The sorry Spurs spiral continues – Football Weekly

Summary

Football Weekly – "The Sorry Spurs Spiral Continues"

Date: February 11, 2026
Host: Max Rushden
Panel: Barry Glendenning, Jacob Steinberg, Mark Langdon

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Episode Overview

This episode of Football Weekly, hosted by Max Rushden with Barry Glendenning, Jacob Steinberg, and Mark Langdon, dives into Tottenham Hotspur’s ongoing crisis after another defeat, this time to Newcastle. The panel analyses the depth of Spurs’ problems, the seeming lack of fight, and the relegation threat, while also reflecting on managerial options. The discussion shifts across the Premier League, reviewing West Ham’s gutting draw, Chelsea’s defensive implosion, and the fortunes of Everton, Bournemouth, and others mid-table. The show is as ever both informed and irreverently funny, with time for “Haircut Man” and football’s weightier issues, like VAR.

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Tottenham Hotspur: A Club in Crisis

Discussion begins: 00:29

Spurs' Defeat to Newcastle & The Desperate Mood

• Run of Form: Spurs are winless in nine league matches and have just two wins from their last 18 (02:18). Newcastle’s dominance in the recent 2-1 win crystalizes Spurs’ decline.
• Table Trouble: Spurs sit only three points above relegation. Max asks: “How real is the threat?” pointing out teams like Leeds and West Ham are showing more fight.
• Managerial Uncertainty: Thomas Frank’s future is a central theme. He reportedly seemed “thousand percent confident he would not be sacked,” but a pre-recorded note from Max hints otherwise (05:03, 00:08).
• Lack of Fight:
  • Barry: “Spurs are showing no fight at all ... relying on someone else getting fewer points” (05:03).
  • Jacob is critical of Spurs’s effort: “It looked like they had no real desire. … there’s no heart in that team at all” (08:15).

Managerial Replacement Debate

• No Obvious Solution:
  • Jacob notes: “There’s not really anyone obvious to come in” (07:09) and shares dark humor about caretaker John Heitinger, recalling how Ajax fans serenaded his exit with “Off John” (08:15).
  • Mark quips about the suggestion of bringing back Harry Redknapp, “He’s nearly 80 … I think he’s more interested in his horses these days” (09:52).
• Longer-Term Options:
  • Talk of Pochettino, Glassner (from Crystal Palace), and Amarim, but no consensus emerges (11:32).
  • Mark: “They probably need to think about what do they want sort of for next season ... but they probably can't wait that long anymore” (11:32).

Notable Quote

• Barry:

  “You don't have easy games when your players convey the impression they think they're above this kind of struggle … Spurs are showing no fight at all” (05:03).

Newcastle’s Perspective

• Turning Point:
  • Barry: “This was probably as Dr. Tottenham gets… Newcastle completely dominated. They should have been much further ahead by the break” (12:42).

Offside & VAR Chat

• Disaffection with VAR:
  • Jacob: “It’s not really in the spirit of the law, is it?” (14:12).
  • Barry proposes a cricket-style appeal system: “Give each manager/captain two appeals per game and it’s up to them … when and if to use them” (15:20).

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Round-Up: Key Premier League Clashes

West Ham 1–1 Manchester United

Segment begins: 17:39

• West Ham’s Frustration: Jacob, a West Ham fan, details the anguish of losing two points to a late Sesko equalizer.
  • “It’s just really gutting … that’s the second time in … three weeks … they’ve let in a couple [of] damaging goal[s] in stoppage time” (18:55).
  • The sale of Paqueta is seen as clarifying the team’s style and improving performances, while Fernandez’s midfield impact is praised (19:55).
• Atmospheric Change:
  • Mark: “There’s a togetherness you couldn't have anticipated a month ago … the atmosphere was positive and really noisy” (22:32).
• United’s Wobble:
  • Barry: “Probably their worst performance under Michael Carrick … but a decent point for both sides” (24:05).
• Haircut Man: Group discusses the viral figure refusing a haircut until United win five in a row and the oddity of footballing folk heroes (25:03).

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Chelsea 2–2 Leeds

Segment begins: 28:12

• Chelsea’s Self-Destruction:

  • Jacob: “They were good for an hour … and then just completely imploded … they lack the consistency through games to see it through” (28:23).
  • Defensive frailties and youthful inexperience are highlighted: “When you have Chalabar and Fofana together, they’re pretty good, but they just don’t have that all the time” (35:53).

• Missed Opportunity:

  • Max and Barry dissect Cole Palmer’s extraordinary late miss: “The ball squared across the face of goal. He's two yards out…Indicative of Chelsea’s evening” (33:14).

• Race for Europe:

  • Mark: "I feel like Chelsea will get in there ... just getting rid of defensive mishaps is easier to do than suddenly start creating chances and scoring goals" (34:25).

• Discussion on Rossini (Chelsea manager):

  • Jacob explains the nuance in reactions to Rossini's start:
    “He’s had moments where he’s messed up the starting lineup and then he’s fixed it after halftime … all in all, you can’t really argue [with the start]” (37:33).

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Everton 1–2 Bournemouth

Segment begins: 41:47

• Everton Inconsistency:
  • Barry: “They seem to be much higher in the table than their results and performances suggest … indicative of bad Everton” (41:47).
  • Defensive lapses: “The second goal was just a shambolic defensive effort from Everton … not a good performance” (43:51).
• Bournemouth’s Stability:
  • Mark: “For Bournemouth, that’s a good season … Iriola is definitely one of the best in the Premier League for what he gets out of his team” (44:11).

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Other Topics & Notable Moments

VAR: The Perennial Debate

• Mark on VAR: “People would find some way of messing it up or gaming it,” skeptical about the proposed appeal system (16:14).

Social Media Football Heroes

• On “Haircut Man”:
  • Max: “He was like doing an advert with Piqué and a pair of scissors the other day … it feels harmless to me” (26:23).
  • Barry, dryly: “Fair play to him if he’s making a few quid out of not getting his haircut. Great.” (28:06).

Relegation Run Scenes

• Leeds’ Home Advantage:
  • Mark: “Elland Road probably keeps them up ... they didn't play well at Chelsea, but it's a big point for them” (40:56).
• Fixture Watch:
  • Extensive look ahead to key fixtures for relegation and European spots (46:31–49:17).

Humour & Light-hearted Banter

• On Management Options:
  • Mark: "Might need Scott Parker, Max, because he's good in the Championship" (45:56).
• Cake or Theatre?
  • Barry: “I’m not as against cake as I am the theatre … I’ll generally try a bit of cake if I’m at someone’s birthday or wedding or whatever. … If I never had cake again, it wouldn’t cost me a thought” (50:39).

