When West Bromwich Albion secured the return of Michael Appleton to the role of Under 23 manager, it was always only going to be a matter of time before he found himself back in charge of a first team given his previous stints as the main man at a club, and on Friday evening, West Brom confirmed he had now completed a switch to Lincoln City.
Michael Appleton has this evening been appointed manager of @LincolnCity_FC.
All the best, Appy 👍🏼#WBA https://t.co/FzeTQgBdBY
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) September 20, 2019
A short statement confirmed that upon their approach, we had given him permission to speak and ultimately, he has now accepted the League One’s side offer to return to senior management.
In the statement released, Sporting and Technical Director Luke Dowling said of the development.
“We are obviously disappointed to be losing a coach of Michael’s calibre so soon after his appointment and having discussed at length our plans for the development of our young players in the future. But he felt he could not refuse the opportunity to return to League management and we reluctantly accept that. We shall be looking to announce a replacement as quickly as possible.”
Whilst it’s a shame from our point of view given his experience and long association with the club in previous spells at The Hawthorns, you can hardly blame him for getting back on the proverbial horse given his own ambitions in the game and Lincoln should be a good club for him to get himself back on track. Maybe it was a bit sooner than we all expected, but it was always on the cards.
Hope it works out for you Appy. Lincoln are a club on an upward trajectory rather than some of the unfortunate positions you've had to manage at previous poorly run clubs.
Wish you nothing but success ????????
— Paul Harris (@Hero_Taylor9) September 20, 2019
Need a solid appointment now guys. #believe
— Rob Paddock (@RobPaddockWBA) September 20, 2019
Good lucky Appy, good club so go show what u can do pal ????????????????⚪️????⚪️
— Stuart Hunt ???????????????????????????????????? (@huntywbafc) September 20, 2019
Congratulations wish him all the best
— Michael Barnes (@Michael65101368) September 20, 2019
Good luck for the future. Thanks for all the work you've done at the Club.
— Clayt (@ClaytJMC) September 20, 2019
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