Big Sam's Bubble Bursting

West Ham United are unbeaten in ten league games, stretching right back to January. Awesome, right?! Well, no, not so much.

In that period the Hammers have won just three times, and are currently on a run of 5 successive draws. In the same period that they have accumulated 16 points, Southampton and Reading have amassed 26 and 25 respectively. This means that, despite going through February and most of March without a loss, West Ham find themselves down in third, with a 9 point gap between them and the summit.

Sam Allardyce's men began this campaign as favourites for promotion, along with expensively assembled Leicester City. Leicester have never really made a serious assault on the title, but still have an outside shot at the play offs. West Ham on the other hand, have spent the vast majority of the season sniffing around or occupying the automatic promotion spaces. Quite right too - their squad is packed full of big names with Premier League experience, who ought to be more than capable of dominating this division.

I think West Ham belong in the Premier League, which I guess is mainly due to the time at which I started properly watching football; the Hammers were a regular fixture in the Premier League throughout the nineties and produced some of England's best young players. Further to this, they have a classic old stadium which they regularly fill to a respectable level - it rankles with me to see some of the half empty, half arsed stadiums on Match of the Day when there are a few clubs in the lower leagues that can boast 30'000 attendances in the Championship or League One.

So, a good set-up, a decent squad, a manager with a history of getting teams to the Premier League and keeping them there - where has it all gone wrong for the bubble blowers? Frodo's finest ought to be pointing the finger at their boss in my opinion.

The problem with Sam Allardyce (well, one of them) is his approach to playing football. A direct, physical, rigid style will tend to be overlooked and tolerated by fans if the team is getting results and the end justifies the means. When the results start slipping however, it is much easier for fans to grow frustrated than it would be if the standard of football was more aesthetically pleasing. Take Brendan Rodgers at Swansea for example, he is having an outstanding first season in the big league with the first Welsh representatives, and doing so with a pretty brand of flowing, passing football. Next season when the Swans struggle a bit more as most expect will happen, provided they stick to their guns, I'd expect fans to be a lot more patient. The punters at the Liberty Stadium know that they are going to get a decent style of football from their team, and that engenders a lot more tolerance and patience. Those at the Boleyn Ground, and St James, Ewood, and the Reebok before, have all reached a point where they have thought: why am I paying to watch this shit?

I may be biased, being far more Yossi Benayoun than Grant Holt in the physique department, but my opinion about what type of football is easier on the eye has clearly been shared by many of Allardyce's detractors over the years. The extra factor this season is that, with the calibre of players at this disposal, and the standard of the opposition, West Ham should not have to resort to such ugly direct lump ball. They went into this league with justifiable expectations of coming out on top. They have the players who can provide creativity if given that brief - the audacious purchase of Ravel Morrison in January was a gamble on someone who can provide that bit of magic. Week after week, Morrison sits on the bench watching it get hoofed up to Carlton Cole or John Carew.

Allardyce can come across as somewhat abrasive and arrogant at times, but as stated before, there was a time when his approach to football and his attitude would be tolerated, embraced even, when things were going well. At present, the tide of opinion is starting to turn against him at West Ham and it is clear that improvements are needed, and quickly. The Hammers face a trip to Peterborough midweek, no easy task given the Posh recently stopped Reading's exceptional unbeaten run. After that is a huge clash at home to the team above them, Reading.

Win that one, leapfrog the Royals into second, and the fans will surely support their team through the final push for promotion. Struggle, serve up a poor performance of long balls and no creativity, lose...and it could be curtains for Big Sam. There will still be the second chance of the play-off's, but for a team to go in having missed out on promotion, it is often hard to raise the momentum to get over the line. West Ham may face some serious issues if they miss out on promotion, but with an upturn in form they can still do it.

Whether they can regain their winning habit and finish up back in the promised land remains to be seen. If they do, I think there will still be a question for the owners to consider, of whether the fans will be happy with more of the same? Even if he gets them up, it may be time for Allardyce to embrace the beautiful game.

Fabrice Muamba unites football...for now

The sight of a young man fighting for his life is going to leave an indelible mark on anyone who witnesses it. The shock and horror that was clear to see on the faces of the players, coaches and fans present at White Hart Lane on Saturday is testimony to that.

