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In short
The episode of Guardian Football Weekly Extra focuses on the Football League’s early-season return and two club crises: Sheffield Wednesday’s financial collapse and Morecambe’s suspension from the National League. It discusses how the EFL/FA regulator can’t easily intervene in privately owned clubs, even when fixtures can be fulfilled, and argues that regulatory reform may reduce future cases. Key examples include Sheffield Wednesday players facing delayed wages for a third month, the North Stand at Hillsborough being closed due to roof corrosion, and the possibility of expulsion/points deductions if fixtures can’t be met. Morecambe’s case includes a failed EFL-approved sale, unpaid wages (over £300,000 outstanding), football operations ceasing due to unpaid insurance, and a Compliance and Licensing Committee meeting on 20 August.
Guests/panel
Barry Glendening; Max Sani Rudravadula; George Elek (Not the Top 20).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOEarly Season Surprises
0:46 to 2:14
Discussion on surprising early season games and performances in the EFL.
“that's today's Guardian Football Weekly on the panel today Barry Glendening welcome hi Max Sani Rudravadula, hello.”
Sheffield Wednesday's Crisis
2:15 to 2:56
Examination of Sheffield Wednesday's financial and managerial troubles.
“Well, if that's a sign of things to come.”
Impact of Financial Issues
2:57 to 5:14
Discussion on the repercussions of financial issues at Sheffield Wednesday and potential consequences.
“The club were told to carry out repairs after extensive corrosion was found in the roof.”
EFL's Role and Limitations
5:15 to 6:59
Exploration of the EFL's responsibilities and their limitations in aiding struggling clubs.
“That feels like there's a precipice pretty soon where they're going to fall off it.”
Regulatory Changes in Football
7:00 to 9:29
Discussion on regulatory changes in football and their expected impact on club ownership.
“And if you don't fit in with those rules, then bury the example that gets thrown in your face.”
Sheffield Wednesday's Future Prospects
9:30 to 11:27
Analysis of potential buyers for Sheffield Wednesday and the club's future.
“because of those tests that are now in place.”
Consequences of Fixture Failures
11:28 to 14:00
Examination of what happens if Sheffield Wednesday cannot fulfill their fixtures.
“to remember when Sheffield Wednesday were a massive club a force to be reckoned with.”
EFL's Potential Expulsion of Sheffield Wednesday
14:00 to 15:47
Learn about the risk Sheffield Wednesday faces regarding fixture fulfillment and league expulsion.
“If they can't fulfil their fixtures then they'll be expelled from the league we assume and then the points will be awarded across the leagues and there'll be a 23 team league.”
Crisis at Morecambe: Ownership Issues
15:48 to 16:42
Explore the current ownership crisis at Morecambe and their struggles to secure a sale.
“They've fixed their way to Boston United on the 9th of August.”
Morecambe's Financial Struggles and Key Players
16:43 to 19:28
Understand the financial difficulties Morecambe faces and how it affects staff and players.
“You know, that didn't go particularly well.”
Show all 25 chapters
Panjab Warriors: Prospective Ownership and Trust
19:29 to 22:28
Assess the reliability of Panjab Warriors as prospective owners of Morecambe and their background.
“So they may, as things stand, have played their last game because their first three this season have been postponed.”
Jason Whittingham's Controversial Leadership
22:29 to 25:06
Delve into the controversial actions and motivations of Morecambe's current owner, Jason Whittingham.
“One other quick point I would say is Derek Adams, you know, for most of us, probably has not the best reputation, right?”
Analyzing Championship Players and Manager Changes
28:00 to 28:46
Discussion on the performance of championship players and managerial changes affecting team dynamics.
“But for the last 10, 15 games of the season, they were, in terms of points per game, one of the best teams in the league.”
Cardiff's Prospects and Manager Insights
28:46 to 29:53
Exploration of Cardiff City's management and potential for the upcoming season.
“with a fraction of the talent that Luton have got at the top of League One before he decided to move our club last season.”
Watford's Managerial Performance Analysis
29:53 to 30:58
A breakdown of Tom Cleverley's managerial performance and expectations at Watford.
“I haven't actually got to the League 1 yet.”
Long-term Strategies in Football Management
30:58 to 31:59
Discussion on the long-term strategies of Cardiff and Plymouth in building their teams.
“It's just kind of between both boxes, then possibly red flags there.”
Huddersfield Town's Transfer Strategy
31:59 to 33:49
Analysis of Huddersfield Town's recent signings and management approach.
“and in Cleverley they've done that with a manager who I guess they hope can learn and grow with them.”
Noel Hunt's Management at Reading
33:49 to 35:30
Insight into Noel Hunt's management of Reading and the challenges faced.
“which I'd love to know if that is a transfer window record if anyone's ever signed five centre-backs in one four and they've also got about eight strikers.”
Expectations for Reading's Upcoming Season
35:30 to 36:53
Discussion on Reading's expectations and player changes ahead of the new season.
“I really hope that, and we had them pretty low down and now onto 24s and the reaction from Reading fans was a surprise given how close they were to the top six last season.”
Relegation Predictions for League One
36:53 to 38:10
Predictions on which teams might face relegation in League One.
“because the disparity of wealth in League One is pretty big.”
League Two Predictions and Team Insights
38:10 to 39:26
Predictions and analysis of teams in League Two for the upcoming season.
“For the first time in years, you haven't relegated Cambridge United from your League One predictions because they're not in it.”
Oldham's Return to League Two and Challenges
39:26 to 40:48
Discussion on Oldham's return to League Two and expected performance.
“I'll stick it in the Abbey Stadium, Max, of course.”
Salford City's Struggles and Management
40:48 to 42:00
Analysis of Salford City's management issues and potential for promotion.
“But Barnett finished with 30-odd more points than them last season.”
Morecambe's Struggles and Oldham's Revival
42:00 to 48:39
Discussion on Morecambe's current challenges and Oldham's positive turnaround under new ownership.
“And you think the ones they've got already, I mean, Cole Stockton was one who like had a period of scoring amazing goals from Morecambe.”
Football Updates and Listener Interaction
48:50 to 55:20
Recap of football events and listener shout-outs, including personal anecdotes and humor.
“We signed him from Coventry when he was 21.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This is The Guardian.
0:30George Elek:by the council will ask if they're going to be in any shape to start the season and if and whether the EFL will do anything about it meanwhile Morecambe have been suspended by the National League we'll unpick how that's happened onto the pitch in League One could Dirty Luton bounce back in League Two who will stop Neil Harris's Amber Army we'll answer your questions as always and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly on the panel today Barry Glendening welcome hi Max Sani Rudravadula, hello. Hello, the season is starting too early. Can I just say that right now? There was a game on. I'm bringing George Elek from Not the Top 20 as well.
