The Midweek Debate: Inside Deadline Day & Man United’s Striker Crisis!
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Hello and welcome to a new edition of the Manchester is Red podcast. This podcast is going to be called the midweek debate and it's going to be exactly what it says on the tin. We're going to debate certain topics around Manchester United and it's going to be published during the week.

as you might have guessed. My name is Stephen Rylston. I'm joined by Tyrone Marshall. You might be relieved that we haven't been killed off. You might be disappointed, but we're here in the new studio to record this podcast. How are you, Ty? I'm good. Thank you, Stephen. I'm good. Yeah, I wanted to call it the midweek pint, actually, but that got vetoed pretty quickly by an editor who saw through that. And maybe it's for the best. It's 11 a.m. in the morning. I've had a couple already, to be honest. So if we were sat here drinking again, that'd be...

Feeling pretty rough come lunchtime. Peroni with your cornflakes? It was, mate. Yeah, yeah. It was your Tuesday, isn't it? Fair enough. It's usually vodka is my typical before I start the day. So as I've said, Ty, we're going to focus on... We're going to get sponsorship by Peroni. If anyone's listening at Peroni, then we can quickly change it to the midweek pints if you want to supply us with a few bottles. You can't disrespect our sponsor, which has been inserted in the intro of this episode.

We have got a new sponsor. It is NordVPN. I don't think there's much crossover between NordVPN and Peroni. You can't get smashed on NordVPN, unfortunately. So we're going to focus in on certain aspects around the club. And it's obvious to start with the transfer window, isn't it? It was deadline day yesterday. I've been using the term woke nonsense a lot. I think that's irritated Samuel a bit. But it is woke nonsense that it was in February the 3rd, wasn't it? I mean, it's not the January window. I'm not sure that's woke.

Well, it was to unify all the divisions, wasn't it? I've never heard it with a transfer deadline before, but yeah, we can live with it. But yeah, I mean, we did, I had this chat with Samuel the other week, actually, or last week about the deadline date. I don't understand why it was for

February the 3rd when January the 31st was on a Friday well if the 31st is on a weekend then fair enough but when it's on a Friday I don't I don't really understand that it was supposed to unify I mean all the European divisions but then the Dutch division they're transferring the shirts tomorrow oh sorry today as we're recording it on Tuesday so um terrible molasses still yet to be confirmed we'll get into that I presume but what was the point then if the Netherlands have just got their

Well, it's like when the Premier League changed the summer window the other week to the other week, the other year, rather, to be like the Friday before the start of the season. And then the rest of Europe didn't and just took advantage of it. And everyone complained about it. I don't know. I don't know what the reasons are, to be honest. Right. So United didn't sang a striker. Let's get into it. Rasmus Hoyland, Joshua Xerxe have 11 goals between them this season.

we've been banging our heads against the wall watching them because they've just looked so toothless in attack. Yes, United haven't created enough chances, but the goal scorer simply haven't done enough. Mateta, for example, he's got two more goals than both of them this season. And he dances to Vega boys, boom, boom, boom, when he scores. What a guy. He's a proper Barkley striker, isn't he? The fact he talks his shirt in as well. I mean, he's so old school. I love him. I was surprised he didn't take a striker. We've got to debate it because, I mean, the money's been tight. They could have done something. Yeah.

Matthias Tell was an option, wasn't he? A bit of a loan fee going on there. He's eventually joined Tottenham, but I'm not convinced he was the solution. Well, it depends what you're looking for for a solution because essentially what you're looking for is someone who's better than what they've got and...

I don't want to say it's hard. Press not to be better than what they've got. But let's be honest, Holland and Xerxes are having a disastrous season. So I'm losing count of this stat now, but I think it's 20. Holland's failed to score in 25 of 30 games this season. Xerxes failed to score in 31 of 34. I mean, hopeless, isn't it? Let's be honest. They've been really, really, really poor. And they're getting worse. December the 19th was the last time either of them scored.

And it's pretty disastrous and it's hard to see how this... Well, the season can't be a success in league terms, but there's still things to play for. I mean, a tell situation...

I don't believe a lot of the people who were desperate for him yesterday have seen him play much because he barely plays much. So it's hard to tell. There's clearly a player there and he would at least have offered something different. You know, he scored against United. Okay, low bar at the moment, but Bayern Munich paid a lot of money for him. He can't get any team ahead at Harry Kane. There's no shame in that.

there's clearly something there and United would have been a fresh face wouldn't they something different someone to compete with Hoyland someone to start games to just offer a different threat who comes in with a bit of confidence United saying they don't want to pay 5 million to develop another team's player with no option Tottenham got the deal done with an option what's going on there um

I just refuse to believe that there wasn't someone out there who could have improved this team. I think that's the most important point. If Tell wasn't the man, which he might end up being, and we'll see it develop in the next few months with Tottenham, it could be rubbish. It could be brilliant. He could score 10 goals. There is obviously bound to be someone out there who could have improved that attack. And the kind of notion that there wasn't, it's just nonsense. There is staff at the club who are paid to find these players. They needed...

an audio in a garlo type signing didn't it someone like that not so much a white white course signing but someone like a garlo who can maybe score eight or nine goals get creative in the market that's what you're paid to do well a couple of years ago christian erickson got injured on was it january the 30th maybe against redden yeah and it's redden within 24 hours to sign marcel sabitzer alone who was a really good addition that was proactive good work in the market and all right vegas came in on loan that year was a bit of a disaster um

and it didn't really work, but Subbiza did, and it showed how quickly things can get done. There was no sense of doing that with Martinez. Maybe that's fine if Luke Shaw stays fit. That's a massive if. And I just, like I said, I just refuse to believe that there wasn't someone out there. And you've heard this phrase a lot from people at the club. You've heard this phrase from Amorim, so clearly he's being fed it a lot, that we don't want to make the mistakes of the past.

