Alan Irvine...let's look on the bright side!

New Albion boss, Alan Irvine

I have been trying hard to find it in my heart to accept Alan Irvine, who has done nothing wrong in taking the Albion job - though he must surely have expected some disappointment from fans.  So, in the spirit of peace (not Peace)  and harmony  I have outlined below the reasons why his appointment may not be all that bad after all.  So, [deep breath] here goes:

• from all reports he is a good man on the training ground
• he will bring on our young academy players in the same way he helped bring through Everton's young talent
• talented fringe players like George Thorne may get more of a chance under Irvine and be more content at the club
• he is a British manager - a rare species in the PL these days
• it is clear that Albion is not a stepping stone to bigger and better things for Irvine, whereas if we had employed Sherwood and he had proved successful he would have upsticks and moved on taking our best players with him (remember what Big Ron did when he left for Utd)
• He is cheap...well relatively and on a 12 month rolling contract so if things go bad the club can change course fairly easily
• he seems like a fairly decent guy with a good attitude and someone who fits the club well
• he has already helped to attract the potential signature of Joleon Lescott, a quality centre back             

So there we go.  Seven great reasons to help us accept Alan Irvine to our club and help us get over our disappointment at the club's apparent lack of real ambition. Let's hope the new season starts well.