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Football Weekly
The West Ham crisis deepens and an EFL roundup – Football Weekly
00:54:56
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, George Elek and Sanny Rudravajhala as Nottingham Forest beat West Ham away in a huge relegation six-pointer
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- [00:00]
A
This is the Guardian.
- [00:14]
B
Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. A huge win for Nottingham Forest at the bottom of the Premier League. West Ham were a little unlucky. A second goal disallowed just before the equalizer, and the agony of Alphonse Arreola punching Morgan Gibbs White in the head because the ball had gone. Poor sad Nuno. Does this result mean the bottom three is done? A week into the New Year, Liam Rosen arrives at Chelsea, Martin o' Neill arrives at Celtic again, and Darren Fletcher says he runs every big decision past Sir Alex seems time consuming in the efl. How serious is the Coventry Wobble? Could Preston or Millwall last the course? We'll do a League one and League two roundup as Cambridge have two points off the automatics. All that plus your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today, George Elek from not the top 20. Hello.
- [00:57]
A
Hello. Welcome.
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B
Barry Glendenning.
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C
Hi, Max.
- [01:00]
B
And Sanny Woodrovagila. I must credit you with the time consuming Darren Fletcher line. It was yours and I stole it. Forgive me.
- [01:06]
D
Well, that makes up for the fact that I'm late and I apologize to you and everyone else and the listeners. Even though this is a podcast, it makes no difference to them.
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B
Well, I mean, I guess if the podcast drops 15 minutes later, it is Sanny's fault and find him on social media.
- [01:20]
C
And I would say 18 minutes later.
- [01:22]
B
18. Okay. Blindly. Not that we were counting anyway. Let's start the London Stadium. West Ham one, Nottingham Forest two, Mark Martin says, just looking forward to the Nuno voice note. I presume you've already written one. Tangy says instead of the post. Pod voice note. Can you do the pod as though Nuno has already been sacked? Yeah. If you're listening to this, Nuno has been sacked. They're seven points behind Forest. It's such a huge result, Barry and I really feel. I mean, Nuno, we were saying before we came in, Nuno does sad like no one else does sad. But I think he was really unlucky in this.
- [01:55]
C
I'm not sure about that. I didn't think Nottingham Forest played particularly well, but I thought they were the better team. Alphonse Arriola had to make an incredible save in the first half. Callum Hudson and Doy smacked one off the bar. And then Forest went behind and I thought they went behind very much against the run of play. I'm happy to concede that Forest's winner. The penalty was the awarding. That was contentious. And I think this the second West Ham goal that was chalked off. I'm not so sure that should have been. But appearing apparently the correct decision was made. If that is the correct decision, I don't think it should be. If West Ham get relegated, it won't be because Nottingham Forest beat them last night, or it won't be because a bad decision or two went against them last night. They're a diabolical team. Yesterday was one of their better performances in recent times and they still lost. And I'm not going to say it's impossible for them to get themselves out of this mess. It's only in inverted commas, seven points. But it's going to be very difficult. And reports coming out of the West Ham camp seem to suggest that morale is at an absolute rock bottom. That the players don't particularly like Nuno, that he doesn't particularly like quite a few of the players, that he's very distant and aloof. David Sullivan and Karen Brady have been in charge of this circus for a long time now, and they're running the club into the ground. It's only three years ago since they won a European cup, sold declan rice for 105 million quid. They've wasted every penny of that. I'm not going to say trot out the. Oh, David Moyes. Be careful what you wish for. I could see the logic of not renewing his contract when he left. Yeah, it's. It's an absolute mess. And even the fans seem to have given up. There was an awful lot of empty seats in that stadium last night, and I could totally understand why fans wouldn't want to go to watch that crap on a freeze and cold Tuesday night.
- [04:07]
B
Yeah, terrible stadium, terrible weather, terrible football. That should be the tagline, shouldn't it, on the penalty, George, you're not sure?
- [04:18]
A
Yeah, there's been very little controversy around this, I should say, and I should probably learn from the past, that complaining about penalty decisions when no one really seems fussed is normally a way to make yourself unpopular. But I'm kind of surprised how happily everyone accepted that was, that it was overturned by var. To my mind, there is a very big difference between this incident and, say, the Inanna one against Wolves, where Areola and Gibbs White are both going for the ball. Areola with his gloves and Morgan Gibbs White with his head. But Tomas Suchek gets there first and therefore the ball doesn't get anywhere near either of them. So it's not the case that Areola is therefore wiping out Gibbs White, who gets there first. You know my analogy is it's almost like a clash of heads where they've both gone for the ball, neither of them are anywhere near it. But because Areola has, you know, he can use his hands, he's therefore been punished. It wasn't, I don't think, a foul in the kind of the classic sense of the word. I can understand if the referee had given it a foul on the pitch, why it would be upheld. But for Var, again, it's the whole like, do you want to forensically officiate every single moment of every game? And, yeah, it's an incident where if you zoom in on the incident and you ignore that the ball's even in play and you do freeze frame, you can obviously see that Areola makes contact with Gibbs White's face, which in itself seems like it should be a foul, but actually when you break it down, he's a goalkeeper, he is totally entitled to try and punch that ball. There's no. We don't know had such a. Not got there, he might have got there ahead of Gibbs White. It just seems like a punishment that in no way befits the crime. It doesn't seem to me like the proper use of Var. As I say, if Gibbs White had got there first and then Ariola cleans him out, then it's. It's quite clearly a penalty. But this isn't that. And I can understand why Ariana seems pretty flummoxed when the penalty was awarded. He looked like he couldn't really believe it because, you know, I. I normally hate the. When it's wheeled out this, this. It's a contact sport, because quite often that's used to justify fouls. But I think in this case, if goalkeepers are allowed to come and claim, if goalkeepers allowed to come and punch, then there's. There's going to be physical contact. And just because it's a hand to the face doesn't necessarily mean it's excessive force or anything like that. So if I was a West Ham fan, I'd feel pretty aggrieved that VAR decided to overturn it.
- [06:31]
B
Yeah, interesting, because I had. I had just gone, well, that's unlucky, but it is a foul. But you have given a very persuasive argument, George. I don't know if you're right or wrong.
- [06:41]
C
George has given a very persuasive argument. I don't necessarily agree with the pro. What I think is quite interesting is Rob Green was upon on sky and after the game he thought the decision to award a penalty is correct. And you would imagine he would be on the side of the goalkeeper, but he wasn't in this instance, so make of that what you will.
