Leicester

1StevieG said:

Robbie Savage will be eating a piece of humble pie after saying earlier in the season that they could not and would not win it.

That's Robbie Savage for you - adding his insightful comments. I'm not sure I've heard anything come out of his mouth that has been true, made any sense or was utter bollocks.

ricky_otto said:

1StevieG said:

Robbie Savage will be eating a piece of humble pie after saying earlier in the season that they could not and would not win it.

That's Robbie Savage for you - adding his insightful comments. I'm not sure I've heard anything come out of his mouth that has been true, made any sense or was utter bollocks.

I don't know, I'd have thought that a lot of what he said was utter bollocks....

Good luck to them. I honestly thought they would have slipped up by now but they've been bloody brilliant.

When was the last time any PL team had gone 8 hours without conceding a goal?! Absolutely ridiculous. Jack Rodwell, have a word with yourself son!

Main priority for us is finishing above Ars*nal now.

If they beat West Ham it's over

If they don't, then it's still uncertain, imo

This looks awkward.

https://twitter.com/david_conn/status/719587420631613440

The dodgy FFP deal is also in the grauniad,

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/11/leicester-city-finances-football-league-financial-fair-play-investigation

Would be hitting for them if they win the league and then got an in season points deduction. Would make premier league look stupid as well so can't really see it happening.

Salad said:

C_A_F_C said:

If Liverpool win the Europa League and Manchester City finish outside the top three and win the Champions League, only the top three will qualify for the Champions League as each nation can only have a maximum of 5 teams, this is obviously not going to affect Leicester though.

I think the Europa League doesn't matter, if Liverpool were to win then there would be five English teams in the CL. But wheteher they do or not I think if Man City win the Champions League and finish outside top 4 then only top 3 in the PL qualify.

I don't think that's the case now read here - http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/newsid=2215121.html

Dave2l said:

The likes of Everton and Villa have spent there whole lives in the premiership and never even came close to flirting with the top 2 let alone winning it.

Actually Villa finished second in the first year of the Premiership and I think 4th in 96. Everton were 4th at one point under Moyes as well, but I take your point.

The huge money has democratized football in the Premiership a bit. That has made the extra Champpions League money less of an advantage for the big teams and they can't financially push the smaller guys around to the same extent that they used to, as seen for example with the Stones to Chelsea saga last summer. Someone like Kane may well have already left Spurs in seasons past. Someone like Everton (even though they have underperformed) wouldn't have been able to get a Lukaku. That has spread some of the playing talent around more evenly again.

Most of the best players in the world at the moment are either German or Iberian/South American and playing for Bayern, Barca or Real. This has weakened our top teams and they have recently done quite a poor job of importing foreign talent.

Leicester also got a little bit lucky with just what smashing players people like Varney/Drinkwater/Kante/Mahrez turned out to be.

We're finally seeing the acadamy system bear some fruit too with multiple young homegrown players breaking through at Spurs, Liverpool, Man Utd, Everton and others.

I actually hope this might be the beginning of the 'Old Days' returning. Even then you had periods of dominance (70s Leeds, 80s Liverpool etc.) but the teams challenging that dominance changed around a bit more often and you got the odd freak one like Clough's Derby, or his Forest side, or Villa in the early 80s etc. Hopefully other teams can 'do a Leicester' and just get it right with a few signings all at once or have several good youth players coming through together and be able to afford to keep the team together for long enough to turn in an excellent season or two.

I think people forget that this is how it always used to be, even up until the mid 90s with Blackburn winning the league (although they were well backed) and that great Norwich foray into Europe with Jeremy Goss. The last 20 years of 3 or 4 teams winning almost everything is actually the blip.

killerandflash said:

The PL has definitely evened out, which is a reflection of the TV money every club gets, but also how badly the giants have been managed. Imagine Man U under Fergie, they'd have walked this division!

Its true, but then Ferguson is also arguably the best ever. Certainly the best ever to manage in England. Not really reasonable to expect that there will always be someone as good as him around.

Its going to be fascinating to see what happens with Pep at Man City. You can't dispute what he has done at Barca and Bayern, but those leagues are just not as competitive from top to bottom as the Premier League, even if the very top sides are better than ours. Man City need a re-build too, but they certainly have the cash to do that quickly if Pep's name is enough to attract some of the genuinely best players in the World.

Don't give anyone the title until nobody can mathematically catch them. The entire nation has jumped the gun on Leicester, the media narrative has been absolute horseshit for weeks. Don't get me wrong, I really, really want them to do it but for fuck's sake STOP SPEAKING TOO SOON

I'd love Ibra to rock up there next year

West Ham could be a banana skin but it's not plain sailing for Spurs. I can't see them getting more than 4 points from Stoke and Chelsea away and WBA won't roll over at White Hart Lane. If Spurs get three wins and two draws that leaves Leicester five points to find, which I think Leicester will do. If Spurs win four and draw one that leaves Leicester needing seven points which will prove harder especially if West Ham make life difficult. Not all over yet.

Shame... Always knew it was going to happen... Guess it'll be the same if they have to go to Chelsea to win the title!! - Crazy because sites like Viagogo / Stubhub should surely be outlawed because they're simply allowing ticket touts which is illegal!!

The only way they should be allowed to remain in Business is if a ticket is listed for the EXACT amount he paid for it

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11712/10239929/tickets-for-leicesters-game-with-everton-priced-up-to-1638000-each

palarsehater said:

the fans on sunday with "north london mind the gap" signs were a bit much.

Why?

ForeverAddickted said:

palarsehater said:

the fans on sunday with "north london mind the gap" signs were a bit much.

Why?

Nah, they were hilarious, it's taking the mick out of Arsenal who always say mind the gap to Spurs. The champions scarves that that granny had were a bit much.