Mourinho will never change

What pathetic petulance.

Jose Mourinho excelled himself at the weekend with his 'four-point' press conference at which he allowed no questions, but merely made four points of 'congratulations' after Chelsea's home defeat by Sunderland on Saturday evening.

He congratulated:

1. His players.
2. Sunderland on their win.
3. Referee Mike Dean on his 'unbelievable', 'fantastic' performance.
4. Referee supervisor Mike Riley for 'the way the championship is going.

At least 3 and 4 were obviously sarcastic, but, I suppose, if asked, he could easily deny that and say, 'Listen to what I said...'

Talk about an ungracious, sore loser. It was claimed that Mourinho, on his return to English football this season, had changed. Could we expect a more magnanimous, more gracious Mourinho?

Well, it appears, no, not a bit of it.

Losing your 77-game unbeaten home league record must be annoying, but trying to blame the referee, and - of all things - the referees' supervisor, for Chelsea's home defeat, is verging on embarrassing.

Mind you, we assume he's making some implied reference to Dean's award of a penalty for the foul by Azpilicueta or Jozy Altidore. Maybe not: maybe he's annoyed at Dean's failure to penalise Chelsea's Ramires for a blatant elbow on Sebastian Larsson, only a couple of yards in front of Dean; or the failure of the officials to deal with Chelsea assistant coach Rui Faria in a more comprehensive and timely fashion when he had to be held back from attacking Dean.

It's all rather tiresome.

Manchester United: simply not good enough

It's all gone wrong for Manchester United.

Dumped out of the League Cup at the semi-final stage by Sunderland last night, boss David Moyes is hiding his despair very well, simply saying that his team didn't play well enough. However, he must have been absolutely fuming over the way goalkeeper David De Gea fumbled a shot over the line in the last minute of extra time (when a save would have put United through); and he must have been fuming over some woeful penalty kicks in the shoot-out, of which Manchester United scored only one of five.

What's up? Let's have a look at last night's team.

David De Gea (goalkeeper). Mistakes will be made, of course, but De Gea has never truly inspired confidence and doesn't look to be a top-class keeper. He conceded Sunderland's only shot on target last night. 5/10

Rafael (right back): United have struggled to fill this position since Gary Neville got injured some years back. Rafael has some flare, but loses the ball too often and is not strong enough in the tackle or in the air. 5/10

Chris Smalling (centre back): Looks a little ungainly at times, making him slightly unpredictable in his touch. 5/10

Jonny Evans (centre back): Usually sure-footed, he seems to have lost some confidence. Some wayward clearances last night. 6/10

Alex Buttner (left back): Has neither the tackling strength nor the forward forceful movements of Patrice Evra, and was eventually taken off in favour of Evra. 4/10

Adnan Januzaj (winger): Has immense potential, but last night wasn't one of his best, though he did set up the goal. His shooting was wayward. Perhaps too much weight is being put on his young shoulders. 6/10

Michael Carrick (midfield): Over 32 now, Carrick remains an excellent passer of the ball, but is probably past his best. Never one to score many goals, this lack of contribution is hurting United currently. 7/10

Darren Fletcher (midfield): Coming back from injury, 120 minutes was a long stretch for him last night, but he was ineffective on too many occasions. Not what United need right now. 4/10

Shinji Kagawa (midfield): Not up to United's high standards at all. 4/10

Javier Hernandez (forward): Mis-control, mis-timed passes and poor shooting, Chicarito had a bad night, but then came up with a goal in the last seconds (he did  nearly miss from five yards, however). 4/10

Danny Welbeck (forward): Lacks power, pace and fizz, but doesn't have a bad scoring record. Not the answer, though. 5/10

Quite simply: they're not good enough. Sir Alex Ferguson may have seen this coming and got out at the right time. Poor David Moyes cannot really be blamed. This is a poor team. Juan Mata can't arrive too soon.

Poyet will hope for a quick turnaround

Gus Poyet needs a quick turnaround at Sunderland after being named as boss this morning.

The Black Cats are already six points adrift of safety with only one point from seven games so far this season. Yet that will soon seem insignificant if they can pull a couple of wins out of the bag.

After the international break Sunderland face Swansea City before hosting Newcastle United on Sunday 27 October. Poyet could make himself an instant hero by winning that match!

