Wrong decision.

Curryman

Well-known member
Not good enough and nothing to do with his old man.

It's probably not having many of his dads qualities that has stopped him from making more of his career.
He was certainly good enough when he first came into the Blackpool team but made a lot of wrong decisions subsequently.
It makes you wonder if he was joining us now as the same raw 19yr old would he have benefited from working under Critch and how different his career path would then have been? (I can't believe he's 29!!)
 
If you don't think his Dad made him worse, you weren't watching at the time. It's that simple. The difference was overnight.
 
Agree wasted career, someone got too ahead of themselves. His career hasn’t just took a turn for the worse since leaving us, it’s completely nosedived. How many clubs has he now been on the books with post a Bpool with virtually nothing to show for it 🤔. Who would take him now, surely not us. Sorry but washed-up and wasted. And as for abroad maybe now India or a lower league Chinese club🤣
 
If you don't think his Dad made him worse, you weren't watching at the time. It's that simple. The difference was overnight.

I was certainly watching at the time but just hold a different view to that of your good self.

I always thought he was overrated when he was with us.

The abilities that I believe he lacks that his father had were not his football abilities, he didn't appear to have the mentality to succeed and lacked his fathers hunger and determination.

I also think that his dad did very well when he managed us, I don't think that's the majority opinion on here but he had 7 players for the pre-season at Kendall and he got the most out of the resources he was afforded and although our results were poor before he was sacked, we still stayed up after the poor run continued under Barry Ferguson and I feel that Ince should be lauded for ensuring we stayed up that season and not criticised for the style of play.

I won't pretend that the style of play was attractive but it was never meant to be, it was about getting the most of what we had and it was effective.
 
He is a lot like Charlie Adam. Great for us, really not all that good for anyone else.
Charlie Adam was immense for Stoke for quite a few years and was pretty much first name on their team sheet in a squad that was doing consistently very well in the Premier League. Ince had every opportunity to go and play abroad. I had a friend working at the club at the time who I trust 100% and top European were all sending scouts to watch Ince. I remember getting messages about clubs like Schalke, Fiorentina and Werder Bremen. It all seemed a bit mad but Ince was a special player with us.
 
I was certainly watching at the time but just hold a different view to that of your good self.

I always thought he was overrated when he was with us.

The abilities that I believe he lacks that his father had were not his football abilities, he didn't appear to have the mentality to succeed and lacked his fathers hunger and determination.

I also think that his dad did very well when he managed us, I don't think that's the majority opinion on here but he had 7 players for the pre-season at Kendall and he got the most out of the resources he was afforded and although our results were poor before he was sacked, we still stayed up after the poor run continued under Barry Ferguson and I feel that Ince should be lauded for ensuring we stayed up that season and not criticised for the style of play.

I won't pretend that the style of play was attractive but it was never meant to be, it was about getting the most of what we had and it was effective.
I don’t disagree with you about PI as manager. Our best ever start to a season, with one of our most below standard squads ever. I don’t know if he’s a good manager but he did a good job for us until everything finally collapsed. Maybe my memories are tinted by the fact I was about 17 and in awe of him but certainly Tom’s attitude always seemed really impressive to me, and then that just flipped completely when his Dad came in and it got really weird really fast. The negative style of football obviously didn’t help.
 
I was certainly watching at the time but just hold a different view to that of your good self.

I always thought he was overrated when he was with us.

The abilities that I believe he lacks that his father had were not his football abilities, he didn't appear to have the mentality to succeed and lacked his fathers hunger and determination.

I also think that his dad did very well when he managed us, I don't think that's the majority opinion on here but he had 7 players for the pre-season at Kendall and he got the most out of the resources he was afforded and although our results were poor before he was sacked, we still stayed up after the poor run continued under Barry Ferguson and I feel that Ince should be lauded for ensuring we stayed up that season and not criticised for the style of play.

