[WBAinDEVON]

I'm actually starting to wonder if JP is happy to take another stint in the Championship, in truth.

There seems to be no real eye brows being raised from the top regarding the constant stick Alan Irvine is receiving.

Maybe, just maybe, JP is thinking 'there's nobody to appoint who'll work in the system' who would do the job required.

Therefore, we get relegated, regroup with a fresh championship head coach who would hopefully (from JP's point of view) get us promoted within two seasons.

I will give it until next Monday and if we don't beat Villa and he doesn't sack him then I'm convinced of the above.

I can accept us going down if we aint good enough but having given it ago at least, not one shot on goal every game.The entertainment factor is zilch.
Will 15000 gates with Irvine in charge eventually hurt him

[crazedwbafan18]

I'm actually starting to wonder if JP is happy to take another stint in the Championship, in truth.

Ive just been reading about Irvines credentials again and i literally cant think of any other explanation. This is literally the last man you'd want to appoint, just like when Mcleish was at the Villa. It's beyond baffling, we have nothing positive about us whatsoever. We're timid, fans are rapidly losing patience, and those who fork out hundreds and thousands (myself included) to watch us up and down the country are being made to look like absolute mugs. We had a great chance to kick on from last seasons horror show, and we've firmly blown it.

[mulliganstired]

I thought it was a spoof when I first saw it.

I now keep getting that strange feeling when you wake up from a dream that it can't be true... oh thank God it was just a dream... except it isn't.  I cannot see any logic, however left field, at all in this appointment, anywhere, anyhow, anyway.

I am sure he is a decent a human being, a good husband and kind father etc etc.  And...?

We still might just stay up as Burnley and Leicester look so weak that it is probably them plus ANO, but that still doesn't make any sense of the appointment.

[AidantheBaggies]

I honestly don’t think he is as bad as some people say he is, however it is clear he has almost zero support from the fans. His position will become untenable sooner or later.
As for those who keep harping on about Pepe Mel, the man was inept and lived in a fantasy land.
Step forward Dingle Keith and Dave Jones.

[crazedwbafan18]

I thought it was a spoof when I first saw it.

I now keep getting that strange feeling when you wake up from a dream that it can't be true... oh thank God it was just a dream... except it isn't.  I cannot see any logic, however left field, at all in this appointment, anywhere, anyhow, anyway.

I am sure he is a decent a human being, a good husband and kind father etc etc.  And...?

We still might just stay up as Burnley and Leicester look so weak that it is probably them plus ANO, but that still doesn't make any sense of the appointment.

I also think we'll scrape it. The two you've mentioned and one of us,hull, or qpr.

[Mister AT]

I know it sounds bad and 'unsupportive' but when I log on here, I literally have a small glimmer of hope that hes not our head coach anymore.

Im not naive in thinking we should be challenging for Europe etc, or that we should be steam rolling the teams around us, but I firmly believe this is the best squad of players we have ever had in the Premier League, yet were playing some of the worst football attacking wise I have seen at the Albion.

At times we do look solid defensively, but the only problem is we dont look to have any purpose going forward. I dont believe Irvine is a bad coach, but I do believe hes a coach who is scared to lose.

His teams are set up to not lose, and not to win. When we do concede, its hard for our team to get the mentality to get back in to the game, West ham being a key example, we pressed forward got the early goal, then instead of pressing for a 2nd, we sat back and looked to be a 'solid unit.'

Irvine probably is a good coach, and probably is good at man management, but I believe his level is more youth team football, or maybe just an assistant.

My biggest fear is how long Jeremy Peace gives AI to 'prove himself', Ive said it before that we are just delaying the inevitable of letting him go, it just depends on if we still have a fighting chance to stay in the league or not by then.

[WBAinDEVON]

I am sick and tired of this. Good Bye until hes gone for this thread anyway.
Come back Pepe Mel eh Aidan. his football  poos on irvines.

[valleybaggie]

i've said earlier that i doubt peace will get rid of him because of the excuses he gave in the summer about the mistakes he'd made and how he was going to address our problems by appointing the best man available to take us forward. if he did turn turnaround and sack irvine it would look like he  and the backroom staff haven't got a clue what they're doing. cue the egg on the face time. plus as everyone knows whoever comes in will have to work under our constraints including working with kiely and downing .i'd like to know what hold these two have over peace because they seem almost unsackable

[Morany]

Good post Mister AT. The way he sets up will send us down.

