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SAMMY Lee was all smiles today as he returned to football management, seven months after being sacked by Bolton Wanderers.

The former Liverpool and England midfielder was delighted to be back at Anfield, his spiritual home, where he has been appointed assistant manager to Rafa Benitez.

Lee has been out of football since he left the Reebok last October after just a 14-match reign. But he had no hard feelings as he looked back on his time with Wanderers - two years as assistant manager under Sam Allardyce before taking over as manager for the final two games of the 2006-07 season - and paid a glowing tribute to the club and its supporters.

"I was very honoured and privileged to be given the position as Bolton manager," he said. "The pride and the honour I felt to be their manager was only outweighed by the sheer disappointment that it didn't go well.

"I have to say the Bolton fans were fantastic towards me. I haven't had the chance to say that before, but I want to thank them. Even when results weren't going well they were very supportive towards me and, most importantly, to the players."

Meanwhile, Barry Knight, the referee Bolton Wanderers fans love to hate, has been forced to retire from the Premier League list after failing to recover from an Achilles tendon injury.

The Kent official achieved notoriety with Reebok supporters with his handling of the First Division play-off semi-final decider at Ipswich in May 2000, which drew a vitriolic attack from Sam Allardyce that led to him being censured by the FA.

9:44pm Friday 16th May 2008

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