In short
Kings of Anglia (Ipswich Town) episode focused on mailbag Q&A during the international break, plus updates on Ipswich women’s first WSL2 match and key Ipswich Town injury/news items. They also preview a major Friday-night clash with Sheffield United, framed as high-pressure for both struggling sides.
Guests
Mark Heath (host), Alex “AJ” (co-host), and Ross (co-host). No external guests; Watson is absent (on holiday).
Guest backgrounds
Mark Heath and Ross are long-running Ipswich Town podcasters; AJ is also a regular Ipswich Town commentator on the show. (All three are fans/analysts rather than guest interviewees.)
Key claims
- Ipswich Women’s WSL2 debut vs Southampton was a physicality/pace step up; they lost 4-0 and will learn for upcoming matches.
- Sammy Smolik’s injury could force Tuba Akpom into the “number 10” role (or tweaks), with Akpom expected to start unless Smolik recovers.
- “Gel” (team cohesion) is valid early on, but should be judged by results by around November.
- Promotion is effectively “promotion or bust” given spending and expectations.
Notable examples
- Southampton scored heavily from corners; six players made WSL2 debuts.
- Sheffield United preview: both teams underperforming; narrative pressure on managers/owners.
- Akpom replacement discussion; tactical debate about left-back/inversion roles (Leif Davis vs Jack Clark).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VORecap of Recent Events and Personal Updates
0:01 to 0:24
Hosts share personal anecdotes and recent happenings at Ipswich Town.
“That's why trade pros trust fiber cement Hardy Backer Board to keep tile firmly in place, resist cracking, and help block moisture.”
Recap of Recent Events and Personal Updates
0:48 to 1:59
Hosts share personal anecdotes and recent happenings at Ipswich Town.
“that might be an age-specific joke so if you don't understand that you're probably too young i am mark heath i'm your host uh and i'm joined by someone who obviously didn't get the jokes he's shaking his head.”
Discussion on Women's Team Historic Game
1:59 to 4:40
Analysis of the Ipswich Town women's first game in WSL2 and its challenges.
“It involves you, Ross, and your little jolly boys' outing to Southampton on Saturday because the Ifrostown women's side, the Tractor girls, made history by playing their first WSL2 game.”
Injury Concerns and Team Dynamics
4:40 to 8:21
Discussion on Sammy Smoddik's injury and its implications for the team.
“And they play their first home game this weekend, right?”
Mailbag Segment Introduction
8:21 to 8:56
Introduction to the mailbag segment where hosts answer listener questions.
“We'll wait to see what the injury is and what the timeframe is.”
Listener Questions on Team Strategy and Fun Topics
8:56 to 13:20
Hosts answer various listener questions about team strategies and engage in humorous discussions.
“This is just going to be a mess, and I can't wait.”
Social Media Influencer Discussion
14:01 to 16:50
The hosts discuss which Ipswich Town player would make the best social media influencer.
“I feel like there needs to be more to this.”
Tactical Questions on Team Formation
16:51 to 19:36
AJ and the team analyze tactical decisions regarding player positions in upcoming matches.
“Nathan Hall wants to know, and this is probably going to be for you, AJ.”
Player Reveal Preferences
19:37 to 21:45
The hosts debate whether new player reveals should be elaborate or straightforward.
“I think Jack Clark, stick Jack Clark on the left game.”
Time Travel and Investment
21:46 to 23:35
A fun discussion on whether to travel back in time or to the future, focusing on investment opportunities.
Show all 25 chapters
The Importance of Team Cohesion
23:36 to 27:03
Rossi and AJ discuss whether a new team needs time to gel and the implications for team performance.
“Think Burnley had 17 new players last season, for example.”
Hype Man and Promotion Expectations
27:04 to 28:00
The hosts explore the role of a hype man for the team while discussing promotion expectations for the season.
“Tom Baines says, I was watching an SEC football documentary.”
Hype Videos and Voiceovers
28:00 to 28:32
Discussion about the excitement around Ipswich Town and the idea of a hype voiceover.
“That's mostly when they go into either a derby or at the start of the season and you do your spiel at the end of the podcast and it's like rousing and all that kind of stuff.”
Promotion or Bust?
28:32 to 30:35
Analyzing the pressure on Ipswich Town to achieve promotion after significant investment.
“I'm going to ask you this one, which you won't like.”
Supplementing the Current Side
30:35 to 32:51
Debate on which player, living or dead, would enhance the current Ipswich Town squad.
“Yeah, it's certainly fair to say there's a lot of pressure on them to be up there this season and definitely in the mix, I would say.”
Patience of the Owners
32:51 to 35:36
Discussion on the ownership's expectations and patience for the current Ipswich Town setup.
“That's the obvious, that is the obvious answer for me from a town.”
Future Events and Fan Engagement
35:36 to 38:21
Plans for future events and a call for fans living abroad to engage with the community.
“Ipswich have parachute payments, but Ipswich have parachute payments that last for two seasons.”
Dream Draft Beers
38:21 to 42:00
Light-hearted discussion about favorite beers and ideal pints on draft for a pub setting.
“uh in december so keep an eye out for for details of that and the question i want to finish on because I think it's my favourite question because it's just basically me as a person.”
Beer Preferences and Banter
42:00 to 44:08
Hosts discuss their favorite beer choices and preferences.
“neck oil so i'm gonna have one of those on the on the taps okay um heineken very controversial i I don't, I mean, that's one, for me, that's one step away from Carling.”
Previewing a Crucial Match
44:08 to 47:51
Analyzing the significance of the upcoming match between Ipswich and Sheffield United.
“We were kind of talking about this the other day.”
Sheffield United's Struggles
47:51 to 49:19
Discussion on Sheffield United's performance and managerial changes.
“And with the Sheffield United side of things as well, so what they've had over the summer is they've had a new ownership that have come in, and they're very data-driven.”
Ipswich's Line-Up Predictions
49:19 to 52:54
Predictions on possible line-up changes for Ipswich Town.
“Let's try and think about that because we know, obviously we know, well, we don't know, but Smolik's injured.”
Match Predictions and Closing Thoughts
52:54 to 56:00
The hosts share their predictions for the match outcome and player performances.
“So you kick us off with the predictions.”
Match Predictions and Key Players
56:00 to 56:51
Analyzing the upcoming match against Sheffield United and predicting outcomes and key scorers.
“Sheffield United are going to want to play.”
Fan Interaction and Mailbag Question
57:44 to 58:35
Discussing a fan's compliment about a host's broadcasting skills and its implications.
“I thought it was important because I think he raises a good point.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Ross Halls:Kitchen and bathroom professionals know what goes behind the tile matters. That's why trade pros trust fiber cement Hardy Backer Board to keep tile firmly in place, resist cracking, and help block moisture. Chosen in over 40 million kitchens and bathrooms, Hardy Backer Board, what the best build on. Shop now at participating Home Depot, Lowe's, and Floor & Decor stores. For more information, visit jameshardy.com slash hardybacker.
