Wolves knocked for five

For when it comes to unearthing weapons of mass destruction, the Blackburn boss is fast becoming something of a master in the field.

Souness's eye for a player is already well known following the bargain captures of Brad Friedel, Tugay and David Thompson.

Now you can add the names of Brett Emerton and Lorenzo Amoruso to the manager's growing arsenal as he looks to lead Rovers into an exciting new era.

After the summer sales of Damien Duff and David Dunn, there was an air of trepidation around Ewood before kick-off as some fans wondered what the future might hold in the absence of two of the club's favourite sons.

But it took the new-boys all of 17 minutes to eliminate any fears as they set about the task of destroying Wolves in breathtaking style.

Both men capped magnificent debuts with a goal apiece as Dave Jones' hapless Wanderers were made to endure a Premiership baptism of fire.

Rovers' intoxicating brand of free-flowing football left the Midlanders floundering and the marauding Emerton in particular was an absolute revelation on the right-hand side.

It's only 12 months ago that the 24-year-old was being talked about as a £10 million player.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle were all queuing up to sign him but no one came up with the cash required to persuade Feyenoord to part with their most-prized asset.

In the meantime, Souness kept his powder dry and watched developments with interest from afar.

He knew the midfielder was a Premiership star in the making after seeing him play for Australia in a friendly against Scotland at Hampden several years ago.

From that moment on, his appetite had been whetted.

He kept in regular touch with his agent until a chance phonecall earlier this summer paved the way for a deal to be done.

And now we know why he could barely contain his excitement when he finally got his man after Rovers' new midfield dynamo served up a sizzling performance to leave the Blackburn End purring with satisfaction.

Elegant, athletic, pacy and powerful, Souey's new wizard from Aus was quite simply majestic.

A goal and an assist on his debut had the Blackburn End in raptures.

But it was the effortless way he glided past Lee Naylor as if he wasn't there which really had fans salivating and asking 'Damien who?'

"I thought Brett Emerton was fantastic," said Brad Friedel, who must have had one of his quietest afternoon's ever in the Premiership .

"We always knew he was going to be a great signing and he's starting to prove that already.

"It's not just his energy levels which are impressive, it's the quality of the service at the end of it.

"He can strike a free-kick or a dead-ball like David Beckham because of the amount of swerve he puts on it, and that's going to make it very difficult for any goalkeeper to deal with."

Emerton, quite rightly, was the name on everyone's lips as they filed out of Ewood on the crest of a wave.

But there were plenty of other positives for Souness, too, on a day when virtually everything went to plan.

Amoruso looked a commanding figure at the back as he effortlessly strolled through his debut.

Strong and powerful in the air, the former Rangers star is an intimidating presence at both ends of the pitch, judging by the way he stole in to power home a fierce bullet header.

And his intelligent distribution from the back will only enhance Rovers' attacking capabilities going forward.

Tugay also revelled in the oceans of space he was granted in midfield, which allowed him to keep his strikers well supplied with an array of clever passes.

And what about David Thompson who weighed in with another masterful strike to match his late heroics against Chievo last week?

Perhaps the biggest plus of the day, though, was the sight of Andy Cole back on the goal trail again.

By his own admission, the former England striker had a torrid time last season, scoring just seven league goals during a stop-start campaign.

But now he's up and running after climbing off the bench to plunder two late strikes and that should do his confidence the world of good in preparation for the tougher battles ahead.

Whether he has done enough to start against Bolton on Saturday or not remains to be seen, though, as Dwight Yorke and Matt Jansen linked up impressively up front.

Such was the quality of Rovers' performance, it was difficult not to get carried away.

Irresistible, arrogant, even cocky at times, there was a strut about the home side as they systematically ripped the visitors to shreds.

Wolves were never in the hunt and, on this evidence, they don't stand a chance of surviving more than a season in the Premiership.

But take nothing away from Rovers' display. On another day, they might have had double figures.

Jansen very nearly started the rout with a glancing header in the 17th minute but Matt Murray somehow clawed his effort around a post.

However, the Wolves keeper was left clutching thin air seconds later when Amoruso raced in to meet Emerton's pin-point corner with a thumping near-post header which fairly rocketed into the net.

Thompson then made it 2-0 with a delicious right-foot volley from the edge of the box after the ball had sat up kindly following a ricochet off Paul Butler.

Things might have been different had Colin Cameron and Steffen Iversen made more of two golden chances as half-time approached.

But Rovers moved up another notch again after the break.

Emerton made it 3-0 with a scorching right-foot finish from the edge of the area in the 52nd minute.

Then Murray made a superb double save to deny Thompson and Yorke.

Wolves bagged a consolation in the 72nd minute when the otherwise inept Iversen scored from close-range at the second attempt.

But their respite was only temporary as Cole climbed off the bench to bag two late goals to complete the home side's nap hand.

ROVERS 5

Amoruso 17, Thompson 29, Emerton 52, Cole 79, 87

WOLVES 1

Iversen 72