ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Blackburn 1 Liverpool 3THE DOCTRINE of regime change demands a tipping point and everything suggests that Paul Ince's Blackburn will reach theirs on December 20th at home to Stoke; this was not it.
There was a one-goal difference between Blackburn's fifth straight defeat and the 4-1 rout by Bolton that triggered the implosion of Roy Keane's rule at Sunderland but the reactions were entirely different. On Wearside there had been despair, a mass emptying of the Stadium of Light and recognition by the manager that he had lost control.
There was nothing of that in Ince. When he came in for postmortem at Ewood Park he carried the look of a cornered polecat. He talked of "exceptional performances from my players", of "the rubbish that has come from the papers" and that he has "five cup finals" to save his job.
Considering Blackburn have won only one significant cup final since 1928, it was not much of a rallying cry and as Ince, looking desperately uncomfortable, tried to extricate himself from his seat, his feet became caught in some microphone cables, he tripped, turned and swore. Then, realising the microphones were live, he put his hand to his mouth.
It might have been better had Ince done this at his pre-match conference. Had he donned a toga and run round the club's Brockhall training ground aping Kenneth Williams in Carry On Cleo shouting: "Infamy, infamy; they've all got it in for me," he could not have appeared less in control.
His claim that there was a media conspiracy against himself and Keane because they had once played for Manchester United sounded absurd at the time. And on reflection Ince seems to realise this.
Privately he recognises there is an ocean of difference between his circumstances and Keane's. He has not had around €80 million to spend on players nor has he had public backing from his chairman. Keane also did not have to deal with selling his best player, as Ince did with David Bentley, and the constant speculation that his best striker - Roque Santa Cruz - will be at Manchester City by mid-January. Ince thinks he has faced some tougher fixtures than Keane and with a thinner squad.
There are, however, other differences. When Keane resigned, a poll in the Sunderland Echosuggested he retained the support of around three-quarters of its readers; one in the Lancashire Evening Telegraphmay produce a different conclusion. At Old Trafford last Wednesday night, the away supporters - who at most clubs are more loyal that the home support - chanted "We want our Rovers back". When Robbie Fowler was introduced he was booed by both sets of fans.
They might be getting their Rovers back; the team of 1998-'99 who were relegated under another former Manchester United man, Brian Kidd, but here they received fierce backing from their fans and, until Xabi Alonso broke through Liverpool were neutralised.
However, there is a sense everything is coming to a head. When Morten Gamst Pedersen, who struck Liverpool's bar in the opening exchanges, was asked about Blackburn's upcoming fixtures he named them, in order, all the way to Newcastle on January 17th. None appears especially threatening but for Ince the first two, away to Wigan and at home to Stoke, look critical. And as Liverpool and Newcastle can attest, Stoke carry a bloody-minded quality to their play.
This was a game Liverpool stumbled through; a stumble that began the moment they reached the summit of the Premier League. At home they failed to beat both Fulham, who have never won at Anfield, and West Ham, whose last victory in the red half of Merseyside came when the Beatles wore suits and were still living there. And despite the scoreline, they did not convince here.
Robbie Keane endured the afternoon on the bench and, when Rafael Benitez did make an attacking substitution, he chose the 22-year-old Nabil El Zhar rather than the man he paid €22 million for, whose tally of league goals stands at two and who woke yesterday to headlines linking him with a return to Tottenham.
Having told the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, in the summer that he never wanted to play for the club again, it requires some imagination.
• Guardian Service
