FA Cup final preview and Sunderland book place at Wembley - Football Weekly Extra podcast

This is the Guardian.

Hello, and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly playoff ecstasy for Sunderland, at least for now.

Dan Ballard with the highest stooping header of all time in the last minute of injury time.

Cue the wildest scenes and a continuation of the Glendenning angst to win or not to win.

Just how is he meant to feel as Sheffield United awaits?

And then to the cup final, we're all palace, aren't we?

Apart from Nada Manuha, could they win their first ever trophy?

Or would it be nice to see that bright red face of an exhausted Kevin de Bruyne lift his last cup for City?

We'll discuss the quite bizarre statement from Nottingham Forest following the news of the seriousness of Taiwo Awani's injury.

Also, today, Nick Ames has been back to Ukraine to find out how football is continuing.

He'll join us in part three.

All that, plus the great Ajax claps, your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Barry Glendenning, welcome.

Hello.

Jordan Jam Bryan, hello.

Hello, mate.

And good morning to Nada Manuha.

Good morning, sir.

Let's start with that last-minute winner in injury time for Sunderland.

Chris says, given how Barry has raised several legitimate concerns about Sunderland being promoted this season, just how crestfallen was he at the late, late winner the other night?

Ian Dowie, presumably not that one, saying, to give Barry a small taste of his own medicine.

I wonder if the other guests could be tempted to merely exhale loudly and say they don't really care because they don't have a horse in the race when the subject of Sutherland's glorious injury time winner comes up.

Go on then, Baz.

I texted Wilson and he said he just sobbed alone in his house for an hour after that moment.

How did you react?

I was also alone in my house and I jumped around the living room shouting in jubilation, which sort of puts pain to

any

delusions I might have had that I don't want Sutherland to get promoted so they can beat get beaten 38 times next season.

It was incredible and it was so undeserved.

I have to take my hat off to Frank Lampard who was incredibly magnanimous in defeat and Coventry were by far the better team over both legs and I think can consider themselves quite unfortunate to have lost and to go out to a goal like that.

The missed time jump, the ball bounced off his head, went in off the crossbar.

And,

well, you know, I'll take it.

And I really hope Sunday will beat Sheffield United in the final.

It's interesting, actually, because we've two teams in the championship playoff final whose respective playoff records are dismal.

I think between them they've contested 16 playoffs in various divisions and only one won between them.

Wow.

But somebody has to win this.

This is true.

Nathan?

Yeah, I was going to say, so I do kind of have a horse in this one because as a former Sunderland player, when Sunderland were in the Premier League and when I was there in 2010, I remember at the start of the season, the goal was, like the club goal, was to finish in the top 10.

And we managed to do that on the last day of the season after beating West Ham away in the last game.

But then the years that follow to see them struggle, to see them then drop down division divisions and then to be struggling the way that they have done it still doesn't feel weird like when some it still feels weird rather when some people talk about you know have you watched sunlight or whatever it's called like i refused to watch it because my memory of being there was so good that i didn't want to see a shambles so i've distanced myself from that but then to add to this situation now i only watched the first leg but i remember thinking wow coventry coventry are the better team here they really really are so i didn't watch the second leg and obviously that's gone the way that it's gone but now to tell you a more personal story there's a guy who plays for Coventry called Jake Bidwell, who's a good friend of mine.

I played in the Queen Spark Rangers.

And that thing that Barry's just said there about Coventry being the better side across two legs, the last time I watched Coventry in the playoffs was in the final against Luton two seasons ago.

And I thought Coventry on the day were the better team then as well.

And for him personally, I think this is either the fourth or fifth time he's either been in the playoffs semi-final or final and has stumbled and failed to get to the Premier League.

And I know how much that means to him.

And it's like a really like sad, like painful story because I can, when I speak to him about it, like he can't hide his sadness around it but it's just a reminder from say the perspectives of many that like we talk about the Premier League and you know if you if you start in it then that's all you ever know but there's so many people who are desperate to make that leap up to get the chance to play against some of the best players in the world some of the best stadiums you know one of the most watched leagues if not the most watched league but it's not like a fairy tale for everyone and I feel for him again because for them to be losing in that manner in a way where they probably feel they deserve more like that for him almost feels like the story of his career at this moment yeah and you know with Coventry you have that the playoff final two years ago to Luton on penalties, but last year they lost the FA Cup semifinal, you know, to Manchester United on penalties, and they and they were the better side in that game as well.

How much heartbreak can one side have?

I do, Jordan, want to just take us back to the moment because it is,

I mean, it might sound obvious, but it is those moments that make you realize why you love this game.

Just seeing these, and we're going to talk about like the PSV fans in a bit,

but to see those Sunderland fans, like I can't get enough of like mobile phone footage of that corner and then the phone just going everywhere and just people going completely wild.

That is what it's about.

I mean, seeing the fans lose their absolute shit.

And I agree with Nedemore.

I think you mentioned it.

Over the two legs, they weren't the better team, but yet to go through that way is almost sweeter.

And, you know, I was really hoping, because I understand what Barry's been saying over the last couple of weeks about being conflicted regarding Sunderland's return to the Premier League.

But I'm really, really hoping that Sunderland win that final now.

One, because because Sheffield United and the Premier League are boring.

Two, because Barry's not convinced about it.

So I want them in.

But also, I understand the last couple of years Sunderland were in the Premier League.

I vividly remember it being really, really like standout grim.

Like everything that goes down, it's a poor season, right?

Of course.

Bottom three, it's not a good season.

But Sunderland sticks out in my memory as like, I just remember them getting absolutely battered at home almost every other week to a crowd crowd of like it felt like 18 000 in what is a very very big stadium it just felt very very doom and gloom and grim so for them to have that moment this week um having not been the better team i'm like fair play to them let's let's let's let's give them their moment that is what football is about you can be out of the league for years you can go down the leagues but you know you can come back and you can come back in that way they're not back yet but i'm i'm team sunderland on this one yeah good on you I think to be fair, Jordan, that memory that you have, that was how I saw Sunderland in the championship when they were struggling a few years ago.

Like, that was grim to the point where players at times were like really anxious about playing at home.

I think some of them, they would rather be playing away because the criticism was so different.

You know, this is a safer environment for me, 20,000 people who I don't know, as opposed to 20,000 people that know me very well, that don't think I'm very good.

But again, I've got to say, like, for me personally, my year up there, I loved it.

Apart from...

losing 5-1 to Newcastle at St.

James's Park, apart from that,

getting bastard in that derby, I loved that year because the the people up there, like they love their football, like adore it so, so much.

And it's the same, you know, obviously in Newcastle and so on and other cities around the country in that manner whereby the football club is the heart of the city.

