Adios Amorim

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27:13Plus, it all starts on Friday. Wrexham against Nottingham Forest. It's an early start for Everton against Sunderland. These games on ESPN2, including, of course, on Saturday as well, Spurs against Aston Villa, Charlton against Chelsea. Now, there's a lot of speculation as who would be in charge of that game. It looks like it will be McFarlane again. We're expecting the announcement that Liam Rossinia today. That hasn't transpired. Of course, this is a man who we've discussed a lot since the sacking of Mareska. He seems the number one candidate to take over at Stamford Bridge. Mario with us. Augie's still with us as well.

27:52Mark, why is this taking so long? Why not today? Well, good question. Chelsea haven't actually quite described what's going on, but I think it's a case of Rasenia wanting to make sure that he's got his role absolutely nailed down as to what he's going to be expected to do. Obviously, he'll expect a pay rise. I'm pretty sure that it's mostly done. He's not going to turn it down, I don't think. He's not going to be deciding that it's too much of a job for him. But look, they've got Fulham away on Wednesday, and whether it's a case of just getting them through the next game, Fulham away is a tricky game.

28:22You could lose that game. You don't want your first game as manager to be a defeat against Fulham, and then have an easier game, I guess, against Charlton in the FA Cup at the weekend. But, you know, I don't think there's any kind of obstacles that's going to stop it happening. It's just a case of timing, isn't it? And timing just to get it over the line and get it done properly before Rossini comes in. I'm an urge from you on this, Craig. What do you think? Anybody that's managed Derby is good enough for me.

28:48No idea. Yeah. I mean... Yeah, I think if we're honest, I don't think anybody does. For 20-odd years now, really since even when I was at the club it was Glenn Hoddle we're talking about big names, it was Rude Hullet it was Claudio Ranieri I'm missing people out, there was Mourinho Abramovich era nothing but big name after big name and they were hired and they were fired but then the next best was brought in this is a complete and this regime have tried that Tuchel was there, Pochettino was there they had an off the cuff with Graham Potter but this is, and obviously Enzo Moresca was somewhere in between having had a lot of coaching in Italy and coaching at Man City and then managing Leicester but this is, we're talking about really in terms of management, young and inexperienced although he's been, he has some management experience in England and in France stepping into that Chelsea dressing room.

29:54Even though there's no real, there's not a lot of experienced big superstars in there. There's a lot of young, headstrong individuals who are on big money. And that's a very inexperienced voice to come in and start shoving people around. So it's going to be very interesting. Yeah, Mario, picking up on that point, as a player, what's it like to have someone who maybe doesn't have the experience that makes it the club taking over? As players, players are like, they're always going to test. It doesn't matter who you are. You understand? They're going to test how far can they go. If someone stands in front of you, he gets a big test, of course, if the team is stuck.

30:33And they would like, let's say, you're not winning or you draw and you come in at halftime, you expect your manager to put a change in and really have an effect on the game. If that doesn't happen for a couple of games, you're going to have players that are going to open them out. They're going to be like, they are going to try to give directions. So you've got to be big for that. He's a young manager, you understand? Paul Winsley, you understand, one of the sporting directors, they know each other because of the background of Brighton and stuff like that. So he comes in as a young boy. He gets his opportunity.

31:02And, yeah, I always say that if it comes my way, I would have taken it. So that is normal. But on the other hand, you also have to understand that this heat is going to be really big for him because you coming in to take a job of someone that clearly couldn't do what he wanted to do, And now you're coming in. You're coming in in the same way. And seeing is like, I don't want to say I know him, but he looks to me like someone that likes to win. And eventually when you win and you get comfortable, you're going to demand certain things that you didn't agree in the beginning. And I think that something similar happened to Maresca.

31:37What he agreed in the beginning changed later on because he wanted more, more influence, more power. And they did not want to give him. And that is what happened. Now Liam is coming. He's going to get similarities. You have to understand that if you, some moments, you've got to swallow something. And this might not be the situation you want to be in. So let's see what he's going to do. You footballers are all kids, basically. Kids at school when the new teacher comes in, seeing what you can get away with. That's exactly the situation that Mario is describing. Yeah, pretty much. Exactly. And that's the issue when you have a young teacher coming in.

32:12You know that. You've taken advantage of me, a young teacher. All right, Jack. But, you know, he's 41. He's older than Amarine. We talk about that. A dressing room will look to pounce on a weakness. Yeah. Because a dressing room, when things go wrong, will look to a person to blame. And it won't be, unless you don't like somebody in the dressing room, it won't be in that inner circle. So it has to be that weakness somewhere else. It's the blame game. And, you know, when things are riding high, you very rarely hear about the blame game. Sure. But we've heard it at Man United, we've seen it at one or two other clubs, and I think that is the issue for a younger...

