Manchester City have one hand on trophy and Villa into the Champions League: Football Weekly

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Will reserve goalkeeper Stefan Ortega be the man who got Manchester City over the line to win their fourth successive Premier League?

Did Son Hyung Min cement his legacy as a Spurs legend by sliding the ball into the Germans' legs rather than in the big bit of wide open goal down to his left hand?

Conspiracies, conspiracies, and the rage of Ange Postakoglu.

Can you be a proper fan if you don't want your side to win?

Can you be a proper fan if you don't care if your rivals win the league?

So, City on the Verge and Villa Make the Champions League, a brilliant achievement cemented after last night, but that dramatic late point at home to Liverpool helped too.

There's a couple of games to look forward to tonight.

McKenna or Frank for Manchester United, a twin covering for his brother in romania and some offers of canadian fun for barry all that plus your questions and that's today's guardian football weekly

on the panel today jonathan wilson welcome morning how you doing i'm very well barry glen denning hello hello max rushton and hello robin cowan good morning max okay then so manchester city uh are top of the premier league with one game to go two points clear of arsenal after their 2-0 victory at Spurs.

All they have to do is beat West Ham at home, and the title is theirs, four in a row.

Barney Ronnie writing about this game being slightly subdued, saying for long periods, this felt like all the things that football matches usually aren't, creepy, awkward, uptight.

Even as an apparently endless second half stretched out, there was a sense around the crowd of some necessary duty being discharged.

Football reimagined as a trip to dignitas or a no-fault divorce.

Barry, you won the minute-by-minute.

Did you feel the same?

Yeah, there was a strange atmosphere there, as if quite a lot of Spurs fans didn't really know how they felt about this game.

Yesterday afternoon, I was listening to our colleagues Andy Goldstein and

Jamie O'Hara on Talksport Drive, and they were, you know, inviting Spurs fans to call in and

tell them how they felt about the game.

And

I would say it was, you know, we all know radio sports, sports, radio phoning shows are a totally accurate

barometer of public opinion.

But I'd say there was a pretty even mix of fans who wanted Spurs to win and fans who desperately wanted them to lose.

I have no problem with

any Spurs fan who wanted their team to get beaten last night.

I'm from Ireland, where the national sport is begrudgery, basically.

You know, I rather my

neighbor's prize bull died than I got a prize bull of my own to

start breeding my own herd and improving it, you know.

And

fans are allowed to feel how they feel.

And I'll be honest, if Ireland

got battered by some all-conquering international behemoth, if that meant England wouldn't win a big trophy, I'd be there for that.

I'd be all for it.

No problem whatsoever.

Even if it meant missing out in a tournament, we're not going to win anyway.

But there's no getting away from the fact that is a small-time mentality and it's childish, but it's harmless and it's fun.

And that's how I feel about it.

And I've seen quite a few people,

a few journalists.

quite big name journalists sermonizing about how it's outrageous that fans should want their teams to lose if because it might benefit a rival.

I don't think it's outrageous at all.

I think it's perfectly natural.

But anyway, to get back to your question, it was a strange atmosphere at the game.

I'm guessing an awful lot of Spurs fans were conflicted.

A conspicuous number of them were wearing their sky blue away shirts, their turquoisey Manchester City-esque.

third hit, I think it is.

And

there's no doubt the players wanted to win and were doing their best, I think.

And we saw the reaction of Rodrigo Benton Kerr when he came off.

I don't think that was performative, kicking seven bells out of the empty sub chair on the subs bench.

It would be great if that was scripted, wouldn't it?

Yeah, really good.

And now, Rodrigo, you do this, go there in rehearsal.

Just give it a go.

You know,

let yourself be free.

Quite

visibly scared.

Who was sitting on the bus?

Brian Hill.

Yeah, Brian Hill was like shaken with terror.

Spurs could try as much as they want.

They're just not as good as City, and City beat them.

We're too good for them.

But Spurs did have chances.

They probably should have taken

something from the game.

But City took their chances and Spurs didn't.

And that's it.

Waffles says, is Son under suspicion as the 116th charge?

It's such a massive moment, that Robin, isn't it?

Like, he's one-on-one.

He scored that goal a million times.

I don't mind admitting I was conflicted for those two seconds.

My gut instinct was I want Son to score, but I also wasn't totally sure.

But in the context of the title race, which is also part of this conversation, it's a really massive moment.

Oh, yeah.

Well, I desperately wanted him to score just because, yeah, I just, this four in a row is making me feel a bit nauseous, to be honest.

So,

very odd, very odd.

But I thought Spurs played pretty well.

And I think that's the distinction that we should make in this, that Barry mentioned, that supporters are one thing.

The players are another.

They weren't not trying.

They played pretty well.

I mean, in the first half, I know Van der Ven was playing left back.

It seemed like he forgot that he was supposed to be playing left back.

And so, like, Kyle Walker kind of had a free reign down the right.

But generally, I think, yeah, they said in that first half, that was the lowest XG City had had this season on Sky.

So, I mean, they did pretty well.

They've historically had a very good time, actually, against Man City at home.

I think they'd won their last four against them.

Yeah, in the league, yeah.

They lost in the FA Cup, didn't they, earlier this season?

But in the league, that's right, yeah.

But, you know, they've done pretty well against them.

And I thought they, I mean, as I said, this is, I guess, for the fans, quite a good outcome because Champions League was probably a bit of a tall order, especially after what happened with Villa on Monday night.

They played well, they didn't disgrace themselves, and they also haven't helped out Arsenal.

