The Carabao Cup semis and more upheaval at Real Madrid: Football Weekly Extra

26:27Philippe Auclair:It's just unbelievable. because you've got the World Cup coming in 2030, you've got another AFCON probably coming in 2028, first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal, their world champions are under 20, you could carry on like that. Their clubs are doing well. There's been huge investment in football, a little bit like what's happening in Hungary with Orban, by the way, in Morocco, in terms, you've seen the stadiums, which are absolutely magnificent, blah, blah, blah, blah. There's an awful lot. And then they're expected to win because I heard that and I thought this must be wrong. They haven't lost at home for 16 years.

27:04November 2009, last time they lost a home game.

27:07Philippe Auclair:Exactly. Now 39 games unbeaten on home soil. So I would imagine that they can feel a little bit perhaps nervous when there's like somebody who's only been singing at the open mic at the pub who suddenly gets to play Carnegie Hall. and there's a lot of pressure there. So I can understand. And I have some sympathy for both teams. I thought the second semi-final was cagey, was not what we were expecting, but at least they tried. And in the end, I think about the right result was reached for many reasons. Morocco did have more shots on target. They did try to create more. But I have to say, there was one reason why this game actually will...

27:55Philippe Auclair:I didn't mind watching it. is that we had one of the great performances, the greatest individual performance of this AFCON, which was Kelvin Basset, was absolutely phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. I don't know if he plays like that for Fulham. I don't quite think so. But he was absolutely incredible. And even though he would have missed the final if Nigeria had qualified, and that in itself, he was the man of the match, and he wasn't the losing side.

28:23Max Rushden:Yeah, those yellow cards are...

28:26Philippe Auclair:Crazy.

28:27Max Rushden:Yeah, it's nuts. So Calvin Bassi, if Nigeria had gone through, Calvin Bassi would have missed the final because he got two yellow cards in the knockout stages. Senegal have gone through. Habib Diara from Sunderland, he will miss the final because he got two yellow cards in the knockout stages. And Kalidu Koulibaly is also suspended for the final because he got two yellow cards in the knockout stages. I think he also got sent off in the group stage, but it's for the two yellows that he's missing the final. I think he's probably going to be injured anyway, but they need to sort that out. You want the best of both teams in the final.

29:07That rule's been taken out of pretty much every major competition as far as I know, so I can't understand why AFCON wouldn't make it uniform and do it as well, because that rule's been atrocious since I've been watching football, but it's gone from the Champions League, World Cup, Euro, he's gone from everything else. So the fact that he's still at AFCON is amazing, really.

29:27Max Rushden:And the fact that Calvin Bassie played so well, knowing he would miss the final, there's shades of Roy Keane in 1999, that semi-final against Juventus there, because, you know, it must be very upsetting. And the yellow card he got yesterday was thoroughly undeserved, like thoroughly undeserved. It wasn't even a foul. I just think I saw an interview with Roy Keane from years ago where Fergie was praising him for this, and Roy Keane was typically Roy Keane going well what do you want me to do it's my job isn't it so you know it's just like a postman don't praise a postman for posting letters don't ask that I'm insulted you asked me that question you know it's just a classic uh keynote uh anyway uh to Manchester United uh they go to Manchester City uh the game of the weekend Dan it's a a baptism of fire for Michael Carrick who has managed Manchester United before in 2021 I think I knew this he won two and drew one of his three games in charge um so uh what do you make of the appointment he had some tough games in that spell as well i think he drew away at chelsea and beat arsenal in in that little spell that he had so decent track record i've got a feeling that manchester united might turn up for this one they've got they've got a track record of every now and again in a big game they take you completely by surprise i've got a feeling that they'll be running harder, they'll be working harder.

30:46Something might come together. City have been a little bit stodgy in the league recently, drawing a few games. I've got a feeling that the crowd will be up for this one and Manchester United have got the chance to do something here. And listen, they're on 32 points, which is one point off fifth, three points off fourth. So from the ever-ongoing crisis, Philippe, they could finish in the top four this season.