32:54And let's be honest about it. Sorry, as a player, what would gain your respect as a manager that doesn't have the experience of others coming into a dressing room first day, first week? What sort of traits are you looking for to think, ah, yeah, this guy knows what he's doing, he's the right man? Is he walking in? Has he got a need of confidence about him? How is he speaking to the players? Is his training good? Is he sort of trying to kiss the backside of one or two others? As if he's in awe of them. You know, it was a little bit like when Nagelsmann, who had more experience at a higher level at the time, but was very young, were into the Bayern Munich dressing room.

33:30He was younger than Thomas Müller and some of the players. Not an easy scenario to go into. Because I'm even sure Nagelsmann, who had managed Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, walked in there thinking, what the hell do these guys actually think of me? I'm going to have to tell them. I'm going to have to tell them. I'm telling Tommy Muller what he should be doing, where he should be standing, where I want him. And players can sense when a manager is frightened and weak. And players will sometimes look for that. They won't necessarily give it off and you'll see it, but they'll give you the old eh, eh, eh, and you'll see them sort of gauging the situation.

34:09You are being judged by everyone. You're being judged by the whole dressing room. And when you walk out that dressing room, after having talked to all the players, whether you do it individually in the manager's room or whether you walk around the dressing room, when you walk out that door, players will talk. Right. And I'm not suggesting anything bad will happen, but my experience, and I don't know about you, Shaq, is if a coach comes in and the training's horrendous and players will just sense it straight away and go, out of his depth. Right. So here's the conundrum. You have to be an authority.

34:43But you're a young manager, in Liam Resenia's case, 41 years old. You don't have that much experience behind your name in terms of your CV and what you've done. So you have to be an authority, but then that respect is earned. But you haven't really had the managerial career to be able to step in and have that, and earn that respect, or have it be pre-earned. And now you're coming into a dressing room with a bunch of players who are highly paid, very well accomplished, and you don't have a CV to match. That is a really tough ask for any young man in that situation. And it works both ways because, you know, to give you an example, when Janssen left Celtic in 97-98, Joseph Wenglos came in.

35:30He was at the other end of the spectrum. Wenglos had managed the old Czechoslovakia. He'd managed around Europe. He was supposed to be an innovator, but he was well in, I think, in his late 60s when he came to Celtic. And the training was just so weird, right? Within a couple of days. And this is an experienced coach. The players went, this guy's out of his depth. And I imagine, like anything, once that happens, people turn the page. It's very difficult then to get back on board. And the only way you get back on board is by winning every week. And as we know, particularly in England, that's difficult to do.

36:00It's fascinating, Mario, to get that insight within a dressing room like this. yeah you have to get it right as soon as you come in and also sometimes you know what the guys highlighted the extra thing also you gotta go at even the big boys in the team you gotta open your mouth against them if you don't do that anybody else in your team is gonna watch like okay he is worried about saying something to them so you gotta come in and you gotta say like sometimes you have a meeting when you come in and say to the guys come on let's have a chat and you tell them look i'm gonna demand a lot from you because you're the most experienced one and then when it comes in the dressing room, you let them know it too.

36:36You say, hey, I told you that before. You are going to be very important for this team. So you got to step up and you got to show us that we can count on you. If he doesn't do that, believe me, because for example, you have a Reece James, you have an Ansel, those kind of guys. We maybe look at them young, but they're the older ones in the team because they're more experienced. They have seen more. That's why they wear the armband. So when they play, I want them to open them out. When we're in the dressing room, do a moments you understand when you're losing the game. Sometimes I just look at a player.

37:07Like I give an example. When I come in the dressing room and I see Solai and Desailly, I just look at them to give me the answer because I'm the young boy. I'm 22 years old. I'm expecting them to come with the secrets. And if they don't do it, yeah, then you look at your coach. And then your coach, yeah, like how Craig said, Ranieri, then comes up with the situation. Even if his English wasn't that good in the beginning, it doesn't matter. Just explain to us what you want us to do. And if it happens, great. So that's what he has to do. His work is going to be in the begin. From the moment he starts, and we're not talking about that I expect him to play the most beautiful game, but make sure your identity, that's what you have to have in place.

37:46Of course, Chelsea picked up a point this weekend. Unexpected point, certainly for anyone who watched their game against Manchester City. City in control for much of the tie. 1-0 up, but then that late, late equaliser from Enzo meant that it finished 1-1 for City. City, of course, it dropped points. Arsenal, six points clear at the top of the table, plus injuries as well. This is what Pep Guardiola had to say about what was going on with regards to the injuries and regards to what's happening with City and Chelsea. The Spaniard, of course, seeing City dropping points. Back-to-back games, in fact, they've drawn, obviously, after that 0-0 draw against Sunderland as well.

