Merry Christmas from Set Piece Menu! The football: Following a frankly below-average summer outing for the SPM Football Fun quiz, the clamour* has grown for a Christmas special edition, to both entertain you all, and provide easy content for us. Hugh dips back in to his question-a-day calendar to ask an advent-suitable number of 24 for our three intrepid contestants. Will Rory win again? Will Steve be able to answer any without speaking with his mouth full? And most importantly, will Chinch enga...
Dec 23, 2019•34 min
The football: If we accept we use the word 'great' too much, when should we use it? What do we mean when we talk of a player as 'great', or even 'a great', and while we're at it, should we perhaps find a better way of describing a goal as a 'great' goal? The food: Two sweet treats. One is a home-made non-beetroot brownie lovingly made by Nicky Hinchcliffe; the other is shop-bought off-brand stollen hurriedly purchased by Hugh. Contact: [email protected] @setpiecemenu facebook.com/setpieceme...
Dec 18, 2019•1 hr 3 min
The football: Which players have failed to live up to the hype they received when they were teenagers? Why are they considered the next best thing in the first place, and what are the reasons things turn out differently to those high expectations? And, most importantly, can we get a Select XI out of it? The food: Rory provides bacon sandwiches that are definitely now in the top 10 of all SPM bacon sandwiches (the other top nine are all courtesy of a Mrs N Hinchcliffe) Send in your suggestions fo...
Dec 11, 2019•1 hr 2 min
The football: In a world where some clubs are making it increasingly clear the manager's role is decreasing in significance, why then do we talk about them so much? Why do we hang on their every word, and why are the club's narratives driven so much by their successes and failures? The food: Cinnamon swirls that prove so tasty that Rory's wife Kate comes to grab one after hearing about them from upstairs. Send us an email to [email protected] Send us a tweet to @setpiecemenu
Dec 04, 2019•58 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: When is a club genuinely a crisis club? The word is used too often to describe a short term lurch into misfortune, but is a crisis club actually one more disposed to a longer period of malaise and underachievement? What is the blueprint of a crisis club, and is it one that doesn't have a blueprint? The food: Not satisfied with catering for the masses at the live show, Nicky Hinchcliffe has provided a h...
Nov 27, 2019•1 hr 10 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. And this time they're doing it live! The 100th Episode Spectacular is upon us, as a room of (actually paying) guests join Andy, Rory, Steven and Hugh as part of the Manchester Podcast Festival. The football: It Must Have Been Love... But Is It Over Now? We discuss if the enjoyment we get out of football is now outweighed by the things we don't like about it - and wonder if there might even be a need for us both to g...
Nov 20, 2019•59 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: What the script said was not supposed to be a VAR episode... turned into a VAR episode. But there's more too! We ask if the new technology has highlighted a problem with referees, or whether it's shown that we expect too much of the officials. The food: Steven cooks a chorizo and red pepper omelette, while Hugh brings some left over birthday cake. Contact: @setpiecemenu [email protected] facebook....
Nov 13, 2019•1 hr 5 min
The latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Is it time we admitted we were wrong about some managers who have confounded our preconceptions? There's been a lot of Brendan Rodgers bashing, but his Leicester team are flying high; meanwhile Marco Silva - once the hipsters' choice - can't seem to make it work at Everton. Time for some SPM re-evaluation. The food: Much to Rory's disgust, having been away from us for a little while, it's another du...
Nov 06, 2019•1 hr 1 min
The latest edition of Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Should support be unwavering? Inspired by recent events at Southampton and Arsenal we discuss how and when the patience of fans justifiably cracks. Is it acceptable to beat an early, and hasty retreat in anticipation of a debacle, or send a clear and obvious message to a player you feel is underperforming? And on the subject of clear and obvious, how can we ignore the sudden VAR overcorre...
