Richard Scudamore told the media today that the proposal did not receive sufficient support from top flight bosses and will not be examined further.

This development may surprise many, given that 14 clubs must support such proposals in order for them to be explored more seriously.

Outside of the traditional ‘Big Four’, one would expect almost universal support for a change that would dangle the gold-plated carrot of Champions League qualification in front of a team finishing as low as seventh in the league.

Is there any chance that some level of pragmatism is finally sinking into football authorities? Perhaps they fear the consequences of such a temptation.

The lure of more realistic Champions League qualification would surely lead many ambitious chairmen into spending beyond their clubs’ reasonable means. We could end up with six or seven Pompey’s on our hands.

If you look at the last three PL final tables, we might have had the salivating prospect of European giants Barcelona locking horns with the likes of Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton. On these grounds alone, it would seem a sensible decision.

Winning the Premier League is considered the most significant achievement because it measures results over 38 hard-fought matches. The same logic should apply to the 4th CL place.

The play-offs would add yet more exciting games to the schedule. However, with four teams currently vying for that one position, isn’t it exciting enough already?

In two home games against their two main rivals, Arsenal have been totally overrun, registering comprehensive defeats to Chelsea (0-3) and Manchester United (1-3). In both games, the Gunners have been outmuscled and outthought in every department.

It is worth breaking this down into each individual third of the pitch:

Central defence – the best defensive pairings have at least one commanding, non-nonsense defender in the mould of Terry or Vidic. A classier, quicker partner compliments this well.

Neither Gallas nor Vermealen quite cut the figure of a commanding leader of a centre back. This results in a perceived weakness & disorganisation which spreads throughout the whole team. Didier Drogba has taken great joy in tormenting Arsenal for the last four years and the superlative Wayne Rooney was equally devastating on Sunday.

Central midfield – Cesc Fabregas must be one of the finest talents in Europe. Unfortunately his impact is being blunted in the big games by central midfield partners lacking in presence and influence. Let’s face it – Denilson is never going to be the next Keane or Vieira. Chelsea and Man Utd both possess phenomenal strength and quality in midfield, and Wenger’s team have lost those vital midfield battles spectacularly.

Up front – Arsenal miss Robin van Persie massively, as Wenger’s other strike options are lightweight, aside from Bendtner, who does not seem to be good enough at this level. With the likes of Rooney, Drogba & Anelka, the top two have a decisive edge to their play, particularly on the counter attack, where as Arsenal find themselves too reliant on executing a wonder-pass. It has been noticeable, too, to observe how ineffective Arsenal are from wide positions. With no striking presence, they score few goals from wide in open play or set pieces.

If Arsenal’s outfield issues were not enough, the position of goalkeeper must be questioned. If you were to put the 20 first-choice keepers in order, would Manuel Almunia make your Top 10? Nani has rightly been praised for creating United’s first goal. However, his fantastic skill has diverted attention from the absolute horlicks that Almunia made of the cross. Goalkeeping errors undermine all the outfield efforts, and affect the team’s overall confidence.

Although he might not admit it, Wenger must be aware of these issues. However no signings of note have arrived at the Emirates in the January transfer window. You must fear for their season with tricky games against Chelsea and Liverpool on the horizon.

Bad boy captains don’t sit well with sporting authorities. Just ask Shane Warne. Aside from being arguably the most skilful bowler in the history of cricket, Warne was blessed with a quite brilliant cricketing brain. Perfect captaincy material…until he stepped off the park. A string of off-the-field indiscretions made Cricket Australia reticent to have Warne in a position of authority.

The England football captaincy is viewed with similar magnitude to leading the baggy greens. It requires a character who is whiter than the white kits with three lions on the chest. When Fabio Capello took over, JT seemed a wholly reasonable choice to lead his side into a World Cup campaign. Inspirational leader, world class centre back, committed husband and even named Father of the Year. How that has changed now.

