Palace pull off Liverpool hat-trick, plus the Premier League previewed: Football Weekly Extra

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Speaker 1 Hello, and welcome to Guardian Football Weekly. Dust down the Carabao box and hear it sing.
Crystal Palace knocks a very young Liverpool side out of the competition at Anfield.

Speaker 1 Does this add to the crisis? Did Arna Slot pick such an inexperienced team and bench so that it wouldn't matter if they lost?

Speaker 1 Palace's prize is a trip to the Emirates in the quarterfinal after Arsenal rode their luck early on before beating Brighton, another clean cheek for Mikel Arteta.

Speaker 1 Chelsea win a not-quite-classic 4-3 at Wolves, while holders Newcastle comfortably see off Spurs. Thomas Frank's next job is to get Spurs up for Chelsea at home in a game they routinely lose.

Speaker 1 Elsewhere, Man City, Bournemouth looks interesting, as does Forest, Manchester United, and Liverpool Villa.

Speaker 1 Ewan Murray joins us to discuss the Celtic madness and will discuss whether there should be a countdown plot for long throws.

Speaker 1 We've had excellent correspondence, including some divorced Belgian adjacent stuff. As always, we'll answer your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

Speaker 1 On the panel today, Barry Glendenning, welcome. Hi, Max.
Hello, Jordan Jarrett Bryan.

Speaker 5 Morning, mate.

Speaker 1 And good morning to Robin Cowan.

Speaker 6 Morning, Max.

Speaker 1 Okay, the quarterfinal draw there. Newcastle will play Fulham, Manchester City, Brentford, Cardiff City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Crystal Palace, only one place to start, which is at Anfield.

Speaker 1 Steve says, as a Liverpool fan, I made the decision to watch last night's bake-off instead. Traitor starts in a minute.
Was this a better use of my time? Or should I have jumped out the window?

Speaker 1 He says.

Speaker 1 Toddy says, should Liverpool sign Ismaila Saar just to stop him scoring against them? Seven in nine for Saar against Liverpool, for Palace and for Watford.

Speaker 1 And I suppose we should start, Robin, by praising Crystal Palace. I mean, third time in a row, they've beaten Liverpool.
If you include the Community Shield, which I guess we can.

Speaker 1 Saar's second was a beautiful goal. That one, too, with Jeremy Pino, who looks like a really good player.
And look, Palace hadn't been on great form either.

Speaker 1 But clearly, as soon as you saw the starting lineups, you were like, they'll probably win.

Speaker 6 Yeah, I mean, I think we need to, we should credit Palace because even though, yes, you know, Liverpool obviously rotated a lot and didn't really have any big names on the bench either.

Speaker 6 They still had to get the job done. It's still in Anfield and they dispatched them really well.
They also made quite a lot of changes as well, Crystal Palace.

Speaker 6 But actually, it's just a show of they don't have amazing depth in sort of Premier League terms. But still, you know, you had Will Hughes coming in.
He hasn't played much this season.

Speaker 6 You know, he's a very, very good midfielder. Sosa as well.
So actually, you know,

Speaker 6 they're just a very, very well-coached team. And clearly, they,

Speaker 6 I mean, Liverpool kind of had a couple of chances early on, didn't they? But then it just seems to be

Speaker 6 they concede and then they kind of, I wouldn't say fall apart. That might be a bit too dramatic, but they kind of floodgates open and they just seem to be a bit soft at the moment.

Speaker 6 Again, with the massive caveat that they clearly change the team a lot.

Speaker 6 And yeah, the discourse around this is very interesting, isn't it? And I think, yeah, you said in your intro did it on purpose. And I'm just thinking, if he did, then fine, you know,

Speaker 6 is that a bad thing? Because actually, if they'd put out the strong team and they lost, that possibly would have caused more damage.

Speaker 1 Sure. And I suppose no guarantees that had they put out their first team, they'd have won this game, given the form that they're on.
With apologies to Palace, the story is Liverpool, Barry, isn't it?

Speaker 1 And look, they started three teenagers. They had five others on the bench.
And so it was such an inexperienced side. So it's hard to gauge,

Speaker 1 is this a totally disconnected performance from the crisis elsewhere? And should we compartmentalize it in the carabao box that we can't find?

Speaker 1 Or does this, you know, it's, it's not totally unconnected, surely? I think it is. I don't think it's in any way related to the current slump in form.

Speaker 1 Maybe if they hadn't lost four Premier League games in a row and were on a winning streak, he would have fielded a stronger team.

Speaker 1 But I totally get why Slot rested all the players, the senior players, because before this, four of, or five of Liverpool's last six games were away from home, London, Istanbul, London, Frankfurt, London.

Speaker 1 He's given rest of the players. People are saying, oh, but he should have had them on the bench so that they could come on if things went sideways as they did.

Speaker 1 But if you have them on the bench, then you're not resting them. You're not giving them a day off.

Speaker 1 If you're a linekeeper in the zoo and you're working really hard and you get a day off, but you have to come in and supervise the understudy linekeeper

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 be on hand in case he gets mauled by lions and you have to step in and take over. That's not a day off, is it? It's not a rest because you still have to turn up.

Speaker 1 You still have to go through all the motions. So I think it was a wise move by Slot to rest all those players, give them the day off.

Speaker 1 I don't think it really matters that they got knocked out of this competition.

Speaker 1 He has done this before,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 but as soon as you saw the line-ups, you sort of thought, Yeah, they're going to lose this. It'll be quite a feat if they don't.
And they duly did go and lose it.

Speaker 1 But as Robin said, they started quite well, and then everything went to hell in a hand cart very quickly, just before half-time. Quite like a matter-of-fact, you presume,

Speaker 1 you know, that's what the supervisor at the zoo often has to do. It's just, oh no,

Speaker 1 another one's been mauled. Another teenager didn't understand.
Do I just go in again? Just

Speaker 1 clean up this mess. God's sake.
Someone tell the family. They have to do the subs.

Speaker 6 Is it like a sort of similar subs warm-up they have to do? It's like kind of very half-hearted. Ah, do I go?

Speaker 1 He hasn't even got his khaki jacket on. He's not ready.
This is a total disgrace.

Speaker 1 Where do you stand on this, Jordan?

Speaker 1 You agree with Barry or sort of wider on the, I suppose we just don't know until Villa and they've got Villa, Real Madrid both at home and then Man City away, right? That is a tricky set of fixtures.

Speaker 1 And I suppose it's after them you decide, well, he was smart to rest players or not.

Speaker 5 Yeah, I don't have an issue with him playing a weakened team. I think he tried something different.

Speaker 5 I agree. There's no point having the big boys on the bench because then, as Barry says, they're not technically being rested then.
I'm not sure

Speaker 5 if it's an issue of being rested, though. I just think it's an issue of just bad form and him working out what their best 11 needs to be.

