A fan's-eye view from Ewood Park, with Phil Lloyd

THE dream of a rapid return to the high-profile, high-pressure, high-everything world of the Premiership has already evaporated. And the natives are, rightly, restless.

They were prepared to accept that the team had to be rebuilt, even though they saw journeymen being wheeled in to replace the stars who freewheeled away.

They were prepared to trust Mr Kidd's Old Trafford credentials, even though the evidence suggested that his departure was no more than a minor irritation to Fergie.

They were prepared to give time to a third successive coach in the Ewood hot seat, even though it was palpably clear that what was needed was a manager.

They were wrong. I was wrong. Our trust has been misplaced.

And so, after further humiliation heaped upon us in the past seven days, we are no longer 'disappointed', as the diplomatic jargon of football would have it.

We are angry. We understand why the club was reluctant to make a third managerial sacking in four Octobers, thereby acknowledging that their choices of team boss since Dalglish have proved, in every case, fatally flawed.

But, when the fans are chanting for a caretaker manager and vilifying the 'efforts' of the team, the time for action has arrived. We simply cannot do any worse. If any further evidence were needed of the urgency for strong action, then the Board should consider the following:

The present club captain is currently spending more time chastising the supporters than exhorting his team.

Our much-vaunted youth team products (Dunn, Taylor, Brown, etc.) are left in limbo, treated only as first team fill-ins.

Our goalkeeper has ceased both to communicate and catch, yet we have an excellent international-class No.1 kicking his heels

High expectations are given as a cause of our appalling showing this season, when all that's needed is to rise above the mediocrity that passes for life in Division One.

The manager spent most of Saturday's game looking stunned and taking no apparent part in substitutions or tactics. He appears not to know what to do next.

The players admitted at the start of this season that they owed the fans after last season's debacle. We have now been short-changed for the whole of 1999. I wonder what the compensation will be and when it will be paid?

It is said that the darkest hour is the one just before the dawn. I fervently hope so.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.