AT THE end of a week in which the demands of the game gnawed insidiously at its managers’ souls, Roy Keane went back to dog-walking and Paul Ince appeared ready for padded-cell pacing. Before this game Mark Pougatch, the anchor normally viewed as BBC Radio’s voice of moderation prefaced a discussion on whether we expect too much from our young managers with the stinging rhetorical question: “If Blackburn lose today, will Paul Ince be out of a job?”

If Ince noticed the gathering of media of a carrion-favouring variety, then he could hardly be surprised. A more experienced head would surely not have made the injudicious remarks he did on the eve of the match: “People are out to get Keane — and me”. His rationale for that being that people don’t like him and Keane as managers because they weren’t liked because of their snarling demeanour on the pitch. Even if it were true, it really didn’t need articulating by the rookie Blackburn manager.

Perhaps it is understandable that he should harbour suspicions. As Woody Allen once said: “Paranoia is knowing all the facts.” It is ten league games without a victory now for Blackburn and almost three months since they last won at home. It is inevitable that his capacity for the job has been questioned. Ince will also be aware that the reality of the Premier League is that panic can swiftly afflict the most honourable of club custodians. Whether that all should be the basis of him having his employment terminated after a mere 15 league games is another matter. The board is said to be split in that regard. Last night the 41-year-old showed no inclination to be proactive.

Ince wants time for young managers like him to develop, but that almost quaint desire runs contrary to a elite football culture that demands swift success, and woe betide the threat of failure, with all the financial implications.

Yesterday’s defeat by a Liverpool side challenging for the title must be placed in context. A win or draw yesterday would always have been a bonus, and Rovers actually performed with far more confidence than their plight suggested they would. Indeed Ince, anxious to counter suggestions of training ground unrest, reflected: “We haven’t won, but this has put a smile back on my face. We need to stick together.”

He now knows, failing an early intervention by the board, that the real examination starts. The next five fixtures scarcely represent a festive box of horrors. By implication, Ince acknowledges that the period will be the making or breaking of him as a Premier League manager.

Like it or not, any protege of Alex Ferguson going into management does so under particular scrutiny. It is almost as if it bestows upon them a certain stamp of authenticity. In truth, though, like in bloodstock, some Fergie influence in your footballing pedigree is no bad thing, neither is it a guarantee of success.

Though, unlike Keane, Ince served an apprenticeship of sorts with a season each at Macclesfield and MK Dons before being thrust into the unforgiving waters of the top flight — in which, this season, half of the clubs are vulnerable to the threat of relegation — that can hardly be considered doing your time. Times have changed, but many years ago Martin O’Neill sat in his tiny Wycombe office, and explained how he would refuse to entertain overtures until he was ready. Sure, the Aston Villa manager has made mistakes over years, but surely his progress should have served as a model by many of those who have followed.

Rovers are not known as possessing a trigger-happy mentality. It was a brave decision to appoint a man untested at anything like this level. Though reportedly investigating possible successors, they will surely discard him reluctantly.

On reflection, it was not a bad time to play Liverpool, who started the day in unfamiliar circumstances, lording it over the rest of the league, but uncertain quite how to deport themselves. In the first half they were curiously lacking in ambition. Out of sorts Robbie Keane, scorer of only two league goals, was relegated to the bench and Dirk Kuyt was a lone front-runner. Early on, Kuyt eased Yossi Benayoun through, but the Israeli was foiled by a suberly-judged challenge from Liverpool old-boy Stephen Warnock.

That was about all we saw from Liverpool as an attacking force in a first half in which Rovers were unfortunate not to establish a lead. Morten Gamst Pedersen strode forward and unleashed a drive that required Pepe Reina’s extravagant reflexes to lift on to the bar, and away. Then the Dane’s free kick forced Reina to shovel the ball away past his post.

Rafa Benitez’s men seized their chance after the interval, although it was a while coming, Paul Robinson saving from both Xabi Alonso and Gerrard. Then a move involving Benayoun, Gerard and Kuyt, culminated with Alonso forcing the ball under the former England goalkeeper. .

Roque Sanya Cruz headed wide as Rovers retaliated, Rovers were lanced again when Benayoun turned Warnock and scored from an acute angle. Santa Cruz’s header gave Rovers hope, only for Gerrard to give the scoreline a more flattering aura than the performance merited.

A further problem of many building up for Ince, of course, is the uncertainty over Santa Cruz’s future. He may depart in January. In the meantime the best you suspect Ince can hope to do is buy time in the weeks until then.

BLACKBURN ROVERS: Robinson 7, Ooijer 5, Samba 6, Nelsen 6, Warnock 5, Emerton 6, Andrews 6, Tugay 7 (Vogel 84min), Pedersen 7 (McCarthy 81min), Santa Cruz 6, Derbyshire 6 (Treacy 90min)

LIVERPOOL: Reina 7, Arbeloa 6, Carragher 7, Hyypia 6, Insua 6, Benayoun 8 (Riera 87min), Mascherano 7 (Leiva 83min), Alonso 7, Babel 6 (El Zhar 63min), Gerrard 7, Kuyt 7