IF I was marking Blackburn Rovers’ season as a school exam I’d give them a B.

It was disappointing not to finish in the play-offs but I think, in the bigger picture, it has been a decent season.

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You look at some of the teams that finished above us and they have got money to spend and that’s the same with some of the teams that finished below us as well.

But that said I can understand why supporters feel it should have been better.

Goalscoring wise and going forward, there have been no problems, but it’s the number of goals we have conceded that has cost us.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times we’ve let points slip because we’ve been unable to keep the back door shut.

I’ve said time and again, you can’t afford to be going into every game knowing you’ll have to score at least twice to take the three points.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just blaming the defence, because you attack as a team and you defend as a team.

There haven’t been enough 1-0 wins and I’m sure Gary knows what he’s got to do to improve it.

And I’ve got no doubt he can do that because I think he’s doing a very good job, especially given the restrictions he’s under.

He’s settled the club down, he’s close to getting rid of all the deadwood, and he’s got a unity and a spirit within the team.

Obviously his job is only going to get harder if he loses Jordan Rhodes or Rudy Gestede.

But if we can keep one, we’ll still be guaranteed at least 15 goals a season, and then it will be up to the others to help fill the gap.

I remember an old manager always used to say that he needed his main striker to score 20 goals, one midfielder to chip in with a dozen and a centre-half to chip in with half a dozen.

If we can do that, and bring in another striker, I think we could cope.

But at the end of the day we still have to sort out the other end of the pitch.