617: Kings of Anglia - Town leave it late at the Owls after a week of injustices

28:11Kieran McKenna:Yeah, it was. We know it's our seventh game in 21 days. It's been a long week, a long couple of weeks, and getting the result was really important. We knew the game today could go in a few different ways. We, of course, wanted to get the early goal and score early and have the confidence of a lead to go and play our football. But we didn't manage to do that. We had some chances early in the game we didn't take. And then we know how games like this can be as it goes on. if you haven't scored. The opponent has something to hang on to and the crowd were good, stayed with him. They get some set plays and the game can feel really, really tricky and awkward if you don't have a goal.

28:54Kieran McKenna:We knew that could be the case and if that was the case, the most important thing was to not give anything away, not make any big mistakes, concede a penalty, allow them to score from a set play, anything like that. It was important to stay disciplined and calm and give ourselves 95 minutes to win the game. And where that was the boys on the pitch with the subs coming on, we knew that we could score the goals late. And, yeah, we generally did that. We had a big chance before the goal, and then we'd take the first goal, and from there we were really comfortable. So, yeah, it was a really tricky game.

29:25Kieran McKenna:If we didn't get a goal early on in it, it was always going to be an awkward game. Credit to them for the way they stuck in it, but I think we deserved the win, and we got it, you know, we got it later in the game. OK, so they get the win, Ross. As you already said, though, not without incident in terms of talking points, Sindra getting the hook at half-time was a big one. Now, we said, obviously, and I think it's, you know, clearly true that Wes Burns is the best option on the right when he's fit. But he's already started two games back-to-back, obviously, he's still coming back from the ACL.

29:59So Dean not able to start again here. What did you make of Sindra in this game? Was it fair, do you think, that he got brought off at half-time?

30:08Ross Halls:Yeah, it's a tough one, really. I'm sure McKenna had to really think it through because it is a young 19-year-old. That's a big thing. I don't know how much that's going to knock his confidence. But I'm sure Sindra will know I've got a really great picture of him just holding his hand to his face. He missed a really big chance in this one. I was watching him for that first 45 minutes because he was running towards me. and there were just a few moments where I was like, oh, come on, just beat your man, just beat your man. But now he decided to check inside. And yeah, he has been a frustration. But he still has had moments this season.

30:44Ross Halls:But once again, it's the price tag, isn't it? I think that's what a lot of people are sort of seeing. He's 17 plus million, the most expensive championship signing of all time. But this is a game where I thought, okay, starting again, Wes Byrne's been rested. Because Wes has been fantastic since, you know, returning from his ACL injury, he's been superb on that right. For us to think, we thought, okay, maybe Wes will play a few cameos when he comes back from injury and then we say goodbye. But Wes has been fantastic and that is his position locked in now. But yeah, Sindra was a very frustrating figure.

31:23Ross Halls:And yeah, it's a tricky one because I do like him. I think there's a player there because he's shown from flashes. But this game was one of those that he's still got a lot to learn. He's still got those raw attributes there that he needs to work on. But, yeah, I'm sure McKenna fought it through and went, OK, we need to change it up because, yeah, he was just not being his man, and his defensive work wasn't great either. So, sorry, Syndra, I'm giving you a lot of flack here. But, yeah, it was a frustrating figure in that first half. AJ I know you're planning to write something around Cinder at some point this week if you get time where are you with the Cinder O 'Balata Galley experiment because clearly there is a huge amount of pressure that comes with the price tag there's all the kind of stuff as well you have to take into account the fact he's 19 the fact he's living away from home you know in England where it's not his first language all that kind of stuff huge expectation what has he got five goals?

32:21Four I think still a good number to have for his age coming into the league I think Ross has nailed it pretty much, to be honest, in terms of what he said. I just don't think... Two bits to it. The first bit is on a collective, on a team level, he's not a right-winger in this team. He's not, because a Kieran McKenna right-winger in this side is exactly what Wes is, is exactly what Chio was in the Premier League, is what Casey McIntyre is, even though he's had a frustrating campaign. It's that physical, aggressive running style, and the ability and desire to go and take on your man. And Sindra isn't that.

33:01Sindra sees his future in the number 10. I think it's quite clear that he has qualities that will suit that role a lot more. And even though he's not there yet, especially in terms of starting in this team when you've got Anis and Marcelino Nunez playing in that role, he's not suiting that position. And then it's also a confidence side of things as well. There is a confidence element with him being able to take on his man. I'm sure that he has been told about doing that rather than constantly kind of doing the one-trick pony, cut inside, cross, cut inside, shoot, cut inside, lose the ball. So that's something that needs building up as well.

