Why Has Pep Signed a New Contract if He's so Exhausted?
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Chris, Man City are on their worst run of form since 2006. Stuart Pearce was a manager that last time things were this bad.

bad on the blue half of Manchester one win in their last 10 games seven defeats before Christmas that's the worst such sequence of Pep Guardiola's whole career perfect form to take into a Manchester derby then well first of all happy Christmas jumper day I know this is a podcast but

Come on. Oh, that's why you're wearing that ludicrous thing. You're better than that. I've got my Christmas jumper on. I love Santa. And you've got your northern hoodie on, haven't you? Is there such a thing as Christmas jumper day? Yes, and it's today, Ian. Thursday the 12th. Who invented that? Your missus? It doesn't matter. It's Christmas jumper day. Google it.

For someone who knows everything. For someone who knows everything. Come on, Google it and bring a little bit of cheer. Join in. Join in at Christmas. I remember from last year that you are a man of many, many, many Christmas jumpers, aren't you? You have about 10, don't you? Yeah. No, not 10. About six.

Six Christmas jumpers. Yeah. Okay. So are you going to wear that one all day? I know you're off to the panto tonight. Are you going to wear a different one for the panto? Maybe so. Yeah. Different one for lunch? No. Different one for when you're mucking out the horses? That's in a little while, yeah. Different one for each of your other night...

a different one for each of the other nine media commitments you've probably got today I haven't actually have you got one have you got one

I've got two. Oh, that's nice. I've got two. I've got a Percy the Pig one. I've got a Percy the Pig one and I've got a Wigan Warriors one. For those of you who don't know, Wigan Warriors are the current Super League champions, World Club Cup champions, Challenge Cup champions and League Leader Shield champions. But you couldn't even name five of their players. Right, shall we carry on? And with that...

And without a doubt, by the way, I'll say this now, with BBC Sports personality on the horizon, if Wigan Warriors don't win Team of the Year, if Wigan Warriors don't win Team of the Year, then I'm handing in my TV licence. I'm going to march down to Salford and leave my TV licence on the doorstep of the BBC. Yeah, I bet they'll be devastated.

Let's leave that one. Need all the money they can get, I think. Right. Need to pay for a replacement for Gary Lineker. Right. Come on. Manchester Derby. Let's go. Manchester City against Manchester United or Manchester United against Manchester City. The Manchester Derby, of course. Yeah. And...

I mean, I can't wait for it because it's one of those games where nobody has a clue what's going to happen. City's form is absolutely dreadful. United under Amorim, when they've played anybody half-decent, have been beaten. So it's a hard one to call. I mean, really hard one to call. And Pep whinging and whining at everything in recent times. I don't think that's necessarily helped Amorim.

the morale and the belief at Manchester City.

Rio Ferdinand on TNT on Wednesday night after the Man City-Juventus game, City lost 2-0 in the Champions League, of course. Rio Ferdinand described Sunday's forthcoming game as the battle of no confidence, which I thought was a reasonable way to put it. But I'll stick with Man City for a minute. You know what? I watched the game against Juventus. I actually thought they played okay. I thought it's typical of what can sometimes happen when you're out of luck and out of confidence.

You know, the chances were shared between the teams, the territory, the possession. Juventus scored twice and City didn't. I know that sounds over simple, but I did think that City actually played okay. But the fact is they lost again. And that will only add to that sense, a growing sense of discomfort for

crisis, discombobulation, call it what you want, that undoubtedly exists at the Etihad ahead of this derby. Now, I love this quote afterwards from Guardiola, who struck a rather defiant tone for once and said, we will appreciate what we have done in the past more in the future when we are doing it again. And I think what he meant was,

They're going through a hard time. That's reminded them that they should never take success for granted. And when success comes around again, they'll appreciate it more. I like the sentiment, but you know what, Chris? It's a little bit out of character for Pep at the moment, because as you just touched on a minute ago, he's not always hitting the right notes with what he says.

