[lewisant]

I like attacking football "BUT" I'm a realist  1 step forward 2 steps back there

To be fair that is probably the exact kind of thing Hodgson would've said. I've been stewing sincethe appointment was made, not posting on here very much. I'm very much behind Alan Irvine now, he HAS to be given the chance to prove himself. But that's it. If he doesn't take the chance by october, november then Peace needs to re-think.

I'm also 100% behind everybody that wants Peace out. Unless this is a masterstroke, which right now i'm not holding high hopes for, then he's really holding the club back. I think we were all very excited by the prospect of Sherwood joining us, but that has gone now.

Even though none of us like it, Irvine needs to be supported come match time along with the 11 on the pitch. We as fans need to stick together.

It's a massive shame that he hasn't shown ambition (ala Southampton with Koeman) and there is nothing to excite us about Irvine, but he's here, and we need to let him prove himself. But like i've said, that's all he gets. If he does? Then i'd say Peace got lucky and we still need to evolve from him.

I've probably contradicted myself here, i don't really care because this is the first time i've typed out my feelings.

In summary: gutted, let down, underwhelmed, but it'd done now so let's see what he can do.

[saml30]

JP needs to thank Leeds for not getting the most ridiculous deal of the week award. we are not the only ones fuming I would guess

[LongBridge Baggie1]

That is the assumption (and because of the way other British clubs have historically done their business). Irvine has said he is here to coach and is it unreasonable that he is given a mandate from the club as to the way in which he takes this forward?

Then to turn an old saying on its head. We have too many Indians and sadly not enough Chiefs

[dan7heman]

Ok it's not AI's fault he got the job. . And 99.9% of me is distraught. . My main worry after this and the last 12 months is, what player in their right mind would ever sign for us? 3 out the last 4 17th placed clubs have gone down in the very next season. Hard to see us becoming another statistic but . . The lords my shepherd.

[LongBridge Baggie1]

To be fair that is probably the exact kind of thing Hodgson would've said. I've been stewing sincethe appointment was made, not posting on here very much. I'm very much behind Alan Irvine now, he HAS to be given the chance to prove himself. But that's it. If he doesn't take the chance by october, november then Peace needs to re-think.

I'm also 100% behind everybody that wants Peace out. Unless this is a masterstroke, which right now i'm not holding high hopes for, then he's really holding the club back. I think we were all very excited by the prospect of Sherwood joining us, but that has gone now.

Even though none of us like it, Irvine needs to be supported come match time along with the 11 on the pitch. We as fans need to stick together.

It's a massive shame that he hasn't shown ambition (ala Southampton with Koeman) and there is nothing to excite us about Irvine, but he's here, and we need to let him prove himself. But like i've said, that's all he gets. If he does? Then i'd say Peace got lucky and we still need to evolve from him.

I've probably contradicted myself here, i don't really care because this is the first time i've typed out my feelings.

In summary: gutted, let down, underwhelmed, but it'd done now so let's see what he can do.

Ths Window wlll define what happens in May sadly, As for Irvine. He used fear teams such as Yeovil and Bournemouth and go so negative its unbelieveable. I dread to think how he'll handle the Prem

[dont ask me to choose luv]

DOWNRIGHT DISRESPECTFUL 

I've read virtually all of the post's on this thread & I noticed that some members are referring to Alan Irvine as Alan Irvine, unsure why this was as his name is James Alan Irvine, I've scrolled back & it appears to be an acronym meaning Alan F*****G Irvine, I find this totally disrespectful to a man who is our new coach, posters saying "I blame Peace" not Irvine & yet then calling him Alan Irvine, even one of the mods referred to him as Alan Irvine in another thread  plummeting new lows   

[wbarenno]

DOWNRIGHT DISRESPECTFUL 

I've read virtually all of the post's on this thread & I noticed that some members are referring to Alan Irvine as Alan Irvine, unsure why this was as his name is James Alan Irvine, I've scrolled back & it appears to be an acronym meaning Alan F*****G Irvine, I find this totally disrespectful to a man who is our new coach, posters saying "I blame Peace" not Irvine & yet then calling him Alan Irvine, even one of the mods referred to him as Alan Irvine in another thread  plummeting new lows 

Well i take it Alan Irvine was the reaction of 99.9% of albion fans on saturday afternoon!

