Spurs stun Manchester City again and crisis already at West Ham? – Football Weekly

25:46Has he felt a great disturbance in the force as if a million voices cried out in terror and were then suddenly silenced? It would explain Morgan Gibbs why he's signing that new deal. Maybe Darth Maranakis found his lack of faith disturbing. we'll get to the game which wasn't bad but the Nuno story is extraordinary on Friday it was being reported he might be sacked before the game he was incredibly open in his press conference you've probably heard it where he said I used to have a great relationship with the owner and now I don't basically and he said there's no smoke without fire there's also apparently a rift between him and Edu the new head of recruitment that came in from Arsenal but Nadeem if you're a Forest fan you are thinking why would we possibly mess this up it's going so well what are we doing Valid point, valid point When they were going to the game yesterday I think I was on radio and there were a few fans that were speaking And they were actually defending both parties He said, oh we love Nuno, we love Nuno But the owners helped us out so much And this, that and the other And they didn't really want to like fully attach themselves To something too aggressively at this moment in time Because in theory like the owner Has helped them be in a position which they probably never thought They'd be in, but then so is Nuno as well So it's weird that you're having this Level of like car crash in the same week where you've signed Hutchinson, you've signed McAtee and another player.

26:59You know you're going to be in the Europa League and things seem to be positive. And especially going into the big game that we never thought we'd see between Forest and Palace, the two European rivals, or at least from a litigation standpoint anyway. It's disappointing. I think most fans, I'd probably say every fan, probably like it when there's good things being reported about their football club and the football is the main point and that can be spoken about. But whenever it's all this stuff behind the scenes and they've got no real say in it, you almost feel a bit embarrassed by it. And in some ways, I think this does feel a bit embarrassing.

27:28And as I look at it from Nuno's standpoint, you wonder, like, why is he saying the things that he's saying? What is his own end goal as such? Because if there's no relationship there, and sort of, like, airing out your grievances in public isn't necessarily going to make it any easier, especially against an owner who's not shy of speaking up himself and making his own decisions. So, yeah, it must be tough to be a Forest fan right now because you can't just talk about the football and look forward to the season ahead. but you hope that somehow it's sorted but I just don't see it. With a new director of football in Eddie coming in maybe he would never have picked Nuno in a million years if he could start over and I guess that's going to be the narrative that rumbles on until one of those decides to make the decision.

28:08Sure, I mean the thing is Dan if Nuno's not going to go to the Everest conference and say that if he thinks he's staying there's just no way. I mean it's odd that you would say it anyway because if you're going to go you're going to go and someone will pick him up because he's such a good manager he's proved it at Wolves he's proved it at Forest. But I mean, maybe there is, the only thing you can think, I guess, is does he think if he publicly stands up to Maranakis, a bit like Trump likes a strong guy. You know, maybe Maranakis likes a strong guy too. I don't know. Yeah, the only other thing I can think of is that he would expect the fans to come out and be up in arms about it and side with him.

28:44And like Nedim says, maybe that's not what's happened because they do love the owner as well. I kind of feel like the writing was on the wall a little bit. At the back end of last season, I can't remember the game, but when Maranaki stormed on the pitch and kind of had that to do with Nuno, I did think this isn't going to last. And they looked like they were certs for the Champions League. And I think the owner would have thought, we're going to get into the Champions League here. And then they didn't. And they dropped down to the Conference League and now they're back in the Europa League. But I do always think now that now Forest have reached a level with all that's going on around the club now and the changes in the hierarchy and behind the scenes.

29:21standards are going to be elevated they're going to be very very high and whether that be results on the pitch or the way Nuno handles themselves it never it doesn't feel too far away for me for from a part in a part of ways and I don't know whether there's some agent stuff going on here as well because I do likes to work with Keir Drapchin who just brought Douglas Luiz to the club Nuno's got a different agent who I think's been heavily involved in the transfer policy up until now so it's almost like the two worlds are colliding and at the end of the day Maranakis is the owner. Nuno's not going to come out the right side of this.

29:54So to hear him speak in the way he's speaking, I found a little bit confusing. Rumours of Ange, Jose, Brennan Rogers. I mean, Jose and Maranakis sounds fun, doesn't it, Sam? But if you've come from Nuno ball to Ange ball, that would also be odd. But I mean, I'm all for Posta Cogli back in the Premier League as soon as possible. Yeah, so am I. But I don't think you are if you're a Nottingham Forest fan. That would be a terrible move, right? Because they would go from being this side. They were so solid last year. They didn't mind not having the ball. And look, they only had 50 % or more of possession in seven Premier League games last year, which for a team that was in the Champions League spots for that long is not what you'd expect.