So actually, it's probably i mean i don't want to speak for spurs fans it's probably not not the worst outcome and wilson actually

forgotten in in the sort of conversation afterwards about you know whether spurs care and what makes you a proper football fan is the fact that city

weren't brilliant they did what they had to do but they are despite being this sort of robotic machine they are capable of nerves right when it gets to the business end of a of a football season even if even it's just a tiny bit of nerves yeah i don't know if it's nerves.

I don't think they played particularly well for quite a long time.

And yet, they're 35, 36 games unbeaten, something like that.

So I was at the game when they beat Forrest, where, you know, Forrest had so many chances against them.

And until Hauland came on and scored the second goal with about 20 minutes ago, it looked like they could drop points there very easily.

I was then at the game against Wolves, where it was a very that was a very weird game where City felt very, very flat and then got a penalty for sort of, you know, a slightly,

it probably was a penalty, but, you know, you don't always see them given.

And then you sort of think, oh, yeah, Wolves getting back into this.

And then Holand scores again.

And then you think, oh, Wolves getting back into this.

Oh, Holand scored again.

And then Wolf score.

And then, oh, Holand scored again.

I sort of feel throughout this one, even though they've been getting big scores recently,

the fluency and the control that you associate with Guadalajara, I don't want to say it's not there, but it's not there to the same extent that it has been in previous seasons.

It feels a lot more based in individual excellence.

So there's been games where, you know, in Holland getting the four against Wolves, obviously.

Foden's had a few, yeah.

Foden's had games where it feels like he's won it almost single-handed.

Gradio suddenly, from a moment I said I didn't think he'd had a brilliant first season, they suddenly

started scoring, was it five and seven or something?

I don't know.

It doesn't feel quite as coherent as it has done in previous seasons, but

yeah, they are the best team, they're the best squad.

And I think you can't say they don't deserve a title.

I just don't think it's been quite as convincing as maybe last season's was.

We're kind of talking as if they have won the title and they probably will, but they haven't and they could still slip up.

Yeah, it's unlikely, but

it's possible.

Yeah, I mean, as our friend Autumn Florick says, and so the hopes of Arsenal fans all fall on David Moyes, George Earthy, and some combination of Alphonse Areola and Lucas Fabianski.

I mean, there isn't, I mean, there is a chance, Robin.

It doesn't seem like a high.

It would be unbelievable.

You know, at the end of all this, where we've complained about this not being a roller coaster, just being like a straight road, just the fact that there would be this insane final loop the loop where Jared Bowen finally doesn't hit the post and scores in the last minute to give Arsenal the title.

Yeah, I mean, let's not forget that Arsenal have to win as well.

You know, they have to beat Everton, who are, you know, on a pretty decent run run themselves.

I mean, yeah, that would be possibly the most heartbreaking thing ever if Man City slip up, but then so do Arsenal.

I think, yeah, you tweeted actually about the most Spursy thing that could happen, didn't you?

Yes, that would have been that would have been Spurs to win and then

Villa to lose to Palace, but Spurs to concede a last-minute equalizer at Brammel Lane.

That would be

as Spurs as it could get.

But yeah, I mean, Arsenal would feel that too.

That, you know, you're right.

Man City don't win, and then suddenly Dwight McNeil pings one in from 30 yards at the Emirates.

I did see that, yeah, one of the replies to your tweet was that they were celebrating last night, Man City, like it was done.

And I'd say two things about that.

One, I think it's okay to celebrate.

You've just won quite an important game.

You know, that's all right.

And that, you know, they can see the finish line.

And as and as Barry said, I just,

I don't feel like they get affected by these things.

They just don't.

They'll get the job done at West Ham.

They might even concede first because that seems to be what happens on the final day.

But I just, I just can't see it.

Although, I don't know,

as you said, David Moyes might just have like a plan up his sleeve, but I don't think his record against City is especially good if from memory.

So this sense of a procession at the end of a season, which I mean, to an extent it's it's an ongoing thing in that

no team who's been ahead at the beginning of the final day has ever failed to win the Premier League.

But I mean, you know, these sort of month-long, two-month-long

it's almost like sitting get on the Champsalise

in the Tour de France, and

nobody can pass them.

It's partly to do with just how many points they get.

If a team's winning the title with 90, 95 points, there just isn't, there isn't space for ups and downs, there isn't space for twists and turns.

So I wonder if, and I don't know how plausible, I mean, it's not going to happen, but

I don't even know if it's sort of plausible in the abstract.

But you know how the Bank of England is mandated to try and keep inflation around about 2%.

Could you get the salary cap or whatever FFP

PSR you have in place to try and get the champions to get a certain number of points?

And if so, what would that number of points be?

Because my sus I think probably you want it between 80 and 85.

That's how you get, you know, a defeat isn't devastating.

You're basically Arsenal going to end up losing this title because they lost it home to West Ham.

And it's going to be really obvious.

That's the game where they lost it.

And I don't think you want one defeat to have that kind of impact.

I think you want there to be the possibility for, oh, it looks like they're winning.

Oh, no, they've lost.

Oh, no, this team looks like it's going to win.

Oh, no, they've lost.

And if teams are getting over 90 points, there's just not enough flexibility for that to happen.

I think if

we aim to get the champions getting 82, 83 points,

that's where you hit the sweet spot of still having a champion who's manifestly good at football and it's not just random, but also not so good that

we get these sort of slightly anodyne processions at the end of the season.

So they get fewer points for a win or Mark Carney or whoever the Bank of England headed comes out and decides each month how many points a city win is worth.

No, no, I mean that

you put a salary cap in place of a differential between the top team and the second team and the third team and the 15th team and the 16th team isn't as great as it is now.

That's what you said.

Yes, I should have been listening to that rather than trying to think, trying to remember who the head of the Bank of England was, which is what my brain was doing.

Maybe we address the elephant in the room after City probably wins the title.

