IMAGINE it's a typical Saturday afternoon at Ewood Park.

The food outlets on the upper concourse in the Jack Walker Stand are reporting brisk business in the build up to kick-off.

To cope with the extra demand, Graeme Souness has been drafted in to help dish out the hot dogs and serve piping hot cups of Bovril.

Then the Rovers boss takes a call on his mobile and suddenly hot-foots it to the boot room where the studs on Andy Cole's football boots require his urgent attention.

As the clock creeps towards ten to three, he then makes a dash for the home dressing room where he just has time to deliver his pre-match pep-talk before pulling on the number nine shirt and leading his team out to face Manchester United...

...Of course, the above scenario would never happen in the Premiership.

But if you made your way down to Blackburn Arena on a Saturday evening then you might just catch Bobby Haig, Souness's equivalent at the Blackburn Hawks, performing a very passable impression of Superman.

For Haig is a master in the old Circus art of plate-spinning. You name it, he does it. No job is too big, or too small.

By day, you can find him serving chips in the arena cafe, pulling a pint behind the bar, or sharpening the skates of the next Wayne Gretsky (the David Beckham of ice hockey).

By night, he's the Hawks' player-coach and the team's leading goal-scorer.

Oh, and during the odd snatched moment in between, he somehow finds the time to perform his dual roles as the arena's duty manager and the junior ice hockey co-ordinator.

In other words, Haig IS Blackburn Hawks -- a man who lives and breathes for his daily fix of the sport he has grown up with since his early childhood in Scotland.

So it's no surprise to hear that Haig is buzzing ahead of the new English National Hockey season which gets underway with a home game against Bradford tonight.

"It's about time we gave our fans something to cheer about," said Haig, who lists the Fife Flyers and the Dundee Tigers amongst his former clubs.

"Last year we finished fifth and just missed out on the play-offs. If we'd have finished fourth then we would have made it, but we lost a few tight games, which we maybe should have won, and that ended up costing us in the end.

"So we've got to be looking to make the play-offs this time.

"We've made enough excuses about young players in the past but this could be the year they reach maturity."

The Hawks took a conscious decision to go down the youth route several years ago and Haig is now beginning to reap the rewards of his labour.

Of all the jobs he undertakes at the arena, it's his role as youth development co-ordinator which gives him the greatest sense of satisfaction.

The days of relying on expensive foreign imports are long gone.

Now the emphasis is on home-grown talent and Haig is as proud as punch to see a plethora of young players ready to make the grade at first team level.

"It's very, very satisfying when you see some of the younger players coming through the ranks," said Haig.

"I've been at the arena seven years now and I've been working with some of these kids since they were 12-years-old.

"So when you see them in the team it gives you an enormous sense of satisfaction."

Now Haig hopes rising stars like Adam Leaver, Adam Fuller, Peter Tapp, Ricky Hulme and Chris Kelly can bring the good times back to the arena.

In their prime, the Hawks attracted crowds of more than 2,000 when they were competing in the National League North.

The team was packed with expensive imports in those pre-Haig days and one of their biggest claims to fame was beating the mighty Manchester Storm 13-9 in the augural game held at the Nynex Arena.

However, the costs of sustaining a top-flight team eventually became too great and the rink management eventually took the decision to downsize, with the emphasis switched to youth instead, which is where Haig has since found his niche.

"It's a bit like Blackburn Rovers dropping down to the Third Division, heaven forbid," explained the former Great Britain international.

"That's what has effectively happened to us over the last few years.

"We took the decision about five years ago to get rid of all our foreign imports and stuff and concentrate on bringing the younger players through instead.

"But we've recently been talking about moving up another couple of leagues again, although it might be a bit too early for some of these guys."

However, for all the new talent coming through, one man is still proving impossible to displace.

In an ideal world, Haig would like to relinquish some of his playing responsibilities but his form won't allow it.

"I was hoping to take a back seat but I was leading scorer last year so until we can find someone to step up and score the goals then I may have to carry on.

"The game is more about the young guys now, not the older people like myself.

"I've got a couple of friends in the game who are still playing at 40.

"But it's finding the time to keep myself in the shape required to play at this level which is the problem."