He may have all the qualifications in the world but if he cant do the job then those qualifications mean absolutely nothing.
Would you sooner go to war with a leader straight out of Sandhurst with a certificate for hitting the bullseye on a target or a bloke whose done 3 tours of duty in Helman Providence unscathed?
His management record is at the best unispiring, he's never managed on his own at this level and the fact that he hasn't managed for 3 years says a lot.
He says he was offered the job before RDM since then we've had 4 managers, and he's never been put forward as candidate before any of those got the job.
I'm still in deep shock.
Not being pedantic as I feel its very relevant but you mentioned manager/management 4 times there, fact is he will not be the manager, he will be the 'head coach', he will have a lot of support around him (Burton etc..) & for that reason I will give the bloke a chance to see what he can do, he might fail, something, many seem to be hoping for, so they can sit back & tell us all 'I told you so', he might turn out to be the perfect match for the system we have at the Albion, who knows? time will tell, to be honest Irvine wouldn't of made my top 20 candidates for the job but I not going to slaughter the man before he's had the chance to turn the lights on in his office.