And when they go, they support you.

They give everything,

everything.

When you think about relatively speaking, if we measure success in terms of lifting trophies, it's like, well, why are you still coming?

Well, they come because it's their identity.

And to be a part of that for the time that I was, honestly, it's my first time moving away from Man City at the time.

It's one of the funnest years that I had.

And I was there for literally one year.

But going to the stadium of light, seeing the fans travel the way that they did, the sort of passion around some of the games that were coming in, it was brilliant.

It's just, as I say, I just never thought like 10 years off, however many years further down the road, they'd be fighting to get back into the Premier League again because I thought I was going to be a stable side.

The amount of times you/slash we have talked about your goal against Chelsea makes me feel like you need a testimonial or something.

I feel like they're for decades.

Baz, as we get closer to the final, I just want to know what your nerves were like yesterday.

Like, clearly, you realised you wanted to win, but like, how will you you be on final day, do you think?

I will be back in nerves.

I'm hoping to go.

I have a ticket sorted, but yeah, just if I can get out of work, which I'm working on at the moment, and I'll really look forward to it because I don't get to go and see them very often.

And

when

Sunderland or Newcastle, when they come down to Wembley, it's always special.

They take over Trafalgar Square.

And yeah, it should be great.

But it's only good if you win.

If you lose a playoff final, it stinks.

It's absolutely horrible.

Totally unpleasant.

You have won it, Nadem.

Was that the Zamora one?

Was that the Zamora one?

That's the Zamora one.

And I think I might have said this on the podcast before, but I was somebody, say, when I finally, when we won the playoff semifinal against Wigan, I remember thinking,

I never understood the point in those banners.

Oh, we're going to Wembley.

I always felt really corny when I was younger.

And then all of a sudden I was holding one.

I was like, I tell you what, we're going to Wembley.

This is actually really, really cool.

So upon going, I was like, not necessarily starstruck by it.

I said, oh, this is amazing.

staying in the hotel across from the from the stadium you can see the advertising of your game on the screen people walking around during the day it's a beautiful day and then I remember speaking with Joni Lesko actually and he said you're like the play playing at Wembley is great if you win a player final is great if you win if you do not win this is one of the worst days you'll have in your career so to be able to fall on the right side of that and I'd say technically speaking we kind of stole the game just a little bit which you could argue maybe makes that sweeter I'm not sure but yeah that's one of my that's one of my my favorite days of playing football because of the fact that we won that game and it was so good.

Like, I don't know if you guys would agree, but some of the best games which go your way, they're so good that you don't know how to walk off the pitch.

You just end up staying out there for ages.

Everyone just stays too long.

The fans are still in the stands.

You're still on the pitch.

Nobody's going to say, oh, so what time's the bus leaving or what time's the train or this?

You're just like, no, you're just here in the moment.

So yeah, going to Wembley gives you that anxiety, but it is that risk reward because if you do win that game, it's a day you'll never forget.

I've seen Sunderland lose twice i've seen them at wembley twice they lost both times a league cup final and a league one play-off final so i'm due one but i know that's well you're on it you're also you're also on a hat-trick

can i just make a wider a wider point on the championship next season and how competitive it potentially could be because you know you've got the likes of blackburn west brom shefford wednesday norwich watford the three clubs coming from the premier league they're going to have that money you've got birmingham and Wrexham coming up into the championship and either Sunderland or Sheffield United are going to be back in there as well.

So I'm looking at the league now just thinking this could be a really interesting and competitive league next season in the championship.

Also last night, Stockport.

Leighton Orient, of course, that offside goal for Leighton Orient in the first leg that people are still talking about.

It was some game actually.

Finished 1-1.

Orient were ahead after two minutes.

Stockport equalised with a quarter of an hour left.

They had an amazing chance to win it in 120th minute.

Stockport player was clean through and hit the post and then they missed two penalties.

Leighton Orient scored all theirs, they won for one on penalties.

They will face either Wickham or Charlton.

Currently goalless,

producer Joel.

Off to the valley tonight, I presume.

Let's talk about the FA Cup final.

Palace City.

So Palace have got past Stockport, Doncaster, Millwall, Fulham and Villa.

Man City have got past Salford, Leighton Orient, Plymouth, Bournemouth and Forest.

CG says, as a Palace fan, I'm finding this whole week exhausting.

If we do somehow pull off off the unthinkable and win our first ever trophy, what do we do to celebrate?

I genuinely don't know how we'll act if it happens.

It's their third FA Cup final.

They lost to Manchester United in 1990 and 2016.

They are one of four clubs to compete in two finals without ever winning the trophy, along with Queen's Park, Birmingham City, and Watford.

Man City are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Crystal Palace in all competitions.

We are, Barry, except Nadum, all Palace here, aren't we?

I think so, yeah.

And I give them a very good chance of winning this game.

So the two Premier League games, these sides are contested this season.

In December, they

played out a two-all draw.

Haaland played in that one and scored.

And then more recently, in April, City beat Palace 5-2.

That was a bit of an odd game.

Palace went 2-0 up, had a third ruled out for a tight-off side, and then City came back and battered them.

No Haaland in that game.

So it will be interesting to see

if Haaland starts for City in this one or if he's on the bench.

He didn't play particularly well on his comeback last weekend,

but you know, he's understandably ring rusty, but there is this narrative that bubbles away that Arras City a better side without him in the team.

But I would give Palace a very, very good chance of winning this, and I hope they do.

I mean, Barry, I think everybody, Bar City fans and maybe Brighton fans, will be rooting for Crystal Palace.

And look, I support a club Arsenal where we're arguing daily about the fact that we haven't won a double a Champions League and a Premier League.

And these are the kind of riches that we have to argue about.

And there's a club in Crystal Palace that they won a trophy in their lives.

Those fans have never seen their team lift a trophy of note anyway.

So I'm desperate.

I'm a South London boy.

I was born and raised not far from Crystal Palace.

They're my second team.

You're allowed one, Max.

So I'm allowed one.

I'm not really allowed two that ever play each other.

No, I mean, you can do what you like, but you know,

there are no rules.

There are no rules.

No rules here.

Okay.

All right.

In that case,

they're my second team.

So I'm desperate for them to win this game.

A couple of points on a couple of their players, just very briefly.

Jean-Philippe Mateta, I wanted to mention him because I think he might be the most underrated striker in the Premier League.

I'm a really big fan of his.

He might be the top echelons, the elite world-class bracket, but I think he's definitely in the tier below.

