Arsenal swoop for Eze but where will he fit in? – Football Weekly Extra

This is The Guardian.

Day Scratchers from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today, it made the game.

That's all for now.

Coach, one more question.

Play the new Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams Scratchers from the California Lottery.

A little play can make your day.

Please play responsibly.

Must be 18 years or older to purchase, play, or claim.

HiPod fans of America, Max here.

Barry's here, too.

Hello.

Football Weekly is supported by the Remarkable Paper Pro.

Now, if you're a regular listener to this show, you'll have heard us talk before about the Remarkable Paper Pro.

We already know that Remarkable is the leader in the paper tablet category, digital notebooks that give you everything everything you love about paper, but with the power of modern technology.

But there's something new and exciting.

The Remarkable Paper Pro Move.

Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, man.

Yeah, it's their most portable paper tablet yet.

It holds all your notes, to-dos, and documents, but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin.

So it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket.

Perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office.

Like maybe a football journalist, Barry.

Although not like you.

A proper football journalist, man.

Exactly.

Too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out.

This paper tablet doesn't.

It'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention, so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you.

It has a display that looks, feels, and even sounds like paper.

Think and work like a writer, not a texter.

And the battery performance is amazing.

No worries about running out of power before the end of extra time.

The remarkable paper pro move can keep going for up to two weeks.

And if you do need to recharge, you can go from naught to 90% in less than 45 minutes, Barry.

Fantastic.

Why not give it a go for nothing?

You can try Remarkable Paper Pro Move for 100 days for free.

If it's not what you're looking for, get your money back.

Visit remarkable.com to learn more and get your paper tablet today.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly, Eze to Tottenham.

Here we don't go.

Days of fans hitting refresh and waiting for the official announcement.

And then the people that actually know tell you that Arsenal have done a deal for one of the best players in the Premier League.

If you had the choice, Arsenal seems a sensible one.

We'll discuss Arteta's great coup and find out how excited Barry is about this bit of transfer news.

Then we'll look ahead to the Premier League.

Ezeila Spurs at Man City and the Alexander Isaac Darby at St James's Park.

The Swede has broken his silence.

Palace played Forrest, presumably for the right to play in the Europa League.

Sunderland going for win two at Burnley.

The other bleak performers, West Ham hosts, still haven't scored Chelsea while Everton hosts Brighton.

There's disappointing European fit bar corner as Celtic draw and Rangers lose.

And we'll get the lowdown on what happened at Morecambe this week.

All that plus your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Barry Glendenning, welcome.

Hi, Max.

Hello, Seb Hutchinson.

Hello, Max.

And Will Unwin, welcome.

Hello, Max.

So a great tweet from DTL Philosophy just saying, put soul in the announcement video, which

I enjoyed.

JJ says, Max, is it possible that the witch's curse was never truly lifted?

If true, and even winning a trophy failed to exorcise it, what fresh hell can we Spurs fans look forward to next?

Two days ago, Fabrizio Romano tweeted, Eze to Tottenham, Hotspur, here we go.

Deal sealed for 55 million euros plus 5 million add-ons.

And last night, it transpired he'd agreed to sign for Arsenal.

Ed Aaron's confirming in The Guardian, they've agreed a deal worth up to 67.5 million to sensationally hijack Tottenham's move.

Kai Hamatz got injured and that was part of it.

But Miguel Delaney in The Independent saying, look, this deal was sort of done 11 days ago by Arsenal, so it was very easy.

And Steve Parris was just kind of waiting for Arsenal, stalling a bit with Daniel Levy.

I mean, I guess, first off, I don't know.

It's Seb, it's objectively hilarious, unless you happen to be a Tottenham fan, right?

Well, you knew it was coming, didn't you?

I think you would have sensed that.

And I think with any transfer that drags on, and when I say drags on, drags on in the minds of people who are constantly going on social media to get micro-updates.

Just,

you know, and I use this simply, just for your own mental health a lot of the time, because people get so invested in signings, especially at this time of year.

You almost feel like when the window closes, that's the moment that people,

some supporters can relax.

With this Ezra one.

It was in a, it flip-flopped in the fact that there was a sense he was going to leave and then the stories were coming out that Arsenal were going to be his destination, and it was always a case of he's definitely going to sign for them.

And then Tottenham came into the mix.

Now,

funnily enough, I bought into the fact I thought, well, Tottenham are surely going to get this transfer done.

But it was actually Tottenham supporters that made me doubt that would happen.

Rather than the news I was reading, it was just simply that feeling of we are not going to be able to get this deal over the line because it spurs.

And it's the way that one signing can make people believe they've had an amazing transfer window and then a signing that makes them feel well you haven't done enough we haven't done enough as if football is about one player this takes me full circle back to the fact that just this time of year drives me mad um in terms of this window being open it is ridiculous and you think Havertz injury linking that to this signings, I don't think it's relevant at all.

I actually think it's probably more relevant that Trossard improved his contract and that's more related to the Havertz because that seems more obvious that you think, right, we have to make sure a player we have at the club stays now because we've lost an injured player.

So, I don't think clubs operate necessarily in that status, especially some of the bigger ones.

But

I said I didn't like it, but as you said at the beginning, it does give people that little bit, if you're not of the totem persuasion, just a little bit of humor.

I mean, I did see Barry, a lot of Palace fans saying,

wow, you know, Spurs fans have been really sort of humble about this signing.

They're not like rubbing it in our faces.

And I was thinking that's because they don't think it's going to happen.

They're like, they're just, they can't, they can't get there until there is like a, you know, Tottenham Hotspur unveiling social media clip.

I mean, I suppose Arsenal have like the key end point of this is that Arsenal have signed a brilliant footballer.

Well, they haven't done it yet.

Here we go.

Yes, until I touch the hole in his side and in his palms, I will not believe.

I will be a doubting Thomas.

It's brilliant signing for Arsenal.