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Key Timestamps

| Topic | Speaker(s) | Timestamp (MM:SS) | |---------------------------------------------|--------------------|---------------------------| | Spurs' latest defeat and crisis discussion | Max, Mark, Barry | 00:29–12:22 | | Newcastle’s win analyzed | Barry | 12:22–13:56 | | VAR & Offside debate | Jacob, Barry, Mark | 13:56–17:22 | | West Ham–Man United review | Jacob, Mark, Barry | 17:39–25:03 | | Haircut Man & footballing folk heroes | Max, Mark, Jacob | 25:03–28:12 | | Chelsea–Leeds collapse | Jacob, Max, Barry | 28:12–35:53 | | Chelsea’s defensive issues & Rossini | Jacob, Mark, Barry | 35:53–40:36 | | The relegation battle fixtures & Leeds | Mark, Max | 40:36–41:31 | | Everton–Bournemouth review | Barry, Mark | 41:47–45:53 |

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Memorable Quotes

• Jacob Steinberg:

  “It looked like they had no real desire. … At the first goal … no heart in that team at all.” (08:15 – on Spurs)

• Barry Glendenning:

  “You don’t have easy games when your players convey the impression they think they’re above this kind of struggle … Spurs are showing no fight at all.” (05:03)

• Mark Langdon:

  “Harry Redknapp … he’s nearly 80 … I think he’s more interested in his horses these days.” (09:52)

• On Haircut Man:

  • Max: “He was like doing an advert with Piqué and a pair of scissors the other day … it feels harmless to me.” (26:23)
  • Barry: “Fair play to him if he’s making a few quid out of not getting his haircut. Great.” (28:06)

• On Everton:

  • Barry: “They seem to be much higher in the table than their results and performances suggest they should be … indicative of bad Everton.” (41:47)

• On cake vs. theatre:

  • Barry: “I’ll generally try a bit of cake. ... If I never had cake again, it wouldn’t cost me a thought.” (50:39)

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains Football Weekly’s hallmark of informed, witty, and self-aware punditry. There’s a blend of sharp analysis—especially surrounding struggling teams and tactical failures—with plenty of absurd banter (Harry Redknapp jokes, “Off John” Ajax song, “Haircut Man,” and cake vs. theatre debates).

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Summary

This week’s Football Weekly captures the existential gloom and dark comedy of Tottenham’s crisis, running the rule over likely survival (or descent), managerial merry-go-rounds, and the ways even massive clubs flirt with disaster. The panel’s honest critiques—especially around effort, fight, and leadership—are paired with quips that engage both hard-core and casual listeners. The episode is essential for anyone needing both insight and levity about the Premier League's midseason drama.

Transcript

[Jacob Steinberg]

This is the Guardian.

[Max Rushden]

Hi, pop fans. Max here. Barry's here too. No, he's not. This is a voice note because Thomas Frank's just been sacked, obviously, just after we finished recording the podcast. But most of what we say still holds true.

[Jacob Steinberg]

So.

[Max Rushden]

Bring back Harry Redknapp. Here's the Guardian Football Weekly. Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Good morning, Newcastle. Dr. Tottenham here. Another defeat for spurs. And surely you've already heard a voice note from me about Thomas Frank. He may not be the only problem and they have so many injuries, but in a game between two not very good teams, spurs were considerably worse. How real is the threat of relegation? Do they need some spurs DNA or would that by definition be Spursy? They owe Benjamin Sesko, who denied West Ham victory at the London Stadium. Nuno's men were good, but they got deeper and deeper as the game went on. And Man United probably deserved a point. Insert a comment about that guy's haircut. A brilliant comeback from Leeds at Stamford Bridge. Cole Palmer missing a glorious chance to win it in injury time. While Bournemouth's good run continues winning at Everton in the efl. There's Southampton three down at Leicester at halftime and winning it in injury time. We revisit Barry and Cake, answer your questions and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today, Jacob Steinberg.

[Mark Langdon]

Welcome.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Good morning.

[Max Rushden]

Hello. Barry Glendenning.

[Barry Glendenning]

Hello, Max.

[Max Rushden]

And from the Racing Post, Mark Langdon. Welcome.

[Mark Langdon]

Hi, Max.

[Max Rushden]

Adam says, will spurs get promoted to the Premier League next season? Lucas says, who will you support two years from now when spurs and Cambridge face off in League one? Yes. A big win at Crawley last night for the youth, two for Sully. Kai. Kai. We'll get to that. And I did enjoy the tweet from Alex thfc, who says, not cutting my hair until Tottenham Hotspur win one game in a row. So there we are, just three points above Forest and West Ham. The bottom of the table looks like this. Wolves and Burnley we say are done. West Ham have 24 from 26, Nottingham Forest 26 from 25, Tottenham 29 from 26, Leeds 30 from 26 and Brighton 31 from 25. Mark, no win in nine in the league. Two wins in 18. Surely that is it. We're waiting for your phone, aren't we? We're waiting for your phone in your Tottenham Oxbow, WhatsApp groups to ping.

[Mark Langdon]

Yeah, it would be the. The most excited any Tottenham fan's been for quite some time if the. The. The corner flag is sort of tweeted out at some Stage today with a statement but just the five. I remember one spurs fan saying he wouldn't cut his hair until they had five completed passes in a row. So we might still be waiting a while for that. Another really, really poor performance. The two one really didn't do justice to Newcastle's dominance for most of the 90 minutes. It was a brief spell keep just after half time when sort of Tottenham sort of threatened to do what they did against Manchester City. But for the most part they were completely outplayed by a Newcastle team that's also got injuries and didn't have a number of players that you might suggest would be in their best 11. So I think the excuses they run out about Christmas. But Thomas Frank is still hanging on. As you said Max at the start. I don't think he's the only problem at the club. Clearly he's not the only problem but he's like the quickest one to solve now, now. And if Tottenham don't feel like they're in a relegation battle, then they will sleepwalk into the championship because they've got a job on. You don't see where the next sort of win is coming from and unlikely to be next time out against Arsenal. So it's really a sort of shocking state really for a club of Tottenham's resources.

[Max Rushden]

I was going to say that Mark is there. There is still a feeling that I have that Tottenham are just a bit too good to go down or not too good, just too big. And I don't know amongst the spurs faithful is there now a real feeling like actually we are? Because other teams like Leeds show something, don't they? I don't know. Maybe Forest aren't playing well, but West Ham is showing something. Tottenham is showing nothing.