33:40I just want to see him... I think what says ball striking for me is a big thing because he gets into good areas. You look at the one that he missed in the first half here.

33:52The highlight reels, you see the way he hits them, the venom the technique he has is what has earned him such a high price tag i think because how many 19 year olds hit a ball like that um and we've seen it in in flashes but so many times he's got into those areas and it's been p-rollers and i want to know where that side of his game's from and yeah i think maybe flashes is the the point of it it's a consistency element for for sindra uh and that's the biggest thing this was a big opportunity as ross said for him to go out there and deliver. He wasn't able to do it. He's only shown us bits and pieces so far, but we also have to be accepting that everything that you just mentioned there, Mark, about him coming over into a new league, a very different league, a new country, away from home, properly, outside of Scandinavia for the first time, this is going to be a transition season for him.

34:47We just kind of have to see how things go from there, but the price tag always plays a big part in that narrative, doesn't it? Well, obviously, how about a couple of the other players that we were looking at before the game? We knew that Jacob Grease was going to start, obviously with big Cedric, banned for the penalty that shouldn't have been at Stoke, that yellow card. And also Ben Johnson, clearly, we expected to come in because no one else really should replace Leif Davis. Johnson got an assist. I know, obviously, they're not against a fearsome attack, 10 goals at home all season, Sheffield Wednesday.

35:19But how do you think those boys did?

35:21Ross Halls:Yeah, I'll start with Greaves because that was his first lead start at centre-back since the whole game away from home against, of course, his boyhood club. And I like Jacob Greaves, really do. He's done okay at left-back. He's been a mixed bag, really. He's been some good games, some not. Coventry away, brilliant. Sheffield United away, not so good. But in this game, I think in the second half, there was a proper 50-50 challenge where he got a bit hurt in that one. But I just loved that. I think you would like that if he just, boom, got his man as well. But no, made some good blocks, some good clearances and just a solid performance alongside Dara O'Shea.

36:06Ross Halls:And have a clean sheet. I know, as you mentioned, against a team who just scored 10 goals, league goals at home all season. But still had Jerry Yates and Jamal Lowe, who are experienced players at this level, Of course, you had Emil Heskey's son as well. Could have been a threat in there on the counter-attack. But no, solid game for Jake Reeves. Ben Johnson, who it's been difficult for him, hasn't he? Fair play to him. He's like just – for him to just wait, be patient. I'm sure he was sort of listening to all the discussions in January, like, oh, yeah, Ben Johnson will probably leave. But he's just been professional, and he's just waited to buy his time and play.

36:48Ross Halls:And he's playing left back here. Yeah, got Ford okay. Delivered the assist for the Ivan Azong goal. He got pushed to do the fist pump at the end. I think that they were trying to get Ivan Azong to do it. But no, Ivan. I keep saying Ivan. But thank you, AJ. Thank you. And he was able to sort of nice little fist pump. I'll give it 8 out of 10. Decent fist pump from Ben Johnson. But no, went forward pretty well. It's not going to be Leif Davis, but coming into this one, I think he'll be pretty happy with his performance. So overall, good old BJ. Good performance, my friend. Who would you say, Ross, with the experience you've had this season is the best fist bumper in the team?

37:37Ross Halls:They've improved. Marcelino Nunes still needs to do a little bit better. the first few were not great were they I don't know, they weren't even fist pumped they were like just I don't know how to explain it but it was very, yeah, anyone knows anyone who listens you know that Matzi was getting better Furlong did a really good one at Derby it was more like two fists going yeah, got a really good picture of that I'd say Oivinazon I think He had a really good one when he scored a goal. I think it was Swansea. He really went for it. So they're all improving, but they're sort of switching up. They all get an opportunity.

38:21I think whoever has a good game, they normally push them to do it.

38:26Ross Halls:So although I don't feel – they're not Luke Chambers-esque. Luke Chambers just had that sorted many, many times doing it. So, yeah, I think I'm still waiting for that massive one for Daro Shea. I think we're still waiting for that. Maybe we'll see that on a, you know, hopefully when we secure promotion. But, yeah, it's a team. I wouldn't say they're shy, but they're not as like, they have to sort of get pushed to go and celebrate. I think they, the Sheffield Wednesday game, they weren't going to go and celebrate mad. But, yeah, it is a nice sort of connection with the fans. I think, you know, the fans like try to, you know, pump the players up, go over there.

