Michael Appleton makes permanent Albion return as under-23s boss

The 43-year-old did return to The Hawthorns in April under caretaker boss Jimmy Shan, which ended an eight-year absence.

But the former midfielder – who has managed Portsmouth and Oxford as well as a stint in caretaker charge of Leicester – will now oversee the Baggies second-string side, taking over from Jamie Smith, who moved to become Darren Moore’s No.2 at Doncaster.

His side will compete in Division Two of Premier League 2 in the upcoming season.

Appleton came through the ranks at Manchester United’s academy before his playing career was cut short in 2003 due to a serious knee injury. He then turned to coaching within Albion’s youth set-up.

He made 33 appearances for Albion between 2001 and 2003.

Albion sporting and technical director Luke Dowling confirmed that more academy roles, including a manager, will be filled in the near future.

Appleton believes his experience in working with youngsters will help promising talents make the transition from the Baggies academy into the first team.

He also feels his managerial CV proves he is a coach keen to develop young talent.

“It’s an opportunity for me to hopefully use the skills I’ve developed in terms of developing players and helping with that transition from being potentially good players to fully-fledged members of the first team,” said Appleton.

“My record at Oxford particularly suggests developing and nurturing these young players stands me in good stead.

“It is one of the most difficult things. You can have raw talent but nurturing the person behind it as well is very important to me.

“I like to look to get to know them as people and discover how they react to certain situations. It’s a key part of the role which to me is very important.

“I know there have been a lot of changes and a lot of people who have left over the last month have been at the club a long time. But sometimes change is good to move things on.”

Albion have continued to produce talented kids who now find themselves on the fringes of Slaven Bilic’s first team, some younger stars have been courted and poached by Europe’s big-hitters.

Appleton confessed that one of his challenges, when the ‘manic’ first few weeks calms down, is to assess how Albion can be successful while offering youth a pathway to the senior team.

He added: “I know the club so well – it will be my third spell and that certainly helps.

“I’m going to have to get up to speed in terms of the young players I’m working with. From my point of view, I’ve been out for a year now, save for those few weeks at the end of last season, and when I spoke to Luke I knew very, very quickly that this could be a great outcome for both parties.

“There’s going to be a period of adjustment of course and it’s going to be manic for a few weeks. But over a period of time I will look to utilise my experience and knowledge gathered since I left in this role and like to think that I will be able to add something.

“There’s some good talent in the football club. We’ve got to get the blend right in being really competitive and successful on the pitch and being able to do that with the talent we bring through.”

Dowling added: “We’re delighted to welcome Michael back into the club and into this role.

“He buys into what we are trying to deliver and the players he will be coaching and developing will be excited to be working under him.

“We have recruited a man who has led Oxford to promotion and two Wembley finals, been an assistant manager at a Premier League club and has a strong association with the club.”

“He replaces Jamie Smith who understandably wanted to take the opportunity to work at first-team level at Doncaster and who we wish well.

“From his own experiences as a player, Michael knows all about the demands on young players to make the step up to first-team level. To have someone of his calibre and experience in that role now will further enhance this process.”