Blackburn Make Pro Licence Part of Ince Contract

The new Blackburn Rovers manager Paul Ince will be contractually obliged to earn his Uefa Pro License, the club's chairman John Williams confirmed today. Ince will need to gain the coaching accreditation within the window allocated by the Premier League. The former England midfielder was named as Mark Hughes' successor on Sunday despite not possessing the required qualifications to take over at a top flight club and made his first appearance in front of the media at lunchtime today.

Williams, who secured the kind of dispensation for Ince that has previously been granted to Gareth Southgate, Avram Grant and Glenn Roeder after negotiations with league officials, admitted Ince was formally bound to completing his training in the agreed period. "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," he said. "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 [at Macclesfield Town and MK Dons] and had been busy with that since he stopped playing and we gave the undertaking that Paul will [get the license]. Paul has signed a contract with Blackburn where that undertaking is a contractual term."

Asked if he had considered whether he might go on to become the first black England manager, Ince replied: "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."

The 40-year-old, who earned promotion from League Two and won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with MK Dons last term, added that his first priority would be to talk to in-demand pair David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz, who have been linked with big-money moves from Ewood Park. "I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into it and I want to keep my best players, David Bentley and Santa Cruz among them," he 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."