Source: Daily_Mail
Paul Ince is the Guv'nor... and he's coming back
Let's start with a hypothetical question... 'I like those,' PaulInce responded, still in his football boots and the tell-tale yellowbib of a manager who had done more than merely watch training.[LNB] The question is: you're a manager and you come out of the showerto be surprised by a couple of your players hiding behind the desk. Oneis brandishing an airgun and shouting 'give me money or you are dead'. [LNB]How would you react? Ince laughs. 'It depends who it was and what werethe circumstances,' he replies. More laughter. 'At the time I waslooking for a new contract. Sir Alex s*** himself. I suppose I would doexactly the same.' Even more laughter.[LNB] Point made: Paul Ince is determined not to repeat mistakes of Blackburn[LNB] The aforementioned prank, also involving Lee Sharpe, was perpetrated in the days when Ince was the 'Guv'nor' and Sir Alex Ferguson was the Gaffer, long before the player was sold by the manager to Inter Milan during a period of mutual irritation. Even longer before the Guv'nor became a gaffer and the Gaffer remained THE Gaffer.[LNB] But guess who was the first to make contact with the offer of assistance when the young Barclays Premier League manager began to struggle at Blackburn Rovers.[LNB] 'When I needed help as a manager, Sir Alex was the first one on the phone,' said Ince. [LNB]'People think we don't get on. We are very good friends. He has got all these players who have gone into management - and deep down he is great to them. They played under him and tried to learn from him. None of us will ever be as good as him.'[LNB] The list is long and includes Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Mark McGhee, Mark Hughes, Alex McLeish and Bryan Robson. Not forgetting Ince himself, who began his managerial career at Macclesfield, then the 92nd club in English football, stopped off at MK Dons on route to Blackburn Rovers and returned to Milton Keynes for some 'unfinished business'.[LNB] [LNB]Good terms: Paul Ince still talks to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson[LNB] 'I did not leave Manchester United on the best of terms. But going to Inter was the best thing that happened to me. Looking back on it, I can't thank Sir Alex enough. We now speak all the time.[LNB] 'He invites me to his golf days every year. We speak on the phone. He gives me players, for example Danny Simpson. That is not someone who does not give a toss about me.'[LNB] It is understandable, therefore, that Ince should pick up the telephone on Thursday morning and put through a call to Darren Ferguson, son of the father, a team-mate at United and a manager, like Ince, dispensed with in what most observers would consider indecent haste.[LNB] 'I told Darren (who left Peterborough United during the week) that he was a top manager. I said there would be no shortage of clubs who wanted his services. I've been down that road.'[LNB] If Ince's confidence has taken a knock at being allowed less than six months with the managerial big boys, it is not obvious. Contrary to his know-all image, however, he can now admit to having made mistakes at Blackburn. One in particular would surprise those who shared dressing rooms in which he liked to be in charge. And it was Fergie who identified the problem.[LNB] 'When things were going wrong we sat down and had a chat,' Ince recalled. 'He told me not to let players get away with anything.[LNB] 'I am not saying I was lenient with the Blackburn players - because I am not that way inclined - but maybe I thought this was the Premier League, this was massive, there were massive players there and maybe I was not as tough as I should have been.[LNB] 'I am not saying I was soft. I felt that compared to what I had been at Macclesfield or MK Dons I had to change because it was the Premier League. But I didn't need to. I just needed to be me and I wasn't. Maybe I was trying to adapt to the Premier League when I should have been saying: "I am what I am and you take me for what I am". I did not take that approach at Blackburn.'[LNB] For someone whose big games used to be at places such as Old Trafford, the San Siro, Anfield and Wembley, it must be difficult to summon the same enthusiasm for a trip to The Valley. T oday MK Dons are away to Charlton in a battle between the teams placed second and third in League One.[LNB] 'This is my team, these are my players and this is the level I am at now. It is a massive game, though we try not to think of it as that.[LNB] 'We have done ever so well to get where we are today. We have not spent the money that the likes of Norwich, Huddersfield, Brighton, Leeds, Charlton and Southampton have.[LNB] 'This is a great job. Milton Keynes is an expanding city. I want to build a legacy here.' Ince makes no bones about the lingering disappointment he feels over his departure from Blackburn and about his desire to return to the Premier League.[LNB] 'It was like a witch hunt. The same with Rafa Benitez now. Every day people trying to get him out of a job. 'My board never protected me. I am still out here. I want to get back to the Premier League. Maybe with MK Dons. I want to go back because I have some unfinished business.' [LNB] Captain Rooney? Manchester United star Wayne will skipper England if John Terry fails to recover for Brazil clash Fergie banned: But refs are livid as Man United boss is hit by 'wrist-slap'THE LIST: Football's greatest penalty kings - Nos 10-1[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People:Steve Bruce, Rafa Benitez, MARK HUGHES, Lee Sharpe, Roy Keane, Mark McGhee, BRYAN ROBSON, Darren Ferguson, Alex Ferguson, Paul Ince, Alex McLeish, Danny SimpsonPlaces:Leeds, Norwich, Brighton
