Manchester City rip control of Premier League title race away from Arsenal: Football Weekly

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24:13Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So the bottom of the Premier League looks like this. Wolves 17, Burnley 20. And then Tottenham 31 points from 33 after that draw with Brighton. West Ham 32 from 32. They go to Palace tonight. Forest 36 from 33 and Leeds 39 from 33. Let's begin at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Dave says, What are the chances of City getting an 80-point deduction for the 115 charges before the end of the season? You're also a nervous Spurs fan. Shwiti says, is anyone in world football able to look more sad than Xavi Simmonds? Maybe he's taken that title from Gabriel Jesus.

24:46I've got to say, John, that is the most deflated I've been by a goal, perhaps since Croatia, England. I mean, I just, I felt bereft. I didn't really believe it had gone in. I watched it. I was like, that can't have gone in. I'd been rehearsing the kind of, look Tottenham are at 16th it's fine the Deserby bounces here they've won a football match this is extraordinary like it all looks different the players are hugging and then just this there's something about that football can do this and we did it on the radio yesterday about just there is just a goal that just sucks the wind out of you and most people messaging the show said well West Ham fans saying that Gerrard's goal in the FA Cup final they just you know it's just unbearable But that was, for Tottenham, that was absolutely disastrous.

25:34Barry, meanwhile, John, burst out laughing. But I'm interested to know what your reaction was.

25:39John Brewin:Okay, I'll refrain from laughing, though. I did confess. At the time, I watched it in the Chelsea press room. And as soon as the seven minutes of added time went on, someone from the Telegraph turned to me and said, you know what's going to happen, don't you? Yes, it happened. And we all knew that this was going to happen, that this goal was going to come in. And we also knew that Xavi Simmonds' celebration of the winner that he scored on 70 minutes, which means that there's 20 minutes plus a lot more to go. It just... I mean, yes. Is it a killer blow? I mean, all the results were not great for Tottenham.

26:24John Brewin:It was a... And De Zerbe is almost as helpless. It's a bit better, but it's still not enough. And back to Javi Simmons, you know, it was cramping up. And then there's that still, the picture I sent it to you of his face. And we get sometimes a bit too much... We get criticism from social media. but it's the fact that on social media, he puts up the picture of his goal celebration and we're still fighting and it's like, oh, but do you remember the bit where I scored this and the celebration with the fans? And it's like, I mean, clearly he himself didn't do that. Someone else has done that for him.

27:06John Brewin:It's like, maybe judge your moment a little better, mate. Oh, Tottenham, wow. I mean, we've said this before, Tottenham, as much as Barney was at the Grand Slam Sunday of all grandsons and it's Tottenham are the story of the season it's just amazing and we're being treated to this this horror story and I just can't get enough of it I just want to watch Tottenham the whole time I just I just love it oh yeah and Barney like I mean I know it's not luck if you're there but how's your luck you know Matoma turned into Van Basten Rute's finish isn't easy meanwhile Morgan Gibbs-White, who you basically signed, scores a hat-trick somewhere else.

27:51Crystal Palace are out on the piss on Thursday night and they're playing West Ham. You're like, oh, for God's... You know, it's... Max, Max, Max, Max.

27:59Barney Ronay:Luck's got nothing to do with it. Okay, okay, fine. You're right. Shall we go through the managerial appointments and sackings? No, you don't. No, I know you don't. What was the luck like there? Yeah, I know. I mean, the good news for people who like to consume Spurs, content and who can only nourish themselves on Spurs tears, you know, bottles, stock preppers, stockpiling enormous bottles of plastic maxi packs of Spurs tears in their garages, is that many more games are now becoming Spurs games. So tonight, West Ham play Crystal Palace and that's an ultimate Spurs game, isn't it? Because I think if West Ham win that, you know, I might start to believe um like it really is a problem then because spurs will be four points off uh safety and that's fine but when you don't really look like getting any points four points is quite a lot of points and i i feel that um relegation might might be a good thing in some ways i mean not a good thing in commercially terrible but you know we've done commercially that really work out did it it might be like a baptism a cleansing cleanse yourself in the fire maybe there's a that's the arc here i think i do think deserve he's a really good manager and he sort of looks good in the stadium the stadium looks good on him i can see that i mean he looks like a caterpillar but he also looks good in the stadium does he look like a caterpillar a bit a bit yeah a nice caterpillar like quite okay yeah like a big furry one or the hungry caterpillar like a cartoon caterpillar yeah Yeah, okay.

