They're talking about us
- Thread starter Brown Nose
- Start date
Brown Nose
Well-Known Member
spionfox
Well-Known Member
I'm not a regular anymore though
bocadillo
Water Gypsy
You need to eat more fibre.I'm not regular anymore though
Brown Nose
Well-Known Member
I've managed to avoid that podcast as it seems a bit 'chummy' for my liking. However, I downloaded it to listen to Schmeichel. He was trying a bit hard to fit in with the laddiness but he had some decent insights about NP and Rodgers.
My favourite moment was explaining how NP did ballroom dancing and celebrated us winning the Championship by doing the splits.
popillius
Well-Known Member
I enjoyed it. That bit made me chuckle as well! He came across fantastically well though. I thought it was odd that throughout the whole segment about winning the title, Ranieri wasn't mentioned once.
fox58
Well-Known Member
Premier League great escapes - which one did you vote the best?
Have a look back at who pulled off the Premier League's best survival acts - and find out which one you voted the greatest.
www.bbc.co.uk
glyn
Well-Known Member
we’re leading the vote so far at 34%.Premier League great escapes - which one did you vote the best?
Have a look back at who pulled off the Premier League's best survival acts - and find out which one you voted the greatest.
always liked the Oldham escape too, needing 3 wins out of 3 at the end of the season.
Brown Nose
Well-Known Member
Forget the Invincibles, Ferguson's United or Pep's City, Leicester's title win is the Premier League's greatest achievement
No matter how this year’s title is resolved, whether Liverpool are awarded it or play games behind-closed-doors, there is one legacy of the season they will be denied.
A few months ago, there was a developing argument about where Jurgen Klopp’s side might fit into the pantheon of great English champions.
Could they lay claim to being the best ever? If they could be sure of playing their remaining nine games, Liverpool might beat Manchester City’s 100 point record. For that reason, when the anticipated coronation comes, Liverpool will certainly be part of the conversation about the finest teams this country has seen.
Their record this season is worthy of comparison with the best Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal sides.
But to me, none of these clubs are the most extraordinary Premier League champions.
Whenever that list is compiled, Leicester City’s 2016 title stands alone as the greatest achievement, certainly in the Premier League era.
At a time when money talks at the top, and the top six have such a financial advantage over everyone else, Leicester’s win was such a shock and an anomaly I am not sure how it can be beaten.
Of all the Premier League wins, Leicester’s is the only one no-one could have predicted. You would have to go back to Nottingham Forest in 1978 to find a club that so rapidly emerged from being recently promoted to champions. Forest’s win was also astonishing, but even then the economic gap between those competing at the top and those coming from the old second division was not as extreme as today.
Every other Premier League winner was a contender before the start of the season, including Blackburn Rovers in 1995.
Leicester were relegation candidates. In 2015, they finished 14th, six points above the bottom three with 41 points with 19 defeats.
A year later they won the title with only three defeats having virtually doubled their points tally. That kind of improvement defies history and logic, especially as the club spent so modestly in the preceding summer.
There are persuasive counter-arguments for fans of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea to claim their best sides are the genuine game changers in English football, making them the greatest of champions. I sympathise with that view because of their distinguishing features.
The achievement of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 treble winners was unprecedented. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ achieved what no club had managed since Preston North End in 1889, going unbeaten for an entire league season.
When Roman Abramovich and Jose Mourinho got together in 2004-05, the power dynamic of the English game shifted forever, United forced to react to the financial powerhouse at Stamford Bridge, allied to the tactical cunning and brilliance of the Chelsea team that emerged inspired by John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
Chelsea did not go their first title season unbeaten, but they collected more points, conceded fewer goals and scored only less than the invincible Arsenal side famed for its attacking brilliance.
Although the United team of ‘99 is remembered more fondly, I consider Ferguson’s title and Champions League winners in 2008 his best team. That followed a rebuilding process during which United had to respond to a formidable new rival. Those trophies must have given Ferguson as much professional satisfaction as any he won.
Pep Guardiola has taken standards to another level since he joined City, winning in a way unlike any of his predecessors. Because of Pep, we now operate in a Premier League where three defeats could be terminal for title ambitions.
City’s excellence has driven Liverpool on this season, going into the new campaign knowing they would need a minimum of 95 points to finish top. It used to be the case a team could ease their way into a season, make sure they were still in touch at Christmas, before gradually manoeuvring their way towards first place for the run-in. Not any more.
They used to say the title race is a marathon, not a sprint. Now you only stay in the race by sprinting through the marathon.
When Arsenal went unbeaten it seemed freakish. There is more chance of one of the top four replicating it in the next few years.
That is certainly more likely than Aston Villa winning the title next season, which is the only valid point of comparison with Leicester’s achievement. Even that would only match rather than better it.
Regardless of how the 2020 title is confirmed, there will be a debate as to how Liverpool's will be remembered. Given UEFA say domestic seasons will be determined on sporting merit, voiding the season is not on the agenda. The decision of the French league to announce Paris St Germain as champions reaffirmed that.
Liverpool’s title win will not be tarnished if it is confirmed in a printed statement rather than on the field of play, but circumstances beyond the club’s control will certainly affect how it is remembered by future generations.
But even if they had proceeded in a normal season and made it to the points century, that story could not not be as dramatic or romantic as Claudio Ranieri’s title win in 2016.
Leicester will remain as the greatest title winners.
Liverpool will settle for securing it in the strangest, most bittersweet circumstances.
