As Spurs suffer again, is Tudor headed for the chop? Football Weekly

18:27Barry Glendenning:think atletico were that good um which is quite for me you mentioned griezmann he had some lovely touches they gave up sort of some weird opportunities i don't know if it just the game was so freakish for them that they couldn't concentrate it was just so you know as you know i found it difficult tried to watch Death in Paradise afterwards to calm myself down but I don't remember I don't remember one minute of the episode but yeah I think they were maybe just put off by everything as well it was yeah a very odd game

18:57Mark Langdon:Liverpool away next for Tottenham with you know at least nine of their players didn't concuss one another at the end we've got to take the positives so who knows who'll be playing in that game we will do Liverpool and Newcastle and Bayern's win as well in part two

19:13Barry Glendenning:Scotland has natural beauty in abundance, but beyond the stunning landscapes, it's a fertile ground to build, grow and succeed, filled with people who are ready to push boundaries in the pursuit of breakthrough ideas. That's why today, Scotland is a dynamic hub of opportunity across growth sectors, from clean energy and life sciences to digital technology and space innovation. Scotland. For the head, heart and the spirit. Discover more at theguardian.com forward slash brand Scotland. This message was paid for by Brand Scotland.

19:52Mark Langdon:welcome to part two of the guardian football weekly barry we're going to the states we're going to be bigger than the beatles we're performing at south by southwest next monday with brendan hunt co-creator of ted lasso played coach beard a guardian senior u.s sports editor alex adenos as well we had a chat with them this week they seem very nice uh so uh it's going to

20:11Max Rushden:be fun barry hopefully i plan to go to austin i want to buy a big hat and a pair of cowboy boots and sit in a dive bar and i look forward to seeing our live audience on monday will you

20:26Mark Langdon:perform in cowboy boots and a big hat or i don't know if i'll have got them by then that is reason enough uh to come along but yes if you are going to south by southwest in austin in texas and if you're passing pop in because it'd be nice to see some people who know what this podcast is uh to st james's part then newcastle won barcelone this barry you know heartbreak for newcastle isn't it because they actually were good in this game and i think they deserve to win and they are so close and it is some really brilliant feat from danny olmo to win that penalty yeah i think on the face

21:01Max Rushden:of it you look at the score it looks like a good result for newcastle but i think it was a big big chance to take a two or three goal lead to the Nou Camp squandered. Newcastle fans are welcome to disagree with me. I think if they look deep into their hearts, they'll say, I'm on to something. Barcelona were terrible in this game, and it's not often they play as badly as they did at St. James' Park last night. They created little or nothing. They were there for the taking. Newcastle were 1-0 up in the knockings and then Barcelona won that penalty great feat from Danny Olmo as you say stitched Malik Shaw up and he tripped him it was a penalty I've seen some Newcastle fans were complaining that this happened in the fifth minute of four minutes of added time but the one thing I'd say is the ref has discretion to add on time to added time and I think Newcastle made a substitution in added time.

22:08Max Rushden:So there's your 30 seconds. Also, I think Anthony Gordon gifted possession to the Barca goalkeeper who was able to launch it upfield for Barca to win that penalty. But the starting lineups of this game, Johan Wiss and Volta Mada were on the bench. Neither of them were brought on. That's a pretty damning indictment of Newcastle's Newcastle's summer transfer policy and dealings. Anthony Ilanga wasn't terrible in this game, but he wasn't great either. Missed a decent chance and was lacking in final balls, passes, crosses, whatnot. I thought Joel Linton was excellent. I thought Lewis Hall was outstanding.

22:51Max Rushden:He did a real number on Laminya Mal, who had a quiet night. Jacob Ramsey could as well. but Newcastle are still very much in the tie but it's difficult to imagine Barcelona playing this badly in the second leg

23:06Lars Sivertsen:So I watched the first period of this because I was determined to have this as my main game before events kind of forced me to switch over to the North London Travelling Circus because it was just, you kind of had to see it but I get the angle of like, yeah, it's an opportunity missed but if I was a Newcastle fan, I'd feel quietly good about the chances going to the Camp Nou I know being away is going to be more difficult and Newcastle, you know, traditionally better at home and all that. But Barcelona, they are a magnificent team. They're top of La Liga for a reason. Laminio Amal, one of the best players in the world.

