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Sheffield Wednesday: Darren Potter interview
Darren Potter got an early lowdown on the managerial wares of Alan Irvine from a few old mates – and the gushing sentiments they relayed have been more than vindicated since.
The Sheffield Wednesday midfielder is friends with a few of Irvine's old charges at Preston North End, including target man Neil Mellor and central defender Neill Collins, with Potter having played with the pair at Liverpool and Wolves respectively.
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The Scouser spoke to his muckers in the immediate aftermath of Irvine's shock Deepdale axing just after Christmas, which stunned a great many people, himself included.
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Little did the 25-year-old know that the Glaswegian was destined to be
unveiled as the new man in charge at Hillsborough a week or so later.
Given all the positive feedback Potter received about Irvine – and the lack of dissension anywhere – he was more than happy when the former Everton number two, who carved out his dugout credentials in the schemer's native Merseyside, was entrusted with the Owls reins on January 9.
If the sizzling start to Irvine's S6 tenure is anything to go by – he presided over three straight Championship wins in a dream opening – Preston's loss is very much Wednesday's gain.
But it's fair to say the grounded boss isn't exactly jumping through hoops yet. The midweek setback at Scunthorpe was a reality check and proof that Wednesday, under Irvine, are still a work in progress, – albeit with some impressive remedial repairs completed already.
Potter said: "I've spoken to a lot of people outside of this club who have either come across him or played underneath him and I've not heard anyone say a bad word about him.
"In terms of first impressions, what has struck me is that he's very meticulous and a really genuine guy.
"If you ask anybody in football they were shocked at the time when the news broke that Alan had got the sack – and I was no different.
"I've got a few pals over at Preston who are really close to him and I was straight on the phone to them as soon as the news broke and they couldn't believe it.
"I know those lads really enjoyed working with the manager and his staff and didn't have a bad work to say about them. They loved his training and said everything was positive and that were really sad to see him leave."
Irvine's first priority on the Middlewood training ground has been turning Wednesday into a cohesive unit and getting them organised at the back.
The evidence suggests the hard work is bearing fruit, if performances in the derby victory at Barnsley and wins over Blackpool and Peterborough United are anything to go by.
Indeed, only late goals conceded in the last two of those matches prevented the Owls from recording welcome clean sheets.
It's a start, but that's all, so far as Irvine is concerned. But Potter has been impressed by the Scot's attention to detail and completely thorough approach, which has seen him utilise video technology to get to the root of Wednesday's travails.
On the merits of Irvine, he said: "He's got us going back to basics really.
"He works really hard, not just on the pitch, but off it as well. He does a lot of video work and the first week he came, him and his coaching staff sat us down and went through every goal we've conceded to see what they could put right.
"We've rectified some things already, though there are still a lot of things to work on, but, at same time, we've responded really well.
"Meticulous is the right word to describe Alan – and organisation is what he's brought to the table. He's making us really organised as a group and we're starting to look solid.
"He's a really hard-working guy who is very professional and he likes things done to a tee. He likes the lads to work hard as well, but he seems a really, really nice man.
"We couldn't have asked for much more in the first three games with the new manager coming in. Things wouldn't have looked good if we hadn't got a few wins. We've got down to business straight away and three wins on the spin has given us some belief that we can move away from trouble, though we've got still a lot to do yet.
"We beat Peterborough, who are a team around us and it's important to beat those and those even just above you, but the Scunthorpe result was disappointing.
"It's just a start what we've done."
Last Saturday's home victory over Peterborough in a proverbial relegation six-pointer was a particularly sweet one for Wednesdayites, who took advantage of low prices to provide the Hillsborough board with an encouraging crowd of 24,882.
It was Wednesday's first success on home soil since the middle of October, the victory sealed by a welcome double for top gun Marcus Tudgay – who ended his goal famine in style with a well-taken brace of headers.
The former Derby County frontman – Owls' top-scorer in a productive 2008-09 campaign which saw him net a career-best 14 times – hadn't hit the onion bag in his previous 13 games and, with goals the lifeblood of any striker worth their salt, you could say he was desperate to net one.
It was job done against Posh and all his team-mates were delighted for Tudgay, with Potter now hoping to reacquaint himself with the goal trail with his only strike this term – ahead of this weekend's action – coming in the 4-0 slaying of Scunthorpe way back on August 22, when he netted a thunderbolt.
That said, he went mighty close last weekend to breaking his barren streak when he struck the woodwork with a fierce first-half effort.
Potter said: "Tuddy's one of our main strikers and always looks forward to scoring goals, week in, week out.
"Not scoring over the past few months I'm sure it will have hurt Marcus more than anybody, as he'll probably want to beat last season's tally and get as many goals as he can.
"It's probably been a frustrating time for him.
"In all the games, he's been working hard and playing really well, it's not as if his form has dipped, but we were really pleased for him on Saturday.
"I'm definitely due a goal.
"I hit the crossbar early on (against Peterborough), but hopefully one is not too far away.
"Obviously, I'd like to contribute more on that side of the game and get more goals before the end of the season."
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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