And I think there's definitely an element of snobbery around him because of who he plays for his record this season and last season is really really strong i think he's on 14 goals currently and last season was 16 goals and if he was doing for palace in these last two seasons for a dortmund or a napoli or a marseille or a lisbon there'd be so many premier league clubs that would want to take him to their club because he's at palace there just seems to be this oh yeah he's good but he's not he's a by the way he's huge i saw the palace arsenal game at soas park this year i saw him up close he's an absolute wardrobe.

He's bigger than the goalkeeper.

He's huge.

The Libre and Gabrielle really struggle with him.

He's massive.

He's huge.

And Eze, another player that I wanted to.

Sorry, good touch for a wardrobe is what you're saying.

It's the famous.

For a wardrobe, yeah, he's an absolute unit.

It's ridiculous.

But I think he's a very, very good football player.

And Eze, because I think Arsenal need a creative 10 to kind of supplement or even replace somebody like Odegaard.

But I wonder if Eze is one of those players that's really good.

And Ned and my other view on this, is really good at being a big fish in a small pond, or if actually you could see him doing what Elise did and making that transition up to a bigger club and really making an impact.

I think he's technically such a gifted, off-the-cuff player that inner system might struggle, but off-the-cuff,

he can do magic.

So, those are two players that are really, and he also has got two years-only contract left.

So, this is the summer where they either sign him or sell him.

So, they're two players that I'm looking to see how they get on this final for sure as well.

I would love to support Crystal Palace for this game, but unfortunately, I will not be doing that with all due respect to them and the story and everything that it stands for because I totally get the argument to be made for it.

But, you know, unfortunately, I fall on the other side of that.

And in regards to, say, Eze or Mateta, like, these guys,

they are really good.

And with Barry, I could see how they could potentially win the game.

But realistically, I can also see exactly how City could win the game as well.

Because for them, they found so many different ways to beat so many different teams across all those years.

And with the players coming back that they have had in the last few weeks, I think it has made a difference.

They obviously, you know, did very well to keep a clean sheet against Southampton last weekend, which was a massive result for them.

But yeah, I think, you know,

I could call that more of a blip.

And I think they'll be incredibly focused for this game because of the fact that like a year ago, they lost this same game to Manchester United.

And that was, you know, a tough way for them to finish the season.

And, you know, in regards to Iberi, like, the big fish in the small pond thing is interesting because when I played with him at QPR, he wasn't a big fish.

He became one.

And then when he went to Palace, even after signing him, he wasn't a big fish there either.

He became one.

So I think his adaptability and ability to understand what the coaches want from him and how he fits into a side, I think he can do that anywhere.

Obviously, his style of play at the moment is very suited to how Palace play, but he's someone that loves the game enough and listens enough.

to, I believe, go anywhere and be able to thrive.

And he doesn't need to be the star as such.

He just needs to be able to play the football that he enjoys playing and a manager to understand that.

So I think he could go somewhere else.

But then, for Palace, like, they don't want him to.

Like, we're in this position now when we can even relate it to, say, like, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and so on.

Which sort of like fan of a football club will ever think that it's good for someone to go somewhere else because it's better?

Like, there's no place better than your football club.

I think for Palace, they'd want him to stay because he's thriving in the Premier League right now.

He's playing for England.

Yeah, you know what I mean?

So,

it's annoying to be honest.

Like,

I'm happy that Iber is in a final because he's a friend of mine.

I'm now unhappy to be actively rooting against him in the final as well.

But then if he does win, I'll be congratulating through very, very stressed feelings, emotions, and so on.

But it'll be a great story for him because I remember when he first started playing professionally, like he was in my team at the time.

And this guy had talent, but was he ever going to be able to sort of like make the most of it?

And as we see him now, you know, this is the star boy.

This is somebody who could go and play anywhere in the Premier League at this moment.

And yeah, not that long ago, you know, he was a free agent signed by QPR's Academy, so fair play to him.

But unfortunately, I am a city fan, so I'm very much rooting for them on Saturday.

I'm partly stuck on relative size of fish because he keeps becoming a big fish and then becomes a small fish.

But is he the same size fish and then he's getting even bigger and bigger?

Or do you do you become a smaller fish when you move to a bigger club?

Do you see

like

was he the same size fish when he moved from QBL to Palace, or does that fish keep changing in size?

It's a great question.

It's a great question, Max.

There probably isn't an answer.

I would say and this probably you know isn't for you know you say you know does any fan want their player to move on no but when you're a lower league fan like when cambridge sold dion to manchester united for a million pounds

the pride that we had like it was just unheard of that we sold a player to a club of that stature and for a million pounds i know i sound a bit like austin powers now it was like this is absolutely insane like how is you know i just couldn't get enough of him in a man united shirt was like this isn't this is our guy doing this, but I think that's probably reflective of, you know, this guy's clearly going somewhere else and he's managed to go there for this money with those players.

It was extraordinary.

Sorry, is that Austin Powell's or Doctor Evil?

Doctor Evil.

Oh,

yes.

You out there, Max.

That's not the same, but that is the character.

That is the movie, right?

Isn't it?

Yeah, we talk about characters, Max.

Come on, I've bailed you out there, Max.

All the Austin Powell stands are going to be all over you.

Welcome.

I don't think I made a mistake.

I knew the reference I was making.

I've made many mistakes before.

One player, Max, who is leaving Crystal Palace is Joel Ward, who it was announced.

He's been there forever.

He's off at the end of the season after 13 years and 383 games, 305 of them in the Premier League.

Unlikely to feature on Saturday.

He's only made two appearances a season

for a combined total of 11 minutes.

But he's been a brilliant servant for Palace.

And if we're mentioning tribute, giving tributes to players that are leaving, you've probably done it before on previous pods, Max, but I am the president of the Kevin De Bruyne fan club, which is probably like to be his final FA Cup of his career.

An artist, I just think we need people like him to watch.

We're losing Trent Alexander Arnold, another artist from this league.

I'd even put Jorginho.

I know that'll be unpopular opinion, but these are guys that with the football their feet just do things that I just I gush over.

These are true artists.

So it'll be a shame to see De Bruyne at his final,

hopefully lose.

I'm not sure I'd put Joel.

No, no, no, I wouldn't ever.

I would rage with respect.

Solid player, but no, not in that bracket.

It's just not with the ball of his feet.

Actually, he doesn't want the ball of it at his feet.

With the ball on his forehead.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, the ball at someone else's feet that he can pile into.

Nadem, I just wanted to ask about Kevin De Bruyne and like what's happened since it was announced that he was leaving.

It's clearly not his decision.

Are you slightly

Where do you imagine he might end up?

Well, I think we sort of speculated, would he stay in the Premier League?

Like, would he have that kind of like, I'm pissed off with you guys, so I'm going to stick about and show you the mistake you've made.

