The curious case of Michael Appleton

Going by the interest in his managerial nous, don’t be surprised if Michael Appleton succeeds Alex Ferguson as the next manager of Manchester United. The last 15 months have seen Appleton move a lot between clubs, and none of those moves were a result of him getting sacked. So what is it that Michael Appleton does? Does he give his players such brilliant tactical briefings that they outperform their opponents day in day out? Or is it the style of play that he inculcates in his teams that have seen a meteoric rise in his career graph? Frankly, nobody knows it yet, not even Appleton himself, as he has been in the managerial business for all of 15 months.

Born and bred in Manchester, Appleton made his way through the United academy but played only 2 games for them, and didn’t make the grade at Old Trafford. He made his name with Preston North End, and eventually moved onto West Bromwich Albion, where his career was curtailed by a knee injury at the age of 27.

Following the derailment of his playing career, Appleton moved into a coaching role with the youth team at West Brom. After having worked with the youth teams at various age groups for a period of 5 years, he became a first team coach, and was later assistant to Roy Hodgson for a period of 9 months. His first managerial assignment was as the manager of Portsmouth when they were in the middle of their debt ridden run in the Championship. His tenure with Portsmouth was riddled with point penalties, and the inability to sign players on long-term contracts. The season also saw them getting placed under administration, and hence receiving a points deduction, and the loss of big chinks of their playing squad, which saw them getting relegated. After enduring almost an entire year of all financial difficulties a manager can endure, Appleton left the club to join Blackpool as their manager following the departure of Ian Holloway to Crystal Palace.

At a club like Blackpool, which harbours hopes of returning to the Premier League, and has a talented playing squad, Appleton should have been at home. However, within 2 months (65 days to be precise) Blackburn Rovers approached him to be their manager after the sacking of Henning Berg, and Appleton gladly obliged them, agreeing to be their new manager on the 11th of January 2013. This constant moving between clubs, even before his career is set, spins off a lot of questions about his ability to handle the pressure of the managerial hot seat, as well as his ability to manage players, all boasting of different skill sets and varying ego issues. Cutting him some slack for leaving the Portsmouth position, his career so far gives the belief that he will jump a sinking ship, as was seen at Blackpool.

This hype that one is the next great English manager, or the next great English footballer, is what is throttling the growth of both players and managers in England. That is the very reason the number of English managers in the Premier League is so low; the hype and pressure forced onto them by an entire nation sometimes makes it too much to handle for the individual. Ask Steve McLaren about that. Another factor is the unforgiving nature of the fans, who make sure they remind you of each and every failure you have ever sustained. Just so you know, there are 5 English managers in the Premier League currently, and the youngest of the lot is Alan Pardew at the age of 51. And the youngest manager in the league is 35. He is Portuguese.

Michael Appleton might yet go on to have a very successful managerial career. His achievements might be spoken of in Premier League folklore. But the fact remains that currently, we have no idea if that is a possibility, and if it does happen, rest assured it will be talked about a lot, just like it is right now. For now though, the most impressive statistic of his career remains the 1.5 million pounds he received as settlement for being wrongly operated on, which caused him to retire. His win percentage as it stands currently is 24, i.e. 16 wins out of 67, and if he has to prove his detractors wrong, it is time he sticks to one club and fights it out.