It may have faded fast, but its back in a hurry...

If I was the CIA and my post on April 7th a torture tape, it would have been destroyed.

But instead, I must eat crow for stating that the Premier League was solved at both ends of the table. Now, both the title and relegation are wholly up for grabs. What happened in the past three weeks? Well, besides Birmingham unable to defend, a lot actually...

1) Ferguson playing not to lose
Its easy to point to the 4-5-1 he threw out at Barca and Chelsea, but it goes back to the Blackburn match where ManYoo were lucky to snatch a point. How Nani didn't start then is vexing. How Carrick continually starts over him (and Anderson) is even more so.

2) Chelsea playing in spite(?) of Avram Grant
I really don't understand how Chelsea is still performing this well. Usually teams with a lot of (individual) talent quit on thier uninspiring coaches whenever adversity is first encountered. The trophy should have been given to ManYoo when they let Wigan get a point at the death, AT HOME. Instead they rebounded with a 1-0 victory at Everton, and 2-1 win over United (and lets not forget Riise's gift at Anfield in the CL). With Toon Army and Bolton on the horizon, Wednesday's CL fixture -- same goes for United -- is monumental.

3) Bolton Winning
Equally as inexplicable is Bolton. For a team that couldn't score, and won only six times all season, the Trotters' run of 7-out-of-9 points in the past three matches have seen them barely breathing in safety. Davies, McCann, and Stelios have come up huge; considering Kevin Nolan is their leading scorer -- with 5 goals.

4) Fulham Winning -- Away
The Cottagers hadn't won away since September of 2006. Then they went to the Madjeski and shutout Reading 2-0. They also hadn't won back-to-back away fixtures since 2003. Then they come back from 2-0 down and relegation to upset ManCity 3-2 -- in the final 20 minutes.

5) Reading not Scoring
Some time ago I wrote how Reading could be this year's Wigan. Well, their inability to score (last tally was back on March 22nd) could/will see their final match away to Derby as being their last gasp in the league.

The sale of personal oxygen tanks are going to skyrocket in the concluding weeks.

I know I got one.