1:06George Elek:Hey, George, you okay? Hello, yes. I think it was your Twitter account, George, that posted a goal scored, I think, by Newport County in a game that was happening. And I was like, what is this game? Is this the end of last season? What game? It was a brilliant goal. But I was like, what the hell is this game? And it was like a, what was it, Carabao Cup? Preliminary round. even though it existed. I think, yeah, some weird means of Premier League clubs coming into the competition later, meaning there weren't enough spaces early on. I don't really understand how it happened. It's a bit like how Champions League seems to start on the 1st of June.
1:41Now the Carabao Cup starts before the season even starts, which is strange. I mean, it was a great game, though, because Newport's got two of the best goals I've seen all season. Yes, it's the only game this season, but even so.
1:51Max Rushden:They were good. I'm sure I read in one of my sort of preview bits that Newport County were going to fire goals hard to come by this season. Everything I know is a lie. Well, Barry, I don't think they're going to keep scoring 30-yard screamers every game, I wouldn't have thought. And then Barnett scored. Barnett were 2-0 down in the 96th minute with eight minutes added on and scored twice to make it 2-2 and then lost the penalty shootout that came afterwards. So, yeah, I mean, a great game. But as you say, yeah, quite early.
2:20George Elek:Well, if that's a sign of things to come. What a roller coaster we're in for, everybody. M says repeating my question from a few weeks ago will Sheffield Wednesday start the season it doesn't start until next weekend the championship and we'll preview it properly next Thursday but since we last chatted about this Danny Roller's left the club by mutual consent their manager of course their coaches have gone with less than two weeks to go until the start of the season or four of them at least BBC Radio Sheffield reporting yesterday players have been informed their wages will be delayed for the third consecutive month players like Josh Windus Michael Smith and Akin Famo have already left on free transfers to other championship teams.
2:55George Elek:The North Stand at Hills was being closed by the City Council. The club were told to carry out repairs after extensive corrosion was found in the roof. I mean, George, as producer Joel says, that is a sort of on-the-nose, club-is-falling-apart metaphor, isn't it, really? The whole thing seems disastrous. Yeah, I mean, the news about the North Stand being closed is not fit for purpose. As you say, kind of sums it all up at the moment. And I think I read one report saying they were still selling season tickets right until the announcement was made in the stand, despite the obvious and very apparent issues that would have been known about.
3:29It's a real crisis, this. And we had a crisis with Reading earlier in the year. We've seen, it seems strange to think about it now, but seen Birmingham and Derby recently in a position. And thankfully, the sales came just about in time to save the clubs. The issue that we have with Sheffield Wednesday is it almost feels like with Wednesday, the issues have maybe gone further. and are more desperate now than maybe at any of those clubs. And that's not to downplay what happened to those, but we are in a situation now where for the third month in a row, players and non-playing staff aren't being paid.
4:03Players have already walked away. You have players who are worth quite a lot of money being sold for a fraction of what they're worth. And now, given the current situation with another missed payment, the power goes back to the players in terms of being able to walk away with 10 days or so until their opening game of the season at Leicester. we have absolutely no idea what kind of state the squad is going to be in going there, if there'll even be a squad, if they'll be able to field a team. And unlike with the other clubs I mentioned, even though there have been, at times, moments of good news where it sounds like there's a buyer, it still feels like we're absolutely miles away from finding a buyer.
4:40And even if we do, with Chancery in charge, good news always has to be treated or treated with scepticism because it's never felt like a salesman particularly close. there's talk of potentially lawyers being hired the rest of it in order to get a sale over the line and then it goes quiet for five days and nothing comes of it it's just a total mess and at these points you just have to feel incredibly sorry for the fans who right now are kind of staring down the barrel of losing their club and are looking basically anywhere for help in order to try and improve their situation because if it continues like this whether or not it's starting the season is one thing but whether or not the club even can continue to operate as an EFL football club, as a competitive team, as a club who can employ employers in the offices and non-playing staff, can function in any way, shape or form.
5:38That feels like there's a precipice pretty soon where they're going to fall off it.
5:41George Elek:There's some footage online from a supporters trust meeting. One guy, I'm not sure who it is, incredibly eloquently, absolutely scathing the EFL. It's quite difficult to cover those accusations, Sani, because we need to go to the EFL. We need to go to Sheffield Wednesday as well for comment. And I suppose it goes back to this thought that fans have, I guess, which is the EFL can save us, right? And I just don't know. I actually don't know. If Cambridge were being run like this, I don't know. I'd like to think some organisation will save this club. But can that happen? Can they do it? What should they be doing?
6:15Every time I come on Guardian Football Weekly, I'm aware that I will shoehorn Berry-in. and I try not to, you know, I really do. And yet continually we end up back in this conversation and it ends up relating to what happened to my team. And when Barry were kicked out of the EFL, we were like, well, in the run-up to that, can you help us? And the basic answer was, well, not really, no, because we've already approved the owner, he's there, or at least we approved the previous owner in our case, didn't actually approve the actual person owning the club and yet he still took over because company law and EFL's laws aren't quite the same.
6:53So the short answer is no. The short answer is the EFL see themselves as the organisers of the competition and you've got to fit in with those rules. And if you don't fit in with those rules, then bury the example that gets thrown in your face. Yeah.
7:08George Elek:So it's like Sunday League, right? It's like, you know, I don't know. I played in the Southern Amherst League for years. You know, they're not in charge. They're a bunch of volunteers. if your team, if you can't, you know, put a team out, that's not their problem. Is it the same principle? Because you presume it would be different. Well, essentially, yeah. And then we also, we made a documentary on this. And I went to Mark Palios, who used to be the head of the FA. And we said, well, what can the FA do here? And he said, well, the FA can't really do anything either. We're just like the overseers, you know, of the national game and the grassroots and stuff.
7:40So all these organisations that we hold in this huge esteem and we think are really powerful, actually aren't really that powerful at all because their power is gatekeeping, which they're very good at gatekeeping. You know, you talk about the non-league and free teams coming up, whatever. That side of stuff, the EFL do quite well. When clubs are already in difficulty, that's when it's really only a few bits of recourse they can do. They can suspend you. They can put you under a transfer embargo. They can threaten to kick you out of the league. They can kick you out of the league. But at that point, it's then too late.
