Senior Blackburn players were sceptical about Paul Ince's coaching and training methods from the day the former England midfielder first walked onto the training pitch at Brokhall.Several players have told Undercover Sport about the lack of professionalism that undermined Ince's stewardship.
Ince took over from Mark Hughes in June, but was fired on Tuesday after a disastrous run of six straight defeats.
One player said: "We were used to great organisation and scientific methods from Mark, but Incey's approach wasn't up to Premier League standards.
"I think the players at Macclesfield and Milton Keynes were probably in awe of him, but reputation alone isn't enough at the top level. We're used to high standards here and the players weren't afraid to tell Paul that things weren't good enough."
The unnamed players cites two examples that highlight the problems under Ince.
"There was one time when we were training and Paul was at the side of the pitch having a kickabout with his son. The lads weren't happy.
"One of them went up to him and said 'What the f*ck do you think you're doing? We've got a game at the weekend and you're having a kickabout in the park'.
"Then there was the time he had a day off without telling us and didn't turn up at training. Someone confronted him the next day, saying 'We didn't have a day off, so why did you?'
"Top players are cynical, in that they won't respect a manager just because he was a top player. Standards have got to be high or you've got no chance."
And the players weren't impressed with Ince's choice of lieutenants, Archie Knox, Ray Mathias and Nigel Winterburn.
"Archie's the old school sergeant major type," the player said. "Again, that doesn't cut with modern players. It might have when he was working with Fergie in the 80s, but it doesn't now.
"I remember when he told David Bentley to do 20 press-ups because he'd been stood there with his arms folded, and Bents just walked off.
"Ray's a great guy, a really nice bloke, but he's never worked in the Premier League before. And Nigel was our defensive coach, but he only came up twice a week from London.
"What can you learn in that time? He didn't seem to really know much about coaching in any case."
Hughes's reign, in contrast, was characterised by attention to detail, exhaustive analysis and scientific methods.
Ince's successor, Sam Allardyce, is more in the Hughes mould than Ince's, and the players seem to welcome his arrival.
"I think he'll do a good job and we're looking forward to playing under him," the player said.
"Things had to change and I'm glad they did."