Oct 30, 2019•1 hr 1 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: A sequel to last week's pod, we ask how players do such remarkable things in an environment most of us couldn't imagine, with expectation levels we've never faced. The food: We're chez Hinchcliffe, and you know what that means. Nicky treats us to a two-course brunch which is indeed a remarkable thing produced despite high expectation levels. Don't forget to buy your tickets for the 100th Episode Live S...
Oct 23, 2019•1 hr 7 min
We are back with the latest edition of Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Why do footballers do stupid things? A number of recent incidents have brought a player's off field actions into a spotlight that seems to reveal some pretty poor decision making. Is it because they're footballers, or are these human frailties amplified by unique circumstances and scrutiny. The food: Fajitas, created by Steve, completely devoured by everyone else. Plus: R...
Oct 16, 2019•58 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Is it sufficient to simply support a club, a league, or a type of football outside the mainstream, or do you have to actively promote and proselytise to not be considered part of the problem it faces? Our case study is women's football, but our conversation is about much more. The food: Doughnuts. Not the expensive type found in a branded refrigerator at the local supermarket, but the cheaper ones just...
Sep 25, 2019•58 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: After high profile mistakes in recent months by England international defenders, we ask why players tend to make the kind of errors for their country that they wouldn't for their clubs, and whether it's because of the coaching they're getting at club level is the best it has ever been. The food: A stir-fry. Not prepared prior to the pod, but afterwards, because Hugh is concerned about juggling recordin...
Sep 18, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Welcome to the latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Which players are so underrated they're rated? Whether they're at an unfashionable club, or play in an unfashionable position, or they buck an expected trend, some players are described as underrated so much that they've become the opposite. We make some suggestions, and now we'd like your help in creating an SPM select XI! Send your players to @setpiecemenu or [email protected] The ...
Sep 11, 2019•1 hr 6 min
The latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: How would some of the best players from yesteryear fared in today's game? Did some have the skillset to survive, or are their talents non-transferable? The food: Lemon drizzle cake, shop bought by Rory, but presented in a way to suggest otherwise. Get in touch with subject suggestions, soccer stories and Out of Context Reacher passages: Twitter @setpiecemenu Email [email protected] www.facebook...
Sep 04, 2019•1 hr 5 min
This is the latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: In the context of Bury and Bolton's dramatic fight for financial survival, we ask if the Football League can sustain all of its professional clubs. Surprisingly, solutions are offered. Less surprisingly, nobody will pay attention. The food: Rory surpasses himself, with a lunchtime spread that would be appreciated by any number of the local delis. Except they won't sponsor us so he went to M&...
Aug 28, 2019•1 hr 6 min
This is the latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: The Entourage. Neymar has one. Messi has one. Hinchcliffe didn't have one. Who are they and do they actually help or hinder a superstar player's career? The food: Breakfast baps with a selection of fillings in, and this is crucial, home made muffins, provided by the inestimable Nicky Hinchcliffe. Don't forget to enter the SPMPLPL for the new Premier League season! Head to www.tinyurl.com/set...
Aug 21, 2019•1 hr 2 min
The latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Wayne Rooney's impending move to Derby posed some questions about the relationship between football and gambling, so we consider the two increasingly comfortable bed fellows. The food: Steven has prepared a vegetarian feast, because he was recently visited by a vegetarian, who clearly didn't eat enough of the feast to prevent the need for the disposal of leftovers. Don't forget to enter your predict...
Aug 14, 2019•56 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: We have some questions, queries, and frankly a few quibbles (well, Rory does) ahead of the new Premier League season, so here is our opportunity to ask if there'll be a title race, if VAR is going to work, and whether the new rules (sorry, laws) will make a difference. The food: Steve's son George gets to decide, so we're having beans on toast. What's good enough for a growing five year old is good eno...
Aug 07, 2019•56 min
The new episode of Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Tactical Periodisation. A rather boring name for a vital part of the game. What is it, who came up with it, and how has it essentially become football's common sense approach to training. The food: Rory provides sandwiches, which are bought from the Co-op in the most testing of circumstances, as his sodden clothes can testify. Please email us on [email protected] We're also on twitter a...
