Liverpool and Villa drop crucial points in Premier League drama – Football Weekly

This is The Guardian.

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 the paper tablet category: digital notebooks that give you everything you love about paper, but with the power of modern technology.

But there's something new and exciting: the remarkable paper pro move remarkable a brand name and an adjective man yeah it's their most portable paper tablet yet it holds all your notes to-dos and documents but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office like maybe a football journalist barry although not like you

a proper football journalist man exactly too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out this paper tablet doesn't.

It'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention, so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you.

It has a display that looks, feels, and even sounds like paper.

Think and work like a writer, not a texter.

And the battery performance is amazing.

No worries about running out of power before the end of extra time.

The remarkable Paper Pro Move can keep going for up to two weeks.

And if you do need to recharge, you can go from naught to 90% in less than 45 minutes, Barry.

Fantastic.

Why not give it a go for nothing?

You can try Remarkable Paper Pro Move for 100 days for free.

If it's not what you're looking for, get your money back.

Visit remarkable.com to learn more and get your paper tablet today.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Liverpool blink in the title race after absolutely battering Manchester United for 45 minutes.

They somehow need a Mo Salah penalty to rescue a point, which which in the end might not be a disaster, but it'll feel like one today.

There were wonderful finishes from Bruno Fernandes and Cobby Mainu in a typically weird United performance.

That means Arsenal stay top on goal difference, a ruthlessly professional job at Brighton, creating chances, defending brilliantly.

Surely at some point, some people will think they're more likely to do it than Manchester City, for whom Kevin De Bruyne decided to remind us that he is still really good.

In the race for the top four, Aston Miller can see three in nine minutes at home to Brentford, eventually salvaging a point, but it means Spurs are in the box seat after a 3-1 win at home to Forest.

Has anyone kicked it harder than Mickey Van der Ven?

Apart from Chris Wood, perhaps absolutely smashing the post from two yards out.

At the bottom, huge wins for Everton and Luton.

We'll do the rest of the Premier League.

Look back on that ludicrous man-new Chelsea game from Thursday night and pay tribute to Joe Kinnear, who's died at the age of 77.

All that plus your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Barry Glendenning, welcome.

Hi, that man-you Chelsea game seems a long time ago.

Well, I was going to say, me and producer Joel made an executive decision to go, that's not that interesting.

We don't need to do a pod on Friday.

And as it was happening, we were like, oh, maybe, maybe

we've dropped a bollock here.

Anyway, Jonathan Wilson, hello.

Morning, how you doing?

I'm very good.

And not before time, a much-needed brummy voice.

If nothing else,

to stop Jordan Jarrett Bryan in his tracks.

Dan Bardell, welcome.

I'm not sure by the end of it that many people will be as complimentary about my voice as you've just been.

It's good.

We like a broad church on this, and it's something that's definitely been missing from this podcast for a while.

Let's start at Old Trafford then.

Manchester United 2, Liverpool 2.

I mean, it is always a story, Barry, when one of the top three drops points.

And you always felt that Man United would be tricky for Liverpool, even though it shouldn't be.

But after that first half, it seems ridiculous that they didn't win.

Yeah, I mean, I don't really know where to start with this game.

And I should, because we've been here before with these teams quite recently and even though you know you see a team waste chance after chance after chance and Liverpool go in one nil up you would think oh they could pay for this but I didn't think they would I thought they'd just continue as they had gone on and end up running out four or five nil winners because as we've said it time and again Manchester United are very easy to play against and increasingly apoplectic Gary Neville sort of explained during the first half exactly why they're so easy to play against, because their midfield has a habit of going A-wall and there's nothing connecting the front and back of the sides.

But yeah, they sort of scored with a kind of freak, brilliant goal after Liverpool had missed all these chances.

And then

somewhat incredibly went ahead with a brilliant goal from Cobby Maynu, who's who's really having a great first season.

But we saw the best and worst of quite a few players in this game and i would say kobe was was

he wasn't perfect by any means but that was a brilliant goal uh his first throw trafford one he'll always remember and just a a wonderfully chaotic game and i still can't quite believe that liverpool didn't win it and

Jürgen Klopp was, I thought, oh, he's going to be really ratty after this one.

Really ratty.

Sounds like you were looking forward to it.

I was looking forward to it, yeah.

Because he's, you know, when things don't go his way, he can be very narcissy, as can we all, I'm sure.

But he was sanguine enough.

But,

yeah, Liverpool could rue those mischances.

And it's interesting.

Darwin Nunes, I love him as a player, and he sort of personifies the chaos of this game.

But his record against the top six is piss poor.

He hasn't scored against any of them as far as I know.

Is this?

Are we counting Man United as the top six?

Or the big six?

Well, the six.

Oh, that is.

Yeah, no.

Seems very fair.

I've had a long flight, Barry.

Sorry.

But yes, yeah, they are saying, I mean, Dan, it's interesting, isn't it?

We know footballers are good, right?

And we know they're good at kicking the ball, but when someone hits a ball like Fernandez, like that,

so there's nothing better, really.

I mean, it's just so perfect.

Oh, it was a, it was a sumptuous strike from absolutely nowhere as well.

But that is, that is the stuff he's capable of.

I just, I just don't think we've seen enough of that this season from Bruno Fernandes.

He's not alone because we, you know, we can do to death how poor Manchester United are throughout the team.

But he is their captain.

He should be their talisman.

He's been their talisman previously.

But I just think with the whole team, I watch Manchester United, and this doesn't answer the question you've asked me at all about Bruno Fernandes, but I almost feel like sometimes they do things because they feel it's what they should do.

So Dallo comes into midfield, which I think Dallow is a perfectly good right back, probably been one of their better players this season.

But Dallow ventures into central midfield because it's kind of, that's what Liverpool right-backs do.

That's what Manchester City right-backs do.

But I don't feel it particularly offers them anything.

And it's interesting you mentioned Darwin Nunes because Roy Keene last week called Haaland a league two striker.

I was watching Nunes and Hoyland and thinking, what does Roy Keene think of those?

Are they conference north strikers?

Are they conference south strikers?

Because Hoyland, in particular, just was not in the game at all.

And I think it just must be so difficult being a number nine in that Manchester United side.

Wilson, you wrote a piece about the sort of 28,000 shots that Man United have faced against Liverpool this season and yet haven't lost any of these games.

Yeah, 87 shots, I think it is in totaling across the three games plus extra time.

To an extent, it's a freak, right?

It can't happen.

It shouldn't happen.

And yet, it's not just this happened in the games against Manchester United.

Liverpool also had long periods of a game against second half of a game against City at home when they were on top and couldn't get the winner.

They also had periods against Arsenal when that was true at home.

And so those four games, they've had the better XG in each of them and they haven't won them.

Gio Gojotta has missed all four of them, which I think is maybe significant that his precision.

isn't there.

But I felt in the cup game and then again yesterday,

like Liverpool almost,

it's almost like they needed the defenders there to give them markers to know what to do.

