Many fans were surprised Alan Irvine got the head coach position at West Brom and the board may live to regret it.

Irvine is the third manager to sit in the dugout at the Hawthorns in the past 12 months and his only goal this season is to keep the club in the Premier League, or it will be looking for manager number four.

The former Everton academy manager has no experience at this level and will have to learn quickly as the Premier League is an unforgiving classroom.

The acquisition of Joleon Lescott is key, the defender bringing experience and a winning mentality to the club while Andre Wisdom’s loan from Liverpool will add some youth and dynamism.

Stephane Sessegnon has the flair to terrorise defences and has a decent eye for goal, if only he wasn’t wasteful in front of goal.

When it comes to goals, they will need to come from new striker Ideye Brown, since the club have failed to replace Everton forward Romelu Lukaku. 

But the Nigerian attacker has the talent to succeed at this level after proving himself in the French league.

It will be a long and difficult season for fans at West Brom as they will need to be patient at the latest project.

The previous ones have worked well but there is a niggling feeling that this one is a bit too ambitious and they may pay the biggest price, relegation to the Championship.