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

CAN you remember March 20th? I've almost forgotten it myself, Rovers last victory in a competitive match, at home to Wimbledon.

At my age, I can perhaps be excused for forgetting a few things, but it's no reassurance that I'm not alone in this affliction. Judging from last Saturday, it is especially contagious in the Ewood area.

Clearly the Rovers players cannot remember how to win. "The lads are frightened", said Brian Kidd. Of whom? Neil Shipperley and Georgi Hristov? Don't make me laugh, they wouldn't frighten the local primary school team. Of a tongue-lashing from Messrs. Kidd and McClair? Probably not, we haven't seen a single one have any sort of positive effect since they came to the club.

Are the players afraid of losing their place and being cast on the soccer scrapheap? Doubt it. If they fail at Rovers, there'll be some other mug manager waving a fat signing-on fee in their direction.

Afraid maybe of Roar and Roarina, the club's leonine mascots? Possibly. My idea to improve motivation would be a real lion prowling hungrily along the touchline, with the promise of a post-game meal with the fans' vote for 'worst man of the match'. Maybe that would enliven a few individuals.

Are they frightened by the Rovers fans? Well, only a few of us bite and Saturday, as far as I can recall provoked a rather stoical, passive reaction. Basically, we've all forgotten what it feels like to win football matches. I've a sneaking suspicion that the players are frightened, but they've forgotten what it is they're afraid of. Amnesia is like that, someone once told me. I can't remember who.

So, we have a team that's forgotten how to score goals, how to create chances, and how to defend. That's bad enough, but we're now plumbing new depths of forgetfulness. On Saturday, we had a new free-kick routine, but forgot what it was midway through. Allegedly highly-skilled individuals forgot how to cross the ball, or even how to pass the ball to a team-mate.

But the worst instance of amnesia came off the field. "That Gillespie", said Mick from the row behind me, "is the worst player we've ever signed." Two days and we're forgetting Kevin Davies already!

At least after the Norwich game, we can all forget about football for a fortnight. I just hope that, when we play Tranmere on September 11th, someone remembers to turn up! After Rovers' start to the season, there's a powerful incentive to forget!

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