Some pundits have been calling it the season that makes no sense. Chelsea and United have both stumbled at separate times and neither have truly capitalised leaving it all down to the final weekend. Arsenal have finally faded away despite being written off on countless occasions. The fight for fourth is going right to the wire. Liverpool have had a stinker of season and were expected to challenge on all fronts. Fulham are our only team left in Europe following a marathon campaign and Portsmouth, who nearly went bust, still have a cup final to look forward too, albeit a domestic one. It has been a strange season indeed. Yet the weirdness doesn’t just end there.

As another manager, this time Tony Mowbray, bites the dust you can be forgiven for thinking that Rafa Benitez might actually be a cat. After all the man seems to have had as many lives. On countless occassions he has been written off and seemingly on his way out of Anfield yet much to the disdain of many he still remains. If he’d have lost the whole Kop he may have been sacked already but it’s a credit to the Liverpool supporters that they have stood behind him. In my eyes they should now let him walk alone.

It’s Wayne’s World

Wayne Rooney is in the form of his life, another match winning performance from the world’s best player as United eased past a sorry AC Milan side consisting of ageing stars, some of whom played their final games on the European stage. Forget David Beckham, this was the Rooney show.

As Emile Heskey raced through for a one-on-one with Adam Federici I did wonder if the bed-ridden Gabby Agbonglahor had as much chance scoring. I didn’t fancy the big lump finding the back of the net, and by the looks of it neither did he. His tame effort was saved and in that instant Heskey’s season was encapsulated. Plenty of effort but not much end product. Many will argue this has always been the case with the former Leicester striker but up until recently he was seemingly guaranteed a spot in Fabio Capello’s starting 11. Let’s hope the Italian is starting to realise he is simply not worth it.

It’s a debate that not only plagues players and managers but us football fans too. Michael Essien admitted that the African Cup of Nations left him torn between representing his country or his club this January.

Fabio Capello dealt with John Terry as quickly as his former skipper apparently lasts in the sack. The tabloid scrum will eventually be forgotten, much like Vanessa Perroncel, once the Three Lions start playing in South Africa this summer. Crisis averted? Probably. Yet Capello has another problem on the horizon even if this one has nothing to do with how faithful one of his first-choice centre-halves is.

Some players defy their age to excel well into their final years. Ryan Giggs continues to re-invent himself and dictate the outcome of matches. Players like Teddy Sheringham never needed to worry about losing their pace and continued to do what they always had. Others slide down the footballing ladder and ply their trade at lower division or Non-League clubs. Some retire before their legacy is ruined. Others refuse to give up, although they probably should do for the sake of their reputations.

Alex Ferguson has rebuilt and rebuilt at Old Trafford. He has overcome almost everything that anyone has thrown at him so talk of him deserving the sack is ridiculous. Yet like any United fan, I saw Leeds’ win coming weeks ago and few could say they didn’t deserve it on the day. So just what is going wrong at the ‘Theatre of Dreams?’

Despite being hyped up by the British press as the games great saviour, Fabio Capello will really earn his corn over the next six months. Obviously it all gets serious now as the build up to South Africa begins and the Italian starts finalising the squad in his mind. Few can doubt he’s done a good job – and many applaud his disciplinarian attitude. Yet everyone seems to have overlooked how difficult it will still be for our national side this summer.

52 bosses have lost their jobs in 2009. From Jimmy Mullen of Walsall on January 10th to Mark Hughes only four days ago it’s been another manic year on the managerial merry-go-round. It would hardly surprise me if someone got itchy fingers over Christmas and sacked someone before the New Year such is the current madness of boards around the country.