Um, you know, Adam Crafton tweeted yesterday: Look, uh, Manchester City's 115 alleged breaches mean the Premier League trapped in purgatory until proven or cleared.

A great set of players whose employers face a great set of questions.

He actually tweeted that a while ago, Nick Harris saying Manchester City will be the first club to win four English top-flight titles in a row in six titles in seven years, two punishments for non-compliance, and 115 charges pending on the way.

Cry more, Max.

Cry more, killing him, bapping,

whatever it's called.

You're just bitter.

Yeah.

The most interesting storyline was sort of Ange afterwards getting very annoyed.

And actually during the game, sort of yelling at someone who, it's quite funny, just someone apparently yelling all game to get him to throw them.

Probably quite annoying.

He said, I think the last

48 hours have revealed to me that the foundations are fairly fragile, mate.

So they've revealed a fair bit to me.

That's all right.

It just means I've got to go back to the drawing board with some things.

When asked about the subdued atmosphere and its effect on the players, he says, of course it does.

It is what it is.

I can't dictate what people do.

They're allowed to express themselves any way they want.

But yeah, when we've got late winners in games, it's because the crowd has helped us.

Has he failed to read the room here, Robin?

I mean, a few people have sort of said, look,

if he'd learned how to defend set pieces and they'd played sensibly in the previous four games, because they played very disciplined yesterday, they might actually still be in the hunt for the Champions League.

Yeah, I think that's probably a fair point.

You know, he probably has sort of the set pieces thing.

But I can understand why he's frustrated about the atmosphere.

You know, he's the coach he wants to win.

And I'm sure it did affect the players.

And,

but as I said, I think they played really well.

Yeah, it's a tricky one with Ange Poster Coglu.

But I do think, I mean, it's obviously fantastic that Villa have got there and, you know, got the Champions League for the first time ever since it's been rebranded.

But I think it's been not a bad season for Tottenham.

Probably Probably a fifth place finish.

It's frustrating when you're very close and you don't quite make it.

And as you say, you point to games where they were a bit careless or a little bit

sloppy.

But

when you kind of start the season, when you look back at the start, I don't think it's been a bad first season for...

Spurs and Andrew Postacoglues time.

Isn't it possible that both things can coexist and be totally fine?

Like Barry said, a lot of fans are allowed to be conflicted, right?

They might live, they might be in a family of Arsenal fans.

This whole idea, you know, that the legacy of Sun Hungin to never win anything for Tottenham, but to hand Arsenal a title would be just too much to bear.

But at the same time, it's totally fine for their manager to be like, I want to win this football match because I'm a football manager.

But I think this tension, maybe

I think it's always existed to an extent, but I think it's probably getting greater between

the fans and what they want and their instincts and

the club, the management, the directors.

The management directors, it doesn't matter them who wins the league.

What they're looking at is how do we get top them in the Champions League to get more money, to get better players, to create this virtuous cycle of getting more money that might lead us towards winning things in the future, but absolutely will lead us to making more money in the future.

Well, as fans think, you know, we never win anything.

Being in the Champions League next season, so what?

We waste some money on some bad signings like we always do, and then we fall out of the Champions League and we go back to normal.

And if the payoff for that season of the Champions League, for a couple of sort of glamorous ties against Milan and Dortmund or whatever, is that we have to listen to Arsenal fans banging on about winning their first title in 19 years, 20 years.

I totally get why fans would think, I'm quite happy sitting in the Europa League and not having to listen to all that.

Because the thing is, once a title's won, it's in well,

maybe not, but at least theoretically, once a title's won, it's indelible.

But you can't, it's in the history books.

You can't take that,

you're barring 115 charges, You can't erase that.

And especially when your rival winning a title is not something that happens all the time.

Yeah, if Arsenal were about to win their sixth title in seven years,

I would be surprised it's another one.

It doesn't matter.

It's part of this nightmare period.

But the idea that Arsenal might come back out of the wilderness to win it,

I can totally see why they wouldn't want that.

If it was Sunderland and Newcastle, Jonathan, would you feel the same?

Absolutely.

I wouldn't want Newcastle to win the yeah.

I would happily have Sunderland sitting in League One for the rest of time, and Newcastle never win anything.

And actually, given Sunderland's so yo-yo, like, or they used to be, I wish we were.

I was going to say, sorry, I suddenly went back 20 years, like most of my thoughts.

But, you know, you don't, would you Sunderland fans could feasibly take a relegation because they happen quite a lot to stop Newcastle winning the league, right?

I mean, I don't know if that's taking us too far.

No, no, I think that probably.

I mean, maybe that is.

No, I think that probably is true because so what?

Who cares what division we're in?

Like, it's always quite miserable.

Whereas,

what would be truly epically, you know, different level miserable would be watching a parade through

Newcastle with a trophy.

Yeah, and let's not forget while we're on this, Sundon last won a trophy in 1973.

Newcastle last won a trophy in 1969.

Yeah.

You know, that's something that that's something you cling to.

Like Middlesbrough, we can't talk about anymore because he went and won the League Cup under McLaren.

Yeah, I mean, there is an important point here, Barry, that and I guess we're all guilty occasionally of this massive oversimplification that all fans think the same thing thing about everything.

And clearly they don't.

Like there's 60 odd thousand Tottenham fans in that stadium, plus hundreds of thousands around the world, probably all feeling slightly different things.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think I said that earlier.

Some wanted Spurs to win, some didn't.

Could well be an even spread.

I suggest more wanted them to lose than not.

And this press conference, I was fascinated by it because he seemed as angry as I've ever seen him.

And I got the impression, which could be wrong, that it wasn't just the fans he was railing against, that maybe there were some people behind the scenes who might have

made it known in his presence that they would quite like Spurs to lose.

