Could appointing Alan Irvine and Stuart Pearce as his assistants at West Ham actually be a great move by David Moyes?
David Moyes looks on during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Swansea City.
West Ham United confirmed that Alan Irvine and Stuart Pearce would be joining new manager David Moyes at the club as his assistants on November 12.
Billy McKinlay was also later added to the coaching team as Moyes looks to bring a fresh look to the backroom staff at the London Stadium following the sacking of Slaven Bilic.
Former England football player, Stuart Pearce, speaks during day two of Soccerex Asia.
The prospect of Irvine and Pearce working together under the Scot is an interesting one and has the potential to be the odd couple that could really work for the Hammers.
The former is someone that Moyes knows well having worked with him at both Preston North End and Everton previously, with the 59 year old’s work with the Toffees particularly commended after bringing through the likes of Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley from the youth team.
Irvine is a thoughtful and relatively quiet character that is widely respected in the game for his astute coaching and ability to work with young players.
Alan Irvine looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Norwich City and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Pearce, in contrast, has not been a coach since Nottingham Forest sacked him as boss in February 2015 and having been known as ‘Psycho’ during his playing career, is not adverse to bawling and berating those working under him.
This good cop, bad cop system could be an astute move from Moyes, with Irvine able to concentrate on developing the young and varied talent at the Hammers, while his fellow assistant can move the squad away from the perceived soft approach that Bilic was criticised for instilling.
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