0:38Mark Heath:hello friends and welcome to your bit delayed wednesday edition of the kings of anglia it's rich town podcast proudly sponsored by stardust spirits and molecular uk just the three of us today because watson is off on his holidays again gets more time off than judith charmers that that might be an age-specific joke so if you don't understand that you're probably too young i am mark heath i'm your host uh and i'm joined by someone who obviously didn't get the jokes he's shaking his head. Alex Jones, you have no idea who Judith Chalmers is. No, sorry. She used to present a program called Holiday.
1:08Mark Heath:Therefore, she was always on holiday. That was the joke. I'm so old. What's the point? Why don't I even bother? Ross, have you ever heard of Judith Chalmers?
1:20Ross Halls:Somewhat. She's old, isn't she?
1:22Mark Heath:What is the point? I'm wasting my time. Might as well just go and walk into the sea. End it all. um friends that's a good way to start isn't it i'm slightly stressed anyway already because my phone broke last night and i've had to make a mad dash into town this morning to get a new one um which means we're recording this late um but yes friends we've not been with you for a little while obviously there was no game over the weekend so i thought before we get into what's going to be the main meat of the show today mailbag your questions which i'm looking forward to i thought we'd just briefly touch on what has happened since we last spoke and i guess the most historic important, interesting thing that's happened as we last spoke.
1:59Mark Heath:It involves you, Ross, and your little jolly boys' outing to Southampton on Saturday because the Ifrostown women's side, the Tractor girls, made history by playing their first WSL2 game. Obviously huge for the club, huge for the team, huge for the players. But it's fair to say it didn't really go to plan.
2:20Ross Halls:Yeah, it was always going to be a tough game. Always going to be a step up. But they lost 4-0, which is not ideal. It was a learning curve for the team. Physicality showed. And, yeah, it's going to be a bit of a, well, hopefully a blessing in disguise in terms of, yeah, this is the step up. We need to work on different things. They've got Nottingham Forest next weekend or this Sunday who are another newly promoted team. They lost their game 2-1 in the opening game against Newcastle, I think it was. So, yeah, that will be sort of the proper start at home. But yeah, it was a test and they didn't pass it because it got lost 4-0.
3:03Mark Heath:Reading the report and the stuff that you and Tom did from the game, it was excellent, by the way, really good coverage that you boys did. Good for us to be there for that first game. It seemed like something we were kind of saying with Town stepping up to the Premier League last season in terms of the speed of the game, the physicality, the time you don't get on the ball, all that sort of stuff. Was it noticeable, that step up?
3:24Ross Halls:yeah I wouldn't say they played dreadfully the Richard Town women's team but just even from the first 10 minutes you just saw the difference and Southampton had some big girls like some really tall strong girls and that sort of physicality showed from the off and corners we struggled with you know Southampton scored three of their goals strong corners and I'm sure that that would be straight away something Joe Sheehan and the team will work on but yeah just the pace of the game the intensity to see, I think, sort of show straight away. In the team, there's six players making their debuts at that level.
4:01Ross Halls:So a lot of them have been obviously aiming to get to this stage of their careers, playing in the second tier women's football. But there's a big learning curve for them. And there's a few players playing out of position because of injuries. But yeah, a test for them. But I'm not getting worried because some people go, oh God, that's going to be a tough season ahead. I think it's just first game of the season. Southampton have got good experienced players, a few internationals as well. So yeah, 4-0 is not ideal, but in the second half, they sort of got back into the game a little bit, created a few chances.
4:37Ross Halls:But yeah, physicality is going to be a key thing this season for them, I think.
4:42Mark Heath:And they play their first home game this weekend, right? At Colchester. And who are they playing? You say Forest?
4:47Ross Halls:You're not in Forest, though. They got promoted from the Northern Premier Division. obviously town are in the southern premier division so two newly promoted teams and it was only two seasons ago where two teams from the different divisions could go up before they used to go into like a playoff which is ridiculous you win your title in the northern southern division and then you have to then play a playoff to get promoted which is just ridiculous really because you have all that glory like celebrating with the trophy oh no we've got now playing a playoff game to see if we can get promoted and there's a happened a few times with some teams I think it was actually not in Forest or another team three years in a row they won their league and then lost in the playoffs and then had the heartbreak of like Argyle got to play in the third tier again so yeah, Colchester United Stadium first game, home game against Nottingham Forest, should be a good one, should be hopefully a good crowd and hopefully some ports on the board
5:36Mark Heath:Yeah, some more history then this weekend so that's two o 'clock on Sunday isn't it so an opportunity to go and cheer them on in the first game at home at that level AJ bringing you in now in terms of news I'm telling you we're not going to talk about international stuff because nobody cares it's so dull but there has been something that has happened to an Ipswich Town player while he was on international break which is worthy of note and that's Sammy Smoddik's apparently suffering an injury against I can't remember who it was against but in their first game Hungary that's right yeah so he He puts it on social media basically saying he had to leave the camp early, hopefully not too serious.
6:18Mark Heath:And obviously you boys will find out a bit more at the presser tomorrow. But that's not ideal, is it? Given that Chappas has just gone out on loan. Now, I know there are other players in the team, obviously Akpob and Egele and all that sort of people who can play the 10. But Sammy Smoddik's A, he's quite injury prone, I guess because of the style of player he is. He's very much in the thick of everything, isn't it? And B, it's not ideal given the timing. The injury prone comment's quite interesting, that because I remember talking to him in pre-season we did an exclusive interview with him out in Austria and asked him about how hard it's been to be out for half the year with a knock and he said it was harder because I don't get injuries I'm not the player that picks up these knocks but 2025 has been the year of Sammy Smodek's really struggling with these because he had an injury that he picked up I think it was the ankle one against Fulham came back kind of re-aggravated it again, didn't he?
7:08Then came back at the end of the season. Then there was everything that was rumoured with his arm and there were fears from Ipswich's camp that he might have broken it. And now this, and this is a blow and it will be a bit of a concern to see how bad it's going to be and how long it will be out for. So we assume that it's happened in the game against Hungary. It was interesting to see actually that he went and did press after that game. He did the media bits after the Hungary game, but then ended up withdrawing from the squad. He played 78 minutes in that game. Ireland coming from 2-0 down to draw it 2-0.
7:48So, yeah, it's definitely a concern for the position. It's good that Town have different players that can step into that role. I'm talking about Gelli, Chuba Akpom. There'll be others who can come into that. Marcelino Nunez has spoken a bit about playing as number 10. but having just sent Connor Chaplin out on loan in what was a controversial decision, I think, for a lot of people, this now feels like it is a real low blow, especially if it's going to be an extended period. But as he says, fingers crossed, it won't be. We'll wait to see what the injury is and what the timeframe is.