Not that they were telling him to tank the game, but just that they were, you know, of a similar opinion to many of the fans.

And this might have shocked him.

And if that is the case, I mean, whatever about fans wanting the team to lose,

club employees shouldn't want that to happen.

Now, I could be wrong.

I could be completely wrong.

But I did get the impression there was more to what he was saying than just having a dig at the fans.

And managers having a dig at the fans never ends well.

Well, I think he's put himself on thin ice with that with his comment about, you know, talking about ticket prices and how, you know, a fan who gets up at two in the morning in Australia is as much of a fan as somebody who's, you know, lives on the 76 as well and has had a season ticket for 40 years, which it's an argument, but I don't think it's an obvious argument.

I wouldn't necessarily be pushing that as hard as he did.

And then to sort of fail to grasp

the mentality of the long-term fan, the local fan.

I think it's a.

When the season has ended, as it has for him, and I think there is not a huge amount of dissent, but there is a little bit of dissent to say something that divisive, I think, could be dangerous in the future.

Neil says, any updates on the two casualties from last night?

Obviously, Edison and the poor chair Benton Cook kicked the shit out of.

That was a funny question.

And the cooler box that got it from Edison.

Of course.

I think, from what I understand, Baz, it's not necessarily a ladder on a chair on a high horse moment for you because I think it was his hip, his hip, that he got done.

Pep said he didn't have concussion, but he couldn't see out of his eye properly.

I don't know how Pep is in a position to make that call so soon after the game, but I was kind of surprised they left him on because he did look a bit groggy after that collision.

And one other thing about that incident,

apparently,

when

Edison was receiving treatment,

the VAR curtain twitchers in Stockbridge Park said to the ref, Chris Kavanagh,

that Christian Romero should get a yellow card.

I thought that was not...

within their remit to get involved in yellow cards.

No,

my understanding of that is they looked at it to see if it was a red and decide it wasn't a red, but they're still then able to advise what the right call is.

So it's a bit like, you know, if a Zavar appeal for penalty and they decide it's not a penalty, but say, well, actually, it's not a gold kick, it's a corner, because we can see that obviously.

I think they are allowed to give sort of supplementary information when they've looked at something else.

Such a great image.

It's a great curtain to which is a great idea, just the idea of, you know,

David Coote and Jared Dillard just looking at

what he's done.

We probably haven't given Stefan Ortega much.

We have barely mentioned him, but he was tremendous when he came on.

Made some big, big saves.

A child called Mikey Moore came up for Spurs and Injury Time.

The way.

Is it the way I are?

Is that what the song is called?

That's not even grammatically correct if Timberland wrote it the way I are.

Is it the way I am or the way you are?

The way we are?

Anyway, Timberland wrote the way I are.

Timberlake.

No, no, no, no, no,

not Timberlake.

There is an act called Timberland as well as Timberlake.

I thought it was my fictional American football or MLS chief, Woodland Timberlake.

Oh, God.

This is a worryingly.

Lads, this is not good.

This is a worrying thing.

This is not good for the TikTok stuff.

No, it's a

worryingly boomer moment.

Anyway,

it was number one, whatever it was called, on August 11th, 2007, when Mikey Moore was born.

And that'll do for part one.

Part two, we'll congratulate Aston Villa and talk about their three-all draw with Liverpool.

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Max here, Barry's here too.

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

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Like maybe a football journalist, Barry.

Although not like you.

A proper football journalist, man.

Exactly.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

I've had it confirmed from producer Joel that the way I are is the song, which is just a grammatic nightmare, isn't it?

That I just

can't handle.

Anyway, is grammatic a word?

If it isn't, that is also a problem.

There's that line of Rambos, isn't there?

I is another.

But I think that works because

he's talking about alienation from self.

So maybe you can in certain sense.

I don't know what the song's about, but it is about sort of the fragmenting of identity

in an increasingly alienated modern society.

Maybe that does make sense.

Fair enough.

To Villa Park, then on Monday night, 3-3.

Grant says, not a question, merely a statement.

Up the villa.

Two late goals for Duran.

Duran.

No commentators really nailed the Duran-Juran joke yet.

Maybe they were leaving it till the morning after.

Good.

Okay, that is quite a good one.

I mean, Producer Joel's heard notorious goals on film.

I mean, that's sort of not.

I think I've got that line wrong.

I've ruined my own gag.

Wait.

This is why it's hard.

Yeah, it's why it's hard, and it's why we don't, the last five minutes of why we don't have a show on six music, Barry.

But anyway, as you mentioned in part one, Robin, but you can again.

Champions League football for Aston Villa, finishing above Spurs, Newcastle, Magic United, and Chelsea, despite the varying quality of their seasons.

It's an absolutely brilliant achievement.

It's incredible.

I'm really happy for Unai Emery, actually.

He's a lovely fellow, always very

polite and genial.

And I mean,

I imagine a total nightmare to sort of be with.

Because

after they beat, I can't remember what, I did a Villa game recently, and I just said this this was after they had a week off, and it was a very rare week off.

And I just said, Unai, will you be able to relax for the week?

And he said,

Yes, and then he went on to talk about the game again.

I wanted to know what he does to relax, and he kind of couldn't even answer that.

You know, I think he's, yeah, he's absolutely obsessed, but incredible.

And another incredible game, considering what's you know, they went out of the conference league in pretty, you know, emotionally draining circumstances, 3-1 3-1 down here, and they still managed to get themselves back.

I think this was kind of an encapsulation of why Villa are such a good team, and also why Liverpool are a little bit fragile.

Although, this was, I mean, the kind of 90 minutes, 90 plus minutes, it seemed to me it was just a training session on the off-side trap mainly for both.

