Deadline-day chaos and Middlesbrough lead promotion race – Football Weekly

22:32George Elek:Yeah, yeah. They have a 50 % sell-on in case Anthony goes on to great things. But yeah, that is... So that's Anthony Sancho-Hoyland, cost Man United over£218 million and was sold for£21.6 million and two loan fees. Does seem like bad business. They did make money on Garnaccio, of course, who they bought for£400 ,000 from Atletico Madrid's academy. It sold for£40 million. Arsenal confirmed Piero Hincapié from Bayer Leverkusen, if I pronounced that correctly. And Zinchenko's gone to Nottingham Forest on loan. Oh, OK. I definitely wouldn't have noticed that. if someone hadn't written it down here for me.

23:10George Elek:And actually, while we're on Leverkusen, oh, the other one you wouldn't have noticed, and I'm almost annoyed to tell you, Barry, is Tarek Lamptey's gone to Fiorentina. Good for him. But on Leverkusen, Leverkusen 10-0 getting sacked after three games in charge. It seems so brutal, doesn't it? Leverkusen's managing director, Simon Rolfs, said this decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step. The past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible. We firmly believe in the quality of our team. We'll now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new setup.

23:40George Elek:Eric Ten Hag says this comes as a complete surprise. To part ways with a coach after just two league matches is unprecedented. Many key players who are part of past successes left the squad. Building a new cohesive team is a careful process that requires both time and trust. A new coach deserves the space to implement his vision, set the standard, shape the squad and leave his mark on the style of play. He said, I started this job with full conviction energy. Unfortunately, the management was not willing to grant me the time and trust I needed, which I deeply regret. I feel this was never a relationship based on mutual trust.

24:11George Elek:Seems brutal, Barry, doesn't it?

24:13Max Rushden:Yeah, it does seem very harsh, not least because no sooner had he taken the job than they sold five, six, maybe seven key players out from under him, including Jonathan Tarr, Granz Xhaka. He really didn't want Xhaka to leave, but Xhaka seemed hell-bent on going. The two lads who went to Liverpool, I believe there are others as well. And I was discussing this with a couple of mates yesterday and we thought there's got to be more to this. Yeah. That we don't know. But also you think of the payoff, don't you? Oh, it's lovely.

24:51George Elek:It's good work if you can get it, isn't it? Can't I do two pods and then get£8 million and say, look, I just don't trust you, Max.

24:59Max Rushden:The only thing I'd say is those Manchester United players who were just really bad business, who were brought and then sold for a massive loss. Are they all Ten Hag signings? Anthony was. Hoyland. Hoyland, yeah. Just on Ten Hag, apparently he lost the dressing room before even their first game, which is quite an amazing thing to think of. when I used to talk to him in press conferences and stuff like it always kind of came across like he didn't quite have that emotional intelligence and I wondered whether it was something lost in translation but he's a fluid he's a natural German speaker as well so I think it might just be him after all bad luck Eric

25:42George Elek:anyway that'll do it for part one part two we'll talk about the championship

25:54George Elek:welcome to part two of the guardian football weekly sam from melbourne writes hi max and the football weekly crew love the pod especially its balance of football laughs and the more serious issues keep up the awesome work i'm from melbourne but happen to be in london on the night of the live show i'm trying to convince my partner who has no interest in football to attend the show with me does sound exactly like i could have written this email anyway uh do you or barry have any inspiring words to convince her to attend? Sam, inspire Sam's better half, please, Barry.

26:22Max Rushden:Well, as far as I can tell, Sam's better half will have her pick of many seats. Yes, the top tier is for you. She can have the entire top tier, which will be an interesting experience. I expect it to be a fun night. I'm looking forward to it. I did go to a play. I have long criticised the theatre as an art form I'm on the spot, but there was a play about the Brixton Academy on that I decided to go and see. And that was actually quite good. But I did feel myself not. Theatre seats are very comfortable. If you're bored, you can just nod off. There we are. And Sam's partner may have jet lag, which, you know.

27:06George Elek:Yeah. And that's open to anyone who wants to come. If you are bored, you can fall asleep. Probably to Jonathan Wilson, but possibly to me, Barry, Nicky Bandini or Johnny Lou. tickets can be purchased by going to theguardian.com slash footballweeklylive. Come on, let's fill the top tier. Between us, we can shift that extra thousand. You can be a hero. theguardian.com slash footballweeklylive. Right, the championship, Middlesbrough top, 100 % record. West Brom in second, still unbeaten. Stoker in third, Leicester fourth, Coventry, Bristol City, Swansea and Portsmouth. Let's talk about Middlesbrough then, George, and a brilliant start for them.