Speaker 5 I mean, I must be one of the few idiots that still, until yesterday, still believed that they are not out of the title race because my mentality, my thinking would have been this from Liverpool.

Speaker 5 Arsenal in terms of the league haven't shown they can put together 10, 11, 12 winning games when it matters.

Speaker 5 If we can get to January with a gap no more than eight, nine points max, bring in a couple of centre-backs, make some really brutal but decisive selection decisions,

Speaker 5 you never know. But I know, and I get that League and Cup are very different competitions, but watching last night's game, they got smashed.
They got absolutely battered last night.

Speaker 5 And I think even though they're at the cup, as you mentioned, the next three games, Villa, Real Madrid, and Manchester City, if they lose all three of those games, and they could lose all three of those games, you're then into the kind of territory that Man City were in last season, where I think it was nine defeats and 11

Speaker 5 when it was at their worst. And then you're looking at a really, really poor, not only poor title defense, but you're then kind of dragged into a top four race.

Speaker 5 And to go from Premier League champions to be in a top four race, I think is a really, really bad look. So I don't think getting knocked out of the cup on its own is a particularly big deal.

Speaker 5 I just think it's the accumulation of games that they could lose, which could really be bad for their season. Just a quick note on Palace.
Some of their goals were really good.

Speaker 5 They played some really good football. Their second and third goals, I thought, were just like, just beautiful football.

Speaker 5 And I just wonder if Glasnar wants that Liverpool job that's three wins now against Liverpool in 12 games and three different stadiums I wonder if he's got his eye on you know what next season I wonder if I wonder if I could be in in that hot seat at Anfield do you think if do you think if he didn't want the Liverpool job he wouldn't have tried to win well no no I don't of course they'll trouble the game the same way but I just find it funny that he's beaten him three times three different grounds yeah within within yeah 10 11 games just on the age of the bench the scissors says has there ever been a higher total of squad numbers than liverpool's bench tonight Nine substitutes.

Speaker 1 I've added up all the squad numbers together. Would anybody like to have sort of a guess? What's the number of nine substitutes? I'd say around 600.
Oh, 583. Very good, Barry.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Arnis Lott said, look, I saw City's 11. They didn't have one starter from the weekend, but it felt like their best 11.
Like 10 changes. And City, like, true, City do have depth.

Speaker 1 That's a bit of an insight. Chelsea can bring in Estevao.
After I made two substitutions tonight, we had six teenagers. But I thought Liverpool had loads of debt.
I mean, he just didn't.

Speaker 1 That answer, Robin, is odd because he didn't. He could have selected more experienced players.
He just didn't select more experienced players. And the interesting question is: they play Villa, right?

Speaker 1 And we'll sort of mix the Carabao Cup stuff with the Premier League preview. Villa on a really good run.

Speaker 1 And so you've got these three games for Liverpool. And like, there would be no shame in losing any one of those games, right?

Speaker 1 Losing to Villa, who are playing well, or losing to Welmadjo, losing to City, but you could lose all three. And I suppose the question is about the pressure on slot.

Speaker 1 How much does winning the league? Surely that buys you some time. That's not easy to do.

Speaker 6 I mean, you'd think so, but it seems like actually some are thinking, well, no, he's already kind of busted flush. So it is ridiculous.

Speaker 6 I think the only thing I'd say is he's starting to come out with some slightly strange, not strange, but like comments that can be made a joke of, like, oh, people, you know, teams are changing their style against stuff.

Speaker 6 It's like, well, well, yeah, they'll do that because you're good. And that's what people, that's what teams do to try and and win games.

Speaker 6 But no, he's got a huge amount of time.

Speaker 6 I just think last season, there was very little adversity for him, apart from like, you know, there were some injuries, and also the Salah situation was, you know, a lot of noise around that.

Speaker 6 He's now lost. I just wonder if there's, first of all, too many, maybe one too many changes to the squad in terms of like, you know, let's give him some time to try and see.
Because

Speaker 6 if it clicks, you feel like it will really click. You know, they've got so much talent in that squad.
But, you know, they lost Alexander Arnold.

Speaker 6 Darwin Nunes, I know, you know, wasn't, you know, contributing loads, but then Diaz, Elliott, it's just a lot of turnover, isn't it?

Speaker 6 And the other thing is, again, we need to say, he's dealing with the biggest bit of adversity that you can in grief with, you know, Diogo Giotto.

Speaker 6 So I just think it's a very unique situation he finds himself in.

Speaker 6 But as we know, if it, as Jordan just said, if they lose these next three games, then yes, of course, the pressure's going to come on him.

Speaker 1 How do you think the Villa game will go, Barry?

Speaker 1 I don't know, is the answer, but I do know Villa's villa's record at anfield is atrocious villa's record against reigning champions away from home is atrocious but they are on a run of four wins in a row in the premier league and liverpool are on a run of four defeats in a row

Speaker 1 so

Speaker 1 i i don't know how it will go i haven't a clue but

Speaker 1 villa do have a terrible record at anfield recent record anyway i suppose since the last since matty cash had that amazing pass and then that great goal goal with his right foot and left foot, I mean, the money should be on some sort of extraordinary-headed winner for Matty Cash or something like that.

Speaker 1 So, look, that's Liverpool Villa. Palace played Brentford there into the quarterfinals as well after a 5-0 win at Grimsby.

Speaker 1 If you watch the highlights, it just looked like one team were just much better than the other one, and they were. Brentford won 4-5.
Palace hadn't won in 4 before that Grimsby game.

Speaker 1 Chelsea won 4-3 at Wolves. This Robin was a fun game.
It needed to go 3-3, then 4-3 to be a classic. But it was still like Wolves made it fun after looking, after sort of wilting in the first half.

Speaker 6 I mean, a dreadful defending. I think this is the problem with Wolves, actually.

Speaker 6 They look like they can score, you know, and they showed that against Burnley as well, you know, the last game where, you know, they possibly should have settled for a point.

Speaker 6 They probably felt like they couldn't, and then they kind of got caught and they lost.

Speaker 6 But no, just

Speaker 6 very

Speaker 6 awful, just bad defensively.

Speaker 6 But I saw a post from Steve Madley of Athletic who said it was a bizarre build-up to the game at at Molyneux. 11 changes, including four centre-backs and two win-backs now for Wolves.

Speaker 6 And then he said there was also a light and dance show to build up the atmosphere, which was not, which he says was very much at odds with the prevailing mood.

Speaker 6 You just think a Carabao Cup game when you're on a crap run and you decide to pop on a light show.

Speaker 6 Yeah, I mean, that's, that's... I'd say I'd question that.

Speaker 1 It would have to be such a good light show, wouldn't it?

Speaker 6 It'd be bloody brilliant. Like cold play

Speaker 1 to turn Michelle Jar.

Speaker 1 To turn people around. People are like, I don't want this shit.
And then suddenly I'll actually hang on a second. Hang on, Dave.
This is something else, you know?