29:36Barney Ronay:He actually looks a lot... Have you ever seen the World Stare Out competition? He really, really looks like the Italian champion of stare out. Okay. I'll still check it out. But he's a really good manager, and I believe in his kind of passion for the game and his innovative... If you just scorched earth, just burn it all down, give it to De Zerbe, go and play Lincoln and come back, that might be what Spurs need in some ways, because it's not working at the moment. Being a commercial project's not really working, is it? No, they were slightly better, Barry. I mean, that's something to cling to.

30:12Yeah, it's not much. It's like that door Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were clinging to after the Titanic went down. Spurs haven't quite gone down yet. But it was their best performance in a while. They pressed the Harry's. They tried to force, or they did force Barth for Bruggan into mistakes. I still think they'll be okay. Obviously, the Wolves game is massive, and if they don't beat Wolves comfortably, they deserve to be relegated. But I think they'll go to Wolves, beat them, and that will be the catalyst for maybe another couple of wins, which should be enough. I'm like John and everyone else.

30:58I can't get enough of this absolute car crash.

31:05John Brewin:hilarious it feels it feels to me like somewhere perhaps in britain or perhaps it's they're stuck already on the straits of hormuz there's a there's a consignment of spurs tears bottles that are being readied for when this is it like is it just a north london it's a boat that's going to north london and it's got half spurs tears and half arsenal bottles in arsenal bottles yeah i mean which do you prefer it is the

31:34Barney Ronay:new still or sparkling isn't it like i don't know maybe we need to maybe the real message here is we need to transition away from north london reliance on north london tears maybe maybe we need to think about alternative tier sources of of hydration well i mean i suppose there will be no to if also when the league and spurs stay up then suddenly it's like a joint parade that they'll have around north london it is interesting that this is what's powering the kind of premier League, that's like the story of the season, isn't it? It's kind of more about the kind of agony and failure. These are two sort of incredible narrative arcs.

32:14Barney Ronay:That's sort of how the Premier League is entertaining us this season. That's what the story has become. This kind of banter sphere, inverse entertainment stuff where you enjoy everything around football seems so much bigger than football these days, the kind of endless game that happens between the games. And like, you only need to watch the games, do you? I mean, you just need to see the pictures afterwards and see how you see one's eyes. Are they more important than his goal? You should listen to the podcasts afterwards, I think. I think that feels like an important part of consuming this whole thing.

32:49But yes, I'm just really upsetting. Anyway, look, Kevin Dancer obviously should have put it in Rose's head. I thought Ashley Williams was quite interesting on that goal about Pedro Porro being in completely the wrong place and that is how it led to Dancer making the mistake. But then obviously non-white player makes a mistake, gets a lot of racist abuse. It's so depressing. In a statement, the club said they've reported the significant and abhorrent abuse to the police and the authorities. We will push for the strongest possible action against each and every person we identify. Kevin Danso said the abuse doesn't define me, won't distract me from what's important.

33:24I know who I am, what I stand for and why I play. The Premier League said discriminatory abuse has absolutely no place in football or wider society. and it is, you know, as depressing as it is unsurprising. And Dancer actually had a really, not that it is relevant, but had a really good game in for Romero until that moment. So the other results didn't go for Tottenham, but they did go for Forrest and Leeds. Forrest beat Burnley 4-1. I don't know at halftime, Barry, if you thought, ooh, this might not work out for Forrest. Well, at halftime, I was watching a different game, so I didn't really have an opinion on whether it would work out for Forrest, but it did work out for Forrest.

