[baggie53]

We have brought in all these attacking players, but is Irvine adventurous enough to give them a chance?

[Atomic]

Best squad for years maybe but EVER? Not a chance. Go back 35 years. It was more of a team game than a squad game then but nevertheless still much better quality.

[OldburyWBA]

I agree with what you say there, i honestly think that we are paying the price for having the same stale squad for the last 3 or 4 years and we are only readressing it now. We have to be the most unique club in England structure wise because i haven't seen other clubs do the same as we have.

 IMO Downing and Kiely being best mates with the players i don't have a problem with but in general No one really cares as long as we are going well whereas if results don't go our way its seen as poisonous and not helping the cause at all. But to be honest if the whole management ended up putting rockets up players butts and shouting at them, it won't do the morale of the players any good and they will resent them which will end up with them getting sacked anyway! The days of managers shouting and screaming at players whenever a result goes bad is over IMO.

Downing and Kiely have both been good servants and I understand about morale and shouting etc but its stale, the whole setup is stale, we are lurching from one head coach to another with the same staff to work with and its possibly one reason we are not moving on with coaches and stuck in the routine of new coaches in their first jobs or others who are so left field that even they were shocked to be approached.

[Dudleylad]

What I still didnt understand from the club with all this is:

1) We have had a massive overhaul of the playing staff to be honest
2) A new director of football


Yet we have kept the majority of the backroom team that should have been changed aswell.

 I think Irvines first two games were very good but the next two have been abysmal is he going to be one of them managers with no inbetween....if so he wont last long

[Atomic]

We have brought in all these attacking players, but is Irvine adventurous enough to give them a chance?

That's just it. You can have the best players in the world but if they are not set up properly you're going nowhere.

[Legend]

We have brought in all these attacking players, but is Irvine adventurous enough to give them a chance?

I've seen nothing to suggest that Irvine isn't adventurous. I enjoyed the football we played against Sunderland and Southampton. We were beaten by a very good team today but we will get better. I remember similar concerns when Swansea outplayed us under Hodgson and beat us 3-0. Swansea away just seems to be a very difficult game for us.

[WSBaggie]

I think Swansea are streets ahead of us when you look at the quality and type of players they have in their squad.

The difference is they have brought incredibly well over the last couple of years and placed faith in younger players whilst over the last year or two we have plodded from free transfer to loans and not built on the strong nucleus we have at the club.

This summer we have brought a few players who could build themselves bright futures at the club which differs on our signings over the last year or two.

[OldburyWBA]

Best squad for years maybe but EVER? Not a chance. Go back 35 years. It was more of a team game than a squad game then but nevertheless still much better quality.

Yeah, I think ever was a touch OTT 

Some of these lot will never be fit to laces the boots of the likes of Bomber, Allen & co.

[wbarenno]

I've seen nothing to suggest that Irvine isn't adventurous. I enjoyed the football we played against Sunderland and Southampton. We were beaten by a very good team today but we will get better. I remember similar concerns when Swansea outplayed us under Hodgson and beat us 3-0. Swansea away just seems to be a very difficult game for us.

I agree

Wasn't hodgson negative? I seem to remember a lot of people moaning about his negativity on here. We havent had a positive manager since Di matteo

[alex1]

As someone who pushed for Koeman, Schaaf and later Sherwood to be appointed, I was completely underwhelmed by Irvine. He was nowhere on my radar.  He seems to have prioritised getting defensive players in, some of whom we saw today. That would seem to fit in with a philosophy of setting teams up not to get beaten.

But, I will withhold a verdict on him at least until we see Valera, Blanco and Samaras, and you have to allow new players some time to gel as a unit. That's if he uses them. We have to see what the balance between defensive/holding players and creative/attacking players will be.


However, the signs are not good.  Its not that we just were beaten by Swansea, it's how we set up that bothered me. If we had come out and taken the game to Swansea and got beaten 3-2, I would be more hopeful. But we set out to contain Swansea with too many similar players and nobody able to make runs forward behind the Swansea defence. Except for Sess, by which time the game was lost.

Also, I hope that Irvine is not going to blame the result on individual errors. Errors are made by all players at the highest levels. What he has to look at, is how he sets the team up, to contain the opposition or go out to win.

[wbarenno]

Haven't we always set up like that at Swansea though? I saw nothing different today to what I saw at Swansea under Clarke and hodgson.

[geoff]

I've seen nothing to suggest that Irvine isn't adventurous. I enjoyed the football we played against Sunderland and Southampton. We were beaten by a very good team today but we will get better. I remember similar concerns when Swansea outplayed us under Hodgson and beat us 3-0. Swansea away just seems to be a very difficult game for us.

 

I agree but both teams allowed us to play at our tempo swansea da. AI could see what was happening & did nothing its that that worries me most. Give him a chance yes but lets keep our eyes open & not paper over the cracks.

[The Black Pearl]

As someone who pushed for Koeman, Schaaf and later Sherwood to be appointed, I was completely underwhelmed by Irvine. He was nowhere on my radar.  He seems to have prioritised getting defensive players in, some of whom we saw today. That would seem to fit in with a philosophy of setting teams up not to get beaten.

