MICHAEL Appleton admitted he feared the sack during a sticky start to life as the Oxford United head coach.

The U’s were languishing in the lower reaches of the Sky Bet League Two table a couple of months into his tenure and there were calls from some sections of fans for chairman Darryl Eales to take action.

There were reasons for this, most notably because when Appleton arrived United barely had enough players to name a matchday squad.

The former U’s boss is well aware he was on dangerous ground, but says other clubs could take notice of what can be achieved if somebody is given time to implement complete changes.

“The last three years have been amazing,” he said.

“The success both on and off the pitch has been phenomenal and the relationship between the football club and the fans I believe is back where it was in the mid-80s when they were so successful.

“But there’s no hiding the first three or four months were very difficult.

“That is where the credit has to go to Darryl and the board for sticking by me through a very difficult period.

“They could easily have pulled the trigger and brought someone else in, but they stuck by me, and listened to what I had to say.”

It is something he will be forever grateful for, especially after a rough start to his managerial career.

“Did I fear the sack? Yes, without a doubt,” he said.

“Any manager that tells you they haven’t worried about getting sacked are absolutely lying out their backside.

“It is at the back of your mind all the time.

“Three or four poor results and you’re thinking ‘bloody hell, I need some results here or I could be in a bit of trouble’.”

Having been given the full backing of his chairman, Appleton was able to set about making big changes throughout the club.

And while that was noticed more on the field, it also had implications off it too.

“In January of the first year we accelerated a couple of signings we were going to do in the summer,” he said.

“We brought in Alex MacDonald and Joe Skarz and they were almost a catalyst for what we wanted to do.

“I have got to give Darryl and the board a lot of credit for sticking by me in those first few months because there was a lot that needed changing.

“The football club had a losing mentality and it also didn’t have a playing identity – or if it did it was a negative one. Long ball, back to front, fight for your lives.

“I wanted to change the whole philosophy of the football club. That takes time.

“But the biggest thing we have changed is the culture of the football club.

“All of a sudden we are attracting players that would not normally think twice about coming to Oxford United.”

Appleton’s relationship with Eales has always been strong, helped by the support he was shown in the first few months.

And he says that still remains the case to this day, despite some murmurings of discontent.

“He stuck by me in the early days which I am massively appreciative of,” Appleton said.

“What you have to realise in football is when things are going well, people try to find negatives.

“But you need to stay strong and keep the resolve.

“That’s the world we live in. People try to be pessimistic, but our relationship was as strong as any you get in football between a chairman and manager.

“I think I was the 14th longest serving manager so that says a lot. The relationship had to be right to achieve that.”

Appleton believes the work he and Eales have done over the past three years will allow Oxford to continue to go from strength to strength.

“There’s one thing getting promotion and achieving success on the pitch, but sometimes that just happens without a strategy or planning,” he said.

“But that is not the case here.

“We had to change people’s perceptions of the football club.

“And I think we did that. People want to watch Oxford United again.

“When we first came in the average gate was around 4-4,500. Last season the average was 8-8,500.

“To double that, it tells you about the expectation at the club. There was a feelgood factor.”

He added: “I think the club is in a place where it could, and should, get better and better.

“I fully expect, as long as they bring the right person in, that the club can continue to keep growing.

“I hope it does and if I have played my part in that, then great.”