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Can Irvine Intervention Save Wednesday?

Former Preston boss Alan Irvine has today been appointed as new manager at Sheffield Wednesday on a three-and-a-half year contract.

New gaffer Irvine said: "I am delighted to take up the position of manager at Sheffield Wednesday. It is a club with great traditions and a brilliant outlook for the future. While the league table shows us that there is a lot of hard work in front of us between now and the end of the current season, it is a challenge I am relishing and I believe the squad here at Hillsborough is more than capable of pulling away from the current situation at the bottom of the Championship.

"Sheffield Wednesday has made excellent progress off the pitch in the past 12 months and it is now my job to make sure that progress is mirrored on the pitch. I am really looking forward to starting work with the players and I can't wait to get out on the training pitch to start preparing for the vital matches we have coming up this month."

Chairman Lee Strafford said: "It was essential for us to secure the best possible candidate to revive the team's fortunes this season but, more importantly, in the long term. Alan Irvine brings genuine coaching pedigree to Hillsborough following several years Premier League experience as David Moyes' assistant at Everton and an impressive record in charge at Preston.

"He is a high calibre manager, respected throughout football, who has proven he can make a team competitive at this level, and we feel very fortunate to have secured his services. When the manager's position became vacant at Sheffield Wednesday we did not expect him to be available because of the commitment he had to his previous club."

Irvine joins Wednesday nine days after being sacked by Preston following a run of just one win in ten games which has seen them slide down the table. However, Irvine did take North End to the playoffs last season and had a win record of about 40% since taking over from his predecessor Paul Simpson at Deepdale.

He had a fairly undistinguised playing career, starting out at Queen's Park before making 60 appearances for Everton and over 100 appearances for Crystal Palace on the wing. He won promotion with Blackburn in the 1992-93 season before announcing his retirement from as a player.

He joined the coaching staff at Everton in 2002 where he was David Moyes' assistant for five years before taking the vacant Preston job. Wednesdayites will hope his friendship with Moyes may help him bring in a few of their youngsters on loan but most importantly Wednesdayites will be hoping the Scot is the man to dig Wednesday out of the hole they're currently in down the bottom of the Championship.

His first game in charge will be the trip to Barnsley next Saturday following the postponement of tomorrow's visit of Peterborough. Irvine has already won at Oakwell this season as Preston beat the Tykes 3-0 back in August however that was before the appointment of Mark Robins.

Creg,