The Commentators' View: Salah’s jazz hands & in the pocket

0:00The Commentator's View on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis. Hello, welcome to the Football Daily. I'm Alistair Bruce Ball and this is the Commentator's View where we five live commentators talk football, our continental travels and the language involved in the sport we love. Those travels since last week's podcast have taken John Murray to Madrid to watch Manchester City win in the Bernabeu, although he's travelling back as we record this today. So no John Murray today, but we do have Ian Dennis. Good morning, Ian, who's been in the San Siro this week. And would that be, that's possibly for the last time, isn't it, Ian, in the San Siro?

0:40Well, they don't know when the wrecking ball will go in because it's still got to host the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at the start of Feb. So I think that they would see out the rest of the season. But they're hoping that the new stadium for Inter and Milan would be ready by, I think it's the start of the 30-31 season. But they're going to be building the new stadium adjacent to San Siro in one of the car parks. so it could be a little bit like Tottenham, where the building work can go on whilst they continue to play. Remember what they did at White Hart Lane? Yeah. Although somebody pointed out to me that it's going to be very, very hard to get nearly 80 ,000 people into a stadium when they depend on those car parks so much that what they're going to do.

1:24So I don't know when the official last game will be. Commentating the San Siro as is. And sorry, let's say good morning to our TCV super sub, A man who's always ready to step in when one of John Murray, Ian Dennis or I aren't here. Connor McNamara is here. Good morning, Connor. Yeah, very good to be here with you. Very good indeed. I mean, I'm sure I'm like you guys. All the years you go to the San Siro, it is incredibly difficult to get in and out on public transport. People do drive, as Denno says. So, yeah, that's going to be a problem if they're getting rid of all their car parks. But as a commentator, Connor and Ian, it's one of the great stadiums, isn't it?

1:59I mean, I think descriptively, just to paint the pictures of it. but you do feel like you're somewhere really special. You know, I grew up sort of seeing that stadium from afar on television thinking I cannot wait to get to the San Siro one day and definitely loved it when I did. I guess we're of the generation like Italia 90 was a very formative thing and, you know, I think that the music and the sounds and that stadium and the spiral, you know, way that the fans walk in. And do you know this, Ali, that the very first place I ever met a certain Ian Dennis ever met him was in the San Siro. Wow.

2:32When Leeds had their great Champions League season, and I got lost and I couldn't find the way down to the mix zone, and this very nice gentleman from BBC Radio Leeds goes, oh, here, I'll show you how to do it. I was like, what a class act this guy is. Yeah. That was Don Matteo scored a near post header. That's it. Great memory. Wow. Yeah. I always remember that. Yeah. It was funny because I think then I'd had a 15-year absence of going to San Siro up until 2022. And now I think I've been about 10 times in the last three or four years. And each and every time, and I said this to Stephen Warnock this week, Ali, I was walking up the stairs and you know when you get that genuine buzz, you're in such an iconic stadium.

3:18As you say about the architecture, you know, Conor's mentioned that the spiraling concrete cylinder staircases in each corner, you've got the red girders in the roof. but on the night before the game there was just a little bit of mist that added to the mystique of the stadium and because you're in such an iconic stadium and like you say Ali it might well be the last time ago there although uh recent history might suggest not but you still get that that genuine excitement that little tingle yeah and I I actually love the approach to the stadium as well so seeing it from afar but in the car park where all the food trucks are and the merchandise you you know, trucks where you can buy your scarves and your hats.

3:57There's a great buzz around there with sort of fans mingling. It is one of the great footballing experiences. So, Conor, this week in terms of your travels, I know you were at Tottenham on Tuesday to watch them beat Slavia Prague, so another home win for Tottenham. And then yesterday, I know you were wrestling with whether to go with Club Bruges or Club Bruja. What did you decide? Yeah, so this is, you know, as we're all well aware, when it comes to pronunciations in football, It's one of those rare things when you can be wrong when you're right and you can be right when you're wrong. And trying to be too correct makes you sound pompous and pretentious.

4:32And anyway, this is this is sort of my understanding. By the way, just I'm too old and too tired to be having rows about these things. So I just went with Club Bruges because that's what everyone says. But but I'm pretty sure the club is Brugge. And the comparison I would give is Basel in Switzerland. So obviously the French speakers in Switzerland will say Baal. and I'm sure you guys over the years have said, no, you're pronouncing the football club wrong. It's Baal. It's not Basel. You pronounce it Baal. So the city can be known as either Baal or Basel. However, the football club is very much in the German-speaking part of town.

