Coventry send for Frank Lampard and Sheffield United shine – Football Weekly

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

It's an EFL pod for you.

Today, Frank Mampod's commentary begin with a draw against Cardiff.

We'll find out the panel's thoughts on the appointment and how big a deal this is for Frank himself.

At the top, a big win for Sheffield United over Sunderland in a fiery game on Friday night.

There's Burnley's rock solid defence and a slip for Leeds at Blackburn.

And then to Wayne Rooney's Plymouth, who have shipped 10-2 and the sinking ship that is looting town.

League one virtually had a week off with the second round of the cup, but we'll ask how Wickham are upsetting the money bag sides around them.

The cup itself gave us a last-minute equaliser from Leighton Orient's keeper and a great win for Tamworth.

Also the scrapping of replays rightly getting a hammering over the weekend.

We'll revisit the crisis at Swindon in League 2, answer your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Barrag Ben Denning, welcome.

Hello, Max.

Sanny Ridravadjula.

Hello.

Hello, Max.

And from Not the Top 20, George Elek.

Hello.

Hello, Max.

So let's start with Frank Lampard's Coventry City, as it will now be known.

He's had a two and a half year deal, was in the dugout for the first time on Saturday as they do 2-2 with fellow strugglers Cardiff City.

They came back from behind twice, equalising the second time with quite a soft penalty.

Sandy, what do you make of the appointment?

I think what's very interesting is that Doug King, the owner, said that Lampard was his number one choice before,

well, straight away, and also that Lampard was preparing to take the job as soon as he'd applied, which kind of makes it sound like it really was a done deal.

I know he kind of talked about it, or it was talked about a lot, that it was kind of trailed ahead.

The big cynical part of me is like, ugh, really?

You know, it's just he's a big name and he's got a job despite a patchy managerial career.

But then again, when you revisit it, actually, when you think what he did at Derby County under the circumstances, the players that he brought in as well on loan elevated that squad that, you know, almost made it to the Premier League.

And then, you know, his spell at Chelsea as well, they were under an embargo, weren't they?

He did very well with them there.

And Everton, I mean, is a basket case.

Sorry, Evertonians, as far as bringing in players goes and what you're having to work with, you've got to really cut your cloth.

So

overall, therefore, my views are kind of softened on Lampard, albeit I'm not entirely convinced.

I know he's brought in Joe Edwards, his number two, who's kind of his trusty lieutenant, so he's got his trusted man around him.

Whereas Rain Rooney's had to do something slightly different there.

So overall,

yeah, I'm not exactly sold on it.

I know the fans are quite excited to have that stardust, but yeah, not entirely convinced yet.

Yeah, I think quite generous to say he was very good at Chelsea.

I can't really remember.

You're right about the transfer embargo.

I don't know, George, if you heard Adrian Clark on Talk Sport interviewing Frank Lampard and basically saying, what do you make of the fans who think you're shite?

But

in a very, very diplomatic way, it was a brave question to ask.

Yeah, it was.

I do think that managers who were players of a certain stature seem to have

people are much more quick to judge them than people they've never heard of before.

And there seems to be a real desire to say that Frank Lampard's terrible or Stephen Gerard's terrible and ignore any good things they might have done.

You know, the job he did at Derby, yes, you can mitigate it and say he had some great players on loan from Chelsea, but the reason that those players were on loan at Derby was because of Frank Lampard.

And frankly, Doug King might think to himself, well, if we appoint Frank Lampard, there's a chance we might get two or three England internationals on loan in January in the summer, then that's going to be a positive.

You know, he took them to the playoff final.

He beat BLS's leads over two legs.

There were some underlying number red flag stuff where, you know, the data didn't suggest they were quite as good necessarily as the results.

But, you know, that was his first season managing.

Obviously, Everton and Chelsea didn't go to plan.

I think in my view, it's

when you consider the swap of Mark Robbins for Frank Lampard, it makes very little sense.

And it's very hard to make a case as to why Doug King as the owner would look at the option that he had in the dugout, what Mark Robbins had achieved at Coventry, albeit going through a difficult moment and albeit having gone through an issue in the summer where he had to part company with his assistant manager, Adie Vivesh, which seemingly

left a sour taste in the owner's mouth.

But when you consider Lampard as the other option, someone who is probably kind of getting towards last chance saloon in terms of their managerial career at this level, where if this doesn't go to plan, it's very hard to see why he would necessarily get another job.

You could probably see him, if he wanted to, follow the Gerrard pathway of monetizing a name rather than necessarily monetising managerial acumen.

But I don't think we should be too surprised if it does work out for Lampard.

I think he is someone who is entitled to learn on the job.

I think managers are often assume they have some kind of innate ability rather than giving them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and grow as managers.

It's interesting, you know, Sandy mentions there Joe Edwards being his right-hand man.

I mean, his right-hand man at Derby was Jodie Morris, who was also he worked with at Chelsea, and he's not part of this project and he wasn't part of the Everton project.

Edwards is clearly a very highly respected coach, and I kind of am of the belief that someone like Lampard is probably as good as their assistant manager.

And if this is to work at Coventry, it'll probably be a reflection

that goes well for Lampard, but also that Edwards is someone who, having not been given much chance at Millwall last season where he was appointed manager, this is probably an opportunity for him to show what he can do.

I wonder, Baz, if we overplay

the surprise that someone like Frank Lampard can be bothered to be a manager.

Same goes for Wayne Rooney.

You know, we sort of go, why would they bother with that?

They could both be pundits, earn lots of money, have a nice life.

But, you know, the thirst to do something interesting with your life, you know, doesn't stop when you hit 37, even if you have limitless money.

I don't know.

Are you suggesting that spouting banalities about football matches on a weekly basis is

in some way boring, Max?

Tedious?

No,

I'm not saying it's boring or tedious.

I'm saying...

