Save our season!

For on the day the 30-year-old striker put pen to paper on the most lucrative deal in the club's history, Rovers officially got sucked into a relegation scrap after Malcolm Christie sent them spinning to a fourth straight home defeat.

And now Souness has begged the former Manchester United star to 'Save Our Season' as he contemplates the prospect of an anxious start to the New Year.

Christmas is all about the arrival of a Saviour, and Cole's dramatic entrance here could hardly have been more timely as he swept into a specially convened post-match press conference with all the aura of a modern day Messiah.

Without a home win since the 7-1 demolition of West Ham in October, Rovers urgently need an injection of craft and guile up front if they plan to breathe more easily come April and May.

And Souness believes Cole is the man to provide that rapier-like cutting edge after persuading him to part company with the Premier League champions.

For, while the former Newcastle United star was signing on the dotted line in an office buried deep in the bowels of the Blackburn End, he must surely have heard the alarm bells ringing loud and clear as Christie became the latest man to storm the fortress which used to be Ewood.

It was another hammer blow in what has turned out to be a truly disastrous December but, with Cole now on board, Souness hopes his arrival will trigger a change in fortunes during the difficult months ahead.

"I've got a very different feeling today to the one I had after we lost to Sunderland," said Souness. "We didn't play at all against them but I thought we performed a lot better today.

"We dominated things, had the chances but once again we were guilty of not taking them and this is why we've got Andrew here -- to turn those chances into goals. So it was a very frustrating afternoon but the biggest frustration I felt was towards the referee and his assistants.

"I felt we should have had two penalties and I can't tell you how frustrated I feel at the way he handled the game. I thought he was minging."

Souness's frank assessment of referee David Pugh's performance was not sour grapes on his part because the Merseyside official had an absolute stinker.

And, if Paul Durkin can be demoted to the Nationwide League for failing to book Graeme Le Saux, then Pugh should be banished to the Accrington Combination for not pointing to the spot when Craig Short was clearly chopped down in the box in the 49th minute.

Had Pugh and his officials done their duty then Rovers would have been handed a lifeline at a time when the game was slipping through their fingers.

But that's not to paper over the cracks because on the day I felt the home side simply didn't ask enough questions of a Derby side who were there for the taking.

With Tugay back to boss the midfield, Rovers at least looked more rigid than they did in the Sunderland debacle three days previously. But once the Rams got their noses in front, it was difficult to see where a goal was coming from.

Credit where credit's due, though, County boss Colin Todd was very astute in a tactical sense once Christie fired his side ahead, instructing wide men Luciano Zavagno and Francois Grenet to act as virtual man-markers on Rovers dangermen Keith Gillespie and Damien Duff.

As a result, the visitors became increasingly difficult to break down, so much so that Souness even threw on Martin Taylor as an emergency centre forward with a third of the game still remaining. I must admit, with Mark Hughes and Craig Hignett also on the bench, that seemed a curious substitution but it also served to underline Rovers' desperate need for an out-and-out striker in the Cole mould.

Derby, on the other hand, always carried a real threat on the break and but for the brilliance of Brad Friedel, Christie could have had a hat-trick as they roared to their first away win of the season.

The first chance of the game fell to the England Under 21 international in the opening three minutes but Short's perfectly timed block saw his shot spin out for a corner.

However, Rovers gradually settled down and showed the greater control in a tense first half. Egil Ostenstad and Matt Jansen both thought they had broken the deadlock only to see their efforts ruled out by a linesman's flag.

And Derby keeper Mart Poom then reacted smartly to palm away a Garry Flitcroft header with Ostenstad waiting to pounce.

But, as we have seen far too often this season, Rovers were suddenly caught with their trousers down by a lightning counter-attack in the 40th minute.

The mercurial Benito Carbone fed Christie and, as Fabrizio Ravanelli made a brilliant decoy run to distract both Henning Berg and the retreating Stig Bjornebye, the former Nuneaton striker burst through the centre unchecked before guiding a low drive inside Friedel's left hand post.

That stunned Ewood into silence but the Blackburn End screamed themselves hoarse three minutes after the break.

Short strode forward with purpose from the back, expertly shrugging off a couple of challenges along the way, but as he muscled his way into the box he was upended in full flight only for Pugh to wave play on.

Souness was incensed, racing 40 yards down the touchline to remonstrate with the linesman only to be ushered back to his place in the dugout.

Still reeling, Rovers nearly conceded a second sixty seconds later when Christie raced onto a through ball but Friedel got his fingertips to the striker's attempted lob. However, the Derby hitman should have done better with an easier chance soon after but tamely screwed his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

Rovers, in contrast, rarely threatened an equaliser apart from a couple of speculative efforts from Keith Gillespie and David Dunn. And as they grew increasingly desperate, Christie nearly hit them on the break again only to be foiled by Friedel again in the dying seconds.

So, all in all, it's been a hugely disappointing Christmas. Let's just hope a certain man named Cole can now deliver some belated festive cheer over the New Year.

RESULT:

ROVERS 0

DERBY COUNTY 1 Christie 40