Dark horses

We've been surprising a lot of people this season (Saturday's result aside...), and the Guardian's Rob Smyth has been recalling the last time we did so, a decade ago in 2001-2 - the last Premier League season to see a genuine outsider mount a sustained title challenge. It was a time when our only Gallic imports were Laurent Robert and Olivier Bernard, when we roared on the No-Necked Text Pest, when the Little Waster had the world at his twinkle toes, when Black & White & Read All Over wasn't yet a glint in our eyes...

While we're on the subject of how times change, a friend directed me to this poll of December 2010, in which 94.6% of respondents disagreed that the Silver Fox was "the right manager" for the club. He may not have won absolutely everyone over, but I suspect that just over a year on his appointment would be much more popular.