Patience and consistency

If Abromovich leaves Chelsea and takes his cheque book with him, they're screwed. Liverpool get bought out in a blaze of glory but then suddenly find themselves saddled with potentially hundreds of millions of quid worth of debt. Newcastle, while obviously outside of the big four, show every season that money does in no way equal success.

In my view, there are a number of clubs that have copped onto the fact that they're not really going to get their hands on this money to begin with, let alone get to spend it wisely. Instead, clubs like Everton, Villa, Blackburn and Spurs have installed solid steady managers and then have settled in for the long haul. I know Ramos is new to Spurs but I think that a lot of what is good about Spurs since he took over is down to a lot of what Jol did in his time there. I think that this season the progress ourselves and Villa in particular have made has shown that clubs can reap the rewards of this. While Spurs have shown what being rash with sacking a long-term manager so early in a season can do. If you are prepared to be patient, and have a hard working consistent approach, you can make steady ground on the top four.

Take Liverpool for example. For all the money they have spent, they have barely hung on to fourth place some seasons. And only then because other clubs have fallen away. I think this season they could really be overtaken. I think fourth place is really up for grabs this year. If the club who succeeds them, takes the cash prize for finishing fourth and keeps playing the sensible game with it. Who know's where this would bring them next season?

Take Arsenal. They don't have huge sums of money and are very prone to either blowing very hot or very cold, literally from one season to the next. I think it has only been Wenger's Midas touch with signing unknown talent, and then gelling it together so quickly, that has kept them where they are. Of course I'm not saying they'll suddenly drop to mid-table but a manager leaving can sometime spark an exodus of players and this could really affect them for a couple of seasons.

Now I know people will say that this is all fantasy land stuff, but I really don't think so. The top four teams are really not as stable or as untouchable as they appear. Clubs like Everton and Villa, and even Spurs with their current run of form, are really showing this season how it can be done.

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