30:34And the most they had was 55, right? They like to play solid defence. They've got Matt Sells in and they hit teams on the break with pace and they use Chris Wood. So like it's very, it's not a squad that's molded in the ang mode so i would be a little bit worried i mean it's just all strange isn't it i mean how can nuno come out and say it's absurd that people are suggesting that i'm going to lose my job it's like well it's not really absurd mate because you came out in a press conference and said something you didn't really need to see say whatsoever um and the jump is i mean football journalists do tend to make some quite big jumps in terms of what people say and what the headline is.

31:10But it was a relatively small little stream that most have jumped over to reach this discussion. So yeah, it's odd. But not Ange, Mourinho and Maranakis. I mean, wow, that could like properly... It'd be fun. It'd be fun for the neutral, not for Nottingham Forest who have had such a good couple of years and are on this upward trajectory. Just to then chuck a couple of fireworks in and explode it. Nah, not for them. Yeah, speaking of chucking fireworks in, Filippo Clair says, that banner please discuss uh no philip we're not going to discuss it but uh we can't tell you what it said the palace fans unveiled a it wasn't quite a tifo it was just a big banner with a picture of maranakis uh with a gun to the head of morgan gibbs white and gibbs white is quoted saying mr maranakis is not in red pen involved in blackmail match fixing drug trafficking or corruption uh the football association is investigating the banner maranakis has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to all such allegations.

32:05I mean, the game itself, Nathan. Palace better first half, Forrest better second. Highlight of the game, that pass from Dan and Doy to Hudson and Doy was so good, wasn't it? Yeah, it was a great pass. It was a great pass. I think you summed up the game pretty well there. But yeah, to give credit to that ball. As a defender, sometimes you get caught in the sense of like, oh, everything's all right. There's nothing to worry about. And then every so often, because it is the Premier League, because these are some of the best, you know, in and around Europe and the world, they can just find that little moment, see a pass that maybe no one else can see.

32:31and a good look kid too trying to catch like Hudson-Odoi when he's running through like that so yeah it's a beautiful moment for them it's a fantastic bit of football and obviously there's so much more surrounding the game itself but I like the fact that there was some quality in there to discuss as well so yeah that's it's a great ball it's a great goal and I'm just like I said I'm just glad that I don't have to worry about things like that anymore on the pitch in front of tens of thousands of people Yeah Boris almost won it Igor Jesus hitting the post in injury time Amare Hutchinson had a chance even later than that Palace did beat Friedrichstadt 1-0 in the Europa Conference League playoff first leg on Thursday night.

33:04To the Emirates, Arsenal 5 leads 0. Dan, lots of positives for Arsenal, some negatives. Should we start with the good stuff? Victor Jokeres with his first goals for the club. The way he took his first as well would be, I was going to say, music to the ears. But I guess it is for the Arsenal fans. Because, you know, it's just like he did it all by himself. Yeah, lovely goal. I did think the dialogue around him was a bit OTT after the first game. He played one game. He didn't score in his first game. It was like an absolute disaster. I liked his penalty as well, the way he kind of brushed himself off and took the penalty.

33:34It was a great penalty. I thought it was a great day for Arsenal. First home game of the season. Just these set-piece. I know we talk about it every time and it's boring now probably to an extent. But it's almost like a get-out-of-jail-free card. It must be such a sapper, energy sapper for the opposition. You're in the game, you're doing okay. Manchester United last week, they started that game well, they're doing well. and then Arsenal get a corner and they just score off it. It must be so demoralising as an opposition defender and once they go ahead, they're going to go on and win that game and I just thought it was telling that Erdegaard and Saka have gone off injured and we'd be talking about that like it's an absolute disaster and obviously they are Arsenal's two best players.

34:18But look at the squad now, they've got so many different options. If those two players weren't to play next week, I still think Arsenal would be okay now. So I think they've recruited really well. in the summer. I think the new sporting directors come in and really made a statement, got business done. Arsenal looked well set to me. And, you know, once they went 1-0, the result was only going to ever go one way and it was that Arsenal were going to score a lot of goals and win that game comfortably. Yeah. Although they do play Liverpool next week. So maybe... No, no, I still think they'd be okay.

34:46Yeah. That's so interesting, isn't it? Well, we'll get to Odegaard and Saka. You mentioned the set pieces. Declan Rice's delivery is so good, Nadeem. And, I mean, it's like a free kick, isn't it? Should there be more players who are as good at that, given they just train all week kicking a ball? Shouldn't each team have someone who can just whip it under the crossbar nine times out of ten? Well, I think if it was that easy, then everyone would be of the same level, Mr. Rushton. I don't think that's the way football works. No, I think it might be right. I think everyone would be scoring penalties all the time, like a Kane or a Tony.