- [07:04]
B
And the offside Sanny is, I believe, under the laws, it is offside. He's coming back from an offside position. There is a tackle and but the attacking player touches the ball. So, but even still, it's one of those moments where West Ham are better off if Somerville doesn't score, because if he misses, then there isn't. This kind of the wind goes out of yourselves. You thought you were tuna lap. And then, and then maybe nothing for us don't come straight back into it.
- [07:31]
D
Yeah. And that moment of relief as well around the stadium for those fans that were there, there was that real kind of palpable feeling even watching on tv, that maybe we've turned a corner and all of a sudden they haven't. I mean, as it happens, on the offside, because I, I, I mean, I, I made a snap decision after 20 minutes on the WhatsApp group and Costas Janos and said not so keen on this guy. I just looked at his just, just, you know, just lazily looked at his stats and the F mob app makes like a pro Evo style little diagram and his, his map kind of looks as if he's a big man who gets himself, you know, not too many touches and knocks it down. I've got Costa Janos, he's a big guy. He's like 5 foot 10. So. Okay, all right, actually do here. And you know, his opportunities didn't quite take him and I suppose it would be amazing if he'd hit the ground running. But the offside came because he'd made a run and because he's new and he what we signed like the day before, like the players don't quite know how to play with him yet. You know, obviously they're only still learning that. And so he times his run, he doesn't get the ball. I think it was Somerville on the, on the counter originally quick enough. And so he's already moved slightly offside because he hasn't got the ball in time. And then he's coming back. So that was kind of the, where I think that that offside kind of came up because that's like his back and his ass was offside or something. So it's like the sp. It's the finest margins when with based out of a play you've just signed. And then they had the other, their other Brazilian signing on the bench as well, didn't he? Who came on and. And took one and skied one, like 20 yards over the bar or something, which was just. It always looks worse in that stadium, by the way. It probably wasn't 20 yards over the bar, but perspective just makes it look like it's. It's gone into outer space. Yeah, it was really unfortunate. And it kind of sums things up, doesn't it? And so, all in all, very depressing. And you're right, Nuno does make some very sad faces. I mean, Barry's summation of it all made me feel really depressed. And then George's explanation of it not being a penalty. I watched the replay whilst he was saying it, like 18 times now. So he's kind of won me over too, so I'm in a very impressionable mood, clearly. But overall, yeah, very sad. Very sad for West Ham. And it's all going to come to Nuno, isn't it?
- [09:32]
B
And also the other unlucky point is that Car Walker Peters is so short, and if they'd had someone slightly taller on the post, he might have headed away the equalizer. Barry, what do we do? We think. I mean, new number is not in a great spot, but what do West Ham do? They've given him a lot of money to spend in the last few days.
- [09:50]
C
I mean, they could do anything. Nothing would surprise me. Having him there clearly isn't working. If you're going to replace him, who do you replace him with? Who would want that job? I still think he was not.
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D
I don't know if Max is joking, by the way. I have no idea.
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C
Yeah, I. I don't. I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if he was fired, you know, as his customary five minutes after we're finished here. That would be his second sacking of the season, which is two nice payouts, but it's a record you'd imagine nobody wants. I don't know. I can't predict what David Sullivan and Karen Brady will do, because they could do anything. Yeah.
- [10:36]
B
Meanwhile, it's. I mean, it is massive for Forest George, isn't it? And we were thinking, you know, is this squad too good to be in that position, or is it? Actually, if you look, most of the Premier League squads are quite good, and so someone will be about 16th, 17th, with not a bad set of players.
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A
Yeah. I mean, last season, 16th, 17th was Manchester United and Tottenham, wasn't it? So. Yeah. And that is.
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B
They probably are a bad set of players.
- [10:59]
A
But, you know, this is definitely the case where the. The Premier League is getting more competitive, you know, this season in particular because you've got Sunderland who came up and basically completely revolutionized their, their playing squad into a Premier League squad over the course of one summer and Leeds who you know were incredibly strong coming up out of the championship anyway which meant, which means that what's been quite a cushy life if you're a kind of bottom half Premier League side, knowing that the teams coming up for the championship are generally going to be much worse than you means that teams like West Ham and Forest are now really under threat. I do think if you look at Forest's team like Elliot Anderson will start for England in the World cup this summer, he'll probably be playing center midfield for a team with aspirations to win the league next season or Manchester United aspirations. I did say search that kind of still works. Morgan Gibbs White is another one who could, could easily play for any team in the and in the. In the country. So like they do have the quality through their team. But yeah I guess what happened last season probably means that expectation levels rise beyond where they should be and it's not a huge surprise that they're. That they kind of regressed a little bit especially with the. The added intensity of having to play European football too on various Thursdays. So yeah it is. You know this is always going to happen. Teams are always going to drop off. But certainly when you look at the, the squads and the 11s forests looks to me to be far more stat than the West. Ha. Yes. Still point to a couple of quality players for the most part. It's a bit of a shambles.
- [12:22]
B
Yeah. I think it's a massive drop from Forest to West Ham. Moving on as expected. Liam Rasenia, as we pronounce it was appointed Chelsea head coach yesterday. Quite a short contract for Blue coast standards. Six and a half years. The last manager that lasted more than three years at Chelsea was Jose about 20 years ago. Signed from Strasbourg of course. He said. I'm so excited for the future. My whole life has worked to be a coach now to be presented this opportunity at a world class football club is something I've always dreamed of. With that is a mixed emotion of sadness of what I'm leaving behind. This is the last day I wake up as Strasbourg manager. The Strasbourg supporters federation are angry about this. They're angry about Bluco's involvement anyway in the club and they said the transfer of Liam Rosenia marks another humiliating step in Racing's subservience to Chelsea. For two and a half years along with others we've been trying to raise the alarm about this, the problem goes far beyond the mid season sporting impact and the ambitions of a young coach. It is structural. The future of French club football is at stake. And Gary, I was going to call you Gary Barry, but that's because Gary o' Neill is the new manager. But Barry, they make a very good point, don't they? This is the multi club ownership model will always have these problems.
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C
Yeah, they do make an excellent point. And the dead right. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it's a big problem for French football because Nice are in a similar position. But despite the fact that Bluco have pumped millions and millions of pounds into Strasbourg, these fans would rather be poor and worse but not have to be beholden to Chelsea, which is what they are. And I don't think it's right that a top flight team in one of the big five leagues in Europe should be basically the, like a spare parts shop for a top flight team in, in another league. They're clear. You know I, I think their use of the word subservient is absolutely spot on there. It's technically a partnership but they're very much the, the very junior partner. And Chelsea just use them as, as somewhere to farm out players they don't want or cherry pick players they do want and now cherry pick manager they want. Strasbourg are seventh in the top flight. You know, they're not some minnows who, who just stumbled upon promotion or something. They're, they're a good side. But how are they supposed to progress if whenever anyone at Strasbourg is doing well, Chelsea just go and go. Oh we love that. Yeah, thanks.