It was almost, you know, they had so much space, it sort of scrambled their heads.

And so we kept on having these sort of four-on-two breaks and nothing would come of them because it was like they couldn't work out

what, what, what, hang on, this isn't right.

Something's gone wrong here.

I don't feel comfortable without a player.

I need a player to come towards me to tell me when to pass it.

And I did start to think, is Ten Hog doing this on purpose?

Is this sort of his grand plan to kind of mess everybody's heads by not doing any of the basics of defending?

But I think the most, you know, on the United midfield, I think the most extraordinary stat is that United's central midfield three in total made the same number of interceptions as Anthony Taylor, the referee, yesterday, which is to say two.

Bad.

Well, just it's interesting what Wilson says there because in their past three games, so like in a week,

Manchester United have conceded 28 shots against Liverpool, I think, 28 against Chelsea, 32 against Brentford.

They've only lost one of those games, and that was a kind of a freak defeat, really.

So maybe he is doing it on purpose.

I mean, I would argue that

they were freak draws, to be fair, rather than freak defeats.

Because it was similar to the Chelsea game, right?

In that, the opposition team had

ahead, it seemed to be totally in control, and then suddenly that team makes a ludicrous mistake on which United capitalised with exactly the same.

You know, the Kwanzaa misplaced pass leads to the United's goal in the same way the Casedo misplaced pass leads to the United goal on Thursday.

So they've got this capacity to sort of lull you into this sort of false sense of security that you just sort of end up stroking about the back, not really concentrating.

And then they pounce.

And they do have good, you know, they do have good players.

Bruno Fernandes will take chances.

Ireland will take chances.

Cobby Mainu can do brilliant things, but he's just sort of shambolically organised.

I kind of feel though, like those, those two goals, you talk about the Quantum mistake and the Kaiser Don't mistake, almost in Ten Hag's head, because he's been a bit deluded in some of the stuff he said recently.

I feel like he'll be thinking, oh, the Manchester United press.

Perhaps it'll be spot up.

But it's not easy.

It's just two real basic errors.

It's nothing to do with Manchester United pressing and how good they are.

It's just errors from the opposition.

But I feel like Ten Haag will be able to dress that up and say, it's, you know, signs that we're improving.

It's signs that we're doing what I want us to do.

But really, it's just mistakes.

Yeah, but just lulling the opposition by being so shite that you make the opposition think this is really easy and then you make a mistake is actually genius.

So ultimately, Barry, and there is no, you don't have the answers, but do you think, you know, when we look back, this will be, this is the two points dropped?

Or do you think actually that point they've rescued might just be enough?

Let's your heart tell you?

I think Arsenal are going to win the league.

And,

but, you know, they might not.

And you base that, obviously, on that amazing...

Well, you base it on what?

We can talk about their win now.

It was just so...

It sort of seemed effortless, their win at Brighton.

It was like they got every single thing right.

Against the Brighton team who didn't...

I don't think they played that badly.

They didn't play that badly.

And they're missing a lot of players.

But Arsenal, I thought they might struggle.

I didn't expect them to

do anything other than win, but I I thought they'd get more of a game.

But um, you know, it's they're they're very good at keeping clean sheets away from home.

I'm not sure their

running is as straightforward as the other two teams.

They still have Villa Wolves, Chelsea, Spur.

You know, they're they're they could all be tricky enough games.

Bournemouth and Everton at home are the stand out easy ones.

But um, no, I I just think and and it's probably'cause I i want them to of the three teams involved i i think i'd prefer arsenal to win but i think arsenal do it just

have a ruthless streak that was conspicuously absent last season

what are you laughing at wilson

so there's the there's a cat a new cat suddenly appeared and it's sitting on the on the terrace and it was sort of

sort of sunning itself though big he's a big lad and there's a magpie there's magpies uh nest somewhere near so they're always about and there's one of them just sort of wandering, they literally just walked up behind it.

And the cat knows, it's looking over its shoulder.

And the magpie is sort of a little bit nervous.

And the cat just goes back to sleep.

And the magpie comes and literally just pecks its tail.

That was what I was laughing at.

Well, Spring Watch.

I mean, it's about time for it, isn't it?

Perfectly.

On the panel today, Bill Oddy and Michaela Strachan.

Why not?

If I can

bring you to Brighton Arsenal, Wilson, if you don't mind.

I can't recall a chance for Brighton in this game.

And defensively, Arsenal are ridiculous, aren't they?

Bows bows touched on it only

david rays conceded four goals this year and five five clean sheets away in a row uh away from home is that's sort of business that's sort of amazing statistic yeah i mean if you look at the x-g against stats they're they're way ahead of everybody and i i think that's another reason why you sort of

i don't i don't

to say you doubt liverpool maybe is the wrong phrase but come the end of the season liver people haven't won the title i think they look at how often they've gone behind the season i think they've have they 27 points they've picked up from losing positions this season, which, from one point of view, is good because they have a spirit to come back.

But on the other hand, why do they keep going?

I think it's 15 different occasions when they've fallen behind and come back.

And City, I think, is surprisingly high on that.

I think they may be like, I think they're second in the list, might be 12 or 13.

Arsenal just don't do it.

Arsenal are by far the best team defensively in the Premier League.

And Brighton only lost one previous game at home this season, and yet Arsenal didn't give him a sniff.

He just absolutely crushed them.

So what could have been a tricky fixture?

And you think of the way Brighton at the Emirates last season,

that was the game really that ended Arsenal's title challenge.

And yet Arsenal were absolutely ruthless in it.

And the way they, I mean, that second goal, the Havertz goal, it's just brilliant football, Dan, isn't it?

Yeah, and there's something.

I mean, I've got nothing against Chelsea per se, but there's something very satisfying about Giorginio and Havertz linking up for that goal, two players that were very much derided at Stamford Bridge and now a big part of an Arsenal team that could go on and win the league whilst Chelsea languish in mid-mid-tay.

But it just shows you that Arteta, you know, he is a moulder of a player.

He spotted two players there that maybe weren't doing what they should be doing at Chelsea.

He brought them into Arsenal and got them playing at the top of their game.

I think it was a joystick.

But Arsenal are just the complete team at the moment.

All over the pitch, you could pick out key players for them.

It's the old adage adage of, you know, strikers win games, but defenders win titles.

And you do feel that with Saliba and Gabrielle, that's the most stable partnership in the Premier League at the moment.

And they could be a huge reason as well why Arsenal win the league.

They have to keep them fit.

Yeah, that's what cost them last season, isn't it?

Keep them fit.

Is it still Rob Holding who's just waiting to come in?

No, he's currently injured at Crystal Palace, I think.

Yeah.

Ah, all right.

So he's unlikely to

be unlikely to be selected.

I thought I was telling the club

indulged in a, I don't know if it is mind games, because we haven't had any mind games for ages.

I'm now not confident I can actually pick what a mind game is anymore.

But he said, he was asked yesterday.