23:39Lars Sivertsen:I get all that. But they do have this glass jaw. Like, they keep this incredibly high line that we know the players are not 100 % comfortable with. And we know that because reports were that they actually had a meeting with the coach after they lost 4-0 to Atletico about the high line. and was sort of asking him, like, is there any chance we could maybe, like, moderate this a little bit for certain games? Did they put the chairs really far back?

24:03Mark Langdon:Did they, like, do the meeting in a low block?

24:05Lars Sivertsen:I mean, they got spanked by Sevilla earlier in the season. I mean, they've had several games where they've just been countered to bits this year. Now, for the rest of the games, they've been extremely dominant and extremely good. And don't get me wrong, they can blow you away. But you saw a number of times in this game where Newcastle were able to get in behind them with the direct running that they have in the team. I think they can do that again in Spain. I'm not saying they're favourites or anything. And the most likely thing is clearly that Barcelona will beat them. But if I'm a Newcastle fan, yeah, I'm upset that this ended 1-1.

24:36Lars Sivertsen:But I would look at the way this game went and think, we have chances here. Because the thing we're good at is the thing that Barcelona

24:42Mark Langdon:really don't like playing against. And they did expose that. I thought Garcia made a brilliant save from Alanga. I think they gave offside, but it wasn't offside, I think. It was an absolutely brilliant save, wasn't it? And I just feel, Mark, there is a psychology of when it goes past the minute that is that's the end of full time that you i reckon players do sort of switch off a bit you know you just sort of think ah we've done it even if it's i know they're elite sports people but if it is the 95th of 94 you think ah this is done yeah i i agree

25:11Barry Glendenning:with that i think also the crowd start moving into celebratory mode or really tense and sort of you know either wake and um just be a slight distraction i you know there's been a lot of doubt isn't there around Eddie Howe and his long-term future at Newcastle and they've not had a strong domestic season but I really like him as a coach and one of the I think he's very good at planning sort of you know picking teams for certain matches and you know when it goes wrong you then look foolish because you're kind of chopping and changing the team around but He picked a team to expose the high line that Barcelona play.

25:52Barry Glendenning:But for 95 minutes there, they played almost the perfect game. They've given very few chances up. They've looked the more threatening. I think everything he wanted to do tactically, the players sort of did. And then they've just suffered that sort of real hammer blow with the last kick of the game. So I think that they can be, I don't want to be condescending, but I think they can be really proud of the performance. Barcelona are a very good team and Newcastle have more than matched them. The difference, even though the Camp Nou is not at its kind of full capacity and Barcelona are still finding their feet back at the stadium since the renovation, there's still that, I think, just mind block for players that when you're going there, the pitch feels enormous and it's just wave after wave of attack and you just can't stem the flow.

26:41Barry Glendenning:I think that will be like getting the psychology right of it being another game and you can beat them is almost as difficult as playing against the players, if that makes sense. I think that a lot of teams do just get beat before they've even been there.

26:54Mark Langdon:Tegala Tassero then, who beat Liverpool 1-0, slots 100th game in charge. Mario Lamina scoring the only goal early on. I don't know, Lars. I really, and I put this in the group, didn't I? I couldn't work out watching this if Liverpool were lucky to get away with 1-0. or unlucky not to get something out of the game because they're just sort of massive chances at both ends. Maldas really had a brilliant game in goal for Liverpool, but they did have big chances.

27:20Lars Sivertsen:Yeah, I'm happy for him because I like him as a player and he obviously had a bit of a mare earlier in the season when he had to stand in. This was a touch of the redemptions about this. It was a really fun game to watch, as is often the case with Galatasaray in these big games because this thing we're seeing in England of everyone just trying to control the game and shut things down and score from set pieces, like Galatasaray couldn't do that if they tried like that's not in them I know what you're saying about Liverpool, I felt like they kept getting into like threatening positions and you saw that there were openings because again Galatasaray not that well organised but they often made like the wrong decisions there's like slightly over hit passes, slightly wrong choices, so they will probably feel that yeah based on the number of times we had the ball in good areas and there were openings, we probably should have created more, but on the other side they did a lot of weird stuff at the back here at Liverpool Canata had an odd day, didn't he?

