WHEN Graeme Souness swooped to sign Dwight Yorke from Manchester United two years ago the move was hailed as a masterstroke, writes ANDY NEILD.

Yorke had been one of the stars of United's treble-winning side of 1999 and his deadly partnership with Andy Cole was feared throughout Europe.

For two glorious years, the pair were dynamite together at Old Trafford.

They shared an almost telepathic understanding and virtually everything they touched seemed to turn to goals.

It's little wonder, therefore, that Souness's bold attempt to reunite them at Blackburn Rovers created a frenzy in the town.

Fans, quivering with expectation, began to talk excitedly about a push for the Champions League, fuelled by an avalanche of goals from what was arguably the most explosive strike-force in Premiership history.

But Cole and Yorke rarely looked like recreating the old magic in the blue and white of Blackburn and after two stormy years, which were punctuated by bust-ups and slanging matches with Souness, their Rovers careers ended in messy divorces this summer.

So what went wrong with a marriage that was seemingly made in heaven?

The whole Cole and Yorke thing was no myth as the stats clearly show they had something special going at Manchester United.

In United's treble-winning season of 1998-99, they scored a whopping 54 goals between them as the Reds made history.

And of the 44 games in which both players featured, United won 27 and lost just one.

On top of that, there were 10 different occasions when Cole and Yorke both scored goals in the same game.

Compare that to their record at Rovers last season and you see how their partnership has waned in the intervening years.

In the 23 games that both players featured in last term, Rovers won just four and lost 14, with Cole and Yorke mustering just 11 goals between them.

And in all their time at Rovers, there was only five occasions when both of them scored in the same match.

The players themselves would argue the service they enjoyed at United was far better.

With a midfield of Giggs, Beckham, Scholes and Keane to supply them, the chances came thick and fast.

But the two strikers were also the right side of 30 then, and in the prime of their careers.

Nevertheless, they were hardly over the hill when they signed for Rovers but it soon became apparent that Yorke in particular had lost the edge that once made him so special.

Souness, no doubt, would also question the duo's attitude and commitment.

After winning treble, were they really motivated to achieve more success with Rovers?

As time went on, Souness increasingly felt the answer to that question was 'no' and that led to a number of bust-ups with the players, to the point where there was little mutual respect between them, and a parting of the ways became inevitable.