Liverpool’s Champions League bid takes a hit and Everton end home hoodoo: Football Weekly

Summary

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Football Weekly — Liverpool’s Champions League Bid Takes a Hit & Everton End Home Hoodoo

The Guardian
Episode Date: March 4, 2026
Panel: Robin Cowen (host), Barry Glendenning, Jordan Jarrett-Bryan, Seb Hutchinson

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Overview

This episode delves into a dramatic night of Premier League and other footballing action. The panel breaks down Liverpool's faltering Champions League ambitions after a late defeat to Wolves, Everton’s much-needed home win, notable results in the Championship, and looks ahead to key upcoming fixtures. The panel also touches on the Lionesses’ emphatic win in World Cup qualifying, a genuine FA Cup "giant-killing," and broader football talking points with the show’s signature wit and debate.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

[02:41] Wolves 2–1 Liverpool: Late Drama and Liverpool’s Troubles

• First-Half Doldrums, Second-Half Mayhem:
  The first half was described as "really pretty bad," but “came into life in the last 15 minutes” ([02:41] Robin Cowen).

• Wolves’ Freedom & Fan Joy:
  “Wolves are becoming the ultimate player hater now… they don’t even need the points… when the pressure is off, you definitely express yourself better.” ([05:27] Jordan Jarrett-Bryan)
  Rob Edwards celebrated joyously, reflecting the rare moment for the Molyneux crowd ([09:09] Robin).

• Rodrigo Gomes’ Exquisite Finish:
  “The first touch… thought it had taken a bit too far but then just with the inside foot, poked it past the keeper – sensational.” ([06:34] Robin)

• Wolves’ Attitude & Squad Future:
  Panel agrees several Wolves players will be picked up by Premier League sides despite relegation ([05:27] Jordan).

• Liverpool’s Alarming Pattern:

  • Fifth defeat to a 90th-minute goal this season, “the most of any single side in a single campaign in the competition’s history” ([09:09] Robin citing Opta).
  • “Liverpool’s midfield basically disappeared. They offered Wolves freedom of the park.” ([10:02] Barry Glendenning)
  • The panel consistently links Liverpool’s struggle to “so many of their big-name players are not playing well this season” ([10:02] Barry).

• Impact of Grief on Liverpool:
  Debate around how Diogo Jota’s death has influenced the squad:
  “It is something to do with that so many of their big-name players are not playing well this season and that is bound to have an effect.” ([10:02] Barry)

• Future Uncertainties:
  Doubt about manager Arne Slot’s future, with Xabi Alonso “lurking in the background” ([12:52] Seb Hutchinson).

Notable Quote

“It’s difficult to know what to make of this Liverpool team... too many big-name players aren’t performing well enough. They’re now in a chase for fifth place.”
— Barry Glendenning [03:07]

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[14:29] Everton 2–0 Burnley: Ending the Home Hoodoo

• Dominant but Wasteful:
  Everton win their first home match in six. Burnley described as “arguably their worst performance of the season… absolutely dismal.” ([14:49] Barry)

• Set-Piece Strength:
  First goal from a set piece.
  On James Tarkowski: “Unmarked at a free kick. James Garner, good free kick from him.” ([14:49] Barry)

• Dewsbury-Hall’s Class and Pool Table Story:
  “Should’ve done the snooker cue celebration… beat Brendan Rodgers 3–0 at pool, and a week later sent out on loan to Blackpool.” ([17:50] Robin)

• Pickford’s World Cup Form:
  “I just think his performances in recent weeks have reminded everyone that he’s one of the best keepers in the League… England do have a very, very good goalkeeper.” ([16:26] Jordan)

Notable Quote

“Any Premier League side in the Conference League should win the Conference League, I think, given the financial advantage.”
— Barry Glendenning [14:49]

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[23:12] Leeds 0–1 Sunderland: A Dreadful Spectacle

• Sluggish Match, Big Win for Sunderland:
  “This was one of the worst football matches I’ve ever seen.” ([23:22] Barry)

  • Sunderland’s only shot on target was a “bad penalty,” which won the game.
  • Leeds denied a penalty, and time-wasting played a part.

• Luka O’Nien’s (Anti-)Heroics:
  From stealing towels to creative time-wasting:
  “Went to take a long throw in only to discover that Sean Longstaff… had stolen his towel and run away with it.” ([25:40] Barry)

• Leeds’ Missed Opportunity:
  Briefly discussed unlucky break in timing their “peak” form, potentially making their current position precarious ([28:28] Jordan).

Notable Quote

“Arguably the highlight of the game was Luka O’Nien going to take a long throw, only to discover Sean Longstaff… had stolen his towel.”
— Barry Glendenning [25:40]

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[29:43] Bournemouth 0–0 Brentford: 13th Draw & Missed Penalty

• Main Talking Point:
  Bournemouth should have won; main controversy was a non-penalty:
  “If Tavernier had gone down, he would have got it…” ([30:03] Barry)

• Entertaining Despite No Goals:
  “Probably the best of the four games, to be honest… even though there weren’t any goals.” ([30:03] Barry)

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[31:18] Looking Ahead: Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal, & More

• Villa’s Midfield Injuries Shift the Top 5 Race:
  “No tears on my pillow about Villa… the timing of their midfield injuries has really killed them.” ([31:18] Jordan)

• Arsenal’s Set-Piece Debate:
  “Set pieces getting a bad rep. Everyone’s just jealous of Arsenal.” ([32:53] Robin & Seb)

  • Jordan: “The whole point of a corner is you try to threaten the goal. We found a way to make it a weapon of ours. It’s really boring and bizarre for me, this whole corner chat.” ([37:22])

Notable Quote

“For me, it’s not enjoyable. I can think of a handful of games where Arsenal have played attractive football and won… If Arsenal win the league, of course there’ll be inquest, there’ll be uproar because it’s been 22 years…”
— Jordan Jarrett-Bryan [36:26]

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[39:17] Other Weekend’s Fixtures Preview

• West Ham’s Gym Ban Story:
  Nuno Espirito Santo bans Adama Traoré from the gym:
  “He needs to realize it’s enough weight he carries. That’s enough, Adama.” ([39:17] Robin)

• Man City vs Nottingham Forest:
  “You’d expect a clear City win here.” ([40:26] Barry)

• Newcastle vs Man United:
  Michael Carrick as manager—should United just stick with him? “Why would you bring someone else in? They win football matches.” ([40:47] Seb)

  • Jordan plays Devil’s Advocate about “riding the wave” with other managers that backfired ([42:53]).

