Sávio lands at Spurs, Celtic crash out and are Villa in crisis? – Football Weekly podcast

0:00John Brewin:This is The Guardian.

0:30Clubs Manchester United and Aston Villa represented on the panel, so a good chance for a pessimism update as United face Ipswich and Villa host Arsenal this weekend. Palace seem to be the side most desperate for the window to slam shut with rumours swirling around Saar, Mateta and Wharton. They play Man City, while two form sides, brackets 100 % records this season from one game. Chelsea and Brighton meet at the bridge. Oliver Glasner's getting booed already at Forest. They go to Liverpool. And we'll discuss Celtic's extraordinary collapse in Austria. 4-0 up on aggregate at one point, but once they let in the first, you can just feel it slipping away.

0:58And there's Big Ange and the Ronaldo Power Play. Your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

1:06On the panel today, Barry Glendening, welcome. Hiya. Hello, John Bruin. Hello. And good morning, Dan Bardell. Max. So yeah, one of those pods where we'll look ahead to the Premier League weekend and talk about the Carabao Cup games that happened in midweek. So you had Spurs beating Charlton 5-1, Newcastle beating West Brom 3-2. Sanjeev saying Charlton have badly let down most of us by fielding a much weakened side and denying us more merriment and further Spurs pain for shame. Look, Barry, it was a good win. They had to probably win because there would have been so much pressure on Deserby. But you feel this game against Newcastle is still, it's enormous for them.

1:44Max Rushden:Yeah, and I think it's a big game for Newcastle as well. I was a little disappointed by Chariton's approach to this game, to be honest. Nathan Jones said afterwards it's a game we didn't need to say something like that so early in the season strikes me as well it's contemptuous of the competition but he can pick whatever side he wants he made 10 changes from the side that beat West Ham at the weekend Spurs welcome back some of their A-listers Benton, Currer, Mateus Fernandes Solanke, Destiny Doggy all started. Pedro Porro and Mickey Van de Ven were on the bench. I think they both came on. And Charlton had a couple of early chances.

2:36Max Rushden:But once Spurs went ahead through a lovely left-foot shot from distance from Mikey Moore, it was pretty much over as a contest. And they went on to win at their leisure. it's a nice good home win for a team that hasn't won too often at home in recent, well last season certainly. As for the game against Newcastle, that's another chance to impress at home whether the win or not remains to be seen you'd imagine Newcastle will not be making 10 changes from the side that won, or that drew Liverpool last weekend and And I think it is important for Spurs to get off to a decent start at home following the absolute shambles at Brentford.

3:28I'm not sure how many ex-City players will be on the pitch, John, but they're good at selling, aren't they? Savinho and Marmouche at Spurs. Nico Gonzalez at City. What do you make of the Savinho-Marmouche deal? Savio, as we should call him now, he scored a lovely goal, wasn't it? And lots of City fans saying he never did that for us.

3:46John Brewin:Yeah, I was going to correct you. Actually, he's now called Savio. Inio means small, doesn't it? So he's thinking big. He's little, I think, in Brazilian. Does it mean little? I thought it was like son of. I thought it was like, you know, Rogerson. Yeah, I suppose so. So Ronaldinho was the junior version of Ronaldo, the former Ronaldo. God, you see, we're already tied up with it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. So Savio, as we shall now call him Yes, Manchester City fans were calling this the deal of the century, weren't they? Considering the amount of money they received for him And he did look electric against Charlton's reserves, it has to be said Has anyone been damned with faint of praise?

4:33John Brewin:But that was, I mean, his cameo was very exciting for Spurs fans He himself looked like he really enjoyed himself, didn't he? He actually did score another goal, but it came off Ben Davis, who is, as ultimate pro and a guy who's doing his coaching badges and has ambitions in management, we're told, and maybe even ambitions of being a sporting director was something I heard a while back, a really responsible member of the team. Could Ben Davis have stepped aside and said, hey man, that's your goal as well, just to greet the new man? I should mention, of course, not a Manchester City sign, but Mikey Moore set it off because there were, watching this game, a few nerves amongst those Tottenham fans, understandably.

5:17John Brewin:but yeah referencing Manchester City they do sell well the Marmouche deal is a loan thus cutting off various suspicions and calculations that people have done to make sure that Eintracht Frankfurt did not receive a sell-on fee it's all very confusing the transfer market I know Dan here probably has many views about the transfer market and about some of the deals that have been done. And some of them do raise an eyebrow, and Manchester City sales certainly do. But judging by that little cameo, maybe Tottenham have someone to get excited about. Well, do they deserve to get something excited about?