27:43A brilliant start.

28:13Max Rushden:We're making it clearer for you to know exactly what your benefits cover. And to help you better manage your health, we're coordinating care between your doctors and your technology. We believe better, simpler health care is always possible. That's healthy optimism. That's Optum. Visit Optum.com to learn more. That probably wasn't really foreseen by many people. The vibes at Middlesbrough were not particularly strong over the course of the summer. they waited till quite late in the summer to sack Michael Carrick which was a bit of a surprise albeit you know he hadn't really delivered on the promise from early in his tenure.

28:52Rob Edwards came in and there was some doubts about that given what happened last season at Luton the transfer business took an absolute age to come off it looked like Hayden Hackley was going to be leaving for a time and you know looking mid-July Borough fans were really concerned about how the season was going to start but they've started incredibly well they won all four of their games they've only conceded one goal in those four games against Norwich. They had a bizarre 4-0 defeat against Doncaster in the League Cup, kind of wedged in between all these league wins, but for the most part they look really strong.

29:26Tommy Conway started the season up front and is playing very well, leading the line well. They've signed a player from Manchester City called Sverda Naipan, who is seemingly a wonder kid, who is kind of seen as being one of the brightest talents in world football as per why City made a move to sign him in the summer and it's seen as a huge coup that Burrow have been able to bring him in he's made a couple of appearances off the bench so far kind of getting to grips with it but but very excited to see how he gets on so it's been yeah a great start for them and this you know this season feels to me like it's often the you know the cliche is that the championship is the is the most unpredictable league in the world and I mean it's just not true like league two is incredibly unpredictable the championship normally the teams who get relegated from the Premier League do very well the teams who get promoted out of League One a couple of them normally struggle and the teams who normally finish mid-table normally finish mid-table for the most part yes it's less predictable than the Premier League but that's not saying very much whereas this season it feels like the teams who've been relegated out of the Premier League in Ipswich Leicester and Southampton look a shadow of the teams that went up and even like way off I mean it's very early days we should stress and obviously they've made signings late in the window that might change this but they look way off the standard we're used to seeing from relegated Premier League teams whereas the teams promoted out of League One in Birmingham and Rixham in particular have spent an absolute fortune to try and continue their progress up the league so for teams like Middlesbrough, Coventry this feels like a really open championship where it might be time for a changing of the guard and rather they're seeing the same teams going up and down every season maybe this is the time where we see some clubs who haven't been in the Premier League for a while force their way in.

31:01George Elek:So that could be Middlesbrough I mean that could be West Brom Chris says would like to hear your thoughts on Ryan Mason. Completely changed the West Brom backline. Has been a breath of fresh air since coming into the club. They're currently second after three wins in a draw. And, Sani, all this talk before the season, given who Ryan Mason has learnt from, i.e. Mourinho, Conte and Ange. Like, what the hell is that? What is Mason ball?

31:22Max Rushden:Well, Max, sorry to cut across you, Sani, but he spent their win over Stoke in the stands because he was suspended. So I'm guessing he learnt that from Mourinho or Conte. Yeah, I think you've got a bit of everything, haven't you? I think what he has done is been quite pragmatic to start with, with West Brom. I think they've only conceded, I think, three goals so far. Funnily enough, Ipswich have signed most of West Brom's old defence, so he's had a bring in a whole new defence as well. Nat Phillips has had a good start so far. He's benefited from Isaac Price, who's only 21, Northern Irish. He's been there a couple of seasons, having a really good start.

32:01I think he's got three goals so far as well. I mean, he was one of those where we were like, well, we don't really know what to expect. Like you say, we don't know what he could actually do. And I was expecting a bit more, something maybe more expansive. But I think that was just my Premier League coach bias because we so often see coaches who've been set up as a Premier League side coming in and wanting to keep the ball on the deck. But actually, I think he's doing it the right way. He seems to have understood that you can't just go in and say, right, we're going to get the ball and play it down and that's all we're going to do.

32:33You're going to have to kind of mix it up. But he's been quite lucky in who he's got there as a core already and added pretty well. I mean, they've just sold Tom Fellows now and he was like the classic winger. So I don't know how much that might change the style. But yeah, I've been really impressed so far. And I didn't expect them to quite be anywhere near where they are, actually. So yeah, good start for Ryan Mason.