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[45:05] The Lionesses Blaze Through Euro Qualifying

• England 6–1 Ukraine:
  “It was one of the most dominant first halves you could ever think of… Ukraine didn’t complete a pass in the final third in the whole half, but it was 0–0 at half-time.” ([45:29] Seb)

• Key Moment:
  Ukrainian forward Kozlova’s serious early injury amid small, eerie crowd:
  “You could hear her distraught, you could hear her wailing—it was quite, quite tough.” ([45:29] Seb)

• Georgia Stanway Appreciation:
  “She’s one of the first names on the team sheet and she was excellent last night.” ([47:41] Seb)

• Jess Park’s Goal:
  “A beautiful sort of…dinked over the keeper. But it was so powerful.” ([48:08] Robin)

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[50:05] Football, Influence & Fabrizio Romano

• Romano as State Influencer:
  Recently shilling for the Saudi regime and “not hiding it,” drawing panel ire.
  Barry: “He makes no apologies for what he’s doing. At least he’s blatant about it, I’ll give him that. Unlike many others.” ([50:05])

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[53:24] FA Cup: Port Vale Giant-Killing

• Bottom-of-the-table Port Vale beat Bristol City in extra time to set up a tie with Sunderland:
  “That is painful for Bristol City… but great stuff for them [Vale]…” ([53:24] Robin)

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[54:09] Other Business:

• Felipe Luis sacked by Flamengo after 8–0 win for allegedly negotiating with Chelsea’s parent company while still in charge ([54:09] Robin).
• Neil Warnock, Age 77, Returns:
  “Back in management at Torquay… I could do a better job but they never asked me.” ([54:59] Robin quoting Warnock)

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Wolves–Liverpool:
  "Is the greatest escape on? Well, no, of course it isn't, but the joy at Molyneux..."
  — Robin Cowen [00:59]

• On Everton fans’ European hopes:
  "If they qualify for the Conference League… any Premier League side in the Conference League should win it, I think."
  — Barry Glendenning [14:49]

• On Luka O'Nien’s shithousery:
  “He went to take a long throw in only to discover that Sean Longstaff… had stolen his towel.”
  — Barry Glendenning [25:40]

• On Arsenal’s Style/Set-Piece Debate:
  "It blows my mind… why that we score so many corners is such a talking point… what should they do, not try and score from corners?"
  — Jordan Jarrett-Bryan [37:22]

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Timestamps for Notable Sections

• [02:41] – Wolves v Liverpool analysis
• [14:29] – Everton v Burnley breakdown
• [23:12] – Leeds v Sunderland review
• [29:43] – Bournemouth v Brentford talking points
• [31:18] – Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal: Preview and debate
• [39:17] – Upcoming fixtures: West Ham, City, Man United
• [45:05] – Lionesses’ Euro qualifying win
• [50:05] – Influencer problem: Fabrizio Romano and the Saudi regime
• [53:24] – FA Cup upset: Port Vale
• [54:09] – Flamengo sack Felipe Luis after 8-0 win
• [54:59] – Neil Warnock’s managerial comeback

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Tone & Structure

• Light-hearted, debate-filled with a love of absurd football details, classic Football Weekly blend of insight and banter.
• The panel balances serious analysis—e.g., Liverpool’s post-Jota future and the ethics of social media influencing—with stories like Dewsbury-Hall’s pool rivalry and Warnock’s return.
• Banter and one-liners—as when Jordan revels in Wolves ruining title races, or Barry paints an elaborate picture of Brendan Rodgers as a "bring-his-own-cue" type in the pub.

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A thorough, insightful, and highly entertaining discussion—very Football Weekly.

Transcript

[A]

This is the Guardian.

[B]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[C]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[B]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[C]

That's right.

[D]

Hei, hei.

[C]

So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[B]

And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[C]

News flash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find Fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.

[E]

Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Arna Slott's football heart is broken by wolves. A deflected stoppage time winner brings joy to Molyneux. Is the greatest escape on. Well, no, of course it isn't, but the joy at Molyneux. Elsewhere, pulses weren't exactly racing, but significant wins for Everton, who break their home hoodoo against a still crestfallen Burnley. Leeds lose under the lights to Sunderland and Bournemouth and Brentford play out a goalless draw. The midweek round continues with a promising set of fixed tonight. How many corners will Arsenal score against Brighton and how long will they take over them? The lionesses begin their inevitable march to World cup glory with a big qualifying win against Ukraine and a genuine FA cup giant killing. All that, plus your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly. So Max is on his way back to the southern hemisphere, answering the call from his wife, Jamie, after little Willie Rushton decided to stop sleeping in his father's absence. What a bloody hero he is. And he has our full support, thoughts and empathy, doesn't he, Barry Glyndenning?

[D]

Yes, and we and all our listeners were very much sleeping in his presence. I. I just hope he's not flying home via the Middle East. I. I reckon he's getting the Heathrow to Perth long haul, so good luck to him. Anyway, however he gets home.

[E]

Joining Barry on the panel today, Jordan, Jarrett, Bryan, Good morning.

[A]

Morning, Robin.

[E]

And my commentary colleague slash nemesis. You decide, Seb Hutchinson. We're very supportive of each other, aren't we?

[F]

Yeah, yeah, we are, Robin. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

[E]

But yeah,

[A]

no fighting, guys. No fighting.

[F]

Defund the BBC. Keep it clean.

[E]

This is our sort of anchorman Style meeting, isn't it? Anyway, to the football and the highlight really of last night which wasn't great but Wolves to Liverpool won a really pretty bad first half. But this really came into life in the last 15 minutes. I mean it. It was. It was pretty incredible. I mean Barry, first of all, another really good result for Wolves. Now another pretty disappointing display from Liverpool.

[D]

Yeah, I think before we get into the weeds of this game, it's probably worth seeing that while the Premier League is suffering this existential crisis, we have to take our hats off to all eight teams who contributed to last night's free flowing feast of magnificent football. Certainly restored my faith in. In humanity and football. Yeah, this was a brilliant result for Wolves. We'll probably focus as usual on Liverpool shortcomings more than how good Wolves were In the last 15 minutes of this game. But Rob Edwards is really getting a tune out of them now and it's just. It's a shame it took him so long. You know, he was tuning up that guitar for quite a long time before they started getting any results. But that was another really good win for them. Another excellent occasion for a Molyneux crowd who've had very little to cheer about this season. They scored I thought two good goals and probably deserved to win a game that was pretty low on quality. Nothing much of note happened in the first half. But when it did spark into life, Wolves were worthy winners I think and they took advantage of Liverpool shortcomings. It's difficult to know what to make of this Liverpool team. Mariner Slot obviously said what he said in the build up to this game about not really enjoying Premier League football. And this was a bit of a cell phone because his Liverpool team this season haven't been great to watch. I think too many big name players aren't performing well enough. They're now in a chase for fifth place which is not what most of us were expecting at the start of the season. I certainly thought they'd retain their title fairly easily.

[E]

We'll get into Liverpool. But we should. Yeah, we should give Wolves their flowers, shouldn't we? And it's interesting, isn't it? Because I mean they are relegated. Let's. Let's be honest all. But we should say are they playing with this sort of freedom? I guess. I mean Jordan, you're especially pleased with this result because it makes the Arsenal draw.

[F]

At least we've got a point.

[E]

But just psychologically it's interesting, isn't it? From the Wolves point of view.

