The football: It's our last show, live in London (slightly edited for content like movies on ITV in the 1990s, but still self-indulgently long). We're joined by Nedum Onuoha and an audience of well-wishers to send you off into a future without SPM. There are multiple middle class heckles, some essential beepings out of inappropriate words, and by the end even the odd something in the eye as we say goodbye after five and half years of podding. To you all, wherever you are, and to whichever level ...
Jul 27, 2022•2 hr 59 min•Transcript available on Metacast ***Nedum Onuoha will be our guest at the live show in London! He's joining us for our final episode on July 20th. Get your tickets here: https://myticket.co.uk/gigs/set-piece-menu-live-london-2021-12-16-19-00*** The football: With the emergence of European clubs and the nations a lot of their players serve, is the dominance of the US Women's National Team under threat, and what will Euro 2022 tell us about how next year's World Cup might go? Email: setpiecemenu@gmail.com
Jul 06, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: At time of recording, three players key to Ajax's recent success had already left during this transfer window, with potentially at least another three heading out (maybe all to Manchester United) before it's over. Rory is annoyed about the financial and demographic realities that has led to another exodus, and wants to tell us why. Steven prepares a whole string orchestra's worth of tiny violins... LIVE SHOW TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE!!! Head to https://myticket.co.uk/gigs/set-pie...
Jun 29, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: Some Set Piece Menu nostalgia. You miss Andy Hinchcliffe, we do too. So in response to requests to revisit some of his stand out 'Soccer Story' moments, Hugh, Rory and Steven introduce a trip down memory lane. Whether it was crustaceans in the bath at Bellfield, Mrs Big Ron's platter of Kit-Kats or the injury that finally ended an entirely sufficient career, Chinch never failed us when a tale from his playing days with all adult behaviour and libel-worthy details removed was requir...
Jun 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: 2022 has brought about a notable conscious uncoupling. After 30 beautiful and productive years together the video game partnership between EA Sports and FIFA is ending. How did this happen, why does it matter and whose future looks brighter: the gaming behemoth or the owner of 'the brand'? Plus, a not inconsiderable announcement that we think will make a ticket to SPM Live in London on 20th July even more valuable... https://myticket.co.uk/artists/set-piece-menu-live Email: setpiec...
Jun 07, 2022•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: Did Hugh say he'd written a book? Well just in case you missed it, he takes the opportunity of Rory and Steven being distracted by a combination of covid and foreign travel (not both at the same time) to chat with the subject of said book. Nedum Onuoha is a former Manchester City, QPR and Real Salt Lake footballer with a tale to tell about his career and those with whom he shared it, but Kicking Back is about so much more. This conversation focuses on the so much more. So now we ha...
Jun 01, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our hiatus-interrupting continues with another new pod, and another reminder to join us for a special SPM LIVE in London on Wednesday 20th July. Get your tickets here: https://myticket.co.uk/gigs/set-piece-menu-live-london-2021-12-16-19-00 The football: The end of the Premier League season brings a comforting inevitability, the Hot Takes and Takeaways episode. We also reveal the standings and stats behind the soaringly successful SPMPLPL. Email: setpiecemenu@gmail.com
May 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're breaking into our hiatus to do two things: 1) be with you for a run of mini-pods to mark the end of the Premier League season and more, and 2) for naked financial gain. The football: It's more than a year since the European Super League came and very quickly went, but it seems all the decisions made by the powers that be since are benefiting those who wanted the ESL in the first place, rather than satisfying the movement that mobilised so passionately against it. So why does football keep ...
May 18, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast SPM returns from hiatus to consider how the sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich will affect Chelsea, the Premier League, and football's billionaire bubble. We will now politely return to our mini-hibernation, but in the meanwhile if you'd like to send an email, setpiecemenu@gmail.com is permanently open for business.
Mar 10, 2022•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: March 2020 was football's hiatus, January 2022 is ours. With changes afoot in the SPM family, and a relaunch expected later in the year, we thought we'd give you all a bit of a break. Consider it an extended deadline if you haven't yet listened to all the episodes, a cheat code for your homework. We will return, and if you have any strong opinions about how we look when we do (that we can either ignore or take as our own), send them to setpiecemenu@gmail.com We remain on social med...