Speaker 1 I'm up for this caraval cut, though. Then, when they end the light show for kickoff, the crowds start booing.

Speaker 1 More light show, please.

Speaker 6 Leave on masks.

Speaker 1 I mean, at the highlight of this game, I guess, Barry, was the Jamie Gittens goal.

Speaker 1 Owen says, actually, look, granted, no one likes a snitch, but Max, I need to report that Chelsea's official account has referred to Gittens' goal as a volley, categorically a half-volley, half-volley.

Speaker 1 But oh, he hit that beautifully. Well, it wasn't a half-volley.
So we've had this debate before because it bounced up quite high. That is not a half-volley.

Speaker 1 I need to watch it again. You carry on.
Yeah, so for a half-volley, ball has to be still in contact with ground, in my opinion.

Speaker 1 It certainly wasn't, but it was a brilliant strike off the outside of his right boot, fizzed past the keeper. I'll be honest, my favourite goal here, and there's

Speaker 1 just the world of football journalism is swamped at the moment with articles about the return of the long throw. Tony Pulis wrote, I think, a column for the BBC

Speaker 1 in you know, needless to say, I had the last laugh column. What a prescient signing that was to get Pulis in.
Well, he went full partridge. Uh, people used to call me a dinosaur, eh?

Speaker 1 But anyway, my favorite goal was so it was a Moscaro long throw, and then like a stone being skimmed across the lake,

Speaker 1 the ball just went from one head to another head to another head, and then uh dropped for uh David Moller Wolfa at the far post and he spanked it home. I preferred that goal to Gittens.

Speaker 1 I'm prepared to concede Gittens was the more difficult strike and the more uh visually or aesthetically pleasing. But uh for me, the the long throw that skimmed across the lake was the better goal.

Speaker 1 On the technicality, Gittin's it's bounced a couple of times, but he hits it right on a bounce, so it's still okay in the half-bolly bracket for me.

Speaker 5 Um, did anybody get like CSA vibes against or anything Chelsea? That remember that goal at Sanford Bridge?

Speaker 1 Oh, a little bit, yeah. It's the other corner, but I know what you mean, yeah.

Speaker 5 It's the other corner, yeah. That's it reminded me of that goal.
I loved it, I loved that technique because it was amazing. My only takeaway from this game was how stupid is the lap?

Speaker 1 If I'm the manager, I'm raging because but he was restoring he says look oh man

Speaker 1 he says he called it stupid and completely deserved he said after the yellow card i told him four or five times to keep calm but liam is a player that when he's inside the pitch probably he'll be playing the game for himself and he struggles to realize and to listen around him which i guess is which is quite damning for your manager to say

Speaker 1 he's selfish and stupid isn't it yeah he's a thicker yeah basically i mean the second yellow card could have argued in a red card in of itself I agree.

Speaker 6 I think both of them could have been, actually.

Speaker 5 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 It's so, I'd be, yeah, I mean, he was livid from those quotes there, Max. But you're short up front with the personnel as it is.
You're in a bit of a weird run.

Speaker 5 Generally, the last thing you need is a player you've been waiting to come back to now get himself suspended for. Is it one or three?

Speaker 1 I think it's one.

Speaker 1 He's suspended for the Spurs game on Saturday. So let's look ahead to that after we've done Spurs defeat at Newcastle.
You tweeted yesterday, Barry, or you blue-skyed, you woke Libtard.

Speaker 1 Jed Spence tying his laces is being discussed at great and tedious lengths by adults on Sky.

Speaker 1 Tune into the Guardian for Weekly tomorrow, where it'll almost certainly be discussed at even more tedious lengths by other adults. Yeah, I mean, it was, I mean, it's the story of the first goal.

Speaker 1 I mean, Newcastle deserved this. I'd watched it.
Spurs were pretty average.

Speaker 1 I thought even if the stats said they had more shots and shots on target late in the game, they got some saves out of Ramsdale.

Speaker 1 But the first goal, which is always important was basically down to jed spence tying his shoelaces for what felt like 25 minutes well i'm not sure it was but that's the narrative afterwards um newcastle had a corner uh sandro tanale was waiting to take it and about five yards away from him jed spence who had lost his boot in a while challenging for the ball in the build-up to the corner was tying his shoelace.

Speaker 1 I don't know if Jed Spence just isn't very good at tying his shoelaces,

Speaker 1 but it doesn't take me that long to tie a shoelace, put it that way. And I wouldn't say I'm brilliant at it, but

Speaker 1 how brilliant would you say? Yeah, where would he write?

Speaker 1 What's your world ranking? I don't know. I haven't a clue, but yeah.
So he was kneeling down, taking an age to tie his shoelace. I took, I think it was took him over a minute.
And then he stood up and

Speaker 1 just,

Speaker 1 did he even jog a slow jog i would say amble i would say amble an amble back towards the the mixer and while he was mid-amble tenali got the signal to take the corner sent it in fabian shar

Speaker 1 rose highest above bergvow and and thumped home aheader now i don't know if the presence of jed spence in that on the edge of that six-yard box or in that penalty area would have made any difference but the fact of the matter is he wasn't there loads of tottenham players complained to the referee, Chris Kavanagh, after the game.

Speaker 1 Thomas Frank said, I have spoken to Chris about it, and we will keep that between Chris and I.

Speaker 1 Now I really want to know what was said because he's made what I'm certain was a very banal conversation between him and Chris Kavanagh sound incredibly interesting.

Speaker 1 Sound like Frost Nixon.

Speaker 6 A bit of insight, actually. Thomas Frank goes to speak to the referee after every single game, no matter what happens.
So he's quite late to interviews post-match.

Speaker 1 In a way, that's good, because it's annoying when you get feedback from a boss when you haven't heard from them for like 25 years. And they go, I hated that bit you did.

Speaker 1 And you go, well, what about all the good bits I've done?

Speaker 1 I'm wondering who you could be talking about, Max.

Speaker 6 You are speaking my language.

Speaker 6 When you get that, when you see your phone, you think, oh, no, it's never good news.

Speaker 1 Never good news. Never good.

Speaker 1 But if Thomas Frank always goes in. Every single time.

Speaker 1 Unless Unless he always says they've been shit, you know, then at least he's, you know, he's building up that. He's building up like that's good management, if you ask me.

Speaker 1 Not a lot to make out of this game. Voltamato scored another header.
It was bad goalkeeping. But look, Spurs Chelsea now is a is a really big game, Jordan, for both these teams, actually.

Speaker 5 Well, if the Guardian listeners remember, I actually had Totten finish third in my predicted

Speaker 5 standing. Stops the count.
Stops the count.

Speaker 5 And I'm an Arsenal fan, so this is not something I want to happen.

