F365 Opinion

Odds on championship: 500-1. Odds on relegation: 17-2

Manager: Paul Ince (since June). Odds on first out the job: 6-1

Last season: 7th, 58 points; UEFA Cup first round; FA Cup third round; Carling Cup quarter-finals

Ins: Paul Robinson (Tottenham, £3.5m), Carlos Villanueva (Audax Italiano, loan), Danny Simpson (Man Utd, loan), Robbie Fowler (Cardiff, free, on trial).

Outs: David Bentley (Tottenham, £15m), Brad Friedel (Aston Villa, £2m), Stephane Henchoz (released), Bruno Berner (released), Peter Enckelman (Cardiff, free).

It doesn't happen that often in the Premier League that a manager leaves one club to take another in the division. Steve Bruce left Birmingham for Wigan last season, but it's been a while since a manager moved between two top-half clubs.

Mark Hughes has upgraded - or so he hopes - from Ewood to Eastlands. And in comes his former team-mate, Paul Ince, via Macclesfield and Milton Keynes.

As the first black Englishman to manage in the top flight, Ince has attracted additional attention. It is a landmark, but should have no impact on how we judge his efforts at Rovers. Nor, of course, should it have any impact on how chairmen judge other black would-be managers - equality is about treating people as individuals. But Ince will know privately that if he is a success then at some level it will make it easier for other black managers, who remain disproportionately few in the league as a whole, bearing in mind the number of black ex-pros.

He comes into a difficult situation, inasmuch as Rovers have lost two of their top performers: Brad Friedel and David Bentley. Paul Robinson and Robbie Fowler are not replacements to have fans singing from the rooftops, either.

The sales have little to do with Ince, of course: the fact that Rovers would have to sell a key asset in Bentley was one of the reasons Hughes left for a club with more money (on the surface, at least). With Bentley gone, the midfield looks weak - what wouldn't Ince give for a player of his own calibre.

FourFourTwo's preview went to press before he or the star keeper was sold and the fan contributor said: 'Most important player: Brad Friedel is worth as many as a third of our points each season.' Robinson, meanwhile, has been busy costing his teams points of late. On the other hand, goalkeepers with reputations in the dustbin can recover: see how David James has resurrected his career since Robinson supplanted him with England.

It's not all bad news. £3m for the 37-year-old Friedel is decent business, I suppose. If there is one signing that Hughes can be most proud of it is Roque Santa Cruz, who pound for pound was the best new striker last season whatever the achievements of Fernando Torres. Matt Derbyshire will surely get more starts and, as a consequence, more goals. Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts complete a half-decent striking quartet.

The problems will come if Robinson does not settle quickly, because for years the Rovers defence have been able to rely on the man behind them, giving them the confidence required to be at their best. And what will Ince do then?

There has been talk of players unhappy with the manager's methods, so a winning start is imperative, at least at home - and the August Ewood fixture is against Hull, sandwiched between trips to Everton and West Ham. With Arsenal the visitors in early September, this is an awkward start, a test not just for Ince but for the rest of a new management team, including Nigel Winterburn.

If he is unable to strengthen between now and deadline day then doing three or four places worse than Hughes would be a decent-enough achievement - but that is never an easy sell to make to supporters or chairmen.

If there's a key to Ince's immediate future in management, then some good scouting in the next month and if need be in time for January is it. And a finish around 10th would be something to build on, for Blackburn and their 40-year-old manager, who has done such an excellent job in his first two posts, thoroughly earning this chance.

Phillip Cornwall