PAUL INCE AND TONY CARR: THE CONNECTION

1980 – After seven years working for West Ham part-time, former Hammers player Tony Carr joins the club on the coaching side full-time. That year, he first sets eyes on a 12-year-old Paul Ince

 

1986 – Tony Carr is pleased to see his FA Youth Cup winners like Tony Cottee make a first team impact. Making his debut alongside them is a teenage Ince

 

1989 – Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson pounces for Ince. But his departure from West Ham is sullied when he is pictured in a Man Utd shirt before the deal has been completed

 

1995 – Ince gets his normal stick at Upton Park as Man Utd are held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham on the final day of the season to hand the championship to Blackburn

 

West Ham fans have long memories. But while they may still be bitter about the way Paul Ince joined Manchester United 15 years ago, Hammers Academy Director Tony Carr is proud in a parental way about the career his protégé has gone.

 

Ince’s Wolves face West Ham in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday but Carr doesn’t blame the player for being photographed in a Man Utd top when he left Upton Park.

 

"It wasn’t Paul’s fault – he was badly advised," says Carr, who has helped develop the likes of Paul Allen, Tony Cottee, Joe Cole and Glenn Johnson in hs 31 years with the club.

 

We have seen with Saha that when Manchester United come calling, it is impossible for a player to resist. Nobody at West Ham holds anything against Paul Ince, we are fantastically proud of what he has done; winning trophies and captaining his country."

 

Carr can still remember clearly the day Ince arrived for his first day’s training. "He was a very confident and talented young boy from Barking and Dagenham, he could score goals, break forward, tackle.

 

"The only question then was whether he could control his temper to make it at the top. But he’s proved a great player, nobody can have a career as long as his without being a very good player.

 

"We know at West Ham that we bring a lot of young players to the fore and the gifted ones get picked up by other clubs. We would like them to be in the West Ham team for many years but it’s not always possible."

 

The current generation of West Ham youngsters face Chester-Le-Street in the fourth round on Monday. The non-leaguers have already put out three league clubs including Derby.

 

Carr isn’t sure yet if his current crop is as good as in past years and doesn’t like to single out the best individuals at this stage of their development.

 

But he has happy memories of the FA Youth Cup, including winning in 1981. "The funny thing about that was one of our team Paul Allen had already won The FA Cup as a 17-year-old. He did it the wrong way round – he won the FA Cup first in 1980 and then the Youth Cup with us the following year.

 

"We had a schoolboy called Tony Cottee who played in the semi-final and another lad Alan Dickens also played, he went onto be a West Ham first-team player and moved on to Chelsea."

 

Although Carr is uncertain what Ince will do after playing, "he doesn’t have to work but you can’t sit indoors all day so he might fancy being a manager", his own plans are more clearcut.

 

"I’ve been with West Ham 31 years. I don’t know if I can manager another 31 but I hope to be around for a few more years yet."