Transfers, Euro 2025 and Sheffield Wednesday in crisis: Football Weekly Extra

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Hello.

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Hi, pod fans.

It's Max here.

We finished recording about five minutes ago, and

literally in those five minutes, this news broke about the incredibly sad news about Diego Dotto dying in a car crash in Spain

and

there is there is nothing that any of the panel can say that can do justice to the tragedy of what's happened

and there's nothing I can say really apart from our hearts absolutely go out to his

new wife who got married a few weeks ago

and to his family.

We will of course cover this properly on Monday.

And in the meantime,

this is the podcast that we recorded.

Of course, we had absolutely no idea this had happened, but it just didn't feel,

didn't feel any need to get the panel back because what can any of us say

that is worthwhile at a moment like this?

But yeah, incredibly sad news about Diego Jotta.

And,

you know, we've talked about these things before, haven't we, about how football matters, and of course it matters, and we love it, um, but at the same time, it doesn't matter at all.

And,

you know, we get exercised about things that don't matter.

We try and talk about the things that do matter as well.

But, you know, but at the end of it, all life is can be incredibly fragile.

And so

it's just incredibly depressing.

And

yeah, this is this is our pod, and

we'll speak to you on Monday.

Hello, and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

We've largely ignored transfer stuff so far this summer, but we know a lot of you are constantly refreshing the gossip pages.

So, why not take a little look?

Rodrigo to Arsenal feels a stretch.

Eze, more likely, they're both really good.

They could buy both, and we could still talk about them needing a classic number nine.

Speaking of number nines, Manchester United want Ollie Watkins, and Liverpool are still sniffing around Alexander Isak.

Hugh Dordies yelling at the London media to stop selling their players.

I'm not in London.

There's Kudas to Spurs, Romero to Athleti, for the love of football, make that happen.

And Barry to Everton.

No, really.

We'll try and work out if Crystal Palace gets a play in Europe next season.

We'll do some EFL 2 worrying times at Hillsborough with unpaid players and contracts ending all over the place.

Worrying too at Morecambe, while radio host Robbie Savage takes over at Forest Green.

My chance may well yet come.

Then Tom Gary will join us from Switzerland as the Euros get underway.

A scratchy win for Norway against the host while Finland beat Iceland.

All that, plus your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

on the panel today barry glen denning hello hello max sanny ridravadjulo welcome hello max and hello sam dalling hello max now before we came on air literally a minute ago barry said i have low hopes low hopes for this podcast not because of the panel but because the subject matter is dry barry after that glittering intro do you feel more enthused No I don't because I'd forgotten we're also discussing transfer speculation.

So we've got that.

Yeah.

Crisis at Morecambe, Crisis at Palace, Crisis at Leon.

Um,

Robbie Savage.

To yeah, it's not great.

We're getting a bit of football in at the very end, which is nice.

I remember when we used to be a football podcast,

the glory days.

Yeah, what a way to make the uh, uh, the rest of the panel feet 10 feet tall.

It's like Harry Rednat with his arm around saying, You've got this, lads.

Um, look, I don't know, just run about a bit, lads.

Let's make lemonade from these lemons.

Anyway, let's do the transfer stuff.

We haven't done it a lot.

And people like transfers, whether they admit to it or not.

I mean, vaguely, alphabetically, if we ignore Bournemouth for a bit, Sam, Arsenal

looking positive on Eze and possible Yuccares have been encouraged.

by all accounts, whatever that verb means in TransferSpeak, for their £70 million pursuit of Rodrigo, who's not guaranteed a starting spot under rail madrid i mean that feels like a stretch rodrigo doesn't it i mean a good stretch if i was an arsenal fan does encouraged in transfer speak not mean rodrigo's agent quite fancy is a new contract and so it's drumming up a little bit of interest because he wants an agent fee rodrigo wants a little bit more cash i think that's probably it i mean it would be a lovely signing wouldn't it they would love him they just want anyone if they can get eze i i mean eze almost the he's can you call it a return to Arsenal did he spend he spent a little bit of time there and every other London club when he was a child, but he would be the one.

He'd be wonderful.

Gyoka, they just want anyone, right?

Please, if you're an Arsenal fan, you just, if they sign one of those free players, Arsenal fans will be absolutely delighted.

And they're all very good, and they will all improve Arsenal.

And I don't know what else I can really add a value to that.

Maybe Barry was right.

I think the essay signing is interesting, Sally,

where he does go, and you presume he will go.

And obviously, Spurs have been sniffing around for quite a long time.

And if you have to weigh up Spurs or Arsenal, then you go to Arsenal, don't you?

Yeah, I think so.

He's one of those players that gets you off your feet, right?

And as cliché as that sounds, but it's true.

And there aren't that many of them.

And the fact we spoke

so much about Ezay last season and just what he can do for England too, kind of demonstrates that's quite a hard thing to have, especially in this era where Pep Guardiola's methodologies have permeated through to the fact where no one wants to beat a player.

So Eze would be great.

But I mean, Arsenal, you know, they need a striker, don't they?

I've been saying this for so long.

Who is he going to stand the ball up to?

There's still nobody there.

And yeah, he could be yet another creative mercurial player if he went to Spurs again.

Well, again, but they've had so many.

If I were him, yeah, I'd go to Arsenal.

But I'd really hope that they have somebody, just anyone, to give the ball to.

Otherwise, what's he going to do?

I guess he can take it inside and score himself, I guess.

But I would choose Arsenal.

I'd I choose Arsenal.

I mean, I suppose, Barry, actually, for the neutral, if Arsenal fail to get a centre-forward in this window, it will be absolutely sensational.

Oh, absolutely.

That would be brilliant because it's all anyone's talked about.

I'm not sure.

I think if I was Eze,

I'd struggle to choose between Spurs and Arsenal.

Thomas Franks in at Spurs, we've seen how well wingers do under him at Brentford.

