Why Tottenham Managers are Treated Differently to Other Managers
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Hello and welcome to... Oh God, this is not good. I haven't even written anything out. It's called It's All Kicking Off. That's the one. That's the one. Hello, this is your It's All Kicking Off weekend preview show. Chris, you're looking even more weary than you were the last time I saw you, but then you've been on the hoi in London. That's not down to you. No, you've been on the hoi in London for a couple of days. Horse to year show, I believe.

It's not called that, Ian. It's called London International Horse Show. It is, but it's basically the same thing. So I had a great time just with my wife and Sophia watching the pre-sants last night, Ian, and a young girl called Rachel Prouder jumped 6 foot 11. 6 foot 11 on a horse. Think about that. Think about how tall you are.

And then add on another couple of foot and then think about a horse jumping over your head. I mean, brave as anything. Great event, that. I was thinking that was almost like a horse jumping over you with me sitting on top of you, something like that. That's a better way of putting it. That's the image that I've got in my head. Anyway, he sent me a photograph. He sent me a photograph on Wednesday evening of a glass of champagne. So I'm not sure how much of the frisson.

you were actually watching. But I do hope you enjoyed it. I'm seeing you later for lunch, which I'm looking forward to. So let's talk about some football first before I jump on my train to London for our appointment. Manchester City at Aston Villa this weekend. We're going to talk about Villa before we talk. We don't want to talk too much about Pep Guardiola because that subject just rolls on and on. Villa, in many ways, sum up

the strange way the Premier League season is going at the moment. And I'll explain that. Villa have got 10 points fewer after 16 games than they had this time last year. 25 points as opposed to 35. But they're only three points off the top four. That kind of sums up the way it is when you look at the league from about fourth place down to about 12th or 13th place.

Yeah, you say three points off the top four, they're three points off Manchester United in 13th as well. It's such an odd season. In many ways, it's great, isn't it, that the Premier League has this strength in depth. I think we all...

I think we all possibly expected Villa with the Champions League this season for the squad to be stretched and for both competitions to take a bit of a toll. That's the way it has been. They've been slightly patchy. I still think it's been a good season, but you're right, how congested it is at this moment in time. I don't know whether it's...

I don't know whether it's because the Premier League is strong or whether it's because the midsection of the Premier League is mediocre without a really strong team. It's hard to tell sometimes. Well, which camp are you in? I think I probably am in the strong camp, to be honest, because you watch

games of football week in week out they are competitive take a team like Brentford I know they can't get a result away from home they've now lost in the League Cup away from home but at home they can beat anybody and we've talked before about teams like Brighton and Bournemouth etc Villa are

a tricky or an interesting case this season. They're not beating the big sides. They've beaten Leicester, Southampton, Wolves, Everton, West Ham. They've also beaten Bayern Munich in the Champions League. They're quite big.

Yeah, but in the league, they're not really doing what they did last season when they beat City, they beat Arsenal, they beat those two at home in one week. Although I did laugh recently when somebody said to me, oh, do you think Unai Emery might be coming under a bit of pressure? I'm thinking, goodness me. Who said that? We do, but we do, we do. I actually can't remember. We do have those debates, don't we? You know, the Posta Coglu debate is, you know,

it's fascinating. We go from, we go from one week to the next. He's the greatest manager in the world one week. And then he's, he's due to get the sack the next one. Well,

Which is it? I mean, if you look at where Villa have been for quite a long time before Dean Smith eventually got them out of the championship back into the Premier League four or five years ago, they were in, well, it's unfair on the championship to describe it as a wilderness, but it can sometimes feel like that if you're a big club and you get stuck there and you can't get back.

into the Premier League, say for, I don't know, just off the top of my head. Can you imagine what a club like Sheffield Wednesday must feel or clubs like Sunderland and Middlesbrough who have been out of the big time now for too long. Leeds obviously desperately trying to get back. I'll say Norwich before you do. And Villa have got back

And yeah, they had the, you know, Dean Smith took them a certain distance. They thought they had an upgrade in Steven Gerrard. That didn't work. And now Emery has taken them into the Champions League. And just because they're not quite firing on the cylinders that they were firing last year, it

some people are now asking whether he's having a difficult season. Yeah, but who are these people? It's interesting because Villa took a similar route when they first came back up. I was at the West Ham Stadium when Dean Smith kept them up on the last...

on the last day. And then they spent quite lavishly and took a bit of flack for doing that. But it's a similar path to Forrest in many ways in the fact the justification of the spending is staying in the Premier League, getting a foothold. They've done that. And they are flying. But I always felt it was going to take its toll. If you have quite a small squad, I think they do. I think that Villa fans are saying, well, they maybe miss...

