Former Lincoln City manager Michael Appleton has been appointed Shrewsbury Town’s permanent boss, signing a two-year deal following a stint as interim head coach.
Shrewsbury are currently a League One side, but their decade-long stay in this division is coming to an end after a horrible season. Appleton, who guided the Imps to a League One play-off final in 2021, took over at Shrewsbury earlier this season after Gareth Ainsworth’s departure.
Despite limited results, he earned praise for introducing a more expansive style of play and secured his first win in charge last weekend at Barnsley. The 48-year-old said the past few weeks have helped him understand the squad and shape his vision going forward.
“It’s no secret that I wanted to stay at this football club so I’m really pleased the deal is now done,” said Appleton.
His appointment marks a new chapter for the League One side, who are also navigating takeover talks. Appleton will now prepare for a busy summer as he reshapes the squad.
Lincoln Impact
Appleton is one of the more divisive managers of the Imps EFL-era (2017 onwards). His swashbuckling side were running away with automatic promotion in 20/21, only to be hit by injuries and the season petered out. The defeat against Blackpool in the play-off final hurt, not least because it came during the post-COVID era, and was an awful occasion, as well as a disappointing end.
Many hoped the following season would be the same, but the wage cap rules were relaxed, and the club dropped to a more natural position. Suffering serious striker issues, we struggled for goals and often served up rather drab matches (not as drab, dare I say, as the next manager).
However, Appleton’s popularity hinged on his polarising personality and attitude. As everyone knows, I liked him a lot. He was straight as a ruler, called a spade and spade, and you always knew where you stood. Of camera, he was always honest and approachable, and I respected him. He wasn’t a visibly passionate man, more of a stoic Salford boy who left emotions at the door. It irked many, as he rarely got animated on the sidelines.
One interview around Christmas 2022 turned out to be a tipping point, when he intimated that if he was spoke to in the street in the same way some fans abused him, they’d be feeding through a straw (something along those lines). However, many forget he had suffered a cancer scare pre-season, and had a newborn at home with his wife.
On the Field
I always found him to be a fiercely loyal man, but that doesn’t win football matches. That said, Michael Appleton’s side did win football matches – 55 of the 143 they played. That gives him the fourth-best Football League win percentage of the last 40 years, 38.5% bettered only by Michael Skubala (41.6%), John Schofield (41.8%) and Danny Cowley (53.98%). That placed him 12th in the all-time win percentage chart, out of 47 managers, and ninth in the post-war chart, between Colin Murphy’s first spell and Keith Alexander’s second.
He also led us to our highest finish since the early eighties, and at times we played some wonderful football. It wasn’t always pretty, and the 21/22 season saw us threatened by relegation, only to splash a little cash in the winter window and pull ourselves away. Despite his premature departure (in terms of his contract), he remains one of only two managers to take the Imps to Wembley, and one of only four to take us to a domestic cup or play-off final.
Like Peter Jackson before him and Mark Kennedy after him, Michael Appleton is a manager many Imps fans will argue over until their final day. I will always stand firmly on the side of the former Manchester United player. I wish him all the best at Shrewsbury, and hopefully, he can capture some of the success he enjoyed with us and Oxford during his time with Salop.
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