[WorcsWBA]

Just to show that I'm only 99% one-eyed over this, these are from Everton fans:

"Hope he does well, but i fear he won't. He is a great coach but has struggled to impress as a manager and that is a different kettle of fish"
"Don't think WBA have done there homework. Saying he took over the academy in 2011 and then praising him for bringing through Rodwell"
"Nothing against the guy and wish him luck but he isn't a PL manager is he? I'd be surprised if he's still there by Christmas/January"
"Very sorry to see Alan leave us. And a shade mystified as to how WBA came to the conclusion that he was the man for the job. Much though I like him, his CV is hardly groaning with relevant experience and indicators of success. Still I do wish him all the very best"
"Strange out-of-the-blue appointment. He's got a good record as a coach and has done a sterling job with the academy but his previous managerial experiences didn't bode well. Still, wish him well"
"Sad to see him go, but happy for him getting such a big gig"
"Best of luck to him ,deserves another go I reckon.good footballing man"
"hope he does well. Nice to see WBA giving a man who's football knowledge comes before a fancy foreign name"
"he can go in there, clean slate for a lot of em, bring some players in and who knows. The players will enjoy playing for him because he likes to play the game on the carpet but can he also make them hard to beat and dig in when they need to?!"
"Moyes started to lose it when Alan Irvine left for a managers role. No danger of that this time obviously, but the fella is a good egg"
"Really nice bloke actually, done a good job with the academy"
"I'm sure that Irvine is a fantastic coach but I don't think he's a manager. You can't blame him for accepting the job of managing a Premier League side but West Brom are crackers. If they wanted him to come in and develop players they should have given him a technical role. Results are everything in the PL though and I think he'll be well out of his depth"
"Irvine has a decent reputation as a coach, and a mediocre/poor reputation as anything above that"
"His role as Academy manager didn't see him have much contact with Moyes, as he was office based, not on the training field (which is why he left us to go WBA, he wanted to go back to coaching) and everyone knows Moyes was only bothered about the first team and nothing else"

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[alex1]

Could be any number of reasons he wasn't promoted. The first one being maybe Martinez is better than Irvine? Would you pick Clarke over Mourinho? I'm not sure what you're trying to prove by saying they picked someone over someone else, there's a lot of people better than others, what difference does it make?

 Maybe Everton were looking for a manager not a head coach? It's not rocket science, nor is it proof that he's terrible because he wasn't made manager of Everton - that proves nothing. If he was dreadful Everton would have sacked him from his youth role.

And the comments (via Burton) that the staff at Everton would be gutted about losing him!! Really! Fact is I can't recall anybody from Everton even talking about him being a candidate for Moyes job.  How do you think Everton fans might respond if the next time the Manager's job at Everton was vacant, their board approached Downing? So are Everton supposed to be on another level to WBA?? I can't recall Albion being beaten by Everton last season and can recall us beating them the season before.

I'm afraid Burton may not come out of this well. JP is obviously the man doing the sums, but Burton is the football brains advising JP.

[swad35]

Criticism of his credentials and abilities doesn't necessarily mean he won't be given a chance by the majority of fans. I would be disappointed to hear if he got AI out songs at any of our initial games.

However pointing out his weakness on this forum is the only way to highlight one the most strangest appointments in our recent history. All the luck in the world to AI. I wished PM all the luck in the world aswell and look where that got him.

[Nice1Cyrille]

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

That'll be a bloody miracle. Do we even have enough players to put a team out?

[baggiedave]

Hi, my biggest concern about Irvine is this, how is he going to attract the 9 players of experience and quality, that we desperately need right now, for starters we need at least 25 first team squad players for the premiership. We have only 16 on the books. Secondly the Villa are showing the ambition necessary, by signing 4 players already to our 1, and Randy as said the Villa are up for sale, so what does that tell you. At the moment, i can only predict finishing 20th next term.

[hardtobeat]

 Has the press conference been  cancelled yet? It bloody well should have been . 4 days on and still unable to comprehend how he got anywhere near the job. Reading the Evertonian comments only adds fuel to the fire. Despite seeming to be liked there are no ringing endorsements or confidence in his ability to do the job.
  It also looks as though his ability to bring players through has been exaggerated in some quarters withe the names of Rodwell and Stones being quoted neither of whom would be down to AI.

[PsalmXXIII]

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.

Put infinitely better than I was able to, well done mate.

I was saying to one of the Mods the other day about how I would not be surprised if we treat the coaching set up much like we did the team - not big names with big reputations but 'coaching gems' scattered accross clubs with various expertise. We would then have a TEAM of coaches with a Head Coach (or even the Director of Football) as a figurehead but essentially we have a unit of coaches who know what they're doing. This would then allow us to change elements of the team without ceremonious sackings of a single scapegoat. Everyone has a responsibility and sticks to their expertise so that we don't get more cases of player dissent.

I'm not saying that's what this is but could quite easily see it manifesting with the emphasis the club puts into individuals coaching abilities.