No, you know, he's talked about feeling tired, you know, in recent times. I actually think, you know, trying to put myself sort of back into player mode, if I heard my manager say that he's, you know, tired, you know, that wouldn't be a message which I'd want to hear. I don't think...

in terms of, I don't know whether he was being slightly, never know with Pep, you'll know better than me, whether he's slightly sarcastic at times and just throws things out there, sort of a little bit petulant in some respects. But, you know, as a player, you want to feel that the manager is all in and energised because players can then use that as an excuse, you know.

Now, I think it's actually the opposite. It's the opposite to what you're saying. Now, what you're referring to there is an interview that Guardiola gave on a podcast hosted by a Spanish celebrity chef by the name of Danny Garcia. You won't be surprised when I say that I haven't heard of him. But he's a big noise in Spain.

Pep did a podcast chat with him before that game when they got hammered at home by Tottenham a couple of weeks ago. And the quotes that you're referring to about feeling tired and needing a rest came from that podcast. These are the quotes, first of all. What I won't do is leave Manchester City, go to another country and manage another club.

I won't have the energy for that. I'm still here. But to think about starting again and going through all the processes of training, no, no, no. I want to leave it and go and play golf, but I can't. I think stopping would do me good. Now, it doesn't mean stopping now. It means stopping maybe in a couple of years at the end of his City contract. But you're right, Chris. It's an extraordinary tone to strike. And when you ask about his mood...

You tend to find with sports people, famous people, that when they're in press conference situations and traditional media situations, press conferences, TV cameras, radio interviews, they tend to be guarded.

When you mentioned Pep sometimes throws out a bit of sarcasm, he does in those circumstances. But I think this podcast has found him relaxed. He obviously knows this guy. That's why he's done it. It's a relaxed setting. I think he's actually allowed us to peek inside what he's actually feeling here. What he didn't probably expect, naively perhaps, was for those quotes to then appear in the mainstream media and be circulated and talked about in the football world.

but that is what has happened. And I have to say, when he talks about not having the energy to reach, to go to another club and start again and to build from the bottom again,

Now, that worries me because that's exactly what he's got to do at Manchester City. There's a rebuild. There's a rebuild needed at City. And here's Guardiola talking about running out of energy. Yeah. And, you know, so the people above him at Manchester City, how are they going to view comments like that? Why sign a two-year contract if this is how you feel? Yeah. You know, he wasn't forced into it, but, you know, that's –

Nobody could have seen the wheels coming off. Nobody saw the wheels coming off. Pep wouldn't have seen the wheels coming off Manchester City as they have done. But, you know, you've got to help yourself. And the bigger picture is comments like that, you know, they will have filtered into the dressing room and it's whether it has an effect on the players. I don't think it's a case of questioning the manager's or Pep's application.

But just the fact that, you know, you have to be invested, you have to be all in and you have to be energised. You know, that's what he seemingly has been over his time at Manchester City. But the players have to feel that as well. If, you know, if he's saying he's not quite 100% and feeling tired, then, you know, as I say, it can have a knock-on effect.

The things that you say in a press conference, I think, you know this as much as anyone, you've had notebooks and cameras and

tape recorders shoved under your nose when you were a player the things you say i think to the media are the things that you feel you should say to correct me if i'm wrong was i think on this podcast pepper's actually told this guy what he actually feels and that is why that's what makes it that's what makes it so interesting he must have known it was going to come out though i mean he's you know he's not he's not he's not naive and you're saying he was he was relaxed but

I mean, blimey. I mean, you know, maybe it was just a slip, but he must have known with the nature of the focus which is on him and his team.

