Football: Life in the fast lane suits Strachan; Blackburn 1 Coventry 2.

ALEX FERGUSON reckons there will never be another boss who will match his 12 years surviving in the blood vessel bursting world of soccer management.

At this rate, Gordon Strachan won't last 12 months.

Now we've all seen Leicester's Martin O'Neill in screaming action with touchline tick-tacks turning into windmill waving lunacy.

And Derby boss Jim Smith tearing out what little hair he's got left when he explodes pitchside lock, stock and two smoking barrels.

But I defy any of these madcap managers to out-rant the little Coventry boss in the animated stakes.

Strachan didn't once enter the comfort zone of a warm seat on the bench at Blackburn.

Instead the whole 90 minutes were spent patrolling and prowling along the white dotted section that keeps managers just a foot away from the pitch itself.

He yelled, threw his arms in the air and jumped up and down stamping his feet - and that was just when a throw-in didn't go his way.

Three times the linesman had a word in Strachan's ear to tell him to calm down as the pressure of fighting clear of relegation left him in an instantly combustible situation.

I don't think Strachan even saw the flag-waving official never mind heard him. Any distractions off the pitch were irrelevent.

You could put Strach in a strait jacket and he'd wriggle out in seconds.

That's the way he is. Passionate. Intense. Utterly immersed in the game he loves.

And who would question his Jumping Strach Flash style of management.

Certainly not Ferguson, watching his former player's antics from on high in the Ewood Park VIP section.

Strachan probably reminds him of himself in his early days. All fire and brimstone until years of experience and ten major honours helped him swallow the chill pills.

But in the meantime survival is the name of the game.

A battle shared by Strachan's opposite number Roy Hodgson who is also raising his shouting a few decibel levels as Blackburn slump into a bottom three spot.

Hodgson will give nothing away about his inner feelings, though. Strachan on the other hand wears his heart on his sleeve whether in tracksuit or press conference casual gear.

It's clear from our conversation at Ewood that he's never going to change.

He says: "If I didn't get involved like that I would keel over. It's a release. I just can't sit back. I am never going to be Mr Valium. But I'm all right.

"I'm enjoying myself. I am physically worn out at the end of a game. But I can always calm down afterwards."

Whether Strach's sound bites are enough to save Coventry's Premiership life only time will tell.

Darren Huckerby, brilliantly responding to the loss of Dublin with a razor-sharp performance, gave Strachan hope when he struck the first blow past Tim Flowers.

Blackburn skipper Tim Sherwood headed in the equaliser to cap a full- blooded, committed day.

But 60 seconds later Noel Whelan unleashed an unstoppable shot to collect all three points.

BLACKBURN: Flowers, Kenna, Davidson, Sherwood, Peacock (Marcolin 45), Henchoz, Sutton (Davies 45), Duff, Blake, Johnson, Dailly.

COVENTRY: Hedman, Nilsson, Shaw, Breen (Williams 53), Huckerby, Whelan, McAllister (Boateng 89), Telfer, Clement, Froggatt, Edworthy.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Darren Huckerby