[A]

It is. I mean Wolves are becoming the ultimate Player hater now because they've taken points against Arsenal Villa and now Liverpool. They don't even need the points. They don't even need the points. They're done. But Liverpool Villa and Arsenal actually do need the free points. They're being really, really stingy. Yeah, I think there's an element of them just now deciding, you know what, we are pretty much down. The pressure's off. When the pressure is off you definitely express yourself better. But I think it's also there's some good players in that Wolves team. You know like Wolves will go down and a couple of the go. I really like maneuver. Eight of them are there. Two of the eight, how many they've got are really good. I think they'll get picked up. Mane, I'm a big fan of Mosquera I think has been impressed with him as well. I think he'll get bought. And even the keeper who I thought made made a brilliant save in the second half and then messed it up by the Salah goal. I thought he's got to save that. So he kind of had a bit of a, a weird 10 minute period. But yeah, I think it's the lack of pressure on them is allowing them to now just play. But also there's. There's some actual good players in that team who I'm sure will get picked up in, in the summer.

[E]

I mean that's going to be interesting, isn't it? But Rodrigo Gomez's finish I thought was absolutely sensational. Exquisite, wasn't it? The first touch. Yeah, no, thought it taken a bit too far but then just with the, with this sort of inside foot, almost his right foot just poked it past the keeper. That, that was sensational. A little bit of, I don't know, discourse about whether Verger van Dijk was found. It wasn't, wasn't too much in that, was there? And then yes, as you mentioned, Liverpool equalized with a goal that perhaps Jose Sar should have saved. And then the. I mean that the winner took a massive deflection. Almost was in slow motion, wasn't. You could see Allison's of his agonized painful face going yeah, I'm not getting this, I mean said but I don't know how much you've covered Wolves but I. We've seen teams that have been all but relegated sort of sink and basically not win at all. And, and look, you know, destitute and just kind of not, not playing at all. This actually could be really, really good for them in terms of the next season.

[F]

The three times I'VE covered Wolves live this season. They haven't lost and in all three games there's an argument that they should have won all three games. Did them against Villa at home, did them at Old Trafford and did them at spurs as well. They're really unfortunate in that game. J. Palin scored with the last kick of the game and spurs were very lucky and they might need that point by the end of the campaign. Rodrigo Gomez scoring yesterday, he became their top scorer with three goals. And that there lies their problem really. And the fact that Strand Larsen went through the whole season not scoring for them and then they sold him for that money. They've been in this position for a while now where you've got the sense that all the players leaving, they're not being replaced with that potential quality to kick on. And of course Jordan mentioned that their players are going to leave in the summer. And that's. That's the eternal problem, isn't it? For certain clubs and Wolves have fallen into this trap of not being able to replace the players that have gone. I'm pleased for Edwards in this scenario because you just want supporters to have their moment even if they're going down. Because for supporters, we keep saying this all the time, that every game supporters need moments in seasons most supporters know they're not going to win anything. So they just need to see their team win big matches. To beat Villa felt big. To beat Liverpool feels huge. To come back from two goals down against Arsenal and that probably did free the players up. And I think we need that to remind again the idea of despite all the bashing the Premier League's getting, it is a competition where the bottom side in this and we're literally seeing it has just beaten the champions and not many leagues around Europe have that sort of situation.

[E]

Great celebrations from Rob Edwards who launched the ball on the cone into the crowd full pelt and then ran down the touchline. It was great stuff. I guess frustration for Wolves fans is like where was this earlier in the season? Because they going to run out of games, aren't they? Onto Liverpool. Opta tweeted that they've lost five games thanks to 90th minute goals in the Premier League this season, the most of any single side in a single campaign in the competition's history. Which is pretty damning stuff, isn't it? I mean they look lost. We should again reiterate and this was brought home with the. The applause on 18th minute for Diogo Jota from the Wolves fans because that's the number he wore for Wolves and the. And the 20th minute because that's the number he wore for Liverpool. So of course that's, you know, that's always in the background from this Liverpool side. But it just seems like Barry, these games when it kind of became a sort of basketball match, they just totally lose control and they can't get it back.

[D]

Yeah, for that winner that Wolves scored, Liverpool's midfield basically disappeared. They offered Wolves freedom of the park. The thing of conceding late goals is happens too frequently just to be an anomaly or one wonders, Pop, what is the cause of it? Is it just a lack of concentration? None of us seem sure of how the death of Diogo Jota would affect the players this season. Lots of people were prepared to give them pass. Lots of people are insistent that it shouldn't have any effect on their performances whatsoever. I don't buy that for a second. I just think it is something to do that so many of their big name players are not playing well this season and that is bound to have an effect. And Mo Salah has been poor. I know he scored last night but he did little or nothing else and his goal was a little fortunate. Graven Birch hasn't been good. I think he's probably the most important player. Virgil van Dijk, the way he was bullied yesterday for that first goal was. I don't know, I don't think he was foul but he shouldn't let himself be bullied like that. Cody Gakpo is an asset really. Curtis Jones didn't play well last night. Alisson, his distribution isn't as good as we've come to expect. So if big name players like that are not performing then it's obviously going to have a detrimental effect on results.

[A]

The question for me, Robin, is how does this change? So if we look forward to next season and if we all bake in the reaction, the response to a tragedy, summer gone. I mean, okay, it'll be a year on from that but a lot of those players are still going to be mourning and they're still going to feel the loss of Jota. So for me it's how does this change? Do those players, as Barry was saying, just get 20% better? I mean maybe it's just a case of a handful of their big players. Just need to go from a 4 out of 10 to a 7 out of 10 and you'll see, I don't know, 10 more points on the board. But I'm thinking to myself, how does this get better? Because tactically I don't know what's going on there. They haven't got bad players. So I just can't help but think to myself, okay, let's fast forward to next season. How does this, how does this change? How does this improve? I. I can't quite answer that question.

[E]

That's a really good question I think because yeah obviously we know grief isn't linear, is it? And, and it's not just going to go away. I think maybe a fresh start to the season might help. But also I mean Stephen Warnock was saying on five live he doesn't expect Arnold slot to be there next season. Now I'm not saying that's going to kind of wipe the slate clean in terms of, you know, Diego Jota stuff. But Seb, I don't know what your your view on that. Still was quite surprised by that remark. This was before the result but obviously Xabi Alonso sort of lurking in the background as well.

[F]

I mean Xabi Alonso, that's felt like something that should happen for, for a couple of years now. Whether it does or not. It's all about timing, isn't it with football. Liverpool are strange this game. I know we've spoken about this game a lot already but Wolves first effort on goals and was the goal was their first goal was Rodrigo Gomez's effort. I mean they, they were on course for being you know the latest for a side to have a shot on goal in a match this season. I think Burnley's was the 86th minute in one of their games earlier in the campaign. So I that's they've been in that situation a lot Liverpool where they've dominated the ball and they've actually struggled to try and find a way through and then they've looked weak at the back. That's a really difficult balance to overcome and often teams biggest sides overcome it through two reasons they buy another big player as we've seen City do. City have sealed up their backline, they got players back from injury, they bought Mark Gahey and now they look stronger at the back and they've got fantastic goalkeeper. So Liverpool, that's the area feel they'll need to address first if they're to fix it. Slot's interesting because he just had this amazing situation where he came into a club won the league so he's on that high and we know, we know the only way is is is down or you might say across in Liverpool's case. So he's always going to come under pressure. The tipping point will be how Liverpool exit the season because if they do what Liverpool have done in the past. They go on to win the champ, for example. The. Those things carry a lot of weight for that club. So I don't think it's a decision we can even think of until Liverpool are out of the picture in all competitions.