I can envisage Eze in a Spurs shirt playing for Spurs as a Spurs player more than I can.

It seems a better fit than Arsenal, but he would be a brilliant player for any team with delusions of grandeur to have.

And I think both those sides do have delusions of grandeur.

I think it would be a tougher decision than

my learned friends are suggesting.

Fair enough.

Sam, who minutes ago said he had nothing else to add, is back in.

Here we go.

I know.

I'm probably going to regret it.

But I think

Arsenal's a better pick.

He is is someone I follow for a while because he both

made and ruined my Christmas back in that COVID year.

I'd spent,

am I playing the violin here?

I'd spent the Christmas day on my own, right?

Because Boris locked it down as I was on the way back from a nil-mill draw between Norwich and Barnsley.

I was just, I'd just started reporting at that point, and Boris locked us down.

I couldn't go home back to my parents' house.

So I stayed in London.

I made Yorkshire pudding, sat on my own on Christmas Day.

And my first ever Premier League game was Crystal Palace versus Chef United, covering that is and Eze scored this wonder goal and actually he's a glider right he's one of those players who it's a bit like an alcohol the way he moves it doesn't look like he's running so he made my Christmas that day with this wonderful goal and allowed me to write something nice and fluffy which is what I like and then I think a couple of days later he turned up at a QPR game QPR were his former club and it was the whole oh why is he there like it's a breach of the lockdown regulations and it it then I had to go into the side of journalism which made me realize I'm not into it because I'm contacting press offices to try and get this headline about a young young player who's breached COVID regulations by basically going to watch his old mates because he really likes them.

And he shouldn't have been doing it, but I just felt really bad because I spent 48 hours haranguing palace and QPR press officers for comment on something that didn't really matter.

So he went down in my estimation slightly there.

But I think overall I love it.

How were the press officers unboxing?

I mean, you know, it's not what a press officer wants on boxing there, is it?

I don't think they after, they largely ignored me, which is what they were had every right to do, just for a cheap headline.

Well, Spurs could go for Mohamed Kudas instead.

Available for 60 million.

Sonny, apparently, they've had 50 million rejected.

I don't know.

Like, it feels like a lot.

I mean, obviously, you just need to spend a lot of money to buy anyone.

I mean, it's really interesting.

I was, for a column, was looking at the top 100 most expensive transfer fees.

And if you're generous, like 35, 40 of them have worked out.

So you have to spend buckets

on a gamble now.

No, he's not worth that.

That's that's the short answer.

But he is only 24.

So you're kind of investing in that potential.

It feels lazy to say he's inconsistent, but he is.

I mean, that's that's the facts.

I was at, I remember last season, I was at Man City West Ham, and City, I think, my, I took my son, by the way, and he remembers it like it was yesterday.

And you really start to feel old when a five-year-old knows the exact moments.

And you, it's all, I think it was 5-1, I think.

Get him on the pod.

Get Richard Badger Jr.

on.

Get him on.

He's not gone to school yet.

But Kudas had a number of chances then.

And West Ham actually had these opportunities early on.

And, you know, City were in that weird kind of phase where things weren't quite coming together.

And he just was so indecisive in the final third.

And it really kind of held him up.

And I think by the time you get to the Premier League, you've been here a couple of years, you think you kind of have ironed that out.

And he's not quite done that.

He's not.

been massively consistent for West Ham.

But then, you know, when all these players said he's young, youngish, he's got a high ceiling.

And that's the first time I've used a transfer talk bit of vocab on the pond.

I feel disgusting for doing it, by the way.

As a man who's done several transfer deadline days, I've now used that term.

What was the least interesting transfer deadline day you had?

Like, where were you when nothing happened?

Oh, I've had a couple.

Man United

over the summer transfer, Brindo.

That was a good one.

Anything happened.

There was a great...

I did Burnley.

The press officer was very, very good with us.

And he sent us some embargo press releases.

And I, as a, as a good Boy Scout, went and then sent those press releases on to the Sky Transfer News email address or whatever.

I go, right, I've got it.

It's Maxime Estev.

It was going to sign.

But unfortunately, what happened was

you'll know him next season.

He's going to be the main man in the center half.

We've talked about him many times, Barry, on this pod, but in the yet now.

But unfortunately, the transfer don that is Dharmesh Chef decided that rather than cross to his life

in a pitch black but turf more had been there all day.

He just read it in the studio and I was like, okay.

Oh no.

Didn't need to do that.

I know I could have been the man to break a stev live on it.

How different your life would be.

Barry, apparently Athleti want Christian Romero for a prepared about 60 odd million.

And clearly, you know, he's a very important player for Tottenham, but there is every part of me that would just love to see him in an athletic service.

Oh,

you know, in the same way that I say I can picture Ebricie Eze in a spur shirt.

I mean, Romeiro to Atletico Madrid is very much to the manor board.

They're destined to be together at some point.

I think just in relation to what you were saying there, Max, about

transfers not working out, Sunderland have just signed a midfielder, Senegalese midfielder.

He scored against England in that recent friendly.

Habib Diara from Strasbourg, 30 million.

He's gone in with a bullet as their most expensive ever signing ahead of Enzo Lefe.

who is the guy who came from Roma on loan last season.

And because they get promoted, the deal is made permanent.

So they're now Sunderland's two most expensive ever signings.

But I looked at the next eight in the top 10.

Yeah.

And it is just one disaster after another.

All the way down

until Germaine Defoe at number 10.

Didier Ndong, who's number three, disaster.

Asimo Jian

didn't really fire for Sunderland as far as I can remember.

Stephen Fletcher, Adam Johnson, less said about him, the better.

Jack Rodwell, who spent all his time there in the treatment room on 70 grand a week.

Darren Bent, who I believe I like, but is not particularly popular among Sunderland fans.

