are eminently winnable. Whittingham and Grey have given him some momentum and a new manager 'bounce' could see us looking in a much healthier position in time for the scum which will be a lottery of a game.
Either which way im glad its sorted. Let the next chapter commence...
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