8:11Football regulator might well change all that. And since our last conversation on all this sort of stuff, that's now gone through. But then that still takes a load of time to happen. And even then, there'd be a lot of murky waters into what the regulator could actually do. Because just like with Dayong at Reading, when Chancery came in, you know, he put money in. Everything was looking great. And at that point, were you like, well, that's okay. And now he's not got any money. He's not really interested anymore and all the rest of it. And now we're in a situation. So for Sheffield Wednesday fans, it's incredibly frustrating and you want the authorities to do more.
8:48But unfortunately, and I don't want to say this, I want them to be able to help, but I know full well from first-hand experience. They can't and they don't really want to that much either. Yeah, I mean, to echo that, it is regulatory reform within football. And in fairness, what I would say about the EFL is even before the independent regulator, you know, in the last five years or so under new leadership, the directors and owners test has been changed and is much stricter now than it was when the likes of Chancery came in. and the fruits of the labour there in terms of trying to tighten up the mechanisms effectively for people to buy football clubs, we will hopefully see in five, ten years when hopefully fewer of these cases emerge because of those tests that are now in place.
9:35But if you strip out the fact that it's football and that we believe, as we should do, that football clubs are community assets, they belong to the fans, they don't. They are privately owned businesses and as soon as somebody owns a business, it's very, very hard for people to tell them what to do. And that's a situation we're in at the moment where I completely understand why Sheffield Wednesday fans are looking for any help possible and why the FA and the EFL would be the people that you would turn to. But as Danny says, a desire to help is one thing and you have to hope and you have to want there to be a desire for anybody involved to help.
10:12but the actual possibility of impacting change on a privately owned business right now is is is not impossible we you know the pressure has to come um but in terms of actually forcing chancere's hand that mechanism doesn't really exist yeah george speaks there of a desire to
10:30Max Rushden:help but what struck me from that clip of the supporters trust q a uh if if the bloke who was speaking is to be believed, and I've no reason not to believe him, was that DFL seemed totally unaware of the sheer scale of the problems Sheffield Wednesday have, and also, perhaps more worryingly, almost totally indifferent to them. And he says that they told him, look, as long as you can fulfill the fixtures, that's all we care about. so if Sheffield Wednesday play Leicester on the opening day of the season and it's Barry Bannon and 10 16 year olds managed by a kit man or something then DFL will go well you know there you go you've made able to send out a team.
11:25Max Rushden:What boggles my mind is I'm old enough to remember when Sheffield Wednesday were a massive club a force to be reckoned with. And I think if I was a billionaire with more money than cents who decided I wanted to get involved in a football club, Sheffield Wednesday would very much be on my shortlist of not so much sleeping giants as, in this case now, a comatose giant or a giant on life support, but certainly I would say a giant worth saving. And I'm amazed there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of interest in resurrecting this giant. With regards to a new buyer, which is what's needed at Wednesday, the key issue is seemingly that Transieri has set a ridiculous asking price in terms of the purchase of the club.
12:17This is a club where, as we've already discussed, Hillsborough isn't fit for purpose. There are basically no playing assets whatsoever anymore. Well, there aren't any at the moment. And the reports have been around the£100 million mark for a club that are basically destined to be in League One next season. and you know Chan-Siri clearly feels like he's poured a lot of his family's money into the club and wants some of that back and therefore is setting an asking price that no one's going to pay and until that moves I can't really see why anyone who's been smart enough to make 100 million pounds that they can go and spend would ever invest that in a club that is on its knees Yeah
12:51George Elek:Sally did you what was your experience I mean you said the EFL couldn't do anything but in your experience at Bury did you find them amenable and friendly and being like guys I'm really sorry about this or just like, hey, not our problem? And I know it was a different time, it was a different club, etc. Well, there was an interim person in charge of the EFL at the time, post Sean Harvey, who was Debbie Jevons, who now is at the Lawn Tennis Association. And I think what the EFL came out from that experience was basically it was a complete shit show and so many things were done in a really bad way, including our expulsion.
13:31It was almost like the arbitrary Brexit date, right? We've got to leave by this date. They gave us a date and then they couldn't move around it and it was just there. And I think as a result of what happened to us, the EFL, to be fair to them, knows that this is a nuclear scenario that we really need to be very careful about pressing that red button. So the EFL weren't particularly amenable in that period of time with that culture. but by the sounds of things now they are more but also they have to be because if they don't like half the members are going to end up being kicked out by their own by their own you know their own situation that they're putting themselves in and where the EFL have placed themselves so yeah overall they weren't particularly but I like to think things have changed now
14:15George Elek:Yeah and one more question George which is relating to Barry's point is is there anyone on the horizon you say we seem so far away coming in to rescue Sheffield Wednesday and if they can't fulfil their fixtures then what happens? They just get points deducted? What happens? If they can't fulfil their fixtures then they'll be expelled from the league we assume and then the points will be awarded across the leagues and there'll be a 23 team league. I mean that seems to be the precedent. I mean we have to hope it doesn't get that far. Whether there's anyone on the horizon we did a live show in Sheffield a month ago and during the live show the news seemed to filter through that there was a buyer that was being lined up and there was the potential that Chan Ziri was engaging his lawyers which he's kind of never done before.
14:59But then it went quiet and that's been the case a couple of times since. So, you know, no smoke without fire. But then, like with Sheffield Wednesday, unlike with Reading where, you know, Rob Coogh was kind of set to take over the club and then it fell through and then there was another bar and then that fell through and it always felt like there was somebody there waiting to do it. With Wednesday, that doesn't seem like it's the case at all. You know, I know we're going to talk about Morecambe in a second. With Morecambe, there is a very public-facing consortium ready and willing and wanting to buy the club.
15:29With Sheffield Wednesday, I mean, if that is the case, it's not being played out in the public domain.
15:35George Elek:Yes, at the live show, if you had brought out a new buyer at the end of the show, George, that would have been, if it could have been, you know, Joe Montana. Us. Dan Marino. We are buying. Not the top 20, yeah. Anyway, let's talk about Morecambe. Then they've been suspended by the National League. They've fixed their way to Boston United on the 9th of August. That's their first away game. Home game against Bracken on the 16th and the trip to Scunthorpe on the 19th of August will no longer take place as scheduled. The league's Compliance and Licensing Committee, which is a committee I'd love to be in, will meet on Wednesday the 20th of August to determine if outstanding items have been satisfied to decide the club's ability to retain membership in the competition.