Wabby Kazri, and then you've got Jermaine Defoe, who was decent.

But so many of them do not work out.

And these aren't particularly high-priced transfers, but they are numbers two to ten or three to ten in Sunderland's list of record breakers.

But this is across the board isn't it this is like does that mean they went out a couple of years ago weeks ago I've googled it now like Philippe Coutinho like the most expensive player ever uh according to transfer marked um there's loads of these you know Jack Grealish I think ever to leave the premier premier league one because obviously there's Neymar and Bappe higher than him but yeah the top 10 is mad but the top 100 like Yeah, there's no, I was trying to find if there was like a sweet spot.

Like, actually, you're better off.

It's a bit like, you know, Monopoly.

If you buy the oranges, it's much better than buying the dark blues right your return on investment is quicker and you know you could get hotels up there much quicker but there isn't a sweet spot it's basically

it's always a gamble and it's much more interesting to talk about it's more fun isn't it when a new player comes there's a big unveiling than you know this midfielder who's been there for three years you can't do another unveiling video he's still here you know with a video of some guy on on x or whatever do you reckon how this this is how brighton explained their transfer policy when they hire a new coach and they use the Monopoly example?

Do you reckon that's how they...

I mean, the interesting thing is that they, you know, I mean, and I haven't looked at every single Brighton transfer, but they feels like they get it right more often than they don't.

And that just is not the case.

And there's another interesting point about big, big clubs in Vertic Commerce having to spend more money because there's a sort of man-united tax or whatever, but also having to buy more expensive players because...

Fans won't necessarily be satisfied with someone who costs 20 million from, you know, Le Havre, when actually that might be the right player to put in your team.

A very exciting headline Everton close in on signing Villa Royale striker Barry I mean I didn't know you played for Villarreal Barry you probably didn't too but you've kept it awfully quiet

yes um it's not me I can exclusively reveal it is Tiamo Barry

who's a French under 21 striker and that is all I know about it no no that's fine I didn't expect you or anyone else to know more about Tieno Barry I'll tell you a little bit about him he's

He's a big lad, six foot five.

Wow.

Yeah.

So he's big Barry up front.

Can he get ahead?

I'm not sure.

But did score 11 in La Liga last season and help Villier Rayal, I think, at a Champions League spot, if I'm right in saying.

So yeah, they value him and he's very young, only 22 as well.

So having listened to quite a few Everton podcasts

on my way to

transfer, what was I doing?

Fixture Release Day

at Branley Moore Dock.

I was there.

Oh, good, yeah, which is very exciting.

Um, yeah, they were very excited to potentially have some new signings, and of course, um, since then, they've they've announced uh Jared Bramfway is staying, which is a which is a huge uh plus for Everton.

So, um, strength up top and at the back, so positive for Everton, I think.

Interestingly, at Everton, Dominic Calvert-Loons also announced he's leaving, and I just wonder what

kind of club takes a punt on him.

He's a very up and down,

patchy striker.

He doesn't score many goals.

He's a decent hold-up player, but he's very, very injury-prone.

Seems like a nice lad.

But

who's going to pay him a shedload of money?

I'm just curious to hear anyone's views.

We had these views, didn't we, on Monday as well?

Didn't we?

On Monday's pod.

And the general consensus, well, he could do a job for Villa off the bench.

You know, I think that was that where the conclusion was in the end?

I mean,

my,

it's got West Ham written all over it.

That's all, that's all I could, that's all I can say.

It just feels there, and you know, I like we said, I think he could do a job as a you know, as a pay-as-you-play type guy, that would be where I where I would have.

Oh, I remember this now.

I wasn't on Monday's part, I did listen to it, yeah, and I remember you were talking about the

pay-as-you-play striker.

And I was thinking there used to be one called um, what was his name, Johnny Steele or something in Tiger magazine or Roy the Rovers.

He was basically a freelance striker who got paid by the goal.

Oh,

what a way to play.

Yeah.

You're living on the edge there.

It's a very precarious way of making a living.

You're right.

Well, just on Calvert Lewin and where the future could hold, I don't know if you saw that Tammy Abraham has

taken the well-trodden path to go to Turkey.

But

he's still only 27.

He signed for Bashiktas.

He's written a letter to the Roma fans that they put on their website.

And that's despite him being on loan at AC Milan.

So, I don't know.

That's the future for DCL anyway.

One day he'll get his move to Turkey.

He's got enough hair, though.

He won't need the transplant on that front.

That's true.

Trabson sport, I was calling.

Just on Barry being 6'5 and Betto 6'4,

you know, with David Moyes there in a brand new stadium, getting it launched, big man, big man, would be glorious, wouldn't it?

Jim says, is UEFA's decision to kick the question of Palace playing in Europe down the road until Leon's relegation situation is resolved A sensible move or an abdication of responsibility?

Yeah, they were due to reveal UEFA on the 27th of June whether Palace were cleared to play.

Decision was put back to this week.

On Monday, they confirmed a final decision would be postponed until Leon's domestic appeal against their relegation from the French top flight due to John Texter's involvement in both clubs.

Despite their enforced relegation, Leon can currently compete in European competitions next season.

However, if the French football authorities uphold Leon's demotion into League 2, Ligue Deux,

not a League Two,

that would be different.

Leon would relinquish their license to play in UEV's competition, which would allow Palace a route back in.

I mean, the thing is, Barry, it would just be so desperate for Palace fans, through no fault of their own, to not play in Europe next season.

It would, but this is a big, big story that,

if I'm honest, I don't think anyone apart from Palace fans care whether Palace play in Europe.

And if that sounds harsh, well, so be it.

But to answer your question, I think it would be sensible and an abdication of responsibility because I think UEFA are hoping the decision will be made for them.

Then they won't have to make a decision on this and therefore won't risk being sued by

either club.

The whole Leon thing seems to be an absolute mess.