And of course, things have got worse since he gave that interview. They've lost all the games since he gave that interview. But the bottom line is that Manchester City need their manager. They need him on his game, on his metal, full of energy, full of enthusiasm, and with a plan to fix what is rapidly turning into a full-blown crisis at the Etihad. I wonder if United...

are the right opponents on Sunday. The game's at the Etihad, which will help City, obviously. I wonder if United are the right opponents, simply because it's a derby. And if there are any issues of energy and adrenaline in the playing squad, then a derby should be enough to lift them out of that. But also the truth is that United aren't in form either. Let me ask you a question, mate.

So they've just lost the last two games United. They lost away at Arsenal and then they lost at home to Nottingham Forest. How many times do you think United lost three consecutive league games under Eric Ten Hag? Well, that must be loaded because you don't, you know, you don't, you wouldn't ask that. Never.

Never. Absolutely never. So it just shows. I'm not saying that there should be a pile on on Ruben Amrim. I'm not at all. Well, you're sort of inviting it, aren't you? Just saying that results are results. Results are results. And if two defeats turns into three defeats, then that would be a worse league run for Ruben Amrim than Eric Ten Hag ever had.

Just saying. Right opponents or not. How can you judge? How can you judge it? So in terms of setting the game up and just going back a week or two, Manchester United fans, Amarim coming in, this young, smart, charming manager, and he still is all those things. But his team schooled Pep's, his former team schooled Pep's Manchester City. Yeah.

Yeah, in the Champions League. In the Champions League. And there would have been elements of that that would have really excited the Manchester United support with him coming in. And then, you know, the start was okay, but the first test they've had or the first couple of real tests they've had, they've come up well short. But let's get it right. That's no surprise at all.

To you, it's no surprise to me that Manchester United are still a team who look like it's going to be a difficult season.

And it's one of those on their day, could they beat Manchester City? Well, absolutely. But I mean, I do the BBC predictions. I don't know how you predict this game. Anything could happen. Well, you must have done one then. You do the BBC predictions, but you don't know how to predict this game. Well, the point is, I've not done it yet. The point is, is Manchester City...

One win in 10, a team who look like they're going to concede goals. Their defensive record is wretched, is as wretched as anything. And that's, you know, I know Pep's regarded for playing front foot football, but I've never seen a Manchester City so easy to get at. And then you look at Manchester United and think, you know, is it going to click? You know, they were pretty well beaten by Liverpool.

by Nottingham Forest on their own patch. And I think I said before, I think the players at Manchester United look like they're on trial. And I get that from Amarim and he's still striving to find his best team. My gut feeling would be that Manchester City will just have a bit too much quality for Manchester United. But I just, you know, nothing would surprise me just because the form has been sort of so poor from both teams.

Maybe you can write that next to your BBC prediction and nothing will surprise me. But you did make a point there that I want to pick up on about United looking like they're on trial, players looking like they're on trial. It's interesting to say that because a big story at United today, it's on the back of the Daily Mail print edition and running across our digital platforms written by Chris Wheeler, telling us, our Manchester United correspondent, telling us that United are under pressure to sell a

a player to get themselves the right side of the Premier League's spending rules. It's a startling admission for a club the size of Manchester United. It makes me wonder what they were doing spending all that money on players last summer if they didn't

had done the maths and realised that that would leave them the wrong side of the road, as it were. But that's the situation they now find themselves in. Quick question, Chris. If you had to sell one Manchester United player to raise a bit of dough, who would it be? It's ridiculous.

That's ridiculous. It's not ridiculous. What's the best decision the club's got to make? You could sell any of them, couldn't you? I mean, so who would I sell? But I could say somebody in the 30s like Casemiro, who I don't think has a future there, but what are you going to get for him? Not a lot. Indeed. So if a sale which could create, I don't know how much they would have to make, but

I don't think that I may be wrong with this. Someone like Xerxe, who's, you know... Wow, already? Well, I mean, are you convinced that he will be a Manchester United great further down the line? No. Do I think Hoyland...