28:12Lars Sivertsen:Canata had a very... I mean, he almost scored an incredible goal to give him that. But he had a deeply strange day as a centre-half. And again, Galatasaray will feel we probably should have scored a couple more goals here. I say this as a slightly bitter gambler who had both teams to score in over two-and-a-half goals in this game, which I think on the balance of play was not necessarily a bad pick. But it was entertaining. There was good goalkeeping down both ends. But Victor Osserman is interesting to me because he's such a good player. And I feel like he's one of the guys who kind of get it in this team.

28:47Lars Sivertsen:You could tell he was quite frustrated with like, okay, they beat Liverpool 1-0. That's really good. But you could tell he knew that they should have had a few more goals there. And you could tell he was at some times quite frustrated with some of the decisions his teammates were making in terms of passing, not passing. I guess the rational response is maybe a narrow win to Galatasaray is fair. but I feel like both teams come out of this thinking we should have done more here really

29:12Mark Langdon:it was a strange game and Liverpool are slightly strange Barry you know the the there isn't control

29:18Max Rushden:there there often is control in Liverpool performances and they get criticized for for being too slow too ponderous in the build-up too boring there I say it and that wasn't the case last night because this was really end-to-end and quite chaotic and wild this game especially the first half. I think after 24 minutes, there'd been 10 chances between them. Galatasaray got a goal. Both teams had goals ruled out, I would say, fairly controversially. And both teams had several big chances. Verts missed a couple for Liverpool. McAllister, Eketike all had good chances that weren't scored. And then Ossiman, Sanchez had big chances for Galatasaray.

30:07Max Rushden:So I'd be inclined to agree with Lars that 1-0 home win for Galatasaray is probably just about fair and leaves the tie very nicely poised. I'm sure Liverpool will be confident they can overturn it.

30:22Lars Sivertsen:A one-goal advantage to Galatasaray, probably fair, but the result should have been 3-2 or 4-3 or something. I think you're right. And an interesting little thing. So Galatasaray had a, I promise you, I think this is a little dry, but I think it's worth it. Galatasaray had a 71 % pass success in this game across the board. So like more than one out of every four passes went astray, which is unusual to see at this level. I think the lowest pass average in the Premier League is Palace with like 78%. So you don't, but it does reflect this idea that they don't play it safe like a lot or ever. Like they're so ambitious.

30:57Lars Sivertsen:They want to, it is a real throw, it is kind of like watching Premier League football of 20, 25 years ago sometimes, is that you have some really brilliant individuals and people are not afraid to take big risks in possession. And they're really, really watchable, Galatasaray. And I hope they, with apologies to Liverpool fans, I would love to see them go through. I'm just wondering if this sort of slightly unserious behavior will be the death of them at some point. But they are very good to watch and their games are consistently entertaining.

31:25Mark Langdon:Lars, I love your enthusiasm for past completion stats where I was looking around at the rest of the call you were grinning from ear to ear I'm not sure everyone was with you but you did it with conviction and it was infectious so I believed in it that's okay on those disallowed goals hang on, which were they Mark? the one where Canase fell over about 8 times

31:47Barry Glendenning:yeah, when Yilmaz is flagged for offside because he makes a run slightly towards the ball yeah yeah I I felt that was fair and I think he did make a run towards the ball and so I think that one's fair enough I would have more questions over the what would have been a Van Dijk goal because it comes off his heel after it maybe touches Sanchez's arm Davinson Sanchez was in there as well with Canate Hardson you know it might have come off both of them but it doesn't directly lead to a goal and so I think it was accidental in the Champions League they are punished more but I felt that was of the two I felt the look like being Canati's goal but I think it would have been Van Dijk's officially it does come off his heel um I felt that one was was really hard done by for Liverpool actually um there were 11 shots on target in in this game which I think does just play into what you was all saying there really just about the chaotic nature of it yeah

32:47Mark Langdon:More of the same, please, all of you in the second leg. Bayern won 6-1 Atalanta. They are through, aren't they? What else do you want to say? It's great for Spurs to not be the most humiliated side of the night.