Good question.

Was it definitely not his decision?

Was it definitely their decision to let him go?

That seems to be the implication from him, yeah, saying, I didn't know, you know, I didn't know that this was going to happen.

I found out this is going to happen.

From when I've spoken to him, which isn't a lot, but it's enough to sort of get a feel for what he's like as a person.

He's somebody that just wants to be settled and playing football week in, week out.

And when that gets taken away from him as such, like I think Guardiola, he mentioned this probably three years ago when he's talking about Riyadh Mares, two years ago, actually.

He said Riyadh Mares has an amateur spirit.

And what that means is their happiness comes from just playing football the same way like an amateur would just be playing football.

Some of the other stuff around it doesn't really matter as much.

They just want to be playing well, enjoying it, and the team to be winning.

And I think that's where sort of Kevin lies as well.

And for the majority of time at City, he's been able to do that.

But in recent weeks, in this season in particular, he hasn't, not least of all, the semifinal against Forrest.

He was an unused sub.

Kevin De Brona was an unused sub in an FA Cup semi-final on that big stage there.

And you could see after the game, like, he was disappointed.

They were walking around, they were clapping the fans, and everyone was like, accepting of it, cheery, whatever.

But he was down because he knows that, you know, that was...

an opportunity for him to play at that stadium, to play in such a big game.

So in terms of where he's going to, if City couldn't guarantee him football, then obviously that's probably one of the reasons why he said that he needs to leave.

But who would be going for him now is going to be interesting because, you know, he's a little bit older without being old because he's the same age as like Salah, who isn't getting really cold old, he's just getting cold like exquisite.

So I think it'll be interesting just because

which team, a top team that can have his level of talent, has a recruitment policy which brings in people who could be in and around that sort of age bracket, regardless of whatever, however good that they are, who can fall in line with that.

And I'm not sure.

And it's a shame because I was, I get, I get funny about this, to be fair.

But when I was

in the sort of like last third of my career, like it didn't matter how well I was doing, and this is the case for pretty much every footballer, the first sort of parameter is, how old are you?

Does this fit in with our transfer policy?

Is this going to work?

Are you going to be going to have like resale value in this, that, and the other?

And for Kevin, this is one of the best midfielders the Premier League and European football has probably ever seen.

So you'd think he'd be able to find a club somewhere in England that would be able to offer him the opportunity to play week in, week out in what we think is the best league in the world.

But in reality, I don't know.

But I think he's a big family guy.

He wants his family to be settled.

His wife is, I think, his sons, and he just wants to be playing football week in, week out.

That sounds super simple and super basic, but it goes back to my original point.

Like, there's an amateur spirit within some people to where football is just a priority.

So wherever he can get that, it's going to be key for him.

And I don't think he's going to be going to someplace where his family couldn't sort of like settle down and enjoy themselves because, you know, ultimately that's what brings him happiness as well.

Could you nudge him in the direction of Weirside if Sunderland caught?

Listen,

I would love to see Kevin De Bruyne if he's not playing for City playing for Sunderland.

That would be like unreal territory.

But personally, I can't see it.

I cannot see it.

But, you know, Barry, don't jump a game ahead.

There's still one more game to go, Barry.

I did say if, if, if, yeah.

And we'll talk about the FA Cup final on Monday and what will be known as the Wharton final in years to come, I predict.

Anyway, that'll do for part one.

Part two will begin with Nottingham Forest.

Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Week cleanup after Monday's pod.

We heard that pretty shocking news that the Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Wanyi had been put into an induced coma following abdominal surgery.

As of last night, he'd woken after having that surgery, thought to be a ruptured intestine.

Not thought to be life-threatening.

Of course, we wish him well, and that is the most important part of all this story.

Forrest then released a bizarre statement.

It's hard, it's quite long.

I'll read all of it because I think you need to hear all of it to feel how weird it is.

Nothing forest can confirm that Tyro Wani is recovering well so far following urgent surgery on a serious abdominal injury sustained during Sunday's match against Leicester City.

The seriousness of his injury is a powerful reminder of the physical risks in the game and why a player's health and well-being must always come first.

At Nazi and Forest, this principle is not just policy for us, it's the deeply held belief and conviction of our owner.

To Evangelos Maranakis, this isn't just a football club, it's family, and he instills this message in all of us.

That is why he was so personally and emotionally invested in the situation that unfolded at the City Ground on Sunday.

His reaction was one of deep care, responsibility, and emotional investment in one of our own.

He didn't just see it as an isolated incident, but as something that reflected the values and unity of the entire team.

In moments like that, he demonstrates his leadership, not just through words, but through action and presence.

In the final 10 minutes of the game, when he saw our player clearly in discomfort, struggling through visible pain, it became increasingly difficult for him to stay on the sidelines.

His deep frustration at seeing our player lying on the ground in severe pain, something no one with genuine care could ignore, triggered him to go onto the pitch.

It was instinctive, human, and a reflection of just how much this team and its people mean to him.

He would do the same again if such an unfortunate event were to ever reoccur.

The truth of the matter is there was no confrontation with Nuno or with others, either on the pitch or inside the stadium.

There was only shared frustration between all of us that the medical team should never have allowed the player to continue.

In light of this, we urge former coaches and players and other public figures in the game to resist the urge to rush to judgement and fake news online, especially when they do not have the full facts and context.

Baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction serves no one, least of all the injured player.

We call on these influential voices to show the same respect for player welfare that they often demand from others.

Let concern come before commentary.

At Nottingham Forest, we believe the mental and physical well-being of our players and coaching staff must always take precedence over media narratives, inflammatory judgments, and certainly over self-promotion.

In moments like this, the game must unite around those who put their bodies and minds on the line every week.

That's what real leadership looks like in our game.

Barry, I'm not sure where to start, apart from

it.

I saw one of the maddest statements I've seen a club ever put out.

Since the last mad one they put out last season.

Yes, you're right.

Yes, of course.

Well, it's a statement, I suppose, trying to,

and it's increasingly a thing in this world

where

someone is trying to convince people they didn't see what they clearly saw now there was a confrontation of sorts between Maranakis and Nuno after the game I think it was

blown slightly out of proportion it was an animated chat nothing more I would say

with Maranakis being the more animated.

I don't particularly believe what that statement is saying is that he was totally overcome with concern for Tyo Awanyi.

And they're clearly having a pop at Gary Neville,

who said that Nuno should go and arrange to leave the club because you can't be putting up with that sort of stuff from his employer on the pitch of public dressing down.

And if it is a dig at Gary Neville, and I'm pretty sure it is, why not just name Gary Neville?

But

yeah,

it's very odd.