Jan 26, 2022•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: Is Serie A the most exciting league in football right now? And if so, does that mean it has at last shaken off its stereotype - one that hasn't been true on the pitch for a long while now - of dull, defensive football? The food: A gingerbread biscuit that Rory couldn't wait until the pod to eat. It was the shape of a bee, which leads the others to suggest he's hankering for his old home of Manchester. Email: setpiecemenu@gmail.com
Jan 19, 2022•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: As the latest Africa Cup of Nations begins to unfortunate characterisations and complaints about scheduling and availability, we ask if those questioning the relevance of competitions that clash with the Premier League and others in Western Europe are guilty of a little too much navel-gazing. The food: Rory's dog Hector has eaten something, and it has made him ill. Is chicken two days past its sell-date the culprit, or as Rory's son Ed suggests, a poisonous plant (the kind not-at-a...
Jan 12, 2022•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: The Premier League likes attracting the best managerial talent, but what if that talent wants to change the Premier League? Thomas Tuchel, Pep Guardiola, Ralf Rangnick and Jurgen Klopp have all spoken about their opposition to how the festive schedule is unduly punitive on their players, but if they wanted the job in England shouldn't they just accept that's how it's done? Or can we, your humble SPMers, find a solution? The food: In a shocking twist to our pre-holiday predictions, ...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: Part two of our Set Piece Menu Review of the Year allows us to skew negative, and yet it's a shorter episode. Go figure... The food: Having recorded the pod pre-Christmas, we undertake what has become an annual guessing game about what we ate on the big day, and how much we "enjoyed" it. Email: setpiecemenu@gmail.com Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/en-gb/stores/set-piece-menu-podcast
Dec 29, 2021•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: We're getting festively reflective as we bring you our Set Piece Menu Review of the Year, which is in no way attempting to sound or feel like another annual retrospective (the one which Rory gets uppity about). We've split it up into two parts, and because it's Christmas, part one prompts us to be nice about things. The food: Hugh is desperate to spread the word about Knopper chocolate bars. If you're near an Aldi, seek them out. Now. Email: setpiecemenu@gmail.com Merch: https://ww...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: What's the difference between watching a game on TV and being at the stadium itself? A listener poses the question, and we try not to sound too snobby in our response. The food: Steven is eating a clementine, which prompts Rory to reveal he and his family are lessening their food footprint, which means no more bananas. Email: setpiecemenu@gmail.com Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/en-gb/stores/set-piece-menu-podcast
Dec 15, 2021•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: A listener who's relatively new to football wants us to put a little meat on the bones he regularly hears in the coverage of football about 'style', 'identity' and 'philosophy'. What does it all actually mean? The food: Rory has discovered potato latkes and is immediately devastated that it took him this long. The announcement: For reasons explained on the pod, we are having to postpone our live show in London. Please forgive us, and have a listen for what to do next! email: setpie...
Dec 08, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: After Paul Merson wondered whether Ralf Rangnick's lack of experience in English football might make him an inappropriate appointment by Manchester United, we ask if English football has an identity problem. In other words it doesn't really have one, and that's why there's no reason for Rangnick to have experienced it... The food: Steven has a hangover so severe he can't even eat the pain au raisin he bought from Euston Station. LIVE SHOW TICKETS: We are in London's Courtyard Theat...
Dec 01, 2021•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: In the unforeseen absence of two of our number, we fill their places with people who actually know what they're talking about. Peter Drury and Conor McNamara are some of the finest exponents of the art of commentary, and there's also Steven; together we have a conversation about what people don't realise about the life and craft of the person you might listen to a lot, but not know a lot about. The food: Hugh is struggling with his voice - which he insists is down to something spur...