16:14George Elek:Morkham's protective buyers have implored the owner of the club to sell up. You've been following this, Sani, in quite a lot of detail. Give us the detail. Morkham, when they were, remember, Morkham were in the EFL for 18 years till last season where they finished 24th in league to relegated. And during the summer, a sale's been agreed, an EFL-approved sale, to the point where there is paperwork that just needs a signature and then it's done. So Jason Whittingham, who owns the club, who, together with Colin Goldring, also owned Worcester Warriors, the defunct rugby team. You know, that didn't go particularly well.
16:47Jason Whittingham has a host of dissolved companies on Companies House. Anyway, he's got Morecambe And he's had the opportunity to sell to Panjab Warriors, who through some way or means have put money into the club already in advance of the sale. And I think that that money was protected. They told me it's£1.7 million. And then the day came for the sale to happen and it just didn't happen. And they're like, well, we're here, we're ready. Why have you not sold? And then this is where things have got very kind of Wizard of Oz. like Jason Whittingham just you know no no no messages from him nothing and all of a sudden so I was there a week last Friday and I contacted uh Jason Whittingham and said you know we're going to be there blah blah blah um nothing radio silence so you get the MP get the supporters trust you've got all the fans there and you know so much emotion it was you know it's again it's a story close to my heart and I had to kind of bang on a few of my editors doors at Sky Sports Like, look, this is a big story, you know.
17:49And all of a sudden, this email comes that there's a new consortium led by Johnny Cato, the ungoogleable Johnny Cato. And he will then provide further information that day. And that information never arrived, right? And this is a continual thing. And I had a little emailing thing. So he's a mythical man, Johnny Cato. We don't know. It even got to the point where people were like, does he mean Johnny Cato? Because there's a guy on Companies House. so like that still rumbled on and then there's been no proof of this person being real or to be fair unreal you know it could be there's nothing barely there in the meantime the staff haven't been paid the full wages they got paid a third of the wages and why was there and it's amazing groundsmen ground staff no matter what level if you're if you're media and you're doing a pitch side interview they will fire up the lawnmowers even when they're not getting paid they will still come and sort the pitch out right next to you.
18:45All right, fair enough, you know. So the staff haven't been paid and they were due to be paid for this month now. And I don't think that's happened either from what the supporters trust have said. A third of the wages, the players have only got a third of the wages, 10 senior players now and some kids, you know, spilling to the players off the record. The PFA have told them just to, you know, keep the powder dry for now, but they are getting to the point where mortgage payments are coming up and they're struggling to make those payments. you know this is a very real situation and when we were there all the staff at morecam were great like it was so accommodating making us food and all sorts because they were so delighted that you know national attention was was was being a spotlight was being put on them but yeah the situation is now that jason whittingham um could sell hasn't done he then put out a statement saying i've not been able to contact panjab warriors all week i'm like well i've got two numbers for them here right now which would you mean and they've come back to the table and said we're ready to make a sale and even now that sale hasn't happened and they've had to put another statement out saying we're here we're ready sale hasn't happened and this is where he starts as the question why is he not selling you know perhaps he was trying to string things out and get more money with the johnny cato stuff if he wants out he can just get out and he's not done
20:01Max Rushden:Yeah, and all football operations have just ceased at Morecambe now as well because their insurance hasn't been paid. So they may, as things stand, have played their last game because their first three this season have been postponed. And as things stand, the wages of over 300 ,000 are outstanding. so as things stand if this sale doesn't go through or a sale doesn't go through in the next 20 days i think it is they will be bounced out of the league and go the way of bury so it's it's quite sad but i i listened to um just to try and educate myself a bit more on the situation that the price of football with our our friends kevin and kieran and they had a woman on tanya ellsworth from the Shrimps Trust, she spoke very well about the situation.
21:00Max Rushden:She just seemed baffled by what's going on. And I'm curious to know, Sanny, the crowd who want to buy the club and have said, look, we are here, we're ready to sign the paperwork, Panjab Warriors, I was looking at their website. How reliable are they as prospective owners? because it all looks a bit vague if you try to see what it is they've done in terms of ownership in the past. It's very vague. I think the more things look bad for Jason Whittingham, the better light Panjab Warriors gets shone in because there originally was another buyer who was connected to Panjab Warriors who said he's made his money through fizzy drinks, and then it turned out there was no fizzy drink.
21:49There was nothing.
21:51Max Rushden:Johnny Fanta but then somehow through that connection Panjab Warriors got involved but they have put in real money and that money has paid for wages so they're putting in more money than the current ownership so if you take it on good faith and they have been EFL approved as much of the EFL got a bit of a kicking here as George has said the owners and directors tests are firmer than they were so they passed all of that now even though they're in the National League now They passed the EFL approved stuff. So that's half the battle, right? And the fact they're actually in dialogue and still here, that's better than the current owner.
22:28So for that reason, they'll continue to look good. One other quick point I would say is Derek Adams, you know, for most of us, probably has not the best reputation, right? Surly kind of Scottish manager. But I know for a couple of sources, let's say, he has been amazing with the players. They've been training at the club. He's been distracting. He even got on playing a game of cricket on the car park. He's told all of them as well, if you've got any money problems, just come to me and I can try and help you out. You know, he is taking Morecambe in his various spells to the highest point. They're in League One.
23:04He's won at Wembley Stadium with them. And, you know, he's got not the best reputation. But in this hour of need for the whole club and the whole town, he's certainly trying to do what he can, even though he might not see and hear of it publicly at the moment.
23:18Max Rushden:It is also a measure of how mystifying the situation is at Morecambe with Whittingham and what it is he's up to, that even Kieran Maguire, who is the oracle of this kind of thing, he was left just clutching at straws and guessing as to what was going on and what Whittingham's motives were because everything just seems so murky. Not even Kieran could get to the bottom of it.