38:23Of course, I have concerns. Have you seen the bench today? Four players from the academy, and now we will have more. we don't have players. Mark Ogden is still with us. Oggy, there's all this talk that Semenyo is going to make the move from Bournemouth to City in the January Chancellor window. I imagine you speak to the majority of City fans now. They're saying, look, Semenyo, definitely not our priority. We need defenders. Vardio out for the end of the season. Of course, Diaz out as well. They already needed support at the back. Now it's emergency time, surely. Yeah, well, City are considering a move for Mark Gwey.

38:58at Crystal Palace. Now, we know that Gray's out of contracts in the summer. At the moment, the inclination of Gray is to stay at Palace and run his contract as a free agent. But if City make a big move, both in terms of wages for him and a fee for Palace, that deal could get done. So City are kind of pivoting towards that as a defender. But I think they'll end up with both. I think Semenya will be done by the end of the week. It's a January 10th expiry on his£65 million release clause. I think that'll get done. And I think you're looking at Gray. I think money talks, doesn't it? Crystal Palace will take the fee for Gray.

39:26and he will look at it and think, well, Manchester City are going to pay him big wages, he's got a chance of winning everything this season, so why wait until the summer? So, yeah, I think City will get both deals done and I think that will make them stronger and they've got players coming back at some point, so they've got a deep squad, they've got some good kids as well. It's not like they've got the weakest squad in the country, but I think they will add Gray and they'll add Semenya before the end of the window. They signed Etnur, I can't get on about this, they signed him in the summer and played Nico O 'Reilly at left back.

39:51He's away with the AFCON at the moment anyway, but he wasn't playing. Yeah, that's their business. But, you know, it comes back to this game yesterday. You know, where did they get caught out for the equaliser? And I like Nico O 'Reilly. I think he's a terrific player and he does, for the main, a decent job. But Chelsea didn't really attack until the second half. And when they did, we saw the weakness in the fullback areas. We saw the space in the fullback areas. And you saw Nico O 'Reilly getting done when he goes out right at the depth, gets too tight. No need to get that tight. Look at the space in behind.

40:24and you know these are these are the doings of the Manchester City manager and their recruitment right that's not an injury that's you were playing this player in this position when you had a left back that you signed in in the summer transfer window that's that's on you the other thing that's on City and this was this story really is I know Chelsea got the equaliser this story all day and every day yesterday was Man City chucking away a 1-0 win which should have been two or three because they were very wasteful in the final third and then they didn't defend particularly well because Chelsea were horrendous for 45 minutes embarrassing and at least they were better in the second half which is saying something because it was a really low bar and when they were better we saw the cracks open up in this Man City team but they were so wasteful in the ball City in the last 10 minutes it's their own fault you're giving the ball away in dangerous areas, you are sitting deep, you are allowing your full backs to go out and get done in the wide areas, late on, and you've only got yourself to blame.

41:29They didn't drop points yesterday because of injuries or anything like that. They dropped points because they took a big gun and they shot themselves in the foot. So are you saying that you could sign Semenyo, you could sign Gai and it doesn't make a difference in the title race? The damage has already been done? Well, if they don't get the defensive and, you know, Stevie and I have piped on about this and their defensive record at the start of the season was actually decent. But it had no longevity. Not with this group of players in that back four. If they don't sort the defensive aspect of the game out they're looking at a Barcelona-esque way of trying to win the title.

42:08Which is, we're a shambles at the back but we're going to score more goals than you. I don't think that's going to be good enough to overhaul Arsenal. How much of a difference maker is Semenyu in Gueye, if it happens, Shaq? Well, at the very least, they need Gueye just because of injury issues. And everybody's spoken about Chelsea's equaliser yesterday, 92nd minute. You're playing on a high defensive line, even though your two starting centre-backs are off the park. That's down to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City's approach. Now, the thing with Semenyu is he makes a difference if you play him.

42:41And I say that because watching that game for 90 minutes, that was a hard watch. And I find that City are a difficult watch when they play that kind of narrow attack with what Ryan does. It's difficult to criticize, right? Especially when he scores. Even more difficult to criticize Bernardo Silva. Such an incredible footballer. But they just look predictable. They look slow. They lack that pace. Now you've got Savino. He's a little bit kind of inconsistent. He's not very good. he's like i i i i i feel like he's been here so long now but my point is you have savinho you have doku who play who play as white men and i i find that when that when the when the front line at the very least is spread out when you force the defense to to kind of spread out to macho's macho's wing backs it affords erling harlan more space and i just feel that city look a better team with wingers on the park so i i say it'll it'll make a difference with some menu if you play him.

43:39If you stop trying to force this very narrow, talented, but very narrow front three, which I think plays into people's strengths, that's not when I feel City are at their best. If they have no tangible success this year, I don't care if they win the Carabao Cup or something like that, but if they have no tangible success, Premier League, Champions League, or something like that, it's because they haven't addressed the full-back areas. it has got nothing, it will be, in my opinion, it will have nothing to do with who's playing wide right, who's playing wide right, where Foden plays, where Cherokee plays, how many goals Haaland scores.

