A fan's-eye view from Ewood Park, with Phil Lloyd
IT'S hard for the really committed, passionate, 110 per cent football fan to believe, but sometimes the game can be an irrelevance, a meaningless diversion.
The loss of yet another away fixture at our favourite South London graveyard, on our favourite black weekend results-wise (just look back at recent seasons), is one thing.
The news of the nature of Uncle Jack's illness and of Peter White's departure cast a much darker shadow over an already gloomy picture.
Suddenly, the joke that tickets to watch Rovers should carry a Government health warning isn't even remotely amusing any more.
These sad tidings are strangely symbolic of the problems within the club at the moment. In wishing Souness success with the delicate rebuilding job he must perform this summer, every Rovers fan will likewise want to wish Jack a full and speedy recovery, and to send their sincere sympathies to Peter's family.
Back on the topic of meaningless matches, it struck me as particularly brainless for our captain to get sent off in a game that, for most Rovers fans, could have been cancelled due to lack of interest. A bit like a friend of mine whose only-ever ejection from Ewood for misbehaviour was at Ronnie Clayton's testimonial match!
Carsley's stupidity means we will start next season hampered by self-inflicted wounds, just when we'd hoped that copious amounts of medicine and a good rest might have restored an ailing team to full health come August.
At least our final game will be anything but meaningless. I'm sure Man City aren't exactly quivering wrecks at the thought of a visit to Ewood to have their Premiership passport stamped, but the optimist within me feels we could yet end this tormented season on a high.
Beating City wouldn't mean a whole lot to Rovers' league position. But for the fans, it would mean we enter the summer in a much healthier frame of mind. It wouldn't make Rovers' 'season's highlights' video a best-seller either. But I reckon it would make Uncle Jack feel a whole lot happier and in some ways honour Peter's memory.
And there couldn't be a better incentive for us to spoil the Royle family's celebrations!
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