I'm saying it's not difficult is

what I'm saying.

Well, some might say it is difficult, but the people who are very good at it just make it look easy.

Well, no, there is that.

What I'm suggesting is, Barry, okay, I know what you're suggesting.

I'm being successful.

Now you've made it.

Yeah, but now it is about you.

I wouldn't imagine you would take a job as the manager of a championship side.

I have a friend who manages an under nines team of a quite well-known London club, and I wouldn't swap places with him in a million years.

I can't imagine anything worse.

He tells me stories about the behaviour of parents on the touchline that make me want to go down there and just bump skulls together.

But anyway, I'm off on a tangent now.

And as far as I can tell, dealing with the egos of under nine footballers, some of whom are clearly better than others,

sounds...

even more difficult than dealing with the the egos of grown men who uh you know some of whom are much better than others i think frank lampard clearly wants to prove that he is a good manager.

And I said a few weeks ago when his name was being mentioned as a possible successor to Mark Robbins that I couldn't see why anyone at championship or Premier League level would offer him a managerial position.

And afterwards I thought maybe I was a bit harsh there because he's clearly hungry to succeed.

I also think there's almost certainly better candidates for the job out there.

I think a better candidate for the job had the job and was let go.

I suspect there's probably more to that than meets the eye of a row behind the scenes or something that we're not privy to.

But

if the chairman is hell-bent on giving him the job,

he may do okay.

He clearly wants to do well

because as you say, he could have a much easier life.

He almost certainly doesn't need the money.

But I do agree with George that this has got to be be the last chance saloon for him because he did okay at Derby he did okay at Chelsea when he was at Derby in Chelsea there was a suggestion that Jodi Morris was the brains behind the operation I heard Jody Morris been interviewed on talksport recently and he spoke very well and I he wasn't happy with the way he and Lampard were treated when they were at Chelsea he said that promises were made which then weren't kept.

I think that was

pertaining specifically to his own contract and wages.

I don't know if him and Lamps fell out or what prompted them to part company, but I suspect

he may have been a large part of whatever success Lampard has enjoyed previously as a manager.

Just to say as well,

I saw Coventry in the last game before Lampard came in and in that first half against Burnley when he did lose, didn't even have a shot whatsoever.

But when you look at the squad, they've got quite quite a lot of kind of attacking talent.

Had you right's been injured, and he's one of the division's top scorers.

Ellis Sims has been out of the team, but you know, he's got quality as well.

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto has been exciting, but not quite firing there.

But it has been good, by the way.

So, it's two all against Cardiff on the weekend.

He needed an 89th minute Victor Torp penalty to pull him back in it.

But you did get to see the Lampardian fist again, like a little yes fist.

And that was kind of nostalgic, if nothing else.

Just before we move on, what's the situation at Cardiff?

Because they've been without a manager since they fired Errol Bullet in September, was it?

What's going on there?

So Emeritza is the current interim manager.

I think it's a case where he's done, he started very well, but they've probably just wanted to see how he gets on for a longer period of time.

I think we often see clubs make the mistake of appointing a caretaker after a few good results, and then quite quickly it becomes apparent they weren't the right man for the job.

So, you know, there's very little news.

There doesn't seem to be any imminent appointment instead of Ritzer, but also there doesn't seem to be a desire from the club to appoint him full-time.

Slavon Billich was linked to the job a couple of weeks ago, so maybe they are speaking to people, but it seems like a genuine interim job this, where they're in no rush.

They're pretty happy with him in charge.

But the results have turned a little bit.

So

maybe if they continue to, then we might see some action.

Seven United top on a fantastic run.

They lost back-to-back games in October.

We're at Leeds and Middles.

Since then, George, six wins and a drawing seven.

And that win against Sunderland, it was a feisty old game.

It could have gone either way, couldn't it?

Sunderland missed a penalty, had lots of chances too.

It was a good game.

Such a good game, yeah.

Loads and loads of drama in it.

Sunderland missing a penalty.

Cooper, the Argyle keeper, who I think is destined for very, very big things,

making the save from Patrick Roberts.

Brilliant save.

You know, it's one of those where

it's maybe not the best penalty, but if the keeper dives the other way, sends it the wrong way, it's in the corner.

And Cooper manages to guess the right way and make the save well.

A couple of red cards.

I actually thought the Chris Meppham red card was really harsh.

I think Tyris Campbell threw on goal and he checks the ball back,

you know, away from goal, and then Meppen takes him out.

So, and he's sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

Surely, the goal scoring opportunity is gone because you've moved the ball away from goal.

Had Tyris Campbell kept running forward, then I think Meppen probably would have made a tackle.

So, you look skeptical, Baz.

I'd be honest, I watched this with a fellow Sunderland fan, and we both thought he was banged to right.

So, but

I agree, but I don't understand how how he's, but how is he meant to get a shot off after shifting the ball backwards?

Like, if Meppen makes a tackle on the assumption that Tyrese Campbell's going to keep running forward, but

he diverts the ball away from goal in order to draw the challenge.

Like, I think it's definitely a foul.

But I think a yellow card would suffice.

I don't think there's any way that Campbell can get a shot off with his next touch unless he does a back hill from 25 years.

I am prepared to concede that me and the fellow Sunderland fan I was watching with had had quite a few drinks at this point of the evening.

so I will bow to your knowledge but I mean if I thought it was unfair I would be shouting about it from the rooftops but I thought yeah that's fair enough.

Harry Souter's two yellow cards were definitely fair I think which saw

10 aside and then a really nice story for the winner Tom Davis who

went to Sheffield United in the summer of 2023, has had some really bad hamstring issues, has spoken in the press about how his injuries have had a massive impact on his mental health and how he's found it really struck really really difficult to kind of stay positive around those.

And he is making his way back from injury, scored a brilliant goal, kind of beating a couple of players and firing it through Pats and the Sunderland keeper.

