600: Kings of Anglia: Sexy stuff, FA Cup draw, your questions - and round three with Rovers

23:42Ross Halls:Yeah, this wasn't ideal. I was just preparing myself to play seven aside, and I knew the draw was about to drop, and then someone told me, and I was like, Wrexham and I went home? I went no it was away and then it didn't really click in my mind that Wrexham was going to be the week after and when I did see that I went dear me the funny thing is we've only ever been to Wrexham once and that was in 1995 and now in February we're going back to back weekends yeah a championship tie as well so not if Wrexham were League 1 then it would have been oh great but because we're playing them the weekend after it's like it's not really that sexy is it so yeah probably the worst draw we could have got to be fair there's some you know long trips involved there but you know like peachy on game day he went he wanted wigan away and i was like

24:32Mark Heath:why um what why else would you want to go to wigan he said it's a big away end which is true

24:38Ross Halls:so we would have you know been able to have a big away way end in the fa cup but that is far and then yeah we've got wrecks from the following week so i just wanted maybe a new ground like maybe a man's still to suffer, which is not too far, or home tight all the time. But no, we get bloody Wrexham. So yeah, I'm sure there's a few Welsh supporters. I know Sweet Mouth Prince Harvey Davis is very happy. Of course he is, yeah. Because that's just round the corner from him. But yeah, not a good draw. But, winnable? Yeah, yeah, you know, so, there we go.

25:12Mark Heath:It's just boring, isn't it though? Yeah, it is. Playing another championship side, basically another championship game with probably a week inside. AJ, I think you worked it out. It's around 1 ,700 miles they'll be travelling in February. You won't be, of course, because you'll be travelling even further for a much sexier reason. Five straight away games in February, which must be some sort of record. It is, to coin a phrase from your overly dramatic vocabulary, absolutely horrendous. It is. Yes. I mean, I still stand by the fact that, and I messaged this into our chat, I reckon with me off, Stu and Ross should get an Airbnb for the week in North Wales and do an extended behind-the-scenes to which Stu replied, I reckon you should stop talking, which was fair.

25:57But I still think that would be great. Yeah, I have it as 1 ,730 miles by car, roughly, for that kind of run of five games. It's about 30 hours in the car that would take you to do. So Ross already looks buzzing for this one.

26:14Mark Heath:He won't be driving, mate. Don't worry about it. I know that's true, to be fair. Poor Shoe. But yeah, when you look at the fact there's so many in a row, think about the fans, think about what it means for the team as well. That is going to be pretty brutal. Pompey on the third, going into that, that's a late kickoff as well, going into that 12.30 kickoff against Derby, then into the cup game against Wrexham, which we haven't had any TV dates announced, but could easily be something stupid like a Friday night, couldn't it? Let's be honest, there was every chance. then going in the following week to another game against Wrexham, and then that Tuesday night against Watford.

26:53It's a lot of mileage. It's a lot of travel. It couldn't really have gone much worse in terms of that draw. It's going to set up for one hell of a February. Could it be a decisive period in the season? Because it's not just about the league, but a cup run would be important, it feels, as well, to give players a run out and maximise the squad depth.

27:18Mark Heath:Yeah, I'm more concerned about you boys, to be honest, than the team. I need to keep you fit in firing. That's a lot of travelling. I just want to get on record as well, AJ, because you've alluded to it in chats, off-the-record chats with me, that I might go to Wrexham after I get back from New York. But you committed to it on Twitter in a chat with our own friend Rodders. So isn't that now that's on the record, is it? you'll definitely be at Wrexham 21st of Feb. I will be at the second Wrexham game. Excellent. I will commit to it. I didn't realise I had said I might. I will be there. I will be incredibly jet-lagged.

27:53But as someone who does take a weird amount of pride in going to football grounds, I've never been to Wrexham. There are two championship grounds that I've not been to and I will tick them off in back-to-back games with Derby going into that game at the race course grounds. And I want to do that. And I will put my jet-lag to one side to make sure that I am there to shake Ryan Reynolds' hand. You've never been to Pride Park?

28:16Mark Heath:Never been to Pride Park. Oh, unbelievable. I thought most people had been to Pride Park. Are you looking for it? I mean, this time in a month, AJ, you'll be in NYC. Are you excited? Looking forward to it? Yeah. It's really weird to think how quickly it's come up. It only feels like it was about two weeks ago that we'd booked it. And since then, I feel like I've gone through. There's a lot of hoops to jump, isn't it? Where you go through, you have to do your Esther. you have to go through and sort the insurance you've got to book everything, there's still loads of stuff to do, I've got to sort eSIMS out we've spoken at length about the New York Pass and even though in the back of my head it's like oh everything's done there, you actually have to book things as well, using that pass to make sure that you've got everything planned out and given that we're not there for that long, it's a bit of a whistle stop tour, there's a lot to cram into a short period of time so yeah, excited for it, a lot to do, a lot to sort out but um that's going to be pretty cool isn't it have you given them your full social media history no i have not so uh that obviously that rule came in quite quite late i got my esther when it was cheaper and less scary back in september obviously as well the good thing is is that the us is um a really nice and safe place to be it's a very stable place at the moment they haven't got stormtroopers running around killing people in the streets no with impunity um so hopefully enjoy it mate hopefully we see we do see you in wrexham you never know um should we do

29:43Ross Halls:mailbag rossi it's time for hefe aj and roscoe to dip in the mailbag that was very bad i'm so sorry

29:55Mark Heath:listeners do do excellent um we put out an all points bulletin all points appeal on our social media for questions from our bag i think it's fair to say that instagram is now the place to go if you want to ask us questions because we got one off x which obviously is um as a social media platform is sliding downhill rapidly much like the uh the united states and we got one of blue sky which is obviously up and coming um so i think we'll start with the ones we got off the off the lesser platforms and then move on to instagram um so we got off uh blue sky he says to remember boys toward them all.

