As Kurt Cobain put it, “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you”. It is the perfect soundbite for these unforgiving times in the Barclays Premier League, in which the plight of Paul Ince at Blackburn Rovers illustrates the unpleasant reality of a mob culture that will not be sated until another vulnerable manager is hounded out of a job.

Ince is fortunate to be employed by a club where common sense and pragmatism abound, with no desire to feed the hunger of a baying mob, whether in the media or, more disturbingly in this case, within the sport. The Blackburn board has not given up on him and appears unlikely to do so before the trip to Wigan Athletic next Saturday, but, after this result, a fifth Premier League defeat in succession, Ince is only slightly more likely than a prize turkey to survive until Boxing Day.

Should his team slip farther adrift at the JJB Stadium, or with another failure at home to Stoke City a week later, an SOS is likely to go out to Graeme Souness or Sam Allardyce.

Ince did not feel like sticking around after defeat by a Liverpool team who took until the 69th minute to seize control. He had done most of his talking beforehand, betraying his growing anxiety when he claimed that there were “people out to get” him and Roy Keane, his former Manchester United team-mate, because of the type of players they were.

That, of course, was utter rot — the type of deluded nonsense that Blackburn supporters might recall hearing from Brian Kidd in the grim final days of his brief tenure at Ewood Park almost a decade ago — and, for those looking for signs of weakness in a troubled manager, Ince’s unease under an intense media spotlight will only increase the calls for his head.

Stopping only briefly in the post-match press conference, in which he talked up an “exceptional performance” and thanked the Blackburn fans for their support while again hinting at a conspiracy against him, Ince increased the perception of a manager who is struggling under pressure. But, followed to a stairwell for a slightly cosier chat, he insisted otherwise.

“Pressure is something you have to live with all the time in football,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me. I would rather take the brunt of it than the players because I know that we’re getting through this and progressing and we will come out of the other side.”

The reality, though, is that Ince cannot know whether he will still be in charge if and when Blackburn arrest their slump. His desire to “take the brunt” of the pressure is commendable in one sense, but not if, by doing so, he erodes some of his authority.

Blackburn played well at times on Saturday and would have taken a first-half lead but for José Manuel Reina’s superb save from Morten Gamst Pedersen, but, for all his claims that they were exceptional, there is something not right about his team. It does not appear to be anything more sinister than a loss of confidence — understandable after three points from ten matches — but a rot is in danger of setting in, if indeed it has not already. As a grim-faced Pedersen said: “The table doesn’t lie.”

Someone, presumably Rafael Benítez, should tell that to Liverpool’s players. This victory, after consecutive 0-0 draws at Anfield, kept them on top of the league, yet they remain alarmingly inhibited at times. After Xabi Alonso gave them the lead they were comfortable, with Yossi Benayoun and Steven Gerrard scoring either side of Roque Santa Cruz’s 86th-minute consolation, but just about every Liverpool match these days is a war of attrition.

More often than not, they prevail, but, with an ingrained sense of caution and with Fernando Torres still missing, there is always the risk that, as against Fulham and West Ham United, it will not be Liverpool’s day.

Andrea Dossena, Albert Riera and Robbie Keane were bought to give them that extra title-winning dimension, but their impact has been negligible, with all three left out of the starting line-up at Ewood Park. Benítez, the Liverpool manager, suggested that these three, along with Javier Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres, would make far bigger contributions in the second half of the season and that there is plenty of room for improvement in his team. For now, they keep grinding out results — but this, after all, is a results business, as the Blackburn board is only too aware.

Blackburn (4-4-2): P Robinson 7 - A Ooijer 6, C Samba 6, R Nelsen 6, S Warnock 6 - B Emerton 5, K Andrews 5, Tugay Kerimoglu 6, M G Pedersen 6 - R Santa Cruz 5, M Derbyshire 6. Substitutes: B McCarthy (for Pedersen, 82min), Vogel (for Tugay, 85), Treacy (for Derbyshire, 90). Not used: J Brown, D Simpson, C Villanueva, R Fowler. Next: Wigan (a).

Liverpool (4-1-4-1): J M Reina 7 - Á Arbeloa 6, J Carragher 7, S Hyypia 7, E Insua 7 - J Mascherano 7 - Y Benayoun 7, X Alonso 7, S Gerrard 7, R Babel 5 - D Kuyt 6. Substitutes: N El Zhar 5 (for Babel, 63), Lucas Leiva (for Mascherano, 83), A Riera (for Benayoun, 88). Not used: D Cavalieri, D Agger, A Dossena, R Keane. Next: Hull (h).

Referee: A Marriner Attendance: 26,920