6:04John Brewin:Well, let's allow them to get excited about that against Chalham Reserves. I know. I think they're allowed to get excited, but you don't want that to actually come to any sort of fruition. I think that's the sort of, that's the state of plastic. I enjoy Spurs, they're okay. Okay, fine. What do you make of the Gonzalez signing for Newcastle, Dan? He's one of those players that I must have watched him a fair few times for Manchester City because I watch a lot of football, but I can't really remember anything about him other than him scoring a screamer in an FA Cup semi-final. I think clearly Newcastle need players.

6:37Clearly, you look back at that January 2025 window, I think it was, for Manchester City now when they started this rebuild. A lot of those players already seem to be surplus to requirements and they're farming them off to different Premier League teams. But before he came into Manchester City, he was very, very highly rated. He was seen as the heir to Rodri's throne. Maybe a change of scenery will do him good. Newcastle, I feel, need that type of player. And even though it's very limited, he does have some form of Premier League experience to mix in with the players. They've brought a lot of young players, haven't they, Newcastle, who they're hoping will grow and turn into Premier League players.

7:12He fits the mould of being relatively young Nico Gonzalez, but also he does have that element of Premier League experience as well. Without wanting to be old men, Barry, it is so mad that£50 million gets you someone basically unproven in this league.

7:28Max Rushden:Yeah. I mean, my sole recollection or awareness of Nico Gonzalez is when myself and producer Joel got invited to the Leighton Orient flat where you watched Cambridge play during the pandemic to watch Leighton Orient play City in, I think it was a third round of the cup. And he started for City and had to go off injured after about 20 minutes because he was the subject of what, if I remember correctly, It was quite a really bad challenge that went unpunished by one of the Deorian players. And I can't think of anything else he's done because Dan mentioned that screamer he scored. I don't remember it at all.

8:20Max Rushden:Yeah, I just remember him being stretched off and him being a very handsome young man. That's about it. And look, John, Newcastle looked really bright, I thought, against Liverpool. And given how Tottenham played everywhere, not just at the back, but just everywhere, You sort of think if Tottenham will have the ball and Newcastle will break, and if Wisser breaks like he did against Liverpool, then they really have a great chance, I think.

8:44John Brewin:Wisser did miss a good chance last night, which, you know, there's a player that needs to prove himself to Newcastle fans, it's fair to say. Harvey Barnes, a player I've eulogised, has that big chance, doesn't he, with Anthony Gordon now sold. It's funny, isn't it? There is optimism at Newcastle, whereas a lot of us would wonder, having sold essentially their midfield and Anthony Gordon, you'd think it's one of those things where they're being asset-stripped. But never underestimate the ability of Newcastle fans to get behind the manager when things are new and enjoy novelty. It's so early in the season, but Tottenham's defeat was so grim that if Newcastle do something against them, And then we're back in the Tottenham whirligig, aren't we?

9:37John Brewin:Of just being spun around. And this is one of the reasons why I do enjoy Tottenham, is that ability. Some of the fans call it the odyssey, don't they? Because it's just so gripping. It's so good to watch. The other thing is Deserby himself, the manager, doesn't hold back. So he's good value. He's good compi. this is something that Thomas Frank I wrote the Totten preview for The Guardian this season I wrote about the Igor Tudor thing I compared it to a horror film and I got a few complaints saying well why didn't you write that about Thomas Frank because we'd sort of forgot he was there for so long of the season and now Roberto de Zerbe just adds that extra element almost if it was a horror movie he's almost like some sort of avenger that comes up at the end of the film you know and sorts it out you know uh and so yeah yeah but then he could end up being a killer zombie as well you know yeah the season we're waiting for him to be unmasked exactly yeah yeah and this is that this is the this is why you know uh people say this flocking back to the cinemas well uh tottenham are cinema aren't they as the kids say yeah well i'm so desperate for them not to lead the part i'd hope they just have some boring games

10:58Max Rushden:that we don't notice. For what it's worth, Tottenham's recent record against Newcastle is pretty bad. They've lost six of their last eight in the league and Newcastle have won three of their last four away at Spurs. And a fun fact I picked up on the BBC website, this is the most played Premier League fixture. It's been played 61 times, never to have finished 0-0. so now that I've mentioned that it's going to be near the middle I'd say there's no chance absolutely no chance Manchester United-Ipswich then is the Super Sunday game at 4.30 how early is too early for a must win game John?