- [15:03]
B
And even if they were minnows, you know, the principle still stands, George. I just wonder have any League 1 or League 2 sides, I don't know if you know, this kind of been on the radar of a big side in another European country. You know, we don't sort of see it that way. The, that you know, someone in League two gets picked, gets picked up by Barca.
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A
I remember when I was about five years old the front page docs of mail saying that we're gonna get bought by Juventus, we being Oxytid. But since, since then I haven't really heard of anything off the top of my head. I don't think any League 1 or League 2 side has been part of a multi club model as of yet. I mean surely it will happen. I guess there's probably a financial, you know, the, the cost of investing in clubs lower down the Pyramid in other countries will be far, far smaller and, and, and much less than, than buying one in league one and league two right now. But I guess with the, with, you know, if the independent regulator is successful then that might change over the coming years. It's something that I would absolutely despise, frankly, having really hated the idea of B teams entering what, you know, the EFL trophy, which happened as a possible kind of way for them to come into the efl. I think multi club ownership would be just, you know, kind of pretty similar to that in terms of things we wouldn't want to see happen to our pyramid.
- [16:19]
D
Are we forgetting Romain du Chatelet who was owner of Charlton and his multi club ownership included owning a series of clubs across Europe that were all terrible and progressively made them all worse at the same time? I don't know if that really counts, but yeah, Charlie Vads were happy when he left.
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B
Maybe not, but it does, it does, it does mean you can do the best. It's the best name to say is Jim White, isn't it? Roland de Chatelierly Celtic parted company Wilfred. Nancy. What a pity is 331 defeat by Rangers his sixth loss in eight matches, his 33 day run the shortest in the club's history. Martin O' Neill is back and his press conference Sanny was great fun, wasn't it? I mean clearly this is a guy that just doesn't really. I wonder if he feels so liberated that that will reflect to the players immediately. It's just this sort of carefree saying stuff about players who wanted to leave and didn't and going, should I have said that? I don't know, who cares? You know, it's like, it's like the Heineken advert, isn't it? Heineken, Schmeineken, champagne, caviar, whatever.
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D
Yeah, it was amazing. The start of his press conference opened and I put it in our WhatsApp group opened with him saying that he'd had a seance with Elvis and Frank Sinatra and they were both upset with him that he's had more comebacks than them. And then he goes, don't put that in. Let's start this again. That was a crap joke, not realizing that this is essentially going out live on Sky Sports. But what I've noticed is I don't think anyone else has reported this. I think it went out and then no one else is. Everyone's gone, oh no, we really don't want to upset Celtic. We don't upset Martin o' Neill this early. Let's not mention it. But it's gone out on live tv. I gotta be the only one who see that.
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B
But we don't know. Maybe we don't want to upset the estate of Elvis, perhaps. Is that the.
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D
Yeah, maybe.
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B
And then was it. There was one of a player that he mentioned sort of wanted to go.
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C
Dies in me.
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D
Yes.
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A
So.
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D
So dies in Maeda. Maeda. One of the reporters. I said, but dies in Maeda. And he just, he just really reveals that he was gonna go off to the Bundesliga. I think it might be Wolfsburg. And he says it in that sort of tone and they're like, is that. Is that news to you? Oh, he wasn't gonna go there. That wasn't gonna happen.
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A
But it's. It's great.
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D
But I guess when you've got. He's the Scrooge McDuck in this situation when it comes to credit in the bank at Celtic, like, he could do whatever he wants and he's okay because of what his record's been. Because then he came back and won every game, like. And because they are completely up the shitter and they've had to come back to him again. I mean, I saw a great post online that he basically just needed Christmas and New Year off in between his job and just took the leave and came back. Which is a great way to look at it. And if that press conference anything to go by, yeah, he's his own man. And I have no doubt that he'll make a success in the short term period of Celtic boss.
- [19:11]
B
I mean, he can't do worse, can he?
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C
I feel a bit sorry for Wilfred, Nancy. I have to say he leaves Celtic with his reputation in tatters, I think. And his spell in charge was shorter than Martin o' Neill's interim spell before he got the job. I mean, that is. No, you can dress it up any way you want. It's. It's humiliation. I notice all his backroom staff have gone as well. And Paul Tisdale, who we spoke about a couple of weeks ago, Celtics director of football, he also got the boot. So he's clearly been blamed for this mess. I think O', Neill, you know, he's. He's in his mid-70s. He seems to have quite a lot of energy. Seems well up for the job, but he's a chippy character. He's quite spiky. I like him. I hasten to add I'm a big fan of his. At least him being there now. And I reckon Sonny's right. He probably will be successful. They do need to plan for his successor and if they get the next one wrong. But yeah, just like West Ham, there's a lot of blame to go around at Celtic and. But at least they seem to have hit on a decent temporary fix.
- [20:32]
A
I saw a really good about 10 days or so ago, someone said that Wilfred Nancy might be committing the perfect footballing crime where he could go to Celtic in the ML, in the MLS offseason, get sacked before the season starts. Me back in the dugout for Columbus Crew. In his previous job, having had the payout from Celtic, but annoyingly for him, Henrik Ridstrom was appointed manager of Columbus Crew five days before he was. He was sacked. So that opportunity is gone.
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B
Ah, well, I. I hope he does come back in some. Somewhere somehow. But you're right, Barry, I do feel for him. Darren Fletcher gave his first press conference ahead of Manchester United's game against Burnley. Spoke pretty well, I thought. Lots of cliches, of course. Can't disclose if he'll play a back four. He did say the back four is a club formation though. He's reached out to Reuben Amrim but not heard back. Two blue ticks, but nothing. He doesn't make any big decisions without speaking to Sir Alex to. And he. And he wanted Sir Alex to give him his blessing as well. I mean, which. I mean, it reeks of DNA that. It's exactly the right thing to say, isn't it? It's like every bit.
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A
Do you think?
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C
Is it. Is it not exactly the wrong thing to see? Because isn't this Manchester United's problem that everyone cow to Sir Alex Ferguson and by all means ring him, ask for his blessing, ask for his advice, ask for any pointers, but don't tell any. Everyone that's what you've done. Because, you know, this is half the problem at Manchester United. He's. He's this specter at the feast.
