THOSE Blackburn Rovers fans who made the pilgrimage to St James' Park thanked their lucky stars on Saturday evening as they spilled out into the cold North East air.

For a split second, you could be forgiven for thinking they were giving thanks for Morten Gamst Pedersen's fortuitous winner, which will surely provide the men in suits from the 'dubious goals panel' with plenty to ponder over the next few days.

But how wrong you would be!

Instead, they were raising their eyes to heaven and paying homage to Freddie Shepherd, the hapless Newcastle chairman, whose decision to appoint Graeme Souness as the manager of United 16 months ago sparked the chain of events that has led to the rejuvenation of Blackburn Rovers under the inspired leadership of Mark Hughes.

While Newcastle continue to lurch from one disaster to the next under Souness, Rovers are marching from strength to strength under Hughes, and possibly into Europe, a point illustrated by this latest victory over a dispirited Toon Army.

When Hughes assumed control at Blackburn in September 2004, he inherited a team that had just been played off the park by Newcastle and one which was firmly entrenched in a battle for Premiership survival, having been left in a state of disrepair by the Tyneside-bound Souness.

There was unrest in the dressing room, the squad lacked quality and basic fitness, and there was a general lack of direction on and off the pitch.

Hughes faced a massive task in turning things around, but the transformation that has since taken place is nothing short of phenomenal.

Compare that to what's happened at Newcastle in the same period and it is little wonder Rovers fans consider they have had a lucky escape.

Hughes has spent just £7 million on new have gained nine more Premiership points in the same period than Newcastle, and currently sit six places better off in the table.

While Blackburn are now considered to be contenders for a European place, United are fast emerging as surprise candidates for relegation, so it's hardly surprising their fans have finally lost patience and they began calling for Souness's head on a plate immediately after this latest debacle.

The defiant Scot, of course, points to a crippling injury list as a significant factor in the club's plight and, to a certain extent, he has a point, as any team in the land would miss people of Michael Owen's calibre.

But Souness is also the man who has blown a whopping £17.5 million on the recruitment of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Albert Luque, two expensive foreign failures the like of which get managers the sack, so many of the wounds have been self-inflicted.

Hughes, meanwhile, has made a number of shrewd raids in the transfer market, perhaps the most notable being Ryan Nelsen, who, significantly, was an absolute colossus here.

The Kiwi, recruited on a free transfer a year ago, comfortably snuffed out the threat of one-time Ewood favourite Alan Shearer, who was desperate to score the goal that would have seen him overtake Jackie Milburn as the leading goalscorer in Newcastle's history.

Instead, Shearer could only watch in frustration as his final season in English football took another painful turn for the worst.

The first half was a surprisingly open affair and things might have panned out differently for United had Brad Friedel not spread himself brilliantly to deny Luque in the sixth minute.

Shearer then headed over from a Nolberto Solano corner and a shot from Michael Chopra flew high and wide.

As the half wore on, though, Rovers visibly grew in confidence, with Tugay an irresistible presence in the centre of the park, spraying passes around with radar-like precision.

Paul Dickov should have broken the deadlock in the 17th minute when Pedersen's low cross to the far post found him totally unmarked six yards out but, with only Shay Given to beat, the Scotland international fired a shot straight at the United keeper, who reacted superbly to beat it out.

More chances came and went for Newcastle either side of the break; Shearer poked one wide, Luque - the Toon equivalent of Ciccio Grabbi - made a complete hash of a free header, and Lee Bowyer inexplicably missed the target with a volley from 12 yards out.

Rovers' hopes of claiming only their second victory at St James' Park in 25 league and cup visits then received a further blow when Dickov dislocated a shoulder in an accidental collision with Titus Bramble.

However, the thousand or so visiting fans needn't have worried as Pedersen then struck in sensational style with just 16 minutes remaining.

Steven Reid, a real driving force in the Rovers midfield, started the move with a typically surging run deep into enemy territory.

He eventually laid the ball off to the overlapping Lucas Neill, whose deep cross to the far post was met by Shefki Kuqi, who out-jumped Peter Ramage to steer a header goalwards.

Pedersen then stole in to flick the ball past Bowyer with his hand, an offence that went unpunished by the match officials.

Suddenly, the Norwegian famed for scoring spectacular goals had now become a scorer of controversial ones!

After that, Shearer had a late volley saved and Celestine Babayaro's follow-up effort flashed agonisingly wide of the far post.

But it was all too little, too late for Newcastle, whose fans staged an angry protest outside the stadium afterwards, in which they chanted 'Souness out'.

In contrast, the Rovers camp was positively cock-a-hoop after chalking up three successive league victories away from home for the first time since four on the spin were recorded between February 20 and April 7, 2001.

Looking ahead to Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final with Manchester United, Hughes said: "This was the start of a big week for us. We've accomplished what we set out to do and this is a great result for us going into what is a very important game on Wednesday.

"We are in a one-off game with the prize being a cup final place.

"At the moment, we are on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run, confidence is as high as it could be, and we don't have any fear or apprehension going into it."

Souness, on the other hand, has every reason to be apprehensive as the noose tightens around his neck.