Relegation tainting last season?

[STUHILL]

2 hours ago, yorkie1999 said:

Ask any football fan in the country that wasn't from the big 4, would you take a premier league title and then relegation, i bet they'd snap your hand off. It's the holy grail and we've won it. This season's the relegation part of the deal, so it will never taint last season. 

Why are we always being given this made-up option? And then made to feel guilty for not being OK with being relegated. 

[chicagofox]

2 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

Why are we always being given this made-up option? And then made to feel guilty for not being OK with being relegated. 

Very good question, mate.  I'd love to know the answer too.

 

Why is it ok for fans of other clubs to not be ok with relegation but not us?  Why is it ok for their managers to be sacked for a similarly bad performance but not ours?

[LJS]

Last season can't be tainted for me. The manager and players who achieved the unachievable will always be legends above any others in my mind. That doesn't make me any less angry at what I think is an appalling attitude from many of our players this season, but that's a different thing altogether.

 

If anything last season makes any future relegation easier. We can finally look Derby and Forest straight in the eye. Laugh at Coventry and be able to back it up. The taunts from fans of clubs like Barnsley and QPR won't sting no matter the scoreline because we'e all felt something they'll never feel. 

 

I'd much prefer us to survive, of course. But if we must go down - bring it on.

[adejo92]

That season and subsequent celebrations will always be amazing to me and i am sure everybody here agrees.

 

The reality is, the wider audience will always remember us as the team that won the league then got relegated. If that doesn't tarnish it i don't know what does.

 

Oh well, can't take my memories away.

[yorkie1999]

17 minutes ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

No they wouldn't. I'm sorry but at the end of the 2015 season had I told you, mate we are going to win the league in the next five years. You would've looked at me and thought, we are going be some serious players in this league then. If I then said but we will go down and be laughed at for years to come. I doubt any fans would take that.

 

 

It's fine to say right now but at the start of this season, not one fan would've "taken" what we are being fed now. We tell ourselves that cos it's ****ing shite. 

Ok, would you take winning the fa cup or the champions league and get relegated, I know I would. The only thing that counts in football is winning something, the money and everything else is just a merry go round.

[yorkie1999]

22 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

Why are we always being given this made-up option? And then made to feel guilty for not being OK with being relegated. 

Because none of us can do anything about it. If we get relegated, we get relegated if we don't we don't. What can we do, carry on supporting the club or forget football, and that's it.

[LJS]

30 minutes ago, chicagofox said:

Very good question, mate.  I'd love to know the answer too.

 

Why is it ok for fans of other clubs to not be ok with relegation but not us?  Why is it ok for their managers to be sacked for a similarly bad performance but not ours?

 

"Clubs" aren't homogenous masses. Some people in a fanbase will be more okay with it than others. You care about it if you like. We all watch the game in different ways and get different things from it. Personally I'm not bothered. Events on the pitch haven't dictated my mood (negatively anyway, the good stuff makes me feel great) for years and years. I'm not asking you to feel guilty for feeling differently. I don't care either way.

[STUHILL]

1 minute ago, yorkie1999 said:

Because none of us can do anything about it. If we get relegated, we get relegated if we don't we don't. What can we do, carry on supporting the club or forget football, and that's it.

Well obviously we can't do anything about it, but we can't do much about anything that happens within the club but that doesn't mean we can't have debates about things that go on or what we want to happen or see done or changed. Would be no foxestalk if we just accepted everything. 

 

Transfer Talk would be incredibly dull for a start..  If we sign someone, we sign someone - Nothing we can do about it. End of thread. 

 

You obviously don't like reading on here people who have issues with us being relegated. If you are OK with it, then fine but many of us will not be OK with it, and so discuss what we think are the reasons for our bad form, who might be responsible and what we should do to change it, as well as the negative consequences of going down. 

 

Just because many of us are not happy with the thought of being relegated, doesn't mean we support the club any less. 

[FoxFossil]

Not tainted for me, not one bit. This is Leicester. Down to Div 1, back up, failed in play offs then win the Championship, then great escape, then win the Prem league....what price  a first FA cup win and relegation this year? If you want a dull life, go and watch WBA or Stoke.

[CKB]

Not tainted yet for me, but go down and there will be a huge skid mark on that title win

[Guest Mickyblueeyes]

1 hour ago, yorkie1999 said:

Ok, would you take winning the fa cup or the champions league and get relegated, I know I would. The only thing that counts in football is winning something, the money and everything else is just a merry go round.

