Michael Appleton hopes to still have a relationship with West Brom after Dowling exit
West Brom recently parted ways with sporting and technical director Luke Dowling, and Lincoln City manager Michael Appleton is hoping it does not affect his relationship with the club.
The former Albion midfielder was one of those considered to replace Sam Allardyce, but he snubbed a chance to return to The Hawthorns [Rob Dorsett] are now closing in on the appointment of Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael.
Appleton and Dowling are close friends, and that granted the Lincoln boss easy access to the club, with some of West Brom players having loan spells at the League One outfit as a result.
“The obvious answer is yes,” the ex-Baggies star said when asked if Dowling’s exit would make it more difficult to sign the club’s youngsters [Express and Star].
“That’s not necessarily because Luke’s not there, my concern now is who deals with that. I’ve known Luke for a long time and it’s easy for me to make contact with him.
“The question now is, who do I make contact with? But at the end of the day, I like to think I’ve got a decent affinity with the club. Over the years I’ve taken players from West Brom, not just Alex Palmer and Callum Morton.”
“We had Tyler Roberts and he ended up getting a move to Leeds United, and Kemar Roofe. West Brom have certainly benefited from loans I’ve taken in the past and hopefully, that will continue in the future.”
West Brom need a director
CEO Xu Ke took over Dowling’s role after his exit, but he is not a football person and we need to get in someone suitable for the position.
Ismael will need all the help he can get once he moves to the Hawthorns in the coming days, and a Sporting Director would make his job easier.
Ken would not be able to provide any assistance when it comes to identifying players fit for West Brom’s promotion push, and he certainly does not know which player need to go on loan.
As The Athletic recently highlighted, the Baggies chief “lacks the football background, knowledge or contacts clubs would want when making strategically vital decisions”, and it is only right for Appleton to be concerned.
While at Oxford, he signed Roberts and Roofe on loan, with Palmer, Morton and Soule joining him temporarily at Lincoln last season.
Hopefully, the change at the top does not affect Appleton’s relationship with us, and we can only hope West Brom land a perfect replacement for Dowling.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies want four quality new signings once Ismael is hired.
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