35:19It's also not the way it works. Then also everyone within the NBA would always be making their free throws as well because you can practice millions of those if you want. You can. But I think it's the skill that he has himself and I think his teammates' appreciation of exactly where it's going to go. And you can put it into a certain area, like if you practice, practice, practice, but it's the speed of it as well. You know, it's the height of it. Like some of the better players, it's like it's not even going that high. Say the higher it goes, the more chance a goalkeeper's got of being able to get to it or someone being able to address it and so on.

35:48But it comes in so flat, relatively speaking, with such speed that realistically, even if an Arsenal player doesn't get their head on it, it's just chaos. Like that's what he serves up so well. Put yourself, put a ball into the six yard box basically where there will probably be five to 10 bodies. And at which point as a defender, as an attacker, whoever touches it, it's probably not going to be fully cleared and it might just go in anyway because it's so, so tough to play again. So, you know, credit to Arsenal and I'm with Dan as well. Like it's what Arsenal do. It's not like exciting, but it's really effective, incredibly effective and every time they get a set piece you're thinking well here it comes and that must be a great tool to have and maybe something they'll need to lean on maybe for a little while at least if Saka and Odegaard are going to be out for a little period 15 year old Max Downman came on it's interesting how excited we are by someone who's essentially a child just someone so young the difference between that and an 18 year old coming on the pitch like there's the genuine joy when he came on from the Arsenal fan born New Year's Eve 2009 number one was killing in the name Rage Against the Machine.

36:51I think it was the X Factor protest song. It's interesting, Sam, that you can't, just if you start the game really young, it doesn't guarantee success. If you look at the top 20, there are some good names in there of the youngest ever. Wayne Rooney, the 20th youngest. Aaron Lennon in there as well. Manieri. But it's no guarantee of success. But he does look useful, Dalman, doesn't he? He does. And I was trying to think what I was doing at 15. And I think I got GCSE math statistics a year early and I thought I was doing really well. I was winning at life. and then someone comes on in a Premier League game and asks someone, look, the beauty of them is, I think Dan's absolutely right.

37:26The squad, the depth they've got, you run through their attacking options means it won't be quite like Nguyenieri where he might have to play more out of necessity. I think Arteta can use him carefully and try and keep the hype down. I mean, he had that volley chance, didn't he, that you were thinking, oh, is this his moment? And then the penalty at the end, I suspect there were some Arsenal fans going, oh, go on, give it Max, give it Max. I don't think that was ever going to happen. like Gokerez the penalties will be interesting for Arsenal because Saka takes them normally he was off the pitch but I think Gokerez had scored something like 27 out of 28 in the last two seasons um so he is quite a good penalty taker and even if you take those goals out the penalty goals out of his record he's still got 60 odd for sporting in the last couple of years so that's interesting how that goes I mean Arsenal weren't even like that good and I know that sounds weird because they've won 5-0 but they only had five shots on target like Arsenal can get much better They were clinical.

38:18And I think they need to because Arteta's under a little bit of pressure, right? He spent nearly a billion quid now. He's got the players in that he wanted. He's got his centre forward, got his midfielder. I think he almost has to win the league. You look at, what, five, six years in, one FA Cup. I know we talk about that. But you look at Wenger's last six years, he won three FA Cups. So I think Arteta, if he doesn't win this year, he might be in a bit of trouble. Yeah. Just to say that we have checked out, there is no confirmation that Max Downman 2009 was named after the then host of Soccer M during the glory years we can't be sure but that's what most people think Danny you were saying you don't think, because I think I had a garden sack of being injured, we obviously don't know how long it is that could be the difference between the title and not the title, you know because you imagine Arsenal will be up there and that could be five points or seven points or whatever.

39:11I think maybe it was clumsy wording, I'm not saying It wouldn't be bad news for Erdegaard and Saka to be out because they are Arsenal's two most crucial players. What I think I'm trying to say is that I feel like they can cover it off a lot better this season than they would have been able to this season. And just that they've got different weapons now. So before everything kind of went through, Saka and Erdegaard, now they've got other players for things to go through. Now they've got a genuine centre-forward to occupy defences. So I think just if they were to be missing for a period of time, I think Arsenal are okay.

