FA Cup quarter-finals and trouble brewing at Chelsea – Football Weekly Extra

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:30the current setup. Well, the club announces a gazillion pound loss, but still within PSR somehow. It's a big weekend in the championship and we haven't tackled Nigel Farage at Ipswich yet. Nick Ames has been to Kosovo. We'll ask him about that. There's some hair pulling in the Women's Champions League to discuss and news of Barry's VIP half marathon treatment. We'll do all that, answer your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

0:55cleave on the panel today barry glendennie welcome hello hello jordan jared bryan hello mate and good morning nick ames hello max uh let's look ahead then to the quarterfinals of the fa cup man city liverpool saturday 12 45 kickoff is the tie of the round possibly the biggest story is liverpool jordan and how important the fa cup might be to them and whether it'll save arna slot's job my thinking with this is that i think the champions league run would be the bigger in terms of qualifying for it was the bigger determinants of whether he is the local manager next season or not i think a trophy in the bank that can get the fa cup would be great for them but i i think the more important thing for them or him in terms of keeping his job would be finishing in that top five because i think it would optically look horrific if they went from champions to not even qualify for the to the Champions League especially with five slots now but obviously financially in terms of the footballing uh project to not qualify for it I think would be really really bad so the FA Cup for them I think would would would maybe keep the Wolves at the door for a little while but I reckon if you offer the Liverpool fans Champions League qualification or the FA Cup I think a lot would say they'd take they'd rather be in the Champions league next season it's interesting you know jordan we sort of trying to work out what would save slot's job do you think it is a valid conversation barry that we're even asking what slot needs to do to to keep his job or do you think the premier league title should give you grace to have another go and not work it out no i'm not surprised that we're having this conversation

2:31Max Rushden:we have beaten the drum regularly this season that uh because of the tragedy that happened And last summer, Liverpool should get a pass this season. Not everyone agrees. A lot of Liverpool fans are very frustrated with the way their team has been playing, with the way, the manner in which they've reinforced the squad and the squad has got worse. So I guess I understand that frustration. I think the FA Cup is important to them. I'm not sure winning it would help save Slott's job if he doesn't qualify for the Champions League. but winning it is certainly better than not winning it. They have beaten City in each of the last four meetings in the FA Cup for whatever that's worth.

3:15Max Rushden:City are on a 17-game winning streak at home in the Cup. They've been in seven successive quarterfinals. Pep takes this competition very seriously. I think he will put out a strong team. Manchester City can't really put out a weak team. It's a really hard one to call. I think City will probably prevail. but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't. We saw how much Pep celebrated winning the League Cup and maybe read far too much into that. Maybe this is his last swan song and given the title is not out of reach but will be difficult and they're out of the Champions League a double cup season is good.

3:56I mean it sounds ridiculous. Of course it's good for pretty much anyone but for City it is still just about above par would you say? It would absolutely do. in the circumstances, I think. And I've got no doubt, and as Barry says, we can be proved wrong in 48 hours, that both managers will go for it in this one. It was the big ticket ding-dong clash in the Premier League just a couple of years ago. And the optics of getting Sherlock's in it are pretty bad for whoever it is. And I think this is, it's a massive chance for them both. you win, you come out of it and you're probably along with Arsenal if they win at Saints which we'll come to you're red hot favourites to win the cup and I do think it is bigger for Liverpool honestly, I think the PSG game ahead of them is massive but they're not going to be favourites for it at all it's coming up four days later Wednesday so I think there is more on it for Liverpool but I think there'll be an edge to this one, I think there'll be maybe a bigger edge to it than people expect from a city point of view i've been thinking about how people have been framing their season there's lots of talk around this being a bad generally a bad season for manchester city and i was at wembley for the caribou cup final after i was kind of got over sulking and ranting and raving about arteta's tactical flaws in that particular match but i then turned to thinking about what is a bad season right and i thought to myself well if city can win one maybe two domestic cups take arsenal to the last game of the season and finish second for a big club that should be a bad season a bad season should be a cup or two and a title race right what we're seeing with united man united in recent years spurs um even arsenal in in years gone by and liverpool arguably this season is when a big team has a bad season fifth sixth seventh eighth or even lower that is not acceptable for a big club but Manchester City the talk has been this is a bad season for them but they would say our standards are that high now our floor is one maybe two domestic trophies and a title race that goes to the last week of the season what they're doing is I think what other big clubs should be aspiring to do which is we come in the title every single season we come in the European Cup every single season of course but there's got to be a minimum standard and that has to be we've got to pick up something and push for a league title at the bare minimum every single season Southampton Arsenal Nick you probably watch more of the championship than the rest of us with your uh your Ipswich supporting hat on and Southampton are in absolutely brilliant form aren't they um 1-4 drew one in March they've got this manager 32 year old Tonda Eckert who has done an absolutely brilliant job yeah and one of the impressive things about him is that when he took the job, they had a good run straight away and everyone was like, oh, he's the real deal.