But, I will withhold a verdict on him at least until we see Valera, Blanco and Samaras, and you have to allow new players some time to gel as a unit. That's if he uses them. We have to see what the balance between defensive/holding players and creative/attacking players will be.

Also, I hope that Irvine is not going to blame the result on individual errors. Errors are made by all players at the highest levels. What he has to look at, is how he sets the team up, to contain the opposition or go out to win.

However, the signs are not good.  Its not that we just were beaten by Swansea, it's how we set up that bothered me. If we had come out and taken the game to Swansea and got beaten 3-2, I would be more hopeful. But we set out to contain Swansea with too many similar players and nobody able to make runs forward behind the Swansea defence. Except for Sess, by which time the game was lost.

Exactly, its not that we lost, its the way we lost that hacks me off!

[TheJacko2000]

We cannot let this fester, Leeds and the mad Sicilian have shown us the way. Wield the axe Jeremy and trim the coaching staff while you're at it.

[Atomic]

We cannot let this fester, Leeds and the mad Sicilian have shown us the way. Wield the axe Jeremy and trim the coaching staff while you're at it.

The problem is even if Jeremy Peace did sack Irvine (and he won't, not yet) he will most probably still retain the services of tweedledum and tweedledummer.

Following on from the Mel saga, players comments etc etc it is clear to me that simply changing head coach is not enough. We need to appoint someone proven and let him bring in his own men.

[wba606]

we always lose against swansea so this result no surprise, at the hawthorns we need to play small technical players like gamboa, blanco, sessegnon, dorrans and play wisdom at centre back.

[TheJacko2000]

we always lose against swansea so this result no surprise, at the hawthorns we need to play small technical players like gamboa, blanco, sessegnon, dorrans and play wisdom at centre back.

We beat them 3 months ago.

[Atomic]

we always lose against swansea so this result no surprise,

No we don't we won there 2-1 last year.

[timdon]

As someone who pushed for Koeman, Schaaf and later Sherwood to be appointed, I was completely underwhelmed by Irvine. He was nowhere on my radar.  He seems to have prioritised getting defensive players in, some of whom we saw today. That would seem to fit in with a philosophy of setting teams up not to get beaten.

But, I will withhold a verdict on him at least until we see Valera, Blanco and Samaras, and you have to allow new players some time to gel as a unit. That's if he uses them. We have to see what the balance between defensive/holding players and creative/attacking players will be.


However, the signs are not good.  Its not that we just were beaten by Swansea, it's how we set up that bothered me. If we had come out and taken the game to Swansea and got beaten 3-2, I would be more hopeful. But we set out to contain Swansea with too many similar players and nobody able to make runs forward behind the Swansea defence. Except for Sess, by which time the game was lost.

Also, I hope that Irvine is not going to blame the result on individual errors. Errors are made by all players at the highest levels. What he has to look at, is how he sets the team up, to contain the opposition or go out to win.

He did

[wba606]

we only had a good 25 minutes against swansea when we won, the first half then was similar today

[TheJacko2000]

I'd kill to have Mowbray back at the club.

[hardtobeat]

The Wolverhampton based Express and Dingle poll? A good source of representation amongst the intelligent.
.
It maybe Irvine is a lemon and after the International break he is not using the tools he has been given and we are showing no signs of improvement and then maybe it will be a more reasonable time to judge him.

i am intrigued as to why in footballing terms as to why i and any others should blindly support Irvines appointment, i have searched diligently and see no logical reason as to why he got the job !

[Legend]

i am intrigued as to why in footballing terms as to why i and any others should blindly support Irvines appointment, i have searched diligently and see no logical reason as to why he got the job !

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/west-bromwich-albion-fc/2014/06/19/west-broms-terry-burton-alan-irvine-is-the-best-coach-in-the-uk/

[bangkokbaggie]

Who exactly do people expect would come in?

We went for Irvine because we had barely any options in the first place. Yet alone starting the season with a squad not their own playing catch up to the rest of the league. The club's entire set up instantly rules out 90% of managers. You'll get people calling for Pulis no doubt, but that would never happen, he's an old school manager who would never work with the lack of control here.

The only people available for the job the way we work is either people new to management like Clarke was, or older coaches who've failed before and would take any job like Irvine. You're not going to get quality experienced track record coaches coming here.

Good post.

I am confused about the circumstances of his appointment. Did he actually apply for the job or was he approached by the club/JP? I think I previously read a comment from Irvine that it was the latter which supports what you say that the club struggled to find anyone for the position.

I commented on the In Game Chat forum that KD is possibly having a continual influence and I have always maintained that he has to go so that new managers/head coaches can have their own people that understand and share the same ideas on what they want in setting up teams. I don't accept this belief of JP of the importance of retaining backroom staff when making a new head coach appointment.

[BB74]

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/west-bromwich-albion-fc/2014/06/19/west-broms-terry-burton-alan-irvine-is-the-best-coach-in-the-uk/

That's just propaganda. He doesn't really believe that. I'd back my staff to a third party even if I knew they were dog pooh.