Ewood Eye, with NICK SMITH

HAPPY New Year? Try telling that to Barry Ferguson!

No doubt still wincing, like the rest of us, with the excruciating pain of the shattered kneecap he suffered at Newcastle on Sunday, all the Scot has to look forward to in 2004 is springtime - if not a lot longer - on the sidelines.

But in the unsympathetic business that football is, Rovers' attention must now switch to how they will face the rest of the season without the Scottish international.

Hardly perfect party preparation for when the clock ticks round to midnight later tonight.

But at least, between his move from Rangers and the end of 2003, Ferguson managed to shoe-horn in enough impressive performances to justify Graeme Souness's faith in him.

The unswerving loyalty the Rovers boss showed to his fellow Rangers legend had to be stronger than ever as Souness fielded constant questions about Ferguson's apparent struggle to settle in English football.

The one that sticks out for me came following the 4-3 defeat by Liverpool in the Carling Cup, in which Ferguson scored his first goal south of the border to prompt the question, "has he now got over the problems he had when he first came to the club?"

Souness addressed the press pack with typical frankness: "There's never been anything wrong with him and, with all respect to everyone in this room, I know a bit more about central midfield play than any of you."

It's a point impossible to argue against, and if someone of Souness's stature is a referee on your midfield CV, then an equally simple answer could easily have been, "what problems?"

But it was always unrealistic to expect Ferguson to have the same impact he had at Rangers, where he lifted all three domestic trophies last season and scored 18 goals - a tally that only seven players in the whole of the Premiership bettered in the same campaign.

The agenda at Rovers has always been very different, but he's lived up to it.

The aforementioned Liverpool game gave Ferguson the chance to showcase his talents in front of the Sky cameras and his performance convinced a watching nation that any reports of difficulty to adapt to in the English game were redundant.

And the fact that he has only failed to make the starting line-up for one Premiership game since August (a miserable first half display at Leeds) proves what a vital cog in the wheel he is to the midfield machine.

The hour that passed without him on the pitch at Newcastle should give Souness and his team encouragement they can cope without Ferguson.

With Tugay showing glimpses of his best in recent weeks and the ever-dependable Garry Flitcroft, perhaps Rovers won't need a New Year revolution after all.

But whatever rays of light the imminent transfer window may let in, one thing's for sure - any Barry Ferguson equivalent will be hard to find.