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ArkRoyal wrote: Well done to Leicester. In truth their the weakest championship winning side since Villa in about 1982. Everybody else underperformed, which of course, is the reason why people are startting to complain about Wenger at Arsenal. They were top in January, beat Leicester twice, but were unable to win the title -- pathetic.

Ark royal, I have to declare that I am a long time Arsenal fan. A couple of uncles of mine live in North London and they took me to Highbury when I was young. Discontent with Wenger amongst supporters has been going back for at least 5 years and the troubles probably started when the club was bought by an American guy who owns a number of other underperforming US teams. Since then the place has turned into a money making business and the club appears to be quite happy to finish in the top 4 which qualifies them for the lucrative Champions league and screw over supporters with the highest ticket prices in the country. The team itself is a collection of overpriced egos with Wenger making the same excuses every year as to why they did not challenge for the title. That is why Leicesters victory has been so refreshing. A real team having a win over money making greed for a change.

mikeh -- I agree with every word you wrote. If they finish below Spurs that will knock them a bit, especially the fans, as you know. In all honesty, as you pointed out, unless they fish fifth one season, the ownership will not bat an eyelid. For me, although he will be remembered forever for putting together the 'invincibles', at least in the league, Wenger has destroyed his legacy of the last decade.

Grassy -- Thanks for the great stuff on Villa. Gordon Cowans was the bloke's name, I vaguely recall him myself. I am in the middle of a debate with someone on this very question. The Leceister side would not beat Ferguson's sides, Wenger's sides, the Blackburn side, the recent Chelsea sides or City sides whom have won the league.

Would they beat the Leeds United side of 1992 -- Lukic Strachan, Cantona, Chapman, Wallace, Hodge, Speed, Batty McAllister?

gtrxuone wrote: Well done to the Foxes.Even a few weeks ago just had the feeling the pressure from Spurs would have Leicester go over the edge.Great result for the EPL and the big5 not so happy.
The Manager Ranieri has done an amazing job,OUTSTANDING .This side has played above them selves for 36 Premiership matches,FA Cup,League Cups and other Cups.A long 8 month+ season and they have just kept going,at this high level..

Yes mate, I was much the same, I thought this was just to big a fairy tale to come true, I thought the pressure might get to big and that Spurs would come over the top of them, they lost Vardy in critical games - but they held up against immense pressure, I watched the game v Man U , with a man down and at old Trafford they managed to hold onto a draw and get a point despite all the pressure which was an outstanding display of determination.

Grassy wrote: Fantastic Result and Story.

Claudio Ranieri has come close before to Winning Domestic Titles,but missed out to the Big Guns,either Man U,Juventus,Milan or Internazionale.

This season,there was NO Denying him and his Tenacious,often courageous team,who could have faded away from the title race like all minnows before,except maybe Blackburn Rovers in 94 - 95,but didn't and WON.

Super,Super Stuff!

Ark!I'm not sure Villa's Win in '81 was that surprising.They'd been about the place for a few years beforehand,finishing Top 5 and Winning the 1976 - 77 League Cup Final.

They had a core of Established players like Dennis Mortimer,Peter Withe,Tony Morley,Jimmy Rimmer,Gary Shaw and another called Cowans,whose Christian name totally eludes me right now.Gordon?

Then they had their Ultimate Glory by Beating BAYERN MUNICH,about the place,but not quite recapturing their Glory Days of the 70's,1 - 0.Made all the more remarkable by losing Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer to Injury after 6 Minutes.In comes Nigel Spink,who gives the Performance of his Life,by repelling Wave after Wave of Bayern attacks.

The memory is Fading,but I do believe Peter Withe got the early goal for Villa.Withe was no stranger to success,having played with Brian Cloug's Champion Team Nottingham Forest.

Villa put the Super Cup in their trophy Cabinet,overturning the 2 - 0 1st Leg deficit at Nou Camp against Diego Marradonna Barca,3 - 0 at Villa Park.The most abiding memory of that,was the ridiculous handball by a Barca defender that got a straight trip to the bath,naughty boy.

Well Done Leicester.Still 2 Games to go,but now it's time to Celebrate.

Don't forget the other Midlands team Nottingham Forrest that won 1st Div , 77-78 then went onto to win TWO European Cups in 79 and 80....

This btw is The Foxes best result since being RUNNERS UP in 1929!

We should remember Derby County also: won twice under Cloughie and Mackay in the same era.

Grassy: good one: In relation to Revie, besides his beloved players, only Ballie, Keegan and Sir Alex Ferguson attended his funeral; very poor show indeed by the English football establishment.

I think it was a lot easier for smaller clubs to get up in the pre Premier League days ( pre 1992) , the FA League prior to the break away was not the huge cash machine the EPL is now, also the English League prior was not the most powerful in the world or indeed Europe, it struggled to retain players that would drift to the big money in Spain Italy and Germany, however that has changed massively with the EPL now dominating the world in terms of cash, its very hard for the likes of Leister City to compete, making in more amazing. Blackburn got it in the early days just before the big money started to dominate.

Man United have won in more times than all the London clubs put together...

Not being a soccer aficionado from 1 to 5 can someone who knows rank the worlds premier leagues in terms of popularity, money and quality of players

Swandog wrote: Not being a soccer aficionado from 1 to 5 can someone who knows rank the worlds premier leagues in terms of popularity, money and quality of players

According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics which assesses world leagues every year using a variety of indicators, the ranking at the end of 2015 was:
1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Germany
4. Argentina
5. France

The EPL was ranked 7th. It was ranked higher in previous years but the poor recent performances of English teams in European competitions has pulled them back.

Not sure where the A league was in 2015 but in 2014 it was ranked 99th behind such illustrious leagues like Zambia and Congo

mikeh wrote:

Swandog wrote: Not being a soccer aficionado from 1 to 5 can someone who knows rank the worlds premier leagues in terms of popularity, money and quality of players

According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics which assesses world leagues every year using a variety of indicators, the ranking at the end of 2015 was:
1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Germany
4. Argentina
5. France

The EPL was ranked 7th. It was ranked higher in previous years but the poor recent performances of English teams in European competitions has pulled them back.

Not sure where the A league was in 2015 but in 2014 it was ranked 99th behind such illustrious leagues like Zambia and Congo

So why does Bazza espouse that the EPL is the most powerful?? As a laymen I thought that a Latin city would top the table but needed someone with the facts to back it up! Cheers Mike!