39:04Ross Halls:Christian Walton actually, scrap that, Christian Walton at Watford, that was a nice one. So give some Christian Walton some love for his fist pumps. So yeah, it's just a nice moment at the end where you can sort of celebrate and especially in front of a great away end. Yeah, I quite like the fact they're rotating it. Did you see, on the subject of great fist pumps, did you see Nathan Jones after Charlton's big win? He went with a double hander one after the other. It was like a recharging shotgun. So we just mentioned Azon, Ivan Azon, AJ. I think that's worth praising because you boys, obviously, you, my friend, you've taken him off against Stoke.

39:44You were livid with the way he behaved in that first goal. He'd have been benched if you were in charge. But he showed some good character in this game because he had that big chance. He missed it. And then you could be forgiven for thinking, oh. But then he gets on the end of the Johnson Cross with some nice movement and gets another important goal. So good character. Yeah, I would have taken him off after that Stoke goal. I will stand by that. Did he play a part in Ipswich's first goal in that game? Yes. Would I still have taken him off? Yes, because as you will remember from that podcast, that first goal really, really riled me up.

40:19And I hope maybe there's been some slightly harsher words said there and maybe there's some in there that can now kick him on a bit and keep him off the floor is a big one for me. And there were nice bits in this game, as you say. the first, the miss then, yeah, difficult with the way that the ball kind of falls to him, but should he do better from that position? Absolutely. I think that a lot of fans in that way, and Ross will be able to say this or not, it would have been a proper head-in-hands moment, that one, because, yeah, that was a pretty painful miss, but takes the goal that he scores really well.

41:01credit to as ross will now call a good old bj uh with the crossing from the left um big credit to him as well as we said for the way that he's bided his time this is a guy who won the conference league a few years ago and played an important role in that now he's a bit part role in the championship so the fact that he's he's kind of still showing the right personality traits is a big thing for me um i think in a way actually he suits the kind of playing behind jack clark a little bit more than leaf davis because as a right back the way that he wants to position himself as he inverts into midfield which is what we've been seeing this whole leaf davis experiment doesn't work with leaf davis at all but it's much more natural for johnson as a right side or as someone who plays midfield to do that it gets into a good position for the cross again does it with his right foot so it's a little bit different a bit more unpredictable from that side uh i like the way that furlong ends up in the box why is he there i don't know it's great he he almost causes the distraction he's the decoy in that the way that he comes tumbling in there's been so many times where darnell furlong just kind of ghosts through games all of a sudden oh yeah he's like got a massive chance in the box don't know how it happens kind of love it um and yeah that opened up the space for azon calm uh well-placed finish exactly what you want your striker to do and um delighted it's him and delighted that he's kind of had a bit of a retribution after uh what happened at stoke in midweek so yeah hopefully he'll be he'll be better for it maybe listen to you mate on this very podcast i'm sure he's a big he's been ordering his merch and his koa live tickets i'm I've got to pull my socks up, he said.

42:44AJ would have benched me. The other thing Rossi to talk about, I think, is Azul Matasiwa. I know, obviously, there are three people going into this game that were on the tightrope, but I think Azul Matasiwa deserves most credit because he's done something fairly spectacular, given that he is, we all call him the Dutch destroyer, and, you know, his physicality is part of his game. He's gone 17 games without getting booked. And on top of that, he played in this game, having been injured, come off with a hamstring injury against Stoke. So, A, he's proved, again, that he's incredibly resilient, a bit bomb-proof, in fact.

43:19And then, B, he's managed to get through all those games without really changing his game and not get booked, which is staggering, isn't it? Because we all thought there's no chance that's going to happen.

