As we know, the former Downing Street press secretary, Alistair Campbell, is not noted for his love of Blackburn Rovers for obvious reasons. But the Burnley fanatic and spin doctor supremo is bound to be impressed by the methods used by Rovers boss Steve Kean to give us all the impression that everything is rosy in the Rovers garden.

Kean described Rovers as being "excellent" in the first half of the defeat at Goodison on Saturday, this despite not having a single goal attempt on target and the quotes continued from a man who seems as unflappable and belligerent as Quinn, the Captain of 'The Orca', as Jaws starts to eat everything in its path leading to the inevitable conclusion. (Only this time I think we are going to need more than a bigger boat to save us!)

I have tried to be as positive as possible in the last few weeks as this barren run has gathered momentum - it is now the longest winless sequence since the days of Bobby Saxton 25 years ago. Back then, the spirit in the side and club saved us from dropping down into the thrid tier of English football. The problem facing us now is that spirit seems to have evaporated. There is no confidence in the side and we have nobody who appears capable of grabbing an all important goal to alleviate the pressure on the defence.

The one bright spark from Saturday was Ruben Rochina, who gave the side an added dimension. He surely warrants an extended run in the team as we reach the climax of the season.

Amazingly, Rovers' fate is still in their own hands. Blackpool look doomed and West Ham are hardly showing their supporters that they don't want to play Brighton next season, but the spirit and commitment that we witnessed at Arsenal a couple of weeks ago appears to have vanished.

To get out of the mess, we will need to win one of our home games against cup finalists City, Premier League champions-elect United, or a wounded Wanderers, respectively. We will also probably have to beat either West Ham or Wolves on our travels. It can be done but we will have to see a significant improvement to make that happen. The supporters do not want this club to be relegated and we will get behind the lads as much as we can. We also congratulate all involved if this is achieved.

Ironically, the 21 points Sam Allardyce acquired before being dumped might yet save Steve Kean. If that does not happen, then the Venkys have caused their own downfall with a decision that has to rank as one of the worse ever taken at boardroom level in the history of football.

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