Is Sesko a good fit for Manchester United and who will win the Championship? – Football Weekly Extra

23:12Max Rushden:Well, if it's very serious contract negotiations, it's got to be Winston. I can't say anything yet. We've signed an NDA, but you might be right. Anyway, yeah, go to that website, theguardian.com slash footballweekly. Just find our Instagram, my Instagram, or Guardian Football Weeklys or whatever, and you will come and have a nice time. the championship starts this weekend obviously Leagues 1 and Leagues 2 started last weekend Birmingham-Ipswich on Friday night Ben I mean you obviously cover the AFL in depth for the Guardian it's a great game to start the season isn't it? Yeah it's a blinding game and partly because Birmingham are trying to do what Ipswich did a couple of years ago now in terms of winning back-to-back promotions to the Premier League Birmingham are kind of unashamedly ambitious it's kind of you know it's going to upset a few people I think put a few noses out of joint they really are yeah they're going for it they've signed I think 10 players at the last count that's probably ticking over into 11 or 12 as we speak they've obviously got a load of momentum Chris Davies in his first managerial job had a record breaking season 111 points out of League One I mean it was just far too easy for them but credit to them they're coming up and they want to they want to mix it with the parachute payment teams you know in terms of those teams relegated from the Premier League one of those being Ipswich who I was saying in the week, I feel like they kind of got relegated with a bit more grace than Leicester and Southampton, even though they only won one league game this calendar year, which is, you know, not really loads to get too excited about.

24:45But I just feel like Leicester and Southampton, there's so much else going on. And Ipswich still have probably the core of the team that came up last time. They've got a strong squad and also they've got Kieran McKenna. And I think there's a lot to be said for that consistency. you know this time last year we thought Kieran McKenna was maybe going to Chelsea Manchester United you know have the pick of his clubs so I think the fact he's back in the championship with the team he knows which is probably a better team than he got up last time well it is it is a better team I think they'll be they'll be really fancied as well so yeah Birmingham it's which is a great game to start just be interesting to see which kind of A-listers Birmingham the Birmingham entourage bring with them this time because uh i feel like we're going to see a bit more of that this season we saw last season they brought beckham to the wrexham game and uh yeah there's definitely that kind of stardust around birmingham as i said they got really grand plans but it'd be interesting if they can kind of back it up just so interesting you talk about um you know the bringing the a-listers and i think you know legacy football fans are like god you know this is it's pointless but someone was telling me and and i i hope it's accurate that the rexham do you remember that rexham knots county game i think ben foster saved a penalty that was on tnt that got more viewers than like an average premier league game on tnt but it was a sort of a so what it got some viewers well i mean like you joke but it's still astonishing now that it's not the level of book But actually, the sort of entertainment documentary showbiz part kind of matters in a way that I think intrinsically in my heart makes me sort of bulk a little bit, going that shouldn't be right.

26:26But it does help, right? There's a reason why famous people advertise shit. I guess that's the truth of it. Yeah, I did an interview with Tom Wagner, who's the Birmingham chairman, who's the guy probably coming up with a lot of these ambitious soundbites. He was saying, I don't know, the Wrexham rivalry they've created last year and both clubs on the rise in the American backing. He's like, lots of other clubs want in on that because of that, Max, because of the crude bottom line, basically. There's a clip in the recent documentary that Birmingham have been filming last season where Wagner congratulates the team on victory over Wrexham.