8:27Mark Heath:Yeah, so you boys will find out more tomorrow. It's press conference day tomorrow, which will be an interesting one, won't it? First one post-deadline day. And also you're saying you're going to get to speak to Tuba as well tomorrow, which is yeah i put on my wrong side i put my shirt as well was not linked actually to be honest okay it was not tied but i no it works well yeah exactly bit of iax crossover right then friends that's the uh that's the kind of news since we last spoke um obviously we spoke after deadline day um so if you haven't listened to that go and go and listen to our views on the whole window and signings that kind of thing um the main part of today is going to be international break means one thing and that that's mailbag friends we want to hear your questions we want you to get involved um so obviously mailbag traditionally has a tune attached to it does anyone fancy singing singing it rossi you're putting your hand up no i stretched my finger i just had to like oh okay okay uh mailbag mailbag it's time for mark rossi and aj to dip into the mailbag
9:35Mark Heath:yes not as good as hutchy obviously but we've done it right we've got loads of mailbag questions today um on all sorts of social media platforms as well we've got we've got a lot of instagram we've got a lot of twitter the traditional spot and also we've got one of blue sky because we're uh we're very cool and relevant and we're on blue sky as well um right then where shall we start shall we start with where was this question
10:05where was this question well you talk about i want to caveat this with the fact that so you sent this in you sent all the questions in about 15 minutes before we started recording i was midway through making a coffee i've seen about three of these questions so i'm going blind This is what I'm saying. This is what you want, isn't it? This is raw and ready. There's no preparation to this. This is just going to be a mess, and I can't wait.
10:30Mark Heath:This is just flying by the seat of our pants broadcasting, which is the best type of broadcasting. Right, I'm going to start because I knew there was a question around the Smoddix thing, so we might as well start with that. Johnny Q, 1987 on Instagram. I suspect he may have been born in 1987. wants to know, AJ, do you think the Smoddik's injury could either mean a start for Akpom or a system change? System's never going to change, is it? So I guess essentially, is Akpom going to start, you reckon? Yeah, you've kind of answered the question there, haven't you? Well, Akpom put up for pre-match media, one.
11:07Smoddik's out injured, lack of natural number 10s. Where does Akpom's minutes come from? We spoke about this a lot in pre-season. Is he going to be a nine? Can he play out wide? Stu kind of said, well, with the lack of right-sided options, does he kind of go up there because he's done that? Well, I mean, this kind of decided now. Everything's kind of forced their hands a little bit, and it's good that in losing a former Golden Boot winner who plays as a number 10, they can replace him with a former Golden Boot winner who plays as a number 10. So there are differences between what Smoddix offers and what Tuba Akpom offers.
11:41At the same time, it won't be like a formation switch or anything like that, but there will have to be little tweaks in terms of that because Atpom is a proper second striker. He will really just play off Hurst. But they've had a couple of weeks now to work on it. Tuba Atpom hasn't been away on international duty. And, yeah, I would be very surprised if he wasn't in that slot to play against Sheffield United unless there's some sort of miracle recovery from Sammy Smollex before them.
12:08Mark Heath:I mean, he recovered from potentially having a broken arm to play at the weekend, didn't he? uh he was at preston so he does have recovery powers i have to see but i'll be honest if act one does start there i'd be pretty excited to see that because i thought he looked really lively when he came on against derby and as you say he's got he's got pedigree hasn't he so that also answers the same question from farmer j dog uh who asked who is replacement number 10 right rossi you were very impressed with this question so impressed you put it in the group chat on its own so i'm going to get you to answer it lazer for life said would you rather have chocolate fingers or chocolate feet that's great just a great question that's what we want to talk about
12:48Ross Halls:semi-spotics who's going to replace the number 10 don't care not fussed boring it's all about chocolate fingers or chocolate feet um and it's yeah there's two arguments with this one chocolate feet yeah i don't know you're just gonna it's gonna be mushy in it and you're just gonna it's gonna break yeah the fingers you just you just want to eat them just gonna eat your fingers all of time because they're there um but i'm probably gonna go with chocolate fingers because yeah i think feet you want to you want to have normal feet to walk on and yeah chocolate fingers yeah you may have a little bite here and there but you know you can have one keep one hand to the other
13:23Mark Heath:hands you can just have a little munch on so yeah yeah i think if you had chocolate feet heat would be an issue wouldn't at all times if you even put socks on them they'd probably start melting um whereas i suppose chocolate fingers you can control the temperature of a little bit better and as you say ross chocolate to walk on probably a bit brittle um whereas again fingers you might be able to take a little bit better aj have you got any thoughts on this uh this um biting incisive question do they regrow like if you take a bite out of your fingers like is that it are they gone if you take a bite out of your fingers are you in like agonizing pain because you've literally just done it.
14:01Maybe I'm overthinking this too much. I feel like there needs to be more to this. Personally, I'd say fingers, but the answer is this is a question for Jacob Greaves.
14:12Mark Heath:Well, yeah. Keep up your sleeve for the next Jacob Greaves presser. All right, then. Let's stick with Instagram because it's cool, isn't it? It's cooler than Twitter. Rowan Haslam, which king would make the best influencer? um rossi yeah i think that's the obvious answer i tell you he'll be the worst and that would be stewart watson because stewart hates social media he wouldn't be on social media if he didn't have to be for work and he moans about having to do it all the time so he would very much be although in a way that would make him quite a good influence the kind of anti-influencer because you could see how much he hated doing it but the obvious answer clearly is ross a man who live streams quite a lot of your life rossi um and you also you also take a lot of kind of pictures of yourself sort of from this angle don't you and that kind of thing my good side you're a good side yeah do you agree with that i wouldn't say i like to not my
15:10Ross Halls:private life i don't really go too out there with my private life but my church town life and and stuff like that and being out there i'm happy to do that but yeah i don't go too in depth obviously anyone can see my spare bedroom which is just covered with loads of stuff i've got boots
15:26Mark Heath:here that i've never worn like just yeah just free gifts free gifts yeah yeah pretty much um and i
15:33Ross Halls:also got like a pillow here which if i turn around it's got a picture of me and sasha on but i'm not gonna do that oh for sasha's sake um but yeah i like to keep some of my private life private but yeah some people know people know i've got a kitchen that's just been fitted so yeah you would
15:50Mark Heath:you would definitely make a good influence or us you've got just go just circling back you've got
15:55Ross Halls:a pillow with a picture of you and sasha on yeah is that so what when one of you is away the other one can just sort of hug it and kiss it and yeah well it's one of those where you um yeah it's got like you have to yeah you know what i mean h i don't know how you explain what you're doing you're rubbing your hand what you're doing yeah when you go on the pillow aj come on come in mate come in oh so it's like a pillow where you can it looks like one color or pattern or something if you move your hand over it it shows off as something i always gotta yeah you're gonna have to show it
16:24Mark Heath:you're gonna have to show it ross because otherwise i don't understand oh you're stroking
16:27Ross Halls:it now that's lovely yeah so i see the picture okay let's see let's see the picture no okay
16:35Mark Heath:is it is it a risque picture on a on a risque picture i'll show a picture of me on it Oh, look at that. From your best side as well. That's the thumbnail. Best side as well. That's the thumbnail, yeah. Oh, that is lovely. Just clean up there. Excellent. Picture me there, look. Into Rossi's house, yeah. Right then. Let's do a football one, shall we? Nathan Hall wants to know, and this is probably going to be for you, AJ. Hey, Kings, given Jadon and Jack Clark both like to hug the line and Leaf is inverting, should Ben Johnson play left back and invert into centre-mid, given he's played there before and he did it well against Bromley?
