All things considered, it’s hard to find too much sympathy for Chelsea following their FA Cup exit on Sunday.

Fielding a weakened team was a clear indication that they were not exactly putting this particular trophy at the top of their must-win list for the season.

Still, there was enough talent left in the side to give Newcastle a decent run for their money. The problem came at half time when Mourinho had what must be his first managerial lapse of the season by naively throwing caution to the wind and using all his available substitutions at once.

At face value it was a brave move but he obviously forgot he was playing a cup tie in poor conditions in the north of England on a snowy pitch against opposition with everything to play for.

You don’t need a UEFA coaching licence to know that players tend to pick up more injuries in wintry conditions. Add snow and ice and the chances are at least one of your team is going to need some serious treatment before the 90 minutes are up.

Fair enough, the chances of any of the players getting an injury as serious as Bridge’s was remote. But the subsequent injury to Duff – which effectively left Chelsea with nine men – could easily have been predicted given the conditions.

Based on the evidence of the season thus far, Mourinho is not going to make many errors of judgment during his time at Stamford Bridge.

But Sunday’s was his first major mistake and it has cost his team the chance of a unique quadruple.

Chelsea fans need to hope it was just a blip in an otherwise impeccable record so far. Otherwise it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the other three trophies may just slip through their fingers.

Which leads me to an interesting possibility. Should the unthinkable happen and Chelsea fail to win absolutely anything this season, would Abramovich be cheeky enough to fire Jose?

If delivering silverware is the yardstick by which Roman’s managers are measured, then surely failure to do so should, in theory at least, cost Mourinho his job just like it did Ranieri last year.

It would be tantamount to a criminal offence if Jose was given the boot but, should he stay, it would prove once and for all that Claudio never had a hope of keeping his job.

Food for thought.

Congratulations

So how about Posh and Becks, eh? Hearty congratulations to them both on bringing another boy into the world – keep it up and at this rate we could have an entire England team of little Beckhams in the future.

(If you are a gambling man, dig out a tenner and stick it on the three brothers one day lining up for England at the same time. Odds of 5,000 to 1 are pretty good in my mind).

However, there is one small problem with the little lad’s name... it’s not a little lad’s name. You obviously know by now that the Beckhams have decided to call their new born son Cruz – the Spanish word for ‘cross’.

Obviously there are a lot of rumours surrounding the reasons for choosing Cruz, ranging from the religious to the bizarre (it’s something David unarguably does extremely well) to the tabloid (it’s what Posh gets every time you mention Rebecca Loos).

But, whatever the reasons behind the name, it does have a major drawback – it’s actually a girl’s name. Spanish language experts have been falling over themselves, mostly with laughter, to point out that Cruz is a feminine name.

Maybe this is just a small oversight by the Beckhams who thought the name just too appropriate to attach a gender to it. But more likely it’s another attempt by the trendy couple to break with tradition and set a precedent – there can’t be too many children around with brothers called Romeo and Brooklyn can there?

If so, let’s spare a thought for any future girls the couple may have... life will no doubt be pretty cruel for a young girl called Roger.

And Arsenal?

Quick word about Arsenal who managed a rather sad draw with the mighty Sheffield United.

Over time I have always had a lot of time for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. But no more. I have never heard a manager whine and moan so much in my life.

His team are a collection of arrogant bullies and cheats and I hope against hope that the Blades can knock them out in the replay. Not just because they happen to be the team I support, but because it might just shut up the bleating Frenchman for a while.

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