31:14Philippe Auclair:Yes, and would we be extraordinarily surprised if that were the case? I don't think so, because we've got two teams which are clearly ahead, one which is doing its best to hold on to their coattails, and then behind that, it's like, eh, good luck, guys. Good luck, guys. So they might well be in the Champions League next season, and when we look back, we'll think, well, actually, the reason why they're in such a position because of this run of three wins on the trot with Ruben Amorim and, you know, whatever. We don't know. It's ridiculous. The whole thing is ridiculous. As to the Manchester derby, I was looking, actually.

31:54Philippe Auclair:The results have often come against, I was going to say, not the run of play, but what you would have expected in recent years, even when Manchester City have been flying. They always found this, like, it's a very strange one. It's a very strange one. So there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to do that. They will also have Brian Nbomo back. Yeah, and he's good. He's good at football. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah. And Ahmed back. They're very good at football. They are. So, I don't know. I'm looking forward to this one. And especially against this Man City defense. That could be fun. I mean, even though I have to say, we didn't say that, but honestly, Man City having a front three of Doku, Haaland, Semenyu, that's absolutely scary absolutely scary so it could be great fun loads of goals

32:45Max Rushden:are we concerned for City insofar as Erling Haaland has now not scored from open play in six games when it looked like he was absolutely running away with the golden boot well it now feels like he'll definitely score a hat-trick this weekend I mean you say lots of fun and lots of goals what won't be fun is Tottenham v West Ham. As producer Joel says, the saddest game in football this weekend. Just how good is Dr. Tottenham? They'd need to be like house to resuscitate West Ham. But Barry, you can just, you can feel it, can't you? You could just, you can feel an early West Ham goal and then just, oh, just it ebbs away into nothing.

33:28Max Rushden:It would not be a surprise if Tottenham lost this game. Oh, if they do. I mean, that has to be it for Thomas Frank, really, doesn't it? Obviously, they've signed Conor Gallagher. He may well play if fit. And I think he's a great signing for Tottenham. On the face of it, it could all go horribly pear-shaped. But they've got him for a bargain price, I think, by today's standards. He's a good player. I'm a big fan of his as a player. And let's see what happens when he's thrown into the meat grinder. Is Conor Gallagher I'm going to sound like a salty bitter Villa fan here because we obviously wanted to sign him and he's gone to Tottenham I promise you that's not what I'm doing here Tottenham for me they've got people that will work hard in midfield to me they need a ball playing midfielder is Gallagher going to come in instantly and solve Tottenham's problems Max?

34:24Do you remember when England Gallagher played for England and everyone was furious because he's not that kind of player I think he's a better version of and he's not a defensive midfielder. He's a sort of eight. Sid's coming on in a bit, so we can ask him and sort of how he's been for Atleti. But, you know, he does get in the box. He does score goals. But you're right. They still don't have anyone who can pass the ball. So that is, you know, that's definitely on the list. We should mention Freddie Potts in the West Ham program. Five people he wants to have dinner with. And he picked Donald Trump, Cristiano Ronaldo, Elon Musk, Ricky Gervais and Ed Sheeran.

34:59He's not read the room there, has he? Well, I mean, you know, he's read his own room, I guess. Cristiano Ronaldo and Elon Musk can be quite cool to speak to. I listen to a lot of his podcasts. He seems quite cool, he says about Elon. Does remind me of Damien Delaney's fantasy dinner party when at Palace of Napoleon Bonaparte, Chairman Mao, Genghis Khan, Joseph Stalin, and Keith Richards. Keith's got his work cut out, hasn't he, for that one.

