10 Liverpool Players Who Fell Out With The Manager
2. Paul Ince
As his illness grew more severe throughout the following years, Anfield boss Gerard Houllier became the pale imitation of the man who tore strips from Paul Ince - The Guvnor who was perceived as being the most powerful person at the club at the time. Liverpool had been leading an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Old Trafford in 1999 against their bitter north-west rivals when their captain meekly limped off with an injury, allowing Manchester United to fight back and win the game 2-1.
''Ince was the unwitting victim of the most brutal exhibition of management I have seen at Anfield. There was a team meeting a week later, and Ince decided, as club captain, it was time to take Houllier on. He questioned training methods and the response was furiously impressive. Fixing Ince with a stare, Houllier asked: Since the day I arrived, how many five-a-side have you won? Ill tell you - four in six months. Ince was bewildered, as we all were, by Houlliers memory and grasp of detail, and it didnt end there. Now perhaps you can explain to the lads what happened to you against United. When my team are 1-0 up at Old Trafford in a cup tie, I dont expect my captain to limp off with an injury. If he has to come off, I expect it to be on a stretcher. - Jamie Carragher, September 2008.
Ince had been well and truly put in his place, but the indignant England international was always going to try and take down the man who had humiliated him so, following a move to Middlesbrough in 1999.
''I want Houllier to get the sack and take (Phil) Thompson down with him. If they think people are no longer any use to them, they treat those people like dirt. Its disgraceful the way Houllier has treated me and other players at the club. He comes from France and I cant even believe hes managed a team before because he certainly doesnt seem to know how to. - Paul Ince,
Judging by Inces efforts at Blackburn Rovers nine years later, the same could be said for him.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