There was a lot of bar calls on the offside, but

a great game.

And

yeah, just Villa, I mean, they're a great watch.

They really are.

Yeah, and that was the question.

I mean, we'll get to how well they could do in the Champions League in a bit.

Because Barry, there were some just brilliant moments in this game.

Like Emi Martinez's own goal, the Diego Carlos miss, which was apparently 0.99 XG.

It's as close to a goal as you could possibly get.

The own goal was unfortunate.

You know, Villa being G'd up going into the game and to concede in that manner so quickly would have been a real gut punch.

But they did really well to get back in the game.

They went 3-1 down,

despite that miss, turned it around.

And their equalizer was kind of Duran's second goal.

He's kind of scored that by mistake.

The through ball just sort of hit off him and happened to go in.

And then Milson Diaby almost won it at the death.

But Emery, I don't think you can overstate how good a job he has done there

because

he's had a lot of injuries, many of them season-long injuries to key players and he's improved so many players who were there i think diabeti's the only big big money signing he's brought in but you know he's made it ollie watkins into a much better player ezrikonse douglas louise john mcginn they've all come on in leaps and bounds under his management and i i would love to know what stephen gerrard makes of it all because he's he's shown him up yeah i i mean if you think back to the opening day wilson i think they lost Mings and Wendia either during that game or before that game.

Wendia was like two or three days before, and then Mings went during the game, didn't he?

Yeah, and they got absolutely hammered by Newcastle.

And it was, and obviously, you know, one game doesn't make a season.

But it was a funny game, though.

I mean, Alex Ferguson said afterwards, and I was glad he said it because I sort of had a similar thought, that I didn't think Villa were that bad.

It was just a combination of the injury obviously didn't help, but the way that Villa play with that very high line, the way that Newcastle play, they've got so many sort of physical, bustling players who can take advantage of space behind a team if your sidetrap's not working perfectly.

That the two things just went together to sort of create this sort of perfect storm.

So, yeah, I mean, I'm not saying 5-1 was an unfair reflection of the game, but I don't think Villa was as bad as that made them look, and I don't think Newcastle were as good as that made them look.

But, yeah, when that happens on the opening day,

you could easily imagine everything falling apart very quickly.

And actually, up until Christmas, so yeah, they were really, really good consistently.

And that performance they put in against City when they beat 1-0 in December, which the last time City lost, that's as good a performance as I've seen by any team against the Guadalajara in the Premier League.

Yeah, they hammered them, which I guess, if they think about that game, Robin, it makes you think that they can definitely mix it with big teams.

I mean, I the Champions League will be interesting next year because it's this Swiss league format, so we'll all just be getting our heads around a league table where you don't play everybody.

I'm trying to avoid the cliche you won't want to play Villa, but I mean, maybe you would compared to some other teams in Europe.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I think it's Unai Emery just showed he's a really good coach.

So I'm not sure if that you would want to play them.

I mean, clearly, because

I think there was a, you know, there's a lot brought up about, you know, these players.

It will, a lot for a lot of them.

I guess it will be their first time in the Champions League.

For a lot of them, it was their first time in Europe, you know, this season, and they nearly got there.

And, you know, there was a lot of commentators saying that, you know, just a bit of a lack of experience, perhaps.

But,

no, I just, I think this is all Emery, as you say.

This is him improving players exponentially.

And, yeah, just absolutely, yeah,

all the compliments to him.

And, yeah, I guess this is a good thing because also this means that,

you know, I'm sure some of the players probably would have been quite attractive to other teams.

This means they'll probably stay, and also, of course, it means that it's attractive to potential signing.

So, yeah, it's all looking very good.

I mean, on the Champions League, if I understand it correctly, and I may not have done, but there is an element of seeding, right?

So, you know, each team will play a certain number of pot one, pot two, pot three, pot four sides.

Villa will be pot four because their coefficient have will be low, having not played in the year for however long.

So of pot four sides, I can't I find it hard to believe it'd be anybody better than them in pop four.

And I sus would suspect they'll be miles better than most teams in pot four.

So, I think they really are a team to avoid.

Not that that's a problem for other Premier League teams.

Not sure what pot Liverpool will be in, Barry.

But any strong thoughts on the sort of

as they come towards the end of Jürgen Klopp's tenure?

Well, it's kind of ended with a bit of a whimper, hasn't it?

Not so long ago,

there was talk of a quadruple.

They've won the League Cup final with the kids out,

and people have kind of forgotten about it by now.

But

I'm sure it will be a very emotional and possibly mawkish day at Hanfield on Sunday when Jürgen does his farewell speech on the end of the pitch.

And most Liverpool fans would be extremely sad to see him go because, as well as the success he's brought the team,

he really got them, didn't he?

He really got the city and got the club and got the fans.

So

I'm sure they'll all have a lovely time on Sunday, whatever the outcome of the game.

I don't even know who they're playing, actually.

So

Wolves.

Okay.

For the third time in six years, they've played Wolves on the final day.

Hopefully, there'll be a massive VAR controversy for Gary O'Neill

on the last day.

Robin?

Gary O'Neill, just the head explodes.

It was just quite funny that he, so there was a bit of talk about him being if he got booked

against Philly, he wouldn't be on the you know, he'd be banned.

And someone asked him, Oh, you have to feel your best behavior today, Jürgen.

And he said, Oh, avoiding a yellow card tonight, yes.

And they've given me Simon Hooper.

That's the biggest challenge they could find.

And I was just thinking, Well, that's probably a yellow, isn't it?

Saying that.

Imagine just booking him before the game.

I mean, something absolutely marvellous about him having to sit in the stands with some AirPods in, you know, just there on his final game.

Games tonight, then.