5:05Originally the German-speaking community and the football team is absolutely Basel. If you lived in the city, you would never call it Baal even though you can call the city Baal. And I think that this is similar to the Bruges. We all know the movie the Colin Farrell and Brendan Cleese, you're in Bruges, you wouldn't say you're in Bruges, but if you live in the town, the football club is Club Bruges, although the city, they would not be surprised if someone called the city Bruges, so that's my understanding, so if you want to be technically, technically correct, I think we should say Bruges, but I did a little WhatsApp with the other commentators, I said, what are we going here, and even EuroLeague's presenter Steve Crossman said Steve Bruges, Steve Bruges, Club Bruges, so I said, look, let's But let's just stick with that for now.

5:50Let's not have a row. That's the Belgian Steve Bruce, that is. Yes, Steve Brugge. You see, Connor, had you phoned Herr Chapman, he would have told you it was Brugge, but then equally he would have told me that I'd just been to Milan. Yes, Milan. Well, I've done that one, Ian, but also I find with the Inter and the Milan thing is having lived in Italy for a bit, and if you are a sort of Serie A regular, it is Milan and it's Inter but I still think over here to our audience I still think it's okay to say AC Milan to differentiate them AC Milan and Inter Milan When I was texting Steve last night obviously he was presenting the show so we couldn't get into it too deeply but he said look we don't say Bayern München we say Bayern Munich but of course the immediate retort to that is we don't say Paris Saint-Germain we all say Paris Saint-Germain so it is just funny how some things become accepted and become, yeah, we can do that.

6:49And then other things sound absolutely outrageous when you say them. Can I just say I've never said Paris Saint-Germain. I say Paris Saint-Germain. Have you? No way. I've never noticed that. That's a great quirk. I actually say Paris as in Paris. Right. I'll be listening after that. But maybe I wasn't very good at French. Excellent. Now then, before we get on to the football that's going to be on Five Live and across the network this weekend and some of the games we're going to cover, must ask you two about because you were both there uh ellen road uh last saturday so obviously brilliant game between leeds and liverpool mo salas left out again but ian you were doing the commentary for us at what point after the game did you become aware of mo salar wandering out and speaking to a gaggle of journalists and the whole thing just going kaboom well conor and myself were actually just having a little chat in the in the media room when arna slot walked in So we had to stop talking.

7:41We listened to Arna Slott and then no sooner had Arna Slott finished. And he was talking about how the team had shown fight, even when, you know, they'd got pegged back to 2-2, they kept on fighting. Then all of a sudden there was a quick buzz around the press room and it was apparent that journalists had been outside the media room where the mix zone was. That's where the players walk through after the game and get stopped by journalists. uh Mo Salah had done this this interview and he'd said what he'd said and all of a sudden there was a little bit of a buzz about oh they're explosive quotes you want to hear this so Conor and myself then were quickly taken away by doing other things but the interview wasn't going to drop until 9 30 and I wanted to hear what the context of what was being said because the initial whisper was that he said he'd played his last game for Liverpool and that wasn't necessarily the case so that was sort of like the story just after the game had finished and then obviously in the subsequent days it's continued to be a major story.

8:39I think there's an interesting sort of lesson there as well Ian because I was with you when a colleague came over and said oh apparently Salah said he's played his last game and it just shows how that that Chinese whispers things works where you know someone hears something it's all good intentioned but a slight exaggeration by one person gets slightly exaggerated by someone. By the time you've heard it three or four people later, it can have a very different substantive reason to it. And that's why, as Ian says, it's always good to find the source material and find out what was actually said.

9:07You asked Arna Slott, Ian, on Tuesday night, whether he, hand on heart, felt Salah had played his last game for Liverpool, which I think probably for him is an impossible question to answer. What do you guys think? Can you see Salah playing again for Liverpool under on a slot. You know for me Ali even before he's come out and said what he'd said, his reaction on the final whistle, bearing in mind he didn't play at Ellen Road I thought was quite telling because I watched him on a clip on social media where this supporter actually said for me that looks like a goodbye and he absolutely called it, he nailed it because Salah walks, he's not played the game and yet he walks and spends around 40 seconds and three times with both hands, he does the old jazz hands waving goodbye to the Liverpool supporters.

