The Most Average Clubs In The EFL
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- Written by Darren Douglas
'It's not the winning, it's the taking part that counts'. A phrase I'm sure we've all heard before and perhaps even experienced first hand. And whilst it does have its place, when you're in the world of professional sport it is a belief that's often replaced by 'winning is all that matters'. The truth is we can't adequately sum up sports participation with a phrase because this ignores all of its nuances. For example, in football winning may well be all that matters, but then most people would agree that diving to win a match-winning penalty is against the spirit of the game.
For some football clubs though, their recent history suggests that they do have a bit of the 'taking part that counts' ethos. Now let's be clear, footballers at all levels have a burning desire to win every game, but only a minority of teams can ever win a trophy. Each club has expectations from the board, and depending on a number of circumstances, success will be quantified very differently from one to the other. So it turns out that some clubs in the English Football League (EFL) have become winners in their own unique way, they don't get promoted and they don't get relegated, instead these are the most consistently average teams in the country:
Yes you read the title correctly, Pep Guardiola remains unproven as a football manager! It's a point of view that I've had for a while, but only now is the evidence beginning to mount in my favour thanks to how the Spaniard is finding life with Manchester City and the Premier League. It seems that even the man himself is having a crisis of confidence, judging by his own recent 
In sport the definition of success varies greatly. If you listen to nonsense spouted by celebrity narcissist Piers Morgan, it's all about winning and nothing else matters, but in reality the world isn't so black and white. Success has to be quantified and context has to be taken into consideration. The same goes for football. This is why clubs promoted to the Premier League often define success as finishing at least 17th in the final standings. They may not be winning a trophy, but they have still won by meeting their own realistic expectations.