With some of the new players in the team we will this season have a certain "element of surprise" that we haven't had in the recent past.

george ?

Kids,tired of being bothered by your pesky parents?
Then leave home, get a job & pay your own bills, while you still know everything.

Perception is an interesting thing because right now, I would say Leicester are very much one of the big six. Since winning the title (unexpectedly), they haven't faltered; they've finished fifth the past two seasons and won an FA Cup. They have multi-billionaire owners who support the manager and invest in the team, are investing in the ground by building a new stand to increase capacity, have a top manager (who expressed no interest in the Spurs job - supposedly a bigger club), and a deep squad with a lot of top players. They've weathered departures (Mahrez, Drinkwater) without missing a beat. If Leicester isn't one of the Big Six right now, I don't know who is. Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd., and Chelsea clearly are. Of the rest, Leicester have comfortably the best claim to membership ahead of Arsenal (joke) or Spurs (possibly sixth). Leicester is the role model for every club like Palace right now, and they're what fake Big Six sides like Everton wish they were. They've proved that a well-run club with good scouting and owners who invest can penetrate the glass ceiling and get in the mix at the top.

Edited by sydtheeagle (05 Sep 2021 2.41pm)

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

Time has told us in no uncertain terms.

Don’t think it is perception but definition that is the problem,my fault I wasn't clear when I say big six I mean the big six financially not the ‘good six’ as in the best teams. The point I’m making is the financial big six are largely protected from relegation because their turnover allows them to mess up and still be safe from relegation. Arsenal turnover is twice that of Leicester, they have to truly mess up to get relegated.
You are right Leicester are what smaller premier league clubs need to be aiming for. As you point out Leicester have a good manager, backed by a trusted owner, have scouted, signed and replaced players fantastically well and all this is on the back on 5000-1 fantastic season and having their best run in premier league ever. Arsenal have been faltering for a decade, with a distrusted owner and manager under pressure and have invested badly or overspent on Ozil, Luiz. Willian, Saliba, Pepe, White and Ramsdale. Despite this in the last two seasons they have been separated by 6 and 5 points.
A few years ago we were talking about Southampton as the model to follow now we are saying a bad season and they go down, Leicester will need to keep doing what they are doing and more if they are to maintain their position otherwise they will face the threat of relegation. Arsenal can continue to mess up an get away with it

One supporter of hacking argued that without it "you will do away with the courage and pluck of the game, and I will be bound to bring over a lot of Frenchmen who would beat you with a week's practice -Blackheath secretary at first meeting of the F.A

Most teams need time for their new squad members to settle/even get up to speed (and CPFC more than most), so it is early days to be talking about relegation candidates. We should have a better idea of that as we approach Christmas.

All that I would say about us is that if we exclude the Chelsea game in which we fielded the remnants of last year's squad plus only Mark Guehi of the newbies, we have gradually looked more comfortable with the new system with each game and the performances have reflected this. We do seem to be moving in the right direction, and whilst we shouldn't exclude the possibility of the risk of becoming embroiled in a relegation battle, it is looking less of a risk than it did at the beginning of the season.