Paul Ince next, as Premier League pressure cooker takes it toll

Tony Cascarino

Roy Keane’s departure from Sunderland means that five Barclays Premier League clubs have changed manager already this season. Who’s next? The division is so tight that a couple of wins in a row, or a couple of losses, can change a team’s outlook dramatically.

But you would have to say that Paul Ince’s job looks increasingly on the line because Blackburn Rovers are staring relegation in the face. Could it be two former Guv’nors of the Old Trafford midfield gone in quick succession?

It wasn’t an easy situation for Ince when he arrived at Ewood Park. Losing Brad Friedel and David Bentley was a big problem and the big players who are there aren’t performing. Benni McCarthy’s not turned up and Roque Santa Cruz has either been injured or looked like he’s suffering from second-season syndrome after being so good in the previous campaign. Morten Gamst Pedersen has been nowhere near his best.

Ince’s problems have escalated, the team can’t buy a win and doesn’t look like scoring. The manager has juggled, trying to find solutions, but there have been tactical mistakes. Using Jason Roberts up front on his own against Chelsea was completely the wrong approach.

Now Blackburn have reached a point where scrapping for a draw is no good: they need wins. Even a draw against Liverpool tomorrow, good result though it might seem, won’t really benefit them in the long run. He should take a leaf out of Hull City’s book and be bold, play two up front, even against strong opponents.

Ince did well at MK Dons but he had a lot of money to spend there in comparison with his rivals. Now, he’s at a club without deep pockets by Premier League standards and he’s pitting his wits against the very best managers, many of them with far more experience. No wonder he’s coming off second-best.

He’s got the right to expect more from his key players but as a manager, your job is to get the most from your team and Ince hasn’t done that. And with Blackburn looking doomed, he seems to be in the most danger.

Manchester City are only a couple of places higher than Blackburn in the table but Mark Hughes won’t be under threat of the sack yet. The owners are aware that changes need to be made to the squad and he’ll be given a king’s ransom to spend in January. The pressure will come later when the time comes to judge those signings. If he buys big and City are still poor, then his future will come into question.

West Bromwich Albion are bottom and they’ve disappointed considering how good they were in the Coca-Cola Championship. If in a few weeks it looks like they’re certain to drop, the fans will have their say on Tony Mowbray. But the most vital relationship for the manager will be the one he has with his chairman. If a club gets cut adrift at the bottom, a manager will need 100 per cent backing from the board, like Paul Jewell had at Derby County last season.

Any chink in the armour, any doubts that develop, and the manager will inevitably go. Once relegation is confirmed or all but certain, everything comes down to the answer the board give when they ask themselves: is he the man to take us back to the Premier League?

Comments

[Darren]

It frustrates me when there is talk of managers leaving after only a few months (sometimes less). Managers need time as they have to assess the players they have to figure out what they need. Tony's recent 5iver says 16 games is enough time but it isn't even enought time to find you strike pair let alone a whole team. Even if you have 4 strikers fully fit give them all 5 games as a pair to see who works the best you wouldn't have tried all the combinations. Give him tme!!!

[Josh Dickson]

I just cant believe how things have got like this. Like martin samuel said, the next "crisis" is just around the corner. It seems almost to be neccessary for at least one manage to be under pressure; no matter how ridiculous it is! Ince has been there for four months! How the hell can you judge him after that?! He's barely had time to adjust, let alone get his own players and philosophy on the club. Just astounding.

[David Corrigan]

Blackburn's main problem is disorganisation. Personnel are in different positions each week. Steven Warnock has played in every position bar goalkeeper. He has disrupted a 'soild' back 4 by removing two experienced full backs and replacing them with Simpson and Olsen, there debut seasons. Mass confusion without the ball, and worse in possession. Classic bickering at Utd midweek between the players suggests there is disruption in the camp. Exodus in Jan followed by relegation. It's hitting the fan, and Ince's tactical naivity is plain to see. No 'plan B', and 'plan A' is usually crap and wrong. We ARE scoring goals. Just shipping goals for fun. 1 clean sheet all season. Ince HAS to go. A teenager can see the flaws in his team selection and tactics. I swear some weeks he picks the team out of a hat. I dont think we can go 'bold' and gung ho. Our strike force is overweight and uninterested at times.

[GUnit]

I think people need to get off Ince's back- he has had a hard task with up to 7 of his ideal 11 being injured at any one time since the start of the season.

He has come to Ewood to implement a different type of football that we saw under Hughes which was labelled 'boring' by our fans and pundits at the time. This was always going to take time to sort out. If you need anymore reason to give him a chance the best Premier League manager in history Sir Alex has given him the ok, so lets try building him up instead of just knocking him down.

Yes we need 3 pointers and lots of them but this negative media storm is only going to harm the players and the club in the long run and the fans need to realise that!

I hope people at Ewood tomorrow show vocal support for their team and give them the motivation they need at the moment.

YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU!

[VJS]

I have to disagree with your analysis of the Blackburn situation. The main problem is not that Blackburn don't look like they can score but that their conceding a lot of goals. They have scored more than Fulham and Middlesbrough and only 2 less than Pompey who are all in mid table so clearly that is not the major problem. Also I disagree with the claim that they should be bold like Hull City have been, well that doesn't work for all teams does it, look at West Brom, it depends on the whether the players you have at the club can make it work. Also are you also seriously telling us that the situation is so dire that draws will not do it right now when Blackburn are only two wins away from MID table, its not like we are coming up to the end of the season and wins are urgent. You said it yourself at the beginning of the article that a couple of wins can change a team's outlook dramatically.