Football Food For Thought / Ralph Ellis / 20 June 2008 /

Ralph Ellis examines the theory that "all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others" as the requirement for UEFA "A" licenses as a qualification to be a Premiership manager, seems to be ignored in some instances. Meanwhile, Paul Ince looks set to join Blackburn.

When is a rule not a rule? When it's brought in by the Premier League chairmen and then they decide to do something else.

Blackburn's top man John Williams was among those who supported a unanimous vote a couple of years ago that all managers in the top flight should have the UEFA 'A' Licence as a qualification. He seems to have forgotten that. Since then Newcastle and Middlesbrough have already driven a coach and horses through the regulations by appointing Glenn Roeder and Gareth Southgate respectively. And now Paul Ince looks certain to become the new manager at Ewood Park despite not holding the badge.

Ince, incidentally, is still on offer at [1.43] to get the job this morning and that looks a safe bet given today's newspaper coverage. All the right signs are in place. The Mirror's Alan Nixon, closest reporter to football politics in the North West, even says that Williams has rung round the other chairmen to gauge reaction to the appointment. While Darren Lewis, the first writer to come out and name Ince as the top candidate for the job, has a long exclusive interview with 'The Guv'nor' about his ambitions in management. And while the Express quotes a Premier League spokesman warning that approval of the appointment would still be subject to an application to their board, there's little doubt that it will be rubber stamped - especially as the League Managers Association are also willing to give it their blessing.

So why not just scrap the rule completely? If it is going to be ignored every time a club wants to take a boss who doesn't have the right bit of paper, then just be honest and wipe it off the statute books.

It's a sore point among managers outside the Premier League who have to pay substantial fees to the FA to go on their coaching courses to get the qualifications. For the likes of Ince and Southgate, who have become millionaires from their playing careers, it's not too big an issue to find a few thousand pounds to do the courses. But for players who have battled through a career in League One or Two it's a massive investment. They make it believing it's a necessary passport to the top - and it's wrong on them if others with bigger names and reputations can waltz through the checks without needing it.

As for whether Ince's appointment will help Blackburn, that's a different matter. Mark Hughes has moved on believing he's taken the club as far as he can, and it's tough to see why Ince - even given his outstanding record at lower levels with Macclesfield and MK Dons - should be able to do more. He won't have more money, and he'll face an immediate fight to keep his best players. No European football this season has left the club with David Bentley seeking a transfer, Roque Santa Cruz on the radar for both Manchester United and Arsenal, and Hughes wanting to take Ryan Nelsen with him to Eastlands.

With that much upheaval it could be well worth backing Blackburn for relegation at [13]. Not that you'd expect them to go down, but they could well suffer the sort of start to the season that Bolton had last year at the end of the Sam Allardyce era, and that would mean a crash in the price and the chance to lay and lock in a profit around November time.

Five things you didn't know about Paul Ince

1. His full name is Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince

2. He blamed his agent Ambrose Mendy for the notorious picture in a Manchester United shirt that was published before his move from West Ham and has made him a hate figure at Upton Park since

3.When he played for Inter Milan his wife Claire used to take baked beans back out to Italy every time she came home

4.He didn't take one of England's penalties in the Euro 96 semi-final with Germany - and in fact spent the whole shoot-out sat down with his back to the goal

5.His 16-year-old son Thomas has just joined Liverpool as an Academy trainee. He's a centre forward.

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