Football Weekly’s summer mailbag: AI, how transfer gossip works and more – part two

Summary

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Football Weekly’s Summer Mailbag: AI, Transfer Gossip & More – Part Two

The Guardian Football Weekly | August 3, 2026
Host: Max Rushden | Panel: Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson, John Bruin, Seb Hutchinson

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Overview

In the interlude between the World Cup and the new domestic football season, Max Rushden and the panel dig into listener mailbag questions on football and life. The episode blends light-hearted banter, expert insight, and personal anecdotes, covering topics from transfer gossip to the future of AI in sports journalism, favorite sporting memories, and how the panel broke into the industry. Expect the classic Guardian Football Weekly mix of wit, depth, and entertainment.

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Key Topics & Discussions

1. World Cup Fallout & Studio Antics

[02:36-03:15]

• The episode kicks off with playful anecdotes about ITV's football match after England's World Cup exit. Seb Hutchinson gossip: "Roy [Keane] was nutmegged by Karen Carney. I saw it. Nobody filmed it. Karen's saying she can't remember who she nutmegged, which doesn’t help… Roy said it never happened, but I saw it happen. And I would go to court and testify if I need to." – Seb Hutchinson (03:05)
• Sets the irreverent tone characteristic of Football Weekly.

2. The Meaning of Life (or Lack Thereof)

[03:38-07:42]

• The panel gamely tackles an existential listener question:
  • Jonathan Wilson: “No, I think essentially just random. None of it means anything apart from my paycheck.” (03:51)
  • John Bruin offers a more humanist approach, emphasizing emotion and family: “I’m not a man of faith or spiritual or anything like that, but… we have an innate sense of fairness and morals.” (04:44)
  • Seb Hutchinson references "The Lion King’s" circle of life, adding, “Everything breaks down, we just keep on going. And so the meaningless thing is important in the sense that we're just one drop in this ocean of the universe.” (05:39)
• Max shares how conversations with his star-obsessed four-year-old spark his own cosmic musings.

3. Specialist Subjects: A Mock ‘Mastermind’

[08:26-11:31]

• Each panelist names their non-football ‘Mastermind’ topic, with corresponding questions:
  • Jonathan Wilson: The life and works of Agatha Christie (stumped by a Poirot trivia question)
  • John Bruin: Manchester Music, 1976-1991 (correctly answers Joy Division were originally called Warsaw)
  • Seb Hutchinson: Jurassic Park (correctly identifies Hammond's flea circus attraction)
  • Barry Glendenning: The complete works of James Herriot (correctly: “James Alfred White”)
  • Fun, lighthearted competition highlights the panel’s eclectic interests.

4. How Does Transfer Gossip Actually Work?

[11:31-14:34]

• Daggles asks if stories are guesswork or agent-driven.
  • Seb: “Agents are responsible for a high proportion of it nowadays… some director of football get involved… it is just one big commercial space.” (11:59)
  • John Bruin adds, “There are certain operators out there who certain clubs and agents prefer to have the story first…a certain amount of cachet.” (12:41)
  • Wilson elaborates on quid pro quo relationships: “Their fee, if you like, for doing that is to have the wink tipped…when an actual transfer is going through.” (13:26)
  • Discussion on how transfer window journalism has become as much about transactions as football.

5. Who Should a New Listener Support in the Premier League?

[17:52-20:54]

• Kelly from the World Cup asks which team to arbitrarily support.
  • Seb: Advocates for Bournemouth – “If you lose a game, nobody’s gonna bother you about it as well and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy your football.” (18:44)
  • Barry: Suggests Brighton for their “nice club, decent team, good, nice young manager.” (19:12)
  • John jokes about the thrill (or pain) of following Everton or Spurs “for the soap opera.” (20:17)

6. AI and the Future of Football Journalism

[21:45-26:28]

• Dino wonders if AI will soon write match reports.
  • Jonathan Wilson: “The only time I’ve ever used AI… was to write an awful pitch document… blowing my own trumpet’s just not my… I think humility is one of my defining…characteristics.” (21:45)
  • Panel notes AI-generated football content remains generic and error-prone: “The amount of very basic information it gets completely wrong is quite mind blowing.” – Barry (24:21)
  • John notes: “There are AI checkers… I put a match report from Bournemouth or wherever and it said it was a hundred percent human written. So I was delighted with that." (25:27)
  • Discussion about AI’s limitations with nuance, humor, and personality in football writing.

7. Panel’s Favorite Non-Football Sporting Memories

[26:28-33:13]

• Seb’s highlight: “Linford Christie’s gold in ’92. Oh my goodness, I was so happy. I was so happy. I couldn’t believe what I was saying…” (26:37)
• Barry: Offaly’s stunning late comeback over Limerick in the ’94 All Ireland hurling final. “That is my favorite sporting memory, including football. It’s just my favorite sporting memory. Full stop.” (28:32)
• Jonathan: England beating Australia at Trent Bridge in the 2005 Ashes (attended), and Faldo’s playoff win at Augusta 1990 (watched on TV). (29:06)
• John: The 2005 Ashes finale at The Oval; Mark Cavendish winning the World Cycling Championship (30:18-30:56)
• Conversation turns into a group celebration of iconic, emotional sports moments—cricket, snooker, golf, and more.