Huge scenes in the corner.

It felt like a really significant Friday night for Sheffield United and Chris Wilder, who you know, I think are proving quite a few people wrong.

It's easy now in hindsight, given they were a relegated Premier League side, to kind of think this was expected, but it absolutely wasn't.

There were kind of in the summer real concerns as to whether Sheffield United were going to be able to mount any kind of challenge in the championship and whether Chris Wilder still had it, to be frank.

But right now, he's certainly proving that any concerns that maybe his managerial ability was over the hill look to be unfounded.

They look very strong.

Yeah, but I mean, the fun thing about the championship, which isn't always the case, quite often there is one or two that are sort of running away with it, is Sanning that it is tight, isn't it?

Sheffield United top 138, Burnley 36, Leeds 35, Sundon 33, Middlesbrough 30, Watford 30, Westboro and Blackburn 28.

Of those, who are you?

Who do you think have shown the most promise or are showing the most promise?

Well, you'd like to say Leeds, but then,

as with all these teams, they then fall apart against Blackburn Rovers, albeit actually, Rovers kind of rode the luck a little bit.

I think Tyree Stolen should have been sent off in that defeat, but kind of a wild challenge on just beyond the hour.

I've seen quite a bit of Burnley this season, and I think it's safe to say they're kind of boring the way to the title.

Certainly, first halves, not much is happening.

It's very different to the Vincent Company style as far as necessarily playing it out from the back.

It can be a bit quicker, but they are keeping clean sheets, five clean sheets in a row.

Once they take the lead, they're very good because of the players they've got of keeping hold of it.

So, when you think about all these other teams are kind of quite variable,

Burnley kind of can keep grinding it out no matter what, which isn't the most exciting, but then again, when you get into the Premier League, you don't necessarily want to be doing that, do you?

So, yeah, Burnley, Jezon Ratsaki at Sheffield United, I think, like,

it does feel like there's a couple of key players in these sides, and he's one of them for Sheffield United, who thinks great.

And, well, I'd love to say someone like Norwich City could be exciting if they could just like defend at all, because they've got so much attacking options.

They could be one to really excite.

And similarly, you could say the same about Middlesbrough as well.

So, yeah, there's quite a lot of of teams kind of very similar, and yeah, no one's quite running away with it just yet.

West Brom are on a 10-game unbeaten run, but nine of those games have been draws, which from a fans' point of view, you're going to say

it's

not as you know, we want a better unbeaten run, but so are they doing well?

Are they not?

I'm not, I don't really know.

No, I don't think anyone does when you've drawn nine out of ten games.

It's kind of like

it's difficult to really say.

I think their early season form was fairly reliant on Tom Fellows, who's a brilliant right-sided winger, um, who started the season in great form and has dipped uh a little bit, and the finishing of Josh Madger, who also started incredibly fast and maybe has dropped off, maybe lacking a little bit in terms of depth.

I think with baggies, you have to remember you know, the issues at the club before the takeover meant that Carlos Corbran was doing an absolutely incredible job to have them as high as he as he was, and therefore it's a bit harsh on him to judge him off the back of that overachievement, even if things are a little bit more settled now.

Normally, normally corboran sides are so difficult to break down especially when they go ahead and they've kind of lost that a lot of games at the moment very low scoring but when they do go ahead as was the case at preston on saturday um not managing to see the game out um just want to echo as well what sandy said on middlesborough because they're the team that i think um are probably the best well not norwich as well leads to especially at home but in terms of the best watch i think borough are absolutely brilliant.

Ben Doak, who is the low knee from Liverpool on the right-hand side, is just way too good for the championship, in my view.

He just terrorises his left back over and over again.

Really creative, brilliant cross for Tommy Colmway's first goal, one of like a proper scoop, which you never really see.

And then Finnezaz is my early shout for alongside Borgia Saints of Norwich for championship player of the season.

He's absolutely unbelievable.

His goal-scoring ability from range, his creative passing, he's two-footed, he's just a mercurial player.

He's not the most mobile, and that probably is what's going to set him back in his career in terms of where he could go.

But in terms of a technician and his ability on the ball,

there are very few better than him.

Sunderland were unlikely league leaders for quite some time.

Their slide has begun.

I had a feeling it was coming.

I'm just curious to know from you, as people who see more of the championship than I do, how far could they slide?

Sandy,

do you want to take on Sunderland?

Take on Sunderland or the fans, maybe.

I don't know.

I saw the nil-nil

at Preston where Joe Bellingham had been suspended, which was really disappointing.

You know, I mean, is that me transitioning to be a fan of players rather than a fan of a team?

I don't know.

But yeah, they kind of struggle to really offer anything without him.

But then

since then, three draws and one defeat as well.

So, I mean, it is a young, young team, isn't it?

I mean, Chris Riggs is very young and he's been playing a lot of games and has been getting a lot of plaudits as well.

But the nature of having so many young players is they're not going to be as consistent anyway.

And it doesn't take much for it to kind of come apart.

So,

could you put it down to that, George?

I think young players, is that any?

Am I getting myself off the hook?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's part of it, which is it is an incredibly young squad, and that's going to have an impact.

I also think it's worth saying that due to injury and suspension, Sunderland have had a lot of players out within this run, too.

I also think that Sunderland have been pretty good in quite a lot of these games within this.

Like, I thought they were

the better team in the first half against Cheff United, and probably would have felt felt like they deserved to be one and up had Patrick Roberts stuck away that penalty.

They were the better team against West Brom before just couldn't find a way to get through.

They went 2-lup against Coventry and Transpired somehow concede twice having been ahead.

It just feels like maybe they're not getting the rubber the green right now.

And again, they're another side where

I had Sunderland down as being in probably a bit of a transition season under the new manager.

that a playoff challenge would have been a pretty good result.

And obviously you start the the season fast, you're top of the table, expectations shift.