Terry was already on the ropes after the News of the World broke a story about his unofficial £10,000 stadium tour. Now his alleged affair – with, of all people, the fiancée of an England teammate – surely makes his captaincy position untenable. For the FA to continue with Terry would be tant amount to an endorsement of his alleged antics.

You can argue whether personal affairs (literally!) should affect team matters, but in this case they certainly do.

Assuming he goes, who will fill the embarrassing void?

Rio’s injury problems call his claims into question. Lampard leads by example on the pitch and is seen as a model professional. However, in light of his acrimonious split from Elen Rives, his appointment would surely be butchered by the press. That leaves Steven Gerrard to finally prove that he can inspire his England teammates the way he has for Liverpool for the past decade.

Martin O’Neill faced a tricky pre-season last summer. Early season form had wilted under the stresses and strains of UEFA Cup campaign. His talismanic centre back and captain, Martin Laursen, was forced into early retirement. O’Neill responded by making some understated but extremely savvy signings. New signings Richard Dunne, James Collins, Stephen Warnock & Stewart Downing might not have made headline news in the maelstrom of Manchester City’s spending, but they are all made in a similar image – solid, British, with important top flight experience.

Probably his key signing has been Dunne. One gets the feeling that Dunne was not quite sexy enough for the billionaire owners’ liking. But the over-priced, imbalanced pairing of Joleon Lescott & Kolo Toure is proving about as sexy as Iain Dowie in a mankini.

Richard Dunne may not be the prettiest player to watch, but he is mighty effective, experienced, and you can imagine, a very positive influence in the dressing room. He is a poor man’s John Terry, and that is no bad thing.

The result has been to strengthen the spine of a side that can not only compete with their perennial rivals, but take 9 points from 9 against the seemingly dwindling Top Four. O’Neill is both a great creator of teams but also an impressive developer of players. Exhibit A – James Milner, currently reinventing himself as a creative central midfielder, and making a strong case for a ticket on the plane to South Africa.

Without Europa League distractions, there is no reason to question Villa’s ability to penetrate the Top Four. But with Man City and Spurs also flexing their muscles, it promises to be the most exciting finish to the top half of the table in Premier League history.

Come the end of the season, Bolton finish in 17th position, one point ahead of relegated Wolves. If this series of events unfolds, Mick McCarthy will wear the wriest of smiles.

McCarthy’s decision to change all ten outfield players for Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford has opened a massive can of worms. Before the match, it generated a feeling that the result would be a foregone conclusion; a gimme.

Eyebrows will have been raised at all of United’s rivals, not least Arsene Wenger. He watched his Arsenal side held to a 1-1 draw last night by a motivated, full strength Burnley. Afterwards, Wenger commented that he will compete on an equal playing field with United over 37 matches – sarcastic, but fair comment.

We always hear that football is a confidence game. I wonder how those ten dropped players felt…Morale must have been sky high after a fantastic victory against Spurs, and the prospect of an injury-ravaged United defence will have excited the likes of Kevin Doyle.

And what of the fans? A midweek trip to Manchester will have set back the away supporters north of £100 per person. Surely they deserve better?

You can understand the reasons behind McCarthy’s decision, and if the renewed players gain three points at home to Burnley on Saturday, it would seem to have paid off.

But the bigger picture is cloudy. When a club’s final league position has such gigantic consequences, financial and beyond, surely all teams have an obligation to field something close to their strongest line ups in every game.

If the FA take no action against Wolves, it sets a precedent and gives every club carte blanche to decide which games they take seriously, and in which games they simply roll over and die.

In the build-up to this vital match, Wenger issued a call to arms for his players – they can no longer be considered a young team; now is the time to deliver against the league leaders. 90 minutes later, and Arsenal’s fragility had been cruelly exposed by a bullying, clinical Chelsea. Having set the scene in advance, Wenger would surely have to concede – his team fell badly short in both final thirds. A lack of incision in attack; a lack of organisation in defence.

But rather than admitting any shortfall in his own team, Wenger chose to blame the officials. He reasoned that Arsenal dominated the game and Chelsea scored with their first shot.