Douglas Luiz a bit this season. But, you know, the squad is stretched and that's always the test when you're competing at the highest echelon, the highest end in Europe as Villarreal. And they are competing well in the Champions League. Possibility of an automatic

place going through but the Premier League has been a little bit patchy therefore. It would be an enormous achievement for them to go through into the next stage of the Champions League without even needing to fall into that kind of middle section of teams that take you into a play-off. I do love the way that they play as well. I've mentioned him before but I think one of the players who doesn't get an awful lot of

Not credit, but an awful lot of headlines of someone like Liam Bailey, who I think is a terrific player. John McGinn, obviously, continues to do well. I mean, everybody needs a John McGinn in the team, wouldn't you say, Chris? I mean, talented, committed team player and it seems to be a good lad to boot as well.

Yeah, absolutely. I remember when he went to Villa, there was a lot of talk about him going to Celtic and Celtic getting a fair bit of flack because they wouldn't stump up

I can't remember what the fee was, something like £4 million or whatever it is. He's gone to Villa and he's absolutely flourished. Big player for Scotland, big player for Aston Villa. And the other one this season for Villa is John Durant really emerging. You know, he had all that kerfuffle at the start of the season, whether he wanted to stay, whether he wanted to go. Yeah.

But him and Olly Watkins dovetailing and Unai Emery having that ability to put the player of Duran in and give him game time to rest Watkins up, that's been a positive. Yeah, I don't think John Duran, I would imagine, has spent an awful lot of time since that move to West Ham fell down, regretting the fact that he didn't eventually move

to London. Who knows? But he is having a terrific season, like you say. They'll take the game to City Villa. That is for sure. They are at home. I don't want to go back into the Pep Guardiola thing, really. We know what it is. On it goes. He needs to win some matches badly. Kyle Walker probably has a bit of a reputation to mend this weekend. We didn't dig into that. After he went down theatrically,

under the non-contact from Rasmund Horland's forehead. He's better than that, Ian. Well, yeah, well, it's one of your favourite phrases. You normally say it to me, but if you do that, are you better than that? I don't know. We all thought Kyle Walker was better than that. Maybe he's not. We've all done a bit of play acting over the years. Yeah, he hasn't covered himself in glory. I think the bigger concern, if you're a Manchester City fan, is actually his form. Yes. He's been at fault for...

for a fair few goals this season. But we said on the pod on Monday, it's not just him. Name one City player who has passed marks this season. You can't. Have you seen some of the memes, internet memes that have been going around of Kyle Walker with him mocked up sitting in hospital beds with bandages on his head? Exactly.

Just pull it. I've managed to pull through. I think I'll be okay. I don't know. I just think that, you know, I've had a little bit. I've interviewed Kyle Walker. I've chatted to him on England duty, et cetera. I do think deep down, he is the type of lad who probably will be really, really embarrassed about that. I mean, you may tell me that all footballers would be embarrassed after something like that, but I really do think he will be. I think he is that type. I think he'll be feeling the shame. I really do.

Yeah, but I mean, it's not, you know, it's not going to go away, but I'm pretty sure you're saying all this, but I'm pretty sure that, you know, he's got thick skin. You have to have thick skin, don't you, to play football.

the clubs he's played for and won what he's won. Yeah, and when you also consider some of the things that have been said and written about Kyle's private life, I think he really does have to have thick skin. Ruud van Nustervoort might need similar, by the way. We didn't...

We didn't mention it on Monday's podcast because there was so much else to go at, but Leicester took a real hiding at Newcastle at the weekend. They lost 4-0. That was Van Nistelrooy's first away game in charge of Leicester, I think. And I have to say, they looked absolutely bereft of idea defensively at Newcastle. They're home to Wolves this weekend. We think Wolves will have a new manager, Vito Pereira.

But Leicester don't... Correct me if I'm wrong, but you watch a performance like that at Newcastle and you just wonder if Leicester have got the players for it.