But you know, it's worth remembering that I think had you shown Sunderland fans the league table before a ball was kicked on the second of December and they'd have seen

their league position, I think they'd have been pretty happy.

So I'd be really surprised if there was a massive drop off.

Obviously, there are a few assets

that will come under some interest, Bellingham being one of them, Grigg being another.

I think Tom Watson's looks really lively.

An eighteen year old, another Academy product who looks very good.

So it's going to be a case of keeping hold of those.

And hopefully the sale of Jack Clark at the end of the summer should mean that there's no need to raise any more money.

Also worth pointing out, George, that you did predict Watford to be bottom.

Correct.

Or at least get relegated.

No, it's okay.

Barry and I predict you're not in Forest.

We get relegated from the Premier League.

We all make mistakes, but they're flying.

Will they sustain that?

Or are you giving your prediction, hoping that they fall like a stone?

I mean, I'd still be very surprised if they finished in the top six.

They're not going to come bottom.

They have a player in in Georgie Chakpatadzi that I also think is one of the best players in the league.

He's one of those players that every single opposition fan, when they watch their team play against Watford, win, lose, or draw, comes away saying, Who is that guy?

Because he is a mercurial talent.

He lacks maybe a little bit of end product.

He should score more goals, but in terms of his ball carrying ability, he's very, very strong.

They're leading a bit of a charmed life at home,

where they played two games at home this season against Bristol City.

They carried very little attacking threat, but Ryan Andrews scored one from 30 or 25 yards into the bottom corner.

Bristol City had most of the chances and couldn't put any away.

On Saturday, they joined the law with QPR.

Zan Salar hitting the post

in an injury tied, and QPR probably having the better chances before that, too.

It does feel like they're probably going to have to improve in order to maintain their current points tally.

But Tom Cleverley's doing an incredible job.

I mean, that's the important thing to say here because, yes, I predict them to finish 24th.

But Watford fans, let's not forget, were not particularly positive about their chances before a ball was kicked either.

They didn't let me go down, but they were concerned.

So, for Cleverly in his first full season as a head coach to have this team performing as they are, you know, even if I don't think they will maintain it, I'm very, very happy to give Cleverly his flowers and say that he is doing a remarkably good job for a young rookie manager.

At the moment, Portsmouth are in 24th, 13 points QPR, have 15, Hull 15, Plymouth 17, Cardiff 17, Luton 18.

I mean, there's some rather fascinating stories at the bottom.

One being Sanny Luton and just being so off it.

They lost at Norwich and were sort of carved apart

in the highlights that I saw of that game.

Yeah,

it's kind of a bit sad, really, considering

how much we were excited about what Luton had done in the Premier League and the way they'd got there, especially that defeat to Norwich.

Yeah, they just got themselves back into it and it's kind of fell apart again.

And we've seen a mixture of that and just not really offering much at all.

And

maybe some of the players last season were running a bit, a bit hot.

Well, maybe in the last two seasons, perhaps.

And yet he've lost some quality.

I mean, someone like Jacob Brown, for example, I think he got two, didn't he, against Norwich?

I mean, I never thought he was like anything amazing.

You know, he was at Stoke City.

He wasn't really pulling up trees and then found himself in the Premier League and not really getting a chance.

Now he's getting one in the championship.

I mean, if you've got players like that, you wonder, was the quality really there?

How much was it down to just the manager picking a really strong enough side?

And then moments of brilliance from the likes of Andros Townsend last season.

Yeah, it's not working well at all.

And there's a lot,

there's an increasingly vocal amount of fans who are wanting

the manager to go Rob Edwards and call the ones who are supporting him happy clappers.

So there's a real kind of schism there that I think it's only growing, actually,

which does make it kind of fascinating.

And we said on the previous pod, I mean, I said, Luton have these parachute payments.

So you know you've got a good manager.

He needs, you could argue he needs more backing and you've got enough time to rebuild if they can survive this season, because that's what it kind of looks like.

But do you get that time?

Mark Robbins has shown his example at Coventry.

If you give somebody time, they can do really well.

And as we already saw with Rob Edwards, you give him a little bit of time, he can do really well.

So that's where I think they're kind of at.

It's interesting with Edwards because...

After the 5-1 defeat against Borough, he cut a very, very forlorn figure.

And the way he spoke, he said he didn't want to be a divisive figure.

He looked really defeated.

It was just before the international break.

And I think a lot of people thought that was a goodbye.

But, you know, we didn't see the press release.

He's still the manager.

And his reaction off the back of this defeat was very, very different.

Where he's basically come out swinging.

He's come out and

he has...

effectively said that this time he won't be apologizing because to quote him because that's not on me um he basically said that the players chucked it away if you watch the goals back you can see Mengi with a really poor defensive clearance for the first goal.

You can see Tahit Chong having his pocket picked for the second.

In a way, you know, as someone who really believes in Rob Edwards and wants him to do well, especially, you know, given what Rob Edwards has been through in terms of being the manager, witnessing the club captain Tom Lockier collapse on the pitch twice, and you could really see how he had to wear that emotionally.

And he's an incredibly emotional guy anyway, which is painting the obvious in all of his interviews through his career so far.

I want it to work out.

So to see him come out and kind of puff his chest out a bit and not throw his players under the bus, but come out and be a bit defiant and lay a bit of a challenge down to them has to be a positive because you know they're away from at the moment quite clearly isn't good enough.

They are embroiled in a relegation battle, but clearly the club believe in Edwards and it's refreshing to see a club stand by their manager and stand by their man rather than looking to cut the court straight away.

So I'm hoping that that fighting spirit from Edwards will be reflected in their performances going forward.

Wayne Rooney's Plymouth have conceded 10 in the last two, six at Norwich, four and away at Bristol City.

The camera angle at Ashton Gate is ridiculous, just so high.

