There were no surprise results in the League Cup, but there were some surprising moments. Crystal Palace led Arsenal for fifty minutes at The Emirates before succumbing to a Gabriel Jesus hat-trick, Southampton pushed Liverpool all the way in a closer-than-you-might-expect 2-1 defeat. But there was no surprise in Brentford losing away at Newcastle because for some reason Brentford seem to lose rather a lot of their away games. We’ve got an update on the Marcus Rashford situation, we’ve got most ...
Dec 18, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Yep, those A22 guys are back with a new idea for ruining football. And it’s really quite something. Ninety six teams in four divisions that are split into multiple splinter divisions, all attempting to reach some sort of knock out round. I’ll level with you, I’m not a fan. There’s been a lot of news today. There’s the Mudryk banned substance story, there’s Marcus Rashford announcing that he’s ready for a new challenge, there’s the FIFA Best Awards, there’s Ronaldo running for President. No, not ...
Dec 17, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fifteen years ago, Bournemouth were in the fourth division, or League Two in the parlance of the youth. Now they’re sixth in the Premier League and we’re almost at the halfway stage. Out there somewhere is a kid who started supporting them in 2009 and that kid must think that life is always like this. I don’t know whether to envy him or pity him. You can pity Lazio. They got done 6-0 at home by Internazionale. And you can pity Trabzonspor, who conceded a 98th minute winner to Galatasaray. Actual...
Dec 16, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast If I was Pep Guardiola’s friend, I honestly don’t know what I’d say to him. I’d probably just buy him a big drink and let him speak when he’s ready. City weren’t particularly good at the Etihad, but they had the better of a low quality tussle and, 1-0 up with two minutes left, they would have expected to win it. Listener, they did not win it. Carl Anka has been telling us for weeks about Amad Diallo. He was right. But if Pep had a bad day, what word do we use for Russell Martin? His Southampton ...
Dec 15, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast And they were very fortunate to do so. Jack Pitt Brooke was watching and he thinks Rangers should have been out of sight of Spurs long before they scrambled back into the game to rescue a point. He’s right too. All of our reporters were in cold places for this episode. Carl Anka was shivering away in the Czech Republic watching Man Utd fight back for a crucial Europa League victory. But the -1 he experienced there was positively balmy compared to the -8 that greeted Lucy Oliva in Kazakhstan. So ...
Dec 12, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is Manchester City losing a game even news anymore? We think so and we’ve put it as our lead item because we think this one really means something. They’ve only got two games left, they haven’t hit double figures yet and they play PSG in their penultimate fixture. They may be in danger. Though the same could be said about PSG. Either way, Sam Lee is on hand to explain more. We’ve got Art de Roche at the Emirates watching young Miles Lewis-Skelly in action, we’ve got Seb Stafford Bloor in Germany...
Dec 11, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast But how long will it last? PSG are qualifying for an unseeded play-off place right now, but let’s look again in 24 hours, shall we? And they’ve still got to play Manchester City in January. I know, I know, but maybe they’ll have bought a new defensive midfielder by then. Elsewhere Liverpool won again. It really shouldn’t be possible to five points clear after six games of a 36 team group stage, but fair play, they found a way. Didn’t watch the football last night? Don’t worry, we’ve got every ga...
Dec 10, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast It was built up as “El Sackio”, so does West Ham’s win against Wolves spell the end of the road for Gary O’Neil? How upset are Tottenham fans with Sunday’s performance? Well, if Danny Kelly is anything to go by…very upset. And what’s going on with Mo Salah’s contract? Si Hughes joins us with an update. It’s time for another big week of European football, but can you recall what’s going on? Can you even name the top three in the Champions League table? Fortunately, we’ve got you covered with a gr...
Dec 09, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast They’re never dull, are they? But how much more of this are Tottenham’s fans going to take? Spurs started brilliantly, but blew a two goal lead to lose 4-3 to Chelsea at home. Jack Pitt Brooke was there. That means that Chelsea are the nearest team to Liverpool, who didn’t play this weekend, but still came out feeling that they’d won. Arsenal, you see, failed to beat Fulham. There’s no shame in that, of course, Fulham are a very decent side these days. Jordan Campbell explains what went wrong. A...
Dec 08, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast I don’t get it. They’ve only won one of their last six games and that was a barnstorming 4-0 win in Manchester City’s back yard. What is wrong with them? Jay Harris was in Bournemouth, and what a great job Andoni Iraola has done there, he tries to make sense of this. Producer Si watched Fulham pull off an impressive 3-1 win over Brighton, they are sixth now. And me? I watched the FIFA Club World Cup Draw. It started at 6pm and it just carried on and on and on. It’s still going now. Gloria Estefa...