9:55That's before he said what he said. So when anybody says, oh, maybe he was feeling emotional, that tells me that that was premeditated for his actual comments. Since then, I think he's doubled down on his approach. He's shown no contrition with the post on the day of the game with him training alone in the gym. You know, keep your head down, then say maybe, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said what I've said, But I think he's doubled down in his belief that he thinks he's right, this self-centred approach. And nobody's bigger than the club. And when I asked that to Arna Slott in San Siro on the eve of the game, and he said, you know, hand on heart, I don't have a clue.

10:38Liverpool would tell you that this rift has been caused by Mo Salah, not by Liverpool, who only a matter of months ago had offered him a new contract. until Mo Salah shows a little bit of remorse about what he's done, then I don't think there's a way back. I think the photograph from him in the gym, he very much looked like a grounded teenager, you know, and he's like whinging to his friends that, oh, my mum's after turning off the Wi-Fi as a punishment. You know, it just had that feel about it. I agree. I think that, you know, at the end of the game, so he hasn't come on, and obviously Liverpool are disappointed because they had the lead and then they end up drawing.

11:13And I remember at the time, and I didn't see him at the time doing the wave thing. Obviously, I've seen it subsequently on video. But at the time, I remember thinking, oh, well, look, you know, Liverpool fans are like this, that he's on the bench tonight, he's the big superstar, but he's still going over to applaud the fans. And I think that's the sort of PR gesture that in a parallel universe would bring Mo Salah a lot more sympathy from people at the moment. But because he's sort of thrown his dummy out of the pram here, it comes across a bit petulant. It's not like he's been on the bench for months.

11:40You know, there's been three games he's not been included in. one of them he was brought on played the full second half against was it uh sunderland and didn't do great and i just think you know it's not exactly like he's been left out in the absolute cold and frozen out you know he's a lot a lot of extremely high profile players could be left out for that amount of time and and it wouldn't be such a big issue in terms of ali can he play again you never say never in football you know from an irish perspective roy keen after saipan did come back and played for ireland again you know people sort of forget that there's always a way back in And the reason I give that example was that that was a big seismic thing that went on for years.

12:14And even then you can still come back. And if he does come back in and he plays well, he scores a goal, this will all be forgotten about really quickly. You'd imagine that won't happen. The only reason it might is that there are going to be astronomical sums involved. No matter where he might go, wherever he would go, it's a huge amount of money that you just can't take for granted that that would all fall into place immediately. and what's key here in terms of the way the fixtures fall Ian is you are at Anfield three o 'clock on Saturday for Liverpool Brighton because after that game it's the African Cup of Nations and Mo Salah is off to play for Egypt so there's an enforced break there in terms of time away from Liverpool but it means when you go to Anfield on Saturday you know the buzz before the game the team sheet comes in keeping an eye on him is he on the bench is he in the stands what does he do at the final whistle.

13:02It's going to be a fascinating watch, that, isn't it? It is, but I think even before that game, and Arna Slott will no doubt be asked about it when he does his pre-match press conference, I think that the onus now is on Salah to build bridges. If Salah doesn't show any sort of way with an olive branch of saying, look, I was wrong, then I don't think that Liverpool, especially after the performance and the result in midweek, will risk upsetting anything because fair play to Arna Slott. I asked him the question, and you know what sometimes managers can be like. They can sometimes bristle or they can get irritated by a question.

13:39Arna Slott, for 10 minutes in San Siro, asked numerous questions about the future of Mo Salah. And I asked him why all of a sudden, for the first time in his career, was Mo Salah on the bench for three successive games? What or what prompted that? And Arna Slott offered a really, really great insight as to the tactics behind it. And if anybody hasn't heard it, then go back to the Monday nightclub where it was played out in full. I think it's in the first 10 minutes where Arna Slott just describes it and breaks it down. Because in those three games before, they'd conceded something like 10 goals.

14:14And he explains why he wasn't selected. And yet then Mo Salah, because he's upset and thinks he's got this right to play, then does what he does. And the other side of it, Ali, as well, is that from a business point of view, he signed his new contract in April till 2027. Liverpool this year would be the only year that they could then cash in on Mo Salah if they wanted some sort of financial return. Now, if they're prepared to let his contract go and as a legend say, thank you for your years of service, then that's fine at 2027. But if they do want something for him, then they've got to sell him by the summer anyway.

