[cornishbaggie]

I for have changed my mind

me too

[Chipperfan]

me too

While I want convinced when he was announced, shocked even, once he was in post I was always in the "he's here now, back him and give him a chance" camp. At the moment things are going quite well, long way yet to next May, but realistically we are doing better than many thought possible.

Those who were braying about him being first Prem manager sacked, eat your words, and those who thought he'd be gone by October, well he's still here and in a stronger position than ever.

I like the idea that Albion plucked AI from relative obscurity and gave him a chance. If it carries on working who knows, he may be here for a few years. Wouldn't that kind of continuity be a nice change?

Could turn out to be a master stroke by JP.

[Dexy]

I started out in the give him a chance camp , i must admit after Everton i couldn't see it working out.
I'm not getting carried away but I'm enjoying the passing and the swagger we are seeing in the team . Let's see how Irvine gets on with the dreaded Winter months we seem to struggle with.
Not to be negative i just wish he was a bit more active with his subs at times.

[ex coseley kid]

I thought we were - for most of the game - just superb last night.

I've seen enough matches now to realise that AI is far more clued in than I gave him credit for - and fingers crossed this form continues. Loving the confidence on the pitch; long season and all that, but loved last night!

 

[tuamigos]

I think he's building a side, most of us thought he wouldn't be able to.
Fair play to the bloke and long may it continue.

[wardy65]

I thought we were excellent at times last night, & though disappointed we couldn't hang on for the win, felt a wee bit relieved we at least got the point in the end, as I've seen us lose that type of game in the past.
Very interesting looking at the two teams before the kick off, & how British our team is, with only Sess & Poco of the starting eleven holding foreign passports. Whereas united, only had Jones & Shaw as Brits in their eleven. Think there's a little bit of old school thinking there with AI & the work rate of our British players.
Also think AI is of the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' brigade regarding subs, & is reluctant to change what's worked so well for him upto now. Hindsight's a wonderful thing I know, but I would've like to see Blanco coming on for a very tired Sess, as a like for like, & still giving us energy further up the pitch, rather than a more defensive option. But, not a criticism & loving what AI's doing for us at the moment. Long may it continue!

[seteefeet]

I think he's building a side, most of us thought he wouldn't be able to.
Fair play to the bloke and long may it continue.

Is he building a squad though? We are not using that many players, which gives great continuity, but does it give us depth?
May turn out to be a master stroke when winter bites, but could go the other way if the replacements are off the pace.
Personally, I'm old fashioned and not a great fan of squad rotation, but I do wish some players were getting more game time by fully utilising the bench.

[FallOutBoy]

I still can't say he's convincing me. We are playing well, but some of his decisions still baffle me. Yacob can't get near the team, Mulumbu seems welded to the bench, but we seem to be getting away with it at the minute.

I still think we'll be nearer the bottom than we'd all like, but I think there are enough basket cases that we'll stay up easily enough.

[tuamigos]

Is he building a squad though? We are not using that many players, which gives great continuity, but does it give us depth?
May turn out to be a master stroke when winter bites, but could go the other way if the replacements are off the pace.
Personally, I'm old fashioned and not a great fan of squad rotation, but I do wish some players were getting more game time by fully utilising the bench.

Then there's that old adage of not changing a winning side. If the 11 on the pitch are doing it week in week out then it's up to those on the side lines to force their way into the managers reckoning, and the job of those in the 11 to keep the stiffs out.
We do have a decent squad and given a run of injuries like we had earlier in the season I'm sure that some if not all will be called upon sometime in the season.

[Jeremy Roland Peace]

if the 11 he puts out are winning and/or putting in great performances then why change it.

it's when he's putting out the same 11 that are losing and performing badly that alarm bells need to ring

[TheJacko2000]

Am I the only one not seeing these 'great' performances?

[Legend]

Another very good performance, doing a cracking job so far long may it continue. Particular impressed with the football we've been playing as well as the organisation of the whole team.

[Chipperfan]

Am I the only one not seeing these 'great' performances?

Possibly, yes.

From my perspective I feared the worst, but so far, Everton excepted (which I wasn't at, so I can only go on reports) we have looked pretty impressive at home.