A dose of reality is required. Chelsea had 5 shots on target to Arsenal’s 3. Possession ended up only 51-49 in Arsenal’s favour. If Arshavin’s goal was disallowed harshly, what of Sagna dragging down Anelka in the box and Vermeulen’s rugby tackle of Terry, both offences committed in the area?

With the news of Robin van Persie’s extended absence still raw, and in the immediate aftermath of an embarrassing home defeat, maybe you can excuse Wenger’s reaction. But in the cold light of day, he must surely recognise that Arsenal lack leadership and power across the field. The Invincibles team was built around exactly that.

Their frailties will rarely be exposed against the majority of teams in the Premier League and Champions League. But against the top teams in Europe, the Gunners’ soft centre will be there for all to see. Until Wenger addresses this and performs a major overhaul, Arsenal fans will have a long wait for their next major trophy.

In the spirit of pre-season hype, much has been written about Carlo Ancelotti’s favoured diamond system. On paper, the formation seems a little narrow, with an over-reliance on overlapping full backs to provide width. In practice, we are seeing that it is an impressively fluid system, and in no small part, that is down to the embarrassment of riches the Italian has inherited in midfield.

If width is required, he can call upon the much-improved Florent Malouda, in addition to Kalou, Zhirkov and (if and when fit) Joe Cole. For tighter occasions, Ballack and Deco may be preferred. Either way, it seems Ancelotti will rotate his options in midfield according to the opponent and match situation.

Make no mistake, Ancelotti will be no ‘Tinkerman’. Expect to see the irrepressible spine of Cech, Terry, Lampard and Drogba on the vast majority of team sheets.

The early signs are extremely encouraging – Roman may have found his diamond geezer. However, a word of caution.

This time last year, Deco was shining in the late summer sun, and Luis Felipe Scolari was charming all whose path he crossed. While Deco tries to establish himself again, ‘Big Phil’ is now managing the mighty FC Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan. As Greavsie’s said so sagely, it’s a funny old game.

Controversy is brewing at the otherwise rather tepid affair that is the Confederations Cup.

With the Brazil-Egypt clash locked at 3-3 going into the 90th minute, an Egyptian defender cleared a goal-bound header off the line with his arm. As the defender in question writhed around holding his head – in an attempt to disguise his misdemeanour – English referee Howard Webb signalled for a corner.

During the ensuing melee, Webb appeared to receive instruction from the touchline via his earpiece, and changed his decision to award a penalty and dismiss the Egyptian. The implication being that the 4th official had identified the handball having quickly reviewed the footage on video replay.

The world’s most expensive player (for now), Kaka, coolly stroked home the spot kick to give Brazil a 4-3 victory.

Egypt have subsequently lodged a formal complaint over the manner in which the decision was made – and in a way, they have a right to feel aggrieved since the use of technology has not been formally sanctioned.

However, surely this begs the wider (and eternal) question – why don’t we use technology for these incidents?

The fact is that the correct decision was reached, and in relatively quick time. If the corner had stood, Brazil would have had just cause to feel significantly more aggrieved than the Egyptians.

Of course there are intricacies that would have to be addressed if video technology were introduced, not least the question of under what circumstances it is used. But with the stakes higher than ever in the modern game, and with its adoption so successfully introduced in other sports, surely now is the time for FIFA to get on the case.

However, in an organisation controlled by Sepp Blatter’s ego, we won’t hold our breath.

Our pick for the award is Ryan Giggs, who recently celebrated the amazing eighteen-year anniversary of his first team debut. Giggs is not alone in enjoying something of an Indian summer, as a handful of legendary players strive to prove the theory that, while form is temporary, class is permanent.

Here are four of our favourites…

1.    Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)

A mercurial winger for most of his career, Giggs has remodelled himself in recent times in a more flexible midfield role. As the most decorated footballer of his time, he clearly has the big-game mentality, so it is no wonder he is still one of the first names on Sir Alex’s team sheet for the really important matches. Giggs certainly inspired all around him with a superb individual display in the 3-0 annihilation of one-time title rivals Chelsea.