It's extra brilliant because they've put one over on Spurs.

It's always a major concern with these big high-profile signings that might not actually work out.

Getting the player in is just half the battle, but it's very hard to see how

they won't add

to this Arsenal Arsenal squad.

I suppose Spurs fans were

very pessimistic or cautious about crowing

about getting Eze because they got burned with Morgan Gibbs White.

And that's two very high-profile transfers and two really good players that Daniel Levy thought he had got in and hasn't.

And I expect he'll be hearing all about it at Tottenham's next home game, which is

no, not this weekend, but

yeah, at their next home game, I imagine the Tottenham fans will make their displeasure known in no uncertain terms.

And to be fair to Lee, he always fronts up and sits there looking

sad.

The one question I guess, Will, is, you know, I think everyone, like, as is such a, I'm sad because he's such a brilliant, not just because he's a brilliant footballer, but he's a really fun footballer.

he's just great to watch but he is a 10 like that's his best position and Arsenal do have Martin Odegaard now it's not like you know it's not a Larry David spike cafe he's not it's not a spite signing right he's he's really good

but where do where does Arteta play him I've got a suspicion he'll be playing on the wing more often than not would be my suspicion and I mean Odegaard is one of the best in the game and Eze might be best as a number 10 but I think we could all agree he's got the skill set to beat players inside and out either wing.

And you've got options for a different type of player to Odegaard.

If you think there's a certain team where you need someone with a bit more pace that can drive at opposition rather than maybe being a bit more, have a bit more guile with the ball.

And Eze can do that.

It's

so many potential places for him to play.

Odegaard, I'm sure, has got the ability to drop a bit deeper and play as a deeper central midfielder.

But at the elite level, if you can get someone like Eze and have the option where you can play him, then you do it.

And that's the nature of it.

I mean, you look at City and the amount of wingers they've sort of stockpiled.

It's like, well, we play like this, so we might as well have as many options as possible.

And that's the nature of football, because if you've got 60-odd million quid in the bank that you can spend, you might as well spend it on the best you can get.

And that's what they've done with Eze.

And, you know, they've done the due diligence on him, obviously.

And, you know, he's not hard to do watching, you know, highlights reels of matches a day.

But once those opportunities come up, you go, you spend, and to some extent, you might think about it later: how many minutes he's going to get and where they're going to be on the pitch.

And it may be Arteta have a little wry smile every now and again when he thinks who he beat to the punch to sign him.

Oh, God, it's so annoying.

And it's such a power play from Arsenal, said that, you know, he is a brilliant, like psychologically

just so good.

You know, Will said that Erdoga is one of the best in the game, but I think Arsenal supporters see it as Ezer is somebody who does what Erdoga doesn't do at Arsenal one shoot enough and Eza's pretty good at that one carrying the ball running with the ball prepared to take players on against deep defenses making something happen in a way in a similar way that Shirky's been bought by Man City you need those chaos players those players in the structure that just break that defence open and that is Eza and I think What he is, is somebody who he's a signing where with Yokarez, there would have been a split in the Arsenal supporters.

Is he the right striker with Madweke there was a lot of objection to that signing Zubamendi people didn't know too much about him what he's offering to the team but I think with Eza he's a player that probably unites the Arsenal fanbase because they see him as coming home even though they let him go essentially and he's a

a guy from London he's joining a group of other players who are from London there's that feeling that he's always wanted to play for Arsenal or come back to Arsenal and that he was never going to go to Spurs, even though it seemed like he was going to go to Spurs.

I think this is part of it.

The Erdoga has been, last season, he didn't have his best season.

He had an injury.

And he's always seen as a great link player for Arsenal, as a fabulous presser.

But he's not a game changer for Arsenal.

He's not a match winner for Arsenal.

And I think a lot of

he's he looks great on the ball.

But his effectiveness for the team, I think this is something where it could come into it.

And whereby, even though I think he will play a lot of time on the wing, unless if Arsenal don't invest in that area or don't sell players in that area, he does feel centrally a difference maker for them.

Now, Barry, look, I know you don't love transfers, and I have to confess, I was refreshing those pages to just wait for the Eze announcement.

I'm guilty about it.

I do find the window frustrating.

I just wonder if, you know, in that, on a wider

point about, you know, your Fabrizio Romano's, et cetera, of which he is clearly the most high profile, does it matter that they say, here we go, this player's signed for this, and then they they don't sign for it in terms of the way we kind of view

how in the know they are?

It doesn't matter to me, and I don't care how in the know they are because I'm not really that interested in

the transfer window.

So, but it clearly matters a great deal to other people, and that's fine.

But personally speaking, I don't care how in the know Fabricio Romano is or if he gets things right or wrong, because I don't really pay any attention

to his

announcements.

I suppose it is interesting, there's just a world where it is, you know, the person who gets the exclusive, and I suppose it's the same in news and everything.

The scoop matters, but I've always found well, we will all find out what the news is.

It's actually how you analyse the news rather than finding out what the news is that probably matters.

But Spurs go to the Etihads.

How encouraged were you, Will, by Mancity's opening win at Wolves?

Yeah, I mean, a completely different,

well, maybe not the start of last season, City really good, but that middle spell, you know,

Rhinders in midfield looks like an absolute game changer for City.

Haaland, confident, as sort of previously mentioned, an array of wingers at City and attacking, you know, Cherky on the bench to come up off come off the bench.

Two

almost proper fullbacks.

Defence looks solid, you know, a caveat that Wolves,

I think, a lot of us put to go down.

But yeah, it just looks a bit more confident, which had been lacking even when City were getting through games at periods last season, and options off the bench, which again wasn't always the case.

And so still

Rodri

prime to come back and whatnot.

So yeah, really positive, exciting football again.

And just a bit of change in dynamic, which I think Pep's been planning.

And, you know, with Pep Linders on the on the sidelines, seems to have freshened things up as well.

