What with Chelsea continuing to stutter under the ‘leadership’ of Andre Villas-Boas as he attempts to stake a strong air of Mourinho-like authority and dampen any dissenting voices from the old guard, going into the Christmas period it seemed that Manchester United & Manchester City were going to sprint away from the chasing pack.  That was until last weekend when both clubs lost.

Unfortunately for the chasing pack didn’t take full advantage.

After scoring no less than 10 goals against Fulham & Wigan, Manchester United lost at home to bottom of the table Blackburn Rovers 3-2. Take nothing away from Blackburn whose mix of young and experienced players appeared to be playing out of their skins for under-fire manager Steve Kean, Manchester United were shocking; and Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to leave Wayne Rooney out of the squad for some petty disciplinary decision backfired.  Why when it comes to Ferguson making blatant mistakes do football pundits & journalists alike not tell it as it is? Yes he’s the most successful manager English football has ever seen.  But when he gets it wrong, say so!

Chelsea & Tottenham failed to capitalise on Man Utd losing points (Chelsea lost at home to Aston Villa 3-1 & Spurs drew with Swansea 1-1), leaving Arsenal as the only top 6 team to win last Saturday.

To cap a weekend of surprising results in the Premier League, Manchester City failed to take advantage of Ferguson & United’s blunder on Monday, knowing that winning at Sunderland would have opened a three point gap at the top.  But they failed to beat a rejuvenated Sunderland on Monday as Martin O’Neil continued to steer the Black Cats away from the threat of relegation & into the top half of the Premier League.

As the busy Christmas & New Year fixtures reached a final round of matches this week there were wins for Manchester City (Liverpool 3-0), Spurs (West Brom 1-0) & Sunderland away to Wigan 4-1 on Tuesday; and yesterday was a chance for Bolton to start the New Year with a win and for Man Utd to make amends for ending 2011 with their tail firmly between their legs.

Bolton was captained by Gary Cahill at Goodison Park as they took on an Everton side that included American Landon Donovan in his second loan spell from LA Galaxy. Cahill was probably playing his last match for the North-east side before moving to London.  Though it was interesting to see Harry Redknapp & his chief scout at Goodison, as personal talks between Cahill & Chelsea appear to have stalled.  I expect Redknapp to do everything in his power to sign Gary Cahill. The decision I believe is going to be down to Cahill.

The match produced the most bizarre goal of the season as Tim Howard hoofed a big clearance downfield only for the ball to get caught up in the gusty wind & end up in the Bolton net.  Howard becomes only the fourth goalkeeper to score in the Premier League after Brad Friedel, Peter Schmeichel & Paul Robinson.

The other Premier League game saw Manchester Utd travel to St. James Park (yes, I kmow its been renamed!). Newcastle were in the midst of a bad run with only one win in their last three games, so I was thoroughly expecting Manchester Utd to hit them for four.  Wayne Rooney started along with Dimitar Berbatov.  But United played worse than they did last Saturday.  While Newcastle played with confidence and bossed the midfield.  Alan Pardew’s Newcastle went on to win 3-0.  Another shock result. United have leaked 6 goals in two games.  But more than anything else I believe they are missing a midfield general.  I wonder what Paul Scholes thought of Man Utd’s performance.

At the weekend Manchester United play Manchester City in the FA Cup.  I can’t wait!

But midway through the 2011/12 season and it isn’t too clear who will be the eventual winners.  Although Tottenham are having a great season, and by winning their game in-hand will only be four points off the lead, I can’t see the title going anywhere else than Manchester.  The problem is whether to choose Manchester United who have a habit of being stronger in the second half of the season, or Manchester City who remained unstoppable and unbeaten until they a late penalty against Chelsea earlier this month.

The Championship is almost as tight with Southampton three points clear of West Ham & a rejuvenated Middlesbrough.

League One has been dominated by Charlton who are currently seven points clear of the chasing pack after almost completely changing their squad last summer.  Sheffield United & Sheffield Wednesday are both showing good form with MK Dons & Huddersfield Town a further two points adrift.

