Where journalists have greatness thrust upon them
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Another weekend, another twist in the Premier League title race.
The way this season is going, it would be foolish to write Chelsea, Manchester United, or even Arsenal out of the race for top spot.
As the Manchester derby edged towards full time earlier on today, those of a blue persuasion in West London must have thought their slightly lighter blue cousins up north were about to do them a huge favour and hold United to a draw, surely ending any hopes they had of hanging on to their title.
As I walked away from Stamford Bridge this afternoon having watched Chelsea beat Stoke City 2-0, my mind was already racing ahead of me.
Would we get Tottenham in the semi finals or would we have to wait until the final?
I switched on Five Live, made my way home and found out that it would be the latter. A semi final against Martin O’Neill’s talented Aston Villa stands between Chelsea and back to back FA Cup finals.
As the world of football reels from the shock of Chelsea’s 18-month transfer ban, thoughts will now begin to turn to the long-term implications of Fifa’s decision.
The penalty handed down yesterday by the organisation’s Dispute Resolution Chamber isn’t completely unprecedented – Roma were banned from signing players during the January 2006 transfer window as a result of their pursuit of Auxerre’s Philippe Mexes – but there is no doubt the Blues are the most high profile victims to fall foul of Fifa’s attempt to stamp out club’s questionable practices in poaching young talent.