I won't pretend that the style of play was attractive but it was never meant to be, it was about getting the most of what we had and it was effective.
Agree totally with that, I couldn't Believe we were top of the League with the players we had.
I thought it was all about survival even when we were top of the League.
And Tom Ince was at the time our most exciting player!
But his form certainly suffered when his dad got the job.
 
Charlie Adam was immense for Stoke for quite a few years and was pretty much first name on their team sheet in a squad that was doing consistently very well in the Premier League. Ince had every opportunity to go and play abroad. I had a friend working at the club at the time who I trust 100% and top European were all sending scouts to watch Ince. I remember getting messages about clubs like Schalke, Fiorentina and Werder Bremen. It all seemed a bit mad but Ince was a special player with us.

Immense at Stoke? Really?
 
I don’t disagree with you about PI as manager. Our best ever start to a season, with one of our most below standard squads ever. I don’t know if he’s a good manager but he did a good job for us until everything finally collapsed. Maybe my memories are tinted by the fact I was about 17 and in awe of him but certainly Tom’s attitude always seemed really impressive to me, and then that just flipped completely when his Dad came in and it got really weird really fast. The negative style of football obviously didn’t help.

I would certainly agree with you in that the style of football that we adopted under his old man was not one that would best allow Tom to demonstrate his footballing ability.

I think it would have been rather poor if Paul Ince was to have adopted a style designed to allow his son to express himself more than ensuring that we got as many points as possible.

So if the failings in Tom Ince's career are all down to the tactics employed by his old man while he was in charge of us then I agree with those suggesting that his father ruined his career.
 
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I thought he went to Crystal Palace when he left us?

I wouldn’t say his career took a nosedive or he had a wasted career when he left like some on here are saying. He left us when we were sinking and has spent 10 years or so playing in the Championship and a couple in the Premier with the odd bit of Europa League thrown in. A lot of footballers would very happy with that.
 
Tom Ince before his father came for me was good enough to have joined a Liverpool/Man.Utd,I rated him that highly,the lad was flying. Shame that his career seems to be petering out,another in the long list of could of beens.
 
Olly had him as an inverted winger in the main. Cutting in off the right and scoring with his left foot.
Id still have him back as he’d fit nicely into our formation as long as his dad stayed well away
 
In the 30 years I’ve followed the pool the biggest waste of a special talent I’ve seen. As others have said when he was at the pinnacle of his game with us he really could of gone anywhere. His old man ruined his career.
 
Charlie Adam was immense for Stoke for quite a few years and was pretty much first name on their team sheet in a squad that was doing consistently very well in the Premier League. Ince had every opportunity to go and play abroad. I had a friend working at the club at the time who I trust 100% and top European were all sending scouts to watch Ince. I remember getting messages about clubs like Schalke, Fiorentina and Werder Bremen. It all seemed a bit mad but Ince was a special player with us.
Immense? It’d be an understatement to call that an overstatement.
 
Certainly should’ve gone abroad if only to reduce his father’s influence
Flattered to decieveMr ince

his dad probably interferredtoo much but Tom Ince for me was always an immature man and couldn’t wouldn’t make any decisions for himself

I have no sympathy for these guys they see a flash of gold and don’t give a jot about the game, fans or the importance of their social advantage & position

sort of person if you played with you’d avoid passing to. Something completely missing in their personality and outlook
 
Immense? It’d be an understatement to call that an overstatement.
7/8 goals from midfield in 2 9th place finishes for a team that weren’t exactly known for their goal scoring exploits ? A midfielder playing 30+ games a season, scoring 7+ goals in a team that finishes top 10 in the premier league... I don’t know how you measure a players ability and obviously he’s no Gerrarrd or Lampard but Charlie was immense for Stoke. Granted his Stoke career tailed off at the end but from joining from Liverpool he was a key man.
 