30:35Mark Heath:We got, yeah, we've got a lot of Instagram, didn't we Ross? Loads of them. This is from Andy Mook on Blue Sky. He says, hi Kings. And we've kind of already touched on this, but I think we, we should do Andy the service of answering this. Hope you're all staying safe and warm. The question is, do you all believe in your heart of hearts that unless Town invests in a quality striker and support for Azor midfield, there's enough in the current squad to finish in the top two? He says, I don't, by the way. I can't, I've already alluded to the fact that I do, Andy. I think if they don't do anything in general, I still feel pretty confident they'll make top two in a very average league, given the depth of the squad already and the way it's coming together.

31:15Mark Heath:AJ, what do you reckon? Yeah, I think they have enough as well. I wouldn't feel kind of as confident because I do think that there is room for them to improve if they can get the right players. The striker situation for me, probably isn't as prominent as it will be for other people. Again, so easy just to look at the chances missed, and I understand that is so much of it, because if you boil down football to the basics, it's strikers score goals. George Hurst and even Azon and Hugh Brackbomb have not scored enough goals. I think if you add them together, if they scored as many as Jade and Villagene, I'm not sure they have, actually.

31:55I need to do the maths there. But yeah, so that would be obviously an area I'd want to strengthen, but I don't think it's make or break. And then there's probably more question marks about the Matasiwa cover. And it's difficult to say because the one experience we've seen of Matasiwa not in a starting lineup was a 3-0 defeat to Charlton. And that was a total train wreck of a game. And I think that they would have been much better off if he was in that match. But it came at a sticky period for town. And with that in mind, would they be okay now for a period of time? and I assume we'll find out soon, if they had to play midfield of Taylor and Cajusta playing behind Nunez, for example, would that work okay?

32:41Maybe. Or it could be that we need to take the warning signs from that Charlton game and SOS get cover in for Matasiwa because without him, you're going to have 3-0 defeats to Charlton every week or the ilk. So, yeah, that is the priority for me. that is the biggest concern, that it could be a season derailer if you, God forbid, lost Matasiwa to a nasty injury or anything for a long period of time because of the fact that he has also had an injury record before that hasn't been the strongest, let's say. And ideally, you want him playing every single game this season. So that is my biggest concern to top two hopes.

33:23But obviously, they're the two positions that we're looking at in this window.

33:26Mark Heath:I was always bulletproof, mate. Don't worry about that. How about you, Rossi? If they do nothing, what do you reckon?

33:34Ross Halls:I'd be fine. I'd be fine with that. We don't want to obviously get to April and go, oh, that's probably why we need that striker because we're dropped out of the top two or whatever. I know we're not in the top two right now. But yeah, we've just got fingers crossed, touch all wood and all that stuff. Just don't get any injuries, some big injuries with players because that is when, yeah, the season can derail or when you get key injuries and key positions. So hopefully we'll be fine on that front, especially this year, as we've got depth coming out of our ears at the moment with certain positions.

34:06Ross Halls:So yeah, I'm not going to panic if we don't do it. If we do make that one sexy signing, then everyone will be happy, I'm sure.

34:14Mark Heath:Right, next question. This is the only one we got from the Hellscape, trademarked Alex Jones, that is Twitter. I see so many things on Twitter I don't want to see, by the way. Are you the same? because it forces you to look at things you're not following, right? So the amount of times every day I see fights, I see shootings, I see stabbings, I see robberies. I don't want to see any of that stuff. Why do they force feed me? It's like some sort of social experiment now, isn't it? Elon wants you to see it. You know, the rage virus in 28 days later feels very much like... Anyway, I'm digressing. Chris Thorogood wants to know, it's a good question, Chris.

34:47Mark Heath:Thanks for being our only question from Twitter. Does Alex Jones realise he constantly says, to be perfectly honest, it's become somewhat of a catch rate no is the honest answer hey to be perfectly honest i did not know that i i did that one i found that there are things i say and i think often comes in phases as well that i will just repeat non-stop there is somewhere a whole forum thread i believe on um my on me saying in terms of and there's a forum thread on you saying what in terms where is this thread how have you seen it what haven't people got better things to do i do think this there is a thread so i don't really want to dig it up again but i believe there might be something on twtd somewhere um has has um some of those comments on there um which are yeah i agree with obviously there's something not quite there up in my head but um yeah i find that i do repeat certain phrases a lot and the worst part is trying to get it out of writing you think it's i say it a lot how many times do i go through and say i've written that same phrase in three consecutive paragraphs i need to make sure i go back and change that um yes it's difficult but there you go yes thank you very much for pointing that one out everyone has verbal tics i say obviously way too much um ross obviously i've just done it there ross obviously you have your own as well which we love you for bless him and uh all those kind of all that all that jazz footballers have it a lot as well I've noticed there's a lot of times where but not even like that little phrases that will get chucked in for example the Jacob Greaves one I think he said of course like about six or

