Paul Fletcher Blog
Owls left with no choice but to sack IrvineThursday, 3 February 2011
Alan Irvine is a decent, dignified and well-respected man. He is also a realist.
Speaking after Sheffield Wednesday's FA Cup victory at Hereford on Saturday, the Owls boss admitted that his position was precarious.
A sequence of five League One fixtures without victory had left him on a slippery slope. Tuesday's 5-3 defeat at Peterborough pushed him over the edge.
Chairman Milan Mandaric called emergency talks on Wednesday and it emerged on Thursday that 53-year-old Irvine had been sacked after 13 months in charge at Hillsborough, in the process becoming the ninth Football League manager to lose his job this year.
"It is unfortunate, but this had to take place," said Mandaric, who went through six managers in less than four years as chairman on former club Leicester City.
As recently as 24 January Mandaric insisted it was not a time to panic; Irvine had everybody's full backing and must be given a chance to arrest the slump in results.
Manadaric said the same thing about Paulo Sousa when he was still in charge at Leicester earlier in the season. "It is crucial we stick together," remarked the Serbian-born businessman, who then dispensed with Sousa's services three days later.
But if Sousa had been given just three months to prove his worth at the Foxes, it is a slightly different story with Irvine.
Wednesday thrashed Bristol Rovers 6-2 days before Mandaric completed his takeover at Hillsborough through his company UK Football Investments on 14 December.
The Owls have not won a league fixture since then and have slipped to 12th in the table, eight points off the play-off zone and 14 adrift of the top two. Perhaps more pertinently, Wednesday are now just five points above the relegation zone.
They have been porous in defence, conceding four goals or more in three of their last six league fixtures. Their last two home games have finished 2-2; their last four away fixtures have ended in defeat. There has been little succour for the beleaguered Wednesday fans.
Irvine's team has looked brittle. The Owls lack confidence and do not seem to have any on-field leaders. Striker Clinton Morrison commented on twitter yesterday that "the place goes quiet for days" after a defeat.
Irvine is a dedicated professional, studious in his planning and thorough in his research, but he does not seem to have the effervescent and outgoing personality that is often required to raise a squad's spirits in a time of crisis.
The Scot was accused of adopting an increasingly negative and attritional approach during his final months in charge at his former club Preston and there were signs of history repeating itself at Wednesday.
Mandaric might be regarded as trigger happy but he could not be accused of failing to support Irvine in the January transfer market, sanctioning the arrival of Reda Johnson, Michael Morrison, Mark Reynolds, Gary Madine and Isaiah Osbourne.
Irvine did not have long to work with them but, nonetheless, there was no real hint or suggestion of an imminent upturn of form and results.
It is a huge shame for Irvine, who left his secure position as David Moyes's assistant at Everton to take over at Preston in November 2007. He wanted to find out if he had what it took to be a manager and the initial signs were promising. The Scot guided the struggling Lancashire club away from relegation during his first season at Deepdale and guided them into the play-offs the following campaign.
However, he was sacked on 29 December 2009 after a run of one win in 10 games. That dismissal came as a huge shock to Irvine, who had spent 30 minutes on the phone that morning discussing all matters North End with a local reporter.
He had just 10 days out of work before Wednesday chose him as the man to lift them out of trouble after they sacked Brian Laws. There was an initial improvement in results that saw him named Championship Manager of the Month in January, but form quickly tailed off and Wednesday's failure to defeat Crystal Palace in a final-day shoot-out culminated in relegation.
Irvine rebuilt his squad over the summer, bringing in experienced players such as Neil Mellor, Nicky Weaver, Jon Otsemobor and Clinton Morrison but the occasional winning streak this season (the Owls twice won three straight league fixtures) has been undermined by patches of poor form.
As a manager Irvine appeared to lack inspiration in the transfer market and struggled to arrest lengthy spells of poor form. After two managerial positions it is still unclear whether he is cut out to be a number one.
"It's a shame it hasn't worked out for him as we started the season really well but recent results haven't been good," said Darren Purse, who left the Owls in January.
"The squad doesn't just deserve to be in the promotion places in League One, it should be in the Championship."
Alan Irvine.
Irvine seemed powerless to arrest Wednesday's slump in form. Photo: Getty images
Wednesday have 20 League One fixtures left to rescue a season that is currently drifting towards mediocrity, if not a battle against relegation.
The January transfer window has closed and the new manager will only be able to bring in players using the emergency loan system. The likes of Gary Megson (who walked out of Leicester when Mandaric was there) and Iain Dowie have been linked with the job.
They are familiar faces, jobbing managers who have been around the block. The records of both are patchy, with success and failure on each CV.
There are numerous promising young managers dotted around the lower reaches of the Football League. The likes of Paul Tidsdale (Exeter City), Keith Hill (Rochdale) and Alan Knill (Bury) might be considered, but Mandaric may decide that the current situation requires an experienced figure.
One interesting option would be Kevin Keegan. Yorkshireman Keegan has not managed since he left Newcastle in 2008 but the attractive type of football he favours would be popular with the Wednesday supporters.
His appointment would attract a great deal of publicity and bring the crowds back to Hillsborough. His animated and up-beat style would lift the mood at the club
Mandaric, partly as a consequence of his apparent fondness for dismissing them, is well versed at the art of appointing a new manager.
For Wednesday's sake, it is important that he puts his experience to good use.
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