27:06and then he says actually i need to go back upstairs because there's a thousand people up there that i need to spend money on the club and yeah that that's the reality of what we're looking

27:16Lars Sivertsen:and working with it makes me think because i've always kind of said in my opinion i think football is more a soap opera than a sport and i think the popularity of football is more to do with all the storylines around it and all the stuff than what actually happens on the field i've always said that like for throughout and i always felt that's a very clever thing to say and been very happy with myself but then now when i see the clubs that are turned into actual soap operas become as popular as they have and that completely overtaking the actual football i feel like maybe that was not a clever i mean maybe it's true but it's true in a way that i'm no longer comfortable with i think you're right but then if it became a complete soap opera like neighbors it would be better than football so then you know if we go but how far away from that are we really again when people are watching teams from uh from that tier because they they appear in a very slickly produced television show and that's kind of attracting them much more than uh the more sort of the actual sporting drama higher like it it is it's always been this sort of increasingly there is a tug of war between like is this a sport or is this just a content mill and as much as i don't want to be too sarky about it because anyone who goes into a place like Wrexham or a place like Birmingham and contributes something and creates enthusiasm and brings investment I don't think we should look down on that just on principle because I think it's a positive thing but the whole vibe of that thing is there's something that doesn't sit right with me for some reason.

28:41Sure. Well I mean like in Neighbours when they had Bouncer's Dream you know that was when I think Neighbours jumped the shot so in one of the episodes you know if Kyogo Furuhashi has a dream about something and they put that before the game then maybe we'll say that that's when it's gone too far. I mean, he's an interesting signing, Barry, isn't he? I almost corrected you on the last pod where you said they'd signed him from Wren. I was like, no, they've signed him from Celtic because I'd missed an entire part of his career. But it's a brilliant signing for Rahashi, I think. I'd be fascinated to see what he does in the championship.

29:12Max Rushden:Yeah, it's a weird one. I don't really understand what happened there. He left Celtic for Wren in January, signed, I think, a three-year deal, and now he's at Birmingham City. and he didn't really play for Wren. I think he made maybe five or six appearances or something. So Ben might know what happened there. I'm afraid I don't. Just lots of interesting stuff in the championship. I think there's 11 different managers have taken charge of clubs since the end of last season. It's a very unforgiving league, so one presumes that probably six or seven of them will be sacked by January. there's a real high turnover of managers in the championship.

29:54Max Rushden:I was looking at the favorites to win it, the favorites for relegation. Wrexham weren't listed in either. Lots of people saying this is a season of consolidation for them. I have a feeling they might get another promotion. I've said since they got promoted from the National League, I could see them in the Premier League within three or four or five years, four to six years and I wouldn't bet against them making the playoffs, scraping through. And there is zero doubt in my mind that they will be a Premier League team before too long. Snoop Dogg's an investor. He's joined Luka Modric. What a midfield that is, Snoop and Luka.

30:42Luka holds and just says, do what you like. You've got a free roll, Snoop. Very language. Yeah.

30:48Max Rushden:Luca Halls and Snoop for shizzles his nizzle. Well, Ben, of those, I mean, the Wrexham is interesting, right? It's interesting. Keefer Moore signing. They always go for like a big old, you know, does that mean Stephen Fletcher's done his old target man job or could they play Moore and Fletcher? I don't know. Connor Cody in as well. Lewis O 'Brien from Forest. Josh Windass. Yeah, Windass as well. Ryan Hardy. That's good signing, I reckon. Yeah, yeah, totally. So they've made interesting signings. If I had to bracket Wrexham before they signed Kiefer Moore, and not that it should all be about one player, but I do feel that is a significant signing.

31:24I think that's a great signing in that system, in that team. As you say, it feels like we've seen Paul Mullen do his turn, Fletcher, Kiefer Moore, I think will score double figures for Wrexham this season. And I think together with that spine, the new spine they've got this season, potentially Danny Ward, Cody, Lewis O 'Brien, who's probably the pick of their signings. He turned down, could have gone back to Swansea. He's gone to Wrexham. He's basically in the peak of his career. This is a player that got to the playoff final with Huddersfield a few years ago. Forrest then signed him, didn't really use him.

