Not giving a Fox

Charity Shield day. The new season curtain-raiser at Wembley. The champions of England against the FA Cup winners. Impossibly, LEICESTER CITY against Manchester United.

Dilly Ding! Dilly Dong! All hail King Claudio of Ranieri!

Last time - indeed the only time - City contested the Charity Shield, exactly 45 years ago, it was played in the rather less glamorous environs of Filbert Street. We beat Liverpool 1-0.

That will not happen this time (not least because we're not playing Liverpool). Inspired by the infallible Jose Mourinho, the magnificent Manchester United will crush the Leicestrian upstarts who have dared challenge their place at the top table.

2016-17 will continue in that vein. With N'golo Kante gone, and Steve Walsh gone, and perhaps Riyad Mahrez too before the end of the transfer window, the only trajectory for Leicester this season is an Icaran one. Fly too close to The Sun and your waxy wings will melt.

At least, that's the expert opinion, and we know how well the experts fared with their predictions at the start of 2015-16. And even if they're right, who gives a Fox? We won the title for the first and only time in our 132-year history! We didn't bottle it! We didn't blow our moment in the spotlight! We won the title by 10 points! We were totally, utterly magnificent!

We can get relegated this season, go bankrupt next season, see the King Power Stadium sold off and turned into a Richard III theme park, and end up playing in the Poundland Brexit League in 2021-22. I won't care one jot. For a brief, brilliant moment, we were kings. Nothing can ever tarnish that.

Comments