6:57Then they fell off a bit and you think, okay, maybe that was the new manager bounce and a young guy who might find it hard to turn it around again. But now they're in superb form. They look very well balanced, a lot better than they have in recent times. Shea Charles looks like a very good player in midfield alongside Flynn Downs as well. And they're probably the classic team you wouldn't want to face in the playoffs at this point. They're the one that is in absolutely red-hot form. So, I mean, why not? It's a moonshot for them against Arsenal now. We'll see what kind of team Arsenal pick. We'll see, I hate bringing it down this road, but we'll see whether Southampton really want the extra hassle of another game and juicing their squad to the max when they are in such a great position now in the championship.

7:49But it'll be a good litmus test for them to see how much they've recovered under Eckert in the last few weeks and months. And I guess not too many people around there would be disappointed if they came out with a sort of honourable, swinging, narrow defeat and could then get on with the business of what has become a promotion push late in the day. So I think that's a very exciting tie, actually. But I don't think there'll be too much devastation around St Mary's if they don't make it. Sure, which takes the pressure off a bit, I guess. Barry, on what the neutrals want, which is Arsenal to come second in everything, would you take Arsenal getting knocked out now?

8:32Or do you want them to get to the final of this and the Champions League and just really hammer home being second in everything?

8:42Max Rushden:I think they'll win this I'd be very surprised if they don't it would be a bad result if they didn't win them obviously a lot of this depends on how many of those what was it 10, 11 players who limped or were carried back from international duty on shields and stretchers and in the back of ambulances how many of them managed to make miraculous recoveries ahead of this weekend And one presumes Arteta will field a semi-reserve side. I would imagine Max Dowman will play, given his brilliant performance in the previous round. You know, he's a really exciting young player. I like watching him. It kind of speaks volumes about, if you look at the lineups for these quarterfinals, the eight teams involved, pretty much seven of them have bigger fish to fry than the FA Cup.

9:35Max Rushden:And the only ones who don't are Port Vale, and that's because they're more or less down already. They're at the bottom of League One and I think they're pretty much doomed. But the other seven teams all have more important things to worry about. And that's a shame, I suppose. But Arsenal should win this. It would be, if they didn't, I think people would start talking about mentioning the B word. Don't say it, Barry. Don't say it, Barry. Don't say it. I think you're right. And obviously, well, that is good news. And we'll get to Port Vale trip to Chelsea. You know that Port Vale will feel their strongest side.