Brighton, Chelsea, Man United, Newcastle.

Ed Aaron's reporting that Kira McKenna's emerged as a surprise candidate to replace Eric Ten Hag.

McKenna was on the Old Trafford coaching staff for six years, of course, before taking charge of Ipswich in 2021.

Initial contact is believed to have already been made, which makes a text message, makes a text message sound incredibly

grander than it is.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reporting that Thomas Frank has emerged as a candidate for the Man United job.

Who would you pick, Wilson, out of McKenna and Frank for the leadership breakfast breakfast managerial role at the creaking old Trafford?

If you're asking me as me,

I couldn't do it to Nick Ames to take away as McKenna, not yet.

It's just a watching break.

So on those grounds, I give it to Frank.

If I was the United board, I can see the attraction of McKenna given he's already worked there.

But I don't know, there's a lot of managers being linked with them.

I mean, we've gone through Southgate, then there was Tuckle, now Frank, now

McKenna.

I don't know to what extent that journalists having to write stories, to what extent it's agents chucking names out there to try and get their mannin

on the short list.

I'm not 100% convinced Ten Hard goes.

I mean, I'm about 85% convinced he goes, but I think it's not impossible he stays on.

Yeah, I mean, what's interesting is it feels hard to see a manager

that would

instantly get the

kind of vote of confidence from the supporters.

Like McKenna is a really exciting prospect, but he's kind of untested at that level.

Frank, you'd get a lot of Brentford are quite direct.

Southgate, you'd get a lot of, yeah, but you know, in-game management, etc.

Like, there's a lot of meh around, and that isn't

that.

I don't mean that to be disrespectful.

McKenna's clearly a brilliant manager.

Frank has done amazingly well.

Southgate, I am a Southgate apologist, but I think they're all quite good, to be honest.

But we're in this sort of slightly strange phase, aren't we?

Where

every manager you mention, apart from Javi Alonso, Jabbi Alonso, you know,

I guess Liverpool more so than United just because of having played for them.

But he's somebody who is really exciting.

He's a recognisable name.

It looks like

he could be one of the great managers.

His start has been

of that nature.

But every other manager, it's either we know too much about them, so we know all their flaws, like Southgate, or we don't quite know enough about them.

So, oh, Arna Schlott, yeah, he did quite well at Finer,

but what did he actually do?

Ruben Amarum, yeah, he's done well at sporting, but what does that actually mean?

It feels like it was between generations.

I don't know if that is just a generational freak that

your mourinhos, your contes are sort of shuffled off the stage a bit and the new generation haven't quite shuffled on, or whether it's the nature of modern football that there's only really half a dozen clubs at the very top, and anybody who's not already managed one of those clubs just looks slightly inexperienced because

how can you get the experience if you manage them?

Would Tuchel be less meh for Man United fans?

But the problem is we see his, we know his flaws.

We know he falls out with people.

We know he's, I mean, he's great with the media, but he's quite prickly with players and with directors.

So I mean, I'd like Tuchel back.

I think he's a fun addition.

I think he's angry in the right places.

But I don't think his youth development is particularly good.

I think there's a, I mean, this is something Ludi Hernas was talking about, wasn't it?

He doesn't really give young players a chance that once he decides they're not quite up to it, he bins them off.

I mean, Tuchel denies that, but I think you can see some of what happened to chelsea maybe there's some truth to that so yeah he's a recent champions league winner he's he's been in a champions league semi-final this season but also he's the manager he felt when the league were buying munich so give it more easy oh

well after his winner after his winner at the etihad this weekend maybe yes baz uh just on the man united manager thing factoring in the caveats Wilson said about journalists and agents and whatnot, throwing names out there.

If all these people are being considered and they do plan on getting rid of Ten Hagger, it doesn't really speak well of the succession plan being hatched by

these new go-getters who've taken over in the boardroom, does it?

That they're all being leaked and they don't seem to have a coherent plan because they're all different kind of managers.

But I suppose you would have to, you know, you should cast the net wide, right?

That shouldn't be a bad thing.

I know you're looking for something to fit the model, but there's more than one right way to manage a football club, I guess.

I'm just hell-bent on wanting them to fail.

Yeah, I know.

So they was ready to mention feather-down guys again.

They can't do right for doing wrong as far as I'm concerned.

So I'm either going to be really vindicated or end up with like an omelet's worth of egg on my face.

Brian played Chelsea as well tonight.

James Milner's extended his contract to next summer.

He'll be 39 when that expires.

Well done, James.

Mauritio Pocatino, when talking about press conferences, said, it's like the song of Coldplay.

We're stuck in reverse.

I'm a fan of Coldplay.

The song is Fix You.

That's the problem with the press conference, because I go to this or that, and then the people are not happy with me.

I mean, I would be happy if he bought in a guitar and played Fix You.

That would be

a wonderful way for Poch to end this season.

But I'm not quite understand exactly what he means.

But maybe I haven't...

seen the full context but you know i'm also a fan of cold play not ashamed to admit it uh and that'll do for part two um i hope john bruin wasn't listening to that last two minutes i think he he's aware i think that ship has steel yeah you're right anyway that'll do for part two we'll begin part three with robin cowan's oxford minute

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 already know that remarkable is the leader in in the paper tablet category.

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A proper football journalist, mate.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Robin, Oxford United, in the playoff final against Bolton.

How are you feeling?

I mean, outrageously, because of your job as a football commentator, you can't go.

I can't go.

No, it's a clash with the final day of the WSL season, which is, yeah, still alive.

So, yeah, and there's an overlap in the kickoff.

Were you tempted to say, come on?

I know you are sort of, you know, you're the lead commentator.

You know, you are, you're the voice of the lionesses winning the Euros.