14:52I think they were so close to getting away with this PR-wise, both Salah and Liverpool, because, you know, think if this all had just happened 10 days later, he's going off to the African Cup of Nations anyway. There's no pinch point. You know, Arnest Lott doesn't have to be asked why you're leaving him out. There's a really good justifiable reason why I'm leaving him out. Salah is away with his country and he's doing his own stuff. You know, they nearly got to that little break point, which could have allowed the pressure cooker just to ease, let the fizz out of the bottle a little bit, and they could have reset.

15:19But I think it feels like it's all just come to a head 10 days too early. That's what Salah wants, doesn't he? That's what Mo Salah wants. He wants that to breed before he goes and get everyone talking. Because he so rarely speaks to the media. And that was it. I wanted to say that, actually, Ali. Speak about, you know, Ian mentioned the mix zone there. So, you know, at Elland Road, because it's a very old stadium, it's all very close to each other. When you come out of where the manager press conferences are, you're immediately in a corridor which you will see the Liverpool support staff, the away team support staff, bringing out big trolleys with all the equipment and the shirts and the food that they bring, whatever they have, and the bus is immediately outside there.

15:58So that's where the players walk by. And, you know, to be fair, fair play to the journalists for getting this. Obviously, Salah wanted to get it off his chest. But so often players just brush, and particularly most Salah, would brush straight past the journos, pretend to be on their phone, pretend to be, you know, don't want to engage in this conversation. The fact that he's come out and he's gone straight for journos and he's wanted to speak, that absolutely backs up the point of who has created this issue, yeah. So no Salah in Milan for Liverpool in midweek. No John Murray on the TCV this week.

16:30On quite an important episode for us. So it's the 50th episode of the commentator's view. And John is not here. Which, you know, I know he'll be devastated about. But he has sent us this voice note. Hello to you three from inside the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium late in the evening. The lawnmowers are on the pitch. People are clearing up the commentary positions behind me. and Xabi Alonso, by the time you play this out, I'm not sure what the future will have brought him after Manchester City's win here. But anyway, yeah, can't be part of it this week. Operational reasons have dictated otherwise and I am going to go off instead into the night in Madrid and maybe see if I can get a little drink in the beleaguered manager or somewhere like that.

17:19If he misses three in a row, people are going to talk, you know. and despite the glory that he's brought to this podcast over the years, you're only as good as your last. You know, earlier on we were talking about how you pronounce certain names and cities and whatever. Controversially, he's gone with the Bernabeu. John has always, always said the Bernabeu. Through the whole commentary, he said the Bernabeu. And then, of course, he's come on here and he's gone the Bernabeu. Consistency is key. Yeah, I think he's doing that slightly tongue-in-cheek as in, look at me. I think so as well. Yeah, I'm with the locals.

17:53Anyway, WhatsApps and voice notes. John probably sent that in on 08000 289 369. I actually thought the technical recording of that was a little bit scratchy and bumpy. So even the great man's got a few things to learn there. Emails please to tcv at bbc.co.uk. OK, right. Let's start on the emails. Matt in Sterling. I found it somewhat surreal to see John reporting from a snow-covered Washington, D.C. at the World Cup draw last Friday for BBC TV. So John was obviously doing his stuff for Five Live, but yes, I saw him on the TV too. It's always odd to see commentators or indeed anyone from the radio in front of a camera.

18:32I know that you're real people with a physical form, but when you only listen to someone's voice, you can tend to forget that at times. I know exactly you know there are certain people as I've grown up who you see for the first time don't you having listened to for years and I mean I think everyone probably you know we do a lot of describing of John because he's so tall probably have an idea of what John looks like but there are people who surprise you I think at times with how they look. I think we all have great faces for radio I think that's the bottom line I didn't expect you to look like that is definitely one that I get a lot in people's head and i think when i was younger it took us a compliment people said oh i thought you'd be much older and funny people don't say that as much recently although the thing is nowadays is that because we're tending to to pose for a photo that five life sport will put on their socials there's every chance that now anybody who does a commentary you will be able to see visually yeah my dad got asked a few months ago how long his brother had been working for for radio five live so they clearly think my dad's 80 so they clearly think my voice is like come on come on come on um james from brighton's also got in touch this is quite apt from last week's pod uh just catching up on last week's excellent pod i heard john mentioned the italian greyhound so john wasn't only talking about pub names but he'd come up with this idea of trying to find players that fit a pub name like the italian greyhound we were all sort of scratching our heads and James says as it happens Brighton had an Italian player and I remember this guy named Ezekiel Scalotto who was nicknamed the Greyhound so he was quite literally the Italian Greyhound he played for Brighton between 2017 and 2020 so that that's that's that one done ticked off do you think James could send in his email next week because John won't listen to this episode because he never listens back so we can say what we want about the big man because He's never going to hear it.

