For most of this season, how we've enjoyed crowing to the other teams in the Premiership as Rovers have soared and other, more expensively assembled, rivals have faltered.

It's in the make-up of the majority of football supporters and at some stage I'm sure we've all been guilty of the odd jibe towards supporters of other clubs.

But pride comes before a fall, or so the old saying goes.

As two of the clubs where the jibes have been aimed at are Newcastle United and Birmingham then the events of the last week or so couldn't be more ironic.

I, myself couldn't help but chuckle when I heard one of the more respected pundits say that Newcastle had changed from relegation strugglers to European hopefuls in the space of the last few months.

I've spent the last few months looking up the table and I'd not taken too much notice of them, and saw them as no threat to the top half never mind the top six.

But as Rovers are finishing the season like Devon Loch, Newcastle have sneaked up.

Momentum is now with them whereas we don't seem to know where the next win is coming from.

So while all Rovers fans said a silent I told you so' as Graeme Souness was given his marching orders, little would we know that it was actually the start of their resurgence to becoming one of the main challengers for the UEFA Cup spot we covet so much. If only they'd given him a few more weeks!

And that brings me onto the original big club' Birmingham City. Not only would a result over them helped cement our position as favourites for sixth but it'd made them favourites for relegation.

The goal for Robbie Savage was a particularly sweet moment within a pretty poor performance but the last laugh was with Steve Bruce who instead of getting a bloody nose left with his customary flat one and the vital three points.

It's hard to understand why there has been such a downturn in performance but I don't think it's any coincidence that our main playmaker Tugay has been injured. We've looked painfully short of creativity in the last third and as a result Bellamy has had to feed on half chances.

When the Turk plays he always wants the ball and when he has the ball he picks the passes that no other player in the squad can.

His return to fitness is a huge boost and he must surely play in the remainder of the games if we're to achieve our goal.

Have your say on this story in seconds
1. Click on the add comment button below
2. If you've not registered before, fill in our quick, one-off registration form
3. Leave your comments instantly on this and all other Rovers stories