And those things are good, you know, to have new voice and whatnot.

So yeah, I think Spurs, you know, obviously they beat Burnley, but they'll be there'll be slightly worried on it.

I think probably helped a little bit to alleviate any

not fear maybe, but the unknown of what fans at the Attiad are expecting this season.

They'll be really excited to go into this prospect of a very good win against Spurs if they you know, keep the momentum going.

So, yeah, it's uh exciting times again after concerns of finishing third.

Yeah.

The upset of finishing third.

I suppose it'll be interesting, Seb, how Thomas Frank lines up and whether he starts with Gibbs White or Eze in the 10 for that.

But actually, it'd be interesting to see if he's going to be able to get Willow.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

But it'd be interesting to see if he goes back to the PSG Super Cup, 3-5-2, long throws, that kind of setup.

Yeah, I think Thomas Frank has shown in the few games we've had already, actually, weirdly, even though I don't pay much attention to preseason games, I think he's also shown in preseason to be a horses for courses manager.

I mean, he said it when he was at Brentford that he was like that.

He would change his system depending on the opponent.

And so tomorrow, let me get this right.

Where are we?

Thursday, no.

Saturday, lunchtime, it will be fascinating to see how he approaches a game against Manchester City.

Last season...

I came away, I think I came on the podcast, and it was about four or five games into City's bad run.

And I finally said to myself, okay, it's not happening for them.

Probably the first time I felt I've really doubted City in several, several seasons.

And I still, I don't doubt them now.

I just think they have so many good players, they have such a great manager, and it just feels like the application for the players

because teams, when they go to face City, I don't feel they feel they can take that gamble enough.

So will Spurs take the gamble enough to hurt them like they did last season?

Will they play in that manner or will they try to contain them?

How will Thomas Frank approach it?

Because he's had decent results against decent performances against Manchester City in the past, and he's won at the yet he had with Brentford before.

So, how will he approach this?

And I think this is important because forget the transfers.

You need to see what's on the pitch to make supporters feel better.

They forget transfers when things go well.

Liverpool supporters would have been saying, We haven't signed anyone at the beginning of last season, and then they had that amazing run.

So that's what I'm interested to see.

And I saw it, you know, I did the Forest-Brentford game last weekend, And you do start to think it's such a big part that Thomas Frank played in the way they were that made them such a difficult side to play against.

I just don't think I would have seen that performance from Brentford.

I think I did the previous two Forest-Brentford games.

I don't think I would have seen a performance like that from Brentford in those previous two matches, even with all the ins and outs.

So let's see on Saturday if he will go for it against City.

I'll say go for it, but play a system that will take advantage of City's small frailties.

On Monday, Barry Newcastle versus Liverpool insert jokes about Alexander Isak getting on the wrong team bus after the game, etc.

But it does add something to this game, which is already a big game, isn't it?

Yeah, it's going to be a very spicy encounter.

You feel

Newcastle fans will be

really, really up for this.

One suspects their players will as well.

Is anyone going to bet against a red card or two in this game?

I could certainly see Joe Linton and

Sandro Tanali snapping into plenty of tackles with all the stuff that's going on, all the background noise, very loud background noise.

It will be important

for both managers to preach caution to their players ahead of kickoff because

you know, keep your heads, lads, and all that.

But I'm really looking forward to this game because I just think it's going to be a very nasty encounter between two clubs who clearly don't have much time for each other at the moment it'd be funny if if eddie house started is that and he just stood still in the middle of the pit for the whole thing yes sir didn't they say that there's a split in the camp i want to know who would be team isak and who would be against him of that newcastle team if you were doing a five aside i feel like um

i feel i thought joel linton would just be in the middle just

switching his head from left to right who am i going to hit good question i i i just do think that,

you know, if the window closes and he's still there and he gets back on the pit and he's good, I think it's forgotten so quickly.

You know, I just think, you know, we've sort of seen.

Are you suggesting football supports are fickleness?

No, it's obviously suggesting

nothing of the thought, but I now hate Eberic Yesse despite loving him yesterday.

Isaac posted on social media, I have kept quiet for a long time while others have spoken.

That silence has allowed people to push their own version of events, even though they know it doesn't reflect what was really said and agreed behind closed doors.

The reality is that promises were made, and the club has known my position for a long time.

To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading.

When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue.

That's where things are for me right now.

And my change is in the best interests of everyone, not just myself.

There were times reading that when I thought I was scanning the lyrics of an Olivia Rodrigo ballad.

It depends how you say it.

It is fun to say it like that, isn't it?

The more moody you get, the more fun it is.

Yes, Will.

I actually think he stole that letter from my wife when she sent it to me.

Exactly.

That is, when promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue.

It's definitely, yeah, you're right.

That's from any power ballad of the 80s.

Newcastle responded.

Slightly less melodic.

We are clear in response that Alex remains under contract, never written

in a love song, was it?

And that no commitment has ever been made by a club.

It's a very LinkedIn love song by a club official that Alex can leave Newcastle United this summer.

We want to keep our best players.

We also understand players have their own wishes.

We listen to their views.

As explained to Alex and his representatives, we must always take into consideration the best interests of Newcastle United, the team and our supporters in all decisions.

And we've been clear that the conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired.

We do not foresee these conditions being met.

It feels Seb sort of gentleman's agreement territory, doesn't it?

Just put it in writing.

I don't just don't understand.

You know, we know that way the football industry works in terms of the loyalty elements, the sense that somebody can be at your club and then leave after a period of time.

That obviously public relations.

I just think with these things, if you're promised something, just make sure it gets written down.

I mean, it's a tale as old as time, isn't it?

And that would have done so much for Isak, and it would have solved a lot of situations.

To simplify it, he clearly wants to go to Liverpool or he wants to feel that he wants to take that next step.

I think it's very much, we forget that players, you know, it's not as if Isak's from Newcastle, he's not somebody who has them in his blood, essentially.

