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In short
Chelsea’s 3-2 season-opening win at Fulham, transfer/loan rumours, and early-season turmoil in the EFL (Championship, League One, League Two), plus notable goals and VAR/handball debate.
Guests (panel)
Barry Glendening (Guardian contributor), Jacob Steinberg (Guardian football writer; attended Fulham-Chelsea), George Ellett (Guardian football writer).
Key claims
- Chelsea look fitter and more committed under Xabi Alonso, outrunning opponents vs last season.
- Cole Palmer was decisive and “flowing”; his assist/goal showed he’s back to elite form after injury issues.
- Robert Sánchez is a recurring problem: blamed for both Fulham goals and for creating panic.
- Fulham’s Alvaro Albelo (Albalo) impressed; Marco Silva’s side showed resilience.
- Big EFL starts: West Ham, Leicester, and Salford are struggling; VAR/handball bans are controversial.
Notable examples
- Fulham’s early João Pedro goal; Morgan Rodgers scoring; Fulham chances to equalise.
- Ethan Pinnock linked to Coventry (fee/terms reported).
- Dan Ballard backheel volley for Bristol City; Adebayor-style celebration; Dion Dublin/Robbie Keane hide-and-diddle keeper goal.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOChelsea's Thrilling Win Over Fulham
0:45 to 2:50
Discussion of Chelsea's entertaining 3-2 victory against Fulham.
“Fulham looked bright and had two brilliant chances to equalise.”
Analyzing Key Players and Performances
2:50 to 6:10
In-depth analysis of standout players like Cole Palmer and Morgan Rodgers.
“probably the less eye-catching performance of the three of them.”
Concerns Over Robert Sanchez
6:10 to 8:45
Exploring the issues with Chelsea's goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and his impact.
Fulham's Resilience and Style
8:45 to 9:39
Evaluation of Fulham's performance and their new managerial approach.
“You think maybe a striker might have scored from there.”
Transfer Speculations and Player Movements
9:39 to 13:21
Discussion on potential transfers, including Liam Dallap and Michail Mudryk.
“I mean, there's a lot of Chelsea players, I think, who thought that, for example, Philip Jorgensen was actually a really, really good goalkeeper, potentially elite.”
Chelsea Transfer Rumors and Player Movements
14:00 to 17:40
Discuss the latest transfer rumors involving Chelsea and their players.
“Yeah, De Lapp probably going to Forest, being well away from the Chelsea first-team training now.”
Upcoming Live Shows Announcement
17:40 to 18:30
Hosts announce upcoming live shows and ticket availability.
“we'll look back at the opening a couple of weekends in the Championship.”
West Ham's Shaky Start in the Championship
18:30 to 24:10
Analysis of West Ham's performance and issues in their championship start.
“As you said in the WhatsApp group, you're not interested in West Ham.”
Comparing Relegated Teams' Early Performance
24:10 to 28:00
Examining the performance of relegated teams and their adaptation to the Championship.
“It's never been more obvious that the job of getting out of the Championship and the job of staying in the Premier League are two completely different things.”
Impressive Goal Analysis
28:00 to 29:52
Discussing a remarkable goal and player background.
“I mean, it's an absolutely ridiculous goal.”
Show all 18 chapters
Controversial Handball Decision
29:52 to 31:48
Analyzing the implications of a retrospective handball ban.
“He played quite a lot for us a couple of years ago for Cambridge and he did look quite good, but it's safe to say, I think in a relegation season or like one where we just stayed up, we dragged him down to our level.”
VAR and EFL Officiating
31:48 to 34:08
Debating the effectiveness and necessity of VAR in lower leagues.
“for them to go and win the game on Sunday.”
Transition to League Updates
34:08 to 34:25
Shifting focus to League One and League Two performances.
“Anyway, I probably said it to you a month ago.”
Leicester City's Struggles
34:25 to 38:20
Examining Leicester's poor start and managerial challenges.
“If you look through their starting team in the 2-1 defeat against Burton on Saturday, they've got loads of young players.”
League Two Surprises
38:20 to 41:15
Highlighting unexpected events and performances in League Two.
Football Trivia and Player Records
41:15 to 42:01
Discussing players with unique surnames in football history.
Premier League Player Names and Trivia
42:01 to 43:10
Explore unique trivia about Premier League players' names and notable facts.
“Having also missed a penalty that nearly set him down as well.”
Language and Cultural Discussions
43:11 to 43:48
Engage in humorous debates about language pronunciation and cultural nuances.
“And less importantly, we obviously grew hugely in the States, our audience, during the World Cup.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Max Rushden:This is The Guardian.
0:32George Elek:Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Chelsea start the season with a 3-2 win at Fulham. They were great fun going forward. Jao Pedro after a minute, Morgan Rodgers opening his account and a lot of should Cole Palmer have been on that plane vibes. And then quite a lot of Robert Sanchez is still there. Fulham looked bright and had two brilliant chances to equalise. There's some enormous transfer news for the pod to digest. And then to the EFL. Favourites for the Championship West Ham have started terribly. The London Stadium booze sound good in the Football League too. Favourites for League One Leicester have started terribly.
