Everton takeover, Rodri blow and a Football League roundup - Football Weekly podcast

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

It's an AFL pod, but we will briefly discuss the two big Premier League stories.

Do Everton finally have a takeover?

And what impact Rodri's potentially season-ending injury will have on the title race?

And then to the championship, never fancied, never that interesting.

West Bromwich Albion lead the way.

Sunderland Barry second with some of the usual suspects below them.

There's quite the rabid bite in Preston to discuss and Wayne Rooney perhaps steadying the ship at Plymouth.

In League One, big spending Birmingham and not quite as big spending Wrexham lead the way.

Cambridge United rock bottom on naught wins.

Doesn't seem enough, really.

We'll update you on the collapse takeover at Reading, while in League Two, Gillingham and Barrow are both enjoying themselves at the top while AFC Wimbledon's pitch is destroyed by flooding.

If there's time, we'll do a little League Cup preview, answer your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Sanny Rodravadjulo.

Welcome, Sanny.

Hello.

Hello, Ben Fisher.

Hey, Max.

And welcome, Barry Glendenning.

Hello, Max.

Before we get stuck in to the EFL, yeah, two big stories that happened after we finished recording yesterday.

Everton, apparently, on course to get a new owner after a takeover deal was struck with the US firm, the Friedkin Group.

Farad Mashiri's Blue Heaven Holdings have agreed to sell its 94% stake, subject to regulatory approvals.

Friedkin owned by the US Tycoon Dan Friedkin, already a majority owner of AS Roma.

They'd initially pulled out in the summer.

A spokesperson for the group on Monday said, we're pleased to have reached an agreement to become custodians of this iconic club.

We're focused on securing the necessary approvals to complete the transaction.

We look forward to providing stability to the club and sharing our vision for its future, including the completion of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley Moor Dock.

Now, Sanny, you've listened to a Roma podcast, English language Roma podcast.

So you can tell us how they feel about the Friedkin group.

I mean, I guess all Everton fans will be sitting there going, until this is signed, sealed, and we see like a happy American on the pitch waving,

they won't believe anything.

But

what's the soundings from Rome?

Well, by the sounds of things, it's very unlikely we'll see a happy American on the pitch because we won't see the Friedkins at all.

They've they've been um kind of conspicuous by their absence but then also are incredibly rich and by all accounts it's all their own money which is which is very different to the you know sovereign wealth funds and backs hedge funds and all that sort of thing um but in the time at roma they've cleared all the debts like massively put in a load and load of cash in um and have managed to actually increase profit i think by 17% or turnover and then profit by 17 turnover by 24 something like that um see see when it's when it's it's these big numbers, it all becomes a bit irrelevant.

But the point is, they put in a lot of money.

I think the other thing to say is

the

footballing decisions that the Friedkin group have made, these two brothers, haven't necessarily always been the right ones.

Danielle DeRossi being sacked after, I think he got a new contract quite recently as well, was an interesting one.

But I suppose if you're an Everton fan and you're wondering, you know, what does this mean?

It'd be very good news because these guys have deep pockets.

They've talked about a symbiotic relationship with Roma because Roma fans were a bit concerned when this deal finally got over the line.

And they said, well, you know, don't worry because actually we're stronger for Roma now.

We've got Everton.

I don't think it's going to be quite the multi-club model we see at the Citigroup.

I don't think it's quite going to be like the Oudenese Pozzo

Watford sort of thing.

But overall, this is very positive for Everton.

In terms of, insofar as any billionaire can be good, a good billionaire, I think Dan Friedkin probably is a good billionaire.

His money is inherited.

His family made millions in the car industry.

He's the 383rd richest person in the world.

Has a net worth of 5.7 billion.

And

interestingly, or not, as the case may be, he has a great interest in aviation history and uh owns a load of sort of vintage aircraft including six spitfires and in the movie uh dunkirk the the plane that uh inverted commas tom hardy lands on the beach at the end uh dan friedkin was flying that plane so he's he's a stunt pilot whenever the question is you know which premier league manager would dot dot dot the answer is always sean dice but you know which would be flying a spitfire

i feel i feel Deish is certainly up there.

Unless Spitfire is a bit of a fire.

I think he'd need to wax his moustache

and shave cleanly.

This sort of looks like

good news for Everton, but obviously their fans now will be stressing out.

This could be ratified in eight weeks, as soon as eight weeks.

Everton already owe the Friedkin Group 200 million quid.

Friedcomb Group will pay off the 200 million to know

those chances from 777.

And there's another

225 million ever-to-know

company called Rights and Media funding.

And the Friedcombe Group have also apparently agreed to pay this off.

So I'm not sure what the hell Farad Mashiri is going to come out of this debacle with.

He might just have a handful of change.

But Everton fans won't care.

They'll just be glad to see the back of him.

And actually, you know, if we have have another club with lots of money challenging, it could be quite exciting.

I mean, I can't envisage Everton challenging at that side of the, you know, that end of the table, but it would be nice to see.

Meanwhile, being reported that Roderay's out for the remainder of the season with an ACL injury, it looked like a bad one, didn't it?

In that challenge with, I mean, pretty innocuous challenge with Thomas Party, has to be said.

And the statistics have been done a million times, but they are worth repeating.

You know, Man City with and without Roderie since 2019-20, With him, they've won 74% of their games, without him, just under 62%.

With him, they've lost just under 11%.

Without him, they've lost a third of their games.

All their stats are down.

It is.

And the thing is, Ben, like, you don't wish ill on any player, right?

And it is really sad for him.

And

it seems bad to say his injury makes the title race more interesting, but that is probably true.