32:00He ended up having a couple of loans, but now I think he's going to be settled again. I think that's a great signing in midfield. Then more up front, I think a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have been as hot on them. I don't think they would go down, but I don't think they would necessarily trouble the top six. But I do think their recent business means they could certainly find themselves looking up rather than down. Marty Sifuentes is in at Leicester. Will Steele in at Southampton. Ruben Selle is in at Sheffield United. Of those appointments, who is best placed, do you think? Well, I think Will Steele is probably the most intriguing appointment.

32:35This is somebody that we've been aware of for a little while because of his track record in France. obviously at 28 um he became i think the youngest coach in europe's top five leagues he's got profile and now it's we haven't seen him in england before he's not actually lived in england before um he's english but he's not really yeah he's not really done it here before apart from managing preston under 14s uh when he was on a college course but i had a bit of time with him last week he's really interesting guy keen to kind of get away from the sense that he was just sort of tapping the space bar on his laptop playing football manager then landed in ligand and then And, you know, here he is.

33:09I think he's done a bit more than that. But he has got a job on his hands because, as always, is the way with these clubs that are relegated from the Premier League. The squad is so bloated. You know, Leicester as well, for example, took 32 players on their pre-season tour to Austria. Southampton, it's the same. There's a lot of people who you think won't be there in September. You know, we've already mentioned Dibbling, many others. But, yeah, I think Will still is interesting. Him and Sifuentes, obviously, are new. and that's why I think Ipswich might be best served just because of that consistency.

33:39But yeah, I think the steal is definitely intriguing. Yeah, Sheffield United, it was a really messy end for Chris Wilder. His sort of January recruitment was ultimately kind of what he paid the price for, made a series of loans and won a big sign in Tom Cannon. None of them really worked. The Sheffield United owners want to push this kind of data-driven recruitment, which has thrown up some left-field signings from Eastern Europe which I don't think Chris Wilder was too enamoured with, but was kind of happy to sit tight to a degree. Ruben Seles presumably has said he will work on that basis. Did a great job at Reading.

34:16We obviously saw him in Southampton, in the Premier League with Southampton. Did a great job with Reading when they were, you know, having all sorts of financial issues. But I do think, I don't know, they've just lost Amarhodzic as well, the big defender who's a big sort of pillar for them. Kiefer Moore, even though, you know, I don't think too many Sheffield United fans would be too disappointing to see him go. But that is two pillars. That's two pillars. I mean, that's the whole thing falling down, isn't it? Yeah. He's got Louis Barry in who would be interesting. He scored loads of goals for Stockport.

34:48But yeah, he went on loan to Hull under Sellers last season and didn't really do it. So it'd be interesting to see if he can perform. But yeah, I'd be more doubtful about Sheffield United, I think. Baz, who else is interested you?

35:03Max Rushden:Well Rob Edwards has taken over at Middlesbrough who have been out of the Premier League for quite some time now and Ryan Mason at West Brom. He's left Spurs where he was Andrew's assistant and he's been at Spurs for quite some time so I'm curious to see how they'll get on. Sheffield Wednesday already look absolutely nailed on for relegation will they even be able to field a team that's going to be interesting to see in a sort of rubbernecking fashion. And yeah, I think Edward Zappara could be interesting. And we don't really have any idea whether Ryan Mason is any good or not as a manager, but we'll find out, I suppose.

35:52And along with Sheffield Wednesday, Ben, who do you think will struggle? Hull. I think Hull and Sheffield Wednesday are both up against a three-window ban in terms of paying fees for players. Both clubs are repealing it, but it remains to be seen if they overturn it. Sheffield Wednesday's actually been turned into four, so that's actually until June 27. So if it wasn't bleak enough already, it certainly is there. As Barry says, I mean, it's been quite a depressing week for Wednesday or weeks. The fans have United, but behind the team, behind the club, they're going to protest. They've sold out the away end.

36:27They're going to protest first five minutes of the game they're planning on not being in their seats basically to kind of give off the impression of what it would look like if Wednesday weren't here. Obviously Barry Bannon has said he'll stay put, not expected to be any problems with registering him because he's a player already there and they will work with the EFL in terms of registering players I understand so it's not a case of they can't add to the squad full stop but it's going to be very tricky because of all the financial reasons and limitations under Chancery, who we are told is trying to sell the club and the EFL are working with him to sell the club.