39:43they will still win football matches. They will still score lots of goals from set pieces. They've got a centre forward. I just think they're better set than they would have been 12 months ago. Yeah, and actually if Odegaard is out, not that is a good thing, but if it means Ezequiel's flagging, that would be fascinating, fascinating to see. Let's go to the Hill Dickinson Stadium. First game for Everton there. They beat Brighton 2-0. I mean, the game could have gone either way, I think, Sam. But first of all, you were there. It looks, it does look amazing. Yeah, it's incredible. like we it's a beautiful ground we took some photos we're lucky enough to be there as you say and we took some photos outside and then we looked at them and it's like you know those ai generated images that you get before a new ground is built like the actual real photos of it look like that and everyone was up there really early the acoustics in it were absolutely exceptional that the noise that home end can make i don't know what it does i don't know much about architecture but they have designed it obviously there were quiet periods but when that noise got going it I think it will be the loudest ground in the league I really do um that I never know the sirens thing I always find a little bit weird but my word that was loud like the PA system they have probably that's probably the most money they've spent on anything the PA system it was absolutely deafening and it was brilliant look it was it was a privilege to be there um um they they've got to sort a few things out um we've gotten in not gonna have to get an invite into some like hospitality how the other world lives and 40 minutes after we ordered we chased the food a couple of times and we were told that the food order hadn't actually been through yeah and then to make up for it they brought all three courses at once so by the time i got to my sticky toffee pudding it was both cold and the ice cream melted completely so there's my my first world problems.

41:29It really, it was a tough day out for me and it was a good game. And I think Everton got a little bit lucky, to be honest. Like I thought Brighton were the better side. I think Everton are going to struggle this year. I think Grealish gives them the punch as chances. Just Grealish and Undai, who I think is a bit wasted out on the right. But yeah, any other day other than the first day on the new ground, I think Brighton win that game quite comfortably. That's interesting. Yeah. Cause like Matome hit the bar, Bimie at nil-nil, Welbeck had a great chance van hecker hit the post and o 'reilly had a massive chance at 1-0 pickford saves that but danny welbeck penalty after obscene handball i mean i suppose like and i made him we've talked about before but he's such an exciting place called the last goal at goodison the first goal here are you a pub quiz question anywhere nadam um kind of kind of yeah what's what is what is the question i think as it stands well to be fair no i'm not i nearly was i take that back i was Nearly the person who in 2011-12, I would have been the only player to have played for a team that won the Premier League and got relegated in the same season when I went from City to QPR.

42:28So I'm quite glad I avoided that one because that's a bit embarrassing, isn't it? Talk about a drop-off. Who else is there now? Couldn't tell you. Couldn't tell you from that extent. But yeah, talk about flipping belief in someone's ability. No, you're not going to win the league, but maybe championships for you. But yeah, Njia, I think he's awesome. And I think it is a shame that he won't play on that left-hand side because I think it really suits him. And the way that he plays and the magic that he has, like I was caught in between two places with Everton because I love the fact that, you know, it's a family club, but then I'm also still attached to like the Dice years where I didn't really enjoy watching them as such.

43:03But then I think back to the David Moyes years and it was people like Steven Piena would be playing on that left-hand side and they were so good to watch. Piena and Baines down at left-hand side, like I loved all that. This is when Everton were a lot more progressive and I think Njai in some ways reminds me more of a Piena back in those days for the way that they would play and put you under so much pressure. So it's a shame that he will be out on that right-hand side, but his impact definitely is there. And us fans, you can see that they love him for the way that he plays through some dark times in terms of them being respectfully quite boring.

43:30He always seems to find that little bit of magic. And if he can form that sort of relationship with Grealish and others in and around there, then yeah, they'll be all right. I don't know if they'll be amazing. I think I'm with you guys as well, that Brighton probably deserve more from that game. But for the history books, we're probably glad that Everton won their first game at home. And then they can sort of think positively, like nothing beats that first memory of a new place being a positive one with a good result, with new signing making a difference and, yeah, the energy being up there. Producer Joel says, you know, if the first cheers are good, the first boos are going to be good.

44:01Oh, can you imagine? Around the hill Dickinson. But I mean, it's interesting they could just play, couldn't you just play Grealish in the 10 and then die on the left? And that, you know, that might work. Anyway, anyway, that'll do for part two. Part three will begin with Fulham Man United.

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45:42Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. Alex says, did that one-all draw prove that United can beat anybody? Do you know what? The penalty, Dan, is interesting, right? Because Bassi is holding Mount, but sure is fouling Muniz at the same time, I think. And Lars has made the point there's a total imbalance in the risk of an attacker committing a foul on a defender. And maybe that has always been the case. But now they can look at them and decide, well, that's a foul and that's a foul, but we'll give that foul. And it's illustrated by the fact that Leni Uro pushes Bassi for the United goal.

