Ince predicts Capello's successor will be an Englishman

Published on Monday 1 December 2008 23:20

BLACKBURN Rovers manager Paul Ince believes the homegrown managers in the Barclays Premier League will be pressing for the chance to succeed Fabio Capello when the Italian's spell as England coach comes to an end.

Ince, who claims he will only spend ten years as a manager, is in his first season as a top-flight boss and has noticed a distinct change in the mentality of Premier League stars since his own playing days.

He has observed a culture which means some players are overly concerned by "how much you can get, what you can have and what you can drive", but believes the national team remains in a healthy state.

And Ince, who won 53 caps for England, said: "I've captained my country so it would be great to manage it.

"That's the exciting thing about being a British manager in the Premier League, and it's a shame sometimes, it's a sad indictment on our game that we have to go and look overseas.

"Now we've got the likes of myself, Tony Adams, (Gareth) Southgate coming through. In times to come, it might give us a chance to actually manage our country."

While Adams' Portsmouth side are in the top half of the table, Southgate's Middlesbrough team are in lower mid-table while Ince's Blackburn are one place off the bottom.

Speaking on the BBC's Inside Sport programme, broadcast last night, Ince revealed his initial experiences of life back in the Premier League, after spells in charge of Macclesfield and MK Dons.

He revealed there are now "a lot more egos, personalities, characters" in the league, than he ever experienced as a player.

Ince added: "I'm not going to tarnish all players with the same brush, but some players it's about how much you can get, what you can have and what you can drive and what you can live in. My time ... it was all about what we can win, what we can actually achieve."

With Rovers languishing in the bottom three, Ince is determined to lead his team to safety but admits Blackburn are unlikely to challenge at the top end in the near future due to their financial constraints.

He said: "I feel that you just want to stay in this league, because we haven't got the financial clout to do anything else and push forward."

Asked about spending the next 20 years as a manager, Ince, 41, said: "It won't be 20 years. It'll be 10 years and that's it."