Danny Cowley factor at Lincoln City leaves blurred Michael Appleton appreciation | OneFootball

Michael Appleton has not been remembered as one of the great Lincoln City managers.

Michael Appleton has not been remembered as one of the great Lincoln City managers.

Though, perhaps he should be appreciated more than he has been by the Imps’ faithful.

Appleton, who is the current Shrewsbury Town head coach, led Lincoln to a Sky Bet League One play-off final and went just 90 minutes away from lifting the club into the second tier for what would have been the first time in six decades.

League One play-offs a great Lincoln City achievement

Reaching the 2021 play-off final remains one of the great achievements in Lincoln’s recent history, and one for which Appleton must take a heap of credit for.

He led the Imps squad to their highest finish for some time, getting his squad to fifth in the 2020/21 season. The reward was a play-off semi-final against Sunderland, which City won to set up a final against Appleton’s former club Blackpool. They then fell at the final hurdle.

Even though Lincoln did not gain promotion into the Championship that year, it was a mighty achievement to go so close. Loanees Brennan Johnson and Morgan Rogers were integral parts of the successful Imps team, with Appleton helping to build and steward a strong squad into a finish beyond their means.

And while City slumped to 17th in the subsequent season, at the end of which Appleton left the club, the accomplishment that was the prior campaign remains intact.

Danny Cowley casting a long shadow

However, Appleton has not been remembered fondly by a chunk of Lincoln fans despite the fact that win percentages place him as the club's seventh-best gaffer.

He had led Oxford United to League Two promotion before his move to Lincolnshire, and lost two consecutive EFL Trophy finals with the same team.

There was no doubt that Appleton was successful in that he led the Imps to a play-off final, and narrowly short of promotion itself, but his predecessor seems to be a factor in his underappreciation.

Danny Cowley, alongside brother Nicky, remains one of the best managing units Lincoln have ever had. They secured a duo of promotions, lifting the club from the National League and into a sturdy League One operation.

In fact, in terms of win percentages, Cowley is the best boss the Imps have had in their entire history, even ahead of the great Colin Murphy.

He also created history in the FA Cup, reaching the quarter-finals and a trip to the Emirates Stadium in a remarkable accomplishment for a then non-league outfit, and won Wembley Stadium silverware with an EFL Trophy triumph over Shrewsbury.

That left quite the legacy. And it was a shadow that has seemingly impeded how history views Appleton’s close to 150 games at Lincoln.

No matter how successful the Englishman was, he was also going to be compared to the Cowley brothers that came before him. And, that is a comparison that only one side was ever going to win.

COVID-19 preventing Sincil Bank crowds

The other main reason that meant Appleton has not been appreciated as much as he should have been for his surge to the play-off final, was the simple fact that most of his success was behind closed doors.

The COVID-19 pandemic had many catastrophic impacts, while one small side effect was the removal of fans from football games. That carried through a large portion of Appleton’s stint at Sincil Bank.

Simply put, that means that the success he had was seen by less than would usually be in the stadium. That has got to have impacted the lens by which Appleton is viewed at Lincoln, as you cannot judge properly what you have not seen with your own eyes.

The ex-Imps manager has had a rocky time since leaving the club, but his time in Lincolnshire should be more fondly remembered than it is. He nearly led City to the promised land of the Championship and had great success in pushing the Imps all the way to that play-off final.