37:07Here we have another example of an owner who has just got to a point where seemingly he can't fund the club, he can't meet the obligations. There's creditors, HMRC, wages going late, three months running. Fans are turning up to the training ground trying to provide staff with stuff to get them through their day and food and drink. It's not how it should be. And it will be interesting to see what happens beyond Sunday because, yes, they're going to play Sunday, but how long can this go on for? I suppose that's the question and that's the concern, really, because it can't. Yeah. The EFL did release a statement saying a lot of things you said, Ben, that they are in daily contact with the club.

37:51They are engaging with the supporters. they talked about the confidentiality of some of the meetings with the trust that was after that video that we spoke about uh where uh you know one supporter said they weren't really helping at all so the efl are saying that you know they are doing everything in their powers uh to help sheffield wednesday even if the you know some of the supporters don't necessarily see it that way well

38:14Max Rushden:the thing is that they might be doing everything in their powers but their powers are very limited so of course. Anyway, that'll do for part two. Part three will begin by paying tribute to Georges Costa.

38:33Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. Some very sad news out of Portugal. Former Porto captain Georges Costa died at the age of 53. He had a cardiac arrest at the club's training centre. He led Porto to Champions League glory under Jose Mourinho in 2004. 2004 it won 50 caps for Portugal spent a season on loan at Charlton in the Premier League in 0102 if you remember he was uh it was him and was it Jonathan Fortune it was Costa Fortune with the uh

39:00Lars Sivertsen:was the centre-back with Luke Young at right back as well so it was the young uh young fish Costa Fortune is what it was yeah yeah no it was wasn't it um yeah there was a really you might have seen Jose Mourinho giving a really emotional press conference when he just said, part of my history that goes, this was Jose Fenevache's press conference head of their game against Feyenoord. Of course, I'm very sad, but I'm here because if he could speak with me now, he would tell me, come on, do your press conference tomorrow, play the game and win, mister. Forget about me. That would be George. So that's what I'm going to do, try to do, do my job today, do my job tomorrow and cry afterwards.

39:38Porto said throughout his life, by throwing on the pitch, George Costa embodied the values that define FC Porto. Dedication, leadership, passion, unshakable spirit of conquest. He left his mark on generations of fans. Yeah, and look, some player, Lars, wasn't he?

39:53Lars Sivertsen:Yeah, no, I mean, he obviously most remembered probably for being part of the defensive back to centre-half pairing with Ricardo Calvario for Jose Mourinho and his Champions League winning Porto team. and the fact that his nicknames were the animal and the tank gives you an idea what kind of defender he was like fully uncompromising it is very odd that he ended up spending a year on loan with Charlton Athletic but that was because he fell out with the coach of Porto at the time and he needed to needed to play football because the World Cup coming up the next summer so he spent a year in South London which I'm sure would have been quite quite an experience for everyone and was just the thing Mourinho also said he was the kind of captain who would as Mourinho called it clear out the trash or something like he was someone who could police the dressing room for you you know he was a man's man an old school captain who you know the coaches general all this sort of stuff and was back at Porto now as a director of football under the presidency of André Villas-Boas so yeah obviously very very sad for him and for his family that he's gone at the age of 53, which is horrible.

41:06Yeah, absolutely. No age at all. Elsewhere, news that former Arsenal-Mitchfielder Thomas Partey, this is the Guardian writing, is poised to join Villarreal's upset fans of the Spanish club. Around 800 have signed a petition urging a halt to what has been described as the darkest day in the club's history. Partey appeared in a London court on Tuesday, charged with five counts of rape relating to two women and a charge of sexual assault against a third woman. The alleged offences said to have taken place in 2021 and 2022 when Partey was playing for Arsenal. He was granted conditional bail on Tuesday.