But there's a fine line between not making mistakes of the past and being inhibited by mistakes of the past. You're making mistakes of the present now because you don't want to make the mistakes of the past. What I will say is I'm not accepting this Edward Wood revisionism that's been going on in the last 24 hours. People are saying at least Wood would have got a deal done. That's probably correct. He would have...

But I mean, he was just absolutely disastrous in his role. He should never have been running transfers. Bristol University graduate and one of the biggest jobs in football. Yeah, yeah. There was a time when Woodward and Matt Judge were running transfers and that was clearly wrong. But, you know, John Murtagh would have got a deal done because he did two years ago. But it shows how bad things are that fans are even looking back, even daring to look back at that period with a little bit of like, you know, timid...

and tinted glasses and thinking, God, at least we've got a deal done then. Yeah. Well, the problem is that they've, you know, I wrote a piece on this today. I've wrote a piece on this previously. They've appointed this head coach who's got this one track vision, which is not criticism. That's his vision. Clearly, everyone knows it's his vision. Every club that's tried to recruit him has been told, this is how I play. I'm not changing. United have looked at that and gone, fine, no.

We'll have that. We haven't got a squad suitable for it, but we'll have it. Also, we've got no money to buy you any players suitable for it. It's wasting everyone's time. What's the point? Why did they appoint him in November when they've got no money in January? It's a waste of time. He wanted the job in the summer. Why is he not getting the job in the summer? It's just, it's a mess. And all it's doing is eroding his own

almost the trust within the squad of his methods because they're playing a system that doesn't work and it's proven disastrous. I just don't understand why they wanted him in November to then tell him... Essentially, they are...

I almost put this in the piece this morning. I thought it was the wrong phrase, but essentially they guilt tripped him into taking the job in November. They gave him an ultimatum that said, if you want the Man United job, it's now or never. And he said, well, I do, so I'll do it now. And he said very publicly, I'd have rather had the job in the summer. And this is why he wanted the job in the summer. Well, is this, to counter that point, is this not the best time to take this pain? Because...

United are 13th in the Premier League, minus six goal difference. They're not going to do anything this season in the league. And it almost feels like Ineos have just accepted that this Premier League campaign is a write-off. You can argue that's unacceptable because it's, as pundits say, it's Manchester United we're talking about here. But that's what it does feel like. And the Europa League is the only thing that can really salvage it now. They could win the FA Cup. It would be fantastic, especially to retain it. But the Europa League gets them back in Europe. So really they've got to focus on the Europa League.

And is that not a mission, this business or lack of business in this transfer window that the league's done? And I can kind of see logic in that. If they think, right, we're not going to splash out and we're going to take a view to the summer, we're going to take this pain and we're going to look at it with a long-term view.

But then having said that, it just feels wrong, doesn't it? That a club of United's stature could do that. Yeah, I mean, you're right. The league is done. They're going to finish in the bottom half. I've been saying that for two months. It's blatantly obvious. They're not one of the 10th best teams in this league, partly because they cannot play this system. The players cannot play this system. But like you've just said, you mentioned the Europa League there. If United win that, they're back in the Champions League. That's £100 million plus to the budget in the summer season.

But are they really going to win it with Hoyland and Xerxe up front? No, of course they're not. No, that's a good point. So you can't write the league season off and hope to win the Europa League without a goal scorer. And, you know, people make this argument, oh, it's better that Amarim's seeing the damage and how he's seeing the problem now.

I do kind of buy that argument. I see it with Rashford that he's made this very clear stance. These are the standards I expect. But these results aren't happening in isolation that they can reach the end of May and you say, right, that didn't happen. Wipe that from your memories.

It doesn't work like that. It's damaging confidence. It's damaging belief. It's damaging the players. And I just don't, for me, United are in a far better situation if they'd listened to Amarim and said, right, he plays a unique system. Let's focus on getting that. Let's get him in ASAP at the end of the season, start of next season. Let's work on transfer targets for him now. Let's keep Van Nistelrooy to the end of the season. I know he's had a shocker at Leicester,

He was fine at United, three wins and a draw, I think, in his four games. If Anisteroi had stayed, I think they'd be better off than they are now, purely because the players know that system. The players were starting to play that system. And people have made the argument, oh, if they'd done really well, they'd have kept him.

you'd like to think they'll learn that lesson. But I mean, Amram could have come in and he could have, I mean, he hasn't, but he could have theoretically produced a turnaround. He couldn't because he hasn't got the players. He might have though. I get your point. I mean, he's operating with square pegs in round holes and you're right. He's playing with natural fullbacks in the win back positions and the players haven't looked suited to his system, but there's always a chance and they would have fought that. They would have fought, could he come in, improve them? I mean, it's easy to say now, isn't it? And it completely makes sense that he hasn't produced a turnaround.

because of course he hasn't, he hasn't got the personnel to do it, but that's what they were for. And it ideally would have came in the summer, as you've said, having a pre-season when you're trying to change a team system

It's a non-negotiable, really. You need to have that time on the training pitch. And he keeps talking about that, doesn't he? He keeps saying, I've just not simply had enough time on the training pitch to get my message across and effectively bring it out. And we saw that at Anfield, the 2-3 draw. The game that he had almost the most time to prepare for. One of the best performances of the season. Yeah, it was. The thing with that is that it's the type we've clearly seen now that this team are a...

defensive counter-attacking team under Amarim at the moment and they're suited to City away, to Arsenal away, to Liverpool away. I mean, let's be honest, they're disastrous at Old Trafford, whoever the opposition are. They are disastrous. Yeah, they have to take the initiative and they can't. It's going to be, I mean, the next three weeks, we've got three free midweeks in a row now, essentially. So it's going to be interesting to see that improvement.

