IT WAS good to see the headline “Crazy Gang” adorn a back page this week, even if the ensuing article made no mention of the club which owns that moniker.

You may not think there are many similarities between the Wimbledon team of Vinnie Jones and Lawrie Sanchez and the more cosmopolitan Leicester City, who have taken this season’s Premier League by storm.

Take criticism of their style of play.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino dubbed them “long-ball Leicester” after the Foxes left White Hart Lane with a 1-0 win over Tottenham last week.

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Jam Vertonghen described Leicester as “kick and run” while not withstanding the fact that, having covered that particular game, those accusations were total nonsense and (Leicester under Claudio Ranieri are not just successful, they are also entertaining to watch), they echoed headlines Wimbledon attracted every time they ruffled the big clubs’ feathers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The more significant echo of what the original Crazy Gang achieved is the hope it gives to everyone else further down the football pyramid.

It’s easy to forget that that, albeit for just one season, Leicester were playing in the third tier of English football as recently as seven years ago and in the Championship the season before last.

They have wealthy benefactors, but they have also shown great astuteness in their recruitment.

Eyebrows were raised when they paid Fleetwood £1m for Jamie Vardy in 2011, but he has been the sensation of the season, while there was no queue to sign Riyad Mahrez from Le Havre when Leicester paid £400,000 for him.

The other beauty is how key Leicester players like Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan and Danny Drinkwater are part of a longer journey.

Leicester didn’t get promoted and then just fill their ranks with Premier League journeymen like others before them.

From Wimbledon’s FA Cup-winning team think Dave Beasant, Andy Thorn and Alan Cork.

Whether or not they last the pace and claim a Champions League spot or lift the Premier League title, or not Leicester deserve all the plaudits they get.

And if people want to label them Crazy Gang, it’s one of the biggest compliments they can get.