I worried about Leicester all season, another one of those promoted clubs. And I think that with their recent relative success in the Premier League and their recent history, Leicester City fans expected more this season. I always think that's massively dangerous. Just staying up, getting a foothold, I think is important. Hence Steve Cooper was sacked last

And the bounce at Leicester surprised me a little bit in terms of beating West Ham and getting a draw coming from behind against Brighton. I've got to say, I'm not surprised that they got walloped by Newcastle. I think that they've been papering over the cracks for a while now and Ruud van Nistelrooy has got a hell of a job on.

keeping in the Premier League. I think overall, though, Ian, all things being equal, he would have been pretty satisfied with the start. But I'm with you. They leak too many goals. There seems to be this amazing reliance and fair play to Jamie Vardy on him to be the leader and the goal scorer. But I think that they're in for a long season and I think they'll be in a relegation battle all season. Yeah, it's...

You may well be right. And I think the point you make about you worrying about them all season is something that resonates with me. I remember speaking to Tom Colamossi, our Midlands correspondent at the start of the season. He said to me privately that he thought Leicester would really, really struggle. That win that you talk about, the win that they had against West Ham in Van Nistelrooy's first game. Yeah, they were fortunate. I watched that game. I mean, West Ham had a...

West Ham had about 30 shots on goal and I'm not exaggerating. I think it was something like that. Leicester somehow managed to get the victory. So Leicester have gone for Ruud van Duistelrooy, as we know.

And Wolves appear to be going for Vitor Pereira, another Portuguese coach. And we know the way that Wolves operate under the Fosun group. They've got close ties to the Portuguese super agent, Jorge Mendes, Cristiano Ronaldo's agent, Jose Mourinho's agent. There's nothing wrong with that or the...

Other clubs do it. Tottenham are developing a very close relationship with the base agency. Nottingham Forest are going in a similar direction as well. It's okay. There's nothing wrong with it. It's work for Wolves. In the past. In the past, it's largely on the back of Mendes' contacts that they got into the Premier League in the first place. Nuno Espirito Santo, of course, current Forest manager, was a guy who did that.

Having said all that, this one leaves me a little bit cold. You know, we don't want to come across on this podcast as little Englanders who just want the Premier League to be the domain of the English because it's not that and it hasn't been that for a long time and it's probably benefited from the fact that it isn't that. However, I do sometimes wonder what kind of messages these appointments send to people

British coaches further down the pyramid. And, you know, off the top of my head, I would maybe mention somebody like Michael Carrick, who's doing a great job at Middlesbrough, for example, when big Premier League jobs are filled in this fashion.

Well, Wolves fans may point to the fact that Wolves have just had a British coach as of Southampton and you'd have to say that they have failed. And...

At this moment in time, it's about a quick fix. I mean, Pereira does look... I mean, just looking at his history of management, he doesn't hang about, does he? He sort of, you know, goes into a club, isn't there, long and moves on. But it's about the short term at this moment in time, I suppose, for Wolves and all about staying in the Premier League. Did I see them in this position at the start of the season? I didn't. I think if...

I understand how difficult it is for promoted clubs to stay in the Premier League, but for Wolves, 14th place last season and nine points this season, that is a real underachievement. So they need somebody. The issue is Vito Pereira's knowledge of the Premier League and the fact that he does need to come in and hit the ground running and get instant success and instant results.

Otherwise, Wolves are going to find themselves relegated. They've been in the Premier League, I think, six seasons and they've been able to build a platform. You can point at the start of the season and you can say, well, they let Kilman go. They let Neto go. Did they really replace them? But they still have a team full of international players and a team who should be performing better. I mean, 40-odd goals, which they've conceded, two and a half goals.

That is that shambolic. And that's the first thing that Pereira is going to have to address. And the point you make there is the thing that rankles with me a little bit is that

I don't think in any way we can describe Vito Pereira as an elite coach, not on his recent record anyway. He did win the Portuguese League with Porto twice, 2012, 2000. I could maybe have done that though. 2013. He won the Greek League with Olympiacos. I think you could certainly have done that. They tend to win it most years. Since then, he's had eight jobs. Since then, he's had eight jobs and he's worked...

All over the place, he's worked in Brazil, he's worked in the Gulf States, he's worked in Turkey, I think. And that, I think, is what would worry me if I was a Wolves supporter, is that his recent record in management is not elite, that's for sure.

