Former Manchester United midfielder returns to West Brom as coach

Former Manchester United, Preston and West Brom midfielder Michael Appleton has returned to The Hawthorns as a coach.

The 43-year-old returns to the club where he made 33 appearances towards the end of his playing career before moving into coaching to join the backroom staff at The Hawthorns.

Appleton returns to his former club to complete caretaker manager Jimmy Shan’s backroom staff with two games in the Sky Bet Championship remaining.

The Baggies have been without a manager since Darren Moore’s surprise departure with the side sat in fourth in early March; however, Appleton’s former employers still have a chance of gaining promotion back to the Premier League through the play-offs.

Appleton began his coaching career at Albion in 2003 and after a long-standing knee injury cut-short his playing career, he briefly took over as caretaker boss when Roberto di Matteo was sacked but was beaten to the full-time appointment by Roy Hodgson.

The 43-year-old left as assistant head coach under Hodgson to manage Portsmouth nine months later before undertaking short spells at Blackpool and Blackburn prior to three years with Oxford United. Appleton then moved to Leicester City as Craig Shakespeare’s assistant but left in June 2018 when Claude Puel took charge.

Speaking to BBC West Midlands, Shan shared his delight at adding Appleton to his backroom staff alongside fellow former Baggies player Steven Reid.

“I’m delighted to get someone of Michael’s experience and knowledge,” he said.

“With the timescale we have left this season, it was important to have someone I know and have a relationship with.

“We both worked in the Academy here together for a time and Appy played alongside Steven Reid. He understands the environment here.”