36:34Ross Halls:seven times in one answer and you go through and you're like I might need to go through and change some of that yeah it happens a lot we're all used to it it's all part of the media landscape isn't it get used to it

36:48Mark Heath:it is what it is right let's delve into all the questions we got off instagram thank you so much for all these questions off instagram uh where should we go let's go with a non-football one straight away from craig henry this is a big talking point i know steward watson who's not here uh has feelings on this but craig henry wants to know chocolate in the fridge yes or no ross

37:11Ross Halls:oh no i agree yeah um just to tell my working out i was i'm 50 50 on it as well it depends on the chocolate and the time of year because if it's the summer and you've got a really nice par of chocolate you're like a really like fancy one you know sometimes want that just want it nice and cool you know in the fridge not melting on the side or in my cupboard um but yeah it It depends on the chocolate. Sometimes it can just go in the cupboard and it's fine. But overall, I'll say no.

37:42Mark Heath:No, I'd agree. I know Stu does like to keep his chocolate in the fridge. These are the kind of high-level conversations we have off screen. AJ, what are you saying? No, unless it's so hot that it's going to melt. No. Right, let's do a couple of football questions. These are kind of together. So I'll ask you this, AJ, from Alex William and Harrison Goodrum. Alex says, are we going to break the championship most expensive signing record again? £20 million plus for a forward. And Harrison Goodrum says, why is this transfer window so slow? That there is the perfect blend, isn't it? Let's spend as much money as we possibly can, as quickly as we possibly can.

38:20Yeah, I mean, let me start by saying I sympathise with both of the points. I want them to spend a lot of money on players early in the transfer window. So will they spend 20 plus million on a player this month? I would be very surprised if they were to go and do that. The fact that two of the striker links that have come out so far would have been free transfers probably suggests that that's unlikely. And the other one is Tom Cairney, who's not going to cost 20 million pounds. Yeah, I don't think they're going to go down that route. The money's obviously there. It's just about making sure that you can balance the books with FFP and that what you spend now can also drag on to how much you can spend in the summer.

39:03And Ross has gone. That's a bit weird, wasn't it? Yeah. That's going to be a fine balance of, I think the priority is going to be get back to the Premier League and then maximise your spending when you can attract the top players. When looking at the timing of it, why is it taking so long? Because it's January is the simple answer. and Ipswich don't just need someone to come in desperately in a certain position. That's what I said at the start of the show, where you look at, let's say, what were the early deals they did last year. They signed Ben Godfrey quite early on. They needed that cover right back because Axel Twanzebe was out.

39:46They needed depth in certain positions because there were big gaps in the squad. So it was kind of, right, let's make sure we get someone in early doors who were better suited. the squad's fine now it's in a good space so it's not a oh my god let's get someone in immediately or we're absolutely doomed it's going to be a let's bide our time let's see what comes up ultimately if nothing comes up as we've said then we're probably in a better position not doing anything than panic buying and getting someone in that we don't want um and hopefully by doing that we will be able to get the best player possible to strengthen.

40:23So I wouldn't worry too much about the timing of these things. It's just very different to the last couple of January transfer windows.

40:30Mark Heath:Let's all calm down, shall we? Good one for you. And I think we already had the answer, Ross. You disappeared, by the way, then sprung back. Was that your Wi-Fi or did you hit the wrong key?

40:40Ross Halls:No, no. I normally do hit the wrong key, even though it was my internet, which I'm going to be having a big conversation with my provider because they've been dreadful the last few weeks. So watch out, Sky.

40:52Mark Heath:Yeah. Well, you need to have that chat, mate. You can't be host with unreliable Wi-Fi. Thomas Kelly wants to know, if you could only watch one British sitcom for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? Now, obviously, I think I already know the answer to this question, but just confirm it for me. Only Fools and Horses? Yeah. Yeah. And why?

41:10Ross Halls:A little. I just love it. There's some questionable jokes in there now that at a time, you know.

41:18Mark Heath:Haven't aged well.

41:19Ross Halls:yeah but overall it's just a solid like it's my go to like when December hits I just binge watch it and just every episode it's just easy to watch and they're good length as well they're only like 25-30 minutes there's obviously the specials which are a bit longer but for Christmas I've got some bobble heads I've got a bit of Rodney

41:37Mark Heath:nice

41:38Ross Halls:I've got Del Boye

41:41Mark Heath:there we go

41:42Ross Halls:Uncle Albert as well my mum got me this ages ago got the Free Will as well so they're just now on my desk but um yeah always been a big fan of only fours just a british classic so um that that i can easily watch that every day forever absolutely is mine

42:01Mark Heath:would be peep show i think peep show gets actually does father ted count as a sitcom i don't know yes well in that case that's that's where i was gonna go yeah um obviously we we don't necessarily echo some of the um the thoughts of the creator but he did create one hell of a tv show didn't he so um yeah a lot a lot there but it's kind of those kind of that level isn't it of television that you're like oh it's the classics it's blackadder it's dad's army it's faulty towers stuff like that but um i i cannot get enough of father to that that would be my number one i also think the peep show is one of the very rare tv shows actually gets better as it goes on unlike others who tend to go downhill.