0:59George Elek:beaten at home by Burton at the weekend. And favourites for League Two, Salford, have started terribly. Two defeats in a row. No one knows anything. There's also goal of the season wrapped up, an Adebayor celebration, retrospective VAR, and a Dion Dublin slash Robbie Keane hide-and-diddle-the-keeper goal. One of you's done the work on the Premier League players with all the vowels in their name. There's your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today, Barry Glendening, welcome. Hello. Hello, Jacob Steinberg. Hello. And from not the top 20, George Ellett. Hey, George.
1:27George Elek:Hello. So let's start at Craven Cottage. Fulham 2, Chelsea 3 on Monday Night Football. Jacob, you were there. Did you have a nice time? I did have a nice time. You always have a nice time at Fulham. Lovely walk through the park. And it was a very good game. Very entertaining game. Start of the Xabi Alonso era. And, you know, the first thing that you probably come away with from it is that it was significantly better than most of the rubbish we watched with Chelsea last season. One of the big positives was that they were the team, the stats show who ran the most in the Premier League this weekend and that might seem like it's nothing but actually they were outrun last season in pretty much every game so you can see an early sign there of what Alonso has been doing in the summer to get this team fitter and more committed because that was a real issue last season another big thing is that they did this without Moises Caicedo who's obviously such a big part of the midfield and also Marco Palestra who was out last night and this new Italian wing-back from Atalanta who has looked Really, really good in pre-season, very fast.
2:27And then the big thing is that the front three was a lot of fun. And you imagine it's going to cause a lot of damage this season. You know, João Pedro being in brilliant form in pre-season. Again, that finish and then the assist for Parma for the third goal makes you look at him and just think, how was he not in that squad for the World Cup with Brazil? Morgan Rodgers, probably, although he scored on his debut, probably the less eye-catching performance of the three of them. But I think you saw a lot of the kind of off the work ball and connectivity that he brings to the performance as well in that kind of left side number 10.
3:02And then Cole Palmer was back. And that's just a huge thing for Chelsea. I mean, when he's flowing, they really are a very good side. And obviously last season was so difficult for him with the injuries. It was just never there for him. That was his first assist last night beyond the goal. That was his first assist in the league since February, which is crazy when you think of the type of player he is. but he just looked free, fluid, so silky, so clever on the ball. And when he's playing like that, he's just one of the best attackers in the league. And, you know, the goal was brilliant. He kind of gives Leno the eyes, makes it look like he's going to pass it back into the middle and then just rolls it through his legs.
3:36It's so cheeky. It's so Cole Palmer. And that's all brilliant. And they look like they can score at will when they're going forward. And then there's the other side of it, which is the A, just silly decisions at times, lack of game management. They still sort of invite the pressure by getting these stupid bookings early on, Lavia and Colwell through poor decisions. And they let in some silly goals. And ultimately, when you're coming down to whether or not this team can challenge for the title, whether this could be the team who push Arsenal with the lack of European football, you just come back to the goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez.
4:10And it's not just the first goal with Josh King. It's also things like just the panic that he transmits through letting that back pass from Josh Achenpong run and run and run until it's out for a corner. It just makes the defence nervy, I think. And the second goal, I think, as well, is something that comes back to him. So this is Sanchez's fourth season as Chelsea's number one. And it just feels like he's been an issue for all of that period. And it's something that they're going to need to fix. whether that's Mike Penders who's this this Belgian goalkeeper young young keeper who they've got a lot of high hopes for or whether it's someone else coming in before the end of the season before the end of the window I'm not sure but it feels like he is the big block between whether or not they could just be a top four contender or maybe challenge for the title yeah
4:56George Elek:producer Joel saying Mike Penders does sound like the congressman for Delaware doesn't he uh you know Joe Biden was sworn in as president come on Mike answer the question we'll get to Robert to Sanchez in a sec. I just wonder, George, because obviously he did loads of stuff during the World Cup for England, and you were careful, as I think we were, not to just be like, well, who isn't? Let's not talk about the players who aren't there, but when Cole Palmer was waltzing through the Fulham defence, you know, on that little run where he drew around everyone, were you thinking, oh, I reckon he could have unpicked Argentina a bit?
5:23Yeah, it took me about five minutes to put on the England Pod WhatsApp group. I want to take back everything that I said around the squad announcement, and he probably should have been there. The irony about it is, is that we were told by Tuchel on many occasions that he really wanted his wide players to hold the width. And he looked at the team when it came out yesterday and it looked on paper like it would be Palmer and Rodgers basically playing as two 10s behind Gerard Pedro. But in reality, Palmer played pretty wide. He went on the outside loads, obviously took up space inside too, but it almost felt like he wanted to prove that he can also be that kind of wide player.
5:56He can take on full backs consistently. He can use his pace to get past players. He can be the kind of wide player that Tuchel seemingly wants to play alongside Kane. The other thing to note is that after, as he said in his post-match interview, last season for him was very tough with injuries. And there's probably a degree where a guy who's played a lot of football in the last three or four years of his career, after an injury hit campaign, having a summer off, it's probably no coincidence that he looked incredibly sharp. And especially after a weekend where quite a lot of England players and quite a lot of players who played in the World Cup haven't looked particularly sharp and have been cramping up and have been looking a bit off the pace.