10:15We'll get to that. But Jordan, as an Arsenal fan, there is that, that was the problem, not just losing the League Cup final for losing the League Cup final's sake and not getting a trophy, but the fear starts to come in and defeat here would, it would rattle anyone actually, I think. Yeah, probably. Yeah. if Arsenal were to get knocked out of two cup competitions in two games that's obviously not very that's not good um especially to lower league opposition with the caveat of respect to Southampton who were playing quite well at the moment but but yeah I mean I still wouldn't expect it to alter what's happening in the league I think that if this does then that says a lot more about this team manager than than even I thought so I don't think they'll lose this game I don't think it'll be an easy game I think something will really go for it Arsenal will make changes and I think the break which has divided a lot of Arsenal fans come at a good time some think they would like to go back on the horse straight away after the final loss and got back going again I think this break is actually needed there's been a lot of games a lot of football from Arsenal since the turn of the year up until this point so I think the break actually everyone's reset lost the final cool let's just refocus and hopefully kind of advance to the next round of the FA Cup and I think they will think they will you had what you said was a sort of tepid take on the arsenal pullouts well a mango and lime if you like on the kind of nando's hot sauce scale um first of all on the barry alluded to earlier on about the whole talk around the pullouts of arsenal players and you know are they just pulling a fast one is it michael arteta influencing the arsenal players that may well have happened but i want to give actually thomas tucall a little bit of credit right because i think what's happened there is threefold i think the first element of this is thomas sukel being a former club manager at the top level recognizing the arsenal and by munich because kane pulled out to have a couple of really big months coming up they really need to be with england they really need to be around that they let them focus on on that last couple of months secondly he doesn't want to he wants to get those managers on side he's extended his stay with England to the Euros I think he wants to keep the club managers on side and look I'll do you a favor you do me a favor so I think there was a little bit of that in there as well don't need these guys getting injured not only for their club but for the third element of this is selfish I need Saka and Rice who are definitely and Kane who are definitely part of my 11 I need them fit for the World Cup so me playing them in a two meaningless friendlies that serves nobody the players would rather have the couple of weeks off I don't need to see them because I know what they're going to start for me against Croatia anyway and on Ben White just a quick point on him I think he should go to the World Cup and and just here's my take why I understand all the whole you know he can't play for England again how dare he not give us an answer explain yourself I'm ambivalent I don't really care if if he explains or doesn't I get why the pain fans want to hear an explanation I don't really care right but the reason why I think he should go to the world cup is because whilst reese james is quite clearly the best right back england have one of the best players they have i would say too the injury problems are a concern and ben white is not battle worn you want players that go to the world cup that are not knackered that haven't played he hasn't played a lot of football this season so there's that and also the best right back for bukaya saka is also probably going to be ben white so whilst i get the whole nationalistic how dare he put on English shirt ever again he's a disgraced argument all right cool if England win the World Cup and Ben White's in that team no one's gonna care also finally bar Gehi is there a centre-back in that England squad that is clearly better than Ben White I'm not sure there is it's much of a muchness apart from Gehi in my opinion so those are the reasons why I think he should be included whilst I accept he probably won't I'd say the take got hotter as it went on Thank you very much.

14:14Max Rushden:On the subject of these people who are demanding that Ben White explain his reasons for leaving the England camp, do we not all know? I mean, I know why he left the England camp. And if I know, I'm pretty sure everyone else knows. So why does he need – he had an argument with Steve Holland over not accessing some training, doing his homework. He's pre-match prep. He fell out with Steve Holland and he left the camp. Why do we need to hear it from him when we already know what happened? Can't believe what a spoiler you've given ahead of the documentary. I'm only on season one. I'm only in 1966 at the quarterfinal.

14:54I don't know if we've won yet. Chelsea played Port Vale. It was established Port Vale are bottom of League One with a goal difference of minus 25, one win in their last five. So it feels like unlikely that they will do anything at Stamford Bridge. I mean, it would be marvellous if they managed it. It is a free hit for them. Mark Cucurella in the international break, speaking to The Athletic, was talking about how much he missed Enzo Maresca. It's an interesting sort of line of chat. We knew what Maresca wanted from us. Winning a title like the Club World Cup also helps strengthen the bond. You create relationships during the celebrations.

15:27When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you die for him. The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season um the instability around the club comes from this in a nutshell we had a caretaker first then a new manager with new ideas no time to work on them it is what it is the interesting nick on whether i know malagusto came out and said oh we all love liam rosenia but that that is not a ringing endorsement of rosenia from a very senior player no and he's he's he's saying what almost what seems obvious to people watching on that you know what what are Chelsea what is this club what is this side how how on earth do you find the time and space to develop something there when you're chopping and changing so fundamentally now obviously Maresca had had issues with the club I normally don't like it when journalists and fans and people are analysing body language and stuff like that because everyone thinks they're a cod body language expert and most of the time people get it wrong but I was watching Chelsea the other week against PSG at Stamford Bridge.