42:43Mark Heath:You can always watch Peep Show. And modern as well, one of the actually decent modern sitcoms. When we go through, they're all in the 90s. Absolutely. Ed Wollard, AJ, wants to know, thoughts on Ben Johnson's future? Wages plus limited minutes hardly puts him in the shop window. No, it definitely does not. His reputation will hopefully put him into the shop window and the fact that he's played quite a lot of minutes at a decent level in the Premier League and done quite well, which is why Ipswich have gone out and signed him and the fact it probably wouldn't take a huge fee to get him because Ipswich don't need to turn some sort of huge profit given that they signed him for free anyway.

43:27But yes, there are definite concerns about getting him off the books. I would say that there's still every chance the club would look at what he's done and like to take him on as a low-cost option if they can match those wages. At the same time, I'm not adverse to him staying and being around the squad. Obviously, it's good to balance the numbers up, but I really liked him playing left back against Blackpool. He got the assist in that game. He played in this weird inverted role that saw him play just off the striker. I liked what he offered. He's clearly not going to start week in, week out. His future in the mid to long term is clearly away from Ipswich, but if he can come in and play a supporting role to Leaf at times and help alongside Jacob Reeves, then maybe there is something for him to do in the next six months and we can re-evaluate in the summer.

44:19I would say more likely he'll move this month, but there is a place for him if needs be.

44:25Mark Heath:We're not going to have time to do all of these, but I will read out some of them we've kind of covered. Paul Preble, why are we still waiting for the unbelievably obvious signing? We need a goal scorer. We've talked about that quite a lot, Paul. So hopefully you think that has covered that. There's a good question here from Victoria, which I'm going to ask Ross. Now that we know who our FA Cup opponent is, is a cup run helpful? This is Victoria Mollie, by the way. Is a cup run helpful or harmful? No other top five teams are still in.

44:51Ross Halls:I think it's going to be helpful because it means everyone's going to be ready. You know, we've got that depth, as we already mentioned. There's some teams in that top six, top five that maybe not have got the same depth as us. Preston and co so I think I'll be fine you know got that winning mentality as well you know last time I've had cut runs it's helped us you know last year in the Premier League it was just nice winning a few games so yeah and get an opportunity to go to Wembley hopefully hopefully we can get to the semis come on boys why not but yeah we need to get obviously the draw needs to be kind to us but yeah I think it's not harmful at all Can I read out an amazing stat I saw on them Champ Chat Pod 24 on Twitter, which was there are the championship clubs who are still unbeaten in 2026 in league and cup.

45:42Bear in mind, the year is 13 days old. Ipswich, Stoke, Wrexham, that's it. Three teams that are unbeaten in league and cup in 2026, which I think is pretty crazy. Two of them clash

45:57Mark Heath:in the cup. Yeah. Someone's always got to go, as they say in boxing. Shane, This is a good question from my old friend Shane, who's involved with the Itrasse Cardinals, hosted me at a game last year. It was tremendous. Thank you, Shane. If you had to pick one player to clone 10 times to make an 11, a starting 11, who would you pick? He says, I'd have 11 keep rays. And I think that is the perfect answer because Big Ced can do it all. He's got the size of physicality to fill any position. He's also good on the ball. And we also know he can score a goal as well. So I'm struggling to think of a better answer than Cedric Keep Ray.

46:31Mark Heath:Have you got one, Ross?

46:35Ross Halls:so now we're thinking of goal in goal as well um i think they could go in goal i mean he's yeah he's got the height yeah he's probably the big shell i don't know if this was more broad in terms of like looking at any other in history um blessed equivitress town um who else could be up there because yeah you know you think jane philajeen but then he won't be good in goal at all he won't be you won't be he's not big enough either he's not he can play center back could he no he couldn't know so who else is there maybe like someone like maybe sammy smoddix maybe because he's just he just loves being everywhere he's like everywhere so in goal i'm sure i can see him jumping about um so yeah i think my pick though would be with big big said as well any any advance from aj um big said is the obvious answer as well because he played as a striker when he was academy level so So I think you could put him anywhere and he'd do a job.

47:32I'll put in the versatile options. Ben Johnson seems to be able to play everywhere. And Ashley Young, in all of his press conferences, when asked about his favourite position, says, I have played everywhere in my career apart from in goal. So we'll put you in goal, Ashley, as well. And you can play in all of the other positions. But yeah, my top three would be Big Set, number one, Ashley Young, a clear second, and maybe Ben Johnson as the third option.

47:57Mark Heath:okay um this is one from uh matt caspern for aj i think a suit willisula would be a fantastic signing we've talked about him quite a lot you and sue both uh both big fans of his do you think it could be done getting him on loan with an option to buy if we go up no i don't think it's going to be feasible um the fact that the two interested parties and him reportedly are frankfurt who are very highly linked with him, who are right towards the top of the German top flight. I think they are playing in the Champions League this season, aren't they? One of them and the other club's Aston Villa. I think that unless Newcastle wanted to keep him and say, well, go out, go build up your fitness in the second half of the season and go from there, I can't see it being anything more than a six-month loan if Ipswich were interested and it would rely on Nürnberg.

