Paul Ince has been confirmed as boss after 72 hours of constant speculation over his seemingly imminent arrival.
It certainly seems nice to have him back and the questions at the press conference should be interesting. Knowing Incey there’ll be lots of new faces in soon (most of them midfielders probably!) and the team should be looking very tasty come Hartlepool on the opening day.
At the same time I’ve chanced upon an article regarding Roberto di Matteo. It was a touch annoying for him to jump ship after Winkelman took such a gamble on him a year ago, and offered him a long term relatively quickly after di Matteo was having success.
The article has changed my opinion of the saga a bit.
“I’m very grateful to MK Dons and the chairman for letting me go to take up this opportunity. The chairman had to be brave last season to give me a chance and it worked out well for both of us.”
I get the feeling his departure (and the compensation as a result) was a bit of mutually benefical agreement. Di Matteo is happy at a West Bromwich Albion where fans give their manager a lot of support, a la Tony Mowbray. Winkie is happy because he has a large six-figure sum to play with in pre-season, and because he had a swift replacement waiting in the wings.
If that is the case, then whole thing is pure business, and nobody has been particularly harmed. (Except, perhaps, West Bromwich Albion!)