[E]

And they also still in the FA cup where they play Wolves on Friday night. And that's, that's kind of got a little bit more interesting actually now off the back of this. So yeah, look forward to that one. Moving on. Everton to Burnley nil. Everton's first home win in six. And yeah, I mean, Barry. David Moyes was asked about Everton going into Europe after this game.

[D]

Yeah, I think it's. It's possible. I can't make up my mind whether Everton are overperforming or underperforming because they're much higher than I thought they would be. But I think they would be higher still if they had a decent striker. I seem to say this about Everton every episode, so I apologize. This was a good win for them. But, but Burnley, it was arguably Burnley's worst performance of the season. They offered nothing. They were absolutely dismal. Everton's first goal came from a set piece. James Tarkowski unmarked at a free kick. James Garner, good free kick from him. And then the second goal was, was a nice move with a weighted pass from Illuminanja to Dewsbury hall. And his finish over Dubravka was nice, Nice tidy finish from him. But. And then arguably the moment of the game was Idris again, wonderful shot from outside the area that Carl had hit the bar. And we got another super save from Jordan Pickford towards the end. And I think that was all Burnley had to offer that, that one chance. You know, we've seen Everton in Europe before and if they were to qualify for the Conference League then, you know, any Premier League side in the Conference League should win the Conference League, I think. But that won't always be the case. It hasn't always been the case, but it probably should be given the financial advantage they have over other teams.

[A]

My only takeaway from this game was, as Barry mentioned there, Jordan Pickford. Because looking ahead to the World cup, all the talk has been about, you know, who's the backup to Harry Kane, who plays in the number 10, who will be the left back. And it seems to be the one position that no one's talking about and understandably so is the goalkeeper. And I just think his performances in recent weeks have just reminded everybody that he's one of the best keepers in the league. I don't know if he's in the world class bracket. I think there are three or four better than him. But he's definitely reminded people, you know, ahead of this World cup that England do have a very, very, very good goalkeeper alongside a top elite world class center forward and great options in the number 10 spot. So he's really just kind of. Yeah, peacocking if you like, ahead of. Ahead of the World Cup.

[E]

That's a really good phrase for actually. And he loves doing that, doesn't he? Another sort of, I don't know, sort of a facial expression of oh, aren't I good after that I'm here for it. Yeah, a couple of. I mean the highlight for me was the kickoff. I mean TNT thought it was. It was so good they tweeted it. It was just like a. They kicked off and it was an up and under you great stuff. 90s football is back.

[A]

But apparently that happens in the EFL's told quite regular. It's not that uncommon, I'm told in the efl. Someone said to me last night, so TNT making a big deal of it is fine but if you watch EFL football apparently that's not uncommon.

[E]

Well, they don't have the rights to the efl. It's all about that, isn't it? Yeah. Dewsbury hall with a fantastic goal. He is a really classy operator. But he really should have done the snooker Q celebration, shouldn't he? Because of this story. I mean fantastic stuff, isn't it? So yeah, he gave an interview with the Daily Mail when he was playing at Leicester under Brendan Rogers. Brendan Rodgers organized a pool tournament and he said that he was, I mean Kieran Juice before he was playing for a pub team at 10 years old. I mean that should have been questioned a bit more. I think that no one kind of picked up on that. But anyway, that's aside. He's good at playing pool and he was drawn against Brendan Rogers in the first round of this pool tournament and he said to the lads, do I try my hardest? And he did because apparently Brendan Rogers was thinking, was telling everyone how good at pool he was. Yeah, he said he beat him 3 nil. 3 nil. He said he was raging. He said, sorry gaffer. And a week later you're sent out on loads of Blackpool. So yeah, fantastic story, Seb. I mean can you. I think I believe that. I, I'm not. Don't know Brendan Rogers well, but I can believe that.

[F]

Yeah. Be a strange thing for him to lie about at this point in time but I mean He's a player who's recovered his career from that situation where somebody's playing well and then they move to a club competing for the top one is don't get a look in and then you think can they rebuild after that? And he's doing it. Everton, he's a key player for to the point where he's in the England conversation. Unfortunately for him, it's in the position where England have so many options. So it's pretty unlikely that he's going to get a look in from Thomas Tuchel. But I. To divert a bit. It did make my heart sink a bit when I heard David Moyes talking about set pieces in a negative sense because I thought to myself, well, Moyes taught Arteta everything. He knows you would have thought in that regard.

[E]

Come on, mate.

[F]

To be in a position now where he's. He's complaining about it or he's not complaining about it, but he's pointing it out. Everton scoring their first goal from a set piece. And I'll go go back to what you said at the start of this. They are a funny team, Everton, because you do feel like they should be doing better, they should have had better results. But they are in an excellent position and one they would have loved to have been in in several seasons in the last decade or so. So I think again it's that position of can they kick on from here and get into Europe? Because it is the cliche to say but you feel like that club needs a little a European campaign. They're that sort of club. You feel that they just need one and it'll be. And if it is the Conference League then they can push on and try and win that competition. But there's so many teams in the mix for it. So it's again, even though we're right on the business end now, I think is it business end maybe one game away from business end? Not sure.

[A]

Maybe next week.

[D]

Next week?

[F]

Yeah, next week. Let's get a couple of more rounds of cup action out the way and then we're into the business end.

[D]

Just, just going back to the, the. The pool match between Jewsbury Hall.

[E]

I was going to ask you, Barry, is there, is there a lesson there that you need to let the boss win?

[D]

Well, I don't know about that but Brendan Rogers strikes me very much as the. That guy in the pub who has brings his own two piece queue and hasn't has a name for it and you know, he puts the case down on the table and flicks open the, the latches at each end, screws his p. He has his own chalk as well. And probably insist on brushing the table down before the tournament starts. In my local pub, the guys on the pool team take it incredibly seriously. And if they have a home match, it's like being at the Crucible Theater. Like if anyone makes a noise or heaven for fiend encroaches through the playing area to visit the toilet, it's frowned upon. Seriously.

[E]

That's possibly where the comparison ends. The flushing of toilets.

[F]

I wanted to. I wanted to reference the Big Lebowski. If anybody's seen that, seen that film. But haters. Quintana, who was the flashy player. I could just picturing Brendan Rogers's head and that purple. I think he's a purple shirt. He had on. And then just. Just upstairs Dewsbury hall just to take him apart on the pool table. Magic stuff. There's a film in there somewhere.

[E]

Yeah, and I can't wait for Brenda Rogers repost. I know he's managing in. In Saudi now. Maybe get Gary Cotterell over there to ask the question. He's the man, isn't he? He's the man. That's it for part one. In part two, we'll do the rest of last night's games and look ahead to the Premier League fixtures tonight.