48:51And Newcastle seeing a longer term future at St James' Park for him. If he's going to go, which I think he will alone with an option or possibly even permanently, I think definitely a club like Frankfurt or Aston Villa, which is a shame because I rate him a lot and I know Stu does as well.

49:11Mark Heath:Rossi, Tim Goodwin wants to know, if we had to predict a final points total on table position now, what would they be? Points is a tricky one, isn't it? but let's just do table position. If I said now, where are they going to finish? What would you say?

49:29Ross Halls:Go on in second. I think when we did our season halfway point Christmas special, I think I went fifth because I was just like down in the dumps. I was like, I don't know. I just still don't feel it. But because of the unbeaten run we've been on and I just, I don't know. I feel this team is growing and the bond is growing with the fan base a little bit as well. I know there's still people on the fence about it, but I think they can just about get over the line. So, yeah, second. Why not, boys?

49:58Mark Heath:Nice. Like it. Ben Hobbs wants to know, he says, does Stu think an entitlement from the fan base is harming performances of players at Portman Road? Now, Stu's obviously off celebrating his 60th birthday today. Backup Stu would be Alex Jones. So, do you think an entitlement from the fan base is harming performances of players at Portman Road, Alex? I'm going to change my Twitter username to backup Stu. I wouldn't say it's entitlement because there's so many different factors when you look at maybe the atmospheres and the mentality where fans obviously have huge memories of the last time it's at this level where they were the great entertainers, they were the great underdogs.

50:38Yes, they had some scrappy wins and some tough times, but also so many games where they were winning 4-2, 4-3, scoring for fun. We were all head over heels in love with this band of brothers group and it's now an expectation they're back in this division and they can do it again. And also, they come back in with a squad that absolutely gazumps the rest of the division. So naturally, it's, well, why can't we go and beat Oxford 12-0? Because you put all their squad together and they don't cost as much as our starting right winger, for example. So those expectations are unnatural. There are times where maybe I've been a little bit disappointed with some of the responses.

51:21And I know Kim McKenna's gone in a little bit about the responses from fans in certain times. You need to rally behind the team. Those gritty 1-0 wins like against West Brom, they might not be entertaining, but God, are they important. And sometimes you just want that little bit more. But I also appreciate how difficult it is to be able to do that and separate things from the previous group and from the fact that this squad costs so much. So I wouldn't call it entitlement, but there are definitely factors surrounding that word that can kind of impact how we see this season and how atmospheres are.

52:02Mark Heath:Rossi, Sam Clark wants to know, if town were to get promoted this season, what are the biggest areas of weaknesses or weakness that wouldn't, and it actually finishes there, I think, that would need, I assume he means needs addressing. so if town are going to go back into the Premier League Rossi where would the obvious answer is everywhere probably what would you say

52:25Ross Halls:I think just Premier League experience I think that's one thing we've lacked I know we signed Ben Johnson and stuff like that but I think we did lack a lot of that there was a lot of players playing in the Premier League for the first time in their careers which I think we wanted to stick with that band of brothers didn't we and some people went, oh, that's the reason why we sort of got relegated because we signed some other players and got rid of the ones who got us there. But deep down, we needed to sign more. We signed some really good championship players, of course, but they maybe just weren't.

52:55Ross Halls:They're going to be like Jalen Villagene and hopefully Jack Clark. If we do get promoted, they'll be ready to hopefully make that step up to the Premier League. But they need players, experienced players around them to help them adapt to that level. So that will be my main goal in the summer if we do play Premier League football again, just bring in players who have, you know, done well in the Premier League before, just experience. So that would be the main one for me in most positions.

53:20Mark Heath:Okay. I won't ask AJ that because we'll be here forever and we need to finish the pod. I'll answer this question from Mike Giametti. Do you think we'd have stayed in the Prem if we had a few seasons in the Championship to work out our weaknesses with McKenna? Yeah, well, I don't know if they definitely would have stayed in the Prem. They certainly had a bigger shot, I would say. That was a case almost too much too soon. But I want to finish with a couple of good questions here. Peachy, the Peach Meister General, wants to know, non-football question, if you could have a night out with any comedian, who would you choose and why, AJ?

53:57Whoa, that's really difficult because there's a lot of comedians who I think are... I can't really use that word on the pod, can I? Oh, what works? Well, they're not the nicest people. Oh, I see. Yeah. I'm going to go to the States, and I'm going to choose a comedian called John Mulaney, who I think is really funny. I don't know if you've heard of him. Never heard of him. Never heard of him.

54:24Ross Halls:I think he's really good. I think he'd be a good night out, although I know he has a history in drugs, so maybe that might be a bit OTT. But, yeah, he's good, he's funny, and I'll choose him.

54:35Mark Heath:Okay, John Mulaney, guy I've never heard of. Rossi, how about you?