8. How Did the Panel Get Into Football Journalism?

[34:25-38:48]

• Listeners looking for industry advice hear rapid-fire potted histories:
  • Seb: Began as a BBC runner at 15, did a Sport Journalism master's, worked up via TV production. “I wanted to be a commentator from age 10…” (34:46)
  • John: Trained in local news, did work experience at Press Association/BBC, joined ESPN, credits Barry and Barney for Football Weekly break. (36:17)
  • Jonathan: “Failed at being an academic,” did journalism course, landed at Onefoot, then FT, now freelance. (37:11)
  • Barry: Won journalism contest in Ireland; offered job after writing four articles. (38:18)
  • Max: Local radio, BBC, TalkSport, then TV (Soccer AM). Famous anecdote: “Literally reported once for BBC London on dog ... as someone was picking up a dog with their bare hands…” (39:14)

9. Recent Film Recommendations

[40:12-42:36]

• Max fields a film question for palate-cleansing football fans:
  • Jonathan: Recently loved “The English Patient.” (40:12)
  • Seb: Endorses classics such as “Sunset Boulevard” and “12 Angry Men.” (41:25)
  • John: Champion of “Casablanca,” “Full Metal Jacket,” and especially “The Friends of Eddie Coyle.” (42:08)
  • Max: For pure entertainment, “Jurassic Park, Cool Runnings, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Enemy of the State. Done.” (42:36)

10. What Does a Podcast Producer & Executive Producer Do?

[42:50-44:03]

• Lightly-comic answer to a listener query.
  • Max: “The amount of work they do is absolutely extraordinary. To make us just pratt about and look vaguely presentable… you need one to do all the nuts and bolts and one to listen back… and check we aren’t going to get sued by everybody in the whole world.” (43:23)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Existential Football Chat:
  • “Is this really what I was put these collections of cells to do on this Earth?” – Max Rushden (07:27)
• On Transfer Journalism:
  • “It's just this… sort of human transaction obsession. It's quite strange.” – Max Rushden (13:59)
• AI Skepticism:
  • “AI is rubbish at football… The amount of very basic information it gets completely wrong is quite mind blowing…” – Barry Glendenning (24:21)
• On following a smaller club:
  • “If you lose a game, nobody’s gonna bother you about it as well and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy your football.” – Seb Hutchinson (19:00)
• Panel’s gratitude to podcast staff:
  • “They are worth their weight in gold.” – Max Rushden (43:19)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:59] – Behind-the-scenes ITV football story: Keane vs. Carney
• [03:38] – “Meaning of life” discussion
• [08:26] – 'Mastermind' specialist subject quiz
• [11:31] – How transfer gossip and media work
• [17:52] – Picking a Premier League team for a new fan
• [21:45] – The potential impact of AI on football journalism
• [26:28] – Favorite non-football sporting moments
• [34:25] – How the panel broke into the industry
• [40:12] – Film recommendations
• [42:50] – The producer vs. executive producer debacle

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Conclusion

With the domestic season still on pause, Football Weekly serves up listener Q&A with warmth, curiosity, and trademark irreverence. Expect stories that span the cosmos, entertaining asides, and frank talk on the mechanics of journalism, delivered in the cast’s easygoing and expert style.

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Transcript

[Max Rushden]

This is the Guardian.

[John Bruin]

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[Max Rushden]

Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly, the second mailbag. You are the hardcore. We are deep in the limbo between the World cup and the domestic season returning as a result. Most of the questions you're sending us are about our favorite TV shows and sandwiches. We've waded through them all to find one or two about football. But don't worry, we'll get to where the Vera or the BLT comes out on top in part three. Hopefully you're listening to this on a beach somewhere after a cocktail or something Nice. This is today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today, Barry Glendenning.

[Barry Glendenning]

Welcome. Hello.

[Max Rushden]

Jonathan Wilson. Hello.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Morning. How you doing?

[Max Rushden]

Very good. Hello. John Bruin.

[John Bruin]

Hello there.

[Max Rushden]

And fresh energy. Seb Hutchinson. Hey, Seb.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Hello. How are you?

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, yeah, very good. And we are recording this just after we recorded the first mailbag. So this is still just after Argentina knocked England out of The World Cup. You're fresh from the ITV football match. Can you tell us about the controversy? It's, it's two weeks after the game happened now, so hopefully you're allowed when this goes out.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Okay. So, yeah, I've got time. Yeah. Roy won't find out about this. So Roy was. Roy Keane.

[John Bruin]

Yeah.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Was nutmegged by Karen Carney. I saw it.

[Max Rushden]

Huge.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Yeah, I saw it. Nobody filmed it. Karen's saying she can't remember who she nutmegged, which doesn't help.

[John Bruin]

Right.

[Seb Hutchinson]

And Roy said it never happened, but I saw it happen. And I would go to court and testify if I need to.

[Barry Glendenning]

Fine.

[Max Rushden]

And did you? Would you go to. Would you. So Roy's in the witness. Roy is, he's the defense.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Defending himself.

[Max Rushden]

You're in the witness. He's defending himself. Okay, so he hasn't got. Lord, Lord Panic is not doing this one. He's there.

[Seb Hutchinson]

He's not doing this one. Otherwise we'll be waiting three years, won't we? Yeah.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah. Okay. Big news for Roy Keane. Here's the first question from Barry Grogan. What's it all about? Life. I mean, do we have a purpose or are we just a random collection of cells here by luck and evolution, Jonathan Wilson?

[Jonathan Wilson]

No, I think essentially just random. None of it means anything apart from my paycheck.

[Max Rushden]

Right, Yes. I thought that would come up pretty early. Does anyone have any more existential thoughts on the meaning of life?

[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

Barry?

[Barry Glendenning]

No, I don't have any plans. I just get up, try and get through the day and hopefully not upset anyone too much. That hasn't always been possible. Or stay in the, in the United States. But I tried, John.

[John Bruin]

Well, we are a series of chemical reactions, but I believe in emotion, human condition, family and friends. Those are the things that are important to me.

[Max Rushden]

This is the first human response we've had so far, which is, which is good.