Read the full transcript
23:48George Elek:what you need from the fit and proper person's test at some point is are you completely shameless like that you know because because you know the real you know the bottom of it is individuals who just can leave their house without thinking god everyone hates me whereas i would just be like of course i'll set like i've made all these people sad i will obviously change that that's what i think is in terms from a personal perspective it has to be incredibly kind of malicious where like he's he's gone through this before with Worcester Warriors and has been on the receiving end of like an unbelievable swell of bad feeling from fans of a club who point the finger at you for destroying them to then go through it again like it just seems almost like sadistic like how what is he doing like what is his motive how can this be the way that he wants his life to be going right now like it just seems absolutely crazy it wasn't long ago I was at watched them win the League 2 playoff final going up to League 1 an incredible team led by Derek Adams and yeah their kind of managed decline and for them to be on the brink of existence itself just seems so avoidable when clearly Panjab Warriors should come under immense scrutiny like any new owner should do but if they have the funds to be able to buy the club and have proven that and are sitting there waiting to do a deal to have jason whiston gaslight the whole football community by saying i can't get hold of them it's just absolutely unacceptable all right look we'll keep you posted on those stories uh as they progress of course that'll be for part one uh we'll look ahead to league one or league two that start the weekend in just a second welcome to part two of the guardian football weekly tombo says how is barry able to reconcile his participation in football weekly live with
25:45Max Rushden:his hard line theater is shit views barry well we're we're not uh a play it's specifically plays well you say that we could be specifically plays i have a problem with um so and we are not one so off the cuff improv improv comedy
26:11George Elek:please add this to the live show yeah yeah yeah i just like yeah just just a monologue from barry barry will do a monologue well you know your favorite monologue give us one and uh we'll get
26:24Max Rushden:barry to perform it see we're just going out talking about football uh and messing about a bit if we were going out and i was playing an another irishman right who was in an argument with his father over some land and i murdered my brother got it you know none of these people actually existing in real life then it would be shit right okay that seems to be what all plays are about a disgruntled irishman killing his father over land okay well we'll see if we can
26:57George Elek:add that into part two look thursday september the 11th we're at the troxy in london um you can get tickets uh from the guardian.com slash football weekly live uh if you aren't in london or you can't get there um it'll be live streamed around the whole world so there's no excuse for any of you listening uh not to come in some form guardian.com slash football weekly live it will be lovely to see you all we haven't done a live show for a couple of years um you can find out more details on the show description page or on our Instagram or Blue Sky or TikTok accounts. League One kicks off on Friday night.
27:30George Elek:Luton Town versus AFC Wimbledon. Who's going to win League One, George? Well, I think Luton Town is certainly the look like the most likely. They're the team that got relegated from the Championship straight off the back of relegation from the Premier League. Their squad currently, even though they've lost a few players, Al Fidati went to Millwall last week. Carlton Morris moved on but he had a poor season last season. They've still got a ridiculous squad for League One's level still have parachute payments have brought in kind of proven quality in the likes of George Saville even Naki Wells you know these guys aren't necessarily in the infancy of their career but certainly they've been good championship players in recent years Naki Wells must be 50 by now I think he's 35 but still he doesn't play like he's 35 he still can can move pretty well but he and then also you know they changed manager last season Rob Edwards left Matt Bloomfield came in it took a while for Bloomfield's you know it took a while off his arrival to translate into an uptick in form.
28:25But for the last 10, 15 games of the season, they were, in terms of points per game, one of the best teams in the league. So if you take that kind of linearly, then you've got a team that were probably a top seven, top eight championship team for the last two months of last season, dropping down into League One. And that, you'd think, will be reflected in dominance, especially when Matt Blunthold had a Wickham side with a fraction of the talent that Luton have got at the top of League One before he decided to move our club last season. So, I mean, it's never always this easy. There's every chance that they might be a bit complacent.
28:59And obviously we saw them last season be way, way worse than some of their parts. But they look to me to be the ones to beat.
29:05George Elek:Barry, from your League One research,
29:08Max Rushden:who have you got your eye on? Interested to see how Brian Barry Murphy gets on at Cardiff City. They went down. He's the son of a famous Cork GEA player, Jimmy Barry Murphy. but Brian used to manage the Man City Academy I think he worked for Ruud van Listleroy at Leicester City that's not necessarily something I'd be putting in large font on my CV but as a fellow Irishman I'm curious and interested to see how he gets on as far as I know they haven't made too many signings none oh none right okay so it doesn't look likely that they'll go up I'd be interested to see how Stockport County get on. I think they could be dark horses.
29:54Yeah.
29:55Max Rushden:Have you listened to our 124s, Baz? I've listened to the League 2 one. I haven't actually got to the League 1 yet. Ah. Yeah. I think Stockport County, maybe. And beyond. Probably Plymouth. I'm interested to know, actually, George, because I know in your last season's 124, you didn't have high hopes for Tom Cleverley at Watford. He's now at Plymouth. he's taken over from Miroslav Muzlic who left the club during the summer. They'd have stayed up with Muzlic and got the job earlier, I'm sure. But did Cleverley do a good job at Watford or not? It really depends how you look at it because they started the season really well and then for the second half, I think in 2025, so from January the 1st onwards, they were 24th in the league and their underlying numbers were pretty poor throughout the season.
30:47So if you judge a manager on kind of the data side of things, which not everyone does, but it's the side of football that doesn't require goalkeepers to make saves and strikers to finish their chances. It's just kind of between both boxes, then possibly red flags there. But then Watford fans, pretty much to a man, were pretty gutted when he left and they're the ones who go and see their team play every week and have a pretty better understanding of entertainment factor and the ability of certain players. so I would say for a first full season in charge there was definite promise but definitely in my mind um not the kind of appointment for Argyle I think there's similarities between Brian Barry Murphy's appointment and Cleverley's appointment where I think for both Cardiff and Argyle they've made appointments that suggest they're looking at the longer term picture they aren't appointments to just you know try and impact an immediate return back to the championship it's more an understanding that they've got quite a young squad and certainly in Cardiff's case a nucleus of really young good homegrown players that they want to develop and if that doesn't happen this season then you know hopefully they can they can grow and build under Barry Murphy and the same for Cleverley and Argyle where their recruitment policy is generally to recruit young and in Cleverley they've done that with a manager who I guess they hope can learn and grow with them.
32:03George Elek:Sonny, are you doing the wordle? No, I'm not. I was looking very closely at my football app, looking at Huddersfield Town and double checking their signings because they bought everyone, seemingly, including Alfie May, who actually, he was kind of an impact player at Birmingham City last season. Well, I say that. He did have a period where he did start and then scored spectacular goals and then was out of the team again. But his record is great. I mean, he didn't quite hit the heights that he did at Charlton, but equally didn't quite get as many chances. But they signed him for just over a million pounds, and that's a big statement of intent.
32:43They've got this American owner, Marcus Harness, as well, from Ipswich Town, and a couple of players from Preston as well, and one of Millwall's good centre-backs and all. So basically they bought an entire core side, and they had a couple of good players already that they'd signed in the previous window, like Dion Charles from Bolton Wanderers and quite a spectacularly, well, there was a big rivalry there on transfers with Bolton now. So anyway, overall, they might do quite well. And they've got Lee Grant, former EFL goalkeeper, then Man United, Richard Wright equivalents, famous for the meme holding up a subs board, I think at one point it was his only job.