54:39Ross Halls:uh there's no one that really stands out i think i've sort of lost my love of like comedians or stand-up you know stuff you know when i see like live at apollo or something i'm like this is just not funny um i've been watching um you know last year and years gone by i've been able to go and see some local you know sort of stand-up you know in itch which has been which has been good fun um i've always liked russell howard i don't know if you know of his name yeah he's a nice guy he's just West country boy. Yeah. I've always liked his stuff.

55:09Mark Heath:I'm taking three. I'd have Larry David. Does he count as a comedian? He's not a standup comedian, but he certainly will. We'll give that. Yeah. Larry David. I'd have Kevin Bridges. He's a comedian I've seen the most. I've seen him four times now, I think. And I'd have Ivo Graham as a kind of one. He's maybe a little bit under the radar because I like him. He's a funny posh boy, basically. So I'd take him. i definitely would not take jimmy car uh probably not ricky gervais for example um those kind of comedians i wouldn't i wouldn't be that bothered about spending a lot of time with if i'm honest anyway uh last question uh joe bradley says would you rather have the ability to speak to animals or have one million pounds in the bank right now um stew who struggles to respond to any messages on whatsapp normally responded to this one on his day off on his birthday um and his answer was the obvious one which is speak to animals please because that's gonna be worth a lot more than than one million pounds um do you boys agree with that aj

56:13is that bending the rules like can you monetize this as a as a means if so if so then i'd be monetizing that left right and center friend yeah i mean look let's be honest if you can do that then I would be putting myself all over the internet as is the magical, amazing guy. You can talk to animals and then bam, I'd be a billionaire and all talk shows and you'd be the best vet ever and all of these different things. And you would earn far more than a million pounds. So if you can do that, I'd like to twist that a little bit. Let's say that you can talk to animals, but nobody else knows. You're the only person that will know.

56:52It's just you and the animals. would you do that well oh yeah there you go would you do that or would you take the million that's where i might look more towards the the money but also as someone who loves dogs i don't know

57:06Mark Heath:i'd definitely take the being able to speak to animals either way um i think having that power would be tremendous especially my own rather annoying hound you might be able to hear barking downstairs um i could tell him to shut up in his own language um rossi how about you you speak your

57:21Ross Halls:own language yeah true um i need money so give me a million pound now um just bought a house so um yeah i need to see that money and i think if you i think the government or something will if they find out you can speak to animals they'll just take you and put you into a bunker and do tests on you yeah and all that jazz so yeah one million pounds please superb right here endeth mailbag

57:45Mark Heath:thank you very much for all your your contributions i hope we got to as many as we can and you heard your question answered if uh if you did take the time to ask it yes i do have one more question um

57:57Ross Halls:i wanted to leave it to ask you guys this this is from good old dino our friend oh yeah who's treated us to some beers and chocolate aj where's my chocolate they're coming in the car to sheffield united oh you're not i'll save them for the way back you'll be fine that's fine um but he's asked this one question this is directly to you guys he's put the answer involved you may know this This is a bit of a dad joke, but we shall see. What room has no doors or windows?

58:23Mark Heath:Mushroom. I do know that. I know exactly where he's got it from as well. It's from Cambridge United Twitter, Pelly Ruddock and Panzu,

58:30Ross Halls:who went and put that to fans on a social media video. So, yeah, mushroom.

58:36Mark Heath:Excellent. A fitting way to end, Mailbag. Thank you, friends, for all your involvement. Right then, Blackburn this weekend is. Back to league action, AJ. we're obviously we're coming up to an hour now so we can't spend ages talking about this game but how are you feeling about this one we know they've played Blackburn a lot this season it's not been very entertaining too many times even it's not been very entertaining and they've struggled against them are we expecting similar this weekend I'd hope not because it's Portman Road and look going to Ewood Park they should have played better on both the occasions that they've been up there and attempted to play football against Blackburn but they didn't and I know it's a difficult place to go and play, it's far away, yadda yadda yadda at Portman Road they should be the dominant side and they should be able to take the initiative against a team that since that 1-1 draw against Ipswich have won once, which was a 2-0 home win against Millwall, they're struggling, they're down towards the relegation zone, they're currently 20th so they're 4 points clear of Norwich with a game in hand on them so I don't think they're going to go down but they're just very draw-y.

59:45They draw a lot of games since that game against Ipswich, which was a draw. They drew Oxford. They drew Middlesbrough. They drew Sheffield Wednesday. They drew Charlton. And then in the Cup, they drew Hull and went out on penalties. So it's very draw-heavy. They've kind of switched to a 3-5-2. So it's the Ipswich town arch nemesis as well. Two strikers up top, wing-backs, three centre-backs. They probably are not going to have that much of an initiative to go forward. It's going to be a bit of a low block. It's going to be direct play. Up to Ahashi and Baraji as the two strikers. And it's now going to be up to Ipswich to show that they've cracked the problem that they have faced earlier in the season, especially given that when you look at their run coming up, 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 that Blackburn play, Bristol City play a back three, Preston play back three, Pompey have at times as well, and Derby coming up.

1:00:42They're going to face it a lot. This one is one they'll be expected to win, though, because it is against a struggling team.

1:00:49Mark Heath:It's going to be dire, isn't it? It's going to be a bad game. Rossi, who are you playing? We'll find out tomorrow, hopefully, if Hurst is going to be fit to start this one, the pressers, but who would you be starting in this game?