I'm not sure we'll see massive improvement because I'm not sure the players have got it within them particularly. I mean, having a natural left wing back will certainly help the situation. But I don't know. I think we are just killing time to the end of the season though. Well, they've got Aiden Heaven and they might need intervention from God to save their season. And obviously Patrick Dogger as well. But Patrick Dogger is 20 years old.

18. So, I mean, these are two young players coming. I mean, obviously Heaven's already at Arsenal, but he's only briefly made his debut in October. And Dog, who's come from Italy, it's a completely different division. These aren't two players who are going to suddenly improve United's

significantly they're just not no I mean certainly heaven isn't he's probably not going to get an awful lot of minutes although with Martinez injury you never know I mean Dorgan will probably get a lot of minutes you wouldn't be surprised if he was straight in the team especially since I think when we've been talking about Luke Shaw and obviously he has to be fit and he's never fit but he played as a left-sided centre-half in his three appearances under Aaron before he picked up his fresh injury he's going to play there again yeah because of Martin I think Dorgan will play a lot and

I mean, I'll play Dorgoo on Friday from the start because otherwise you're going to play a back three and wingbacks who are all going to be right footed. Every pass is going to be going in the same direction. It's going to make them even more predictable. So, I mean, I'm not going to sit here and say I've watched Dorgoo play. You've not watched Dorgoo play? I haven't watched Dorgoo play. You call yourself a football journalist? I know. I don't tend to tune into Lecce games. I've watched YouTube videos.

clips and TikTok clips now and I've got to say he looks like the best left back since Roberto Carlos are you on TikTok? I'm on TikTok put on me a shirt I'm 50 years old and he's on TikTok that's impressive behave behave people watching this would think we're a similar age don't go too far and you know from what I see on YouTube and TikTok he's the best left back since Roberto Carlos so that's fair enough there's got to be a chance he's going to make an impact so we're expecting a spurt of goals from Gorgos and he's left footed

I mean, yeah. Yeah, world-class. United's most prolific goal scorer of late is now out for the season in Alessandro Martina, so they need someone to... I made that point in my piece this morning. I mean, Martinez's injury is obviously a huge blow for his dressing room presence, his defensive quality, but his pass to Ahmad against Manchester City in the derby in December is

his goal against Liverpool, his goal against Fulham, I know it was deflected, but he's really stepped up in an attacking sense in the last month. And he has struggled for form, but he has turned the corner in the last few weeks, hasn't he? He has been performing better. So a big blow to lose him. Yeah, massive. And he'd become this goal threat from open play. He started the season pretty poorly, I thought. He did, yeah. The last few, I think he started 14 in the last 15 under Amarim. He'd look a lot, lot better. And I said the other day, it might have been yesterday, the...

the back three was the only bit of this system that was actually working with the balance of maguire as the deepest center half martinez on the left euro delict on the right it had a nice balance to it maguire is that kind of natural

I was going to say head it, kick it, centre half, but you know what I mean with that. He's so important. He can be the physical one. He can be that kind of sweeper player, that drop in deep. Although Mateta's cut twice at the weekend, I thought Maguire actually handled him pretty well, especially first half. And now with Martinez out, I think there's going to be an issue there. But, you know, there's still, hopefully Shaw will come back and there's players to replace him. But here's going back to the lack of goals. Who do you reckon in this team has got the best goals per 90 ratio this season?

Well, Gannaccio and Armagh are the top goal scorers, but they play a lot of football. So I'm presuming that question is a curveball. It's someone I won't expect. It's an interesting clue. They play for Aston Villa now? I mean, I was at the Everton game, the 4-0, and I remember writing my piece about that. I was like, right, this is Rashford's moment to kind of kick on, score two goals, score a brace. This could be... And then...

Look what happened. Exactly. And this is, and that's not me trying to say like they shouldn't have let him go. Clearly, you know, a lot of the blame for this lies on, on Rashford's shoulders and you cannot quibble with Amarim saying, this is my standards. That's,

that's been long overdue even though it's a bad luck for United yeah and if Rashford goes right and scores 15 goals for the rest of the season which I doubt will happen I mean it's Manchester United let's be honest and Tell's going to make his league debut I think he'll score he could score 10 interesting I was putting my ass in Villamit and he wasn't happy with the signing he was like he's not going to start if Rashford's at his best he'll start but he's simply not been at his best and we've been talking about this for ages

How will he get on? It's really interesting. It really is. And I also think there's a sadness about his exit, Ty, because of the manner that it's happened. Yeah. So if he goes and scores 10 goals, it's still the right thing for United to get rid of him because there was a breakdown in relationship with Amram. He had to leave. Regardless of what he does at Villa Park, it was still the correct decision. We'll both agree on that though. Yeah, yeah. Agree on that. And the only reason I mentioned the fact that he's got the best goals per 90 in the squad is the fact that a team that

can't lit almost literally can't score goals a team that are terrible in front of goal have let their best goal scorer go and not replaced him in the middle of the season so i know you know when people united say well you know anthony and rashford have gone they've been peripheral under amram they've barely played rashford hasn't played since mid-december i'll look at the results since mid-december like it's not exactly it's you know that's that's not an argument when you look at the results recently and they're as bad as they are this team are in 13th so

You know, saying, oh, he's barely played. He's barely played in a poor team. So I think they just needed someone. And the fact they didn't get someone is poor. And I wouldn't be surprised if Rashford did well for Villa purely because of that. It's felt for a long time like you need to change the scenery.