Yeah.

But I think the way this has happened, it will probably, it will hurt Newcastle fans in the sense the way it's played out.

They probably thought in their minds that because of the way the club was portraying the situation, that they would hold on to him this summer and probably feel like, yeah, he'll want to go next year but the way it's accelerated and been brought forward in this manner is probably upsetting for them and from isaq's point of view i don't know why maybe

how

i think players want to keep things quiet don't they they don't want to be out in the public saying i want to leave i don't want to but if they sense that they're being portrayed in a in a negative light then they want to get the message out there through an agent through an ai written lyrical piece this one i just it just feels so bad because when i look at it and i think he would obviously help Liverpool, but Liverpool looked pretty good going forward without him.

Then Liverpool signed a Ka TK, who I think Newcastle were in the mix for.

Who do Newcastle go and get now at this point in the window to replace him?

It feels like they would then be rushing to fill it in and they need another striker even if he stays.

They need more depth in that area.

So it's just all a bit murky.

And I agree that...

you know, if he stays, that they'll get over it.

But it will just be a really boring thing that will rear its head again again in january and then rear its head again in the summer and you feel like you want a bit of completion i think that probably the best thing for everyone is if newcos are able to land a big forward signing and then isa goes he says the promises were made and and broken but why not tell us who made the promise and who broke it add some clarity if you want to put out this very public howl of anguish on Instagram.

And he's playing this very badly.

Liverpool are playing it brilliantly.

I think they knew what they were doing when they put in a low ball offer that wouldn't be accepted.

They knew they'd unsettle Isaac.

If they don't get him now, they won't be too concerned because they'll get him cheaper next season or next summer.

It's led to an awful lot of ill feeling and rancor between all the internet crazies among both fan bases

and

ordinary fans, I guess.

But a lot of Liverpool fans seem to think that Newcastle should just hand him over, you know,

you're like they're holding him hostage.

Newcastle don't need to sell him.

And

as you say, if they if the window closes and he's still there, he'll either refuse to play, which is up to him and he'll get fined repeatedly, one presumes, um, or He will be integrated back into the squad.

He'll get booed a few times, he'll issue some sort of insincere public apology which will be accepted and then as soon as he scores a goal you know it's as you were kiss the badge and everything's okay um mo salah by the way won the pfa player of the year award on tuesday our first player to win it three times he was very good last year if you didn't notice that'll do for part one uh we'll do the rest of the premier league and some fitbar in part two

Hi pod fans of America, Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

Football Weekly is supported by the Remarkable Paper Pro.

Now, if you're a a regular listener to this show, you'll have heard us talk before about the Remarkable Paper Pro.

We already know that Remarkable is the leader in the paper tablet category.

Digital notebooks that give you everything you love about paper, but with the power of modern technology.

But there's something new and exciting.

The remarkable paper pro move.

Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, man.

Yeah, it's their most portable paper tablet yet.

It holds all your notes, to-dos, and documents, but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin, so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket.

Perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office like maybe a football journalist Barry although not like you

a proper football journalist.

Exactly.

Too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out.

This paper tablet doesn't.

It'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you.

It has a display that looks, feels and even sounds like paper.

Think and work like a writer, not a texter.

And the battery performance is amazing.

No worries about running out of power before the end of extra time.

The remarkable Paper Pro Move can keep going for up to two weeks, and if you do need to recharge, you can go from naught to 90% in less than 45 minutes, Barry.

Fantastic.

Why not give it a go for nothing?

You can try Remarkable Paper Pro Move for 100 days for free.

If it's not what you're looking for, get your money back.

Visit remarkable.com to learn more and get your paper tablet today.

Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game day scratchers from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today it made the game.

That's all for now.

Coach, one more question: play the new Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams Scratchers from the California Lottery.

A little play can make your day.

Please play responsibly.

Must be 18 years or older to purchase, play, or claim.

Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

A few tickets still available on September the 11th, the Troxy in London.

My live Insta videos are doing very well.

Barry, I go, hi pod fans, Max here.

Barry's here too.

And then I

push the phone to one side and you're not there.

And I'm really enjoying this joke.

I don't know if anyone else is.

Maybe we should arrange to meet up and

or or maybe you could do a video where I am there.

Yeah, we were on a bench, me, you and Michael Gove.

It wasn't arranged, but we should have done the video there.

Anyway, the panel.

No Michael Gove on the panel.

I'm sorry to say.

Jonathan Wilson, Nicki Bandini, Johnny Lou, cameos to come.

I bumped into John Bruin at the bus stop and I told him an idea that he's up for.

So hopefully he'll come and do that.

Tickets can be purchased by heading to theguardian.com slash football weekly live.

It's live streamed around the world.

So all of you listening to to this, you have no excuse.

And if you get the online stream, you can watch it anytime that week.

So you can, you know, it can be perfect.

You can, you can tailor it to all your needs.

Theguardian.com slash football weekly live.

Palace Forrest in the Europa League administrative era derby.

This could be fiery.

Matt Hughes writing in the Guardian.

Crystal Palace in talks with Forrest and the Met Police over the provision of increased security for Sunday's game.

Palace supporters understood to be planning a protest over Forrest's perceived role in getting them demoted to the Conference League.

Palace played Frederikstadt tonight in a Conference League playoff.

Be interesting to see if Aza and Mark Gay play.

Will, you saw Forrest in the flesh

at the weekend.

They were very good, weren't they?

Yeah, as I said, was discussing before.

Brentford were impressively awful for the first 45 minutes.

But,

you know, Forrest, as previously discussed, about Chris Wood, wondering, and I spoke to a few people thinking, is he really going to be able to carry on?

Not the quickest, etc.

Quite easy to find out.