35:25Max Rushden:Is it bad that the two people on Freddie Potter's guest list that I find most objectionable are Ed Sheeran and Ricky Gervais. I think it probably is. Liverpool Burnley, Liverpool with Barzi 4-1 on Monday night. The Dominic Saboslay back heel was the main talking point here, Philippe. Huge, a wild overreaction. Conor Hurahan, the Barzi manager, called it disrespectful. Arna Slott called it weird. I mean, it was sort of, you know, he was clearly playing with great confidence. you know he'd scored a brilliant goal and he was running sort of past you know he was just running sort of the other way i thought he'd flick it back to the keeper and he just was made to look stupid but i think it's a bit odd to say it was disrespectful don't you yeah no i think it's

36:12Philippe Auclair:it's absurd uh first of all if he if it if it had worked which he should have would anybody have said it was disrespectful nobody would have batted an eyelid it's it's a football skill it's just like backhealing the ball well not backhealing it's just passing it back with with your studs we've all done that tried to very often with the same result as the Monique Sabostai in this particular game that's true there was nothing disrespectful about that it was very stupid it was stupid who got annoyed when someone tried a Penenka and it and they missed it wasn't the Lefeu Penenka was it Welbeck and then the opposition got really annoyed with him as if it was disrespectful why why are you bothered?

36:53It's just Mr. Penalty. Villa play Everton, Dan. Your obligatory Villa minute. Philippe described you as just clinging on to the top two. Is that how you see it? I thought it was very disrespectful from Villa. I was thinking at the time. Villa at home, look, I just expect Villa to win their home games because usually that's what they do. Everton are no great shakes. At the moment, I think Jack Grealish is back from suspension, so that's always an interesting story when he comes back to Villa Park. I wonder, when he's not playing for Manchester City, whether he'll get a slightly better reception than he did the last time he played against the club.

37:32But I would expect us to win that game. And for as long as we're in touch, I guess essentially we're in the race. Yeah. While we're on Villa, the Chief of West Midlands Police, Craig Guildford, has apologised to MPs for giving them incorrect evidence about the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, saying it had been produced by artificial intelligence. He told the Home Affairs Select Committee on Monday the inclusion of a fictitious match between Maccabee Tel Aviv and West Ham in police intelligence arose as a result of the use of Microsoft Co-Pilot. In an email to the Home Affairs Select Committee published on Wednesday, Gilbert said he'd like to offer his profound apology for the error.

38:08Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has declared she's lost confidence in him. The report by Sir Andy Cook, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, found several errors in how the West Midlands Force gathered intelligence on the risks of Maccabee fans coming to Birmingham. the threat was greatly exaggerated leaving a safety committee that relied on police intelligence with little or no option but to ban them it said the force made misleading statements through confirmation bias and carelessness rather than any deliberate distortion and not through anti-semitism nor was alleged to be bowing to political pressure from those in birmingham angered by israel's alleged genocide in gaza i think finding a fictitious football i mean i know nothing about ai but like coming up with a game that hasn't happened it's sort of extraordinary isn't it

38:48Max Rushden:I'll tell you, Max, it's not uncommon. AI does not know much about football because I occasionally put things in or ask questions and the amount of stuff it gets wrong is incredible. So unless you have a fairly good knowledge of football, if you're relying on AI for information, there's a very good chance it will be incorrect. Whether it's injury news, players, you know, there was one thing I looked up recently they still had Eberici as a Palace player yeah just all sorts of things it's not to be trusted you need to check yeah and set your own joke about it would fit right in on this panel etc etc rest of the games we'll cover on Monday Chelsea, Brentford Sunderland Palace Leeds, Fulham Forest Arsenal Wolves, Newcastle and Brighton vs Bournemouth that's on Monday night but Sid Lowe joins us in just a second and we will talk about the demise of Xabi Alonso.

39:57Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. Let's go to Madrid. Sid Lowe's here. Hey, Sid. Good morning, Max. You were in Albertay last night where they beat Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. You sent some great pictures. I mean, before we get onto the Real Madrid story, what a night for them. Yeah, and I'm glad you've done that because, of course, everyone's talking about Real Madrid. and everyone always talks about Real Madrid and defeats like this, but it's quite nice to talk about the other team for a while. This is the first time Alba Thetia have ever beaten Real Madrid. This is a team that's 17th in the second division, one point off relegation that's really struggling, that was playing with their subs.