I mean, this idea that

everything should come above self-promotion when clearly someone is really self-promoting themselves in this statement.

I don't know, Jordan, it just made me think, you know, owners are custodians of football clubs and they belong to the fans.

We're talking about in part one that importance, you know, of what this means to football fans.

And you just have no control over who owns your football club.

And I think a lot of fans probably don't care because they've been successful.

But it does sort of bring it back to

the the lack of control you actually have over your club.

Yeah, I mean, my initial reaction to that statement was

what Barry said.

My suspicious antennae went up.

I was a bit like, hmm, are they trying to control the narrative in a week where they've been battered, you know, PR-wise for the actions of their owner?

But look,

I I don't know the owner, so maybe it's a little bit unfair for me to basically say that they're kind of lying.

That wasn't the motivations of why he stormed onto the pitch.

I don't know.

But yeah, I mean, as football fans, one of the things that's most frustrating is that we all want the perfect owner to spend the perfect amount of money and conduct themselves in the perfect way and, you know,

and do perfect things.

And that's a control that we as fans don't have.

I think there's an element of the owner liking attention.

And I think we can conflate, oh, he's passionate about his club and he's passionate about his players.

That could be true.

Two things can be true here.

But I think he knew what he was doing.

He knows that, you know, there's 40,000 or whatever it is in the city ground fans are going to see that.

Plus the world's media, it wasn't necessary to kind of be that impassioned, in my opinion.

Let the medical staff do what they're doing and handle any grievances you have behind closed doors.

So I don't want to put assertions on him that I can't back up because I don't know the guy.

But my initial response was to what Barry was saying earlier on.

And of course, we're all a family, apart from the medical staff.

Let us point that out as clear as we can.

Nedin, there's an interesting point about the play being allowed to continue when the offside was really clear and I want to you're getting injured.

And I

sort of understand the logic with that, but I suppose you don't know if the flag goes up, does someone else get seriously injured in the next passage of play?

But Jacob Steinberg wrote an interesting piece about the possible impact on hamstring injuries on defenders who have to bolt back all the time and like really exert themselves because the player's far away because he's offside and they played a good offside jump and then they have to turn around and sprint just in case.

And I don't know how you feel because the PGMOL has got a lot of stick, I think perhaps slightly unfairly, because of this incident.

Yeah.

So I have a slightly contrasting view to say the article itself, just because

when we talk about the idea of a flag going up

late or whatever, everyone says you've got to do it earlier because someone might get injured.

And it's been going on for probably five years plus now.

But in that time, how many can you think of yourself that you've seen where that's happened?

How many instances?

It's literally...

Obviously, it's non-zero, but it's basically nothing.

But when it does happen, it feels like everything.

And you use that as the argument against the thing itself.

But then now compare that to how many times

within those years, you've seen a flag go up late, a goal's been scored, and now there's something to actually consider.

Was it a goal or was it not?

Was somebody on side or were they offside?

Like, there's way more of that than, say, this negative that we see from that standpoint.

And yes, nobody wants to get injured as such from that sort of instance, and everyone gets really, really worked up about it.

But I just don't, it's not, respectfully, it's not, it's not real.

And I think when we say, oh, you know, defenders, they slow down, then they start sprinting.

Like, welcome to a game of football.

That is essentially happening all the time and everywhere.

So I think sometimes like you get in this mindset where you're not really like playing the game.

You're talking about certain parts of it which just aren't they're just not real.

They're not something the things that just don't really happen as such.

Yeah, you know if somebody gets injured, then it's a shame.

What happens when somebody gets injured outside of that?

Is it because the speed of football is too quick?

Is it because the football's too direct?

Is it because the manager wants you to sprint up and down like this is too much?

This is too much.

If we want to have a conversation about this football too much, let's talk about Club World Cups and things like that.

But let's not talk about, say, a flag going up late because they want to make sure that the decision is the right decision and so on.

And also to

go into,

say, the discussion about the owner.

Like, I think he's interesting, but not in like a good way or a bad way.

I think he's just interesting because here we have somebody who culturally is very different to pretty much every owner that's been in the UK beforehand.

And the way that he perceives his ownership is very different to those around him.

And some of the things that he does, like when you read out the statement, if the statement, instead of coming from Forrest, came from the owner himself, then you'd say, well, that's his opinion, that's his perspective of what happened.

But instead, it's almost like he's gotten someone else to write it talking about him in really glowing words, like, oh, he cares about this and he cares about that.

Because I think within there, there's probably an element of truth.

Because, say, for the one EE incident, like him coming on the pitch, you just don't really expect that.

But listen, we've seen owners do far worse things, you know, to football clubs in the long term and so on.

But him coming on the pitch, like he, I think he cares about a one-eye, but I think he also cares about a one-ee more in the fact that maybe they should have subbed him off and not played with a player down, basically.

So there's a care side of it.

There's the footballing side of it.

There's the disappointment side of it and again culturally he wants to just be involved in that moment because maybe places where he's been before he can be whereas here you can't be that you know think of say for example places in in turkey where owners are hitting referees and all sorts you know that type of stuff which we never want to see over in england like he's obviously not necessarily from that but he's probably closer to that than say where we are right now so Yeah, to go in, to answer all those points, the thing about flags going up late and people pulling hamstrings, nah, put that in the bin, in my opinion.

And then from the owner's side of things, if he would have just said it himself, then

that's his statement.

But making the club come out and do it is a thing that makes it look quite funny there.

Because in theory, it's like, oh, hell, this not even owner, but like dictator.

Because in most statements from football clubs, you don't need the owner to sign off on it.

But I get a feeling that this guy probably signed off on this one in particular if we're being completely honest.

A trembling social media admin at Nottingham Borough is going, is this okay, sir?

He's sort of bowing and bowing.

All right, then Premier League this weekend, race for fifth place.

Obviously, City not involved because they're in the FA Cup final.

Arsenal Newcastle.

So if Arsenal win, they're guaranteed Champions League football.

Newcastle, kind of the same because their goal difference is much better than

Vider and Forrest, who are in sixth and seventh.

Jordan, are you fussed about finishing second in

a two-horse race?

I am.

I'm an extreme minority of Arsenal fans that do thinks that does think finishing second is important, if only for optics.

But I think that

I think think to kind of go from second to fifth, finish fifth, that's a collapse.

And I don't, I'm not again on this kind of school of thought that the Champions League is an excuse to take your eye off the ball.

I think big clubs are meant to be able to, you know, handle multiple fronts.

So, no, I think it's a big game.

Newcastle's had a number for a while, and Newcastle wants second.

They smell blood, so it's going to be a very difficult game.