16:37And obviously the press box, as most of you guys will know, is right behind the dugout. And the game was getting away from them. And you can see Rosinia really earnestly shouting out instructions and trying to cajole the players. And I just don't think anyone was listening. What was the body language? They have their fingers in their ears going, la, la, la. But you know, sometimes you've watched enough football and seen enough stuff to know when something isn't quite right. And I just got the feeling that he wasn't cutting through. Now, I like him a lot. I respect what he's done before. I think he's an extremely articulate, bright guy.

17:20But it just doesn't seem to fit to me. And that all feeds back in to the broader point that Cucurella made, that Chelsea are chopping and changing from approach to approach to approach. And it's not helping them generate or garner any kind of momentum. And, you know, it goes back to the whole four years of the Blueco kind of Clear Lake era where it's just been a big spending cock up so far. It's been probably, I don't know, a Club World Cup title. What title doesn't sound so bad, does it? But otherwise, it's probably the biggest failure in world football, pound for pound. I'm not surprised that the players are confused and at a point where they feel happy to tell us that they're confused.

18:07Max Rushden:Yeah, because Enzo Fernandes also came out and was quite critical of the club hierarchy for firing Enzo Maresca. He said, I don't understand it. Sometimes as a player, there's things we don't understand and the way they try to manage things. I don't have an answer for you because I don't know. And then he proceeded to twerk like Miley Cyrus in the direction of Real Madrid. And I think Cucurella was hitching his skirts in the direction of Barcelona. So interesting to see where they end up next season. Yeah, on the subject of the money, Chelsea announced yesterday they've made the biggest pre-tax loss in Premier League history 262 million pound deficit for 24-25 eclipses the 197.5 million lost by Man City in 2011 so many congratulations to Chelsea for this despite them bringing in 490.9 million in revenue which the club says is the second highest total in their history so it doesn't really count if you lose 262 million more the club insists they remain compliant with financial regulations such as profit and sustainability rules which allow losses of over 105 million over three years figures used to calculate psr are different to this pre-tax loss but you know i'm i'm boring myself well kieran maguire accounting skier and maguire friend of the show has said that um you can't really read into these numbers uh until they post their full accounts which they haven't done yet but apparently they will not fall foul of psr guidelines because of that time they sold their women's football team to themselves got it well roll on them uh releasing their accounts maybe we'll do a pod special on it and obviously the best the best uh uh cod body language expert is Captain Birdseye, of course.

20:02Thank you so much. Here all week. West Ham leads, fourth-thirst, just shaking heads. Absolute silence. Someone will have enjoyed it. West Ham leads, which, you know, we talked, Jordan, about feeling weak in sides. But, you know, both these sides, you know, I think they have to play each other in the league as well. Final day of the season. Yeah, I think you're right. I think they'd happily take defeat in this for a win in that one, Jordan. Yeah, but why can't they have both? I mean, I would love it if both really went for this one. I'm still kind of irked by the Fulham exit from the cup, from the last round.

20:34I don't understand. I think Crystal Palace have shown that with the right intention, with a good team, you can get to the latter parts of the cup and possibly even win it. Now, a team like Palace or West Ham or Leeds won't win it every single year, of course. But I just thought that they opened the door for those other teams to just believe, believe. And I get it. they've got other priorities being the Premier League is a cash cow yada yada but I would really love it if they if they did just said you know what Sod it we're going to just put out a strong team we want to win this game you know you're not playing Man United you're not playing Arsenal you're not playing Man City you're playing another team that's down there with you as well you can win this that that would be my message to both these teams you can both win this game so whilst again I accept that they probably won't put out strong teams you're probably right Max I would love it if they if they did what a boon for manchester united to be included in the you're not playing good club there yeah what a moment that is for them they're back on the map yes nick i think it's time for leeds to win a game so i wonder whether whether he will go strong especially with a clear week ahead because we've had lots of great conversations about the relegation battle in recent weeks and obviously spurs is is this slow motion car crash that's about to get maybe crash here with De Zerbe and Forrest are their own ludicrous soap opera and that's all very entertaining and dramatic as well but Leeds can't win a game of football at the moment and they're the ones that people aren't really talking about and I think they've only won once since I think it's mid-January I mean sounds good from a Spurs point of view to be honest but yeah yeah you're probably right exactly and okay they've only lost a couple of cents but they're drawing all the time And I think they're in a bit more trouble than people think.

