[Tom_Wba]

He who dares!!! just taken the 22/1 on Irvine to be next manager out, if we don't beat at least one of Arsenal (not likely), West Ham or Villa at Home i think his time could be up

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

They haven't become bad players all of a sudden, the buck has to stop at the coaching & selection process and that's down to Irvine who's the head of all coaching and selection.

While you say you're not convinced by what you've seen of Gamboa, are you any more convinced what you've seen of Baird?

But were they good players to begin with? The player to compare Baird to is surely Jason Davidson, and frankly, the idea of him back in the side after getting mauled at Swansea and even looking out of his depth against Oxford is terrifying. Again, our summer recruitment needs scrutiny. If Wisdom's being shifted to LB because Davidson isn't good enough, then why did we sign the bloke?

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At the moment, I'm just praying that Varela's going to hit the ground running for us, because if he doesn't, there's a big, big struggle on.

[bomberbrown1968]

They haven't become bad players all of a sudden, the buck has to stop at the coaching & selection process and that's down to Irvine who's the head of all coaching and selection.

While you say you're not convinced by what you've seen of Gamboa, are you any more convinced what you've seen of Baird?

But were they good players to begin with?  The player to compare Baird to is surely Jason Davidson, and frankly, the idea of him back in the side after getting mauled at Swansea and even looking out of his depth against Oxford is terrifying.  Again, our summer recruitment needs scrutiny.  If Wisdom's being shifted to LB because Davidson isn't good enough, then why did we sign the bloke?

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At the moment, I'm just praying that Varela's going to hit the ground running for us, because if he doesn't, there's a big, big struggle on.

I'm praying for the same mate, but it's a big onus on one players shoulders to take us from what we are at the moment to the team we want and feel we should be.

As for the others being good enough they were all well touted by more knowledgeable people than me and not one of us had a negative comment when they were signed.

IMO we've got all the right ingredients needed for a decent top half side unfortunately also IMO we've got a Sh*t head chef mixing them together.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

None of us had a negative comment because we didn't know anything about them! I'm sure the recruitment department must be knowledgeable, but unfortunately, some players do prove flops - it happens at every club - and it seems we've had more than our fair share in the last eighteen months.

Anelka = great player in his day but an attitude problem a mile wide. We took a risk, it went wrong.
Sinclair = had a couple of great seasons, now a lazy arsehole. We took a risk, it went wrong.
Rosenberg = scored goals for fun across Europe and continues to now, but for some reason couldn't make it happen here. We took a risk, it went wrong.
Vydra = great Championship striker, we obviously hoped he'd make the step up. He didn't. We took a risk, it went wrong.
Lugano = AAAAAAARGH. We took a risk, it went wrong.
Amalfitano = blew hot and cold, but he was a game-changer on his day, and he played a huge role in keeping us up. We let West Ham sign him, and we're now playing Dorrans on the right wing. Why? Who have we signed for the right flank that's better than Amalfitano?

When so many calculated risks have gone wrong, questions have to be asked. I'd hoped we'd put these bad buys behind us, and I still hope that the likes of Ideye, Samaras, Blanco and even Davidson can come in and prove themselves, but hand on heart, we've all seen them now via substitute appearances and cup games, and has anyone been bowled over by their effort or raw talent? You can blame Irvine's system for restricting them, but quality can surely flourish in any system?

As I said. Big, big echoes of last season.

[Tom_Wba]

None of us had a negative comment because we didn't know anything about them!  I'm sure the recruitment department must be knowledgeable, but unfortunately, some players do prove flops - it happens at every club - and it seems we've had more than our fair share in the last eighteen months.

Anelka = great player in his day but an attitude problem a mile wide.  We took a risk, it went wrong.
Sinclair = had a couple of great seasons, now a lazy arsehole.  We took a risk, it went wrong.
Rosenberg = scored goals for fun across Europe and continues to now, but for some reason couldn't make it happen here.  We took a risk, it went wrong.
Vydra = great Championship striker, we obviously hoped he'd make the step up.  He didn't.  We took a risk, it went wrong.
Lugano = AAAAAAARGH.  We took a risk, it went wrong.
Amalfitano = blew hot and cold, but he was a game-changer on his day, and he played a huge role in keeping us up.  We let West Ham sign him, and we're now playing Dorrans on the right wing.  Why?  Who have we signed for the right flank that's better than Amalfitano?

When so many calculated risks have gone wrong, questions have to be asked.  I'd hoped we'd put these bad buys behind us, and I still hope that the likes of Ideye, Samaras, Blanco and even Davidson can come in and prove themselves, but hand on heart, we've all seen them now via substitute appearances and cup games, and has anyone been bowled over by their effort or raw talent?  You can blame Irvine's system for restricting them, but quality can surely flourish in any system?

