Giggs a true great

guided United to 10 titles while Liverpool waits in vain for another and with the ownership tension at Anfield between warring Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks and speculation surrounding the future of manager Rafael Benitez, it's hard to see Liverpool bridging the gap in the short term.

Equally there is uncertainly over the future of Chelsea manager Avram Grant while striker Didier Drogba is also reportedly on his way out of Stamford Bridge.

And Arsenal, which has long trailed the other big three clubs in terms of spending on players, has already lost star midfielder Mathieu Flamini to Italian club AC Milan.

As for the other 16 clubs, well Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan summed up it best recently when he said every year they are all playing to finish at best in fifth position given the huge gap between the top four clubs and the rest.

At least this season saw some other clubs get their hands on some silverware through the domestic cup competitions with Tottenham Hotspur beating Chelsea in the League Cup Final to land its first trophy in nine years while next Saturday there will be a fairytale FA Cup Final between Portsmouth - searching for its first FA Cup success since 1939 - and Championship side Cardiff - searching for its first FA Cup success since 1927.

And at the other end of the table Fulham deserve every accolade that will come its way in coming days after pulling off a remarkable escape act by beating Portsmouth 1-0 at Fratton Park on the final day of the season - thanks to a late goal from another experienced campaigner in Danny Murphy - to condemn Reading and Birmingham to relegation along with Derby.

Just a month ago Fulham was in second-last place on the table and six points from safety, having won just four of 33 matches to that point.

But incredibly the Cottagers then won four of their last five games to continue manager Roy Hodgson's proud record of never having been relegated as a manager.

However, while Fulham fans will no doubt be partying long and hard this week, the 2008 season will mostly be remembered as yet another triumph for Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson and the amazing Ryan Giggs.