6:30The fact that he comes into it having had a bit of a break might have played into that um that good performance but um yes i'd be surprised if you know it's only what a month until england play uh spain at wembley in a four game international break i think it's going to catch a few people out by surprise it would be a surprise if palmer's playing like this and he's not in that squad yeah i mean actually that front three barry
6:50George Elek:you know chelsea i'm trying to think is it drogba was the last real number nine that was like really prolific you think with rogers and palmer behind pedro like that he could pedro could have an
7:00Max Rushden:amazing it's like a really it's a really fun front three yeah uh he could and it's difficult to think of a more exciting front three in the premier league just on the palmer thing i think whether it was injuries maybe a bit complacency or fatigue after not having a summer off for two separate two years i don't think cole palmer deserved his place in the england squad on the strength of his performances last season so it's i i would put his brilliant performance last night and maybe being left out was the the wake-up call he needed and it seems to work but i do agree that the rest this summer has probably done him good while i think joe pedro has every right to feel it grieved and not being in the brazil squad i i i think i don't think cole palmer deserved a spot yeah you
7:56George Elek:might be right but just on Sanchez because we've talked about it a lot it does seem insane that you can spend so much money and still as Jacob says have a keeper that just engenders panic through the whole team it's just not what you want from a goalkeeper yeah it's nuts I can't
8:09Max Rushden:understand why Chelsea didn't go in for James Trafford I believe they were tried to sign him last summer but he was available this summer they didn't sign him he's gone to Leeds he seems like the obvious candidate to bring in. I don't think Chelsea will be able to challenge for the title with Robert Sanchez in goal. He was at fault for both goals and generally engendered panic. And then he could have been at fault for a potential equaliser when that ball was played through to Anthony Robinson and he tried to lift it over him and put it well wide. You think maybe a striker might have scored from there.
8:49Max Rushden:It was a really good chance to equalise. and Sanchez had wandered out into the middle of his area to make it easier for Robinson, who wasn't able to convert the chance. So I don't know much about Penders. I know he was on loan at Strasbourg last season and he played for them all the way. He was their cup goalkeeper, basically, played to the semifinals of the Conference League and the French Cup. It does seem baffling that they haven't got an upgrade on Sanchez.
9:21George Elek:Yeah, Jacob, have you asked anyone why? Or has anyone asked? What's the thinking? Yeah, I mean, they've got this head of goalkeeping, Ben Roberts, who came from Brighton and obviously has a long-standing relationship with Robert Sanchez, who, like many players, Chelsea have signed, comes from Brighton. And from what I've heard, speaking to someone about it about a year ago or so, maybe before the Club World Cup, was that they felt that Sanchez could do a lot of the things that at the time when Mareska was in charge that he could do a lot of the things technically that Mareska wanted him to do.
9:58He was as good as anybody, maybe technically, but perhaps there's just that mental element at times with goalkeepers that prevents them, some of them at the highest level, of being able to perform as maybe they're being seen to do on the training ground. I mean, there's a lot of Chelsea players, I think, who thought that, for example, Philip Jorgensen was actually a really, really good goalkeeper, potentially elite. But when it came to that moment when Rosinha put him in against PSG last season in the Champions League, he just couldn't handle it and he froze and it was a disaster and they ended up losing the game 5-2.
10:37I think if you go back through most title-winning sides of the Premier League, I think it's hard to pick any of them who don't have a great goalkeeper. Chelsea are the best example of that. They've gone from Cech to Courtois and then through to Kepa. And ever since that moment, they've basically not challenged for the title. Take maybe Manchester United in the post-Schmeichel era. They had good goalkeepers, but goalkeepers who were not quite at that elite level, who would just make those little mistakes that would just cause them not to be able to carry out the challenges to the full. Ultimately, you look at Arsenal, the ruthless decision that they made with Aaron Ramsdale a couple of years ago, where most people thought he's perfectly fine as Arsenal's number one, and Arteta, who's just absolutely ruthless, sees something that's not quite right and goes for David Breyer.
11:36And do they win the league without him as the goalkeeper last season, David Bryant? I'd say given the massive saves that he makes in key moments, probably not. And that's probably just this crunch point now that Chelsea are coming to with this position. George, what did you make of Alvaro Albalo as Fulham? I was pretty impressed. You know, I think the way to go 1-0 down as early as they did and to still kind of come back twice, albeit thanks to, you know, certainly the positioning of Sanchez for the first goal was ridiculous. like you know for in a premier league game for a player to be able to not even put it you know that far in the near post and still be able to score but the way you know they dominated the ball for the most part of the game so i think we've got an insight there obviously game state plays a big part when you're 1-0 down within a minute but but even so it suggests we're going to see a possession heavy style of play and even though there were times in the game where chelsea looked like they were a cut above for the last what 25 minutes it kind of felt like a goal was probably coming for fulham and it was only the best chance the game came again with sanchez just extraordinary decision making and positioning when there was a clip all over the top which Anthony Robinson ran onto off the left hand side and Sanchez committed to coming and then just stopped basically before he got anywhere near it and then just kind of stood his ground and Robinson had the whole goal to lob into but it was on his weaker foot and he put it wide so yeah I mean I think you'd probably come away from that game thinking Chelsea showed in flashes what they're capable of but also Fulham certainly a lot of people I think have seen when you see a manager like Marco Silva leave he's been at a club for a long time and has done done very well um and an untested manager come in you kind of chalk them down for maybe a regression but no i thought yesterday they they
13:11George Elek:gave a good account themselves yeah i i don't know what you think that's i really liked garcia like palacios josh king we know is brilliant i think i think they'll be fine and maybe better
13:19Max Rushden:than that yeah they were impressive um josh king was the standout player we know how good he is he He was in that England warm-up squad ahead of the World Cup, and it seems like it'll only be a matter of time before he gets handed a debut by Thomas Tuchel. I wasn't sure what to expect from our Boloa's Fulham manager. You know, he had his time at Real Madrid, which I think everyone gets a pass for not doing particularly well at Real Madrid these days. They certainly won't get relegated on the strength of that performance, but we'll see how they get on. Before we move on, could I ask Jacob, do you know what's going on with, is Liam Dallap going to Nottingham Forest and is Michelo Mudrick going to Leeds, who I believe expressed an interest in taking him on loan?
