In a haze

Unlike Jimmy Norman and Mick Jagger (among others) time is not on my side, but I have had a few moments of me time over the past few days, and could not have asked for better smog weather in which to laze it away; birthday bowling with my daughter and her friends, a few beers and a laugh with my mum, couple of games of Simpson's Hit & Run, and now it's back to work - if that's what you can call it. The place is like a graveyard today, all the crash barriers laid out in preparation for the big day on Friday, and the vast majority taking the opportunity offered by the many bank holidays to stay at home or head off to Tenerife or Bognor.

Last night I endured the terrible drone of Steve McClaren on 5 Live as the hard-fought victory at Ewood Park played itself out with that satisfying finish from Dzeko. Everyone knows that McClaren is a joke, but by god he was truly awful as a radio pundit. Alastair Bruce-Ball is a vivid and insightful commentator, but it was heavy weather for him as Uncle Steve laboured his way through yet another rambling soliloquy. He will no doubt feel vindicated that his constant repetition of the 'If they make it through the first 20 minutes...' cliché proved almost correct, and I began to want to smash my beautiful Roberts (not Jason) to pieces every time he said 'the boy Jones' or mentioned that he knew De Jong from his time in Holland, and knew 'the boy' Dzeko from his time in Germany. It was one of those commentaries that can turn games, because the energy required to propel your team to victory is diverted to hatred of the voice coming out of the speakers. And yet... It was not to be. Not this time anyway.

Of course, shit as they are (and I have been to Ewood Park. I know) Blackburn were never going to be an easy proposition at home. Big smashers they are and one piece of commentary about a Paul Robinson punt downfield (apparently it momentarily disappeared from sight in the floodlit gloom, it was belted so hard) reminded me with a feeling of pain of England's performances during the World Cup in Japan, when one of his kicks hit the camera which was suspended high over the centre spot. All muscle and scuffle in the box, big half backs diverting the ball in from 3 yards and a horrible sinking feeling. But then, there was Dzeko (who said Balo was offside? Not the ref)  doing a Torres and slotting one in just when you needed it.

Overall, it was a patchy performance which might have been very different if we had stuck one in during the opening 20 minutes, but it will definitely do, especially as the Baggies did so well against Spurs. What a marvel Silva is (though he did switch off for the middle section of the match, and it was noticeable how important he now is to our attacking game) and what a rock Kompany. It's ours to throw away now, that fourth spot, so let's keep going and get it done.