Speaker 5 I think for Tottenham's point of view, if they have ambitions on trying to get a Champions League spot, I think they have to take advantage of beating a Chelsea team that, as I mentioned earlier, on, have been a little bit up and down all over the place, don't have any particularly

Speaker 5 great forwards in particularly good form at the moment as well. And I think it's an opportunity for Spurs to really assert themselves as one of those key Champions League chasing sides.
For Chelsea,

Speaker 5 Yeah, I mean, those that did say at the start of the season, they were in the title race.

Speaker 1 This is the sort of game they need to win if they do have any lingering any lingering feelings of of of being in that race um i think it'll end up a draw i don't think it's the worst result for for either side there is a sense of disquiet at the total hotspur stadium rubbing i guess because most of spurs points have come away from home that you know you you go to all the home games you're sort of a bit sad to see another disappointing defeat but

Speaker 1 i feel like they're attacking the the attackers they brought in none of them have really part of kudos aside none of them have really clicked i think yeah it's it's it's a tricky one, isn't it?

Speaker 6 Because

Speaker 6 clearly, the Premier League season last year was a total disaster, wasn't it?

Speaker 6 And you've got to think that actually with this new era and Tony Pulis being brought back to do columns for the BBC, that Thomas Frank is the perfect custodian for this, really.

Speaker 6 Yeah, I get your point. I think it is, it's

Speaker 6 the feeling is very much if you're a season ticket holder and you're not so good at home and better away.

Speaker 6 I think it gets amplified, definitely.

Speaker 6 And maybe they haven't been so good, but beat chelsea it'll all be is this at the total hotspur stadium yes yeah because this was the the scene of that absolutely mental game the high line yes yeah the amazing nine men high line you'll never see anything like that again years ago yeah yeah

Speaker 1 that was when the wheels fell off actually that was actually the wheels completely falling off the and drain at spurs um uh newcastle obviously beat spurs uh go to west ham Is that on Sunday, Robin?

Speaker 6 Yes, I'll be there.

Speaker 1 No, you're going. Do you think you'll be the only person left in the stadium?

Speaker 6 Well, I might be the only one left in the stands. I'm just thinking, is there set to be another mutiny?

Speaker 6 Do you remember that one a few years ago when West Ham was it a Benz Burnley and Mark Noble was kind of there, you know, trying to calm things down?

Speaker 6 He might have to come down from the because he's a sporting director now. So I'm just thinking, yeah,

Speaker 6 this could be a real,

Speaker 6 I mean, shit show basically, couldn't it?

Speaker 6 It's just been terrible, haven't they?

Speaker 1 Newcastle haven't won away from home this season um i think that might change that's all i'm gonna say on sunday yeah new no does need to start winning games brendan rogers is you know is sort of wandering about now isn't he uh wolves who lost to chelsea they go to fulham uh at the weekend fulham are through to the quarter finals they beat wickham on penalties josh king scored an absolute beauty uh sort of not quite as good as zola but still a backhill volley from a corner and then henri leconte saved lots of wickham's penalties may not have been henri leconte but it's what it sounded like to me i just i'm starting to feel a bit sorry for Wolves because the last two matches have been home games where they've started really badly.

Speaker 1 The crowd have massively got on their back. Then they've made this rousing comeback, got the crowd on side and lost both games ultimately.
So

Speaker 1 I'm still convinced there's something there that can be salvaged. And I'm still not convinced Wolves are the worst team in the Premier League.
But they really need to win this game.

Speaker 1 But they're playing a Fulham side who have lost four in a row. And I think if Fulham were to lose this, you know, people at Craven Cottage might start choking on their olivestones and hummus.

Speaker 1 All right, that'll do for part one. Part two, we'll begin at the end.

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Speaker 1 Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. In the break, Robin, you can tell us all because it was funny

Speaker 1 about West Ham.

Speaker 6 Yeah, no, apologies. I don't know who posted this, but it just caught my attention that Jared Bowen is like the only human being in a Muppets film, which I thought was beautifully observed.

Speaker 1 Anyway, to the Emirates. Dan says have Arsenal become too reliant on goals from open play.
They beat Brighton 2-0, two goals in the second half from Manieri and Saka.

Speaker 1 Jordan Brighton started the game quite well. Actually, Arsenal probably lucky to get a clean sheet in this game, but it's still a clean sheet.

Speaker 1 You know, Dowman started.

Speaker 1 It's all looking quite rosy for your lot, isn't it?

Speaker 5 3-0 down, Max. We were very lucky in that first 15 minutes.

Speaker 5 But yeah, we're on a little bit of luck, but it is looking good. Clean sheets, Galore.
for the great Arsenal. Dowman got some good minutes and impressed once again.

Speaker 5 Ranieri's finish, I thought, was neat and tidy and is a nice, nice strike.

Speaker 5 I was really happy for him because he's gone from when Saka was out injured last season to being like the hot guy to kind of being dropped second half of the season.

Speaker 5 I know he signed his contract in the summer, but I think to keep him involved and him scoring goals just makes him feel like he is a part of this.

Speaker 5 Um, because he is, he is one of the young players that is a part of this journey. So I'm glad that he got minutes and a goal.
I thought there was one

Speaker 5 or two more dropping of players than I would have liked. I thought I was wide a little bit at the top at the start of the game.

Speaker 1 I won't lie.

Speaker 5 I thought it was slightly weaker than I would have liked. But Mikhail Arteta's got the team in the groove.

Speaker 5 Brighton, I know an easy team to get past. Now, record against Brighton in the last few years isn't great, especially at the Emirates.
So yeah, to kind of get past them with that team,

Speaker 5 I thought was very impressive as well. My boy Marino, who I love,

Speaker 5 I love Mickey Mourinho. That flick to set up that

Speaker 5 second goal, I think it was,

Speaker 5 was just delicious um and lewis kelly involved in that as well so yeah it's all looking good for arsenal we're going to do the quad well i was about to ask um sort of how how comfortable does it sit with you that a lot of people are now just saying arsenal have basically won the league not comfortable at all because anybody from here can mess it up into arsenal fc trust me um i think we just got to focus on ourselves i think it's a cliche of course but i think also just got to just block out the noise of what's happening with chelsea city and Liverpool and just focus on doing what they're doing and just build the buffer up.

Speaker 5 Liverpool will win games again. City will go on a run again.
Chelsea will get better.

Speaker 5 We've just got to make sure that by the time that happens, we've got enough of a buffer and a gap that it doesn't really matter when our dip comes because we will have a dip.

Speaker 5 We will have a dip for sure. But right now, we just look so impregnable at the back and able to score across the board up top.
Yeah, it's looking worryingly good for us at the moment.

Speaker 1 You have an Arsenal podcast, John. What's it called? JJB's Hot Takes?

Speaker 5 Well, not quite.

Speaker 5 That was my vote, but it got outvoted. Because the world needs another Arsenal podcast, doesn't it?

Speaker 5 The loose cannons, me and a couple of friends, Turkish and James, we like to think we're the balanced Arsenal fans. We're not too

Speaker 5 in the league. Ah, sap the manager, get him out.
It's more considered. So go check it out on YouTube and all of your podcast platforms.