22:27And I just wonder whether striking a blow in what otherwise, yes, does look like a dress rehearsal for Almighty's set two in May would help them. I don't think they could afford to show up with a second string team and get turned over here. I think that's a slippery slope.

22:44Max Rushden:I think Nuno generally picks second string teams in the FA Cup, so I would expect him to do the same here. Leeds have played five times in London this season haven't won any of them lost two, drawn three of the seven games they have remaining in the league they still have to play Wolves, Burnley and Spurs as well as West Ham so they're big games for them I think both these managers would love to not have to play this match Yeah, you might be right Destiny in their own hands So alright, that'll do for part one Part two, we'll do Nigel Farage at Ipswich

23:27welcome to part two of the guardian football weekly so a full fixture list in the championship league one and league two on good friday and then again on easter monday such a great time to be a lower league fan although terrifying uh obviously the big game is cambridge v swindon the max rushton david squires derby thursday night 8 p.m kickoff in the championship bar and millwall lunchtime on Saturday is enormous Nick isn't it? Absolutely huge you've got Boer who have wobbled a little bit in recent weeks you've got Millwall who I think a lot of people thought we're gonna do well and challenge in the top six this season they've got a hell of an identity and a hell of a consistency as well and they've been building through the years to this Millwall sort of coming up on the rails and they are i mean they harshly lost at home to blackburn a couple of weeks ago but on the whole absolutely flying playing with a real vigor and intensity and starting to feel that there's a confidence around them that they can really really do this and they came away from ipswich with what was ultimately a deserved draw a couple of weeks ago i think if they can do the same at borough who who play some lovely stuff but the cutting edge isn't always quite there.

24:45Millwall just that little bit sharper sometimes going forward, I think. If they can come away with something, then we will have to start looking at the really serious possibility of Millwall being back in the Premier League and back in the top flight for, I think, the first time since, I think it's 89-90 kind of time, isn't it? Since Sheringham and Cascarino. Ipswich are in a good spot, Nick, aren't they? They are third, 69 points. They're level on points with Millwall. they have a game in hand on everyone so they if they win that they would go into the automatics one point above Middlesbrough what do you make of their current situation uh the the current situation on the pitch is that they've I mean they've got a game in hand they will have two after uh after Saturday and then they've got a month-long eight game sprint which given the depth of their squad you should fancy them in although it's a lot of football and a lot of away games actually in that run I think five so it's going to be very close I think they can do it but it's going to be a hell of a tight shave and we'll have to have to see and I guess this might be where you're going we'll have to see what the off-pitch situation that has unfolded in the last week or so obviously a week or 10 days ago now when when this goes out we'll have to see what impact this has on things as well do you think it'll have an impact I mean Nigel Farage turned up at portman road last week conflicting reports on whether he was invited by the club or not the club issued a statement saying ipswich town football club has over several years hosted representatives from a range of political parties the club remains apolitical does not support or endorse any individual or party the club will continue to engage with representatives from across the political spectrum as part of its role within the community ipswich town is proud to be an inclusive diverse and welcoming organization that supports all members of the local and wider community, this commitment remains unchanged.

26:36Now, obviously, look, this is The Guardian. I can't speak for the three of you, but I imagine we're not all big Nigel Farage fans. I imagine a lot of our audience aren't big Nigel Farage fans. But the question would be is, if it had been a Labour politician, or even a Tory or a Green politician, would we have the same feelings of rage about this? Or is it different? Well, there is a principle here. that Ipswich allow themselves to get used for political promotional means. I think that's incontrovertible. You had a picture that was taken of Farage as the banner on ReformUK's ex-account. You had videos taken from around the stadium.

