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

QUITE appropriate really, that Brian Kidd's team should rediscover the recipe for footballing success in the very home kitchen of the patron saint of cooking, St Delia.

The chief ingredient on Saturday that had been missing from earlier, unpalatable efforts served up at Ewood was a dash of commitment, a willingness to close down admittedly modest opposition and battle for possession. And, as all Rovers fans had hoped, the addition of some Norwegian spice to the concoction has now given some much-needed bite to what was previously rather a bland dish.

So, cooked thoroughly for 90 minutes in a baking-hot Carrow Road oven, out came a tasty away win, a veritable feast for those travelling supporters starved of success over recent months. Enough to turn down the heat on the manager for a while? Probably, though Uncle Jack doesn't like waiting for his desserts, as his comments last week showed.

But it will take more than one decent dinner to make Rovers fans forget the acute indigestion they have suffered after all the inedible meals of the last few months. So, as the fans nibbled their After Eight mints and sipped their postprandial coffee (very sophisticated, you know, we Rovers fans), there were some burning questions that they wanted to put to the Head Chef. The starter on everyone's menu seemed to concern Mr Kidd's treatment of David Dunn. In consecutive games now, young Dunn's all-action contribution has been taken off the specials list before he has had a chance to get re-heated after half-time. What's more, the replacement dish has been a less popular item, namely Keith Gillespie.

Now we all know that the Ulsterman was Brian Kidd's first signing and I read somewhere that his skills were "mercurial". Rovers fans of my acquaintance tend to use rather shorter words of Anglo-Saxon origin to describe the sheer lack of impact that Gillespie has had in his first nine months at Ewood.

What David Dunn's response will be to this state of affairs is anyone's guess, but it would be only natural if the lad from Great Harwood interpreted it as meaning he is still viewed at Blackburn as an underrated side dish, an optional extra. In comparison, Gillespie seems to survive on the strength of a reputation that ceased to be merited some years ago, a "plat du jour" well past its prime.

While he justifiably basks in the glow of a welcome victory, Mr Kidd had better be warned: what he chooses to put on the menu is his own decision, but he shouldn't be surprised if there are complaints to the kitchen in the future!

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