32:55George Elek:It's interesting, George, you mentioned the relegated clubs because what you have Leicester doing okay, aren't they? and then fourth. But Southampton in 13th, of course, you know, a couple of wins changed everything at this stage. And Ipswich in 20th without a win. What's happened at Ipswich? I mean, a huge churn of players. If you look at the squad that got promoted out of this league in incredible style with those back-to-back promotions, it's only really Leif Davis and Wes Burns who are left. I mean, George Hurst played a part obviously on loan. And, you know, whether or not they're a better side now than they were then is up for debate.

33:26They've got a lot of very good players, but it hasn't really clicked yet what i would say is they were better than their the scoreline of a one nil defeat against preston that they lost that game because of a penalty and they you know i think preston had two shots in the whole game and they you know applied a lot of pressure and even against derby apart from a really poor kind of 10-15 minute spell in the second half they were by far the better team then i think we're seeing even though the results haven't caught up yet we're seeing this new side being kind of formed into a better team and i'd be really surprised if we don't see them improved soon with leicester it's kind of the opposite i thought leicester had you know they They were second best against Charlton.

34:01And again, they won 1-0 due to a moment of individual brilliance from Abdul Fatahou on opening day against Sheffield Wednesday when before Wednesday had a man sent off. They were struggling and toiling to win that game, which they eventually did. But they were brilliant on Friday night against Birmingham, live on Sky, where Marti Sefuentes, when he was at QPR, when QPR were at their best under him, they were so good defensively. And that was the case here where they took the lead again because of a moment of brilliance from Fatahou. and after that, Birmingham couldn't really get near them. Their defensive shape was so good, they couldn't find a way to create any big chances and that's a Birmingham side who've been really impressive this season and St.

34:37Simile have just really struggled to look like, often when teams come down for the Premier League, they look a cut above and Samson just absolutely don't look like that right now. So yeah, concerns about all of those. Should mention Jeremy Monger, the 16-year-old winger for Leicester who looks like an unbelievable talent. Just one of these guys where sometimes players burst on the scene in the championship and you basically know straight away that they're not going to be here for long and he is absolutely one of them. The assist for Pereira's second goal against Birmingham on Friday was magnificent.

35:07You can't really believe he's 16 when you see him play and you know we've seen Leicester not recruit very heavily over the window despite losing a lot of key players but given the young talent they've got coming through the academy yeah you can see why.

35:20George Elek:we've been saying that Glasgow is probably the most the saddest footballing city in the world or in the UK but Sheffield is giving it a run for its money Sheffield Wednesday obviously we know the problems off the pitch they have a point from their first four games, Sheffield United are doing worse than that and have no points, Ruben Seles it is not going well for them Sani, can you put your finger on what's happening at Brummel Lane before we find out what's the latest from Hillsborough? Well I think what was really telling from the fans was you've probably seen that video that's gone of the the players coming over to applaud them after another defeat and there's some boos for Saez and then Saez walks off right at the end of the video and then there's a full stand of applause for the players I mean they're really not happy with with what he's doing and I guess from the answer looking in it does feel like a bit he's done the opposite of what Ryan Mason's done right he's coming and he's wanted to play his way and he's not had the players to do it he's brought in quite a few as well he's managed to keep goss harmer which is a huge like caveat there actually and some like city peck and callum o 'head if they've kept that core but they're just not performing but again you know so often we like it happens in england or with england manager all the time like whoever the manager is you replace them with the exact opposite right so there's this there's this idea that wild is this old school whatever even though he's actually not and then you replace him with Sayers, who's this tactico, let's say for argument's sake.

36:46Did they need someone of a similar kind of style with the players that Wilder was, maybe? Is Sayers a bit not quite like that with him? I don't know. It's very hard to put your finger on it.

36:57George Elek:I don't know, George. You like, I mean, you think Ruben Sayers is a great coach, George. Yeah, well, I think he's definitely a very, very eloquent coach. We've seen the fruits of his labour at Reading where he was, given the circumstances at Reading, to have them firstly get over a points deduction and be safe and then on the fringes of the playoffs last season. You've got to have something about you for that to be the case. Also, anecdotally, he's apparently incredibly popular with players for the most part, given the way that he manages. And there's also the fact that Sheffield United's side from last season under Chris Wilder is going through a huge change now.

