A season like last season wasnt supposed to happen. Leicester City defied the odds and won the title. They go into the season with absolutely no pressure whatsoever. The real sweaty palms will be at man city man utd chelsea and arsenal. Some have paid obscene amounts on players and to not win silverware will be deemed as a failure.

So to get 40 points is leicesters first objective of 2016/2017 season. Anything else is a bonus. Lightning cant strike twice. And besides ET will make be making an appearance in london should leicester successfully defend their title. CRs words not mine

No club that has just won the title target just surviving the following season unless they have decided that they have achieved all they can and given up.

Rubbish. Doesnt matter what club you are if you have just won the league youre expectation is a damn lot more than staying up the following year.

edit: what monkey said

It doesn't work like that.

You don't win title season before and go into the next season with no pressure or expectation. You don't win the title and then the next season become the dumpy-fat, two-footed celeb on Strictly Come Dancing to whom just showing up is a 'bonus' even if they only score 2s and leave in the first week.

Leicester of course aren't expected to replicate what they did last year but you're deluded if you think there isn't expectation to have a good season now that they've shown they have the set-up to do well.

Only problem is, he's in his thirties...

I can see some sense in 40 pts being the first priority, the same can be said for most of the league outside the traditional top six sides. However, Leicester will be surely be disappointed if they don't at least end up in the top half at the end of the season.

The pressure is still off Leicester, the pundits that said they couldnt keep it up and wouldnt win last year are saying they wont do better than top 8 this year.

Pressure to win title is not on them, of course. But they've never gone into a season with more expectation than they are this one.

You don't win the title and go onto the next season with an expectation level of a club that just avoided relegation by goal difference the season before. Relatively speaking there's never been more pressure or expectation on a Leicester City team.

Leicslad hoping to avoid relegation. Back on form.

I dont agree if they are not expected to be higher than top 8 means they could finish lower, whilst most think West Ham should finish higher, even though West Ham have the disadvantage of Europa league

Leicester and those that champion them can't have it both ways. If they won the title on merit last season and fully deserved it then there is no way that they should be looking at, nor expecting to, plummet down the league.

If they do then it serves to illustrate that last season success was as much down to the failings of others.

You don't agree that when a club has had the best ever season in their history the expectation level for the next season is higher than ever?

When has it been higher then?

Because most are writing it off has a fluke not to be seen again anytime soon, certainly not this season with the money other teams are spending

I've not seen one person refer to Leicester winning the league as 'a fluke'.

I certainly dont expect it but listening to the pundits on TV they seem to, didnt Michael Owen say he thought they might be in a relegation battle this season

They won the league fair and square, playing some good football and being remarkably consistent. They got a bit of luck with injuries and other sides not being at their absolute best, but every side needs a little luck on the way to winning anything. They had a fantastic season and will rightly be hoping for at least another good one this season. Narrowly avoiding relegation would be a large-scale regression.

If a club has it's best ever season expectations for the next one doesn't fall back down to levels they were at before their best one happened. It doesn't work like that.

A sprinter doesn't run a personal best and then the next race lowers his expectation to 'finishing at all is a bonus'

Last season despite being top of the pl at christmas Ranieri was still saying that 40 points was the target. He will probably go into this season with the same objective. Once that is achieved then leicester can push on to greater things. What happened last season is the past and now the table has been reset. If leicester can beat off the sharks and keep mahrez then maybe a top ten finish is a possibility. Especially it also being their first ever champions league season.

where they finish is irrelevant to your point that their actual expectation is to beat relegation.

It may even be that thats all they do but it wont be the league champions expectation to finish 17th and see it as a success.

Not all celesti. It is the first objective to get to 40 pts for all premier league clubs. Just like getting to 50 pts is the same objective for the likes of coventry and the rest of the EFL clubs. I am very relaxed about this season and feel that there is absolutely no pressure on leicester. They have been written off this season of replicating last season. But there is a very long way between now and may 21st. The real pressure is at the eithad old trafford emirates stamford bridge and anfield. Let see how they deal with it

There is always pressure with these clubs and success brings its own pressure as Leicester should realise.

Getting 40 points keeps you in the division that doesn't mean avoiding relegation is any sort of target or achievement.

Relative to what expectation levels have been at Leicester in previous seasons they've never been higher. That's just a fact. To pretend the expectation levels the season after you win the title are the same as the season after you get promoted is utterly illogical.

I suspect this will be partially evidenced by the fact that after their first unexpected home defeat of the season there won't be 30,000 Leicester fans with s***-eating grins, wearing their 'We're just grateful for the opportunity to sit here with you' t-shirts.

Apparently Antonio Conte has banned ketchup, brown sauce, pizza and fizzy drinks from Chelsea's training ground to help with player's diet.

Football managers are destroying the pizza industry this season.

JT's just announced his retirement from the game.

He's just signed for Leicester...the pizza is good.