I CANNOT believe the issue of race has entered the the debate surrounding Paul Ince's tenure at Blackburn Rovers.

No matter what you think about Ince and if he should keep his job at Ewood, why has the colour of Ince's skin been brought into the equation?

When Juande Ramos was under pressure at Spurs, did anybody say that the reason he was getting so much flack was because he was Spanish? No.

It was because his team wasn't doing very well.

But both the Daily Mirror's Oliver Holt and the BBC's Jonathan Pearce have both suggested that one of the reasons Ince is being criticised after only a few months into the job is that Ince is black.

How ridiculous. How preposterous. How lazy.

I know the national media have to over-play things to either sell papers or stand out from the rest, but this is just taking it too far.

The reason Ince has been criticised is because he's had the mis-fortune to be following some very successful managers in recent times and he will always be judged, rightly or wrongly, against them.

Also, Rovers are second bottom of the Premier League and were dumped out of the Carling Cup by Manchester United's second-string.

Add to that, if Rovers were relegated they may struggle to bounce back given the current footballing climate.

It all adds up to the reasons why Ince has received a heap of flak.

I'm not saying it's right and I hope he can turn it around quickly, but to suggest that race is a reason why Ince is being criticised throws into question the morality of every person who dares criticise the Rovers manager.

It's scandalous and the only people who should be questioned are people peddling this drivel.