And it turns out if you just leave massive gaps in the defence he's really good at exploiting that but you know gibbs white after a summer of uncertainty was incredible you know drifted all over the pitch to pick up the ball and the pockets of space that were given to him and was excellent and then elliot anderson i think was the other standout player for me in central midfield you know first time pass was really good and

Then you look before the match, they were parading Amari Hutchinson and James McAtee, who in their own ways had very good seasons last time to give them more options in the final third.

I'm sure by the time the game comes around they'll be closer to signing a fullback.

So yeah really exciting times for them.

The only problem they've got is the Europa League coming up as discussed and that is quite difficult for teams to manage when it's first time around.

A lot of those players aren't used to twice a week games.

But if you look at what they've got available and they were a lot better on the ball than last season, kept possession better and that's part of the plan because

last season playing on the counter-attack that's quite energy draining keeping the press etc so you keep the ball more you know hopefully in theory you're not as tired and if you're playing twice a week that's quite a useful trait to have and yeah they've done really good recruitment they've not panicked in previous year danon doy looks like an excellent winger to replace a langer you know say hutchinson's a really good player so i saw quite a bit of him at ipswich and i've seen a lot of mcate and you know the players that can play in different positions, which Nuno wants, he likes his wingers.

McAtee, playing on the right, can play as number 10.

Yeah, by the end of the winter, I think Forrest will have a lot more depth because at the end of last season, that's what costs than the Champions League players.

I'd say very tired in the end.

But yeah, they've managed to adapt the style a little bit different, and they'll be very confident going anywhere.

I think this season, they can stifle teams for one and score goals for two.

You know, Chris Wood has got backup.

I think Arwin E might go, but they've got Igor Jesus, and

I'm pretty sure, and the new lab from Wren.

So, yeah, I think

they'll be pushing to, I think they'll do really well to finish seventh again, but if they can finish top ten, that's an incredible season considering the addition of the Europa League.

Agreed to sign Douglas Louise as well on loan from Juventus.

Another good signing if he plays like he did at Filla.

It will be interesting to see if Evangelist Maranakis turns up to this game.

You would think the sensible option would be for the forest owner to stay away.

But

given his personality, I would not be surprised if he does pitch up to inflame an already potentially incendiary situation.

Does he have a sensible option box to tick?

I'm not sure if that's in his makeup necessarily.

Arsenal leads, a bit more of a spotlight on Yokarez, I guess.

I mean, there'll be lots of positivity around Eze, providing that all goes through Seb.

But like going into this game, one team played really well last week, Leeds, and one team played really badly, Arsenal.

I mean they both won 1-0, but it'd be quite interesting to see how Leeds approaches as well.

Yeah, and I think for the whole season, even though Leeds won that game, and you know, watched it on Monday, I did still get that itchy feeling,

the football itchy feeling, that it was

you thought, Leeds, are they going to be able to score enough goals against Premier League size this season to win enough games?

There was a little bit of concern about that, but Ellen Road is going to be huge.

And

even David Moyce spoke about that atmosphere, maybe with the influence of the referees' decision as well.

And it was, as many people have said, it was so good to see the promoted sides get off the mark.

It actually feels like a massive Saturday in terms of a lot of the teams who people are fancying to go down.

And this is one of the first early tests, as you can see, for the three o'clock theory.

I'm only going to say that once.

It's a tongue twister.

Because it's the teams that win those three o'clock games this Saturday that I think will stay up.

And I'm basing it purely on that.

I'm going to go.

I think if Brentford can beat Villa, they're staying up.

100%.

100%.

It's made.

It's tailor-made for Brentford.

It's absolutely made for them.

So I'm putting my marker down if they win.

Now, Burnley-Sunderland, now that should finish as a draw if they're both going to go down.

But if Sunderland win at Burnley, I think I'm backing them to stay up all day long.

Because leads are at 5.30 and they're playing Arsenal and it's on live on Tele, and it's this early in the season, absolutely routine Arsenal victory.

And it will be, it could be a situation where

after all the doubts about Yokarez last weekend, considering I don't think he's fully fit, and also they're playing at Old Trafford, and Arsenal have never played well at Old Trafford ever.

This will be the day where it all clicks.

Uber Mendi looks amazing in midfield.

He's dictating the game.

I understand he was ill at the Man United game as well.

And these are now.

This will be the thing that we really want to see about Arsenal.

We know in the big games, they're tough to beat, and they're unbeaten on this long run.

Will they, in home matches, funnily enough, just steamroll teams or not?

It's something that Liverpool did pretty well last season, and Arsenal probably need to.

And I think that will be the one that makes people think actually Arsenal are the real deal, will be how they perform in a lot of these home matches.

Are they just going to roll teams over or not?

Or is it going to be a struggle?

Are they going to look like they're going to struggle to break sides down?

And this will be the first test of that for Michel Arteta's side about any other games pique your interest i suppose west ham chelsea play on friday night west ham played diabolically badly in the second half against sunderland last weekend they've got some very tough fixtures coming up this one then forest away spurs home palace home

everton away arsenal away that that that's their fixtures before the international break and

on the evidence of what we saw last weekend not much evidence to go on admittedly but also last season

under

Graham Potter, you would

see them struggling to take more than a couple of points from those games, I think.

I don't really expect them to beat Chelsea, but

I suppose we'll get more of an idea of how bad they are because they did look really slow and leggy and sluggish and unmotivated

against Sunderland.

On to Fitbar, Barca Jim saying, amazingly, I think I sound more pissed off than Ewan normally does.

Fair to say there isn't a Celtic fan who's not as angry as Rangers fans were the night before.

The unhappiest football city in the world, I reckon.

So, yeah, Celtic dude nil-nil with Kyrat yesterday.

Kyrat from Kazakhstan in the Champions League.

So 40 million quid in Champions League qualification.

They've got to go 3,500 miles.

The night before,

Rangers lost 3-1 at home to club Bruges.

I guess that getting that consolation might actually make a big difference.

But Bruges are not a bad side.

I did like Perfectly Crumbling saying, should Russell Martin quit football management and go on and be a villain on Emmerdale as he has the look for it?

