You cannot argue with that

Honesty, and more often than not brutal honesty, is something that many of us have seen as being one of Appy's best qualities.

Since his arrival at the club he has endeared himself to us with his honest assessment of games, if we have been crap he has said we have, none of this 'how did we lose that game' etc. nonsense that we had become accustomed to!

It is not just his assessment of games that I like, it is his honesty all-round really, and he has done this again today.

He, talking to The News, admits that he - like anyone else - probably would not have taken the job had he known what awaited him: 'I'm not bemoaning the situation. I'm just trying to deal with it.

'So would I have taken this job on right now in the position we're in rather than staying as assistant at West Brom?

'I don't think anyone would.'

Lets be fair, the guy has a valid point!

He was settled, building up his reputation and waiting for his moment to step up from assistant with West Brom to manager somewhere. Had he waited until the end of this season he might even have got that job...

The situation we are now in is a fair cry from where we were when he came in, which when he did he could not have asked for much more: 'I had opportunities to leave West Brom well before I came to Portsmouth but they were not right for me.

'Coming to Portsmouth wasn't a gamble at the time. It was a secure football club with secure owners and it was all hunky-dory.

'There was a five-year plan where they wanted to improve the infrastructure, the Academy and the squad.

'It was all in place, so it wasn't a gamble as such. I can't control what has happened since then.

'The job that was in front of me at that time was different to what it is now. It's a completely different scenario.'

Given 'the right tools' Appy has little doubt that he could have, or still could, lead Pompey back to the premier league in time - of course at the moment our priority is just survival but the thing that keeps him going is the thought of what 'he could do' given those right tools...

In spite of everything though he insists that the only 'gamble' about leaving the comfort of West Brom and coming to Pompey, even with all the troubles he has since faced, was 'could he cut it as a manager?'

This is something he personally feels he can answer in the affirmative: 'the only gamble was, can Michael Appleton step from being a number two to a number one?

'It's down to the public, the players and the fans to decide whether I can do that job. I'm happy with how I've dealt with that so far.

'Hopefully, Portsmouth will continue to allow me to do that role and do it to the best of my ability.'

Speaking for myself, although I am sure many would agree, I cannot really fault much of what Appy has done and think there is little doubt that he has the ability to become a decent manager and is certainly more than just a no.2!

Appy continues to go about his business in the right dignified way and continues to leave me saying that I feel he is the best thing to happen to Pompey in donkies years.

Yep, I know I keep saying this but I really think he is, with the only disappointment - again as I keep saying - is that this best thing has come at such a poor time in the lifespan of Portsmouth Football Club...

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