As Fabrice Muamba of Bolton Wanderers lay prone on the turf, with a team of medics desperately working to save his life, thousands there and millions watching on television were willing the footballer to be OK, to get up, to pull through. The first 41 minutes of the FA Cup quarter final clash became irrelevant as people wept, prayed, held their head in their hands, shouted in desperate defiance or simply fell silent. Even for me, waking up on the other side of the planet and watching the footage after the fact, it was harrowing to see and deeply, deeply upsetting.

Thankfully, the latest news reports suggest that his condition is improving - but this does not mean he is out of the woods, and I would expect it will be a long while yet before any diagnosis can be made as to the lasting damage that the 23 year old has sustained. Suffice it to say that I, along with the millions of others that have voiced their support, welcome every bit of positive news and sincerely hope to see Muamba fit and healthy and playing football again.

Indeed one of the most striking aspects of this terrible incident has been the unified response from all of football. Ignoring (for now) the idiot on Twitter who has since been arrested, the overwhelming view has been of a great guy, one who has fought extremely hard to achieve success from the most hellish of starts, and who is universally liked and respected.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that in the light of such genuine life or death moments, football fans can put aside their rivalries and unite for a cause far more important... but to be honest it still does. The gesture by Real Madrid players to wear shirts sending a get well message to Muamba, a player in an entirely different league and country, was excellent. The fact that they also sent the same sentiment to Eric Abidal was perhaps even more astounding and commendable - Abidal is of course a hated and despised Catalan rival for most of the time; but whoever commissioned those shirts understood when things are more important.

My fear is that this wave of goodwill, which is currently portraying our beloved sport in the best possible light, will not last for very long. Right now we are seeing the best of what football can be - a sport that brings people across the planet together, that gives a platform for the best of human compassion to be demonstrated, that highlights the importance of unity, respect, and just bloody well being nice to your fellow man. The catalyst for this has been the shocking sudden collapse of a fit, healthy, well-liked, high profile young footballer. That's why I think it won't last.

In 1958, 23 people were killed in a plane crash. In 1985, 56 people died in a fire, whilst a further 39 were killed as a result of crowd trouble. Four years later, 96 people were crushed to death. More recently, 2 young men were stabbed and killed. A convoy of coaches was riddled with mahcine gun fire, resulting in three deaths. This season, a young man lost his infant son, just two days after he was born; and a father of two killed himself.

Every single one of these incidents has been used by football fans as a subject of provocation. Chants, banners, gestures - whatever it might be, for years football fans have seen literally everything as fair game to abuse your hated opponents. It's funny, it's banter, they started it, they sang about x so why shouldn't we sing about y.

To the right-minded, it is utterly abhorrent to refer to any of these incidents, or countless others that I could have mentioned. We'll all stand in the stadium and tell a player in no uncertain terms what we think of him, but generally I'd suggest that the vast majority understand the lines that should never be crossed. I'm not trying to come off holier than thou here - I got a serious talking to at age 13 or so having called Dean Sturridge of Derby County an 'f'ing d*ckhead' from the Milton Road end at The Dell. (He was.) You know what I mean though - songs about incidents where people have actually died, songs about the colour of someones skin, or their family - the decent folk simply don't go in for that.

Right now it feels like football is full of decent folk, and maybe we've all turned a corner. My gut feeling though is that the aforementioned Twitter scumbag is simply the front runner. If football fans see it as fair game to sing about Hillsborough, Munich and so on, you can be damn sure Fabrice Muamba is going to cop some abuse. I don't really know who Bolton's biggest rivals are; I guess Bury, Wigan and Blackburn. This might be ignorance on my part but I don't think they have any super-heated rivalry the likes of the Glasgow, Liverpool, or Manchester clubs. Hopefully that might reduce the need for fans to find this horrible incident as something to use against the Trotters, but I fear that might be in vain.

If this had happened to a Southampton player, I'd fully expect the next South Coast Derby at home to Portsmouth over Easter to be a fiery affair, spilling over when the inevitable chants or songs were heard.

Maybe I'm being cynical, maybe the exemplary behaviour on display at White Hart Lane was indeed the pivotal moment when we can all start behaving like humans and the idiot minority can be marginalised to the point of extinction. I hope so, truly I do. There can be rivalry, passion, banter and abuse without descending into absolute base amorality. I just don't see it happening over this.

Don't agree with me? Fair enough, but in closing, consider this:
Sickipedia already has four pages worth of Fabrice Muamba jokes.

(Note: if easily offended, don't go anywhere near Sickipedia, I implore you)

Let the countdown begin...10...

