THE year may not be ending the way most Blackburn Rovers fans would have wished but, overall, I think 2007 has been a success for Mark Hughes' men.

Some impressive domestic cup runs, two European campaigns and a growing reputation as a footballing team means Rovers have become a force to be reckoned with.

Here is my look back on the highs and occasional lows of another eventful year at Rovers:

  • CUPS Mark Hughes has never taken the domestic cups lightly and last season they were a stray Morten Gamst Pedersen header away from reaching the first ever FA Cup final at the new Wembley. Had Morten scored Rovers would have been on the way to Wembley instead of losing 2-1 to Chelsea after extra time. Even the Carling Cup, snubbed by a lot of the Premier League sides, has received Mark's full attention, and it took Chelsea last season to end hopes of silverware at the third round stage, while Rovers showed great character to bounce back from 2-0 down against Arsenal before eventually losing 3-2 this term.
  • EUROPE Last season, Rovers did a superb job when they lost 3-2 at Bayern Leverkusen. But they underestimated the Germans in the return leg at Ewood Park and crashed out. This year was even more of a let down against the Greek minnows Larissa. Despite losing 2-0 over there, everyone expected Rovers to finish the job, but they got complacent and another European adventure was over before it really began.
  • LEAGUE Last season was a bit of a bonus with Rovers finishing tenth and getting in to Europe via the Intertoto Cup. This season that bar has been raised, but I think Mark has assembled a squad good enough to qualify for Europe through a top six place.
  • JANUARY SALES In a perfect world, I would like to see Rovers strengthen throughout the squad and bring in four players in the transfer window. In particular though. In defence, Rovers could probably do with some cover at right back for Brett Emerton, while Nelsen and Samba have proved that they are not as invincible as we first thought - although Zurab Khizanishvili and Andre Ooijer have shown they are worthy replacements.

I fully expect Rovers to recover from this mid-season slump and, should everything click into place, then 2008 could be an even more memorable year.