It looks like you're looking at the Marathon Arm, the 80s.

But, Sanny, you know, what of Wayne Rooney?

Away from home, they're like tragically bad.

They're okay at home, aren't they?

They are good at home.

In fact, I've got the league table here.

So it's played eight, one, four.

Drawn three, only lost one at home.

Um, but that's actually not on Rooney necessarily, like their away form hasn't been great for a few years now, so, but yeah, it's it's it is really sad what's happening with Wayne Rooney, and you know, he's coming out and saying that he needs the player to show more effort, which, yeah, you can argue that he's talking about busting out home truves in the dressing room, and I just think

there's the classic story, isn't there, of the Charlton brothers, and how Bobby Charlton wasn't a great manager, and Jack was, and Jack said it was because he didn't have the ability of Bobby.

and it's kind of it kind of feels a bit like that with Rooney like he's ex he expecting the players to do something things that he did and also he was incredibly gifted and these players can't do it maybe that's an easy out is it a case that he doesn't have you know Liam Rossini as one man you could you could shout that he had previously and somebody of that ilk alongside him on the tactics side.

I mean, I know Joe Edwards, the captain, it's another Joe Edwards, had been talking about how he, I think it's on a talk sport interview, actually,

how Rooney's kind of very good as a man manager and the players all love him, and the club all love him, and that side is great.

And yeah, imagine Wayne Rooney telling you, you're doing well.

Of course, you'd puff your chest that, wouldn't you?

But a tactical side maybe isn't there.

And that's really kind of hurting him because

the man management side without that part is clearly not working.

Defensively, they are atrocious.

There are parallels there with Lampard.

And I think think even when Glenn Hoddle was managing back at Chelsea, back at Swindon, it was

years ago.

It was always a thing that he would be asking players, just touching on what Sandy said there, asking players to do things that he thought were completely easy and straightforward, but they just weren't good enough to do what he was asking them.

So that could be a thing.

Yeah, I mean, there is that amazing video of John Monker and Hoddle.

I think it's John Monker at Swindon.

And Monker is a good player, but you know, Hoddle's just like, like, just drop his shoulder, put it in the top left-hand corner with your right foot and with your left foot.

Hoddle was so good.

I mean, Hoddle was a good manager for England, I guess.

Are you at last thought in part one, George?

Just on our guy, like, it does.

I mean, away from home, they're basically the worst team I think I've ever seen in comparison to the rest of a league.

It's absolutely bizarre.

They're routinely thrashed.

They've only scored three goals on the road.

They offer very little attacking threat.

But if we're going to blame Rooney for that, we've also got to give them credit for their home form because the home form is, you know, it's better than most teams in the league.

They've beaten Sunderland at home they've beaten Blackburn at home they've beaten Luton at home they've only lost one game at home and that was only 1-0 back in August so we can't just hold up their away form as being evidence that Wayne Rooney isn't up to it because in half their games they're they're beating teams

why they're so bad away from home I have absolutely no idea I always find it really baffling when teams are this Jekyll and Hyde like what is it about travelling on a coach even to Bristol it's like two hours away where you suddenly get on the pitch and you physically can't do what you did before yeah it doesn't make any sense but

you would think someone like Rooney, of all people, who played the game with such a fearless way, would be someone who should be able to instill some confidence in the side when they go on the road and should be able to enable them to play freely.

But right now, they turn up away from home and they cannot get out.

They sit so deep.

They carry nothing in terms of threat.

And it doesn't matter how good they are at home.

If they don't improve away from home, they'll pick up very, very few points.

And that's going to mean they're going to struggle to stay up.

Can I just a quick shout out that whole city are looking for a new manager with Tim Valter sacked?

No wins in 10 now.

He'd had 17 games, winless in nine and yeah they're looking for a new man.

Yeah and the owner the Turkish Simon Cowell said he's not being sacked today and then they lost really badly and then he was sacked today.

Anyway that'll do for part one.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What What changed for the team today?

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

Play is everything.

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

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

So the top of league one, Wickham, 38 points from 16 games, Wrexham 34 from 17, Birmingham 33 from 15, Stockport, Huddersfield, Barnsley, Reading and Bolton below them.

Every time we do an EFL pod, we spend ages talking about Birmingham and Wrexham, George.

So let's talk about Wickham Wanderers.

How the hell are they there?

Because they're really good, I think, is the short answer to that.

I think in Matt Bloomfield, they've got a manager.

It's such a great story this when you've got a guy who's played over 500 games for a club who is just a complete cult hero who's performing so well, who then steps in for his old boss, Gareth Ainsworth.

And things didn't go necessarily to plan straight away.

It wasn't that long ago that quite a lot of Wiccan fans had basically said that, you know, reluctantly, Bloomfield clearly hasn't got it, but he clearly does, because what they've done the back end of last season and then this season is quite incredible.

You know, it's a winning run now that dates back to the 1st of October.

They've only lost two games this season.

Those were their first two games of the season.

And they're against the two teams you just mentioned who currently sit just beneath him in the table in Birmingham and Wrexham.

So maybe the signs were there.

From an attacking perspective, they

just score a lot of goals and create a lot of chances.

One of the, I think, best signings in recent football history has to be Richard Kone,

who they signed directly from athletic Newham.

And he is now scoring goals at League One level fairly consistently.

Like how they picked him up.

Amazing.

Who previously played in the Homeless World Cup, now leading the line

for Wickham.

Fredonia Dinmer, also in fantastic form.

Their recruitment in the summer was really, really smart as well.

Cameron Humphrey is probably the star man in from Ipswich.

Also Caleb Taylor, the centre-back.

It just feels like a club who are doing things right.

And

they're the classic case at the beginning of the season where they start winning games and everyone's like, well, they're probably going to fall away.

But as time goes on, if anything, their performances are improving as they believe in what they're doing more and more.