John Texter is obviously

involved with Palace.

He sold his shares in Palace to this Woody guy, not Woody from Cheers.

But I don't think that deal has gone through yet.

It hasn't been rubber stamped by the Premier League.

So

how long will that take?

I don't know.

You do feel for Palace fans, but

This could all have been avoided very easily if John Texter had got his ducks in a row earlier like Angelus Maranakis did at Forest, and put his shares in a blind trust in time.

But he obviously didn't foresee Pallas qualifying for Europe.

And

that's sort of, it's understandable because no one really saw, expected them to win the FA Cup.

But here we are now, and Pallas fans face an anxious wait because it will be a great adventure for them.

But to be honest, I don't don't think anyone else is particularly interested in whether they get to play in Europe or not.

All right, that'll do for part one.

Do you think the podcast's going okay, Barry?

I'm not entirely happy with my own contribution, but otherwise, yes, yes.

Okay, good.

Well, look, you've still got two parts to

really get into it.

It's hard, you know,

it's 90 minutes, isn't it?

You don't have to perform for every single minute of it.

People expect perhaps you could be quiet for 88 minutes, but then two minutes of mercurial genius will happen at some point in parts two or three.

Well, I watched the Iceland-Finland game, the opener of the Euros yesterday.

So

I might shine there when we get to that.

Well, here's hoping he's going to

find out is to keep listening and we'll be back in a second.

HiPod fans of America, Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

Football Weekly is supported by the Remarkable Paper Pro.

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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.

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A proper football journalist, mate.

Exactly.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game day scratches 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.

Let's talk about some EFL clubs that are in a bit of a pickle.

Sheffield Wednesday, they have a number of their players have signalled their intent to terminate their contracts, leave as free agents this month due to their pay dispute with the club.

Club failed to pay senior players on time for the third occasion in the last four months.

Club wrote to players and staff on Monday, offering their sincere apologies for failing to pay them on time and have pledged to fulfill all outstanding payments but have provided no guarantee when that will happen.

It is all pretty grim.

Not good at all.

I just messaged Alex Miller at the Sheffield Stars to double check a couple of things I'd seen reported elsewhere.

So in case you've not quite been across it, Danny Rule, he's not returned back for pre-season training.

So I think him and his entire coaching staff,

Bar Henrik Pederson, have not been around.

So I mean, you can remember Ruhl had an interview for the Southampton job, which he didn't get, but I think the writing's on the wall for him.

So, the training sessions at the moment are being led by Andy Holdsworth, who's the sports science staff and under-21 boss.

Barry Bannon's been at some of those training sessions, even though his contracts also expired.

There was a story as well that he was saying he didn't want to get paid until the staff got paid, but I've heard that's not quite accurate either.

And they've been doing some sessions at St.

George's Park, but then there's a couple of other players,

Akin for Maywell being one, Callum Patterson, another, whose contracts expired and then they haven't been in at all.

And they're all within the rights to do that because once you don't get paid, I think it's at 15 days.

And that's a FIFA rule.

It's a breach of contract, so you can leave.

So it's a complete mess on the football side.

I mean,

without producer Joel having to go and get this all stood up by lawyers, I'll try and box

within our window here.

But Chanceri wrote, what's an 800-word letter to the fans in amongst that?

Very kind of like MM Stan style.

It was, yeah.

Lots of stuff wasn't mentioned and basically spent all his time slagging off the Florida-based consortium who've been interested in buying it and he wants some more money than what they originally said.

And I think this consortium originally were involved in a sponsorship deal and then there was more changes done there.

So it's just, it's just ongoing.

I mean, look, when you go to Sheffield Wednesday and you come through the main reception, you've got these two like gold statue elephants that flank you as you go in.

Like, Chancery, over his time, we know, has put in a lot of money.

And in the same way, Dai Young did at Reading, like they invested and probably with the right intentions, and very quickly it's unraveled.

And Chanceri, you know, the stadium's owned by this S3 group that's divorced from him.

I think that group actually charged rents to Sheffield Wednesday as well.

So it's all a bit of a tangle.

So hang on, hang on.

So he...

Does he own the stadium as well in a different company, or it's a different company that he used to be part of?

Yes,

he owns it through this other company.

So the club then pay rent to this company to play at Hillsborough.

I mean, look, last season, on the opening day,

I was live pitch side.

They played Plymouth Argyle, if you remember, and Argyle got dispatched.

And we were there very, very early.

And my cameraman...

uh who's been around a long time just pointed out a few few spaces you know like when you have something hung up on a wall and then you take it off and there's a little space where it used to be like he was pointing out and saying look there used to be a steel sign there it used to be a you you know nice chef wednesday sign that's gone now it's just like two screw holes where it used to be the ground is is

it's not in a great state whatsoever like if you've been there recently you'll know like very easily to see that it's it needs a lot of of tlc the players aren't getting paid the staff aren't getting paid it's all completely in the air the the manager isn't there it's a complete mess what chef wens they have in their favor i know we'll talk about Morecambe later on, it's like, look, they're a huge club and they are in the EFL.

There is enough people around who are interested in buying them or would be interested in buying them if they can meet the changing asking price.

I think it's 40 million at the moment, but he wants more.

And they've got lots of assets there if you can get the ground as well.

But it is a complete mess.

And of course, in all of this, it's nothing to do with the fans.

It's nothing to do with them at all.

And, you know, if Wednesday had made it to the Premier League when they were that close and, you know, things went the other way, who knows?

But it's a complete mess.

It needs resolution.

And yet again, we're in the situation where if only we had an independent football regulator.

But it is just a complete nightmare.

And Sheffield Wednesday fans are living it.

And what I would say to them and Morecambe fans as well, you've got to keep shouting up.

You've got to keep getting the message out there.