Speaker 1 All right, cool.

Speaker 1 Brighton, by the way, home to Leeds this weekend. Man City 1-3-1 at Swansea.

Speaker 1 There was a bit of hope, wasn't there, Robin, that this could be the big upset.

Speaker 6 Yeah, yeah. And actually, with the current guys of Manchester City, they're not in the kind of

Speaker 6 form that they were in last season where you think, oh, this could happen. It could have happened.
But

Speaker 6 it was a great strike, wasn't it? By Franco. I thought, actually, that was my favourite one.
That was my favourite one. It was kind of looping and then in off the post.

Speaker 6 It was very aesthetically pleasing. And then, yeah, I mean, just Man City just showed their

Speaker 6 depth. You know, Doku had a big deflection from Doku, Marmouche with a, with a, absolutely leathered it and a turkey as well.

Speaker 6 So, I mean, it was fairly comfortable in the end, but it just shows just that they are still a little bit vulnerable, Manchester City.

Speaker 6 And yeah, really looking forward to seeing their game against Bournemouth.

Speaker 5 I think it's important, though, that they did have goal scorers that weren't Haaland.

Speaker 5 We know they've got lots of great attackers, but my reasoning for having Liverpool was a bigger contender to our challenge than City was that for all the hot form that Haaland's in, he seems to be the only person scoring goals at City.

Speaker 5 When he doesn't score, they don't seem to win games. So I think this was a good game for them to not play him and have multiple other attackers hit in the back of the net.

Speaker 1 You mentioned it, Robin. Man City Bournemouth, Barry, which is fascinating, actually.
Yeah, it should be a really good game.

Speaker 1 My only concern about it is Manchester City have won all eight of their Premier League home games against Bournemouth.

Speaker 1 Bournemouth, I think, have only beaten City once in the Premier League in 16 meetings.

Speaker 1 Now, I don't know how much you can read into these historical records, and they probably shouldn't make any difference, but they do for some reason or other. I'm not sure why.
Bournemouth

Speaker 1 just have been brilliant so far this season. City have been a bit up and down.
Erling Harland is obviously on a

Speaker 1 one-game goal drought.

Speaker 1 So I suspect he may rectify that situation on

Speaker 1 Sunday. I saw on the BBC website actually, Eli Croupi is looking to score in his fourth consecutive Premier League game for Bournemouth.

Speaker 1 And if he did score against City, he would become the fourth teenager in Premier League history to score in four or more consecutive games. Can you name the other three?

Speaker 1 Rooney?

Speaker 6 Nope. Owen?

Speaker 1 Nope.

Speaker 1 Giggs? Nope. Are any of them easy?

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Shearer? Shearer? Nope. Ronaldo? No.

Speaker 1 Two of them are scousers,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 one of them played for Liverpool, but is not English. Frannie Jeffers.

Speaker 1 Yes. Oh.

Speaker 1 Nice sign.

Speaker 1 Thanks so much.

Speaker 1 Put us out of our misery. Robbie Fowler, Frannie Jeffers, and Nick Nelkap.
Ah, interesting. Thank you, Barry.
I enjoyed that little quits.

Speaker 1 Jordan, you did an interview with Tyler Adams about the World Cup. It was interesting.
Tell us about it.

Speaker 5 Yes, I sat down with the US men's captain and it was interesting because I've been trying to get an interview with him for a little while because as is my remit at Channel 4 News, I'm a news sports journalist.

Speaker 5 So where the two crossover and he's someone's going to be at the center of what's going to be the biggest event next year at the World Cup. And we're seeing what's happening beyond

Speaker 5 the football, obviously, in that country. I thought we could try to sit down with him and get his thoughts on leading out his nation.
We spoke about a number of things.

Speaker 5 It was really interesting on diversity and how he feels the diversity of the us squad is a massive part of their is a massive strength of theirs and why they he thinks they can go far in the competition and i asked him basically you know okay that's all well and good but the president of your country actually is kind of rowing back a little bit on the whole idea of dei so how's that going to work out um

Speaker 5 he spoke a little bit about um pay to play i don't know if you guys know what pay to play in the states is it's it's to simplify a very simple system in the states whereby parents have to to pay to get their kids to play soccer outside of school

Speaker 5 for clubs. Obviously here, it's not the same system.

Speaker 5 But I wanted to ask him about that because I feel it makes the sport in the US a lot more middle class and it rules out a whole generation of young boys and girls to play soccer in the States.

Speaker 5 And I don't think it's a good thing. So I've got his thoughts on that.

Speaker 5 We spoke about that awkward trophy lift from Donald Trump and Rhys James that moment the club World Cup final and asked him, you know, how long he would give it before he would wait for Donald Trump to exit the stage and not photobomb his big moment should they become world champions.

Speaker 5 But I just find a very articulate, interesting young guy that has some thoughts on things beyond football.

Speaker 5 And I think, as we all know, in this country, it's very difficult to get athletes in the UK, in my opinion, to really speak on issues beyond their game with any particular intellect in my opinion.

Speaker 5 And that might be because they don't really have the intellect, or it might be because they don't want to speak about wider things.

Speaker 5 But a lot of the US-based athletes are very interesting when it comes to speaking about things beyond sports. So I found him interesting.

Speaker 5 And yeah, hopefully he'll get to the World Cup fit and healthy to lead Ice Nation on home soil.

Speaker 1 Just on Pep and Set Pieces, you know, he did some good stuff in the presser talking about Sean Deish,

Speaker 1 you know, and so, so good.

Speaker 1 He was, in fact, so, so good about Daish, Alan Dice, Pulis. You know, I remember a long time ago with Daish, Bernie were an incredible threat in long balls, second balls.

Speaker 1 Daish is one of the best by far in these kind of aspects. It's not new.
Or Sam Allardyce, so I remember when I was not here, Stoke City. Do you remember Stoke City when they made the throws?

Speaker 1 It happened in that time. And he went on and on.
But on the subject of long throws, IFAB and are looking at how long it takes, Barry.

Speaker 1 It took Brentford 10 minutes to take nine throws against Liverpool, which actually I'm in fully admiration.

Speaker 1 for that.

Speaker 1 But ifab have discussed the possibility of limiting how long a player can spend on a throw-in. They want the ball to stay and play.
I kind of get it.

Speaker 1 According to stats performed, there were more than twice as many long throws in the Premier League the opening weeks of this season compared with last season as a whole, which is a massive jump, isn't it?

Speaker 1 Do you care, or would you like to see a big countdown while Michael Coyote is, you know, arching his back? Personally, I don't care. I've never watched someone...

Speaker 1 dry the ball with a towel and wait for everyone to get in position and then take their

Speaker 1 big long run up and launch the ball trebuchet style into the box. I've never found myself going, oh, this is a waste of time.
I wish you'd get on with it.