The team does look organised, there is a shape about us and far more dynamism and pace than of recent seasons.

Our attacking intent is clear, and we do go forward at speed with far less of the "get to 30 metres out, turn round and go backward" approach that we often seemed to see previously.

Like I said before, it's a long time until May but given the tremendous upheaval in the squad, and the God awful shape we were in last season, AI has done a really very good job so far.

[colinmax]

We were superb last night and you could not criticise any member of the team but AI must be more proactive than reactive in his substitutions and realise it is an 18 man team.
Can he not see what most supporterss see when the flow of a game changes?
Last night we were being over run in the second half and our goal was completely against the run of play.
Everyone of our team was putting a shift in but fresh faces off the bench would have given us a bit more freshness as all of our team must have been feeling the pressure.
I felt that the ball seldom went over the half way line and we needed somebody possibly Anichebe who would give us an outlet and hold the ball up.
AI must react quicker and bring subs on in time to have a worthwhile influence.

[KnaveofAlbion]

Am I the only one not seeing these 'great' performances?

It's entirely an issue oif personal point of view. If you're from the era of us being in Europe and all that then maybe this isn't that great. But I'm from the era of losing to Grimbsy and Walsall and Port Vale giving us a hard time, so this is great as far as i'm concerned.

We utterly outplayed Man U for the opening 30 mins and at several points played some very good, pretty and productive football.

I am disapointed we lost the lead, but on balance it was a fair enough result. What I am very positive about is that we are "only" drawing against Man U and we're feeling let down by that to an extent.

We're not playing all attack total football, but if we did try it we'd be killed. We're beating Burnley (who were very poor) 4-0, then drawing 2-2 with Man U a few games later..... This is a huge improvement on last season's desperate fumble for the finish line.

[Baggy nerd]

It's entirely an issue oif personal point of view. If you're from the era of us being in Europe and all that then maybe this isn't that great. But I'm from the era of losing to Grimbsy and Walsall and Port Vale giving us a hard time, so this is great as far as i'm concerned.

We utterly outplayed Man U for the opening 30 mins and at several points played some very good, pretty and productive football.

I am disapointed we lost the lead, but on balance it was a fair enough result. What I am very positive about is that we are "only" drawing against Man U and we're feeling let down by that to an extent.

We're not playing all attack total football, but if we did try it we'd be killed. We're beating Burnley (who were very poor) 4-0, then drawing 2-2 with Man U a few games later..... This is a huge improvement on last season's desperate fumble for the finish line.

Yes I agree to an extent but for a large part of last season we were going along at a point a match. It is very similar this season.

[smethwickw]

Am I the only one not seeing these 'great' performances?

No, I'm with you on that one too. We do look more solid and organised which is back to basics really but I wouldn't say the performances were great. It was men v boys for large parts of last night. We created only 2 attempts but fortunately we took both of them very well. We do seem to have a bit more fight about us and are heading the right way but still a long way to go. I'm looking forward to seeing some of our more creative players on show. I guess I'll have to wait until Bournemouth! 

[GrGr]

I like a lot of the work AI has done so far, in particular I like the emergence of Berahino and Dawson. I know that is not AI's work exclusively but AI has helped them forward when they really needed to take that last crucial step into the PL. I also like the organization of the team and that we look committed and have good fighting spirit. We are not nearly as dour as I feared we would be under AI.

Where AI really has to grow is, as many have pointed out, in becoming more dynamic in substitutions and going forward. AI is benefiting from a red hot striker atm, but we need at least two more gears going forward. Relying on one and a half forward to carry the majority of our attack is simply too limited an approach. What happens when the top forward is off form, isn't scoring or doesn't get the service?

[KnaveofAlbion]

Yes I agree to an extent but for a large part of last season we were going along at a point a match. It is very similar this season.

Again, a matter of perspective. I'm not one for being selective with data, so i'm not really making this argument. But if you choose to view the opening 4 games as our team finding it's legs and deeloping a shape with AI's input bbeing picked up (all of which takes time and can only happen on the pitch) then we did indeed get 2 points from 4 matches.

