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The Championship Goodbye Post (Irvine era)

Discussion in 'Preston' started by themaclad, May 6, 2011.

  1. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Al had a tough start he was appointed about 6 weeks before the transfer window opened.
    A televised defeat against Charlton opened his managerial account however a 3-0 win against Hull promised better things.
    Next up were them from the land of the Tower, newly promoted and the first M55 derby for many a long year.
    It absolutely poured down, the points went west as Burgess beat Youl for pace and Hooligan chipped the penalty home, took me weeks to dry out after that one.
    Christmas and New Year fixtures brought home defeats by Cardiff and Scunthorpe.
    Bottom of the table but we could bring in players, Chaplow and Chris Brown arrived, it took a while but we started to pick up wins Stoke and West Brom were beaten at Deepdale and by the time Sheff Utd suffered their usual Deepdale defeat we were virtually safe.
    The next season started extremely well in the too three until Wolves arrived and Big Chris scored a hattrick and was sent off.
    A poor run of form then results started to pick up again including a massacre at Bloomfield.
    A freezing Sunday afternoon saw North End outplayed for 40 minutes trailing to a howitzer from Hamill, then Chaplow started to take control. The 2nd half was all North End as Chris Brown and Mellor scored the 3 goals to give us a convincing win.
    Under Al we were functional we didn't score many but got results.
    Play Offs looked on until a home defeat by them, Adam casually strolling through the middle of the park before hitting a slow moving shot which crept into the net via the post.
    Doom and gloom amongst the ranks, Doncaster were beaten 2-0 then the arrival of Cardiff brought a bizarre scoreline. Two up approaching half time we were doing well then Cardiff won a penalty. McCormack's shot was saved by Lonners and we went into half time 2 up however the crowd began to realize that we were not yet down and out.
    Four more goals in the 2nd half including a magnificent own goal by Mark Kennedy gave us a 6-0 win.
    Birmingham for a televised match losing by one McKenna blitzes one in from miles out and Wallace curls in a free kick in the last minute to win it. Wallace takes his shirt off gets sent off, however the earlier sending off of Lee Williamson was a far more devastating blow.(Thanks Lee Bowyer)
    Had to win the last match against QPR to ensure a play off spot we did just about having to endure a torrid last few minutes when even the Rangers keeper was going up for corners.
    Cardiff lost at Hllsborough and it was the Blades home and away.
    We should have had momentum but both games were disappointing. Drew at home 1-1 then put in a strange defensive game at Bramall Lane losing 1-0 barely having an attack.

    In the close season rumour has it we had a chance to buy Charlie Adam instead we got Shumulokoski.
    Optimism wasn't great and I got the feeling that quite a lot of people began to realise that Al's football was dull. In fact the only highlight was a point at Bloomfield after being battered for vast periods of the game.
    Away match at Watford and Sheff United led to defeats but without a single goal attempt on target.
    On the day of the Sheff Utd game I went to watch Accrington play Bury, the Shakers won 4-2 and I came off the ground feeling like I had been entertained by two teams who played attacking football something Al hadn't done for months
    Al was potted the next day.
    This led to Kelly and Barr's 1 match reign against Colchester in the cup they won 7-0, a fine way to bow out of the club.
    Then it was daddy's boy
     
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  2. theflyingplumber

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    Sorry Maclad, but spent some time putting a lengthy reply together then lost the lot when the site data base went for a burton. :steam::steam::steam:

    Was just about to press submit reply when zap and the all the work was lost.
    Might put another one together but deflated at the moment. <laugh><laugh>

    :emoticon-0120-doh:
     
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  3. theflyingplumber

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    Right then, having got over losing my last attempt I will try once more as Maclad's efforts deserve much more than my above post.

    Alan Irvine, and before we go any further I readily admit to being one of his fans during his tenure at PNE. At the end of the day football is all about getting results and Irvine did that at PNE, not always by entertaining means but by creating a solid team that was hard to beat. Of course he did have a poor run before his shock dismissal but there were reasons for this poor run.

    Alan Irvine arrived from Everton with glowing tributes from Evertonions and was held in high regard by everyone connected with the club. Working alongside David Moyes the two of them had formed a strong managerial team who were the envy of many other clubs. I think it fair to point out that Irvine's strengths were considered to be in coaching and and he had built up a very good reputation having done well at Rovers and Newcastle previously as well as Everton.

    What he didn't have was managerial experience apart from bit parts at times with Everton when Moyes allowed Irvine to get involved in certain games. Irvine felt that he would like to try his luck as a club manager, and when the PNE job came up he saw this as his big opportunity. D Shaw's friendship with Moyes etc, prepared the ground for Irvine's appointment.

    The timing and circumstances of his arrival at Deepdale were remarkably similar to Phil Browns the current PNE manager, with the team battling against relegation and a troubled dressing room. As Maclad point's out time was short in order to turn thing's around and again like Brown, it become obvious that persuading players from other clubs on loan or on transfer to come to a struggling team with an unsettled dressing room was going to be very difficult. Irvine and Shaw have been accused of paying inflated fees and wages for players who didn't live up to fan's expectations, my view is that that was the only way that the players were prepared to come to a team heading for a relegation battle. The fact is that bringing those players in saved PNE from relegation and proceeded to take the club into the playoffs eventually. Not all the signings came off and one or two proved to be very poor indeed although still on high earnings. We have to remember that Irvine was on a learning curve as a manager and even the most experienced managers sighn some duck eggs.

    Problems seemed to start when Mckenna was transferred out and SSL went out on loan to Middlesborough and the team couldn't afford to lose those type of players, without adequate replacement and PNE didn't. After a poor run of results out of the blue Alan Irvine was sacked without any warning, most fans believe this was a move instigated by TH to allow one of his friend's ( SAF ) son to come in and take over the managers position the son being Daren Ferguson. IMHO this was a shameful way to treat A Irvine and reflects very badly on the club.
    Whether Irvine could have stopped the rot and improved results if he had stayed is anyones guess, I think he could. What isn't in dispute is that many fans had become bored with the fare on offer, so perhaps the time was right for a change but definitely not in the way it was acheived, nor the way the teams/clubs fortunes deteriorated when his successor stepped in to his shoes.

    :biggrin:
     
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  4. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Good post Plumb, never disliked Al however in the end it was the style of football and lack of results that did for him. The sacking did come out of the blue and there were rumours at the time that Daddy's boy had been tapped up before the dastardly deed was done. But it's all in the past. To be honest the shambles at the club has finally arrived at pitch level hence relegation but let's see what the summer brings.
     
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