After receiving permission from the Premier League, Rovers appointed Paul Ince as Manager on 22 June 2008 and officially unveiled him in a press conference on 24 June 2008.

After a sterling career as a player, Ince began in management at Macclesfield, taking over the club in December 2006 while they were 7 points adrift at the bottom of the League 2 table. He had a record of 14-13-8 and engineered what was considered by many to be a tremendous achievement by keeping Macclesfield up.

After Macclesfield, Ince took over at Milton Keynes Dons and in his only season with the club won League 2 and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.