The founder of football's equality and inclusion campaign Kick It Out, Lord Herman Ouseley, today said that Paul Ince's dismissal from Blackburn should not be an obstacle to another black British manager being employed in the Premier League.
"It shouldn't spell another lengthy period where we see no British black managers at the top level," said Ouseley, the first black head of the Commission for Racial Equality. "Football management is a volatile environment, nowhere more so than the Premier League. Paul Ince himself is capable of plying his trade there or else he wouldn't have been given the job in the first place."
The Guyana-born peer, who founded Kick It Out in 1997, believes Ince, hardened by the experiences of his playing days, is strong enough to survive this setback: "You need thick skin and a bit of luck to succeed. Paul is very thick-skinned because he's encountered discrimination in his playing career, but luck wasn't on his side during his time at Blackburn."
Ince was the first black British manager in the Premier League and the first black manager of any nationality hired by a team in the top flight. Jean Tigana, the only previous black manager, was hired by Fulham when they were still in the then Football League first division, from where the Frenchman won promotion to the Premier League — and the first division title — in his first season and consolidated the club's top-flight status before being fired in 2003.
Bobby Barnes of the Professional Footballers' Association, who works closely with Kick It Out, said Ince was fired because of Blackburn's poor results and nothing else: "Paul Ince hasn't been dismissed because of his colour, because he knows more than anyone that the football world is a results business. Sadly, the modern game doesn't allow a great deal of time for Premier League managers anymore."
Barnes, an assistant chief executive of the PFA, hopes that Ince will not have to wait as long as John Barnes for another management opportunity. Barnes lost his job as head coach at Celtic in February 2000 and did not take another managerial position until September of this year, when he was appointed manager of the Jamaican national team.
"It was encouraging that he [Ince] was given the chance in the first place. What mustn't happen now is a John Barnes- style scenario, where, as a black manager, he couldn't get back into the game after a high-profile sacking at Celtic."
Bobby Barnes, offering the former Manchester United, Liverpool and Internazionale midfielder the backing of the PFA, predicted Ince would make a return to the game: "I know Paul and he's a resilient character. He needs to pick himself up, dust himself down. We'll ensure we do what we can to help him quickly get back. This decision doesn't mean he's become a bad manager overnight.
"To be fair to Paul, on-field factors went against him. He lost his two best players [Brad Friedel and David Bentley] and his best striker, Roque Santa Cruz, has been on the sidelines."
