Roberto Mancini (PA Photos)The freezing weather in Britain and much of Europe at the moment may make it feel as though it is just too cold to embark on anything of true significance right now, but this weekend could be a pivotal one in the Premier League title race.

For only the third time in the past two decades there are two clubs level at the top of the table at the start of February. Manchester City and Manchester United both have 54 points going into this weekend's games. Both clubs have won, drawn and lost the same number of matches, though City are nominal leaders by virtue of their superior goal difference.

Had

Martin O'Neill

It's a good time to be a football fan in the North East at the moment.

Newcastle's win at Blackburn last night lifted them up to fifth in the table, above Liverpool and Arsenal and just three points off a Champions League place.

Middlesbrough may have drawn at Leicester, but they are looking better at the moment than at any time since their relegation from the Premier League three years ago.

But right now the club on the most remarkable rise in the region is Sunderland. Last night's 3-0 win over Norwich summed up the feel-good factor that is currently engulfing the Stadium of Light since

Fred 'the Shred' Goodwin - football needs you (Reuters)

If only football would cast off its new-found discipline and invoke the spirit of Fred the Shred when he was plain old Sir Fred Goodwin.

A day normally synonymous with catastrophic financial mismanagement and ludicrously ill-considered punts somehow passed with nothing more imprudent than QPR splashing £9 million on a pair of 30-something strikers.

The transfer window is usually described as 'slamming shut' when the deadline passes - this time, somebody merely felt a draught, noticed the window had been left ajar, and closed it gently.

Late last night, the Sky Sports News totaliser ground to

TevezBack in May of last year, a live broadcast of WWE's Extreme Rules broke from its running order.

Newly-crowned world heavyweight champion John Cena, standing in front of a crowd of thousands wearing only a pair of denim shorts and no shirt as though that was a completely normal way to dress, grabbed the microphone and delivered the news that Osama Bin Laden had been "caught and compromised to a permanent end".

That truly bizarre moment is one of the few occasions Early Doors can remember in which a sporting event (admittedly that definition is stretched a little by Cena and co.) has been

Liverpool fans: unhappy with Patrice Evra (AFP)

The internet is an angry place. An angry, unhappy place.

Perhaps the internet's greatest achievement is in allowing us to communicate with each other. Instantly and for free, in ways we could not have dreamed 20 years ago.

What do we do with this gift? We argue and insult each other.

We reach out to our fellow man - and punch him in the face.

Take Saturday's match between Liverpool and Manchester United, which was overtaken by events off the pitch - both alleged and fictional.

Late in the first half, a screen grab taken from TV footage spread across Twitter like wildfire.

It showed a man

Fernando Torres: little more than an internet hoax?Early Doors was highly amused to see Bayern Munich fall victim to what was inevitably, and rightly, described as a 'PR fail' yesterday.

The German giants took to their official website to announce they were ready to confirm the signing of a "spectacular name", sending Twitter into a frenzy and leading all and sundry to speculate about which world star would be making their way to the Allianz Arena.

Of course, no such signing materialised, as it transpired it was all a ruse to launch a new app, with fans logging on to a live stream on Facebook to discover that the new arrival was in fact

Craig Bellamy tries his hand at operaThis morning's Early Doors is about Liverpool. ED feels duty-bound to point this out now, as merely mentioning the club's name is enough often enough to raise the hackles of a small but highly vocal minority of Reds fans.

Following Cardiff's win on penalties over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, last night's exciting conclusion to the second Carling Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City was another that did the much-maligned competition justice.

The Reds pegged back City not once but twice on the night to reach their first final at the new Wembley, where they will face Cardiff City.

Carlos Tevez, not at workAs great stories go, it is hard to believe the tale of a man not being paid for not turning up for work was never seized upon by Dickens, Tolstoy or Cervantes.

For this is the issue that has spellbound us since late September, when Carlos Tevez refused to do his job by declining an invitation to get off his backside and warm up for a substitute appearance.

He subsequently went to Argentina and didn't come back, and has not been paid for his time appearing in tedious pro-am golf events - you know, given that he is under contract to play football for Manchester City.

And now he looks set to