14:10Yeah, De Lapp probably going to Forest, being well away from the Chelsea first-team training now. And Mudrick, I don't think he'll go to Leeds on loan. He could end up at Strasbourg on loan, Chelsea's partner club. And there are some other interests. And obviously, there's quite a lot for them to get done before the window shuts. There's about 15 players maybe who could go. And the big one beyond Enzo Fernandes would be Jackson to Aston Villa.
14:39George Elek:All right. And is the Enzo, what's the latest on that? Just rumbling on and on and on. I think you're seeing some quite strong pushes from the Manchester City side or maybe the Enzo Mureska side. And obviously that sort of slightly odd deadline passed a couple of weeks ago now. But I think he'll be a Manchester City player. If Chelsea can get the player as well, they do keep saying they need a replacement. there's a massive interest in Alex Scott but Bournemouth are totally adamant that he's not going this window and they also like Adam Morton but I think it's a similar story with Crystal Palace there so it's not going to be easy for them to replace Fernandes if he does go but I don't know looking at him at the end last night it felt a little bit like a farewell and I should also say as well that he got such a bad reception from the Fulham fans obviously given and everything around England at the World Cup.
15:44He was very much the villain there. And we didn't see Barco, so we'll have to wait to see what kind of reception he gets.
15:52George Elek:Yeah. And it would be good if someone bought Paredes, just to, you know, why not? Just chuck them all in. Before we move on from the Premier League, Barry, you sent a WhatsApp message with six klaxon emojis, and there isn't a number of klaxon emojis that would do this piece of transfer news justice.
16:07Max Rushden:Yes, this is not a drill. David Ornstein reported last night that Ethan Pinnock looks to be on his way to Coventry City, subject to a medical from Brentford. I have to take my hat off to Ethan Pinnock's agent here. He's 33, but he looks like he's going to get a three-year deal with Coventry City with an option for another year,£5 million fee with£1 million add-ons. and yeah I think if he leaves Brentford which looks almost certain to happen I would imagine he'll leave with the very best wishes of Brentford fans as a bona fide club legend and he's one of those players who started non-league played for Dolich Hamlet then Forrest Green in the National League then went to Barnsley and then Brentford and was instrumental and almost ever present in helping Brentford get to the Premier League and establish them as a Premier League side.
17:08Max Rushden:So he hasn't really got much of a look in under Keith Andrews. So I don't know if he'll start for Coventry or not, but his experience will be invaluable, you'd imagine, in the dressing room.
17:21George Elek:Yeah, and you didn't even mention his goals.
17:23Max Rushden:So, you know, and that's the absolute key. That goal, that tap-in, Farrah Poe's tap-in that was cruelly overlooked for goal of the season against, was it Liverpool?
17:34George Elek:Absolutely no idea.
17:35Max Rushden:Some years ago. Yeah.
17:37George Elek:Anyway, good luck, Ethan. And that'll do for part one. Part two, we'll look back at the opening a couple of weekends in the Championship.
17:52Well,
17:52George Elek:it's part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. Live shows are very close then. 1st of September, we're at Vicar Street in Dublin. Me, Barry, John Bruin and Jonathan Wilson a few tickets still available then on the 9th of September we're live at the Soho Theatre in Walthamstow line up to be announced soon even though I Instagrammed the line up and then producer Joel said we haven't confirmed those people are coming so maybe he'll have to let some people down but anyway we will announce that soon and that London show as well is live streamed so you can watch it wherever you are on earthguardian.co.uk slash Football Weekly Live.
18:28George Elek:Come along, please. Okay, then let's do the championship. Should we start with West Ham, Jacob? As you said in the WhatsApp group, you're not interested in West Ham. We're thinking of someone else, but you were lucky to get a 2-2 against Burnley in the opening day, even though you were 2-0 up. And then losing 2-1 at home to Charlton on Saturday in front of a sold-out London stadium. It's an inauspicious beginning in the championship. Yeah, they very quickly managed to suck the positivity out because it was very briefly, it looked like it might be you know there was some goodwill around it you know they sold 50 ,000 season tickets which is quite remarkable get given you know they've got relegated and the the sense that the show was no longer going to be run by by David Sullivan as well um after everything that happened during the summer um and last season with on the football side I think had people feeling mildly optimistic.
