The pressure is building on Blackburn Rovers' manager Paul Ince ahead of his side's clash with Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium on Saturday.
Ince's Rovers have not won in ten games, and should a victory continue to elude them, then the Rovers' board's reluctance to sack a manager appointed less than six months ago might well be reviewed.
Ince has claimed this week that he is finding the job harder than he should due to an antipathy held by the world in general, and certain sections of the media in particular, against former players of Manchester United. Interestingly, his managerial opponent on Saturday, Steve Bruce, played alongside Ince at Old Trafford. So did Ince's predecessor at Ewood Park, Mark Hughes.
Hughes, now manager at Manchester City, has spoken out against Ince's claims, surmising instead that perhaps the pressure is getting to one of the Premier League's newest managers at last.
"You get judged on being a professional manager rather than your ties with former clubs, so I don't think that ever becomes an issue," said Hughes earlier, clearly sceptical about Ince's reasoning.
"It's certainly not something that I've experienced as a manager.
"But in terms of managers being under pressure, the coach gets parked in front of somebody else's door from week to week and this week it's Paul's turn. Maybe next week, it will be someone else.
"Paul is his own man, though, and he'll get the job done. He is a successful manager, he has moulded teams and he just needs to be given time."
And Hughes also believes that Ince has what it take to be a successful manager, and that the Londoner is fortunate to have a chairman at Rovers like John Williams.
"Paul has a great chairman in John Williams," Hughes added.
"The thing about John is that he will always back his manager and that's a great thing to have.
"No club wants to fall out of the Premier League but for a club such as Blackburn, maybe it would be more significant for them. I'm sure it won't happen, though, because a couple of back-to-back wins will very quickly change the outlook."
Ince had earlier reacted angrily to claims that his job was under threat, and claimed that Roy Keane had left Sunderland because people were out to get him because of his Manchester United past.
Funnily enough, it reminded some observers of the kind of paranoid remark reminiscent of Ince's mentor at United and one of the game's great bosses: Alex Ferguson. Ince clearly learned something from the master manager.
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