[B]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan. Fellas, I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[C]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[B]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

Hey.

[F]

Hey.

[C]

So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[B]

And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[C]

Newsflash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your podcasts.

[E]

Welcome back to the Guardian Football Weekly Leeds Nil Sunderland 1. Barry, you said in the WhatsApp group. This is a truly dreadful spectacle.

[D]

This was one of the worst football matches I've ever seen. Now Sunderland won. That's great. They've got to 40 points. They're safe. They were safe anyway. But it was horrendous viewing. Melker Elberg started in goal for Sunderland because Robin Roos is out with a hamstring injury. So Elberg's this guy they brought in in January because Anthony Patterson, the goalkeeper who was ever present last season as they got promoted, he went off to mill one unknown because he wanted to obviously get some game time under his belt. So this young Swedish fella came in and he kept a clean sheet on his Premier League debut. So that was good. Granis Xhaka was started on the bench, presumably a legacy of the crunching tackle he suffered at the the hands slash feet of Tyler Adams at the weekend. But Sunderland had one shot on target. A bad penalty taken by Habib Diarra. Carl Darlow probably should have saved it. He got a lot on it but couldn't keep it out. Leeds were denied a penalty. There was a lot of time wasting from Sunderland. Arguably the highlight of the game was Luka9 going to take a long throw in only to discover that Sean Longstaff who was warming up on the touchline had stolen his towel and run away with it so he couldn't dry the ball off. And then later on Luka 9 leads were on the attack. There was two balls on the pitch for some reason. So Luka 9 kicked the spare one that Leeds didn't have into into play so that the ref had to stop play and that, that was an interesting way of stopping that particular attack. Leeds had a goal disallowed and yeah, it was, it was grim. It was really grim. The only good thing about it was the result for Sunderland. But Leeds I think have every right to feel aggrieved A at the, the time wasting and B the penalty they should have got but didn't. For Luca9 grabbing, I think it was what's his name, Pascal strike around the neck and shoving him to the ground.

[E]

Luka 9 is, I mean he's, he's a proper shithouse, isn't he? He always has been. But it's, it's because he's quite small and quite cheeky chappy. I think he kind of gets away with it, doesn't he? But he's like, he's proper every game I've seen of him. He's kind of. He's. The dark arts are there for him.

[D]

I was a huge admirer of his and I still am. But he. I felt slightly let down when video emerged of him at some conference somewhere during the summer and he's gone full high performance and he along with another famous high performance advocate tells his children to be the light in the room when he sends them off to school. Every day. And yeah, he was coming out with all this gobbledygook, which I found quite dispirited. But I, I do admire him as a player and he. He certainly owes Sunderland nothing.

[F]

I thought Barry was going to say, he was like, it's some far right content, but it was actually worse.

[D]

Just to be clear, Luca, nine is not an accident.

[E]

Let's be clear.

[F]

A house drinking avocado milkshakes.

[E]

Leeds lost their record of 22 home games, unbeaten in games that kicked off at 7 o' clock or later. A stat that can well and truly get in the bin. Seb, I don't know about you, when you go through those stat packs, that. That one is not one that I would. I'd be pulling out in particular, but. But Leeds a bit like the weekend. Unlucky, you'd say, and, and kind of definitely in games and in this relegation fight. Well, they're out of the relegation zone at the moment.

[F]

Yeah. The fact that it's still close to that area reflects, actually. They've been unfortunate in so many games this season and they are a really physical side, but they've also had, I mean, staque for me, has really stood out in the games. I've seen him, he's looked like a real handful for the opposition to deal with. He's driven the team forward. And Ellen Rhodes, fantastic atmosphere does really spur the team on and there was always that sense of would they have enough quality per se. But at the moment they're still looking over their shoulder and it's a shame from their point of view because they could have been in a position where they could have opened that gap because the sides below them keep losing, but they just can't quite get away. And I feel for Daniel Farker because the end of the City game full time, I've never seen a man look so angry. But weirdly, this game might hurt more because they dominated the ball and they would have felt another. They should have had a penalty, of course, and it was a sucker because that goal, the penalty incident came a third think 20 seconds after the Rodon goal had been ruled out. I mean, talk about mood swings in a stadium. Goodness me.

[E]

And Dariel Farker said after that he will never jog again after he got that red card, which I think, yeah, it's a bit extreme, but yeah.

[A]

Oh, he will. Just on Seb's point there briefly, I mean, like every, I guess, target for every team in the Premier League, I think peaking at the right time is really important and I just wonder Because Leeds had a really good period, if I'm not mistaken. December, January, they got some really good results. And you thought, okay, they're going to be fine. And as Seb says, for all of the good work they've done the last couple of months, they're still not that far clear. And I just wonder if they are peaked at the wrong time in a way that West Ham arguably seem to be kind of peaking at the right time. I know they've not had great result, but West Ham seem to be on the up in the way that Leeds, for their good period in the last couple of months, they should be 5, 6, 7 points safer than they are. And I just fear for Leeds that, that, yeah, they may have got their good results, if you like, six weeks too early.

[E]

Yeah, there's still time for another peak. We're not quite at the business end as we've.

[F]

Can I. Can I add, Robin, that Leeds do have to go to spurs, they do have to go to West Ham and they do have Wolves.

[A]

They'll be fine then.

[F]

They'll be fine, exactly. But I'm saying it's a good position for them to be in. And they do have Wolves and Burnley at home still to come. So they're still in this very strong position to get out and safety is everything for them, obviously.

[E]

Absolutely. Bournemouth nil. Brentford nil. Bournemouth's 13th draw this season. They really should have won this one. And the main talking point, Barry, was the non penalty. This was Tavernier hit the post but as he was doing that, just a little, little tap from Coyote and Robbie Savage on TNT was seething. He said that was a penalty clear as day.

[D]

Yeah, I agree and I think if Tavernier had gone down, he would have got it. But he didn't. He took the shot instead and didn't score, didn't get a penalty. So I, I would agree with Robbie Savage on that one. I think Bournemouth should have won this. This is probably the best of the four games, to be honest. Even though there weren't any goals and Bournemouth just. They hit the woodwork a couple of times. Creepy. Had a. What looked a certain goal deflected onto the post at the end of the one of his own teammates. His shot hit Uno's inner thigh and went on to the post. Yeah, they should have won this and they're drawn too many games and it's

[E]

actually Brentford who look more in pole position to get it, to get a European place. But yeah, still still a way to go on to tonight's games. So big clashes at the top and the bottom of the league. And in the European race, Aston Villa against Chelsea. This. This looks very tasty. And yeah, Villa fans, you can turn off now. Jordan, as our Villa beta, would you like to comment on this? Two wins in eight for Villa. Emory conceding the title, I mean, you know, fair enough, but wanting to get in the Champions League. Are you saying they were never in it?