33:27and then he was the right hand man for Kieran McKenna so he's yet another Man United trained coach in theory and I think he was the attacking coach, attacking phase which is quite interesting for a goalie so he gets his first chance at management and given the money behind him given everything that's been positively said about him in the coaching world Huddersfield Town are ones to keep an eye on They've signed five centre-backs which I'd love to know if that is a transfer window record if anyone's ever signed five centre-backs in one four and they've also got about eight strikers. Can you play a very narrow 5-3-2?
34:00George Elek:Can you play a very... No, I mean, yeah, he is excited. I mean, I'm excited to see how it translates because his reputation as a coach, but also his reputation as a man are both very, very good. And it kind of feels to me like if he is good because of his seemingly his character, I think he could be a kind of bright young thing of English management, which would be fun to have a goalkeeper who goes on to do that. How's Noel Hunt doing at Reading, George? I mean, the Hunt brothers were sort of soccer and glory years, staples. They were on all the time. They were great value. I just tell stories, but I can't remember.
34:34George Elek:I think Noel of the two brothers was the one who would just jump off the top of the house just for fun when they were kids. And, you know, sort of many years ago, I remember getting spectacularly drunk with him and some other footballers that I can't remember at some sort of terrible bar in Leicester Square. In that same way that you don't, you know, when you see Craig Bellamy being sort of erudite and serious and a brilliant football manager. He doesn't tally with the Craig Bellamy you remember as a player. Noel Hunt managing anything doesn't tally with me. But like, as far as I remember, he did really well at the end of last season.
35:04George Elek:And I really hope he does well because he's just a genuinely great bloke. He did incredibly well because, you know, Reading last season were in a kind of a desperate position. They lost their manager, Ruben Sayers, who was doing an incredible job. They lost Sam Smith, their star striker, to Wrexham in January. And so Hunt had to come in and expectations were probably too high because they'd massively overachieved and he still managed to guide them onto the fringes of the playoffs. I think they overachieved last season. I really hope that, and we had them pretty low down and now onto 24s and the reaction from Reading fans was a surprise given how close they were to the top six last season.
35:40And because of the takeover now, there seems to be a belief that they're going to be able to kick on. They've lost key players like Tyler Bindham was bought by Nottingham Forest and known back. He's now going to spend next season at Sheffield United and Bengay, their other centre-back, has left Harvey Nibs going to Charlton. So again, they're kind of being, you know, they've still got Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage, who are two key centre-byfielders.
36:00Max Rushden:They could borrow a couple of centre-backs from Huddersfield. Yeah, exactly. So I think, and I hope for the sake of the new owners, that expectations can be that this is a season to kind of consolidate and they're still kind of getting through the wreckage from what was a really difficult few years under Dai Yong to build for the future. But my favourite Hunt Brothers story is that I remember reading that Stephen Hunt, he was asked why he had his long hair. And he said that because he realised that he wasn't as good as a lot of other players, he decided to grow it long just so that when he played well, people would recognise him.
36:34And he basically put his whole career down to the fact that when he had good games, people would know it was him and then they'd buy him.
36:40George Elek:It sort of works, doesn't it? In the sort of Cucurella, it can go both ways, you know. Yeah, yeah. You know, Fellaini's, David Luiz's, etc. Just get noticed. Who have you relegated in year 1 of 24, George? In League One, I mean, it's always probably the more predictable because the disparity of wealth in League One is pretty big. And normally it's teams that have recently come up from League Two who tend to struggle. So AFC Wimbledon, who did incredibly well to get promoted out of League Two. I think if Johnny Jackson delivers safety this season, it would be another incredible job from him. Northampton Town under Kevin Nolan, who kind of had a big clear out at the beginning of the window and then have really struggled to bring players in.
37:16So they're kind of threadbare at the moment in terms of what they've got. Exeter, who do so well season on season to stay up, but it kind of feels like they might struggle to kind of continually do that possibly. And we had Peterborough, who may be the ones that people would be surprised to hear.
37:35George Elek:Get rid of them. Like if you look, last season, they were poor for much of the campaign and had a very good run late in order to just about climb away from the relegation battle. But they've lost so many good players who've all kind of moved upwards from there. like Fernandes, the centre-back, has gone to Rangers. Mother Sil has gone to Stockport. Various other key players. Kipriani has gone to Watford. Poku has gone to QPR. So if you're already a poor League One side and you lose four or five players who are going to either the Championship or to Rangers, and they haven't really replaced them, to my mind at least, with similar quality, then I think that spells trouble.
38:09George Elek:Let's go to League Two. For the first time in years, you haven't relegated Cambridge United from your League One predictions because they're not in it. And suddenly after five years, yeah, five years after not caring or however many years, I now suddenly am very interested in League Two. Sani, who will finish second behind Cambridge United under Neil Harris? MK Dons, who had a spectacularly bad season last year. I think 19, was it, in the end? But he got Paul Warn in and he's brought in some of his mates, including Nathaniel Mendez-Lang, who for League Two is going to be amazing. They spent a lot of money and seem to have invested well, bringing in a host of players, I guess, who know the level and above.
38:54So overall, I think they'll be great. Aaron Collins would be the other one as well, who was really impressive. I think he was young player of the year in his time at Bristol Rovers. When I've seen him at Bolton, he's always kind of impressed, but they bought him for£800 ,000, which for League Two is huge. Wow. Whatever you feel about MK, I probably feel the same. However, as far as this current iteration, the management and the intention, looks like they might actually have some bites with their bark.
39:22George Elek:Barry, from your League Two research, where are you sticking your flag?
39:27Max Rushden:I'll stick it in the Abbey Stadium, Max, of course. Yes. No, I mean, my League Two research was basically going, ooh, Bradley Dack plays for Gilligan. Didn't know that. It's been there a while. Danny Cowley's in charge of Colchester didn't know that Gareth Ainsworth's in charge of Gillingham didn't know that you don't want to read too much into my research, I'm interested to know how the lads think Oldham will get back on their return to League 2 teams who come up seem in recent years anyway to do very well and again I'm old enough to remember all them in the Premier League being in cup finals.
