IT has been a bad week in Europe for our big three clubs.

The Manchester United-AC Milan game was a terrific spectacle, arguably settled by a goalkeeping error, but Arsenal and Chelsea could have no complaints.

Sir Alex Ferguson has seen it all before and no one would be too surprised if United get the result they need in the second leg.

Arsene Wenger is looking more in need of Botox each week, however.

I mention Botox because my attention was recently drawn to the fact that some of our managers, not necessarily with clubs at present but who appear regularly on TV, have succumbed to the modern methods of reversing the ageing process.

One of the games that a few of us in the game now play is to "spot the dye'' among our colleagues, and we don't mean Dai the Welshman.

But I never thought that a facelift would come into it!

Certainly football management is a profession where grey hair and bags under the eyes go with the job - if you do it long enough.

Looking back to when a youthful looking Arsene took over at Highbury, he inherited a fabulous back five. Arsenal were renowned for their defensive qualities and, of course, as each of those terrific English international defenders Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Bould, Keown and Winterburn retired, they were replaced mainly by foreign imports.

While everyone admires attacking players such as Pires, Henry and Vieira etc, the defence has never shown the same strong quality as before.

Obviously last year the Highbury boys swept everything before them as they had a record domestic season, but they were still not able to win anything in Europe.

And unless they can turn on a terrific performance in the return leg against Bayern Munich at Highbury, it will be the same again this year.

While Jose Mourinho may not need the Botox treatment yet, I'm convinced that his hair is looking a little greyer in the short time he has been in the country.

He has set himself and his team such high standards with his pronouncements that I think we all started to believe that Chelsea could win everything in sight.

This week has reminded us, and hopefully him, that it doesn't always work that way.

He will be desperately wanting to win the Carling Cup at Cardiff tomorrow where he is coming up against a Liverpool side, our sole Champions League winners in midweek when they reminded us of a glorious past when they used to rule the roost in Europe.

Jose said he definitely wanted to do well in the FA Cup, but proceeded to leave out three of his best players against Newcastle and surely should have been better advised on the bench - that's if he listens to any one of his staff - not to put all three substitutes on at half-time.

No one has got the answer to substitutes but my only rule was never to take off a match winner unless he was injured. A Lineker or a Shearer or a Le Tissier, for instance, would appear to well marked and out of the game, and yet pop up with a goal out of nothing.

But one rule definitely would be keep at least one substitute on the bench as long as possible in case of injuries.

So is Jose's lack of long term experience at this level starting to show?

He obviously has many outstanding qualities but defeat at Cardiff could bring the Chelsea steamroller back down to earth with an enormous thump.

Every manager has setbacks and it is how he reacts, both to winning and losing, that determines the quality in the long run.

So, while it is not necessarily time to reach for the dye bottle or the needle, it's certainly an interesting time for the big boys which goes to illustrate how there are two leagues within a league in the Premiership.

Domestic points which are so vital to the vast majority have not even entered into the thinking of the big boys this week, so it's possibly a good time to play them - when they come back down to everyone else's level on a Saturday between these vital games.

Let's hope Arsenal's visit to St Mary's today proves the point!