Speaker 1 I probably would if it was happening against my team and they were losing and there wasn't long left.

Speaker 1 But I would suggest there are far more pressing issues ifab should be turning their attention to in terms of the laws of the game than how long it takes somebody to take a throw in. I mean,

Speaker 1 if it gets to a point where Michael Coyote is

Speaker 1 taking eight minutes to take a throw, then yes, I guess

Speaker 1 I think it should probably be left up to individual referees' discretion so that they can apply the common sense we all want, but then we also want consistency, and obviously you cannot have both.

Speaker 1 I think it should be left to individual referees' discretion. If they think someone is taking the piss, then get them to hurry up.
Otherwise, I think it's fine. But ifab, sort out the handball loss,

Speaker 1 then preach worrying. Preach Barry.

Speaker 1 Preach. One of the game in the Carabao.
Cardiff City 1-2-1 at Wrexham, which is, you know, big in Wales, bragging rights terms.

Speaker 1 Cardiff doing really well in League One, Wrexham doing okay in the championship. I actually watched this game.
I was hugely impressed with Cardiff. They absolutely massacred Wrexham in the first half.

Speaker 1 But they only had a 1-0 lead at halftime. This should have been three or four up at least.
Reuben Caldwell, brilliant player, far too good for League One.

Speaker 1 I'm basing this on the evidence of one 45-minute performance.

Speaker 1 Yeah, Kiefer Moore scored against his former club, Cardiff, with a header shortly after half-time, but Cardiff won it in the end and deservedly so. Very impressed by them.

Speaker 1 Yeah, they're the only non-Premier League sides left in the competition. Four more games we haven't talked about.

Speaker 1 Forest Man United, Brighton Leads, Fulham Wolves, Sunday and Everton, which is on Monday night. Robin, it is worth a word on Forest Man United because that is all sorts of fun.

Speaker 1 Whatever happens, it will be, you know, there'll be fun stories off the back of it.

Speaker 6 Oh, yeah, yeah. Now Sean Dice is back, especially.
Yeah, I mean, this is the again, we're kind of Manchester United back, and I think this will be this will be another test.

Speaker 6 Although, again, if they win, they'll still say, well, people will say, well, Forest aren't in great, great shape, although they look slightly better than they did, although not a great result against Bournemouth at the weekend.

Speaker 6 So, no, no, this should be fun. Yeah, I'm very scared that Manchester United are, in fact, looking quite good.
A little bit concerned by that.

Speaker 6 I'm just on the ifab thing, do you think they'll apply it to tying the laces as well?

Speaker 1 You will add two and a half minutes because if you do them really well, you know, who knows? Maybe Jed Spence was ambling slowly because he just thought, wow,

Speaker 1 my feet are so ensconced in this boot. I've done this so well.
Oh, Newcastle have scored. Anyway, that'll do for part two.
Part three, we go to the jazz bar, and Ewan Murray is standing by.

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Speaker 1 Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Speaker 1 Let's talk to our Scottish football correspondent, Ewan Murray. Hey, you had a busy week, Ewan?

Speaker 16 Yes, I've had quite a week, Max. That's fair to say.

Speaker 1 Yes, how are you?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I'm all right, thanks. Let's start with Celtic then.
They beat Fulkirk last night, 4-0, the Martin O'Neill effect. But let's go back to the start of the week.
Brendan Rogers resigns.

Speaker 1 This is an incredible statement from principal shareholder Dermot desmond um eviscerating brendan rogers i just wondered how you

Speaker 16 how what what you felt about what happened then uh where to begin i mean i mean the most remarkable thing is that mark l'neal's return to the celtic dugout aged 73 is not the most remarkable thing because otherwise that would be

Speaker 16 that would be quite stunning i mean i i've never seen anything like that anything like this in in football i think

Speaker 16 Had Brendan Rodgers resigned on Monday, they'd just lost 3-1 to hearts. They're eight points behind in the league.

Speaker 16 Had he resigned, and the club had said, you know, we were aligned differently in terms of how we saw the club going.

Speaker 16 Brendan was going to leave in the summer anyway, and we thought it was better to expedite that process, something like that.

Speaker 16 Or even actually, the initial statement the club put out, which was kind of

Speaker 16 mundane enough. I think people would have said fine and got on with stuff.
But Dermot Desmond's statement

Speaker 16 put out in the club's website within 15 minutes of the resignation being announced was extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary. I think it was overly personal, overly spiteful.

Speaker 16 I think, whatever you think of Brendan Rogers, he wanted the best for Celtic.

Speaker 16 And if he was as self-serving, I'm using Dermot Desmond's words, as Dermot Desmond had said, he could have resigned when the transfer window closed, a failed transfer window.

Speaker 16 He could have resigned at that point, been a martyr with supporters and taken a lot of the acclaim. He didn't do that.
He worked on.

Speaker 16 So we couldn't get through it, but I find it hard to square a lot of the language that Dermot Desmond used. And I think it was,

Speaker 16 well, I can't be too faced, well, journalistically, it was fantastic.

Speaker 16 I think it was a bad look for Dermot Desmond and Celtic.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and where do the fans, you know, are the fans on Team Rogers or Team Desmond?

Speaker 16 That's interesting because the fans have been squarely set against Dermot and the board for quite a number of months.

Speaker 16 And I think also there was a growing sense among supporters that the Brendan Rodgers element wasn't working and that there had to be a change in the dugout.

Speaker 16 But the fans, I think, also object to the language used towards him by Dermic Desmond because, in their eyes, Dermic Desmond and the board are deflecting from their own failings.

Speaker 16 And I think this is a long-term thing with Celtic. I think the board and the management of the club don't believe they do much wrong.
They think

Speaker 16 the statement says it, you know, with a great success over 20 years, etc., etc. Well, that's true in a domestic context, but there's been a lot of embarrassing European episodes.

Speaker 16 And it's not just Brendan Rogers, it's been Brendan Rogers twice, Anch Plas de Coglu, Neil Lennon, and Ronnie Dyla as all managers who have been critical of the transfer processes at the club.

Speaker 16 So there's a bigger picture there that the fans are, I think, rightly cognizant of.

Speaker 16 And while not completely admonishing Brendan Rogers from blame, I think David Desmond's statement, you know, irritated those fans even further.

Speaker 1 Bringing Martin O'Neill in is a masterstroke, though, isn't it?

Speaker 1 Or is it? I mean, it feels like, it feels just for vibes, right? Just hearing him speak after the game yesterday.

Speaker 1 And, you know, he's obviously, he's sort of like fancy-free and like really open as a manager going, oh, they were good. This was fine.
You know, it just feels nice.

Speaker 1 Maybe it's just a nostalgia for everyone just hearing Martin O'Neill.

Speaker 16 I agree. And he's the youngest 73-year-old you'll ever see.
He does not look or sound right that age. I mean, this is another fascinating element to this.
Martin O'Neal has been adamant.