33:01Max Rushden:I wouldn't necessarily agree that's the case. You're probably right, Barry. This was so easy for Bayern that Michael Elise was able to score the same goal twice. They hit the woodwork twice. and Elise and Joshua Kimmich were both able to take tactical yellow cards. So they now sit out the second leg and have clean slates for the quarterfinals. So, I mean, Bayern had it entirely their own way. It was an absolute pummeling. Michael Elise was superb.

33:41Barry Glendenning:How much can we draw into this game, Mark? Well I mean Bayern scored six goals away from home in Champions League against a decent Atalanta team with Harry Kane nursing a calf injury yeah I mean I think that's maybe underplaying just how sort of impressive a result that was because it was so wide margin you know but Atalanta have done very well at home in the Champions League and they were completely battered by Bayern had 13 shots on target in the game I think the one thing with Bayern though is just I'm not sure we learnt anything when they're good and they're in free flow they are a devastating team in in the forward positions a lot of interchange of positions with Diaz and Elisa and you know Kane drops deep and it's very difficult to defend against when they come up against the best teams and Atalanta are clearly not that like the defense just I think will be their undoing at some stage in this Champions League when they come up against you know maybe a Paris Saint-Germain or even it could be Arsenal maybe in the final who will defend much better and then um hurt them i think i mean that's where the problems come but they're a great team to watch um absolutely love watching by munich but defensively i i still feel that they'll get done at some stage i suppose the interesting thing is

34:58Mark Langdon:they will play the winners of realm with idman city right which is another brilliant football

35:03Lars Sivertsen:match yeah and then they'll be tested at the back and i guess we'll learn more about them i think on league form what they've been doing in germany they've looked like the best team in Europe but then you question how strong is the Bundesliga this year and then they've got eight wins and nine in the Champions League with the only exception being Arsenal so in my mind they're possibly them and Arsenal the best two teams in Europe for my money and Atalanta have been improving under Palladino they've come a little bit unstuck in the last few games but they're clearly like struggling a little bit to find their feet in the sort of post Gasparini world and yeah as much as they've had certain good performances they were just not Olisa very much the second coming of Arjen Robben though he's doing the exact same stuff for them

35:46Mark Langdon:it's good to see. I suppose quite interesting Barry you know not a good night for the Premier League sides those three teams could all go out I mean like two could go through you've got Chelsea playing PSG you've got Man City playing Real Madrid you'd expect Arsenal get past Leverkusen but it's quite interesting. You make sweeping judgments on England should have, the Premier League should have four teams in the semifinals too. Actually, there might just be one left at the end of all of this.

36:12Max Rushden:Yeah, they probably should have. I don't think it was as bad a night for the Premier League as you're making out. It was a bad night. I mean, none of them won, I guess. Yeah. Going by money and revenue, they should have, all of them, with the possible exception of Newcastle, should be in the quarterfinals, going by their spending. But that isn't always how things work out. I would rather if there were a mix of teams from different countries in the semifinals, because it would be very boring if they were entirely Premier League affairs. We're all presuming Arsenal will sweep Bayer Leverkusen aside, and they probably will.

36:55Max Rushden:But it may not be the foregone conclusion. We all think it's going to be because while Leverkusen aren't great and are in a season of transition, Arsenal, while grinding out results, haven't been particularly impressive in recent weeks. Bodo, Lars, sporting tonight.

37:14Lars Sivertsen:Thoughts? The biggest problem with them is that we're fully out of superlatives at this point, I think. It's remarkable what they've done. weirdly I wonder what because after beating City and after beating Atletico and after knocking out Inter I wonder what that does to the dynamic going into sporting who's in theory not as good a team as those but of course both of them are still massive underdogs or at least should be so I'm interested in how they handle that occasion but the thing that they've always really excelled at is getting the mentality right in these situations not being afraid, not being complacent, if that's even possible.

37:55Lars Sivertsen:It's a remarkable story. It's my favourite story in world football at the moment, and it should be yours as well. Watch the game. It'll be fun.