[lewisant]

DOWNRIGHT DISRESPECTFUL 

I've read virtually all of the post's on this thread & I noticed that some members are referring to Alan Irvine as Alan Irvine, unsure why this was as his name is James Alan Irvine, I've scrolled back & it appears to be an acronym meaning Alan F*****G Irvine, I find this totally disrespectful to a man who is our new coach, posters saying "I blame Peace" not Irvine & yet then calling him Alan Irvine, even one of the mods referred to him as Alan Irvine in another thread  plummeting new lows 

Yeah we need to respect and give him a chance to prove himself. Any hatred should be aimed towards Peace.

[WSBaggie]

DOWNRIGHT DISRESPECTFUL 

I've read virtually all of the post's on this thread & I noticed that some members are referring to Alan Irvine as Alan Irvine, unsure why this was as his name is James Alan Irvine, I've scrolled back & it appears to be an acronym meaning Alan F*****G Irvine, I find this totally disrespectful to a man who is our new coach, posters saying "I blame Peace" not Irvine & yet then calling him Alan Irvine, even one of the mods referred to him as Alan Irvine in another thread  plummeting new lows 

A portion of our fan base have shown their true colours over the last couple of days. No class whatsoever. 

Those who preached about Peace's treatment of Mel and then they do this to the next man in...

[LongBridge Baggie1]

Yeah we need to respect and give him a chance to prove himself. Any hatred should be aimed towards Peace.

I have said elsewhere that I'm disabled and that one of my ex-carer's is a Sheffield Wednesday fan. Irvine took over when Brain laws went to Burnley. They were in bad but to be fair at the beginning he had decent run. However, the last 10 games were a disaster and they would hav been relegated had palace who they played on last day not gone nto admin. They needed a win, he played for a draw. When he was sacked in league 1 they were 12th 8pts off the relegation zone. The game that got hm sacked was Yeovil at Hillsborough. The visitors had scored twice but had 2 players sent off withn the first 12 minutes. Irvine went long ball and ultra defensive. They lost that and Mandaric fired him.  Now he maybe the BEST coach in the world on the Training pitch but he doesn't seem to have a clue about tactics. to put it in perspective Micheal Appleton, with that game against West Ham has more experience in the Premiership than Alan Irvine. I won't call him Alan Irvine because I'm not going to disrespect him personally But I don't think he's up to the job. What were the club thinking??   

[socalbaggie]

I'm not ignoring anything - though I do think that we focus a lot on track records and not on abilities. Like I've said plenty of times I think the appointment is poor considering some people we've spoken to but I reserve my judgement until he's actually had chance to prove us right or wrong. I'd also like to point out that he didn't relegate Preston, he got them from 15th in the league to the playoffs and his sacking resulted in a demonstration by Preston fans when he left.

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1240220/Preston-7-Colchester-0-Jon-Parkin-scores-hat-trick-managerless-Preston-run-riot.html)

He also had moments of success with Wednesday despite taking them down (and SW twice having winding up orders in court through financial problems) and was replaced by Gary Megson who was also sacked. It's not a Guardiolaesque career but if Everton deemed him good enough to hire to develop their youth team (Barkley, Stone, etc) he's got something about him they saw too. It doesn't mean he will be great but he has some ability.

I admit I am having faith in this because I refuse to believe anyone would purposefully try and destroy their own asset so I'm inclined to believe that there MUST be SOMETHING they see that we don't. But I simply cannot hope or wish we do badly to prove a point - I can't even bet against us, it doesn't feel right. I only want this appointment to come off because it means the club will do well, not because I'm delusional.

In my eyes player acquisitions are more important now; it's not rocket science to see that coaches fortunes come down to who's on the pitch getting results. A manager can't single handedly kill player talent and so it's essential we get some good players in and I think anyone who thinks that a coach has more bearing on a players decision to come to a club than money is daft.

They might have demonstrated after his sacking but his sacking was a result of a run of 1 win in 10 games! For me I would hardly call that firing an overreaction from the club. As for Everton seeing something in him sure I agree with you they saw him as a good coach that can bring players along improving their footballing skills! That is not the qualities we need in the head coach of our first team! Our club is in shambles compared to just 2-3 seasons ago and we needed an experienced appt. that has a history they could point to that demonstrates they have the ability to employ various tactics so a successful game plan can be put together thus if implemented by the players giving us the best chance to win! Entering our 5th season in the league we should not be having a squad full of young inexperienced players in our first team that require the need of having a great teaching, training ground type coach that Terry Burton brags AI is. Sure you want to have some youth in the squad but not so many that you need to cater to their needs in the hiring of the first team coach. By the time they are playing regular first team football in the PL you would hope your first team players are not needing to be trained up and "coached" that's why you employ the likes of AI for your reserve/youth teams so as to prepare them to make that move into the senior squad! But as long as the club won't part ways with KD & DK were not going to be appointing anyone that is established and experienced! I want to see the incriminating photos those two must have of JP doing something very illegal or very embarrassing because nothing else explains why you would keep those two over hiring a solid candidate to give us the best chance to be successful once again!