Still capable of the old wing-wizardry, as his recent jinking run and finish against West Ham proved.

2.    Raul Gonzalez (Real Madrid)

The original ‘Galactico’, Raul was banging in goals at the Bernabeu long before the club began their insatiable pursuit of superstar footballers. One might argue that his true value was overshadowed in the era of Zidane, Figo, Beckham et al. But following a change of tack in Real’s transfer dealings (they now only sign Dutchmen), Raul’s light is shining brighter than ever.

Recent evidence – breaking Di Stefano’s club goal scoring record, and two goals of sublime, almost impudent quality in the 6-1 stuffing of Real Betis.

3.    Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)

The Old Lady’s favourite son has been Juve’s figurehead ever since the 1996 European Cup winning side disbanded. Despite an already stellar career for club and country, he is getting better with age. At the age of 33, he scored a personal best 21 goals in Serie A to win his first Capocannonieri. That stunning form has continued into this season. Del Piero has arguably been the 08/09 Champions League’s MVP to date, having scored three times in wins over Real Madrid. The Italian received a standing ovation from the Bernabeu fans following his spectacular brace in a 2-0 win – and they know a player when they see one.

4.    Paul Scholes (Manchester United)

The creative central hub of what many deem the identikit midfield four (Beckham, Giggs, Scholes & Keane), Paul Scholes has been a consistent performer for United well into his thirties.

Since his game was never based on pace, and certainly not about tackling, he has not lost much with his advancing years. Yet even in a league increasingly dominated by physical power, he is living proof that intelligent passing is still a powerful weapon. And, as Ferguson recently revealed, he can hit a urinating teammate flush on the head with unerring accuracy from 60 yards – now that is class!

While these players are undoubted legends of the game, all four have at some point been considered ‘past their best’. Is there a trend that links their apparent renaissances?

They have lived their entire careers in what we might call ‘the modern era’ of football. This covers the revamping of the European Cup into the juggernaut that is the UEFA Champions League. For Giggs and Scholes, it also encompasses the onset of the Premiership, supported and promoted by Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV revolution.

The high profile nature of this period has created a greater professionalism and all these players have been superb professionals, on and off the field, rarely occupying the front pages of the newspapers.

They have all also been one-club men (the pernickety will point out that Del Piero started out at Padova as a teenager), which in the Bosman era is an admirable feat. This stability has helped these players to grace the highest level for the best part of two decades.

As we enter the business end of the 08/09 Champions League, it will come as no surprise if messrs Giggs, Raul, Del Piero & Scholes are writing yet more headlines.

David Moyes has spoken out against the use of Wembley for the FA Cup semi-finals. Although Everton fans have not made the pilgrimage to the home of English football for several years, he feels that Wembley should only be used for the final.

He has a point. There is something extra-special about watching your beloved team in a final at the Wembley, whether that be the FA Cup, Champions League or League Two play-off. Playing the semis there undoubtedly devalues that experience.

The impact for the ordinary fan is considerable. Let’s consider the semi final that pits Manchester United against Everton. Putting aside the tiresome cliché that you won’t find any United fans in Manchester, both sets of supporters will be facing up to a serious commute to the capital.

We don’t need Robert Peston to tell us that times are tough right now. One would imagine that a round trip to London for the family would be a bridge too far for many fans. To play a match in the south featuring two Northern teams simply makes no practical sense.

If the fans acted with their feet, and a low attendance resulted, then maybe the authorities would get the message. However, the FA knows full well that they will have no problem filling Wembley, especially given the quality of teams involved. Sometimes our national obsession allows liberties to be taken, and that is a shame.

The real reason behind the scheduling reveals a lot about the FA’s priorities.

Before the rebuilding, FA Cup semi finals traditionally took place at neutral venues such as Villa Park and Old Trafford. But since the new Wembley opened, the FA are keen to get their pound of flesh, not least because the project appeared to go way over budget.

So while they attempt to recoup losses that were caused by their own ill planning, it is the honest fan in the street who pays the price.