38:02Mark Langdon:What did you make of the other games, Mark? PSG, Chelsea, and Real Madrid City.

38:05Barry Glendenning:Yeah, PSG are not playing as well as what they were. It was about this time last year that they really found their best form, and you do wonder whether they just don't care domestically and they just want to turn it on for the Champions League games. I would favour PSG to come through that one over two legs. I mean, Man City against Real Madrid. Mbappe's injury and this knee problem, I think, is a big issue for them because he's their best player, obviously. That goes without saying, really. But I think because they're so bad defensively and not great in midfield, when you've got him and Vinicius up front, I think Lars has mentioned this before you can do everything else wrong and still win matches even at a really high level if one of those players is missing and Rodrigo's out as well you need to rely more on the cohesive nature of your team and that's not what Real Madrid are good at so I think it's a really strong opportunity for Man City to go and win the game and put themselves in a great position for the tie overall and just with a Premier League there, I think you have got the two best ones, Arsenal and Man City, still to come.

39:24Barry Glendenning:You probably shouldn't expect huge amounts from particularly Spurs and Newcastle and I think that Liverpool will get through against Gaeta, that's all right.

39:31Mark Langdon:All right then, that'll do for part two. Part three, we'll discuss missed Penenka's.

39:39Barry Glendenning:Scotland has natural beauty in abundance, but beyond the stunning landscapes, it's a fertile ground to build, grow and succeed, filled with people who are ready to push boundaries in the pursuit of breakthrough ideas. That's why today, Scotland is a dynamic hub of opportunity across growth sectors. From clean energy and life sciences to digital technology and space innovation. Scotland, for the head, heart and the spirit. Discover more at theguardian.com forward slash brand Scotland. This message was paid for by Brand Scotland. Carvana's so easy, just a click and we've got ourselves a car. See?

40:15Barry Glendenning:So many cars. That's a clicktastic inventory. And check out the financing options. Payments to fit our budget. I mean, that's... Clickonomics 101. Delivery to our door? Just a hop, skip, and a click away. And bought. No better feeling than when everything just...

40:32Max Rushden:clicks. Buy your car today on... Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.

40:49Mark Langdon:Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. Last game of the fifth round at the FA Cup, West Ham-Brentford drew 2-2, West Ham won 5-3 on penalties, mainly because Django Wattara missed a Penenka. Nothing more fun than a Miss Penenka. It was Areola, wasn't it? Just standing there and catching the ball. Keith Andrews was interesting afterwards, Barry, saying, I'm not annoyed at all. It's the easiest thing for a footballer to do is not take a penalty. it takes unbelievable courage on a stage like that to take a penalty uh it's probably the first time i've ever spoken about penalty kicks and people that miss them i despise the culture around players that have missed penalty kicks you know the ones i'm talking about national heroes that have done it ridiculed persecuted i think it's disgusting he practices that technique a lot if it goes in everyone's raving about him django will get the absolute support he needs from myself and everyone attached to it so can we laugh that he missed a penalty because i only caught the ball or is that disgusting?

41:43Max Rushden:I think it's fine. Enzo Le Fay missed one for Sunderland earlier this season. I had no problem with it. It's grand. I kind of applaud anyone who has the balls to try it. If it doesn't come off, you look like a chump. You know you're going to look like a chump. I think as long as you're generally playing well and contributing to the team, fans will be quite happy to look past it. I have no problem with it personally. but I can also see why some coaches would be massively annoyed about it Keith Andrews clearly isn't one I've never seen a player miss a penalty for my team by like aiming for the top

42:26Lars Sivertsen:corner getting it wrong and launching it into space and I've never afterwards thought well at least he didn't try a panenga like I mean this is this is a bizarre way to look at this like if If you score a penalty grade, if you don't, you know, it doesn't really matter. And I don't, I've not seen convincing numbers to suggest that the Panenka is inherently less effective than other techniques. If that research exists, feel free to enlighten me. But I think it's just if it works for you, it doesn't. But I think there's a concern in because everyone does so much analysis on this now. I think if you're someone who frequently Ponenka's you are at risk of the goalkeeper calling your bluff because they do their own work these days that's the only thing so I do wonder if the superb level of preparation clubs now go through will eventually be the death of the Ponenka because you can at least you can't do it regularly because it's easily countered

