SOCCER/English FA Cup Third round:Paul Ince has criticised English football chairmen for failing to offer black British managers the opportunity to work at the higher levels, claiming that their reluctance may be "a generational thing".
The former England midfielder, League Two's manager of the month after hauling Macclesfield Town off the bottom of the table, takes his side to Chelsea tomorrow in the third round of the FA Cup having reiterated his desire to become the first black Englishman to manage in the Premiership.
His frustration at failing to secure a role at Wolverhampton Wanderers last summer resurfaced yesterday, though he remains baffled as to why clubs in the top echelons have apparently shied away from appointing black managers.
"Most chairmen (of English clubs) are 65 or 75, so maybe it's a generational thing. Maybe black managers will have more of a chance with foreign owners coming into the game, people who don't really see this as an issue.
"No one ever talked about the likes of Keith Alexander and Leroy Rosenior (when jobs became available). Keith did extremely well at Lincoln, got them into the play-offs three times, but no one's willing to give them a chance to go higher. I can't understand why not.
"Maybe I'm the one now to take it on and be that first Premiership manager. The Wolves job would have been ideal. The fans wanted me, the players wanted me, everyone wanted me but for some apparent reason I didn't get it. At Macclesfield the owner's from Iraq and all he wants is this club to stay in this division. I feel wanted at this club, which is why I'm working my nuts off to make sure we stay up."
Ince was the first black man to captain England, an achievement of which he remains fiercely proud, and endured racial abuse in Italy after leaving Manchester United to join Internazionale. "When I arrived in Italy there weren't a lot of black players - I was there, George Weah was there - and all of a sudden there was an influx of black players who came in, from France or Africa," he added.
"When I captained England there were a lot of black players coming up from the ghetto so it felt like I was a kind of figurehead for black people to get into football.
"I've spoken to Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand, great footballers who have since gone into the media. I chose different. I felt that after having such a great career, I wanted to put something back.
"It's crazy that we're still talking about race issues these days. Other countries have moved on, yet we seem to have our heads stuck in the sand. Look at (Jean) Tigana and (Ruud) Gullit - they've managed in the Premiership, but they're not English, are they? We need to move on from this."
Guardian Service
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)