Leading coaches are coming under pressure as the English premier league's lesser lights puff their chests out, says Chris Rattue.
There were two performances of absolute beauty during 2009 that leap to mind, representing sport at its enchanting best.
The Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick was long, tense, and thrilling. Like Tiger Woods, Federer has not only smashed opponents but at times draws the very best out
of them and gives us contests that are thrilling to watch and live on in the memory.
The two men hugged each other at the end - there was something very healthy and old fashioned about it all.
The other performance in this category of beauty was Barcelona's annihilation of Manchester United in Rome, in May, in what I still call - using its historical name - the European Cup final, although it now has the less glamorous moniker of the Champions League.
So overwhelming was Barcelona's dominance by the end that you not only applauded their achievements, but suspected that the great era of Sir Alex Ferguson's United may be coming to an end.
Barcelona did what United's English opponents should have been able to do more often, and exposed United's holes, and especially a lack of fluency through the midfield.
As you watched the mauling, it was possible to both marvel and also criticise Ferguson. On one hand, his ability to eke the very best out of the squad had claimed another premier league title for his club and got them to the European final. As much as any time in his career, the success was because of the force of his personality.
On the other hand though, this colossus of world sport was struggling to keep pace with its own reputation, to field a side of truly world-class proportions.
Cristiano Ronaldo then departed, but more worryingly, so did the helter skelter Argentinian Carlos Tevez who, if he had been treated right or been the right choice in the first place, was the sort of superstar signing that should have been part of Ferguson's next team of destroyers.
Manchester United are still firmly in the race this season, but a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Fulham yesterday - admittedly with a severely weakened team - raised reminders of what was suggested by Barcelona in May.
This is no longer a United to fear, in a league in which the big clubs are increasingly being turned over by smaller ones. The dominance of the big four, or certainly the extent of it, might be over.
The premier league is at an interesting turning point.
One thing is certain. The decision by Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy to virtually concede their recent match to Manchester United by fielding a second-string side is looking sick, and a slur - as the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claimed - on the reputation of the finest sporting league in the world.
Manchester United should be made to work for every competition point they can get, like every other club. They are no longer an automatic disaster zone for opponents, stripped as they are of Ronaldo's match-winning wizardry, with a questionable midfield by world standards, an over reliance on Wayne Rooney and still Ryan Giggs, and with their central defensive pair of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic no longer impassible.
Wolves thought they were playing clever, but McCarthy denied his best players a game they would have loved, to match their skills against the best, and he wasted the chance of competition points.
Fulham struck an important blow for the league's reputation by reminding everyone how the landscape that McCarthy still sees has actually changed.
Where now for United?
Predicting their demise is a bit of a cheap shot - it's going to happen one day, maybe, but writing off a team and manager who have achieved so much deserves greater evidence than I can present here.
But if you have watched Manchester United this season, the thing that strikes you is that despite enough wins to keep them near the head of the pack, they often don't look all that much better than the rest of the league.
Gone is that awesome quality, that air of inevitability that they will win all the "easy" games.
Maybe we are now entering an era in which teams take turns at the top.
Portsmouth, a dog of a team, rolled Liverpool who are ailing to the point that their manager Rafael Benitez must be on the skids. With another title race seemingly gone, they will fear their star Steven Gerrard has had enough, and will seek a new club, possibly Chelsea.
The Arab-owned Manchester City sacked Mark Hughes over the weekend, a shock decision at this time although one that was always going to be in the wind, replacing him with Roberto Mancini, a stylish, handsome Italian known as a flamboyant player, who is re-emerging with Manchester City after a coaching exile. Manchester City have spent large although not incredibly well, but they are ambitious ... and ruthless. Watch out Roberto.
So add Mancini to the cast of characters in this arena. The leading men of the premier league are so famous that there is a touch of Hollywood to it all, which captivates the masses. Celebrity and stardom are part of the deal, and for evidence of its place in our life, look no further than the Tiger Woods scandal. The Premier League understands the attraction and cult of personality with a passion to match the way our rugby union doesn't.
It's not Utopia, nor egalitarian, but the superstars aren't having it all their own way anymore. Fulham, where Roy Hodgson is one of the best English managers of the day, provided a reminder that the so-called also rans are more significant than McCarthy, lost in a time warp, reckoned on.
The premier league, this beacon of drama and debt, class and crassness, a non-stop theatre, is as fascinating as ever. The TV coverage here is superb, and the internet provides endless access to information and opinions on it, which at the moment makes a nice interlude if you are still out there, hunting down everything and anything on Tiger.
The premier league is the best sports show on earth. Even if it is premature to suggest a changing of the guard, upsets are becoming more the norm. Roll on the rest of the season.
