Ince : Glad To Be Here

Paul Ince gave his first news conference at midday on sky sports news and his message was clear : I'm glad I'm here.

'I am not scared of many things and there is no fear factor coming to Blackburn, it is exciting coming here. It means a lot [to make history] but it's also about that fact that I'm in the Premier League. Whether I'm black, white or whatever, I'm just proud to be in the Premier League.'

When prompted whether he felt he could be the first ever black England manager, Ince simply said: 'Not really. I am happy to be a role model. I am proud of where I come from, proud of my roots. I am proud to be at Blackburn and I don't know where it will take me. Only time will tell.

'The feedback I have had from fans has been very encouraging and I am looking forward to meeting the players. I played with Brad Friedel at Liverpool. He's exceptional goalkeeper and someone I can speak to who can tell me things about the club.

John Williams was then asked to say a few words about Paul Ince's appointment, speaking again to sky sports, John said...

'On behalf of the Premier League I would say that they rightly made us work very hard to get Paul and we had to give certain undertakings because quite clearly Paul didn't meet the requirements of the rule, it was a bit like that film, Groundhog Day. You'd wake up thinking Paul was a candidate and you go to bed thinking he's not. He couldn't finally be a candidate until dispensation was given.

'The case was made that Paul had served his apprenticeship in the lower leagues and had been busy with that since he stopped playing and we gave the undertaking that Paul will [get the licence].

'Paul has signed a contract with Blackburn where that undertaking is a contractual term. It's not something we'll just try and get done. He's under contract to Blackburn that he will complete that timeframe and we in turn have given that to the Premier League.'

Mr.Ince has also immediately signalled his intention to keep star players david bentley and Roque Santa Cruz at Ewood park next year. 'I want to keep my best players,' Ince said. 'We don't start [pre-season] until July 7 so I'll speak to those two players and to the rest of them and take it from there.'

A long article guys but great to hear him for the first time, Ince means business.

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