44:17If they are unsuccessful, it is because they did not address the right-back position and the left-back position properly. And by the way, let me just add, Stefano was linked with Spurs in this summer. He could have gone, but they decided to keep him, I can't remember if they extended his contract, but decided to keep him. So now you keep this player who I described as inconsistent, you described as not good enough, but then you complain about how thin the squad is, given how much money you've spent over the last few years. The two don't add up for me. They complained last year that the squad was too big.

44:46I've got to pull people aside. Tell them you're not playing. You haven't got it. The two just do not add up for me and I'm not giving Pep Guardiola that excuse because I don't give anybody that excuse. Mario? No. No, no. Clearly what the guy said. I watched the game, I think City had so many opportunities to win the game. They were from the get-go, okay, SFR had the opportunity to score, like the first couple of minutes, and then the whole game changed. It was City all over. All the opportunities, all the chances they got, and then they go towards the end when you see that happening. You look at it, you think, what was the plan?

45:28Because you knew that it wasn't, what, they had ten minutes to go before the game finished. you don't go that deep. And you don't stand that way, you understand? In the sense of like, you know, you block that, you don't go. Because O 'Reilly was really committed to it. And he was playing against, like, an attacker against a defender. Because, you know, Malaguz is a defender. Slips the ball past him and he goes in. So for me, when I watched the game, I felt like Chelsea, the biggest problem for me sometimes with Chelsea is this. The winger sometimes don't know what, they don't see the free man or when they see him, they don't pick him out.

46:03I watched Neto the whole game. So many bad decisions he was making. He runs, he dribbles past people. Sometimes he can deliver the ball to someone else. He just doesn't see the person. And then you have more wingers like that. They bring people on and they don't have that creativity. You don't want to tell me that Palmer is the only one that sees things. Everybody can see things. But they don't see it sometimes. And then when you watch City play, the way they play, Like the guys talk about, you don't want Kate to go or Semino. The only thing that I say, if Semino comes and he plays Cessinho, he plays on the right and Doku on the left, it becomes a big problem for the opponents.

46:45Because you don't know how you're going to, because now you can double up when you have one winger that's fast. But when you have two of them, it becomes an even bigger problem for them. Arsenal then, very much solidified their place as favourites. six points clear at the top of the team. Who did they beat the weekend? Bournemouth. There you go, Bournemouth, of course. And Declan Rice, once again, superb. Your question is, once again, anonymous. Now, I want your view on this, guys, because you played and you can smell whether or not this is true. It's tough for him because he's got two defenders on him all the game, all over him.

47:18So he has to use his strength. He has to do all he can to help the team. And with my first goal without him, making that run from Gabriel Martinelli's flick and holding it, settling off to Martin. That goal wouldn't have happened. Trust me, he's doing unbelievable for us and we wouldn't be where we are without him. Right, you played the game. Very kind. Tell me, is this... I've got a bit of a cold, but I can still smell a bit of BS. Yeah, right. He's not going to come out and throw him on the glass. But that is high praise. No, no. Yeah, yeah. Listen. Arsenal are where they are not because of Victor Xochres, they're where they are because the others are coming up with the goods.

48:04Now, there may be some in the camp that are saying, well, you know, Xochres has taken up the defenders with his physical presence and that's leaving space for others. Maybe that's the case. But if you look at his general performance, certainly his goals, but if you look at his performance, I said it a week or two ago, he looks a little bit like a fish out who water in this Arsenal side. He looks like the wrong piece in the jigsaw. And they don't really play to his strengths. So at the moment, he looks like a sort of big bustling championship striker where he has played for Coventry in the Arsenal side.

48:40If we've been honest about it, that's, you know, if you brought Kai Havertz, I say this because you know I'm not a huge Kai Havertz fan, but if you brought Kai Havertz back into the team or Gabriel Jesus who's fit again, would you see a tangible drop-off in Arsenal's performances? I think the answer is no. Right. And I think that's where we are. I think everybody's looking for an excuse for him. It's not just Jocker is his fault. He's got a certain style of play and Arsenal do things a little differently. Right? But at the end of the day, the manager has been given this player or was part of the process of selecting this player because everybody said he needed a number nine, which we think he did.

49:21So I think there is going to be patience with them. But Arsenal are not here. Like, City are probably where they are because Erling Haaland started the season like a house on fire. Victor Jokrez has really not set anything alight thus far, if we're being honest about it. To that statement, let's be honest. If you're playing against a back four, every single striker is playing with two centre-backs on them. So I don't know. It's not a new thing, is it? Exactly. I don't know why Declan Wright feels the need to point that out. Every single player, every single striker, every single number nine is playing up against two centre-backs.