Did he say they've got to go to Tottenham and get something?

And I would love it because then maybe I said is.

He kind of did.

So he was asked, you know, Arsenal have to come to World Trafford.

Do you think that's a key fixture in the title race?

And he said, you know, if United play like they did today, then Arsenal will win easily because they're very, very good.

And you still think, well, that A, that's, that's just true.

But B, it is, it is a little bit mind-gamey because it does say to Arsenal, well, yeah, you're going to walk this, you're expected to win it, which maybe could increase that sense of, you know, if Ten Hag's great new tactic is to

induce complacency, that might work.

But it might also give United a bit of the kick up the arse of kind of, you know, we can't be that bad again.

Yeah.

I mean, I obviously got that.

Obviously, they were Keegan was reacting to the mind games for anyone and reacting perfectly well i thought and completely measured uh

in whatever year that was um uh barry any case for for that not being a penalty i just wondered like how much ball do you have to get before it's it was that one where he's got not quite enough of the ball and quite a lot of the player i don't know how much of the ball you can you have to get i suppose it's at the referee's discretion or the var official's discretion, but you obviously need to get more ball.

Yeah, more ball and less player.

That's the idea.

More ball, less player.

Yeah, I don't know, is the answer.

There's nothing in the law about getting a touch on the ball.

The law just says it's an offense if you trip or attempt to trip an opponent.

So manifestly, Gabriel Jesus was tripped and the fact there was a little push on the ball first.

Because the thing is, yes, there was contact on the ball, but Gabriel Jesus was going to get the ball and carry on into the box.

So

I think that's probably,

you know, at some sort of subconscious level that's what you base it on is is has the ball been knocked away from the player in possession so there's a new development in in the in the whole cat thing excellent good to hear so the original cat is called albert uh he's a bit like a madonna

um he's suddenly i haven't seen him all morning he suddenly turned up now the other cat's been chased off by the magpie that pecked its tail so it's almost like the the original the you know the original occupants of a courtyard have uh have reclaimed the territory from the from the insurgent crystal palace 2 manchester city 4 then, obviously.

Dan, this is a question I'd normally reserve for Barry.

And we on, I think, in the mid-week after that Phil Foden performance,

we started saying maybe, you know, Phil Foden has taken Kevin De Bruyne's mantle and Kevin De Bruyne took it back quite well.

And so it's a question along the Kevin De Bruyne's good at football, isn't he, Dan?

Just effortless.

I feel like he doesn't look like he should be good at football when he does a trick or runs with the ball.

I don't feel like he looks like a natural footballer, but everything he just does is just out of this world.

He's beautiful.

And like I say, does feel so effortless.

I mean, it's a lovely position to be in to just sit Foden on the bench for 90 minutes and just bring in De Bruyne, who sat on the bench against Villa for 90 minutes in midweek.

The collection of lovely footballers that Manchester City have and lovely goals that they're capable of scoring because Foden scored some lovely goals against Villa in the week.

I just think that they're an incredible, incredible outfit.

And De Bruyne,

is he the best set midfielder that's ever played in the Premier League?

I think he probably is.

I can't.

I don't have one to no.

I don't have one to come back to you.

I could only think of utterly ridiculous.

I just wanted to say Vinny Samways, but you know, that's a

ridiculous setup.

I could list a lot of Premier League centre midfielders, as people know.

And the way he moved his feet, I mean, I don't know which goal is better, but the second one, he has to really adjust his feet so quickly, doesn't he?

Yeah, yes, he does.

It was nifty footwork.

I think the shot was more impressive, but

City started this game, obviously, quite badly and went behind.

And I think this is a game Palace, even though they got beaten 4-2, can take quite a few positives from.

But it just must be so mentally and physically exhausting playing against that side.

There were long periods of the second half where they just could not get near the ball.

I think it's boring to watch.

Other opinions are available.

Obviously, Man City fans love it, but just this total domination of a side that's comprised of quite good footballers who aren't playing badly it's just

phenomenal on the topic of boring like people say that Jack Grealish has become a lot more boring since he left Villa to go to Manchester City but I I just think he's become such a wonderful player and if you actually speak to to match going Manchester City fans all season they've been saying we miss Jack Grealish you know Doku's played there.

I think Bernardo Silva's played there, third and will have played there on occasion.

But in the big games, Grealish always gets picked.

And I would level that against Real Madrid in the week.

He will get picked again because he does both sides of the game.

And he was a really important part of that treble-winning team last season.

And he hasn't played enough this season due to injury.

And I think people almost write him off as if, you know, he's going to leave Manchester City.

They're going to get rid of him.

But if you speak to any Manchester City fan that watches them every week, he is in their best 11.

And I just thought it was nice to see him getting some rhythm again and being involved in the game.

I think it's significant he played so well after getting that very public dressing down from Guadiola that that can go one of two ways, right?

He could sort of go into a shell and sulk, and he hasn't.

He's come out and had probably his best performance of the season.

And I think you're right, I'd be surprised if he doesn't play against Madrid because Docker gives the ball away too much.

For all that, he's you know, creates things.

If you look at their defensive record, when Docker plays compared to when Grealish plays, Grealish's use of the ball, his capacity not to lose the ball, is is way greater.

Just on the subject of public dressing downs, I'm surprised Rodri or John Stones didn't get a

performative dressing down because they each made two mistakes in the same game.

I mean, that just doesn't happen.

Yeah, and actually, it was interesting.

I mean, Rodri didn't have a great game.

It's so weird to watch Rodri doing anything wrong, isn't it?

And actually, I saw a lot of people saying, Wilson, that Akanji coming on for Guadiol at halftime made a big difference to City.

And in my mind, mind you're just replacing one quite talented lump with another quite talented lump there and clearly they are very they're marketly for players or just a kanji played very well and guardiel wasn't playing that well i don't know if you spotted that or thought anything of it i mean i think city were after the first sort of 15 20 minutes i think city were pretty comfortable in the first half so i'm not sure how much difference it really made but i don't think guariel's had a great season i think we spent a long time sort of saying City, never get it wrong with a transfer.

Every time they go out and spend money, it's well spent.

And, you know, we've been used to sort of people with that level of resource coming in and doing stupid things like buying Rubinho or Balotelli or big names you don't necessarily fit together.

And one of the reasons the City program has been so effective is that they haven't been doing that.

Now, I'm not saying Guadiola is a bad signing.

We've seen plenty of players who take the second season to really settle under Guadiola.

And

he probably will improve.

And I don't think he's been terrible this season.

But I think there are, for the first time, questions about a couple of recent City signings.

Matois Nunez

being, I guess, the most obvious one.

But yeah, Guadiol, I think, has not been that great.

Yeah, he hasn't looked the player at City that he looked in the World Cup.

And the official line, by the way, is that he'd picked up a niggle and that's why he came off.

Fair enough.

Just a lot of people message.

We went through the fixtures on Wednesday's pod, and I missed out that City still had to play Spurs because it's not in the fixture list yet, unless it's been added in the last day or two.