You know, as much as the oxygen gets taken by transfer stories and the Club World Cup and rightly the women's Euros as well.

it does mean there's less airtime, there's less bandwidth for these stories to come up, especially when the negative stories, you've got got no negative news in the press as it is.

But you've got to keep shouting.

You've got to keep flagging up.

Because if you don't,

you can't get the traction to get things moving.

You just don't see how

they can start the season, right?

What are we six weeks away?

They've got 16 contracted players, no preseason fixtures.

He's been...

So with the ground sale, he did that a couple of years ago, right?

And the point was to, it was similar to clubs selling their assets.

He was trying to get around financial regulations and he messed it up.

He got the dates wrong and they got the points deduction anyway and went down to league one.

You'd imagine, so if the club was sold and there are interested parties, the ground would probably be part of it.

If the club were to go into administration, which is another option, you could end up in a very dangerous situation where it's a separate asset because it's in a different company.

So a bit like Mel Morris did at Derby a few years ago, basically Chanceri stays, he still owns the ground.

And so can any prospective buyers, if he doesn't like the the look of them, he can say, Well, I'm going to charge you something ridiculous to rent the ground.

So make it impossible for them.

So he makes he retains control that way.

The playing players getting paid is an interesting one, right?

Sanny touched on it.

So it's the fee for regulation is two months in a row.

If you don't receive your salary as a player, you can give 15 days' notice, written notice.

But the club can rectify that in that time basically by paying you.

What Sheffield Wednesday are doing, I don't like to use the word smart because it's a horrible situation, but they're playing some players, the ones with value.

So the under 21s are getting paid.

Danny Roll's getting paid because they can then get the compensation for him as and when he goes.

I think they're trying to sell the young Kadamatri boy.

Remember, Danny Kadamatri, his boys are very good footballers.

So I think they're going to...

Yeah, I think they're going to sell him to Man City for a million and a half.

But who knows where that money is going to go?

So they're being quite smart.

The PFA came out the other day.

I think, ironically, it was at the, they run this off the preseason training camp for out-of-contract players.

And it was there where they were talking about these contracts.

And there's

a standard contractual clause basically for serious and persistent breaches.

But the problem is that is

woolly, right?

You have to prove.

I mean, it looks like if you're not paying wages,

that's probably a persistent and serious breach, but you need lawyers and you could argue that.

Whereas the FIFA regulation is quite clear.

So the whole thing is a mess.

They can't sign players.

They're under these transfer embargoes as well.

They've got a couple of embargoes.

They owe cash to HMRC who are going to want their money.

And they got stung a couple of years ago by Derby, actually, again, with Mel Morris.

The taxpayer ended up losing out on quite a lot of money because HMRC went a little soft on them.

So

I just don't see how Sheffield Wednesday can start in the championship in a month's time.

And it's such a shame because he almost had a go.

He had a go when he first came in and they got close.

And did he pay a couple of million San Juano Betterman?

He bought a striker last year, didn't he, from France for like two and a half million.

And he brought Stuart Armstrong in.

So he thought, oh, he's going to have a go again.

And the problem he's got, I reckon, is that he's, as all these people are, they're driven by money.

The fact that they could get in the Premier League and the cash involved with selling the value and selling a Premier League club, that's maybe what's keeping him going.

I don't know, but it's a really messy situation.

Can I ask you, Senna?

You said there, if only we had a football regulator.

What would a football regulator be able to do in this instance?

Because they can't force him to sell the club.

That's the big thing, isn't it?

Because

as with Young at Reading, when they came in, they had all the finance and had the proof.

And, you know, Chanceri's wealth is in tuna, I believe, the family's tuna canning business and tuna fishing business.

And they've got quite a lot of it, but the value of that has gone down massively.

Well, could they have stopped him buying him in the first place?

Well, I mean, isn't the idea that...

But he is invested a load of money, Max.

He's put in a couple of hundred million.

So he had the money.

Yeah.

And he owns the club.

They can't force him to sell it if he doesn't want to.

I think they're going to have quite strong powers.

I believe there's going to be various different sanctions they can put in place, financial penalties.

They're going to be able to appoint people to assist running the club.

They can remove the club's operating license.

Or they will be able to, I think.

So basically...

What's the value?

If the IFR, the independent football regulator, says you actually can't operate as a Football League club anymore, then the whole club completely loses money.

Obviously, that loses its value.

That

naturally penalizes the fans.

I think they'll be able to

veto owners potentially putting clubs into administration.

So that will be there.

So there will be quite strong powers, and I think they will have powers to remove owners as well.

They might end as these things sort of drag on, so they might end up having to go to court.

But because it's going to be,

I think there's primary legislation, and then there's going to be all these regulations underneath it.

The problem is, you've got six weeks or four weeks to the start of the season.

You just wouldn't be able to sort it out in time.

Yeah.

Sam, can I ask you about Morecambe?

I know it's complex, but you have been looking at this.

What is the situation for them?

Obviously, they were relegated this season into the National League, weren't they?

Pretty bleak.

They basically, the EFL agreed a sale just before they they approved a sale, sorry.

They're buyers waiting.

They've pumped a load of cash into it.

I think they may have already paid the current owner, a guy called Jason Whittingham.

They've paid him a load of money.

They talked about they put running costs into the club potentially as loans, but we don't have visibility of that.

I do know on Company's House, a couple of charges were cleared.

So

Morecambe had set up a loans facility previously and someone has basically paid that off.

And so those charges have been removed for Company's House.

I think based on what the new buyers or the potential buyers are saying, that might have been them.

So effectively, they've pumped a lot of money into it.

Yesterday, they've got an independent board of directors, Morecambe.

And what's it'd be funny if it wasn't so sad, but it's almost like, you know, on those episodes of The Apprentice, when they say, right, we're going into a negotiation, I'm going to do the speaking, and everyone's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're going to do the speaking.

And you're, as a viewer, you go, Yeah, that's not going to happen, is it?