Finally, Crawley Town are leading the way in League Two in their first season and look likely to continue their ascension from non-League football, though they are only three points clear of Cheltenham and four ahead of Southend, who have a game in hand.

So last weekend, unsure of the outcome of all four leagues I decided on Manchester City, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday & Crawley only to see Man City held by West Brom to a 0-0 draw while Man Utd thumped five passed Wigan, and Crawley Town lose at home to Gillingham.

My initial choice, and one I would have stuck to if it wasn’t offering such a poor return was Manchester United, West Ham, Charlton & Crawley.  Here’s hoping my bet is still alive come next May.

Man City took the lead after only two minutes when Mario Balotelli went round Petr Cech to score after a great through-ball from Sergio Aguero.  At that point it looked like it was going to be a long night for Chelsea and their young, under-fire manager Andre Villas-Boas.  In fact, for the first 30 minutes Chelsea did their best to hang on as Manchester City bossed the game with a master class of sublime football.

But Chelsea managed to claw their way back into the game and in the 34th minute former Man City striker Daniel Sturridge got to the byline and found Raul Meireles who scored with a great volley.

Against the odds it was 1-1 at half-time.  Chelsea had battled hard and showed some team spirit while Roberto Mancini would be berating his team as they should have finished the game off before Chelsea had a chance to get a foothold.

The second half started with a yellow card for Gael Clichy.  A red card followed in the 58th minute and that was enough to turn the game.  Chelsea played well to make the extra man count and were less overrun in the midfield.  Tempers frayed with Raul Meireles and Yaya Toure among those getting stuck in.

In the 73rd minute Frank Lampard come off the bench to replace Raul Meireles; and in the 82nd minute scored a vital penalty even though Juan Mata has allegedly been given penalty-taking duties.

Chelsea’s win end Manchester City’s 14 game unbeaten league run and inadvertently helps rivals Man United who are now only two points before City in the Premier League.

The win against Newcastle came as pressure mounted on the young manager’s shoulders after being knocked out of the League Cup last Tuesday with an awful performance against Liverpool.

AVB continues his quest to play exciting attack-minded football with a high defensive line. But with a slow defence this appears to be causing Chelsea as many problems on the field as their over-inflated egos.  I believe Villa-Boas needs to address the ‘clear as day’ fact that while John Terry continues to show his strength as a natural born leader, his pace is letting the side down, while central defensive partner David Luiz is a defensive liability.

The victory must have caused Andre Villas-Boas a sigh of relief even though he has continued to state to the media that he is still confident he has Roman Abramovich’s backing and fully expects to be at Chelsea for the next three years. Whether he honestly believes this or not, it will surely be a grave concern to know that Villas-Boas has the worst start of any manager at Chelsea since Abramovich took over; and he is not known for his patience!

It’s a job made even more difficult by the fact that Chelsea want instant success.  I remember this time last year Carlo Ancelotti saying these very words as the pressure began to mount on his Stamford Bridge future.  Success for Chelsea and Roman Abramovich is to win trophies, especially the quest to win the Champions League.  Failure is to win nothing and not qualify for next season’s Champions League.  But at the same time, Chelsea have not been able to replicate the level of success with gradual first team changes in the same way as Arsenal and Manchester United. But time has run out for Chelsea.  Now is the time to go with the likes of Sturridge, Mata, Torres, Romeu, Meireles and buy one or two solid central defenders – Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka in January.

Steve Kean can also rest in peace today after Blackburn Rovers beat Swansea 4-2 with Yakubu scoring all four goals in a rare treat for home fans that lifts Blackburn off the bottom of the Premier League table.

So while Sunderland appointed Martin O’Neil as their new manager yesterday, after sacking Steve Bruce in the week, who will be the next Premier League manager to lose his job?  If it was down to the voice of the fans then it would be between Aston Villa’s Alex McLeish and Wolves manager Mick McCarthy.

Wolves play Sunderland today; and while Martin O’Neil will be watching from the stands while assistant manager Eric Black takes charge today, Mick McCarty will be under the spotlight of owners and fans once again.  If Wolves lose to fellow strugglers Sunderland today at Molineux you might not need to read the football betting tips on BettingExpert.

