Post by QPR Report on Dec 17, 2008 8:01:57 GMT
Guardian - Tim Rich Lack of cash meant Ince never had time to prove his worth
Paul Ince's sacking at Blackburn may have been a financial necessity but one former colleague says he should have been kept on
"A fantastic feeling" is how Paul Ince described his meeting with the Blackburn Rovers chairman, John Williams. "I thought to myself: 'Two years ago, I was at Macclesfield booking coaches to go down to Boston and making sure there were ham sandwiches for the trip. And now this.'"
His words carried all the optimism of midsummer and yesterday, less than six months on from his appointment, Ince met Williams again. The talk was once more of money but not of transfer budgets or wage structures, but instead of compensation packages and contract terminations. The first black Englishman to manage in the Premier League had been sacked after 21 matches.
The reaction in Blackburn, judging from the comments posted on the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's website, was an outpouring of relief. The argument for giving Ince "one more game" was draining, repetitive and convinced nobody. The men who ran the trust set up by Blackburn's late owner, Jack Walker, and control more than 99% of the club were determined Ince should not get one.
Few clubs can withstand relegation but Blackburn are peculiarly vulnerable. Since winning promotion to the Premier League under Kenny Dalglish in 1992, they have never made a profit. In terms of operating to stadium capacity, only Bolton and Middlesbrough are emptier than Ewood Park. On the last available figures, 85% of their turnover goes on the wages of players, some of whom — because of Blackburn's success under Graeme Souness and Mark Hughes — are on contracts that are not geared for relegation.
For the past 18 months, the trust, formally known as the Jack Walker Settlement, has been attempting to sell Blackburn without securing any firm offers. Were they to be relegated, even the tentative interest from Chris Ronnie, the chief executive of JJB Sports, would all but disappear. "The problem is that Blackburn Rovers have two boards, the initial board and the trust board," said the club's former striker, Kevin Gallacher. "John Williams and his board were trying to help Paul as best they could but they were coming under pressure from the money people."
Ince's euphoria on being confirmed as Blackburn manager was short-lived. Williams admitted the club had "worked our bank borrowings to the maximum" to support Hughes. But there was never a chance that David Bentley would stay or that they could resist serious offers for Roque Santa Cruz in January
It was also hard to see how Ince could improve on Hughes' record. In terms of wage bill, Blackburn are ranked around 12th in the Premier League but had finished seventh, 10th and sixth in their previous three campaigns. Now there was less money, although Ince's transfer record was still unconvincing. Keith Andrews, signed from Milton Keynes for £2m, did not adapt while Robbie Fowler's most recent experience of football was to be booed by both sets of supporters as he came on at Old Trafford.
Almost immediately the new regime's training methods were compared unfavourably with Hughes' more rigid and structured approach. "Paul was very disappointed in pre-season that one or two people came out and said they were not happy," said Blackburn's defensive coach, Nigel Winterburn. "It happens at football clubs: people are scared of change.
"It happened to me at Arsenal but if you have faith in your ability, you will come through. Training was much better towards the end but that doesn't mean stuff stopped leaking out." As rumours grew that Souness would return with Tugay Kerimoglu as his assistant, the veteran Turkish midfielder was addressed jokingly as "gaffer" at Brockhall training complex.
Ince admitted that returning to the Premier League came as a shock. At Macclesfield and Milton Keynes he had been able to lead through sheer force of personality, but shortly before his dismissal at Blackburn he talked of the weight of Premier League egos. "It's harder to manage them. Now it's about how much you can get, what you drive," he reflected. "In my time it was all about winning."
It still is. When Ince took over at Macclesfield, he looked around a club that was last in the Football League and told himself that if he failed here, he would never get another job. He failed at Blackburn but Ince will return, perhaps in more promising circumstances.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/16/premierleague-blackburnrovers-paulince
Guardian/Paul Wilson - Why on earth did Blackburn Rovers appoint Ince in the first place?After six top-flight casualties before Christmas, clubs must think long and hard before appointing a manager with more personality than experience
As the latest Premier League manager bites the dust in a season that has now seen six departures before Christmas, the question is not so much whether Paul Ince should have been sacked as whether Blackburn Rovers should have appointed him in the first place.
Ince did have some managerial experience in the lower divisions, unlike Roy Keane, although it could be argued that Keane learned on the job in bringing Sunderland out of the Championship. Each was a risky appointment, though; in both cases the club boards seemed to opt for the powerful playing persona rather than the proven managerial force.
In Ince's case Blackburn even accelerated the qualification process, for the manager they brought from Milton Keynes did not have a complete set of coaching badges and special dispensation had to be sought to install him in the Premier League, with a promise he would cram in the required study at the earliest opportunity.