[Mark Langdon]

I think there was last night in that sort of live standings when it briefly looked like West Ham would narrow the gap to three points that I think it sort of maybe hit home for those that were oblivious to the fact that, you know, they were kind of just slipping down towards the kind of the bottom end of the table. But it would be okay. Like they've got some what you would call relatively easy in inverted commas. Home games still to come against Leeds, against Nottingham Forest like Brighton are in a bad state. But at the same time, I mean Tottenham have lost a home to West Ham. They've drawn a home to Wolves. You cannot trust them to win any game, I don't think at the moment. And you know they've got Champions League as well, which comes at a shocking time now given the fact that they are in this relegation battle and it could look even worse after the matches tonight because you're Nottingham Forest will expect to beat walls.

[Max Rushden]

He's surely done Barry, isn't he?

[Barry Glendenning]

Well he seems incredibly confident that he isn't going to be sacked and I am aware that this will sound stupid if you have had to proceed this podcast with a voice note saying he has been but he thousand percent confident he would not be sacked today. He said after the game the TNT Sports post match interviewer kept pressing him and pressing him and pressing him, trying to get some sort of reaction out of him. Didn't get the reaction he wanted. He did get the stink eye, a very disapproving side eye from Thomas Frank, which is as near as I've ever seen to him losing his composure with an interviewer. If you do sack him, who do you get in? Is it a vibes man like Harry Redknapp? Do you send up the Ryan Mason insignia into the night sky over the Tottenham Hotspur stadium? I don't know what I would say is whatever about the fans taking a while to twig that they might be in a relegation baton. I wonder do the players think no, they're in a relegation battle? You know, Mark alludes there to easy games they have coming up in inverted commas. You don't have easy games in a when you're in a position like that down among the the dead men. And you certainly don't have easy games when your players convey the impression they think they're above this kind of struggle and think that, oh, we're not going to muddy our spats in a relegation battle because we're too good and that Leeds are fighting, West Ham are fighting, spurs are showing no fight at all. And at the moment it looks like they're just relying on someone. They're more focused on someone else be getting fewer points than them than getting any points of their own, I suppose.

[Max Rushden]

Jacob One issue for spurs is they don' like Manchester United have so many DNA candidates, don't they? To to to sort of get them out of this hole. And like Barry mentioned Harry Redknapp and I've thought about this before and it seems so ridiculous that this season I would be saying I really think Tottenham would have a better chance of being Arsenal in 12 days if Harry Redknapp was in the dugout.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Is is okay. I'm not sure. I'm not sure that it's him, but I was looking earlier at the available coaches who are out there and Barry's right. There's not really anyone obvious to come in. I mean there's. I mean Amarim is available, people like Xavi, he's there. Edin Terzic, who obviously took Dortmund to the Champions League final. But there just aren't loads of people that you look at and you think, well, that's the person who's going to come in and change it. But you do get to that point of thinking it's just anybody at this point. I don't think that you can go any further than this with Thomas Frank. I mean, looking at the highlights of the game, I was just struck by how basic and sort of childish and soft everything was. It looked like they had no real desire. They weren't playing as a team at the first goal. If you look at. Obviously they get away with the VAR one, which was pretty lucky with Joe Willock.

[Max Rushden]

Joe Willock's head moments.

[Barry Glendenning]

Maybe he should have got a haircut.

[Jacob Steinberg]

But then it's just straight away your phone's pinging again. Oh, right. It's one nil to Newcastle anyway. And that first goal, the cross comes in so easily. No one's trying to the cross coming in. I think that was Jed Spence who doesn't make any real effort. And then it's an easy header at the back post. And then even when the ball spills out into the six yard box, it just looks like Malik Tiores wants it more than. I think it's SA just pushes him aside to get to the rebound and it just looks like there's no heart in that team at all. And it doesn't look like they want to play for Thomas Frank anymore. It never really looked like they particularly did in the first place. So you get to that point of thinking it just has to be anybody. But I mean, obviously they brought in John Heitinger last month to be the number two and there was a feeling of is he there potentially as a caretaker, Is he there to support Frank? The problem with John Heitinger is that he was run out of town in his last job at Ajax. I was at Chelsea Ajax in October and Ajax lost, I think five one that night. They went down to 10 men very, very early. He took off one of their attacking players and the Ajax fans singing something in in Dutch. I asked the Dutch journalist what it was and oh, they were just singing off John. Off John. Okay, okay. Maybe that's not the guy for spurs, but maybe we'll have to.

[Max Rushden]

Well, the spurs fans won't have to, you know, that's. They're sort of in that mode, aren't they? Spurs fans? I mean, it's interesting, Mark, that Jacob says anybody because that does. That opens it up to quite a lot of people in the world. But like, who. Who would you want?

[Mark Langdon]

Yeah, I mean that, that song, I mean you could just replace John with Tom and it kind of would have the same kind of. I do want to just say I don't think these home games are easy and it was inverted commas that. I think the people that are not, the people that are kind of not quite aware of the problems might think that they're easy. Like Harry Redknapp. I think like he's nearly 80. I think he's 79 next month, max. Like it really. I mean I, yeah, I do, I know Harry, I, I like him but I think he's more interested in these horses these days and he's fair enough. You know, my dad's 87. He might not be able to do children. That might be a problem. But who, who. I think Tottenham are now in a really bad situation in terms of what do they do? Because I think a month ago they maybe could have just looked to have seen it out with maybe Heitinger or just kind of anyone, as Jacob was sort of alluding to. Now you almost feel like they probably need to think about like what do they want sort of for next season, like. And they're in a position where they probably want to wait. There's a lot of managers becoming available after the World Cup. Pochettino would be the obvious one given the kind of the interview he gave recently and his love for the club, etc. But they probably can't wait that long anymore. So if you were looking kind of now, could you tempt Glassner Palace. Oh, no, I was going to say Glass. I'm trying to be serious here, Max.

[Max Rushden]

We get you three wins. I'm trying to be facetious here but Sam, allies would get you three wins in the last, which is probably what you need.

[Mark Langdon]

Yeah, well, I don't think he'd lift the club too much. Could you get Glassner out of Crystal palace and sort of maybe you make a long term sort of deal with him? Amarim? I just don't think he's got the personality to lift the club. I mean that was one of the things I felt he struggled with at Manchester United. So I would be stuck for finding a replacement. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't. I mean like that's what Vinay Venkateshen presumably has paid a lot of money for a CEO and Johan Lange as sporting director. But if you look at it, since Vinay left Arsenal, they got better. Since Lang left Aston Villa, they've got better. And since Frank left Brentford, they've got better. So yeah, it's.

[Barry Glendenning]

It's.

[Mark Langdon]

It's.