40:29And then everyone's looked at the Real Madrid team and gone, well, you know, it was full of subs. So was their team. The guy who scored two of the goals as well as love his story. I admit that I've done this at pace, but kind of going through the list like that, I think he's playing for his 22nd club. in five some finish the winning goal is great it's gorgeous isn't it he runs through um admittedly if looning comes out that the move doesn't even happen but looning sort of doubts so he runs through he gets the first shot he rebounds back to him comes back to me you think the chance is gone he just does this really gentle little kind of clip into the corner he's from the canary islands eight or nine years ago he gave up football because he said his head wasn't in it he wasn't in the right right place he wasn't mentally feeling good about it didn't want to continue you being a footballer because those 22 clubs in five countries they're mostly lower level you know greece cyprus romania he's been austria uh in spain i don't think he's played in the top flight uh or at least not since the very very start as he was coming through and he gave up and he became an electrician for a while all right and he put round his lights out how much do you think xabi alonso would have enjoyed watching that game last night or is he too nice to have been like I was one of the many, many, many recipients, I'm sure, of a photograph of Xavi Alonso as he just turns back to the bench and a little smile crosses his face.

41:49And that was doing the rounds last night. There's been a lot of discussion about this. And I think it helps Alonso in the short term, at least, because a lot of discussion has been along the lines of this shows that it's not about the manager. Now, in truth, I don't think many people really thought it was. Now, look, they did in that Alonso wasn't able to impose his ideas. He wasn't able to get through to the players. and of course that is partly his responsibility. But I think in terms of, if you like, a kind of a public perception of who to blame for Real Madrid's problems, the finger was very definitely pointing at the players, not at him anyway.

42:20This has helped, if you like, to make the debate a bit broader, to make the debate a bit more structural. But admittedly, obviously, it's only one game and Arbolado in his first game. I mean, you know, talking about the jokes about electricians and so on, but for 20 minutes last night, the fog came down and you couldn't see anything. And they were without doubt the best 20 minutes we saw from Real Madrid. Look, so much whenever, you know, the discussion turns around Madrid, it's about, look, you can't have a manager that has a structure. It's just vibes. They just need a vibes man. You've got all these egos.

42:50There was some footage which actually you can explain after the Super Cup of Mbappe and sort of waving at Xabi Alonso and sort of dismissively. What was happening there? I must admit, when I first saw this and the explanation of this, I found it so hard to believe in terms of that can't seriously have just happened. There was a bit of me thinking, please, there's got to be another explanation. Now, another explanation has been offered up, but it's come a bit late and it feels a little bit like an excuse. So let me explain the scene for you. Barcelona's players are going up to get their medals or about to go up to get their medals.

43:24And it looks very much like Alonso is waving the players over to say, we give them a guard of honour. Mbappé is I don't know 15 maybe 20 meters away from him saying no sod that and and waving the players off saying we're not doing that come over here come over here instead come over here instead and what happens is this is a sort of a pause as people kind of look around and then they go with Mbappé and also sort of shrugs and gives up and goes in Mbappé's direction as well and as a kind of a portrait of wow who really is in charge here it's very powerful now the alternative suggestion has been that this was about a kind of a phalanx of photographers and cameramen and so on trying to get the bar sign image and that ramadriel was standing in their way so it wasn't quite as direct as saying well i'm not doing that i'm not doing what you say as no no this is the place to stand which obviously is far less dramatic but as a portrait as an image it's very powerful and of course because so much of the discussion in all of this has been about manager authority players doing what they want not so much about tactics and so on although obviously that plays into this but about culture uh and and about kind of dynamics and and people basically yeah and so what what's the answer then i mean is our below the answer right well no our below is not the answer which isn't to say that things might not go okay our below is not the answer because the question is is broader than that it's not just who's on the bench but you the way you phrased it a minute ago was was it they just need someone who gives them vibes who lets them play and here in at heart i suppose is the question is is that just what they need and if they did that would that be enough or has football moved in a direction where even if you've got really really good players and you let someone who says okay keep them happy keep them relatively fit and let them play is that how we read that yeah get out there and kick the ball about a bit no wonder in the bloody reserves um but but you know is that enough and so this this is part of the debate here now you look at that Real Madrid squad and it's nowhere near as good as a squad that won those Champions Leagues uh equally there there's been a shift in the way and football's much more about press and high tempo and so on now now that's not to say you can't maybe be counter-cultural and and still win it's only a couple of years since Real Madrid won the Champions League you look at Real Madrid's history and it's full of these kind of cycles the manager comes wants a structure it doesn't quite work he goes someone turns up and goes hey here we go winning again now you look at you look at the you know let's not forget Zidane came in as an emergency coach the first time around Del Bosco came in as an emergency coach the first time Ancelotti didn't come as an emergency coach but he did come at a time in which things weren't working and and you know this is story I've told this before but I think it's worth reminding people because we sometimes forget it Ancelotti his second spell at the club comes because he gets phoned up by Real Madrid no sorry he phones Real Madrid's chief executive while he's at Everton to talk about potential signings.

