Roberto di Matteo is disappointed he wasn't given the chance to lift West Bromwich Albion out of their form slump last season.
Di Matteo still feels that he would have been more than capable of keeping Albion up - despite his team picking up just three victories in 16 games.
He remains thankful that Albion were willing to give him a chance in the first place.
"I've been very grateful to the club," he told the Birmingham Mail. "They gave me an opportunity, a chance.
"The players were magnificent and very good to me.
"We had a good season, we were still in the running to retain our status in the Premier League.
"But when decisions are made you have to accept them. We had some good results but that's life, that's football.
"We were very confident that we had the players to stay up."