Look, Hoyland hasn't been prolific. I still feel there's something there with him. I'm not writing Xerxes off. I mean, you've asked me a question, who would I sell? I would sell him. I think that would create, you know, a fair few quid. I could say Harry Maguire. I could say Ericsson, but they're getting on a bit, aren't they? Yeah, they're coming out of contract. I could say Luke Shaw, but I don't know whether he'd pass a medical. Rashford? I could. Yeah, I mean, Rashford's one, but you always feel that...

Always feel with Marcus Rashford, there is something there when he can be committed, when he can be really bothered.

Yeah, he's the name everybody's saying, but I didn't want to go obvious. I let you do the obvious. No, that's fine. That's fine. No, that's fine. And that's good. I would say Rashford, maybe Mason Mount, but I think Marcus, 27 years old, under contract, they'd get decent money from him. They'd struggle to find someone to pay his wages. That might be a problem. But in an ideal world, I think Marcus. And also, where's he going to play in that system? Is he going to play as a wingback?

Not sure. Is he going to play as a 10? Not really. Is he going to play as a nine? Possibly. He's versatile, isn't he? I'm not sure. Well, versatile, but where's the excellence? Mason Mount, you're just writing off, doesn't have a future.

No, but they've got to sell someone, Chris. So it doesn't mean that there's a perfect candidate. They've got to sell someone. But I would say, I think Marcus, not enough excellence these days. I think Manchester United would live without him. And you know what? I think if he could find the right club, he could probably live without them too. It's All Kicking Off is supported by our friends at Paddy Power.

Now then, it's time for Paddy Power's Bet Your Bottom Quid Challenge. Yep, it's the part of the show where Ian and I face off making selections on the week's chosen fixture. For this instalment, all eyes turn to the Manchester Derby. Manchester City v Manchester United. I'm glad you explained exactly who plays in the Manchester Derby there for those people who haven't managed to work that out themselves. Well, there are other teams in Manchester, Ian.

Anyway, to give us a hand with this, Lewis Richards, a.k.a. Paddy Power's resident guru, joins us now. And just before we get to the Manchester derby, Les, let's talk about last week and some successes that we had. Chris, nice winning selection for you.

Yeah, no surprise really. The cream always rises to the top, Lewis. How did you get on, Ian? Hang on, what was your bet again? First of all, if you want to show off, show off properly. What was it? It was a Kulosevsky bet. I think that shot on target and a foul. I mean, it's a good bet. 1.78 to 1, I think it was, Lewis. Am I right? Winner is a winner. Winner is a winner. It was a good bet.

bet but there you go you won I didn't what was mine again what was yours Lewis sorry what was yours mate we done well we got over four and a half goals and Cole Palmer to have two shots on target just over four to one and

Ian, felt sorry for you. Cucurello seemed to be more interested in his boots than he did to actually make it a tackle. So your bet, Cardin and O'Fallon, each half did lose. But we're here. We've got a great Manchester derby to look forward to. So let's see if we can get a couple more winning selections. Who's playing again? Manchester derby. I can't remember. Anyway, yeah, let's crack on. Anyway, can I just say quickly, well done, Lewis. You needed that.

Just your credibility issues and what have you. You needed that. Well done to you. But this week, Lewis, what do you think about this? I'm going to go with Hoyland. That's Hoyland, not Harland, to score and be carded. What about that bit of aggression? No. I'm so sorry. It's a tough one to go with this one. Listen, we'll go for the odds first. It's just over 12-1. You know...

12-1. We'll look at the stats first. Two goals all season. Four fouls, no bookings. His recent form, he's only had two shots on target versus Forest. None against Arsenal. No fouls in either. It's a derby, so it's got to be tasty, but

Oh, I'm sorry, Chris. I can't say I'd be on this one. Thanks for your banking. I tell you what, that says a lot. That says a lot about the state of Manchester United's firepower or lack of that you go for the centre forward to score a goal and get a card. And those are the odds. That's really quite interesting. Right. I'm just looking at my bet, which I did a couple of days ago. I think I must have been drunk when I did this.