37:32and the amount of players they brought in there aren't actually loads of players kind of coming on from that because of the way that Chris Wilder was sacked this was always going to be incredibly difficult for whoever came in after him and if they got off to a bad start it was always going to be they were going to come under way more scrutiny and way more pressure than they would do normally and for that reason it kind of feels like Ruben Sayers on hiding to nothing even if results improve he will always be the guy that replaced Chris Wilder he'll always be the guy that wasn't really wanted and in my mind I likened it on our pod yesterday to a night watchman in cricket.

38:04I think he's almost just there to take the flack during this moment of transition and then it'll probably be someone else who comes in. But there's no point sacking him now, really, because the club is a bit of a mess. And I imagine it wouldn't be a particularly easy job for someone to come into and sort them out. So I feel for him, but he's definitely not the clown that he's being portrayed to be, in my mind at least.

38:26George Elek:Shane Warren, the greatest night watchman, had to go in and face two balls and he was out stumped for six, which gives you an idea of his intentions when he went out to the crease. George, what is the latest on Sheffield Wednesday and John Texter saying he might be interested? Yeah, I mean, we'll see. I think when it comes to Defton Chan-Ciri and news about a takeover, you've got to take it with a pinch of salt because even though the, well, not a pinch, an absolute boatload, he's made noises that he's looking for a buy and he's willing to sell. but there's absolutely no evidence for that to be the case they were trying to bring in players over the course of of deadline day some deals were blocked they brought in a player from Manchester United on loan but nowhere near what they need and yeah John Texter has kind of publicly disclosed that he's interested my assumption with that is you probably only personally disclose that you're interested if you're not really getting anywhere privately to try and put some pressure on the seller and I just I just have absolutely no faith that Chan-Ciri will be true to his word and look to sell so so let's see what happens there but even though you know the football started again now and wages are being paid which is obviously great news but it but it's also important because you know Sheffield Wednesday fans obviously understand the urgency of the situation I think it's important that as neutrals we don't now assume that everything's okay because it absolutely isn't and we still need to find a way to put the pressure on Chan-Ciri to sell to ensure the safeguarding of the football club in the short and long term.

39:55Sani, anything from the championship that you want to add? I think we've kind of covered most of it. I think I've been quite impressed with Wrexham and the business they've done. And the big man up top, he's been doing the business. His name has just popped out of my head. Kiefer Moore. Kiefer Moore. Kiefer Moore with a big header on the weekend. Yeah, I think they're going to do okay. And that's despite some scepticism from my part earlier in the season and last season.

40:19George Elek:You got your first point, Oxford. this season well done yes thank you I was there it was exciting there were two games in the championship this weekend that finished 2-2 where both the third and the fourth goal were direct free kicks

40:31Max Rushden:oh they were brilliant free kicks yeah there were eight free kicks scored in the championship this season so far only 20 in the whole of last season

40:39George Elek:were they all scored by who is it Scott Twine who's the guy that scores all the free kicks no Scott Twine didn't get any of them you've got Victor Torp has got a couple Cameron Brannigan of Oxford no there have been so many free kicks. It's Nestori, Irankunda, it's got two for Watford. Oh, okay. Interesting. Obviously, really, everyone in Australia, any footballer that gets out of Australia, they're very excited about. Yes. They generally follow him. He looks very fun. Yeah, he's a lot of fun. And then Portsmouth. They all go to Portsmouth. Segacic is looking very good as well. Yeah, that's where the boat lands.

41:10George Elek:Yes, Barry?

41:11Max Rushden:Speaking of Portsmouth, Max, Andre Dezel, son of Culverhouse staple Jason, Wow. scored a deflected Thunder Bastard for them to beat Preston at the weekend this may be something or nothing but just ask the boys I noticed Ipswich their draw with Derby County, Jack Clark scored an equaliser in the 16th minute of added time and in the Wrexham-Milwall game there were 19 minutes of added time in that game, is that a thing in the Championship this season or did something happen? So Danny Ward had a really bad elbow injury it's actually really nasty but if you if the clip when you see it he's in obviously in absolute agony albeit he had an elbow injury and concussion and then someone um videoed him ordering a mcdonald's at one of the screens in a service station after the game and was wondering if you've got a concussion you probably shouldn't be ordering from a screen in a mcdonald's but that was why that was why that game had a long pause and then i don't know why it was another injury in the ipswich game as well um but on ipswich one one other transfer to mention before we move on probably kind of worked the the nicest story maybe of deadline day was conor chaplin returning to portsmouth a player who came through at pompey had a great time there as a young player who's been a magnificent player for ripswich um getting out of league one and then getting out of the championship um his return there has been you know proper homecoming um with pompey fans absolutely delirious and not only conor chaplin the sign but also josh murphy their star winger has stayed despite interest seemingly from from leicester and west ham so that's a very good signing Pompey very much a progressive club and a dark horse this season all right that'll do for part two part three will be league one and league two healthcare can feel complicated that's why Optum uses technology to connect the people and processes that make healthcare easier more affordable and more effective we're making it clearer for you to know exactly what your benefits And to help you better manage your health, we're coordinating care between your doctors and your technology.