17:12Mark Heath:Or is Cameron Humphreys better playing in that role than Leif Davis? Now, this is a problem, isn't it? Because, you know, Jadon Filagene, I'll be honest, has kind of not really done it for me on the left. And he's being accommodated, which means that Leif has got to play this inverted role, which hasn't really worked either. So is there any merit there in what Nathan's saying, that, you know, Ben Johnson or even Cam Humphreys? is the suggestion then that you you take leaf out of the team voluntarily seems to be yeah should leave ben johnson play left back and inverted to center mid or is cam humphries playing that role no is my first point i think that if you're changing the system to accommodate a player you're changing it to accommodate leaf davis is personally be how it involves taking one of them out.
18:01Now there has been obviously a shift over the summer as we've spoken about where the change has been Leif Davis in this new role where he gets more time on the ball but it's less kind of swashbuckling attacking play. Yeah ultimately I'll stick with that it should be Leif Davis at left back and I do personally think that it should be him in this still swashbuckling attacking fun you know that kind of role down the left and you should be asking one of the left side as to adapt because ultimately they are players one's worth 15 million in transfer fee the other one's worth 20 million they should be good enough then to be able to to go and change their roles in the same way that davis has tried to go and and do that and i think has done it better than say jack clark has adapting to his new role and and philajeen in a slightly different role as well um yeah the the balance is really really difficult with that left side i still think probably the long term for me based on what I've seen in the last couple of games, it's difficult and I sway between it so much as well where I was so impressed with Jadon Philogene against Southampton thought he was really good, I think I might have picked him as my man of the match in that game and then the two games after that, I thought he was really poor and you see Jack Clark coming on and Clark actually, especially against Derby when he came on, looked much much better so yeah, personally it would be Jack Clark for me on Friday night I'm sure we'll come on to that in a bit but it's really difficult to find that balance and I'd be prioritising what suits Davis knowing what he's been able to do in this team and at this level.
19:37Mark Heath:Yeah, I agree with you. I've said it before. I think Jack Clark, stick Jack Clark on the left game. I mean, he wants to cut inside anyway. That's what he does, isn't it? He gets the ball and cuts inside on his right foot. So I don't see why Leaf then can't go back to bombing down outside of him if that's what he's going to do. Yeah, we definitely need to get leaf davis back to that sort of role uh dale ellis wants to know most of the new signings were revealed to some generic music lights flashing cutting different camera angles in the box all a bit dull nunez was a banger of course uh what do the kings prefer elaborate reveal or keep it simple and does hutchie get input on the reveals i don't think i'm breaking protocol too much to say dale that yes he does and he does obviously get involved in that kind of stuff and as far as i'm aware he was he was heavily involved with the nunes one because i chatted to him about it i'll leave it there um i won't say any more but um yeah he does get involved in stuff like that uh so rossi's you prefer elaborate all singing all dancing new player reveals or would you like them just keep it simple yeah there'll be a few people who are
20:41Ross Halls:in different opinions on this and i'm probably on the boring side i really don't care to be honest I just want the signing. Just announce it. I don't need all these teasers. Just announce it. Just go boom. Obviously announce it at a reasonable time. Nothing too late as we experience. I get it's nice for some fans, I'm sure. You see all this different music and different effects and stuff. But to be honest with you, just show me a picture of a player holding a shirt or wearing a shirt of Itchwich Town. I'll be happy with it. And then we can crack on with the rest of our days. so yeah a bit boring but like keep it simple just just announce it and then boom i think the most
Read the full transcript
21:21Mark Heath:important thing you've said there ross is do it a decent time um no announcements after 6 p.m ideally that would be the uh the cut off uh i saw obviously the forest uh nuno nuno got the boot that was announced at quarter past midnight wasn't it can you imagine if that was uh i know we've done 11 45 before with the transfer signing but uh that was harness wasn't it back in the day um but yeah 6 p.m should be the cut off uh mldr5 who has our old friend matt bono in it um on instagram wants to know would you rather travel back in time or travel to the future my answer this is quite simple and that is i'd be going back in time baby i'll be getting all marty mcfly and going back in time because i love history i'd love to go back and see some things um so yeah that would be my answer how about you aj i would go back in time and invest in bitcoin assuming that this isn't something we can do is bitcoin sort of thing i don't know like is that well it was that's the point and if you can go back in time to 2010 when you could buy like everything for about 10 pounds and you see like the stories of people that did that and were telling everyone else oh you know what you should do this and then all of a sudden they're multi billionaires in 2024 that's a good idea to be fair that's that's what i'd say i hate by the way i do hate cryptocurrencies and nfts and all that stupid stuff but with that that's what i'd do because that's the best way to make money yeah nfts are nonsense aren't they i think they have officially sort of fallen apart haven't they there was a touch remember there's a time where people loads of people just buying pictures of like monkeys and stuff like that and making them their avatar on various social media yeah i don't think they've aged very well in terms of value yeah that's a good idea actually what you should do is go back in time aj invest in apple in the sort of mid-90s uh go back a bit earlier in time to sort of the early 80s and invest in nike um just before they signed michael jordan that'd be a good idea uh you'd be uh you'd be absolutely keiko baker i'd um i'd also go back and i'd put just just put a nice tenner nothing too much on leicester city to win the 2015 oh yes premier league title as well i'm not sure how ethical that would be but um there we go ethics on the koa podcast actually so essentially the question was would you go back in time or go in the future basically so you can sort of look at you know how mankind has evolved or indeed will evolve and we've immediately leapt to how can i make the most money out of this that's uh essentially how we've tackled that good uh um kevin kevin Hurst wants to know, Rossi, is there merit to the time to gel line or is it an excuse?
23:59Mark Heath:And this has been brought up a lot. Think Burnley had 17 new players last season, for example.
24:06Ross Halls:Good point. Because, yeah, you do look at other teams who rip up their squad every season and then sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We obviously got a good example of that back in 2021 when we signed 19 summer signings. and it didn't work, did it? Because Paul Cook got sacked and of course Kieran McKenna came in and he tried his very hardest but obviously in the end we finished 11th for Suffernall, 9th and we missed out of the playoffs in League One. This turnaround it's a bit different. I will admit I have used the word gel a few times because you've got to say it really. It's not an excuse.
24:48Ross Halls:They do need time to gel because it's been a quick turnaround of obviously games, a lot of signings, that's when you look at should the transfer window be closed before the season starts because you don't have that excuse of like, okay, they've got time to gel because, well, you signed them in pre-season. They're up to speed. So I think we just can't use that maybe in November. After maybe the November international break, we now need to see results. We need to see this team doing the business. But at the moment, I don't mind the word gel, but I know there's a few people out there not happy with it, but it's a new squad and some people go well should we have got a new squad but that's now a debate
25:26Mark Heath:for another time yeah I know there are people who think that kind of defense is not valid but I would ask you to consider in any other kind of walk of life when you have that much turnover and it's not just been remember it's not just been players it's also been staff as well it takes time like if if If the three of you left, for example, it would take time before we got back up to what we have already as a team, the way we work and all that kind of stuff. And it's not as simple as just going, well, we signed loads, we spent loads of money. We've got loads of really good players. Yes, they're good players individually, but it takes time for those players to then come together as a team.