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B
Well, maybe, but.
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A
But the fans. The fans love it. You know, that's what Ollie, for his whole tenure would come out about young players and say, he's the new Michael Carrick, he's the new, you know, whoever else. It's all the Manchester United DNA. Because it's been so long since. Since any kind of tangible success beyond moments, it feels like at times where things are darkest, they need to lean on that just for basically PR reasons to win people over. Which.
- [22:24]
B
But football is nostalgia, right? You know, football is nostalgia, you know, like. Like that's. That's sort of part of why we love it. So, you know, if somebody can come back and do this. I always think everybody talks about Sir Alex phoning them up or them phonics, right? He can never be. He's never off the phone, the guy, you know, give him a break, let him watch MacGyver. He's not got any time because he's on the phone to every ex manager. He's constantly talking to, you know, young players, you know, just, you know, I don't know his data. He must be running out of data. Yes, sir.
- [22:53]
D
Just on that nostalgia, right? So last night I went into the Guardian archives and found the Guardian republished Frank McPhee's analysis of Alex Ferguson getting the job in the wake of all the previous managers who hadn't got the job. So that's in 1986. And it almost read like it was now. And Alex's Matt Busby and how every other manager had. Mitt hadn't had that gravitas or had lacked that option, that part. Or they had the enthusiasm but didn't have the tactical ability. I hasten to say it might be that we are just repeating ourselves over and over again, but it was exactly the same. It was. It was an incredible, incredible bit of writing. There's a bit where he recalls one of the directors had tried to tell Matt Busby about tactics and what to do, and Busby just pulled him over to one side. Don't you ever told me that ever again. And his director never once did. So it felt very similar. So this idea of nostalgia, it's actually rooted in the fabric, in the DNA of the club. We've been in this situation before and.
- [23:59]
B
If you listen back to Football Weekly from 1986, we are having the same conversation. Anyway, that'll do for part one. Part two will begin our roundup of the EFL and the championship. Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So the top of the championship looks like this. Coventry have 52 points, Middlesbrough 46, Ipswich 44. Have a game in hand. Preston and Millwall on 43, Watford on 41 and Hull on 41. They both have a game in hand as well. Stok 8th on 40, Wrexham 9th on 40 as well. Chris says. Oh, Coventry going to do a Walsall this season. Winless in their last three sort of two wins since the start of December. They are six points clear, George. But what is this? A wobble, a blip, a crisis?
- [24:46]
A
What's happened? It's somewhere between. It's definitely not a crisis, but I'd say they've been wobbling for too long, that they're kind of really off balance now. You know, I think over the wobble you're still maintaining your central gravity. I think they're starting to lose that at the moment because not only have the, the results turned, you know, they, they haven't won in their last three, they won one of their last five and that was a pretty unconvincing one. They'll win at home to Swansea. But the. I would argue that the performances haven't been great. Dating quite a long way back to kind of the end of, end of November. They, they lost 3 nil to Ipswich on the 6th of December and since then the, the performances even in their good results haven't been great. Their best players have gone from being, you know, Victor Top early in the season. Who now is, you know, has lost that goal scoring touch. Brandon Thomas Asante, who had a ridiculous purple patch, had you Wright at one point. These attacking players are now kind of struggling for form and instead it's Kyle Rushworth, their keeper, who I would say has been the, the main part and the main reason for the points they have got in this time. Ipswich have kind of done the double over them and twice look by far the better team. So yeah, having kind of thought that there was an unassailable lead, they have to improve because they are both in terms of results and performances way off where they were early in the season.
- [26:02]
B
I mean Middlesbrough have been on a pretty dodgy run as well, Sanny. So it does sort of concertina if that's the right. I'm trying to think does that does mean that doesn't it, you know, like it. It makes it more exciting.
- [26:12]
D
Yeah, it does. Just, just briefly going back to Coventry because I watched quite a lot of them 5. Life keeps sending me to Coventry in a literal sense and you know, Frank Lampard said to me that he, he's complained about his squad being quite thin relative to other clubs in his position and, and if you think about the run that they had, it was like a, it was almost a different player within a period would then perform really well. Victor Top was, was a great example actually before that had you right. And they've kind of burnt through quite a few matches. They've had a few bugs going around as well. I shook Frank Lampard's hand after my interview and then realized that he had the flu. But thankfully I'd had my jab so I was okay.
- [26:48]
B
Okay, good. That's a good phone in. That's a great text topic for a radio show. So have you ever got ill? Have you ever got the Flu from a footballer. Keep that in my back pocket.
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D
So. So they need reinforcements, they really do and I think that they would be able to steady the ship. But yeah, George is right like Carl Rushworth has bailed them out a lot for Middlesbrough. I mean they had that great start and, and, and Hellberg was like get everyone forward, get it, get it going and we'll just get the results. And then yeah it was four games we've had losses or defeats losses or a draw and in a 40 win against Southampton to kind of. If you think that Middlesbrough and Coventry both are like non. You know they're not recent Premier League teams are they? Do not got any of the parachute payments. They're not getting any of the, the players of that quality. I guess with thinner squads you're expecting a drop off and key players if they aren't on it every game they're easily shown up in a, in a league where this is quite similar team. So then you look below them and someone like Preston which you know is that I was at last for when I don't know what day it was. I was there the last game. It could be any day and you know they've got a couple of players coming back. Lewis Dobbin from injury, militant Osmaic from his. His ban for the racial abuse of Hannibal Medjbury for which he vehemently denied. And then you think right, well they've all of a sudden raised their level significantly having those two back and that could give him a real, a real chance. So it's a real kind of middling league. Especially when you think that the. Those teams were expecting albeit Ipswich are up there haven't been there this season at all.
- [28:18]
B
Yeah and actually on that financial thing George can Coventry like afford to go big in January? And actually for those clubs like Preston and Millwall, you know Watford and Hull, you know the teams that do not often make it, you know the, you know I've never been in the Premier League at Preston or Millwall so I feel do you gamble? Do you go this is January but we're this close. Do we, do we gamble?