But I'm going to stick with it anyway. Manchester City to win by three or more goals with Haaland scoring and Martinez of Manchester United to be booked. This is an improvement on Chris's. No offence, Chris. It's an improvement on Chris, but again, it's an out there one. So combined, we're looking at just over 15 to 1 for these three selections. Let's break this down a bit. So Martinez to be booked.

He is the top carder for Man United alongside Mainu. You would think that he is bound to be in the thick of it versus City. Although, interestingly, in his last two appearances for Man United in the Premier League, he's had more shots than he has fouls. So there's just a little step for you there. More shots than tackles. I think he's had more tackles. More shots than tackles, which is always a good look for a central defender.

What else have we got here? Harlan to score. He's leading the way alongside Salah with 13 Premier League goals this season, although he has only got two in his last five. City are in some awful, awful form, which is coming on to the one that Harlan to score. Yes, Martin is to be booked. Yes. City to win by three or more. Bar against Nottingham Forest. They haven't won a Premier League game this season, I don't think, by a three-goal margin, except Forest.

So that's probably where those odds are coming in at so high. Apart from the last time they played at home, which was against Forest. True. So recent form. Recent form. So they're coming into form. Coming into form. Anyway, there we go. That's my bet. What about you, Lewis? What are you going to go for, mate? I've got to try and salvage something here because I don't like either team. City last night against Juve.

Couldn't see him scoring. United could win this game 1-0. City could win it 4-0 and you wouldn't be surprised at either result. So I've gone through the markets. I'm going to go for a half-time draw.

with both teams to score in 90 minutes. And because I liked the stats so much earlier on, and he's a big price, Martinez to have just a single shot. Doesn't have to be on target, just Martinez to have a shot. Those three markets coming at just over 8-1. So I'm happy to be the lowest odds this week, but

the more sensible selections, shall we say. I think Lewis's approach to gambling is very simple. He basically places bets that are so complicated that the bookie can't understand it, so he just pays out anyway.

Lewis walks in and says, yeah, I won. Yeah, I won. The bookie's like, yeah, you must have done. Right, Lewis, thanks for being with us again, mate. There you go. Manchester Derby this weekend. Just to reiterate that as Manchester City versus Manchester United. Thanks for being with us, Lewis. See you next week. Remember, odds are correct at the time of recording. Please gamble responsibly.

This episode is brought to you by Google Gemini. With the Gemini app, you can talk live and have a real-time conversation with an AI assistant. It's great for all kinds of things, like if you want to practice for an upcoming interview, ask for advice on things to do in a new city, or brainstorm creative ideas. And by the way, this script was actually read by Gemini. Download the Gemini app for iOS and Android today. Must be 18 plus to use Gemini Live.

Anyway, there are other games taking place this weekend, of course, and we're going to go... Big game in Scotland. Yes, the league, what I call the Scottish League Cup final, Celtic against the other team in Glasgow taking place on Sunday. But we're going to go Chelsea-Brentford. Quickly about this game. This is one of two games that's taking place at seven o'clock.

on Sunday evening. The other one being Spurs at Southampton. The reason for this is that these clubs have been given extra time to prepare given that they're playing in European competitions on Thursday night. It's a big call that by the Premier League because firstly Tottenham are playing in

in Glasgow so it's not exactly a hike home for them Chelsea are playing in Kazakhstan on Thursday afternoon so that's a bit of a haul but I've also seen having had a bit of a google that Manchester United's game against Fulham in January has been pushed back to a later kickoff time for the same reason what the weekend after they play at home to Rangers bit of a precedent being set here Chris

Yeah, it's more to do with further down the line, where does this lead to? I mean, I covered the game, Fulham-Arsenal at the weekend. And, you know, Arsenal had more recovery time from the round of games than Fulham did in the week. So it is, it's where it leads. I mean, you talk about Chelsea, Chelsea will be playing their second team in Kazakhstan. Yeah, fair point. And Spurs, you know, they do have airports north of the border and trains.

