Strange that another manager who's in as much (and probably worse) a quandry as Ince is or as Keane was, one Tony Mowbray, hasn't had as much as a sniff or consideration of concern as to his plight, but then when you're rock bottom of the Premier with little hope of extricating oneself from that precarious situation, and if that club is about as fashionable as a week-old brick of Weetabix left out in the rain (at least from a media point of view), or, indeed, if you're not a celebrated ex-Manchester United player-turned-boss, then it's a given the headlines won't be coming your way.

It's probably a sign of the 'regional hotbed' mentality of the London scribes. Down south it's all Harry-based chumminess, rich clubs and capital nightclub hoohah, up north, it's a strained soap opera with 'passionate' support, Toon 'ethos' and salt-of-the-earth histrionics.

The Midlands? Aston Villa apart, and the urges of some hacks for Wolves to get promoted so that the 'massive, historic club' phrases can be polished up and used on a weekly basis, there's nothing much that can be made of a deadwood area that gave the country Benny from Crossroads, Tiswas and the Golden Shot. Buggered, I think, is the phrase.

Mowbray pretty much engineered West Brom's voyage to the bottom of the table by missing out on those essential aspects needed for survival - striking and defending - to concentrate, with a stunning lack of naivety, on a highly commendable passing game that gets steamrollered every week. The principles of a game that urges the players to use their minds and imaginations, keep the ball on the deck and pass it like there's no tomorrow cannot be dismissed and is an admirable tenet to hold. But Mowbray has approached the Premiership's pitfalls and savage ability to punish even the most faintest bollock with all the integrity of a village idiot.

What's worse, with Ince and Keane the continuing focal points, his headaches and troubles (all nearly self-inflicted) are largely uncommented upon and forgotten by a dismissive media.

Do you stick or twist? Leicester have consistently got it wrong in recent years and the reward has been our first ever trip to the third division. Common sense says stability is the watchword, but if you appoint the wrong manager you need to get rid - for us, Peter Taylor and Ian Holloway could have been sacked earlier, while others might have turned things round given more time. Then again, they might not - the catch-22 is that you won't know if you've got a dud until it's too late.

It's not even as simple as whether they're a good or bad manager - Hodgson was a disaster at Blackburn, so far a big success at Fulham; Plymouth fans loved Holloway; Allardyce was superb for Bolton, dismal for Newcastle; Pardew, Dowie, the list goes on. So what is a beleaguered board to do?

As far as Ince goes, my opinion is that he jumped at the Prem too soon, and to a tough job at that - a club that had been punching above its weight. Career-wise it would have made more sense to carry on building his reputation at Franchise while looking out for a juicy Championship post. But these people have ludicrous self-confidence - just as a player moving to a bigger club won't be thinking he's going there to warm the bench, Ince wouldn't have considered that he might find it tough. He still has a far more substantial record than, say, Southgate or Tony Adams, but his outburst won't impress fans, board or players.

"Do you stick or twist? Leicester have consistently got it wrong in recent years and the reward has been our first ever trip to the third division. Common sense says stability is the watchword, but if you appoint the wrong manager you need to get rid - for us, Peter Taylor and Ian Holloway could have been sacked earlier, while others might have turned things round given more time. Then again, they might not - the catch-22 is that you won't know if you've got a dud until it's too late."

That's pretty much nailed the problem, and it speaks also of a silly kind of cod clairvoyancy on the part of some footballing media types to think that any boss, no matter how bad or lame his managerial CV is, will turn into a model of accomplishment given time - taking the Alex Ferguson model and thinking that it applies to almost everyone who can wave his arms about in the technical area. That's laziness incarnate. Any old hack would enjoy the benefits of a cushy job if given the sympathy and time that some pundits would readily confer upon them. Bryan Robson would still be employed, dragging down any club to a lower level while protecting himself with the mantra 'I need time'.

On the subject of Ince, I have to disagree that on the point that he wouldn't have found the Blackburn job tough. I think he would've done, accepting certain realities about it. But I think he would've expected the pains and teething problems of getting to grips with the top flight to subside and be a tolerable, sweatless job with little reason to lie awake with concern each night from then on.

So far the problems continue.