43:14Max Rushden:We believe better, simpler health care is always possible. That's healthy optimism. That's Optum. Visit Optum.com to learn more.

43:34George Elek:Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. League One, then Cardiff City top. Stevenage in second. Then Bradford, Barnsley, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Luton and Stockport making up the top eight. I guess Sanny Stevenage, they pop out in that list. They do with kind of the core of the same players that they've had for a couple of seasons now. Jamie Reid has got five and seven and I think he had a few injuries last season because a couple of years ago he got 22 in a league campaign. You still got Carl Piagiani at the back, the warrior. Oh, yes. Get up for a big header from a corner. But yeah, I suppose it is a bit of a testament for sticking with your man and seeing how it goes.

44:12Because yeah, you look at the lineup and it's more or less exactly the same. I don't know how long it will last though, but yeah, quite amazing. And we're only six games in, so it's a bit hard to say how long it will last. But yeah, I think they've been quite phenomenal. When you think about the teams around them, like Cardiff and Bradford, either side of them, it's quite incredible.

44:30George Elek:Yeah, the rest of the top eight seems sort of who you'd expect to be in the top eight, George? Or not? Yeah, maybe not. I mean, again, it feels like it's less predictable than usual. We've seen Bradford and Doncaster who came up from League 2 last season, both really impressive. Barnsley, who had a thorough time last season and appointed Connor Harrohan as their new manager off the back of a caretaker spell that didn't go particularly well. And I was, you know, they were, it was good to see them kind of a bit of a show of faith in him and looking beyond just the bare results. and they're now sitting in fourth.

45:02Even Cardiff, who they appointed Brian Barry Murphy, who comes with a big reputation after his time at the Manchester City Academy. He was Rudvan Nistroyd's assistant manager at Leicester last season, which the less said about that, the better maybe, but also did an amazing job in terms of player development, if not results at Rochdale. And it's really interesting there because Cardiff got rid of a lot of old senior pros, Joe Rules, Andy Rinomota, Canham Chambers, have got a really good crop of young players in the two Colwell brothers, Joel and Reuben Colwell, Keaton Ashford and a few others too.

45:37And they brought in a guy who's a specialist in developing young talent and very, very quickly, they look like one of the best teams, if not the best team in the league. They're on 16 points from six games. They're playing a really good, vibrant style of football. They brought in a player in Nathan Trott, who's a goalkeeper who's kept five consecutive clean sheets, which is a pretty good way to start life at your new club, making some magnificent saves, especially in the 1-0 win over Luton a couple of weeks ago. So in a time, in an era where, you know, we focus so much on recruitment and buying players, I think Cardiff are a reminder that good coaching of good young players can often be the route to success.

46:14And it was interesting, they played against Plymouth Argyle last weekend, who they were relegated with. Argyle have shipped out loads of players, brought in loads of players, and the gap between the two was absolutely vast on Saturday. So Cardiff by far the better team.

46:27George Elek:So what you're saying is apart from Cardiff, Stevenage, Bradford, Barnsley and Doncaster, it is who you'd expect in the top five. Huddersfield and Luton 6 and 7 is exactly what I was expecting.

46:39Max Rushden:George, Ruben Caldwell wasn't called up to the Wales squad. Was that a surprise? Really, really surprised. I can't really understand why. He is a player who has a lot of talent. I think we often see when clubs get relegated out of the Championship, it can be the best thing for some of their young players because Ruben Colwell goes from being a good player in a bad team in the Championship who isn't really able to showcase his ability to suddenly being one of the best players in a league and is able therefore to flourish. And I've got no doubt that he will return to the Championship with Cardiff or with another team next season and show what he's all about.

47:16I can't really understand why Bellamy wouldn't call him up. You know, Mark Harris, who plays rocks for the team I support, who isn't really getting any minutes, gets into the squad. albeit as a slightly more advanced attacking player, who I'm a big fan of, but compare their starts to the season, there's a huge gulf between them. So yeah, very surprised and I can't really understand why.