27:22You had Farage on a ReformUK video speculating about Kieran McKenna's job. I mean, goodness. and I don't think that would be acceptable if it was Labour, Conservative, Green, Count Bimface, whoever I think we have to say there was a principle at play there and there was a reason why you never see this stuff happen in this kind of way and then obviously yes, Nigel Farage is a divisive figure that is exactly why there has been this reaction because his politics does divide people There are some people, a significant swathe of the country, who like it. That is up to them. There's a very significant swathe who don't.

28:04And it's very polarising. That is why the debate has happened, because he is who he is. And one big misconception, I think, about this is that it isn't about banning Farage from Portman Road. It's not about the fact they hosted him. Like, personally, I don't like him at all. But I respect their right to meet him and his right as an individual to meet whoever he wants and go where he wants. We're not North Korea. This is how our country has to work. So the issue was the way in which he was allowed to jump on it and use it as essentially one massive party political broadcast that made Ipswich Town look absolutely abysmal.

28:53I mean, it has been an absolute disaster in comms handling, in crisis management, in not getting ahead of a story, in allowing something that may well have been innocent at the start to become a scandal. and just taking it back to the players and the team, if you like, I know for a fact that this cut through to the players straight away. I know this. It cut through, they were discussing it in the dressing room at Playford Road, their training ground the next day. It's like literally saying, how was this guy allowed to do it? It's quite a switched on, it's quite a mixed nationalities bunch. There will be people in there who are fairly politically engaged but Kieran McKenna, the football manager, who should be bothering with preparing his team for an eight-game run-in that is worth an incalculable amount to the club and to people's careers and everything.

29:47And instead, he's going to be the guy taking the questions because the club themselves won't answer any about how this came about, how much they knew why this came about. I just think the lack of accountability and communication and sheer common sense in this whole thing has been absolutely damning. Just briefly from me on this, I mean, I'm a massive cynic, right? And we're talking about Nigel Farage possibly using Ipswich to benefit himself, probably, maybe. I wonder if Ipswich have also used this opportunity to benefit them or they've used Farage to benefit their purposes because we're in the attention economy, right?

30:26Where you start by asking if this was Labour or if this was the Greens or another party, would this be a big issue? Nigel Farage is the most famous politician in the country so I just wonder if the club because how do you get to make those videos and all those photos and all those broadcasts without the club being in I don't you didn't sneak in on a club tour day sort of thing and take a couple of sneaky pictures by the pitch these look like they're properly well done so I can't help but think the club have been involved in this and they've recognized that if we can get some publicity through Farage good or bad it puts our name on the map and you know the great guys at Guardian Football Weekly will you know will discuss discuss us.

31:10I mean that's that's one of the issues here that you've correctly touched on which is how much the club knew because the kind of briefing beforehand because because Reform sort of signposted this the night before tweeting saying we're soon going to Portman Road and then the alarm bells started ringing among a lot of people the briefing was oh this was a bit of an ambush they booked under a different name the tour turned up we showed you know they showed up we couldn't stop them from running amok in fact a few people at the club definitely knew as so I gather for about 48 hours there was some kind of invitation given to Farage, stop by while you're in East Anglia, which he was for some campaigning.

31:59The question is then, why don't you spend those couple of days preparing for what might happen? Like, OK, let's make sure that he doesn't come in with his social media crew and just do what he wants. I'm not sure that Ipswich wanted themselves to be put alongside Reform UK for their own promotional purposes. I don't believe that at all, to be honest. but I do think that they were asleep at the wheel and didn't quite realise how big it was going to become and how big it was going to blow up.