[Barry Glendenning]

It's.

[Mark Langdon]

It's looking good.

[Max Rushden]

It's pretty bleak from Newcastle's point of view. Barry. This is a huge win, isn't it? I mean you could see what it meant to Eddie Howe with the fans afterwards. Jacob Ramsey, who you know had done nothing all season, scored the winner. I don't know how much pressure it lifts on them, but it really does because it's just kind of. It stops the rot.

[Barry Glendenning]

Yeah. Nobody seems quite sure how much if any pressure Eddie Howe is under as far as I can tell. And I could be wrong. The match going fans are happy enough with them. Most of them. But some of the Internet fans are more vocal in their disapproval of them. Newcastle have been famously bad away from home this season. So this was probably as Dr. Tottenham me as Dr. Tottenham gets. Because for to all intents and purposes this was a home away from home for Newcastle. Because the atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium is so toxic that the fans turn on their own team very quickly. And if you didn't know much about football watching that first half, you would assume Newcastle were the home side because they completely dominated. They should have been much further ahead by the break. I think this is only the third away win this season in the league, I think. And yeah it is. It's a really good result for Eddie Howe. And you could see how thrilled he was at the end of the game.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Do we.

[Max Rushden]

Joe Willikoff side. Jacob. It is so. I mean I know it's offside. I don't know why I'm even bringing up Var and again. But you do watch it going. This is so silly, isn't it? Or is that. Am I or are we happy? Offside is offside.

[Jacob Steinberg]

No, you're completely right. I mean I don't think it's what. It's not really in the spirit of the law, is it? And I mean there was the. There was the one earlier this season as well where it was the. The Fulham. The Fulham Liverpool game. The Florian Verts goal which was given because apparently there was more benefit of doubt given to the attackers. That was a change. But he looked completely offside. And there was a massive long delay to work out whether it was or wasn't. It's just taking so long to get to these decisions. And I don't, it feels like there are, there are goals ruled out where in the past, I don't think anybody would have had a problem with them being given. I don't think that spurs fans would have looked at that and gone, well, that's obviously offside. That's got to be ruled out. Similarly, like in the West Ham Maynight game last night, the Casemiro goal, I mean, when you saw it and it was in the freeze frame, it's probably just offside. But if that had stood, I don't think that you'd be going absolutely crazy at the linesman for not being able to spot it. So, yeah, I'm with you on that. It feels too much. It feels like we've gone too far, but I don't think it's going away.

[Barry Glendenning]

I think if we work on the assumption that VAR is here to stay, the most workable solution to these problems is to introduce an appeal system. Give it like they have in cricket, give each manager/Captain2 appeals per game and it's up to them whether when and or if to use them. Because would, would Tottenham have appealed against that goal?

[Max Rushden]

I think you'd appeal every goal, wouldn't you? You just appeal every goal.

[Barry Glendenning]

If, if you waste your appeals frivolously, like you see a lot of cricket batsmen doing in cricket, then you, they're gone. So you have to use them sparingly.

[Max Rushden]

No, you're right. If you have two and you hopefully, you know, most teams don't concede to every game, then you just chuck it. I don't know. I, I, I, I like the idea, but I reckon once you tried it in practice, everyone would just appeal for go.

[Barry Glendenning]

Well, I'm sure people would find some way of messing it up or gaming.

[Mark Langdon]

Can I just give a shout out though, to that Newcastle front three and the Williken and Ramsey, because the, the near goal came from a deep run and there was a lot of fluidity to their sort of front five that maybe hasn't been there all season. When Gordon played up front right at the start of the campaign, if you remember, he was playing really well, but wasn't taking any of the chances. And I think from a team point of view, they actually looked better without kind of somebody just standing up there, almost sort of in that center forward position. And Eddie Howe has been accused of not changing. This was a slight tinker and I thought Elanga, particularly first half, might, might have been one of his kind of more dangerous 45 minutes of the season. You've been A waste of money so far, but you know, that. That got there. Well, the offside goal came from that kind of deep run and Willock and Ramsey were making those runs and sort of, you know, joining the front three. And a lot of attractiveness, I think, to the way that Newcastle attacked last night.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, but they were only playing spurs, so, you know, there is that.

[Barry Glendenning]

It is interesting as well that they. They didn't start Visa or of Ultimata in. In their kind of. Well, I don't know what to make of that, but it's not exactly a ringing endorsement of either.

[Max Rushden]

No, it isn't. But it worked and they won and so it's a ring endorsement of Eddie how. I suppose. Anyway, that'll do for part one. Part two, we'll go to the London Stadium. You. Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So west ham won. Manchester United 1. You are a West Ham fan, Jacob. I know you were at the Chelsea game, but. Oh, what a blow. Like, presumably. I'm trying to think of the time, yeah, the Chelsea game had finished. I don't know if you'd finished your writing or you're watching this at the same time, but once Xerx, he missed that header. You must think, okay, we've got this now.

[Jacob Steinberg]

So I didn't see the Zerxy header until I saw the highlights after. But I had the game going on my phone while I was doing my. My rewrite for my match report at Chelsea. It got to about the 93rd minute and then Liam Racinha came in for his press conference. Thought United don't really look like they're going to score here. They're not really doing a lot. So I had to turn off my phone, put it on the desk for. To record Rosenheim. And then he spoke for five minutes and then I came back and I saw the score.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, I mean, and you sort of know, I guess as a West Ham fan, you're just like, that's what would happen, right? That's what you expect. I mean, it's a brilliant finish from Sesko, isn't it, Jacob?

[Jacob Steinberg]

