Every Underdog Has It’s Day

Flick on the television now, cycle through to your favourite sports channel and pick a sport that you have no interest in. Whoever’s playing, the chances are you’ll want the underdog to win. It’s something implicit in human nature, we love to see someone win against all odds. 

The beautiful thing about sport is that underdogs can occasionally win, after all it would be boring if they couldn’t. That’s why the world rejoiced when Leicester City lifted the Premier League trophy in 2016. 

How do they do it though? That’s the million dollar question. Some say hard work, organisation and dedication are the only ways of success when you’re the underdog. Others seek different ways to level the playing field. Mind games and trash talking are a perfect example of this.

If your opponent is physically better than you, get in their head and unsettle them, level the mental playing field. One of the biggest proponents of this in modern day football is Jose Mourinho. His repeated trash talking of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has seen him enjoy tremendous success over the Frenchman, despite not always having the best team.

Source: The Telegraph

888poker have created a brilliant infographic that profiles a number of occasions where trash-talking has paid off in sport. However, it’s not just the world of traditional sport where trash talking can pay-off, it can be massively effective in poker as well. Will Kassouf and Phil Hellmuth have both turned trash-talking into success at the table. Getting the edge over an opponent in any way possible is necessary, especially when there is so much on the line!

Now, let’s have a look at three times that an underdog has upset the odds and won when they really shouldn’t have done.

Huddersfield Town: 2016/2017

On 29th May 2017 Huddersfield Town of the Championship ended a four-decade exile from the Premier League by defeating Reading 4-3 on penalties in the Championship play-off final. How did the team tipped for relegation, who finished the previous season 19th seal promotion to the top table of English football?

Through utilising their skills. The entire club built a purpose and an identity which was bolstered by an almost indestructible team spirit and unity on the pitch as well as in the stands. 

The management utilised their knowledge of European leagues too, bringing in players from abroad for much less money than their other league rivals. They did their transfer business early and then set about building an extremely fit team, giving them the edge on many of the teams in the league.

Not only did they manage to defy the odds by gaining promotion, but at time of writing they currently sit atop the Premier League table after a 3-0 away victory in their first league game. Not bad for an underdog ey?

Source: EuroSport

Manchester United 1995/1996

In January 1996 Newcastle United were 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League under the stewardship of cult manager Kevin Keegan. Despite surrendering much of their 12 point lead, with just two games remaining all they needed to do was win both games to guarantee the title.

Two easy games if truth be told against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur. The odds were firmly stacked against the chasing team Manchester United, and the wily old Scot Alex Ferguson sought to gain an advantage through mind-games.

After seeing his side lose to a pumped-up Leeds United he suggested that Newcastle had an easy run-in and that their opponents would roll over for them. Kevin Keegan reacted in spectacular fashion, going on a televised rant in which he proclaimed he would ‘love it’ if Newcastle beat them to the title.

Keegan was clearly riled, and that affected his team enormously. The Magpies went on to draw both of their final two league games, in doing so they surrendered the league title to Manchester United and haven’t had a sniff at the title ever since.

Source: The Telegraph

Leicester City: 2015/2016

When Claudio Ranieri was installed as the Leicester City manager following the sacking of Nigel Pearson, the footballing world collectively gasped in astonishment. Why had they hit the self-destruct button after King Nigel had saved them from relegation the previous year? Why was Ranieri still trying to be a football manager? Why, why, why!?!?

The Foxes were tipped to go down, and rightly so, they had struggled the previous season relying on a miraculous run towards the end of the season to avoid relegation. Ranieri had failed spectacularly in his previous role as manager of the Greek national team, so it was only a matter of time before they were relegated.

None of that however put off one particular punter, who placed £100 on Leicester to win the league in October 2015, scooping a massive £200,000 when they eventually crossed the line in May 2016.

There was no trash talking here though, but rather another example of fantastic team spirit and determination in the face of adversity. Leicester also highlighted their main strengths and played to them with emphatic results. Exploiting their pace on the break they became a ruthlessly effective counter-attacking team.It was the team spirit in the camp that pulled them over the line in the end, particularly when their talisman Jamie Vardy was dismissed towards the end of the season against West Ham. The Foxes were trailing in the game with moments to spare, but persevered and got their just rewards when Shinji Okazaki converted a penalty that earned them a point in the dying moments of the game.

Source: Daily Express

Summary

You may not be the biggest dog, you may not even be the strongest dog, but if you have desire, ambition, dedication and a bit of savviness too, you can achieve amazing results. Find your strengths, play to them and maximise them. Create an against all odds mentality and have complete and utter belief in yourself and your team-mates, and if all else fails, resort to a bit of trash-talk!