A Fan's-eye view from Ewood Park, with Phil Lloyd

'THIS is it! This is it!' exclaimed the supporter in the row in front of me, as Ashley Ward made a last-minute dash for the Fulham goal. A few seconds later, he was right.

This time (and this time only), we were prepared to forgive him, since 'this is it!', interspersed with a one or two 'oohs' and 'aahs', rings out from this particular seat in the WalkerSteel Stand on average about 20 or 30 times every game.

For once, this was it. After Ward's shot was blocked and the spinning ball lobbed goalwards, Damien Duff belted in a deserved winner and the roar of relief around Ewood was tumultuous.

For the first time in recent memory, fans left Ewood smiling. Actually smiling! The pleasure could not have been greater had there been a man on the exit gate doling out £10 notes.

You needed to have witnessed (I nearly said 'suffered') the other matches at Ewood this season to appreciate fully Tony Parkes' typically understated comment that 'the people have seen a football match today'. How right he was.

The team had competed, the fans had supported, there had been entertainment. It helps, of course, when you win and the novelty of that feeling warmed those wearing blue and white, on a chilly afternoon. The FA Cup, as everyone would probably admit, is an irrelevance for Rovers this season so we can, for now, be philosophical about another visit to The Hawthorns and be grateful instead that we were not unlucky enough to be drawn away to Exeter, or Hereford, or (especially) Derby County!

But back to our managerial merry-go-round. Speaking to other fans at the ground on Saturday, the feeling of deja vu was undeniably strong. Tony Parkes takes up the baton, conducts the orchestra, keeps the spirits and the interest of the audience nicely bubbling, yet all the time everyone is acutely aware that this is only the intermission and the real performance has still to begin.

Names were bandied around, some plausible, some frankly fanciful. The one common denominator? Nobody expects to be kept waiting long. Over to you, Mr Williams.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.