The King is Dead, Long Live the King.

It is in this period of the festive hangover that the "title race" heats up to embody precisely that which its label represents, a compelling contest of the fittest. This year the foot-balling gods have been kind, granting the deserving public a spectacle to behold, a three horse race. While the staunchest of disciples of Chelsea FC may do their utmost to quash such talk, fervent whispers echo around the premier league halls and passages, the king is severely ill and flirting dangerously with death.

Chelsea’s string of dismal performances has brought to the surface cracks that have threatened to appear for some time. The tremors that warned of an eventual quake were abound when Chelsea took on Inter Milan in March. A mere two players of the blues squad represented new additions to the special one’s roster during his time at Stamford Bridge. In a contest between Mourinho past and present there could only be one winner, Samuel Eto’o providing the nail in the all to predictable coffin as Ancelloti slumped to a 3-1 defeat on aggregate.

Time has eroded and all but swept away the foundations of the palace built by the Portuguese ace, while a host of successors have been relatively idle. Players such as Nicholas Anelka, Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosingwa have come in and have been succsesful. Yet Chelsea’s activity in the transfer market post-Mourinho (now a period of over three years) can hardly be defined as progressive. Undeniably there will be those cloaked in blue with the age old response of "If it ain’t broken .....". Such a retort does have its grounding and reasonably so. The continuity and generative strength that the blues have drawn from their formidable spine of Terry, Lampard and Drogba has been their primary vehicle for success. However it is an aging contingent with Terry at age 30 and both Lampard and Drogba at 32, by the very nature of mortality it was always going to be so. As it stands Chelsea’s once celebrated kings are without their rightful heirs. Mourinho’s predecessors have inherited an enviable wealth of talent and experience, yet they have done very little to ensure that their inheritance would flourish in the years to come.

Chelsea or Mourinho FC were without response to a vibrant Arsenal display at the Emirates nigh on a fortnight ago. When the old guard of Lampard and co. failed to stamp their authority on the game to whom did a forlorn looking Ancelloti have to turn to?. An unconvincing and largely untested tonic in the form of Daniel Sturridge and Gael Kakuta. Carlo’s counterpart held the aces on that bracing North London evening. Arsene Wenger was able to rely on a bench of both guile and power with the likes of Arshavin, Chamakh and Diaby on the sidelines, a mere sequence of flashing numbers away. Yet it was Wenger and not Ancelloti who faced the brunt of pre-season criticism focusing around allegations of meagre personnel resources and the lack of sufficient depth. Labels which have now been discarded, compounded by the Frenchman’s recent coach of the decade award, pipping the likes of Ferguson and Mourinho to the coveted post.

As the once titanic blue figures left the pitch one couldn’t help but escape the feeling of witnessing an empirical sunset, the death throes of a once revered dictator. The blame for Chelsea’s decline can be laid at a variety of doorsteps, from the sacking of Ray Wilkins to the loss of a defensive rock through Ricardo Carvalho’s departure to Real Madrid. Six points from a possible eighteen would seem to go beyond a typical "bad patch" A stumble at home and solitary point against Aston Villa coupled with a shock defeat to Wolves paints a morbid scene.

The crown looks less and less likely to return to West London. Manchester or North London appear to be more likely destinations with United, City and Arsenal embroiled in a struggle for the premiership title. It will be in these months that the trophy is won or lost, and so it begins. United resume business against a gung-ho Spurs outfit who no longer shun the big stage. City travel to Wolves, the Wolverhampton club lifted by recent victory over the champions. Arsenal head to Upton Park to face a desperate West ham in a good old fashioned London derby. So the million pound question remains, Upon whose mantelpiece will the trophy rest come the end of the season?. Personally, my heart says Arsenal but my head says United. The king is dead, long live the king (whoever he may be).