Speaker 16 This is interim. This is short-term.
I'm only holding the fort. But I know that privately, 100% Martin O'Neal will believe he can still manage Celtic on a long-term basis.

Speaker 1 That's how he thinks.

Speaker 16 And if he beat, you know, they play Rangers in a week cup semi-final on Sunday, he's just seen off Falker 4-0.

Speaker 16 If they go and hammer Rangers at Hamden, I'm not saying they will or they won't, but it's possible. You know, is there this weight of support behind Martin O'Neal? Because the fans love him.

Speaker 16 The players, well, the immediate reaction has been a positive one. Does there become a campaign to get him the job? It's really interesting.

Speaker 1 Martin O'Neill is a regular on the Jim White Show and Talksport on Monday mornings.

Speaker 1 and it's quite funny because he's very opinionated and some of his best riffs are being incredibly bitter about the manner in which he was dismissed from uh nottingham forest being incredibly bitter about the manner in which he was dismissed from aston villa railing against uh modern newfangled jargon like xg and uh you know heat maps and all that stuff but he was on on this monday morning talking up Hartz's chances of winning the Scottish Premiership.

Speaker 1 And then, when I heard later on that he'd been appointed interim manager, I went, You old dog, you never mentioned that this morning. But apparently, he did not know.

Speaker 1 So, the call the call came after the show had finished at one o'clock.

Speaker 16 He got a call at five o'clock when he was in the King's Road in London. I mean, that is an example of how utterly mad and manic this whole thing was.

Speaker 16 And he made it, I think it. I mean, there's no chance if he knew he had even the slightest opportunity of going back into Celtic, that he would have

Speaker 16 talked up Hart's chances of winning the league and also criticised Celtic. He said they lacked physicality, I think he said, in the same show.
So that's the example of how

Speaker 16 weird and wonderful the situation was.

Speaker 16 My favourite example of the kind of stuff you speak about, Barry, is Keith Andrews was obviously very critical of Martin when he was the Republic of Ireland manager.

Speaker 16 And I knew this would happen as soon as Keith Andrews got the job at Brentford, where he seems to be doing very well, Martin took great delight in saying, well, you might see how difficult it is when you're not sitting in a pundit's chair and you have to be the manager.

Speaker 16 He'd been waiting on that for umpteen years and he finally got the chance.

Speaker 1 I really like Martin O'Neil. So do I.

Speaker 1 Incredibly bitter man.

Speaker 1 He really knows how to hold a grudge.

Speaker 16 I get on well with him, but I get on well with him because he pulled me up umpteen years later over something I had written.

Speaker 16 And I was at a dinner and he and he said to the organiser of of the dinner, tell you and Murray I want to speak to him. And I thought, right, this can't be, this was years removed.

Speaker 16 It was when he was a public island manager, I'd written something. And I went up to see him and he said, yeah.
And he reeled off pretty much word for word what I'd written six or seven years before.

Speaker 16 And he said,

Speaker 16 and what he did was, he said, look, he said, go back and read it and take my number and give me a phone and you can see what you think.

Speaker 1 So I

Speaker 16 and then he referred to something else I'd written afterwards, which I certainly didn't remember.

Speaker 1 I was like, oh,

Speaker 1 anyway, I like him.

Speaker 16 He was self-deprecating about it. And he said that when he was the island manager, he used to spend too much time.
He had too much time in his hands. He used to read everything, etc., etc.

Speaker 16 But we get on well now. But that was my introduction to the world of Martin O'Neill.

Speaker 1 That's so funny. Cabin Ozzy says, that's a Hearts fan.
Which Celtic appointment would you fear the most? So would you fear like the O'Neill bandwagon, the O'Neill train, or Kieran McKenna?

Speaker 1 Andrew Postakoglu mentioned, of course, Craig Bellamy mentioned, Robbie Keane mentioned?

Speaker 16 Yeah, I don't think Posta Coglu will happen.

Speaker 16 I don't think Celtic were entirely amused by the circumstances by which he went to Spurs. I'd be surprised at this point if that happens.
McKenna is clearly possible. They've liked him for a while.

Speaker 16 I think he has to balance, obviously, will he get a decent Premier League job from Ipswich at this point? And I don't know. Or is he better served going to Celtic?

Speaker 16 But it hasn't been knocked out the park or you know, dismissed yet, which makes me think he at least has a notion to think about it.

Speaker 16 Bellamy, I would be surprised, and also he seems to have decent fish to fry with a World Cup on the horizon.

Speaker 16 To answer the question, O'Neill probably is the one as an opposition fan you would fear, even though it's 20 years removed from a managing Celtic.

Speaker 16 He knows the environment, he will get so many people behind him, he could get the club going quite quickly.

Speaker 16 So, I think probably he would be the one, not to dismiss McKenna, who's clearly a very, very fine coach. You would be wary of what Martin O'Neill could do with Celtic.

Speaker 1 I was interested, June, to see that Robbie Keene was linked with the job because Celtic fans have a famous kinship with Palestinians. Keen managed Maccabee Tel Aviv.

Speaker 1 How would that go down if he was appointed?

Speaker 16 Yeah, I'm conscious not to generalise, but there's an element of the Celtic support to whom that would be a big problem. Yes,

Speaker 16 that is an element.

Speaker 16 Whether the Celtic board would care about that and whether I am overstating that, maybe I am. But that is a factor in all of this.

Speaker 16 I also think, I don't know how to be be semi-respectful, if it wasn't Robbie Keene, I think if you looked at his career so far, would you think he's qualified to manage Celtic? I'm not sure you would.

Speaker 1 Let's talk about Rangers. Danny Roll is in as manager, having previously rolled himself out.
Thank you, Producer Joel. They beat Kamanik at the weekend 3-1, his first win.
How was he?

Speaker 1 I was quite impressed when he went into the crowd when they lost that game and he sort of said, Yeah, you know, I'm with you kind of thing.

Speaker 1 Have you been impressed with how he's carried himself so far?

Speaker 16 Yeah, although I think we've seen in recent times that rangers managers can carry themselves it's getting results that's a bit more of a problem of course but he listen he's worked at by munich he's worked with the german the german national team he's clearly no clown he knows what he's doing in coaching circles it it's very early they were horrendous in that european game last week although he was just in the door um they beat komarnuk quite comfortably on sunday which i would argue they should do and him's at a penalty last night which would have made that game one each and probably the mood would be slightly slightly different i think rangers fans will get behind rule i think it's unfair to compare him to Russell Martin.

Speaker 16 And listen, he faces Celtic in this semi-final on Sunday. And as I said, Celtic could beat Rangers quite easily.
Rangers could beat Celtic as well. We're in that kind of situation.

Speaker 16 I wouldn't call a clear favourite in that game. And if he beats Celtic in his third game in charge, he's won himself an amazing amount of breathing space.

Speaker 1 Yeah, what about Harts? Drew last night.

Speaker 1 Had been...