That opportunity has now come earlier than expected, and the only reason for extending any sympathy towards Ince is that he has been sold a pup in much the same way that Shaun Wright-Phillips was when he was persuaded that a move to Chelsea would be good for his career. Ince, like Wright-Phillips, was never going to say no when a big club came calling. Football works on confidence, a manager like Ince believes himself to be capable of overcoming any challenge, and Blackburn clearly thought they were a sufficiently established Premier League presence to give Ince all the time he needed to adapt.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, as it turned out, but Blackburn were at least as guilty as Ince in the undertaking. Paying up Ince's three-year contract will cost them, yet it might have been better for all concerned had they not rushed to appoint a relative novice. Neither the Premier League nor the League Managers' Association has any real power to object to under-qualified coaches taking positions with Premier League clubs — it is only a voluntary undertaking and there are ways of getting around the lack of badges — though if an agreement existed whereby dispensation was only granted on the condition that the club promised to stick by their manager for at least a season or two, this sort of situation might be avoided. That is to say, clubs would be forced to think much longer and harder about taking a risk on managers with more personality than experience.
Ince eventually came to believe he was being picked on because he is a former Manchester United player, while others identified racist overtones in his treatment in the media, though the league table gives the lie to both these fanciful theories. Blackburn cannot afford to be where they are, neither can a manager who has lost six on the trot afford to look for any reasons beyond results. No one appeared to care that Mark Hughes used to play for Manchester United, or even that he was Welsh, for the simple reason that when Hughes found Blackburn in a seemingly hopeless position he marched them impressively up the table. Ince has not shown any signs of being able to do that and has paid the price. Pleas for patience cut no ice at the wrong end of the cut-throat Premier League.
Perhaps, with Hughes almost certain to poach Roque Santa Cruz next month to further undermine Blackburn's confidence, Ince never had much of a chance. Yet Santa Cruz at least gave Blackburn half a season. In the final analysis, a far more valuable player for Ince to lose might have been Brad Friedel, who decamped to Aston Villa within days of Ince's arrival. One had the impression the deal was already in the offing when Ince arrived, and that the new manager either failed to persuade the goalkeeper to stay or did not consider it a top priority. He might even have thought the younger Paul Robinson was a decent replacement for the elderly Friedel. If so, Ince needs to forget the training badges and watch a few matches, for it doesn't look that way now.
Friedel is in the top four with Villa, playing as well as ever and bringing all his experience to bear behind a new defence. Robinson looks as shaky and short on confidence as ever, costing his side goals and frequently being complained about by supporters. Given that during his time at Blackburn Friedel was arguably the Premier League's most consistent goalkeeper and most reliable shot-stopper, Rovers might have shot themselves in the foot. It seems clear with the benefit of hindsight that Blackburn should not have been in such a rush to appoint Ince. It seems even more clear they should have moved heaven and earth to hang on to Friedel.
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/16/paul-ince-sack-blackburn-rovers
Paul Ince's sacking at Blackburn may have been a financial necessity but one former colleague says he should have been kept on
"A fantastic feeling" is how Paul Ince described his meeting with the Blackburn Rovers chairman, John Williams. "I thought to myself: 'Two years ago, I was at Macclesfield booking coaches to go down to Boston and making sure there were ham sandwiches for the trip. And now this.'"
His words carried all the optimism of midsummer and yesterday, less than six months on from his appointment, Ince met Williams again. The talk was once more of money but not of transfer budgets or wage structures, but instead of compensation packages and contract terminations. The first black Englishman to manage in the Premier League had been sacked after 21 matches.
The reaction in Blackburn, judging from the comments posted on the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's website, was an outpouring of relief. The argument for giving Ince "one more game" was draining, repetitive and convinced nobody. The men who ran the trust set up by Blackburn's late owner, Jack Walker, and control more than 99% of the club were determined Ince should not get one.
Few clubs can withstand relegation but Blackburn are peculiarly vulnerable. Since winning promotion to the Premier League under Kenny Dalglish in 1992, they have never made a profit. In terms of operating to stadium capacity, only Bolton and Middlesbrough are emptier than Ewood Park. On the last available figures, 85% of their turnover goes on the wages of players, some of whom — because of Blackburn's success under Graeme Souness and Mark Hughes — are on contracts that are not geared for relegation.
For the past 18 months, the trust, formally known as the Jack Walker Settlement, has been attempting to sell Blackburn without securing any firm offers. Were they to be relegated, even the tentative interest from Chris Ronnie, the chief executive of JJB Sports, would all but disappear. "The problem is that Blackburn Rovers have two boards, the initial board and the trust board," said the club's former striker, Kevin Gallacher. "John Williams and his board were trying to help Paul as best they could but they were coming under pressure from the money people."
Ince's euphoria on being confirmed as Blackburn manager was short-lived. Williams admitted the club had "worked our bank borrowings to the maximum" to support Hughes. But there was never a chance that David Bentley would stay or that they could resist serious offers for Roque Santa Cruz in January
It was also hard to see how Ince could improve on Hughes' record. In terms of wage bill, Blackburn are ranked around 12th in the Premier League but had finished seventh, 10th and sixth in their previous three campaigns. Now there was less money, although Ince's transfer record was still unconvincing. Keith Andrews, signed from Milton Keynes for £2m, did not adapt while Robbie Fowler's most recent experience of football was to be booed by both sets of supporters as he came on at Old Trafford.