- [28:39]
A
I would say that most championship clubs are gambling every single season given the spend versus revenue. It's part of the reason why the league's in such a mess. But yeah it does feel like this season in particular there is, there will be clubs who will look at their potential to get the Premier League at the beginning of each season. So for a Millwall or a Preston that's probably going to be what 2, 3 4% and look at what that percentage chance is now and think, you know, we have to make the most of this. We have to capitalize on this opportunity in January is obviously the opportunity to do that with Coventry. I wonder, you know, Doug King there, since he's come in as their owner, he has definitely supported them financially. I would say their recruitment has been very good. Rather than just spending big like they, they spend their money incredibly well. Interesting. The only player they brought in so far is Yang, who has been at Portsmouth this season and really struggled to make any kind of an impact until he was the player that scored that, that goal that you piece about. Max, that shut up. The Charlton Athletic fans who are saying the best moment of Bratton park, this moment of 2025.
- [29:42]
B
I loved it. So I've watched it so many times.
- [29:44]
A
Frank Lampard obviously read, read your piece and thought, yes, I want to buy this guy, I want to sign this guy. So he's now been sent packing from, you know, to. To have a loan at a team struggling to avoid relegation and not get in the team and then suddenly turn up at the top of the league is not a move that we're used to seeing. But yeah, I don't think we'll see Coventry spend huge amounts of money. They've got a very good squad and a lot of depth in that squad too. I would imagine that the club are, it feels like they are run in a way that they won't panic because of a few poor results in terms of who they look to bring in. But yeah, I think because Southampton, they'll be miles off it this season. Leicester are obviously not going to be troubling. Well, it seems they can't be troubling the top end of the table. Especially if that point seduction ever comes in. There will definitely be non parachute payment teams who are currently in the top eight or nine who are looking at this window saying this is the time that we've got to go for it because we're never gonna have a better chance to get there.
- [30:37]
B
Sure. And Wrexham could be one of those as well, George.
- [30:39]
A
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
- [30:40]
B
You know, the, the romance has now gone. Wrexham. Is that how we're meant to describe them now?
- [30:45]
A
Was there ever any romance? But yeah, maybe it's. I, I think we have to just assess them for what they are in terms of a team now and they. I think Phil Parkinson deserves massive credit. I know that people like to. When teams spend money, it's fashionable, I guess, to downplay the achievements of a manager as if it's just easy to win games of football and win promotion when, when your, your owners are giving you lots of cash. I don't think that's necessarily playing out. Generally we see a lot of teams who spend a lot of money who have high budgets underperform. For Parky to come up into a league where he's really struggled in the past, his record in the second tier is poor. To turn this Wrexman team very quickly into the very worst. A mid table championship side, especially given when they were 31 down after 25 minutes on boxing Day against Sheffield United in the late kickoff they weren't that far clear of the relegation zone. And at that moment in what was a really poor run of form, it looked like the wheels were kind of coming off and they came back and won that game. Five, three. They've won every game since and now they're on the fringes of the playoffs. And again, because the league is so open and because it kind of feels like, you know, if you look back at previous championship teams at the top end, there's normally a kind of relentlessness to them. Whether that's Bernie Leeds last season and as soon as Sheffield United kind of stopped being relentless in terms of their winning, they fell away very quickly. Whether that was Ipswich and you know, whoever else finished around them the season before. Leicester, the Maresca, like normally the, the top teams just churn out results consistently and that isn't really happening now that Coventry have dropped off. So yeah, I think Rex have a huge chance if they, they continue the way they're going and finish six.
- [32:20]
C
If you're in the championship, basically you're either in danger of getting relegated or you're in. In with a chance of getting promoted.
- [32:29]
A
Or both. Yeah.
- [32:30]
C
Or both. Do you expect an awful lot of championship sides to just sack off the FA cup with the third round coming up of the week? Yeah.
- [32:40]
D
This weekend, isn't it 100%? I think so. I think, I think, I think there's a lot of managers going. We need to give our players a rest and we'll do that in the Cup. I think we're seeing that increasingly.
- [32:50]
B
Hope Birmingham. Hope Birmingham do so.
- [32:53]
D
So I do think we'll see a lot of rotation. What is it, 22 games on TV? Yeah. Not so sure how many of those will be as great as they could be. Well, you know, reserves against reserves. Who knows?
- [33:04]
B
You mentioned lots of teams in danger of going down. Yeah. So Sheffield Wednesday on -7. But then they've all played different number of games. But Oxford have 22 points. Norwich 24, Portsmouth 25, Blackburn 28, Charlton 29. West Brom, who just sat around. Mason 31, Swansea 32, Chevy United 32, Southampton 33. Sadly, we just saw Ryan Mason. They lost 10 on the spin away from home, hadn't they? They started the season really like first four games or something. They started really well, but it just hasn't worked out.
- [33:32]
D
Yeah, it's very unfortunate because, you know, his reputation as a coach is there, I think, but I think sometimes there have been some big moments where some of his decisions which come back to him as far as like, substitutions go, I've kind of, kind of hurt him as well. Mikey Johnston, who continues to be really good, like anytime you might, you might see him pop up on highlights or, you know, on social media doing something like, he's still that guy again against Leicester, he was excellent. They were in the contest and he hit the post. At one point he was still causing loads of danger. But I was at West Brom's trip to Coventry a couple of weeks before that where, where they were leading at the break and Mason subbed him off at half time for no reason and it completely like derailed the momentum in this game. In this run of 10 without a win, there have been some strange moments where it didn't have to go that way and the away fans are, you know, understandably frustrated. Had it been 10 home games, I think he wouldn't have lasted this long at all. And I think that that record is like a century old or something. They're approaching that. I mean, it's, it's really bad. And as it happened on that, on that post match interview, I actually didn't ask him a question. I. He looks so kind of defeated and you know, you're saying how it wasn't good enough and he said quite a few things of that sort of ilk. Post match, I just let BBC Radio WM's reporter ask the questions and I was like, it's all right, Ryan, I don't have anything else to ask. You don't want to rub it in. So I feel, I really feel for him. He's been ground down and I hope he can bounce back. But it's. Yeah, it's a very, it's a really difficult one and they've had to sell a lot of players as well and. But within that, someone like Hegerberg has been amazing. He's like a proper poacher in the box, you know, running at full tilt and getting his toe on the end and getting A goal. So they've got like some of the tools there. They've lost quite a few but yeah, it's just not managed to pull it together. It's very unfortunate. And wherever they are, where are they now? On my little crib sheet that Barry definitely didn't look at. 18th on the table. It's not great, is it?
- [35:26]
B
I mean you can't call the league table.
- [35:29]
D
It's got results as well.
- [35:31]
A
Barry doesn't need a crib sheet. He's an EFN expert.