[John Bruin]

Yeah, I, I, I, I'm not a man of faith or spiritual or anything like that, but, yeah, I have a, an emotional side, and that's, that feels and, and, you know, not as animal. Animals have emotions, too, but we have an innate sense of fairness and morals, and sometimes that doesn't always go the right way, does it? But, and maybe the World cup is a microcosm of all that.

[SoFi Advertiser]

Seb.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Just before John answered that, he was looking out the window and I was worried for him there. I believe in the circle of life.

[Max Rushden]

Right, okay.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Essentially, as said by Mukasa in the Lion King. No, not, not, not. John did write the lyrics, didn't he.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, okay.

[Seb Hutchinson]

But I believe in that. I believe that, you know, the antelope eat the grass and the lions eat the antelope, and then the grass eats the lion when it dies in the soil.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Everything breaks down, we just keep on going. And so the meaningless thing is important in the sense that we're just one drop in this ocean of the universe. Very complex drop, but still just a drop in the whole sense of time. And if I was to go back in time, someone has said to me, go back, you know, 10 minutes in any time. I go back just 10 minutes and just have a look at a T Rex. And that's. That's all that I'll be.

[John Bruin]

I'll be okay, sure, take it. Yeah, yeah.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Yes, yes, yes. The short pit. I mean, he was around. I sure. Well, don't get into that.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, interesting. Like, young Ian Rushton is, you know, four and a half. His obsession is with the solar system and the cosmos and space and like, he has more knowledge of that than I do now. But when you do read about the plan, it's very hard to have this conversation without sounding like you've had your first joint. Your, you know, your, your. Actually, I haven't, so that's fine.

[John Bruin]

Max, that sounds like. It sounds like. It sounds like more the conversation you'd have when you've had a night of joints and you get to the end and it's stars. Yeah. No, you're stuck with a bloke talking about the cosmos and it's like, really, it's time to get a cab home, isn't it?

[Max Rushden]

I see. It's more like you're lying on the grass, you know, with the girl that you like, looking at the stars, going, isn't this amazing? But genuinely, you know, when, you know, he just says, you know, the sun is like, you know, the middle of the sun is 50 million degrees and the nearest star to the sun is like however many light years, and there are so many other stars and that this all began out of nothing and has been there forever. But when did forever begin? Then you do start to think, well, I don't know if it means there's a point, but you do start to have a slight existential crisis about what you're doing when you're going, do you think Tiero Barry will get 11 goals this season? Foreverton. You're like, is this. Is this really what I was put these collections of cells to do on. On this Earth?

[Barry Glendenning]

The comedian Bill Hicks used to do this routine. I just looked it up Here as we got talking about this. But he used to complain that there were never any good news stories about drugs on the news, like drug use. It was all negative. And then he would imitate a newsreader and go, today a young man on acid realized that all matters is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness, experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death. Life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather.

[Max Rushden]

William says, what's your non footballing mastermind subject? Okay, I put this out to all of you, so we'll start with Jonathan Wilson. Your name, please.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Jonathan Wilson.

[Max Rushden]

Your specialist subject.

[Jonathan Wilson]

The life and works of Agatha Christie.

[Max Rushden]

One question on the life and works of Agatha Christie. Your time starts now. What is the precise idiosyncratic amount of money that Hercule Poirot famously insists his bank account must always hold? Beep, beep. Wilson, you scored naught with one pass. The answer was £444.4s 4d. We'll go to you now. Bruin. John Bruin. What Your name?

[Barry Glendenning]

All that shillings and pence, Max.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, fine, yeah. What is your name?

[John Bruin]

John Bruin.

[Max Rushden]

Your specialist subject?

[John Bruin]

Manchester Music, 1976-1991.

[Max Rushden]

John Bruin, one question on Manchester Music, 1976-1991. Your time starts now. Joy Division made their live debut in 1977 at Manchester's Electric Circus, supporting Buzzcock's Penetration and John Cooper Clark. What name were the band using at the time?

[John Bruin]

Warsaw.

[Max Rushden]

Correct. Well done, John Bruin. You scored one.

[SoFi Advertiser]

Seb.

[Max Rushden]

Your name?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Seb Hutchinson.

[Max Rushden]

Your specialist subject?

[Seb Hutchinson]

The Hollywood film Jurassic Park.

[Max Rushden]

Oh, Seb Hutchinson. The Hollywood film Jurassic Park. One question. Your time starts now. According to John Hammond's tour introduction, what was his very first attraction?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Oh, it was a flea circus.

[Max Rushden]

Correct. Seb Hutchinson, you scored one point. Barry to you. What is your name?

[Barry Glendenning]

Barry Glendenning.

[Max Rushden]

Your specialist subject.

[Barry Glendenning]

The complete works of James Herriot.

[Max Rushden]

I see you. You also gave us your. Do you have a James Herriot question?

[Seb Hutchinson]

You throwed Magnus. He thrown him.

[Max Rushden]

Because you also gave. Your specialist subject was the specialist subject of other Football Weekly panelists.

[Barry Glendenning]

My original was the complete works of James Herriot.

[Max Rushden]

Barry Glendenning. The complete works of James Harriot. One question. Your time starts now. What was James Harriot's real given name?

[Barry Glendenning]

Alf White.

[Max Rushden]

James Alfred White. I will give you that. Correct. Barry Glendenning, you scored one point.

[Barry Glendenning]

My specialist subject incorporates seven books, three different television series and a couple of movies. Sebs is one movie.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Mine's over 100 books.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, but, but, but Jurassic park is an all time classic. The others you could throw.

[Barry Glendenning]

Have you been on Celebrity Mastermind, Seb?

[Seb Hutchinson]

No, no, no. Yeah, I'd like better. It's one of those things I'd love to go on and then I'd. I'd myself as soon as those lights went out.

