Latterly employed as goalkeeping coach in addition to being registered as a player, Poole made his final appearance for Burton in 2010. He had an interim spell as manager in 2012, when he retired from playing at the age of 48; however, he later re-registered himself as a player on two occasions due to goalkeeping crises at the club, making Poole one of the few players in English football ever to be registered to a professional club at the age of 50.