33:59And it was very much the Morgan Gibbs-White show. he scored an excellent hat-trick. Igor Jesus wrapped it up for Forrest in the end. Burnley were pretty pathetic, even though they did take the lead. That goal they scored was quite funny, actually, because a Hartman cross seemed to take an absolute eternity to trundle its way through this very narrow gap and into the path of Zian Fleming. and he scored. I would imagine Forest Hearts were in mouths at that point, but they ran out very straightforward and easy winners in the end. Gibbs White was brilliant in this game, John. They'd obviously beaten Fiorentina on Thursday night to set up this Europa League semi-final with Aston Villa, which feels very early 80s as a European fixture to me.

34:54But it will be interesting. Vito Pereira's done actually a really good job since being the 15th manager that Forest have had this season.

35:02John Brewin:He has, and he's repeated the job he did at Wolves last season. And obviously, we've talked quite a bit on this part about who are the new Red Adair, modern reference there, who are the new rescue, the ferryman, Vitor Pereira, is going to be that guy, isn't he? Because he's not going to be at Forest for a long time. We know that, just look at his CV. But next season, there will be a club struggling towards the bottom of the table. let's say it's West Ham who's the call going into Vitor you know nice to see I'll perhaps be shaking Vitor's hand again and wishing him luck and he will be and that's what he does and I suppose it actually is similar to what he did with Wolves last season the best players get to shine and Morgan Gibbs probably is Notting Forest's best player give or take a couple of the defenders he's the player Tottenham really could do with this season but that deal didn't happen quite famously and he's a hell of a player and he's a real asset to that club and yeah Nottingham Forest the Aston Villa I'm seeing Cluffy I'm seeing Ron Saunders I'm seeing some offhand remarks about each other it's got it all hasn't it unfortunately we're in 2026 Yeah, that header from Gibbs White was absolutely brilliant as well for the hat-trick, wasn't it?

36:30Meanwhile, Leeds beat Wolves 3-0. And that, Barney, is an amazing week for Leeds. To win at Manchester United, then to, okay, Wolves are obviously bottom, but to dispatch them so early in that game and relax them to get on to 39 points, it's probably enough?

36:43Barney Ronay:Oh, I think so, yeah. I think they're okay now. And I'm really pleased with Daniel Farker, who sometimes feels a bit like he is fortunes full, kind of born to suffer in this league. But he's so pleased and he's so happy with what's happened there. And Leeds are a good club in the Premier League. I was talking to Dave Heitner, who was actually at the Man United-Leeds game. And he said that the atmosphere of the whole game was really good. He'd almost forgotten, because Dave spent all his time following Spurs and Arsenal. He'd forgotten about the sort of joy of being in some of those stadiums. This was Old Trafford, but he said the Trafford end, even when they were losing, was really good.

37:21Barney Ronay:The away fans were really good. and he did a kind of northern propaganda rant about those kind of games and those kind of teams playing each other i mean i love watching leads and the atmosphere they generate feels big it feels like it belongs in in the league and i think fark has done a really good job of staying cool in the second half of the season i certainly thought they were going to be the people who saved spurs but um unfortunately not no uh five and five uh no occur four as well the pass from Aronson was absolutely beautiful for that goal. Wolves relegation could be confirmed tonight if West Ham beat Crystal Palace or when West Ham beat Crystal Palace.

38:01So the run-ins then, Spurs go to Wolves, go to Villa, home to Leeds, away to Chelsea, home to Everton. West Ham are away to Palace tonight, then have Everton at home, Brentford away, Arsenal at home, Newcastle at home, Leeds at home. What do you reckon, John? I want the Tottenham.

38:19John Brewin:I don't necessarily want Tottenham to go down, but I want the Tottenham drama to... You know, it would have been disappointing if they'd beaten Brighton and we'd have got this sort of, oh, we're actually going to be safe now. That would be really disappointing. I want this to go right. You want last day. You want sort of last day, sort of Barry Horne Everton type thing. As it stands. Yeah, I want that. I want that. I want tickers. I want, yeah, I just want total excitement. I want phones to be buzzing and Tottenham losing, you know, WhatsApp messages. I want that. I think that's what we need. I'm into the content we're in a content world we want a content driver of a final day don't we?