It was an incredible finish. One way of sort of almost reluctant to blame them for that, for that going in. I suppose the. The one thing that you take away from it is that he. The cross comes in in the first place and that's been a problem all season. They've been letting in that kind of goal, particularly from that side. I mean, he gets in front of De Sassi, but even at that point he has so much to do. It's an. Is an amazing finish. I like him, Sesko. I think that obviously he's had a difficult start, but I think there's quite a lot of intelligence, especially the way that he's able to finish. And it is an incredible goal. Probably the only way that, that, that that could have gone in. So you struggle to be too harsh. I mean, I suppose that you just look at game management and whether they were able to run it into the corner and also that they had a couple of chances on the counter attack to go 2 nil up. But it's just really gutting for them in that they. I think it's now 20 points dropped from winning positions this season and quite a lot of those have been very late on and I think that's. Yeah, that's the second time in the last two or three weeks now where they've let in a couple very damaging goal in stoppage time because it happened at Chelsea. But you go through to the Fulham game where it was a late winner from them in December. They've given away two nil leads against Bournemouth. Brighton was a stoppage time equaliser as well. So that's really costing them because there are so many points that are just being thrown away when there've been some quite positive performances. I guess the difference between them and spurs is that they are producing positive performances and they've got some fight and that they look at the moment unlike the spurs, that they've got some obvious match winners in Jarrod Bowen, who we all know is a fantastic player. And I think that he struggled a little bit, I think with the weight of the captaincy, but he's starting to now put in the performances that you know he's capable of. And Somerville as well who have going from a winger who was sort of flattering to deceive for much of his time into prime Messi for the last few weeks and the sale of Paqueta has was obviously something that I think people thought would maybe hurt them. But I think in a way it's almost clarified things because they're playing in a much simpler way and without somebody whose mood was going up and down with the ability sometimes just to bring the place down or lift it once every 10 games. And it was often the case with him where it was a sort of quite pointless flick or trick here or there which would go nowhere or lose the ball in a dangerous position without him there. It's almost like they've been able to go, okay, we're going to play in this very set quite simple way, 4, 4, 2. And actually we're going to be very clear on what we're doing. And also Matthias Fernandez in midfield has almost made it irrelevant that Paqueta has gone because although they weren't able to sign a replacement for Paqueta, he's just stepped up and he's been fantastic for them in the last few weeks. One of the rare good piece of business they've done in the last couple of years, particularly in midfield. So there are a lot of bright things for them. It's worrying for them, I guess, that they're maybe doing this a little bit too late and that the gap is still potentially tonight going to be five points. As expected. You would expect Forest to beat Wolves and it's just. Do they have too much to do? Is it all coming? Have they wasted too much going into this period? And we've got some hard games coming up now as well.

[Max Rushden]

What do you reckon, Mark? Have they. Have they left it too late? What do you think?

[Mark Langdon]

No, I, I. No, I don't think they have left it too late. I think that there's a togetherness that I don't think you could have anticipated maybe even a month ago, really. The atmosphere sounded positive and really noisy and kind of what you would want as a team in, in a relegation battle. Hasn't always been the case at the London Stadium, but definitely the fans were with the team and, you know, the. Obviously there's anger towards the ownership, but it's almost like the fans are just putting that to one side now and trying to sort of drag the team over the line. It will hurt this morning, but it's still a good point. They're playing Manchester United. If you're, if you're down in sort of that bottom free area, I think it still represents, you know, a good point. They've got Leeds on the final day, so in their heads, if you can get to within 3 of leads on the final day, you can maybe make that a cup final. The team looks a lot better with the fullbacks returning from AFCON as well. So, like, I think there are reasons to be positive. Obviously it would have been. I think Nuno referred to it as a punch in the stomach. And, you know, United, I don't think, had loads of chances really, and it wasn't like it was wave after wave of attack. So it will hurt. But I would mainly be on the positive there about West Ham. They look a very different team to kind of the one that looked like it was just, just going to sort of relegate themselves in disgrace almost a couple of months ago.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, it was that Wolves game, wasn't it, when we basically said they were completely done. What did you. From a United perspective, what did you make of this?

[Barry Glendenning]

But just on Nuno saying it's a punch in the stomach, I think before the game, he was probably expecting a kick in the ball. So I call it a good point, a good result, a good point, a good punch. From a United perspective, I think it was probably their worst performance under Michael Carrick. I thought they would win. I thought they'd win comfortably, actually. And I think. I think it's on the evidence of the game, it's a decent point for both sides. But obviously West Ham will be gutted that they didn't get all three and they really did. Spurs or United? Really did Spurs a favor. So, yeah, Michael Carrick was probably Tottenham's best performer on the night of. Of with his spurs pedigree. But, yeah, it wasn't great from United and. And definitely their worst performance under Carrick, considering the results he has got.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, I still know disaster is it, you know, four wins in a draw. And this does bring us to Haircut Man. I was interested. I mean, I don't know, it's. It is his journey like a. A great social commentary of our time, or is it just someone who hasn't had his hair cut? I can't work it out because obviously the first time you hear about it, which is, I don't know, a few months ago, this is quite funny. Look at his massive hair. Well, this is funny. And then. And then you go, is this a bit annoying? And then some people, some really says, we will start getting so irate about this guy who's just said something a few months ago and stuck to it. Do you start thinking, well, it's. It's just sort of fun. I don't know, where do we stand on. And some people be like, I can't believe you're talking about Haircut Man. When there's a football, I am one of them.

[Mark Langdon]

I think all I would say, max, is that like, five. Not many teams win five matches in a row. It was a fairly weird sort of point to which to. To. To go down. I mean, like, it's. You have to be a very good team to win five matches in a row. Manchester United have not been a particularly consistent or very good team for a long time now. So, yeah, I mean, it's going to be a while, I would say, before they. They do win five in a row.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah.

[Mark Langdon]

Be surprised if it was this season.

[Max Rushden]

I don't know. I just sort of think Jacob, in a social media world, he's come with an idea, it's worked. I think there's a lot of jealousy because he was, he was like doing an advert with PK and a pair of scissors the other day. It's like, this is, I mean, it is just ridiculous, but it's, it feels harmless to me.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Yeah. So Wayne Rooney was, was having a, having a pop at him. Pop. He said once. Yeah, once they, once they win five in a row, he'll just, you know, he's probably hoping that they don't because he'll just become irrelevant. Yeah, he's wound, he's wound everybody up. Are you jealous? You said, you mentioned jealous.

[Max Rushden]

I mean, I suppose that's interesting. I mean, if he's, I've spent what, 20 odd years trying to carve a career in this and he, I, I, I wouldn't know. Has he made more money than I have now in just like six months? Because he hasn't got his haircut? I mean, I don't know if I'm jealous of that. I think, I think I'm fine with it. I think, you know, you try something, it works, you know, make hay because, okay, once his hair is cut, I, you know, I don't know what, I don't know what he did before. I don't know what his. Maybe he's got other strengths.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Is there a film in this, a book for him or.

[Max Rushden]

He seems like very much like a one trick pony to me, but like, maybe I'm doing him a massive disservice.

[Barry Glendenning]

I think you're on thin ice, masks, accusing anyone to be the one.

[Max Rushden]

I don't know. But it, he seems to, I don't know, I, I, it seems fine to me. It's like, like fair play to the guy.

[Mark Langdon]

But yeah, I mean, people have become famous in the social media world for, for less and for more harmful sort of behaviors, I would say.

[Max Rushden]

I think you're right. I think you're right. Anyway, Barry, would you like me to move on or deeper?

[Barry Glendenning]

I'm quite indifferent. Fair play to me. If he's making a few quid out of not getting his hair cut. Great.