43:32Ross Halls:Yeah, it's incredible. So, I was just quickly finding that's the stat. Like, his first 19 games, non-yellow cards 17 games since zero yellow cards which is just incredible amazing tightrope from him we pray Sam Morsey many times for his tightropes but Zomacisiwa has now got that crown because he hasn't I wouldn't say he's adapted his game that much of course he's been asked that a few times from AJ and other people when we've spoken to him and he hasn't really changed much, there's been a few moments where I was like oh dearie me and he may have like sort of walked away maybe from the referee and maybe not like um got involved just in case you just never know a ref could be card happy um especially at a ref i think it was the thomas kirkett for the stoke game he uh you know has shown like 100 cards already this season um that was the game where i was like i was getting a bit worried um but he's done fantastic um as i said he hasn't changed his game um and i don't know if that's ever going to get 17 games without yellow card is incredible I know we've spoken about Dara O'Shea who hasn't been booked for how many games it is now for a Saturday United game last year the 3-2 defeat incredible but as all matters here you are fantastic and yeah hopefully he doesn't like go into a bad challenge against Millwall and get sent off because that would be a bit sad but no fantastic Is that longer than the Morsi ones that we've had sorry I think so, yeah.

45:06So I want to put this to you guys quickly, and I'm not going to answer this one, but is it better? Is it more impressive, do you reckon, than Morsi's? I think so. I was just about to say, he's not like a thumping tackler, is he, Matasiwa? He's a master of the kind of stand-up tackle and positioning is everything. But to not get booked for 17 games when you play in the engine room, you almost expect to get booked by accident in at least one of those games just because of the nature of the game. It's physical. Or as Ross says, you say something to a ref and he takes it the wrong way and you get booked.

45:35I think it's an incredible feat, given the position that he plays and the fact he's got to get his foot in. That's how he plays. I think it's brilliant. In contrast, I'm not sure that Dario Shea not being booked is a good thing for a centre-back. I kind of want centre-backs to get booked every now and then. You're obviously disagreeing there, AJ. I don't know. I mean, can you not have the same thing count when you're in that position. He defends in quite a calm where you don't always have to be the big hairy-ass defender clattering in the tackle, especially when you've got your partner who does that.

46:14And Cedric Kipre is that very much. Cedric Kipre is your aqua-planing at Blackburn style, getting booked defender. I mean, he's the one who's got the only one who's been hit with 10 yellow cards. He hasn't even played as many games as a lot of the players who've been walking that tightrope. So I think it's all about balance, isn't it? Look, O'Shea is such a calm defender. I think he's very similar to Matasiewa in that you don't see him sliding in. You don't see the big tackles. But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I can understand the point. But I think that almost doing it in that I'm going to take the ball off you before you've even noticed it kind of way is a different kind of art in a way.

47:01and make centre-backs a bit more unique. That's a fair point. I suppose the other final narrative from this game is the fact that Wes Burns got injured, which you already touched on. Rossi, calf injury, still being assessed. Don't know how long he's going to be out for. But clearly, Rossi, given what we've spoken about, if he's going to be out for any length of time, that's going to be a blow.

47:22Ross Halls:Yeah, he actually made a signal to say, I've got to come off. I think he knew something was not right and he just didn't want to risk it. and when a player does that, especially with his injury record with the ACL, of course it's a completely different injury, he probably is like, no, let's not risk it, especially against Sheffield Wednesday. No offence. I know it's still only 0-0, but he just thought, no, take me off. Because he was showing his sort of trademark, you know, darting runs, you know, down the wing. But yeah, we'll of course speak to Kieran McKenna on Friday and see how his week's been.

47:57Ross Halls:That's a good thing though. we have got that week on the training grounds so you know for him to rest and stuff, if we had a game on Tuesday we wouldn't have been rest anyway but yeah hopefully it's nothing too serious and you know a good thing is we did see Jadon Finagin come back as well Good point, that's something else to mention obviously Jadon coming back, that's a great sign as you say it feels a bit weird to not play midweek this week doesn't it it's been relentless hasn't it right let's hear from Dara O'Shea his thoughts on the win and then we can draw a line under it and move on to other stuff Was that kind of afternoon?

48:29Ross Halls:Do you expect them as tough as that, Darren, despite what the league table might have suggested?

48:33Kieran McKenna:Yeah, no. Obviously, they are where they are in the league, but they don't play like they're there. And massive respect to them for that. You know, it's not easy when you don't really have much to play for in the season. But, you know, I really respect the way they came out today and played. They're a really tough team. They've got some massive threats. And they play a really nice style of football and a dangerous style for us. And we always knew that today was going to be difficult. it wasn't going to be easy it was about getting obviously that first goal and it took us a long time to get that I'm proud of how patient we were do you know what I mean there's a lot of games where maybe we haven't been that patient and we've maybe tried to rush things we've got frustrated but we knew today that it was going to take maybe a magic moment or later on in the game to get in front so I'm proud of how we understood that and how the game went really

49:21Ross Halls:You would have wanted to have played better wouldn't you? Maybe more intensely particularly in that first half got at them

49:26Kieran McKenna:Yeah, of course, of course. It was a really weird first half, I think. I think everyone kind of felt that. And then I think we were just a bit too disjointed. I didn't feel like we were flowing the way we normally flow. And yeah, it was difficult. Obviously, it's hard. We had a few changes come in, lads we haven't played. But I thought they were really good today. I thought they stepped in. They've been training really well. And then you saw us as we grew into the game, you know, our flow got there. And we were putting nice passages to play together. and we were getting in dangerous areas. It was probably just that final product that let us down at times in the first half.