There's A Golden Sky - How Twenty Years Of The Premier League Has Changed Football Forever

A few weeks ago I was tuned in to the ultimate refuge of the sports saddo – ESPN Classic.

Between replays of classic Brazil sides providing cliché fodder for hackneyed commentators everywhere and documentary films of assorted pseudo-sports (BMX? Holy mother of god!) they showed a match from Tottenham Hotspurs’ season long dalliance with the old second division in 1977 (9-0 to Spurs against Bristol Rovers since you ask).

I don’t mention this purely out of self indulgence but because  of the differences between football then and now that leap out at you. Match of the Day consisted primarily of extended highlights of a single match – as opposed to the televisual orgy that Sky now serve up; the Spurs team that went down to the second division was made up of the same players from the previous year in Division One and also the following season, post promotion – whereas nowadays players leave a relegated team faster than the Gadaffis’ fleeing Tripoli; teams only had a single substitute on the bench – rather than today’s army of backups. Perhaps not the most insightful of observations but the ‘progress’ of football since those days, specifically following the formation of the Premier League, is precisely what Ian Ridley examines in the thoroughly entertaining There’s A Golden Sky.

Ian Ridley takes as his starting point the, at the time, Big Five clubs’ establishment of a Premier League at the end of 1991 and he journeys around the country profiling teams from the lower leagues (such as Wembley FC who scrape an existence in the shadow of the national stadium) to the Premiership itself (comparing Man United to the Kremlin in its control of access, image and output – MUTV as a modern day Pravda anyone?) and back down to the 88 amateur pitches at Hackney Marshes (the largest concentration of football pitches in the world).

There’s A Golden Sky – How Twenty Years Of The Premier League Has Changed Football Forever contains plenty to interest and some chapters that are genuinely gripping. A surgeon’s account of the Bradford fire and its aftermath are tragically vivid while Matthew Etherington’s candid account of his descent into the abyss of a gambling compulsion engenders sympathy rather than schadenfreude.

There are plenty of lighter moments as well. A power cut sees Arsenal cut short their pre-match warm up at Selhurst Park. As the players return to the dressing room Arsene Wenger asks what the problem is, to which Ray Parlour responds ‘There’s been a berm’. ‘A berm?’ quizzes Wenger, at which the rest of the team wet themselves. Then there’s the strange doggedness of Blackpool in retaining the frankly Vic Reevesian ‘Clifton Quality Meats’ as a sponsor in the face of slightly more glamorous post promotion offers. I also found Ridley’s description of the impotent and ludicrous pointy stick wielding 5th and 6th officials in European games pretty amusing.

As you might imagine, the thread that runs through the book is one of money. How it enables the realisation of ambition, attracts the talented and villainous in equal measure and, in some cases, corrupts and destroys. There’s the salutary tale of Blackburn Rovers for example. Jack Walker, possibly the first of the big time footballing beneficiaries invested the, for the time, astronomical sum of ￡30 million and watched his boyhood team win the league. Following Walker’s passing and subsequent corporate takeover and hamfisted management Blackburn were transformed into dour midtable makeweights along with the Boltons and Villas and are currently relegation contenders with their manager Steve Kean surely next in line for a statement of unequivocal support from his chairman.

The book isn’t without its flaws though. After an enticing enough start describing the circumstances of the Premier League’s formation Ridley fails to explain precisely what happened. I would have liked a discussion of what changed from the old Division One in terms of control, income and separation from the FA. Surely an understanding of these issues is crucial as a context for a reader’s appreciation of subsequent chapters?

Additionally, I think the structure of the book could do with a little tinkering. Maybe it’s just me, but, being a fan of non-fiction writers such as Misha Glenny and Michael Lewis who take pretty complex subjects and render them into the shape of a novel, I expect an overarching narrative to corral the various themes and ideas in a book – which doesn’t happen here.

These minor gripes aside, as a collection of essays on contemporary football in all its forms, there’s plenty of well researched material for any football fan to get their teeth into. Ridley doesn’t go for some post-fanzine elegy to an imagined past of heaving terraces on rainy nights in Scunthorpe and entire Saturdays filled with FA Cup Final Swapshop but a more measured series of observations on both the good and bad in football since the Premier League’s inception.

