Two Down, One to Go Very Soon…

By: Taylor Rockwell | December 16th, 2008

So, it was announced early this morning that Paul Ince has been relieved of his coaching duties at Blackburn. The former MK Dons manager had struggled since taking over from the departed Mark Hughes, and had failed to get even one point out of his last six matches. Ince was seen as an exciting injection of (relative) youth into the Premier League coaching ranks this summer, but has largely failed to impress in his six months in charge of the Lancashire club (presently sitting second from bottom in the standings). While I am sad to see Ince go, his departure begs the question: what do we make of the Alex Ferguson School of Coaching?

At the start of the season, the EPL had four clubs being managed by an individual who had, at one time, played for Manchester under Sir Alex Ferguson. Roy Keane was the first to go, Ince the second, and Mark Hughes seems perched in an increasingly precarious position at Manchester City. Only Steve Bruce (hiding in the relative obscurity of Wigan) remains safe… but would that have been the case had he stayed with the Birmingham side he brought up to the EPL only last season? They did their one and done, and ruined the coaching reputation of Alex McCleish on the process.

For you American football fans out there, I am reminded of the Bill Belicheck situation. Bellicheck was seen as a coaching visionary, and therefore, so were his disciples. Charlie Weiss was hired at Notre Dame, Romeo Crennel went to the Cleveland Browns, and Nick Saban wound up in Miami coaching the Dolphins. Two-three years pass, and Weiss and Crennel will soon be out the door and Saban has already fled to Alabama. The lesson here seems simple: just because you played/worked under a talented manager doesn’t mean that you yourself are one or will inevitably become one.

Is this man’s legacy to be the same as Lord Ferg’s? Only time will tell.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for the likes of Keane and Ince, but a season that began as the Dawn of the Fergie Disciples seems to have ended with the same old manager-merry-go-round.