And someone starts a speaking, and then the other person jumps in, and it's a race to try and get their voice in.

So, what happened yesterday was the board said the sales agreed, the owner's stalling.

If he doesn't do it by 4 p.m.,

we're going to put the club into administration.

Then it was extended to 6 p.m., then it was overnight.

Then the owner came out and and said,

The board are talking nonsense.

And I'm paraphrasing here naturally.

I'm going to dismiss the board, which he has done.

He has got rid of.

Now, the thing is, if you look on Company's House, there's potentially no current directors.

You are required to have a director, but any resolution to appoint a director takes effect from when it's signed.

So Company's House is just where you file the form.

So there could be a director.

They'll need to sort that out.

It may well be him.

Anyway, that's by the by, in some ways, they've all gone i think what happened is basically they i'm speculating

in all of these transactions there's what's available publicly and then there are private shareholder agreements which are between the shareholders and they will dictate certain things one of which could have been um that he has and probably was that the owner has the power to remove the board and that's what he's done so they're in a position where the club again is a bit like Sheffield Wednesday not paying staff there's no one senior at the club there's just an owner there's a deal waiting to happen.

The board of directors who are all volunteers are on the outside of it.

Again, administration is a possibility.

Does Morcombe want to go into administration voluntarily?

Well, the owner certainly doesn't want to.

There'll be a load of creditors who haven't, who basically are owed money by Morcombe.

But the problem is if the creditors push through an administration basically saying they owe us a load of money,

they know they'll only end up receiving pennies in the pound and what they're owed.

Whereas they also know that there is a buyer ready to come in.

So they're probably going to hold off for a little bit and hope that deal is done.

But it's just

another example of how desperately we need that independent football regulator and how shoddy some of the football ownership is.

Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring in October 2022 were disqualified.

to be company directors

after what happened at Worcester Warriors where they were the owners

and you know they ended up being liquidated.

So that's a potentially, Barry, going back to football regulators.

Could they do something at that point, maybe?

If somebody's owning a club already disqualified elsewhere, then you know, maybe they can get involved there.

All right, that'll do for part two.

Tom Gary will join us from Switzerland, and we'll look back at the first two games of the Women's Euros in just a sec.

HiPod fans of America, Max here.

Barry's here, too.

Hello.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

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welcome to part three of the guardian football weekly uh let's talk about some actual football uh the women's euros covered obviously brilliantly uh by the guardian women's football weekly it got underway yesterday um finland beating iceland in the opening game and then norway coming from behind to beat the hosts uh tom gary uh joins us from there hey tom you okay hey guys yeah i'm very well thank you lovely to chat to you

Let's start with the Switzerland-Norway game because it was a brilliant game.

I don't know why I was supporting Switzerland so vehemently.

I've never really cared for the Swiss women's side before, but I was gutted for them, especially after that first half performance.

Yeah, I thought they played really well.

They'll be really encouraged by the kind of spirited performance because Switzerland are not traditionally very good at women's football at all, whereas Norway are sort of a fairly historic powerhouse of the women's game.

So

this was a relatively new thing for Switzerland to be getting excited about women's football.

I'm based in Zurich near the England camp, but the game was over in Basel.

But

the fan park here in Zurich was absolutely jam-packed.

There was like a queue to get in that was snaking around some other bars for people to try to get in.

And just generally, it was quite a nice buzz around here, even though the match wasn't being played here.

And the team...

The team did respond to that national enthusiasm with quite good performance.

I think they'll just be kicking themselves that they didn't get anything from the game because Norway didn't play particularly well and yet they've still got the three points.

But i was great it was great fun as a second half in particular it was a because the first game in the day had been pretty turgid and slow and relatively painful watch so this was a proper football game and i i loved it yeah no it was great wasn't it and you know i i guess which

they hit the bar there's great effort from uh geraldine reuteler before they scored when they scored like the atmosphere looked sensational and you just feel that they you know if they they they could have taken more chances when they had the ascendancy, right?

100%.

They probably,

yeah, they may live to regret those missed chances because this getting through the group now is a big ask for them.

I think

they were having quite a lot of success, particularly outwide.

I was really impressed with Iman Bene, who's just signed for Manchester City, who was out in kind of that right-wing back role.

They've shown they could get through, but it's just...

When you have a performance like that and you don't take your chances, you must be kicking yourself.

Piers Sundager looked really disappointed at the end of the game.

Legendary former US and Sweden coach, of course, and Brazil.

And I think she knew what a big missed chance it was.

Norway, I suppose, on the other hand, despite winning, they just

really frustrate me.

They've got all these wonderful players like Graeme Hansen, Wright, and Mornham and Hegeberg, and so on.

And they just never really seemed to click.

They kind of got away with one last night.

A real sort of disgusting own goal, like sort of horrible, sort of painful thing to see.

That terrible, terrible own goal that was so unnecessary to concede

kind of gifted Norway the win in the end.

Yeah.

And then, you know, you had, you had quite a lot of stuff happening, right?

Because Norway scored, you know, went ahead, then they got this penalty that Ada Hagerberg missed.

It was a terrible penalty, actually.

I heard Izzy Christensen, Tom, saying this

training at Leon, that she was no good at penalties at all and was quite surprised that she took it, given that, you know, as you say, like Wrighton's there, Graham Hanson's there as well.

Yeah, I was also actually, I would have probably gone with Maramielda to take the penalty.

She's taken quite a lot over the years at Chelsea, for example.

You're right, they had like four other options.

It was scuffed quite bizarrely from one of, from a former ballon d'Or winner and one of the greatest strikers we've ever seen in the game, certainly in at club level in what she's achieved.

That was a very strange thing to see from Hegeberg.

Overall, I thought she played relatively well, obviously, got the head and goal, and she's got a real mixed history in this competition.