If we were Wigan when they won the Fa cup and got relegated yes. But we are not that club. We've tried to spend and shed load this year and judging by the ndidi signing there's still more in the coffers. What I'm saying is, why do we have to accept that success must be followed by failure? Why can't success be met with mediocrity? Where we are now and where we might be next year is certainly not what we should begrudgingly accept. We messed up a frigging golden ticket and the perpetrators are not even being held accountable.

[dylanlegend]

I remember a few years ago on this forum, I'm sure someone put a poll up saying would you take winning the FA cup followed by relwagtaion or even winning the league followed by relegation. Rightly so many votes for winning something followed by relegation. Maybe the good Lord has been on foxes talk and granted our wishes?

 

In all seriousness, apart from last year, we are a team expected, year in year out, to battle relegation. It's why we love this yoyo club and what makes it so exciting. 

 

HOWEVER, at the minutes I cannot accept these shocking performances, we need something to change drastically, I personally think the manager but it would be so 'Leicester' to do it 2 months too late 

[murphy]

2 hours ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

I blame those in control of recruitment / negotiations more than I ever could the players or Claudio.

 

We'll always have last season and completing football.

But reports I've read say that it was CR that wanted to stay loyal to his players and not spend big.  Looks like a disastrous decision now, especially given the unique position we were in to attract top quality and had big money to spend.

 

And for the record, yes, this season does taint the achievements of last year.  Humiliating in fact.  We should be able to look forward to a Derby cup game tomorrow or a CL adventure in Seville, instead these are distractions we just don't need or care about. 

[Foxxed]

Taint last season? It look me until July year to fully grasp what had happened. Even if we accidentally trigger world war three, its glory will still be sketched into my very nervous system.

[Guest Danny Clender]

This season is tainted, yes, but whatever happens herein, last season can never ever be tainted. 

 

The Great Escape, Premier League Title and now this years story to be continued.

Whatever happens, people won't be happy.

Its like seeing Halley's Comet and thinking "that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" and then the year after thinking "Halley's comet is shit" because it never came back.  

 

I saw it, it was beautiful, I will never ever forget it and for me, it can never be tainted. 

 

[volpeazzurro]

7 hours ago, FoxFossil said:

Not tainted for me, not one bit. This is Leicester. Down to Div 1, back up, failed in play offs then win the Championship, then great escape, then win the Prem league....what price  a first FA cup win and relegation this year? If you want a dull life, go and watch WBA or Stoke.

Yep, just another year on the Leicester City roller coaster! Rarely is it dull.

[Merging Cultures]

Personally, I don't think we will get relegated, and I am pretty pessimistic! So, 'relegation' certainly isn't tainting last season.

 

Obviously, we shouldn't be where we are. But I do think we will find that fight and desire and pull together. I am not sure who is going to lead that, it might even come from surprising places. Ndidi seemed to step up last game, when no one wanted the ball, he charged forward. Will Amartey come in and push on too? I hope so, we was putting in some good performances before Afcon. I think Vardy, Drinkwater, Simpson, Morgan and Fuchs need a break (and of course Huth, but we can't rest everyone). Let some of the new guys get extended runs, let them have a go at lifting us out of the mire. Let them build a new team spirit.

[Ted Maul]

Everything feels worse when you're losing every week. If we start winning a few games and stay up, the memories won't be tarnished in the slightest.

 

If we go down, we've always been big enough to be in with a shout of promotion and we'll be back before long. There will always be a sense of 'what if...' but once the initial frustration and embarrassment has cleared, I'm sure we'll just be left with fond memories.

[norwichfox]

I'm going to find relegation a horror story if it happens. Last season was great, woke up with a smile on my face nearly every morning and that was nothing to do with the missus, and nothings going to remove those happy thoughts....just need to remember it through Altzheimer's when it comes along. Last season was an uncontrollable that must have been on everyone on this forums  bucket list, and how great it was to put a big tick against that one... just the FA Cup to tick off, I'm not worried about European competition.

 

This year I'm literally having nightmares about our form (and yes - I do mean literally) I'm dreading having to with nothing fixtures (other than the local Derbies, of which there are none in the Premiership because all the teams near us have been $hit for years) to go back to those cluttered fixtures, and yes even if we don't get relegated this seasons form has already taken some of the shine off the trophy.

[trabuch]

11 hours ago, Nalis said:

Right now, it is a little tainted.

 

In 5 years time though, whether we are midtable in the premier league or doing an Ipswich in tbe championship, we wont give a shit about this season as the memories will be all about the title winning season.

Exactly this. Last season will never leave us.

[RonnieTodger]

Absolutely.

 

We won't be remembered as the 5000/1 champions, we'll be remembered as the champions that went down. That's not to say last year wasn't incredible and I would do anything to relive April/May 2016. Obviously I'd rather have won the league and gotten relegated than not at all. 

