283 days. Weary, doubt-ridden days, devoid of any injection of that magic potion that sends the blood of football fans coursing happily through the veins.

Then miracle of miracles, an away win!

As long as I can remember, a visit from Rovers has rarely instilled fear and

trepidation into other teams and supporters.

There have been honourable exceptions, of course, such as the promotion season under Howard Kendall and those memorable ten away wins en route to the Championship.

But, mostly, following Rovers away has tended to be a socially-acceptable form of masochism. Who in their right mind would drive to Plymouth and back on a grey November day, to see our first experiment with a back five? (Outcome: 3-0 down at half-time.) Well, me for one!

More recently, certainly in the latter stages of the Hodgson era, away trips

became a duty, a chore, a penance. We came home displeased but not really

dispirited, because we didn't expect to win in the first place.

But I'll bet your next week's wages it won't be another nine months till Kidd's kids return home triumphant again.

A line-up with three strikers at Villa Park tells its own story - different tactics, different strategies, different results.

And different players. Who's going to be next in? Whose will be the next

leaving party?

Supporters hark back to the already-receding memories of that Championship

season and I'm as guilty as the next man of that. But the fact is that we could soon be down to just three unsold bottles from that glorious vintage.

Times (and Tims) move on so quickly in football.

Personally, I'll be sorry if Flowers leaves and blossoms again elsewhere. But

most fans are in no doubt that the manager has again called it right.

On present form, John Filan has to be our number one, wearing Kidd's gloves. As a fully paid-up member of the Goalkeepers' Union I can (for a change) speak with some authority here - Filan has the edge over Tim on crosses, he commands his box better and that definitely makes defenders more dependable!

He's not a bad shot-stopper either, as he showed once more in Birmingham.

In fact, he's so good, I can almost forgive him for being Australian. Please note, I did say 'almost'!

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