Source: Daily_Mail
Make us laugh: Which club gets your vote as the Premier League's comedy club?
Kaka - who needs him?
Bellamy: Better than Kaka?
Chelsea
Case for the prosecution: A team who cannot win convincingly at home or defend from set pieces (zonal marking or man-to-man doesn't seem to make a difference) and Luiz Felipe Scolari in a tracksuit - could the World Cup winning coach look any more like a caretaker in sports gear?
Winner: Smart Scolari
Empty handed: Shell suited Scolari
Then there's Didier Drogba spouting off about his desire to join another club, Chelsea losing out to Manchester City in battles to secure signatures and the Blues' Chief Executive, Peter Kenyon, claiming: 'We are delighted not to be the richest club any more.' Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Case for the defence: Most clubs would take being third in the Premier League, a tie against Juventus in the first knock-out stage of the Champions League and a fourth round tie at home to Ipswich in the FA Cup at this stage of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur
Case for the prosecution: David Bentley. Gilberto. The Darren Bent miss against Portsmouth and Gomes' performances pre-Harry Redknapp.
Hang your head in shame: Darren Bent reacts to missing a sitter against Portsmouth
Spurs' conduct in the transfer window has also been appalling, with the club aggravating a number of Premier League managers including Sunderland's Ricky Sbragia and Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate by talking publicly about players they want to sign. Tottenham's aspirations of a top four finish are also laughable in the light of the club's meagre points total and perilous position near the bottom of the Premier League.
Bigmouth strikes again: Redknapp
Then there are the club's plans for a new stadium with an increased capacity of 60,000. How on earth do they think people are going to get there? Magic carpet?
Case for the defence: The board's decision to appoint Redknapp - even if he does wind other managers up by talking about their players.
Manchester City
Case for the prosecution: All that Abu Dhabi cash and the club's wish list of the great and the good of world football - including Chelsea stalwart John Terry - threaten to make City a laughing stock.
'Bottle': Cook
The Sky Blues' aim of being in the Champions League within 18 months when they are still capable of losing 3-0 to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup is also a joke - they are far from even being the best club in Manchester at the moment, never mind in England. It will take more than a 10-year plan to get them to the top at this rate.
The Kaka saga, and Garry Cook's accusation that Milan 'bottled it', summed up just what a small club Manchester City still is in the minds of European football's superpowers.
Then there's Robinho. He was Chelsea's for the taking before joining City for a British transfer record fee. Now he's swanning off to Brazil, apparently just because he feels like it, prompting a host of conflicting comments from Manchester City about whether he has breached club discipline. It all shouts of turmoil at a club that is trying to patch over its problems before rebuilding from the foundations.
Flying away? Robinho
Case for the defence: This feels a little like defending the indefensible on BBC Five Live's 'Fighting Talk'. Mark Hughes at the helm? Stephen Ireland's performances this season? City's saving grace is their die-hard, loyal fans, who do not deserve the ridicule that has come with the club's new-found riches. They watched them in the third tier of English football and they will keep supporting them, even though they make more back page headlines than goals.
Newcastle
Joke: Ashley
Case for the prosecution: Owner Mike Ashley and his so-called 'Cockney Mafia' have made a mockery of Newcastle United in the last 12 months.
King Kev quit Tyneside because he had no control over transfer policy and Dennis Wise has done nothing but sign a series of dismal Spanish players.
The Magpies' 2-1 loss at home to Hull in September prompted a series of demonstrations as the black and white army rallied against Ashley and the world looked on, half-amused and half-saddened, by the mess at St James' Park.
Then Newcastle appointed Joe Kinnear. We wouldn't want to use the term 'Mickey Mouse', but the manager's conduct has been far from professional. The foul-mouthed rants against the media and match officials, the willingness to blame all and sundry except himself and the continued poor run of results have made the Toon boss a figure of ridicule this season.
Then there's the players - Charles N'Zogbia, Shay Given and Joey Barton no longer seem to want to wear the Newcastle shirt. The club could also lose significant cash if players who are out of contract at the end of the season cannot be convinced to sign new deals. and who could blame them for plying their trade elsewhere?
Case for the defence: Michael Owen - for as long as he stays in the north-east. The Geordie fans also deserve a mention, even if they see the club in more glowing terms than past successes (or lack, thereof) deserve.
The great black and white hope: Owen
West Ham United
Case for the prosecution: The Bellamy transfer deal and the Wales striker's blatant disregard for the praise lavished on him by Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola made a mockery of West Ham.
The collapse of the Icelandic banks plunged the club into dire financial difficulties and forced Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson to put West Ham up for sale. The economic difficulties also highlighted West Ham's overspending in recent years and the club has been off-loading fringe players (and Lee Bowyer) like there's no tomorrow in the January transfer window.
And still the Carlos Tevez saga rumbles on. Like Jarndyce vs Jarndyce in Dickens' Bleak House, the Tevez affair will not go away. Does anybody - Sheffield United apart - even care anymore? A new investigation has been launched and Sheffield United are claiming more than£30million in compensation.
Epic: The Tevez saga still rumbles on
Case for the defence: Steve Clarke, West Ham's first team coach and the most straight-talking bloke in football, has been Gianfranco Zola's best acquisition since he became the Hammers' manager in September. West Ham's improved league performances over the past month and the Hammers' refusal to sell any more players to Tottenham could also save the club from ridicule.
