TYPICAL! I wait excitedly for Monday night's game so I can squeeze all the excitement into the column and e-mail it in the nick of time before Tuesday's deadline.

What do I get? A performance Souey described on Radio Rovers as the worst while in charge of the Club. It's a good job I'm not describing the goalmouth action otherwise you'd be staring at several blank columns. Our first (weakish) effort on target after 87 minutes. If there's been a worse game since the inception of the Premiership in 1992, I must have got lucky and missed it. Any stressed out television executive feeling they overpaid for football rights will be producing the tape of this one in evidence for years to come!

I don't want to sound too critical of the players who have been generally magnificent over the last 12 months. However the team spirit, commitment and passion so evident through that time was for once sadly lacking.

From first whistle to last we were second to the ball against a technically poorer side and as Souey has remarked before if you don't win the physical battle you can't compete.

Unfortunately we seemed to think we only had to turn up to win.

So out of character! Where was the side that hammered the Hammers and gunned down the Gunners?

Not the best few days of the season given the weekend speculation surrounding Ciccio Grabbi and his (alleged) comments to the Italian press. The situation sounds uncannily like that of Stephane Henchoz several seasons ago when he (again allegedly) made various disparaging comments about Blackburn the town to an obscure Swiss publication in the naive belief they would not find their way back home.

Even if Ciccio's latest (alleged) remarks were entirely innocent and taken completely out of context, it would be nice to think that the players would be more circumspect in future as team spirit and togetherness have been the bywords of the Souness era.

There was something positive to come out of the weekend. Well done to the club for the open weekend which, judging by the numbers attending, was a huge success. Let's hope these occasions become a regular event.

Finally, I would like to reiterate the column Andy Neild wrote concerning the fans forum, which provides a valuable opportunity to put matters directly to officials of the club. Matters which have been the subject of a Mrs Merton-type "heated debate" in recent weeks have included the allocation of tickets to away fans in the Darwen End (I say stick 'em in the top right hand corner where they can make the least noise) and the £1 per ticket booking fee on credit card transactions.

I was invited onto the forum recently and it does a lot of good work. The difficulty is that whatever the make-up of the forum, we worry whether, as a small group, its views are entirely representative of the fans as a whole. Therefore your views and ideas are positively welcomed. If you wish to contribute your thoughts please write to chairman Martin Howarth at the club.