And I hadn't ever considered that, but God, he does.

He looks exactly like a bad guy from Emmerdale, doesn't he?

But, you know, another one of these press conferences from Russell Martin where he said, before change, there's pain.

It's another song lyric, Barry, but that is, it's disastrous.

You know, I think you go, oh, we've got to be Club Bruges.

Club Bruges are quite an experienced Champions League side, actually.

I don't think it's easy, but still, being 3-0 down after 20 minutes is not great.

I wasn't surprised Rangers were beaten by Club Brugge.

Not at all.

And the fact of the matter is, I think Rangers will be better off in the Europa League because if they go into the Champions League with a team that plays like that and that plays like they have been playing in most of their games so far this season, they'll just get slaughtered every week.

The manner of this defeat was

dismal.

They conceded the opener after three minutes um it was a mix-up between the centre-back nasser giga who's on loan at rangers from wolves and jack butland and

an exquisite finish from from the brugger guy romeo vermont but the the mix-up between the two rangers players was

it's it's the stuff of i said yesterday um

the what happens next round on a question of sport and like no one would ever guess if if you stopped the the the footage just before the or just after the rangers shot that led to the brugger counter-attack second goal um was someone slotted home completely unmarked from a corner and the third was a soft one as well so the three nailed down after 20 minutes

They got the consolation in the second half, but

there was a visible stream of Rangers supporters leaving Ibrox, heading heading for the exits after 20 minutes of this game.

They're not having Russell Martin at all.

They didn't want him in the first place.

He's done very little to convince them that he's the man for the job.

They lurched and stumbled through the previous two qualifying rounds against Panathan Icos and Victoria Plisen.

They got found out badly in this game.

difficult to see them turning around

and

rangers have been burning through managers quicker than Watford in recent times.

Now, obviously, they have new owners, the 49ers, who took over in June.

They appointed Martin.

I suspect they will be patient with him, but it is difficult to see how long they can stand firm in the face of such obvious fan fury at their decision to appoint Martin.

Two of their next three games are against Brugger, Way, and Celtic.

So,

let's see how those go for them, I suppose.

Obviously, you look at Club Rouge and Rangers and compare, and Club Bruges have sold about 70 million quids worth of players this summer, which shows their sort of long-term strategy, clever recruitment and whatnot.

And then Russell Martin keeps saying it's a long-term project, but three of the back four on loan.

That's not very long-term.

So, you can't come in and say, oh, we've got a big lengthy plan.

This is what we're thinking.

Say they'll be paying in

the start, whatnot, when those defenders are almost certainly going to leave, because I can't see they can afford Max Aarons and whatnot even though Max Aarons isn't pulling up any trees whereas Bruges have a long-term strategy they've recruited well they build players up to sell to the next level which

what rangers should really be doing because the Belgian Scotch league are on a on a par as much as that might irritate fans of certain clubs But there's none of that.

You look at some of the expensive signs I've made in the past, like Yanis Hadju, who's gone nowhere and done nothing.

And if people are trying to build up, it doesn't really happen as well as many of it, you know, as they probably should.

And that's the nature of it.

If you want a long-term plan, you've got to make it a pretty sturdy one.

And, I mean, Russell Martin's long-term plan at Southampton was to get into the Premier League and then just keep playing the same way, get beat every week.

And that was a cunning plan.

Whereas I think he might need to be more adaptable than just saying he has a clever plan.

Meanwhile, this goal is draw with Celtic, Barry.

Were there any

highlights to pick from?

I watched this game and I

saw Celtic against Kairat from Kazakhstan, a team I've I've never heard of.

I had to look up where they were from.

And

it was a very toothless performance from Celtic.

They had a couple of scares.

Kyrat,

they have some teenager who's on his way to Chelsea.

He was good.

They sent a couple of shots whistling past the woodwork.

And I suppose Celtic's lack of

action in the transfer market is infuriating their fans.

We all know how wealthy they are.

They're sitting on huge amounts of cash, but they haven't really done anything to replace um nicholas coon kyogo for a hashi jotta is out injured long term with another acl so adamida is basically their number one striker and i he's just not very good he's he's you know he works hard but he's he's not

he's not very good he has not been he has not been in the conversation with you know big clubs signing elite number nines let's put put it that way.

So Celtic fans are very and Brendan Rodgers looks totally fed up and as if he almost doesn't care.

The Ryan Loftian qualities of Adam Eda.

Did Barry say a teenager on their way to Chelsea?

As if that narrows it down.

That's a good point.

There's just a funnel, isn't there?

There's just a big global funnel of teenagers just landing a blue co-drip.

Yeah.

That'll do for part two.

Sandy Ridge of Agela joins us in part three and we'll talk about more.

HiPod fans of America.

America Max here Barry's here too hello football weekly is supported by the remarkable paper pro now if you're a regular listener to this show you'll have heard us talk before about the remarkable paper pro we already know that remarkable is the leader in the paper tablet category digital notebooks that give you everything you love about paper but with the power of modern technology but there's something new and exciting the remarkable paper pro move remarkable a brand name and an adjective man yeah it's their most portable paper tablet yet it holds all your notes to-dos and documents but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin, so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket.

Perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office, like maybe a football journalist, Barry.

Although not like you.

A proper football journalist, man.

Exactly.

Too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out.

This paper tablet doesn't.

It'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention, so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you.

It has a display that looks, feels, and even sounds like paper.

Think and work like a writer, not a texter.

And the battery performance is amazing.

No worries about running out of power before the end of extra time.

The Remarkable Paper Pro Move can keep going for up to two weeks.

And if you do need to recharge, you can go from naught to 90% in less than 45 minutes, Barry.

Fantastic.

Why not give it a go for nothing?

You can try Remarkable Paper Pro Move for a hundred days for free.

If it's not what you're looking for, get your money back.

Visit remarkable.com to learn more and get your paper tablet today.

Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game day scratchers from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today it made the game.

That's all for now.

Coach, one more question: Play the new Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams Scratchers from the California Lottery.

A little play can make your day.

Please play responsibly, must be 18 years or older to purchase, play, or claim.

Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

So look, we talked about Morecambe quite a lot, and we mentioned Panjam Warriors taking them over and saving the club.

First thing he did was Sack Derek Adams, who had stayed with the club throughout the crisis and helped players out financially.

Sanny Ridgeradjo has basically become the Morecambe correspondent for all football.

And he joins us now.

Are you right, Sanny?

Yeah, I'm all right.

Thank you.

Funnily enough, not in Morecambe.

I'm actually in the hotel opposite St.

James's Park, having done Alexander Isak Vox's yesterday.

And I'm off to Sunderland, the Academy of Light this afternoon.

Very exciting.

Good stuff.

Well, look, let's talk about Morecambe then.

So the first thing I did was Sack Derek Adams.

You'd spent some time with him and around the club and how loved he was.

It seemed like it seemed from the outside a slight misstep from new owners that we're not totally sure about.

Yeah, the universality of football that a new owner can come in and no matter what situation the club is in, sacking the manager and bringing in your own man appears to be the way to go, even when it's the manager who's been working essentially for free.

You know, last time I was there, one of the staff anonymously told me they'd be homeless without Derek Adams.

They'd paid their rent for the past two months or so.

You know, he'd come to all the players and said, I'll help you out if I can.

So, and he's a club legend as well.

You know, he's the person who guided them to the most successful period in the history.

And he's come back, I think, four times now.

So when you think that post-takeover, they're essentially starting with, I think they had five players,

barely any resource at all, you'd think perhaps he's the person to steer them in the right direction.

No, we're going to get rid of him and bring in a new man who is his own history maker as well in ashvir singh johal yeah tell us about him well i'm gonna call him the british asian will still

that's that's what i'm gonna give him i can say that i'm pretty sure i can i have done now um so he's 30 years old uh started his career as a volunteer at uh leicester with the like uh community side and then got a got a role there and then worked from the under 17s all the way to under 18s at leicester

That's not very far, just to be under 17s right now, seems to be under 17s.

Under sevens, under sevens.

Okay, right, okay, right.

Okay.

Under sevens to

under 18s.

And then

went to Como.

And, you know, it's funny how like footballers and coaches, they're all connected in ways we don't know.

He says he knows Dave Challener at Stockport because they did the pro license together.

In fact, he's one of the youngest to have done the UEFA Pro license.

But he went to Como to be Ces Fabregas' assistant, which sounds like the dream job.

And then scourge of all Guardian Easters, Brexit meant that he had to come back because he clearly didn't have whatever he might have needed to carry on working there.

So then he took over at

Notts County B, like an in-between between the under-21s and the first team, and helped bring in some youth players.

He left that in the summer and 99% shot, pretty was done, a done deal, that he was going to take over at Morecambe when Panjab Warriors was supposed to in the summer.

That didn't happen.

He even reportedly gave an interview to the BBC saying what his plans were at Morecambe and then Panjab Warriors didn't take over Morecambe, which seems like an awkward situation to be in because Derek Adams was still there.

So now he's come in.

He's brought in Lee Tomlin.

technical man,

a technician that he was in the EFL.

His first coaching job, just finished being a striker coach with Sheffield United.

So he's a new manager and he's bringing in a first-time assistant as well.

So on paper, this sounds like a huge risk, but he is the first Sikh to ever manage in professional football.

He's the highest ranked British Asian manager in the top five leagues.

So

I suppose I've got skin in the, you know, when you get a story, you get too close to a story.

I suppose that's kind of where I've got with this, especially as a Berry fan and the situation there.

Like, I've got lots of levels now where I want Morecambe to do well.

And the fact they've got a British Asian manager, and being British Asian myself, I'm like, oh, you know, I hope he does well.

But I am like, well, this guy, he's come from nowhere.

He's only 30 years old.

This is a huge, huge risk for a football club that essentially is starting from scratch, been suspended, and I'm going into the National League.

I mean, like, this is, this is such a gamble.

I mean, he could be amazing, but it could be a disaster.

And my one worry particularly is he's brought in an assistant with no experience as well i would have thought maybe a wiser head there so i i am a little bit worried but i am hopeful as well do you know what there's there's something quite interesting about the the way football works in the sense and i think about ange poster koglu in the fact that it shouldn't be that how he does or did

will make a difference on future australian coaches getting work but it is just the way football work in the same way that if this guy is successful more people might go oh you can hire a british asian coach and so they're so like, you want it to be successful for that reason.

And that's, that's, he shouldn't have that responsibility, right?

He should just be a bloke who is good or who isn't.

And I guess actually, bigger than all of that is for Morgan fans, not necessarily bigger than all of that, but it's nice that Morgan fans can worry about who their manager is.

Like, that's a, that is a stress that is totally different to will we exist?

Yeah, and that point you make, it's essentially something that we all carry.

I'm sure Seb would relate to this as a commentator as well.

When you are not the typical white man in any job, I I suppose, you've got that extra element.

Like if I mess up on air, and I have done on tele,

my ethnicity, my background will become a factor in the conversation around it.

So Ashfir Singh Johal has all that on him as well.

Yeah, you're right.

If he doesn't do well, rightly or wrongly, it sets us all back.

which is a horrible situation to be in because if he was white, it wouldn't make a difference.

So that's that's a huge way.

I missed out, by the way, he also had a spell assistant managing with Collotoria Wigan, which when I saw the comments online, people asking Wigan fans, how did he do?

Well, he went like, well, Kolo was one of our worst managers ever in history.

So it's hard to judge him off nine games.

But yeah, it is funny what you say about talking about football because it was really funny.

I had this as a scoop, right?

I was sitting on this story and I've got my editors saying,

can we publish this?