- [35:34]
B
Exactly. I think they're readily available league tables. Oxford sacked Gary Rower. Ooh, Gary Rouat just before Christmas. George, your very own Oxford United. How do you feel?
- [35:44]
A
Impatient because it's been a while since we sat him and we're still waiting for 3D manager. I think fans are kind of getting a bit concerned as to why it's taken this long. You know, I know there was a bit of a public outcry when Gary Rawat got sacked. The perception being that, you know, can Oxford get any better than Rowert? Possibly not in terms of a previous cv, but that, you know, he gave an amazing post match interview where he basically said he had run out of drawing boards and I think, you know, rallied himself. Would, would probably concede that, you know, despite the amazing jobs that he's done in the past, maybe, you know, the, the, his grip on the team and the performances were sliding and he wasn't necessarily sure how to get the best out of this side. And I definitely think that even though the perception is an Oxford Sugar relegator this season, we've seen in certain games that, that this is a squad very capable of winning games and doing so on the front foot with a kind of a core of very good attacking players and, or technically good players, which isn't necessarily what Robert likes in terms of, of the success he's had in the past where it's mainly been built, built on really good out of possession shape and good defensive unit, which is something that we maybe lack. So intrigued to see who's going to come in as far as I know.
- [36:51]
B
And, and again, sounds perfect.
- [36:54]
A
Oh my God. Yeah. But it's as far as I know that, you know, the club kind of concluded an interview process just after Christmas and you know, I've been basically waiting for the owner to, to make a decision as to which of the candidates he wants to be the manager. And yet it's the 7th of January and we still don't know. So. And there doesn't seem to be any, you know, white smoke yet coming from the. From the stadium, so we'll have to wait and see. But it's going to be a big job forever takes it on. And I think it's. It's always so difficult for managers to come into a job now because, you know, Oxford are odds on to go down in the relegation zone, far away from safety. But I can guarantee you that if Oxford get relegated this season, the finger will be pointed at the manager, regardless of the job that he's done, which is just the way that the world works. So I can see why it might not be the most appealing and why maybe Eric Tor here, our owner, who's a very ambitious, very wealthy man, you know, he might want a manager that. It's possibly unattainable, but we'll have to see.
- [37:51]
B
Sheffield Wednesday of three members of the consortium selected as the preferred bidder have been revealed. They describe themselves as a privately funded group of investors led by James Bord and Felix Romer, with Al Sharif Faisal Bin Jameel described as the consortium's chief executive. Sonny George. Do we know anything about these people?
- [38:11]
A
James Bord is someone who seemingly has made a big name for himself in the world of poker. You know, there's quite a long list, I would say, of people involved in gambling having quite a good record working at football clubs, given, I think an understanding of probability and chance is quite an important thing for someone who's going to make decisions in football to have. The only concern for Wednesday fans that James Bourne is also the man who is kind of credited with his. His AI company being the company that flagged up certain players to another championship club over the summer who just happened to be their rival, Sheffield United. And this AI tool flagged up some players from Bulgaria and various other places around the world and they have not played a single minute. And, you know, the club are trying to get rid of them at the moment, so that doesn't bode too well in terms of recruitment, although what. He's also the part owner of Dunferman, who have done some quite interesting things in recruitment. And a couple of these. I think they've got a. A center back who they brought in who's done very well, a young player. So have to wait and see.
- [39:15]
B
Did the AI players not work well because they were actually AI and that affected them.
- [39:20]
A
They didn't actually exist.
- [39:21]
B
Fair enough.
- [39:22]
A
They kept having to give them prompts in order to actually do what they were doing on the pitch.
- [39:25]
D
Just away from Sheffield Wednesday and just looking at any of the clubs Just to quickly flag. I would flag Blackburn Rovers, who have been absolutely atrocious at home this season, only won two. It's a pretty depressing place when I've been there this season. They did get a win against Millwall. That was a couple of games ago and then two nil Nils and then lost again. So before. Before a 22 draw with. With producer Joel's Charlton. But it's. It's really bad and lazy as this might sound. But the return of Todd Cantwell I think will be the difference between them staying up and going down. They put a lot through him. He's the only one who can kind of thinks about breaking the lines a bit and, and kind of gets play, gets the fans off the feet and they need a bit of that. It'll almost justify the fact he's got personalized gloves, I believe. But that and some teams around them being even worse, they might be the only reason they stay up. It's been. They've sold a lot of key players. You know, we know the, the Venki sort of model of selling on, but it's. It's very. It's pretty depressing. Were it not for a very good academy and someone like Campbell still available, I'd be very worried for them.
- [40:26]
A
Aaron Cashin's a very good signing for them as well, I should say. They bought. He had a really bad spell on loan at Birmingham this season, but he's not a bad player at all. He didn't show what he's about there. Smart pickup, I think will be a good one.
- [40:36]
B
All right, that'll do for part two. Part three, we'll do League one and League two. Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So League One, the top of it looks like this. Cardiff have 51 points, Lincoln 48, Bradford 46, Huddersfield and Bolton 39 and Stockport 39, Stevenage 37, Luton 35 and Reading 35. Played a few, you know, different number of games. How do we see League one then, Sunny?
- [41:11]
D
Well, first off, I'd say that Lincoln continues to just be an amazing story and the prospect of Lincoln West Ham is a real possibility next season, which would be very exciting for the away fans. To Lincoln, which is lovely. And you've got a great view of the cathedral, which is. Which is great. 60,000 at 60, 000 Stadium at West Ham and Lincoln might not work quite so well. So they've done amazingly well. They're on this incredible run, very excited and kind of giving. Giving Cardiff a run for the money. So very happy about them. And you'll notice Stephen, as you kind of drop down the, the, into the play out of the playoff picture at the moment. I kind of hope they can get back up there only because the, the, the, the job that Alex Ravel's done is essentially with, you know, not a massive amount of signings and they've all been just playing out of the skin. But it does feel like they, you know, someone like Huddersfield who was very slow at the start of the season but brought in all these players, have kind of caught them up. So, yeah, it's exciting.
- [42:08]
A
League?
- [42:08]
D
League one, Yeah.
