If relegation is price of living the dream I’d happily pay
FROM ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to ‘Toy Story 3’, sometimes what really makes a story great is an unhappy ending.
That is the suspicion growing in the mind of Gary Lineker as he watches Leicester’s Hollywood narrative unwind.
The whole world was captured by the euphoria of the Foxes’ underdog assault on the rich Premier League elite last season, no-hopers suddenly caught up in a moment where everything just went right for them. It was a tale, though, that needed more depth.
Hence, nine months later, after an unparalleled five league defeats in a row, the champions are just one point above the drop zone. But Lineker, glass still half-full, says: “Even if they go down, it makes the legend even greater.
“If they go from staying up, after being on the brink of relegation, to champions the following season and going down the next, it almost improves the miracle of winning the title.
“It’s still the most staggering, astounding thing that’s ever happened.
“If you were to say to any Leicester fan ‘we’ll take away the title in exchange of REPORTS 10 years of mid-table safety’, they would all say ‘No, it’s fine – we’ll just get relegated’.
“This is the reality, this is the price of living the dream and the miracle.”
That said, Lineker, right, still believes Leicester will stay up. After continuing their uneasy progression in the FA Cup at Millwall on Saturday, they return to Champions League action against Sevilla the following Wednesday before their relegation battle resumes with games against Liverpool, Hull and Arsenal. “You have to remember that everything went right for Leicester last season – everything,” said the BT pundit, who scored 103 goals in 216 appearances for his home city club.
“All the big guns were going through a transitional phase at the same time, pretty much every single player performed better than in any other season, they had loads of luck, practically no injuries and hardly any suspensions. Everything that could conceivably go for them did go their way, and this year it has all gone the other way: unlucky goals and dodgy decisions have probably levelled themselves out.
“I still believe they have enough to just about hang on, but confidence is such a massive thing in any sport and they could do with a couple of results to restore that faith in themselves.”
Time then for the hero of the story to come to the rescue...so far in this Premier League campaign Jamie Vardy has
managed just five goals. A year ago today Vardy scored his 19th league goal of the season – against Arsenal, a team he could have joined in the summer. “He may regret not going,” said Lineker. “When you look at him now, with the benefit of hindsight, he may wonder if he should have joined Arsenal and he might have done OK for them. “It was quite refreshing in a way when he stayed put and I feel for him a bit now because he’s still having a go and he’s sticking at it, but the service has been very limited, to say
LOSING THAT LOVING FEELING
the least. Ultimately, whether or not he will prove to be a one-season wonder – like a lot of them – only time will tell.
“He may have regrets about not leaving, but only he really knows the answer to that.”
That would mean he would have missed out on the Champions League campaign for Leicester, and the tie against Sevilla. Sadly Lineker believes that is about to draw to an abrupt halt. Permanently.
“I don’t give them much chance in the Champions League – it’s just about the worst draw Leicester could have got in many ways,” he said.
“Even to be involved in the Champions League knockout phase is still a massive thing, and they have an outsider’s chance, so you never know but I fear it will be very hard.
“I just hope the tie is active for the second I hope it’s still winnable.
“Because I very much doubt if we’ll ever see Leicester back in the Champions League again after this season.”
BT SPORT is your home of unmissable live football. Watch Sevilla vs Leicester City in the UEFA Champions League exclusively live on BT Sport 2 from 7.30pm on February 22.
Everything went right last season
still leg,