19:24And then it's just kind of that feeling has just slowly ebbed away. You know, the ownership situation remains a bit of a mess with the uncertainty over whether it will be Daniel Kratinsky taking over and getting those shares from the Gold family or this curveball coming from Amanda Stavely, who's got this deal lined up to buy all of them from Vanessa Gold, which has just delayed the whole process and I think has made the window for them harder. I don't think many people are particularly delighted that David Sullivan was again in the director's box at the Charlton game. Most people would rather, most fans I think, judging by the reaction on social media, would rather that's not happening.
20:15And so there's just that sense of negativity that's been around the club for the last two or three years. It felt like it might have gone away. Instead, it's come back. And then on the pitch, the team, so much was put into Jarrod Bowen staying. And would he just run amok in the championship? Well, he's had the first two games so far. And he's not so far scored in either of them. and the rest of the team haven't really done much as well. Solomons look quite positive since joining from Tottenham, but they've still got these old failings. The defence is not good enough. The goalkeeper was pretty poor on that first Charlton goal.
21:00The overhead kick, Mavropanos makes a mistake for the second one. Kilman's still Kilman. They have managed to get rid of some players who needed to go, but there are players who are still hanging around there. and while they might be useful in the championship, it seems like they don't want to necessarily turn out when there's still a chance for them to get out of there before the window shuts. And since that as well, I think there's quite a few fans who are starting to lose a bit of patience with Nuno. I think the Burnley game where it was a recurring theme where they were ahead, and then they sit back and invite the pressure and the late goal, which is something that happened quite a lot last season.
Read the full transcript
21:42And he is quite a reactive, pragmatic manager. That's always been kind of his style of football. And then there's this kind of question mark of what will Nuno do when he's got all the possession in the championship? And on Saturday, the answer was not very much. I mean, I didn't see the game. I was just listening to it. And the commentators on TalkSport were pretty scathing just about how it looked like there were no patterns of play to West Ham and how easy it sounded for Charlton. And obviously they almost got away with it with that penalty. But Tati takes it over Bowen, which was quite surprising, misses it, which isn't surprising for Tati because he gets into loads of positions but misses loads of chances.
22:22So it's a pretty worrying start for them. I think this idea of them picking up 100 points and just waltzing back in suddenly looks to be on quite shaky ground already. It looks like it might be a pretty difficult season. I mean, play Southampton tonight in the Carabao Cup away and that's not going to be easy. They could do with getting a positive result there and if not, just the pressure on Nuno is going to heighten. We're already starting to hear a few people rumbling away about, well, Scott Parker is available, former West Ham player. He knows how to get out of the championship. He doesn't necessarily know then what to do after that, but he might be a more popular choice than Nuno if this continues.
23:10George Elek:Sure I mean our producer Joel who's a Chant fan said you know that last minute was absolutely brilliant because they'd been giving it to the West Ham fans and then West Ham get a penalty and then West Ham miss it it's like the perfect way to win Actually what have you made at the start of them George and the other relegated sides? Yeah I mean they've been you know they've been poor as you alluded to it felt like they were 2-0 up against Burnley but without really necessarily deserving to be and Zian Fleming had a lot of chances before he scored the two goals to get them back into it I think we spoke when I was on a month or so ago before the start of the season about what Jacob was saying there like Nuno is not a manager who's had any success in his whole career by dominating possession so why does it make sense to retain a manager who is going to have a lot of games like Saturday where they're going to face up to teams in a low block not even when they go ahead but at nil-nil teams are going to set up to try and frustrate them and sit off them because they know that the quality of the likes of Bowen and Peru and Solomon means that if you give them space to run into they're going to exploit that play that space so I'd be I'd be really surprised if Nuno is still there as we've seen quite consistently like it's a long season if West Ham continues to have a poor start and they have games coming up in you know they play Wolves next Tuesday they play Wrexham they play Millwall they play Watford all you know and Derby all by the end of by the middle of September it's not an easy start to life in the championship for them so yeah definitely concerns about them but I'd be amazed if we're not talking in December or January about them improving under a manager who is better suited to this.
24:41And you mentioned Scott Parker there. It's never been more obvious that the job of getting out of the Championship and the job of staying in the Premier League are two completely different things. And we're not far away, I think, from clubs basically getting promoted and then sacking their manager immediately because it's just a different job with different skill sets. And you look at Daniel Farker and Regis Labrie, who are the two that have done it well recently, but Labrie went against the grain of the manager that normally gets promoted out of the Championship because he is someone whose teams don't need the ball and he was happy in the championship to sit off teams.
