It was billed as the Battle of the Bosses to succeed Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford as United Old-Boys Mark Hughes and Roy Keane went head to head as managers for the first time this weekend.

And it was first blood to the Welshman rather than his Irish counterpart as Sparky once again showed an extra dimension to his managerial talents by shaking up his team for the away win at Sunderland.

Roy Keane has got his team organised and a lot harder to beat than the side which bombed out of the Premiership a couple of years back so Rovers should take great credit for leaving the Stadium of Light with all three points.

I think most fans, including myself like to see a settled side with all their favourite big names playing week in week out but Sparky showed both his ruthless streak by leaving last seasons second highest scorer in the league, Benni McCarthy, out of the sixteen altogether, and his loyalty to the players who earned their place midweek in the cup, even though this meant dropping regular starters Robbie Savage and Morten Gamst Pedersen to the bench.

Even in our Title winning year I can't remember Rovers ever having such luxurious depth in the squad, (Imagine King Kenny leaving a certain top scorer out of the squad) and it was visible to all as the switch around paid off.

Rovers' season seems to be getting back on track but we do need to get our home form going again with a win against Birmingham on Sunday.

Provided we do then we should be sitting very pretty indeed.

As far as all the fuss surrounding the Old Trafford hot-seat is concerned, I would suggest that whoever follows directly after Fergie will find themselves drinking from the same poisoned chalice that each and every England boss since Sir Alf Ramsay has done as they try to emulate his unrivalled success.

Mark Hughes is a very shrewd operator and hopefully he knows that.

His Ewood revolution is still in its infancy and the mission is far from over.