46:13but that doesn't matter because if he gets penalised well he gets penalised so I don't know I got slightly irked by that whole situation I think I guess it's based on where they think the ball is going to go and they'll focus on the foul that is nearer where the ball is going to go I'm no expert on these things well to jump in there the ball actually went closer to the foul behind Bassey because if you remember it ended up being a back post header I think yesterday sorry to jump in no please though I didn't handle that question to be honest. I don't want to handle it either. But I think they were saying in the commentary that the Bassey foul happened first.

46:53So that's what they were focusing on. And I don't know, man. It was weird to even be looking at it thinking, is that a foul? You know what I mean? Because Mount himself even didn't fully sell it either. It's like something's happened. Mount's in the way of Bassey trying to go and do something else. So I was wondering, as a player, obviously you can't necessarily grab someone, throw them or whatever. but like what do you do at that point you say oh well unfortunately I can't get back there because this guy's here because I hate the number of penalties there are I just wonder if you say okay VAR look at it and they go well if an attacker is fouling a defender anywhere that takes priority so like if if you want a penalty then none of your attackers can be committing a foul in the box because that evens it up slightly because at the moment it's like well the attacker can do all sorts of pushing and pulling because it doesn't really matter and the defender has to just you know the defender's already got his arms behind his back in case it's a handball now you'll just have to replace him with you just have to turn into a lemon.

47:45There's nothing you can do. Yeah, you're basically just a mannequin from set pieces now. And it's a good point. It's good to see you've got your Defenders Union card with you as well this year. I'm a big, big fan of that, Max. But again, listening to what they were saying in the commentary about how they're going to be trying to clamp down on that this season, I just think it's disappointing because as the defender, it's a really physical game and the people you're playing against are also incredibly strong and they've got a huge desire to try and score in the goal that's probably about two, three yards away.

48:13so sometimes like your body will be put into positions which you're not thinking about consciously but it's just happening due to like just general jostling within a game not least of all because some of the way that you jostle with the player is similar to like when a long ball comes up to the striker you don't have your hands behind your back like you're both jostling for the ball but the attacker might be in front of you but the ref won't give a free kick there but if that same thing happens in the box then it's a penalty and I think that's um that's a shame and just going off pure vibes because obviously the rules are the rules or laws are laws or whatever the push from Jorro felt like more of a foul to me than the penalty they gave against Bassi because I was like well he's put two hands in his back Bassi's basically like if Bassi was small and he's laying on the floor it's probably a free kick because Bassi's stronger he's penalised and it's like well unlucky you've just got to be stronger yourself yeah and actually they say he's got to be stronger there it's a cliche and it's just like it doesn't matter if you're a big unit if somebody pushes you in the back you're still pushed in the back that affects what you do when it affects where the ball goes.

49:10Beyond that, Sam, the penalty was interesting, wasn't it? I think Bruno has criticised Chris Kavanagh, another Northern voice. I'm really looking forward to the, I'm going to play all the referees' voices at the end of the season without seeing who they are and see if anyone can guess who they are because they've all got exactly the same voice. But like Bruno criticising Chris Kavanagh for sort of getting in his way when he's in his zone. Does he have a point? Well, and it was like he didn't mind him doing it. It was the lack of an apology from the referee. That's what Bruno seemed to, I'm sure he wouldn't ideally he wouldn't have liked him to enter his zone but yeah it was wow he didn't apologise to me and that put me off in between starting my run up and then going back to this stuttering run up feels a little bit like excuses to me I mean you probably shouldn't let that the ref was just doing his job right interesting how Chris Kavanagh he said Fulham and then just Manchester wasn't Manchester United just Manchester like what we play in Pro Evolution Soccer we haven't got the actual team names yeah I think so it's a bit Larry David from Bruno, wasn't it?

50:08The commensurate apology for what you have done. What did you make of... I thought Man Utd were quite good in the first half in this game. Yeah, a bit like last week. Lots to like about them. Just not quite all coming together. They couldn't seem to get that goal in the first half. Kunja did everything but score. That touch from the long goal kick was absolutely majestic. I think probably everyone in the world, although everyone hates Manchester United, probably not, but I wanted him to score because it was such a good touch, such a beautiful bit of football. And also he was in my fantasy football team, so I did have that as well.

50:44I really, really wanted him to score. He didn't. I think they're the kind of, you can see what Manchester United are trying to do. I think Mount really interested me in the first couple of games, his role and the way he's played. He's such a good footballer, such a clever footballer. And seeing him play a couple of games for Manchester United, you feel that if he can stay fit, he'll be a real critical player and he'll probably get himself, he'll probably be in the next England squad. Him and Gorillaz will probably get themselves. in the next England squad by virtue of just having a couple of good games because I think Tuchel will lean on experience.