25:09And then Farker, who's had, you know, it's his third time that he's managed to do it. He nearly got sacked the third time and then he's had to change his approach completely in order to stay there too. So yeah, with West Ham, it's a poor start. Burnley, I thought they were impressive against West Ham, but then, you know, they were beaten pretty comfortably on Sunday against a West Brom side who've started really well. It does, you know, they were assumed by many, including us to be kind of the poorest of the three relegated teams but um they've still got a lot of very good players in their in their side um and you know they look like they might be better than they were written off to be um wolves are the ones who are probably the best of the relegated teams now they they had to rely on a very late penalty against blackburn on opening day for a two-all draw but they were really good in beating preston 3-1 on saturday they've just got like the there's a perception of west ham of the team with the best players but in matthews Mane in Fair Lopez Andre Wolves have a group of players that maybe are better suited to playing for a team that will dominate more at a younger time in their career as well where maybe dropping down when you're 18 like Mane or I think Lopez is 22 where you can be part of a dominant side for their progression could be beneficial to them so they look like they could be the best of the three they've come down but as was the case last season after a period of football in the championship where the teams that came down were just way better than most teams and it was so hard for non-parachute payment teams to break in early signs again suggest that this is a season where the likes of Middlesbrough or Millwall um you know absolutely could force their win into that top two but then with eight you know the top eight going either getting promoted or getting the playoffs with with it with third to eight and getting in the playoffs um there's a lot to play
26:57George Elek:for so it looks open early early on the observant viewers on youtube will notice that george the answer that george just gave began in one location and then finished in a in a separate location i didn't notice but there were some internet issues which we've saved you yes in the in the edit um but barry we need to talk about the don ballard backheel volley for bristol city against uh
27:23Max Rushden:Birmingham wasn't it an unbelievable goal I mean it was an absolute brilliant backheel volley as you say just from distance and I was doing clock watch for the Guardian and and saw the name D Ballard flash up as having scored this goal when when did Dan Ballard go to Bristol City I missed that one, but Dominic Ballard, so not Dan. Yeah, just a wonderful goal, which I suspect may be on the shortlist for the Busquets Award. There's an amazing reverse angle, which suggests that rather than it being a backheel, I think he's almost caressed it in with the outside of his right foot, but backwards, which I think makes it even more impressive because it's more controlled than just timing it.
28:14I mean, it's an absolutely ridiculous goal. he won League One pair of the season and League One young pair of the season last season playing for an late and orient team that only just stayed up bought for I think up to 5 million pounds by Bristol City and that's the first goal he scores for them it's just such a shame watching it back and you know this isn't because before I get accused of being anti-Birmingham when you see a goal like that scored late in front of the away fans and you see the limbs it's just a shame that then it wasn't actually the winner because about 10 minutes later in the 95th minute it um Damari Gray scored a penalty to make it one to make it two also someone was saying to me the day that they think he'll end up uh who watched Leighton Orient quite a lot that they think he'll end up in the Premier League I mean how good how good is he I mean he's really good he's a very interesting mix where he's he's kind of a diminutive poacher who also has the ability to to do the exceptional like he's also someone that scores goals from range he's not just I think it's quite hard these days to be a five for eight striker who doesn't do anything outside the box and he definitely has the ability and the quality to do more than that so um yeah at a time where there aren't that many strikers you know you're probably anyone's probably one good championship season away from being um you know quarter by premier league teams and he's certainly got the ability so yeah it wouldn't surprise me at all and they signed laurent to lie as well who comes in from plymouth argyle who's also a really talented striker very different kind of profile but also scores a lot of goals and a lot of good goals.
29:42So they're signing good young players and they've spent, I think,£9 million on the two of them. So I'll be hoping for a return on that. But it wouldn't surprise me if both of them end up being Premier League strikers in time.
29:53George Elek:He played quite a lot for us a couple of years ago for Cambridge and he did look quite good, but it's safe to say, I think in a relegation season or like one where we just stayed up, we dragged him down to our level. And if Damari Gray had any honour, he'd have tried to backheel with the penalty. That's the only way it could have been fair in that game. Before we move on from the championship, you wanted George to mention the Hegebo handball that we saw on the opening day when West Brom won at Norwich and it hit his hand and he ran off celebrating, but he got a ban for two games afterwards, which does, it's sort of, when it happened, I was like, oh, fair enough.
30:27George Elek:And then you think about it, I think it's a crazy decision. Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's kind of unprecedented. It really questions, again, where you draw the line for this stuff. had the referee or the linesman seen it it would have been a free kick he probably would have got a yellow card because i don't think it was necessarily deliberate enough or clearly deliberate enough to warrant a red card but then because it wasn't reckless reckless foul play he punched the ball so hard and i also wondered you know and a lot of people say well he celebrated and it's like what so you what's your banning him because he didn't turn around to the referee and say sorry that hit my hand um you know in the same way like yesterday in the chelsea fulham game when Calvin Bassi dived and immediately tried to turn around and tell the referee that he hadn't been touched.
31:09Do you therefore expunge the dive? It's not how things work. So it opens up, you know, we saw the Norwich manager Philippe Clement list 81 leagues where VAR is in use at the moment. I think I can speak for pretty much all fans of the EFL saying, Philippe, please be quiet. We do not want VAR in our leagues. Thank you very much. Even if you as a manager, I understand that you would because it can be frustrating. if your job is on the line, which his isn't, but I can understand why if you're a manager and you want things to be as fair as possible to protect your livelihood and what you're doing. But yeah, it seems like a strange decision.
31:43It didn't impact West Bromwich. If anything, it seems to have created a bit of a siege mentality for them to go and win the game on Sunday. He'll be back relatively soon, too much ban. But apart from Norwich fans, it doesn't seem like there are many people who think that we want to see retrospective bans for instances like that.