Yeah, it's crazy that one player's injury, especially this early on in the season, obviously a serious injury, has that or has that perceived kind of sway or

force in the title race, as you say.

And I think the fact every time we hear Guardiola discuss Rodri, even when he's had niggles and you know, minor injuries, or he's missed the odd game, as you say, his reaction and the way he talks about him, it just says everything.

And his reaction when he was injured at the weekend, again,

was indicative of that.

It's a massive loss.

Man City, Pep Guardiola, for everything that he's done, hasn't seemingly been able to find somebody else who can play like Roderick can or can get city ticking as Roderick can.

And obviously, let's face it, he was brilliant for Spain as well.

He's been an amazing player.

Obviously, he's listed for the ballon d'Or

in really a kind of unfashionable position.

You know, if we weren't so obsessed with kind of goals and all the fun stuff at the other end, maybe he would be eschewing or probably should be eschewing for that.

And it will be interesting where Guardiola goes with this.

Obviously, you know, Calvin Phillips was signed as kind of a Rodri backup and never got anywhere near sort of satisfying Guardiola in that mold.

Mateus Nunes hasn't been trusted really at all.

It's a different type of player, but can play there.

Did play there for Wolves a bit deeper.

They do have some good players there who can fill in.

Obviously, Kovacic is the obvious one who you think could probably play that bit deeper.

but

John Stones, as well, maybe we might see more of him in midfield.

Um, and again, it's not like he's you know, a total kind of nobody who would be coming into team, so you know, it's not like they don't have any options.

Is there a recall clause in Calvin Phillips's contract with Ipsley?

Yeah, I don't know.

Maybe this could be his big chance to shine, yeah.

Yeah, he's probably gutted, isn't he?

He would have had a sustained chance, surely.

Um, but I think one of the younger players, maybe, um, might get a look in.

Nico O'Reilly starting starting against United, the Community Shield.

Feels like it's a huge ask to expect him to fill in for the season.

I think that's the thing.

It's the length of time.

It's not like you're asking somebody to step in for a couple of games.

So, you know, they have options, but are they going to be good enough for

the season?

We're going to have that conversation about a million times this season, so let's crack into the AFL.

West Brom, top of the championship.

I'm beating their opening six, winning five, only conceding two goals.

Sanny, you were there when they beat Wayne Rooney's Plymouth 1-0.

Who is delivering for West Brom?

Is there such a thing as Corboran ball?

Well, I suppose Josh Madger with six and six would be the easy answer.

He's had a great, great season so far.

A player that Barry will know well from his time at Sunderland and then Sunderland Till I Die, where I think they offered him a load of money, Barry, and then he decided to go to Bordeaux, which didn't quite work out.

But yeah, this season he's just always popping up in the right place.

Tom Fellows on the wide right has been very exciting for West Brom.

He's just got into the England under-21 side as well.

And there has been a bit of a change this season compared to last season.

I mean, I was at West Brom Hull last season, and it was Corboran's playing the ball on the deck against Liam Rossinha's playing the ball on the deck without anything happening, and the game starts to wash over you.

And I checked the stats on this because one of my mates said that West Brom this season are like a rich man's stoke.

And I was like, is that fair?

And then I actually did some digging.

So last season, they were the second fewest long ball team.

And this season, they're the second most.

So they are happy to counter, happy to go a bit longer.

And they're getting the rewards.

It's a bit...

If you like a bit of old-fashioned football of getting the ball out wide and getting crosses in, then you'll enjoy West Brom.

They've got two absolutely monstrous centre-halves in Semi Ajay and Carl Bartley.

And between them,

they're mopping up at the back generally, getting the ball out wide and getting it in the box, and Madges reaping the awards.

I would say that that style will probably end very badly in the Premier League.

But right now, it's pretty fun.

Barry Sunderland are at second, won five of their opening six, won the win over Middlesbrough at the weekend.

Back heel from Chris Rigg.

A wild time for Regis Labri.

Yeah, it's quite exciting.

I mean, I don't expect them to stay up there.

I wasn't expecting them to be up there in the first place, but they continue to defy expectation despite their setback against Plymouth

last weekend or sorry the weekend before last which is their only

not win of the season so far

in the championship they look pretty good they play really nice football and I thought maybe after Jack Clark left he was signed by Ipswich that might be the end of their little foray towards the top of the table but Romaine Mundle has more than stepped up in his absence and

kind of got away with it a little bit against Middlesbrough in the not quite a Derby Derby on Saturday lunchtime.

Middlesbrough should have taken the lead when Tommy Conway headed over from a brilliant

Zaya Jones cross.

I mean, the goal was gaping, what was he, five, six yards out, and he put it over the bar.

Yeah.

And apparently missing big, big chances is a Middlesbrough problem.

And I think Trey Hume, the Sunderland defender, was quite lucky to get away with a yellow for what looked a really bad challenge on Emmanuel Latale,

the Middlesbrough striker.

And then the goal from Chris Rigg, young Chris Rigg, who I think he's still only 17, is he?

Patrick Roberts, who's been playing really well for Sunderland on the right wing, he caught inside, shot.

Defender stuck a leg out to kind of intercept his shot.

And Rigg was forced.

He got the ball in the six-yard box, was forced towards the byline.

And from what looked

a really, really tight angle, he backheld it in with his weaker right foot.

And it was kind of a reverse Robona, if you know what I mean.

He had his back to goal, and right foot over left foot back heeled it in.

Wonderful, wonderful finish.

It's worth seeking out if you like.

And then Sunderland should have had a penalty.

Middlesbrough missed another half-decent chance.

And Romaine Mundle hit the post with a free kick.