You're right, there's become this kind of Sterling-esque scepticism around him, but he's still only 27. It's two years since he got 30 goals in a season. There's still a good player there. I wouldn't be surprised if he did well for Villa and I wouldn't be surprised if Matthias Tell scored in his Premier League debut for Tottenham against United. That's the kind of thing that happens.

just happens to be United yeah I was listening to Phil Jones on I think it was like a match of the day program on the BBC reacting to the transfer window and Jones was referencing Rashford as a kid eventually at the end of his kind of monologue he did reference he did actually he's not a kid he's 27 and it's interesting how some players are still kind of viewed as younger than they are is it because Rashford kind of

as Michael Richard says, burst onto the scene in 2016. So emphatically in the Premier League, he was fantastic, wasn't he? Do you think people still look at him as that player? Because he's not. He's an experienced international player. He's been around the block for a long time now. Could be, yeah. I think it's maybe partly a thing of spending your whole career at one club as well that...

you know, players almost age through transfers, through, they spend different eras at different clubs and become different versions of that player. Rashford's always been the kid who burst onto the scene in 2016 at United and to some people he's kind of always remained that. There's probably a lot of, a lot of neutrals

well i can listen to this let's be honest there's probably no neutral yeah there's no no since this part of my parents um who should be surprised that he's 27 um yeah now so i think it's probably that fact that you remember them of what they did at a club and people remember rushford as that kid but like you're right he's not a kid no you know i totally agree with you that there's it's the right decision to let go of him there's some strange headlines about his appearance in the media actually i thought i was really bizarre i mean he didn't look the freshest he's ever looked but why does a footballer's appearance really matter

I actually listened to his interview as well. And I mean, it sounded like he'd been suffering from a cold. So maybe that was a, maybe he's been under the weather. And there was a suggestion of that, wasn't it, in the last few weeks that maybe he's had illness going or something like that. Well, he's, yeah, I mean, he's missed a lot of football for realness, it would be fair to say. And I think the comments about his appearance, probably because

you know it's no secret that for the last 18 months people united have not been impressed with his lifestyle yeah and and and that is the bottom line with fresh video there are certain lifestyle choices we've all heard the stories

that are to blame for this and it is sad how it's ended but it's ultimately it's on him yeah another agreement fantastic supposed to be the debate podcast we should have called it the midweek podcast we'll also agree it's fantastic that United have kept Kobi Mayneu and Alejandro Ganacho I mean yeah for now when I saw that at the start of the window when that came out you just you're scratching your head for Kobi Mayneu to be kind of

Ling with a move away. He should be being kept for the next 10 years. Gannaccio as well. In my opinion, you can pick over Maneu's form this season. I'd argue, I mean, I spoke to Samuel about this. He's in a struggling team. He was probably not playing in a role that he particularly enjoys in that deeper position. And we saw when he was playing in that left-sided 10 in Romania, when you were there, come on to that in the second part, just how good he is. And I think people have forgotten that a bit this season.

Yeah, I think they have. I mean, I still think, I still think there's a good chance one of them goes in the summer, to be honest. And I, you know, I wasn't as staggered as you that they might've been off the sale. I mean, I'm not staggered in the PSR world, but if it wasn't for PSR, I mean, yeah, PSR is, is obviously a major factor in this, that they've got to raise money from somewhere to, to give Amarim the funds that he needs. Um,

And Ganacho's done very well recently, but until recently, he looked a fish out of water in this system. He's a winger in a team that doesn't play wingers. But he deserves huge credit for that, doesn't he? Because in December, it was Ganacho and Rashford who were dropped. Rashford's now at Villa Park and Ganacho has got his head down. He's worked hard and he's back into the team. Yeah, he is. And Amarim has praised him a lot for that.

But that doesn't change the fact that he still doesn't really fit this system. And he has looked better as a 10 this season, the last few weeks rather. I'm going to be interested to see how that develops between now and the end of the season. Because if he can get that position and make that position his own, then he is a player worth keeping. If it becomes a long-term project...

Amarim hasn't got time for long-term projects. And I think that's why at the start of the window, there was so much talk of him going because he's a winger. Maybe in two years, he becomes a brilliant number 10 in this role. They haven't got two years. So that's why it made sense. And with Mainu, I mean, I thought that comment from Amarim on Thursday was accidentally brutal again, which he can do in press conferences when he talked about how he, you know, he was struggling a lot

defensively. If you put, right, if you put Kovimianu in that position in Amrim's sport and Lisbon team, I think he looks a lot better than he is for United. I don't think he plays in there. I mean, there's so, everything's wrong with that team and the, I mean, it's just, it's awful. Look at where they are in the Premier League. I know, but we've seen this for Man Utd under Amrim and a little bit with England that he is, maybe, you know, he's very young. Maybe he will get it as a defensive midfielder,

but he does have a habit of leaving space around him of not being tuned in to that defensive field he never has been it was interesting when he'd come on but he shouldn't be playing in the hole he's not going to play a holding role then he's got to play a number 10 well that's theoretically what you got here and I guess both players are doing those roles and it's kind of a hybrid between a 6 and an 8 these days if we're going to get all technical and whatever but yeah he is probably a bit better further forward it is actually fascinating where his future lies in one of the number 10 roles yes

I, well, I mean, the way Amarim talked about it and talked about it in a few different interviews and a few different sections of the press conference on Thursday, I don't really see how he plays as a 10, as a deep line midfielder again, to be honest, under him. It was... It did seem he was suggesting it would be permanent after the game. The fact he's saying he was struggling a lot defensively, I don't see how you can play him there. And...

you know, on Sunday, he was playing him even further up the pitch. It's like, get him away from that area. I mean, briefly touching on that, the first 10 minutes, United looked brilliant. They did. Mane was linking up really well. He hit the post and they just faded after that. But you can't stop copying Mane. No, no, you can't. But I think as a number 10, he's got real quality. He's brilliant in small spaces. He's got great control. He's got great dribbling in kind of really tight areas. So, yeah, I think his future should be in that number 10 role.