Jul 31, 2019•1 hr
The latest episode of Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk about football over food. The football: The Clutch Gene. Why do some sportspeople produce their best under the most intense pressure and in the most crucial moment? And why did Andy Hinchcliffe have none of those qualities? Our former pro reveals how he felt during the most significant day of his career - the 1995 FA Cup Final - and, spoiler alert: it wasn't good. The food: To thank us for taking him to the very depths of...
Jul 24, 2019•1 hr 1 min
The final part of a summer series brought to you by Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: We conclude our series on the legitimate voices in football with something that approaches a conclusion (no spoilers here though). After a season that brought these issues almost to boiling point, do we see light at the end of a tunnel we’ve been heading down with a little too much enthusiasm over the last few months in particular, or will temperatures rise e...
Jul 17, 2019•41 min
The third part of the summer special from Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: We continue the conversation determining who has a legitimate voice in football, asking if it's harder to determine what a legitimate voice is, when we can now listen to so many more of them, and also have so many ways of offering our own opinion. The food: After eating too many pork-filled pastry items, Rory decides that we should have an episode off, before tackling ...
Jul 10, 2019•40 min
This is the latest part of the summer specials provided by Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Part two of our series on the Legitimate Football Voice. We ask where the balance lies between theory and experience. Do former players know everything, and does that come at the expense of those who study the game but have never played it? The food: Our beige buffet is still going strong, with the sausage-based snacks and crunchy wotsits (carrots) doi...
Jul 03, 2019•48 min
The latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Part one of our summer special series of 2019! Over the next four weeks we're talking about legitimate football voices. Why has football discourse become so polarised, fractious and angry, particularly towards the end of last season? We discuss why so many believe there is a lack of legitimacy in voices other than their own. The food: A beige buffet. Ever had a meeting over lunch in the office? We t...
Jun 26, 2019•47 min
On the longest day of the year the longest wait is over for the new episode of Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Diego Maradona. We speak to Asif Kapadia - the director of the movie(out now, go and see it) about the footballing icon, and how his star rose and fell in Naples during a spell with a previously unsuccessful club on the wrong side of Italian history. The food: Hershey's Cookie and Cream bars. They are the latest purchase from an air...
Jun 21, 2019•37 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: A Pod Postbag. So many of you get in touch asking us to talk about a topic of your choosing, and on so many occasions we don't get round to it. So here's a chance to make amends, with several of your subject suggestions dealt with in double quick time. The food: Lasagne, for the second time in recent pod history, but as it's made clear to Hugh, this one is properly home made. Get in touch: @setpiecemen...
Jun 12, 2019•53 min
The latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: How did the three teams that gained promotion from the Championship do it, and will it serve them well in the Premier League? We discuss if there's a philosophy that Norwich, Sheffield United and Aston Villa adopted, and if others should use it as a blueprint to follow for potential future promotion to the top flight. The food: Salt-cured pork presented within an oven-bottom muffin, with a selection...
Jun 05, 2019•1 hr 2 min
The latest Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Training. Unless you're a member of Marcelo Bielsa's extended entourage, what happens on the training field remains a bit of a mystery. Andy attempts to cast his mind back to tell us how training sessions work, how matches are prepared for, and why some methods are better than others. The food: Welsh Cakes, provided by Hugh, with strawberry jam, provided by Hugh's mum. Get in touch via email: setpie...
May 29, 2019•1 hr 7 min
This is Set Piece Menu - the podcast where four friends talk football over food. The football: Who are Uefa's priority? With the difficulties confronting an ever-decreasing number of fans in getting to Baku for the Europa League final, and astronomical prices for those attempting to attend the Champions League final in Madrid, why aren't supporters at the forefront of geographical and financial considerations when picking host cities? The food: Rory provides some bagels with smoked salmon and cr...
May 23, 2019•57 min