Dec 05, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Well, that was a busy night. We’ve got James Pearce on Liverpool’s draw with Newcastle, James McNicholas saw Arsenal beat Man Utd, I watched Man City win for the first time in AGES, but I did that on my sofa. Same with Producer Si, he watched Everton batter Wolves. But before you think we’re some sort of cut price operation, it’s important that you know we had Jacob Tanswell in place for Aston Villa’s first win in AGES and Simon Johnson for Chelsea’s thrashing of an increasingly indefensible Sou...
Dec 04, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Leicester are back in business, they beat West Ham 3-1 and, while it wasn’t always comfortable, no-one at the club will care. They’re rising up the table at last. Rob Tanner was there for us. Matt Woosnam was at Portman Road to see Crystal Palace win only their second game of the season. Are they back in business too? Has the storm passed? That’s pretty much what I asked him. Find out his answers here. Pol Ballus saw Barcelona pick up a first La Liga win in an entire month, they whooped Mallorca...
Dec 03, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been a quiet day, so we’ve gone back to an old friend, the rock and roll football…statistics section. Can you guess which team across Europe’s five leagues is most OVERperforming when it comes to goals above xG? I bet you can’t. We’ve got Seb Stafford Bloor in to tell us about this Jamie Gittens lad, we’ve got a preview of the night’s football and we even found room for a look at the FA Cup third round draw. By slashing and burning the community section. Sorry about that. Presenter: Iain Ma...
Dec 02, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Pep Guardiola, contrary to the opinion of many Liverpool fans, is unlikely to be sacked this morning, but he is looking down the barrel of a seven game run without a win. His Manchester City side were dominated at Anfield and the only good news for him is that the margin of defeat was kept at two goals. Sam Lee and James Pearce were there. Carl Anka was at Old Trafford to see a thunderous 4-0 victory for Manchester United over Everton. Hear what he thinks of Amad Diallo here. Spoiler alert: He t...
Dec 01, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Before you unsubscribe, just look me in the eyes and tell me how you felt when Bodo/Glimt went 2-1 up. Come on, be honest. You thought it was all going wrong again, didn’t you? So did I. And I suspect that Carl Anka felt that way too. Instead, something very odd happened. United gathered themselves and came back stronger, and they should have secured a bigger margin of victory. As should Spurs, but I don’t think anyone was surprised to see them relinquish a 2-1 lead to Roma. It’s just what they ...
Nov 28, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast There have been a lot of caveats since the summer. “Let’s see Liverpool play someone good,” we said. They did. They won. “Let’s see how they react to defeat,” we said. They lost to Nottingham Forest. Then they won again. “All right,” we said, “Let’s see how they balance the Premier League and the Champions League, playing the best teams in the world without skipping a beat.” They just beat Real Madrid. Comfortably. If they beat Manchester City on Sunday, we’ll be all out of caveats. James Pearce...
Nov 27, 2024•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast The only logical explanation for this lies at the feet of those reckless boffins at CERN. City didn’t lose a sixth game in a row, which is something, but they did lose a three goal lead in fifteen minutes at home to Feyenoord. Somehow that seems even worse. Sam Lee was there and he has a theory that doesn’t involve alternative realities leaking into our own, which is plausible I guess, but I prefer my version. Elsewhere PSG are 26th and could be 29th tomorrow. Seb Stafford Bloor saw them lose ag...
Nov 26, 2024•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Newcastle are having a funny old season. They started well enough against West Ham, but they managed to lose 2-0 at home. Chris Waugh was there. And what’s going with Mo Salah? James Pearce spoke to him on Sunday. We spoke to James Pearce on Monday. Join us for the inside track here. Plus, close your eyes and tell me the current top three of the Champions League…you can’t do it, can you? Don’t worry, after you’ve listened to the great big Champions League round-up, you’ll be just fine. Listen no...
Nov 25, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Erm…sorry about the whole Dr Tottingham stuff from Friday. I won’t do that again. But who saw that coming, eh? City are spiralling and Liverpool are stretching clear at the top. James Pearce saw them win again. New Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim made a fantastic start, it’s just a shame for him that his players peaked after 81 seconds. Laurie Whitwell was there for us. In Europe, Barcelona dropped points and Real Madrid closed the gap. Seb Stafford Bloor watched Bayer Leverkusen hit five pa...
Nov 24, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast It feels like a lifetime since we last enjoyed club football. Forgotten what was going on? Don’t worry. Give us ten minutes and we’ll bring you right up to speed. We look at how Manchester City and Arsenal joined Chelsea in the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals. James Twomey joins us to discuss another injury setback for England and Chelsea defencer Reece James. And there’s just about enough time for another Impromptu International Week Book Club. Today it’s ‘Go To War’ Jon Spurling’s...