So it was a pretty convincing win in the end for Sunderland.

But I think they were quite lucky to have 11 men on the field for most of the game.

Mundial

tweeted the Chris Rigg goal and said it's the sort of goal you score at Power League.

And as it just so happened, my mate listener as well, Geordie, as we know him, Newcastle fan Chris Mullen, scored that exact goal at Stockport Power League that week,

which was absolutely amazing.

So I can attest that at least one person has scored that goal at Power League, even if he was then an homage as a Newcastle fan to a Sunderland player.

Yeah, yeah, I thought Patrick Roberts looked great in this, didn't he?

And he's sort of a Robin Townsend style, you know, Barry cut inside.

Don't let him cut inside.

Sunderland are...

like stay in the office i suppose but they are like super exciting they've got i mean barry mentioned chris rig there i mean i think he made his debut at 15 There's been a lot of noise around him, and understandably, given that finish that Barry was just talking through there, I mean, he's obviously incredibly talented, still only 17.

You know, loads of clubs looking at him, have been for a while.

Then, obviously, you've got Job Bellingham, who we still probably,

because of how good his brother is, we probably don't quite know how good Job is, but I think he's pretty extraordinary as well.

you know, he's growing all the time, developing, maturing.

And as you said, as Barry said as as well, Jack Clark going, you think, oh, you know, is that kind of it?

Or are they going to be a bit flat now?

But actually, they've still got this kind of freewheeling nature, which they had under Mowbray and just, you know, go and attack, go and hit them.

Yeah, I think Sunday are really exciting.

You know, LeBris seemed a left field appointment.

But, yeah, so far, so good.

And they're definitely one of the teams who play some of the best stuff.

Ben, how is Scott Parker settling in at Burnley?

Third, four wins, one draw, one loss, beat Portsmouth at the weekend.

I mean, a very late winner, but I think they probably deserved it.

Yeah, I mean, obviously, there's a lot of turbulence towards the end of the transfer window.

So many players left.

Obviously, Veykhorst and the gang eventually got their moves.

But they've still got a core of very good players in this league, I think.

Luca Codiosho, who we saw really impressive glimpses of in the Premier League last season, is still there.

Josh Brown, who I think got the goal in the weekend, captain, sort of he must have some serious kind of championship minutes under his belt.

Now he's an experienced player in that league.

Captain,

and you know, Scott Parker, for all whatever people think about him, has a very good record of getting out the championship, even if he sort of does it the hard way.

I think they're going to be up there.

I just think they've got this kind of means and the tools to compete at that end.

And I think they're third, fourth.

So, yeah, I'd fancy Burnie to be there all along, really.

In the mix below, then you've got Blackburn, Shelf United, Leeds.

I suppose Blackburn, of all those, Sanny, are the surprising ones.

Yeah, they are.

Especially when they sold Sammy Smodix to Ipswich just, well, after the season had begun, and he'd scored for Rovers as well.

I caught the 3-0 win against Ben Fisher's Bristol City.

And just a shout out to Yuka Ohashi.

And Maxie did something.

I know you'd love this.

He scored essentially the same goal with both feet, like mirrored, like on the edge of the box, and curled him on in with his right and then did the same thing, cutting in from the left and curled him on his left foot.

It was great and I was like, you know, before the game, I was there for five live.

I was like, you do all your research and stuff.

And I'm like, well, I've never heard of this guy.

I assume he's played for Japan.

Nope, 28 years old.

They got him from San Francisco Hiroshima.

And then I really went down the rabbit hole of how did they sign a player who's never played for Japan?

How's that allowed?

And it's this

new rule about a post-Brexit dividend, perhaps, where you're allowed to bring in players who potentially wouldn't have got a work permit in a previous world, but now can.

And he's one of the four players that they've been able to bring in who's talented enough and they can justify his position in the team.

And yeah, he was absolutely.

So on balance, Brexit is worth it because

this chap can score two identical goals for Blackburn Rovers.

The elite significant contribution is one of the slots he's in.

Yeah, I think that might be the only thing.

So if anyone,

you know, the Reform Party will be, we're pushing this line now.

Have you got any players who can make an elite significant contribution, whether you're Lincoln or wherever you might be?

So, yeah, he's done really well.

And

they've got a decent core there.

I know, I'm sure we'll get on to the Derby against Preston North End.

But, yeah, overall, kind of looking fairly solid at the back.

And you just need a couple of live wiser.

And Tyree Stolen as well, who can blow hot and cold.

And when he's blowing hot, he does very well.

He's been really good for Rovers so far.

And they need those players to kind of step up and they are doing.

On Preston North End, you mentioned an eventful game with with Blackburn on Sunday.

Preston's forward militant Ozmaic could face a lengthy ban after allegedly biting Owen Beck, the FA are investigating.

Yeah, it was, I mean, we're laughing at it.

It was quite unsavoury.

And Owen Beck

looked very distressed at the time.

So basically, what happened,

Ozmaic went to ground.

There was a bit of a straw mash.

Owen Beck stuck a leg out and kicked somebody.

And then Osmaich

just sank his teeth or allegedly sank his teeth into the area sort of just below his neck in the middle of his back.

And Beck obviously couldn't believe what was happening.

And Maj was wrestled away from him.

And while Beck was trying to explain to the referee, you know, he bit me and trying to show him, get him to look at the bite mark in his back, the ref was too busy doing the uh red card admin that he was about to show Beck.

So Beck got sent off as Meit went unpunished.

Oh, no, I think he got booked.

I'm not, I don't think it was for the bike, though, it was for something else.

And um, yeah, the FA say they're aware of the incident.