Liverpool's emphatic Merseyside derby win on Tuesday night gave the Premier League table a pleasing consistency. Every single team has now played 28 games, which means for all of the 2011-12 alumni, they have ten games to go.

It goes without saying that these ten games mean different things for different clubs, but looking at the table it appears to me there are few if any teams with absolutely nothing to play for.

Starting at the top, City's slip-up in Wales allowed Manchester United to overthrow them at the summit for the first time in a long while. With City not playing until Wednesday against Chelsea, Sir Alex Ferguson's men have a chance to open up a four point lead at the top. In any circumstance it would be hard to envisage them throwing away the title from such a position, but I fear that with the two Manc's respective fixture lists over the final ten, United may now have snatched an advantage that they will not relinquish. The trip to Wolves may not be easy, Fulham, their next opponents, are resurgent...but you have to look at United's run-in and concede that they would be favourites to take three points in practically every one of those games.

City meanwhile face trips to the Emirates and 'Sports Direct Arena' (shudder) plus the aforementioned welcoming of Chelsea in their post Napoli euphoria. Of course the biggest fixture is the Manchester derby, hosted by City, with only two games to follow thereafter. If City are within a point or two of United by then, victory will allow them to return to the summit from where they just have to hold out for 180 minutes. That fixture will clearly be key, but there is no reason why United could not achieve a position of unattainability before then.

Behind these two we have an intriguing race for Champions League qualification. Spurs looked to have this one sewn up back in January, but a rotten run of form coinciding with the England job speculation has seem them fall away from the top two. Coupled with the incredible run that Arsene Wenger's Arsenal have been on, the battle for third and fourth is very tight. Factor in the new manager honeymoon period of an odious Chelsea (where was this effort and spirit for AVB, for shame) and neither of the North London clubs can afford to ease off. The clash between Chelsea and Tottenham next weekend will have Arsenal fans hoping for a draw, whilst both Blue and Lillywhite will be hoping to send out a message and deal a potentially fatal blow to their opponent with victory in that one.

Further back, 5 and 7 points off 5th respectively, sit Newcastle and Liverpool. The Toon Army are enjoying an excellent season and deserve many plaudits for what they have achieved so far. Some tricky fixtures lead me to expect that they will fall away slightly and most likely finish up in 7th - but this in itself is still a tremendous display. Liverpool meanwhile will probably be hoping that success in the FA Cup, to go with the already in the cabinet Carling Cup, can salvage what has been a disappointing and below par League campaign.

We then come to a group for whom you may think there is nothing to play for. Only 2 points separate Sunderland on 37 in 8th, and West Brom on 35, down in 14th. Those two points however equate to around 4 million GBP in end of season prize money. That is a new player for any of those clubs - a payment to the tax man, the salary roll for your entire catering staff...whatever; it represents a significant amount of money for football clubs, many of whom are operating at a loss. Although fans may be apathetic towards mid-table mediocrity, Chairmen and Chief Executives will not, and for that reason the ten games remaining for the water treaders have a lot riding on them.

I'll concede however, that they don't have nearly as much to play for as those fighting for their lives down at the arse end of the table. Aston Villa have endured a miserable season, but should have enough points on the board already to be plenty safe come the final 2 or 3 games. Last weekend's results saw Bolton and Blackburn benefit from their 'six-pointer' victories to escape the dreaded drop zone, leaving Wolves, QPR and long-time bottom dwellers Wigan Athletic to make up the unfortunates. As Goldmember would say, it is toight like a toiger down there though, yesch. Even Wigan...with only 4 wins all season, 1 win in their last ten games, just 24 goals scored and only 1 home victory for their fans to cheer...even they are not out of it, by any stretch. Indeed, they face a home game against West Brom this weekend knowing that with Bolton preoccupied in the FA Cup, Blackburn and QPR not playing, and Wolves hosting the leaders - they have an excellent chance to exit the relegation zone and breathe the sweet, fresh air of 17th. Their run in is not pretty mind you, and their final two games against Blackburn and Wolves may just come after it is already too late, although they have pulled it off before. The other candidates for the drop all have tricky looking fixtures to contend with (that's what happens when you're shite all season I suppose) and it is likely to be a scrap that, as so often happens, goes right to the wire.

Whether fighting for their lives, looking to finish as high as possible, chasing European qualification or indeed going for the crown, the next ten games for all 20 Premier League clubs represent the cliched '10 Cup Finals'. There will be twists, turns, shocks...and Villa will continue to be mind-numbingly dull and boring. Bring it on!