38:58Barney Ronay:Yeah can I agree with that Spurs probably think that we want them to go down or something not at all I just love the drama I don't care if it goes to the final moment and they stay up I would like to say I want them to go down I'll be okay if they don't I just want to feel something you know I just want some kind of feeling to happen and right now that's happening So you've got this last day where City and Arsenal are just having this goal out. Meanwhile, there's just sort of agony at the London Stadium. And good that West Ham and Tottenham are both at home. Like, that's perfect, isn't it? Because their fans are both just absolutely desperate.

39:35You know, these two miserable stadiums. If I peer into the future, I'm seeing a topless James Madison in the crowd being hugged by deliriously excited Spurs fans. And unlike Xavi Simmonds, there aren't 20 minutes left. It's the last minute of added time, the last of 11 minutes of added time, and they just about stay up by the skin of their teeth. Then what happens is it cuts to the London Stadium and Thomas Suchek scores a shitheader.

40:18Barney Ronay:anyway i just want to say that tears of tears of joy are just as nourishing as tears of tears of agony i will also drink your tears of joy north london clubs fine fine okay that'll do for part two part three we'll do the champions league race welcome to part three of the guardian football weekly um we are live in new york on the 16th of july desperately trying not to say new york in a new york to do our cod new york accents this time barry uh we're playing the bowery ballroom uh we will have lived with each other for six weeks me and barry so i mean one of us i might be dead because i can wind up barry in a way that gives me such incredible joy that i think depending on how the world cup's gone there may be fleetwood max style tension on stage Panel has yet to be confirmed, but I'm pretty sure, John, you're in New York with us, so it'd be disappointing for you if you didn't get the call since you're in the hotel.

41:19John Brewin:Well, are you just going to leave me at home? See you, lads. We're off to the Bowery Ballroom. What are you going to do tonight?

41:27Barney Ronay:What is the Bowery Ballroom like? Is it a ballroom? Is it called Barry at the Bowery? It's a very famous venue that has played horse to the Beatles among many stellar acts. Patti Smith, I think, plays a New Year's Eve residency there every year. And it holds about 500 people standing. So it's quite intimate. Oh, right. Terracing. We've got terracing for this. Well, I was rather presuming they'd put chairs in, but I don't know. Oh, yeah. It's not really a mosh pit. Barry's not going to crowd surf, is he, in the on-board? I might. Okay, well, let's see how it goes. Nothing is off the table. Go to theguardian.com slash footballweeklylive to get your tickets.

42:15Let's do the race for the Champions League spots then, which feels pretty much sewn up after the weekend. Manchester United won at Chelsea. They're on 58 points. Villa on 58 after beating Sunderland. Liverpool on 55 after winning at Everton late on. And then there's a gap to 48 points. Chelsea another defeat. Brentford on 48 as well. Let's begin, Barry, at Villa Park. Villa four, Sunderland three. Absolutely brilliant finish to this game. And that, you know, within 40 seconds, Sunderland could win this game. Unbelievably, Diara's through, goes for the dink. And if he squares it, his mate has a tap-in, and then it goes down the other end and Tammy Abraham wins it.

42:56It was a brilliant game. Yeah, sensational game that probably, well, definitely isn't going to get the attention it deserves because there were more important games played over the weekend. but I didn't mind Sunderland losing this to be honest. They looked dead and buried. Then they came at 3-1 down. They got it back to 3-all. Then they should have made it 4-3 and ultimately lost 4-3. Brilliantly seesawing game. Some great performances from players on both sides. I thought John McGinn was excellent. Morgan Rodgers good. Oli Watkins, obviously, hitting for him at the right time. Sunderland, they let Villa score within two minutes of the start of each half.

