The best sport story of 2016

flag-1516280-2740774What if I told you that you could have got better odds of Andy Murray naming his first born Novak (500-1), or Sir Alex Ferguson winning Strictly Come Dancing (1000-1) than you would have for Leicester City winning the Premiership?

Betting company William Hill had them at odds of 5000-1 against at the start of the season. Last week, bookies were scrambling to save money by offering payouts of £2800 for every £1 bet. They best get used to it – before season’s start 25 bullish bettors placed their cash on Leicester doing the unthinkable.

A year ago they were nowhere. Now, the East Midlands club is seemingly on the verge of a fairy tale with just three defeats in their last 32 matches. They play Sunderland away later today and then have just five games to go, with a comfortable points cushion separating them and the rest.

What makes this tale so remarkable is that the Premiership, unlike, say, the PSL, is a virtual closed shop. Only five teams have claimed the title since the league began in 1992, Blackburn Rovers breaking the big teams’ lock on the trophy in 1995.

What the other four teams (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City) have in common is that they rank among the richest and best funded teams in world football.

Money buys success has long been a mantra of the Premiership, although Claudio Ranieri’s men have emphatically turned this truth on its head. Leicester City don’t spend nearly as much as the big teams, relying instead on old-fashioned virtues like stability in the boardroom, an excellent academy system and smart scouting.[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]’I always tell my players to find the fire within themselves’ – Ranieri[/pullquote]

Of course they need someone to pull it all together. Thai Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who sponsored free beer and a doughnut for fans to celebrate his birthday last week, has owned the team since 2010, but Ranieri is given a free hand to do as he must.

His touches have been light. The avuncular coach takes the view that less is more with coaching, preferring to hold back instead of grinding his players day after day, as the English system typically prescribes.

“I always tell my players to find the fire within themselves,” he said.

Ranieri has brought refreshing change to the King Power Stadium, a sharp counterpoint to Gary Lineker’s view at the time that his appointment was an “uninspiring” choice.

The Italian also never arrived in Leicester with his own backroom team trying to impose his methods. He inherited a solid management team and let them carry on.

By all accounts Ranieri has managed to establish a family-like culture at the club. He asked his players for just one thing when he arrived: everything.

He had the vibe of a friendly uncle rather than a dictator, urging his players to develop a team ethic. They could play games and have fun, but stability had to be at the core.

As Argentine striker Leonardo Ulloa put it, “The first thing is to fight and work for the team. The second is to win.”

Ranieri has blended the extreme talents of a vibrant group of men. Jamie Vardy has exploded into the light, his high-tempo game and powerful striking transforming the Sheffield Wednesday reject into a poster boy for English soccer success.

Keeper Kasper Schmeichel gets few headlines, but he’s one of the best in England and inspires the Foxes’ defence.

And then there’s captain Wes Morgan, the big defender described by Ulloa as the team’s “big brother”, a lurking presence whose experience is central to Leicester’s self-belief.

“We stay together, we fight together,” Ulloa told the club’s website.

There’s no flash about their tactics either, which embrace the ancient 4-4-2 formation, which works when players can pull it off.

Their method is grounded in the basics: tight defence, not too much flash at the back and fast, efficient forwards who mangle the opposition.

People laughed when Srivaddhanaprabha, the owner and chairman, spoke of his ambitions to crack the top five.

No-one is laughing now.

Down Leicester way they are planning the biggest of parties. Theirs is the great soccer story of 2016 and affirmation that sporting romance still exists, even now. – © Sunday Tribune