You are, you know, you are, you're the voice.

You're Martin Tyler.

You're a national treasure.

You're a national treasure.

Yeah, can't you say, come on?

Chelsea would have probably wrapped it up.

I'd love if Robin pulled a sickie and then went to Wembley and got pictures on the jumbo tron like Ferris Blue.

Just, yeah, shirt off, cans.

Two crutches in the air, going, actually, I have exactly.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I can't really pull rank, unfortunately.

But cancelling the licence fee.

How do you feel?

That is hard, isn't it?

It is, you know, football giveth, you know, it's given me a lot, but it's taken away a little bit here.

But, you know, it is what it is.

It is what it is.

It is what it is.

But, you know, at the moment this day, I'll be recording on Wednesday, feeling really good because, you know, we're just looking forward to Wembley and nothing bad has happened yet.

We were pretty much battered by Peterborough for two legs, and we managed to get through.

I actually think the vibe vibe around the club's really good because it was a Liam Manning left, Des Buckingham came in, it was pretty hairy, and there was a lot of all desperate for him to do well because he's from Oxford,

an Oxford boy, an Oxford supporter, a former coach for the youth team.

So, I think actually, no matter what happens, he's got us to the play-off final.

Bolton Wanderers are heavy, heavy favourites.

So, yes, even though, you know,

it's going to be devastating to lose a play-off final.

I don't think it's going to be as devastating as the last one, which was we lost to Wickham in 2020 in front of no fans.

We were favourites then.

And just didn't, we got Wickhamed, basically.

We got Gareth Ainsworth properly.

So they went up.

That was a real devastating.

So, no, I just, I think actually, when you go with quite low expectations, I think actually people will have a nice day, hopefully.

Just looking up Des Buckingham, I presumed he was about 90 or sort of ran high-de-high.

Yeah, you don't have a lot of Des's these days, days, do you?

Yeah.

No.

Maybe it's named after Lynn.

He's 30.

What was the neighbours character called?

Des Clark.

Des Clark, yeah.

No, it was a Buckingham, though.

There's a Buckingham who was an English bloke.

He ran the coffee shop.

Really?

I don't know.

What's he called?

Des Clark had his ears pinned back, I remember, without telling Daphne.

It was quite Diffny.

It was quite the story.

That was a storyline in neighbours.

Eddie Buckingham.

Eddie Buckingham, apparently.

That was a storyline.

Just on the playoff final, some friends of mine, they've got two boys, aged nine and ten.

And one is a Bolton fan because his mum is Bolton through and through, born and reared from a family of seasoned ticket holders.

And the other is a Chelsea fan because dad is a Chelsea fan.

And, controversially, it's the Chelsea fan who's asked for a Bolton shirt.

He wants to switch allegiances.

Oh, that is music to my ears.

It's interesting, isn't it?

Like, obviously, you're not allowed to change your football club, but I feel you are allowed to trade down.

It sort of feels much more accessible.

I think you can trade down, and I think you're allowed if you're 10.

10.

Okay, when's the cutoff?

And you've clearly made a terrible mistake.

As long as it's forever, they say, this is it, but you're bolting forever.

You know, when Pochitino gets a tune out of Nicholas Jackson and they're top of the Premier League in September, there's no going back.

Bring news from you're doing Spurs Chelsea in the WSL tonight.

I've seen Chelsea are three points behind Man City.

City.

They've got two games to go.

Man City have one game to go.

Goal difference is in Chelsea's favour by one, but it should be more if they beat Spurs, which they probably will.

Spurs will be a bit knackered after the FA Cup final as well.

So do we presume Chelsea will win the title now?

Well, yes, although, I mean, so today they should win, unless they...

They could score a bucket load.

As you say, I think Spurs are going to be in a pretty fragile state after what happened.

Although the Spurs fans will want to win I mean we can be clear about that they definitely will yes

this occasion

I think that's 100% true but you know they win

and then we go to Sunday no go to Saturday Manchester City are away at Villa who haven't had a great season and Chelsea are at Manchester United at Old Trafford where the Manchester United women will be parading their FA Cup trophy around.

Oh, that's great.

And they will be, you know, they beat them for the first time in their history in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

I think they'll be, I mean, either they'll be still hungover or they'll be absolutely buzzing and they'll be desperate to

beat Chelsea and, you know, reign on their parade and not have their title because they would lift the title at Old Trafford.

They'll be desperate to stop that.

So actually, they'll be level, if they win today, level on points.

Will they want Man City to win the league?

I mean, I sort of feels like we're back where we started.

Not this again.

I think the players.

Yeah, yeah.

Let's leave it.

Yeah.

Let's go.

Let's leave that.

Liviana Midamar's leaving Arsenal.

Is this a big surprise?

Wonderful footballer.

Oh, it is for me.

I'm absolutely devastated.

You know, I've no, I'm not an Arsenal fan, but she's like my favourite player.

And yeah, and I feel like...

So it sounds like she wasn't offered a new contract.

She's had this ACL injury and it's been hard for her to get back.

She keeps getting niggles.

That's the only thing I can think of is that maybe they feel like she might not get back to her best, but she's 27, and it sounds like Manchester City are going in for her.

She is WSL's record scorer.

They have her and Bunny Shaw.

I just feel like this could be one of the most short-sighted decisions from Arsenal.

It could really come back to bite them.

But a little bit of sleuthing,

a clip emerged on social media of someone filming like Paparazzi style.

She came off the bench a few weeks ago, and just having a little Barney with the Onice Adaval.

Just, you know, you can't really tell what's going on, but that's the sort of depth that people have gone to to kind of read into what's going on.

Matthew says, Matt, Hi, Max.