26:05Mark Heath:So I think my personal opinion is anyone who's kind of saying, well, we can't use gel, that reason's gel. that's nonsense is wrong because in any walk of life it takes time when you have new staff new members of personnel it's going to take time now as rossi says the question is how long does it take and how long does that uh reason slash excuse uh remain valid for and i think ross you're probably about on the right money there in terms of you know november sort of time the issue with town obviously is they can't afford in the situation they are now where they're so highly expected you know highly favorited to do well in this league they can't afford to let teams get too far ahead of them before they they gel so yeah that's that would be my views Kev I know I suspect by the way you phrased your question you disagree and you think all the players should immediately be brilliant and they should be winning games but I don't think that's really how life works.
27:04Mark Heath:Right, where are we? Tom Baines says, I was watching an SEC football documentary. He means American football, the SEC. That's very good, by the way. That's on Netflix. Very much worth watching. One team had a hype man before games he'd shout stuff like, go get it! And ask if there were any dogs in the house. Perhaps town need a hype man to turn things up. Who would you pick to take on the job? Keep up the top work. I would say the guy who is on the PA now is good. Is his name Dave? Dave? I want to say it's Dave. Dave Vance. Dave Vance. I think he's really good. He does a really good job. Yeah, much better than our old friend Mark Murphy, I would say, controversially.
27:44Mark Heath:So, yeah, that would be my take. I like him. If there was another hype man, though, who would you have, AJ? You. Me? Yes. To be fair. This is the first thing. As soon as I heard the word hype man, I feel like I've dubbed you hype man Heath before in the past. That's mostly when they go into either a derby or at the start of the season and you do your spiel at the end of the podcast and it's like rousing and all that kind of stuff. I feel like, you know, when you get the hype videos at Portman Road and other stadiums, I feel like you do a very good voiceover for one of those. Correct. I'm telling you.
28:22Mark Heath:Actually, that is the right answer. Me. Give me a job if it's down. I'll be your hype man. I'll just do that on Saturdays. A little side hustle. Where should we go now? Let's go with Ricky Kitchen, Rossi. I'm going to ask you this one, which you won't like. With all the changes made and money spent, is the season now promotion or bust? In regards to McKenna and all the new players brought in, how many of them do you think will stick around for two seasons in the championship? So this is the crux of the matter, given that it's no longer plucky town in the championship, underdogs, battling spirit.
28:59Mark Heath:But God, it'd be amazing if they get into the playoffs. Oh, they got promoted. How amazing is that? Now it's Ipswich Town, the big dogs, favourites for promotion, millions and millions and millions of pounds spent. They've got to go up. Is that fair? Promotional bust? What do you reckon?
29:14Ross Halls:Yeah, to be honest, because the money is spent, McKenna and the team, they've got that pressure on them. And when you get relegated from the Premier League, most teams, you know, in recent years, of course, gone straight back up. So they want to continue that trend. So, yeah, it's going to be interesting if they don't do it. And as you said, the other question about which players could stay around for Season 2, well, it really depends if they want to stay here and play in the Championship again, especially certain players who have signed for big money. We already saw De Lapp and Hutchison leave because they wanted to stay in the Premier League.
29:52Ross Halls:There'd be some players thinking, well, if we haven't gone up, that means they haven't proven they are one of the best championship players because they've not been able to get this team promoted. So it will be interesting who will stick around especially as I said, the ones who have spent big money on. The lone players as well. Like Kustay, he probably, I don't mind playing one season championship but deep down I want to probably be playing in the Premier League Azor Matasiwa. He's obviously a great interviewer with Stu. If you haven't checked it out, check it out. Really good exclusive with him.
30:24Ross Halls:He obviously is aiming for the Premier League. So, yeah, it will be bust if they don't get promoted because, yeah, obviously the money as well, the club. We'd like that Premier League money, I'm sure.
30:36Mark Heath:Absolutely. Yeah, it's certainly fair to say there's a lot of pressure on them to be up there this season and definitely in the mix, I would say. SD 1985 UK, who I think is my old friend Shane, who invited me to go to the Ipswich Cardinals, American football, which I very much enjoyed, Shane. Thank you very much. This is one for you, AJ. If you could supplement the current side with any player living or dead, who would it be? Now, he doesn't say there has to be a town player. So, I mean, any player is quite a lot of people to choose from. So given your encyclopedic knowledge of football, who would it be?
31:14Mark Heath:What the town needs, I guess you're looking at, isn't it? You know what? Funnily enough, if you put this into an Ipswich perspective, I think it would be easier because you narrow it down, in which case I would say a prime David McGoldrick would be the way I'd go about it. A little bit of smoothness is what I've always associated with him. To be fair, given how he's playing at the moment in League 2 and in League 1, I probably would have him in the team now, to be perfectly honest. other than that what is it that Ipswich are kind of missing from this team I guess it's kind of an X Factor essentially what I hope Sindra Valageli is going to be really who would I have in that role god that is really difficult I'm just going to just say bloody messy
32:13Ross Halls:oh come on I'm going to go with something very, very left field, just because I think he's really good. And he's not one of the best in the world or anything like that. But I just think he'd suit the system. Ahmad Diallo. Wow. Manchester United. That's the X factor. I don't want to do this where you go through and say, Oh, Luis Suarez. Well, okay. Or dead. I'll take a bit of Jan Cruyff, please, would be the way I'd go about that. Yeah, okay. Nice. would be happy with that one. That would be the way. Johan Cruyff is my answer.
32:48Mark Heath:Yeah. Johan Cruyff would be a good player. He had a decent turn on him, didn't he? So I recall. I would take Kevin Beatty. That's the obvious, that is the obvious answer for me from a town. He would be, I mean, Beatty was a freak athlete. He would be amazing in any era, in any team. And he would play in the championship if he'd dominate. And in the Premier League he'd be amazing as well. So I'd put, I'd put Kevin Beatty in. Ross, have you got anyone you'd like to throw into the mix?
33:16Ross Halls:Kieran McKenna likes Irish players, so Matty Holland is the captain again. Ah, okay. He just basically just signed all the Irish players, although Sam Lott-Holand did have a good game last night from comments. So, yeah, not good. Anyway, move on.
33:31Mark Heath:Did you see, I mean, we haven't mentioned the interview with Matt Holland and McKenna and Ashton, but did you see when Holland asked about O'Shea replacing Morsi? And McKenna said, well, obviously he's replacing the best midfield captain at which time I've ever had to Matt Holland. How they laughed. It was good stuff. That was a good watch, by the way. Although I do wish it would be independent they would do that stuff with. But I know that obviously they're not going to do that because that would involve them being asked some more difficult questions rather than some P-rollers. Tractor Boy Portugal wants to know, shout out to any ITFC fans who live on the Algarve in Portugal.
