Leicester City made it to the quarter finals of the Champions League the season after winning Premier League, and they have been close in the EFL Cup losing two quarter finals on penalties to Manchester City.
With this seasons great start and despite being a number of points behind Liverpool, no one has won any trohpies in late November, and there are a number of months left before that shall be finalized.
Going back and looking at so called “minor teams” to have managed a double of league wins in a short period of time, you have to go a long way back to find another Midland rival with Derby County managing this in 1972 and 1975.
In between the two league titles they reached the semi-final in the European Cup, and at the same time galvanized a new team on the route. Some of those former winners were still at the club when they won again, and this is a similar picture as we can see in the Leicester City team this season.
Dave Mackey took over from Brian Clough and Peter Taylor who were as Claudio Ranieri “sacked” or as the history will conclude “giving their letter of resignation”, but anyway a new man was at the helm when the 2nd title were placed in the cabinet.
The way Leicester City are playing at the moment you cannot really see how this should just suddenly stop and the team looks so well settled and composed and the blend of youth, experience and competition is “in the balance”.
Dave Mackey was a clever bloke as Brian Clough had been before him making their teams shine with a nice blend that worked perfectly together. David Nish and Roger Davies, both former foxes as well, played their part in the team composed by Dave Mackey alongside some of the finest players in the game, especially seeing a shrewd move for Francis Lee in the summer of 1974 being a great success.
The former England international was well into his 30’s, but his experience as a previous World Cup star and a very successful past at Manchester City showed that squeezing out the last “juice” of those skilled legs was a genius act. Lee made instant impact and alongside players such as Kevin Hector and Roger Davies building a striking force that really could score goals.
The defense was strengthened with Rod Thomas and in midfield Bruce Rioch and Henry Newton had both arrived, both being experienced players. Rioch was in fact a bit of a late bloomer taken in from Aston Villa and just playing for them in the 3rd and 2nd tier. Newton was previously with Nottingham Forest and Everton and a back up player in Sir Alf Ramsey’s squads for England.
Archie Gemmill was in his prime, so was Nish, McFarland and Todd who all had been capped at English full level and with “club legends” Peter Daniel and Ron Webster able to slot in with robust performances whenever called on, you had a good mix of defensive alternatives.
Young midfielder Steve Powell, a legend to be, also had Derby County in his veins and lived for the club and with Alan Hinton still also very much “alive” you had a great midfield coverage alongside Gemmill, Rioch and Newton. Dave Mackay never used a lot of players as he masterminded the 1974/75 League win.
So can Leicester City copy Derby County, the pattern is there and you have seen the signings of the summer slotting in, a young Soyuncu just surprising most of football experts and of course Wes Morgan and Jonny Evans still able to compete with the best, despite Morgan being seen as a “weak link” he is so very vital to everything this season playing his role perfectly as Marcin Wasilewski did in that previous “special” season.
The Leicester City team has galvanized and grown into a different structure, but it looks much better at the moment and they can really “fly” and attack with a set of mind that shows they mean full business. With players such as Jamie Vardy leading the way, you will be a fool to rule out Leicester City this season.
TCF - FILBERT WAY 