32:01George Elek:Yeah, although slightly ASMR, Philip Klemann really had 81 countries. It was a quite impressive thing to just hold a room. Halfway through, I remember once during COVID, I think it was me and Barry on the radio, because there was no sport, we did the British Open by drawing out all the golfers and the last one out of the hat would win the Open. It's about 85 golfers. And we had the golf theme, but about halfway through, I think both of us thought, I'm not sure we should have done it. This feels like dead air to me. I think Graham McDowell won, if memory serves me correctly. Yeah, that's right, actually.
32:36George Elek:The COVID British Open.
32:37Max Rushden:On the back of that Philippe Clement press conference listing all the leagues with VAR, on Talksport Adrian Durham said he should immediately be sacked because he tasked an analyst with researching all the leagues with VAR and then Adrian Durham said, well, he would have been better off tasking his analysts with trying to figure out how Millwall would play against them because they went to the den and lost 3-0. It's sad to have a VAR debate when we're talking about the EFL, when it's spoken about enough when it comes to the Premier League, but I do always think it's the most damning indictment of VAR that you have three leagues where the quality of officiating is one of the biggest gripes amongst fans consistently.
33:29You know, if you talk to any fans of League One and League Two clubs in particular, they moan about the quality of the refs basically every weekend. And it's so common, you know, when I go to Oxford games, every time we go, we seem to come away and the home fans think the ref was terrible and the away fans think the ref was terrible. And yet, even with VAR existing in the Premier League, there is next to no support for it to be introduced within the EFL. So even though there is a problem that has been identified, the only solution that is out there and is being used elsewhere, it doesn't even get a mention.
33:58I have said before, you know, you could just bring it in the EFL,
34:01George Elek:but just for clear and obvious decisions, and then it would be absolutely, absolutely fine. There'd be absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. Yeah. Anyway, I probably said it to you a month ago. The first time I've ever repeated a joke. My apologies. Anyway, that'll do for part two. We'll rattle through League One and League Two in just a second.
34:24George Elek:welcome to part three of the guardian football weekly uh so in league one only bradford city have won their first two games i mean the big story george is leicester city under russell martin yeah it's been a really really poor start which i guess surprises some because of the you know the size the size of the club and the perception they shouldn't have been down there in the first place um but the squad looks pretty thin like yes there are players within their team that shouldn't be playing league one football one of them was sent off on saturday oliver skip there was a story early in the summer that middlesbrough asked lester how much it would cost to buy oliver skip and they replied saying 15 million and you wonder if they regret now putting that one in front of the five because that seems an extortionate price for prepare but you know they've got only two center backs um in harry souter and in um caleb acoli because Valt Fass basically has no interest in playing League One football, which is not a huge surprise.
35:16If you look through their starting team in the 2-1 defeat against Burton on Saturday, they've got loads of young players. That's Will Alves, Sammy Braybrook, who's a brilliant centre-fielder, who's 22, he's had some great loans. Right back, Aluko, it's not a team that has a standout League One side in terms of pure quality. And then in Russell Martin, you've got a manager whose stock is plummeting, off the back of that poor Premier League season with Southampton and then the time at Rangers and it feels like this Leicester job is starting in a similar way to the Rangers one where quickly any goodwill that was built over the summer is going the boos unsurprisingly against Burton Albion were obvious they've been caught out playing out from the back quite a lot like Russell Martin said in his post-match interview after the Burton defeat where they you know they were down to 10 men and he said you know it's rare to see a team dominate in the second half with 10 men like we did and he looked you watch the second half and they dominated the ball sure and that is quite unlikely when you got 10 men but you're also Leicester playing against Burton at home and you're and you're 2-1 down so again the the way the game is set up means you're probably going to dominate the ball but they barely created anything and if I was a Leicester fan I'd find it pretty concerning to hear my manager talking about dominance when you're not actually creating any chances to score goals so um yeah I've got real concerns about them you know they were they were pre-season favorites with the bookmakers to to win the league but they were one of those last season in the championship despite the points deduction and got relegated unless they can find a way to kind of switch on.
36:43And they've signed players like Connor Chaplin and Wes Burns who were once upon a time brilliant League One players but we've seen certainly in the past with Ipswich and with Sunderland that using your clout in League One to go out and sign championship players who are championship players but probably aren't really wanted by the championship clubs at that time and whose career are on the slide for quite a lot of money is a terrible way to recruit. You need to go out and sign players who are performing at that level. So, yeah, I've got real concerns about them right now. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this isn't just a bad start.
37:15They could be a team that could feasibly find themselves in trouble this season.
37:18Max Rushden:I find it interesting that Vout Fass considers League One football beneath them because I think a large part of the reason Leicester City are in League One is very much on the shoulders of Vout Fass. I know their owners have put the whole kit and caboodle up for sale, stadium, training ground, men's team, women's team. 200 million. 224 million pounds. Absolutely ridiculous. But apparently it's debt-free. And they've made this glossy brochure to give to prospective buyers. Do they pop it in your letterbox? No, I'm not. I keep getting a glossy brochure from a retirement home in Clapham put through my letterbox.