We'll look into it.

Uh, Blackburn's manager, John Eustace, was suitably appalled, and to be fair, um, even Preston's manager, uh, Paul Heckingbottom, said,

you know, that if that's what happened, then that's not acceptable and it'll have to be dealt with.

He sort of sounded like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

All right.

So, yeah, I mean, it's sort of the optics of it were bad because obviously someone's biting someone, but also because Osmart's about five times the size of Owen Beck.

And so it just sort of looked like a...

like an enormous sort of giant biting a tiny child.

It's such a weird thing to do for a grown man.

But if you want to look at precedent,

Louis Forrest got ten game bans for when he sank his Nashirs into Branislav Ivanovich, what was it, ten years ago?

One presumes Osmayich will at least get at least that.

It seems like an in-vogue kind of action.

As weird and wonderful as it is, or not wonderful.

It's

like Paul Mullen, obviously, we saw, looked like he was very tempted to bite the the Birmingham player's leg and then sort of remembered that he was on, you know, live television, beamed around the world and seemed to pull out.

And then this, as you say, I mean, was my quite an imposing guy, just sort of commandeered Beck and just, yeah, really horrible to watch actually.

And the thing I found strange was Beck quite clearly, as Barry said, the ref's obviously otherwise engaged and is all

you know, caught up in it, but Beck quite clearly tries to say to the assistant referee, like, look, you know, this is what's happened here.

And it just seemed like he kind of just was like, no, no, no, just get out of the way rather than like, surely a good ref or good referees, good officials should engage

in some level of, you know, something serious like that.

I know you could say he's thinking, oh,

is he trying it on or something?

But still, like,

I just, that just surprised me.

Well, if you, you could call his mic over and go, did you just bite him?

And if he denies it, then send for dental records to, you know, take casts, compare.

It would be a lengthy, quite dull process, but you would get to the bottom of it in the end.

So the referee's got a load of plasticine, you know,

puts that in Osmaraj's mouth.

He's bite down on this.

Yeah.

And then he compares it to Owen Beck's back.

By the way, just to add, we have seen this sort of thing before because it was straight out of Sean Connery James Bond, wasn't it?

With Jaws.

Yes, with his big teeth.

Like the looming big presence of a man, and he's really going into it against a damsel in distress that was Owen Beck.

Very much, very much James Bond-esque.

If he's auditioning for the reboot, Jaws, I don't know, he could do a job.

Jaws came on soccer AM, and literally every single person in the crew, the cameramen, the sound men, the audience, every single person just got a photo of Jaws putting his two hands, one on your head and one on your chin, and just looking menacing next to you.

He must have done that so many times while he was on this earth.

He was a very nice man.

It was an odd interview, granted.

Quick word on Rooney at Plymouth.

Ben, how's that going?

Yeah, no, I I mean, obviously a few weeks on from his stint karaokeing down at Plymouth, which it feels like, you know, if you do that and then lose your next three, you're, you know, gonna be uh people will be asking questions.

No, but he's done all right, and you know, losing at West Brom is is no disgrace.

You know, and let's face it, what he's got there is a team is you know, it's not a vintage championship side, it's uh

it's a team that probably should be struggling down the bottom of that that that that end of the table.

So

he's, yeah, he's made a decent start.

I think it was just a massive relief getting the win that he did a few weeks ago, just to take that monkey off his back, because obviously we know that that eluded him previously at Birmingham.

And

he knows that people are kind of waiting for, kind of like to indulge in his kind of misery.

So, you know, I think he's done well.

You know, it's not an amazing group of players.

And I think that's probably the frustration he'll have is he's trying to develop that group?

The goalkeeper situation was an issue.

They let Michael Cooper join Sheffield United.

He was into the last year of his contract.

He went to Chef U, who actually, I think, is worth pointing out they've assembled quite a good squad, actually.

Again, there was quite a lot of negativity around Sheffield United, but they've got this kind of championship all-stars where, you know, like Callum O'Hare, who was brilliant for Coventry.

Everybody thought he wanted a Premier League move.

He's actually ended up at Chef U.

Kiefer Moore, who's kind of a guaranteed, you you know, put you in the mix of promotion, he's up front.

You know, they've got they've and now they've got Cooper in goal, which was an area they needed

improving.

So, yeah, Plymouth are a bit short goalkeeper-wise,

and Rooney tried to rectify that before the end of the transfer win.

It didn't quite happen as he wanted, but I think they'll be okay.

But I don't think we should be sort of alarmed or sort of shocked if they're, you know,

in and out of the relegation zone.

I think that's that's fair for where they are for the weather at.

I saw Argyll's opener and I was at that West Brom defeat for Argyll.

And yes, if there is a marked difference there, I think he definitely is Wayne Rooney getting the players, he wants to play his way.

Ibrahim Susoko is very exciting, got him on loan from Toulouse, he scored one, but he's one of those players who wants to take on the ball and go with it.

Technically, very good.

So, yeah, I think they've got some exciting players.

Another interesting thing, as well, just the idea of the Wayne Rooney circus.

So, I was leaving West Brom.

It had been hammering down with rain, the same storm that had delayed the Leicester game.

And Rooney didn't get on the team bus.

He went away with an entourage.

I assume because he was heading back up north or something.

And I don't know how often you see

the opposing fans cheering.

for that manager because Wayne Rooney is exposed for England.

And he must have that at every single game.

It's just such a strange dynamic.

And he's got his own separate set of minders because he was going off somewhere else.

So yeah, it's a bit of an extra element that the players have to deal with.

But when I've spoken to Argyle fans, that were like, you know, we're happy for the publicity, we're happy for all of that.

