Plus: the QPR player signed on Christmas Day, footballers doing panto and more in a festive special
“How many teams have rallied to survive after being bottom of the English top flight at Christmas?” asks George Jones. “And did any of these clubs do it without sacking a manager.”
“Nigel Pearson’s great-escaping Leicester City team of 2014-15 fit the bill – and then some, since as per George’s follow up question, he survived the entire season (though not much longer),” writes Jack Hayward, who has gone above and beyond in answering this question. “On Christmas Day 2014, the Foxes were bottom of the Premier League, with only two wins and 10 points. They were still bottom as late as 18 April, when a 2-0 win over Swansea, plus QPR and Burnley dropping points, lifted them into 18th. A few weeks later, they had finished a lofty 14th and laid the foundation for the most extraordinary story in English top-flight history.
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