34:15Mark Heath:Got it out here in the end, please, guys. For the life of me, I can't find people here and would love a little fan group to watch matches with. So if you live in the Algarve, which is a beautiful place, one of my favourite places, actually, Lagos, is where we go quite a lot, Tractor Boy Portugal. Get in touch with him on Twitter. He is Tractor Boy Portugal on X, as it is now. Should we go? Assuming any more questions we have. there's one up here um i suppose it's all around the same kind of theme aj this is from andy muck itfc on blue sky because we're on blue sky because we're young and cool and relevant oh easy fella it's you calm down shots fired the doctor no i was saying we are on blue oh i see i thought that was a little dig at your aged boss no no no no no no i was trying to say we are on blue sky you at Watson is not on blue sky you don't have to think that everything is a big at your age what are we talking about I'm not sensitive anyway great to see you back he says I don't know why he says to see you back because we've always been around the big question if things don't turn around soon how long that is how strong is the patience of the owners the model that the likes of Forrest use appears to have paid dividends managed to turn over and breaking finance rules etc as they are still in the prem and in europe and obviously that would be a nightmare scenario being um i mean thoughts for omari hutchinson on that front by the way um given that they basically had a fallout over signings and that sounds like he was one of the ones so i don't know how much he's going to play um but yeah patience of owners we when they took over the americans aj they said we're not patient people and they showed that quite quickly because they they got rid of cook um in the start of december it was after that demolition man summer um now you'd imagine that the current setup has got quite a lot of credit in the bank but the patience is not infinite no patience is not infinite patience in my eyes last through this entire season starters is the first thing to say um money is a big factor in this for anyone that runs a football club um and as a team that got promoted to the Premier League and relegated in their first season.
36:37Ipswich have parachute payments, but Ipswich have parachute payments that last for two seasons. So they get a payment when they got relegated this summer, they'll get another one next summer as well. Now, some clubs that come down, if they've been in the Premier League for more than a season, will get a third payment on top of that. Ipswich do not. So this kind of goes back to the promotional bus thing. Is it for that of the season? I don't think so, personally. I think this is, of course, it's a team and a club that wants to get promoted back to the Premier League this season. I think it's a project that's aimed at doing it within two seasons is the biggest thing.
37:12I think that there are players who have bought into the fact that they're going to be at this club for an extended period, an extended period, I mean, a couple of years. I think the managers bought into that, and I think those at ownership level are as well, and there will be an expectation to perform well and challenge for promotion this season, unless it's an absolute catastrophe. I don't think that patience is going to run thin, unless we're talking about a Luton situation, which I still don't think will happen. So, yeah, I'm not really concerned about that at this stage. I still think it will be a much longer-term thing unless there's some real shambles going on in the next kind of six months or so.
37:51Mark Heath:I'd agree with you. I can't see, you know, as you say, there's a lot of credit in the bank unless it completely explodes and goes to pieces. I can't see there being an issue this season. right final question from instagram uh craig henry wants to know any news on ko live 3 yes craig um we're looking at one in december um towards the end of december a few things need to fall into place and and all that kind of stuff so we can't actually 100 confirm that at the moment but we are looking at doing another one um as a sort of christmas party uh in december so keep an eye out for for details of that and the question i want to finish on because I think it's my favourite question because it's just basically me as a person.
38:33Mark Heath:It's from Rhys Curtis. He wants to know, what are the Kings' dream line-up for pints on draft in a pub? Yes, Rhys, you're talking my language. He says mine would be Amstel, Peroni, Madri and Moretti. So Rhys loves a lager and I also love a lager. Rossi, I think other than me, you're probably the one who spends most of your time in pubs drinking. what would your dream line-up be?
39:00Ross Halls:So how many are we going to have? Should we have three, four? He's done four there.
39:03Mark Heath:I'd say there's normally five on tap, isn't there? So you can have five.
39:08Ross Halls:Plenty. I'll start with a Guinness, I think. Every time I drink a Guinness I think of my grandad. Shout out to Russell. No, Russell, unfortunately. But yeah, every time I drink one I just think of him. So Guinness got up an Italian beer and I probably go with a Peroni just solid then I'll probably go with acai I do like an acai acai sorry yeah then do I go nah I'm just going to keep with lagers then I'm probably going to go with a Czech beer that I've been drinking recently but I can't pronounce it let's give it with S Starapramen that's the one yeah I really like that That's actually in Isaac Sinichovic, which is just crazy.
39:56Mark Heath:You get that in that little sort of jug thing, don't you? Like a bit of a tankard. Yeah.
40:00Ross Halls:Which is nice. So that's four. And then I'm going to go with a Portuguese beer. I think it's Portuguese. I'm going to go Soutabop because that's more in a – I don't think you actually get it in like a draft thing. You get it more in a –
40:18Mark Heath:You can get it in a draft, obviously, if you're in Portugal.
40:21Ross Halls:Yeah, true. but yeah I love a Suter Bock because I still remember back in 2018 in the World Cup I went to a Portuguese cafe on Norwich Road in Nittwich and when England played Colombia and they won on penalties and I was with some Colombian fans and we were just drinking Suter Bock which was like£2 which was just mad to think you're selling Suter Bock for£2 in this. Pints? Yeah so it's just what is going on but luckily there's still a a cafe, but I was just like, this is our business. You know, you need to bring that price a little bit up. Yeah, so that's my five. Suterbach, Peroni, Asahi, the Czech one.
41:07Ross Halls:Oh, God. Guinness. That's it. Yeah,
41:12Mark Heath:I'm going to... Go on, AJ, you give me your five, and then I'll finish with my five. Honourable mentions, star of Prague. Went to the brewery tour in Prague. really cool and i'll also throw singer in there as an honorable mention but my five that i'm going to have are heineken i always love a heineken easy you know what you're getting uh peroni if you want to splash out i'm taking heineken in this that's filth so no absolutely also someone who spends a lot of time in the netherlands absolutely all over all over heineken yeah nonsense let's let's the listeners decide yeah um heineken peroni i'm also going with the sahi debated this because it's more readily available now and it doesn't feel as niche and exciting but i'll take chris campo um and i'll also and it's very very modern very woke now but i i do like a neck oil so i'm gonna have one of those on the on the taps okay um heineken very controversial i I don't, I mean, that's one, for me, that's one step away from Carling.
42:19Mark Heath:Whoa. The best, when I was at university, they used to do Heineken. They only did it at Heineken, but they'd get like those kind of like frosted ice kind of glasses. Okay. And they'd put Heineken into those. Brilliant. Loved it. My go-to there for that reason. But yeah, I'm sticking with it. All right. It's your taps, mate. I'm just saying it sounds rank. um my five my five would be guinness i think that's a good one you need you need that option because a guinness is really easy to drink and if you if you're boring like me it's also lower calorie than uh than other uh pints you can have um i'd also have on there something again a bit different i'd have an aspel cider sunny day lovely stuff uh then i'd definitely go peroni i think peroni would be the universal choice i'd have corona on there as well but only if it was served in the proper corona glasses with a little bit of lime on the side that's lovely and then for a kind of left field choice just to be different i'd have veltins which uh i've had a lot of nice pints of in the past on my travels across europe and again in places you can get that frozen glass aj they serve you veltins in a frozen glass and that instantly makes everything better honorable mention i would say to uh sargres which is another portuguese beer uh asahi definitely um um i think that would be it well i definitely wouldn't have and i'm definitely not up for is any kind of real ale anything that's called like vicar's underpants or or fusty bog water is not something that i want to put in my mouth uh because i'm not 75 years old um give give me lager generally uh there we go that's that's a great question that's the question of the day and there's our answers and we've disagreed about heineken because it's filth um friends And what isn't filth is it's just coming back into action this weekend on Friday night, actually.