I think we'll just come through, but no, it's an important game for me in terms of finishing not only the Champions League spots, but preserving second spot.

You're happy with Arteta and

everything that's happened in the last few weeks?

I'm content.

Okay, content.

So happy.

I'm content.

I'm not in the kind of, he's going to win something, but he's got to go.

I think he's making us better.

It's a massive summer.

It's a huge summer for Arteta.

So he's got to get it right this summer.

I'm happy.

I'm content with him, but you can only finish second for so long before it gets to a point where it's like, okay, come on, are you the guy?

So no, I'm content, but next year is, it could change for me next year, put it that way.

Right.

Forest go to West Ham in seventh, so they need to win both their last games, really, to have a shot of getting in the Champions League.

Aston Villa are home to Spurs on Friday night, the rearranged game that they're unhappy about.

Dejan Kulasevsky has been ruled out of the Europa League final for Spurs.

More good news for them on their injury front.

While Man United go to Chelsea also on Friday, so you would expect Villa and Chelsea to win those games.

Manchester United will hold a barbecue at the club's Carrington Training Ground to celebrate if they beat Spurs in next week's Europa League final.

No parade is planned should they win the tournament.

Players are being restricted to two free tickets for each match with on-the-day travel to the final in Bilbao.

Ruben Amarim has subsequently paid for 30 of his backroom staff to take their families to the final after being told by the club that his coaches, physios, and support team would have to pay for their own tickets.

Man United claimed they're doing this to ensure that as many fans as possible can get tickets to the final.

But it is, Barry,

not a great look and not the first not a great look for Manchester United under this ownership.

Well, Ned would probably know better than me about this, but I heard Danny Murphy discussing this on the radio yesterday, and he said that

the players are probably being restricted to two complementary tickets, but will be able to buy as many other tickets as they wish and that's sort of customary standard.

And look, I like Kicking United as much and Ratcliffe as much as the next man, man, but I'm I'm not sure why

the club should be expected to pay for

mem the families of members of staff to go to the final.

Is is that customary?

I d I don't know.

And

Reuben Reuben Amarin paying, putting his hand in his pocket to to pay for them, great.

That's a nice thing for him to do.

Yeah, I'm not sure this is a massive example of of

more Ratcliffe-related parsimony.

I think to be fair, it's not an expectation to do it, but there are plenty of clubs who would be smaller than Manchester United, who, if they made it to a final, would invest to have extra members of friends and family of staff go to the game itself.

So there isn't, as I say, there's not an expectation for it, but it's the type of, it's like a goodwill thing because it is, it's a final, it's a one-off.

You want to try and build this sort of like big family environment because...

you know, there'd be lots of people who would think that they would like to go to the game or would like to bring this person.

And when you then make it feel like it's a bigger, wider family, then great.

Because the amount of tickets we're talking about, you know, we say we're going to make sure the United fans have as many as possible, which is a perfectly fair argument.

But then it's not as if it's going to be a thousand extra tickets from the staff and the players and stuff, is it?

So it is just a case of, you know, what are you going to try and do to help these people almost like as not necessarily an unofficial reward, but doing everything that you can.

And I think that's the argument internally when it comes down to,

say, some of the stuff that we've seen from

Ratcliffe.

It's like there are certain things you do because you have to, and there's certain things you do, which you don't have to, which make a bigger difference.

And as I say, that's...

That's unfortunately been a theme from his tenure so far.

And maybe that will change, but he definitely sees it as a business.

But with United and some of these other clubs, it's the emotional side of things that sort of make people feel wanted.

And if you could bring, even if it was like one extra ticket or two, if you could bring your family if you could bring your child you could if you could bring your your relative and all this stuff then that would make the moment just that little bit sweeter for all those people but instead it's like well can you afford it what if you can't we're not going in a point where as i say united is think i'm like they're making billions every year basically look look we have spoken to people about morale at a football club and that it can filter down if everyone is for example people i know at men united like they're doing their second round of redundancies at the moment right for for different parts of that club and so that will affect the morale won't they and not that we necessarily are in the business of praising PSG a lot, but all 600 of their staff are receiving free tickets to the Champions League final and travel and a share of the prize pot usually reserved for players.

So it's just an interesting comparison on that.

I think Tottenham Hotspur are also paying for every single full-time member of staff.

to go to the European Union.

Hopefully one of them can play in the 10.

In the race for eight, Brentford home to Fulham.

Fulham could dent Brentford's chances.

Brentford Brighton in the box seat for this.

Brighton home to Liverpool.

Hey, you've got to say as well, Max, you've just reminded me of something.

You said there's

only one group of people supporting Man City this weekend.

That is not true.

Yeah.

Anyone fighting for AIDS, my friend?

Anyone fighting for Ape?

You see?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

More City fans than you realise.

Dead that narrative.

Everyone's going to be a bit more famous.

You're saying they want City to win.

I mean, Bournemouth wants City to win, so they get

to go out on the session, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, because then 8 gets you a European place.

See, that's the point.

European place.

You see?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So that race.

It's doubly good for for Bournemouth because they'll be uh Bournemouth beat they'll all be hungover on Tuesday very good point um final game at Goodison Park for Everton's men uh will be against Southampton you played at Goodison Nadum I mean it will be kept for the for Everton women from 2526 which is great news isn't it but um yes uh producer joe found a guardian article from 2009 claiming they were trying to sign you i don't think they're still trying to sign you yeah well i mean probably probably not anymore but yeah i would have you know to be honest before i went to qpr there was talk as in the same window, there was talk that I was going to go to Everton.

This was a David Moyes Everton when they were more so in the top half of the Premier League as such.

And I had to go and speak to City to see if it was real because this was just after QPR had put a bid in for me, basically.

And I'd heard it was real.

And I went to get it confirmed that it was real because it would have been my preferred option.

Because at the time, I didn't want to move down south.

I wanted to be here in the Northwest as a true, true northerner, like you know, the real stereotypical.

And I will not travel down to play football.

No, that cat whip it.

Oh,

pint of miles.

Yeah, yeah, you can see it.

The works.

And for the way that Everton is as a football club, like that kind of suited who I was as a person, if you know what I mean.

But I went and I spoke to City or someone at City and I said, is this real?

And they said, no.

Listen, further down the road, it turned out that that was potentially a lie that I was given.

But, you know, so yeah, cheers for that.

But

it didn't work out.

But I just remember all those times traveling to Everton and even now going and getting a chance to work there.

Like, it's a really good family club, isn't it and the way that the team played the success that they had obviously don't have as much relative success now but they used to be a really really good side such a tough place to go a tough bunch of individuals on the pitch with like technical ability looking back at the likes of stephen pinar you know artetas people like this they were uh you know i've got some great memories of being there a couple of wins thankfully and then also um there was a moment i think it was phil Dowd.