47:36George Elek:Sani, I'm nervous of suggesting the bottom four of League One aren't who I'd expect to be the bottom four in League One. But I, okay, Port Vale are always sort of down there, but Peterborough bottom, Wickham and Plymouth, Wickham who've, you know, perhaps punched above their weight for a long time, Plymouth who came down. Should we start with Peterborough? I mean, I know there are problems off the pitch or expectations are low, but they're always sort of pushing around the playoffs. Yeah. And I guess part of that is because they've got such a great scouting network of young players that they're able to promote and do quite well.

48:08A lot of those who then move on. I mean, they're managing like about one shot on target a game. They did against in the 3-0 to Exeter. I think it was two against Bradford and another one in the previous defeat to that. So they're really struggling up top. Very worrying for them. I don't know what else Darren Ferguson can do because they are on the lower side of the budget, relatively speaking, right? The other one as well, but you mentioned Plymouth Argyle. I think that's a real worry. Like I saw them against Bolton Wanderers and an ex-manager who was doing commentary described them as kind of like a five-a-side team.

48:42Like they're very good at playing little neat balls in the corner, getting out of tight places. But they were offering so little and were completely overrun by Bolton. And yeah, we talked briefly, it was only the week about Tom Cleverley and standing by that screen and the thing's not going well off the pitch. It does seem like they're in a real kind of existential moment of like what sort of football do we want to play? Do we have the players to do it? They've had such a hodgepodge of managers and styles. And yeah, you mentioned Wickham, they just lost Richard Kone as well, which was the, I know he was injured in and out of the team and kind of the lower league, he's acting away, I suppose.

49:18like he was a move that had been a long time coming. So yeah, they're going to struggle too. And yeah, Port Vale, I think Port Vale, Darren Moore will do his best in the circumstances. But yeah, worried about those three because for different reasons, they all look like they've got real issues to get themselves in a better place. And you see, like we mentioned with Stevenage, what you can do with a lower budget, you can do really well when it all comes together. But yeah, seemingly quite a bit of work to do, albeit only six games in. It was only six. You are rubbing it in a bit as the Cambridge man over there, I think.

49:48George Elek:Oh no, I said that almost with genuine interest. It's lovely to hear they're barely getting a shot on target a game. I look forward to leapfrogging them at the end of this season. George, anything else out of League One that is of interest? I mean, I guess I mentioned for Peterborough, who people who don't often look at the League One table might be surprised to see them rooted to the bottom of League One. They had a pretty poor season last season and then lost a host of very good players. so it shouldn't be a massive surprise to see them where they are. They've recruited really heavily to try and rally out of this position where they are at the moment, but I'm pretty concerned about them.

50:25I think it's a fair case to be made right now that they're the worst team in League One and possibly even in the back end of last season were the worst team in League One too. So I think relegation is a very possible concern for a team that for so long we're punching at the top of League One.

50:37George Elek:I have you down, George, as arguably possibly one of the most professional panellists we have, but what were you doing for the previous four to five minutes when we were talking about Peter United. That's my question. I received an email that I had to see. Oh, I see. Can you share it with the class or not? I can see. I thought your face was smiling because I was having a go at Peterborough, which I knew you would enjoy. But it was because I've just missed the whole chat. Peterborough fans will be delighted. They get more time in this pod than they were expected. Yes. so what would be better now is if I come to you Barry and say any thoughts Barry and you can just say I'm slightly surprised Darren McAnthony Peterborough chairman chancer anyway let's do league two Gilliam are top Chesterfield second Bromley in third the playoffs made up of Cruz, Swindon, Walsall and Milton Keynes with Cambridge in 10th of course lots of people mentioning about Ryan Loft we talked about Ryan Loft a bit too much during the victorious England semi-final pod when we beat the Netherlands.

51:43George Elek:I don't know why we got on to Ryan Loft, but we did anyway. He's gone from 10th to third because he's not part of our plans. Sani taught me through the top of League Two. As George has alluded to when he was concentrating, it is the most unpredictable of the leagues. Yeah, well, I'll tell you what, I'll pick up on Crew and Swindon because I was at that game and I'll let George handle the others because Crew were top up until this weekend and Swindon turned up and put three past them inside 45 minutes. And on the face of it, actually, you're thinking, well, what's happening at Crewe, who've had a really good start to the season, seen them twice already.