41:38The chief magistrate said he understood the 32-year-old would soon be moving to Spain. Villarreal have agreed to sign him on a one-year deal with an option to extend by 12 months. Partey's lawyer, Jenny Wiltshire, has said previously that he denies all the charges against him and he welcomed the opportunity to finally clear his name. On the pitch, Rangers, I don't know how many Champions League qualifiers there are. I presume once you'd done one, then you were okay. But they've got another one now against Victoria Pilsen. They won 3-0. Good goals in there, Barry, I thought.

42:07Max Rushden:Yeah. Well, they've already beaten Panathinaikos. They're now 3-0 up against Victoria Pilsen after the first leg. If they win this, they will go into a playoff against RB Salzburg or Club Brugge. And if they win that, they will be in the group stage of the Champions League. Just to clear that up for you, Max. Thank you. But yeah, they've got this young lad called Jaidi Gassima, who has now scored four goals in four games for them. They've all come in the Champions League qualifiers. I thought he got two good, great ones last night. First one was a beauty, nice passing move, in which he latched onto a little weighted through ball into the box and sent one past the keeper just inside the far post, and his second was a lovely header.

42:56Max Rushden:they came either side of a Cyril Dessert penalty. I thought it was a soft penalty or it shouldn't have been a penalty, but they got it anyway. So they're 3-0 up, looking fairly home and hosed, going into the second leg. And I think everyone last night was interested to see who Russell Martin would drop after taking what Chris Sutton described as a machine gun to his team after their opening day draw against Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership. James Tavernier and Nicholas Raskin seemed to have been the ones who had the big finger of blame pointed at them. But after the match, Martin said, look, you can read into what you will, but it's no big deal.

43:45Max Rushden:We're going to have a lot of games. I will pick teams depending on what I feel we need on the pitch and my team, I think they're at home to Dundee on Saturday. And he said, I'll probably pick a different team again when we play Dundee. Obviously, if they don't beat Dundee at Ibrox, all hell is likely to break loose. But once again, Russell has bought himself some more time, which I suspect that's what he'd be doing for a lot of this season. Yeah, possibly. They're also excited about a winger called Ant-Man, which is not Paul Rudd. It is a guy called Oliver Antman who they signed from Go Ahead Ingles.

44:28Also in the Champions League qualifying last night we mentioned Fenerbahce. They lost 2-1 at Feyenoord. Benfica beat Nice away 2-0. And Lars, you were saying it's so interesting that these teams have to play these incredibly important games at such an early stage of the season.

44:41Lars Sivertsen:Yeah, it is mad. But I do understand that in order to have many routes into the Champions League and for it to not be a Super League you do have to have some kind of qualifying stage. It makes sense. but you do end up with a situation where for a lot of these teams it is their most important games of their season like full stop because of the money and the prestige that comes with being in champions league and you get them in early august like it's completely bizarre there's no time to prepare so you get uh benfica beating uh sir jim radcliffe's other team nice uh 2-0 in france in the first leg so bad times for sir jim uh shocked to see dante lining up in defense for knees still he's 41 it's just incredible I mean he made his I think he's been playing senior professional football as he as he as he hit his as he hit his yeah I was thinking about that Max but I decided we're kind of that's for the other pod isn't it I mean we're too good for that sort of thing Dante has been playing professional football since 2002 which is remarkable and he's still there I was looking at the highlights this is like I haven't got the wrong highlights he can't possibly be but there he is um and um yeah Feyenoord beat Fennemacher the only thing I I just want to flag up while we have time from the wacky world of Champions League qualifiers.

