Owls take advantage of Preston changes to land Irvine

The biggest beneficiary of this brutal act is now going to be Sheffield Wednesday who yesterday snapped up one of the game's most highly-respected managers.

Only six months ago, West Bromwich Albion, seeking an immediate return to the Premier League, had been willing to pay 1m for his services but Irvine showed loyalty to his employers and was duly slapped in the face.

Saving the club from relegation before steering it into the Championship play-offs counted for nothing as soon as results dipped for the first time.

According to Owls chairman Lee Strafford, Irvine's departure from Deepdale had less to do with performances on the field and more to do with personalities off it.

Preston's majority shareholder is Trevor Hemmings who owns racehorses with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

As soon as Ferguson's son Darren was sacked as manager of Peterborough United, Hemmings was interested in giving him a job – Irvine's job as manager of Preston.

Peterborough's owner Barry Fry always felt that Ferguson had another job lined up – and made no secret of that theory when explaining the reasons behind his departure amid protests from fans.

Ferguson junior, meanwhile, added a further twist to the plot by throwing his name into the ring for the vacant manager's job at Hillsborough during an interview on Sky television.

Strafford insists that Ferguson was never offered anything by Wednesday and may have simply exploited the situation for his own advantage.

"The whole situation is strange and Darren Ferguson's comments on national television were strange," said Strafford yesterday. "Strange because he said he was 'interested' in our job but clearly was not. Maybe it was just part of his negotiations? He has gone to Preston because he was (always) going to Preston and Alan has lost his job because of that."

Irvine has emerged from the whole affair with his reputation firmly intact.

Any shock over his treatment at Deepdale has now been replaced by a delight at his new opportunity.

The Owls are surely a bigger club with a bigger stadium and far greater potential. A 'sleeping giant' as the old cliche goes.

Reflecting on events, Irvine said: "There were none of the usual signs. I had not been given the dreaded vote of confidence and the fans were fantastic with me. My last game in charge was a late defeat at Sheffield United and afterwards the chairman (Derek Shaw) spoke with me and felt we had been unfortunate. Obviously, the decision came completely out of the blue.

"It was a big disappointment and the first time I had ever been sacked in football," he added. "But I look back on my time there with great pride. People are writing nice things in the papers about Owen Coyle's win rate of 42 per cent at Burnley. Well mine was 'only' 41 per cent at Preston so that's where I must have gone wrong."

Irvine was born in Glagow and made the grade with Scottish Division Two side Queens Park before landing a move to Everton at the age of 23.

Although he was never a first-team regular, Irvine made 60 appearances for the Toffeemen during a three-year spell when they won the FA Cup and re-emerged as one of the top teams in the country under Howard Kendall.

He went on to play for Crystal Palace and Blackburn Rovers but was forced to retire early due to injury and moved into youth coaching at Ewood Park.

When Kenny Dalglish quit Blackburn and moved to Newcastle, Irvine followed as a coach and worked again with the youngsters. Such was his impact among those in the know that David Moyes – at the time a relative stranger – invited Irvine to be his assistant manager at Everton. The pair worked together for five years before Irvine landed his first managerial role at Preston.

It is difficult to find anyone in football with a bad word to say about the quietly spoken but steely-eyed Scot.

"We were very keen to speak to Alan when we learned that he had parted company with Preston because we probably would not have been able to afford the kind of compensation package West Brom offered for his services just a few months previously," said Strafford.

"He brings genuine pedigree and plenty of experience to Hillsborough."