Tom Ince was superb for us . Under Ollie he was allowed to play with freedom and it really suited his game. He was a real fans favourite until the end when dad took over and his game went downhill but we also have to remember who he was playing with in that last season Neal Bishop etc
Paul Ince isn’t a bad manager per se he did what he could with the tools he had to get us points . The negative tactics didn’t help toms game at all and added to the extra pressure his dad being manager he just couldn’t perform
Would I have him back ? Only if Critch wanted him
 
Paul Ince not only dragged his son`s highly promising career way down from which it never really recovered he was also a terrible manager for us.One season we did start by fluking some 5 wins without playing well and even then all he could talk about was avoiding the drop,incredibly negative. We slid down the table but did not go down that season.

When he left us I think we`d had 8 or 9 defeats on the trot which repeated exactly what happened when he was previously sacked at Notts County. That must be a record, I doubt there`s ever been another manager that`s done that at 2 separate clubs. After leaving us it came as no surprise that he never managed another club. He was useless and by that time every other club had realized that too.
 
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Paul Ince not only dragged his son`s career way down he was also a terrible manager for us.One season we did start by fluking some 5 wins without playing well and even then all he could talk about was avoiding the drop,incredibly negative. We slid down the table but did not go down that season.

When he left us I think we`d had 8 or 9 defeats on the trot which repeated exactly what happened when he was previously sacked at Notts County. That must be a record, I doubt there`s ever been another manager that`s done that at 2 separate clubs. After leaving us it came as no surprise that he never managed another club. He was useless and by that time every other club had realized that too.

Many supporters were not happy with the playing style adopted by Paul Ince in the 2013/14 season but if you look at the goings on at the club and reconsider the results, I am not sure that folk should be as quick to knock him.

On 16 July 2013 before the 2013/14 season, Ince had 7 senior players available for a pre-season game at Kendall because the chairman had decided to wait until the last possible minute before signing new players because he believed that would give him/the club better value and he stated that he believed that footballers did not benefit from training together in pre-season.

Despite this handicap Ince's side managed to obtain 32 points from 26 matches before he was sacked.


2013/14 Blackpool (under Paul Ince) Played 26 Points 32

2013/14 Blackpool (under Barry Ferguson) Played 14 Points 14

2014/15 Blackpool Played 46 Points 26 Relegated from Championship

2015/16 Blackpool Played 46 Points 46 Relegated from League One


I wouldn't suggest that Ince should have been nominated for any manager of the year awards but he certainly got the most out of what was available to him and although his playing style was not the most entertaining and probably wasn't the style to enable his son to best demonstrate his talents, I think the primary objective of a manager should be to obtain as many points as possible and not to entertain or increase the value of any specific player.
 
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The style of play was awful,he was incredibly negative, he won 12 out of 42 games .Actually I did him a disservice above he actually lost 9 out of his last 10 games, his last game being a 2-0 .defeat by bottom club Barnsley.It had only taken him 11 months to drag the club down to that level.

He was actually appointed in February 2013 and went when Oyston on the advice of the BSA sacked him in late January 2014.

The season when we had only 7 players just before it began was actually when Riga had just been appointed as manager not Ince so your assertion S2020 is a load of codswallop..

There is an excellent article in the Football League Paper written after Blackpool sacked him headed Why he should not get another chance. It goes on to list his confrontational style and many flaws and suggest that the staff at several of the clubs he managed were highly relieved when he left.He previously refused to take his coaching badges and the disciplinary record of more than one club he managed including Blackpool were the worst in their respective leagues. He set a deplorable example by getting banned for 5 games for abuse of an official in one grounds tunnel.

He was a bad `un and that`s why Blackpool was his last job.A pity KOKO ever gave him the job in desperation at the time mainly just because he had been watching our games to see his son play.
 