45:50Lars Sivertsen:So, Kairat Almaty from Kazakhstan beat Slovan Bratislava 1-0. I had a first leg, Bratislava could turn it around. But I just thought this was remarkable. They scored with a 90th minute injury time penalty put away by their striker, Dastan Satpaev, who is 16 years old. They put up a 16-year-old kid to take a 90th minute penalty in a Champions League qualifier. He was born in August 2008. uh which is a horrendous thought dance like dance had been playing for seven years i mean he was already a grizzled professional also um in in the heart of defense for bratislava as you should know by now is guram kashiya the georgian national team captain who is a who is a football weekly listener if you're listening but i just think he's 38 now if you're a 38 year old center half and you're set to mark a 16 year old it's a bit of a long night of the soul isn't it that like 90 minutes of thinking like am i still i'm still doing this didn't watch the game maybe gurum did a tremendous job i hope you did maybe you guys can turn it around in the second league brian says i'm getting married to nikki on thursday the 7th of august as is today four years to the day after our first date near chelmsford in essex what is my second chance of love at 50 i've listened to you through the rough times of a divorce and through the great times of this new relationship i love listening to you and your various panels of experts brings multiple joys multiple joints of joy to my week, he says.

47:13I've had a vasectomy, so I feel part of the club. I'm also very much aware Barry brings hope and joy to all newlyweds and was hoping he could do the same for us in Thursday's pod. We get married in Bury St. Edmunds on Thursday. Or you could go to Rollerberry and roller skate your way to the reception. Have a reception in the local village in which we bought a house together in January this year. Nicky's not a football fan, quite the opposite, so anything Barry can say to convince her to love the game like I do would be much appreciated. I look forward to hearing the Premier League preview in your pods by the pool in lake garda on our honeymoon i'm jealous love to all regards brian uh so yeah

47:48Max Rushden:brian and nicky barry brian and nicky from chelmersford in essex i've got to say brian's got gleaming white turkey teeth uh a hair transplant he wears trousers that don't quite reach his his ankles no socks a mazda a mazda sports car mazda sports car the house they've is red brick in an estate three bedrooms very nice house it's got those pictures on the wall motivational live love life slogans on them live love life they've got probably a Doberman or an XL bully just from Chelmsford this is absolutely disgraceful discrimination

48:36Lars Sivertsen:Sherlock bands It's their day today.

48:40Max Rushden:I now have an image of Nicky in my head, but it's her special day. It's her day. Brian, not yours. It's Nicky's day. And I hope that they have a lovely day. And who are we thinking Brian supports? It's probably Goon or isn't he? You're a Spurs fan. I have no idea. Yeah. but anyway yeah I hope to have a lovely lovely day and do you think they met on Love Island or no he said I don't think they have they met when he was 46 and I am 46 myself I think the days of me being asked or me applying and accepted to go on Love Island are gone have you tried? I've never tried I think they should have a Love Island for unattractive middle-aged people like me.

49:34Max Rushden:Yes. I think I'd be good on it. There's a lot of sitting around doing nothing. Maybe you would be good. I'm very good at sitting around doing nothing. Yeah, I was going to say that as I said it. Tom says, question for Barry. Any comment on this? It is a graph with the name Barry in the UK going from 1920. It's not a very detailed graph, but 1920s through the 40s, 60s, up to today, and it has not many Barrys. And they're like a sort of normal distribution. about 1965 1970 lots of barrys now into 2025 not many barrys um have you any thoughts barrys you think you as given your profile you could start and you are we waiting for the first barry you know because we've had lots of weddings not a few babies but no one has yet to say we've called our son barry after barry glendening well given the amount of vasectomies that we've had i'm not confident of having too many more babies but if you look at the famous Barry's, Keoghan White, Humphreys Manilow Bonds Bannon Gibb, Sheen Barry John and of course Barry Glendening we may be low on quality or quantity, sorry we may be low on quantity Max but we are very very high on quality I can't disagree and that'll do for today.

50:57Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Ben. Thanks, Max. Thanks, Barry. Thank you. Thank you, Lars. Thank you, Max. Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove. Our executive producer is Phil Maynard. Back on Monday.

51:10This is The Guardian.