20:30No. I'll tell you what we do next week, Ian, is we sort of throw it to the floor and you and I am an R and then you from nowhere pluck out, didn't Brighton have a guy called Ezekiel Scalotto? And you'll look amazing. Yeah, love that. So we've already said Ian's at Anfield, three o 'clock Saturday for Liverpool against Brighton, which is just an intriguing game all around. Brighton in decent form as well. Sports extra three o 'clock Saturday is Chelsea Everton. Chelsea have just hit a little bump, having lost to Atalanta in midweek and drawn at Bournemouth in the Premier League last weekend. Burnley-Fulham, Saturday 5.30 on 5 Live.

21:08That's Mike Miney and Michael Brown. Now, Connor, not for 5 Live, because John Murray's there for 5 Live, but Sunderland-Newcastle is tasty on Sunday at 2 o 'clock. I think particularly given the way Sunderland have gone so well at the start of this season. That is a mouth-watering derby, isn't it? Yeah, I'm commentating on that for Telly and I'm really looking forward to it. And look, this game in any time, even if they're in different divisions or whatever and they meet in the FA Cup, Tyne Weir, Weir Tyne Derbies are always fascinating. This one particularly so, I mean, Newcastle have been through the ringer.

21:43They've had tough games lately. Obviously, the Champions League last night, I think their last three games, they've conceded a very late goal in each game. So there's going to have to be a bit of fatigue and tiredness coming in. And then Sunderland, who, you know, They're still in the top 10. I think we've all been raving about what a great step up they've made to the Premier League, particularly when you look in the context of recent years and how newly promoted clubs have struggled. But just lately, and I commentated on their game at Anfield when I thought they did really well last week, but they've only had one win now in, what, six games, I think.

22:16So, you know, as great as they've been, people are going to think, oh, hang on, are we going to start slipping off now? So I think this fixture has come at a really nice time. they're going to be so up for it it's it's it's not lunch i mean it's a two o 'clock kickoff i think it is slightly early kickoff um but i'm really looking forward to and i'll obviously see john there but that's one where you will make an extra effort to get there a bit early and you'll be in the stadium and you'll just you'll just savor that atmosphere around the ground before the game it's it's going to be brilliant yeah i was just going to ask actually do you have any particular memories of sunderland newcastle commentaries that that you've done yeah I've had a few when I worked at Radio Newcastle I tended to cover Newcastle United so we didn't sort of like sometimes in local radio you can have a sort of like a split can't you that you can cover both both teams or every team in your patch but we'd made the choice that I'd be the Newcastle commentator so I didn't tend to to cover Sunderland but I remember one time even before that I went as a fan my uh my ex-brother-in-law was a massive Sunderland fan and he said do you want to go to the game and I said yeah yeah I'll go to the game but it was the early 90s and in those days I grew up thinking if you're going to go to a local derby you don't wear your colours but up there you wear your colours so he said here he said put put this this scarf on so I was there when got out the car with a red and white scarf on no sooner had I got out of the car that these group of Newcastle fans starting abusing me him his mother and his sister and I'm thinking oh my god this is this is quite tasty this is really raw and uh anyway went into the stadium was in the full well end at Roker Park and there was just pockets of fighting breaking out in every area of the ground and it was when Newcastle had gone on a really long unbeaten run in the days of Kevin Keegan.

24:11And they won. Liam O 'Brien scored a free kick. And I think they won 2-1, 2-0. And the atmosphere was just edgy. Really, really edgy. And it was just sort of like, it was a real eye-opener. My first ever time going to a Weir-Tine derby. So passions run high, let's put it that way. Yeah. Is this my memory playing tricks on me? Was it a derby when Hullet bent Shearer? Was that a Newcastle-Sunderland game? It was, wasn't it? Yes, it was. Yeah, that was in the pouring rain at St. James'. Yeah. Yeah. For me, and again, maybe it's my bias towards the North East, but it is the closest thing in terms of atmosphere that you get to the old firm, a time we are we are time derby.