So it's an interesting mix.

And yeah, I guess he's got to save space in Argyle.

You know, it's so far away.

You've got fewer media outlets wanting to chase him down all the time and talk to him.

But it's an interesting extra element that he's got to manage in amongst it all.

Anything else on the championship, Baz, you wanted to pick out before we move to League One?

Well, the Leeds have just announced that they're going to do a refurb

of Ellen Road

and raise the capacity to from 37,500 to 53,000.

That would make it I think the seventh biggest stadium in the country, bigger, slightly bigger than St.

James's Park and about the same as Man City.

I think what's been happening at Stoke is quite interesting insofar as Stephen Schumacher got sacked.

So I think he got the gig around about last January, was it?

Or Christmas January.

And they they had two wins, three defeats this season.

He got sacked after their game against their defeat at the hands of Oxford.

It's rumoured, and I have no idea whether it's true or not, that Stoke director of football, John Walters, and Stephen Schumacher fell out after that game over team selection.

Schumacher was sacked.

He released a statement saying it was a massive shock that he'd been sacked.

John Walters gave

an interview in which he didn't come across as tremendously convincing about

the whole situation.

And now they've appointed this young Spanish manager called Narcis Pilak,

aka Chicho,

who's a 36-year-old from Spain who's worked as an assistant at Huddersfield for three years under various coaches, including Carlos Corberon.

And he had a spell working under Neil Warnock.

And in his introductory interview as Stoke manager, I think he was talking about the experience of working under Neil Warnock.

I think he addressed it very diplomatically, but

certainly got the impression he found it was a very strange experience.

Not saying he found it unpleasant, but I think he found it quite weird.

Then he worked under David Wagner at Norwich last season.

and was still an assistant at Norwich when Stoke came in and appointed him.

So he's the first foreign manager, like foreign as in not from the UK, appointed under the watch of the Coates family.

And

I watched his interview.

You know, it was a half-hour long interview.

It was quite, he came across, spoke very well, and outlined his philosophy and blah, blah, blah.

But

you would expect someone who's just been given the job to speak well.

That's probably part of the reason he got the job.

But apparently, Boyan Kirkich was one of the people who recommended him to John Walters,

former diminutive Stoke legend.

So it will be interesting to see how he gets on, because even if he is a good manager, Stoke just seems to be a graveyard for managers.

No one seems to be able to get a tune out of that team.

Just a quick one, Ben, on Cardiff, who have sacked the manager, one point from their opening six games, lost two at home to Leeds at the weekend.

Rumours of Nathan Jones,

Charlton fans will would be slightly disappointed to hear that.

Yeah, well, yeah, they would be.

He's made a really done a really good job at Charlton, but I think he said previously

he would love the chance to manage Cardiff.

Don't know on that, but I think Cardiff needs someone to breathe a bit of life back in.

Yeah, winless start to the season.

Bullet, it was a bit weird because the end of last season didn't go spectacularly.

Then he was given a new two-year contract, and then obviously, what, seven, eight games into the season, he's gone.

So, yeah, I mean, it's a a bit like you know vincent tan is an owner has been there a long time now and it feels like they're just sort of swapping and like i don't know don't really know what they want from the team it all feels a bit half-baked you know neil harris seemed a bit of an odd appointment good guy and did an all right job but yeah there's no it doesn't feel like there's any real structure or plan there bullet was obviously a

bit of a strange appointment and it's yeah i mean yeah yeah they need um i think jones would be a good appointment someone just to to galvanise the place.

I think the fans are so fed up.

Yeah, I suppose for Nathan Jones, it would be one step closer to becoming a PE teacher and marrying a Welsh sweetheart, which I remember him suggesting was what he could have done when he was having a tough time at Southampton.

Anyway, that'll do for part one.

Part two will be League One.

HiPod fans of America.

Max here.

Barry's here, too.

Hello.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Top of league one.

I mean, it's impossible, sadly, to look beyond Birmingham for the league title, isn't it?

I mean, they beat Wrexham comfortably on Monday,

who are actually above them at the moment, although Birmingham have a game in hand.

One 2-0 away at Rotherham, Jay Stansfield, who costs more than Federico Chiesa, George Ellick with that stat, with a lovely finish for the second.

And they are playing lovely.

They're zipping it about, aren't they?

They are.

And you're right it is hard to look look past them when you you spend what 15 million i think it was for jay stansfield uh he's got three so far it's surprising that that wrexham have stayed so far up there but overall yeah birmingham city i think are doing really well um tomograi iwata has come in another japanese player two in two for him overall they're just playing really good football but i guess when you've got the quality there you know sometimes there are teams that that

you know, perennially start to struggle in the division they're in and they can just go down.

And if they can survive that one season financially and have a really fun time down there and get promoted again it can really boost them and i suppose for the greater good for birmingham city it might well be there you know the the ownership we know what happened last season uh they've been burnt there they've learned the lessons and you know it's such a big club get them winning you know winning football brings brings fans in it's what they need they've got the stars as well what was it david beckham was at the the wrexham game and all that so yeah overall i think they yeah nobody can really look past them and and rightly so i guess with the money they've got it's interesting barry isn't it it's easy to be cynical when David Beckham turns up to a footman.

I'm just trying to think, you know, you see they're going, what's he doing at Birmingham, Wrexham?

This is, you know.

But if you were a Birmingham fan, I'm trying to think if he was invited to watch a Cambridge game and he went, I think I would be...

I don't know if it's sad or not, but I would be quite excited that David Beckham had gone to watch my football team.

Yeah, I would also agree.

It's quite sad.