40:14Max Rushden:Does Andy Ritchie and Roger Joseph still play for them? And do you think they'll do all right? Frankie Vaughn. I think they'll probably be fine, I would guess. I think no team has ever been relegated out of, or at least for, you know, like 100 years or something. I don't know how long it's been, but from League Two, having just been promoted from the National League or from whatever the conference was called at that time. They've got Mickey Mellon, the manager who's pretty rock solid at League 2 level. He's gone out and recruited a lot of players who played with him at Tranmere previously when they went up straight from the National League through League 2 into League 1.
40:51But Barnett finished with 30-odd more points than them last season. And if there's a team, I think, to take out of the National League, I think could really be a force to reckon with, then I think it might be them. They went up with 102 points, but by far the best team in what is always a competitive National League. When you consider how well Chesterfield getting into the playoffs last season. Wrexham going straight up. Newport, obviously, struggled in their first season, but then into the playoffs last season. Normally, the top National League teams go on and they're competitive at the top end of League Two.
41:23And if there's one of those teams to do it, I would have thought it would be Barnett over Alder.
41:27Max Rushden:Sorry, one other thing I'm curious to know. Salford City have been kicking around in that league division for some years now, obviously owned by Gary Neville and Chums. Are they ever going to get out of that? Are they ever going to get promoted? Because they seem to get, spend a lot of money and have a high churn of managers. Well, I'll be watching them up close on Saturday for Five Live. Salford crew kicks off my season, which I'm very excited about. Nice, easy commute. Yeah, well, they've brought in more new players as well. And you think the ones they've got already, I mean, Cole Stockton was one who like had a period of scoring amazing goals from Morecambe.
42:05That was a few years ago. I think, as we know with non-league like you can put a bit of money in and get really far really quickly they were the original doco uh team weren't they with the sky sports documentary but then league two is a bit of a money hole and what they have done is they've stuck with the manager in carl robinson and um having listened to all the 124s uh from george and and ali as well i'll quote them that carl robinson is quite a streaky manager and they can go for a period of of winning quite a few and losing quite a few and for that reason they kind of end up always regressing to normal they just fell just outside the playoffs i think they need a bit of momentum but just going back to to oldham as well um because you asked that original question i covered a lot of oldham for radio manchester back when they were uh in the complete mess they were owned by like uh some brothers who were agents who'd taken the money they'd made from transfers and invested in a club and then would bring in these random players from the fourth league division in france it was all a complete mess.
43:05The new owner, Frank Rothwell, who you may have seen because he goes viral every now and then, this amiable, jolly Northerner, has put a very positive feel on the place. They're getting record seed and ticket sales and all the rest of it. Clubs like Oldham coming up is great. They're a proper historic football club, but also that positive vibe can do a hell of a lot. As far as Salford City go, they finally feel like they might have that as well, but I think there are other teams that are stronger than them. In League 2, don't rule out just how how many points having a positive set of fans really are in a division where the teams can be quite similar to each other.
43:41George Elek:Where have you put Cambridge, George? Max, you haven't listened. It's unbelievable. I apologise. I've never mentioned it. I have two young children. I'm time poor, George. So do I. I had to record them. In my defence, by the way, I only listen to them all because I had a four and a half hour drive back from Dorset last night. You don't have to defend yourself listening to them. That's the only reason you listen to them. It's a good podcast. You can't just listen to it out of pleasure. To defend myself, I only listen to them because I had five hours on my own. I listen to all of them. You're really selling it.
44:11Max Rushden:I spend most of every day on my own and I've only listened to one of them. There's no such thing as bad publicity. We have Cambridge 18th. 18th?
44:24George Elek:What? Aren't they better than that? I saw they're better than that. We've got Pelly Radakampanzu. We've just signed Louis Aparre, a striker who scored no goals last season. You'd think that Pelly, Raddick and Panty should be a good signing although I would say that we did record like a day before but one of our favourite so often when we do the 124s we'll get a message from a fan of a club say Cambridge who'll be like guys I think that you must have recorded this before we signed and the player is always some like 21 year old left back who they've signed from a National League club and they're like did you know this before you did your predictions and we're like well yeah I mean how much of an impact do you think this guy's going to have?
45:04Suddenly going to catapult you from 14th to 7th off the back of his... So yes, we... 18th? Yeah, I mean, if you look back at recently relegated teams out of League One, they struggle quite often, unless there's a real reason for them not to struggle. We've seen Forrest Green go straight back down. We've seen Carlisle, who had loads of money for the level, go straight back down. Yeah, at the moment, I mean, Neil Harris obviously offers a level of kind of solid that is good but he also doesn't stay in jobs for that long for the most part so I wouldn't say there's much cause for huge optimism
45:41George Elek:He's never left us before I love how so did you just assume that we didn't have you get relegated rather than actually knowing that because it would have been good if we'd had you 23rd No I presume we were in the playoffs at least I just sort of you know we've gone down we've signed some footballers I'm very enthusiastic as I always am Yes Sani this is we're eating into Louis Diaz is a Bayern Munich player, but I'm quite enjoying the CFL stuff. Well, I've got a transfer that you'll love even more. Real life Gary Goals, Jake Tabor. I don't know if you heard about this guy. He scored 127 goals in 91 games in his last two seasons at Amership.
46:19And then he decided he wanted to... And also, in the interviews, it was great. He doesn't train properly. He doesn't really do any running. He doesn't do any fitness. He's not really keen on it. He just lives for goals and his goals also. are all like spectacular. He'll be on the shoulder and outpace somebody or he'll score from like 40 yards. Like it's Jamie Bardi plus. So I got in touch with him and I was like, do you fancy a move to Bury? We're in division eight, but you know, we've got this 12 ,000 seat at a stadium. And he's like, oh, maybe, yeah, yeah. And I just thought, you know, I was like, oh, you know, good luck.
46:49I'll talk to you in a bit. He signed for Swindon Town.
46:51George Elek:Okay, good. And he started on like a one year deal and within a week, Ian Holloway's given him a three year deal. Yeah. So he's 22. two he's going to finally get some training in um you know he's at a professional football club and they absolutely bloody love him so yeah i mean this this guy keep an eye on him jake table keep an eye on him jake table the real life gary goals that's great before we end part two you wanted to have a word about ronnie moore um efl legend feel like he must have managed rotherham for about 200 years he's been diagnosed with myeloma a type of blood cancer um we obviously wishing well.