Speaker 1 What, a lot? How many wins? It was six wins on the spin until last night.

Speaker 1 But I guess when you're on this roll and you're going well and you drop any points, you must think, oh, come on, guys, because the hope-a good mate of mine is a Hartz fan.

Speaker 1 He's like, I can't deal with this hope, like it's been crushed before.

Speaker 16 Yeah, I uh, sorry, it's got to be Rules fourth game in charge, not third, third domestic game.

Speaker 1 Um, that's all right, that's all right.

Speaker 16 I don't agree with you, mate, because I have I think I have pretty much seen and heard and sampled all with hearts over decades.

Speaker 16 But I'm enjoying this, I think you roll with it, I think, I think it's great fun, and I think with what's going on there, there's reason to think it will get better.

Speaker 16 So, I'm not particularly setting myself up for the disappointment, I'm enjoying the ride. Um, Last night was a brilliant game, which Hartz could have won and Hartz could have lost.

Speaker 16 And actually, a point in Paisley is not a terrible outcome. They played Dundee at home on Saturday.
Dundee United at home the following week. If they get six points from there,

Speaker 16 this is if they're in a terrific position. But there's an upwardly mobile, exciting feeling around Harts, which I think is unavoidable despite drawing 2-2 at Simon.

Speaker 1 Finally, Aberdeen have brought in Ludz Fannenstiel as a sporting director. His CV is quite remarkable.
He once stole a penguin. He has spent 101 days in a Singaporean jail,

Speaker 1 accused of match fixing, not penguin theft related. He's modelled for Armani.

Speaker 1 It's just a great story, isn't it, Ewan?

Speaker 16 I thought you were going to say max fixing there.

Speaker 1 What penalty? What penalty? Yes, well, that's a different thing, isn't it?

Speaker 16 What penalty would that carry?

Speaker 1 Oh, enormous. Absolutely enormous penalties for max fixing.
It's how I got this gig.

Speaker 16 Yeah, but this guy's he seems to be highly rated.

Speaker 16 I'm maybe needlessly cynical. When someone like that arrives in Scotland from Germany, I think, why? Why are you not in the Bundesliga or the second tier in Germany?

Speaker 16 Anyway, yeah, he's a colourful character. I think it, you know, we'll all know he's around.
Aberdeen have had a bad start to the season, but

Speaker 16 one at Kilmarnock won 0 last night, which felt like a big result. And maybe the manager, Jimmy Talleen, will benefit from that support.
I mean, it's amazing.

Speaker 16 A year ago now, I was on here talking about Aberdeen's rampaging start to the season and how they were or were they not going to be challengers for the for the Scottish top flight and they've been in look at relegation candidates for much of this one so yeah nothing stays the same up here.

Speaker 1 Can't help but feel Max you glossed over the most interesting part of his CV there.

Speaker 1 Theft theft of a penguin was an actual penguin or a chocolate bar of the same name.

Speaker 1 Do you have the details? I'm looking up his penguin theft.

Speaker 16 No, I must admit, I assumed it was was a legitimate live penguin.

Speaker 16 Maybe it is a biscuit.

Speaker 16 No one would know if he stole a biscuit, would they?

Speaker 1 Well, I don't think it would be as big a story. But

Speaker 1 we'll dig into where he stole a penguin from. We should try and get him on.

Speaker 1 He was on loan to Bradford Park Avenue and was declared three times, dead three times on the pitch after his lungs collapsed following a collision.

Speaker 1 So that's also you know, another interesting part of his life. Anyway, look, we'll do more on Lud's Plan and Shield for certain.
But thank you, Ewan. Appreciate your time.

Speaker 1 I think I'll need to go and find this guy.

Speaker 16 He's put this in my head now. Yes.

Speaker 1 Absolutely should. Cheers, Ewan.
Just a bit of AOB. On the subject of divorced Belgians, we asked to get some divorced Belgians to email in.
Actually, the cupboard is pretty bare.

Speaker 1 David says, hello, I'm friends with a divorced Belgian, but she doesn't listen to Football Weekly. And he says, Max Berry and the team, I'm a first-time writer.

Speaker 1 I have listened since the 2007 glory years, though I'm not from Belgium. I have been to Bruges and centre parks there, enjoyed Belgian beers and an episode of Poirot.

Speaker 1 I didn't even write in when I had a vasectomy, but felt the time was now to write. And I got married in 2008.
No blessings from Barry in those days. I was happily divorced earlier this year.

Speaker 1 I can now say that the Football Weekly podcast has been a longer constant in my life than marriage.

Speaker 1 To paraphrase the old saying, you can change your wife, you can change your religion, you can change your politics, but you cannot change your football podcast. Thanks all from Andy Johnson.

Speaker 1 Presumably not this one. Finally, Krista writes, and she sent a lovely video on Instagram.
Hi, Max. Hi, Barry.

Speaker 1 My partner, Graham Smirthwaite, who hails from lovely England but lives here in the States, listens to your show religiously. We're getting married on October the 19th.

Speaker 1 So sorry we're a little late, Krista. I know the only gift he would want and would surprise him the most would be a shout-out from you and Barry.

Speaker 1 I'm not sure how many shows you've recorded just yet, but if you could throw him a shout-out, I'd be deeply grateful. She said in the video, Yeah, he's a super fan.
He loves Mrs.

Speaker 1 Rushton's predictions. The first, one of the first things he ever told her about on a date was the video in the bar, Barry, of me slapping the chair.

Speaker 1 So, Lord knows why you stayed on past that conversation, Krista. But you did.
First thing she bought him was a mug of me, this mug of me slapping the chair. Here it is.

Speaker 1 And he drinks his coffee from it every morning. So, look, Graham, we love people like you.
Thank you for listening to this podcast. And many congratulations.

Speaker 1 It was an incredibly nice video from Krista. And sadly, we didn't see it in time for the wedding.

Speaker 1 I'm putting that to blame for that squarely. Your door, Max.
Graham is still struggling to come to terms with Instagram messaging and all that.

Speaker 1 It was such a nice message, so I'm really sad we didn't get to wish them well before the big day so she could show it at the wedding. And I hope it didn't ruin the occasion of Krista's wedding.

Speaker 1 I hope she wasn't suffering from anxiety or anything because we let her down. Imagine if that ruined her wedding.
I mean, you've got to hope.

Speaker 1 No, I'm not dancing. There's something missing.
But I can tell from just from the evidence of that video alone, Graham is doing very well for himself. So

Speaker 1 don't fuck it up, Graham. Yeah, there you are.
It's a lovely message to you and to everyone else out there. Don't fuck it up.
And that'll do for today. Thanks, everybody.
Thank you, Jordan.

Speaker 1 Cheers, mate. Thank you, Robin.
Thanks, Max. Thank you, Barry.
Thank you. But the weekly is produced by Joel Grove.
Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens. We'll be back on Monday.

Speaker 1 This is The Guardian.

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