An ode to Rickie Lambert

Last night Rickie Lambert was named the Championship Player of the Season, in reward for his excellent goalscoring run that has played a huge part in keeping Southampton in the automatic promotion spots since the opening day of the season.

I won't get into the question of announcing Player of the Season when there is still almost a quarter of the season remaining, instead this update is to recognise the achievement of Southampton's Goal Machine.

Lambert was named on the shortlist alongside Cardiff's Peter Whittingham, and fellow Saint Adam Lallana. To many Saints fans, Lallana was perhaps the more likely one to get the nod - indeed Rickie himself acknowledged this in his acceptance speech. Lallana has risen through the ranks, first emerging during the ill-fated Championship relegation battles; and over the past couple of years in particular he has established himself as one of the most exciting talents that the club has produced.

Back in January 2011, and then again last summer, many of the country's biggest clubs were sniffing around the Saints yet again, and it was Arsenal who secured the signature of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. At the time, whilst it was plain to see that the Ox was going to be a great player, I won't have been alone in being quietly pleased that no-one seemed to realise that Lallana was an even more important player for the Saints. As far as I am aware he has never been linked with a move away - financial security and an upturn in on the pitch fortunes has perhaps made it easier for the club to ignore any enquiries for their brighter talents.

Lallana is certainly one of the brightest, his contribution from midfield has played a huge part in the dangerous, dynamic and fluid style that Nigel Adkins has advocated; and it's his link-up and understanding with Lambert that makes the pair of them worthy of the recognition.

The big man from Merseyside got the nod however, and I expect Lambert has received this award due to his outstanding goalscoring record - it's easy to notice the guy who tops the scoring charts season after season. This is the first time he has played at this level and he has taken to it with ease, having cut his teeth in the lower leagues and gradually stepped up at the right time in his development. With over 20 league goals and 10 games still to play, for sure Rickie Lambert deserves this award. It's not just the goals that he brings to the team, however - his all-round play is exceptional. He possesses a deftness of touch and a vision for the killer pass that one would not normally expect from a traditional Number Nine that, in physique, aerial ability, and scoring rate, Lambert seems to represent.

Check his back though - Lambert wears the 7 shirt of Matthew Le Tissier, and that should be enough of a clue as to his role and importance to the team. Lambert delivers the best dead ball in the Southampton squad, he plays the link-up role better than anyone I've seen for us in a long time, and he knows how to hold on to the ball and when to release it for maximum effect. Of course, this is all in addition to his lethality in front of goal - first and foremost, the man knows how to find the back of the net. Time and again over the past 3 seasons he has delivered the goods with crucial goals to fire the Saints towards their dream of a return to the Premier League.

If Southampton do hang on over the final stages of the season and clinch back-to-back promotions, I expect there will be many interested parties looking on to see how Lambert fares at the highest level. Given the impressive performances this season from the likes of Grant Holt, Steve Morison and Danny Graham, I see no reason why Lambert could not continue his fantastic form and provide a goal threat for the Saints even against the defences of the Premier League. Indeed there could even be an argument for giving him a go with the England set-up, I fail to believe there is anything that Andy Carroll can do which Lambert can't.

This is all getting ahead of ourselves though, for now Lambert should be applauded for a well-deserved accolade; and a few more goals this season couldn't hurt. Congratulations Rickie, now finish the job!

Alan Shearer, Pundit Extraordinaire.

There are many, many reasons for me to love Alan Shearer the football player.

His early association with my beloved Southampton started it, and then his unstoppable power taking Blackburn to the title made me like him more - stopping United's domination (albeit briefly) with a ridiculous goalscoring record and a glorious partnership with Chris Sutton. A true classic centre forward, he then went on to enjoy a patch of form where he was arguably the best striker in the world; perfectly this coincided with Euro 96 and all the Baddiel and Skinner soundtracked glory that brought. (reminisces)

He went on to become the world's most expensive player at the then eye-watering sum of 15 million GDP, snubbing United once again to become seemingly the final of the puzzle to take the Toon Army over the line. The fact that he never won a trophy with Newcastle does not taint his career for me, the sheer force of his goalscoring might went on and on for years, such that his all time Premier League goals record looks almost untouchable. His highlight reel stands up to the best: the debut goal for Blackburn, the early hat-trick for Saints against Arsenal, the outside of the boot fourth against Holland, THAT volley at St James against Everton...what a player.