44:13Mark Heath:Friday night football. And it's a B-I-G. It's a big one, AJ.
44:21Mark Heath:We were kind of talking about this the other day. When Sky picked this for TV, I'm fairly sure they would have expected it to be sort of two unbeaten sides right at the top of the league. Instead, what they've got is one side has lost all of their games. and on the other side you've only got three points and are also winless. But in a way, AJ, sort of makes it bigger, doesn't it? It does. And I feel like Sky will probably put this up as El Sakico, even though, I'm going to be honest, the tips of it's town. We're even to lose this 5-0. God forbid. I don't think Kieran McKenna would be sacked. But I feel like that's going to be the big narrative and it's going to put a lot of pressure on.
45:03and there's going to be huge expectations that go both ways because I've already seen a lot of comments from Sheffield United fans that said if we don't win this game then Ruben Sayers should be sacked and there's going to be a lot of Ipswich fans I think that will see it as this is a team that have lost all five of their competitive games so far this season it's a must win we can't lose or even draw against the team that have only lost their competitive matches so far this campaign so essentially you've got two teams that are underperforming at this point let's be honest and are going to go in with quite high expectations and what that means is that one or possibly both of them are going to come away disappointed from it um so really big stakes on that and especially with maybe one or two futures probably bramwell lane you'd have to say
45:53Mark Heath:yeah say he's already kind of talking about his future isn't he and um you know after four games to remember because clearly you know from what i've read i don't think blades fans were that enamored with uh with chris walder being fired again um rossi how are you feeling about this one this obviously it's obviously a big game it was always going to be a big game but the fact that both sides are kind of struggling um adds more intrigue doesn't it yeah it does um and
46:22Ross Halls:sheffield united obviously they've been busy this summer they've signed a lot of players Thankfully, Ogbené won't be able to play because of the loan rule and all that jazz. But they've, of course, got a few former town players in their ranks. Ben Godfrey returned to Porton Road. He's got a great loan spell. Did he? No, he did not. No, Louis Barry, another one who sort of struggled when he was here briefly. Mark McGuinness as well. So just the returning loanies. but they've got some good players and who will step up at some stage in this season they are going to be, I think Sheffield United will be fine maybe when they get rid of their manager and get someone else in but I know Sheffield United fans, when I spoke to a few they're not having Ruben already, so I think they say if they lose this game but they play well, then he may be fine but if they play dreadfully and obviously lose then he's gone, but I think even if they lose, I think he may keep the job, but they need to play better because apparently they've not been playing good at all.
47:23Ross Halls:Because you think Bristol City, they beat them 6-0 over two legs in the opening day of the season. They lost 4-1 at Bristol City. So it's just how that changed because obviously Chris Wilder got the sack, which was just bonkers when you see that. But ownership, sometimes they want to change your play and stuff. But yeah, they've got some players. I know AJ's a big fan of a few of their players as well. So yeah, this will be a test. Porton Road, obviously, our factor. We still haven't bloody won there, haven't we? It links in with, I've just seen kind of linked to what we were saying about the Sky narrative.
47:55I've just opened up Sky, and the article they've put out is, can, inverted commas, underwhelming Ipswich, or inverted commas, disastrous Sheffield United, get their season started on Friday night, which does feel like it sums it up. And with the Sheffield United side of things as well, so what they've had over the summer is they've had a new ownership that have come in, and they're very data-driven. and that was part of the reason why Chris Wilder, who got 90 points, it was 92, should have been 92, because they had a points deduction last season. He's not very data-driven. He's a proper football bloke.
48:29It's the best way to put it. Old school. He's an old school manager, so they've sacked their 90-point manager in favour of a data-driven. I think it's partially AI-driven in some of the recruitment things they've been doing. And they've got a manager who's on board with that and I'm bored with the way they approach signings and tactics and things like that. And in such a drastic shift, I think that's going to take time. But as a team that spent that amount of money, you don't get that time. So I think they're kind of in a position where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. And that's going to put a hell of a lot of pressure on them when you've got players like Gustavo Hamer, Canem O 'Hare, Louis Barry and the way he's been playing, Tyrese Campbell, Harrison Burrows.
49:14Tanganga is time for Millwall. There's a lot of quality in that squad.
49:18Mark Heath:Yeah, Hamer's top notch, isn't he? Who plays for town then, AJ? Let's try and think about that because we know, obviously we know, well, we don't know, but Smolik's injured. Whether or not he'll be able to play, we don't know. There's not anyone else. Is there Harry Clark, Wes Burns? I don't think there's anyone else. So in terms of injuries that we're aware of before you speak to Kieran tomorrow, how would you set things up? yeah I hope Stu will be doing a piece actually on this I assume we're trying to keep it up the weekly line-up predictions but we'll talk through mine Palmer and goal because obviously the centre-backs and left-backs I think unless anything drastic happens will stay the same so Davis Greaves O'Shea right-back's an interesting one I think Ashley Young's been quite good over the minutes that I've seen despite a few bits of kind of sloppy passes that have been kind of capitalised on, but for me, I think it's time for Darnell Furlong.
50:16They've spent a bit of money on him. They've given him the international break and hopefully he should be up to speed. I think they've signed him to start. Matasiwa and Kjusta, 100 % for me. I thought they were exceptional against Derby, so they get to start. Casey McAteer on the right because Sindra Valet-Igeli has signed and then just gone off on international duty, so he's had no minutes at all to trade with the squad, so McAteer will come in, I think, fresh from his international duty. but a little bit more gelled in what to expect at Ipswich. So he'll start on the right, I think. Funny thing that the last player to start as a 10 for Ipswich was Connor Chaplin, who will be playing against Southampton for Portsmouth this weekend.
50:56Really weird thought. So Chew Brackbomb, I think, is the logical one, as we've discussed. Hurst up front, and then maybe a question mark on the left side. I was pretty disillusioned with Jadon Philogene against Derby County. Didn't think it worked at all. So Jack Clark gets that slot for me.
51:11Mark Heath:I'd agree with you it would be nice to see Sindra Wallet, I love the way you say that by the way AJ, Sindra Wallet-Agelli say it again Sindra Wallet-Agelli oh lovely stuff yeah that's what you wanted to say he does need some minutes, that would be so good I know we're not going to talk about the international break but have you seen the clips of him playing he actually tore it up last night didn't he didn't he get goals, assists all over he forced an own goal cutting inside onto to the left from the right flank and kind of forcing it in with a really powerful cross off a defender. Then he gets the ball from deep.
51:49It's kind of in the middle. He turns past the midfielder and just plays this sumptuous three ball down for his teammate to score. And then the goal, which I should have seen as well, where he kind of picks it up in this slightly awkward angle onto his kind of centre-left. He picks it up onto his right and then shifts it onto his left, which is awkward, especially when you're hitting it kind of inside of the boot. And he just curls it with such bend and finesse that bounces in off the post and the goalkeeper has up to no chance bounces in. The way that he moves, the physicality, the eye for a pass, the goal scoring kind of streaks that he's got about him.