- [42:09]
A
I think a sigh of relief went round Cardiff because Early says speculation that Brian Barry Murphy might have been of interest to Strasbourg, which wouldn't be a huge surprise given he was formerly he was Enzo Maresque's successor the Manchester City development team. And we know that Chelsea like to recruit from the Manchester City academy. Given the, the background of some of their kind of staff. He looks well, he will gladly staying. I just cannot overstate what an incredible job he's done. You know, I know there is a perception that Cardiff in League one should be one of the better teams in the league, but you look at what's happened to Luton this season, already gone through, our manager and Jack Wilsh are not, you know, having, having the best time of things, albeit with a couple of better recent performances. And, you know, Cardiff didn't really strengthen in the summer. He inherited this group of young talent who hadn't necessarily, you know, the championship is a hard place to showcase it, but he's brought them all on like now, if, as and when they return back to the championship. I'd say Cardiff have four or five players whose market value will be well in excess of £5 million. And that's down to Brian Barry Murphy coming in and coaching them and implementing a really attractive style of play. And it's a reminder I think, especially as we, you know, hit the second week of January, that as fans were so obsessed with players recruitment and there seems to be this idea that the only way that you can improve as a football team is to go out and buy players. And Cardiff was a reminder that actually going out and being clever in your managerial recruitment can be the best value thing that you do. And getting someone in who can take the group of players you've already got lot and breathe some life into them, develop them as players is actually can often be a much kind of more streamlined and more efficient way to improve. I think he'll go right to the very top and yeah, Cardiff you know, I totally agree with Sani that the job that Michael Scabala doing pound for pound is, is incredible. But Cardiff to me are the, you know, the best team in the league. I'm sure they'll win it.
- [44:04]
B
I still put, I've just bought in Josh Stokes on loan, who's the only good thing for Cambridge last season. He's a really good player, sort of number 10, bustling number 10 from Bristol City. He's really good.
- [44:14]
D
Just Josh Stokes. By the way, when they were playing Huddersfield a couple scenes ago, I was walking back from Huddersfield Stadium and the car park for the media is, is a bit away and the guy next to me was just wearing like a Cambridge jacket. I said, oh, you didn't do too badly today. And he's like, yeah, yeah. I was like, what, what's your involvement in the club? Oh, I'm a player. It was Josh Stokes. Oh, nice. I'd just be watching him for 90 minutes. I didn't even realize he was the best player. I hadn't noticed at all. So, yeah, I hope he does well.
- [44:42]
B
At the bottom then. Port Vale a little way adrift. 18 points although they won the last game. Doncaster have 23, Rotherham 24, Burton 27. That's a relegation zone above that. Orient, Northampton, Blackpool, Barnsley. God, I mean, it is. Barry mentioned the championship was tight. This George, is ridiculous in League one.
- [44:58]
A
Yeah, we kind of joked in the championship that you can be in danger of relegation and promotion at the same time. I mean, it's no joke in League one. You absolutely can be like if you are Peterborough, you know, going through a brilliant run of form, you are currently seven points clear of, sorry, seven points behind sixth. Stockport on 39 points. But you're also five points clear the relegation zone. Like Peterborough as Wimbledon, Mansfield, those teams in there, there's no doubt at all that they could either finish in the top six very, very comfortably if they put on a good run of form, or if they slide, they could finish in the bottom four. It's a, it's a brilliant league. It's unpredictable this season. You know, there are the couple of, of class teams where you look at Cardiff, Lincoln and Bradford at the top, who have a big gap to Huddersfield, Bolton and Stockport. But if there are three teams who you reckon could really make a run at the end of the season to crash that party, it's probably those three, given their, the quality they've got on their team and their ability to, to recruit in January, as we've seen already from Stockport and Josh Stokes. So Yeah, an amazing league. I wouldn't like to predict now, although I'm gonna have to next week, who's going to be going up and he's gonna be going down. Apart from, as I say, I think Cardiff. I'd be very surprised if they're not in the top two.
- [46:02]
B
Some run from Peterborough. At one point I was very excited to see that we would just. We would bypass them on our way up from League two.
- [46:09]
C
Sorry, who's the manager of Peterborough? I. I am aware they.
- [46:12]
A
Luke Williams.
- [46:13]
B
Do we have any more information on Luke Williams before. For listeners who aren't totally across his.
- [46:18]
D
Life, the Swansea one, he was in a. He was working in an airport in between jobs as well, if you recall. He was being a porter.
- [46:25]
A
He's very good. He was the. He was the manager of Knott's county who led them back into the efl and then he got the Swansea job and as is often the case with Swansea managers, he started well, then it kind of tailed off a little bit. But he's come in at Peterborough and really improved them. Kind of plays good football and they've got a striker called Harry Leonard, who they brought in from Blackburn, who I think will be the. You know, it's been a while since Peterborough bought a striker for a million pounds and sold them for kind of £7 million. But if they're going to do it again, it feels like Lennon could be that, because he is pure goals.
- [46:54]
D
Max, by the way, sorry, as. Has there been any Australian reaction to John Brady taking a Port Vale? Is he now like every Australian's third club or something? Has anyone noticed that at all?
- [47:04]
B
I will say, in the environs of Melbourne's inner North, there has been precisely no reaction to that news, but more as we get it. So the top of League Two Bromley have 48 points on a great run. Sweden 46, Warsaw 43, Salford 43, MK Dons 41, Cambridge 41, Chesterfield 40, Knox County 39. I mean, look, sonny, if Bromley, you know, it would be some story if they won this. If they went. Even if they just went up.
- [47:33]
D
Yeah, it would be amazing. It kind of feeds into the wider narrative of the. The 3Up campaign from the National League, because Bromley were very recently in the National League, of course, weren't they? So it's been an incredible run. I feel like it's almost lazy to say, you know, Michael Cheeks just doing great, but he is 12 goals. But, you know, the team around him seems to be just doing so well. The manager, whose name escapes me at this moment.
- [48:00]
B
Is it?
- [48:01]
D
Yes. Andy.
- [48:01]
A
Woman.
- [48:01]
D
I was gonna say he's a very charismatic man. So charismatic I forgot his name.
- [48:06]
B
He's Gareth Southgate's best friend. That's all we need to know.
- [48:09]
A
Yeah. Woody and Nord, they wrote a combined autobiography together.
- [48:13]
D
Wow. Tell us more.
- [48:15]
A
Yeah, it was called Woody. I mean, I know this because Andy Woodman was Oxford's goalkeeper. So I read it when I was about 12. They came through at Crystal palace together. Gareth Southgate is Freddie Woodman, the goalkeeper's godfather, who's Andy Woodman's son.
- [48:27]
D
Yeah.
- [48:27]
A
And they wrote a book together called Woody and Nord, which I can't imagine there are that many copies. There is one on my bookshelf and it's just about them growing up as friends.
- [48:34]
B
Is it. Is it a page turner? Is it every bit as good as Grisham?