43:43Didn't do themselves any favour in that regard. Cold start. But a fantastic game. Villa probably just about deserved to win it. And I've no problem with Sunderland losing, really. It was disappointing when you see how close they came to actually snatching victory from the jaws of what looked like certain defeat. But as far as I'm concerned, those lads can put their feet up for the rest of the season. I'm not sure I particularly want them to qualify for Europe. But then last season, I thought they weren't ready for the Premier League. So, you know, don't listen to me, Regis. I mean Jadon Sancho would be delighted because he had a nightmare two minutes where he gave it away twice and Sunderland scored twice the poor bloke and then Barney that one-on-one moment is quite interesting when you're a player that doesn't have many one-on-ones and I don't think Diara does and there is just you can just see a million thoughts going through your head and like it isn't as easy as I think it as I think we think it is

44:46Barney Ronay:yeah it's like when defenders used to take penalties in shootouts and they've never really taken one before. Everyone likes to see that though, don't they? It's kind of, it's one of those moments where sport makes people do like a number 11 batting against, you know, a world-class opening bowler. You like to see it. I mean, in my mind, if I were presented with a one-on-one, I would probably do the Pelé dummy where I run this way around the goalie. But I wouldn't miss. He misses, but, you know. He does miss. It's harder for, but I mean, Diara is running straight at Martino. So if he runs around the ball, then Martinez will just pick it up.

45:21It's probably look bad, wouldn't it?

45:23Barney Ronay:Can I say there was another moment? Can I just bring back to Arsenal? There was a moment, the goal, the winning goal came from Donnarumma throwing the ball out really well. And it felt transgressive. It's like, you're not meant to, he's really old. He's the only person on that pitch who looks like, not really like a football athlete. And he threw the ball. It was almost like a guilty little moment where, you know, you're meant to do midfielder things. You're meant to be part. But it really worked. It was a brilliant throw, and it did feel transgressive, the hands. And that was kind of nice. That was a reclaiming of normal people.

45:57In Diara's defense, I would say it's not like he made a total dog's breakfast of the dink. He did actually execute it well. It was just a very, very good save. But, yeah, he should have squared it. But it's easy to say that with the benefit of 2020 hindsight. sight. It is. Meanwhile, Liverpool won at Everton. I mean, this is a sickening for Everton, isn't it, John? They could have gone within two points of Liverpool. They certainly deserved a point. They were so dominant until Salah scored, and then to lose it like that. Yeah,

46:32John Brewin:and we've seen all the footage of Steven Gerrard jumping around at Working Man's Club or whatever, yes, in celebration. And yeah, Evertonian tears, they'll be bottled up this week in a factory on Merseyside somewhere, won't they? Because that was the one that got away. The old Goodison derbies always seemed to me to be a draw and it felt like the Hill Dickinson was headed in the same direction. And then Van Dijk just does this, doesn't he? He scores important goals and Liverpool, again, were grinding it out. It wasn't a great performance. And Isaac, who we mentioned before, you know, I think 16 touches on the ball or something like that.

47:15John Brewin:It just wasn't happening. Everton, when I was watching the game, Dewsbury Hall, just such an enjoyable player to watch. They played some really nice stuff and they had that goal disallowed in the Undai goal. And Everton will feel this really did get away from them. And all season, it's the pressure on Arne's slot. If they'd have drawn or lost this game, the pressure would have piled right on. but it buys him some credibility, doesn't it? And winning a derby game can really draw a veil over a lot of sins, can't it? So great win for Liverpool. They will enjoy the week ahead. I think what was interesting about this was that most of Liverpool's best performances came from players who have been much maligned this season.

48:05Salah Gakpo Virgil but yeah I've ever let this one get away from them they should have drawn it at least Do you think do you think Barney if Liverpool get in the Champions League that will save slot or not?

48:20Barney Ronay:Yes I do because of the kind of club it is well has been I mean there's a you know there's no actual guarantee of that but I think winning winning a league title quite a big deal really isn't it I know there's a lot of, there's an urge to kind of discredit that and suggest that he was just picking, it was the end of the Klopp era. But I think if they get in the Champions League, in the end, they are run by a financial entity. And that is all that really matters is that you keep that income coming in. So he'll have done that job. And he probably deserves another go. The problem he's got is obviously that Xabi Alonso is lurking unattached and would be spiritually appealing to Liverpool's fans.