And, you know, a few weeks ago, I was wondering, who is it going to be who's going to be up there challenging Birmingham up towards the top end?

And now, you know, these teams have to go and catch Wickham because the signs are that they're the real deal.

George, you mentioned

Birmingham there.

And I mean, amazing.

Terrible for the use because obviously I want teams near the bottom to lose.

But for Gareth Ainsworth to take the Shrewsbury job and then beat Birmingham in his first game, 3-2 is just ludicrous.

Yeah, incredible.

I mean,

you obviously don't want to do too much in terms of hyperbole,

but I can't think of many same league kind of upsets of this scale because

Shrewsbury started the season incredibly poorly.

Has had Zach Paulhurst, the manager, bringing Gareth Ainsworth up against the Birmingham side, who there have been a lot of big spenders in League One in recent seasons, but Birmingham certainly topped that, especially with the Stansfield fee, but also plenty of other kind of £1 million plus fees paid in the summer.

The massive golf between these two sides in terms of what they've spent, the massive golf in terms of their points tally and their performances so far this season.

So for Ainsworth to come in and oversee a 3-2 win, and it wasn't a back to the wall.

I mean, yes, they dropped in very deep and let

Birmingham have the ball, but by the time Shrewsbury went 3-1 up, Birmingham had only managed four shots.

Like, it wasn't relentless pressure from Birmingham and Wickham taking their chances.

And, you know, the goal that Birmingham scored to make it 3-2 was a penalty in itself.

And they saw the game up relatively comfortably.

So, you know, for Gareth Ainsworth, he feels like someone who

has a very unique way of doing things.

If he gets buy-in, as he did at Wickham, things can go very well.

If he brings in someone through the hacker and QPR players sit in the cafeteria and look at each other, wondering who the hell is this guy, then things don't go so well.

So if there's a manager who needs a result like this in order to galvanise the club and get buy-in from the players and the fans,

it has to be Ainsworth, and Wild Things got off to a hell of a start with that.

I'm sure he'll just be frustrated that they weren't able to play a league game in the week after, given the FA Cup break.

The silence after the hacker is one of the greatest videos.

If you haven't seen it, just go and watch QPR.

I haven't seen it.

Completely oblivious to the fact that, yeah, I mean, he's got the QPR, you know, he's doing the bonding.

It's really early on.

He brings in, I don't know who it is to do the hacker, a Maori rugby team of some sort, I'm not sure.

But anyway, they do the the hacker and then it sort of cuts to the qpr squad in their track suits sitting around the canteen

a bit like a sort of scene from the office and they're all just silently oh it's amazing um we talked about birmingham they beat blackpool 2-1 uh in the fa cup george how how is steve bruce getting on at blackpool it was a a a tragic start to his time there um his grandchild passed away very sadly uh his son-in-law is actually the the former leads uh salford striker matt smith millwall striker qpr plenty of plenty of others And it was his kid that tragically passed.

So Steve Priest had to take some time away from the dugout, understandably, to get over that.

And it's been a very difficult time for the club.

And sadly, the results since he came back have been not great.

But I would say they've been playing a lot better and haven't got their rewards, really.

It was a big win lost amount for them in the league where they beat Bristol Rovers away from home 2-0.

That was their first win since the end of September.

So,

you know, obviously everyone hoping that the Bruce can turn it around.

Blackpool fans are not particularly happy with the ownership at the moment, so it's not a particularly happy club right now.

But, you know, that 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers,

fingers crossed, that the Blackpools start getting their just rewards for their performances because there's no way they've been as bad as the results suggest.

A shout out for Reading, Sanny, who are, you know, considering what's happening off the pitch, are still delivering.

You know, I saw they won at Peterborough, which I was delighted about.

I think Sam Smith scored.

Like, that is some achievement of Ruben Sellers, isn't it?

It's amazing.

It's absolutely amazing when you think that they can't, what, bring in anyone essentially, or have been under this embargo, all the cloud around them, the continued issues with the ownership, and to be just outside the playoffs, as we speak, on goal difference is quite incredible.

A home record, they've won six out of seven as well.

And yet, Sam Smith, I think he scored one of the Why Always Me celebration, which, you know, fair play.

Fair play to him.

Is anybody asking?

Is anybody saying those things about Sam Smith?

I don't know.

But they're always talking about the other Sam Smith, aren't they?

Maybe that's what he was trying to reclaim the name, perhaps.

Yeah, so they're very good.

Around them, there's a few other interesting ones.

I mean, Bolton Wanderers lost 5-0 to Stockport a couple of weeks back, and Ian Evert kind of really

had a lot of stick, but then he's that sort of personality.

If you go back a couple of seasons when you were in League Two, and he said they were the best team in the league, and they were right near the bottom of the table and galvanised them, and they won promotion.

Since that defeat, though, they've won two, and then they drew to lowly Cambridge.

Do you know what?

I watched them.

I watched them, and we had a man sent off after 50 minutes.

We equalised later on, but we weren't good, but they weren't good either.

Was my was my review of Bolton there?

You came close to winning.

Yeah, we did in the 94th.

You're like, oh, that would have been so good.

And at the bottom, Burton,

eight points, vaguely adrift from Shrewsbury, have got 11, Cambridge 13, Leighton Orin 15, Crawley 16.

Leighton Orin had a great FA Cup game, didn't they, against Oldham,

their goalkeeper.

So have you seen this, Baz, scoring a header in the 99th minute to equalize, take it to extra time?

I'm aware it's happened.

I haven't seen it.

It was a great header.

It was a rare.

Normally, I always think when keepers come up in the last minute, it's normally because of a corner.

But this was a free kick from Wide, which is a change to the usual way this works.

But yeah, Keely, their keeper,

with a really nice kind of glancing header, Josh Keeley, kind of got him between two defenders.

