SUNDAY'S whiteout at St Andrews did of course raise the old issue about a winter break in football. My views on the matter are as clear as a blanket of snow: it's a barmy idea.

I appreciate no-one wants to have their weekend's plans scuppered at a few hours' notice. Nor at a few minutes' notice, if you've trekked to not-so-sunny Scunny on a wintry evening only to find a surface ideally suited to Torvill and Dean.

There are lots of reasons why we should not have a mid-season break in England, but let me offer you just two.

One is the timing: only the railways are mad enough to close during the Christmas and New Year holidays. If the shutdown were in early January, how would you feel now as a Rovers fan having missed three playable fixture dates and then finding Birmingham had decided to twin its weather temporarily with Moscow's?

Another reason why I don't subscribe to the concept of a break is that Trevor Francis is apparently in favour. Thanks, Trev. The simple fact that you like the idea is reason enough to oppose it!

Having a weekend off gave fans the chance to catch up, via Match of the Day, on former Rovers players now plying their trade elsewhere. Shay Given still looked a class act in the Newcastle goal, while Gally was busy as ever, upsetting the Leeds rearguard. And was that good old Jason, pulling out of a far post tap-in for fear of collision with the woodwork? It surely was!

Lee Carsley hove into view, blasting home a penalty in familiar style and doubtless planning for life in Division One again. I couldn't helping wondering whether Mr Strachan regrets falling out with Colin Hendry, now the mainstay of Bolton's back four.

Mentioning Bolton reminds me of the old story of the two blokes being pursued by a grizzly bear. One stops to put on a pair of trainers and the other tells him he's crazy as he'll never outrun the bear. 'I don't have to outrun the bear', he replies, 'just you!' With Fulham disappearing over the horizon, Rovers and Bolton seem to be racing each other to escape the grizzly fate of the play-offs.

Ironic that Big Col should be a key obstacle to Rovers achieving an automatic promotion berth. Ironic too that as we try to keep on their heels, the Wanderers are the ones with the Reeboks! The game one month today could be crucial!