Chelsea miss out on Holy Grail again
Everton fail to keep the pace
It is no mean feat for any side in England to win back-to-back championship crowns.
Yet, in the case of Chelsea, where manager Jose Mourinho has an open cheque-book to sign any player ready to join the club, such feat may not be enough to satisfy Russian supremo Roman Abramovich.
Abramovich is aware that to be grouped with the best his team must join the list of Champions League winners.
That has always been the number one target for Abramovich.
This year, Chelsea failed to reclaim a 'domestic double' achieved in Abramovich's first season when Chelsea had also won the League Cup apart from the championship.
Mourinho has now made up his mind and decided more world stars are needed at Stamford Bridge - the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack.
Yet, what surprised the pundits most was the £12m fee handed to Manchester United to settle an option agreement for Nigerian Jon Obi Mikel. Only Chelsea can break this sort of cash barrier.
Since he took over two seasons ago, Mourinho has now spent a total of £200.80m in the transfer market.
Isn't this the dream of every coach in the world?
Nobody can deny that Mourinho is among the finest mentors in the game. But, without this embarrassment of riches at his disposal, he would probably only win league titles in Portugal and strive to do the same in England, Spain or Italy.
In 2004-05, Everton kept the pace with the elite clubs to finish fourth in the league and earn a Champions League place for the first time in their history.
Yet, in the season that followed all good work went up in smoke as Everton found the going tough.
They were eliminated in the qualifying round of the Champions League and then in the very first round of the UEFA Cup.
Moreover, Everton failed to regain their top six placing and stumbled to 11th.
David Moyes is still regarded as a good manager and he will surely do his utmost to rub shoulders with the best sides in the Premiership once more.
The club record signing of Andrew Johnson, from Crystal Palace, shows that Moyes has persuaded the club to have another go at entry into Euro competition.
Everton goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, who had to retire from the game, was full of praise for Moyes for enabling him to enjoy the final years of his career.
In the domestic cups, Everton went down 0-1 at Goodison Park to Middlesbrough in the third round of the League Cup. In the FA Cup they surrendered to the might of Chelsea, losing 1-4 at Stamford Bridge in a fourth round replay after a 1-1 draw at home.
In the League Cup, Chelsea fell at the third hurdle when they lost in a penalty shoot-out to Charlton at home. After ousting Everton in the FA Cup, Chelsea saw off Colchester (home) and Newcastle (away) but then lost to Liverpool 1-2 in the semi-final at Old Trafford.