A good header into the run into the corner to celebrate.

and then dramatic extra time as well, because Dan Adji, Leighton Orient striker, did one of the most, it was kind of almost Simone Zaza levels, where the run-up was just absolutely crazy.

And then as he got to the ball, he just rolled it about a yard wide of the post,

but made up for it with a very, very late injury time-headed goal to prevent penalties.

I feel bad for Alden fans.

Imagine that.

You go to Leighton Orient, you see a keeper score against you in the 99th, and then you see Yunika seed in the 121st.

Pretty grim for them.

But yeah, Orient go through to the next round.

You wanted to mention Burton as well, George, and

their ownership.

Yeah, it's tricky.

This

new owners came into Burton in the summer.

The Nordic football group with kind of big plans and

brought in a lot of new players, brought in Mark Robinson as manager,

have said, you know, all the right things and seemingly want to do things the right way, be data-driven,

you know, kind of evidence-based decision-making.

It's been a big shift from the ben robinson era where things were maybe a little bit more traditional a bit old school burton albion maybe knowing who they are a bit more in terms of of kind of punching above their weight uh robinson was sacked having not won a game uh this season a few weeks ago there is kind of no news as to who the new manager is going to be tom hanson in charge at the moment and you know i kind of said it last week where a home tie against tamworth was almost the worst possible draw for them because the expectation level from burton albion fans is of course to beat a non-league club who will come to the Pirelli believing they can upset them, and that's what they did.

It was 0-0,

but they won on 0-0 normal time, won all after extra time, and Tamworth won it on penalties.

And

you know, it feels to me like the new owners have to action some change now because not only are Burton Albion kind of drifting towards League Two, but also, you know, for any new ownership group, you have to keep the fans on side.

And being beaten at home by a non-league club isn't going to help that.

so um yeah we'll see who they bring in but right now burton fans are not particularly happy uh jack says after teams missing out on replays and big paydays and those non-league sides who were even at 90 minutes going out tamworth aside do we think scrapping replays has killed the magic of the cup i mean reading harbor sanny was a real example of this wasn't it finished 5-3 to reading harbor were one up then 2-1-up 3-2 down equalized later on had an amazing chance to win it injury time and lost in extra time and you do wonder why

replays in the first and second round were cancelled for a national league trophy that means nothing to anyone and for teams in the champions league it doesn't really affect aston villa this particularly does it it's absolutely demented i don't understand

why this came in and also if i recall wasn't it just like a random announcement in the summer like we're just getting and and then it was all mixed in with other stuff about yeah TV rights and oh every club's going to get a bit more money and stuff no I mean like you you this competition is getting diminished so often I mean you can go back to so many times even even in recent years when when VAR started coming in at grounds that could have VAR and not in others you know

you're eroding it the thing about the FA Cup is supposed to be any team has an equal chance of winning it whatever division you're in and the scrapping of replays which was a fundamental part in the lower leagues it massively weights it towards the side that's professional that has its players training every day, that have all that experience behind them.

And yet football is so great because it's such a leveler.

So yeah, you scrap it and then you immediately weight it towards the professional side that has the fitness to do it.

So yeah, rubbish.

Hate it.

I don't know why it came in.

I don't know what consultation they've had on it.

And I wish that...

Maybe the FA could turn around and maybe have the presence of mind to go, let's reconsider this.

Let's actually review it again.

You know, do we ever go back?

Can we ever go back?

Is the genie always out of the bottle?

Can it ever go back in?

And I kind of, even though I disagree with it, with third round onwards, you know, at least you can make the case for the player welfare and other things.

But in first and second round, it makes absolutely no sense.

And, you know, Sandy talks about it from a sporting perspective, and that is, of course, true.

Like, I think it's a myth.

This idea that going straight to extra-time penalties helps the David and the David versus Goliath because, you know, they've got more chance of getting to penalties and therefore going through because there is such a massive difference in terms of fitness levels between the two sides, only Kettering and Tamworth in the first two rounds progressing.

But there's also a massive financial part here where that game finishes 3-3.

Harbor Town would therefore be rewarded with a sellout at home hosting Reading and also having their game on terrestrial TV.

So massive TV money.

And there's another part to this too, away from replays, where, like,

how is that game not on TV?

How is Harbor Town, a team in the seventh tier, traveling to a Reading side who were a Premier League team not long ago at a huge stadium, albeit like a fairly empty stadium, and I worry that's the reason why.

How is that not picked for television?

Especially what an opportunity that would have been as well to highlight Reading's plight at the moment, to highlight the Sell Before We Die movement, to talk on a big stage about really pressing issues.

There seems to be a real desire not to show televised games if the perceived favourite is at home.

I guess because they're scared that it might be four or five nil and therefore a bit of a non-event, but you lose out on these incredible stories.

So I think like reform of the fa cup is needed and and not in the way that we saw it over the summer um you know

this should have been a completely club-changing moment um for the achievements of harbor town over the last couple of weeks and instead it's uh it's a story of what might have been and that's that's tragic especially when in previous seasons um you know they'd have been rewarded not only from a sporting perspective but also financially for their for what they've done can i just put my tinfoil hat on and ask is it conceivable that

somebody somewhere would rather this game wasn't on television because they don't want what's going on at Reading to be highlighted because it paints the game in a bad light?

Maybe.

I mean, that's incredibly sad if it's true.

Because, you know, the issues at Reading, the way that...

Sadly, the media works now, and it's something we see often with our pod, is that you talk about off-field issues, you talk about really pressing concerns, and numbers drop off because people care more about football.

But raising awareness for these issues, raising awareness for what's going on at Morecambe now, possibly at Swindon,

these are the ways to get these things sorted, these are the ways to apply pressure to the people that matter.

So, you know, if that is the case, then

you know, we're in bigger trouble than I imagined before.

As I said, I kind of wonder if it might be just because the idea of putting an empty stadium on TV doesn't look great for the competition.

competition.