[Barry Glendenning]

But like. Here's the question, Wilson, separate a specialist subject. I would consider myself quite the Hercule Poirot expert. And I didn't know the answer to that either. I had never even heard of that. So it's a very difficult one for Wilson.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Oh, thank you, Barry. I appreciate your support.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Did anyone know the flea circus?

[Max Rushden]

I didn't. I didn't. And I loved Jurassic Jurassic Park. Oh, come on, Wilson. Had. Had the question been what color are Herculo's little cells? I'd have got that one. They're gray, everybody. Aren't they? Daggles writes regarding transfer journalists in the gossip pages. Is that mainly just guesswork or is it through agents? Do clubs leak information? And if so, why? I understand what agents would, but what do clubs get from it? Seb, you're nodding. What do you know?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Do you know agents are responsible for a high proportion of it nowadays? Because I think what's changed is because people can set their agendas online, they like to use that as a space. It does help clubs sometimes, some director of football get involved in it as well. Because again, it can help a football club in various ways because it is just one big commercial space. And that's. That's. That's the thing about it that I mean, I don't particularly like. I just wait until it's all finished and then make sure I know who's where. But I can see why it feeds people. They get excited because it's the possibility, isn't it? The hope we could sign this player. We probably won't. And the player we do sign, we're not happy with. And then they might surprise us or let us down.

[John Bruin]

Yeah, I was going to say there are certain operators out there that I don't have to name to the listeners who certain clubs and agents prefer to have. They prefer them to have the story first. That's what I'm told by those who operate.

[Max Rushden]

That's what your sources are telling you. Your sources.

[John Bruin]

My sources are telling me. Yeah. And that. And there is a certain amount of cachet to have that news broken by those particular journalists. And that's. That's often how it works. So that those who have operated in that space, in a slightly. I'm not going to say lesser quality, lesser. Less prominence. Find themselves a bit annoyed by this at times.

[Jonathan Wilson]

I mean, this was clearly very good. People who work in that area. I mean, there's other people who I think do a lot of quid pro quos where they'll do an agent a favor, say by discussing the possibility of a player moving to a club to try and drum up interest or suggesting that players unsettled to try and drum up interest and their sort of, their fee, if you like, for doing that is to have the wink tipped. Is that a phrase when an actual transfer is going through.

[Max Rushden]

I mean, I. Some. What's interesting about some of them is when you occasionally talk to them, it does sound like they've never seen a football match and like the end is, you know, the transfer is the end of the. That is the end of the thing. That is not a means to an end to build a football team. It is just this. It is just sort of. It's sort of human transaction obsession. It's quite strange.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Well, what's the new one is that if, if your club doesn't sign enough players, there's a problem forgetting the fact that you already have players at your club. You see what I mean?

[Max Rushden]

Yeah.

[Seb Hutchinson]

They've not brought anyone yet. Yeah, yeah.

[Max Rushden]

And Nikki, Nikki makes that really good point that you sort of see a footballer when you decide how good they are and you do not countenance for that, that they could get better at football or worse at football or be put in a different system that might make them play better or worse or put someone next to them. It's literally just this is how good a person is and if you don't spend 80 million on them, they're no good. If this player has been at your club for three years, it's not exciting and you know, we do get carried away with it a bit. I mean, right now, of course, the window will be whirring away. We will of course do all the transfer stuff. Well, once we found out who's bought who and we've committed it vaguely to memory, or Barry's put it on his pad of paper, we'll do some previews and talk about those things. We've Got live shows 1st of September at Vicar street in Dublin. 9th of September, Soho Theater, Walthamstow. Please go to the guardian.co.uk football weekly live. The London show is live streamed as well. Watch it wherever you are on earth and we'll be back in a second.

[John Bruin]

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[Nikayla Matthews Akome]

Foreign.

[Max Rushden]

Part two of the Guardian Football Weekly Kelly says, Max, Barry and everyone else I'd never listened to the podcast before the World Cup. My brother, who is an Arsenal fan, recommended the podcast to me a few weeks ago as I was struggling to keep up with so many games. Since then, I've become a devoted daily listener. Now the World Cup's coming to an end, I've decided to arbitrarily pick a team to watch during the rest of the year, which has the added benefit of helping me follow along with Football Weekly in the future. Which team should I choose? So I guess we're talking Premier League. Seb, who do you think would be the best? Who would be the most enjoyable team follow in the Premier League?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Enjoyable? Yes. Football work like that. Enjoyable? It depends. Yeah, it depends on the stage. So Sunderland would have been enjoyable last season because they were promoted. It did better than the fans would have thought that people thought. So they're on that ride. That's when it's at his best. But then the expectation sets in and so you're. You're done then, aren't you? You know, I would say the other problem is, did they say that their partner was an Arsenal fan?

[Max Rushden]

That's their brother, right?

[Seb Hutchinson]

A brother is not.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah.

[Seb Hutchinson]

So that will play a part in it if that's the person you're going to be discussing football with their Arsenal.

[Max Rushden]

Do you take Tottenham?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Well, I don't know if that's an antagonistic angle. I don't know if it is because of where the clubs have been recently. So, yeah, I'd. I would say just off the bat, why don't you go and support Bournemout, knowing that there's probably a new stadium coming. They'll probably buy a fresh player that nobody else has seen before and you can go there and you can have the heads up on everybody else and you can sound really knowledgeable about this player that nobody else has seen. And if you lose a game, nobody's gonna bother you about it as well and you'll be able to relax and enjoy your football.

[Max Rushden]

Good point. Any advices on Bournemouth, Barry?

[Barry Glendenning]

I was thinking Brighton for much the same reason. Seb has positive Bournemouth.

[Seb Hutchinson]

It's.

[Barry Glendenning]

It's a nice club, decent team, good, nice young manager. If they get beaten, you can go into town from the stadium and have a nice fish and chips and a walk along the promenade on the pier and they're probably not going to get relegated. They're probably not going to win anything. But it's nice, it's a nice team.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Yeah.