- [48:39]
A
Look, you know, if you're an Oxford fan and you're 12 years old. It was a page turner. I haven't read it since. I can definitely read it and let you know next time. Next time. We're on the. I'm on the pod.
- [48:46]
B
How do you see the rest of the top of League two, George?
- [48:49]
A
Just incredibly competitive again. League two is mad in terms of runs like Bromleys because, you know, the cliche in the championship is anyone can be anyone. I don't necessarily think that's always the case, but in League two, it's so unpredictable. So when you win five games in a row or six games in a row, you tend to fly up the table, which is what's happened with Bromley Swindon having a brilliant season under. Under Ian Holloway. You know, I've doubted their staying power, but they're making me look like that might have been biased rather than any analysis because they continue doing it. Walsall under Matt Sadler, you know, for them to go again after the difficulty of last season has been incredibly impressive. I think a lot of people thought that they would drop off and Sadler would get sacked, but he's, I think, showing what a good operator he is. MK Dons, despite being fifth, have probably been a bit disappointing, like with the money that they spent. Spent in the summer. And I'm led to believe they're going to spend pretty heavily again in January. And with kind of master promotion winner Paul Warren in charge, we probably thought that they would have mounted more of a. A challenge on top spot than they have so far. But, you know, I still think Cambridge are a team that because they're so solid and because they give very little away and because they've got Neil Harris, who I think guarantees you a certain benchmark. Yeah, I'm, I'm still, as I said last time I was on, I'm still pretty convinced that Cambridge are going to have something to say in the business end of the season. Yeah, we look quite good.
- [50:06]
B
I mean, it's obvious is that. That's when it gets worrying. But I sort of started to, you know, just got just solid Pelly rudder, KU obviously went all the way up the leagues with Luton. Is such a great player. Although was a really great moment. I think it was jilling him away where jilling him had a penalty and our keeper saved it. He's very good at saving penalties. And at the corner, like you can hear someone's filming. It might even be like one of the cameras and he is just saying to the crowd, you sit down, you sit down, you sit down, you sit down. Corner comes in, Gillingham score a header and it's okay, mate, maybe you, you know, it's not quite as good as the Charlton fans, but it's up there at the bottom. Harrogate and Newport. Christian Fuchs, Newport both on 17, then Shrewsbury 19, Crawley 19, Busto overs 21, Barrow 24. And a bit of a jump up to them. Who's. Who's going down, Chaps, since we last.
- [50:57]
D
Spoke, Christian Fuchs has got his first win. That's a 20 against Crew. So that, that's something. So whether he's still being held to ransom by the guy who runs his academy for him and he can get back there, I don't know. He's these two points off safety because that's. That's all you need is a couple of wins. So that, that's a big push. Harrogate is the. Is Simon Weaver, isn't it, whose dad's the. The chair. So he's never going to be in any trouble on that side of things. But maybe. Are they running out of. Running out of time now? I think just, you know, have the. Have they burned all their matches? Are they kind of. I don't know where else they can really go. You know, they've been doing so well for so long, kind of punching above the weight, but then again, they're also only two points from safety, so it could, it could be anyone, really. By the way, just very quickly at the top. I do think Warsaw are very much dropping off. I don't think they'll be going up at all. I'll spay the details for next time.
- [51:46]
B
We beat them two nil and they, they didn't look Great. I suppose the interesting thing at the bottom of League 2 is those sides that were in Lee, weren't you? Shrewsbury, George. Bristol Rovers, you know, Bristol Rovers are big team to be down there.
- [51:57]
A
Yeah, I think they're probably going to get away from it now. They had that horrific losing run which eventually Steve Evans managed to stop with a draw and then they were tunnel up against Bromley on Boxing Day, had a man sent off and lost 3, 2, which is pretty frustrating. But. But we saw them last time out go to Shrewsbury and what was a massive game for both revens in terms of trying to get his first win. But also for Shrewsbury, given where they both were in the table and they went there and they won 3 nil. And given the, the quality of the squad that the Evans has got and given the underlying numbers, you know, their, their XG data was net, you know, suggested they were just getting ridiculously unlucky in terms of that. They had something like 120 shots to score two goals in this run. Like it was. It was a crazy run that couldn't really continue. The turnaround was probably going to come and I'd be surprised if they got relegated. Big concern for Shrewsbury now. Michael Appleton is their manager who, you know, there is a, A bit of a history at the moment of teams going down from League one and then falling straight out of the efl. We've seen a couple of clubs do it. It Forest Green being one of them and a couple of others, Carlisle being another, and they look in massive danger of doing it again. It's a club that have been looking, you know, for outside investment for quite a long time. The fans, I think, are really frustrated with the inability to do that and to sell the club. There were rumors in the summer that sale was coming, but it didn't come. And it feels like a club that is just basically just falling behind the rest of football right now in terms of what they're able to do. You know, the perception from the outside is that they shouldn't be down there, but I, I think, and we said at the beginning of the season, I think if Appleton keeps them up then that would be a pretty. A job well done given the demise there and with Newport. Newport are definitely improving under Fuchs, but the difficulty for them is Sammy Braybrook, who is their best player by miles. And I'd also almost say in kind of a weird. It doesn't often happen that one of the best players in a league plays for a team in 23rd or 24th, but I would say that he has been one of the standout players in League two this season on loan from Leicester and Leicester recalled him and sent him straight to Chesterfield where he played 90 minutes on. On the weekend. So losing one of the best players in the league out of a team that are already struggling is going to be hard for Fuchs to. To deal with, but they're definitely in a better spot now than they were previously.
- [54:05]
C
So you mentioned Steve Evanser. Did you see how much weight he has lost?
- [54:10]
A
Oh, incredible. Yeah.
- [54:11]
C
When he was unveiled as Bristol Rovers manager, it was quite incredible, I would say inspirational to all those chubsters out there.
- [54:20]
A
And then he, you know, he. He sent five loan players back yesterday, so he's obviously he's in the mood for shedding weight.
- [54:28]
B
Yeah, no, it's quite an extra. I didn't believe it was him. It was, you know. Yeah, you're right, Barry. Credit for the guy. Anyway, that'll do for today. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Sonny.
- [54:36]
D
Cheers. Thank you.
- [54:36]
B
Thank you, George.
- [54:37]
A
Thank you.
- [54:37]
D
Cheers, Baz.
- [54:38]
C
Thank you.
- [54:39]
B
Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove. Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens. Palencia Premier League tonight and we'll be vaccinated.
- [54:50]
A
This is the Guardian.