 

I've still not watched the DVD from last season because it annoys me that we're so utterly useless now. I can deal with Leicester getting relegated eventually, but not this season. It's absolutely pathetic. We've left no legacy and I can feel myself losing more and more respect for the people we all worshipped last season. It's a collective **** up and there's no one individual responsible.

 

There was absolutely no reason that we couldn't have gone on to become a real decent top half Premier League side challenging for trophies and europe, signing consistently good players. Now we've just accepted our fate as a run of the mill yo-yo team, only with players on £100k+ a week. I could even deal with us gradually getting worse, but still competing in matches. This is something else.

[foxy boxing]

they'll never be able to take the title win away from us, it was just so unexpected especially coming the season after the great escape but this season. everyone expected us to maybe not win the league but certainly not relegation. I think most of us would have settled for mid table obscurity and a decent go in the Champions league, which we have done but relegation after being champions is a huge embarrassment and there is no hiding place from that. the transformation from last season to this has been huge and dramatic and I just can't get my head around how we were so good last season and can be so bad this season. if relegation occurs there will have to be a massive rebuilding job and we need people in that can do the job and get us back quickly. if we do manage to stay up then we will have to wait to see what happens the season after. with the past few years being so topsy turvy maybe city fans would just like some steady years and then try and push on

[Gerard]

For me it will barely taint it at all. we still won the PL whatever happens.

 

I think the players have more to lose than the club regarding reputations. If the likes of Vardy and Mahrez never hit the heights again they'll be forever famous as one season wonders. On the other hand Kante's reputation will be more enhanced as the story will become he single handedly won the title and the team couldn't function without him.

[Les-TA-Jon]

In the short term, I think it will taint the achievements and definitely the 'feeling' of last season - it already has for me - but in the medium to long term I think it won't - we had the best season in the club's history, won the league with a magical story and are one of only 6 teams to win the league in the last 25 years. 

[davieG]

Relegation would not taint Leicester’s title win, it would add to the legend

 

Scott Murray Wednesday 8 February 2017 10.55 GMTLast modified on Wednesday 8 February 2017 10.57 GMT

 

The Premier League triumph of Claudio Ranieri’s side is the greatest sporting story ever told. Going down would put the finishing touches on a three-season act of narrative purity, unlikely ever to be repeated

 

 ‘It’s a bit of a cheek to threaten to retrospectively downgrade Leicester’s astonishing over-achievement should they somehow fall back into old habits this time round.’

 

Just ask the Atlanta Falcons: once the prospect of career-defining ignominyheaves into view, it can be pretty damn difficult to stop the old noggin from whirling lickety-split, find a moment to compose yourself, take a breath, and snap out of the death spiral.

So what should head-addled Leicester City do to avoid spinning out of this season’s Premier League? Make a tactical switch or two? Possibly. Hold full and frank clear-the-air talks at the training ground? Perhaps. Change the manager? It’s an option, sure, but let’s show a good man some respect. Maybe it’d be easier to tackle the problem at source: isolate and reduce the fear, and in doing so, make the bogeyman far easier to dodge. Here’s the question, then: would going down really be the end of the world for Leicester?

 

 

The alarm bells were not pealing as loudly as this – a fresh spin on dilly ding, dilly dong, who says Claudio Ranieri has no Plan B? – a couple of years ago. Nigel Pearson’s struggling side were odds-on to slip out of the division in 2015 alongside Steve Bruce’s Hull City and Chris Ramsey’s QPR, and their relegation would not have resonated too far past the conurbations of the midlands. But then they masterminded an escape for the ages, and everyone knows what happened next: the greatest smash-and-grab in the entire history of English football.

(And it was, you know. Alf Ramsey’s Ipswich Town won their title at the tail end of an era during which the likes of Portsmouth and Burnley could conceivably become champions, and did. Nottingham Forest were a surprise in 1978, but the club had come very close to the league title just 11 years earlier, and it wasn’t as though Brian Clough and Derby County hadn’t made a reasonably similar journey in between times. Events like Leicester just weren’t supposed to be witnessed by the Premier League generation. Though admittedly this is an argument for another day. We digress.)

Either way, a Leicester relegation now would represent a catastrophe of an altogether different stripe. Should the Foxes become only the second English club in history to get themselves relegated as reigning champions, the fall would be heard all around the world.

 

That goes some way to explaining Kasper Schmeichel’s hot-faced admission in the wake of their miserable home defeat to Manchester United at the weekend that Leicester were an “embarrassment” and in real danger of the drop. The Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, joining in on the vibes, launched into a passionate free-form riff, warning of the dangers of legacies tarnished, titles “tainted”.