Nov 24, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: The qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup may well end up delivering familiar countries to the finals, but in getting there has it shown us that international football might have more of something than the best of the club game: jeopardy? The food: Steven has stolen four Viennese Whirls from his partner Katie. Rory, a great lover of biscuits, reveals he's never even had a Viennese Whirl. LIVE SHOW TICKETS: Here's the link to click on for tickets for our London Live Show, ce...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: In front of a live audience at Manchester's National Football Museum, we discuss whether football does a good job of curating its own history. Also includes extras! The food: The live show offers the four of us our first opportunity to eat together since March 2020, until Chinch bails early because he's eaten too many of the hula hoops in the green room. We have another live show coming up, and this one's to celebrate our 5th anniversary! Join us at the Courtyard Theatre in London'...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: Is complacency football's greatest leveller? All the talk of complacency from those on the pitch is about how to avoid it, but are those in the boardroom falling prey to it all too often? The food: As we ask you for ideas of what kind of food we could provide our live show audiences, Steve suggests the London show might be a good opportunity to try something new that's hit the capital, but not yet the regions, and that Rory's fancy pot noodle is the perfect example. Tickets for our...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: After the last round of the EFL Cup (yes we were organised enough to make a plan then and save it for this week's round) Pep Guardiola talked of his young Manchester City bucks benefiting more from playing Wycombe every week than taking on someone their own size. We cycle through the possible solutions to the conundrum Pep poses, some of which Pep won't like. The food: Steven has been showered with gourmet gifts from his kindly neighbours during his forced period of Covid-related i...
Oct 27, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: After Benjamin White revealed he'd never watched a football game that he wasn't a part of himself, we ask Chinch how a player's relationship with the game can run so counter to what many of us assume, and what many more expect. The food: Chinch is home alone, and without the chef of the family has reduced his diet to crumpets. Only crumpets. Emails to setpiecemenu@gmail.com And tickets to our live show at the National Football Museum can be found here: https://t.co/JOw261zNKy?amp=1...
Oct 20, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: Following the Saudi (sorry, PIF) takeover of Newcastle (see SPM175 for more) we talk about how money, and the availability of wealth regardless of its origin, is celebrated more than anything else. Why do we hold financial might in such high regard, when there are so many other things we could be praising more? The food: The Rod Smith Drunk Salad. Rory explains how his father puts together his daily salad of leaves, spring onions, radishes (and occasional cheese), and inhales it as...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: After Julian Nagelsmann talked about football potentially introducing an NFL-style playbook we ask if that's completely preposterous, or if in fact we're already headed in that direction. Plus Hugh gets very defensive about how to say the word defence. The food: Steve (kinda) shares a sausage sandwich on sourdough at a café in Sale with a former Manchester United manager. The rest of the group are embarrassed when they can't guess which one. ***LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT*** We are doin...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: For availability, and as it turns out, expediency reasons (Rory's dad is about to have lunch, and we're not allowed to be in the way) we bring you a second edition of what proved to be a hugely popular (you'll have to trust us on that) Soccer Pod Potpourri. It's our mailbag episode, and deals with everything from the legitimisation of banter to musak. The food: Chinch has a slice of what we'll call 'Reconstituted Carrot Cake'. Reconstituted because his wife Nicky accidentally let t...
Sep 29, 2021•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: Upon Jimmy Greaves' passing, his astounding goal-scoring record was brought to the attention to a whole new generation of football fans. Why was it not something that more people instinctively knew about, or remembered? We ask how we strike the right balance between those historical achievements and the modern game. The food: Rory has visited his parents, and the deli nearby to pick up his favourite lunch item - a chicken tikka, tzatziki and mango chutney salad sandwich on twisted ...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast The football: The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo's 're-debut' couldn't be shown on television in the UK was considered by some to be proof that the age-old Saturday 3pm blackout was no longer fit for purpose. So we ask how fiercely we should preserve tradition, even if it seems anachronistic? It's a conversation that very quickly makes us appear like middle-aged men shouting into a void about teenagers. The food: A nice cup of hot crisps. Minutes before recording, Hugh makes the mistake of indulgin...
Sep 15, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast The football: With caveats abounding that we are men talking about women's football, this week's discussion is about how the new TV deal and associated exposure could give the women's game a chance to forge a different path to the one the men travelled 30 years ago. For those who desire autonomy within the sport, might changing the structure be a (so far unconsidered)way to see that through into the long term future? The food: The food, according to Rory, is not actual food, but the chance to en...
Sep 08, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