[bagstaff]

I hope Irvine realises that given his strong Glaswegian accent that when the team aren't performing on the pitch any half time team talk will end in anarchy, with senior pro's pretending they cant understand him and laughing at him, probably with the encouragement of half of his assistants.

I sincerely wish you the best Alan, unfortunately good guys dont get a look in at west brom no matter how good or bad of a coach you are

[LiamTheBaggie]

(Barkley, Stone, etc)

John Stones was brought to Everton in 2013 from Barnsley so he can hardly be credited with his development..

[Brummie Road]

In common with the majority, I was a bit underwhelmed and bemused by the appointment of AI, but he's now our Head Coach and we now have the Coaching and Director of Football Team all in place, and now back at work after the post season break.

Like the majority I would say welcome to the Albion and the very best of luck.

The one comment I would make is we have 4 Coaches who I feel will work well as a unit and all of whom, for numerous reasons, will be very anxious for Albion to have a successful season.

The general consensus appears to be that Albion will sink like a stone, clearly that may happen but my own gut feeling is that things could actually work out surprisingly well (relatively speaking), particularly at it is combined with a Director of Football who will have joined the club with his eyes wide open (as a previous employee and long term friend of Roy Hodgson) and will have had a key role in the two new recruits.

No managerial changes are without risk, and on face value this appears to be a greater than usual risk, but to write off the forthcoming season on the back of an unpopular managerial appointment is jumping the gun in my view.

As I say, the key men are back at work and clearly astute judgement in the transfer market and a pro-active stance on recruitment is paramount and the activity over the next couple of months is critical, as is a, hopefully, positive reaction from our key squad members.

The other point, covered of in another thread, is the huge expertise of our new recruits, in the Academy and development of younger players, which in the medium to long term is likely to be a key issue for clubs like Albion (I know we've taken a "hit" with a couple of departures, but there have been positives as well, with a number of young players breaking into the first team squad).

But the blokes been at work for 1 day, and while admittedly the odds appear stacked against him, I wouldn't write off his chances of success just yet.

A harmonious managerial team (or Coaching team in our case) backed by a supportive Director of Football could actually work out for us here.

As always, time will tell.

[leggy]

Not read any posts really don't give a pooh. Alan Irvine, FFS what Sunday league has he come from.
If anyone thought JP would actually install a manager who would keep us in the Prem, must be living on another planet. He does NOT want WBA in the Prem.
Sorry got to stop just Baahhhhhhhhhhhhhh whats the use 

[glosterbaggie]

You never know how it will pan out.
The majority of "Alternatives" had fail/sacked on CV recently. But sometimes you will get a mix that works.
Here's hoping! 

[bagstaff]

Brummie Road I like your optimism

I hope that you are right re bringing young players through as that is irvine/kelly's strength on paper.  However, the recent track record of West Brom managerial reins makes me question whether they will be around long enough for us to reap the rewards

Secondly why do you think the four coaches will work well as a unit?

[lickey baggies]

I'm still in shock !!!

How did the interview process go ? Sherwood had 2 interviews (same as mel) to then be told that he couldn't bring anyone with him. Some of you can try and put a positive spin on Alan irvines  appointment but IMO  got to be the worst decision that anyone has ever made at Albion . Still haven't got the words to explain how I feel . I renewed after jp interview thinking things would buck up. How wrong was I !

[The Black Pearl]

I can only hope that a siege mentality kicks in and the whole playing an coaching staff unite to get results, am I confident that's how it will pan out, not at all!

[eaststand]

I haven’t posted on this forum before but have been a regular reader for a couple of years and been an Albion supporter for over 40 years.

Like the majority of Albion supporters the appointment of Alan Irvine came as a surprise, shock and disappointment.

