Ancelotti has little time to fix machine

BEFORE the end of October, Chelsea were considered Premier League champions-elect, such was their serene procession ahead of their struggling rivals.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side were considered untouchable and other pretenders to their crown vastly inferior to the blue machine. Suddenly there is a spanner in the works at Stamford Bridge and English football at the highest level is generating interest levels never previously seen.

Such is the ability of the major contenders to keep loading double-barrel shotguns and aiming them at their feet, even Harry Redknapp, the Spurs manager, believes his team could win the league this season.