51:13They need midfielder. They need a central midfielder. It's pretty desperate in there, I would say. And a goalkeeper as well. Every corner Fulham had. You felt like Fulham were Arsenal. You felt like something might happen because the keeper was just so, so weak. Did you think Fulham were Arsenal just because all their players used to play for Arsenal? That does help as well, doesn't it? But delivering, Was it Lukic who was actually delivering the ball like Declan Rice? He'd obviously been doing some set-piece practice. Not John Lukic. Not John Lukic. Have I said his name right? He's Lukic. No, no, you're right.

51:46Sasha Lukic. Yeah. Sasha Lukic must have been working on the training ground this week, Max, because some of his deliveries were Declan Rice-esque. Yeah. Burnley 2-0-0. So it means all three prototypes have won a game, which I think is... That is good, Nathan. Are we going to have an exciting Premier League season at the bottom or is it still August? And as Nicky said last week, football lies in August and the promoted sides will all be the bottom three come November? So I don't think the three promoted sides will go down this year, but I'm firstly rooting for Sunderland to be the team that stays up.

52:16But I don't know. It's so easy to overreact at this point in the season. I think realistically when you'll see what's what is when these next three international breaks are over and you're heading into water time in November, December time where it's just games, games, games, games, games. to say that like the first win on the board doesn't matter would be a lie because it does having been somebody who previously held the record for longest period to start a season without winning another pub quiz thank you to sheffield united for taking that record away from my qpr team of 2013-14 thank you very much guys or 2012-13 rather it does matter just for like energy you know what i mean and the fact that all three teams have won at home that brings a sense of belief and the fan bases will always think that when they're coming to a home game now that there's a chance that the team's going to win.

53:00And I think the longer that goes, you can sense it as a player in the crowd. You know, the way that people start talking about you and the media and stuff changes. So the way that managers get questioned changes and then you feel like a narrative switch because now the media is almost feeding stuff into your fan base. Like you guys are no good. You've got no chance whatsoever. Why are you even here? And so you make a mistake in a week and it's like, oh, this is what such and such was saying about on that show or whatever. But yeah, those wins definitely do matter. But in reality, these teams will be make or breakers Like, can you win consecutive games?

53:30Can you go a stretch of time unbeaten? Can you stay intact with everyone else around you? And at the moment, in terms of what the bottom is, like, you know, United have got like one point, but do we think that they're worse than Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland? Absolutely not. So, yeah, let's not lie to ourselves too much in August, but still celebrate those moments because they'll probably be few and far between as the season progresses. And actually, like, you know, first goal is crucial, Brian, but, you know, Sunderland had chances in this game. in my end, I had a really good chance in the early.

53:58But Burnley scored the goals. And actually, Sam, I loved both goals. Like the set up from Anthony for Cullen is great. The pass from Cullen to Anthony is great. Yeah, it is. Cullen has almost taken over from Josh Brownhill, who I think was offered a new contract. He was their player of the year last year and he didn't take it up. I'm not sure he's found a club yet, but Cullen's a company man. He came over from Anderlecht with him to be their metronome. So it's great to him. It's great to see Jade and Anthony as well. I know he went from Bournemouth to Leeds and I think his mum passed away midway through the season.

54:26So he's dealt with a bit and to see him score that goal was absolutely wonderful. I do think it is really important. I know it's only the first two games. I take what Nadeem is saying. But I think if Sunderland go and win that game and then again, I know it's two games into season, but suddenly Burnley are six points behind Sunderland already. So yes, there's still 38 games to go. But I think psychologically for Burnley not to be six points behind a fellow newly promoted side is really big. Yeah. I also like the strobing floodlights and slightly annoyed that they turned them off to carry the game and didn't just start playing, you know, set you free by entrance or whatever.

55:03Brentford beat Villa 1-0. Like, this is a huge win, this Dan, for Keith Andrews. And I loved what you said afterwards. It was scrappy. It was ugly. And I loved it. I hated it. Keith feels the opposite about the game to me. Villa kind of made it easy for Brentford, but Villa looked toothless. we could still be playing now and Villa wouldn't have scored in that game. Brentford dug in, were resilient, needed a reaction off the back of what happened last week and they got it. I think it was two kind of stale teams who have obviously lost players in the summer, haven't done loads of transfer business, but I think Brentford, just by having one new addition to their front three, he gave them something.

55:43He gave the fans something to get behind because they had a new player and I think that's what won them the game, ultimately. Villa, I think, could have named most of that starting line-up been in 2021 and looked very, very stale, I've got to say. So I don't think, I think a draw probably would have been a fair result, but sort of watch Villa kind of outplayed by a midfield. Well, Villa lose to a midfield of Henderson and Yarmuluk and not really ever get a grip on that midfield was disappointing. But Keith Andrews needed a good result because if they'd lost again, there'd have been a load of noise around him that I think would have probably been unfair.