After the short-lived reign on Paolo Di Canio, I'm sure the Sunderland fans will want a long and stable relationship with Gus Poyet - but that will only happen if he achieves some success on the field. Given the start they have had, success will presumably be retaining their Premier League status.

An apparent player revolt spelt the end for Di Canio, so Poyet will hope he can get the trust of the players quickly. Poyet was sacked by Brighton for 'gross misconduct' after being suspended at the end of last season. Such troubles must be put behind him.

Sunderland showed some good signs against Manchester United on Sunday - although they ultimately lost 2-1, demonstrating that, despite their poor start, they are by no means a lost cause.

Sunderland fans will be hoping that the speedy action of getting rid of Di Canio will give their team plenty of time to turn their problems around.

Clubs that made hay while it snowed

For all those who whinge about the lack of a winter break in English football, well, most of them have got their wish on the last week or two. Many clubs didn't play on Saturday, and won't play again until Boxing Day. Enjoy the break.

However, for those that did play there was a chance to bag some points rather than clutch onto "games in hand". Sunderland's 1-0 win over Bolton took them into sixth place in the Premier League, only four points behind Chelsea - what a boost for the Black Cats.

In the Championship, Leeds United took advantage of many other clubs near the top being unable to play, beat leaders QPR 2-0, and moved into an automatic promotion spot for the first time this season, and had a near 30,000 crowd to boot. Would they have preferred to stay in the warm?

Likewise, near the bottom, Hull City and Sheffield United enjoyed much needed wins, and Ipswich Town did all they could to get their game on - most of the first half being played with the blue lines obscured by the ever-deepening snow - and a rather bizarre 17-minute break only 15 minutes into the second half at the behest of referee Stuart Attwell to clear the lines (that were already showing better than in the first 45 minutes!) ensured that the game was completed and Roy Keane's team bagged three vital points. A 16,728 corwd would not have had it any other way.

Back to winter breaks - it's been said many times before: when would you book it? December? January? February? Our weather's not that predictable.

Play the games when you can. If you get a postponement, put your feet up. Otherwise, get the points.

Terry out for months

It seems that John Terry may be sidelined for months with a nerve problem, according to a BBC report.

This will come as a blow to Carlo Ancelotti after his team was so badly exposed right through its heart in the 3-0 loss to Sunderland on Sunday. Cut apart time and again by Danny Welbeck and Asamoah Gyan, centre backs Branislaw Ivanovic and Paulo Ferreira - both usually full-backs for the Blues - would undoubtedly be happy to move back to their regular slots, but with Terry out for so long, probably Ivanovic will be asked to partner Alex for the rest of the season.

The news about Terry follows up last week's disappointment that Frank Lampard will take longer to return than expected.

The injuries have taken some attention away from the sacking of Ray Wilkins as coach last week, and may be some of this disruption was, at least in part, responsible forn the poor showing on Sunday against the Mackems, who, however, should draw great strength from such a vibrant display.

Now placed sixth, Sunderland, with the lack of consistency of would-be contenders like Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, might secretly begin to have thoughts of European qualification. More displays like Sunday's would certainly reinforce that view.

Ferguson's rant deflects criticism from United's shortcomings

Sir Alex Ferguson has been called upon by the Football Association to explain his amazing outburst against referee Alan Wiley after Saturday's 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland.

After his team had claimed a point with an injury-time own goal, Ferguson could barely contain himself: "There should have been another 30 seconds of added time, but he [Wiley] was walking up the pitch after the goal, needing a rest. He just was not fit enough for a game of that stature. The fitness of the players, the pace of the game, demanded a referee who was fit. He is not fit. It's an indictment of our game that we see referees from abroad who are as fit as butchers' dogs. We have got some good referees in our country who are fit, but he was not. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player as he was taking a rest."

Forty-nine year-old Wiley is said to be "very upset" by the comments. He has an impressive fitness record, and has been shown to run 11.5km during a game.

It is my belief that Ferguson's rant has more to do with deflecting criticism away from himself and his team's shortcomings than a real feeling that Alan Wiley is not fit enough. Manchester United were poor and petulant and got away with a lucky point when Sunderland probably deserved to win.

Ferguson is no fool. He knew saturday's team selection and performance might come under scrutiny. He has enough experience and is wily (ha!) enough to take the heat off himself when required.