So that is potentially the trickiest game.

And it's probably going to be that last week of the season, isn't it?

I think that's the only time it logically fits in, which

may be good for City because it may be they've already got a lead by then and so it doesn't matter.

Or it might be that they suddenly have two high-pressure games in that last week.

And that might make it trickier.

All right, that'll do for part one.

Part two, we'll begin with the race for fourth place.

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

But there's something new and exciting.

The remarkable paper pro move.

Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, Max.

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

It holds all your notes, to-dos, and documents, but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin, so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket.

Perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office, 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.

This paper tablet doesn't.

It'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention, so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you.

It has a display that looks, feels, and even sounds like paper.

Think and work like a writer, not a texter.

And the battery performance is amazing.

No worries about running out of power before the end of extra time.

The Remarkable Paper Pro Move can keep going for up to two weeks.

And if you do need to recharge, you can go from naught to 90% in less than 45 minutes, Barry.

Fantastic.

Why not give it a go for nothing?

You can try Remarkable Paper Pro Move for 100 days for free.

If it's not what you're looking for, get your money back.

Visit remarkable.com to learn more and get your paper tablet today.

Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

So Villa 3, Brentford 3.

From 2-0 up to 3-2 down to drawing 3-all.

Dan, how did you...

Thomas Frank said it was a...

This is why the Premier League is the greatest league in the world.

Always nice to hear a manager saying that.

Did you feel as you were leaving the stadium this is the greatest league in the world?

I still don't really know what I think

about Saturday.

You know, to be tuned up and completely in control, like Villa were, they did the two perfect things that you can do in a football match.

They scored a goal just before halftime to go 1-0 up, and then scored one straight after halftime to go 2-0 up and you think kill the game.

Because in the first half, Brentford were pretty much defending in the northstand.

You know, they had an 11-member on the ball.

They were, you know, I couldn't tell you

how deep deep they were.

Villa tuned it up, seemingly cruising.

It was a position that in the first half of the season and the back end of last season, Villa just see that game out.

But there's been a worrying pattern in recent Villa games of crosses and when teams have had a go at us.

We have folded, and that was exactly what happened.

A crazy 10 minutes where, you know, Mad Jorgensen starts it off with one of the weirdest goals I think I've ever seen.

Such a centre-back goal, isn't it?

So good.

I mean, to be fair to him, he deserves it because he must be the only centre-back whose Premier League career spans Huddersfield and Brentford.

And that's it.

You know, it was just such a ridiculous goal.

And then Villa just capitulated.

Brentford did the opposite of what they did in the first half, kept throwing men into the box.

And Villa just couldn't deal with crosses.

Conser had a difficult time, probably the worst game he's had this season.

And he's playing it right back at the moment.

And in the end, you think, did Villa do well to get a point?

But, you know, once you turn it up, you shouldn't find yourself in that position in the space of 10 minutes.

And ultimately now Spurs are Spurs are in the driving seat for fourth yeah you turned Sergei Regulong into you know the assist king didn't you I mean I guess the expectations change don't they as a football fan so quickly so you know like because the way you started the season especially the home form it must I don't know if it's now because your home form has it was obviously going to slip you can't just win every game that's just not how it works but because that happened early in the season carried on from last season Does it feel even stranger when you don't win?

Yeah, I think I was of the mind that it wasn't sustainable what Villa were doing.

It was the most ridiculous run of home for them I've ever seen.

And I've been going for 31 years now.

I've sat there every week at Villa Park and it felt like Villa were just churning out results.

But they had that run where they played Manchester City and

Arsenal in the space of a few days.

And they scored a goal against Arsenal.

You know, every pass.

the weight was perfect.

They almost knew where each other were going to be and everything just felt so precise as they were going through the gears.

I haven't felt like that since Christmas.

I don't know whether it's because Villa have had injuries that have gone under the radar, but Villa just haven't felt like they've got that same kind of zip to their play.

And they were sloppy across the whole game against Brentford, even Douglas Louise, who's a great passer of the ball.

You know, he's making the wrong decision and giving the ball away.

And

I just think we've kind of run out of gas a little bit.

The players have played a lot of games.

Villa don't have the biggest squad.

And I think Spurs are starting to get players back, whereas every week Villa seem to lose someone.

Villa have got Thursday night night footballers as well now which for the first time this season i felt like that's starting to play a part now so i just think at a time when spurs feel quite energized it feels like villa's energy is getting sapped a little bit

it's fifth is not a crime for aston villa is it married probably in any season and

they'll probably get champions league football with that anyway uh that'd be terrific but i don't think anyone was predicting it at the start of the season i still think fourth is within their reach given their injury this like what well they lost emmy bwendi and to roam mings very early in the season was it both of them the first week opening day yeah they've seen camera ramsey courtley house matty cash is out at the moment but you know we suppose for balance we need to say that brentford have also been absolutely ravaged by injury there are a few clubs who've been

just had horrible luck with them and i think it was i noticed over the weekend i think fulham put out no injuries whatsoever how do you get to this season at this stage of the season not have a single player out but yeah

fifth would be brilliant for villa but i i still think they can get fourth ivanty and nathan collins had a big row after the game um i i didn't see it um but uh don't did anyone see it did anyone see

i mean ivan tony i wouldn't say he went full pep with it but it wasn't far off giving collins a little bit of a of a dressing down i think it was to do with the breakdown of an attack at the end of the end of the game but you know there wasn't wasn't wasn't much in it but of course it was clipped up everywhere on on social media and made out to be this this big exciting thing but that's about

storming a take up probably uh so spurs beat forest 3-1 uh what did you make of this one wilson i mean it's very spurs wasn't it you don't quite trust them but they are good enough to beat most teams and they've got goals from defence which is a big thing i mean two great finishers from van der Wern and Poro Werner, you know, as long as you're not actually asking him to score goals,

he's brilliant.

And I would assume that they'd be quite happy to pay for 15 million for him at the end of the season.

Yeah, I think so.

I think the way he works that channel, his running, his defensive work, his energy, those low crosses are incredibly dangerous.

I mean, maybe it would have been different if Chris Wood hadn't managed to miss or hit the post from two yards.

But somehow he did.

So

I felt very sorry for Alan.

It was Alan Smith doing the commentary, wasn't it?

So, you know, he sort of said when Chris Wood scored the first goal, oh, you know, when you're in form, you know, it just feels like you're on the training field.

You just can't miss.

And literally,

I think it's that finish.

It was the right thing to say.

And then two minutes later, he's studding the posts from two yards.

Doesn't look like training field anymore.

Yeah, Nathan says, how much wood would a Chris Wood hit?

And would it count as a shot on target?

It might have gone out for a goal kick.

I mean, it might have gone out for a corner, rather.

It's so hard.

Like, it was a sort of impossible, you sort of think, if you hit it that hard, maybe the goal will sort of bend and it'll go in anyway.

It was just astonishing not to see it go in.