56:17so well done to Brentford but I thought Villa from Villa's perspective is a travestor In the last two weeks has your mood slightly changed because I I was in the start of the season you were like look Emery's there the squad's good this is far we haven't bought anyone but it's fine it doesn't sound like that now No I'm hoping that Nicky's right and that kind of August is a lie because I've not enjoyed August so far from a Villa's perspective both on and off the pitch with losing players and being hamstrung and not being able to really do anything unless we sell it It's hard because the manager is so good.

56:49I loathe to criticise the manager because what he's done at this club has been absolutely phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it. I think tactically he's got a few things wrong in the first couple of games. We've looked toothless. We haven't scored in the first two games. I think Emery's kind of reign at Villa, it's about scoring goals and lots of goals, but the first two games we haven't looked like we were going to score once. I haven't got excited once, but I do think off the pitch, has kind of bled on the pitch now since Jacob Ramsey's gone. It seems to have done some real damage to the dressing room and they just look like a lack of belief and kind of players that are walking around kind of not knowing if they're going to be there or not at the end of the window because of the rules and the constraints and how Villa are working under them.

57:32It doesn't feel like a happy, cohesive place at the moment and I just want the transfer window to shut. It's almost like we're waiting for the transfer window to shut for our season to start. Sure, and PSR obviously is hard if you're this club. But have they done things wrong? Oh, yeah. Their wage spend is 90 % of their total revenue or something like that. So is that the mistake? I'm trying to work out where, obviously, I can understand if you're a Villa fan, Newcastle fan, you're saying PSR is bullshit. And if it wasn't there, we'd be great. But are there things Villa could have done differently in the last few years to not put themselves in this position?

58:04It's maybe more prior to Emery. They could have done stuff differently. But I still look at who I think Villa's best players are in the main or in their best 11. and the bulk of them were already at the club when Unai Emery walked through the door. I think I saw a stat yesterday that since he's been at the club, Emery Villa are£10 million in profit. So we've qualified for Europe every single season without actually spending a penny in terms of transfer fees because we're£10 million in profit. We've done some sensible business over the years and we've done some bad business over the years as well.

58:36But it's this revenue thing. We are never going to have the revenue that Manchester United have, that Chelsea have, that Manchester City have. It's just not going to happen and you've been penalised for something that you're almost not in control of and then the club can then try and put prices up and whatnot because they say they need to for PSR and then that impacts the fans as well. So I just think all round PSR, it's impacting everyone involved with Aston Villa, but not in a positive. I understand there has to be rules, but I do think it needs to be looked at because it's absolutely killing us right now.

59:08Just a word on Mick Aldama's guard. who had some twinkle toes and played really well in that game. Finally, Bournemouth beat Wolves, their first win of the season. I liked Pereira after the game, not complaining about the red card, just saying it's a pity if only all managers did that after they had their centre-back sent off. But we fear for Wolves, do we, Nadeem? No, I don't fear for Wolves. I'll let Dan talk about that one. Tell me more about fearing for Wolves, Dan. Do you look at that team and think that's a team that's not going to be involved in a relegation battle? And once you're involved in one, there's obviously then a chance that you're going to go down.

59:42Yeah, I don't necessarily look at them. I don't think they'll be going down. And I don't think they'll be in a full battle as such. But again, it's tough because again, it's August. That's why every take I have at this point in the season always comes with that caveat. Like, oh, it's early. You know what I mean? Like, Jokic didn't do much last week. Oh, but it's early. Does well this week. Yeah, but it's early. Like, this team's not doing it. Yeah, but it's early. so I don't think I personally don't think they'll be involved in a proper dogfight as such because I still think they do have enough quality to carry themselves a little bit above say the potential bottom three but you know they do need to find some level of format I understand what you're saying but I wouldn't necessarily judge them based on like say losing a game to City or away at Bournemouth to be honest even though Bournemouth aren't necessarily going to have the season that they had last year I don't know who their next fixtures are but I wouldn't be surprised if they got a result in the coming weeks How can you not know?

1:00:32I know, I know, I know Plastic wools. Absolute outrage. That's okay. Newcastle play Liverpool tonight. We'll cover that on tomorrow's pod. Sam, your feelings going into this? My feelings? I mean, how long have we got? It's not long. Two minutes, maybe one. I'm looking forward to it, right? It's going to be a cracking night. There are obvious extra spicy elements to it. I like Dan, can't wait for the transfer window to shut. I think the big name is Alexander Izak. I do think he will be a Newcastle player, actually come the transfer window closing. I think we'll see a lovely statement on September 1st written by his agent again, probably saying, oh, you know, there's been a lot of misunderstanding going on this summer.

