Earlier this month, Michael Appleton was let go from Charlton Athletic following a poor run of form that ended with a 3-2 loss at home to Northampton Town.
It was a move that was welcomed by many Addicks fans on social media, as the conceding of late goals to lose out on points became a recurring theme. To say that Appleton failed in his time at The Valley would be a fair argument, but how low has his stock now fallen?
Let’s take his time at the London club first. When he took over from Dean Holden in September, he got off to a flying start. Picking up 12 points in his first six matches, they went on an unbeaten run, which saw 14 league goals scored and only five conceded. That came to an abrupt end as he travelled to Lincolnshire to face his former club, Lincoln City, the first home match after the Imps had let Mark Kennedy go. A 3-1 victory for the home side looked to possibly set Charlton on a downward spiral as they were then hit with back-to-back losses as they faced Bolton Wanderers only four days later.
Those fears were somewhat relieved as they returned to winning ways against Wigan Athletic the following Tuesday night. November came and went with only one league victory, but also no losses in the division either. However, it was December when the wheels truly began to come off. 10 matches without a win in that month and the start of January was deemed not good enough for a club with playoff aspirations.
So, why was this spell not as disastrous as the stats suggest? On the pitch, there is no denying that the side was underperforming. Charlton have an impressive squad roster, boasting the league’s joint-top goal scorer in Alfie May; therefore, it was only expected for the blame to land at the manager’s door. However, taking a bigger picture view of the club, since Lee Bowyer’s departure 0n 2021, five permanent managers have now sat in the home dugout, averaging six months each. At some point, the hierarchy at the club must be brought into question.
Does this mean that Appleton was blameless in his time there? Absolutely not, but it also doesn’t mean that all the blame must be placed on him either. Taking a look back into his previous managerial roles, there are some who will determine his recent spells to be failures. Prior to moving to London, the former Manchester United midfielder stepped up as Blackpool’s manager in the summer of 2022, only 12 months after losing to the Seasiders in the playoff final at Wembley.
His spell in the north-west was also less than impressive, as he left the club after only 29 matches, with the prospect of relegation looming. Again, however, there are explanations as to why this period was so poor. When he left the side, they were three points adrift of safety, yet ended the season five points behind Cardiff City in 21st, a gap that looked considerably better than it could have done following two wins out of their last three matches, therefore begging the question as to whether the side would have been relegated regardless.
His role before heading to the ‘Vegas of the North’ was as head coach at Lincoln. He spent almost three full seasons at Sincil Bank before leaving by mutual consent, and it is only fair to take the spell in three separate parts. He joined the Imps in September 2019, taking over from Danny and Nicky Cowley following their three-season spell that saw as many trophies won, and a memorable FA Cup Quarter-Final visit.
His first season was purely about stabilising the club, something which he arguably achieved as they sat in 16th position as the season was curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It was his second season where he will have hoped to progress up the league, and he did just that, taking the Imps to an impressive fifth-place league finish, before just missing out on promotion as they lost to Blackpool at Wembley. That season was out of the ordinary for so many reasons. The only games in which Lincoln fans could attend were the semi-final playoff match against Sunderland at Sincil Bank, as well as the final at the national stadium. All other matches were played behind closed doors, something John Busby may have been pleased with when watching back that ‘foul’ on Sammie Szmodics, as Lincoln lost out on the opportunity to go up in the automatic places to Peterborough United.
Also, that season saw a wage cap in League One, levelling the playing field, meaning clubs like Lincoln could massively overachieve what their budgets would normally dictate. Appleton’s development of the younger stars in that side was billed as his greatest asset as a manager. However, fans quickly forgot his heroics from that season, as Lincoln slumped to a 17th-place finish in 2021-22.
Once again, however, there were no excuses for this poorer season, only valid explanations. Firstly, the wage cap had been scrapped, meaning clubs with more spending power than the Imps used it. Also, the playoff campaign meant that the transfer business could not start as early as other clubs. Add that to the fact that Appleton spent time off as he recovered from testicular cancer in the summer, and the sub-par transfer window makes sense.
Trying to bring this piece to a conclusion, I am in no way stating that Michael Appleton has not had flaws in his management style in his recent roles. His stubbornness to not change when games are not going his way has cost all three of his past clubs points. However, what I am saying is that he is in no way a bad manager who would struggle to get another job in League One or even above. He deserves another opportunity to show what he can do, potentially at a side that values progressing younger talent and one that continues to rely on the loan market. Who that club may be is anyone’s guess, but I doubt it will take too long for him to land back in management.