Bookending things are chapters about Paul Gascoigne then and now who, Ridley seems to hope, can be seen as a microcosm of the league itself – the road of excess leading to the palace of wisdom I guess. But whether Gazza’s current sobriety and realigned priorities will endure is anyone’s guess – and whether the Premiership will experience a similar phase of abstinence and reflection seems pretty unlikely.

There’s A Golden Sky – How Twenty Years Of The Premier League Has Changed Football Forever by Ian Ridley is published by Bloomsbury priced £18.99.

The knives are already out for Chelsea’s young manager Andre Villas-Boas after just four months in the west London hot seat after yesterdays’ result.  Chelsea have lost three of their last four Premier League matches.  But AVB confidently deflected post-match questions that he is now under extreme pressure and insisted he was still in favour with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich & that together they were still working on long-term plans.  Though away from the media I would be surprised if Andre Villas-Boas isn’t looking over his shoulder, especially following the news last week that Guus Hiddink is now interested in a move back to Chelsea where his short reign as caretaker manager was heralded by all as a great success, culminating in Chelsea winning the FA Cup for some time now.

I see Hiddink being offered a ‘Director of Football’ type role, where he would effectively be on standby, ready to take over the reins if AVB becomes the latest manager to come and go as Roman Abramovich continues to crave instant success.

Liverpool are now joint fourth place, level on points with Chelsea ahead of Tottenham’s game tonight at home to Aston Villa.  The game will see the welcome return of Harry Redknapp after minor heart surgery.  If Chelsea end the year in such a position that Champions League qualification is not looking likely, I believe AVB will be sacked.

I don’t think anyone could have expected Liverpool to be so poor.  They never got off the bus, as one cliché goes; and Spurs took full advantage by playing fast, fluid football, the best I’ve seen them play since last season’s Champions League matches against Inter Milan.

Liverpool finished the match with nine players after two yellow cards were shown to Charlie Adam and Lucas respectively.  But the way they were playing, Liverpool wouldn’t have won if they had finished with their whole squad on the pitch!

In between the first and last matches of the day, Manchester City threw away a two goal lead at Fulham, and even more surprising was Sunderland thrashing Stoke 4-0 at the Stadium Of Light.

So confident were the bookmakers Paddy Power of a Manchester United victory, they were offering money back on all losing bets, if Chelsea won.

So many times matches like this one are hyped to ridiculous levels and fall short on entertainment value but this was a corker.  Chelsea performed well with an attacking formation.  Andre Villas-Boas continued with the young strike force of Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge.

The weakest link was Frank Lampard who looked off the pace and lacking confidence. Lampard was substituted at half term as Man Utd were amazing leading 3-0 even though the end-to-end game was anything but one sided, with Chelsea having their fare share of possession and more shots on goal.

Minutes into the second half and Fernando Torres was put through one on one against former Athletico Madrid team-mate David de Gea.

Torres showed his growing confidence with a deft chip.  He was put through again and once more showed great skill to beat de Gea, only to shoot wide in front of an open goal.  It was this which courted the headlines, rather than Torres playing well and Wayne Rooney missing a penalty as he slid and landed on his bottom, reminiscent of John Terry’s penalty miss in the Champions League Final against Manchester United in Moscow.

As for Arsenal, they through away a lead to lose 4-3 to Blackburn Rovers.  Pressure continues to grow on Arsene Wenger as the main question appears to be not whether he should keep his position but who Arsenal could possibly replace him with.

Manchester Utd were awesome and deserved the win though Andre Villas-Boas tactic to attack United rather than sit back almost paid off.

They are now two points clear at the top of the Premier League and the only team in the division with maximum points.  In past seasons they have been slow out of the blocks and finish strongly.  This season it could be all over by Christmas!

Roberto Mancini’s Man City must have thought they had done enough when they put five past Tottenham at White Hart Lane in the early afternoon kick-off, which had Harry Redknapp blaming Chelsea for their poor start to the season.  Sami Nasri made his debut and alongside David Silva helped the blue side of Manchester completely outplay Spurs.