problem is you've got ganacho maynu ahmad maybe fernandez in there maybe mason mount it's a lot of competition

come the summer if United need money then and then Garnaccio and Manu were two players competing for the same position the same position essentially kind of makes sense to sell you wouldn't have thought that last season would you Garnaccio and Manu competing for the same position yeah I mean imagine being told that six months ago what's going on I know it's been a bit strange but it does feel like and you know we were talking about the Manu comments after the press conference and I said like the I can't I can't I can't remember who said this and I wouldn't out them anyway but I said you know it's incredible really that the previous manager in September said

spoke of Mainu being a complete midfielder and as good a defensive midfielder he was an attacking midfielder and whoever I was talking to said that's why he's the previous manager. Yeah, it's true. And, you know, it is kind of true because I think

I think people watching United who, and don't get me wrong, everyone wants Mane to succeed. United fans want Mane to succeed, but it's not playing in that deep role. It is not strength. Well, I was told he loved playing with Casemiro, right? When he first broke into the team. And if he's playing alongside Casemiro at his absolute best, I mean, he obviously is playing with Ugati, but let's say if he's playing in the system with Casemiro at his peak, I still think it works. But I think the combination of Ugati, who has done a lot better and he is performing way better than he had at the start of the season.

i just don't think it has that balance to it it's also that it should you know it's also what you want is if you if you've got if you're playing a back four and you've got one holding midfielder you kind of want the other two to be pushing on i'm already got two sitting in place with two sitters with two holding midfielders and he's clearly decided you know the other one has to do more defensive work than maybe they would in a 4-3-3 where you've got two number eights

And he's not the fastest man for all his qualities. He doesn't have the most legs. No, no. Like I say, he's great on the ball. He's great in tight areas. Passing's brilliant. Finding space around the box, brilliant. I've just never been totally convinced by his defensive game. And I don't think it's that he's making obvious mistakes. Excuse me. I just don't think he's brilliant at defending the space and being aware of the space. So I used the phrase defensively.

not long ago where it felt like he was often at the scene of the crime when United conceded goals last year and that midfield got torn through. And it wasn't, I'm not saying that's his fault. And I know you're going to say the structure was wrong. Yeah, it was. But you just said that it was good that he played next to Casemiro.

I'm seeing it at his absolute best. I don't think he was particularly helped by Casemiro then. I'm seeing Real Madrid Casemiro. I'm seeing Casemiro at the peak of his powers alongside me. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think that would work if you were playing a back four. I agree with you. There are some aspects that he needs to improve on and I think that's why he needs a player of that quality beside him in that position. In a way, like Amir said, it's positionally in that position that I think he's...

he's not really getting it. No one can have any doubts about his quality on the ball, about his passing, but in a defensive midfield role, I think it's his kind of positioning and awareness. And, you know, maybe that will come, maybe playing alongside someone, that'll come. But again, I don't think Amarim's got the time to really explain.

experiment with it and I'm not saying that's why United should sell him clearly as a 10 he was brilliant in Romania he could be a great addition there and I'm the founder of the Komi Mane fan club so I can't have a word against them time for it in a perfect world you keep him in Granaccio and they compete with Ahmad and Mount

and or Fernandes I mean I think Fernandes has done well deeper for that number 10 role but I mean this is this is a long way from a perfect world for United isn't it and the reality is I think they're going to have to sell someone nothing is perfect at the moment but it is if you drink a Peronis before 10am I reckon it makes the world I think so yeah I'll knock on the life I think they've got a message yet we need to tag them in this don't we alcoholics anonymous I think yeah coming up right we'll leave it there for part one and we'll be back in a moment for part two

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Welcome back to part two of the midweek debate. Now in the second part of this new podcast, we're

We're going to have a bit of a chat and try lift the curtain and give an insight into our job, into the role. So whether that be, we've been at a game, we're heading down the M6, Ty saying, don't do it. Yeah, don't do it. It's rubbish. Or other bits and pieces. So we'll start off with deadline day because it makes sense. And deadline day used to be such a massive thing in Sky Sports. You remember certain objects being held up behind reporters' heads and stuff like that. But I mean, Twitter and social media has really changed this and changed

We know about the majority of transfers before, almost all transfers before they happen now. So it has taken the excitement out a bit of it. But should we discuss what it's like as a journalist on deadline day? So what shift, we'll start off with shifts. What shift, quote unquote shift, were you on yesterday? 9-5. Right, so you were on a 9-5. I was on the late, which was a 4-12.

But I mean, I woke up on the morning, had a text of a contact about Hari Amas and that was around half nine. So I had to check in on that and file something. So it just shows you, you're basically working outside your hours the whole time. Do you want to kind of walk through your day and how it developed? Yeah, I mean, you are, it helps a little bit here with the fact that we've got, you know, we've got a good team of reporters. So on United, for example, there's me, you and Samuel and you can kind of cover everything.

the whole day from 8 a.m or 7 a.m till 12 o'clock really um but like i say you've all got different contacts so you're all chasing different things it never quite works that you do just your shift there are you know i mean i said in this podcast previously i used to cover burnley i was the only burning reporter and you would you'd do a late shift but like you say transfers don't work when you're working so you're kind of chasing it up the whole day so yeah you are i mean the bonus i guess we're doing it early is that there's not a lot happening before nine o'clock and in a way

In a weird sort of way, yesterday was fairly easy. Like there wasn't a lot going on. I expected it to be a lot more dramatic. I know there was a few people at United who were fearing Chelsea were going to push for Ganaccio. And I was speaking to a contact yesterday morning about a different transfer and just chatting about things at United. And I said, I think United fear that Chelsea are going to make a...

a big take it or leave it offer for ganacho and that contact said well it's chelsea so obviously and you know and you know it didn't it didn't materialize talon and kunku were both