But I was just going to say, I mean, this game could have been completely different if

you hadn't smashed that one off the post.

Uh, because an in-form Chris Wood, you do expect him to score that, and then there was the I mean, I expect an out-of-form Chris Wood to score

the weird James Madison shovy/slash punch on Ryan Yates,

which

should have earned him a red card yeah do you think it should interestingly ryan yates demanding the fair look at it that would have got him a second yellow card so maybe they should both have been sent off but what how do we feel about a one inch punch it's very kung fu isn't it really like to knock someone out with that much just james man doesn't have that much power i mean it is letter of the law dan that that is punching someone isn't it i mean i think i think it is but i can see why they thought well it's not it's only a little one to that it's only a little jab in the ribs these are just the kind of decisions where we've you know the ref had seen it and sent him off.

Vir isn't going to disagree with it.

So that's the thing that I find preposterous about VIR is that, you know, if decisions are given a certain way, that impacts how VIR reacts.

I watched Madison, you know, when John McGinn went in hard the other week at Villa Park and got a red card.

I watched Madison in the ear of the referee demanding justice, demanding vengeance

and a red card.

And then a few weeks later, he's punching someone in the stomach.

That was my biggest takeaway from it.

I'm not sure you can compare that jab in the ribs to John McGinn trying to kick Destiny Doggy out of Villa Park.

Well, although

let us not gloss over the fact that Dan was claiming that was a terrible decision and never a red card at the time.

I did do that.

I'm probably still not over.

Yeah, I mean, it was very biased.

It was very biased on my part.

I didn't say it was reasonable when Jonathan and I

had that conversation.

But surely, you know, going and kicking someone as John McGinn did, if that's a red card, I would say going to someone and punching them is probably a red card as well.

Yeah.

I now think, and we'll get to the Wolves West Ham game, I now think all contentious refereeing decisions should be referred to Gary O'Neill because I want to hear what he has to say about them following his comments over the weekend.

We'll get to that.

We had mentioned Tottenham changed their centre midfield at halftime and Benticorn Hoiberg came on and that seemed to make a difference.

And Hoiberg's quite an interesting, sort of a real case, Wilson, of like a like at the ultimate professional right he was i i read some story that and

saw him take the ball on the half turn in one training session was like he's not for me and yet he's really relied on him in key moments of key games even if he's not getting a lot of football well i think that's a great element of possecogli's management that there doesn't seem to be anybody who's been ostracized from the squad there's players who don't play very often but they come in and they seem quite happy and they seem quite motivated and it doesn't seem to be a squad that had any sulkers at the moment and i think you've got to give Bosticogni credit for that, given what we seem with the same group of players last season.

Basima's form has dropped off quite badly, hasn't it?

So I think that is a bit of a concern for Spurs.

But it's good that they've got the four of them.

I think Saad had a very good first season in the Premier League.

Benton Kerr, I know he's maybe not quite back to the levels he was at before the knee injury, but I think he's he's a great player.

So yeah, it's a benefit of having having four good midfielders that you can change two of them and bring on two good ones.

He's so convincing, is Ange, Barry, that now i i believe him when he says he doesn't care about finishing in the top four of course he probably does

i'm sure he does yeah but again like villa fourth fifth place finish would be entirely expected acceptable

and uh he got into it didn't he with some journalists well it wasn't being chippy or anything but just discussing the importance of the journalists were trying to say spurs need to be in the champions league to generate the income they need to build the squad and you know get into this cycle and he was saying that it wasn't that important i wasn't entirely convinced but he did make a good case well spurs have uh spurs have announced their financial results this week haven't they showing losses for the fourth consecutive year which yes maybe they do need another income stream like the champions league Let's talk about Joe Kunnear, who has passed away at the age of 77.

Younger listeners, most of us will know him as a manager, his success at Wimbledon, and probably less success, a bit of success at Luton and less elsewhere.

But as a player as well, he played 10 years at Spurs, won the FA Cup, the League Cup twice, and the UEFA Cup.

You wrote a nice piece about him, Wilson.

Thank you.

Yeah, I think

it's just sad that somebody who gave so much to football, who I think he was a good manager.

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

And unfortunately, what we remember is the swear we rant at the end.

I mean, at the the end, 2008.

And then the

very sort of confused interviews he gave as Newcastle's director of football a year before he was diagnosed with dementia.

You can't overlook that because they did happen.

And I don't think you should be going into a press conference and swearing 53 times in the first five minutes.

And that press conference is one of the...

the most memorable of all press conferences.

If you look at the transcript now, there's two or three absolute hysterically funny lines.

So we were able to joke about it, I think, because simon bird the the journalist he really went for

was able to handle it and and

you know dealt with it very well and wasn't sort of noticeably like shaken or upset by it didn't have a go back but was very very calm so it became a sort of comedy set piece but yeah but you shouldn't you shouldn't write that out the story but we should be aware that the story is bigger than that and what he did at wimbledon was astonishing i mean you got them to sixth which is a

they finished sixth twice that's the highest position they've ever been in he took them to eighth with very very low budget uh they got to his yeah they finished eighth they got the semifinal of both both domestic cup competitions i i and i i think as well that the that press conference and the subsequent stuff i think it it it tends to gloss over the fact that everybody seemed to like him so jimmy hill said he had a kind of happiness about him i was talking to the commentator dave farah this morning and he he said that jokini was his uh co-commentator i think he said year 2000 i might be wrong about the tournament and said that you know he was he was just a very funny, great bloke.

But he did say that he went to an Indian restaurant with him and Jokenir, he was 53 at the time, had no idea what an onion barge was, had never come across one before.

At 53.

In 53, yeah, despite having been manager of India for a while, which

seems quite odd.

But yeah, and as a player, you know, he...

He played, I think it was 196 league games for Spurs, only scored twice, so very much an old school type of fullback, I think.

That period, late 60s, early 70s, when when spurs were really sort of confirming our position as a great cup team i think they're defensively a lot tighter than the stereotype of spurs would have it so he won the fa cup in 67 as a as a 20 year old when they beat chelsea in the final he won two league cups he was part of a team that beat wolves in the uefa cup final and i i was slightly surprised that um

i was writing this piece on the train back from from uh from manchester yesterday and i just messaged somebody an older spurs fan and said yeah what sort of player was and you said just sort of solid don't really remember him but on the group what whatsapp uh this bloke's wife said oh yeah i remember him i used to really fancy him and that's what he would joke in here yeah and you look at photographs and he's a good-looking sort of guy he was a yeah he was a good looking bloke and and then there's a story in um

uh hunter davis uh the glory game you know he spent a year at spurs where I think they've been a friendly against was it against ranger I think it was against the Scottish side and he'd been knocked unconscious and the joke was he'd come around when he thought they were going to shave his hair to kind of treat his ear because he was, you know, he was so proud of his sort of thick black locks.

So, yeah, he was very much sort of a ladies' man, late 60s, early 70s.