[Max Rushden]

Any advances, go and complete the set.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Come with the B set. Come on. Let me see one more B. There's an airport nearby.

[John Bruin]

As the world's living expert on B teams, it would be remiss of me to. I mean, yeah, Bournemouth is. Is the nice one, isn't it? But I suppose they. They have a new manager. We'll have to see how that goes. That as we've seen so many times in. In football that eventually the formula does break. I hope that doesn't happen to Bomber because I was privileged last season to see them play. I think the best football in the Premier League. The most exciting. But yeah, although you could do.

[SoFi Advertiser]

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[John Bruin]

If you really wanted to have soap opera, you wanted to have enjoyment or maybe an element of needle. Everton or spurs just for that.

[Seb Hutchinson]

What are you doing to people?

[John Bruin]

But I can't be interesting fo Everton on someone. They. How dare you, Barry. They. They are.

[Max Rushden]

You want a prime minister.

[John Bruin]

So, you know.

[Max Rushden]

And by now it's all. It could be. Bin face, you know, well, bin face

[John Bruin]

is presumably a late in or inferno, something like that. But we. We don't know. But. But imagine being an Everton fan when it actually become good again. It's a bit like being an England fan, you know?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Max Rushden]

Unless you have anything strong to say, Wilson, I'll move on to another question. Yeah, okay. Dino says hi. Max Barry in the team. I'm an avid listener from Perth, Western Australia. I was born in the uk. It was lovely to hear about the football fans in the UK struggle with the timings of World cup matches, as this is something I have to deal with all the time when watching the Premier League. Question for the panel, which is different. How will AI change the way football is reported in the future? Do you use AI when creating your match reports or scripts? Will there come a time when you'll be able to feed in the live broadcast of a football match and create a match report with analysis within seconds? Jonathan Wilson, is your. Is your Ronaldo piece AI by now, or is it still from your fair mind?

[Jonathan Wilson]

The only time I've ever used AI, and I'm pretty sure it'd be a sackable offense to the Guardian to use AI, and quite rightly, the only time I've ever used it was I had to write, like this, this awful sort of pitch document for something where I had to sort of make myself sound good. And I spent sort of two or three hours on it. And, you know, blowing my own trumpet's just not my.

[Max Rushden]

You're just too humble, aren't you? You're too humble.

[Jonathan Wilson]

I mean, obviously, I hate to speak my humility, but they're your words, they're not mine. But I think humility is one of my defining words, characteristics. So I got AI to do that and it was.

[Max Rushden]

Did it make you sound good? Did it make you sound good?

[Jonathan Wilson]

I didn't get the. I can't remember what the picture was for. I didn't get it. Anyways, it obviously didn't make me sound that good. But that's the only time I've ever used it.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Right.

[Jonathan Wilson]

I mean, I guess there is a terrifying feature when. I mean AI. Clearly, I was replaced at Sports Illustrated by AI. That was galling. After 11 years. Didn't even. Didn't even get an email saying, thanks very much. Just. They stopped replying. They just blanked me. Stop replying to my emails. So that's. That's American employee relations for you. But I mean, it's obviously rubbish at the minute. It's totally generic based on a couple of stats. I Guess it could get quite good. But I would have thought what you want. And maybe I'm flat with myself here, that what people want is kind of sort of the individual's take on it, the sort of the quirks that, you know of that individual that, you know, basically, you know, if I'm going to go. If I'm going to a Portugal game, you're going to get a thing slagging off Ronaldo.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jonathan Wilson]

I like. There's enough out there that's.

[Barry Glendenning]

But there are AI commentators. I don't want to worry. You said. But do you remember, Max, when we went to south by Southwest, we had to go to this dinner to Glad hadn't some people who worked in AI. And it's very prominent in, say, tennis, golf, Formula one, I think. And there is AI commentary teams. I have no idea whether they're good or not. What I can tell you is that AI is rubbish at football. I've looked things up on AI Sometimes it's basically glorified Google. And the amount of very basic information it gets completely wrong is quite mind blowing. Just really basic stuff. What players play for, what teams. Who won last year's FA Cup? Really, really basic stuff it gets wrong. Good question.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Flea Circus. Flea Circus.

[Max Rushden]

Can you get it?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Can you get it?

[Barry Glendenning]

Oh, God.

[Seb Hutchinson]

I mean, there's only. There's only going to be. It's going to be one of three, isn't it? Probably.

[Max Rushden]

I think I. I think. I know. I think I'm like 99. Sure. But I don't want to laugh at you too much unless I don't get it, but let's all wait for Barry won the FA Cup.

[Barry Glendenning]

Who won the. I'm not AI. Just.

[Max Rushden]

No, I know you're not a. I know that.

[Barry Glendenning]

So I'll give an AI answer. West Ham won last year's FA Cup.

[Max Rushden]

All right. Okay.

[Barry Glendenning]

Last year's FA Cup. This year's City.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Man City.

[Max Rushden]

Palace was the year before. It's Man City.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Yeah.

[Barry Glendenning]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Bruin]

Well, Last year is 20, 25, isn't it?

[Max Rushden]

I see. Okay.

[Jonathan Wilson]

All right.

[Max Rushden]

So you are taking it literally as AI. Yeah, I mean, I've never. I've never logged into AI, so I don't. I don't know. But hopefully it, you know, hopefully it won't replace vanilla you have.

[Barry Glendenning]

Because if you look something up on Google, you get AI answers.

[John Bruin]

Yeah.

[Barry Glendenning]

So you're using it without knowing it.

