“It doesn’t scare me coming to Blackburn, it doesn’t scare me going anywhere. There’s no fear factor about what I do.” – Paul Ince.

Kudos to the Blackburn Rovers board for appointing a black English manager to the Premier League at last. Much has been made of the colour of Paul Ince’s skin in the days following his appointment at Ewood Park.

With every day that passes in what is likely to be a frenzied summer transfer market, the task awaiting Ince seems to become more daunting. The sterling work done by Welshman Mark Hughes has undoubtedly put his former Manchester United team-mate in a tough position.

Qualification for Europe, top-10 Premier League finishes and two FA Cup semi-finals leave Ince with a difficult task to keep Blackburn progressing. This has been further exacerbated by news that the Lancashire club have been officially put up for sale and are not relying on the funds of the late Jack Walker that gave them such a leg-up in previous seasons compared to other clubs of their stature.

This means that Ince is likely to start the new season without the services of David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz. Bentley has already spoken of his desire to leave Ewood Park and, if the Sunday papers are to be believed, both Arsenal and Manchester United are targeting lanky former Bayern Munich striker Santa Cruz.

Thankfully, Ince does have a solid defence to fall back on, with Brad Friedel providing much-needed experience in front of Cherno Samba and Ryan Nelsen. It is becoming abundantly clear that if Blackburn do sell Bentley and Santa Cruz, Ince can ill-afford to lose any of Rovers’ other big players, including Morten Gamst Pederson and Benni McCarthy.

Much of the talk of black managers has failed to mention Jean Tigana’s reign in charge of Fulham and the case of an English manager is much more important to the future of the English game.

As Jonathan Northcroft in the Sunday Times points out (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/blackburn/article4232062.ece), the last manager with an England cap to win the league was Brian Clough back in 1978. So, whilst Ince is yet again moving into uncharted territory for black ex-players, it is equally important that he is a success for the future race to be England manager.

The key to his Blackburn career will be how he negotiates the transfer market, something his predecessor did so well. And if all the reports are to be believed he won’t have much money to play with. If Bentley and Santa Cruz leave then the money coming in will have to be spent wisely.

Ince, who has never been shy about coming forward and who during his playing career never shirked a challenge, is taking on a mammoth task at Ewood Park and he is not only doing his bit for black players but also future England managers. He could also be the barometer for future clubs looking to promote from the lower leagues.

The Guv’nor will need all his confidence to get through this one.