Unhappy Irvine hits out at Trophy selection rules

Johnstone’s Paint Trophy

Ian Appleyard

SHEFFIELD Wednesday manager Alan Irvine has hit out at the Football League ahead of tonight’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie with Notts County.

Irvine is opposed to a rule which states that managers have to pick a minimum of six first-team regulars.

He is also less than amused by the way the draw is made on Sky TV’s Soccer AM.

Hosts Helen Chamberlain and Max Rushden turn playing cards on a studio wall which reveal the identity of a club and their first round opponents. The idea is based loosely on the Eighties TV gameshow Play Your Cards Right.

Hinting at double standards, Irvine said: “I don’t think anybody should dictate to a manager what team he should pick. I understand why the rule is there – because they don’t want to devalue the competition – but the draw is done on Soccer AM!

“I don’t think a draw should be done that way,” he added. “But how they market their own competition is up to them.”

Under JP Trophy rules, a club must include in its starting line-up at least six of the 11 players who started the club’s previous game or at least 6 of the 11 players who have made the most starts in league and domestic Cup competitions since the start of the season.

“I think it is wrong,” said Irvine. “A manager should make the decisions on who he is going to play. For some managers, going out of the Johnstone Paint’s Trophy could be a final nail in a coffin. Managers stand or fall on team selections.

“It’s hard enough doing this job without people telling you who you should be picking and what you should be doing,” he added. “And I can’t imagine anyone saying it was ‘unfair that we lost because he wouldn’t have picked that team’. I don’t imagine anyone would take that into account if they were thinking about sacking the manager.”

While Irvine is keen to reach the Wembley final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, it still falls a long way behind this season’s priority of winning promotion back to the Championship.

The Owls moved to the top of the League One table thanks to a 5-0 victory over Hartlepool last weekend and visit bottom-of-the-table Brentford on Sunday lunchtime.

“At this moment, I don’t think the competition gets in the way of the league programme,” he said. “It is good to keep on playing and means there is more playing time for a number of players.

“If we suddenly find one of these rounds crops up when we have got five injuries and a suspension, it could start to be a problem. But, at the moment, I see it as a game we want to win.”

Winger Jermaine Johnson (knee) is still the only injury absentee for the Owls but is several weeks away from a return to first-team action.

Last six games: Owls WWDWLW, Notts LWLWWD.

Last time: Owls 2 Notts County 1, October 1 2003, League One.

Referee: P Quinn (Cleveland).