THERE is one burning question that I can't answer. Was the punishment given to Rio Ferdinand as severe as that given to Rovers fans on Saturday?

If his was severe, surely ours was inhumane. I doubt that the inmates of camp X-ray would have to put up with something like that.

Maybe the players have started to believe in all the positive stuff that has been written about them recently.

Two good wins and a good performance in defeat at Arsenal must have made them 'take their eye off the ball'.

Unfortunately, while their eyes may have been averted from the ball, the supporters' eyes have been fixed on a rather unhealthy looking league table. A table, that after Saturday's game, makes even more depressing reading.

It's hard to put your finger on what exactly went wrong on Saturday but the one thing I've noticed in all Rovers' poor performances this season is tempo, or lack of it.

If after five minutes there is no closing down and urgency to our passing it's going to be a long 90 minutes. At times our build-up play against Villa made the FA look decisive.

All a frighteningly ordinary Villa side had to do was basically out-work us and eventually the goals would come.

Not that work-rate was the only problem, the fact that we had no left-footed players on the pitch made us look as balanced as an Alex Ferguson post-match analysis.

Paul Gallagher became the sixth player to occupy the left midfield berth this season and Lucas Neill was chosen to fill the left back slot with Vratislav Gresko relegated to the bench.

Then Souey left Andy Cole and Garry Flitcroft on the bench after their suspensions had ended because the team was doing well in their absence.

So why was a place found for Lucas if that was the case, and why was he shunted into a position that is quite alien to him?

I know Souness is a big fan but to totally re-shape the team to accommodate him seems extremely strange.

Surely there's a case for the recruitment of a left-sided player in the transfer window.

The manager labelled this performance the worst by far since he's been at Rovers.

I couldn't agree more, but one person who'll be tearing his hair out at the timing of such a display would be chief executive John Williams.

At the arranged forum last week, he talked quite candidly about the stark problems ahead if we don't significantly add to our fan-base.

He could have done with a great home performance to alert the missing thousands.

Instead, he got something that makes a Saturday afternoon with the wife at the Trafford Centre seem alluring.

You can bet that a lot of casual fans will prefer the cold turkey on Boxing Day to an afternoon's 'entertainment' against free-scoring Middlesbrough anyway.

Here's hoping you all get what you wish for this Christmas - all I want is three points!