No longer the Guvn'r.........

Well,well,well, the Guvn’r has gone. Didn’t think it would have happened after yesterday’s proceedings. KO seemed to have chickened out, but today he took action. Not only was Ince Snr shown the door but so were Alex Rae and surprisingly Steve Thompson. Some fans think Thommo's sacking was a bit unfair considering the time he’s been at Bloomfield Rd. Personally I think Thommo should have moved on before now. KO for all his faults has stayed loyal to Thommo up until today, but I think he’s done the right thing. Why? Well for me, Thommo has developed his own little comfort zone at Bloomers and I honestly think he was the obstacle previous manager contenders had to negotiate. I think he might have been seen, rightly or wrongly by other prospective managers, as a spy in the camp for the chairman. I also don’t think despite what other fans say, he carried that much influence with the players. To me he was your typical

“Good Egg” type of a bloke. Honest, loyal and trustworthy but lacking that steely determination to take it to the next level as a manager. Well now he’s going to have to do something away from Bloomfield Rd. KO has used him as a temporary manager in the past, but I think he realised he’s not the one to be given the job permanently. So, I wish him all the very best and thank him for what he’s done, but it’s now time for him and us to go separate ways.

As far as the Paul Ince/Alex Rae departures, neither are going to be missed. Both have shown a complete lack of discipline, which has filtered down to the players. Ince has been the worst culprit having been banned for 5 games not only from the touchline but from the stadium. Something that’s never been heard of from a Blackpool manager in the past and hopefully never again. Privately, I think Tom Ince will be relieved his father has gone, because his form has never been the same since he took over. In the early days you could see the anxiety on Tom’s face when he thought he’d done something wrong on the pitch, because his father was quick to let him know he wasn’t happy. Last Saturday’s match led to a nasty confrontation between Tom and some of the fans, which is best forgotten by all concerned. Now, whether Tom moves on we’ll have to see. Apparently he has been in talks with a possible move to Monaco, but nothing definite as yet.

The managerial baton has now moved onto Barry Ferguson. He will be installed as the player/manager apparently until the end of the season. Not yet sure how this is going to go? After all Ferguson all though the current captain and a big voice in the dressing room has no previous managerial experience. Obviously KO has seen something in him to think he can do the job and it’s not the first time KO has installed a player in the manager’s role. He gave the job to Simon Grayson, who turned out to be quite successful in the role, only to be poached by Ken Bates and taken to Leeds Utd in a very acrimonious fashion.

But for the time being, I along with most, if not all fans are delighted to see the back of the “Guvn’r” and his assistant. They’ve gone and hopefully long forgotten. The fight back starts NOW. UTMP