There were finalists Norway in 2013 when she was really young, but ever since then, it's been sort of an agonising disappointment for her in Euros after Euros.

But they finally managed to beat a host nation.

I don't know if everyone will be aware of this, but they've played the hosts in so many consecutive tournaments.

They lost to New Zealand as hosts in the last World Cup.

They lost in the last Euros to England England by 8-0

and of course.

And then they also lost to the host France in the 2019 World Cup and lost to the host the Netherlands in the 2017 Euros.

So they finally managed to find a host that is inferior enough to get a win in a major tournament.

Yeah, I mean, Switzerland got a penalty straight after the Hegelberg penalty.

It looked soft and then it was disallowed for the minutest toe offsides in the build-up.

Tell us just a little bit about Gemma Granger, the only English coach at the Euros, who's coaching Norway.

How did she end up there?

Well, she had a relatively good spell with Wales that seemed to be encouraging, and

Wales were kind of looking towards getting towards a major tournament, didn't quite make it to the World Cup.

And I think there was massive disappointment across Wales when she then decided to go for the opportunity at Norway.

I think Wales felt that they had somebody there who was a long-term plan.

But no, she decided to make the move with the chance to coach

this

group of very top-class individual players who've never really pulled things together at a tournament.

And I think she felt she could be the one to take them to that next step to finally start to deliver.

She's very well thought of amongst the English FA, for example.

And I noted a couple of days ago when we had the chance to talk to Mark Bullingham, the FA CEO,

and he was talking about kind of long-term, his positivity for the long-term succession options for England.

He mentioned

not only that Casey Stoney was a head coach at Canada, he also mentioned Gemma Granger at Norway, almost hinting that that experience might put her in the frame in the very, very long term to be a future England head coach.

So

she's coached a lot in the English youth setup and is well thought of.

But

this is almost like women's football sort of

impossible job, forgive the cliché, but Norway have kind of been annoying to watch, a little bit like watching England's men in the kind of that post-Sven era or maybe even during that Sven era where you always knew they could win something but they could never quite make it click

and she's taken that job on my gut feeling is they could go quite far mainly because the draws openly up for group a

you know they might get to a semi-final without having to play any of the top sides so it could really start to open up for somebody like norway if they they can keep winning

Now, keep your powder dry, Tom, because Barry has a full report on Iceland.

Finland has already announced that this would be his high point of the podcast.

Barry, what did you Tom's already called it turgid?

What did you make of it?

Yeah, it was quite turgid.

Finland beat Iceland.

Iceland were the favourites for this game.

Didn't play well at all.

Not helped by the fact that they lost their best player and captain, Gladys Vigga's daughter, to an injury at half-time.

She went down needing treatment twice in the first half, didn't come out for the second.

Then just before the hour mark, mark, they lost Hilda Ranton's daughter to

Red Card.

She got two bookings in,

I think, the space of seven minutes,

and can't really have any complaints about either.

I would say Katerina Kosola, Finland's midfielder, was the best player on the pitch by a mile, and it was her that scored the winning goal.

But Finland were never really that comfortable with their lead.

Iceland in Svendis, Jan's daughter have

a long throw merchant in the Rory de Lap vein.

And she had a lot of opportunities to get chuck the ball long into the box.

And it was a constant source of chaos that Finland never looked comfortable with at all, but they always managed to just about scramble the ball clear.

And on another day, Iceland probably could have scored one or two.

And Svendis also had a couple of good chances to equalise, but couldn't get her shots on target.

So Finland just about got over the line.

I would say largely due to a consummate exhibition of time wasting by their goalkeeper, Anna Koivanen, who,

yeah, her game management is top card, I would say.

Tom, presumably you've got nothing to add to that.

Can I say one thing about the long throws?

There was a moment at the end of the game that was quite agonising to watch as a neutral when in stoppage time, we'd already gone past the allocated added minutes and Jon Stottier got a long throw.

And you know when you're sort of thinking, quick, take it quickly, quick, get it in the mixer.

And she stopped to wipe the ball with a towel that was by the side of the pitch, which must have taken a good extra 15 seconds of the time they had just to try.

And it wasn't the best of throws either, even after wiping it away.

It was never going to be a great game.

It was about about 34 degrees locally at kickoff

with two relatively weak sides.

And

I always feared it wouldn't be the best opening fixture.

But hopefully people won't judge a book by its cover because the quality sides in this tournament are all still yet to come.

Yeah, I got Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal then

today.

What's the latest on Bon Mati?

Well,

the increasing whispers from the camp in Spain imply that she might play, which would be a quite remarkable turnaround from being in in hospital barely a week ago.

She

surely won't be able to do 90 minutes.

Surely they're going to have to try and look after her fitness.

But she has recovered well, we're told from viral meningitis after that scare.

And generally, although we wait to see the team news, the noises that we're hearing from those closer to Spain camp is that there is optimism she might be included in the team, which would, from where we were a week ago, and her whole tournament seemed in jeopardy, that's a quite positive move for the current Ballon d'or winner all right tom hey thanks for coming on and we'll chat to you soon real pleasure guys nice to see you tom gary there and of course uh guardian women's football weekly is on three times a week we'll chuck a few of their pods in our feed as well so uh subscribe to that uh finally we should welcome robbie savage to forest green signed a four-year deal um after a really successful season at macclesfield uh saw them promoted um he said i know there'll be a bit of skepticism because i've only had one year in management i know i'll have to win fans over i'm not scared of that I got released from the biggest football club in the world at 19, told I wasn't good enough.

I've always proved people wrong because I've got a great work ethic.

I spoke to Brendan Rogers, Martin O'Neill and Sean Dysch, and they all said, what an opportunity in unison.

I like the idea that they all said that.

Everybody wants to help me.

So that goes to show I must be okay because they're willing to help.

Sam, you spent a bit of time in them last season.