43:19Mark Langdon:Sure well Antonin Ponenka must stop doing them because people will know won't they The Afcon

43:26Max Rushden:final Ponenka obviously is the daddy of them all isn't it Brian Diaz see I've already forgotten and we all thought oh that'll be the end of Brian Diaz you have to go and live in a cave somewhere but I'd forgotten it was him

43:41Barry Glendenning:just wondering what happened if Richarlison would have tried that last night I'm sure Igor Tudor would have I'm sure Tudor would have had the same response as Keith Andrews or he might have chucked him under the

43:54Mark Langdon:bus so Southampton Arsenal Chelsea Port Vale Man City Liverpool and West Ham leads the quarterfinal draw. Favourable for Arsenal and Chelsea and a great chance for West Ham or Leeds to get to the semi-final. In the EFL last night, Sheffield Wednesday were so close to getting a win. They'd lost 14 in a row with 1-0 up against Watford, but conceded in the last minute. But still, they didn't lose. Wrexham lost 2-1 to Hull, who are a place above them in the playoffs. Millwall beat Derby 1-0, just one point behind in Middlesbrough in second. Borough play Charlton tonight. Ten players from a Jamaican team, Mount Pleasant, have been denied visas to enter the US for today's CONCACAF Champions tie against LA Galaxy.

44:34Mark Langdon:Mount Pleasant won the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup. They're set to make their Champions Cup debut in California. Their squad includes seven players from Haiti who currently aren't allowed access under Trump's expanded travel ban.

44:45Lars Sivertsen:I'm just curious about what happens then because in my mind that means la galaxy uh forfeit the tie in my i mean if you if your country cannot host the opponent you lose and the other people go through i think would be the reasonable outcome to that though i suspect that won't happen they are being forced to call up a number of

45:01Mark Langdon:academy players so i think they will play but 10 of their players have been denied visas which is obviously completely ridiculous isn't it but you know there will be more stories like this and increasingly so i imagine as the world cup gets closer uh carl walker's retired from england's duty he was unlikely to make the squad but he's had a great career mark for england hasn't he i mean he's been 96 caps i don't know fullbacks we talk we don't talk about i mean we talk about them more and more but like he he was been brilliant for this country yeah he was i mean

45:33Barry Glendenning:when he first came in at tottenham i was like you just can't defend like you've got no chance of actually reaching really high level, but he improved so much, particularly, I think, going to Man City and Guardiola took his game on even more. But as you say, nearly 100 caps for England in a position where they're fairly well stacked and great defender, was able to get forward, tremendous pace. I think he's obviously off-field activities, not always been perfect, but certainly on the pitch, I think he's a brilliant footballer.

46:11Mark Langdon:Here's a nice email from someone called Max saying, while visiting a friend in Laycock, I bumped into Roy Hodgson ambling around the village. As a Crystal Palace fan, this was very exciting. And he kindly assented to a photo. My friend had no idea who Roy is. She was initially quite confused why I'd accosted an elderly gentleman in the street and started thanking him for his service. She said he looked very happy to have his photo taken with me. I said it probably doesn't happen to him very often these days. that evening while watching the rugby at a pub in bath i got talking to a chap from glasgow here he said you like football look who i met this morning in devises go on i said thinking to myself it bet it won't be as good as roy hodgson he produced a photo of himself arm in arm with none other than roy hodgson i showed him my photo we worked out they were taken less than an hour apart it seems roy is blazing through wiltshire like the rolling stones touring america in 69 i being mobbed by all and sundry we both agreed he was very nice and had a certain aura to him uh wishing all barry all the best for his run on that barry a lovely story if anyone else has seen roy hodgley wiltshire please let us know uh uh how's your you got you got an injured adductor

