NEWS of Andy Todd's imminent departure from Ewood Park will come as little surprise to the vast majority of Blackburn Rovers fans.

From the moment he refused to go on the bench against Leeds United, the writing was on the wall.

History should have taught him that once you fall out with Graeme Souness, you're effectively dead in the water and there's simply no coming back.

In a way, it's a crying shame that Todd is no longer part of the club's future plans.

Before his bust up with Souness, he was arguably Blackburn Rovers' player of the season.

In a campaign when Rovers have hardly covered themselves in glory defensively, Todd was the one player who brought a level consistency to the back four.

This was easily his best season in a Rovers shirt and he would have been a handy player to have around next year.

But Graeme had little choice other than to show him the door given the way he reacted before the club's biggest game of the season.

How could Graeme trust him again after he was let down so badly in his greatest hour of need?

And what message would it have sent out to the rest of the squad if Todd was allowed to get away with what he did unpunished?

A club of Rovers' size can hardly afford to lose players of Todd's class for next to nothing but Souness had to make a stand, even if it now means having to find a replacement this summer.

It's not going to be easy finding a player of Todd's undoubted quality on the cheap and the infuriating thing is that money could have been used to strengthen other areas.

I can only think Graeme must have someone in mind already so I guess it's a case of 'watch this space'.

In the meantime, Rovers seem to have coped alright without Todd judging by recent results.

Last Saturday's magnificent 1-0 victory over Manchester United was the perfect way to secure our place in the Premiership.

Let's hope the players now finish the season with a flourish against Tottenham tomorrow and then Birmingham next week.

Eleventh place is still up for grabs and with each place worth around £500,000, we can't afford to take our foot off the gas now.