goon Firstly, I'd argue those people have been somewhat vindicated with Leicester being relegated and the other two in a standing sprint to nowhere.
Does a club like Atalanta or Brighton, clubs that are often fighting far above where they can be expected to, need to win titles in order to be extremely well run and praised for what they're doing? I don't think so.
goon Secondly, it's rarely just praise. Often it's used to bash our own side so it's understandable why it rubs people the wrong way. Even with Newcastle we've seen praise for them used to diminish the work Arteta has done and to mock 'the process'.
True. But what's also true is that considering all the praise Arteta before this season, it makes sense that Howe gets it as well when what Newcastle did this year is better than any of that. Which plays into your third point.
goon Lastly, I've always found it completely normal for fans to show favouritism towards their own team or struggle to praise others. So yeah, fuck Newcastle, fuck objectively and most of all fuck Atalanta.
Which is also true, but I think there's a spectrum between being completely objective and kids in primary school going "Haha, Henry sucks!!" just because they're a United fan. The hate some clubs get when they do better than expected is a bit too close to the latter in my taste (more so in Dortmund, Brighton and Atalanta's case since they're not literally destroying football, unlike Newcastle). But to each their own.