49:02Barney Ronay:although perhaps not necessarily in terms of the kind of football he likes to play which is quite patient and possession-based and maybe closer to slots football than some people might realise. But he's also a more charismatic person and kind of has that feeling of big time about him which people like and he's connected to the club. But I think if they get in the Champions League I think it will probably save him for now. Yeah, speaking of DNA to Stamford Bridge Chelsea 0 Manchester United 1 a terrible weekend for Chelsea but you were there John to see Manchester United 1 shot on target it's a big result for Carrick this isn't it?

49:42John Brewin:Yeah, huge result particularly after that Leafs performance which brought about much speculation that Big Sir Jim was not minded to turn to Carrick but like Barney says with Liverpool if United get into the Champions League and it is about the money, and let's face it, it's about the money, then Carrick, you'd have to say, has such a strong candidacy for a more permanent contract. United scored on the counter. They did so because Alejandro Garnaccio did what he often did for Manchester United, which was to forget that there are other parts of the game than showing off your bits of skill. Gerald Harto was similarly lax.

50:24John Brewin:Bruno Fernandes is such a brilliant player and you can't give him an inch like that but I suppose my take from this game and the piece I wrote from the game is just the sheer emptiness of the Chelsea experience these days the hollowing out of that club Barney will know this in particular that Chelsea always had that sort of upwardly mobile sort of yuppie image sort of tooth out of the early 2000s through to the Abramovich era. But now it's... Who are these people hanging around before the game? You know this sort of tunnel club, Barney, when you sat there and you're just watching these people sort of taking videos of themselves for Insta and just hanging around.

51:08John Brewin:They're paying through the nose for this nonsense. There would always be this sort of rumble of Chelsea, proper Chelsea, that you get at the game. I would feel that a game, particularly against Manchester United, A club that Chelsea hold an eminence towards Manchester United. They see them as a rival. But I just didn't feel it. Rossini is a guy that's taken a lot of flack, and rightly so for the performance of his team. But you have to feed off something, and there's nothing to feed off within the club. It's just a series of sums being done. The fact that Garnaccio is in the team, They bought Garnaccio for£40 million because they thought, oh, that's a deal that we could make a lot of money on on the way through because we can resale, we can short the market.

51:58John Brewin:Chelsea's not a team, it's not a club. And if you're a Chelsea fan, you would feel, what is this? And if they don't get into the Champions League, then the financial figures that we know from the figures that keep escaping the club are disastrous, are going to get worse. And, you know, we talked, Barney talked before, about the cleansing that Tottenham need. What type of cleansing does Chelsea need? It's even more. I mean, it's a full-out bleaching to become.

52:23Barney Ronay:Chelsea need a different ownership. I mean, what's really startling about them is not so much that they've adopted this model, but that they've applied it so incompetently. It's not even a good talent clearinghouse. Todd Bowley was talking recently on a podcast about the period where he was sporting director for some reason. I mean, literally a guy who knew nothing, like knows less than anyone here about football, which is really not very much. And he said, basically, I recruited players if other clubs wanted them. That told me there was value in that player. So I would go after them, which is the most insane model for recruiting a sports team imaginable.

53:04Barney Ronay:And they're still suffering from that initial splurge. Well, he's obviously not so involved anymore. But that period was unbelievable. utterly disastrous. And it's just amazing that not so much that they would adopt this strange model that's not really been tried before, but they would do it so badly. It's astonishing. And they really have no place in this sport. And I would really hope they just decided, well, this asset's no longer delivering for us. And we need to sell it to, I don't know, Azerbaijanis arms dealer or someone like that. Whoever's up for it, that'll be fine. I mean, I thought that said, Barry, I thought they were quite unlucky in this game, Chelsea.