However, like it or not, he’s the man chosen to be our new Head Coach. He obviously impressed those tasked with appointing the new man from a long list of applicants and as such deserves to be given the chance to prove himself and have the full backing and support of all Albion fans, just as Pepe Mel did. Few knew much of Pepe Mel before his appointment yet there was no such outcry then. Granted Mel inherited his squad of players but hardly set the world alight whilst our Head Coach, yet for some reason he was instantly well received and liked by the fans.

Irvine deserves the same welcome. All the negativity surrounding him needs to stop. By all means criticize those who appointed him, but what’s going to happen at the first home match of the season when he’s introduced to the fans, what are we all going to do boo him and the new signings. Hardly the encouragement the team needs. It would have been tough enough next season whoever was chosen as Head Coach, but all this negativity isn’t going to help.

Short term nothing is going to change with the Irvine appointment. Fair enough if we’re struggling at the bottom end of the table after a couple of months by all means criticize and call for change, just as I will, but until then give the guy a chance.

[WorcsWBA]

Some comments from Sheff Wed fans on the OwlsOnline forum (link further down):

"What a boring uninspiring manager he was"
"Let's hope he sells Brunty back to us! He's far too attack minded for Irvine!"
"The keeper is too attack minded for Irvine. I am going to have a fiver on Paul Merson falling asleep on Soccer Saturday during one of their games"
"By far the worst manager I've ever seen at Hillsborough. I still have unwanted flashbacks of his 6-2-2 tactic at home to Bournemouth. We still got outplayed and we're very fortunate to get a point"
"Worst manager we've had in the 24 years I've been going, horrific appointment by WBA"
"Dreadful manager, unbelievable appt by WBA...mental even"
"The cones at the training ground will be sh*****g themselves"
"Will never forgive him for getting us relegated and keeping us in L1, awful, awful "manager" or head coach or whatever title they've given him, worst manager in my time watching Wednesday, by a f*****g country mile!"
"Irvine is, statistically, one of our best managers in the last 2 decades. Just shows how skewed statistics can be"
"One of our biggest gripes with Irvine was the meticulous attention to detail he paid to our opponents, DVD's etc. now that didn't work for us as we were planning to (HMS) urine The League, but for a team like WBA who will be competing in the lower half of the Prem, maybe such an approach to matches would be advantageous? Nah, I'm not sold either, sacked by November IMO"
"Irvine was a complete w****r! He made Gary Megson look like Pep Guardiola"
"To be fair, managing one of the worst teams in the Premier League against the likes of City and Chelsea, his tendency to worry obsessively about the opposition may be a little more justified than it was when he was our manager"

Link: OwlsOnline

[WBAinDEVON]

Horrific appointment, cant disagree with that

[baggie38]

I will give him a chance and you have made some valid points. I cant help but feel angry and disappointing with people who blame Irvine for taking this opportunity. He simply cant be blamed for it as im sure any sane human being who wants to prove themselves and test themselves at the highest level would of took this opportunity. Alot of people are doing the right thing by blaming Peace the board and Burton as they are the people who need to be blamed for this lackluster appointment as that is who the buck stops with.

[WBAinDEVON]

if we win the first 3 games in style he might win me over

[tuamigos]

We've got what we've got.
I'm still livid over the appointment and that's not down to AI. To an extent he's as much a victim of this shambles as the rest of us.
Anybody who believes we weren't sleep walked into this latest debacle is living in cloud cuckoo land.
We were set up with baldy's Churchillian speech that he delivered telling us he realised what had gone wrong, he took responsibility and said he would put things right.
The man hadn't even got the guts to release the name of the new coach in a dignified manner, instead issuing a press release at 6.00pm on a Saturday evening a few hours before the biggest game this country has seen for years hoping that it would fall off the radar.
The news was released two weeks after the deadline for retaining season ticket seats. It was released to the press that Sherwood was an imminent appointment. I think Sherwood was also a pawn in this sting, baldy never had any intention of appointing him.
As yet he hasn't even got the guts to attend tomorrows press conference with his new coach instead leaving all the guff to be spouted by another of his yes men
As usual we've gone cheap.
I can't wait to see some of new recruits.
It will be released to the press were looking at all these top names from over Europe and we'll end up with the likes of St Ledger, Nugent and similar stiffs.
The worst part of all this is we can protest all we want but baldy is so distant from the fans it won't make a blind bit of difference.

Sorry if I come across as bitter and twisted but that's exactly what I am