PAUL Ince says he is the man to turn around Pool’s fortunes.
The 45-year-old was named at Pool’s new boss yesterday, after meeting his new players for the first time.
While he may be new to the job, he’s spent 14 months watching his son Tom play for the Seasiders and is more than aware of the situation at Bloomfield Road.
He was at the club’s Squires Gate training ground to take training yesterday and will take charge of the side for the first time against Leeds tomorrow.
And after a season of turmoil off the pitch, Ince says now is the time to sort things out.
“I think it’s time for everyone to pull together now,” he said.
“You look at the way the results have gone, it’s time to turn things around.
“We haven’t had back-to-back wins since August, which is amazing considering the talent we have in our squad.
“It’s the time we all pull together, get the fans on our side and hopefully we’ll all get to where we want to get to.
“But it will take time.”
Ince has been out of work for 22 months after leaving Notts County.
The former Manchester United and Liverpool midfielder has used his time wisely, studying towards his pro-licence coaching badge and watching games.
And despite being out of the game for so long, his expectations haven’t changed.
He said: “We have to be realistic.
“I know it can be hard for the fans sometimes, but I try to say it how it is.
“We have expectations, and high ones because the club has been in the Premier League.
“They came so close to getting there again last year, but there are 14 other clubs who have that ambition too.
“It’s very hard to get out of this league.
“At the moment we need to get to those 50 points.
“We need the support of the fans, like they’ve given the club all season.
“Once we get to the first target of 50 points, then we’ll see what we can achieve.”
Ince met his squad officially for the first time yesterday, but revealed he spoke to the players in the dressing room following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Ipswich.
“I spoke to the players after the game on Saturday, after what was a really disappointing result,” he said.
“Especially when you consider Ipswich only had two shots in the whole game.
“We didn’t take our chances in the first half and we were punished.
“I felt it was important to do that on Saturday.
“I didn’t want to have to come in on the Monday, have a big meeting and confusing everyone.
“So it was good to have a chat.”
Ince arrived at Bloomfield Road on his own, but he’s expected to be naming two backroom staff - one being former Sunderland and Rangers midfielder Alex Rae, who he worked with at MK Dons.
“Hopefully in the next couple of days I can add to my backroom staff,” Ince added.
“Thommo has been fantastic here while he’s been in charge, and we can’t forget that.
“It’s easy to think that because we are bringing someone else in that Thommo will be getting pushed aside.
“That’s not the case.
“At the moment it’s me and Thommo and maybe Alex if he comes in.
“It’s not been easy for Thommo, but he’s done a great job here.
“He’s with me at the moment and hopefully that will be the case for a while.”
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