Nov 21, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast That’s what we’re asking our Manchester City correspondent Sam Lee. Does this mean that…the other stuff is all resolved? And what’s going on down in Croydon were Stormzy and Wilfried Zaha have bought a non league football club and they’ve just hired former Crystal Palace coach and caretaker manager Keith Millen? Matt Woosnam has been investigating. Plus, all the scores from the Women’s Champions League. Did you know that The Athletic was giving Bluesky a go? Some of our best writers have moved t...
Nov 20, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Well, that was a busy night. Wales gave one of their finest performances since 2016, beating Iceland 4-1 and gaining promotion to the top tier of the Nations League, but they’re down to Item 3 tonight because Pep Guardiola has signed a new contract with Manchester City and Tata Martino has left Inter Miami, We’ve got all the scores from around the world, particularly in the Asian World Cup Qualifiers where Group C is now hilariously tight. Japan are running away with it. Five other nations are s...
Nov 20, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’ve all had a whinge about the international break, and with no small amount of justification given the strain on footballers these days, but Scotland and Poland served up an outstanding game of football in Warsaw and Scotland, after all their bad luck and all their poor form, secured a fantastic victory. Best game I’ve seen in ages. Elsewhere, Spain won their group, Denmark qualified in second, San Marino won again and Sudan have qualified for the African Nations, which is arguably the most i...
Nov 18, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast England have returned to the top tier of the Nations League after beating Ireland 5-0 at Wembley. Jack Pitt-Brooke was at Wembley for that one. France had a good night as well, they beat Italy 3-1 at the San Siro. Plus, did you ignore all the international football to leave the house and have fun with real people doing real things? Then you need our giant international round-up. In just ten minutes, we’ll have you up to speed with Scotland’s massive result, with Ghana’s massive fail, with Javier...
Nov 17, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lee Carsley isn’t going quietly into the night. He made some very bold selections and he was rewarded with a resounding 3-0 victory over Greece. Jack Pitt Brooke was in Athens to watch that one. I, on the other hand, was in my office watching Italy mostly dominate Belgium, though they should have won by more than their single goal. We’ve got some interesting scores from around the world, we’ve got news of Claudio Ranieri’s return to Roma and, most importantly, we’ve figured out which pub I went ...
Nov 14, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast You thought we had no football to talk about during International week didn’t you? WRONG! We look ahead to Thursday’s games, the Women’s Champions League and by the way: What is going wrong at Roma? Plus what Cole Palmer really thought of his move to Chelsea and is there ANYTHING more frightening than the prospect of asking Roy Keane for his daughters hand in marriage? And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much football, we’ve had no space for your messages. You c...
Nov 13, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Come on, it’ll be fun. We’ve got the return of the Impromptu International Week Book Club, that’ll be good, right? We’ve got news on a 57 year old professional footballer in Japan, you can’t miss that. Hey, and what about Lionel Messi? You know what they’re reporting in the USA right now? Messi-fatigue. You can find out more about that if you listen. And that’s not all. I’ll also reveal the location of London’s best pub… And you know who we haven’t heard from for a while? YOU! We’ve had so much ...
Nov 12, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Yes, Manchester City have lost four on the spin, but one was the League Cup, one was Europe, there are 26 matches left to play in the league and…it’s City, isn’t it? Sam Lee is here to bring perspective. But it really is bad at Roma, there’s no hiding that. They are looking for their third manager of the season already. What went wrong? James Horncastle is here to answer that. Wild horses couldn’t hold back Danny Kelly when it comes to summing up Spurs’ weekend. We had no chance. And you know wh...
Nov 11, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been another good weekend for Liverpool, not only did they win, but Manchester City lost, Arsenal and Chelsea drew and Nottingham Forest squandered a single goal lead to lose 3-1 to Newcastle. It’s looking good for Arne Slot. Inter missed a penalty against Napoli and blew a chance to go top of Serie A, James Horncastle was watching that one. In Spain, Barcelona went to Real Socieded and lost only their second La Liga game of the season. And in Germany, Bayern Munich won and almost all of th...
Nov 10, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tottenham lost 3-2 in Istanbul, but that scoreline really doesn’t tell the whole story. Jay Harris does though because he was there. Man Utd beat PAOK Salonika 2-0, but Carl Anka still isn’t happy. Meanwhile, I watched Ajax who, seven months on from getting spanked 6-0 by Feyenoord, appear to be back in business. Abi Paterson has got the Conference League covered, she spoke to Simon Johnson who was at Stamford Bridge for a goal frenzy to rival Abi’s pun frenzy… It’s all here and you should be to...
Nov 07, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