Like you say, if he keeps them up, maybe that's all that matters. I suppose that is all that matters. He'll probably move on, won't he? With the way that he's not hung around at clubs, he'll probably keep them up and move on. Should Mendes be having such an influence, though? Yeah, I mean, look, there's nothing...

outside the rules about it. I don't think there's outside the margins of ethics about it. It's the way that they wish to go. I just think that if I was...

a Wolves fan I was sometimes wondering a little bit about the identity of my football club and how easy it was for me to identify with my football club in terms of the way it's run and the people who've managed there in the past and the people who play for the club but maybe they don't care maybe they're watching Premier League football every week that's all that matters but

it's an interesting comparison when we look at other leagues across Europe I mean one of the reasons why the Premier League is so successful is because we do attract the best we attract the best players we attract the best coaches I don't think we should be sniffy about that when you look at the influence of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho and many many others have had on the Premier League

However, it is worth pointing out now that there are two English managers left in the Premier League. Sean Dyson, Eddie Howe, Kieran McKenna, of course, Ipswich, who is from Northern Ireland, and

But if you look at Italy, the top division in Italy has 16 Italian managers. La Liga in Spain has 15 Spanish managers. Ligue 1 in France has 10 French managers. The Bundesliga in Germany has nine German managers. Now, maybe it doesn't matter, but it's an interesting contrast all the same. Anyway, Leicester host Wolves on... I heard a staggering stat the other day, Ian, that I think it's the first time...

I hope I get this stat right. In 132 years, there's no Scottish managers in the top two divisions. Wow. Didn't know that. The first time in 132 years. Something like that. I'm probably 50 years out or something. But anyway, just to emphasise, the fact that Scottish managers, the influence which they've had on the English game, that is staggering. If I've got it right...

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, we're focusing on the big one, Aston Filler against Manchester City. To give us a hand with this, Lewis Richards, aka Paddy Power's resident guru, joins us now.

And before we talk about this week, let's have a little discussion about last week, as I think we need a little bit of improvement, especially from you, Ian. Not good last week.

Yeah, I did say that I might have been drunk when I predicted that Manchester City would win the derby by three goals and that Haaland would score and whatever else it was. Lissandro Martin had to get booked. I forgot that ridiculous. It didn't quite go my way, that's for sure. Hey, nothing wrong with being ambitious. That is true. And then Chris...

I thought I was being a little bit optimistic, but that's the type of guy I am, thinking he would score as well. That didn't happen, but close, but no cigar, Lewis.

And then over to me, City were leading at half-time. I don't know how they were leading at half-time, so that was my draw half-time out the window. But both teams scored, and Martin has had his shot, which was the biggest selection out of mine. So let's hope that we can do better this week. Chris, shall we start with you this week? Yeah, well, I'm going to push the boat out here a little bit. Harland to score and to make one or more fouls, and City to win both halves.

That is quite a strong bet, Lewis, that. Well, the only question I've got before we get on to the odds, can you really see City having such a commanding win this time around after that performance last week? Can you really see them winning both halves? Are you confident on that?

All I would say, law of averages, Lewis. They will come good again eventually. I mean, across the last 10 fixtures, they've only won both halves once. And that was at home at Nottingham Forest. I will have no argument with you about Haaland to score. He's still the top scorer with 13 goals. You can only imagine how many he would have if they were playing well. He's got 13 fouls as well with two bookings. So I don't mind it sitting with both halves could be a little bit out there.

Ian? The only problem with placing a bet on Haaland to score is locating him, first of all. I think he might still be in Jaime Guay's back pocket. So someone's going to have to take him out of there before anything happens at the weekend. I'm going for...

Score draw, half-time score draw, full-time John McGinn to score for Aston Villa. Chris is roaring with laughter. Don't know why. Seems like a fair bet to me. Yeah, so Chris, we've got to give Chris's odds. That's 6.15 to 1 for Chris's selection. You, Ian, have gone well out there with odds of 53.59 to 1. Um...

So I really like the score draw at half-time and full-time. Really like it. McGinn, though, you are... Where is this come from? He's got no goals all season. And from what I can see, two shots on target from 19 shots. So... Came from in there. I'm pointing at my forehead. Came from in there. Came from deep in that big northern brain of mine. That's where it came from. And you may mock, but you won't do when I'm sitting on a few quid on Monday morning. If he scores, I will...

I will give you the Guru Crown for next time, that's for sure, if he does score. Blimey. I mean, the Guru Crown. Okay. It's hardly the equivalent of the Crown, Jules, is it? But thank you very much. I'll take it.