Don dusted off the table by kind of mid to late afternoon. I mean, as a fan, you hate that. But as a journalist, you quite like that in terms of it's an easier afternoon for us. Yeah. It was communicated relatively early in the day. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing was going to happen. And if you're me sitting on the leadership, you're thinking that's quite convenient. At that point, I just had to tidy up the academy bits. But it is a relief for us from a journalistic perspective. You'd obviously like to see them make signings and get an exciting strike event. We've just discussed they needed a strike. Yeah, yeah. But from a selfish point of view...

get a cup of coffee makes the day easier and like you say there's there's no um there's no kind of suspense in in transfers now you know there's there's a few people who who do transfers transfer reporting and do it so well they've essentially cornered the market and you don't get any surprises of the likes of the um you know i think of andy carroll going to liverpool and thomas going to chelsea that day i remember following that on twitter i was i was on i was a news journalist then i remember being office following on twitter and like what is going on here

There's nothing better than seeing a club announcement pop up out of nowhere. And I mean, we're part of the band that spoiled it, I suppose, because we are literally tasked with breaking the news. With the digital age as well, you're writing about every stage of a transfer to the point where it's the least interesting aspect of Dorgu's transfer was when it was confirmed.

because it'd been written about so often that it was boring by then. Because you're doing stories- - But fans want like the strangest of updates, don't they? They want to know when they get on the plane, they want to know when they land. - That's why I'd be right. 10 stories about every transfer. That's why like, talks are progressing. There's been a breakthrough. And in the old day, in the, I say in the old, that does make me sound 50. But in the old days, you wouldn't have quite so forensic reporting around deals. Whereas now,

the age of social media you do and like i say the the most boring aspect of a transfer is when it's completed because it's been previewed so often that you're kind of like and especially in this era when you know fans love transfers now and rightly so at times wrongly so at times but it is a case of who can win the transfer window and by the time dorgo was announced on sunday yeah

Fans are like, who next? Everyone already knew. I knew about that once. I'm not interested. Who next? And that is kind of the...

The modern age with transfers, the social media age. But that's just how people's brains work now. I've only got a short attention span, TikTok, et cetera. It's just pick something up, put it down. Ironically, it is my generation, but I don't have TikTok. I'm dining out on that. I still don't have it. I spend too much time on Twitter. I don't want to spend more hours on stupid TikTok. I've got a life. My idea, I mean, it was a bit busier towards the end. We weren't expecting more...

academy transfers, loans, that is. But a few did develop. Got a message from a contact about Sam Mather around 10 o'clock. So he's just come back. He's obviously trained with the first team as well. He came back from injury a couple of weeks ago, scored three goals in two games in the 21s, and he made an 11th hour move to Tramia, which our editor, Alex James, that's obviously his club, so I messaged him this morning. And Louis Jackson as well went to Tramia. So it's quite unheard of that, isn't it? A double contract.

especially at such a late time of the window. So whether something fell through for Tranmere that they had lined up, whatever like that, and they made a move, that's interesting. And Ruben Curley as well. I mean, I'm mentioning names here that a lot of fans might not know if we're being honest. Ruben Curley's 19 years old. He's in the academy. He was out of contract at the end of the season. So it wasn't exactly a deal, pardon me, that's going to help PSR a huge amount, which is...

what it's all about these days probably says it all about the level that curly was at um but he leaves the club with best wishes of staff etc so yeah there was a lot of some late moves regarding the academy late on but it was a relief to have the first team business wrapped up pretty early wasn't it it really was um why do you think transfers are left so late then because it's like clubs are always scrambling around in the last few hours of the window is it because when

you were at university 40 years ago, I was at university six, seven years ago, that it's the same approach. When you've got an assignment, you do push it late, don't you? You don't take it off really early. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's for that reason. I mean, we were leaving assignments late because we were in the pub. I don't think Jason Wilcox has been getting smashed all January and then gone on the 30th. Flipping heck, it's deadline day in a couple of days.

I don't know why it's happening. It might be at some clubs, but I think it's unlikely. But I think it's just the fact that you see it every window and every window. People say, why are we leaving it so late? But it's a negotiation. And the fact is you want to have the power in the negotiation and the later it gets...

if that player is pushing for a move or you need to sell that player then you have the the upper hand in the negotiation so you look at you know to give an example United and Rashford United think they've got the upper hand because Rashford said he wants to leave and Rashford

Rashford probably thinks he's got the upper hand because it's pretty obvious he ain't playing under that manager. The game of chicken to some extent. Yeah, it is. And I think that's why it goes late and you're waiting, certainly with United financially, you're waiting for deals to be done. You're waiting for players to go off the books. Think back to the, I was going to say last summer, but it wasn't, it was the summer before I think, wasn't it? When they could only move for...

by Inder and Amrabat on loan when they sold Dean Henderson. I mean, that sort of shows the financial position they've been in for a while now, that they were so tight with PSR

that they couldn't do those deals until the 15 million for Henderson came in. And that all happened late in the window. We'll talk about United's PSR. They weren't forced to sell anyone. They would have considered offers for Man Utd and Galantra, for example. So they're in a better position than a lot of clubs because we've seen Aston Villa, for example, Newcastle. These clubs, Brighton, are forced to sell, are forced to sell. And United haven't been forced yet, I must add. No, they haven't. They haven't. They've been very, very close. They haven't been forced to sell anyone.

And, you know, you look, I was trying to calculate it this morning. I reckon the wage bill is about a million pound a month lower now than it was at the start of the month with Anthony and Rashford going, Malasia and Dorgu probably on a similar level wage-wise. So I think you're looking at 250 grand a month probably at least being saved on Anthony and Rashford with what Bettis and Villa are paying. You do that for six months, I mean, it's six million pounds saving, I guess.

