West Bromwich Albion coach Michael Appleton admits Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson had a big say in Roy Hodgson keeping him at the Hawthorns.
Hodgson turned to the Manchester United boss for a background check on the Albion coach when he arrived at The Hawthorns. And the 35-year-old was soon cemented into the assistant manager's chair.
"We didn't know each other so he said that he had to do his homework, as you'd expect of anyone," he recalled to the Sunday Mercury.
"He said that he had spoken to Sir Alex who had spoken very highly of me as a person and the way I go about things.
"Sir Alex wouldn't have known me that well as a coach but he said the attributes I had both as a person and a player would help me as a coach.
"You do hear things about players and coaches at other clubs - if they are doing the right jobs, doing the right things. So Sir Alex clearly put a good word in for me at the time and fingers-crossed Roy has been happy with that.
"I'm sure he is... or I'd be out of work! So it must have gone reasonably well."
