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Irvine stays at Preston North End
Alan Irvine will stay as manager of Preston North End, the Lancashire Evening Post can reveal.
Irvine was favourite to be appointed the manager of Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion.
But North End chairman Derek Shaw said on Tuesday morning: "Alan is staying at Deepdale and I am absolutely delighted."
MK Dons boss Roberto Di Matteo is now expected to land the Baggies job.
On PNE's official website, Shaw said the manager's contract had allowed him to talk to the recently-relegated Black Country side, but that Irvine had chosen to continue with his work at Deepdale.
"Over the weekend I was approached by West Bromwich Albion," Shaw told PNE.com. "Sometimes it is very difficult to give a running commentary to our supporters via the media. I had to discuss things on Monday morning with our lawyers.
"Alan was given permission to speak to West Brom while he was away on holiday, but he has chosen to remain as Preston's manager.
"We are extremely pleased, but I had to comply with the terms of the contract, which is extremely common in the modern day management contract. This is nothing unique to Preston North End."
Shaw said the manager's representative had spoken to West Brom about replacing Tony Mowbray, but David Moyes' former Everton assistant had never met them in person.
He explained: "I know Alan and his representative did have some talks, but I believe Alan did not meet them face to face and he has chosen to remain at Preston which we are extremely pleased about.
'Complex matters'
"This was confirmed to me late on Monday night when Alan returned from his family holiday.
"I would like to apologise to supporters for possibly not keeping them fully up to speed, but these are very complex matters and certain things have to remain private, but I can assure fans they are not far behind the time scale of this all happening."
Irvine moved to Deepdale from Everton on November 20 2007, taking over from Paul Simpson.
He steered the Lilywhites clear of the relegation zone that season before taking them to a sixth-place finish last term, just missing out on a play-off final appearance at Wembley.
Irvine, whose former clubs in management also include Blackburn and Newcastle (both as academy director), has been in charge for 84 matches as Preston boss, winning 36 of them.
>> Irvine pleads for patience from PNE fans
>> First anniversary for North End boss
>> Job done for buoyant Irvine
>> Preston to unveil Irvine as manager
Read more on this story in Tuesday's special late edition of the Lancashire Evening Post.
PNE: The news, the views, the passion
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Weather for Preston
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 14 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