I think it was Phil Dowd when I was a youngster.

He played a trick on me in this game and I've never been more nervous in all my life.

I was about to come on off the bench.

This was in my first season, I believe.

And he was just holding my arm, but not my hand, just holding my arm, like stopping me from going on the pitch.

I was like, this is weird.

So I tried to shrug him off a little bit.

So he held it again.

So I shrugged it off.

And then he put his finger to his ear.

He says, no, no, no, I'm sending him off.

I'm sending him off.

No, he's not coming on.

I'm sending him off.

Me as like a 17, 18-year-old.

I absolutely sold myself.

I was like, oh, my God.

I've been sent off.

I've been sent off.

Oh, no, oh, no.

And then next thing I was on the pitch, but I remember thinking, oh, my gosh, how do I recover from this as a youngster?

Getting myself sent off for like pushing a referee.

Yeah, that's one of the good memories I have of there anyway.

Who knew Phil Dowd was bringing the banter?

Yes.

Anyway, that'll do for part two.

Nick Ames will join us in part three.

He's been in Ukraine this week.

So back to Ukraine to find out how football is continuing over there.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Nick Hames has been in Ukraine this week.

He's still out there in Kyiv, following up on when you last went there and to see how football is getting on.

How are you, Nick?

I'm really well, Nax.

How are you?

Yeah, yeah, good.

Thank you.

And how is it?

So before we get to the football, you know,

you see the news reports, you see this has happened in Kyiv or around other parts of Ukraine.

Day-to-day life, how does it seem to you?

Since I've been here, it's been fairly calm, actually,

in terms of zones and things like that.

There's been the odd thing, I was down in Odessa, where one or two things were going on.

But honestly,

I think because there was the brief ceasefire last week, and obviously building up to talks in Istanbul today between Ukraine and Russia,

it all feels a bit uncertain, but all a bit calm as well.

So there's not been much disruption overnight.

You know, Russia is still targeting various bits of Ukraine with drones and some missiles, but most of it has, you know, luckily in the last week or so,

avoided, you know, areas where they could cause massive harm and also been stopped by the heroic Ukrainian air defense.

So, no,

it's been by the standards of a visit here, pretty calm so far.

So, you're at the Ukrainian cup final last night.

Did that just feel like being at a normal football match?

Do you know what?

It almost did.

It was in Zhatomir, which is about one hour and a half from here,

which is a provincial city, a curious choice, but I think they do these things these days based on

bomb shelter capacity, basically, because obviously there is the risk, which didn't happen last night, luckily, but has happened many times, of a siren going off during the game.

And then you have to put everyone in a safe place.

So Zhatomir had the correct capacity to house, you know, a lot of people.

So we had in there Shaktar Doniesk versus Danamo Kiev, which was, of course, once a Europa League semifinal and is a massive, massive game being played in the cup final.

And do you know what?

I've been to a few games here since football restarted.

And I've been to one or two since fans came back a year ago as well.

This was the first time it felt like

a football match.

And people were saying it to me in the stadium as well.

I've spent the second half standing standing among the Shaktar altars, which was an experience.

I don't think my lungs have recovered yet from all of the pyro, for example,

for one thing.

And I think the general vibe was that you could almost lose yourself in the occasion of a football match on Ukrainian soil, which is something that I don't think we've been able to say for a long time.

As I say, there have been fans in stadiums a little bit for the last year, but crowds normally topped at about 2,000 at best.

But in there last night, there was 5,000, 5,000 plus.

And it felt by the end,

it went to penalties, it went the distance.

It was won in the end by Shaktar.

It felt

by the end, like a football occasion of its own merit.

And that was great to see because it's been a long time and a painful time getting to this kind of point, I think, in Ukraine's football rehabilitation.

Nick, can I ask?

When you think of Shaktar, they always had quite a few Brazilians in their team.

Are all the players Ukrainian at the minute or are there any foreigners playing in the league?

No, they've got Brazilians.

There's still Shaktar carrying on with that tradition.

The lad Elias who scored a penalty and got the equalizer for Shaktar actually was Brazilian yesterday.

They've got two or three or four.

I wouldn't say necessarily the top quality ones that they've had before.

They have to sort of shop very much in the younger players' market.

Obviously, you won't get the, you know, maybe the standard that you could get before, but foreign players are still coming to Shaktar.

It's, you know, nowhere is safe, but

in terms of what Shaktar can provide for them in terms of accommodation and security and location here in Kiev, but also out in the west in Lviv, where they have a base two,

it's as safe as it can get.

And it's still a big club that plays, you know, at a good level in Europe.

So Shaktar have got quite a few foreign players or at least a handful.

Most other clubs, not so much.

It's often

local Ukrainian players, quite a lot of young players coming through.

I think the quality of the league is definitely suffering for that to be honest.

I think the standard is not what it could be

or should be.

The match yesterday was quite fun atmosphere wise and drama wise, but quality wise, it wasn't where you'd want it.

And I think that's maybe

reflected by the fact that Ukraine, I don't think, is going to have direct access to the Champions League next season.

So, I think Dinamokiev,

even though they lost in the cup yesterday, they're, I think, one point from winning the league, and they'll have to go through the qualifiers.

And I wouldn't put much money on them getting through them.

That's an incredible journey of a decision for a young Brazilian footballer to decide to go to

a country at war, isn't it?

You went to meet the world's oldest footballer.

I went to meet the world's oldest pro-footballer, and this is a piece that will come out i think in the next week or two but yeah he's um

he's he's playing um playing down in edessa for a club called real pharma as in p-h-a-r-m-a not like um pharma pharma um like chemists um

and it's a third division club

i mean

he's a pro he's 59 he does play most most of most of their games it is a pro level he plays about 45 minutes per game

Centre-back, is he holding midfield or centre-back?

Where is he now?

He calls himself Zinedine Zidane, and he scores a couple of goals.

He's put a few in.

He's a real character, but he actually, and I won't give the whole story away, but

he owns the club as well.

So it's a bit of a

bit of a, you know, you select me or you're fired kind of thing.

I see Dave's in the team again.

Yeah.

So it's basically him and a load of 17-year-old boys

going out in Ukrainian third division.

But, you know,

he does contribute when you look at the figures.

He's very, very...

passionate about what he does.

He's put a lot into the club.

He's kept it alive, basically.

