I loved the Leicester City story as much as any of you. Well, maybe not just as much. Leicester’s title win was astonishing, but it was no fairy story. They outperformed far wealthier clubs, sure, but this was achieved by spending the kind of money Celtic couldn’t dream of parting with.
Apart from their league win, Project Leicester was typical of the financial chicanery which has been prevalent in English football for so long, and which Financial Fair Play seeks to end.
Right now they are in freefall. If they go down, loaded with an underperforming squad on eye-wateringly high salaries, they will find it impossible to downsize sufficiently to give anyone sitting around the King Power Stadium boardroom table that they will be able to achieve stability in the Championship.
Once you drop out of the Enland and Wales Premier League, the biggest parachute in the world simply isn’t big enough. Two of the three Championship relegation places are currently occupied by recent Premier League clubs. Aston Villa, twice the size of Leicester but with a far smaller wage bill, are currently 17th. Leicester will look ominously at Blackpool, 14th in League Two, and appreciate how rapidly a Premier League relegation fight can turn into something altogether more serious.
Claudio Ranieri is a football hero, but even from the outside it has been plain to see that something has been seriously wrong under his control in recent months. His comments before the Sevilla game, “we know they are the better team”, spoke of a man who didn’t believe in himself or his players anymore.
It is never easy to spot when a managerial hero should move on from a club where he’s loved, exect in hindsight. Clough was the greatest English manager, but stayed on far too long at Nottingham Forest. Relegation was his reward.
Jock Stein’s sacking as Celtic manager in 1978 was shabbily handled, as was the way at the club back then. I was too young to know the best of Jock’s years at Celtic, but I remember the grief he got from the terraces during his last four seasons, when Rangers (remember them?) won three titles and two trebles.
No one will tell you they got on Jock’s case back then, but it happened. Football fans in the 1970s took no prisoners.
Looking back, Jock stayed too long at Celtic. He produced miracles for five years then managed decline for eight. He should have taken the Manchester United job when offered. Clough squeezed two League Cups out of his squad in 1989 and 1990 and should have headed for this hills right then.
As for Claudio, he should have bowed out a champion in May. He didn’t have managerial alchemy after all, it was inevitable that performances would return to his normal trend this season. Someone at Leicester had to take responsibility. That’s football – and it’s not even a modern aspect of it.
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Macjay @ 8.41….yes, but sgt pepper didn’t appear until the following month…if i believe my battered memory…which i do…quite often…so i’m told
Just read the article!!!
Lazy, lazy “journalism”.
You should always proof read your articles Paul, even if its you who is writing them.
Shocking.
The discussion is whether or not it’s ICT 1000th on 999th match tonight. Big Butcher says “someone should call 999 for Rangers!”
KTF
VFR800
I am starting to like Butcher
Him and Sutton are a good double act
A half time selection from
A half time selection from Hun Media…
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m away to knock f$€k out someone
How can we be this bad ,,, soul destroying.
Wallace is never a Rangers captain
He’s been overated for years, a fkn mouse
I’m away to knock f$€k out someone….
can it be sutton please?
we are a f£&&ing laughing stock from top to bottom
We are dug muck
Nearly every shot from outside the box beats our keeper hes p@sh
The board need hunted for leaving murty in charge of this sh!te.
We’ll be 9 points behind the sheep and only 2 ahead of Hertz come 5pm tomorrow night should results go their way.
St Johnstone aren’t far behind either, the whole clubs a f&*king clusterf#€k.
Wallace is f&*king hurrendous.
McKay is just so inconsistent.
Miller is anonymous for 4 out of every 5 games
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Floatin’
hun media :0
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sp3JOzcpBds ……..Arthur Conley
Hello again all you young rebels.
A wee request for a bit of help, one of our CSC committee
members and his partner are coming home to Belfast for
a visit and it will probably be their last one, they will take in
our game with the stickies which they have acquired tickets
for but unfortunately at different areas of the ground, if
anybody can help them get seated together as she has never
been to a game before please let me know on here.
H.H Mick
I haven’t looked on Rankers media in years, but couldn’t resist after reading one of the earlier posts, I couldn’t take the smile of my face if you kicked me in the nuts, reality dawns
MIKE IN TORONTO on 24TH FEBRUARY 2017 8:50 PM
Yep, not for the faint hearted!
