Thursday 30 April 2015 14:59, UK
Gary Neville says nobody remembers the losers like Newcastle in 1996 but is he right?
Neville is unimpressed by the argument that Chelsea’s march to the Premier League title has been boring. In fact, the Sky Sports pundit had some harsh words for those teams that entertain only to fall short in the hunt for silverware.
“It’s absolute nonsense,” said Neville when asked to comment on the criticism of Chelsea during their 3-1 victory at Leicester on Wednesday. “People talked about the Newcastle team of 1996 under Kevin Keegan as exciting, but they are exciting losers. Nobody remembers them now.
“The fact of the matter is people remember winners and they will remember this Chelsea team. They were exciting earlier on in the season and their style was good.
“Yes, they have hit a blip in terms of the rhythm in their game and the, what you would call, football form in the last couple of months but their run of results is fantastic and that’s all that matters as far as I’m concerned. You never go through a full season brilliant.
“The rest of the league has been poor. It doesn’t say a lot about the rest of the league that they are going to get an easy ride towards the end. It’s a poor reflection on the other teams that are chasing them or supposedly competing with them.”
Is he right? As we pick out some of the sides that failed to claim the Premier League title, do you remember their efforts fondly or regard them as teams that history will forget?
Newcastle – 1995/96
Kevin Keegan’s side had a 10-point lead over rivals Manchester United going into the game between the two teams just after Christmas and despite losing at Old Trafford their lead had increased to 12 points the following month. With the likes of Les Ferdinand, Peter Beardsley and David Ginola posing a significant threat, Newcastle were the Premier League’s entertainers and when Faustino Asprilla arrived in February the attacking options were bolstered further. Unfortunately, it coincided with a run of five defeats in eight games as the Magpies were forced to settle for second place – four points behind Sir Alex Ferguson’s United.
Leeds – 2000/01
This campaign was the third consecutive one in which Leeds finished among the Premier League top four and was particularly notable for the club’s march to the Champions League semi-finals. With an expensively-assembled young team that captured the imagination, David O’Leary’s side eliminated Barcelona in the first group stage and Lazio in the second before goals from Ian Harte, Alan Smith and Rio Ferdinand helped see off a strong Deportivo La Coruna in the quarter-finals. The run ended in defeat to Valencia in the final four and despite chairman Peter Ridsdale’s claims that Leeds “lived the dream” they were relegated from the top flight in 2004 and are yet to return.
Tottenham – 2010/11
Having qualified for the Champions League in entertaining fashion the previous season, the 2010/11 campaign saw the emergence of Gareth Bale as an attacking force – most notably in Europe. Bale even scored a hat-trick against defending champions Inter as Spurs took an expansive approach to the continent’s premier club competition with Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric to the fore. After beating AC Milan in the last 16, Harry Redknapp’s men were eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid and have yet to experience life in the competition again.
Liverpool – 2013/14
Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool side scored more than 100 goals in their spectacular 2013/14 Premier League season in which they also let in 50 at the other end. The attacking duo of Luis Suarez (31) and Daniel Sturridge (21) were the top two scorers in the division as the Reds swept all before them in a sequence of nine consecutive victories late in the season. However, defeat to Chelsea in the penultimate home game of the season scuppered the momentum and a collapse at Crystal Palace coupled with Manchester City’s strong late season form was enough to snatch the title from their grasp.
