Reds rule the roost

It has taken 380 matches and 34,200 minutes, plus injury time, to finally find out which is the best football team in England but at 4.50pm on Sunday we did just that - and that team is Manchester United.

While the Reds were sealing a more than satisfactory 2-0 win at Wigan their only rivals Chelsea were drawing at home to Bolton. I am sure the Chelsea players knew they were chasing a lost cause when they let in the late equaliser but it did help sum up the difference between the two sides.

United scored 80 goals compared to Chelsea's 65 and with 17 home wins against 12 it is easy to see why most impartial onlookers will see this as a championship well deserved. The Reds have scored the most goals, won the most matches, consistently played the most attractive football and in Ronaldo have the best player so to see them as champions is no surprise given the fact it was sealed so late in the campaign.

The irony, of course, is that should they lose the Champions League final against Chelsea next week the gloss could be taken off Ferguson's 10th title. It is widely accepted that as a domestic manager Ferguson has no peers with 10 titles to his name. However, that one European Cup during the same period is a poor return given the resources at his disposal.

The final should be a tight affair and unless there is an early goal to open the game up it is highly possible that the game will go all the way to extra time and even penalties. Before this week the outcome was hard to predict but crucial injury worries to Terry and Drogba have shifted the balance in United's favour with the Ivory Coast striker being the biggest loss should he not recover in time for the final.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table three teams were fighting for survival with only one place of safety available. Birmingham and Reading both did what they needed to with comfortable wins over Blackburn and Derby respectively but a late Danny Murphy header for Fulham at Portsmouth gave the Cottagers the lifeline that had looked most unlikely for most of the season.

Roy Hodgson has completed a remarkable job guiding his team to four wins out of the last five games to ensure Fulham remain in the top flight and his chairman Mohammed Al Fayed will be delighted with this turn of events. Apart from Derby County who have been awful this season, winning only one game, it has been a bit of a fight for many teams at the bottom and as the gap grows with the bigger teams it looks like it will be the same for next season with all the promoted teams joining the mix.

Everton secured fifth spot and European football for next year and probably deserve to be the best of the rest having pushed Liverpool for that final Champions League spot for much of the season. Aston Villa and Martin O'Neil on the other hand will be slightly disappointed with the season run in and although sixth spot is acceptable they have played too inconsistently to be completely happy. He will need to strengthen his squad if he is too challenge the others for a top four place next year, especially if Gareth Barry leaves for Liverpool.

The biggest surprise of the day though was the 8-1 humbling of Manchester City by Middlesbrough and it leaves the future of Sven Goran Eriksson even more in the balance. Having started the season off so well and completing the double over Manchester United a top 10 place should be considered a successful season with things to build on for next year.

But it is this early good form that highlighted how poor his team have been since Christmas and if he is sacked it will be because he had raised his chairman's aspirations too early. Why the club would want to change manager at this stage is a debateable point in itself but this is Manchester City and shooting themselves in the foot is a well trodden path for this particular team.

Next year will be big seasons for several club managers including Benitez at Liverpool who must get closer to winning the Premiership, Arsene Wenger who is without a trophy for four seasons and Ramos at Spurs who should have his team more in contention than this year's mid-table mediocrity.

It is difficult though to see beyond Chelsea and Manchester United again as their squads are so strong and likely to be improved again when the transfer window opens but whether Avram Grant remains the man spending the money is another question entirely.

Overall, United are worthy champions and they have set the standard for the rest to follow. It will be interesting next year to see if any of the others are able to live up to the challenge.