[John Bruin]

I was. I was going to say that. That there are occasionally scandals about people writing stuff in AI and there are AI checkers where you can check whether your work comes out as AI. So I put a match report from Bournemouth or wherever and it said it was a hundred percent human written. So I was delighted with that. But people, the trans press conferences, your phone and certain translating machines can do a reasonable job of this. But I think it was a Pep Guardiola press conference that was at. And PEP with AI was not great. So I was sent a transcript by one of my colleagues and said, is someone actually done this properly? You know, it's actually got like a proper transcript to this. And I just got the replies that no, mate, we're all too lazy now. We just use AI.

[Max Rushden]

So AI struggles with. So, so, so good. It just can't, just can't compute of that. Craig, please.

[Barry Glendenning]

Yeah, you just go to Gemini and go, please patronize Eddie Howe for 500 words.

[Max Rushden]

Craig says, what's the panel's favorite sporting memory that doesn't involve football? Who wants to kick off on. On that?

[Seb Hutchinson]

I know that one straight away. Linford Christie's gold in 92. And I'm basing this on the moment. At the time I was. Oh my goodness, I was so happy. I was so happy. I couldn't believe what I was saying because it's such a. Obviously such a simple sport to understand the 100 meters. But it just felt. I remember that because I think the year before, maybe two years before this world championship and all the best runners were in it and they rule went under 10 seconds. An amazing race. And you always felt Linford was the nearly man in that group. He wasn't quite able to get over the line.

[Max Rushden]

Carl Lewis, Dennis.

[John Bruin]

Carl Lewis.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Leroy Burrell was. Frankie Fredericks was always second. But I don't think, I'm trying to think. I don't think Burrell was in the Olympic final, but Dennis Mitchell was. Frankie Fredericks was. Carl Lewis was. Wasn't at his best. And I felt. And then the next year, Lyford won the world championship and set a new 9.87 or something. And I'd never seen anyone who was an American run that. So I, I just remember at the time thinking, that's amazing. It was closed close behind. That was just Frank Bruno winning his world title as well against McCall. He was hanging on. Don't you remember this? Do you remember this? It was basically, he started the fight well and then the last few rounds it was just an absolutely knackered man hanging on and just waiting for the bell. And then when, when the bell went, he just. And he was lucky because that title shot came because McCall had beaten Lennox Lewis, who had knocked out Bruno before. So, yeah, they're the. They're the ones for me. And you always go back to when you're younger because sure, you get. But, you know, emotional than him, though,

[Max Rushden]

like on athletics, like the. The 4x4. Chris Akabusi getting 91. Is it Pettigrew? Is it Anthony?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Yeah, it comes.

[Max Rushden]

Absolutely. That is an amazing. That is an amazing moment.

[Barry Glendenning]

Barry awfully beating Limerick in the 1994 All Ireland hurling final. I was there at Croke park and Offley were dead and buried and they scored two goals and six points in the last four minutes to win the game and snatched from Limerick at the death. And that was a sense. That is my favorite sporting memory, including football. It's just my favorite sporting memory. Full stop.

[Max Rushden]

Wilson.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Well, that I've been at England beating Australia at Trent Bridge in 2005, when if you were chasing 127 and did their best to mess it up, and then Ashley Giles clubbed a boundary to win it. But I think if you talk about watching on telly, it's definitely when you're younger. And I would say Faldo holding the putt on the 11th at Augusta, the second playoff hole to beat Ray Floyd in 1990.

[Max Rushden]

Oh, yeah.

[Jonathan Wilson]

That was partly because I was. I was allowed to sit up late and watch the Masters and. Yeah. Something me and my dad did every year. So it's partly that as much as Faldo on golf.

[Max Rushden]

The Constantino rocker part. Is it the 18th at St. Andrews?

[Jonathan Wilson]

Yeah.

[Max Rushden]

To take it to a playoff, maybe with John Daly, I can't remember. But he's like, it's a.

[John Bruin]

It is.

[Max Rushden]

It might be 60ft, it might be 100. I don't know how long the putt is. But he beats the ground. Like, when it goes in, he is on the floor beating the ground. It's just an eyes and unbelievable. Like, in terms of golfing moments, of course, you've got all the writing.

[Jonathan Wilson]

You say you were there.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Were you there?

[Max Rushden]

No, no, no, no, no. I wasn't there. I just remember watching it on the.

[Seb Hutchinson]

The tv.

[Max Rushden]

But. But that as a single golfing moment, it's unbelievable. John.

[John Bruin]

I was at the 2005 Ashes. I was in the final day when England claimed it at the Oval, which was a sensational day.

[Barry Glendenning]

I was there, too.

[John Bruin]

Yeah. I unfortunately had to do the late shift at work, which probably wasn't my greatest day's work, but that Mark Cavendish winning the World Cycling Championship, led in by a British team lead. A Brilliant. Lead out by friend of the show, Bradley Wiggins. And, yeah, absolutely fantastic. And, yeah, golfing memories, Ryder Cups and so on, I think.

[Max Rushden]

I mean, Medina is amazing. Medina is unbelievable.

[John Bruin]

Celtic Manor as well. K Club, you know, all these repeated wins. Absolutely fantastic.

[Jonathan Wilson]

The belfry in 85, the first one they won in.

[John Bruin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jonathan Wilson]

However long it was.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Can I correct myself? Leroy Barrell was in the race. I've just seen.

[Max Rushden]

All right.

[Seb Hutchinson]

I've given it a massive disservice. So, yeah, Joel, make sure you put that in. So everybody's aware of our Cross Bruny. Seriny Sirin was in that race. And then Ray Stewart, who was the only player, you know, in the 88 Olympics with Ben Johnson. Yeah, Ray Stewart, Jamaican athlete, was the only member of that race who didn't have a drugs charge against them at some point in their career.

[Max Rushden]

Wow.

[Seb Hutchinson]

And there's. I think there's a documentary about that.