and what have you. So, you know, I'm sure Spurs will be able to get back within 48 hours from Glasgow. But it does set a precedent. And I think further down the line, or in the very near future, and this won't take long, we will see clubs trying to pile pressure on

onto the Premier League now because of this. As sure as eggs are eggs. Yeah, it's a very, very odd one. From the Premier League's point of view, given that it's Chelsea-Brentford, I'm talking about supporters trying to get to these games on Sunday night. Chelsea-Brentford,

Obviously, West London, West London Derby. Tottenham Southampton, again, not the furthest amount of travel for Tottenham fans. But even so, I just think further down the line, clubs are going to be on the phone to the Premier League saying, hang on a minute, you gave Manchester United extra time to recover from a home game against Rangers. What about us? And where does it then stop? Here's my fear. Would the Premier League then be best to come out

and talk about a minimum requirement then. Travel time. I'm talking in days, hours for recovery. Possibly. And just say, right, well, that's a cut off. And in many respects, if they did that...

then at least there would be a line drawn. So I don't know. If there's 72 hours, I don't know. It's not going to be 72, is it? I think it would have been easily explained, given that Chelsea and Kazakhstan, that is a long way. It's a lot of travel to Kazakhstan. We understand that. And you could pass that off as a unique circumstance. They're not driving. I'm not sure that you can pass...

Tottenham being at Rangers as a unique circumstance. Anyway, there we go. Chelsea Brentford, Premier League form table, last five games has Chelsea top and Brentford fourth. We do know about Brentford's away form. Not great. So you would fancy Chelsea on this one. I want to talk to you about Mark Cuccarella and his boots.

because we spoke about it on Monday's pod. For those of you who've been living on the moon, Cucurella was part of the Chelsea team that won at Tottenham on Sunday. Had a disastrous opening 11 minutes, fell over twice, gave Tottenham a two-goal lead, rushed off the pitch, changed his boots and then took a photograph of the offending players

in a bin with a caption saying, sorry, blues. The offending pair. I mean, you're making the boots sound like they are, you know, they're living.

Like it was their fault. Well, Cucurella clearly thought it was their fault. You chose that as your moment of the weekend on Monday, which we liked. The story's moved on since then. Turned out that Cucurella wasn't wearing any old boots. Cucurella was wearing Puma's latest pair of boots for the first time.

They are his boot company. He wears their boots. These were the next gen future eight boots that retail at £220 and boast that they give the footballer adaptability, movement and control. The adaptability thing's true.

There was certainly some movement, the movement being from upright to lying on your arse. And Cucurella found himself in a little bit of hot water. You can't go chucking your boots in the bin when someone's asking you to wear them. So he deleted the post, but it's all become...

A bit of a mess, Chris. He shouldn't have deleted it, should he? He should have just, after he posted it, you know, everybody had seen it. They can't, well, they can't unsee it because he's deleted it, but everybody knows what's going on. So he's just making it worse. So if you're his sponsor, I mean, you're not, you can't be overly enamored.

uh with that that he's he's you know he's not gonna do much for the christmas sales no absolutely so that's that's one to watch oh look i mean you know that's a bit of fun from him but yeah you can imagine the sponsors the sponsors going off but then maybe maybe kukureya you know has a point and they should get the the the boot design right

Well, then how can you expect someone to pay all that money for a pair of football boots that don't work? It's a bit of a snapshot, I think, of modern football life, isn't it? But obviously, I want to ask you, you know, boot deals have been around for, you know, a long, long time. So come on, what was the situation with there when you were in your pomp? Whose boots were you wearing? Were you getting paid a handy sum to do it? None of your business, my personal situation, Ian.