Can we say, you know, Sky Sports News understands?

And all of a sudden, I'm messaging like the head of media from on the one hand going like weeks early going all right mate can i come around today like i mean you know i know everything's going really badly but you know we're going to be there with sky we're going to get the cameras there can you get any fans there can we get anyone blah blah blah and you know that whole like we're both together trying to do something good to then this adversarial conversation where he's like can you please not publish this story can you just hold off the embargoes at nine so it's amazing how football works like that and yeah the fans finally can talk about morecom on the pitch they're playing altering on a Saturday.

There was talk of the game not going ahead because they didn't quite have the insurance and the players were only just coming back and whether they could train or not.

That seems to be resolved.

Tickets are being sold at the moment.

So yes, they've got a match to look forward to.

Ulti are no slouches either in the National League.

So it's going to be difficult for them.

But yeah, when you think where my team were with Berry and the 20th of August was going to be the deadline.

where Morecambe were probably going to be expelled.

Now they're okay.

I mean, we've had bigger questions about Panja worries in the future, and, you know, their background there isn't

maybe gives me as much confidence as it could do.

But for now, Morecambe are safe, and that's an amazing thing when you think where they were.

And it's the best case scenario given where things were at.

Yeah, good reporting from you, Sammy.

Well done.

I sounded patronising, didn't mean to be.

There was a

full round of League One and League Two midweek fixtures.

Stephen is the only side with maximum points after four games in League One after they leaped Port Vale away.

Cardiff, Barnsley, Bradford, Huddersfield, Luton, Lincoln making up the chasing pack.

Plymouth look to be in real trouble, Sanny, don't they?

Lost all four of their games and only kept to the bottom by Peterborough, which are sort of a bit of a surprise.

I think not the top 20 had Peterborough struggling, but generally people think they shouldn't be as bad as they are.

Did you see the Plymouth Argyle fans TV, like in-house TV clip that came out?

Excruciating.

So good.

So good.

Yeah, so they've got the whole like club presenter or whatever and a tv screen and then they've got um tom cleverly there ready to have a chat about the match that's just happened or whatever and they think the feed isn't live

so they're just there waiting and he's like and at one point he gets on his phone and he's like hello is the feed going and the person who's videoed this is like zoomed in on cleverly and you can just see like his body language is like

why am i here I was at Manchester United.

Manchester United, I was at.

What is going on?

And eventually, after ages, and you can just tell, you know, when you've like upset a manager and they've got to stay there and

eventually, he just unplugs his earphone and walks off.

And they were live the whole time.

League two crew have 12 points for four games.

Only side with that 100% record.

Grimsby in second place with 10.

Fan of the pod, Harrogate Keeper James Belshaw, your mate, Will, had another brilliant game by all accounts on Tuesday, beating Barrow 1-0 at home.

So well done, James.

No, I watched that.

He did very little, to be fair.

Oh, really?

Is that right?

Yeah, Barrow were pretty mediocre.

Harrogates front-free look quite good.

Ellis Taylor, Steven, Duke McKenna, and Sean McCulski look quite lively.

I mean, yeah, pretty dreadful second half to watch, I'd argue.

But yeah, they're unbeaten in four, which is incredible considering their budget, et cetera.

I tweeted out a video of Colchester's kickoff at the start of the game, where obviously a lot of teams do this is, you know, punt it out for a throw-in.

But I only got one because I missed the first one.

So the kickoff happens and he boots out for a goal kick but the ref says okay no no sorry i wasn't ready so then he takes another kickoff and he boots out for a goal kick and then after one of the cambridge goals he boots out for a goal kick right and it's not like psg where you think the opposition might then play out short and you could press him in all cambridge are doing we've got a keeper who can kick it 100 yards we just kick it back that way anyway we won 2-1 so i was delighted uh finally we'll uh we'll uh finish with an email from nick uh nick evans says uh hi max Barry and Car.

I've been listening to the pod for decades, been a great companion during some difficult times.

Most recently, accompanied me through a period of feverish delirium as I was laid up with dengue fever.

However, whilst listening to the Premier League preview episodes, In and Out of Consciousness, I had a surreal vision of Barry's disembodied head floating above me, like Holly from Red Dwarf, repeatedly insisting that Everton would get relegated.

I'm a little traumatized by the incident, but have bought tickets to the live show, hoping that seeing Barry in normal human form will give me some kind of closure.

Many thanks, Nick.

You're so constant, Barry.

You're now in people's dengue hallucinatory dreams as a floating head.

Maybe that's what you'll be in 100 years' time.

That's what this will be.

Your head floating around with hot tape.

Yeah,

I can only apologize.

I don't think anyone needs that.

Me hovering over my disembodied head hovering over them while they're sweating and shaking.

The last thing you need is me hovering over you, telling you Emberton are going to finish 90.

The key is that he survived, isn't it?

If he died from all of this, that can't be the last thing you see.

Yeah.

You know, your giant head.

So, you know, maybe that was the moment when he went, he saw the light.

You were the light.

That's when the fever broke.

I mean, imagine just sort of hearing Baz just constantly talking about Kazakh football.

You never guess he's going from Cairo Almighty to Chelsea this week.

Almighty, did you say?

Thanks, everybody.

Yeah, Yeah, they're called Kyra Almighty.

Are they Kyra Almighty?

There we are.

And the Almighty, the real Almighty, Barry, actually, it turns out, is the man you see when you see the light, his floating head there saying, you know, come to the light, come stay with me.

Anyway, that'll do it for today, clearly.

Thank you, everybody.

Thanks, Will.

Thanks, Max.

And thanks to my brother for bringing in a coffee from Justin Morehouse's Coffee Van in the Park.

Yeah, I love the Justin.

Thank you, Seb.

Thank you.

Cheers, Baz.

Thank you.

Thanks, Sanny.

Cheers.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens back on Ronda.

This is The Guardian.