52:19Lots of, you know, classic Crewe style. They bring in lots of youngsters, lots of academy graduates are in that team. And then the players they brought in as well, Tommy O 'Reilly from Aston Villa on loan, has been very exciting. But they're missing a bit of strength and they were just completely out-muscled against Windontown on the weekend, who've got, you know, I think 13 signings now. Big Olly Palmer's the latest from Wrexham. I was actually next to Gavin Gunning, who is the first team coach at Swindon Town. He was like sat next to me in the press bit. And he did not moderate his language whatsoever whilst he was on his little, you know, he's got his little radio down to Holloway in the thingy.

53:00And despite the fact he's got all crew fans around him and he's got a BBC broadcaster with a microphone right next to him and he's dropping the C-bomb and the F-bomb and he's like, get in there, get in there and hit him and everyone else around is just like looking at them going,

53:11George Elek:so for that reason... So sorry, is he talking to Ian Holloway or is he standing up and yelling at the players from the stand? He's got his AirPods in and he's got another coach with Holloway in the technical area and he's just like screaming at players which then the coach on the ground is then hearing him getting screamed at to then translate the screaming across over. I suppose if you're, it's a bit like, you know, of one of those ant and deck scenes where they have to say you know call him a c-bomb you know but like maybe if you don't shout it yourself then the person that you are relaying to shout it doesn't feel like they have to shout it either yeah exactly um what it did give me an insight into is the people around ian holloway are doing a very good job as far as the maybe the extra analysis that perhaps you might not think is part of holloway's remit you know and he focuses on motivation as well as picking a team, whatever.

54:03What was also interesting about Swindon was they had a very deep squad now with those 13 signings. Some real talent to come off the bench. And when they did make those changes, they were just as strong. So I'm actually quite pleased with them. I was disappointed for Jake Tabor, who you remember I called the real life Gary Goals with his 127 goals in 97 games. Oh yeah, how's he going? Well, he didn't make the squad because now Oli Palme is there. But he's got EFL trophy games. I think he'll get his chance there. So impressed with Swindon. I think there will be ones to watch now for this coming season now, as it progresses.

54:35George Elek:George, are you with us? Yeah, I think Crew and Swindon would be there. At the bottom, George, Cheltenham have one point. Shrewsbury and Crawley, two. Accrington, three. Newport, Oldham have four points. So yeah, over those teams, only Newport have a win so far this season. That is sad, isn't it, George? You haven't got a win in the first six. who do you worry for you really do all of them really Cheltenham made a couple of quite eye-catching signings yesterday Sam Shering in particular who was a big player for Northampton when they were promoted out of League 2 and a good player for the Mid-League 1 to be fair as well who's moved to MK Donson hasn't really worked out at all really worry for Shrewsbury Town and my my mate my hero Michael Appleton who is manager there it felt like a very bad fit in terms of you know for a manager who has excelled at Oxford Lincoln when he's been able to play a certain style with very talented young players and develop them to come into Shrewsbury who don't have the financial muscle to go out and recruit that kind of profile they're really struggling and you know they look to me to be with a massive and massive danger of the double drop that we've seen from Carlisle and Forrest Green in recent history of getting relegated from League One and then straight back into into the National League I think Crawley are improving and they were good in their away tools or against Chesterfield squandering a 2-0 lead I can't remember his name but they're one of their players with one of the worst one-on-one misses you're ever going to see where he tried to do a step over and just really bamboozled himself in the process of doing it rather than the keeper and yeah Accrington and Newport were kind of being written off as relegated before a ball was even kicked this season and have looked no worse than the other teams towards the bottom Accrington the team that I was kind of relatively positive about going into the campaign but yet to get a win albeit three draws from their five games means that you know that maybe a difficult team to be so they look the poorest teams in the league uh right now but yeah Cheltenham and Shrewsbury probably the two I'm most concerned about at this stage let's finish with a couple of emails George says hi Max Barry in the Football Weekly pod crew long time listener first time writer Football Weekly has been a thrice weekly obsession for myself my close friends since discovering the pod in 2021 my mates and I live in Melbourne obviously thrilled when we heard that Max was moving to Australia since that moment we bond over each other's stories of seeing Max riding his bike through Clifton Hill or getting a coffee at Standing Room in Fitzroy North with young Ian.