1:01:02Ross Halls:I think the good thing is McKenna went strong, didn't he, in the Blackpool game. So it's not going to be, okay, full change again. Because, yeah, Jalen Filagin started Jack Clark. I think that's the big talking point. Do give Jack Clark an opportunity in number 10 again. What say you? Well, do you know what? I'm going for it.

1:01:21Mark Heath:You are?

1:01:22Ross Halls:Start Jack Clark. I know Nunes has been fantastic in number 10, but keep the momentum going against a Blackburn team. It's going to be crap. It's going to be a rubbish game. hopefully plan Jack Clark Jack 10 in the Clark position plan him in the 10 Jack Clark him and Philogene link up and that'll be beautiful so give it another go in the championship

1:01:46Mark Heath:what say you then AJ that's a good talking point we know what the back five is going to be that's fairly set in stone now but midfield obviously Azor's going to play who would you play alongside him and would you be as bold as young Ross and stick with Clark in the 10 so back line yeah we know what that's going to be, although Jacob Graves is really good against Blackpool. I would start him in one of the next two would be my take. So yeah, I would like to see more of Jacob Graves. Matasiwa would go alongside Jack Taylor for me. I do think that's probably the partnership I want to see the most of in the next few weeks.

1:02:25Jaden Filagene on the left, Sindra Raleigh Gelli on the right, George Hurst starts up front for me, and then yes, the 10 debate. I can't look past Marcelino Nunez because he just gets assists for fun. He's performing so, so well. Obviously, he didn't get the minutes in the game against Blackpool, so you don't want him to go for too long without match minutes because of that fitness record. You want to keep him ticking along. I can't see past him starting in that number 10 role. Although, as I said on the pod earlier in the week, I like that Jack Clark seems to be a good option in the 10 for unpicking low blocks.

1:03:04So what I would hope is that if Town are struggling with that, that Nunez can come off around or drop into a deeper role around the hour mark, around 65, 70, whatever. And then we might be able to see that Jack Clark in the number 10 experiment for a little bit longer against a championship opposition off the bench on Saturday.

1:03:25Mark Heath:I like Ross's argument for keeping momentum going. Generally, I would agree with that in football, go with a winning side, but I think I probably would go with Nunes at the 10 for this one. I'm interested to say you want to see Taylor more than Kuyusta, though, AJ. Is there a particular reason for that? Because Kuyusta has been coming back into it quite a lot recently, hasn't he? Yeah, I don't know. Different games call for different things. I think that the partnership with Taylor and Matasiwa is more solid. And it kind of also depends on what the game is going to be like, But potentially, given that Ipswich are going to have more of the ball, more initiative, maybe this would be a game that would suit Jens more.

1:04:04But he also needs space to operate in as well. Yes, he can carve open space and drift past players, but he can also be marked out of certain games. And Taylor is ultimately just that more solid option defensively. I think he does more to protect the back line. So again, I think it's one that we'll see chopped and changed a little bit. And I don't mind that. I think whoever doesn't start in this one will get the nod to play against Bristol City. Again, totally different game then. And then there's a decision to be made against Sheffield United. But yeah, different games call for different things.

1:04:40I'd probably lean towards Taylor in this one.

1:04:42Mark Heath:Okay. Prediction time then. Stu, I think, is leading the way. He's obviously not with us because he's celebrating his 70th birthday today. Ross, I think me and you are tussling at the bottom for the right to the wooden spoon. so I think that means AJ has to go first what are you going to say AJ? Well I've done my predictions for the next six games I think it is up until whatever the Wrexham Cup game is I don't know I don't keep track of these things so however many games there are between them and then I've done my predictions and I've gone with a 2-0 Ipswich win and I think it's going to follow a similar pattern I think it's going to be town get a goal everyone's like right come on put them to the sword and then they're going to take the foot off the gas.

1:05:26It's going to be difficult to break them down. Chances won't go in. It's going to be a bit horrible. Fans are going to get nervy because Blackpool will... Blackpool? Blackburn? Keep doing that. Blackburn will attack and they'll pit the post six times or something. Then Kieran makes his changes and Jack Clark comes off the bench and wraps it up 2-0. But my first goal scorer is going to be... I need to make up points on Stu. And since he's not here, I know he'll pick something different to me if he knows I've picked this. I'm going to choose Jadon Philogene for his goal score. The King of Portman Road.

1:06:00Mark Heath:A title that could also be bestowed upon you, of course, Ross, on match day. I like walking around Portman Road with a celebrity ears. What's your prediction, Rossi?

1:06:12Ross Halls:My prediction has been stolen by AJ, so I don't want to... You can still have it.

1:06:16Mark Heath:You can still do it.

1:06:17Ross Halls:Yeah, but then if we both get it right, then it's just I'm still just chasing AJ's tail because at the moment, Just to give you an update on the leaderboard. Obviously, the Pompey one got scrapped. So this is from the Oxford game. So 29 points, Stu, top of the table. AJ, 24 in second. Hefe, my friend, you are third with 22 points. And I am bottom with 21 points. But yeah, anything change this weekend. With my prediction hopefully being right. And I'm going to go for a... I think Blackburn will score, I think. 2-1. Oh, you bastard. Yes, get in there. you can still go for it though and it means you can just once again we'll both get hopefully the right result but 2-1 and I'm going to go do I go rogue?