47:24Max Rushden:muscle barry yes i have and i've been advised to rest for fear of uh doing it even more of a mischief and to be honest it didn't take much persuading to get me to rest but uh i'm still putting in the the miles on a stationary bike which i have to say is incredibly boring it is so so boring and i i now have even more sympathy than ever before for any uh athlete who does their knee ligaments because I believe a sizable proportion of the rehab process is hour after hour after hour on a stationary bike but I think I'll be fine so no panic I won't be issuing refunds just yet I think it's important to mention I just have to complete the half marathon course I didn't make any promises that I was going to win it although I did notice at the weekend it was drawn to my attention some fella set a new world record for the half marathon it was just 57 minutes and a bit so that's something to aim for

48:35Mark Langdon:this is from johnny uh long-suffering plymouth argyle fan he says dear max barry and the rest of the team i've listened to football weekly for years and like many others it's been a great source of comfort smiles and laughs uh during both the good times and the tougher ones uh part of why it's meant so much to me is this sense of perspective and distraction it brings taking my mind off the serious things and into the unimportant things which somehow make them incredibly important it's a feeling i used to get sitting with my dad and my old football coach no word of a lie called john wayne while watching plymouth o 'gile together for many years sadly both have now passed on but now i'm beginning to find someone new to share my football love with my son raffi is well on his way to falling in love with the beautiful game and while he's not joined the green army instead choosing wick and wanderers and man city it's incredibly special to see.

49:19Mark Langdon:Part of that journey has been listening to Football Weekly together. He's become a massive fan, particularly one of Barry Glendening. It happens to be Rafi's 10th birthday this Friday. If there's any chance Barry could wish him a happy birthday, it would absolutely make his day and mine too. All the best. Please keep doing what you're doing. It's gloriously important. Thanks, Johnny. Long-suffering Plymouth fan. So yeah, happy 10th birthday to Rafi. I remember when I used to watch kids TV, there was a little bear called BC on Anglia TV that would do the birthdays for 10-year-olds. This is what you are now, Barry.

49:50Mark Langdon:But look, you'll make Rafi's day, so do it with gusto.

49:54Max Rushden:Well, Rafi will be delighted or possibly horrified to hear that he nearly has the same birthday as me. Wow. My birthday is tomorrow, and his is the day after. So I'm the 12th of March, Rafi is the 13th, Friday the 13th. Unlucky for some, Rafi, but not for you, I hope. and I hope you get lots of presents. And I'm also curious, I'd like to know why you picked Wickham over Plymouth, that seems. Yeah. I can only guess they live in Wickham or something.

50:27Mark Langdon:Well, if he's a Glory Hunt and Wickham fan, then good on Rafi, I say. Well then, tomorrow's pod, the Barry birthday special. How exciting. If you'd like to wish Barry a happy birthday and tell us what he means to you, now is your chance. please don't football weekly at theguardian.com that'll fill an episode anyway that'll do for today thanks everybody thanks for going through the pain with me last thank you max it was

50:54Lars Sivertsen:therapeutic it was still not fired by the way i've checked the website it's usually comes at

50:59Max Rushden:10 o 'clock doesn't it it's currently 9 19 can we agree that we don't need a voice note if it happens

51:05Mark Langdon:it's just see original pod i think people like the voice notes okay anyway thank you mark i think i

51:12Barry Glendenning:need to apologize max i'm not being at my best today but um it's been a struggle it's really uh

51:17Mark Langdon:it's getting me down i don't know if it is better or worse to say i didn't notice a discernible difference mark i feel better for i feel better for having this hour thank you barry i look forward

51:30Max Rushden:to your birthday tomorrow okay thank you i i commend you all on your stoicism in the face of total humiliation.

51:40Mark Langdon:I suppose, at least, Barry, you know what total humiliation is. And so, it's great that you've imparted that to us. Football Weekly is produced by Taro Papula and Jesse Howard. Our executive producer is Joel Grove and we'll be back tomorrow.

52:09Barry Glendenning:Scotland has natural beauty in abundance, but beyond the stunning landscapes, it's a fertile ground to build, grow and succeed, filled with people who are ready to push boundaries in the pursuit of breakthrough ideas. That's why today, Scotland is a dynamic hub of opportunity across growth sectors, from clean energy and life sciences to digital technology and space innovation. Scotland, for the head, heart and the spirit. Discover more at theguardian.com forward slash brand Scotland. This message was paid for by Brand Scotland.