Once that opening month/ 6 weeks were out the way we played Spurs, Man U, Burnley and Liverpool and picked up 7 points, which is great going. The only honest context is the one at the end of the season, on the way we will have great performances and we'll have bad days at the office. No doubt at some point we'll beat a top 6 club and feel chuffed, then we'll lose to West Ham at home or something?

I do honestly believe though that we're on an upwards trend, having gone through a horrible last 18 months or so.

Palace, Leicester and Newcastle will be an interesting trio of results. Get 5+ points and I can't really see how anyone can argue against AI having done well, pick up 2 or less and he'll have his work cut out to win people over.

[Adder]

I still can't say he's convincing me. We are playing well, but some of his decisions still baffle me. Yacob can't get near the team, Mulumbu seems welded to the bench, but we seem to be getting away with it at the minute.

I still think we'll be nearer the bottom than we'd all like, but I think there are enough basket cases that we'll stay up easily enough.

I think the reason is that AI wants us to be mobile and good in possession - which is fine by me. As is widely thought I think, Mulumbu isn't always the best at retaining possession and Yacob isn't the most mobile.

[LiamTheBaggie]

I still can't say he's convincing me. We are playing well, but some of his decisions still baffle me. Yacob can't get near the team, Mulumbu seems welded to the bench, but we seem to be getting away with it at the minute.

I still think we'll be nearer the bottom than we'd all like, but I think there are enough basket cases that we'll stay up easily enough.

I guess the reason why Mulumbu and Yacob aren't involved is because at the moment the likes of Craig Gardner, James Morrison and Graham Dorrans are justifying their performances in a team which is getting results. There is no need to change something that isn't broken and I'm personally glad that Irvine has the balls about him to drop some of our more senior players. The onus is on themselves to get themselves back into the action - they shouldn't walk back in on reputation.

[LiamTheBaggie]

I think there are a few things which Irvine deserves credit for.

1. We have a team which is seemingly pulling in the same direction. Last night was backs against the wall but I couldn't fault the fighting qualities that the team showed. We were disjointed last season and at times it really showed. That isn't the case this year. We're playing as a team, there are no individuals and I also like the worth ethic which is around the squad. I would certainly say we have a united squad and management which is certainly needed after last years fiasco.

2. We have organisation and a structure about us. As showed last night and at Spurs and against Southampton earlier on in the season we are a very organised set up where individuals know their roles and duties. Again, last season was a complete and utter rabble and Irvine has addressed those areas. Last night was a great example of how we were compact, solid to breakdown and limited a very good Manchester United side to very few clear cut chances.

3. The healthy competition he has created. It would have been easy for Irvine to bow down to reputations but he hasn't done that and he has been loyal to those who have played well. It might have been easy for him at times this season to drop both Dawson and Berahino but he has allowed them game time to perform. Especially with more senior players ahead of Dawson and a new record signing competing with Berahino. He also showed the courage to drop Olsson and furthermore hasn't allowed a return for Mulumbu due to the good performances of Morrison and Gardner.

4. I can see a direction of what we're trying to do. We are turning into a football team. There is great athleticism amongst the squad and it is obvious that in recent fixtures we've been much better at keeping the ball, often dictating the pace and tempo of matches.

The first couple of games were worrying. The performances against Swansea and Everton were abject but since then we have been much better. There are plenty of improvements to be made, of that there is no denying, but I am seeing improvements in this side and thankfully we're also getting results. If Irvine can follow the trend of the past month then his tenure here will be a longer one than I originally expected.

[WBAinDEVON]

Everyone at the club including his fellow coaches are all on the same road.Very encouraging indeed

[gerry m]

The great thing is the players believe in him and this is showing in the perfomances. People are fighting for the cause and not each other. Saido Berahino's game has gone up several notches under AI.

[cornishbaggie]

The great thing is the players believe in him and this is showing in the perfomances. People are fighting for the cause and not each other. Saido Berahino's game has gone up several notches under AI.

i think the fans should take most of the credit. the vitriol aimed at AI at the beginning has obviously created a siege mentality in the camp. they are all working together to prove most of us wrong