Spurs the biggest winners after rivals' festive foul ups

IT'S back to work after the Christmas break and time to reflect on all the action in the Premier League, where the festive programme threw up more than a few surprises.

As the dust settles, the main conclusion must be that everyone is fallible and that none of the big clubs will be happy with what they have achieved. Manchester United lost to Blackburn, City then blew their chance to capitalise by losing to Sunderland. Chelsea were mugged by Villa and Arsenal pressed self destruct against Fulham. Spurs emerged undefeated, but they dropped points against Swansea.

At the bottom Blackburn's massive win over United threw the cat among the pigeons but the three Lancashire clubs (Bolton, Wigan and Rovers) are still adrift in the drop zone, although QPR and Wolves could be sucked in.

Here's what the fans will be talking about this morning:

THREE MORE YEARS FOR FERGIE?
The year ended badly for Manchester United and Alex Ferguson with a shock 3-2 defeat to Blackburn on the occasion of the manager's 70th birthday. The setback came after Fergie announced that he hoped to stay on as boss of United for another three years and after he disciplined Wayne Rooney for having the temerity to go out with his wife on Boxing Day, against the manager's wishes. Whether or not Ferguson's announcement that he is a long way from retirement and his public slap down of Rooney are connected remains to be seen, but it would appear that there is something political going on behind the scenes at Old Trafford. On the pitch few would have predicted the Blackburn result, particularly as United had won their previous two matches 5-0. The game against Newcastle on Wednesday night could be interesting, as could the FA Cup clash with City at the weekend.

O'NEILL PROVES HE IS THE MAN
Roberto Mancini would have enjoyed New Year's Eve after watching Blackburn beat United. However, 2012 got off to a pretty bad start as Manchester City lost to Sunderland on Sunday. The Black Cats withstood everything that City threw at them before landing the killer blow in injury time. It was a remarkable performance from Sunderland that proves Martin O'Neill's managerial nous. Sunderland were limp at the back under Steve Bruce but already look a completely different prospect thanks to O'Neill's guidance. The Northern Irishman is a good friend of Alex Ferguson and the United boss would have raised a toast in his honour after that result.

VILLAS-BOAS UNDER PRESSURE
When he arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer, Chelsea boss Andre Villas Boas was keen to make it clear he did not want to be regarded as the new 'Special One', and after scraping past Wolves and losing to Aston Villa there is no danger of that happening. Indeed, some sections of the Blues support have now turned against him. The defeat against Villa was limp to say the least and prompted an angry response from the fans. Many of the Chelsea faithful are angry about the way he has treated Frank Lampard and the fact that the midfielder scored a late winner against Wolves may not have helped Villas-Boas' cause, even if it saved him from humiliation.

SPURS KICKING THEMSELVES
The only side in the top five not to have lost over Christmas was Spurs, but they will be ruing Swansea's late equaliser on New Year's Eve, which cost them two valuable points. Harry Redknapp's men have lost only once in the league since August and are now only six points behind the two Manchester clubs with a game in hand. But had they held on for the win against Swansea they would have been right in the mix at the top of the table. Still Harry Redknapp must be pleased with his side's form, and nobody can deny that they are title contenders.

SAME OLD ARSENAL
It is a long walk from the dugout across the Craven Cottage pitch and down the tunnel to the dressing rooms at Fulham, and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger obviously hated every step of it after watching his side self combust against the Cottagers on Monday night. The Gunners completely collapsed after Johan Djourou was sent off against Fulham and conspired, thanks to some dismal defending, to lose a match they were minutes away from winning. Afterwards Wenger was typically one-eyed but it must have been massively frustrating to see his side's old frailties return after a spending the autumn doggedly climbing the table. The Gunners must now simply concentrate on their battle with Chelsea to finish in the top four. ·