The way he is set up essentially is playing for a 0-0, and even if it worked everygame we would still be relegated as it won't get us enough points. There needs to be much more attacking intent from the outset.

[OldburyWBA]

I honestly don’t think he is as bad as some people say he is, however it is clear he has almost zero support from the fans. His position will become untenable sooner or later.
As for those who keep harping on about Pepe Mel, the man was inept and lived in a fantasy land.
Step forward Dingle Keith and Dave Jones.

Its all about opinions, personally I think he lacks the tactical ability as a number one and have not seen anything to suggest otherwise this season.

The reason why most people harp on about Pepe Mel is because not one of us actually know whether he would have done a job for us as he was not given the tools and did not have the backing of the squad which in itself is disgusting as they are employees of this club. If the rumours that he did not take training are true then that again is a disgrace and he should have been sacked straight away as he was not doing the job he was employed to do but then neither did RDM apparently according to other rumours. Plenty of rumours and more rumours about it all. Would he have been an improvement on Irvine with this squad ? who knows ? none of us whether thats those who act like he was Corberan or those who act like he was the worst coach in the history of football but it would have been nice to see as what we are being served at present is amongst the biggest dross I have seen since the dark days of the late 80's and early 90's so yes it could be worse given where we were then BUT we are not that club anymore, we are in our 5th successive season in the so called best league in the world and yet acting like we're scared to be here at times and should be thankful they are allowing us on this massive stage.

The way Foster especially celebrated winning a point at Hull on Saturday as though we had just won the cup was embarrassing. We played HULL F'kin City who have not won since October. It was one of the biggest piles of rubbish I have watched and if it was on tv I would have turned it off. I honestly think if Dorrans had scored that penalty we would have come away with nothing as like we did against West Ham we would have sat back and let them come at us until it was too late. I'm glad Foster likes Irvine but the bloke is there to do a job not to be liked. He may be a cracking coach but come matchday his inexperience shows through.

As for Downing and Kiely, again they might be great blokes but the place needs a clear out, fresh ideas brought in and someone who is prepared to try and win a game of football from the start especially as the home team.

[ashdoy]

My logic is;

We could setup 4-5-1 (Def) (this is a FIFA 15 formation which i think Irvine is using, he has also toggled to 'Ultra Defensive' mode, only the FIFA15 users will understand this but you get my point).

If we used this system for 38 games, we would still lose more than we win as we are all realists.

However, we may only win 6-8 games.

If, however, we setup 4-5-1 (Att) or 4-3-3 or whatever we want, it increases the chances of winning a game.

Yes, we would still lose more than we win, but surely giving yourself a greater chance of winning 9-13 games a season would guarantee safety.

With Irvine in charge we are cutting it very, very fine to stay up. This is in light of how many points we could achieve/should achieve.

[Rheneas]

Good post Mister AT. The way he sets up will send us down.

The way he is set up essentially is playing for a 0-0, and even if it worked everygame we would still be relegated as it won't get us enough points. There needs to be much more attacking intent from the outset.

That's how all the relegated teams get caught out.

I think Dyche at Burnley realised that after we'd taken them apart (ah them were the days...) and to his credit has been trying to take more teams on.

Difference is though that we're an established Premier League club. AND we've got attacking options.

[Dexy]

If you want a good laugh go and read Bill Howell's 5 things we learnt at Hull on the B'ham Mail website , number 5 is a classic!

[Albionic]

5. Tactics.

Albion began on the front foot as they did against West Ham. But unlike against the Hammers they finished on the back foot.

Too many passes went sideways or backwards, too many good situations were squandered. But this is nothing to do with Irvine.

This is down to flair players either being incapable or totally lacking in confidence to try something different.

That can only change with a win



Bill Howell is a fool, he thinks players are responsible for tactics, no wonder his colleagues got jobs in football and he didn't

[Morany]

The local journo's have sat on the fence so much with Irvine so far. Surely must be getting a sore backside by now.

[seteefeet]

My logic is;

We could setup 4-5-1 (Def) (this is a FIFA 15 formation which i think Irvine is using, he has also toggled to 'Ultra Defensive' mode, only the FIFA15 users will understand this but you get my point).

If we used this system for 38 games, we would still lose more than we win as we are all realists.

However, we may only win 6-8 games.

If, however, we setup 4-5-1 (Att) or 4-3-3 or whatever we want, it increases the chances of winning a game.

Yes, we would still lose more than we win, but surely giving yourself a greater chance of winning 9-13 games a season would guarantee safety.

