Three hundred and thirty thousand to one. These are the odds a punter would have been offered back in August by Premiership sponsors Ladbrokes if he or she dared to dream that Aberdeen and Leicester City could be crowned champions of their respective leagues in the same season… right before they were sectioned.
As fanciful as it may have appeared at the time that a Celtic team with a budget vastly superior to any of their competitors could contrive to lose their title or a Leicester side that almost got relegated last season could win the Premier League, it is something that is not out with the realms of possibility. Certainly not after events over the last few days saw those odds shrink right down to relatively-measly 48/1.
While Claudio Ranieri’s team are getting excited at the three-point lead they hold at the top of the table down south following a 2-0 win over Liverpool, many fans of Ronny Deila’s collective are growing increasingly concerned as Aberdeen shrunk the Glasgow club’s advantage at the summit of the Premiership to the same amount. Certainly, the way their 2-1 win at Pittodrie was garnered off the back of Celtic’s 3-1 League Cup semi-final defeat is not exactly dissuading those keen on a bet from firing a cheeky fiver on an unlikely title double.
Mark McGhee, the Motherwell manager, is a man more than familiar with both clubs causing a stir in England and Scotland. While a legend for his playing time at Pittodrie, the European Cup Winnners’ Cup, err, winner also claimed two league titles at Aberdeen, along with three Scottish Cups and a European Super Cup. As well as managing Aberdeen, he also spent a year in charge at Filbert Street during the mid nineties.
“I don’t think what Leicester are doing is that different from Aberdeen. Celtic have a big advantage over all of us, including Aberdeen, for all the reasons that we know. So anyone who can bridge that gap is doing something right," he said.
“Leicester, and the style they are doing it in, are extraordinary. What you do need to achieve what they are doing is a goalscorer and they have found a goalscorer in Jamie Vardy. If you have someone scoring the goals he’s scoring then you have a chance of winning games and the rest of the players behind him seem to be solid. They are a model for the rest of us in terms of organisation and determination.
“There’s not a person outside of the clubs at the top of the table who have a chance of winning - Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Spurs and even West Ham - who don’t want Leicester to win it. Everyone else would love to see it happen. Certainly, I would.
McGhee added: “In the sense that both of them are so unfancied, there are similarities. Everybody thought Aberdeen would be at that end of the table, of course, but I don’t think many people thought it would be as close at this point.
“So, of course there are comparisons and it would be a great double - I don’t know if there will be anybody anywhere with a bet on that double before a ball was kicked!”
There isn’t… I checked. Regardless, McGhee has been a massive admirer from a distance as to how Leicester have gone about their business. Undoubtedly reinvigorated by the eccentric genius that is Ranieri, they continue to defy the critics who expect their bubble to burst.
With 15 games left, there is of course still some distance to go. But McGhee is content to ponder how big an achievement it would be if the Kingpower Stadium side were to still be there come the last game on May 15, which just so happens to be at Stamford Bridge.
“Off the top of my head, you’d have to go back to when a team like Aston Villa won the European Cup, which was an incredible achievement,” said the Motherwell manager, trying to recall a feat of similar stature. “Aberdeen winning the Cup Winners’ Cup was massive as well because both clubs were up against teams with massive resources.
“There aren’t many outstanding achievements at the absolute top that would surpass Leicester going on and winning the league. It would be absolutely extraordinary in these modern times with the resources that these top clubs have.”
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