WITS, they are a great double act!
KTF
Do you know, I almost very nrarly feel a wee bit sorry for ex-Celt Kenny Miller. There, I’ve said it.
VFR … I’m not much of a drinker, but recently, Liam in Toronto gave me a couple of French ciders to try … magnifique!…. Cidre Breton was one…. so much nicer than most of the ciders I have tried…. there was another one that was even nicer, but I cant remember the name … I’ll ask him the name, and let you know. about the same price as our normal ciders, but so much nicer….
MIT,
who’s Ron Jeremy?…..haha…..jist checked…..an ugly “film” star with an outstanding quality ;-))
FTSFA
H.H.
MELBOURNE MICK on 24TH FEBRUARY 2017 8:57 PM
It might help to let us know where their seats are to see if it’s a goer.
MAGNIFICENTSEVEN on 24TH FEBRUARY 2017 8:58 PM
I’m sure there are able volunteers willing to test that hypothesis!
KTF
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mzDVaKRApcg ……Jackie Wilson
BT-was in a box with him and a few others when we beat them in a cup game, malcky, dicanio ,brilliant night,brilliant wee guy
Mike in Toronto
Stella Artois do a nice cider or Cidre if you prefer or preferrez vous if you like or si vous plait or whatever
VFR800 is now a Monster 821 on 24th February 2017 9:01 pm
ha ha, don’t worry I am aware there would be a list of volunteers
MIKE IN TORONTO on 24TH FEBRUARY 2017 9:00 PM
Never been I great fan of cider unless it was with Guinness in a Black Velvet; however, my fiend has always got an ample stock of Magners in his fridge and I’ve had a few recently and find myself enjoying it. Very refreshing!
KTF
Kenny Zimmer is getting right hacked off. Great to see. Real frustration building up, that vein in the side of his heid might just pop if anything else goes wrong.
Inverness all over the shop at the back. Trouble is ball isn’t sticking up front. Huns will score.
VFR800
Thanks for your reply, yes that would be the clever thing to do
it was a rushed post i will phone them now and get their seat
No.s.
H.H Mick
Been reading about the sacking of Ranieri. Sky really has ruined football , I would suggest that people my age (mid fifties) will feel that more than most. The days of good honest players with real natural ability are long gone.
The amount money and the power that they seem to wield are way out of sync with the ability they have.
Vardy never went to Arsenal because he could get crazy money at Leicester without really having to stretch himself and live off the back of the league win.
This attitude has polluted football down to the lower levels, amateur players want tracksuit,bags and run around wearing £150 multicoloured boots that won’t last half a season and have an oplnion on every aspect of the game.
Unfortunately the game is slowly being taken away from us. On the upside Celtic prove that there is still hope and you can have succes and good football delivered without spending crazy money in relative terms.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gA0GcXV2njY …..Joan Osborne
VFR … I probably have a glass of something every couple of months …. so I am by no means an expert … but, another one that I liked ….. 2012 Eric Bordolet Poire Granite …. more like a wine than a beer type of cider … but even a numpty like me could tell this was nice … and not terribly expensive …
Wagflop kissing the badge, embarrassing.
Stonewall penalty to let the stickies back into the game.
KTF
Billy boys gets an outing.
I was right McLean always brings the play back…
Mmmmm
Chris Sutton calls it wrong.
Physical contact after the ball has gone.
No penalty.
MIT, that looks interesting. I will give it a wee try.
KTF
Aw the songs come out,anybody ?
Waghorn-Pen must be fit again. Hadn’t seen his name on the score sheet for a while.
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 24TH FEBRUARY 2017 9:12 PM
It was a late tackle. Stonewall penalty IMHO.
KTF
Waghornpen had to check first to see if there was a badge to kiss ;)
Waghornpen misses a sitter. Wasn’t from his usual range.
ICT looking to chuck it away. Two teams have shown the form they have displayed in humpings by Scotlands better teams……
WWaghorn is an instinctive finisher…..
…. instinctively bad :)
awe u cider drinkers…..you should try some of the cheap stuff of my youth…..sure, no apples were used…..and you had to hold yer nose to get it down…..actually I now feel sick thinking about it….but it called itself cider ;-))
FTSFA
H.H.