47:26George Elek:You spent some time with him last year. Yeah, I did. Him and John Breckin, who was his long-time assistant manager, who were just an amazing pair, like just so full of life. Joie de vivre. And I know Ronnie Moore still does the analysis on Radio Sheffield and so does Breckin as well. And just like at the time, we actually met up at Millmore, which is Rotherham's old stadium that the club have managed to, or the community have managed to keep going and they've like got a pitch in it now and it's still kind of there and they do like these memory games and they get all the old fans together and you play a match on the pitch and have a little reminisce and he's got so many stories and so much experience and yet he still has the energy and enthusiasm trying to give it back to the club and Rotherham you know have had highs lows you know ownership issues all the rest of it and yet he's still you know he doesn't need to buy a pint ever in Rotherham maybe that's why he keeps going back there these people are really important to the fabric of our EFL clubs.
48:25And yeah, hope he's okay. Wish him well. I'm sure we all do. And his family as well.
48:30George Elek:Yeah, echo that completely. And we'll be back in a second.
48:37Max Rushden:Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR, finance, and IT. With AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new Workday.
49:01George Elek:welcome to part three of the guardian football weekly um rangers made it through to the second qualifying round of the champions league uh they drew one all away at panathinaikos they win 3-1 on aggregate they'll face victoria pilsen in the next round uh onto any other business um regards tottenham's homegrown players i said it was good news for david howells and steve sedgley stewart It says Steve Sedgley wouldn't count as a homegrown player. We signed him from Coventry when he was 21. So bad news for Steve Sedgley. Not going to play any Champions League football this season. Freddie writes, Dear Guardian Football Weekly team, long-time listener, first-time writer, etc.
49:34George Elek:Judging by much of your correspondence, vasectomedia or otherwise, I'm not alone in turning to the pod as much to escape the anxieties of modern life as for the granular nuggets of football wisdom. The world we live in today is expensive and exhausting and as you've no doubt heard many times before, you guys provide much-needed relief, not to mention joy and laughter. Over the past few months, this has come in especially handy, as I've sweated away trying desperately to push the never-ending boulder to the top of the hill that is my PhD thesis. Motivating myself to go back and forward to the library every day has not been easy, but what's made it possible has been your dulcet tones.
50:04George Elek:Last week, my fellow library goer and friend, Surya, finished his own thesis. He's a big fan of the pod, whilst I will miss his joyful presence beside me in my final weeks. I was hoping you could all give him a big shout-out for getting over what has been a marathon finishing line, no doubt with your help i will be there soon thanks again um keep up the important work let's hope tottenham signed someone half decent freddie now the thing is barry what we would like from freddie is to be formally thanked in the acknowledgements of his thesis and maybe be brought up in the viva that's the that's what we're really looking for here isn't it bans
50:35Max Rushden:um absolutely i i'll be honest i i don't really know what a thesis is to the best of my knowledge A thesis is something someone works incredibly hard at to write, does an awful lot of research, writes this thing, and then nobody reads it. Is that about the size of it? It's like one of Wilson's books. And the Viver is the meeting where you tell everyone what you wrote about because they couldn't be asked to read it either. Okay, right. Yeah, I think you have to come up with a question that no one has ever asked before.
51:12George Elek:But obviously, you can come up with a question that somebody's basically asked before, but it's just going to be very subtly different. You then spent three to four years. So you spent two and a half years not doing anything, surely. And then you spent six months going, oh, shit. And then, you know, and then. It's like my half marathon trip. Exactly. It is. It is. Although a lot of people will watch that. And then, yes, but this is adding to, you know, academic. Without these, there would be no academic research. We would get no further as a race. That's what these guys are doing. So good luck in whatever it's in.
51:44George Elek:And sorry if you were searching for some motivation and Barry has just announced that what you've done for the last three years of your life has been an absolute waste of time.
51:51Max Rushden:I would argue, in contrast, that most of what I've done for my entire adult life has been an entire waste of time. Yeah. And not just my own time, a lot of other people's time as well.
52:04George Elek:James says, very much looking forward to your next live show. Myself and my good friend Duncan attended your last London show before the Qatar World Cup. are joining forces once again to see some more of barry's holiday snaps listen to philippe's dulcet tones and then to mark's meat raffle duncan's getting married to his wonderful partner esther this saturday it would mean the world to him to get a shout out on the pod i've known duncan since we were six he's been a firm friend for almost three decades now and our weekly messages quoting the pod or slamming your hot takes is one of the highlights of my week esther is an absolute gem i wish them all the happiness in the world i humbly ask that barry offer his obligatory congratulations.
52:38George Elek:Not only would it make Duncan's day, but it would hide the fact that I haven't bought him a wedding present yet. Thanks so much. All the best, James Kirby. If you could do your best for Duncan and Esther, please, Barry.
52:49Max Rushden:I would like to wish Duncan and Esther all the very best. Obviously, this Saturday, her wedding day will be the highlight of Esther's year, but for Duncan, it's just a preamble to the 11th of September at the Troxie. Unless that's the honeymoon. that could be the honeymoon I'd say he'd be in big trouble if it is but yeah I hope they have a great day and I'll give them
53:18George Elek:four years four years, well enjoy those four Duncan and Esther and thank you James, we'll see you at the live show and you know we'll probably get to one of the pubs around the corner afterwards so you can all come and say hi, I seem to remember singing Troy Townsend's lug it suitcase or something and barry holding it over his head last time out some early hour uh theguardian.com slash football weekly live if you'd like to come along to that uh meanwhile thank you very much uh thank you sanny oh thank you thank you george thank you oh just to say a few people have been in touch about how i've and barry even noticed it when i come to the northern hemisphere my voice has gone down three octaves i've not been out on a wild bender and i'm not it's not just different my voice isn't just different barry you listened to me on the radio for two hours and didn't realize it was me the other day Well, it was about 20 minutes.
54:07George Elek:I didn't realise it was you. I've got a chesty cough. I'm full of Benalim. That's why. But through the pain, this is like Lucy Bronze. Lucy Bronze doesn't know. Is this an advert? It's not an advert. This podcast is brought to you, brother. You think Lucy Bronze had it hard with a fractured tibia? Podcasting with the amount of phlegm in my lungs is quite a feat. But, yeah, I'm still delivering at this extraordinary level. But, you know, hopefully my voice will go back to its normal pitch soon. but in the meantime we'll be back on Monday won't we Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove our executive producer is Phil Men did I say thank you Barry?
54:42Max Rushden:Well I think the thanks are implied at this point although this League One, League Two preview is one it's the annual part that causes me the most anxiety because I mean compared to the other two lads I am absolutely nothing know nothing
55:03George Elek:you are and also I'm really excited when you put your finger up to ask a question because I look at you and go I've got nothing to ask you on this subject over all of it but we got through it no one noticed we'll be back on Monday
55:19George Elek:this is The Guardian