The logic is obvious enough, and hard to argue against in the short term: the critics, from paying punters all the way down to the paid punditocracy, won’t be too kind come May should the worst happen. But they can’t have it both ways, and if tarnishing legacies is such a hot-button issue, then surely the bigger picture should be the primary concern.

Take Manchester City’s championship side of 1936-37, who are getting an awful lot of press right now. Have any pre-war title winners enjoyed a higher profile in the internet age?

 

 

Granted, this is all down to their subsequent tumble into the Second Division, just 12 months after becoming English champions, a fall from grace which, for now, remains utterly singular and deliciously Cityesque. But does their demise take anything away from the 80-goal antics of Peter Doherty, Eric Brook, Fred Tilson and Alec Herd which brought the championship to Maine Road in the first place?

If anything, it adds to them. Put it this way: who’s talking about Raich Carter masterminding Sunderland to the 1935-36 title right now? Arsenal signing George Hunt from Spurs and winning the league in 1937-38? Not very many people, that’s who! City’s legend by comparison is writ large, in letters big, bold and brassy enough to be clearly read nearly 80 years down the track. Now that’s building a legacy. Give it time, Leicester could do the same.

It’s not as though other English champions haven’t suffered quick and painful plummets from atop their pedestals. Portsmouth won league titles in 1949 and 1950, and were in the Third Division by 1961. Derby County embarked on a similar journey; champions in 1975, they became a third-tier concern in 1984. Blackburn Rovers got themselves relegated, with a little help from Mr Roy Hodgson, a mere four seasons after winning the 1994-95 Premier League.

But so what? Try telling supporters of any of those clubs that their titles, memorable all, were somehow retrospectively devalued by future antics. You’d get a volley of fruity language, and like it, too.

 

Ipswich very nearly went down as champions in 1962-63. In fact, it is arguable that Alf Ramsey’s team were knocked off their perch even quicker than City’s 1937 vintage, given they were tactically undressed by Bill Nicholson and Tottenham Hotspur at the 1962 Charity Shield. That 5-1 thrashing was their first outing as England’s champions, and even though they survived the season by the skin of their teeth, then crashed out of the division a year later under the yoke of Jackie Milburn having suffered 7-2, 9-1 and 10-1 drubbings along the way, the Charity Shield humiliation stands as their symbolic toppling. Their first match.

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Even the giants of the game have not been immune to the swift decline, and none came any bigger than Everton and Dixie Dean. Everton scraped survival a year after Dean’s famous 60-goal blitz won them the 1927-28 title; a year later they were rock bottom and down. Two seasons later, they were back up and champions again, Dean scoring 45 this time round. All part of the Dean legend – the successes would not have been half as stellar without the crazy failures – and something for Jamie Vardy to chew on should the worst happen.

Of course none of these examples, other than City, show a club going down as reigning champs, as Leicester might. And that, some will argue, is the whole point: this would be, statistically, a once-in- a-lifetime event. Though really, as we have seen, we would just be splitting hairs; plenty of champion teams before Leicester have lost their mojo pretty much overnight.

But in any case, to castigate a club like Leicester for getting themselves relegated would be to miss the point. This would be news if the club under threat was Manchester United, or Arsenal, or indeed Chelsea (as to be fair it was for a fleeting moment last season). But battling relegation is what Leicester have always historically done. Their title was always going to be a one-off. And that’s just fine: not every squad has the collective energy to begin construction of a lasting empire; not every club has the wherewithal, or is of the required size, to build on championship success.

 

So it’s a bit of a cheek to threaten to retrospectively downgrade Leicester’s astonishing over-achievement should they somehow fall back into old habits this time round, a punishment for an understandable reversion to the norm. That’s the sort of myopic big-club thinking that got everyone pushing for Leicester last year in the first place.

So they might go down? So what? Bottom line is, nothing can ever be done to taint or tarnish the Leicester City championship season of 2015-16. (Short of disgracefully sacking Ranieri, that is, but that’s a slightly different issue.)

Apologies to Pats fans, but it’s the greatest sporting story ever told. Relegation would add a bittersweet footnote, it’s true, but that’s the only downside; take a step back, and they would be adding to the legend, putting the finishing touches on a three-season act of narrative purity, unlikely ever to be repeated.

All of which is easy to say when it’s not your team, of course. Leicester fans – plus the majority of neutrals countrywide – will be praying for Ranieri’s team to regain a little historical perspective, compose themselves, and with the panic off, ease away from the dropzone. A relegation low after last year’s high would be too cruel, even if the story would read well in 2055. Although what if the fates offered a relegation and Champions League double? Now that’d be a legacy, almost impossible to match or tarnish. Come on, Foxes, make it so!