West Bromwich Albion journalist and podcaster Chris Lepkowski has been sharing his thoughts on the possibility of Michael Appleton taking the manager’s position at The Hawthorns should current Baggies boss Sam Allardyce leave at the end of the season.
This comes after Lepkowski recently co-hosted the latest episode of West Brom-themed podcast The Liquidator where he spoke about a variety of topics concerning the Midlands club.
On the subject of potential new manager candidates that could possibly replace Allardyce at the end of the season should he leave the club at that time, Lepkowski had this to say about Appleton, who has been mentioned for the role in recent weeks, in particular.
He said: “Big question, of course, about Michael Appleton is that this would be the biggest job that he would probably be pitched in for.
“I know he’s managed Blackburn before, he’s managed other clubs. He’s always gone into clubs at the right time. Maybe, just maybe, this might be the right time.
“I know that he has worked with Luke Dowling before – quite harmoniously I believe, which certainly helps his credentials in that respect.
“I wouldn’t be unhappy to see Michael Appleton take over, I’d be quite excited to see what he could offer, but I do appreciate that he does also represent a gamble, in so much that he probably hasn’t been pitched into the kind of pressure that he would be as a new Albion manager expected to bring instant success to the club.”
Allardyce joined the Midlands club back in December on an 18-month contract after previous manager Slaven Bilic was sacked due to a poor start to their current Premier League campaign.
Appleton is currently the manager at League One side Lincoln City where he has been since September 2019.
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TIF Thoughts on Chris Lepkowski’s comments on Appleton…
Taking into account how West Brom have only won two out of the 17 games that Allardyce has been in charge of since his arrival, this suggests that his time at the club has not been particularly successful so far.
Given how Appleton has worked at West Brom before in a coaching role around the senior side and the youth teams, this could potentially put him in a good position to take charge of the Baggies next season if they do get relegated and if Allardyce does leave as a result because he knows the club.
In our view, if West Brom do end up back in Championship next season and Allardyce does end up leaving, then Appleton should definitely be considered as one of the potential candidates to replace him.