46:13You know, basically, have you got any off cuts that we could have? And there's a bit of a conversation and he asks, oh, how's it going, by the way? Your search for a manager. And they say, oh, not very well. We can't really get anyone. He said, well, have you forgotten about the guy who won you the 10th European Cup? I'm like, what? And Ancelotti plants this idea and they come back to him and go, oh yeah, all right then. Does that work for all Everton managers? Could David Moyes do it now? I like the idea of David Moyes phoning up Barcelona just you know let's just give it a go just in case just a more sensible question I guess then is it's not is our below the answer or is is a vibes man enough is it the do the squad have too much power are the egos in the squad too powerful to accept a structure tactics guy in which case you know surely they are as brilliant footballers that someone would realize we need somebody who could make us be better than this or would it take not winning stuff for two years to work that out well i mean this is the thing okay and so much of this on the face it can be really clear-cut but then of course you get all of these nuances um and and as you've just said do they need two years of failure for people to go okay let's do this right now this is part of the issue here when when alonso takes over in theory is it the best possible time because madrid were disastrous last year now if ever there's a moment in which people look at it and think actually you know what we could do with some of this and of course part of the point is that Alonso there's a there was a column from Valdano Jorge Valdano back in uh back in October or November time I think and the headline you don't really need to read the rest of it or the rest of it as it's Valdano and always is is really really good but the headline sort of sums it up really nicely and it says Xavi Alonso accused of doing what he was asked to do and that's essentially the kind of position so you bring someone in because you want this structure in theory because you see or you recognise some need for it, but then you don't either have the culture or the people or the authority to follow it through.

48:10Now, in all of this, again, it's a bit simplistic to take it to one image, but the image that really sums it up, of course, is Vinicius in the Classico. Now, for those who don't, this is a Classico that Real Madrid won. This is Alonso's best moment, which turns out to be his worst moment. He takes off Vinicius with, I think, about 15 minutes to go. Vinicius comes off in a half, goes straight down the tunnel, says, right, that's it, I'll leave the team then. All right, you don't want me, well, I might as well just leave, shall I? I'll just get out of here, will I? And he walks off. Now, this is in front of 80 ,000 people and however many millions of people are watching at home.

48:38In front of Alonso, no attempt to hide it, a direct challenge. Now, the challenge itself is a problem, obviously. But what's a problem really is what happens next. And what happens next is nothing. No reasserting of the manager's authority. No attempt to deal with, if you like, the behaviour of the player. There's a public apology from Vinicius in which he names everyone but very pointedly doesn't name the manager. And so at that point, the manager's authority is gone. And so any attempt to reinforce that is, you know, if you've got a manager who's trying to do things that players don't like, at some point you need some higher authority saying, well, tough shit.

49:17But no one did. So it's Florentino Perez's fault? Well, I mean, in the end, the culture comes down to that. Now, obviously, all of this is nuanced again, because with this structure, with this system, with these ideas, with him as president, they've had phenomenal years. But in this kind of environment, yes. And also, there's another thing here, which is, of course, that Faurantino was not particularly enamoured with the idea of Xavi Alonso in the first place. There are other people at the club who wanted to bring him in. And actually, this is a recurring theme as well. is that for the most part, Faurantino tends not to believe in managers because he is a player's man in terms of what he thinks the driving force of football is.