And Lewis, what about you, my friend? Come on, let's get into Christmas with the winner. Yeah, so I have stolen a bit from both of you because I don't think this City form shows no sign of ending. They're out of 14 to win the Premier League. Very surprised to see Pep second in the sack race at 5-1 this morning to go next. So I am going to go for a score draw. Both teams to score and draw. But as we said, Haaland's

scoring, his prices are just really good. He's even money just to get a goal. But I will go for him to have a shot in target in each half. So it'll be both teams to score, draw. Harlan's shot on target in each half is just under 6-1. Blimey, Perrins.

Guardiola second in the sack race. Who would have thought it? That'll never happen, by the way. Man City will never sack Guardiola. He'll walk before he's sacked. There we go. Nice one. Thanks for that, Lewis. Remember, everybody, odds are correct at the time of recording. Please gamble responsibly.

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I just

I do want to touch on something that Anne said in the run-up, in the preview to the Cup game. Being asked again about pressure and the pressure to win trophies, etc. And Anne just suggested that being a football manager is a harder job even than being Prime Minister, saying that they only have an election every few years. We have an election every weekend and either get voted in or out.

out that's true we have lost all sorts of modes of respect in our society guys are in jobs and that and people are putting up names of who is going to replace them while they are still working as a society we are so quick to throw people in the trash and move on really quickly with no thought or

care around it. I don't think we would disagree with Ange when he talks about the pressure that Premier League managers are under. However, I do think he's on slightly shaky ground when he starts talking about football management being the hardest job in the world because let's face it, football isn't the real world.

Well, yeah, I mean, you go on. I think once again you sort of maybe misinterpreted what he said. I mean, you know, I think that was a tongue-in-cheek comment. But what he says about...

especially a Tottenham manager, they do seem to be treated differently to most other. No, they aren't. No, they aren't. I'm just saying, you know, for Tottenham, the Spurs-y thing, they have become a bit of a...

a laughingstock, haven't they, over the years, Tottenham? The fact they can't get over the line in terms of winning a trophy. You know, they've had Mourinho, they've had Conte. Now they've got this Australian bloke in. And it does seem to me

that every time Tottenham don't get a result, there is more of a pylon than any other club in the Premier League. I mean, you'll deny it. You'll sit there in your little tower and you'll deny that. But it's true. Why is it? Why is there a pylon on Postacoglu like there is? I deny it because it's not true. Is it the brand of football? Is it because he's a stickler? If Arne Slott...

had started his spell as Jurgen Klopp's replacement in tricky fashion. He'd have been on the back pages and first on the top of the websites and first on the news bulletins every weekend. Do you think Poster Coglu's been treated fairly? Yeah.

Yeah, I do. Yeah, he's received an absolute bundle of credit for when his team play well and he's received criticism when his team haven't played well. And as we know, one of the problems is that there never seems to be anything in between for Tottenham. Anyway, we don't want to get into it because we don't know what they're going to do tonight. They could beat Manchester United 5-0 in the League Cup tonight. So equally, it could go the other way. And that kind of is the essence of Tottenham football.

Not with the run Manchester United are on. Yeah, and talking of...

of Manchester United. They are at home to Bournemouth on the back of a Manchester Derby win over Manchester City. Again, United are playing Thursday night, so we need to be slightly careful. But we can talk about two players. We can talk about Marcus Rashford. And we talked about him on Monday's podcast after he'd been left out of the Derby. And he's now decided to tell the world that he thinks it's time for a change in

I think maybe if you're a Manchester United fan, you might just be able to take a deep breath and think, well, at least it's out in the open now and we know where we're all heading. Yeah, I mean, this...

This probably didn't take you by surprise, but it took me by surprise. I'm surprised the way he did it. Yeah, and the fact that Amarim's just in the door, he's left him out. You'd expect a guy who, you know, it wasn't so long ago he was posting about how excited he was about the new season and he was upping his fitness regime. Now Amarim's gone in and sort of,

seen through him a little bit. It looks like he's chucking the towel in and wants away. My issue, or not my issue, the issue Marcus Rashford will have, if you're a top club, a top club who wants to win Premier Leagues and Champions League, Champions Leagues, why would you take a player whose attitude is questionable or seems to have been questioned under the last couple of managers? And that's the issue which he has. He can say, well, I want away, but...

