The (Un) Official Football thread

[kanet666]

Time to welcome Leicester into the PL winners club, what a phenomenal performance against all odds. Spurs completely lost it at the end of the game there, lucky to end the game with 11 men. I'm sure they'll have their chance in the coming years, but Leicester have earned it this time.

[Matty_the_Emo_Slayer]

The first non-London/non-Manchester club to win the top title in 21 years. Absolutely incredible.

People are saying it's not as impressive as Nottingham Forest breaking Liverpool's domination back in the 70's, and we'll have to wait to see how Leicester do in the Champions League now to really compare, but to be honest I think an underdog achievement like this means way more these days.

[Gandalf the Red]

I don't really think the Clough era Forest broke Liverpool's dominance.

Beat us in a European Cup match and that was it really. I appreciate they won two European Cups. But that's no where near what we won in the same era.

[Gandalf the Red]

Seriously.

I've seen that Burnley are the same odds to win the League as Leicester was.

What's the odds that Leicester will go straight down? Might be worth a punt.

[Skippy]

Seriously.

I've seen that Burnley are the same odds to win the League as Leicester was.

What's the odds that Leicester will go straight down? Might be worth a punt.

I'd definitely consider it, what with the fact they'll have to play Tuesday night as well as the fact they'll probably lose half of their players. Isn't that what happened to Blackburn? (who people seem to be forgetting won a Premier League title under very similar circumstances - yes, there is more money floating around these days, but a small team winning the league isn't unknown).

[houston4044]

Seriously.

I've seen that Burnley are the same odds to win the League as Leicester was.

What's the odds that Leicester will go straight down? Might be worth a punt.

I'd definitely consider it, what with the fact they'll have to play Tuesday night as well as the fact they'll probably lose half of their players. Isn't that what happened to Blackburn? (who people seem to be forgetting won a Premier League title under very similar circumstances - yes, there is more money floating around these days, but a small team winning the league isn't unknown).

Didn't Blackburn spend money to win it though? (for the time anyway)

Kudos to Leicester, if we finish 2nd it's still a lot more than I was hoping for anyway so win win either way

I don't think Leicester will drop that far next season, can see them drifting to mid-lower end of the table though. Saying that I hope they do a Saints and rebuild their squad and still have a solid team. Just hope for the players that do leave they avoid a RM esque move where they become bench warmers, probably better they go for a slightly lower down team where they get a fair punt in being a 1st choice.

[Matty_the_Emo_Slayer]

I don't really think the Clough era Forest broke Liverpool's dominance.

Beat us in a European Cup match and that was it really. I appreciate they won two European Cups. But that's no where near what we won in the same era.

Aye, I meant that it broke your streak/run. I think you won 4 out of 5 League titles in the second half of the 70's? If it wasn't for Forest it would've been 5 in 5.

[kanet666]

I'd definitely consider it, what with the fact they'll have to play Tuesday night as well as the fact they'll probably lose half of their players. Isn't that what happened to Blackburn?.

Kind of, it took a few seasons, but we didn't build on our title. So the story goes that Jack Walker was offered a young Zinedine Zidane and replied "Why? We have Tim Sherwood?". We finished 6th the year after winning the title iirc, with this years Chelsea being the worst side to defend it as a benchmark.

Didn't Blackburn spend money to win it though? (for the time anyway)

We spent a lot on our front two, and spent to build our squad from one that had been in the Second Division. I don't know about the rest of the league, but I know our squad cost about 70-75% of what Uniteds' at the time cost. We had a few freebies and nobodies. This article lays it out well:

http://www.theguardian.com/football/whe ... arned-1995

[bloodfiend]

I'd definitely consider it, what with the fact they'll have to play Tuesday night as well as the fact they'll probably lose half of their players. Isn't that what happened to Blackburn? (who people seem to be forgetting won a Premier League title under very similar circumstances - yes, there is more money floating around these days, but a small team winning the league isn't unknown).

Massively different circumstances - yes Blackburn are a small club, but they were hugely backed financially and spent far more than any other team at the time - that was when Jack Walker backrolled them and they bought Shearer, Sutton, Flowers, Le Saux, Sherwood, plus they had Kenny Dalgleish as manager who was still fresh from his Liverpool success. They could basically buy who they wanted and bought a team that won the division. The team they got promoted with a few seasons earlier was completely different. Once Walker withdrew the funding, they just went back to being a small team.

Leicester on the other hand, have won the Prem with a team that only just stayed up last season and the majority of whom were in the 2nd tier 2 seasons ago, and that's before you get on to the fact it was with an infancied manager, who was just sacked by Greece after they lost to the Faroe Islands!

This is a far greater acheivement than Blackburn's - Blackburn were one of the favourites for the title that season, Leicester were favourites for relegation.

[kanet666]

A great image to describe our current predicament. None of the positions up there are currently filled, nor have most of them for months now. I'm beginning to get quite concerned that Blackburn Rovers may not exist in a few months as the Venky's stick theri fingers in their ears and pretend they don't own the club.

[bloodfiend]

I don't know about the rest of the league, but I know our squad cost about 70-75% of what Uniteds' at the time cost. We had a few freebies and nobodies.

Come on, Blackburn were infamous for their spending around that time! Remember when they spent £3.5m on Andy Sinton (big money at the time), and he got injured after a week, and they went out immediately and spent another £3m+ on Paul Warhurst.

A bit like our (Newcastle's) spending a couple of years later.

[kanet666]

I don't know about the rest of the league, but I know our squad cost about 70-75% of what Uniteds' at the time cost. We had a few freebies and nobodies.

Come on, Blackburn were infamous for their spending around that time! Remember when they spent £3.5m on Andy Sinton (big money at the time), and he got injured after a week, and they went out immediately and spent another £3m+ on Paul Warhurst.

A bit like our (Newcastle's) spending a couple of years later.

I'm not denying we spent money, it was necessary to turn a mid-table Championship side into a Premier League winning one. I'm just saying that in comparison to United, the dominant force at the time, that we spent less both on the squad and also that season. Leicester's title is much more of an anomaly in that regard.

Also, I'm not sure who you've meant, but Andy Sinton never played for Rovers.

[bloodfiend]

not Sinton then, but definitely another big money signing was made literally weeks after they signed Warhurst and Warhurst got injured straight away.

edit: it looks like it was David Batty they signed immediately to replace Warhurst.

[kanet666]

not Sinton then, but definitely another big money signing was made literally weeks after they signed Warhurst and Warhurst got injured straight away.

Probably, as I say, I'm not having a go or anything. A fair few teams have thrown money at it, and most aren't successful. Jack Walker wanted to spend his own money to see his team win the title, his family hated that aspect of his business. What Leicester has done one the other hand is unprecedented and probably won't be repeated for a long, long time.

Edit: Yeah. David Batty sound about right.

[Tet]

What's the odds that Leicester will go straight down? Might be worth a punt.

Leicester are slightly more likely to be relegated than to win the Premier League next season according to the bookies. Might be worth a punt. You can get a price of 34ish.