Was the suggestion Dorg was on, I think, 40 grand? Yeah, and it's clearly, you know, he's come from Lecce, where he's going to be on very low. It would have still been a massive pay rise for him. That's what players like this should be on. Exactly. When you're at Lecce, you're not going to be earning much. 40 grand's brilliant. Exactly. It's a good wage. It's a good starter wage to be on for a player who has been signed from...

I mean, I can say a tier two club, probably a tier three club in terms of kind of transfers and development. So that's a good sign in terms of wage structure at United. And those wage savings will help with PSR. It's clearly pretty tight. And that's why I mentioned the Champions League. If they don't win the Europa League, then the summer's going to be pretty grim as well, I think. What was the highlight of your day yesterday? Deadline day. I got some pinballs and mums to keep us going during the evening. Yeah, I didn't really do the late shift, so...

What did you do in the night time? How did you relax? I watched a bit of Chelsea West Ham and then I got bored of that and I watched an episode of Winning Time, the Lakers, LA Lakers documentary on Sky Atlantic. You like your basketball, don't you? I don't, to be honest. I remember you waxing lyrical about it. Our producer's sniggering in the corner. Well, no. It's a debate. I'm just disagreeing with everything you're saying. I remember very well you and Samuel and a few of us waxing lyrical about the last dance.

I was overboard with that. I thought you were going to say then, waxing lyrical about going to watch it in San Diego. And I was going to watch it off and say, that was baseball. But yeah, I mean the last, you don't have to like basketball to enjoy the last dance. Everyone knows you, Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls. I just remember how many last dance pieces there were on the MEN. I was thinking, bloody hell, if Netflix sponsored the MEN. You've also got to remember that was, I mean, that was,

the most phenomenal time for it because it was at the start of covid yeah everyone was watching it social media went mad for it and it was easy to kind of like extrapolate pieces from but i would recommend when he was not watched it winning time as well is is a brilliant show so tyra marshall not a basketball fan i interviewed corey evans johnny evans's brother oh yeah on yesterday afternoon but that's another problem when you talk about our jobs if you try and interview someone and they say they're only available at a certain time and it falls outside your work hours

You have to do it. It's part of the job. You're fluid and you're flexible, aren't you? - Yeah, you've got to be to it. - Yeah. I think fans look at it and there are obviously fantastic parts of the job, speaking to players in the mix or traveling and going for pre-season tours, going to games each week. It's all a privilege. It's a huge privilege. But there's certain sides of the job that fans probably don't see and understand. - No, exactly. Well, I remember setting up an interview with Richard Eckersley, who some fans will remember. And some fans will have since read a piece on the MEN

by our colleague George Smith, which did incredible numbers of page views

about how he's now running this farm shop, essentially, down in Devon. Woke nonsense. That is a meme, just to clarify. People will be familiar after listening. It was a great story. And I saw George do it. And I looked at it and I thought, sure, I've done that. I remember speaking to him. And then it came flooding back in my nightmares that, like you, I arranged to speak to Richard Eckersley. The only time he could do it was on the morning of Villarreal United in the Champions League, Carrick's,

first game well not first game Carrick's only Champions League game in his little caretaker period so I arranged to speak to him in the morning so I rang him from my hotel and my dictaphone's got like a microphone setting where you can basically record phone calls so it saves doing the shorthand so I did that

I thought, brilliant. Went to type it up, pressed the wrong setting and I could only hear this faint echo. Couldn't transcribe any of it. Tried to rearrange with him and I think it just went by the wayside. I may or may not have had a bit of a headache. If you try to rearrange with someone after they've talked, typed and speak, they're just going to think,

- Exactly, exactly, yeah. - I've always, that's my biggest fear when I do interviews. I've always double check. I use a work phone to record my big, I always triple check that it's recording. And even during the interview, you get a bit of anxiety and you look down your phone to double check that it is recording. - Yeah, you do. You are always checking. - 'Cause that is the nightmare scenario, isn't it? - Yeah, yeah. - If you're sporting to someone and you don't have it on. - Yeah, well, I've had it now. And I thought, with all due respect to Richard Eckersley, if he's listening, I thought, "That would've been a good interview." But I can live with not getting it.

not getting it I messed it up there my fault you missed out on those pages well when I saw George Smith do it one of the most read stories on the MEN last year I think I was like should have been should have checked should have been more professional what's the weirdest interview you've done I'm trying to think of my brains I'm actually going to speak to a number he's being billed as the number one United fan by the 2006 Manchester United

Opus book, I think it is. So he was in the MEN in 2006. I'm about to speak to him. I mean, that's pretty quick, isn't it? That is quite quirky. I've also spoke to United's former chaplain. I forget his name, but he was at the club for 25 years. People don't really realise that as a role in football, most Premier League clubs have a chaplain. Yeah.

and they go and they kind of give players support and kind of advice and stuff like that and whether they have a religion or not so it's a really interesting one yeah yeah there's a lot of stuff like that in football that perhaps people don't realise behind the scenes I didn't read it but I'm sure it was great it was fantastic moving on we'll just finish this podcast with a mention to your wonderful trip to Bucharest last week recommend it lovely city first night in the Europa League yeah

I was at home, you were out in Romania. I had to do the half-time player ratings though. Got a message from my editor, could you do them? Because what happened, Ty? Your Wi-Fi went out. Yeah. I mean, like I said, great city, very impressive stadium. Didn't realize it was quite so new, to be honest, but also got some of those classic kind of Eastern European style features, like very... Very good pints. Very concrete-y outside. Very good pints. Concrete-y outside. I know. I know.