11:44John Brewin:the thing is last weekend I was away essentially staying in a barn in the Italian hills Essentially on a digital detox, but not enough of a digital detox to prevent WhatsApp. And the misery raining down on that performance. For which, actually, let me start by crediting. I've watched the game back, crediting how well Hull played and how fantastic it was to see that. A club I have a great deal of affection for. Set-piece defending, yeah, that's the thing these days. It seems Manchester United didn't bother with that over the summer, judging by the two goals that Ole scored. Ipswich waited so long, didn't they, last time out to get a Premier League win and already have it, which is great for them.

12:39John Brewin:It definitely is a must win because we mentioned the Tottenham Whirly gig. Well, the Manchester United one is even more of a blockbuster, isn't it? Manchester United in crisis. We always almost lead the pod with that, much to listeners' annoyance. But they're Manchester United, you know, and the midfield's lack of movement in that game was a concern. Tielemans summered well. It perhaps looked that way. Perhaps he's missing Dan already. We'll have to see about Andre Santos. Carlos Buleba, who they've signed, I've seen many times for Brighton. He can play some of the best 15 minutes of football you'll ever see from anybody.

13:22John Brewin:You're just thinking, this guy is absolutely brilliant. And you know what's coming? Have you never seen him do 20? I've never seen him do 20, no. And this is it. There are points where it's like, wow. Every time the ball comes, he's got it. And it's just like, this is incredible. And then there's another 75 minutes of the game to play. so a lot of work needs to be put in for a player of immense promise it has to be said sure i mean i i without wanting to sound old maybe you have to spend 70 million to get a good 15 minute player maybe that's yeah that's the thing yeah dan what do you what do you think of this game well i watched the game from my holiday on a on saturday night john was very impressed with i wasn't massively surprised by manchester by manchester united's performance i think on Tillemans he's a phenomenal footballer but the system at Villa was built around him and maybe did kind of leave his deficiencies at the door playing next to Bubakar Kamara he would almost do the dirty work and I'm not 100 % convinced of him and Andre Santos as a central midfield partnership maybe Belaber will come in and be better next to him but he did look sluggish and he did look sloppy and all around Manchester United just didn't win duels was the simple thing in the game I would say the only duel that was really won was Harry Maguire with Brian Mbumo and Little Geordie shouldn't have really been involved in.

14:45So that wasn't great from a Manchester United perspective. I'm sure they'll bounce back and do something against Ipswich on Sunday at home. But I actually was impressed with Ipswich in their game as well. I thought they played really, really well against Sunderland. And CISO looked like he was in fantastic form back to his early days at Brighton when he was coming onto the scene. So Ipswich will maybe go there and smell blood. They got a decent result there a couple of years ago or on the cusp of getting a decent result from memory. But Manchester United need to win because if you're playing Hull and Ipswich your first two games and you come away with zero wins, obviously questions are going to be asked of you.

15:21Ipswich reportedly close to signing their first ever World Cup winner is Zekiel Palacios from Leverkusen, the Argentine midfielder, joining for about 25 million.

15:30John Brewin:I don't recall him doing a lot in that World Cup final, obviously the 2022 one. They beat Leicester 3-1 in the League Cup on Tuesday night. I don't know if you heard Gary O 'Neill afterwards. sort of really sticking it into Russell Martin. I don't know if you heard that. I didn't, no, sorry. Yeah, or just basically saying, everybody knows what he tries to do, and it's really, you just do this, this, this, this, and this, and you win. I mean, Gary O 'Neill has form for going on TV and saying, this is how I did this magical thing. Can we just enjoy Russell Martin while he's still around? Because we know it might not last that long, but this guy's box office too.