I mean, why would

I give it?

I don't know, just because there'd be a buzz, you know, like

the buzz is fun, right?

If you're a Wrexham fan, like, like the celebrity stuff at Wrexham is a bit perhaps getting a bit tedious if you're not a Wrexham fan.

But if you're a Wrexham fan, it's the...

Oh, no, it's tedious if you're not a Wrexham fan, but lads at Wrexham are at least, you know, contributing to the club, contributing to the community.

David Beckham turning up at a game because he's mates with Tom Brady's.

Man, I suppose so.

But I'm not.

I don't get started.

No, no, neither do I.

I mean, I wouldn't need to meet him, but I'd be like, oh, well, you know, I think when you're a low league fan, people just talking about your club is good.

I know Birmingham is a totally different size club.

I mean, speaking of Wrexham, it's a very, I mean, it's different compared to Birmingham, right?

They're coming up.

They're on this wave of,

you know, of everything that is happening around that club and what a brilliant job their owners are doing.

But are you surprised that they've taken League One

to League One so quickly, Ben?

Or is this, they can still do the sort of expendables type thing in League One and they might have to change next season?

Yeah, a little bit.

I think I expect them to be up there.

I think the thing that I am sort of surprised, I suppose, pleasantly surprised by, is that Phil Parkinson is still

steering the ship, as it were.

He's not kind of

the Hollywood appointment.

Inevitably,

I'm pretty sure their next appointment will be a former player who played for X, Y, and Z.

But in the meantime, Phil Parkinson, you know, he's done a really good job

and

he's playing the football that he he knows

how to get results.

Obviously, he did a good job at Bradford.

He was at Bolton.

And I think really in terms of what they're, I mean, again, it's hard to judge them because they're able to sign players

who probably

could play higher or get better offers elsewhere.

But for obvious reasons, they're able to attract them.

Yes, I don't think it's a huge surprise that they're there, but I think the way they're doing it is a little bit surprising.

And fair play to them.

But yeah, I don't think we can be sort of two in all of what they're doing because of the resource.

Um,

and Ditto Birmingham, really, I mean, everybody and rightly so talks about Stansfield, but when you think they also signed Lyndon Dykes, who QPR fans, you know, held quite highly, Elfie May, who's ripped up in League One for the last couple of years, you know, that's their three strikers.

It feels a little bit unfair on everybody else.

Now, look at what we've got, that is not fair.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Can I ask you guys who know more about this division than I do?

Is there any doubt in your mind that Wrexham won't make the Premier League say in the next 10 years?

I'm convinced that they'll be there sooner rather than later.

10 years, Phil, if you're going to say, it sounds stupid, but if you say that five-year plan is, you know, back in the QPR days,

I think the interesting bit will be when they get to the championship because that gap between championship and Premier League is so big.

And at the moment, in League One, they're able to attract players who probably could play in the championship or certainly the the best league one players i'm not convinced if they get into the championship they'll be able to get premier league players maybe they will but i think i think they'll they'll come up a lot of

come up against a lot of competition and even is sort of without labouring the point that i just made against like parkinson you know is then he going to be kind of outwitted by a you know a scott parker or a top championship manager corborang or whoever i don't know i think the the championship would would be really interesting but then as you say if they had a good you know if they if they were to get promoted in next season, in the first season.

Well, that's got to be the model, hasn't it?

Because the championship is just a casino, isn't it?

You can spend any amount of money, it can be an infinite amount of money, and you can do equally just terribly as well,

as we've seen with Birmingham.

And I think, yeah, maybe the only way they did go up in that sort of way would be sticking with Parkinson, who knows everything about the runnings of the club so well.

You know, he's really plugged into it.

I would be a little bit sceptical about Wrexham getting into the Premier League in 10 years.

I think think championship would be the ceiling because, you know,

you've got clubs like Sunderland, for example.

These are massive clubs with huge resource.

And at some point, you know, financial fair play, how much money can the Hollywood owners actually put in?

Because they're going to need to put in a lot to get out of that division, unless you can get down the loot and way.

Yeah, I mean, that's a really interesting point, isn't it?

That they could get Paul Mullin to go down two divisions.

And actually, the level of football, it's just, and what happens isn't that different you know he was ripping it up for us he went to wrexham it's probably the same really but if you get into the championship like who who you know who do they who do they get like they can't go and get

what are they getting with sort of reserve are they getting richarleson like i mean i i don't know like like that's a sort of tricky like like i would love it if i saw it would be quite fun if they did but then ffp comes in right and yeah but it'd be interesting to see uh let's talk about reading They're 16th in League One.

Ruben Seller still there

and did an incredible job.

Ben, you've been reporting on the situation there.

They really thought that the former Wickham owner, Rob Coig, who is a good football guy, as far as I understand, was going to buy the club.

And it has fallen through and it is devastating for the Reading fans.

Yeah, and Rob Coig thought he'd had it wrapped up.

four times, I think, four or five times.

He came over to Reading being told, you know, yeah, it's just going to be the next couple of days or, or you know, be over on a Friday, and by Monday, it's gonna be signed, sealed, and delivered, and

it hasn't happened.

Um,

yeah, I think this is

uh a serious uh matter.

Um,

it's a really grave situation.

I mean, they lost five to it bolts in the weekend, but that feels just insignificant, really.

Um,

this situation is really worrying, um, because they are well, as they have been for seven years now, but it feels like they're back in the hands of Dai Young, the Chinese owner, because it feels a little bit like he well, he hasn't, it was Rob Kuwig who was putting who was the money man the last few months, putting about five million to keep the place

going, wages and everything else that comes with that club, which is you know, it's not a

it's a fairly uh

costly club to run in that league with the stadium and everything else, training ground, academy.