I was interested to hear the story of identical twin brothers in Romania doing a swap and one of them replacing the other in Bucharest's starting lineup and playing five games before anyone noticed.

What kind of swap would panel members like to do with a close sibling?

This is a story uncovered by the journalist Daniel Sendra.

Dinamo signed Edgar Let or Edgar Lee, L-E, his surname, in February, but was surprised when he arrived that he did not speak any English, despite having spent time in Spain, France, Turkey, and the Netherlands.

Former Dinamo player and president Florin Prunea said of the speculation suggesting that Edgar Lee's brother, Ed Lino, is actually the man who's been playing instead.

It seems surreal.

I wondered if I was still sleeping.

I started making phone calls, talking to friends, and the news is true.

I can't believe it.

Nobody denied it.

I found out that he has a twin brother who also plays soccer.

I mean, I guess it kind of works if they're both good.

The admin people have said that they could be docked eight points.

The eight points they've earned during the five appearances allegedly made by his twin brother.

He's reportedly refusing to provide a driver's license.

There's also talk of a DNA test.

Hey, Wilson, tell us about your new podcast.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah, it's called It Was What It Was.

It's me and Rob Draper.

And it'll surprise you, it'll learn us about football history.

So we haven't done

any hungry episodes yet, although we do have one ready to go in about two months.

it comes out every Tuesday.

Some of them are two-part, the second part comes out on a Thursday.

So the first week we did that year when the Black Alex Focus might get attacked in Manchester United in 89-90.

Then this week we've done Arsenal winning the league on the final day at Anfield.

Do you hate the fact that you're having to do modern like history that fans are interested in to begin with before you can get into you know Ergel Bunk Funcanella in the and the 248 system?

What a bear he was, by the way.

Well, we'll see how much money it makes before I answer that.

As you know, so many things are made bailable by cash.

Fair enough.

Alex says, hi, Max and team.

Just to clarify, this is on gutters and the old Trafford floods.

Just to clarify that gutter hedgehogs are not the best for gutters.

They can easily be clogged up with leaves.

Better to get a downpipe guard.

I cleared gutters for a living while listening to the pod keep up the good work.

Thank you, Alex.

Lots of people, Barry, from Halifax, Canada, got in touch.

After you said you might be spending some some time there this summer, so you won't be bored.

Mike says, hi, Max Barry and producer Joel, long time listener, first time emailer, etc.

Although I can't offer any free tickets or hospitality, I can recommend Barry takes a trip to the Wanderers Ground to watch...

Halifax Wanderers while he's in Canada.

My dad has been living in Halifax for a couple of years now, and I managed to take in a game there the last time I visited, despite the fact a hurricane came through a couple of days before.

My advice would be to take a cushion as the seats are absolutely rock solid.

The standard of football wasn't great, but the atmosphere was pretty good, and you could have a beer on the terrace.

I'm also going to Halifax this summer, but want to be back in time to watch England win the Euro, so I won't be there at the same time as Barry.

Thanks all for the pod this season.

It's obviously the best football podcast around.

Thank you.

Cheers, says Mike.

I have been quite overwhelmed by the response from our

surprisingly large number of listeners in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with offers of all sorts of

day trips and whatnot.

And I can't confirm I will be hopefully going to see a home game while I'm there.

And someone from the club has been in touch, so I suspect the seat I'll be in won't be as rock hard as the one that correspondent was on.

You know, there are many perks to this job.

Might as well milk the few that come my way.

Is there a Canadian equivalent to a prawn sandwich?

Yeah, pretty much.

I don't know, a moose burger or something.

A mounty roll, that really would be.

So just before we finish,

in a remarkable sort of synergy of

twins pretending to be each other and Eddie Buckingham from neighbours, this is under Eddie Buckingham's storylines on Wikipedia.

Eddie falls for twins Caroline and Christina Ralesi, and he tries to get a date with one of them.

Caroline pretends to be Christina and makes herself out to be a man-eater.

When Eddie and Christina discover Caroline's joke, they tell Caroline that they're engaged for their first date.

Eddie and Christina tell Caroline the truth after she organises an engagement party for them.

When Eddie hears that his father is sick, he decides to leave Ramsey Street to help his mother care for him.

So they had a good heart, despite the japes.

One of the Alessi twins ended up with Paul Robinson, and the other was with, if I'm not mistaken, Dr.

Clive Gibbons.

No.

Gibbons and the Alessis don't know.

Overlap.

I think Paul was with one, and then he Paul was with one of them, with one, and then he had an affair with another one.

And Clive Gibbons' heart was broken by somebody who looked a bit like Caroline or SC because the twins actually looked quite dissimilar for twins.

Stop this, says producer Joel.

All right, that'll do for today.

Thanks for watching.

Well, you certainly mean they were actually played by sisters, weren't they?

So, I mean, they look quite alike, but just you could tell them apart.

Right.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I refer you back to what Joel said.

Thanks, Barry.

Thank you.

Thank you, Robin.

Thanks, Max.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

And a message from Nathan says, is the name of each episode's executive producer hidden from Max until the very end?

He reads it with a a tone of surprise, as if he's just opened the envelope for best supporting actor.

And I'm here for it.

One last chuckle for me.

Hashtag and the winner is.

Producer Joel writes: I have noticed you dip your voice a little.

I always assumed this was a quiet protest to show your disdain for the execs.

I'd like to say to Daniel Stevens, who's executing this, I think you're an excellent exec, as I believe all the other execs are.

And we'll be back tomorrow.

Tomorrow?

Yes, tomorrow.

I have no idea what the execs do, but I also respect them all.

And I've now discovered that Gail and Gillian Blakeney, who played Caroline Casino Besse, are exactly 10 years older than me.

This is The Guardian.