CALL me a masochist if you like.

I've spent a fair proportion of the last week playing and replaying the video of the UEFA match against Lyon. (Helpful hint to stayaway followers of Rovers - you too can do this next time we're live on terrestrial TV. You can even turn up at the ground as well, so we can avoid the embarrassment of Rovers being seen by the country playing to a half-full stadium!)

As someone said, it was like being at a reserve match, but with cameras.

But back to the video. I've seen it all, I know exactly how many times Sebastien Perez mis-controlled the ball, exactly how many times Mark Lawrenson mis-identified a Rovers player - and I still don't understand how we lost!

Don't get me wrong, we were not great against Lyon. We'd all hoped for a more cultured, more sophisticated approach to Europe under Roy Hodgson.

What we got was pretty much what we saw under Messrs Dalglish and Harford: too much up and under stuff, too little guile, too many players seemingly low on confidence.

I even began wondering whether we'd have done better had Stuart Ripley still been at the club (now that is desperate!) Recalling what now seem like halcyon days last May, when Chris Sutton buried that late free-kick against Newcastle, was that what we cheered to the rooftops for?

That coveted European place, dissipated on one frustrating, depressing September evening?

Still, there's always the second leg - I'm sure Lyon don't know that we've lost nine of our last 10 away games!

Of course, we can always "concentrate on the League", as they say.

It's just a pity Christian Dailly wasn't concentrating when the rest of the back four moved up late last night, resulting in Chelsea's winning goal.

A 3-3 scoreline would at have offered a number of redeeming features - like a spirited fightback, two goals for Sutty, and a welcome point.

At 3-4, we all left Ewood just feeling deflated and more than a little angry - like Mr Hodgson!

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