And this is a guy now who who's been in charge for a while uh in Daiyong who has shown total disregard, total contempt for the fans, supporters,

staff,

his own team.

Ruben Selez, the manager, who, you know, from his time at Southampton, you know, a highly rated coach, it's actually done an extremely good job at Reading in unbelievably difficult circumstances.

He was saying, you know, the other day he's had enough basically now.

And I think

that's a feeling shared by fans.

I think with the ownership situation as it is, the concern is that this guy now, who is,

you know, essentially killed two previous clubs, one in China, one in Belgium before,

if he's shown, you know, if he's shown zero interest for the club for the last, what, well, to be generous, year, 18 months, but it's longer than that, really.

Why now is he suddenly going to be

a brilliant, a great owner?

The club claim, you know, the funds are in place to fund the club until a transaction for the sale is completed, which

you know, if we believe that, then great.

But I would have huge reservations about that.

This is a guy who's paid wages late, has total disregard for paying HMRC on time, let alone at all.

In last January, so January 24, they were selling off academy players or homegrown players to generate funds to generate and fund the day-to-day running of the club.

This is a guy who is not interested in Reading Football Club and yet he holds all the cards again.

The EFL

were trying everything in their powers and there aren't many of them in fairness to them in the way that

football is structured

to get that deal to go through because Rob Kuhig

really was barring kind of I don't know

being taken over by sort of

a state or Abbey Abbey Derby group or something.

He was the best owner Redding.

We're going to get an unbelievably safe pair of hands.

And I mean that in a respectful way.

Did a brilliant job at Wickham, stabilised that club, no stupid

outgoings.

Because

this is how Reading have got into a situation, just exorbitant spending, wages just waying above what they should be paying.

stupid fees, salaries, and this is what they're left with.

It's really concerning.

And you've got Nigel Howell now this the sort of de facto CEO who

is banned from football for three months starting on 4th of October so

you know so what less than two weeks really you think he's got to to push through a deal and if it doesn't happen in that time which you know I would suggest there's a very good chance that nothing happens in that time I don't know where they're left I just think it's

it's extremely concerning and I sympathise with with all of the supporters and the staff who are just sort of trying to go about their business as if none of this is going on.

It's really worrying that it does sound like Ruben Sellers is very much at the end of his tether.

Keeps saying

we will fight on, me and the players, but then

he says, Well, you know, we're being pushed to the limit.

I've had enough of this situation now.

And apparently, the money currently being used to fund Reading as a going concern is from a sell-on fee they got when Michael Elise went to Bayern Munich.

So that's not going to last forever, however much it is.

It's about what it's 1.8 million for the rest of this year, and then there's another 1.8 million that comes in in January.

This is a stonewall example of why football in this country needs a strong regulator.

And at the moment, we have, as Sanny flagged up on the WhatsApp group yesterday, it seems like half the Labour MPs already have their snouts in the trough accepting free gifts of Taylor Swift tickets, and all those tickets are coming from the Premier League.

I wonder why the Premier League are giving Labour MPs

gifts.

Could anyone possibly have any idea why that might be happening?

Because they're nice, Barry.

They're nice.

But these Labour MPs are all they've all obviously been given this line to parrot, and the line being, oh, well, I'm not a Swifty.

My kids are, you know, I didn't want to disappoint my children.

But no one's asking them, who is giving you these tickets?

And the answer is the Premier League are giving them these tickets.

And why are the Premier League trying to cozy up to

Labour MPs?

Because they don't want a powerful regulator.

So I actually,

I thought Labour might be different to the last lot, but no, it just seems, you know, as soon as you get in power, stick your snout in the trough and,

you know, business as usual.

So, slow hand clap for all those Labour frontbenchers who are

accepting freebies from the Premier League.

It's tantamount, well, I can't say what it's tantamount to, but we all know what it is, and

it's sickening.

Just to come back to the Reading situation and put on my Berry FC hat on as a Berry fan, we're in Division Nine now,

and that's, of course, the nuclear option.

And what I would say to Reading fans is,

Berry,

we've martyred ourselves so that no other club has to go through that.

I think the EFL, if it were to go back and do things again, Debbie Jevons was in charge at the time.

I don't think they necessarily would kick us out because

you've got nowhere to go from there.

You know, we were a part of the EFL family and now we're in the ninth division.

And I think lessons have been learned.

And I think the league would like to continue working with Reading rather than go with the stick and at the very you know at least they're still a going concern for now and I think they'll get a bit more leeway than he may have done previously because you know the absolute shit show that what what Berry FC was and what happened to us has meant that you know um

other teams might get a bit more um

have a bit more consideration of what can happen when you do kick a football club that's been in the EFL for 125 years and now are playing in the FA VARs in Division IX.

Reading have said in a statement that Dai Young remains committed to the sale of Reading Football Club and provisions are in place to fund the club until a transaction is completed.

Worth mentioning Cambridge United, our bottom of League One, one point from six games.

We lost 2-1 to Wickham, an 85-fifth minute sickener

at the weekend.

I don't know where the hope is coming from.

We've tried to change our style to play out from the back.

I'm not sure we have the players.

But, Barry, the good news is that Ryan Loft, who we spent a lot of, I think, the England semifinal Euro podcast discussing he's back on the grass so this this could change everything you can shove your stance field dykes and Alfie May Ryan Loft is back on the grass watch us sail up the table anyway that'll do for part two part three we'll do league two

hi pod fans of America Max here Barry's here too hello football weekly is supported by the remarkable paper pro now if you're a regular listener to this show you'll have heard us talk before about the remarkable paper pro we We already know that remarkable is the leader in the paper tablet category.