49:54And ultimately, strikers will tell you they are judged on one thing and one thing only. Goals. And right now, Xhokovic does not have that. Now, Arsenal may very well and it looks likely they're going to win the league. I think that's in spite of Xhokovic as opposed to because of Xhokovic. He's the best player in the world. He's saying this. Yeah, no. and any player in that position coming out of the address room would say exactly the same thing. But we all know it's nonsense. I mean, if you could argue that Manchester City don't play to Erling and certainly haven't for a lot of the time played to Erling Haaland's strengths and yet his goal-scoring record is phenomenal.

50:38Phenomenal. And even in games where he's been criticised for having probably single-digit touches, His stats will tell you the guy's just a machine in front of goal. If you had Erling Haaland in this Arsenal side, the league would probably be already over. That's the difference. Because he is a top, top-class striker. One of the best in the world. At the moment, Victor Xochrez is a big bustling forward who's banging into people and not doing a lot else. That's just fact. Arsenal are top of the league. Six points. Not an issue. Had they been six points behind Man City at the moment, you'd trust me.

51:12and Victor Xochrez had been playing exactly the same way. But Declan Rice hadn't stood up. Eze hadn't come in and did a job. Odegaard wasn't back. Saka wasn't scoring goals. And they were behind the pace. Mikel Ateta, every press conference, the question would have been, what's wrong with Victor Xochrez? But that's not there at the moment because they're top of the league. Mario, as a former defender, what do you make of this? No, no, no, I agree with the guys because they're winning, you understand, so the pressure is less for him. But you remember when Jesus was going through that period, too.

51:42He wasn't playing that well. We were complaining about that, too. Now, Joe Caress, the only thing I have is that sometimes I feel like he looks also a little bit shy, he gives me a feeling. I don't, you know, like strikers are normally like, he has that body, he has that strength, but I don't feel like he is like, you know, you want to expose himself and being part of the joy that the team is playing with in the sense of like the skill-wise. He's just like, you understand, he's more like, I try to hold the ball up, I try to be tough, but I just want to see more like, okay, we know in Portugal he did his thing, but then in Everton he also went, I mean, or what did I say, to Coventry.

52:19So I want to see a player that's more used to the English type of playing and add your skill to it and be more, gamble more a little bit because sometimes the way he gambles and it's more in the safe side. I want him to see like a real striker that gives the defenders something to think about. And at the moment, I don't feel that that much. And what Rice said, yeah, Rice is arguably one of the best players, so that's normal that he said that. But if Arsenal win the league, this is not really a discussion, is it? Because they will, you know, Arsenal will paint it as a way well. He was a foil for the other things we did well.

52:53So it will all boil down to whether Arsenal are successful in winning the Premier League. If they are, Xhocarez's performances will be a moot point to an extent. he's the difference maker he's the difference between last year the finished second Jokoros comes in I get the feeling Ogi why should you talk about Elias again Ogi's pleased to know he's not getting paid by the word today Ogi do you want to say anything about anything that we've discussed before you go I'm Victor Jokoros I've seen him a few times and I think he is all about work rate and you know playing for the team and he's not scoring the goals but he's doing better than Benjamin Shesko and I think it's ironic that you know Shaka's doing better than Benjamin Shesko

53:34A lot of big clubs Hold on a minute Two weeks ago You were giving Sesko You were blowing smoke up his backside You said give him time To remember We found the new Don Hutch Can't remember what he said Two weeks ago That was before Simon Leeds That was before Simon Leeds But a lot of big clubs Have tried to sign centre-folds In recent years Darwin Nunes at Liverpool They haven't quite worked So when you get a Haaland or an East Hat when he's fit, that's why they are worth the weight in goal because the ones below that level, they're just not good enough. And I think, you know, Jokic has done okay, but they'll have to write if they were second or third in the table, we'd be putting a lot more focus on him and a lot more press companies would be asking Arteta about why he's not scoring goals.

54:16But he's getting away with it a little bit because of the top of the league. But yeah, I mean, Arsenal could have had Seska. It was a case of Seska or Jokic, wasn't it? So that shows you the kind of levels we're looking at this summer when players were moving around and centre-folds were top of people's lists. Okay, thank you very much, mate. Much appreciated. Mario, stay with us. Mario, of course, will be back for Extra Time. As always, you can check out Extra Time over on our YouTube channel.

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55:45Let's take it then to the African Cup of Nations. Egypt in action. Is he playing? Is he playing? Is he playing, Craig? That fella. What, didn't you watch? It was nil-nil, so he took it into the second half. Atiyah makes it 1-0. And it's a really nice finish. Ball coming back, top of the box. Knows exactly what he's going for. Keeper grabbing it to there. However, look at this. Seven minutes to go. The keeper makes a great stop from the deflection, but in the end, Dossu's there for the rebound. Yeah. Keeper does really well here. He does. Why don't he catch it, Jacques? Oh, no. Ticked it around the post.

