Alan Irvine sacked: West Brom dismiss head coach with Tim Sherwood favourite to replace him

West Brom are just a point above the drop zone

Ian Herbert
Tuesday 30 December 2014 00:11 GMT
Comments
Alan Irvine will get his first taste of Premier League management with West Bromwich Albion
Alan Irvine will get his first taste of Premier League management with West Bromwich Albion (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Alan Irvine has been sacked by West Bromwich Albion, becoming the second Premier League manager to lose his job since Christmas after Neil Warnock left Crystal Palace.

Jeremy Peace, the chairman, has been growing increasingly concerned by the team’s form and finally decided to terminate Irvine’s contract after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke City, which left the club just one point adrift of the bottom three. Tim Sherwood is the early favourite to replace Irvine, who lasted just six months in charge.

Meanwhile, Burnley have been given a boost in their attempts to survive on a shoestring in the Premier League, with their striker Danny Ings declaring that he will ignore any attempts to lure him away in next month’s transfer window and that staying until the end of the season is “the way it’s going to be”.

Ings is out of contract at the end of the campaign, a state of uncertainty which has led fellow strugglers Leicester City to be ready to make a £7.5m bid for the England Under-21 international. Though selling Ings would be a suicide note for Burnley, Leicester’s richer Thai owners could certainly potentially unsettle him. Ings said he would dismiss any offer.

Asked if he wanted to stay to help lead Burnley’s fight, the club’s most outstanding asset said: “That was the plan. I’m contracted until the end of the season and that’s the way it’s going to be. Now I can fight for the team as much as I can and do my best for them. [If an offer comes in] I won’t be looking at that.

I’ll just take that for my confidence and take it into my game and do as well as I can for Burnley. It’s quite easy to lose concentration for some people [when a flattering offer comes in.] But I’m not that sort of character. I’ve got a job here to do at Burnley and am contracted until the end of the season – and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in