Why then, given my 15 or so years of bromance for Super Al, am I finding him increasingly impossible to tolerate?

His post-playing role finds him (having given management an ill-fated go) as a regular fixture on the pundit's sofa on BBC's Match of the Day. With the years of experience Shearer has of playing at the top level, and the unparalleled insight he can give to the striker's art, he is the perfect foil to the defensive guru Alan Hansen. Able to provide analysis drawn on his vast depth of knowledge, Shearer can point out the things that us watching laymen would never realise, having never played professional football. Show us what the striker should have done, tell us what he will be thinking, explain to us what options he has and how best to burst that net. Truly, Shearer's word on goal scoring is one that I would hang off.

And, friends, here's the problem.

Super Al brings precisely none of that knowledge whatsoever to the role. He apparently thinks his brief is to describe in the most basic of terms the pictures that anyone watching can see with their own eyes. Not to paint a vivid picture for the benefit of the eye-less, no, just to give a very vague commentary of what the screen has already shown. "He's brought it down, a lovely finish and he'll be delighted with that". Thanks. For. That. Shearer seems to comprehend two emotions, that's it, that's all there is in the full spectrum of human feeling: "Delighted", or it's polar opposite: "Disappointed".

To be honest it drives me mad. I struggle to think of another walk of life in which you'd bring in a subject matter expert with vast experience and tolerate conclusions and analysis that any idiot can see. His job, nay, his duty (lest we forget, his wages are paid by the very viewing public he is there to serve) is to actually add something to the show. Instead, he seems to drag the life out of every exchange with his dull, banal stating of the obvious.

The one time that I have seen pundit Shearer in an animated fashion was after England's dismal World Cup exit at the hands of a vastly superior Germany, in Bloemfontein back in June 2010. That is precisely what we want to see - tell us what you really think, don't hide behind platitudes or play it safe: be honest, be engaging and be worth the watch.

I despair mainly due to the potential that is there. Over here in Australia where I am currently exiled, football is very much on the periphery. The weekly highlights show The World Game is firmly of the knowledge that they are not chasing huge ratings, and anyone watching will already be a football fan. With that in mind, they deliver a show geared up to football fans, and their Chief Pundit Craig Foster does an excellent job. In my opinion he puts so many of the Boys Club BBC cartel to shame; with his insightful tactical analysis, forthright opinion and well-researched, knowledgeable approach. Match of the Day seems content with the drivel spouted in between the action, gearing it all up to the casual viewer and leaving the real football fan short-changed and, in my case at least, frustrated.

Is it not reasonable to expect a level of research from Shearer? Is it not also reasonable to expect a level of basic insight about what the pressure on the pitch or in the dressing room can feel like, or what any aspiring striker should be looking to do in their game or to avoid? Maybe I'm being harsh or unfair, after all why should we expect former footballers to be erudite, articulate pundits capable of providing insight? Well, harsh or not, if they can't do it - get them off the bloody screen!!! The insight provided by the likes of Guillem Balague, Gabriel Marcotti and the peerless maestro, AC Jimbo, James Richardson himself; that is the standard of punditry that I feel football fans deserve.

Like I say, since the age of about 4 or 5 I have loved Alan Shearer the football player, and I always will. Shearer the Pundit? Not good enough.

(this post was originally written for www.stateofthegame.co.uk as part of their 'Studio Saints & Sinners' series. Check out the site, loads of writers contributing about all areas of football, plus their readers tend to abuse me a fair bit, quite funny)

A V Be-gone

So, the Abramovich Axe has fallen again.

This morning Chelsea dismissed their manager, Andre Villas-Boas, a mere 9 months after his appointment.

It's fair to say Chelsea have not had the best of seasons. Perhaps the most striking thing about their defeat against West Brom on Saturday was the lack of shock waves it sent through the league. Under (and let's face it we simply have to mention his name) Jose Mourinho, a defeat for Chelsea was so rare that it always came as a surprise, particularly against a relative minnow like Roy Hodgson's West Brom. Indeed, the Baggies have never so much as taken a point from Chelsea in the Premier League, until their comfortably superior victory this weekend. This season, the Blues have suffered 7 defeats in their first 27 league games, and are currently on a run of only 3 wins in their past 10 games. Not good enough.