56:23I want to defend it to have me out here. So it means we go into extra time. Ibrahim here makes it 2-1. I don't see a good header from a long way out. Actually coming back, heading against Green a little bit. And then to make it 3-1, there's your answer, Craig. All more. All's well in the world. Indeed. It's Egypt. Take that, I'll meet. The next round. Meanwhile, Nigeria against Mozambique. This was easy for Nigeria. Something we haven't said very often. Over the last few years, Luckman here makes it 1-0. Just trailing the play, Adam sees him, shapes to go for goal, Luckman just finishing off nicely.

56:58Five minutes later, Osserman would make it 2-0. Colin Udo, of course, was with us last week saying he thinks it's Nigeria's year. World Cup. World Cup. World Cup, they didn't qualify for. You're right, you're right. Thank you. Osserman makes it 3-0. Very easy for Nigeria at this point. Indeed, as Luckman would find Adams to make it 4-0. Oh, he kicked that very hard, Dan. Thank you very much for that analysis. Much appreciated. Nigeria then through to the next round. Tomorrow, the action continues. Algeria taking on Congo in its Ivory Coast against Bukou Faso. We're all about the Spanish Super Cup over the next few days.

57:46Barcelona against the Athletic Club on Wednesday in the semi-final. live on ESPN2. That's at 2 p.m. Eastern. Then 24 hours later, Atleti take on Real Madrid. That also at 2 p.m. Eastern. Meanwhile, Celtic have sacked their manager, losing six games out of eight. Not enough as he is gone. He leaves Celtic six points adrift of hearts at the top of the table. Former manager Martin O 'Neill to come in and take charge till the end of the season. Your thoughts, Craig?

58:20In some sense, I feel a bit sorry for the guy because he went in. It's a great opportunity. We saw what it did for Ranspots to Coglu, coming from Australia to Japan to Scotland, built his profile up, got a big job in the Premier League. So I feel a bit for him, but losing six out of eight at that club, it just can't happen. If somebody said to you, here's the job, go in and lose your first six games out of eight, you'd say, I'm not sure I could do that. Right. And he's done it. and he's done it. And the fans were killing him and some of the board members have been... The recruitment has gone as well.

58:57So it was not just him. I think three or four staff all in two or three-year contracts and the head of recruitment, they've all gone. The board are a shambles. And unfortunately, that job was... You know, Columbus crew, Major League Soccer, fine. But that's managing a completely different beast and he just wasn't up to the task, unfortunately. Just a reminder, The January transfer window is well and truly open to keep up to date with all the latest rumors. Be sure to check out Transfer Talk on ESPN. Evan Cohen here. Game day brings the excitement. Your stay should feel just as memorable. With Marriott Bonvoy, official hotel partner of the NCAA and U.S.

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1:00:20So you're getting something that actually fuels you. And there's depth on the roster. Buttermilk and vanilla, blueberry, chocolate chip, even gluten-free options. Breakfast that delivers. Snack that delivers. Find Kodiak frozen waffles and flapjacks in the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box. Well then, top 10 goals from the last week. Quite a few from the African Cup of Nations. We'll start here with number 10. Confirming for Cameroon, starting us up. Nice, they'll cut back onto his right foot and then get that space. And there's some hit. Fast post, off the other side, the crossbar.

1:01:00Very nice. We go down under to the A-League. Raphael Duran here. Just a bit of time on the ball. Yep, fix up that. Farcola decent. Yep, nice whip on that as we head back to the Afrin Cup of Nations. Emilio Nusser here. It's a really nice finish. Takes his touch, he's actually going away from goal. Has to come back around it and then picks out that far top corner. Oli Watkins, of course, flying of late after struggling to make an impact early in the season. Well, it's not easy when you get two big defenders up against you. And a bad goalie. A goalie who's... You can't blame the goalie here. Oh, I can blame him.

1:01:39Nah, not there. He's injured but he's getting dropped anyway. Well yes indeed. Here we take it to number six. Not a big crowd for Lincoln City against Barnsley. They miss this from Adam Reach. The ball just comes on to him and he just hits this so cleanly. Keep a calm reacting time of the Unescended Crossbar again. To the second tier of French football and this from Patrick Zabie. Oh okay. Very special yeah. Yes it is. Yes it is. Leo. To goal number four, Barcelona of course laboured against Espanyol. In the end a bit of magic from Firmin Lopez and Dani Olmo. Opening the scoring. Firmin Lopez with a little turn in midfield, Olmo just stays wide, knows exactly how he wants his ball, Firmin delivers and he picks up the top corner.

1:02:28In at number three, even Stevie liked this bicycle kick. This is special though. Watch the goalie, watch the goalie.

