As they say, it's tough at the top, but for Inter Milan, it's even tougher at the top when there's three months left of a season and nearly nothing left to play for, writes Guardian columnist James Richardson. He's not talking about competition, of course, but rather infighting and rumors-all that's left to a team that's sewn up its domestic championship and been dumped out of the Champions League. Don't forget the Coppa Italia final against Roma, which will certainly be interesting, but even that doesn't take place until the end of the season. So now all that's left for Inter and the media is to look ahead to next year.

For starters, Coach Roberto Mancini is either taking his sweet time in signing that contract extension or he really has no intention of doing so. There are already talks of his going to Chelsea in what could be a straight swap for Blues manager Jose Mourinho. Indeed, rumor has it that a Milanese real estate agent has been told to look for houses for "The Special One." Then there's the off-again, on-again rumors surrounding Brazilian striker Adriano, whose partying has no doubt played a hand in his on-again, off-again form for the club. Over the weekend, Adriano got into yet more trouble for fighting with an expatriate American basketball player.

And what about the enduring suggestions that Inter president Massimo Moratti was involved in the phone tapping that brought on last year's Calciopoli scandal? Richardson "emphatically" denies there's any truth to these claims, but try telling that to AC Milan supporters, who hurled countless insults at the telecom baron following Inter's 2-1 derby win 10 days ago. Read the original story...