AN eventful, exciting match to round off an eventful, exciting and – quite frankly – incredible and unpredictable year.

It is doubtful we will see the like of 2011 again.

Blues historians many moons from now will talk in hushed tones about it, all agog.

There were so many twists and turns witnessed: the glory of the Carling Cup win, the dramatic heartache and the manner of relegation, Alex McLeish’s walk-out, a player exodus, the financial crisis that gripped the club and, of course, those heady European nights.

It was heart-warming for Blues to sign off from 2011 with such a resounding victory, to rekindle optimism for the campaign ahead and remind, once more, the sound and sensible work Chris Hughton and his management team are doing, and have done.

And when Barry Ferguson was sent off for elbowing Guirane N’Daw, it was as if a line had not so much been drawn under the year, but the McLeish era itself.

Ferguson was one of Blues’ Wembley heroes, playing on despite a broken rib.

He was McLeish’s chief of staff on the pitch, the embodiment of Eck’s way that, on the credit side, brought silverware for the first time in 48 years and a highest league finish for 51 years. But as Ferguson trudged off shocked and sullen – what a way to mark your return to St Andrew’s – it was as if the baton was being passed on.

Ferguson fended off N’Daw with his elbow. N’Daw – who is fast becoming a new Blues cult hero, one of Hughton’s collection of shrewd loans, frees or bargain signings meshed together with the hold-overs from last season, who have been reinvigorated by the new manager.

Blues fans touchingly and generously sang Ferguson’s name as he walked towards the tunnel.

But now, as we begin 2012, it’s to the future they, and we, are all looking, with Hughton at the helm.

Nathan Redmond, on as a substitute, bashed Blues’ last goal of the year, and his first for the club in the league. Again, that was somewhat appropriate.

Ferguson’s dismissal did not define the course of the game, it just made it easier for Blues and tougher for Blackpool.

Blues had, to that point, been in control. Defensively they were tremendous, to a man getting into the right positions and not allowing Blackpool’s merry-go-round football to tie them up in knots.

It’s doubtful whether any side has made the Tangerines as impotent this season, although they were without the trickery of Lomana LuaLua.

And attacking-wise, Blues were too dynamic down the flanks for Blackpool, and wily and powerful at the top end.

Marlon King was a rumbustious handful and Nikola Zigic, recalled to the starting line-up, was highly effective and had more of an influence on proceedings than he was given credit for.

In the thick of things, N’Daw was excellent.