1:01:11I'd like to apologise to the Newcastle fans who I've always loved and Eddie Howe, my relationship with him has never wavered. Let's look forward to a good season. Hashtag Kowei the lads. And I think he'll spell it incorrectly and use like the Sunderland spelling or something like that. But look, tonight is... Oh yeah. It's big. On the game itself, I think it was free all last year. high intensity I'm looking forward to it Liverpool have got defensively they're still growing sorting themselves out they haven't got a right back Kerkers is still settling in I wish we had a centre forward yes of course I do but we've got Newcastle have got pace the midfield battle will be brilliant I don't think Slott and Eddie Howe are the kind of characters the stuff that's going on transfer wise is way above their heads I don't think that will impact them it will definitely impact the crowd it will turn it up a decibel or two I mean without going into the exact stuff in detail that's all i can say really it's been done plenty of times and there's probably nothing new i can add uh well on coventry beat qpr 7-1 it's like your old days now didn't love to throw down whoa whoa whoa whoa don't be like that don't do that same day the club my friend same day the club announced they bought their ground um apparently the xg was just over one although looking at the highlights it definitely didn't look it looked more than one watching them score seven i must admit highlight of the game was the optimistic qpr player, picking the ball out of the net in the 92nd minute or something and running back to the centre circle.

1:02:33We're still in this, lads. Oh, Max, honestly, I hate you so much. Mark Langdon messaged me this. Lots of people have seen it. Notts County subs yesterday. Gordon and Bennett just standing there perfectly next to each other. It's a lovely picture. We've got an EFL pod next Tuesday. Producer Joel hoping QPL stay terrible until the weekend when they host Charlton, following presumably a humbling Charlton's humbling at Cambridge in the producer presenter Football Weekly Derby in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday Sam finally you were at Morecambe you had a busy weekend you were at Morecambe for this injury time winner for their new manager it was wonderful you know what I mentioned Everton earlier right when I was sat there waiting for me dinner watching was it Ashley Young and Louis Saha speaking from on top of a hotel stand with a swimming pool at Fulham and then panning to poor Palace fans who've been screwed over for a multi-club ownership I was just wishing I was back at Morecambe where football was so pure like it Sani has done a brilliant job our colleague of covering the story but I was chatting to fans outside like there was this whole family like three generations were there there was a Scottish guy called Willie who'd come down 35 years ago to work at the power plant and become is he the ground he's not the groundskeeper right not the groundskeeper like he was he was talking about how it would have just left such a vacuum in his life.

1:03:51I checked to Keefe, who was the drummer, who started crying as he was telling me memories of like holding his son in his first game in the terrace. And they were, like what a difference a week makes. They were a week away from there being no football this season. And they were told they had to play the game because it was on DAZN. Manager out, manager in, they had five senior players on Monday. I think they signed a dozen. They had two training sessions together, which had to be limited to 60 minutes because the players haven't had a pre-season right you couldn't buy hot food a tube of pringles is all you could get in the ground the new owners were there they were introduced to panjab warriors and they scored after six minutes and this guy announcer mark swindlehurst who's been there 32 years it was the best announcement i've ever heard six minutes in they score and it goes well well well and the crowd just went absolutely bananas and then altering them equalized and second half they're holding on right literally half of the more comes out of down with cramp they really like cannot cope the players aren't physically in the place to be playing this game and the manager ashvah Singh jahal who's a very interesting character he switches formation he said to me afterwards we hadn't played 5-3-2 so actually the players had to run over i wrote it down on a bit of paper where they were all going to play and i showed it to them 10 minutes injury time he is absolutely fuming and then in the eighth minute they break and i watched him and he had his hands on his head and a couple of seconds later the ball ends up in the back of the net and he's running down the touchline it's almost marino s the ground is exploding swindlehurst is back going well well well and it was just the sheer joy the owners are up there celebrating like the fans had said to me beforehand if we get relegated this season it doesn't matter because at least it's football we get to talk about again it's not stuff off the field and you couldn't have scripted it any better it was absolutely perfect um the next day sunday having all cramped up.

1:05:45They had a coach to Oldershot where they've got a game at Oldershot on Bank Holiday Monday. They've got a whole node of new players, but they're just playing football and they have a football club and it was wonderful. Listen, beautifully articulated there, Sam. No better place to end this podcast, I think. Thanks, everybody. Thanks, Sam. Thanks, Max. Thanks, Nathan. Thank you very much. Cheers, Dan. Thank you, Max. Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove. Our executive producer is Danielle Stephens. We'll be back tomorrow.

1:06:15This is The Guardian.