Unpopular side with Thomas Oti
Email: thomasoti@qed.ng
As is the usual practice, Nigerians have begun to use Leicester as a prayer point. As soon as the Foxes won the premiership without needing to take another shot at the round leather, the prayer points began. Football savvy pastors have composed robust earth shattering prayers and intercessions requesting God to make their cases 5000-1 odds that bookmakers gave the Leicester team to win the premiership. At least bookmakers will no longer be in a hurry to make such predictions again.
This is like a fairy tale of the highest proportions. I am looking forward to everything that comes with this wild tale too. A Hollywood movie is so soon to follow. A surge in Leicester City fans in Nigeria and across the world from people who couldn’t tell them from a can of paint! And the inevitable long list of new Nigerian Leicester supporters who will call the club Lei-ses-star! As in proudly go on air and proclaim their long term support for Lei-ses-star!
Leicester’s journey is a fascinating one on multiple levels. They were one of the cheapest teams of the Premier League this season with their full squad valued at £50.6m versus Chelsea’s squad for instance which was valued at £292m pounds. Manchester City’s squad this season was worth £411m. Maybe those poor brats at Leicester City didn’t realise it though or just couldn’t be bothered to be overawed by it but they sure didn’t let their poor beetles stop them from overtaking the Porsches of the PL’s star boys. In short, it is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.
There is always a first time. And your first time can come at the most difficult time in the whole wide world. And Leicester have their first Premier League title in 132 years. And this at a time when the top 4 or 5 were on fire! Against all odds, Leicester City did it. Against all odds! What are the odds against you? How long have those “people” you claim are after you from your village been after you? Has that old woman in your village you call a witch been after you for up to 132 years yet? Don’t worry, your salvation is nigh. If Leicester City can triumph, you don’t have to worry because so can you!
According to Premier League statistics, in the modern era, only five teams have dominated the Premiership title since the teams broke away from the Football League in 1992. 14 years. Leicester City won in a year when the top 4 or 5 when you add Liverpool or Tottenham were at best shaky and wobbly but formidable opposition nevertheless. The PL is one where the worst of the top 6 teams usually sets the tone and the standard for everyone else. If they are not playing well, no one else will play well enough to take the title or attempt to take the title from them. They tend to pass it around themselves only like a game of dancing chairs.
This year, the PL must have left out the Foxes in the email they sent round detailing how the season is expected to roll. They will no longer make such an error I believe. Neither for instance will the bookmakers! They lost £15million on the far-fetched odds that Leicester could never win. And then they did! And they won in style too. No standout star in the entire Foxes team. Yes, a few of them had to play upfront to slot the balls in but each individual player had to put in efforts that led to their various collective victories. If the midfield wasn’t strong enough, the forward line wouldn’t have gotten the service they needed. And if they let in as many goals as they scored themselves, they would have ended up only as mid table team! But they didn’t because they played so well together.
A team is not one individual even though it must have strategic direction from a captain. A team is a tightly knit unit. We must learn to build teams in life and not individuals. Individuals are only as good as one person. A team even if only of two are usually better than a one man team. Hence the saying about two heads being better than one. If you think you’re the man or you’re the woman, think again!