57:01George Elek:It's a good cafe. You can only understand our collected elation when my friend Harrison and I spotted Max striding through London fields during Paul's stag last weekend, hiding in our excitement through whispers as to not wake the newest Rushton in pram. That's Willie Rushton. We had a great chat about Melbourne's Subarus and Bozz's malapropism regarding green shoots when I messaged him about Spurs and he said, yes oh it's an early it's just the beginning but i see green sprouts is what paul said anyway paul is marrying the lovely lizzie at gilmerton house in scotland on saturday we'd love to have their union solemnized as only barry can up the pod and all of the legends who grace it and our ear waves every week says george so this is paul and lizzie barry do your best well just to be clear he said

57:47Max Rushden:solemnized. Yes, yes, of course. I wasn't quite sure. Yes, yes, come on, Barry. Your enunciation left a lot to be desired there. My apologies. And I'm not sure I can top that, really. I was, my interest was piqued when I heard they'd come to London for a stag do from Melbourne. I'm thinking, oh, that's a long way to go, just to gad about on the beer. I remember I had friends who came over for a wedding from Melbourne to London and all concerned left the groom the best man and the otters all left their suits on a train and had to buy maybe these guys pick them up

58:27George Elek:it'd be useful if they found them just as they hopped on the train

58:31Max Rushden:would be handy but yeah best wishes to Paul and Lizzie and I can't top

58:39George Elek:solemnising no that's fine and they were lovely boys and it was nice to chat to you in the park this is from Ben and this is a great email, hi Ben Hi Guardian Football Weekly, I thought after your last episode's mention of a listener hallucinating about Barry, you might be interested in my experience from a few years ago, back in 2022, my partner was asked to go to a conference in New York, the company paid for her flights from London and she was put up in a fancy hotel in Manhattan, so I took the opportunity to fly out and enjoy free room service and give my moral support I had a lovely week in the Big Apple, seeing all the sights.

59:13George Elek:Had one more idea of something to pass the time while my partner was at her conference. I normally play fiver side several times a week, so on the morning before our flight home, I thought it might be fun to try out a pickup game in Manhattan. I took my boots down to a pitch on the lower east side, fully expecting to show off my refined European football skill to a crowd of American soccer novices. It didn't take me long to realize the game was chock full of outrageously talented prodigies from all over the world. After being turned inside out for an hour by a South American wonder kid and having barely touched the ball, I finally got a break down the left wing in the dying minutes.

59:42George Elek:Sensing my moment, I barreled towards the opposition end, executed a perfect croif turn to lose my marker, and then crumpled to the floor with a sickening snap as my ankle gave way. I was rushed to hospital and treated for multiple ruptured tendons and a fractured ankle bone. The lovely staff at the hospital handed me over, strapped up and doped up to my furious girlfriend with about 45 minutes to get to JFK airport. Turns out hospitals in America are much more generous with their opioids than in the UK. I was absolutely off my tits. I was loaded onto the plane and lay across my still furious girlfriend's lap at the back of the plane, still in my sweaty football kit.

1:00:15George Elek:The night before I downloaded an episode of the Guardian Football Weekly to listen to on the flight, clearly something had gone wrong. As the audio file got stuck, repeating the same couple of seconds of Barry indignantly saying, Well, Max, I don't know, over and over again. I was too out of it to figure out how to stop it or fix it. So instead lay there, hazily staring up at my girlfriend's furious face. while Barry berated me for the entirety of the seven-hour flight. I can safely say it was the most psychologically disturbing experience of my life. Anyway, Jude and I got very happily married last month with both fans of the pod, although she, in fairness, does prefer Faye and the gang's excellent work on the women's show.

1:00:54George Elek:So clearly we're doing something right. If Barry felt like giving us this blessing, that would be either delightful or deeply upsetting, depending on my potential Pavlovian response to his voice. Keep up the good work and thanks for the always excellent content. All the best, Ben. there you are Baz seven hours of you just going I don't know that is brutal

1:01:13Max Rushden:I'm guessing he got a whacking great bill from that hospital as well it sounds very expensive I wouldn't imagine those opioids come cheap in an American hospital so good luck paying that bill and happy marriage they're already married yeah they're already married yeah I wish you wouldn't spring these on me Max I can't do them justice I'm sorry but I think he's heard enough from me

1:01:39George Elek:I think you're probably right I think most people have and that'll do for today thanks everybody thank you Sani thank you and hey I didn't get it with Sky but breaking news Gianluigi Donnarumma has signed for Manchester City 26 million five year deal and will wear shirt number 99 thank you George thank you thanks Baz thank you Football Weekly is produced by Silas Gray and Jesse Howard our executive producer is Neil McLean

1:02:14George Elek:This is The Guardian.