You know, how high is his bar? Yeah. And to extend that point, the other thing is if Marcus thinks that by leaving Manchester United, he can escape certain problems, certain difficulties, certain things that make him uncomfortable, that might be the case. But what he can't escape are the issues regarding his own form, um,

and approach to football that have brought him to where he is at Manchester United. You know, you only succeed as a footballer, as you know, if you are fit and committed and focused and willing to do all the right things. And if he's not been able to tick all those boxes at Manchester United, why does he think he's going to be able to tick them somewhere else? Because at the end of the day, you have to apply yourself as a footballer. And if you don't,

then you're screwed. And I think that will be, those problems will follow him wherever he goes. Those questions will follow him wherever he goes. And then, of course, there's the matter of who's going to be able to pay him. We think he earns north of £300,000 a week at Manchester United. There aren't many clubs around the world who can pay that. Now, he may end up going out on loan in January. Manchester United may end up

paying some of those wages when he's on loan. Who knows? Interesting that Ruben Amin, the United manager, said he doesn't want him to go. I'm not sure about that. I just wonder whether that was a bit of a tactic just to make sure that they keep the price as high as possible.

Yeah, what surprises me more than anything is how this has unravelled in such a short space of time. Amrim's just in the door and he's questioned him.

And Amram has done it with a lot of players. A lot of Manchester United players, quite rightly, have been on trial as far as I can see in terms of they've got to prove themselves to the manager. What's different to any other club? But I think with Rashford moving on or the possibility of moving on and who's going to take him,

I always think there'll be clubs who would take him, albeit he's not in great form, because he has proven in the past that he is such a talent, such an important player he can be, such a game changer. But I think the character thing, the attitude thing, is something which could really go against him.

strongly because because a lot of managers talk about you know they're not just signing a player on ability it is about the uh you know the character and their attitude and what have you and they they wouldn't want um supposedly bad eggs in their dressing room coming in to disrupt the dressing room you know everybody talks about the the need for harmony

So it will be really interesting to see where Marcus Rashford moves on, if he does move on. I still think there will be something interesting

in his nature he'll have that pride where he will in the short term while he's at Manchester United he will want to prove a point and then who knows what's he got to do he's been he's been left out he's got a knuckle down he's got to work hard in training and when the opportunity comes he's got to he's got to take the opportunity and prove himself to to Ruben Ambrim who's highly ambitious

I think what was also interesting was that Amrim confirmed in a press conference on Wednesday that Rashford hadn't told anybody at the club that he was about to say the things that he was about to say in that interview with the journalist Henry Winter that he did on Tuesday. And I think that maybe tells us a little bit about the way that Marcus's mind works

these days I would love to say that there's a way forward for him at Manchester United I don't think there is and I would love to say that I think we'll see him again at the very top level somewhere else but I don't actually think that we will on that point the one Manchester United player who has a show and always starting to show

that there can be a way back from difficult times if you apply yourself, is Harry Maguire. Just very, very briefly, I remember being at Hampden last season to watch England beat Scotland in a friendly and Maguire played and was being lampooned by Scotland supporters, scored an own goal, wasn't playing for Manchester United at the time.

And it just felt as though that guy's whole world was collapsing. He'd been under pressure for a while for England. He'd not been playing for United. And that was a low point. Eric Ten Hag tried to sell him to West Ham at the start of last season. He didn't go.

And all of a sudden, he's back in the team. He marked Erling Haaland out of the Manchester derby last weekend. And now he's talking to Manchester United about a new contract. And, you know, maybe Marcus Rashford should take a leaf out of Harry Maguire's book in terms of knuckling down, getting your head down, working hard, waiting for your opportunity. When the opportunity comes...

take it and do your talking on the training pitch. And then when you get the opportunity with the first team, so fair play to Harry Maguire. I've always, well, I think we've both always talked him up in terms of thick skin, his attitude, you know, he's such a high profile player playing for Manchester United and England. I remember thinking he shouldn't have gone to the Qatar World Cup and because

because of his lack of game time at Manchester United and him doing that and proving me wrong in that situation. So I've got a lot of admiration for Harry Maguire. I'm not so sure they should be thinking about necessarily offering him a new contract yet, though.

Well, he'll have to because I think he's out at the end of this season. He's got an option of a year and I think they're talking about taking that option maybe another year. They're not talking about five or six years or something like that. Excuse me if you can hear any background noise. My five-year-old daughter is getting ready for school. I think she knows, probably has a more succinct opinion on how McGuire and Marcus Rastread than I do. But that's...

open to debate. Right, Chris, I don't want to go before I mention Everton, Everton at home to Chelsea at the weekend. It looks as though the takeover by the freaking group is about to go through. It looks as though the Farhad Moshiri spell at Everton is coming to an end.

