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Post by chiefdelilah on May 4, 2016 19:11:19 GMT
It was more of a level playing field in the 70s, even Stoke came close around then, if not for broken legs we may just have won the league. Liverpool's record of 5 titles in the 70's makes me question the level playing field opinion. As for the European Cup in the 70's - won by Ajax(3 times), Bayern(3 times) and Liverpool(twice) before Forest won in 1979 - doesn't appear to be too level a surface there either. Bigger well supported sides have always attracted better players and a bigger percentage from available revenue streams since the abolition of the minimum wage in the 60s - although I accept that the mega TV money and foreign investment has exaggerated this disparity to the detriment of smaller clubs. I still feel though that on balance, Forest's achievements over a 3 year period outshine Leicester's success so far. Look at how many different clubs won the FA Cup though, which at the time held way bigger importance than it does now. Look at the title races in the 70s, who they involved, how close they were. Look at who else made it to European Cup finals. Of course there were dominant sides as there are with every era, but success and a title challenge were genuinely possibilities for way more clubs than they have been over the past 20-25 years.
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Post by tobeperfectlyhonest on May 4, 2016 19:13:23 GMT
You have to look outside football for stories to parallel Leicester's astounding achievement. 1. That American cyclist who was riddled with cancer and recovered to win the Tour De France 7 times. 2. That Irish swimmer who after nearly failing to even qualify for the Atlanta Olympics managed to win 3 golds, even at an advanced age and after a long career where she rarely troubled the podium. you wouldn't be suggesting untoward practices I hope.........
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2016 19:14:07 GMT
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Post by Malcolm Clarke on May 4, 2016 22:21:25 GMT
I don't think you can reasonably talk about country miles on this one. On balance I would say that Forest's achievements were slightly better, but the Leicester's was more unexpected if that make sense.
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Post by JoeinOz on May 4, 2016 22:39:59 GMT
Lester for me. For all the plaudits Fozzer received it wasn't regarded particularly as a shock at the time. None of it including the European Cups. In fact Forest were huge favorites in the first final.
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Post by spitthedog on May 4, 2016 23:27:16 GMT
Forest for me by a country mile. I find it a little suspicious that people just randomly put money on their teams to win. I get that it's just a small amount, but I've never even considered putting a bet on Stoke to win the league - nor would Leicester fans youd imagine. Do people do this all the time, you just dont hear about it because they dont win? Does anyone here bet on Stoke to win the league on the off chance? My Dad does every year since we got promoted. There are plenty of people around who are either a) incurable romantics b) incurable gamblers hoping for the hit of an unlikely bet to come up
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Post by spitthedog on May 4, 2016 23:30:41 GMT
I don't think you can compare the Champions League with the European Cup.
Champions League has been designed for the continued presence of the big teams with only the very occasional glitch. European Cup a knockout comp not necessarily featuring the biggest teams in Europe.
I think both were amazing achievements but Clough had done it before at Derby and you felt he was capable of doing it again at Forest.
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Post by checkmatestokie on May 5, 2016 0:00:44 GMT
Ipswich Town from DIVISION III South to DIVISION I CHAMPIONS IN THREE YEARS IN 1962 WITH ALF RAMSEY AS MANAGER. COMPARABLE WITH LEICESTER I THINK.
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Post by kustokie on May 5, 2016 0:04:56 GMT
Didn't Northampton Town go from the old Division 4 to Division 1 and back again in 9 season? You have to very special to accomplish something like that. Every season for a decade they were either a promotion battle or a relegation battle.
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Post by Northy on May 5, 2016 6:20:50 GMT
Didn't Northampton Town go from the old Division 4 to Division 1 and back again in 9 season? You have to very special to accomplish something like that. Every season for a decade they were either a promotion battle or a relegation battle. Swansea did something like that, and maybe even Carlisle.
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Post by tobeperfectlyhonest on May 5, 2016 6:45:01 GMT
Didn't Northampton Town go from the old Division 4 to Division 1 and back again in 9 season? You have to very special to accomplish something like that. Every season for a decade they were either a promotion battle or a relegation battle. Load of old Cobblers
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Post by felonious on May 5, 2016 7:17:55 GMT
It was more of a level playing field in the 70s, even Stoke came close around then, if not for broken legs we may just have won the league. There was no particular level playing field though when Forest won the league. The league was presided over by an absolutely dominant Liverpool side. The team that beat them to the league at the time went on to win the European cup like Forest and Villa. Everton would have done the same had it not been for Heysel.
Forest all the way for me. If Leicester had won the league hotly pursued by Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal then yes we'd be looking at the usual closed shop but let's face it Spurs could have won it but for the extra cup games and West Ham aren't far behind.
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Post by chiefdelilah on May 5, 2016 7:28:57 GMT
It was more of a level playing field in the 70s, even Stoke came close around then, if not for broken legs we may just have won the league. There was no particular level playing field though when Forest won the league. The league was presided over by an absolutely dominant Liverpool side. The team that beat them to the league at the time went on to win the European cup like Forest and Villa. Everton would have done the same had it not been for Heysel.
Forest all the way for me. If Leicester had won the league hotly pursued by Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal then yes we'd be looking at the usual closed shop but let's face it Spurs could have won it but for the extra cup games and West Ham aren't far behind.
But that doesn't make it any less of a shock. And financially it was a much more level playing field. Liverpool were the best team but you had plenty of other teams in the mix for both major domestic honours and for European honours. Derby won the league. QPR and Ipswich and even ourselves were in with a shout in various seasons. Different teams won the FA Cup.
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Post by mrcoke on May 5, 2016 7:37:08 GMT
I think Forests was the greater achievement by winning the league first season and a Cup (twice) and then the EC twice, i.e. 5 wins.
Leicester's achievement is probably greater than any of the one or two of Forest's victories but not all 5.
Leicester have been helped by only Spurs really putting up a serious fight for the title this season and of course lack of injuries and a lot of the opposition not taking them seriously until it was too late, including all the pundits who said they would crack at some point. Robert Huth for one doesn't know about "cracking up".
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Post by chiefdelilah on May 5, 2016 7:43:08 GMT
If all the big clubs were at the top of their game it wouldn't have happened. That's the way they've made the game - in theory, this couldn't happen. That's what makes the story.
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Post by wickerman on May 6, 2016 7:03:36 GMT
It was more of a level playing field in the 70s, even Stoke came close around then, if not for broken legs we may just have won the league. There was no particular level playing field though when Forest won the league. The league was presided over by an absolutely dominant Liverpool side. The team that beat them to the league at the time went on to win the European cup like Forest and Villa. Everton would have done the same had it not been for Heysel.
Forest all the way for me. If Leicester had won the league hotly pursued by Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal then yes we'd be looking at the usual closed shop but let's face it Spurs could have won it but for the extra cup games and West Ham aren't far behind.
Yeah let's keep telling ourselves that......
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