The defeat that seemingly prompted this move in actual fact leaves Chelsea far from the oblivion which one might assume. They sit in 5th place, three points back from a resurgent Arsenal. The Gunners are flying after a tremendous week which has given their Champions League hopes for 2012/13 a massive boost (RVP surely HAS to be player of the year) but all is far from lost for Chelsea. Of course, Champions League qualification is seen as the minimum benchmark at the start of every season, but it is not out of reach. Compare the 'crisis' at Chelsea with the lack of fuss up at Liverpool who, although with one trophy in the bank, arguably sit in a far worse position, 7 points away from Chelsea and languishing in 7th. The Londoners still have every chance to finish inside the top four and pending a tricky cup replay, could yet claim the FA Cup and (even trickier) progress further in Europe.

Whatever the objective view however, there is really only one opinion that matters at the West London club and that belongs to Roman Abramovich. Only too happy to ship out anyone he deems to be failing to meet his standards, Roman has issued seven P45's in his 9 year tenure as owner and emperor of the club.

Upon appointing Villas-Boas, it seemed that Abramovich and the Chelsea hierarchy were going for an altogether longer term approach, going for youth and looking further ahead than March. It was a bold appointment, one which came at great cost, and I was one of many at the time who thought it was a smart move by Chelsea to emulate the type of dynastic success enjoyed by Arsenal and, of course, United. The key factor that seems to have played against AVB however is largely due to his age and relative inexperience. The key word being 'relative'...

Relative to some of the key figures in the Stamford Bridge dressing room, the 33-year old manager who never played at the highest level and has one (hyper-successful) full season in charge of a top flight football club knows nothing and has done nothing. They are the same age as him and seem to have sufficient ego to believe they don't need to listen to anyone and they know best. As if you don't know, I'm referring to the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba, who are all presumably feeling pretty smug with themselves today having effectively orchestrated their manager's demise by failing to stick by him with their press conferences and comments to the media.

It's a display of arrogance and petulance which is entirely unsurprising given the people involved, but what rankles most for me is that these are not Messi, Iniesta and Xavi we are talking about. Chelsea's power players are all past their prime, and are no longer able to steamroll the league like they did back in the mid-noughties.

Ever since Jose Mourinho's patience ran out in 2007, he has cast an almighty shadow over Chelsea Football Club. The bookies think he is heading back, and it certainly seems that he will be departing Real Madrid in the Summer, most likely with the La Liga title.

The great irony of this situation could well be that if Mourinho does return to Chelsea, those players who have pined for him all this time and seem only to respect his view; those same players might well find themselves slung out. Mourinho has never had a problem exerting his influence and making decisions for the good of the team - and he may well feel that JT is too slow, Super Frank does not have the same influence on a game anymore, Didier can't boss defences like he used to. It would be fascinating to see quite how they'd react to being dropped by Jose.

As I say he is now the bookies favourite to return and I would imagine if that was the case many Chelsea supporters would be delighted. Carlo Ancelotti was successful in his tenure there and was harshly dismissed; Avram Grant came within the width of a post of delivering the club's first European Cup...but the reality is that every manager since Jose has been compared unfavourably to the Special One. He may well return and deal with the unfinished business, but you feel things would have to change in terms of the influence afforded the manager. With Jose it's all or nothing, and it may be time for Abramovich to relent and hand full control over to his prodigal son - whether Jose is so keen is currently unknown.

As for AVB, his future also remains unclear. This has been a harsh lesson for the young coach, but there is no reason to dismiss him as a naive fool or a clueless no-hoper. To be honest, I feel sorry for him - with a different set of players he may have been better able to perform the necessary rejig without being undermined constantly. Ryan Giggs never moans to the press about Ferguson dropping him - he appreciates and understands that as he ages his role in the squad changes; unfortunately for Villas-Boas the Chelsea old guard seem less willing to embrace this fact.

I expect he will take another role, most likely on the continent (I'd think he's had enough of the English press for a little while) and I hope that he can go on to redeem and rebuild his reputation. He clearly has talent as a coach, one does not simply walk into Mordor just as one does not simply lead a team through a league season undefeated, and I will enjoy the day he comes back to haunt Chelsea.

Finally, this leaves a number of questions for Chelsea as a team, can they salvage their season (which lest we forget is in the state it's in thanks to their own ineptitude) or will they be facing up to the cold harsh reality next year of the dreaded Thursday Night, Channel Five? We shall see.