Liked his gambling, dogs and horses.

So, yeah, yeah, great player, very good manager, maybe not quite such a good character.

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's the leader in the paper tablet category.

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

But there's something new and exciting.

The remarkable Paper Pro Move.

Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, man.

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

It holds all your notes, to-dos, and documents, but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin, so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket.

Perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office like maybe a football journalist Barry although not like you

a proper football journalist

exactly too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out this paper tablet doesn't it'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you it has a display that looks feels and even sounds like paper think and work like a writer not a texter and the battery performance is amazing no worries about running out of power before the end of extra time the remarkable paper pro move can can keep going for up to two weeks.

And if you do need to recharge, you can go from naught to 90% in less than 45 minutes, Barry.

Fantastic.

Why not give it a go for nothing?

You can try Remarkable Paper Pro Move for 100 days for free.

If it's not what you're looking for, get your money back.

Visit remarkable.com to learn more and get your paper tablet today.

Football.

Yeah, so our thoughts, of course, with his friends and family, Jokini, who's passed away at the age of 77.

We'll be back in a second.

Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Exciting news in the break is that Dan has taken delivery of a tumble dryer.

Is that?

No, I haven't yet.

All right, where is it?

Well, they're kind of struggling to find my house, so they called to try and confirm where the house is.

And because I've only just moved here, I'm not great with the street names.

So I don't know that I've probably probably hindered it more than anything but you know the street name that you live on which seems quite a key part i know the road i live on but not not the roads around it that that was the problem so i still might get you might get me go on mute and and disappear to receive a tumble dryer is it a fancy tumble dryer what what have you gone for i didn't order it to be honest i can i can tell you that i know you're interested in appliances and and and what yeah but a baker what was rory smith taking delivery of when he when he disappeared and never to never turn up again rory smith was taking delivery of like a sort of ornate Was it a chandelier or something?

No, I don't think it was a chandelier.

I think I said it was a chandelier, it wasn't.

It was some sort of mantelpiece type dresser affair.

And he left and he didn't return.

I don't know if he's been on since.

Pretty sure he's, you know, he's still kicking about.

No, no, no.

What I heard, he's still waiting on the Zoom for you.

Anyway, Luton 2, Bournemouth 1.

They did it again, Baz.

Oh, what a moment in injury time for Carton Morris.

Yeah, and it clearly meant an awful lot to him because he broke down in tears after the game, took advantage of

a defensive blunder to score from the Cauley Woodrow cross.

And again,

you know, Luton's fighting spirit is just a credit to them.

They were missing 10 players.

I think most of them

more or less first choice for this game.

Bournemouth

are a decent side, and

for Luton to come from behind and win this game and still be in touch is, I think, remarkable.

And it was quite funny because

the manager, Rob Edwards, after the game, you know, they said, Oh, you'll have a drink tonight to celebrate that.

And he went, No, I'm just going to be traumatized by the fact that we're playing Manchester City away next.

I'm going to lie awake worrying how to

deal with that.

I mean, fighting spirit seems such a cliche for, you know, Dan, for a team with a really low budget and load of injuries.

and it just you feel like it's got to be more than that of course there's some talented players there but it's quite extraordinary what what that sort of unquantifiable thing can do i do think a lot of it is to do with the manager if you look at his body of work at forest green and then he was of course let go very quickly at watford but i spoke to i've spoken to a few people in the past about his time with with with the wolves setup and the wolves youth teams and you know he's very very highly thought of he was seen as being quite innovative and i think the way he is as a person as well, he comes across very, very well, seems like a genuine bloke.

I do think when you marry that fighting spirit with a clever manager, I do think you also get into the patterns of a bit like Spurs at the moment.

You know, in a Spurs game, there's going to be a goal between 45 minutes and 60 minutes.

With Luton at the moment, whether it'd be one way or the other.

you know there's going to be a be a late goal in in those games so although they've conceded in both ways i do think at kenilworth road in particular they do have this drive and this belief to keep going and think that think that it will come it's almost become repetition.

Yeah.

And it's interesting actually about Rob Edwards is at Forest Green, he played really nice football.

The guy is a pragmatist, right?

And he looks at what he's got, he does make the best of whatever situation he's got, which is interesting, Wilson, the fact of where he could go as a manager, I guess.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, I actually think they are quite good to watch.

I know what you mean.

They're not sort of a tippy-tappy possession side, but I think they are quite good to watch.

And Dan's off, the tumble dry has arrived.

It's very exciting.

Jordan Clark is a is a good player, isn't he?

One of those players I'd seen in the championship and wasn't quite sure that would translate to the Premier League, but I think he's certainly the second half of the season.

I think he's looked really good.

And he's one of those players.

There's another one.

I forget who it is.

Maybe it's Luke Berry.

Now, Luke Berry scored in League Two, League One, the Championship in the Premier League, but Jordan Clark has now scored in each of the top five divisions, which is such a great achievement.

I was a big fan, Barry, of Iraola saying, you know, second half against the win.

And it was windy.

You know, we got to James Ward Prowse's free kick corner, rather, but just complaining about the wind feels so it really takes me to Sunday League games where you go, oh, this is a two-goal win.

This, this lads, maybe he had a point.

Well, it was very windy this weekend in London, certainly.

Ward Prowse scored a little corner.

Someone else nearly Luca Dean nearly scored with a corner.

We'll have to ask Dan when he comes back if it was windy at Phillip Park.

That Murillo shot, which was

I think that might have been wind-assisted as well.

So Storm Kathleen was, you know, had a few assists and near assists over the weekend.

Oh, I guess if there's any ground where the wind is going to make a difference in the Premier League, it is Luton.

Because the stances aren't high enough to stop it.

Yeah, true.

I remember, like, I mean, I've only been to Kenilworth Road one night, once, and it was windy and freezing cold.

It was actually, they were playing Forest Green at the time, and it was one of the most miserable experiences of my life because I forgot forgot my hat and gloves.

Do you think a low, low stands mean the wind obviously can get right in there?

But if a stadium is designed in such a way that it could create a wind tunnel, you know, I don't think you definitely get.

I mean, I know this from a stadium at light that you could see from where the litter congregated, there was clearly like little eddies that kind of,

you know, the wind gathered gathered the litter.

So it must be.

James Ward Prouse could get a ball in an eddy in like a whirl, in like a

twister and it would spin around and round.

Is that good?

And then it fly out in the right direction would be tremendous, wouldn't it?

Well, look, they're still, I mean, they can do it, can't they?

They're level on points with Forrest now, Wilson.

And, you know, Everton could have another points deduction.

We don't know.

But for them to even still be there, I'm not looking at anyone who might have written a piece four games in saying, what if they get no points this season?

But that's such a brilliant achievement, even to get this far.

Yeah, I mean,

that's Sam is slightly in danger of patronising them.

