Paul Ince back as MK Dons manager
Club confirm his return just a year after leaving
Friday afternoon
Paul Ince has been named as the new manager of MK Dons.
The 41-year-old former Dons boss has made a sensational return to the club just a year after he left for Blackburn Rovers.
The former England captain put pen-to-paper on a two year deal on Friday afternoon.
The Citizen had reportedly earlier today that Ince would be confirmed as the new boss of the League One club.
He will be unveiled at a press conference on Monday and then fly out to portugal to join the squad's pre-season training camp.
Chairman Pete Winkelman couldn't hide his delight at bringing back the man who sealed a famous League Two and Johnstone's Paint Trophy double for the club.
He said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to bring back Paul to Milton Keynes.
"He enjoyed incredible success during his first spell with us and showed himself more than worthy of a shot at the Premier League.
"Paul remains one of the most talented young managers in this country and I'm enourmously excited about what he can help us achieve."
Details of Ince's backroom staff are not yet known.
What do you think about Ince coming back? Send your thoughts to the sport team.
Friday morning
The Citizen understands that Paul Ince could be confirmed as the new manager of MK Dons today.
It's thought that the 41-year-old and chairman Pete Winkelman are in the closing stages of completing a deal that would see the former boss return to stadium:mk just a year after leaving for Blackburn.
Yesterday (Thursday)
The wait for a new manager of MK Dons could be over by the weekend.
Interviews have already taken place with more likely to follow at the end of the week.
Paul Ince remains clear favorite but chairman Pete Winkelman is thought to be exploring a number of different options and has already cut his original shortlist down to two or three, including the former Blackurn boss.
Ince is keen on a return and has been in talks with Winkelman over the length of the contract on offer.
It's thought Ince will only agree to a short-term deal that could see him walk away at short notice should a top flight club come in for him.
Any deal which sees Ince return to the club is also likely to include the return of assistant Ray Mathias. But he told the Citizen that he hasn't even spoken with Ince since Roberto Di Matteo left Dons for West Brom.
"I haven't seen him for a while now and I haven't heard from the football club either," Mathias said.
"I understand Paul is being linked with the job but it's really out of my hands."
But Mathias did stop short of ruling out a return to stadium:mk should Ince take over as boss, and said that any rumors about the two falling out after their spell at Blackburn were nonsense.
"I've worked with Paul for three years and had great success, but we'd just have to wait and see," he said.
"We've definitely not had a falling out though. I was at Blackburn for one day after he was sacked and that's it.
"We had a great time in Milton Keynes. The Dons fans loved us and we loved them."
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 5 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