No matter how this year’s title is resolved, whether Liverpool are awarded it or play games behind-closed-doors, there is one legacy of the season they will be denied.
A few months ago, there was a developing argument about where Jurgen Klopp’s side might fit into the pantheon of great English champions.
Could they lay claim to being the best ever? If they could be sure of playing their remaining nine games, Liverpool might beat Manchester City’s 100 point record. For that reason, when the anticipated coronation comes, Liverpool will certainly be part of the conversation about the finest teams this country has seen.
Their record this season is worthy of comparison with the best Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal sides.
But to me, none of these clubs are the most extraordinary Premier League champions.
Whenever that list is compiled, Leicester City’s 2016 title stands alone as the greatest achievement, certainly in the Premier League era.
At a time when money talks at the top, and the top six have such a financial advantage over everyone else, Leicester’s win was such a shock and an anomaly I am not sure how it can be beaten.
Of all the Premier League wins, Leicester’s is the only one no-one could have predicted. You would have to go back to Nottingham Forest in 1978 to find a club that so rapidly emerged from being recently promoted to champions. Forest’s win was also astonishing, but even then the economic gap between those competing at the top and those coming from the old second division was not as extreme as today.
Every other Premier League winner was a contender before the start of the season, including Blackburn Rovers in 1995.
Leicester were relegation candidates. In 2015, they finished 14th, six points above the bottom three with 41 points with 19 defeats.
A year later they won the title with only three defeats having virtually doubled their points tally. That kind of improvement defies history and logic, especially as the club spent so modestly in the preceding summer.
There are persuasive counter-arguments for fans of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea to claim their best sides are the genuine game changers in English football, making them the greatest of champions. I sympathise with that view because of their distinguishing features.
The achievement of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 treble winners was unprecedented. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ achieved what no club had managed since Preston North End in 1889, going unbeaten for an entire league season.
When Roman Abramovich and Jose Mourinho got together in 2004-05, the power dynamic of the English game shifted forever, United forced to react to the financial powerhouse at Stamford Bridge, allied to the tactical cunning and brilliance of the Chelsea team that emerged inspired by John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
Chelsea did not go their first title season unbeaten, but they collected more points, conceded fewer goals and scored only less than the invincible Arsenal side famed for its attacking brilliance.
Although the United team of ‘99 is remembered more fondly, I consider Ferguson’s title and Champions League winners in 2008 his best team. That followed a rebuilding process during which United had to respond to a formidable new rival. Those trophies must have given Ferguson as much professional satisfaction as any he won.
Pep Guardiola has taken standards to another level since he joined City, winning in a way unlike any of his predecessors. Because of Pep, we now operate in a Premier League where three defeats could be terminal for title ambitions.
City’s excellence has driven Liverpool on this season, going into the new campaign knowing they would need a minimum of 95 points to finish top. It used to be the case a team could ease their way into a season, make sure they were still in touch at Christmas, before gradually manoeuvring their way towards first place for the run-in. Not any more.
They used to say the title race is a marathon, not a sprint. Now you only stay in the race by sprinting through the marathon.
When Arsenal went unbeaten it seemed freakish. There is more chance of one of the top four replicating it in the next few years.
That is certainly more likely than Aston Villa winning the title next season, which is the only valid point of comparison with Leicester’s achievement. Even that would only match rather than better it.
Regardless of how the 2020 title is confirmed, there will be a debate as to how Liverpool's will be remembered. Given UEFA say domestic seasons will be determined on sporting merit, voiding the season is not on the agenda. The decision of the French league to announce Paris St Germain as champions reaffirmed that.
Liverpool’s title win will not be tarnished if it is confirmed in a printed statement rather than on the field of play, but circumstances beyond the club’s control will certainly affect how it is remembered by future generations.
But even if they had proceeded in a normal season and made it to the points century, that story could not not be as dramatic or romantic as Claudio Ranieri’s title win in 2016.
Leicester will remain as the greatest title winners.
Liverpool will settle for securing it in the strangest, most bittersweet circumstances.
pork pie fox
Well-Known Member
A French team?
jb5000
Well-Known Member
Better than a german forum, imagine what the answer would be if the question had been about "Die Fuchse"...
Championship
| P | Pld | Pts | |
| 1 | Leicester | 44 | 94 |
| 2 | Leeds Utd | 44 | 90 |
| 3 | Ipswich | 43 | 89 |
| 4 | Southampton | 44 | 84 |
| 5 | West Brom | 44 | 72 |
| 6 | Norwich City | 44 | 72 |
| 7 | Hull City | 44 | 69 |
| 8 | Coventry City | 43 | 63 |
| 9 | Middlesbro | 44 | 63 |
| 10 | Preston | 44 | 63 |
| 11 | Cardiff City | 44 | 62 |
| 12 | Bristol City | 44 | 59 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 44 | 56 |
| 14 | Swansea City | 44 | 56 |
| 15 | Watford | 44 | 53 |
| 16 | Millwall | 44 | 53 |
| 17 | Stoke City | 44 | 50 |
| 18 | QPR | 44 | 50 |
| 19 | Blackburn | 44 | 49 |
| 20 | Plymouth | 44 | 48 |
| 21 | Sheffield W | 44 | 47 |
| 22 | Birmingham | 44 | 46 |
| 23 | Huddersfield | 44 | 44 |
| 24 | Rotherham Utd | 44 | 24 |