[A]

Oh, I don't want to say it, but you said it for me. But anyway, we can, we can move. Move past that. Yeah. I mean, I'm not gonna lie. There's no tears on my pillow about Villa slipping out of potentially the top five, the top five race. I just think again, the timing of their midfield injuries has really killed them. Them. It's really, really harmed them. But, you know, at least they'll have an extra man to play against, against Chelsea when, when they clash tonight. So they have that in their back pocket. I mean, I personally would prefer to see Villa in, in the top five rather than Chelsea just because I think an accumulation of the last two, three years of work, they've kind of earned it. I know it doesn't work like that, but I feel like they've, They've done the right things to be competitive. And I think for them to. And I didn't have them as title contenders ever, but that was the narrative for them. For them to go do that. Well, to even be spoken in that light, to not even qualify for the Champions League, I think would be massively disappointing.

[D]

And I'm sure. Sorry, you do realize the force. Yeah, I know.

[A]

But the momentum seems to be that they're going to be the ones that slip it out. That it seems to. That's the way it seems to be going. So I hope they can maintain a top four, top five slot and do it. As for Chelsea, I mean, yeah, I think Liam Senior has had a decent start to his tenure at Chelsea, but we know that Chelsea need Champions League football too, for their model to be successful. It'd be a disaster for them to, to, to miss out and I, I think the loser of this game then becomes the favorite to miss out in, in that race, in my opinion.

[E]

And who, who will be the red card tonight? See, it's like traitors.

[A]

That's the question.

[E]

Yeah. Brighton against Arsenal. Yeah, Brighton have won the last two. Having a bit of a wobble before that. A lot of discourse said. But again, as we mentioned, this set pieces, they're getting a bad rep. Everyone's just jealous of Arsenal, aren't they? That's jealousy.

[F]

Yeah, that seems to be the story of this season is that there's a lot of fan bases that aren't happy with where their clubs are. And I think in recent years, obviously City have been so dominant, but so many clubs in the league are a bit indifferent to City. In terms of the players on the pitch, obviously the club is a different matter, but in terms of the players on the pitch, they quite like some of the players. I found it interesting when Rodri said everybody wants us to lose in his little rant. That's, you know, getting him in trouble. Of course that's not true. I don't think people think about City in that way.

[E]

Sure.

[F]

Well, yeah, well, the reason why. So I'm talking about the club. The club is under this situation where they're waiting for, everyone's waiting for these charges. I mean the players on the pitch, it seems like everybody would think if it was Man United at the top, people would think, oh, anyone but Man United. When it's Liverpool at the top, it's anyone but Liverpool. If it's Arsenal at the top, it's anyone but Arsenal. Because these are the, these are the, the huge clubs in the league that have had these huge fan bases that have big influences. But in this case I think there's, there is some truth to what people are saying about the criticism of the set piece situation. And that comes to the fact of when you watch Arsenal play, they're not a free flowing attack. Often teams are in a position where they, they stifle Arsenal and if they are to trip up at the back end of the season, it is going to be that their attack lets them down in matches where they're trying to respond to issues in the game. City have been a side where even if they went 10 down to forest tonight, you'd believe in their ability to rally and turn the game around. If Arsenal fall 1 nil down to Brighton tonight, you'd wonder how that game would play out. Even if they went 1 nil up, would they just hold on to that advantage and maybe come under huge pressure? That's understandable because the time it's taken for them to get over the line here and if they do, that might free them up. And this is the thing again, it goes back to what we said about Liverpool. The end of the season will obviously dictate how we feel about the whole situation. If Arsenal get over the line, the supporters won't care at all. Not at all. But if they don't get over the line, it will be the stick to beat them with. And that's from Arsenal's own supporters as well as fans of other clubs.

[E]

If Arsenal do get over the line, is this the least enjoyable title race as an Arsenal supporter? It just seems like no one's enjoying it.

[A]

Yes, I mean, I'm not loving it, it's not particularly fun. But the reason why I'm not loving it is because I think I'm the only Arsenal fan on the planet that actually does think style of play and how you win, it does matter. My view is that football's a fan is to be enjoyed. And I think the winning isn't the only thing that I take enjoyment out of. I always say to my friends when asked to win the title, I don't get a medal, I don't get a win bonus, I don't get a goal bonus, I don't get a trophy. So nine months of investment supporting this team, financial time and effort, what do I get out of it? I want moments, I want memories, I want to watch Arsenal play and see some good football. I'm not expecting 5 nil every single game. There's no entitlement to free flowing football every single game. Of course not. But I think a team with the resources that Arsenal have, the players that Arsenal have, I don't think it's an unrealistic expectation to be at least competitive and play a brand of football that's easier on the eye. So for me, it's not enjoyable. But it's not enjoyable because I can think of a handful of games where Arsenal have played attractive football and won. And that for me isn't, isn't, isn't good enough. If Arsenal win the League, of course there'll be inquest, there'll be uproar because it's been 22 years and you can't be top of the League for this long and then fall off.

[F]

But for me, you can.

[E]

McCarthy here.

[A]

There you go, there you go. But just finally from me on the corner thing, quickly. I find the whole corner chat so bizarre. And you said at the start, Robin, I think it's just jealousy. I think a lot of fans are just jealous. It blows my mind. Why, with the fact that we score from so many corners is such a talking point. It's like, what should they do? Not try and score from corners. Like the whole point of a corner is you try and threaten the goal. We found a way to make it a weapon of ours. It's really boring and bizarre for me, this whole corner chat for me, I found it Weird. The entire season.

[E]

Yeah, no, it is. It's like, oh, you're not, you shouldn't have the title because you scored too many corners. It's kind of, it's, it's mad, isn't it? It's part of the game.

[D]

I can't understand why Arsenal fans are so concerned about what other people think about their team. I don't care what other people think about how Sunderland play. I don't think other people should respect Sunderland. I don't, you know, I just, I do not care.

[A]

Do you know why, Barry? I think, I think you're right. But I think it's because Arsenal in the kind of Wenger era been seen as the footballing team and I think we take pride in the fact our team has had artists and play great football and vengable. So. And I think we kind of buy into that as Arsenal fans. So when other people say, well actually you're just Stoke, you're just Shrewsbury, you're just a mid table League one team, I think some fans take that to heart. They pride themselves on playing a brand of football.

[D]

They are just Stoke with a bigger budget and if it works, great.

[A]

Fair point, fair point.

[D]

I would argue the current Stoke play prettier football than Arsenal do. But Arsenal are far, much higher up in the league than themselves.

[E]

Well, Stoke wish. Stoke wish they'd have a few more goals at the moment from any any which way.