1:02:38What's wrong? How is the goalie story there? You'll be on your toes. That's a great goal. It was fairytale staff, wasn't it, from Gonzalo Garcia for Real Madrid. This is a number two, a little bit high, I think. Yeah, I thought the previous goal from El Cabi was better, but give Gonzalo Garcia his flowers. Never quite got over his bitterness since Real Madrid TV signed him.

1:03:04Never let it go. It's been down it all since. Ever since he was given the 10th. Harrison Reid. Harrison Reid. Harrison. Oh, I bet he's an Allison. Hell of a goal, though, wasn't it? It was. Stevie disappointed. Nine players in the box, he said. He said that a lot yesterday. So, king of the pitch, which was better? we choose of course being that long range effort between Fatou for Leicester City let's remind you of this this is the defending champion yeah alright this is only mine and I defer to my honourable friend next to me oh I'm going to go for this you're going for the Harrison Reid goal sure am I sure am I perfect late on in the game and by the way a guy who isn't renowned for scoring goals no he said he'd never do that again And he's probably right.

1:04:00Yes. Yeah. I give it to Harrison Reid. Mario, do you agree? Harrison Reid, the number one? Yeah, he just came on and he did, he came on and did that. So I got to give him the, oh my God. Yeah, exactly. King of the pitch. So new King of the pitch, same for 2026. Harrison Reid then is crowned. It is very exciting. Yes, that's why you're not on Monday. Wait till next week. Why am I on today? Because you weren't on the weekend. so we'll stick you in somewhere. Thank you very much for watching. Just a reminder, Mario's staying with us to answer some of your questions. Mario, that's what I do with you.

1:04:34Jack and Craig as well. Be sure to stay tuned. I just preferred it when you were off. What was that? To be honest with you. From the comments I'm getting, everyone did. Stay with us. Oh boy. Welcome to the latest edition of Extra Time. Mario is with us full of smiles. Mario, how was your festive period? All good, New Year's Eve, good. Where did you spend it? All very good. Home, family, eating, having fun with them, just enjoying my time. And now it's all white in the country. All snow. It's really beautiful now. Yeah, same here as well. Beautiful is a stretch. It's annoying. Holland, LA. Yeah, just name in...

1:05:16No, Amsterdam. Just name in places. Good, anything else? Normal.

1:05:26You're disappearing. There's a question about that later on, Xhaka's disappearance. The last two winners of the Premier League Manager of the Month are now gone. Amerind and Mareska, if you're a manager in the Premier League, how much job security do you really feel like when you're working for a club? So that results, isn't it? That Amerind Manager of the Month was almost a prize, wasn't it? It was a prize, that's why it's an award. Not a prize. Manager of the month, Brian. Manager of the month. He wasn't manager of the month, was he, really? Were you ever player of the month? Did they have those sort of things back in the day?

1:06:02Yeah. What did you get? Rice.

1:06:08You must have had champagne. I got a couple of old bottles in the house. I'm surprised you haven't opened them in desperate time. Well, I wasn't aware, because I'm not really a champagne drinker.

1:06:22I wasn't aware that it actually goes off, doesn't it? Of course it goes off, yeah. Everything goes off pretty much, doesn't it? I didn't know that. I didn't know alcohol went off. Oh, there we are. I thought alcohol was good. It's alcohol. There's sell-by dates on it, haven't it? Yeah, it was sell-by dates on everything. Yes, because most things go off. Sell-by dates on honey. Honey doesn't go off. No? No. What doesn't go off? Honey. Don't come. Don't come, honey. Welcome to Lenggani as the NFC. How do you know that? How do you know that? I'm a honey expert. Oh, really? Mario, what the heck are we talking about?

1:07:02Where do you stand on honey? I ended this part, though. It's all right. Yeah, right. I don't know, man. Right. Shaka, of the three managers sacked this week, Mareska, Amarin and Nancy, who could more likely save the Hammers from relegation? Oh God, no, nobody can say this. Al, nobody can say it. You can't lose. Three-nil down at halftime against Wolves. What about their game? They're playing Nottingham Forest. As we speak, it's tomorrow. I'm watching this on YouTube, which you will. You might be watching this tomorrow. You might even be watching this on Wednesday. And you will know the result.

1:07:40However, they are playing Nottingham Forest. That's a huge game now, Shaq. A massive game. I would suggest, and I mean this, I want to show you that whoever loses that game could be fired. We're in the mind we know how Maranakis is at Forest. No. Surely he's done enough, hasn't he, Deich, to steady the ship? Have you been following recent results? Oh, I see he's obsessed now. He's been out of Nottingham for a week. Yeah. I don't think Deich is in trouble. My sources are Nottingham's so different. Lost against Everton City. Yes. And Vela last three games. And they have a cracker's order. Mario, if you're starting a club, who would you have in charge?

1:08:24Mareska or Amarim?

