for a UEFA Cup place. Stoke City Little was appointed manager of Stoke City in May 1998 and his appointment was met with approval from the club's supporters. Stoke in 1997–98 had moved from the Victoria Ground to the new all-seater Britannia Stadium but poor performances led to the side being relegated to the Second Division. Little arrived with the only objective was to gain an instant return to the First Division in 1998–99. Stoke began the season in fine form winning 14 of their first 20 matches and they sat well on top of the division. However their form completely fell away after Christmas and won just seven matches from the remaining 26 and ended up finishing in 8th position. One of those defeats was a 2–0 loss against nine-men Millwall, which Little described as "the worst result in my twelve years in management". In July 1999 Little resigned and stated: "I have tried my best and the disappointment is very hard to take. I hope the supporters understand that it's best that I leave". West Bromwich Albion Before the 1999–2000 season was under-way, Little was back in employment as manager of West Bromwich Albion. The club were languishing in Division One and had been outside the top division since 1986, but Little was unable to revive Albion's fortunes. In January 2000 the promising Italian midfielder Enzo Maresca was transferred to Juventus for £4 million as Albion battled against relegation. Little was sacked in March 2000 after just eight months in charge and replaced by Gary Megson. Hull City In April 2000, just one month after leaving the Hawthorns, Little was appointed manager of Division Three strugglers Hull City. The Tigers were hit by huge debts and were locked out of Boothferry Park for one game by the landlord, former tennis player David Lloyd. By the end of the 2000–01 season, Hull had been saved from closure by new owner Adam Pearson, and the club's future looked brighter. They reached the Division Three playoffs, but lost to Leyton Orient in the semi-finals. In autumn 2001, following the dismissal of manager Peter Taylor, media reports suggested that Little was going to be approached by Leicester City about a possible second spell as manager, but the job went to Dave Bassett instead. By February 2002 Hull City looked well on course for automatic promotion from Division Three. But Little unexpectedly announced