Upfront Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko were chosen ahead of Carlos Tevez & Mario Balotelli as it happened this was to be the game that all doubters of Edin Dzeko’s ability were to eat their words, as the Bosnian striker scored four goals with a truly sublime performance; and for the first time I witnessed why Manchester City paid £27m last January.

Manchester City’s demolition of Spurs followed a 3-2 away win at Bolton and a convincing 4-0 home win against newly promoted Swansea>  But it was the thrashing of Spurs who finished fifth last season suggests City have stepped up another gear as they look likely to be the only serious Premier League contenders to Man Utd.

Whatever Man City can do, Manchester United can do better!

After whipping Spurs 3-0 at Old Trafford last week it was the turn of north London rivals Arsenal to enter the Theatre Of Dreams; and with a new look Man Utd brimming with Barcelona-style confidence it was a bad time for a depleted Arsenal side without a handful of first-team regulars and the loss of Sami Nasri & Cesc Fabregas, I don’t think anyone apart from the most blinkered of Arsenal fans expected anything but a comfortable home win.  But no one was expecting 8-2!

8-2 and it could have so easily been more.  Wayne Rooney hit the post and Wojciech Szczesny was one of the only Arsenal players who could seriously hold his head up after what was such a humiliating defeat that Arsenal FC have apologised and offered all fans that made the trip a free away game ticket.

I am confident that Arsenal’s troubles are not going to disappear that quickly, and along with Tottenham were left at the weekend scratching their heads wondering if someone has put something in the Manchester water supply.

Of the other so-called ‘big six’ teams, Chelsea looked laboured, slow and obvious in their play until new signings Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku were introduced in the second-half as they eventually beat off Norwich at Stamford Bridge 3-1, while Liverpool continue to forge ahead under the leadership of King Kenny Dalglish as they beat Bolton 3-1 at Anfield.

It’s been a great start to the Premier League, and one thing is for sure, the Premier League champions will be from Manchester.

Amazingly Man Utd went into the game without Rio Ferdinand & Nemanja Vidic.  But Phil Jones, Johnny Evans and Chris Smalling joined Patrice Evra along with new goalkeeper David de Gea in keeping a weak Spurs attack with Jermain Defoe offering no threat as the lone striker.

In fact, if it wasn’t for veteran goalkeeper Brad Friedel, playing his league debut, Spurs could have lost by a whole lot more.

Both City and United have now won back to back Premier League matches and have thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of the chasing pack.  After this display, is anyone foolish enough to bet on the Premier League title going anywhere else but Manchester come May?

I know it’s never going to happen but wouldn’t it be a more exciting start if all matches kicked off simultaneously, like the last games of the season.

Before the weekend I had my customary accumulator bet on outright winners for the Premiership, Championship, League One & League Two.  I’m with the popular opinion that Manchester United was crowned champions last season more for the lack of consistent competition rather than sheer brilliance and this summer they have strengthened enough for me to believe they will notch up another Premier League title.

In the Championship I believe Leicester City’s spending and Sven Goran Eriksson’s man-management skills, combined with the experience he gained last season will see them promoted back to the Premiership, while new managers Danny Wilson & Paolo Di Canio at Sheffield United & Swindon Town respectively will give them enough momentum to win League One and League Two.

As for the winner of the Premier League Golden Boot I had already earmarked Luis Suarez (Liverpool) & Sergio Aguerro (Manchester City) as being the main contenders but wouldn’t rule out Fernando Torres returning to his best, if he can stay fit and Chelsea can play a 4-3-3 formation that best suits the Spanish strikers’ skills.

Suarez scored an early goal before missing a penalty in Liverpool’s disappointing 1-1 home draw with a new look Sunderland; while Sergio Aguerro set the second half alight when he came off the bench yesterday to help Manchester City thrash new kids on the block Swansea 4-0 by scoring twice.  Torres failed to score in Chelsea’s 0-0 draw at Stoke on Sunday but looked fitter and sharper than he has done since his £50 million transfer from Liverpool last January.