An important forward step

The appointment of Paul Ince as the manager of Blackburn Rovers is being heralded as an important evolutionary step in the game of football. Ince, who previously achieved the feat of becoming the first black captain of the English football team, stated upon his appointment that, ‘I’m delighted to have been given this chance.’

Following a successful period managing both Macclesfield Town and Milton Keynes Dons in the lower divisions of English football, Ince’s progression to the glitz of the Premier League can only be considered as a logical progression. His appointment, however, has given other black managers the opportunity to stress the lack of opportunities that exist for them within the game.

John Barnes, who has been dubbed by the BBC, ‘England’s finest black player’, has found making a career in football management difficult.

‘I’ve applied for numerous jobs and sometimes I haven’t even had the courtesy of a reply to my application letter,’ Barnes said. ‘Perhaps I could understand it is I was applying for jobs at the top level, but these were clubs in League One.’

The facts support Barnes’ claims. Upon his appointment Ince became the only black manager currently working in the Premier League and the only other one to be found in the entire English football league is Keith Alexander, Ince’s replacement at Macclesfield. It all leaves the hierarchy of English football management looking a whiter shade of pale.

‘I believe the situation for black managers is like it was for black players back in the 1970s. They were put out on the wing because it was deemed that they could run fast but not think too well,’ Barnes said.

Barnes’ comments are strong, but some consider them justified and necessary.

Aside from this, the question lingers of how Paul Ince’s career as a top flight manager itself will develop. Nestled snugly in the clutter of teams following the ‘Big Four’, opportunities abound at Blackburn and there is scope for him to impress.

Ince has already stated that his first challenge as manager is to secure the services of key players such as Roque Santa Cruz and David Bentley. After a career tingling with silverware and an auspicious start to his managerial career, who’d bet against Paul Ince becoming a success once again?

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Tags: Digital TV, Sport by Peter Moore
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England on the bounceback

Midway through yesterday afternoon, Kevin Pietersen hopped, skipped and jumped his way down the Trent Bridge wicket in celebration of his twelfth test match hundred. And as he whipped the navy blue helmet from his head and thrust a clenched fist into the air, I began to ponder upon just have evocative the British sporting summer can be.

For a magical three months, nestled between the frantic end of a football season and the expectant beginning of a new one, cricket and tennis rush into the fill the hole in the sporting timetable.
It became a national pastime for more than a decade speculating as to whether ‘this would be Tim Henman’s year at Wimbledon?’ The critics were optimistic, the newspapers wrote of Churchill and the ‘British spirit’ and the population camped out on ‘Henman Hill’ in a state of twittering excitement.

Unfortunately they all transpired to be a little deluded and it never quite happened for Tim. Following his retirement in August of last year, this will be the first Henman-free Wimbledon in quite some time – leaving him happily removed from the glare of the press and free to lament the rainstorm which proved a fatal interruption to his semi final with Goran Ivanišević in 2001.

Happily for all parties with a vested interest, Andy Murray promises to provide the nation with a little more stimulation this June when the tournament starts in just over a fortnight’s time.

Meanwhile, following their wonderful performance three summers’ ago against the Australians, the English cricket team still appear to be wedged in a lugubrious rebuilding period. Andrew Flintoff, who remains arguably England’s best player and tub-thumping all-rounder, has been perennially injured and just like Humpty Dumpty is taking a good deal of being put back together again.

Of the other members of the victorious Ashes team, many of them are performing in fits and starts. Marcus Trescothick has disappeared into the mist completely, the ‘King of Spain’, Ashley Giles retired with a bad hip and Simon Jones the dynamic reverse-swing specialist was last spotted trundling around the outfield of Worcester’s New Road pitch.

Thank the lord then for the presence of Kevin Pietersen, who has not tired of clubbing the opposition bowlers to all points of the outfield. As he rules the back pages of the newspapers today, his face contorted into a Gladiatorial-growl, we can be assured that the British sporting summer of 2008 has begun.

Tags: Sky, Sport by Peter Moore
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