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On 16 July 2013 before the 2013/14 season, Ince had 7 senior players available for a pre-season game at Kendall because the chairman had decided to wait until the last possible minute before signing new players because he believed that would give him/the club better value and he stated that he believed that footballers did not benefit from training together.
The style of play was awful,he was incredibly negative, he won 12 out of 42 games .Actually I did him a disservice above he actually lost 9 out of his last 10 games, his last game being a 2-0 .defeat by bottom club Barnsley.It had only taken him 11 months to drag the club down to that level.

He was actually appointed in February 2013 and went when Oyston on the advice of the BSA sacked him in late January 2014.

The season when we had only 7 players just before it began was actually when Riga had just been appointed as manager not Ince so your assertion S2020 is a load of codswallop..

There is an excellent article in the Football League Paper written after Blackpool sacked him headed Why he should not get another chance. It goes on to list his confrontational style and many flaws and suggest that the staff at several of the clubs he managed were highly relieved when he left.He previously refused to take his coaching badges and the disciplinary record of more than one club he managed including Blackpool were the worst in their respective leagues. He set a deplorable example by getting banned for 5 games for abuse of an official in one grounds tunnel.

He was a bad `un and that`s why Blackpool was his last job.A pity KOKO ever gave him the job in desperation at the time mainly just because he had been watching our games to see his son play.
 
The style of play was awful,he was incredibly negative, he won 12 out of 42 games .Actually I did him a disservice above he actually lost 9 out of his last 10 games, his last game being a 2-0 .defeat by bottom club Barnsley.It had only taken him 11 months to drag the club down to that level.

He was actually appointed in February 2013 and went when Oyston on the advice of the BSA sacked him in late January 2014.

The season when we had only 7 players just before it began was actually when Riga had just been appointed as manager not Ince so your assertion S2020 is a load of codswallop..

Yes, the style was not the most attractive but I think results are more important than entertainment.

He was appointed in February 2013 and sacked in January 2014 as you say, whether Karl Oyston sacked him on the strength of the BSA letter is something that nobody will ever know.

I have no doubt that we were short of players when Jose Riga was appointed as manager before the 2014/15 season as you suggest but before the Kendall game on July 16 2013, Ince only had 7 senior available players available for selection for the game and he had to make up the team for the match - a match that was supposed to be part of the first teams pre-season preparations - by including players from the youth squad.

No problem with us disagreeing and holding differing opinion on Ince's performance while he was with us but I don't feel that is fair for you to call my assertion regarding the 2013/14 pre-season to be a "load of codswallop" because it was fact based and not my opinion.
 
50s

Sorry it won't let me reply to your latest post (No38 above).

I certainly agree we with what you say there.

I am not overly bothered about poor disciplinary when a side is battling for their lives and needs must but the behaviour of Ince and his assistant Alex Rae at Bournemouth was absolutely disgraceful.

At the time many supporters may have not treated this very seriously and we all rocked up for the Wigan game with our silly Paul Ince face masks on but I read the transcript from the hearing shortly afterwards and I don't think Ince and Rae could have too disappointed if they'd been sacked straight after the findings.

I think they probably would have been sacked elsewhere but Karl Oyston probably didn't want all the hassle involved of sacking and replacing a management team.

I also agree with you in that Oyston probably appointed Ince because it was convenient.

I have no love for Ince, I just feel that he gets far too much criticism for what happened in the 2013/14 season and I think that he should be praised for the results because given the way the club was being run at the time, we probably should have been relegated that season and I think that Ince's input helped ensure that we managed to delay the inevitable.
 
1950s totally agree with your posts. Remember being in majorca and reading the match report against.. Watford? it sounded like we scabbed a win and sure we went top of the league.

But PI refusing to sub his son when he clearly went shit when he arrived was diabolical. And he certainly never helped his career.

But he scored some great goals for us and like others said was superb under ollie.
 
Backing the Spanish against the English? You'd be at home on the other forum 😉

Many supporters were not happy with the playing style adopted by Paul Ince in the 2013/14 season but if you look at the goings on at the club and reconsider the results, I am not sure that folk should be as quick to knock him.