Yeah, I went in it and I was very lucky to do a behind the scenes piece where he let me in.

to all of it, basically, dressing room manager's office, which is quite rare.

I think it was a bit of a shock, right?

I think this is playing out as a bit of a drama, Coronation Street EastEnders style, because Savage went in, for people not aware of the story, Macclesfield, there was that BBC documentary there in a terrible state.

A guy called Rob Smeffhurst, who is the owner and one of, or other majority owner, and one of Savage's best mates,

basically rang him and said, I bought this football club.

Can you come in?

And Savage said yes.

And he's been there for the last three or four years and he's poured his heart and soul into it.

Initially, he was director of football.

And then the last guy, a guy called Michael Clegg, not the one who used to play for Manchester United youth team, but another guy.

He took him to the playoffs, got to the final, lost, and Savage basically sacked him, which felt a little bit harsh.

And Savage was installed as manager.

So it was his first season in management.

And a couple of weeks ago.

He signed a two-year contract.

And it wasn't just that he signed a two-year contract, though I can't quite work it out because he keeps saying he's never never been paid anything and it's all sort of love and time.

And I don't know why you need a piece of paper to say you're going to commit your love and time to the club.

But he signed a two-year contract.

And the thing is, he's very big on statements, right?

We know he likes to talk.

He said, I can't leave that dressing room.

I'm on the journey with them.

I can't leave Rob.

What we've been through together is amazing.

And a couple of weeks later, he's going to Forest Green Rovers, which...

If we look at it objectively, right, if you take the emotion out of it, it's a league above.

It's a Macclesfield or a team going into the National League North?

Unknown quantity, albeit with a decent squad.

They always had a squad for a couple of leagues above.

Forest Green got close to promotion back to the Football League and have ambitions.

And a former Wales teammate Mark Bowen has gone in.

So things have happened very quickly.

And football is one of those industries where you can't blame people for making the decision that's best for them and best for their family, but it hasn't gone down well.

And Rob Smethurst, they both did videos on the day of the release, and you could see how disappointed Rob Smethurst was with Robbie Savage.

Because Savage is also part owner, right?

So that friendship may well be ruined.

They expected to lose him not quite this soon.

And then the real knife is that he's taken three of the players and they've already gone.

And there is wing backs and a centre-aught called Mendy.

And again, Mendy, I went in a couple of years ago and interviewed Alex Bruce with his manager.

And Alex Bruce was telling me that he was having to ring Mendy's boss at a restaurant where he worked because he needed some time off because he was a kitchen porter.

So he's taken Mendy from there to being a professional footballer.

So

that is massive.

But Smefest stops short of saying it, so I have to be a bit careful.

But in the video, he basically says there are three players he wants to take and we can't stop them because Robbie knows exactly what is in the contracts and the get-out clauses and things like that, the buy-out clauses.

So they lost those three players quite close to the start of the season.

And John Rooney, brother of Wayne, who I think scored 12 goals for them last year he's taken over as manager but effectively he has said he isn't going to play so they've lost four of their massive players they've lost their manager um and everything that comes with it and

savage i actually really liked him i know he has this marmite

effect and maybe more one side than the other i found him sincere and quite

I want to say genuine.

He talks a lot, but his heart's in the right place.

And you could tell how much it meant to him and how much he loved it.

I think he's actually quite insecure.

And he talks a lot about, I've heard him say that line before about having to always fight against it in my life and prove people wrong.

So he's an interesting character.

At his age, has he turned 50?

I think it would have been easy for him to sit on his radio show and talk about managers and criticize managers.

Hey, hang on, that's not easy.

A radio show is not easy to go.

Let's be clear about this.

He has always wanted to do it.

He didn't need to do it.

Yeah.

And he has gone in at a low level and he wants to prove himself and he does believe in himself.

And whether he's got illusions of grandeur, who knows?

But he is giving it a go.

So it's a really hard one.

I don't know how to feel about it.

The guy he sacked previously, Michael Clegg, has said, oh, it's come out on Twitter and said, basically, well, my nan could have got that squad up with 100 points.

Savage took over when

he knew that we built the squad.

And I think he described it last year as manager as like driving a Ferrari with the passenger yanking the wheel every 10 minutes.

So

it's a bit of a circus.

It's been a bit of a drama, but

you've got to say good luck to him, right?

Yeah, good luck to him.

And, you know, he'll need to finish his team talk quickly.

I think he'll be ready for 6.06, won't he?

Anyway, that'll do for today.

And Barry is smiling.

So there we all are.

Everybody's happy.

Thank you, Sanny.

Thank you.

Max, if you could humor me for one moment, by the way, just at the time we're at.

If we're used to watching a lot of host broadcasters at the moment, we're the Club World Cup and all that.

this podcast, and there's very few outlets where you will get actual honest criticism, where people can be honest about football.

And I noticed yesterday in Robin Cowan's commentary, she did say that Norway were playing quite poorly.

And I thought it struck me that very few places would be allowed to say that outright.

So don't forget the value of the pod, even when it might feel a bit boring, Barry.

You know, there's no vested interest here.

You can actually say what you really think and know you're not going to get any comeuppance.

So yeah, cheers for having us on.

No, my

problem isn't

I just think it's quite sad that we are reduced to talking about these things that we shouldn't have to talk about, but and that I don't feel particularly comfortable talking about because I'm not an expert in the hedge funds and takeovers and

administration and all that sort of stuff.

But this is where we are now.

This is where we are.

Thank you, Barry.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

Thank you, Max.

And given the theme, as an existential point,

I have to remember: I do this in my job as a lawyer.

You go looking for all this company's house.

None of it exists.

None of it is real.

We made all this stuff up, all these chains of ownership,

everything there is.

It's not real.

The whole thing is scripted.

The whole thing is scripted.

Proper weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Phil Maynard.

We'll be back on Monday.

This is The Guardian.