1:07:03Ross Halls:No, I'm backing Jack Clark hopefully start in that 10 roll probably won't now though annoyingly but let's back Jack Clark

1:07:11Mark Heath:Okay, well I was going to go 2-1 I feel like this game has got vibes of Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford and that sort of thing where as AJ says Towns score then they they'll either go 2-0 up and concede a goal which makes everyone a bit nervous or they get pegged back. So I'm going to say two, I am going to say two, one to feel strongly. That's going to be the score. And I'm going to say Jaden Philogene. So hopefully that combo will move me up the league because I can't really look past Jaden Philogene at Portland road. Can you? So we've got two nil Jaden Philogene, two, one. Who did you say?

1:07:45Ross Halls:I'm actually going to change it. Cause yeah. Yeah. Why not? Because I want to be different because I need to, I need, I'm chasing you guys. So yeah, do I just add another goal or do I just go 1-0 just solid 1-0 win I'll give you a little push in the right direction personally there's not a lot of goals in Blackburn they're usually very tight they could easily change out of nowhere we're all wrong probably yeah 1-0 and then that sort of saves me with Jack Clark in terms of like if he comes off the bench then happy days he goes and scores the winner so 1-0 I'm going to check live on the pod

1:08:24Mark Heath:Okay, we'll get Birthday Boy Stu's verdict and we'll share that obviously before the game which all left us with really now is just talk about Sam Morsey who has been talking about the clash at Portman Road next Tuesday night, which obviously is tasty, hashtag narrative all over AJ Sam potentially versus Azor his replacement in position, in shirt number in role looking forward to that one he's been talking about it Azor's going to get booked this weekend I'm telling you he's going to get booked this weekend and he's going to miss that game and as an aside if Azor gets booked and miss Bristol City and Sheffield United that's probably the two worst games he could miss in this box but I digress Sam Morsey signed for Bristol City earlier in the month been really impressive as well fans already love him with what he's been able to offer in the couple of games he's played.

1:09:22He's been talking about that return to Portman Road, which I don't think he ever thought he was going to make. Can't wait for it to see all the coaching staff that he's worked with over such a long period, the players that are still here. Obviously, Kieran McKenna, who he still stays in touch with. McKenna has often referenced that. I think they text a lot of the time, actually, and really stay in contact. He calls it a special occasion. and it was interesting actually as part of that was speaking about if there's a secret behind the back-to-back promotions. He said there's no secret, it's just about the environment that the manager made and all the hard work from the players and everyone being on the same wavelength and also not setting any targets.

1:10:07They didn't come into the season saying we want to achieve this. They just said we want to improve week on week and ultimately doing that is what led them to the Premier League. So yeah, I'm sure he'll get one hell of a reception when he returns to Portman Road. I'm very confident he'll start that game for Bristol City. Hopefully not too good a night for him, though.

1:10:26Mark Heath:As part of the same interview, did you see the kind of little shot taken at Norwich and Liam Manning? I enjoyed that. Good work, Sam. Nice to see that you still have that in you. As you say, it will be great to see him back, but hopefully not too great on his point of view. Anything else to mention, friends, before we take our leave? happy 78th birthday stuart rossi how about yourself uh no that is all done and dusted i think um good hosting pf oh thanks mate yeah thanks i learned i learned from the best um anyway friends that's a 70 minute pod in the books um lots of ground covered thank you for all your questions as ever just to remind support our sponsors use the code koa at stardustspirits.co.uk for 20 % off all their excellent alcoholic beverages um as aj said on monday's show if you are doing dry january have i mentioned by the way i'm doing dry january i feel it's important that everyone knows i'm doing dry january otherwise there's no point really doing it if you don't tell anyone about it i'm doing dry january it makes me better than you uh anyway um you can get yourself some stuff to look forward to in february from stardust spirits and also obviously molecular uk uh use code k-10 and molecular-uk.com for 10 % off all their their car cleaning products which are now endorsed by mrs heath as well as me having uh used the banana dine on the interior of her rather flash footballer's car that she drives around in um she's she's a big fan of it and also we've not had a five-star review in a long time on itunes it just helps lift us visibility wise in the charts really good if you can if you do enjoy the show leave us a review that'd be great uh the other thing to mention is we have our latest offer running um which is apparently statistically our most popular offer on digital subscriptions three pound for three months which obviously will take you through january and deep into the season depending on when you take it up or it's 50 off a whole year so you get a year for 29 quid which i think works out less than two pound 50 which again i'd hope you'd agree is pretty good value and as part of being a subscriber you get to enter exclusive competitions there's still the i almost said it then the marcelino nunez not darwin nunez marcelino nunez signed shirt i generally you did almost say that um that's still running you can enter that if you're a subscriber and you can also now enter a new competition to win an away shirt as well if you're a subscriber which has just gone live you can find links on our website or indeed on our individual social medias friends Blackburn at home this weekend league action begins again next six games stretch ahead of us a lot of travelling as part of those and as Alex says you can read his predictions for all of those tomorrow morning have a great weekend whatever you're doing and we'll speak to you again next time

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