But yeah,

they've, with the budget they've got to

i think they've had a fun season and the danger is when you go up as a as a smaller side that it's just miserable you're just getting battered every week and that has not happened um you know they've been competitive in in the majority of games even if they haven't won them there's been there's been something to encourage them something to that that's been fun and so

yeah they could they could have ended up with you know 10 points something could have taken derby's record but even if they go down they they've had a worthwhile season, not just financially, but they'll have had fun.

Dan, two questions.

Was it windy at Villa Park?

Question one.

Well, yeah, it was.

I could tell you a little story.

So, oh, here we go.

My dad does.

Jonathan's spoke to my dad on Zoom or whatever it was before.

Movement's not brilliant at the moment as he's getting older.

And I've said previously he fails his fitness test every week for Villa Park, but I still take him everywhere.

So we've been, we've had season tickets for like 31 years.

And my mum wasn't in when when I picked him up to go to Villa Park.

And he walked out without his stick, looking quite sheepish.

So I said, I thought straight away, mom can't be in because there's no way he would have walked out without that stick.

Yeah.

And yeah, so it turns out she wasn't in.

And he decided, he said he didn't want to use any aids to walk this week.

So I thought, okay, that's fine.

And to be fair to him, he got to the Villa Park steps at the Holt End and had moved very, very well up until that point.

And as we were walking up the steps, the wind suddenly was coming down the stairs and he was was clawing on to the banister and i just stood there and watched him because he told me that he did didn't want any any aid and then another another man ran over to to actually rescue him and and stop him from from falling so you were willing to let him fall down the steps just to prove a point it's what he wanted that's all i can say it's what he wanted he he said he didn't want any aid be it a stick or me so i decided to let him be It was quite comical if you'd have seen it, but probably won't come across great for me on my first episode of this podcast.

no no absolutely fine just just the idea of like him just holding on with his legs in the air that the wind is trying to throw him down the stairs of the hole and you're like well should have brought your stick mate shouldn't you

um

uh oh the other question is tumble dry looks good on arrival i mean i'm a bit out of breath because i had to carry it into the garage but yeah

i would still package it up

i'll text you later and let you know

Carry it into the garage is quite impressive, isn't it?

Anyway, let's go to Goodison Park.

Everton won Burnley-nil.

uh,

Colin says, was having to watch Everton Burnley harder than running the length of Africa, which is a reference to this hardest geezer man who has just run from tip to top uh of said continent while on running.

Well done, producer Joel for getting three hours 21 in uh the Brighton marathon.

Um, anyway, the Sean Dice Derby.

And Sean Dice, Barry said, We designed an ugly win and it worked.

And even Dice, even for him, sounded gravelly after this one.

Yeah, it wasn't a great spectacle.

And

Burnley lost because of a stupid mistake playing the ball out from the back.

And that's cost them time and again this season.

And that's the reason they are where they are, I suppose.

And Dominic Calvert-Lewin,

he scored last week after a long, long drought.

And

I said last week, yeah, well, that's one positive Everton can take from the game.

And he scored the winner in this one.

So three very priceless points for Everton, which they may have to give back later this week,

along with a couple of other ones.

But yeah, not a great spectacle, but a massive win for them.

They won't flush, will they?

I found that goal very, very irritating because the fact that he scored a few days earlier against Newcastle, that's why I found it irritating because commentators will always say, oh, he just desperate for a goal.

He just needs something to hit him and go in.

But because he scored the week before, I feel like that's ruined that analogy now.

Right.

He should have, that should have been the goal that got him off the drought.

That needed to be the goal, didn't it, rather than the one against Newcastle?

That's it.

And the thing about that pass, Wilson, is even if Calvert Lewin isn't closing him down, the pass isn't on.

Like, like the centre mid who's running to get the ball, it's like two Everton players sort of, it's an impossible, it's like De Bruyne is not making that pass.

And there's a different keeper, but it's exactly that pass that cost them the opening goal against Custer Palace oh sorry not the opening goal led to the red card against Custer Palace when the score was at nil-nil I think if you you've got to be very very good to play a short pass centrally as a keeper to some especially somebody under pressure and you know they they got themselves you know the the the red card in this game was they entirely self-inflicted they caused that themselves uh and then yeah in the i thought there's a lot of and we'll get on to the worst example of it but i thought there's a lot of ludicrous whining about referees this weekend but But company saying that's not a red card.

Amazing.

Brilliant, isn't it?

It's a red card.

It's a red card for the foul because it's high.

And it's a red card because it's a denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

So it's a double red card.

Yeah, he tried to say, you know, for it to be a goal scoring opportunity, you've got to be in control of the ball.

And he wasn't.

Well, he wasn't in control of the ball because one of your players two-footed him in the knee.

That is why he wasn't.

He did also say a bit to company.

In the last six games, we were the better team.

So he could have had six wins.

I mean, that's quite a big, like, you know, I don't feel like Burnley.

I'm just on the edge of six wins, you know, six straight wins in the Premier League.

They have showed definite signs of life and they have improved, but that was, yeah, totally self-inflicted defeat.

Yeah.

And actually, I think Everson should have had another pen when Jay Rodriguez.

tripped James Garner.

But anyway, on to refereeing decisions.

Let's do, let's do the really fun.

Gary O'Neill one.

Wolves won West Ham two.

You know, that assist for Storm Kathleen for James Wallprouse direct from a corner it's wonderful delivery but obviously in the 93rd or whatever minute it was Gary O'Neill incensed that Max Killman's goal wasn't given to Wanda Turewa is in an offside position ifab Laura 11 explains but the why it's it's disallowed right it's if you are impacting the vision or the movement of the keeper Gary O'Neill seemed to say he wasn't he wasn't impacting the vision even though he was standing right in front of him i mean there's no way fabianski or Areola, for that matter, Barry, is saving that chance, right?

Well, he's certainly

not saving it because he can't see it.

So, like, that was totally correctly ruled out for off-site.

Now, Wolves have had several egregious decisions go against them this season that have cost them points against Maniu, Newcastle, Sheffield United.

There are three that

I can thought of off the top of my head, but this was not one of them.

And it was the way Gary O'Neill, the very condescending way he complained about it, like it's the worst decision I've ever seen.

No, quite frankly, it isn't because it's correct.

And then it's the kind of decision that's made by someone who doesn't know anything about football.

Gary O'Neill played professional football for 18 years without knowing the offside rule.

I find that remarkable.

Well, he said, yeah, if your knowledge of the game is really, really bad, that's how you come to have that decision.

So does that that mean, Wilson, your knowledge of the game is really, really bad?

Well, possibly.

I'm quite happy to take him on in a quiz about 1950s from Gaming Football, which is the only football that really counts.

Farming's right, it's just obviously offside.

I mean,

I think we're getting, you know, people are tying themselves in knots about, you know, could the keeper see, was the keeper going to get there?

It doesn't matter.

He's standing two feet in front of him.

What if he, I say, you've now confused me to which keeper it was, Fabianski?

It was Fabianski, yes.

You If he,

yeah, maybe he could have come and claimed the cross.