Almost immediately the new regime's training methods were compared unfavourably with Hughes' more rigid and structured approach. "Paul was very disappointed in pre-season that one or two people came out and said they were not happy," said Blackburn's defensive coach, Nigel Winterburn. "It happens at football clubs: people are scared of change.
"It happened to me at Arsenal but if you have faith in your ability, you will come through. Training was much better towards the end but that doesn't mean stuff stopped leaking out." As rumours grew that Souness would return with Tugay Kerimoglu as his assistant, the veteran Turkish midfielder was addressed jokingly as "gaffer" at Brockhall training complex.
Ince admitted that returning to the Premier League came as a shock. At Macclesfield and Milton Keynes he had been able to lead through sheer force of personality, but shortly before his dismissal at Blackburn he talked of the weight of Premier League egos. "It's harder to manage them. Now it's about how much you can get, what you drive," he reflected. "In my time it was all about winning."
It still is. When Ince took over at Macclesfield, he looked around a club that was last in the Football League and told himself that if he failed here, he would never get another job. He failed at Blackburn but Ince will return, perhaps in more promising circumstances.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/dec/16/premierleague-blackburnrovers-paulince
Guardian/Paul Wilson - Why on earth did Blackburn Rovers appoint Ince in the first place?After six top-flight casualties before Christmas, clubs must think long and hard before appointing a manager with more personality than experience
As the latest Premier League manager bites the dust in a season that has now seen six departures before Christmas, the question is not so much whether Paul Ince should have been sacked as whether Blackburn Rovers should have appointed him in the first place.
Ince did have some managerial experience in the lower divisions, unlike Roy Keane, although it could be argued that Keane learned on the job in bringing Sunderland out of the Championship. Each was a risky appointment, though; in both cases the club boards seemed to opt for the powerful playing persona rather than the proven managerial force.
In Ince's case Blackburn even accelerated the qualification process, for the manager they brought from Milton Keynes did not have a complete set of coaching badges and special dispensation had to be sought to install him in the Premier League, with a promise he would cram in the required study at the earliest opportunity.
That opportunity has now come earlier than expected, and the only reason for extending any sympathy towards Ince is that he has been sold a pup in much the same way that Shaun Wright-Phillips was when he was persuaded that a move to Chelsea would be good for his career. Ince, like Wright-Phillips, was never going to say no when a big club came calling. Football works on confidence, a manager like Ince believes himself to be capable of overcoming any challenge, and Blackburn clearly thought they were a sufficiently established Premier League presence to give Ince all the time he needed to adapt.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, as it turned out, but Blackburn were at least as guilty as Ince in the undertaking. Paying up Ince's three-year contract will cost them, yet it might have been better for all concerned had they not rushed to appoint a relative novice. Neither the Premier League nor the League Managers' Association has any real power to object to under-qualified coaches taking positions with Premier League clubs — it is only a voluntary undertaking and there are ways of getting around the lack of badges — though if an agreement existed whereby dispensation was only granted on the condition that the club promised to stick by their manager for at least a season or two, this sort of situation might be avoided. That is to say, clubs would be forced to think much longer and harder about taking a risk on managers with more personality than experience.
Ince eventually came to believe he was being picked on because he is a former Manchester United player, while others identified racist overtones in his treatment in the media, though the league table gives the lie to both these fanciful theories. Blackburn cannot afford to be where they are, neither can a manager who has lost six on the trot afford to look for any reasons beyond results. No one appeared to care that Mark Hughes used to play for Manchester United, or even that he was Welsh, for the simple reason that when Hughes found Blackburn in a seemingly hopeless position he marched them impressively up the table. Ince has not shown any signs of being able to do that and has paid the price. Pleas for patience cut no ice at the wrong end of the cut-throat Premier League.
Perhaps, with Hughes almost certain to poach Roque Santa Cruz next month to further undermine Blackburn's confidence, Ince never had much of a chance. Yet Santa Cruz at least gave Blackburn half a season. In the final analysis, a far more valuable player for Ince to lose might have been Brad Friedel, who decamped to Aston Villa within days of Ince's arrival. One had the impression the deal was already in the offing when Ince arrived, and that the new manager either failed to persuade the goalkeeper to stay or did not consider it a top priority. He might even have thought the younger Paul Robinson was a decent replacement for the elderly Friedel. If so, Ince needs to forget the training badges and watch a few matches, for it doesn't look that way now.
Friedel is in the top four with Villa, playing as well as ever and bringing all his experience to bear behind a new defence. Robinson looks as shaky and short on confidence as ever, costing his side goals and frequently being complained about by supporters. Given that during his time at Blackburn Friedel was arguably the Premier League's most consistent goalkeeper and most reliable shot-stopper, Rovers might have shot themselves in the foot. It seems clear with the benefit of hindsight that Blackburn should not have been in such a rush to appoint Ince. It seems even more clear they should have moved heaven and earth to hang on to Friedel.
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/dec/16/paul-ince-sack-blackburn-rovers