[A]

Just, just on the game. It's a big game. I know that every game's a big game at this point in the season but it's I, I've singled out since before we started recording. This game and the Newcastle home game are the two that I have have weird butterflies in my stomach about and if they can overcome those two fixtures. I know people say the Man City game is big. Yeah, of course it is. But these the two where I genuinely fear we could drop points and Brighton on two seasons have actually harmed Arsenal's title chances at this stage of the season. So it's a little bit of ptsd, but it's a, it's a game that Arsenal need to come through if only to keep City honest down the bottom

[E]

floor against West Ham. And yeah, West Ham cam really need a result and I think the best thing in the build up to this was a Dharma Troy always gym ban. He's been banned from the gym by Nuno Espirito Santo. Banned from doing weights, it says. I told him to stay out of the gym. It's one of the things that I think he needs to realize it's enough weight that he carries. That's enough Adama. He'll do prevention Web, but not there lifting weights. He also. What was brilliant was that he. He threw an under 21 defender under the button us. This guy over here, Aridas Glambeckis saying for him, for example, he spends hours at the gym. He needs it. Right on it. Which is great. Yeah. And it just. I don't know, it reminds me of like a sort of one of those men who have unwarranted confidence chatting up a woman saying, you know, I've just been banned from the gym because I'm just too hen. You know, just can't. I'm just like completed it. Yeah. Not even allowed in there and anymore. But yeah. So that's my preview to that game. City against Nottingham Forest. Barry, I mean, Vitor Pereira hasn't won this season. The Premier League. Are we expecting a. A clear City win here?

[D]

You'd think so. And yes, I wouldn't be massively surprised if the drop points. That's all I have to say about that.

[E]

Fair enough. We'll see. We'll see what happens. Newcastle against Man United. Now this is an interesting one. And Seb, you're on commentary duty for this one. And I think actually the narratives sort of Michael Carrick returning home almost.

[F]

Yeah. Yeah. It's such a lovely story. Obviously his links with Newcastle in the northeast and everything else, but he is Mr. Man United at the moment. And I can't find. To me from the outside, he has to. He just has to have the job. I don't see why you wouldn't give him the job. Why would you bring somebody in? They win a lot of football matches. They drive you to your only target at this stage of the campaign. Why would you then replace them them And I feel a Manchester United in a position where when things are going well, they just need to keep riding that wave because Amram didn't do it every time. There was a good moment. He then changed things again and they went back to where they were or so Jim Radcliffe said something and then they went back again and kept taking a step back. Every time they took a step forward. So this time round, I think I've watched pretty much all of their games since Carrick took charge. And there is a freedom about their attack. Their attack looks dangerous. You look at their signings, all of a sudden they all seem to be perfect in the attacking. They seem to work really well. And that positivity might go back to that freedom element we were talking about earlier with wolves, whereby, you know, Wolves have nothing to lose. Man United have nothing to lose. The way they're playing. They've got one game to focus on per round, one competition to focus on. And they have the quality in attack and the defense. Maguire's back in that defense. They look a bit more solid. They're still conceding chances and the palace game was an interesting one. It wasn't going their way but things turned. But they are. There is a, a relentlessness about their attack in the same way I think City have that at times as well that, that really can get you going at this stage of the season. It can take you to where you need to go because the attack is. We talk about defenses taking teams to titles and things like I just think you got to have that X factor in your front line when things get tight and you need somebody to pull you out of trouble. And that's how I see Manchester United at the moment. Newcastle on the other hand, not in a great place, but they are still in a position where they can still rescue something from this campaign. If they could overcome Man City in the cup, if they can have a great night against Barcelona, it's something to take from a campaign that might look back on as a pretty poor one for them. And it feel like a club going

[A]

backwards, just going back to United. Sorry, Robin. To Seb's point, I don't think I disagree with his take on Michael Carrick, but to play devil's advocate, it is a wasn't riding the wave too far what got them in trouble a couple of times before. So Oli kind of got them feeling really, really good and they kind of ram with that a bit, a bit premature and 10 hog, you know, did they not.

[F]

Did he ever wave? 10 hog.

[A]

He won the cup. He won the cup and then he thought, right, okay, we're going to keep you. But I think the common consensus as has been proved, they probably should have then said, thank you very much but let's, let's leave it there. So I'm just wondering if that's the counter. Do they have to make a decision right now? I think if this continues, Carrick prob should be at least a front runner for the job. But if Luis Enrique comes on the market, is that the sort of kind of gravitas for manager that you kind of want to come in and, and, and grab that club by, by the throat to go to the next level? But like I said at the start, I, I don't disagree that that Carrick at The bare minimum should be strongly considered.

[E]

Yeah, they almost want him to start losing so they can make the decision a bit easier for themselves. But. But, yeah, we'll see that. That should be an absolute, absolute cracker.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

Newcastle seem to have kind of. They just perform for Champions League, so. Yeah, should be. Should be. Really interesting game, that one. That'll do. Part two. In part three, we'll chat lionesses, a bona fide cup set, and the curious case of Felipe Louise.

[B]

Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.

[C]

And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.

[B]

And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.

[C]

That's right.

[D]

Hey.

[C]

Hey. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter.

[B]

And along the way we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong.

[C]

News flash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find fantasy fan fellows wherever you get your podcast.

[E]

Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So, yes, women's Euro qualifiers. And Seb, you were on commentary duty. Busy guy, busy guy for. For this one. England playing in a slightly strange atmosphere in Turkey against Ukraine for obvious reasons. As you said, six one win, a great start. Because as we keep saying, goal difference in this World cup qualifying campaign could be huge.

[F]

Yeah, it's where England have come unstuck in previous Nations League campaigns, where they've been another strong team in the group, be it Spain, be it Netherlands, be it France. And they've beaten that side in one match and lost in the other, per se. And it's been goal difference that's cost them or drawing against another side in the group. Ukraine are the weakest side in the group, but Spain beat Iceland 30 yesterday as well. And it was interesting. England had so much of the ball. I mean, it was one of the most dominant first halfs you could ever think of. I think Ukraine didn't complete a pass in the final, third in the whole half, but it was nil, nil at half time. And it felt like the moment that Spain kicked off their game a bit later, then England kicked into action with the reminder of just have to win this game and win it well. And by the end, they overwhelmed Ukraine will be honest about it and showcase the depth that they all often show in games like this. The thing that really was striking in a game like this was early in the game, Nikol Kozlova, the Ukrainian forward, picked up a really bad injury. And because the ground was empty, I think it was about 250 people there because of the aforementioned reasons. You could hear her distraught, you could hear her effectively wailing and it was quite, quite tough. Actually. One of the moments in the season where you're thinking this is. It'd be nice if they just turned the volume down on this. Cause this is somebody going through a lot here. She'd spoken so well, well in the lead up to the game about the. The struggles of Ukrainian team and not being able to play at home and in this huge game she plays for Glasgow City and it felt like a huge match for her and it lasted less than 10 minutes. That was a real tough thing to take. And you could hear all the instructions from the, the touchline. It felt a bit like, you know, watching during COVID period, even professional in the end they are a side. I still think that going forward into this cycle, and by the way, the word cycle, talking about World Cups and things like that feels like more of a modern, modern thing. I don't remember growing up using the word this is the World cup cycle, but I feel like I'm using it more and more nowadays. But that's, that's how it is with this particular cycle that Serena Wiegman's looking at. Can I just add those players just to fill in the little holes. She still knows who her strongest side is, I believe. But can we just get, you know, left footed, left back in who can just be in the squad if we need it somehow Find a ball player in midfield to complement Kiera Walsh, but still relying on those vital players. And one final thing, Georgia Stanway doesn't get enough love. I don't think in all the talk you ask most people to mention an England player in the street, she'd be one of the ones they'd forget about. Yet she is one of the first names on the team sheet and she was excellent last night.