[Max Rushden]

Okay, let's go to Stamford Bridge, then Chelsea. Two leads to. Jacob. You were there. Feels like Chelsea should have won this football match to me.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Yeah, absolutely. It was bizarre because it was, as Rosinha said, six minutes of utter madness from, from Chelsea. They were. The frustrating thing is that they were pretty good for an hour. I didn't think they were sensational, but they had the game under control against the lead side who didn't have Calvert, Lewin Stack, Stroich, some players coming back from injury as well. And Fakha had dropped Noah Okafor after his goal against Forest. He said afterwards that he's a player who needs a bit of time to get back up to physical speed after putting in a big effort. So he also wasn't sure if he would be able to. To deal with it from a defensive side against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. So Leeds looked. They looked quite blunt for. Well, certainly at the start when you looked at their team because there were six defenders in there and you weren't really sure how they were going to score. And Chelsea just gradually worked out. The setup in possession was pretty good. It got them through this very difficult leads set up. And sort of around the 20 minute mark, you suddenly realized that Palmer was getting into loads of space through the middle. It happened once and they almost scored and then it happened again and they did score. That link up with Xiao Pedro is really important for them. It was something at the Club World cup that there was an instant connection between the two of them. And this season, obviously it's not been something that they've been able to use because of Palmer's injury problems, but that last night was his for the. For the Pedro goal was his first assist in the league this season. He's got three overall in all competitions and they've all been for Joao Pedro. And the other side of that is that in the last two games, Joao Pedro has won three penalties for Cole Palmer, two of them for defenders, just putting two hands in his back. It was absolutely bizarre. What is it about this player that makes you think you can do that to him and get away with it? So last night it was Jacobijl. It was utterly bizarre. I have no idea what he was trying to do because Pedro was going away from goal nowhere near, not a dangerous position at all. And he just goes bang. And it was a penalty. And at that point you just thought, yep, okay, it's going to be two or three nil to Chelsea, comfortably up into fourth place. And then just out of nowhere they get rattled by Jaden Bogle and it's for six minutes and they just completely imploded. And okay, it goes to two one. And there's a bit of hope for Leeds, but you should still be able to manage that situation. And that probably comes back to whether they have enough leadership. The experience, the game mentality in this team because obviously they are so young. And in those moments, people will look at it and think, do they have the players to guide a Josh Achenpong, who's 19 and makes the mistake for the second goal through those moments? And on the evidence of what we've seen so far, probably not. I mean, Rossini says he's still waiting for that perfect 90 minutes. And it's been really frustrating to watch them because they go three nil up against palace, they concede a stupid goal out of nowhere. They're three nil up against Wolves on the weekend at halftime. And that should not be a game where that finishes three one. And they, they just, they lack the consistency through games to see that through. I mean, he was fuming afterwards, Rosenhe and made it pretty clear that he doesn't expect to see it happen again. I think there's every chance that it will because it's what we've seen from them this season. Mentioned West Ham throwing winning positions away. Chelsea have thrown 17 points away this season and 15 of those have been at home. So there's a real issue there for them to fix.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah, I mean, the second, the equalizer from these was of such phenomenally low quality. I absolutely loved it. Just people falling over, just rolling to someone.

[Jacob Steinberg]

It was a weird moment in the stadium because it, it sort of all happened in slow motion and Akafor almost scores in a way that I think he thought it was going to be ruled out. Had that. Had there been a foul at some point in the. In the build up. And obviously Bogle handballs it in the build up as well. But they. I don't think they can go back for that because he wasn't the one who scored. I think I'm right in saying that. I'm sure I'll have people shouting at me if not. But he just sort of rolls it in. And the Leeds fans weren't celebrating in a way that you would expect for a team that have come back from 2 nil down at Stamford Bridge. It was like they were expecting it to be pulled back. Was it offside? Was there a foul? Did Sanchez have the two hands and. Yeah, it was just absolute mess.

[Max Rushden]

What did you make of the Cole Palmer missing injury time, Barry? I mean, because it is moving very fast. Am I being too generous to him?

[Barry Glendenning]

Oh, I think so.

[Max Rushden]

Okay.

[Barry Glendenning]

The ball squared across the face of goal. He's two yards out.

[Max Rushden]

He's kind of in the goal.

[Barry Glendenning]

Yeah, I'll charitably say it took a bubble, but even so to sheen it over the bar from that distance is a considerably more difficult feat than just burying it in the back of the net. The back of the net is where Palmer ended up looking quite bemused at a, an extraordinary miss, particularly for anyone but a player of his quality. Yeah, just an extraordinary miss but kind of indicative of Chelsea's evening really. They should have won that game so comfortably. But through the way it does mean.

[Max Rushden]

Mark that the sort of race for the, you know, the, the, the from sort of third to sixth is quite hard to call. Right. You know, Villa on 47 having a bit of a wobble. Man United 45 Ch. 44. I mean Liverpool the big beneficiaries last night because they both dropped points and Everton actually could have gone above them if, if they'd won and they didn't. But how do you see that race panning out? Very hard to say.

[Mark Langdon]

Yeah, I mean I've, I think it's a, it's really tough one to court. I don't want to sit on the fence too much. I, I, I feel like Chelsea will get in there because like a lot of their play I, I really enjoy and I think that sort of just getting rid of those defensive mishaps is kind of easier to do than to suddenly start, you know, creating chances and scoring goals as an example. I still not entirely convinced by Manchester United and what those foundations are built on. You know there was the kind of character, not Amarim. So that's great. But you know they've needed an injury time goal to beat Fulham and an injury time goal to equalize against West Ham. So I would say I would expect Chelse to get in. I think Villa probably done enough so it could come down to Liverpool against Manchester United maybe edge towards Liverpool just, but not with any great deal of confidence.

[Barry Glendenning]

Would Chelsea be better if they had a settled back four Rocinha and Maresca before him. They keep chopping and changing back four midfield and I guess it's something to do with the minutes being managed by the medical team and it might not necessarily be the head coach's choice but that would surely help cut out those kind of silly mistakes that led to that equalizer last night.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Yeah, definitely. I mean they're unfortunate in one respect in that their best defender at the club, Colwill is out for the season. He definitely came of age at the club World cup brilliant against PSG in the final and he's not there. And then probably the next one after that is Wesley Fafana and, and obviously he has struggled over the last few years to stay fit. He's had a series of really bad injuries and he's. Now this season he's been free of that, but they still have to manage him and he can't play three games a week. So last night he was on the bench, came on late on and it's just those players behind those ones who aren't that convincing. Badi Shih they played against West Ham and with was pretty poor. Achin Pong was fine until the moment when he wasn't last night. And Hatto's young. They've brought back Mamadou Sar from Strasbourg, who Rocinha absolutely loves, but he's another young player who has no experience with the Premier League. So it's definitely an issue for them. And when they have Chalabar and Fofana together, they're pretty good, but they just don't have that all the time. And again, Reece James as well, he's been out for the last few weeks, but he's in that category of players who they. They see us not being able to do three games or three full 90 minutes a week. And as well that's. That's partly squad planning and that's also coming back to that. That whole issue they've got around not having had a proper preseason.

