At the start of this season when I was pressed on where I thought we'd finish, the pessimist in me said 15th.

Why should we suddenly go from bottom six to some Utopia of top half never mind top six?

After all, we'd hardly set the world on fire in the close season in the transfer market, had we?

We'd only brought in an injury prone, trouble-making centre forward and a couple of squad players.

No, the best we could achieve was survival (again) and the hope that maybe we could have a decent cup run. Success for me would be gauged on our battle for survival being completed by April.

How wrong can one be?

Maybe it was the repetitive mantra of 'punching above our weight' and 'survival is the priority' of the previous regime, or possibly the apathy that has been around the club for the past few years but this season has been one where all my expectations have been blown out of the water.

So what is the reason behind this amazing transformation? What has happened to transform this small town club into a small town club in Europe?

There can really only be one answer - Mark Hughes and his staff.

In the past when Rovers have achieved success it was easy to pinpoint why. One only has to remember the promotion seasons where Jansen and Speedie were the talismen and then, sandwiched in between there was the legendary Alan Shearer who almost single-handedly won us the Premiership. But this achievement is different.

The management team have moulded together a team of talented but hard working individuals into a team that is as fit and as well organised as any in the country. There are no big egos, no big time Charlies and no prima donnas, just honest pros all fighting for the same cause, the good of the team.

And how it has paid off. When Sparky sat his players down at the start of the season he made them believe they could achieve the top six, whereas in the past the objective had been much lower.

As a result, the excitement in the club is back, the anticipation on a match day is back and let's face it, Blackburn Rovers are back!

So where do we go from here? Is this the pinnacle of what we can achieve? Is the only way down? Don't believe a word of it! Sparky is already drafting plans for next season and you can bet that players will be brought to the club in the hope of qualifying for the Champions League next term.

Maybe we will make it, maybe we won't but the one thing you can be sure of is that it won't be for a lack of effort.

And it's on that note that I write my last Rover all View. I've decided to do a 'Curbishley' and walk out the front door before I get booted out of the back!

It's been a real honour to have had the opportunity to write this column over the last three seasons and it's good to be able to hand over to the next incumbent with the club on a high.

Thanks for all the feedback (good and bad) and I'll see you all at Ewood next season.

Enjoy the summer.

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