As I said.  Big, big echoes of last season.

Jason Davidson = At 23 years old how much can he realistically improve? Looks miles off been a Premier League player
Chris Baird = No explanation needed
The other signings its tough to judge but the Likes of Lescott,Pocognoli and Gardner have been a success

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Yep, no argument with Lescott and Gardner - Pocognoli's little "knocks" worry me a bit, and he's come undone a few times against the likes of Palace and Newcastle - but you'd have hoped the new attacking signings would be breaking into the team by now. I fundamentally don't believe any head coach would deliberately leave out players who are likely to score and create goals, put points on the board and therefore take the pressure off his job for another week or two; that would be absolutely insane and self-defeating. So the question becomes, are these guys not good enough or just not trying hard enough?

[WBA-Josh]

I've seen enough of Ideye and Blanco from there times in Ukraine to have an opinion on their play style and overall quality but something has to be up if they, along with Gamboa are not getting into the team and sometimes not even on bench. Of course I have only ever seen them in matches so I don't know about how well they train. Unfortunately for AI, right now we need Varela, Blanco, Gamboa and Ideye because everything has gone very stale with the current team setup and tactics. The signs were there against Crystal Palace and the Newcastle match moved us into full stale mode with us now being very predictable.

AI has a very tough decision to make. Does he continue with the tried and trusted guys who are probably performing well in training but lack the needed quality in the matches or does he put the guys who may not be performing well enough in training into the team because of the quality that they will bring? He showed after the Swansea and Everton defeats that he will change things up when it's needed. Next week at home to Arsenal is the perfect time to change things up because we are stale and they are very vulnerable in defence. Ultimately though, the final decision is up to him.

He surprised us against Tottenham so he could do it again. We shall see......

[Worldclassalbion]

I have read all the comments and I have to say this........................THE BEST FORM OF DEFENCE IS ATTACK.

I don't care who we play, if you are going to sit back against Chelsea they will tear you apart, so to say if we had attacked would have been far worse, then maybe it would but we attacked them last season and should have won if not for the diving cheating bastard RAMIRES.

If you give out a message saying we'll try and hang on you will DEFINATELY lose, if you attack you MIGHT lose. I know what my philosophy would be.......HAVE A GO!!

IRVINE is wank, no bottle, no plan B, no idea. AI FFS grow a pair of balls or GO

[pieandabovril]

Behind every successful Team,there has been a successful Manager.Always,bar none!

If you have a crap Manager,you have a crap Team! No matter what Players you have,what pace they have,what position they play in,if you have a crap Manager,you will have a crap Team!

AI is useless.Totally inept and way out of his depth!

[aries22]

I didn't catch any of the match today, and I'm pretty glad judging by the comments.

How was Baird at LB? Wouldn't have been my choice but obviously being British, defensive and very average meant he was a shoe-in for AI's selection.

I'm not sure AI has the organisation to set us up to park the bus against the big teams, and he sure as hell doesn't have the guts/will to play attacking line-ups against the smaller teams. In all honesty what does he actually offer us that Clarke/Downing couldn't?

He set the team up quite well against Burnley and he didn't park the bus against Spurs either.

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Interestingly (and perhaps worryingly), Steve Madeley on Twitter is pointing the finger at the summer recruitment: "Irvine isn't a fool.  He knows his side need an attacking spark.  If he thought Blanco, Samaras, Ideye etc could provide it, they'd play."  He's suggesting that the summer signings (with the exception of Lescott and Gardner, and Varela who's been injured) just haven't been doing enough in training and in the cup games to warrant inclusion.

If that's the case, then hello relegation battle.

After the League Cup defeat at Bournemouth, he couldn't have been clearer when he said the Second XI had missed a great chance to stake their claim for a place in the First XI. He was clearly not impressed.

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Interestingly (and perhaps worryingly), Steve Madeley on Twitter is pointing the finger at the summer recruitment: "Irvine isn't a fool.  He knows his side need an attacking spark.  If he thought Blanco, Samaras, Ideye etc could provide it, they'd play."  He's suggesting that the summer signings (with the exception of Lescott and Gardner, and Varela who's been injured) just haven't been doing enough in training and in the cup games to warrant inclusion.

If that's the case, then hello relegation battle.

This is why Dingle Downing and Kiely shouldn't be at the club, its time to let the new boss thing in his own people to freshen things up everything at the Albion has been stale for far to long it needs a fresh approach so the usual suspects aren't nailed on to start week in week out

I didn't hear many people - anyone, in fact - moaning about Downing and Kiely when Hodgson was in charge, nor when Steve Clarke was in charge, nor when SC was sacked. The team's performances were down to the head coach. If anyone wants to criticise the recruitment, criticise technical director Terry Burton and head of recruitment Mervyn Day, although Day arrived at the club after most of the summer signings had been made.