[Max Rushden]

Well, and what's the. Just the vibe being on Rossini. What's your take been on Rossini so far? Because he's won a lot of games. He feels like he's had a bit of fortune in some of those games or they've not been perfect but you know, it's been a pretty good start.

[Jacob Steinberg]

It has. I think it's qualified in that he's had a fairly kind start from the fixtures. They go to palace, who were in a real state at that point with the whole Glasner thing going on and Gehe going around that time and they did well against them. They were lucky to beat West Ham, they were lucky to beat Brentford. Probably they should have at least conceded in that game and. And they've had other games where the Napoli game, they were pretty poor in the first half and then he fixes it. So he's had moments where he's messed up the starting lineup and then he's fixed it after half time. There have been moments where they've been probably lucky not to concede and perhaps last night it's just that clock slightly running out in a game where they should win and they've played well. So positive signs. But they've probably got wins in games that you would Expect them to. And it's going to get harder now because they've got Arsenal away coming up soon, Villa away and the Champions League will again. So the squad will be tested more. But from the, from the record of it, you can't really, you can't really argue. I mean we've got to remember that he came in at a point with the club in seeming disarray after the way that Maresca left and the fans absolutely going for the. For the owners at that time, going for Bedad Bali and Clearlake Capital at virtually every game at that point and that's slightly over the last few weeks. Calmed down because I think he's got the team going and the players seem to be responding to him, but it's just. They're still going, they're still looking for that consistency and it's not easy for him because he's come in at a point where they're playing every three days most of the time and he's not had a lot of time with a new team on the training ground to get his ideas across. I do find the reaction to him, the intensity of the reaction to him quite interesting. Maybe it's a social media thing and maybe it's a consequence of everybody being too online, but I do find the mockery that's come his way quite just interesting and in some cases hard to understand. He seems to have rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way and I know that he said some things that have been quite amusing. The clip that did the rounds of the manage aging men from when he was at Strasbourg was mean worthy certainly. But I don't know, I find it. Some of it has been quite relentless and intense at times, especially for a young English manager who started with seven wins from 10 where you'd think maybe people would be a bit more supportive of that, that maybe, maybe it's a consequence of being at Chelsea and people maybe being a bit down on them as well and the association people quite like to tear him down. I don't know but it's been interesting to watch, put it that way.

[Max Rushden]

Just on Leeds mark they've got a tricky ish run and fixtures now they go to Villa. They're home to man City, home to Sunderland palace away Brentford at home. I guess those three home games are all under the lights. The earliest one of those kicks off at 5:30 and they win all their games under the lights and like for them and I think it's been said a lot, Elland Road is. Is absolutely key to their survival.

[Mark Langdon]

Yeah, I mean, maybe they'll be the only ones disappointed that spring is coming. You won't be able to play under the lights at 3 o' clock or even 12:45. I've been to Leeds when it's been dark at lunchtime. They've got, if you go even further into their fixed list, they've got Burnley and Wolves at home to come as well. So I, I think Helen Ellen Road probably keeps them up and you know, they didn't play well at all at Chelsea, but it's a, a big point for them. You know, they've also gone to Liverpool and got a point so like they are. I, I think they'll be fine. Yeah, I think that home form will keep them up.

[Max Rushden]

All right, I'll do for part two, part three, we'll do the Everton Bournemouth game. Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So Everton won Bournemouth. What did you make of it, Ben?

[Barry Glendenning]

Everton continue to bewilder me. They seem to be much higher in the table than their results and their performances suggest they should be. Hill Dickinson has not been good for them of late. I think they haven't won any of their past five home games in the league. They got knocked out the cup by Sunderland and yet they're flying reasonably high, far higher than I thought they would and are there thereabouts in terms of qualifying for Europe. So I don't know what Everton fans make of all this. I presume they're probably happy enough but they could be doing even better. And this game sort of was indicative of bad Everton I suppose they took the lead and then proceeded to throw it away and, and came away with nothing. Yeah, had had a player sent off as well. I think David Moyes was, I get the impression, very angry after the game. I think I read in the match report his, his post match presser was monosyllabic and lasted less than three minutes. And a grumpy David Moyes is probably not one you want to spend much time in the company of, so that's understandable. But yeah, the, the, the first goal was sloppy marking. Michalenko, I think it was let Rayan steal in behind him. Power home aheader from an excellent true far cross. And the second goal was just a shambolic defensive effort from Everton. Just a free kick from deep that Pickford and the defenders completely failed to deal with with any sort of authority. James Hill nods the ball across the face of goal and. And Adley sort of puts a diving header into the empty net. So not a good performance from Everton and they're not doing well at home. Haven't been for the last two months and two and a bit. Months.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah. I mean both these sides marker have exactly the same number. They're on 37 points. Their goal difference is one different. It's weird how you judge seasons, I guess because Bournemouth went on this long winless run but been on really good form recently. You presume that they'd be sort of miles ahead of Everton, but they're not. And both these sides will be fine and will probably hang around where they are. Right? Yeah.

[Mark Langdon]

And I think particularly for Bournemouth, that's, that's a good season, you know, given what they lost in the summer and then Semenya as well in January. If they're not in that relegation chatter, then I think that Bournemouth should always be, you know, happy with, you know, with, with the season as it's panning out. I did, I watched the Moyes interview with, with the BBC and it's painful. Moyes refuses to accept that he's angry, but then gives it away completely with sort of two word answers and sort of steam coming out of his ears. It was really difficult.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Yeah.

[Max Rushden]

But you see, the thing is, Mark, if you are angry and someone says you're, you know, I can see you're angry, you can't say I'm not angry without sounding angry, can you? Like it's like a catch 22, you're. He's totally screwed. Even if he was angry, I suppose he's been really sort of bubbly for the last couple of weeks. He's allowed an off night, isn't he, David?