[Max Rushden]

I. I should say that Stokes at Headingley. I was in the park. Jamie had said, we've got to get out of the house. Sitting in the park, and I was holding my phone, watching Stokes at Headingly. And, like, I think, does Nathan Lyon miss a run out? And, like, my hand is, like, the phone is shaking. I realize that maybe I shake all the time when I'm watching sport, but I'm not holding the telly. But, like, my phone, my hand was like this. And. And the Edge Bastion Test, you know, the. The one where Harmon gets that wicket. A mate of mine had got married the day before, one of, like, the earliest weddings in our, like, friendship group. So we're all, like. Our hangovers were unreal and half of us wanted to.

[Seb Hutchinson]

What?

[Max Rushden]

We're in a. In Cornwall, in a hotel. We're like, we'll just watch just two wickets and then we'll go back, we'll drive back to. To London. And obviously that went on for so long and we were all so sick and hung over and just. And just the stress of that. And I think. I think Harmy bowls a full toss. That one of them, maybe. I can't remember. Britt Lee, like, middles. And it goes straight to extra cover. Yeah, it goes straight to extra cover. And you think if that goes over, we've lost. And then we get the wicket, which shouldn't be a wicket.

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[Max Rushden]

Because his gloves off the bat.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Castrovich.

[Barry Glendenning]

I'm in a WhatsApp group with a couple of English guys and several Australians. And the WhatsApp group is called lion has fumbled.

[Max Rushden]

Is it? Oh, amazing moment. That's a great question. Oh, and the Searle brothers in the Olympics. The Abanyalis are failing. The Aben Lialis are tiring. Come on, Great Britain. Come on, Great Britain.

[Barry Glendenning]

Can I give a shout out as well? The final frame between Dennis Taylor and Steve. Yeah, that was something else.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, even the final black. Like, like that is just unbelievable. Moment. All right, that'll do for part two. Back in a second.

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[Seb Hutchinson]

Foreign.

[Max Rushden]

Part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. Richard says since it's pre season and there's not much to talk about, could. Could you all discuss how you got started in the industry? I published, I published twice on Football365 recently. I'm trying to sneak into the football journalism game. Be cool to hear what inspired you guys and what path you took. Oh, wow. We could be here for hours talking to ourselves, doing this, but Seb, give us a potted. Give us a potted 2 minutes.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Mine takes ages. Mine because I, I did running at the. Managed to get into running in the BBC when I was about 15, which is younger than I should have been. I shouldn't have been there really. And that gave me a taste of what TV was like. But I wanted to be a commentator from the age of 10. So I was doing a lot of work beforehand. And then when I finished uni, I did a masters in sports journalism just to really. Just because I just wanted to stay in it. And then things built from there. I had a work placement a couple of places. I did apply to the Guardian and they turned me down. Too Woke.

[Max Rushden]

Were you too woke, Seb?

[Seb Hutchinson]

I think that's before woke. I don't think woke existed then.

[Max Rushden]

Okay.

[Seb Hutchinson]

I think it was writing probably. And then, and then. But then I ended up working in TV as a. As a junior producer and then ended up as a junior producer at itv. I'm trying to sub this all down quickly.

[Max Rushden]

Were you doing like we did sport or were you doing like Loose Women sport? Right, okay.

[Seb Hutchinson]

No, when I was a runner, I did all sorts. I did a what not to Wear watchdog Robot wars when it first started.

[Max Rushden]

Amazing.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Yeah, amazing. And that's great because when you do start having that experiences when you're around basically working people is just the most important thing because it takes away that idea of the world is about me, which you have as a young person. You think they're waiting for me to start work and everyone's going to be so happy. And then you just see people who just want to, oh, my shift finishes in five minutes, just want to go home or you know, this sort of the real world stuff. The real life.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah.

[Seb Hutchinson]

And there's a. There's no substitute for it.

[Max Rushden]

John.

[John Bruin]

I trained as a local news journalist but. And I've always had great respect for local news journalists because it's a quite a hard job, very hard to find a patch to get the stories going. And then thanks to doing work experience, I did work experience at the Press association, then at the BBC, landed a job at ESPN as a result of that, as a junior member of the team. And it started from there really. And I was there for a very long time. And then thanks to, I should say Barry and Barney, straight after leaving espn I was on Football Weekly and started working on the desk thanks to Philip, my gaffer on the desk. So that's it really. I've worked at two places for a long time in particular and freelance other places. That's it.

[Jonathan Wilson]

At Wilson I failed of being an academic. I did a three month journalism course and then stumbled into a job on Onefoot which was a sort of global football website. Was sort of ahead of its time. It sort of. It still exists in a very, very, very different form now and then it thankfully went bankrupt at exactly the right point where I had a bit of experience and some contacts and I was able to to from there to freelance, got a job at the FT on staff and that lasted three years and then I've never had a staff job since.

[Max Rushden]

What part of academia did you want to go into?

[Jonathan Wilson]

Well, in retrospect, I don't think I did want to go into it, but he just. It was just sort of the path I was on. So I was accepted to do a. A doctor a York looking at constructions of imperial masculinity in the works of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling.

[Barry Glendenning]

Right.

[Jonathan Wilson]

And. And thankfully I didn't get funded for that. So I could start slagging off Cristiano Ronaldo.

[Seb Hutchinson]

That'd be a good one now. That'd be really. That'd be a good one now, yeah.

[Max Rushden]

I mean, I know your story and you know my story, Barry. I mean, I presume everybody listening Does I. I don't know. But, you know, you can do it. You can do a minute.

[Barry Glendenning]

I entered a journalism competition run by a magazine in Ireland called Hot Press, kind of like the nme, but with more broader range of entertainment, not just music and politics and literature and stuff. And I won it. And part of the prize was a commission to write four articles for them. I wrote the four articles and they offered me a job. And that's how I got into journalism.