We can only have our fingers crossed, can't we, that this is the start of brighter days for a great football club, especially as they move into that new stadium next season. Yeah, they just want a bit of stability, don't they, at Everton? So if that does happen, I read that a few days ago, the Friedkin group, that should happen pretty soon. And then hopefully new stadium. The key, of course, is staying in the Premier League.

Hence why, you know, I know that there are Everton fans who are deeply unhappy with Sean Dyche, but they should stick this season. I think he will keep them in the Premier League. And then, you know, it can be the end of this Moshiri era looking forward next season to them trying to build slowly and become a regular sort of top half of the Premier League team again.

Worries me a little bit when Dice says, as he has done a couple of times, that he hasn't heard anything from the freaking group about the way forward. Maybe the writing could be on the wall there, but I totally agree with you that if they are going to do something, then they really shouldn't do it before the end of this season. And by the way, I was at the World Cup qualifying group competition

last week in Zurich, talking to Thomas Tuchel. You get some places, don't you? England's fixtures have been announced for World Cup qualifying. And it's interesting that one of those games, I think it's a home game against Andorra, can't be played at Wembley because the national stadium has been used for a Coldplay concert. That's next September. I think it'd be wonderful if they took that game to Everton's new stadium.

I don't know what the logistics are of that. I don't know what the FA's views are on that, but it's a nice thought anyway. Okay. Are you sort of just on the Coldplay thing? Are you angry about that? Does it take precedent over? Absolutely not. No. As you know, if you've been listening to anything I've said in the last couple of years on this podcast, I think England should play games away from Wembley more often. I don't think it should be because they're forced to, because the stadium's

double booked I think they should do it anyway the atmosphere at Wembley is not often good enough it's often a lot better when they're on the road so whether this game takes place at Everton or at Old Trafford an Andorran fan might think I want to go to Wembley I don't know

An Andorran player, I'm sure. I'm sure the Andorra players will be disappointed when they realise they're not going to play at Wembley. But as we know, Chris, it's not all about... They have to go up north. It's not all about the footballers. Okay, thank you for being with us, everybody. Christmas is upon us, but we are not going anywhere. Chris and I will be ploughing on through the festive season. We'll be back on Monday for our usual show. It's not usual, is it, Monday? Because I've heard...

just my sources um in northern norfolk tell me that there's a quiz a christmas quiz well if we're doing a quiz you're doing it on your own because i ain't doing it i hate quizzes and i'm not doing it so you'll have to get someone else to do it you can answer such a misery i i will ask questions and you can you can answer i'm not doing a quiz i'm just not doing oh come on i'm not doing it come on get your christmas jumper on your hands and do the quiz

I'll have a word with the male hierarchy and make sure that that happens. I am the male hierarchy, for God's sake. Haven't you realised that yet? Sort of a lowerarchy. Lowerarchy, yeah, absolutely. Okay, look, you get back to the Horse of the Year show, mate. I'm going to see you at lunchtime, which will be pleasant. I'll be having a glass of red. You'll be on the Guinness, no doubt.

thanks for listening everybody and please do join in join in our debates join in these conversations join in the quiz on Monday comment here well somebody will have to comment here on Spotify from Jamal Hakeem that he left a day ago he says good morning long time fan I think he means of you Chris

First time listening to the podcast, I totally agree Marcus Rashford is spent. He needs a dose of humble pie. I'm a lifelong United fan, but he's been this way for a while now. Jesse Lingard was the same with the ego. I'm sure lots of you out there have got views on Marcus Rashford. You might have views on English managers. You might have views on Aston Villa, you know Emery, and he might have a view on the way that Kyle Walker fell to the ground yesterday.

um, in the Manchester Derby last weekend. We do hope he's okay. Any thoughts on those? Let us know. You know, you can find us on the socials on X for those who don't listen very often. Um, you can find me, Ian Lademan and him, Chris Sutton. As I often say, I'm the one with the silly name and he's the one with the famous name. You can also find us on, uh,

Facebook and Instagram and TikTok. You can see excerpts of the show there and you can leave comments. Please, for God's sake, whatever you do, Apple Podcasts or Spotify, hit that follow button. Leave us a review. Chris, I'm jumping on the train. I'll see you in a few hours. Everybody else, I'll see you on Monday.