With Irvine in charge we are cutting it very, very fine to stay up. This is in light of how many points we could achieve/should achieve.

It's almost as if he is happy with losing by small margins and not getting a tonking.
Of course we are going to be more vulnerable if we try and play more expansively but, personally I would rather lose 1 game 6-0 than 6 games 1-0.

[Signor_Maresca]

I think he is going to turn it around and I also think we will beat Villa.

[Albionic]

think we are where Newcastle fans were in terms of frustration, and Pardew seems to have turned that around so maybe just maybe AI can do a similar trick, I don't share Signor Maresca's optimism though as there is sod all to base it on other than he's a great coach and nice bloke rhetoric.

[seteefeet]

I think he is going to turn it around and I also think we will beat Villa.

I hope you are right, but don't share your optimism.
A good win against the Villa though, a-la the 5-1 drubbing of the Wolves, would certainly lift the gloom.

[baggiejohn]

5. Tactics.

Albion began on the front foot as they did against West Ham. But unlike against the Hammers they finished on the back foot.

Too many passes went sideways or backwards, too many good situations were squandered. But this is nothing to do with Irvine.

This is down to flair players either being incapable or totally lacking in confidence to try something different.

That can only change with a win



Bill Howell is a fool, he thinks players are responsible for tactics, no wonder his colleagues got jobs in football and he didn't

Probably needs a separate topic, but I'm not impressed with the Evening Mail reports at the moment. CL wrote good sensible copy, I might not have agreed with him sometimes, but his arguments were mostly valid. Since he left, both Brian Dick & Bill Howells' reports are more akin to infant school playground writing.
Probably due to the EM belonging to the "Trinity Mirror" group, it looks like amateur attempts at the sensationalism the DM is renowned for.

[Signor_Maresca]

Probably needs a separate topic, but I'm not impressed with the Evening Mail reports at the moment. CL wrote good sensible copy, I might not have agreed with him sometimes, but his arguments were mostly valid. Since he left, both Brian Dick & Bill Howells' reports are more akin to infant school playground writing.
Probably due to the EM belonging to the "Trinity Mirror" group, it looks like amateur attempts at the sensationalism the DM is renowned for.

Slightly off topic but I agree with these sentiments regarding the local press.  The Mail’s replacements have been poor, it seems unclear whether Dick and Howell are just temporary replacements or if they are now indeed the permanent Albion reporters, but neither seems to have a thorough understanding of the club.  Howell’s articles seem to simply revolve around “5 things we learnt” and there also seems to be far too many articles based on fans tweets.  Dick at times seems to be completely out of whack with what is happening on the pitch, he awarded Mulumbu a MOM a month or so ago in a game in which he was very poor in.  I think he traditionally specialises in rugby reporting rather than football.

I also think Madeley has gone off the boil at the E&S since CL has departed, I think he is quite an under rated journo on this patch but it seems CL’s presence was keeping him on his toes somewhat and now that he has departed Madeley's own reporting and interaction with supporters has declined.

[baggyman68]

We are told he is a good coach but I've not seen anything to prove this yet!
Can he get players fit? Apparently not, even after having them for 4 or 5 months.
Can he coach them into better players? Nah, Brunt Morrison Dorrans etc are no better now than last season.
Is tactics a coaching skill? That's not happening
So if we lose to the Vile are we all agreed that its Taxi for Mr Irvine?

[miggybaggy]

Is anyone else getting worried about the Alan Pardew effect?......the fact that all the NUFC fans were calling for his head, but their chairman ignored them. Now look at them a few weeks later. Is JP going to hope for the same change of fortune with us?
I'm dreading the villa game, they're all really up for it, the fans and players.

[devonbaggiecjaj]

Every game is losable, maybe if we keep it tight and avoid losing we can snatch a win now and then when we magically get all the breaks going our way. This works now and then but not very often, still we must persist with this model at all costs since Every game is losable, maybe if we keep it tight and avoid losing we can snatch a win now and then when.... (repeat this loop ad nauseam).

your point is we go out to lose every game right on mate you in AI  camp, i thing you understand mine

[WorcsWBA]

If you want a good laugh go and read Bill Howell's 5 things we learnt at Hull on the B'ham Mail website , number 5 is a classic!

They couldn't wait to get the knives out for Pepe Mel, but Irvine seems to be totally teflon-coated as far as the Mail is concerned at present, for some reason.