Former West Brom midfielder and coach Michael Appleton takes Blackpool job
Former West Brom midfielder and coach Michael Appleton has been appointed Blackpool manager for a second time.
Appleton, who was forced to retire at 27 following a serious knee injury at Albion, replaces Neil Critchley, who left the club earlier this summer to take over as assistant boss at Aston Villa.
Appleton played for Albion between 2001 and 2003, before working his way up as a coach from the youth teams to first team coach under Robert Di Matteo.
Appleton has signed a contract until June 2026 and said: "I am absolutely delighted to be here.
"To be able to come back to the club, with where the club is at during this moment in time, after two really successful seasons, I can't wait to get started.
"This club now feels like the right club at the right time.
"The fans will certainly have seen glimpses of what I tried to do in my days at Lincoln.
"I want to play aggressive, forward-thinking football and we have certain things that we want from the players when we're playing, dependent on opposition clearly.
"We just want to be exciting and get people off their seats."
It's Appleton's second time in charge at Bloomfield Road - after he spent just 65 days in charge between November 2012 and January 2013.
Following Blackpool. he had spells at Blackburn Rovers, Oxford United and Leicester City, where he served as assistant manager.
He then returned to the Baggies as assistant manager to Jimmy Shan at the end of the 2018/19 campaign - while also being linked with the permanent job.
In August 2019, he was then appointed under 23s coach, but less than two months later he left the club to take up the managerial vacancy at Lincoln City.