Did you ever put a pair on and think, Christ, I don't like those very much. I wish I could go back to my old ones. Go on, give us a bit of insight into how all that works. So, yeah, I had a fair few boot sponsors. Patrick, can you remember the old Patrick boots? I do remember Patrick. I used to wear them at school. Absolutely. So I was the main guy at Patrick, Patrick Goldline. I took them into administration.

I bet you did. I thought you were laughing. As well as Topman. For those of you who don't know, Chris was also a model for Topman once. Record sales. Record sales. He also took them into administration. Anyway, back to Patrick and the boots. So, yeah, so I used to love Patrick. And then after they'd gone, when I went to Chelsea, strangely enough, I –

uh i slipped on my debut as well i had umbro but umbro boots on they were my i thought you were in wellington beach when he played for chelsea when you thought you were in wellington beach when he played for chelsea yeah i get that divers divers but yeah but i always so i'm not making excuses like kooka ray but i always found that the umbro boots too tight um so maybe a bigger size that was very good so that was yeah that was a bit of an issue um

So, yeah, they were, I remember doing a big sort of promotional thing before the start of the season with other high-profile players. Robert Pires, I think, was wearing them. Two good-looking guys, really, myself and Robert. So, yeah, so they were sort of my main sort of boot sponsors when I played. And without asking for the numbers, were you getting, I mean, would you get the type of money that would,

you know, that you would, as a Premier League footballer, you would see as being a, you know, a big deal? Was it with the, you know, with the, not, what's the best way to phrase it? What I'm saying is, was it more than pocket money? That's what I'm trying to get at. Were they good deals? Well, you know, I put the greenhouse up in the garden. You named after the Patrick, the Patrick greenhouse. Yeah. And then when they went into administration, it fell down. Yeah.

Dear me. Does that answer the question to get paid well to wear them or not? Well, well enough. I don't think that... You don't have to be embarrassed by it. I don't think... I'm not going to tell you the figures. Yeah, well enough. Good. Right, there we go. Dear me. Do you want me to tell you the exact deal? Got there in the end. By the way, well, yeah, I do, actually. Have you still got any of your Topman clothes? No, I've grown out of them. Is that Christmas jumper coat from Topman? No, it doesn't. C&A.

Remember CNA? That wasn't coming from CNA. No, it was a joke. Alright, there we go. So that's just...

The story of Mark Kukerela and his disappearing boots. I wonder what he'll be wearing at Stamford Bridge on Sunday at 7pm. Right, very quickly, mate. The other game we're going to pluck out from this weekend's fixtures. Newcastle at home to Leicester. We've talked a bit about Newcastle and they could do with a win. We're not going to go into that one again. I want to talk to you briefly about Jamie Bates.

I remember when Leicester were getting promoted last year, Enzo Maresca was a manager then, of course, brought them up from the championship. There was some talk about what would happen with Vardy. I think he was out of contract and he was given a year. And I remember thinking, blimey, that's great. We're going to see Jamie Vardy again in the Premier League, even if it's just for one year. What a treat for us all. Almost 10 years ago, since he scored all those goals, as Leicester won the league in 2016. I thought we might see him off the bench from time to time.

Lo and behold, 15 games in, he's the main man. He's scored six Premier League goals already. He scored a goal and had an assist as Leicester came from behind late on to draw with Brighton on Monday night, I think it was. He's 38 next month, mate. How on earth is he doing it? I mean, his physical condition at his age is a bit like Linford Christie, isn't he? You know, seems to be getting sort of quicker...

Quicker with age. But he's not just, you know, he's the whole thing about Vardy is, you know, we all talk about him and this isn't disrespectful, but we all talk about his pace because he is super quick.