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

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

Although not like you.

A proper football journalist, mate.

Exactly.

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

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Before we do League Two, Sanny, you wanted to mention Steve Bruce?

Two wins in two in League One.

If you thought that Steve Bruce couldn't do it in the lower leagues, so far it's going all right.

A 94th minute winner and then a very good win at Charlton last time out of Seoul, who started the day third.

So

I don't know how much coaching he's doing necessarily, how much is maybe management, you know, motivation, that side of things.

But, you know, it's good to see that however much we get these managers that no one's ever heard of from the other side of the earth

coming in from nowhere.

Steve Bruce, he's still got it.

He's still got it.

I'm delighted.

He's a lovely chap.

Ben Barrow and Gilligan fighting out on the top of league two.

They play each other this weekend.

Huge.

Yeah, Stephen Clement's done a really good job since he's got into Barrow.

They've obviously got the Chelsea game

this evening, I think, if you're listening to this.

Yeah, no, he's done a really good job.

And as you say, Gillingham as well under under Mark Bonner.

Walsall going well as well.

They've got Leicester in the Caravelle Cup.

I think it'd be interesting how they go because they're having a great time.

Leicester not having such a good time.

And yeah, no, I think the interesting one of note is Mike Williamson going from MK Dons to Carlyle, the manager, who did an amazing job at Gateshead, got him the job at MK Dons, obviously former Newcastle defender.

But he sort of made an unusual move.

It's kind of the lesser lesser-spotted move, isn't it?

Like to a divisional rival.

Normally, it's either you get sacked or you go up the pyramid.

So, quite nice to see, actually, although albeit surprising.

Carlyle, I believe, have a bit of money behind them as well with their owners now.

Obviously, MK Dons have just had a takeover in this post-Pete Winkelmann era, a Q80, I believe.

Both ambitious clubs, but Mike Williamson

has gone to Carlisle.

They triggered a release clause in his contract, which I would imagine is quite a blow to MK despite them not having a brilliant start to the season.

He was clearly quite a hot thing as a manager.

And now it means that we get Ray Livington back at MK Dons with his son in the sort of interim.

They're leading the coaching sessions.

Dean Livington for the third time in caretaker charge.

Get the shorts back on, Ray.

Exactly.

And I do remember, I remember chatting to Dean Livington last year when he was just racking up another few appearances as he does.

And

I remember him telling a story when it was his second time in caretaker charge.

And he said, how

some of his teammates, one of his teammates, I can't remember his name, said a young lad at MK Don said, God,

this guy you've got in Coach Ness is pretty good.

What does he normally do?

And it was like,

he just thought it was his dad, as opposed to his dad, who's that former England assistant.

My dad has got a bit.

So, yeah, no, great, great to see them too.

He's a plumber.

Let me just get my rods.

That's right, Louis.

Really good.

Should say that I'll get my rods.

It's very much a Paul Hawksby line that I stole, but I enjoyed saying it.

I don't even know what it means.

Not an expert in the plumbing world.

Anything from League Two you want to pick out, Baz?

AFC Wimbledon's pitch.

There was torrential rain in London on Sunday night.

Absolutely torrential rain.

uh kept me awake half the night and um

it has absolutely destroyed uh the pitch at plough lane or whatever it's called these days the something record

cherry red record stadium um so much so that if you look an aerial view of of the ground which i presume was taken with a drone it it just looks like a giant bunker in a lynx golf course it's it's been or like a tornado like a twister has been on it or something.

Yeah, it's mad, isn't it?

So I have no idea how long it's going to take them to fix that.

But the

immediate upshot is

that they were supposed to play Newcastle there tonight, Tuesday night, but that game

is now going to be played at St.

James's Park next week, I think.

So it's a bit of a logistical nightmare for the Wimbledon fans who were looking forward to going to see their team play Newcastle this evening.

And yeah, good luck, Wimbledon Groundsman, getting that back into shape because it looks like quite a job.

You'll need more than just a fork that Ian Dahler would take to the Abbey on a rainy day and just, you know, do that a little bit.

Anyway, just before we go, anything else that we haven't covered, Sonny Ben, that we should have done?

I said before about Morecambe and their kind of state of play, given we've spoken about Reading and ownership,

you know, in June, July, they said that talks were for a takeover at an advanced stage, and it's just been radio silent since, obviously, we're approaching October.

But on the pitch, they got a point last night against Fleetwood, 2-0 down, and that was a week on from getting a 3-0 against Colchester, I believe, of 10 men.

So, on the pitch, Derek Adams has shown, you know, he can get a tune out of them.

But, yeah, I would have questions off the pitch.

I think, again, just one of those clubs that sadly

there's a lot going on or not going on behind the scenes.

Just to add, I'm very worried about Accrington as well, yet to win all season in in any competition.

They keep conceding late as well.

You know, they were in League One not so long ago.

And at the moment, it looks like they're heading back to non-league.

John Dooland, manager now.

Yeah, troubling times.

They've got some young players they try and bring through.

You know, it's kind of a it's always been a kind of a wheeler-dealer sort of place.

They've got Sean Wally,

their oldest player, doing great things, cutting in and having some shots.

But yeah, just throwing away leads and just kind of falling apart.

Very worrying if you're an Accrington Stanley fan.

All right, that'll do for today.

Thank you, chaps.

Thanks, Baz.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ben.

Cheers, Max.

Thanks, Sally.

Thank you.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens.

We'll be back on Thursday.

This is The Guardian.