49:50And so you get, again, it comes back to that thing we're saying on the face of it, it's clear cut, but it's nuanced, which is that in theory, this is what they wanted. But did they want it enough to follow it through with all its consequences to reinforce it the way it probably needed to be reinforced? And the answer to that, I think, is no. And are the fans still just, they love the Galacticos? You know, it's hard not to love Vinicius and Mbappe, right? Wow. Okay, well, so here's the thing, right? So yes and no, because of course everybody loves a superstar player. But Vinicius has been booed and whistled a lot this year.

50:21Vinicius, you know, the fan's finger at the moment is pointing at the players. Nobody ever asked for Alonso to be sacked. Nobody ever whistled Alonso. They whistled the team. They whistled individual players and Vinicius in particular. But no one went for Alonso. So this isn't a decision that is backed by, if you like, a kind of a public, what would you call it a public uprising in feeling against Alonso this isn't a lot of people saying that manager's shit get rid of him bring someone else in and so now that I think makes the club's position even more difficult because nobody was watching Real Madrid this year and I think it's worth saying this because it can sound a little bit if we do this analysis like we're saying Alonso is entirely blameless and what the hell did they do no one can kind of watch Real Madrid this season and said they were any good they really weren't and of course a manager carries some of the responsibility for that but nor was anyone saying right there wasn't a as I say there wasn't this upsurge of opinion that wanted the manager sacked there just wasn't.

51:17Sid Jude

51:18Max Rushden:Bellingham has taken to social media as they say to react with anger righteous anger to suggestions that he was part of the group of players who wanted Alonso out do you know is he is his fury be justified? Well I think his fear is justified in in terms of feeling like people are pointing at him individually rather than this being a kind of if you like a collective culture breakdown from the way it was put to me the relationship between Alonso and Bellingham wasn't bad but it is true that Alonso but Bellingham's a quite a difficult piece to fit in and certainly to fit in with some of the others and his position has changed and his frustration I think has been clear as well you know this is a guy that came in the first season wasn't expecting it but was converted into sort of a sort of centre forward you know a guy running from from a high position midfield scoring loads of goals suddenly Bellingham's got 20 goals oh this is ace isn't it and then he gets moved and he gets moved a little bit to the left a little bit behind the forward a little bit as a central midfielder and it's certainly true that his fit with Alonso hasn't quite happened and it is also true and you know this is this is I've kind of enjoyed this game a little bit that Alonso gets sacked and you've almost got like a countdown clock or sort of a list of players right who has said goodbye and thanks mister and you go oh tick tick tick and we get into the second day and seven players haven't even said anything yet and one of them is bellingham who eventually does and but of course at that point everyone's thinking oh i better say something and i quite admire vinicius you know i quite admire vinicius saying you know what no i'm not gonna be such a hypocrite as to do the thing that says oh mister sorry it didn't work out thanks i've learned so much from you no you know what i didn't like him i'm not saying shit quick one on conor gallagher dave says gallagher to spurs for 35 million seems like a really sensible bit of business for the club how are they going to screw it up um we've talked about it a bit already sid but like how do you view it how do you view because he was loved in his first season wasn't he at atleti just a very a very quick thing here which tells you something about the difference i think between the two leagues um 40 million euros 35 million pounds seems like good business for spurs which i assume from that statement means that's not very much money atletico madrid look at this and think oh that's a lot of money because of course the financial realities of the two leagues even at the big clubs um is is huge Colin Gallagher started really really well really well and was seen very much as a simi-only kind of player very intense very aggressive chasing people down very enthusiastic uh I think I remember reading one column talking about him as you know he's like a puppy he's chasing everyone around and he's you know he's he's really into this truth is he hasn't had the opportunities that he would like I feel that probably emotionally for him it can't have been that easy how often he was taken off early not just taken off in games but taken off at halftime this isn't working we make a change the first change is him um and i think it is essentially at heart i'm going to strip it down to the most basic thing of all i think if you want a midfielder to run the game for you it from the middle of midfield the truth is the other midfielders at atletico madrid are better at that than him and i think he is as an extra midfielder arriving in the penalty area making things happen being dynamic was very very was very good for them but it and i think was quite popular as well by the way i think everyone was really you know quite pleased with him but there just were other options that in the end felt stronger giuliano simeone on one side nico gonzalev on the other if he was going to play wide in midfield and you know that classic simeone thing of playing a central midfielder wide to kind of bolster the middle but if he's going to be in the middle and running the game then coque and pablo barrios are probably more suited to it and that's even without cardosa who they signed in the summer and has been injured and will eventually probably play that role.