32:31Max Rushden:Around the same time he visited Portman Road, Farage said he'd had an invitation to go and visit Sunderland Football Club and it seems he met Juan Sartori, the Sunderland minority owner, Uruguayan fellow at the Davos conference and Sartori had said to him, oh, you should come to a game. Now, he hasn't had an official invitation from Sunderland. I hope he doesn't get one because the values Sunderland claimed to promote, and indeed Ipswich, inclusivity and tolerance, could not be further removed. But just him saying that he'd been invited to Sunderland has already fomented a huge amount of division between Sunderland fans because Reform and Nigel Farage are incredibly popular in that neck of the woods.

33:19Max Rushden:because the people of Sunderland have been let down by the Tories and now they feel they're being let down by Labour. There's a very good chance Reform will have an MP elected in Sunderland at the next election. And I think a lot of people, a lot of Sunderland fans, would welcome Farage with open arms to their club. I don't know if that's the case in Ipswich, but Reform are popular on Weir's side. You know, Farage, he's a great admirer of Trump. He's widely associated with xenophobia. He's been accused of racism. He associates with people who've been caught making racist comments. I think this is not a person anyone who loves their football club would want associated with their football club.

34:06Max Rushden:He has no interest in Ipswich. He has no interest in Sunderland. He is against the football regulator. This is just naked opportunism. I completely agree. And that'll do for part two. Part 3 will begin with the Women's Champions League.

34:28Welcome to Part 3 of the Guardian Football Weekly. In the Women's Champions League yesterday, Manchester United were one up on Bayern Munich, so it was level on aggregate until they conceded two in the last 10 minutes. So they are out. Chelsea were 3-1 down to Arsenal. They beat Arsenal 1-0 on the night, but go out 3-2. I guess the most controversial moment of this is Sonia Bompasta sent off late on. And in a post-match interview, I don't know if any of you have seen this, she actually gets the phone out of the interview to say, look, Katie McKay is pulling Alicia Thompson's hair and asking why she wasn't sent off.

35:01And I kind of think, Jordan, it's sort of fine for a manager to do this, to say, look, here is a thing. Because she was furious with the referee in the first thing. There was an absolutely ridiculous disallowed goal. And I think she's got a real point here again. she does i mean i think i've ranted on this podcast before about how people respond to her pulling in games and it's just seen as oh it's not it's not that bad it's it's it's it's disgusting and but i don't understand how anybody any official didn't see it in real time and deem that a red card at the time that that just blows blows my mind and i think this season alone between the men's and women's games there's been at least five incidents across the two top leagues the Premier League and WSL of players having their hair pulled so it's it's it's definitely increasing and I don't buy this it's a reflex when someone goes past you so I just don't I don't buy it I think it's intentional I think it's disgusting and I think I would give it a really really severe punishment but you can't even get to the punishment because it's not even being a you know red card it's not even being given a red card offense so yeah and I think showing like literally look look look look somebody is is is so bad and i think unless we nip it in the bud early this is going to continue into into next season and beyond i would say my one-year-old willie rushton for him it is quite instinctive he's also biting but you know hopefully he grows out of it i'm going to

36:28Max Rushden:stick up for katie mccabe here i agree she pulled alicia thompson's hair i agree she should have got a red card but i also think she didn't do it intentionally i believe her when she said she meant to grab her shirt rather than her hair just from looking at the footage she was immediately apologetic she also was standing nearby looking quite sheepish when sonia bombaster uh got sent off for complaining i i actually thought she was going to intervene and and ask the ref not to punish Bombastra. So while I agreed that the hair was pulled, I do believe her when she said she was reaching to pull out of the shirt.

37:12Which would suggest that all players just have so much hair that, like, you try and pull the shirt, but you just can't avoid getting the hair.

37:20Max Rushden:Let's make everyone in the WSL play with a buzz cut or a short back and sides. Do you think so? Let's stamp out the problem immediately. Or sort of a Def Leppard haircut. you know, men's or women's, that is so much hair. A poodle perm. Yeah, a poodle perm. And you will get the opposition sent off. Nick, you mentioned going to Kosovo. Tell us a little bit about it. Yeah, I just got back. I was at the playoff game against Turkey for the World Cup. And it's a story that I've covered ever since they played their first official game in 2014 against Haiti when they weren't even members of FIFA and UEFA back then.