24:56It is intense. Okay. Well, that's two o 'clock Sunday. Connor will be doing it for telly, but John Murray and Paul Robinson doing it for Five Live. Your choice of listening then. Sports Extra has Palace against Manchester City Sports Extra 2 has Nottingham Forest at home to Tottenham Sports Extra 3 has West Ham against Aston Villa and if all that isn't enough for you at half four I'm with Pat Nevin at Brentford against Leeds so it'll be interesting to see how Leeds pick up from some excellent results the home win over Chelsea and the three-all draw against Liverpool and then Monday night there will be updates of Manchester United against Bournemouth into the Monday night club which it says rather cheekily in the script here with the wheels Mark Chapman I didn't actually watch the wheel on Saturday night but Chap has appeared on the wheel on Saturday night although he told me his appearance was pretty brief but that is something I'm going to have to go and find on the iPlayer and watch back and next week very quickly it's League Cup quarter finals Tuesday night we've got commentary on Cardiff Chelsea Wednesday night next week Ian will do Manchester City against Brentford and Wednesday night as well.

26:10So there's separate kick-offs there, 7.30 and 8.15. John Murray is at Newcastle against Fulham. My name's Steve Bradnell, assistant manager at Royal Oak FC. You may have seen me online going viral. Viral sensation. And now the BBC have given me the chance to set the footballing world bang to rise. This could be a great opportunity for us, lads, a podcast for the BBC. Can I just say, what's a podcast? Brilliant. Great start. Well done, Bob. Brilliant. We can completely show utter transparency to Royal Oak fans. I'll use my charm. Gift it, Gab. Game's gone. The Steve Bracknell podcast. Watch on YouTube.

26:54Listen on BBC Sounds. The commentator's view on the Football Daily. Listen on BBC Sounds. unintended pub names we've had all sorts of these from from various sports commentaries this week some really good ones as well just going to remind you whatsapps and voice notes to 08000 289 369 emails to tcv at bbc.co.uk so last week's highlights we had the sockless man which came from steve bunts talking about rick edwards presenting at the boxing the dancing doku which I think was Ian's and the Doggett and Duckett from the Ashes Cricket David writes in he's a Crystal Palace fan in Texas I was intrigued by the suggestion last week of a Watford pub called the New Manager Bounce specifically because of the word new now I think this establishment would recognise the opportunity to have a laugh at the expense of newcomers and football tourists imagine if you will a guest orders a pint and casually asks about the name the bartender sighs and tells this entirely fictitious story.

27:58You see, the original Manager Bounce was along the riverside in the lower High Street, but there was a terrible fire a few decades ago in one of the abandoned paper mills nearby, and the pub didn't survive. The patrons couldn't bear to see it go, though, and so they pulled their money together, purchased this building, and renamed it the New Manager Bounce. Forty years later, we're still here, still called the New Manager Bounce. Maybe we should drop the new, but by now it's just become tradition. He would then point to the wall where a sepia-toned image of an old pub would have been created, aged and framed for the express purpose of extending the ruse.

28:31So there's some incredible detail we're now getting. Yeah, I was going to say, I think David was good at creative writing in school, wasn't he? That's very well written, David. You've painted that picture perfectly. But fair play to you, Ali, because you offered the sigh there as well. Yeah, a bit of acting, Ian. A bit of acting. Yeah, chucked a bit in there. Other fresh suggestions. We're going to start this week with some Ash's commentary from TMS on BBC Sounds. That might have been half a chance as well. Off the bat of Kerry, root away to his right-hand side. It flashed away. And is that another one?

29:02Was that catchable? I don't think it got any fingers on it. It was a difficult one to his right-hand side. Yeah, just camera went to Stokes. And again, the unlucky Atkinson. Oh, yeah, he did get a hand on it. He was diving to his right, Root. He did touch it. I'm not sure I want a drink. Okay. Unlucky Atkinson. No. Now I can picture some fella sort of sitting in the corner with his head down, just shaking his head, having another tough day at, you know, whatever he'd been doing in the unlucky Atkinson. Listener George has been hot on the cricket pub names for us this week. Australia just flicked at the switch and off they've gone.