[Max Rushden]

You'll all remember me reading the news on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire in, you know, and then going to report on dog. I mean, I've literally reported once for BBC London on dog, as someone was picking up a dog with their bare hands. And me saying, I'm from the BBC, what are you gonna do? You know? No, he'd left it and I went, what are you gonna do with that? And then he picked it up with his bare hands. That's real local radio. It's absolute peak. So.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Yeah. How'd you hear that sound?

[Max Rushden]

Oh, you've got to paint. Paint pictures with words.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Absolutely.

[Max Rushden]

Radio came easy for three years. Did the longest ever radio show in a shopping center for them six days. Took me longer to get it than I held it because a guy in Slovenia started on the Wednesday, went to BBC London, worked a bit with Danny Baker, who was. Was brilliant, was sort of like. Eventually got the overnight show for a bit, which was mad, and then got the Breakfast show. Was sacked for not being famous by replaced by my nemesis Paul Ross. Went to talk sport to do current affairs show, then got soccer, am got lucky, did that for seven years, etc. Etc. Here we all are, Matthew says Matt, here in Melbourne. I'm an annoyed England fan, wondering if you've seen any good films lately. I'm hoping for a good pallet cleanser on Monday when I go see the Odyssey. Okay, What's a good film you've seen recently? Man of Culture, Jonathan Wilson.

[Jonathan Wilson]

I think the last film I saw, just before I came out to the US or to Mexico, was the English Patient, which I have to say I enjoyed enormously. I know it has a reputation as being slow, but I did not find it slow. I. I thought it was excellent.

[Max Rushden]

Is that the one that, frankly, Boeuf's in or is that. No, no, no, that's. Which one's he?

[Jonathan Wilson]

It's a great.

[Seb Hutchinson]

No, that's the FIFA film from 1998.

[Max Rushden]

No, no, no, not the FIFA film.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Is he in Lucy? He's in Lucy. Is it Lucy?

[Max Rushden]

He's in a film with. Is it The Stephen Hawking film.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Oh, it is, yeah. No, you're right. The Turing film, isn't it the Theory of Everything.

[Max Rushden]

I can't remember. There's a point where someone's in a hospital bed and Frank LaBeouf is the doctor, and half the cinema going, it's Frank LaBeouf, and the other half are like, just watching. A General Theory of Everything Confirmed. Barry, A film recommendation.

[Barry Glendenning]

Oh, I. I don't watch films very often. I just watch TV shows, box sets. But I have to recommend. I'm really struggling to think of the last.

[Max Rushden]

Don't worry, don't worry. I'll go to John. John.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Oh, sorry, you go to John. Sorry.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, you go.

[Seb Hutchinson]

I watch a lot of films, but I tend to sort of go back rather than see the new stuff. I mean, I do see stuff at the cinema, I would say, besides Jurassic Park. I'd recommend that to Jonathan Wilson. Besides that dude, Sunset Boulevard, because I saw it for the first time. Yeah. And it's from. Yeah, early 50s. Absolutely fantastic. That and 12 Angry Men. And I say this because a lot of people might have heard of these films, wouldn't have seen them, but it is worth it for a modern audience. Even now, they have not dated at all, these films, and they're very relevant, so.

[John Bruin]

But you know whose favorite film is Sunset Boulevard?

[Seb Hutchinson]

Tell me, Bielsa.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Is it Enzo Fernandez?

[John Bruin]

Donald Trump's favorite film is Sunset.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Yeah.

[Seb Hutchinson]

So, yeah, makes sense, actually.

[John Bruin]

Yes, I suppose he shows it all the time at Mar a Lago. Anyway, my. On the plane over, I watched Casablanca. Doesn't get much better than that. I also watched Full Metal Jacket as another recommendation. This is one of my very favorite films. Seven is crime drama the Friends of Eddie Coyle, starring Robert Mitchum. Absolutely sensational. Set in Boston. Fantastic film.

[Max Rushden]

You've got to watch all these films and then you've completed films. Jurassic Park, Cool Runnings, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Enemy of the State. Done

[Seb Hutchinson]

from the same year. Three of those are from the same year.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, you know. You know, there are some. You know, there are some good actual ones that make you think, like, the lives of others and life is beautiful. But really, if Enemy the State's on, I'm just watching. Come on, Will Smith. Come on, Gene Hackman. You can do it. Chris says, why does the pod have a producer and an executive producer? Does the exec stand behind the regular producer, shouting at him and hitting them with a big stick until they get it right? Well, look, there's. People have to listen.

[Barry Glendenning]

This is a very good question. I also want to know the answer to this one.

[Max Rushden]

They have to. I would say that, you know, for the tape, because we're recording this during the World cup, that the team here, Joe Grove, Rory Simon, Matt Bentley, Viney, plus all the people back at base have done. The amount of work they do is absolutely extraordinary. To make us just pratt about and look vaguely presentable and sound vaguely presentable. So, yes, there you need one to do all the nuts and bolts and one to listen back to check that they put all the nuts. Haven't missed out a nut and bolt, especially when Philippe's on another one to check that we aren't going to get sued by everybody in the whole world. So they are worth their weight in gold. But thank you for the question. And that'll do for today. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, John. Thank you. Thanks, Baz.

[Barry Glendenning]

Thank you.

[Max Rushden]

Cheers, Wilson.

[Jonathan Wilson]

Cheers. Thank you.

[Max Rushden]

And thank you, Seb.

[Seb Hutchinson]

Thank you, Max.

[Max Rushden]

Football Weekly is produced by Rory Simon and Matt Bentley Varney. Our executive producer is Joel Grove and we'll be back next week, I guess, when the season begins. This is the Guardian.