16:04John Brewin:I mean, post-match, I watch almost every one of them because his way of describing exactly the same thing every time in a slightly different way and placing blame on others for not following his instructions that clearly don't work is one of the great things in football, I think. Sort of getting to the stage where I can't get enough of him. Yeah, I want it to go well now. I know what you mean, but I sort of want it to go well now. It's getting to that stage, I think. Marcelino Nunes scored from the halfway line for Ipswich in off the bar, absolutely beautiful finish I know Villa are playing on Monday so we will have Monday's pod to look ahead to this but since you're here Dan, quite like an Aston Villa summation of how you felt after 7 minutes and then how you felt after 31 minutes of that game against Brighton John talks about 15 minute football Villa for 10 minutes were absolutely great against Brighton, I thought you don't need a striker, you don't need the core of your team we're going to be okay here and then very quickly it turned into a an absolute thumping compounded by their new midfielder who probably shouldn't have played because he wasn't getting sent off for lashing out.

17:14I wasn't surprised we lost. I was surprised at the manner of the defeat, but for the second year running, it just appears that Villa are going to write off the first few weeks of the season and wait for the transfer window to shut and then get going. There's just so much going on. The turnover of players is absolutely incredible every time i i do a villa show which is obviously my my livelihood it's out of date within about within about 20 minutes of coming out which is a little bit of a pain it's a live stream now for the rest of all day they just they just seem to pivot from target to target things fall through they move on to the next one it does feel very scattergun some in some ways it's how villa do have to operate because of the financial constraints and the and the regulations but it is absolutely crazy.

17:59Going to bed last night and Villa are signing Nicholas Jackson, Ollie Watkins is going to Saudi Arabia now. Obviously, he let himself down last week with the way he behaved. I've just got no idea at the end of the window what Villa's team is going to look like, but I've also got no idea what it's going to look like when we take on Arsenal on Monday. If it's anything like the team that took on Brighton, it could be another thumping, in all honesty. What's making that Watkins move, Barry?

18:23Max Rushden:The money that he's being offered is very hard for him to turn down, I guess, generational wealth, it keeps being described as, and he's approaching the end of his career. So I have no problem with him leaving Villa and going to Saudi Arabia. I'm not a fan of players downing tools and refusing to train or play, and if that's what happened, and it appears to be what happened, then, yeah, it's unprofessional. I don't like it, but I'm not surprised that he's going there. John, you wanted to come in?

19:05John Brewin:Yeah, I was going to ask Dan about Watkins, because this guy's been a real hero for the fans, for the club, and then to blot his copybook like that. I mean, this guy has done so much for the club, But I suppose if you're at a club where so many transactions are taking place, is that how players are made to feel? Is that the problem with the club or is that the problem with the way that the recruitment is done? I think it's probably a combination of things. I think, as I said earlier, Villa have to operate in a certain way due to the regulations. I think when you've seen a lot of your teammates leave in the way Watkins will have done this summer, I think the fans maybe thought that winning the Europa League was like, this is our chance to kick on and we'll add some players.

19:57We're back in the Champions League. But it appears like it's ended up being a breaking point for a lot of players where maybe they think that this is probably as good as it gets. We're going to move on and try something new. And don't forget, a lot of these players have been at Villa a long time. Konza, seven years. Watkins, six years. Martinez, six years as well. They've all been there a long time in football terms nowadays. Players don't stay at one club for that long. the thing that's disappointing with Watkins is how he's behaved to me just isn't him he's always talked about as being such a professional does everything in the in the right way there was a time last season where he was struggling and he could have come out the side but Henry stuck with him left him in because he was doing all the right things in training always one of the first ones there like basically doing everything that the other centre forward wasn't doing at the time so so Watkins continued to be picked and ended the season brilliantly Villa wanted him to stay but the way he's behaved probably made it so that there was no way back for him and the club had been offered a hell of a lot of money for someone who's 31 very soon so they had to take it and they're replacing him with someone who's five years younger who the manager knows who obviously some fans will have had a laugh about at times when he was at Chelsea Nicholas Jackson but I do think there is a player there if he's got the right manager and he knows he's the guy and he's going to be the number one centre forward which he will be at Villa I feel sad about the Watkins thing more than anything.