[E]

No, agreed, agreed. And also, yeah, probably the pick of the goals that Jess park, who's had a fabulous season with Manchester United, just a beautiful sort of say it's not a lob but sort of a dinked over the keeper. But it was so powerful. It was, yeah, just a great angle of that faker. Others and Susie Rack will be all over this on Guardian Women's Football Weekly, which is out tomorrow wherever you get your podcast. Rounding up all the World cup qualifiers and all the other news from the women's game in the Asia cup, we should just mention that Iran's women's team have been praised for their courage, having declined to sing their national anthem ahead of their opening match against against South Korea in Australia on Monday. They're the only Middle Eastern team to qualify. It's their first fixture since the war in the Middle east began and Iran's head coach Marzia Jafari and her players declined to comment on either the war or the death of the long serving Ayatollah when asked by the media. Understandably, they will face the hosts Australia on Thursday. Talking of the Matildas, Sam Kerr scored her first goal in 851 days in her hometown of Perth. Yeah, it was a lovely moment for her. Struggled for two years with a brutal ACL injury. All of that that came afterwards. Only goal of the game as they beat the Philippines. Touching on the subject of the impending World War 3. Fabrizio Romano has had his say whether it's independent or not. Well, it's not because he hashtag ad saying reports on international media about Cristiano Ronaldo left Saudi Arabia with his family a wide of the markets fake news. Cristiano is now doing treatment at Al Nassr training ground after issues in his last game. Cristiano's not letting Saudi to return to Madrid and this was just a few hours. He posted a very strange two minute video in support of King Salman's human aid and relief center. As I said with the hashtag ad he goes into great detail about a range of humanitarian projects undertaken by the Saudi leader and his KSRelief project. Here we go, Barry. This is what he's here for, isn't it?

[D]

Yeah, it's quite something. He didn't mention the 347 executions Saudi Arabia carried out last year in this promotional video for the regime. I mean, I have a certain admiration for him. He's carved out this incredible niche for himself. He's got over 27 million followers on social media. He has made the transition from journalist to paid state influencer and he is a journalist that that's taking money to legitimize a regime that has a history of suppressing, harming and in one notable instance murdering journalists. So that obviously I don't admire that. But at least he's blatant about it, I'll give him that. He makes no apologies for what he's doing. And it could be argued that Newcastle fans, local politicians in Newcastle, the local press and some elements of the national press have all been shilling for the Saudi regime free of charge for several years now. So while I don't like what Romano is doing, at least he is blatant about it, unlike many others.

[E]

Yeah, he's getting paid for this, Jordan. I mean, joking aside, this feels very dangerous to me. Someone with this amount of followers spouting this stuff and being paid to do so.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, but as Barry says, he's not really hiding what's going on here. And I think those that with half a brain will disseminate whether they class him as a journalist anymore anyway. So I think it would be more concerning if he was trying to be convoluted or sly about it. It's quite clear I'm being paid a lot of money to spout certain lines about a particular regime, country, organization. I have less of an issue with that than I other people who I think are trying to pretend like they are not what they are. So yeah, I don't consider him a journalist anymore. I'm sorry. I know that might not be cool to say, but I think it's quite clear what's going on here. So I almost appreciate, as Barry said, the openness of what he's doing. It's like cool. We know what it is. Crack on.

[F]

Who's the target audience for what he's saying? Is it just a message to sort of float in the ether? I can't imagine anybody really just. Just hearing a message and going, oh, that's really cool. I'm gonna take this in my life and it's gonna. I've never really understood. I guess it's just. Just something floating in people in the subconscious.

[D]

Think, well, there are a lot of football fans who hang on his every

[F]

word about Saba but his opinions when it comes to, you know, this sort of thing, I mean, yeah. Whether, you know, Cody Gakpo might leave or.

[D]

Well, this isn't his opinion. Well, one presumes it isn't his opinion. It's someone else's opinion. He's just parroting it for money.

[E]

And this is influencing, isn't it? This is influencing, yeah.

[F]

But with influencing we've seen it more with, you know, products and things. But you wonder, going forward it's going to be political campaigns, isn't it? There's going to be. They're going to be using social media influencers to make statements about things. In a way we've. We're not even ready for yet.

[E]

Well, in, in better news, happier news, especially if you're a Port Vale fan, bottom of the table. They beat Bristol City in their delayed FA cup fourth round fixture. One nil. It went all the way to extra time. That is painful for Bristol City. Going there, having to do extra time and then being dumped out. Ben Wayne's extra time winner means they have set up a fifth round tie against Sunderland. So yeah, great stuff for them. That will be on Sunday. Finally, on any other business. Yes, this was a quite a startling tale here. Former Chelsea defender Felipe Luiz sacked as manager of Flamengo yesterday hours after the Brazilian club recorded an 8 nil win. Now this, I mean there has been precedent for managers sacked after wins, but eight nil, that's quite striking.

[A]

We got nine, we won nine.

[E]

Not good enough. He averaged a trophy every 14 games. I mean they must have a lot of opportunities for trophy. Yeah. Led Flamengo to seven titles in 100 matches in charge. But the plot thickens because reports have since emerged the president of Flamengo discovered that he was negotiating with Chelsea's ownership group Blueco, while the club was actively working to renew his contract. So clearly they did not like being slighted on that.

[D]

Apparently Felipe thought he was being considered for the Chelsea job, but it was actually the Strasbourg job they were. They had in mind for him. So when he found that out, he, he said I'll bugger off, I'm staying with Flamengo. So now he's not going to any drop.

[E]

They started talking about, I don't know, croissants and things and not be interesting to see how far that that went. And yes, finally Neil Warnock is back, everyone again. 77 years old, he's back in, back in management. I thought this, yeah, the sort of the, the managerial money go round on uncertain managers like Sam Allardyce etc, who are now in Ubereats adverts and possibly being paid nearly as much as Rizzio Romano for that were gone. But he's back in management. He's the new interim manager at Torquay after their manager Paul Wootton was sacked on Sunday. He managed the goals 33 years ago, has been working for them as an advisor for the last few years and he said in his press conference, this is a prize for me to be here today. I thought I would have been at Tottenham or Forest or somewhere like that. I could do a better job but they never asked me. So, yeah, still very much on brand Neil Warnock there. So that'll do for today, I think a wide range of topics covered there. Very pleased with that. Thank you very much, Barry.

[D]

Thanks, Robin.

[E]

Thanks, Jordan.

[A]

Cheers, Robin.

[E]

And thanks, Seb. Seb. Yes. Safe trip up to the Northeast.

[F]

Absolutely. It's been very cordial between us today, hasn't it, Robin?

[E]

You know, well, when, when the recording stops, bts, you have to pay for that, though. Weekly is produced by Ian Chambers and Jesse Howard. Our executive producer is Joel Grove. And we'll be back tomorrow.

[A]

This is the Guardian.