Premiership 2015/2016

[budgetmeansbudget]

Blackburn winning the league was never a huge surprise at the time, the biggest surprise was Man U throwing it away on the final day against West Ham. Leicester will be the biggest surprise in the history of the top tier, when you consider where they were this time last year.

Mind you Spurs aren't out of it yet, I'm likening Leicester at the moment to Spieth coming off the ninth yesterday!

[sussexpob]

You are aware that Leicesters net spend in the last 3 years is more than Chelsea?

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

[Gingerfinch]

Back in the real world.

Tottenham could get them. They do have Stoke away next up which won't be easy. Leicester have the Hammers at home.

[budgetmeansbudget]

You are aware that Leicesters net spend in the last 3 years is more than Chelsea?

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

In the last five seasons Chelsea's nett spend is nearly four times that of Leicester's. In fact Leicester in that time compare similarly to teams like Norwich, WBA, Crystal Palace and us.

[budgetmeansbudget]

If Leicester do blow it there is the consolation that the Premier League will still have a new name on the trophy.

[Gingerfinch]

If Leicester do blow it there is the consolation that the Premier League will still have a new name on the trophy.

True. Tottenham have played some good Football this season, and have a young team. If they don't win it this season, they may next. Leicester could well drop down the league next season, who knows?

[sussexpob]

Leicester werent a premier league team 5 years ago, so a comparison that long ago is pointless. After all, Chelsea only have 5 players that remain from their 2012-13 squad, and have since been outspent by Leicester. Out of those five players, Terry is one and is finished and over 35. Ivanovic is also probably finished and well over 30. Oscar/Hazard are good players and assets (Although one will be sold for a tidy profit in the summer if to believed)...Obi Mikel has been a bench warmer for most of the last 10 years.

In 2012-13, if I said to you you get a Championship squad of 25 players that has just been bolstered by 15-20 million worth of players, or you basically get three decent Chelsea players and a couple of has beens that are about to retire, give you slightly more money on option A, which do you think would work out better? Option B would have two fantastic players, but as a team?

If you say Blackburn bought a league off United for spending half the money, then the notion that Leicester havent bought it off Chelsea is confusing? They have spent more in recent times than Chelsea, and the natural squad advantage has now disappeared. No one before that time that Chelsea bought have really stayed, they all disappeared and were sold.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Leicester weren't a Premier League side three years ago. It was merely a demonstration that you can use your own statistical parameters to fit your own argument.

Nett spends are often misleading, as it can simply mean that teams have not been selling. Chelsea and Man C deal in vastly bigger sums when they sign players compared to Leicester. If Leicester sold Mahrez and Vardy it would take their nett spend into negative figures immediately.

[sussexpob]

Nett spends are often misleading, as it can simply mean that teams have not been selling. Chelsea and Man C deal in vastly bigger sums when they sign players compared to Leicester. If Leicester sold Mahrez and Vardy it would take their nett spend into negative figures immediately.

Nett spends show exactly how well a team is investing on the bottom line. It doesnt matter if you have assets that are worth more or less, after all as I said, Chelsea have only 5 assets over Leicester and have spent less... and that discredits Leicesters assets at the same point 3 years ago, some which are still there. So what are Leicester proving? That if you invest more than the current Champions over a three year period, you win the league? Hardly that much of a fairy tale is it?

[sussexpob]

And if so, why is this not buying the league, but Blackburn spending half that Man United did on their Championship winning squad be classed as "buying your way to a title?"

[budgetmeansbudget]

It isn't only you that's trying to put down Leicester's achievements Sussex, I'm hearing quite a bit of it on the radio and TV.

Firstly trying to say its all down to luck, then saying the referees are helping Leicester to win, and now its not a surprise as they've spent a fortune.

The present sky money has levelled the playing field for sure and there are a few owners around now prepared to plough money into teams, but at the end of the day if Leicester do win the League it is a massive surprise.

I'm not a betting man but I understand they were favorites to go down at the start of the season and they had just signed a manager whose team had lost to the Pharaoh Islands. Absolutely no one could have possibly seen this coming.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Back in the real world.

Tottenham could get them. They do have Stoke away next up which won't be easy. Leicester have the Hammers at home.

West Ham are very strong at the minute and an excellent away side, so Leicester will find that one tough.

I would expect Spurs to beat Stoke who are a bit patchy at the moment. May of course raise their game for the visit of the title contenders.

[Gingerfinch]

Back in the real world.

Tottenham could get them. They do have Stoke away next up which won't be easy. Leicester have the Hammers at home.

West Ham are very strong at the minute and an excellent away side, so Leicester will find that one tough.

I would expect Spurs to beat Stoke who are a bit patchy at the moment. May of course raise their game for the visit of the title contenders.

Both have tough games. I reckon Tottenham will get 11 points from their last 5 games, meaning Leicester will need just 5 points.

Arsenal on paper have one hard game left but barring a miracle are out of it.

[sussexpob]

It isn't only you that's trying to put down Leicester's achievements Sussex, I'm hearing quite a bit of it on the radio and TV.

Firstly trying to say its all down to luck, then saying the referees are helping Leicester to win, and now its not a surprise as they've spent a fortune

Maybe if the mainstream media and fans were a little less rampant in their praise then I would be more inclined to agree. The truth is this pro-Leicester propaganda I have to read everywhere became tiring a long time ago, and its got to the point where you can no longer acknowledge any kind of negativity when talking about them even if its true. Is the money thing something? No, of course not, I am merely trying to display how utterly ridiculous it is to down play Blackburn's excellent win in 1995 by saying they "bought" a title. If spending half the money of the current champions is buying it, but spending more than the current champions isnt, then I am not sure what criteria you are setting.

But people want to seem to create Leicester's win as something that is truly unique, and the narrative artificially has followed suit. It just displays how desperate people are and highlights how everything is twisted towards them.If they do it, and they will, its a great achievement. But it is also one that has come about due to a large number of factors that have played in their favour. Denying that they have been lucky is, well, nonsense to me.

This has happened due to a number of factors that will take time to replicate, but when all are present you get this result. I guess if you pick green on the roulette wheel every time, eventually you win. The refs, the other teams being rubbish, the increased money in the lower league, the luck in their last 10 matches.... everything has gone for them.

Without that appreciation, then I think the story is incomplete. Had Southampton rightfully got a penalty and Simpson sent off, and had Rodwell not missed the sitter of the season, Tottenham would be right behind them with a far easier schedule. Even in those two matches they have just played, they have been lucky to win.

Crystal Palace... deserved at the very least a point.
Norwich... very late winner in a lacklustre display from both teams
Arsenal played them off the park
Newcastle deserved to beat them.
Watford deserved a point....

Ok, one or two of these results swing the other way, and the title race is bang open.... the fact they have won all of them speaks of unreal luck.

Every team needs luck, and every winner gets it. But talking about them like they play like Barcelona, when they have had to scrape wins against the worst teams in the league recently is laughable.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Odds of Leicester being in title contention right now at the start of the season - huge, but Spurs fighting it out with Leicester - off the scale.