[Mark Langdon]

He is, yeah. I mean, I think it'll be frustrating because for 60 Minutes, you know, once they got the goal, Everton probably should have gone on and won the game. Barry missed one good opportunity. I don't think Bournemouth had done much in that first hour and then to concede two goals and have o' Brien sent off in nine minutes, you know, he's. It's a very wasteful, I would say from Everton, but you know, as far as Bournemouth go, they've got some of their players back now. They did have a, a mad injury crisis at one stage I think was really handicapping what Iriola was able to do. He's a, he's a very good manager. I'm not sure if he'll stay at Bournemouth or go elsewhere in the summer, but he, he's definitely one of the best, I think in the Premier League for what he gets out of his team.

[Barry Glendenning]

Would you take him at Spurs, Mark?

[Mark Langdon]

I'D absolutely love him. I'd love him at Tottenham. I don't know about you, Max. He'd be my number one.

[Max Rushden]

Oh yeah. I mean I'm just. I'm mainly convinced that whoever goes there will be ruined by.

[Mark Langdon]

I mean they might need a skill, might need Scott Parker, Max. Because he's good in the championship.

[Max Rushden]

That is true. I don't know what says everything needs. They need a clear out but I don't really know what that means because you gotta just get rid of the board and all the players and everything. Can. You just can't. You can't do that. Anyway tonight we don't need to worry about Tottenham Forest Wolves, Man City, Fulham, Sunderland, Liverpool Villa, Brighton Palace, Burnley. Clearly Jacob, it's a very obvious question but you know, absolute must win for Man City in the title race. This and they. I think Fulham are decent but this should be. I wouldn't say straightforward for City but they should win.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Yeah, I'm not sure it'll be straightforward. Fulham have the capability I think to go anywhere and at least put up a good show of themselves and score Pretty sure that they've had moments at Manchester City where they've taken the lead and given them a problem before. Eventually Haaland takes over. Haaland's got a great record against Fulham and that was a crazy game earlier this season at craven cottage. The 54 where har. And rip them apart. And Foden did as well. Do you remember Phil Foden? And they. They were. They 3 nil up I think. And yeah and then at halftime and, and three one and then Fulham almost come back to draw five all. So maybe it will be like that again. Maybe it'll be like again tonight. But I don't think. I don't think City can really let that develop that way because they. They. They really do need. Despite the comeback on Sunday, I think they really do need to show that they can start to. To keep some. Some clean sheets. The defense has been really unconvincing over the last month or two.

[Max Rushden]

Barry. What about Sunderland, Liverpool? A very good home record. It will be a test.

[Jacob Steinberg]

No.

[Barry Glendenning]

Yeah, of course it will.

[Mark Langdon]

I'm.

[Barry Glendenning]

I'm more confident.

[Max Rushden]

Oh I'm just asking a generic question about the game.

[Barry Glendenning]

I know, I know.

[Max Rushden]

Thank you for. Thank you for putting me right. We are one trick pony. Back strikes again. Sorry, do you know what? I'll just switch off and just grow my hair and see how that goes.

[Barry Glendenning]

I am more confident that Sunderland will get something at Anfield than I was in Them getting anything at the Emirates at the weekend, put it that way. Yeah. I think they might come away with something other than a hiding.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Sorry. They're at home, aren't they?

[Barry Glendenning]

Oh, Sunderland is home. Of course they are. Yeah. Well then I'm massively confident that sunderland will win 5 nil.

[Max Rushden]

Okay, thanks. That was worthwhile. But we're always learning, Barry, and you've learned something new. So that's a good use of a podcast, isn't it? Anything else you're looking forward to tonight, Mark?

[Mark Langdon]

Villa against Brighton, you know, ramifications both ends of the table. Brighton another one. A bit like how Barry says he doesn't know how sort of Everton sort of land where they do in the Premier League, I think was. Only after the palace game I sort of realized where Brighton were in the table and that performance against palace was I thought absolutely shocking from, from Brighton like devoid of, of everything really that you've come to associate with the club in recent years. So I mean that's game for them. And we spoke about Villa and kind of the buffer that they've got obviously if they were to. To lose to Brighton or not beat them, you know, it potentially sort of really does bring Liverpool back into it if they do win at Sunderland. So I think that's a, that's a really big game and, and then you've got the, the. The Forest one where you feel like that's a must for them against Wolves.

[Max Rushden]

Yeah. Oh, I know. Brighton Deserbi is available, isn't he?

[Mark Langdon]

He's left Marseille last night.

[Max Rushden]

I just wonder how many Brighton fans be like oh should we? I'm not sure him and Tony Bloom ended in the best way. No, if I remember correctly. But still they're hankering after a bit of that football I think in the EFL then Middlesbrough, Beachfield United 2 were on Monday so overs at Coventry at the top of the championship commentary had a 10 point lead in December and they're only five points ahead of Ipswich or in third game of the night last night was at the King Power Leicester 3 nil up at half time time and they lost 43 to Southampton. Southampton scoring in injury time. The winner Shay Charles. It's such a great finish but yeah, things not all going well at Leicester after that points deduction as well. Norris won three nil at Oxford and Birmingham West Brom drew nil nil. And as I began the podcast, a great win for the Mighty used three nil at Crawley. Back on the horse, back into the automatic promotion positions for my big team who win things. Tombo says. I feel that Barry's shocking announcement that he doesn't like Kate of any kind, it was kind of skipped over. No cake of any kind. On top of all theater is shit. Does anyone else on the panel reject whole spheres of human enjoyment? This was in reference to Sam Delling's coffee cake analogy. Barry, do you have any. Do you want to come back on this theater cake? Anything else?

[Barry Glendenning]

I'm not as against cake as I am the theater, insofar as I would.

[Max Rushden]

But imagine a piece of cake at the theater.

[Barry Glendenning]

Imagine what living would be any cost. Whereas I. I will generally try a bit of cake if I'm at, you know, at someone's birthday or wedding or whatever. And I am quite partial to a bit of carrot cake, but, oh, if I never had cake again, it wouldn't cost me a thought. It would. It would be fine.

[Max Rushden]

It's easier to try a slice of cake, isn't it, than to try a little bit of theater, isn't it? You can't. You can't pop in, you know, to the. To the Young Vic for five minutes and just see how it goes.

[Barry Glendenning]

Well, you can.

[Max Rushden]

Well, I suppose you could. Quite expensive.

[Barry Glendenning]

Yeah.

[Max Rushden]

Anyway, you do you like. We're all different and that'll do for today. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Jacob.

[Jacob Steinberg]

Thank you.

[Max Rushden]

Thanks, Mark.

[Mark Langdon]

Thank you, Max.

[Max Rushden]

Cheers, Barry.

[Barry Glendenning]

Thank you.

[Max Rushden]

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove. Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens. Back tomorrow.

[Jacob Steinberg]

This is the Guardian.