[blue]

Terry Burton really is trying to justify Irvines appointment , but he is just making it seem more stupid every time he opens his mouth.
He says Irvine is an excellent coach. Ok terry but his head coach experience is poor.
He says Everton are really disappointed to lose him. Really , I dont think their bothered either way.
Theirs nobody works harder than Alan , Burton says , great but does that mean he is a tactical genius or he has great man management skills. Sheff Wednesday fans will tell us they didn't see it.

I dont see on what grounds Alan Irvine has got this job.

[BB74]

First interview with Alan Irvine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qavIsKESphM

[mulliganstired]

What would the feeling be if after Clarke's sacking Downing and Keily had stayed in charge and kept us up, there'd have been none of the Mel circus, and then quietly brought in Irvine at the end of the season.  Lots of moans and groans, Clarke clone comments, Peace is a tightwad, we're going down etc, certainly, but I don't think there would have been this level of bile and anger, would there?  I'm not justifying it, just trying to make sense of it.

[WSBaggie]

What would the feeling be if after Clarke's sacking Downing and Keily had stayed in charge and kept us up, there'd have been none of the Mel circus, and then quietly brought in Irvine at the end of the season.  Lots of moans and groans, Clarke clone comments, Peace is a tightwad, we're going down etc, certainly, but I don't think there would have been this level of bile and anger, would there?  I'm not justifying it, just trying to make sense of it.

You make a good point there. I think the statement lauding Pepe Mel when we appointed him was a joke. All this business about playing the Albion way etc etc was embarrassing. It is also half the reason people didn't want to see Mel sacked because they believed they were going to get exciting football.

Let's face it Irvine is never going to manage to be as loved as Mel was for these reasons along with others.

[spencer Baggie]

I think it's incredibly unsubtle, and frankly insulting that WBA leak Lescott medical on the morning of the presser to divert from disastrous appt.

Shocker.

[Chipperfan]

I think it's incredibly unsubtle, and frankly insulting that WBA leak Lescott medical on the morning of the presser to divert from disastrous appt.

Shocker.

Laughing! Imagine sharing good news with the supporters just when everyone was getting ready to storm the gates and burn the East Stand down in a Hammer Horror film stylee.

[charliemike]

Football is about players . People moan when we don't sign em, and when we do they moan . If lescott comes I will be delighted . If he has 2 good years left in him great .

[PsalmXXIII]

I think it's incredibly unsubtle, and frankly insulting that WBA leak Lescott medical on the morning of the presser to divert from disastrous appt.

Shocker.

It was the press who've leaked it and as there appears to be some sort of interaction with the player on their part, suggests they've been digging too.

'Insulting' or not, Lescott would be a good acquisition, and to suggest that the club and the press don't give good news when it arrives and waits until you've all had chance to burn down the Hawthorns is silly - what should they do, sign him, not tell anyone and surprise us in August?

[Chipperfan]

I think it's incredibly unsubtle, and frankly insulting that WBA leak Lescott medical on the morning of the presser to divert from disastrous appt.

Shocker.

Christ! I've only just realised you were being serious. Sorry I wouldn't have posted such a tongue in cheek response.

By all means go ahead and be offended by a sign of progress. It's entirely your prerogative.

Me, I'm chuffed and will be even more so if it actually comes off.

[WorcsWBA]

It is also half the reason people didn't want to see Mel sacked because they believed they were going to get exciting football.

And he would have delivered it, had he been kept on and the club backed him with suitable players during the summer.

[WSBaggie]

And he would have delivered it, had he been kept on and the club backed him with suitable players during the summer.

He may well have delivered it, in the shape of Rodgers at Swansea or Mowbray with us though? Nobody knows and that is what gets at some people I suppose.

[Foreverbaggie]

All this stuff about Lescott signing, let's hope it's not another false dawn etc like the Sherwood fiasco, and we end up with some guy from the Wycombe youth academy.

My only concern about lescott is he is very injury prone, and will he be able to stay injury free, or are potentially signing another Sick note from Man City like we did with Sinclair.

[spencer Baggie]

People missing my point slightly - I think Lescott would be an excellent addition.

My gripe is that WBA have leaked this (along with journo digging) on the morning of the press conference, in ab it to divert some of the attention away.

I'll repeat again - Lescott good signing. Timing of leak, to me, smacks of diversion tactics.

[monkey nuts]

or are the press leaking it so they have more ammo for the presser?

[WSBaggie]

People missing my point slightly - I think Lescott would be an excellent addition.

My gripe is that WBA have leaked this (along with journo digging) on the morning of the press conference, in ab it to divert some of the attention away.

I'll repeat again - Lescott good signing. Timing of leak, to me, smacks of diversion tactics.

That is quite a theory.

It's not abnormal for us to hear about a transfer the day before it is apparently set to be completed, in fact that is pretty normal for us.

[tuamigos]

That is quite a theory.

It's not abnormal for us to hear about a transfer the day before it is apparently set to be completed, in fact that is pretty normal for us.

Whatever happened to due diligence eh? pfff 

[PsalmXXIII]

Must admit after a few minutes Burton comes accross a lot worse than Irvine speaking to the media.

[Legend]

Good press conference, think Irvine will do a good job here.