53:44You know, they created chances. Man Utd didn't create a lot, you know. Yeah, they weren't terrible. They've played a lot worse. And this was one of their better performances under Leemre Senior. They hit the woodwork a few times, had chances. Kaysedo had a shot that went very narrowly wide. But, yeah, I was a Chelsea fan. And I'd be quite fed up with what my club has become because it doesn't really seem to be a football club. But I'm only repeating what the lads have already said more eloquently than I can. Yeah. So, yeah, no goals, four defeats in a row, no goals in those, seven defeats in ten in all competitions.

54:30I heard somewhere that I think they're on the worst run of all clubs in the big five leagues at the moment, which seems unlikely, but maybe it is the case.

54:40John Brewin:I was just going to say, listening to Liam Rossini after, and listen, I'm with you, Max, I think, on this. I really want this guy to succeed, but sometimes you hear him say something, you think, what message is this? And this was, Jacob did the quotes piece, and this was something that he said. He said, there are many elements, actually, that the process of underlying things that we're looking into suggests that if you stay in this process, we will win games of football. What? I mean, sorry, mate. yeah that is a bit that i would have written that in a a-level history essay in a shit one is my guess um i remember a mate who hadn't really uh i can't remember what the question was it was like you know to what extent you know how important was i don't know crop rotation in the anglo-saxon world he went to answer his question it's important to define important and he went ah fuck in the tutorial and maybe so he's not wrong i mean you do actually have to define important before you can decide what is important or not.

55:39To St. James' part, Newcastle won Bournemouth too. So Iriola's farewell tour starts well. Good win for them. But the story is Eddie Howe. Barney, what would you think will happen to him?

55:51Barney Ronay:Well, you know, his reserves of energy seem to be rapidly ebbing away. And you do end up just having change at places because sometimes you just need change. I feel like what's happened in Newcastle probably not really. I know you could if you're a Newcastle fan you could easily pick apart mistakes made selections he's often accused of being slightly overly loyal to certain players which I always think is a hard accusation to make because he is managing individuals he's managing a billion things that you can't kind of see in how how you you make those players want to play for your club and so on and also he understands which of these players actually wants to do this more more profoundly but But it seems to me he's a really good manager and will flourish somewhere.

56:39Barney Ronay:And possibly the issues at Newcastle are not to do with him and again to do with the club's ownership, which is not the same thing that it was when it came in. There are some really profound problems in Saudi ownership of sport. There's some really profound problems in Saudi trying to build a space city in the middle of the desert. You know, I mean, things are, the world has massively changed in that respect. And so has, you know, Vision 2030 or whatever it is. Even the success of the Saudi Pro League was a really bad thing for Newcastle because this is all speculative. It's like, which of these things are we going to get most behind?

57:17Barney Ronay:Which is going to fly? Clearly, it's the one with Ronaldo in it. And I just think maybe Eddie Howe is not the cause of a certain degree of uncertainty and entropy around that project. you've still got Dan Byrne playing every game who is a very worthy, good, honest footballer. But I think Eddie Howe, there might be coming to a close from what I see Reid pick up. But I feel he'll go somewhere else and do very well because he's a really good football manager. Brentford, Neil Fulham, Neil Richie says, is Brentford still being seventh after five draws in a row and one win in eight? A sad indictment of the quality of the Premier League this season or a demonstration of the strength of the middle classes?

57:58or is this incredibly dull and can we just skip straight to a vasectomy? Very little happened in this game. But, Barry, that burnt Leno save was absolutely extraordinary. Yeah, I'll be honest. I give up watching this game at halftime because it was so bad and I had things to do. I have since seen the burnt Leno save. Definitely one of the saves of the season. But not the save of the weekend, Max, because I saw some footage on Instagram where an Australian goalkeeper pulled off a remarkable save from an incredibly weakly struck volley hit by yourself yeah a left foot volley it's a it's not a scissor kick it's just a sort of i've really got my left foot up high and considering i have a hip problem to the point where i can't actually get on my bike from that side i have to go around to the other side of my bike i thought i was quite pleased to make some contact.

58:57And I was surprised he saved it. But it's funny, during the game, you think, I've rattled that, and that is like Gordon Banks. And then when you watch it back, it seems to be in slow motion.