54:54Finally, Sam says, Dear Max Barry and the Guardian Football Weekly Team, long-time listener, enjoy the pod here. Writing in for a request from my great mate Jack. Jack and I moved to London in 2017, have been listening to the pod ever since while attending several live shows with the stand-up being Earth where we met several guests and we're delighted to have Jonathan Wilson regale a story about his excellent figures from an Essex League cricket match the summer prior. Why doesn't that surprise me? Two for 24. Never meet your heroes. No. Oh, dearie me. Anyway, Jack is a massive gooner. He's getting married in Barbados in mid-January to his fiancée Liv, who's a Spurs fan, in the loosest possible sense.

55:32I've noticed in the last couple of months... Sorry, what is the loose sense of being a Spurs fan? Is that like you're only depressed half the time? Yeah, probably. Probably my kind of Spurs, Link. You've got a real club. They're the ones that just make you even sadder at the weekend. I have noticed in the last couple of months that Jack has moved from quiet confidence about Arsenal's title charge to a mild sense of panic where he's telling anyone who will listen that Villa are outperforming their XG and City are over-reliant on Haaland. With this in mind, I think it will be an absolute treat for him if Barry could, one, wish Jack and live all the best for the big day, and two, send Jack some words of comfort to allay his fears about the title race over the coming months.

56:08Thanks and keep up the excellent work, Sam. Hello to Sid's dog, Rossa. If that was your dog. I don't think it was mine. No, I think it was Dan's. I'm the guilty one there. Who's your dog? We welcome all dogs. That was Ruby. My wife's dog, and my dog is very quiet and blind and deaf, so he doesn't make any noise, but that was her dog, Ruby. Apologies for that. She heard about Villa's XG being criticised and just wasn't happy about it.

56:35Max Rushden:Barry, over to you. Well, I'd like to wish Jack and Liv all the very best for their marriage. Getting married in Barbados must be doing well for themselves unless they're going to the cheap part of the island. and as for words of comfort about Arsenal I don't I have quite a few Arsenal supporting friends who will be utterly insufferable when they win the title and that's the only reason I really don't want Arsenal to win the title because I'll have to find a new pub to drink in and I don't want why don't you go to Barbados and find a pub that resolves this I thought you were going to say find a wife Sid who could love me either way go to Barbados find a wife find a pub but I'm with you second to Emery's Villa is the dream for the neutrals isn't it sorry to say that Philippe but yes thank you Sam and good luck to Jack and Liv and that'll do for today thank you everybody thank you Dan thank you very much thank you Sid Max Max cheers Philippe thank you Max and thank you Barry thank you oh the wedding was yesterday by the way hope it went well sorry we're late to put more week for here She's on a flight back already.

57:49She ran out of the altar. Football Weekly produced by Joel Grove. Our executive producer is Bill Maynard.

57:58Max Rushden:This is The Guardian.

58:06Max Rushden:A father's absence can have a serious effect on a child. Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school and 11 times more likely to exhibit violent behavior. I'm attorney Jeffrey Leving, and I've been protecting the rights of fathers for more than 30 years. Dads, don't lose your important relationship with your children. Call 312-356-DADS. That's 312-356-DADS for help and a free father's rights information kit. For more information, visit dadsrights.com.