On 16 July 2013 before the 2013/14 season, Ince had 7 senior players available for a pre-season game at Kendall because the chairman had decided to wait until the last possible minute before signing new players because he believed that would give him/the club better value and he stated that he believed that footballers did not benefit from training together in pre-season.

Despite this handicap Ince's side managed to obtain 32 points from 26 matches before he was sacked.


2013/14 Blackpool (under Paul Ince) Played 26 Points 32

2013/14 Blackpool (under Barry Ferguson) Played 14 Points 14

2014/15 Blackpool Played 46 Points 26 Relegated from Championship

2015/16 Blackpool Played 46 Points 46 Relegated from League One


I wouldn't suggest that Ince should have been nominated for any manager of the year awards but he certainly got the most out of what was available to him and although his playing style was not the most entertaining and probably wasn't the style to enable his son to best demonstrate his talents, I think the primary objective of a manager should be to obtain as many points as possible and not to entertain or increase the value of any specific player.
Barry Ferguson was terrible, bringing in all his mates.
 
Barry Ferguson was terrible, bringing in all his mates.

I love Barry Ferguson to bits Mikey and I don't think he got the credit for his performances as a player for us but I'm not going to pretend that he did a great job when he took on the managers role for us.

In his defence, I would say that it can't have been easy working with Koko at the time and he did keep us up just - I still don't know where that performance at Wigan came from !!!! - but he was never going to be a contender for manager of the year.

He didn't do well at Clyde either, he's not doing too bad at Kelty to be fair but I'm not sure I could do a bad job there with the budget he has.
 
I was certainly watching at the time but just hold a different view to that of your good self.

I always thought he was overrated when he was with us.

The abilities that I believe he lacks that his father had were not his football abilities, he didn't appear to have the mentality to succeed and lacked his fathers hunger and determination.

I also think that his dad did very well when he managed us, I don't think that's the majority opinion on here but he had 7 players for the pre-season at Kendall and he got the most out of the resources he was afforded and although our results were poor before he was sacked, we still stayed up after the poor run continued under Barry Ferguson and I feel that Ince should be lauded for ensuring we stayed up that season and not criticised for the style of play.

I won't pretend that the style of play was attractive but it was never meant to be, it was about getting the most of what we had and it was effective.
Before he was sacked, we lost 9 on the trot and never looked like getting anything out of those games. It was depressing.
 
Before he was sacked, we lost 9 on the trot and never looked like getting anything out of those games. It was depressing.

Please don't get me wrong Wiz, I'm not saying we were great in the slightest.

I'm saying given the resources available to Ince and considering the way the club was being run at the time, I think he did well and certainly far better than many give him credit for - probably because of lack of entertainment - and 32 points from 26 games (or something along those lines, I could be wrong ?) was not a bad haul in the circumstances.
 
Career ruined by his dad?
Notice his dad never been asked to manaanother club!
Just criticises others!
 
Charlie Adam was immense for Stoke for quite a few years and was pretty much first name on their team sheet in a squad that was doing consistently very well in the Premier League. Ince had every opportunity to go and play abroad. I had a friend working at the club at the time who I trust 100% and top European were all sending scouts to watch Ince. I remember getting messages about clubs like Schalke, Fiorentina and Werder Bremen. It all seemed a bit mad but Ince was a special player with us.
It's not hard to believe when you consider he got 18 goals in the Championship as a winger, at the age of 20/21.

I also agree with you on the Adam comment, he carved out a decent Premier League career after leaving us. He played in the Premier League for nearly a decade!
 
Please don't get me wrong Wiz, I'm not saying we were great in the slightest.

I'm saying given the resources available to Ince and considering the way the club was being run at the time, I think he did well and certainly far better than many give him credit for - probably because of lack of entertainment - and 32 points from 26 games (or something along those lines, I could be wrong ?) was not a bad haul in the circumstances.
That's fair.
 
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