But it's not just about his pace. It's about timing of his runs, movement and finishing. And he's got all those in abundance. He's a brilliant reader of the game, but we do. I think that it's something we do with players like Jamie Vardy. We just put them into, oh, well, he's quick, he's pacey. But he's proven that he's far, far better

more than that, and going to have a key role if Leicester want to stay in the division. He's also seemingly, from the outside, a really powerful figure

at Leicester City. Yeah, I love the attitude. Whenever I see him on the television, on a televised game, he always seems to be picking an argument with the opposing fans about something, making gestures about the number of Premier League titles he's won or something, which I think maybe is a way of keeping himself going. He's always struck me as a player who needs to be slightly wound up

to really perform to his best. He looks angry, Jamie. He doesn't look angry all the time when he plays football, but it works for him. Similarities, you and Jamie.

I'm not surprised you're sticking up for an argumentative character as well. My angry streak hasn't really got me very far in the last 55 years, but there's always chat. Who knows what's going to happen in the future? Is he a Premier League great? I think he is. I think he's a Premier League great, Jamie. I love these pointless debates. Is he a Premier League great? That whole...

Leicester team really you could make a case for being Premier League great just because of where they came from

Certainly one of the most astonishing achievements. 180 goals in 350 league starts for Leicester over the years. Jamie Vardy, even I can do the maths of that. It's a goal every two games. Just under. Which we always say.

is a pretty good barometer. So there we go. Newcastle are home to Leicester this weekend. That caps off our show. And I just want to mention one thing to you, Chris, going to go right the way back to the start where we started the show. When I mentioned that City are on their worst run of form since 2006, when Stuart Pearce was the manager. So that run of one winning 10 games, which Pearce had,

At the end of the 2005-2006 season, it was the last 10 games, he lost 9-1-1. It carried over into the start of the next season. They only won one of the first six in 2006-2007. So by the time West Ham came to play, they were on a run of two wins in 16 games. Pearce was a bit desperate. Do you know what he did? Do you know what he did to try and turn his team's fortune around?

his daughter his daughter who was seven i remember this i was covering city at the time his daughter who was seven gave him a tiny little stuffed horse about the size of my hand it was one of her toys and it was called beanie the horse and she gave it to him and said take that with you to the game daddy that'll bring you that'll bring you luck i think he might have put it in his pocket

in his kind of on the bench, in his kit bag, whatever. Nope. He put it in the technical area. You don't remember this. He put it in the technical area. A child's horse called Beanie in the technical area at the Etihad and they beat West Ham 2-0.

They beat West Ham 2-0. And he then took it to Goodison for the next game. And they drew there. Stuart Pearce, psycho, England legend, Beanie the horse. What a combo. I said, what a lovely story. And that's maybe why things didn't go well for me at Lincoln. Because I didn't have a horse to put in the technical area.

Well, you've got enough horses to choose from, mate. You could have taken a real one. No, you take me. You could have taken a real one and played him up front. Yeah. You beat me to that, actually. Yeah. Would have improved us. Did you ever lucky charms a new player? Superstitions? Any of that nonsense? I used to like the same routine. Not sort of.

Not in terms of putting kit on it, but in a particular way, but the same pre-match when things were going well. I did eventually realise what's the point in all this? Because, you know. When did you stop?

But no, I used to, I actually religiously used to like to keep the same, the same very basic routine, things like massages, you know, night before games, you know. I don't want to hear about that. Yeah.

We're not that type of podcast. Similar meals, lots of coffee. I used to drink tons of coffee and then visit the toilet frequently. What is it that Vardy has? He's Red Bull. Red Bull and Port. Was it Port? Port as well, isn't it? I don't know. Something like that. Never had Port before. That would have been interesting. Port's awful as well, isn't it?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, I can see you there. I can see you with a glass of port on Christmas afternoon. I can absolutely see that. In my red trousers. Yeah. While Sam, having bought all the presents, wrapped all the presents, given out all the presents, made the lunch, served the lunch, tidied the way. Santa who gives out the presents, Ian? Yeah.

Oh, of course it is. Right, there we go. We're waffling. And that's not going to do anyone any favours. Thanks for being with us, everybody. That's our weekend preview show. We will be back on Monday. We'll see you then.