McLeish hangs on for victories amid glut of big-margin wins
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By Brian Sears 26 February 2010 Never before in Premier League history have there been so many “big cushion” wins, and by that I mean wins by three clear goals or more. Already this season there have been 50 of them altogether among 196 wins by all teams combined. In the whole of last season there were 53. The percentage of “BC” wins is running at a whopping 25.5 per cent, which is much higher than in any previous season, as today’s top table (Margins of Victory) shows. As recently as last weekend, Blackburn (by beating Bolton 3-0) and West Ham (by beating Hull 3-0) joined the other 12 clubs who have already had at least one BC win this season. Manchester United have had 10 BC wins, the greedy tinkers, while Arsenal have had nine, Chelsea eight and Tottenham five. A full list of the BC winners and losers (Hull most often take a three-goal spanking or worse) is below the top table. And then there are six sides yet to inflict a BC win: Birmingham, Bolton, Burnley, Hull, Wigan and Wolves. And among that goal-shy sextet, unquestionably the most remarkable story, in terms of finding a way to win by doing so as tightly as possible, is Birmingham’s. Alex McLeish must be suffering from vertigo, riding this high in the table. His team have 37 points from 26 games before this weekend’s fixtures, putting them considerably closer to the Champions League places (a mere nine points upwards) than to the relegation zone (a huge 14 points below). And yet does his side secure wins the easy way? Do they Eck? Do they ‘eck. Birmingham have won 10 Premier League matches this season, and I’ll give you half an hour to guess how many of those 10 wins have been by a single goal. Go on, have a really good think . . . . Done? Well done, that’s right. All 10. Once his side go ahead, McLeish and his men spend large periods hanging on by their fingertips. But hang on they have.
McLeish hangs on for victories amid glut of big-margin wins
McLeish hangs on for victories amid glut of…
McLeish hangs on for victories amid glut of big-margin wins
By Brian Sears 26 February 2010 Never before in Premier League history have there been so many “big cushion” wins, and by that I mean wins by three clear goals or more. Already this season there have been 50 of them altogether among 196 wins by all teams combined. In the whole of last season there were 53. The percentage of “BC” wins is running at a whopping 25.5 per cent, which is much higher than in any previous season, as today’s top table (Margins of Victory) shows. As recently as last weekend, Blackburn (by beating Bolton 3-0) and West Ham (by beating Hull 3-0) joined the other 12 clubs who have already had at least one BC win this season. Manchester United have had 10 BC wins, the greedy tinkers, while Arsenal have had nine, Chelsea eight and Tottenham five. A full list of the BC winners and losers (Hull most often take a three-goal spanking or worse) is below the top table. And then there are six sides yet to inflict a BC win: Birmingham, Bolton, Burnley, Hull, Wigan and Wolves. And among that goal-shy sextet, unquestionably the most remarkable story, in terms of finding a way to win by doing so as tightly as possible, is Birmingham’s. Alex McLeish must be suffering from vertigo, riding this high in the table. His team have 37 points from 26 games before this weekend’s fixtures, putting them considerably closer to the Champions League places (a mere nine points upwards) than to the relegation zone (a huge 14 points below). And yet does his side secure wins the easy way? Do they Eck? Do they ‘eck. Birmingham have won 10 Premier League matches this season, and I’ll give you half an hour to guess how many of those 10 wins have been by a single goal. Go on, have a really good think . . . . Done? Well done, that’s right. All 10. Once his side go ahead, McLeish and his men spend large periods hanging on by their fingertips. But hang on they have.