And he took me through his elaborate warm-up routine for a game, which is basically a version of the hacker that he performs solo before entering the pitch, which involves lots of strange body manipulation.

hopefully we can include that in the piece in in some form maybe a video uh but yeah entertaining guy um and you know it's a legit story and quite a unique one and also there's there's the serious war context and he he's he's definitely as the piece will say done a lot of really important volunteering and help and going above and beyond for for other people since um February 24th, 2022.

So it's a really interesting story.

59.

Nadim, you've got 21 21 years left of your career here.

Incorrect.

Try again, Max.

Try again.

Oh, no.

I was washed up 10 years ago, Paul.

Are you not?

Where are you at?

38 now?

30?

You could still do a job.

Yeah, I'm 38.

But in Fernando, Infernos, I don't own a club, so I can't necessarily guarantee I'll get married.

Imagine the statements you could put out on social media.

Yes,

the next Maranakis.

Have you caught up, Nick, with people that you've sort of met before when you've been over on previous occasions?

Yeah, so

saw our old friend from 2022, Mladen Bartulovich, who was at the time the assistant manager of Inhulets, which is a Premier League club in Ukraine.

And we did a couple of pods back then,

speaking to him about the effects of the invasion on football originally.

And he's now manager of Zoya Luhansk in the top flight.

So I went to, well, I must admit, I left at half-time, but I went to their top flight game with Shack Tai.

What, because you were bored or you had other things to do?

It was a bit of a slow burner, and I did have some kind of thought.

So

can I be a diplomat?

But I did manage to have a quick catch-up with him,

sends his regards to the pod.

And it's

good to see that he's doing well as well

in a head coach position.

I think it's an interim head coach position.

And you went to an amputee tournament.

Is that people who have been directly affected by the war?

Yeah, so well, mainly about 90%.

So

Ukraine has

about 15 to 20% of the registered amputee footballers in Europe now, which, you know,

it only had about five or ten overall three years ago.

And what they've done, to be fair,

the Football Association here, they've created this really professional setup and league that goes on,

serving at the moment about eight teams,

you know,

where former soldiers who got injured

in the course of duty can rehab themselves and, you know, transform their life, give their life some diversion, some meaning, some distraction through playing MPT football.

And, you know, the tournament had sponsors, it had VAR, it had everything.

And yeah, really, really

some amazing stories.

You know, you had guys who, you know, maybe four months ago lost most of a limb and now they were turning out winning an amputee football tournament

in Kiev here.

So it was really,

really humbling to see actually

the function that football can

have in

giving these guys something new.

And yeah, I think it's going to get bigger and bigger here because sadly the numbers are going to get bigger and bigger too, the way things are going.

And they've really acted quickly and smartly and on their feet to create, you know, a really good, solid, growing structure of amputee football that serves teams and

soldiers from all around the country.

It's very impressive.

Nick, we'll look forward to those pieces and

we'll

retweet them all out and get them to as many people as we can.

It's very interesting work that you're doing over there.

Thanks for doing it.

Thank you, Nax.

Cheers.

Nick Ames there out in Kiev.

We do need to talk about the

top of the Erida Visi.

An amazing scenes from PSV where they were watching the Ajax game sort of on phones.

And some people had tablets, which are a weird thing to take to a ground.

But anyway, Ajax conceded a last-minute equalizer, which now means the league is in PSV's hands.

So Ajax have got two points from their last four games.

So this, this, we were talking about before the pod name, this is sort of a sort of generational bottle job here from Ajax.

Oh, God, yeah.

It is.

It really, really is.

And do you know, I wish, like, I didn't really care too deeply about it, but I did go to Ajax versus PSV earlier in the season in Amsterdam to support the Ajax captain Jordan Henderson with one of my other friends.

It was a good occasion.

And they won that game.

And that felt like a massive game at the time because PSV were basically streaking ahead and they were the better team at the time.

So then you fast forward a little stretch.

IX are top of the league.

They're winning.

Basically, it feels like every single week, everything's great.

Vego scoring goals, all this.

What could there be to worry about?

And then this slide now, now, Max.

Oh, my gosh.

As you said, it is a generational collapse that we're seeing here.

And obviously, some people might be able to quote others and so on, but

I think they had an eight or nine point lead a month ago.

And now they're going into the last game of the season, hoping that PSV drop points.

It's crazy to think, not least of all, because they were two and up yesterday.

And Groningen, I think they're playing against, went down to 10.

So that should be game set and match.

But instead, you know, those teams, as you meant from the PSV, as you said, from the PSV perspective,

I bet that was even unexpected for them to make it like 2-2 in the basically the last minute of the game.

But the stupidity of football, Max.

And yeah, I'm going to have to say I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, because I was part of that story this year and I thought I actually were going to go and do it, but never mind.

It was, it's just, it's amazing seeing PSV fans who see other ones cheering, but haven't, it hasn't, you know, their phones buffering, so they haven't seen the gold come through on their day.

They won't believe it until they see it that Groningen have scored.

Anyway, well, that goes down to the final date.

Finally, Miguel says, Hi, Football Weekly family.

Can we get a shout out for our mate, Aaron, who somehow convinced the wonderful Jay to marry him?

They're both proud Dubliners, lifelong Liverpool fans, getting married this week in sunny Spain because clearly Dublin just wasn't romantic or sweaty enough.

It's been a massive year for Aaron.

Liverpool won the league.

He ran the London Marathon.

And perhaps most impressively, he actually finished reading Inverting the Pyramid.

But

in his own words, the real highlight would be getting a shout-out on Football Weekly.

Please make his year and give him something to fondly remember when he's inevitably listening to the pod during his future vasectomy.

Congratulations to Aaron and Jay, out the Reds, and the newlyweds, Best Miguel.

So Barry, do your best work.

It's Aaron and Jay.

Well, congratulations, Aaron and Jay.

I'm

not sure what I think of a man who can finish inverting the pyramid.

It's something I've never been able to do.

I've barely started it, if I'm honest.

But I would like to wish him and Jay every happiness.

I think getting married in Spain's a good move.

Everything in Dublin is far too expensive.

So

I'm slightly envious of them at their their weekend away in Spain with their nearest and dearest.

If they invited you, would you go this weekend?

It's a bit short notice.

And I have other plans for this weekend.

No, no, no, no, not to worry.

I'm going on a stag do, Max.

Oh, are you?

Wow.

Not a wedding.

Okay.

Are you going to do shots of tequila all night?

Oh, God, no.

Oh, wow.

No, who knew?

It's not that kind of stag.

It is good stag do, though, because everything is within walking distance of my flat.

Tremendous.

tremendous, yeah, perfect.

Um, I will enjoy it, and that'll do for today.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you, Barry.

Thank you, thanks, Jordan.

Cheers, me, thank you, Nadam.

Thank you, sir.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Phil Maynard.

This is The Guardian.