I think that was not impossible.

The header was from five yards out, but he can't because of an offside player standing in his way.

He can't sort of get his position right.

He can't, he's got to be aware of the fact the ball might be headed down to this player who, yes, he's offside, but you still got to be conscious of that.

And this idea that I was going in anyway.

But you're now asking the referee to make a decision on whether the keeper had a chance of saving it.

So, you know, if that had been a foot closer to him, would that be a goal?

Yeah, probably yes.

Two feet close.

Yeah.

Three feet.

Oh, no, it's,

you know, it's suddenly bored.

Like, it's nonsense.

Of course, it's offside.

It's manifestly offside.

Honestly, I would be happy for Wolves to be docked points for this.

It's so pathetic.

I'm so sick of managers and whining.

And then Pondit's just parroting it because it's easy to complain about VAR and complain about referees.

That decision was just correct on every single level.

Nothing to do with VAR.

Nothing to do with referees running a game for my fab, just because that's what off-site is.

I really enjoyed the fact though.

I take, I honestly, I would cancel the license fee because of that.

Get match of it off a telly, get the BBC off a telly, pull everything down.

What's the if if if they're going to say things like that, what's the point?

Just end it all, torture entire civilization, endless species.

I did like the idea of match the day that they said that, you know, what goalkeepers should do, right, is hide behind players

because then, obviously, at a corner if you were a goalkeeper you just immediately hid behind a player then they would be in your line of sight wherever you were right and wherever the ball is you could actually by playing sort of football a hide and seek behind a large centre back you could get every goal disallowed i mean you'd have to you have to hope they you have to drag them into an offside position first also what what gary o'neal didn't point out was the penalty they got was at best 50-50.

But, you know, a decision that goes his way, yeah,

just gets ignored.

I liked it after the game when he said that he reeled off a list of people who thought that the goal should have stood and listed David Moyes in that list.

And then the next interview with David Moyes, and he said it was the right decision.

That was my favourite thing about it.

Uh, Newcastle won one at Fulham.

Um, any strong thoughts on this one, Baz?

Um,

no, um, Newcastle

again, we mentioned the injuries, they were dismal in the first half, um,

and Eddie Howe was very, visibly, very angry with his players.

Which you, you know, I'm sure he gets angry with them in the dressing room from time to time, but I've never seen him that publicly exercised before with his own team.

And they got their shit together basically and went on to win the game with a good, good, good strike from Bruno Giboris.

I don't know why I said good three times in a row there.

Good, good, good.

That's all right.

It wasn't that good, but it was quite a good strike from bruno okay nag says how do you feel max knowing that cambridger is blue and has a trophy as well winky face jim says how long are you going to give peterborough's thrilling auto windscreen shield victory um is it still the auto wind screens what is it now the efl trophy anyway begrudging congratulations to peterborough who beat wickham uh they took the lead on 85 minutes week me wickham equalizing the last minute and then

Harrison Burroughs got his second and a winner in the 91st minute.

So well done, Posh.

And I'll leave you with this from Edwards.

Says, hi, Max and the gang, long time listener, first time caller here.

I wanted to get in touch with you to let you know about a recent case of what I'd like to term and patent podception.

Having just been in a local public house, witnessing my beloved Manchester United go full Glendenning and lose all control against Chelsea, I decided to tune into the most recent episode of the pod for my journey home to see whether your pre-match predictions were as accurate as always.

I looked down at my phone and pressed to press play, and I was immediately greeted by Max's soothing tones and accessible banter.

Thanks, that's what I'd like to be known for.

Accessible banter, anything worse.

Well, you're not challenging, are you?

That is challenging.

You're pushing any boundaries.

How dare you?

However, when I looked up, I was startled by a bemused-looking grey-haired man with two suitcases walking up the stairs opposite me.

I realized after a swift double take that the bemused man before me was none other than the pod's very own Max Rushton, fresh from his Roman run-in with some open drains.

Unfortunately, he was gone in a flash, and I didn't get the chance to speak to him about his trip or ask him about whether he'd had any tips on how to make sure I maintained a high performance in all that I do.

I'd also like to know if any other listeners have also experienced a similar podception or if it's only I who has the Midas touch.

Thanks, Edward.

Very occasionally, I don't know if you find this Barry.

Somebody stops you and are listening to the pod.

And I feel that is overkill to have you in your ears and in front of your face.

Somebody

tapped me on the shoulder on the tube one day.

And I turned around to this young, youngish kid, and he went, I'm listening to you right now.

And, you know, I don't really know how to how to respond to that.

Great.

Now you're listening to me in stereo.

I was going to a cricket match somewhere in North London and was walking along the edge of a north circular from the cheap station and somebody pulled over to ask for directions because he'd seen my cricket bag on my back and he was looking for a different cricket ground as it turned out.

And I said, sorry, I have no idea.

I've never played here before.

I don't know where your cricket ground is.

And he then then pulls in again 50 yards later.

And I'm like, I've already told him.

I don't know where it is.

And he goes,

I just realized

I'm listening to you right now.

Oh, God.

That's too much, isn't it?

You have our apologies if that happens to you.

Anyway, look, that'll do for today.

Thank you, Barry.

Thanks.

Delighted about your tumble dryer, Dan.

Thank you.

No, thank you for having me.

Yeah.

Look after your dad.

Thank you, Wilson.

Cheers.

Thank you.

I've just realized, Max, remember, was it last week?

We had someone who was listening to me talking about someone having their head in the tumble dryer while they literally had their head in the tumble dryer.

Exactly.

And now that, yeah, the tumble dryer

is turning into quite the saga.

Isn't it?

I don't like long-running sagas.

So if this could stop immediately.

Yes, Dan.

Also, because I was receiving delivery of the tumble dryer, did I miss a guy?

What happened to the Chelsea Chef?

Or did you go?

I missed that.

I missed that.

No, no, no, no.

We all

missed it.

Really good point.

Well made, I skipped over it.

Could you do us a thank you, Dan?

Could you do us a quick minute on it?

I didn't watch it, so I was just wondering if we were going to talk about it.

I watched Match of the Day, too.

Has anyone got a good minute on this of Chelsea just doing what Chelsea do?

And it's all too late for Sheffield United.

Would you say that, Baz?

I think it is too late for Sheffield United, but it was a very spirited performance by them in front of their home crowd who haven't had a huge amount to cheer cheer about at Bremen Lane in recent times but yeah it was a bit Chelsea being Chelsea but I thought Gustavo Hamer had a brilliant game for for United Ollie McBurney was a constant menace Nanny Maduaka was probably the standout player for Chelsea and Tiago Silva was up and down he scored a good goal but wasn't one of his better performances So yeah, lucky we did that because, you know, otherwise people be slightly annoyed.

We have more chat about tumble dryers and magpies and Albert the Cat than we did about that game.

But look, that is it now.

We're done.

Football Weekly is produced by Silas Gray.

Our executive producer is Joshua Kelly.

This is The Guardian.