21:15I've almost managed to stomach everything else but I loved Olly Watkins. He's been such a good player for us and what he's done under Unai Emery which is the other thing that I think is quite disrespectful because Unai Emery's done a lot for Olly Watkins and I feel like he let him down last week as well but it is what it is. The club will survive and I'm still confident that whatever happens Villa will be somewhere near where they need to be as long as they've got the manager because he's the most important person. I suppose it's not excusing his behaviour but if you are about to get generational wealth and you don't want to you know break your leg yeah you think that it's just a funny gen it's i mean obviously they're all paid so much money but when it's generational wealth just this image of you know the watkins empire all these guys have gone to saudi for three years exactly you know the watkins tower he lives in this palace somewhere i don't know and exactly it's a weird incredibly wealthy kind of quite good but not brilliant footballers

22:08John Brewin:kicking about in 20 years time the thing is about the this generational wealth thing it It didn't work out for Jordan Henderson, did it? I mean, we've heard a few reports about how that works because he had to go to Ajax for tax reasons and all the rest of it. I mean, presumably, it's interesting because we think of Olly Watkins as just the player's pro, as Dan said. You know, total dedicated professional. You know, the type of guy you want around the dressing room. As Dan said, I remember going to a game last season in the Europa League. I think it was at Lille. Tammy Abraham played the first half.

22:46John Brewin:The change in the team when Oli Watkins came on and how she inspired the crowd. They'll miss a play like that, I think, Villa, because, yeah, when you said he's been there six years, I mean, that does seem like a long time. You know, the days of Dennis Mortimer and Nigel Spink are long gone, aren't they? You know. Yeah, there's no general. What's the Spinks' generational wealth? We don't know. Is there a spink tower somewhere? Anyway, Arsenal might be in for Alvarez. Barcelona want him and there's all sorts of shenanigans between Barca and Atleti. But Arsenal may come in just to make him even better.

23:24Max Rushden:I don't think he's welcome Atleti anymore anyway. Seed wrote a very good piece on Monday about the absolute monstering he got at Wanda Metropolitana when he played for Atletico at the weekend. I think they drew with, was it Villarreal maybe? Yeah, he's cutting a very forlorn figure at Atletico, so he needs to go somewhere. He does, and Atletico said there is a 0 % chance of selling him to Barcelona. It's not about money, it's about dignity.

23:56John Brewin:At some point, I'm sure that could be quoted back to Atletico. You know, just hold on to that quote. Anyway, that'll do for part one, part two. We'll start with Palace versus City.

24:14Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So Man City go to Palace on Friday night. You know, two new managers, lots of overhaul in their squad. And the thing is, Bas, like, and we've mentioned this about Palace, they just, they literally must be just like trying to, Pierre Sarge is like standing in front of the window going, you know, as players are just trying to dive through it. And he's just there going, no, Jean-Philippe, no, not you. No, Ismailer, no. I hadn't even thought about Sar leaving, but who knows what their team will look like.

24:42Max Rushden:Yeah, well, Sarer seems to be the one who's, well, him and Mateta are both agitating for moves away. Sarer was the first at Galatasaray after him, I think. I know Palace lost against Everton at the weekend. I thought they played quite well. I thought Adam Wharton was superb. He played some sublime passes. Whether or not they'd be able to cope with City remains to be seen, But I think if they were to lose two or even all three of those players, it would be an absolute disaster for them. And if they were to lose them coming right before the window closes, that would be even worse because it seriously harms their chances of getting in even remotely adequate replacements.

25:31Max Rushden:I mean, Mateta's replaceable. I think Sarra's replaceable. Wharton is just such a talent. How do you go about replacing him? I don't know. Yeah, Villa are apparently interested in Mateta. Just in case you hadn't run that in your last bit, Dan. He's on a list of 15, Max, I think. 15 centre-forward. OK. Liverpool as well in for Ismail Assar, which would be an interesting move for him. What do you think will happen in this game, John?

25:58John Brewin:I think a Manchester City win is highly possible. It's interesting, the City we saw last week looks at a very much a work in progress and uh yeah we're still in that that pep hangover um i suppose you can draw comparisons for palace with villa in the fact that uh you know they achieve this european dream and you think this could be the start of something fantastic and then everyone wants to leave let's suppose this is that this is modern football isn't it This is the way it works. This is the way. Ismail Assar to Liverpool. Now, Liverpool have had this thing, or some haven't they, that they sold Mohamed Salah and it appeared not to have wanted to buy a bright winger.

26:47John Brewin:Obviously, the Bradley Barkler thing drags on forever. Assar seems a bit of an option quite a way down the list, though he is a very good player and he definitely missed my palace, but I wonder how successful he would be at Liverpool. At this point in the season, this is the problem with the transfer window, doesn't it? It drags so much of a veil over the actual action. You're actually talking about stuff that's... You've got one game to go off, and then you've got a transfer window, and that appears to blur the picture. It's not an easy job, John, we're making you do today. No, I know, I know.