52:31Look, this is under-21s football against Denmark. It's a bit different playing in the championship, but it's difficult not to get ahead of yourself with them.
52:41Mark Heath:Yeah, I'd agree. I want to see ACPOM start. I want to see Jack Clark on the left. I want to see Iguetli for at least half an hour, ideally, off the bench just so we can see what we've got. Rossi, I know you don't care about who plays, so I'm not going to ask you. I'm going to ask you for a prediction, though. So you kick us off with the predictions. I don't know where we are with the predictions league. I assume you're keeping record of that.
53:02Ross Halls:Yeah, obviously, we didn't get a single point. We were all wrong. We were indeed. So currently as it stands, pretty bring it up because I am top. So yeah, by four points, AJ and you are joint second with three points. Stu has two points. What a joke.
53:23Mark Heath:She's a football writer. Shambles. Can't even predict anything. What's your prediction then, Rossi? Table topper?
53:30Ross Halls:I'm trying to have a little look because I think I've predicted a win in every game so far.
53:34Mark Heath:Have you?
53:35Ross Halls:I think I had no I did draw I did the self-hampening game as a draw okay that's how I got my my point you got that exactly right didn't you
53:42Mark Heath:yes indeed
53:44Ross Halls:so do I play easy and go for a draw or do I go come on boys back for an international break Norwegian wonder kid comes off the bench and scores a goal so yeah do you know what I'm going to predict a win I'm going to keep that positivity train going I want to go two To nil. Clean sheet.
54:06Mark Heath:To nil. To nil. Yeah. Excellent. And who's going to score first?
54:10Ross Halls:First goal scorer will be not Sammy Smoddix because he may be injured for a bit. We'll find out more, I'm sure, with Kieran McCann's press conference. I'm just having a little look. So I've gone with Sammy Smoddix for pretty much every game. But then I went Chaplin for the Preston game. Who do I go? Do I go left field? Yeah, do you know what? Left field. Why not? Azor Matasiwa. Wow, that would be a surprise.
54:38Mark Heath:Yeah, if you get 2-0 on Azor, correct, I'll give you the money myself, as I used to say on Family Fortunes. Again, you probably don't know what Family Fortunes is either, do you? You do know what it is, good. AJ, what are you saying? Well, I've predicted the next five games. Go read what I've predicted, but I will give you an insight to what I've predicted for Friday's game as well, and you'll have to subscribe to go read the rest. predictions up until the Norwich game at the start of next month, just before the October international break. I have predicted the Norwich game as well, which is an insane.
55:12I can't believe you defeated a defeat, mate.
55:14Mark Heath:Unbelievable.
55:18Okay. Right. Anyway, moving on. Not to my prediction, by the way, before I start getting abuse on social media. With this one, so I've gone with a 1-1 draw. I think that essentially it balances out with two teams. I think are going to improve over the international break with having players there and working with them. I also just think that Sheffield United is going to be a better team because they've got loads of signings. They made some on deadline day. They've had a fortnight to bed them in and get them up to Ruben Sayers football, which is different to what Ipswich have played against in the last few weeks.
55:50I think it will suit Ipswich more because it's going to be more of a football match rather than what we've seen against Derby and against Preston, where it's physical, aggressive, not a lot of ball in playtime. Sheffield United are going to want to play. But with that, they also are going to be a good team. So I think that will cancel out into a 1-1 draw, which I don't think will be overly popular, to be honest, if that's the full-time score. First goal scorer, I was also going to go left field because I want someone who I know is going to start, but I'm not going to do that because Ross has done it.
56:21So it makes sense in my head. Who's going to have the motivation and the burning desire to score against Sheffield United? It's former Sheffield Wednesday boy George Hurst. who came through their academy, I think had a few first-team minutes, left in slightly controversial circumstances, but he's been brought up to hate Sheffield United, and he's going to score against Sheffield United at Portman Road on Friday night in a 1-1 draw.
56:47Mark Heath:Excellent. Hopefully not a 1-1 draw. Yeah, hopefully not a 1-1 draw. I've got a meeting in seven minutes, so I'm going to wrap this up quickly. I'm going to say 2-1 town. I'm going to say Tuba Akpom to score, because that would be lovely, and a win obviously would be great, getting that portman road curse off and all that kind of stuff and also i think cheaper outcome might might be quite an important player this season um right then friends just to remind us what sponsors use the code koa at star the spirits.co.uk for 20 off all the excellent alcoholic beverages there um going the team doing some really good work and a local company good support them and speaking of local company our new sponsor molecular uk as you know they manufacture cleaning products for the automotive agricultural and commercial industries they're a family-run business that have been in operation for more than 40 years and manufacture products to the highest possible standards um we have a code koa10 which gets you 10 % off everything if you enter that at the coupon section at the point of checkout and the website is www.molecular-uk.com so go and get fill your boots on both of those sponsors the boss is still trying to say it yeah you'll get there one day um boys anything else to mention bear in mind that i've got uh six minutes now before my before my meeting so if you do have anything keep it brief please
57:58Ross Halls:nothing else to mention no other business my friend uh this just in late question for mailbag
58:05Mark Heath:uh from someone called mario tariko 563 on youtube says how mark he doesn't have his own show on national television is beyond me question am i the only one who can see a broadcasting genius well thanks man was that a mailbag question yeah yeah no he sent that in yeah he did he just sent that to me. Oh, did he? I thought it was important because I think he raises a good point. It's a wider issue, isn't it? Why am I not on national TV? Am I a broadcasting genius? I think the answer to both is fairly obvious. Anyway, friends, if you go to the game on Friday, enjoy it. Follow all the boys if you can't be there and then we'll be back next week.
58:40Mark Heath:I won't be back because I'm off to sunny Spain to eat pinch shots in San Sebastián. And if you have any recommendations for good places to eat pinch shots in San Sebastián in, let me know. Have a great weekend, friends. Enjoy the game. Let's hope for a win. And the boys will be back next week. Whatever happens. Up the town.
59:29Thank you.
59:54Thank you.
1:00:22Thank you.
From the publisher
We start with a review of Town Women’s historic first WSL 2 game, and lament an international break injury to Sammie Szmodics.
Then it’s onto a big old dollop of Mailbag from across three different social media platforms, because we’re so cool and relevant.
We cover topics including the ‘time to gel’ argument, how much patience the owners will have - and our dream taps in a perfect pub.
We finish with a look at Friday’s BIG game against the thus-far blunt Blades, and offer our predictions.
Kings of Anglia is sponsored by Stardust Spirits. Get 20% OFF with promo code KOA at https://www.stardustspirits.co.uk/
Introducing our new sponsors at Molecular! Get 10% OFF with promo code KOA10 at https://www.molecular-uk.com/
Subscribe on our website to watch the video version of the podcast - https://www.eadt.co.uk/subscribe/
You can shop the KOA range here - (kings-of-anglia.myspreadshop.co.uk)