1:08:28Mareska or... No, Mareska. Mareska. If I have to pick between them two, then I pick for Mareska. Yeah, of course. You know, give him the feeling like he's the guy because he's definitely one of those guys that wants to be in charge. Amarim, no, he's too hard-headed for me. He doesn't want to change anything. Yep. Maresca? Yes. Ok, for Craig, start bench will drop in terms of who you'd rather go on a night out with for a couple of pints. Carnival with Xhaka next month, Mario in LA, or Dan in his Madrid heyday? Oh boy. No. Because you're really just down the Irish pub. Where on earth do you think everyone else is going to take you?

1:09:17I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm. Don't worry. Irish pubs in carnival. Don't worry about that. Listen, I'm a little. Would you wear feathers like Shaka does? I don't wear feathers. Craig half naked. Yeah. Craig half naked ruined carnival. You get cancelled. Well put it on me. Hey, Shaka I'm worried, man. What they saying out there, man. You doing crazy stuff out there, man. I'm worried. I'm worried. We're all right. We're all right. Craig in feathers. Well, you're last for two reasons. One, you got the Irish pub. and two, you're not drinking these days. No. Yeah. So you're the last, right? I could do a bit in Miami with Mario.

1:09:56Yeah. Although he doesn't touch a drop of the sauce. No. So that's me on my own again. But it doesn't matter, Greg. You can have fun. I will make you laugh and have a joy. I know. Don't. This is the company you want out, Mario. Let's be honest. Mario, you don't want to go out with me. Trust me. Trust me. I think Greg will be good night out. I think Greg, we could then. We've had a few drinks over the years. But I have seen him. I have seen him. With a bourbon. Whoa, I say squadron leader. He can down that bourbon. Right. So you're half naked at that? I'm a bourbon drinker. I'm not. Half naked?

1:10:30Yes. Oh, no, fully naked. Carnival's definitely back on. They'll be running for the beaches. Oh, yeah. Shaq is a winner. Yeah. Oh, God. At least it's warm. And that's a month off. It is a month off. He never takes anything else in a month off. No, that's it. Month off, Shaq. When does it start? When's Carnival? Carnival is the 16th and 17th. OK, all right. So why are you going on February the 1st? I'm not going on February the 1st. Start, finish, drop, coaching, manage in these clubs. OK, which would you choose between these three, Mario? Chelsea, Manchester United, Spurs. Oh, Norwegian racing.

1:11:08What? Where's that? When is drop coaching, manage in these clubs? Oh, I dropped Tottenham Hotspur. Why would I drop somebody else? That's going to be the first on the list that I drop. And I'll coach Chelsea and I will make Man U be my second choice. My first choice will be Chelsea. Chelsea?

1:11:31I'd start Man U, Man U, Chelsea Spurs. You'd choose Man U? Yeah. For what reason? What if Shaq had given a reason? What about you? Currently? With the playing squad? Absolutely currently, yes. Chelsea, Tottenham, Man U. Your love of Chelsea continues. Yes. What's something you're terrible at that people assume you're good at? Basketball. Yeah. He's terrible. He would not have made the Scotland under-15s. Oh, boy. Yeah. He's really bad. Yeah, bro. We're going to see you broadcasting. Well, we can all be there. Craig, something you're bad at? I'm trying to think what you're bad at. Socialising, I suppose.

1:12:19I think you're wrong there. As you all know, away from here. Socialising. What am I bad at? What's your trough? Oh, well, let's have one of them then. Here we go. Help me out. I don't know. What am I bad at? I don't know. Doing what you're told? Bad at one, bad at. Letting the others speak. Mario? Bad Ed, you called sport. I think NFL, man. I can't even catch that ball, man. If they throw it at me, that's why I have respect for those guys. The way they catch it, I'm like, they're good. Me, I'm not. No, I'll be running that fast and try to catch it like that. Okay, maybe with football players, so you can control it with your foot, but in your hands?

1:13:04No, I will not be good for them. Craig was all about the NFL today, wasn't he? Yes. What happens when you score a try? What's that? Yes. When did you get the ball back? I was all over the Steelers' Ravens last night at the end. There we go. I reckon I could have kicked better than those two at the end. Really? Yeah. How much are they getting paid, these kickers? I don't know. Can't get it through the big sticks from 30 yards. Oh, those big sticks. My wife had me watching a British series on Netflix. What were you watching? Runaway. It's good. Okay. Finished it last night. Hmm? Nothing.

1:13:41That is it then, that brings us to the end of today's show. So you're off tomorrow now? You're supposed to be on, but you're off, is that right? Yeah. Oh good, I'm on. We will be of course discussing in theory, I suppose, the signing of Rosinha to make it official. One of our sources on the show said it'd be today, but obviously not. Stay tuned then and we'll be looking ahead to the midweek fixtures and the Spanish Super Cup.

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