I'm trying to think of the phrase there. They're going to have that on their next brochure, I think, for that stadium. Conquerty outside, Darren Marshall, Manchester Evening News. There's probably a better word for it. I'll think of it when we stop recording. But seriously, impressive stadium. Get up there, Wi-Fi's a bit slow. So they had different Wi-Fi in different areas of the stadium. So the press room was like six stories down from the press box. That's why it's different Wi-Fi. Only steps, so steps up and down. Journey you're only doing once. Feeling the burn in the legs afterwards.

Get up to the press box, hour before kickoff, Wi-Fi's slow but okay. About 15 minutes before the game, just dies completely on me. A few of us found it all right. A few others just couldn't get it working. So I stuck it out, but I messaged, like I said, I messaged Ross on Reddit and said, can't get the Wi-Fi going at all. So was writing bits on Notepad, basically, during the...

the windows notepad during the first half um you had to do the ratings couldn't put any color in the blog from the stadium because it couldn't get anything could not get anything to work now i was providing a lot of color from home you've got a lot of color from home yeah yeah i mean i've never i can't i don't think i've ever had a situation where the wi-fi's been that bad um at a game and in the second half basically with especially with it being a night game you've got file on the whistle it's very tight for getting things in the paper

So a few of us had to go down in the second half and watch it in the press room. So, you know, I watched the end of the game in a windowless press room in the bowels of the stadium on a

on a tiny telly, sat maybe 15 feet away from this telly with Romanian commentary. I mean, how underwhelming is that? When you make the trip, right, to Romania to book a rest, fantastic stadium, and you have to go down in the bloody press room. It's frustrating. And a few of us were talking at halftime and I was talking to someone from the club who writes for the club, actually, who had the same issue and saying, you want to be up there, A, to see the bigger picture, but also you get, this is why we get sent to games. You know, we could do it off our TVs at home, but you get so much more from being there. It's not the same.

So I wanted to stick it out for as long as I could, but

at the same time, you've got a duty to file. So yeah, I had to go down and I mean, watching the game, I couldn't tell who was who on this telly. It was so small. And obviously the commentary's in Romanian. Anytime something interesting happened, I'm getting upstudent with the telly. - Well, it was Kobi Minu who scored and Diego Dalot. Dalot scored the opener. Did you realise that? - No, I said it was going to actually be Haaland. There was a bit of that going on. - Haaland? Haaland scores a goal. Come on. You must have been- - Did not read Miracle in the headline. - The Pilsner's out there, yeah? - So yeah, yeah. It was an interesting trip because of that.

when I booked the travel, I didn't realise it was a 10pm kick-off local time. I think it would have been. Why was that? Was it just because of our time across? Yeah, I did think. I think it was because of the last, so it would have been one of the ones that's a 5.45 game because it was the last group game and they're all kicking off at the same time. It was 10pm. So it's a long day in the day and then I booked my flight for 8.35 the following morning. So I had like three hours sleep. I was saying to someone last week, my wife bought me a Fitbit for Christmas, which will leave the

the potential subliminal messages from my wife there for now, thanks. But what it does as well is record your sleep. - It records what? - It records your sleep. - It records your sleep. - When you're actually asleep. And it showed, 'cause obviously we did Fulham on Sunday,

And I, with being away for two days in the week, I thought I'm going to do the honourable thing for my family and drive home. So I gave Samuel and Rich Faye, formerly this parish, a lift home. - Surprised the car made it. - So the car's doing well now actually, mate. It's back in fine fettle, much like me. So drove back from that, got in, got up for the school run, check out the Fitbit, three hours, 17 minutes of sleep. Monday night, all right. Tuesday night flight from Manchester was at 5:55 in the morning, four hours, 15 minutes sleep, I think.

Night after the press conference, obviously a quiet night, straight back to the hotel into bed, do a bit of research. I'm a professional after all. So a reasonable night's sleep. Then the night after the game, you know, the game's at 10. By the time you finished, it's one o'clock at best. I think I got back into the hotel room at 1.45 and was up at...

5.30, I think, to get a taxi to the hotel. So essentially my Fitbit told me three of my five nights sleep last week were under four and a half hours and two were under three and a half hours. So there are some things you just don't want to know, to be honest. You still look fresher than Rashford. It's a part of the job that, again, people probably don't realise though. I mean, the lack of sleep, it was last deadline day. I was doing the late again and chasing up the...

confirmation on Sancho obviously the deal she had gone in with Chelsea that was I was about 2am I think for that and I was trying to get Oasis tickets next morning it made it worse that I didn't get Oasis tickets first world problem yeah I mean you think about the away games we do though and if it's a late kickoff there was a terrible spell last year around April springtime when I was me and Samuel and Rich were driving back from Chelsea and it was an 8 o'clock 8.15 kickoff getting back at 6am

There were a lot of long journeys on there and a lot of bad nights sleep. - There are a lot of long journeys and bad nights sleep. But like you say, these European trips, you almost always end up with really early flights. And I booked that flight back 'cause I thought after a game, you just wanna get back, really. There's a few others out there who had booked a direct flight back from Manchester, which was like half 10 on the Friday night.

I just thought, I don't want to spend the whole day in Bucharest. It's a 10pm kickoff on Thursday. I've seen enough of the city. I've seen the nice parts. I've seen the concrete walls. I'm going home. I've seen loads of concrete in Bucharest. What more is there?

But if you get a chance to go to Bucharest to see the concrete walls, get out there. I hope you've enjoyed this new podcast, the Midweek Debate, we've called it. I think you came up with that. I think I suggested Midweek Pines and Midweek Debate. Sorry, you banged on about the Midweek Pines. Yeah, should we go for one afterwards? There's no pubs.

- There aren't any cops around here. - Directly outside of the office. - That's why we never come to the office. - Yeah, if you could like the video on YouTube, leave a comment and subscribe, that would be very much appreciated. And of course, leave a review. Let us know if you enjoyed it. Let us know if you didn't. Take care, have a great week.