59:08Barney Ronay:Seeing yourself play football, it's really disturbing, isn't it? Really disturbing. I think I play like Berbatov, yes. But I would steer listeners in the direction of Max's Instagram account to see this travesty of justice. He cruelly denied by some Aussie cat. And there's a great Aussie profanity from someone in the build-up as well, which really adds a chef kiss to it. Chris says, a couple of emails to finish. Max Bazant team, Thomas Frank was accused of breaking cover the weekend when he chatted to my granddad at the GTEC. He was in the fancy seats, which we were near due to accommodation of my granddad's 70 years of support and his wheelchair.

59:49My dad apologetically approached Thomas Frank and said, it would mean a lot to my soon-to-be 90-year-old granddad if he said hi. Frank came over for a photo but also had a proper chat with granddad David. Biggest smile we've seen from him all year. My dad isn't usually one for celeb hunting. In my childhood, I was fuming when he'd been in a lift with Anton Deck and did not even take a covert selfie. Anyway, on this occasion, he asked and Thomas Frank obliged without hesitation, which really made their day. It also made the rest of the family's day that the Daily Mail spun it into a takedown piece about Frank breaking cover with Grandad, the grinning co-conspirator.

1:00:22See link to article featuring grinning grandad and greying dad. Love the show, Chris. Well, I love to your grandad and well done to Thomas Frank for being a nice person. We'll do EFL tomorrow, so we'll talk about Coventry. We'll talk about Palace West Ham as well. I just wanted to finish and the National League, which is extraordinary at the top. But Ishan writes, evening, guys. I'm not normally one to write into podcasts that I listen to, but the events of the last two years have somewhat compelled me to. I've been listening to you guys since around 2009. Used to be desperate for any mentions of my beloved Swansea City.

1:00:54Over the years, my interest in the game has somewhat waned due to all the greedy corporateness of it. However, I carry on listening to you guys to keep my fingers on the footballing pulse and have some sort of go-to small talk at weddings, etc. I like to know what our role is in this. One feature I always find quite amusing is the live vasectomy reporting from other listeners. This is why I'm writing in. Tomorrow morning, I'll be on the chopping block myself. However, it's for something quite the opposite. it. After trying for kids for a long old time and nothing happening, my wife and I went for tests, which revealed that my testicles are actually Fernando Torres at Chelsea, shooting blanks.

1:01:28After a horrific two and a half years of IVF-related sadness, we're now at a final where a surgeon will take biopsies of my balls and hope to find gold and make some babies in a lab. More importantly, I can finally be part of the testicular surgery-related content of this pod. The diagnosis, the stigmas attached to it, and the IVF journey have been truly horrific, especially in a world of ever-increasing toxic masculinity. However, I wanted to share my story to express my gratitude to the pod that's given me such great joy and escapism over the last few years. And for that, I'd like to thank Three Bean Salad, which is a different podcast, but there you go.

1:02:00Lots of love. Carry on the great work. Ish, can you give a shout-out to my chronically single friend, Aqib, who is getting married next month to an avid Spurs fan. Their wedding is on the final day of the season. Wow, split screens for that Madison celebration, that suit check header. Well, Ish, we wish you the best of luck, of course. And we hope they find gold in your balls, my friend.

1:02:22Barney Ronay:Can I just say good luck with all that. But as someone who describes themselves as not someone who regularly writes into podcasts, you've really gone straight for the, just go for the jugular. Just go straight, just 100 % straight in there, ball stuff. And why not? He didn't start with, why do you never mention Swansea? But he went straight in at the deep end. Yeah, no, I respect it. You know, all in. Good luck to you. We send you our love. And yeah, best of luck with all of that. And that'll do for today. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, John. Thank you. Thanks, Baz. Thank you. That mail's given me an awful lot to unpick.

1:03:03A lot going on in that mail. And simultaneously, not a lot going on. It's true. Fortunately for him, you don't have to unpick it. And thank you, Barney. Cheers, everyone. Football Weekly is produced by Silas Gray and our executive producer is Joel Grove. We will be back tomorrow.

1:03:32This is The Guardian.