38:02Max Rushden:And it's like, it's not junk, mate. it's direct addressed to me personally so every couple of months there's this you know green acres whatever i don't know what it's called but a retirement village are you tempted you know
38:17George Elek:today is the next meal is lunch you know what a life bingo at four could be an absolute dream
38:24Max Rushden:couldn't it you can still do this it would be uh more within my budget than uh the 224 million for Leicester but I mean Leicester do have this one of the best training grounds in Europe if not the world the King Power is a good stadium you know obviously the team is shite and you get their sister club the Belgian outfit Louvre thrown in as well so maybe it's not that bad
38:54George Elek:and if that's not enough we'll throw in this too Elite 2 George Salford have lost 2 from 2 you had them top they're never gonna go up we know this we know this yeah i'm annoyed that we had them top of our 124s i mean it's it's basically just because they're they're just signing players that are way too good for for league for league two who've proven it um and it's funny they look they they signed a winger in molyneux and a striker in langstaff and then they conceded three goals against barnet on opening day so they go out and sign brandon weiradu um from plymouth argyle who is a player that can play holding the field or centre-back and you know argyle are one of the better teams in league one you think this season and they don't want to lose him and their fans are upset to lose him but he's dropping to league two peter klamovsky who you know was ang postacoglu's very close friend and his assistant previously who spoke in the summer saying that you know his um his football would be was it in tribute to postacoglu or you know would be in his image um and maybe that doesn't work at league two level even in august when the pitches are okay so let's see what it looks like in february and and and march when that changes um but they've been really poor like they went one or down at home to chesterfield on saturday after two minutes and they hit the woodwork a couple of times from set pieces but their open chance creation was like horrendous and this is a you know an ownership group now you know it's it's moved on a little bit from the initial cluster 92 ownership with neville gary neville and david beckham more involved but with a new group of investors and since that new group of investors came in last summer that it feels like the spend and the ambition has gone up which is why carl robinson lost his job um because promotion was the aim last season and even though they came as close as they possibly could do by losing the playoff final that still wasn't enough i wonder how long um klomofsky's got uh to show that he's the man to do this because there's no way given the money they're spending that they'll accept um the kind of start that they've made some real highlights in league two josh marsh scoring for crew using a hiding uh behind the post from the keeper i mean you can only do it at your end can't you when your fans are behind the goal because otherwise everyone's like no nipping into score bobby cam were doing an adabaior running the full length of the pitch scoring for bristol rovers against Newport which is always because once again a bit like doing the COVID British Open like halfway down the pitch you think I've got to keep doing this but he really does but I didn't see this George the Tranmere Rovers centre-back Bobby Faulkner playing 40 minutes in goal against poor outfield player in goal is absolute peak football yeah and made and made some saves as well it wasn't I mean the saves weren't they looked like centre-back saves they looked like centre-back in goal but they were still effective came out and did a nice punch at one point as well and they also equalised whilst he was in goal which is great so yeah he's a young player who's come in this summer who's amazing he had an unbelievable debut playing centre back and then he's gone in goal for the second game and kept his own clean sheet in a one-all draw away from home against a recently relegated side yeah it's been a good weekend for strange stuff happening in League 2 I love the Canva celebration like I think if he said before the game that if he would react to how the Newport fans reacted where if they showed him a bit of love, he'd show them a bit of love and if they booed him, he'd give it back.
41:56And they booed him so he gave it back. Fair play. But he scored the goal that kept them up last season, on the last day. Having also missed a penalty that nearly set him down as well.
42:07Max Rushden:I'm not sure why he was getting abuse, but it was good and he got taken off straight away by Steve Evans so he didn't have to worry about the fatigue.
42:19George Elek:No, all getting two-footed. but hopefully he walked right around the pitch just applauding everyone. Now, Barry, you did ask at some point in the last week or so whether Tarek Muraharomovich would be the first Premier League player with every vowel in his surname. And Stephen has been in touch with the following list. Maynor Figueroa, Talal El Kakori, Andranik Taymorian, Mathieu Louis-Jean, Omar Elab Delawi, Luciano Figueroa and Christian Negawi. I mean, I've heard of some of them. Christian Nagawi. I think I've heard of one of them. One appearance. Figueroa. Yeah. Well, one of the Figueroas I've heard of.
42:59George Elek:Christian Nagawi, one Premier League appearance for Man City, in which he became the first, and as of January 2019, the only player to be sent off on their one and only Premier League appearance. Well done, Christian. Thank you, Stephen. If we need a researcher, we will hire you. And less importantly, we obviously grew hugely in the States, our audience, during the World Cup. but now we get messages like this from willem brother is that really how you pronounce urinal that's ridiculous almost as bad as aluminium uh listen you say i once had a half hour argument about the word tomato with a producer of soccer am um saying tomato tomato tomato tomato anyway it was i thought it was good i i don't have the time to to tell you the joke but now i've said out loud people will side with the producer but trust me i had a good gag and it wasn't allowed in anyway uh that'll do for today thanks everybody thank you george thank you thanks jacob thank you cheers thank you good luck in your retirement home football weekly is produced i might do like
44:01Max Rushden:find some like-minded individuals and do this or richard osmond we solve murders that's a good
44:07George Elek:idea or you could commit my fellow geriatrics why not or there's some young blood in the there's some young blood and green acres. This is 53. Wow, you could be, you know, out of the dance floor, cabaret night and everything. Football Weekly is produced by Matt Bentley Viney. Our executive producer is Joel Grove. Back on Thursday.
44:30Max Rushden:This is The Guardian.