You can see terrestrial TV wanting, you know, tin pot, tiny little, you know, meet the TV

type stuff in the first round, I guess.

Anyway, look, you mentioned more coming to winner.

Let's do a bit of them in part three.

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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.

Players, everything.

Those games sent the 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.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Top of League Two, Port Vale.

Top, Darren Moore.

Everyone still loves him.

They have 34 from 17.

Walsall 31 from 16.

Crewe 30 from 17.

Below them, Doncaster, Knotts County, MK Dons, AFC, Wimbledon.

Sandy, give us a little overview of the top of League Two.

Well, I was recently at Crewe, Knotts County.

And what I could tell you from that alone is crew yet again have got the conveyor belt of young talent coming through which i know is a bit of a lazy thing to mention but it is the case it's it's um it's it's a nice setup they've got and they're managing to mix that with some older players as well shilo trace he's one i know he's on loan at cambridge a couple years ago oh yeah uh started at at uh at spurs getting his opportunity in fact he scored he scored the header at layton orient when i was

when a listener let me

go to his flat, if you remember, during COVID.

And I was videoing the corner on my

mobile.

And, you know, I heard what I sound like when we score a goal.

And it's very nasal when Shiloh Tracy put away a header.

Anyway, carry on.

Yeah, and Mickey Dimitri at the back as well, who's an excellent player in

league two.

He's also very good at set pieces as well.

So, yeah, they've got a really, a really solid team there.

Knotts County, on the other hand, a lot of injuries.

The managers who came in over the

when Luke Williams left, basically they've got an entirely new team.

like it you've got um you have a handful of players remaining so that's quite interesting to see that but that's kind of the turnover you kind of expect i guess in the lower leagues but it's interesting to see that knotts county were a team that had that core that got them promoted into the league and have got a completely new side and they're still knocking around but yeah there's a lot of teams kind of

not quite at it consistently putvale interesting because they haven't really got any standout players or they've got like someone like Jaden Stockley, who's a kind of a big name in the lower leagues.

But also, he's only got like four goals.

So it's kind of

a team that's kind of bigger than the sum of the parts, perhaps, if that's the right phrase.

And just finally, Chesterfield from me,

Dylan Markande, who was on loan at Blackburn Rovers last year from Spurs, kind of dropping down the divisions.

He's

lit it up at times.

But Chesterfield have got a really weird home form where they can't seem to win that many at all.

But they're eighth at the moment.

So there's a few teams who kind of yet to kind of catch fire that if they were, I think could do really well.

And there's the sleeping giant that is Bradford City always there with Andy Cook always scoring that header.

But yeah, not quite able to get it over the line just yet in attempt at the moment.

At the bottom, Morecambe have 13, as do Swindon from 17 games.

Carlisle one point above them and played a game more than Trammer and Bronby on 17 points.

We got a bit of, I don't know, fair criticism.

We were laughing, George, about Ian Holloway talking about ghosts at the training ground and not really paying any attention to the serious matter of what is happening at Swindon.

And also, you know, Morecambe as well, two sides that, you know,

are in a very difficult position at the moment, not just on the pitch.

Yeah, I mean, I think whenever you are staring down relegation to non-league, there is an existential crisis that goes on within a club.

We're Swindon Town at the moment.

I think it's fair to say the fan base have completely lost faith in Clem Wolfune, the owner, and his ability to run a football club effectively.

You know, I think there is still some belief in parts that

the intentions are still maybe good, but

it's just bad decision making, compounding bad decision-making.

The Holloway appointment has not started well at all.

You know, since his wife came to the club with her sage, they have lost the game 3-2, haven't been 2-0 up and get bringing it back to 2-0.

They conceded late.

And the FA Cup against Accrington had a man sent off.

Managed to get it to 2-1-up with 10 men and then conceded late and then lost on penalties.

So the luck hasn't changed.

It's a pretty desperate situation for them.

I think as results continue to get worse, I think we will see Twin and Town fans unite and try and force a change because they do not want to be drifting towards non-legal and what that brings.

And then the Morecambe story is

very interesting.

Kind of being careful what I say.

Martin Calladine, the journalist, has kind of unearthed some information around the prospective new owner of Morecambe, Khaljit Singh Momi, and

basically some links.

If you look at Company's House, eight companies in the last two years, he's been listed as a co-director with

Saab Jot Johal, who is a former prospective owner, a 22-year-old entrepreneur in quote marks, and he was not deemed to be a viable owner according to the EFL.

He didn't pass the EFL owners and directors test.

There were some concerns about his

suitability to the role as well.

Joe Hal is not currently an active director of any of the nine companies Carl Jit Sing Momi is an active director of.

Sing Momi's statement says he has no current business associations with Johal.

I mean alarm bells massively ringing again there.

This is a club and a fan base who are desperate for new ownership, who knew that there was a prospective new bidder.

This prospective new bidder has seemingly been financially helping the club for the last year or so.

only to find out that you know there are some links between him and someone who was previously deemed not suitable for the role.

So

yeah, there is always a group of teams in the EFL who we are concerned about, and certainly Morcombe and Swindon are two of those right now,

with no real cause for much optimism, depending on how much you believe the statement put out from Morcom.

All right, then chaps, thanks so much.

Excellent rattle through the EFL.

We should do it more often, shouldn't we?

Cheers, Sandy.

Thanks for your time, mate.

No worries.

Any time?

Thank you, George.

Cheers, Max.

And thank you, Barry.

Thank you.

Worth pointing out that this episode was recorded before the FSA awards.

So, may I say, George, congratulations on your award.

And let's not tempt you.

Thank you and commiserations.

Yeah, let's not tempt fate, eh, Baz?

It was also recorded before the FA Cup third-round draw, unfortunately.

Oh, yeah, good point.

But claims you aren't in it.

Don't give a shit.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens.

This is The Guardian.