49:58Kieran McKenna:But no, I think as a whole, obviously, it doesn't matter how you win the games now. Come this part of the season, all that matters is the result of the end and we're on the right side of it against a team that are good and I have massive respect for them and they're a really dangerous side.

50:12Ross Halls:The first half is an issue at the moment. You've been a bit slow out of the blocks the last few.

50:16Kieran McKenna:Yeah, no, I don't think it's been a lack of trying or intensity in some of them games. I think sometimes the ball doesn't go your way and it's a bit frantic. Look, every team that we play, you can tell that they're up for it. We watch the games previous that they've played and they come play us and they play a totally different way and a different style. So it does take a small bit of time to adapt to them in the games because maybe we're not prepared for it, but we prepare as best as possible. We know how many different possibilities they can play and stuff. Look, I think I'm proud of how we're reacting to that.

50:51Kieran McKenna:We're not letting that first half become the whole game. And I think that's the most important thing, is finding a way. And we have again today. There we go. Then Dara O'Shea, apparently with a plane flying directly above him. I like listening to him talk, though. He's a good talker, isn't he, Dara? I know some of the things he said have got him into trouble, but I think he's always honest and he speaks well. He could do with a strap, so. He's probably been shouting a lot, I reckon. Right then, anything else to mention from the game boards before we move on?

51:21Ross Halls:I'm going to miss going to Hillsborough because I said I don't know if we're going to be going there for a while with their current situation as it's been reported they could potentially get a minus 15 deduction going into League One but yeah

51:40Ross Halls:in a way you sort of appreciate what you've got because I know Marcus Evans' days, they weren't great but at least, you know, we didn't go into administration. I know we did in the 2000s, but yeah, Sheffield Wednesday, they've had a lot of bad stuff over there. I think we were fighting in League One, you know, to get promoted, you know, with Plymouth. And now, you know, a few years down the line, you know, we've been in the Premier League and Sheffield Wednesday have had, you know, their issues, their owners and stuff like that. So, yeah, I think we've got to sort of step back sometimes and go and, you know, appreciate what we've got with the ownership and the management and everything.

52:16Ross Halls:Because, yeah, it's been a bit of a disaster at Sheffield Wednesday. I think as well, I loved the bit afterwards where Henrik Pedersen came out and spoke about how they were going to go meet with Kieran McKenna and those who were involved at Ipswich over the international break and talk about how you can kind of have that great reset in League One. Obviously, Sheffield Wednesday have been down there already and have had their struggles to get up. but that will be something that will hopefully stand them in good stead. Obviously, a minus 15 next year will be, which looks very likely, if the takeover that they will hopefully get is not over a certain threshold financially, which looks very likely that they'll get that.

53:02Deduction means that they're going to be worried about relegation, I'd say, rather than promotion next year, unfortunately. But hopefully that will be a positive for them, and it's just a nice touch, isn't it? It's those kind of stories that you love in football. So, yeah, as Ross has said, I kind of really hope that they get things under control and wish them the best going forward. Absolutely, because they're a massive football club, aren't they? So fingers crossed for the fan base and everyone else involved there that things start going in the right direction soon. Right then, from one good talker, Daro Shea and actually AJ, to another good talker, Mark Ashton, who was talking at length on Friday night on BBC Radio Suffolk.

53:43AJ, that was your first job of the week, to go back and listen to that. Do you want to give us the bullet points, the things worthy of note? Because we're going to be drip-feeding out various lines from it this week. Are there any kind of top lines you can give us? Yeah, but I need to get them off my notes up, so give me two seconds. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a lot started from the controversy of last week. where Kieran McKenna is the calm, Mark Ashton can be a bit more of the chaos, slightly stronger words, slightly stronger phrasing about wanting consistency, a bit of VAR chat, whether that Kit Bray ban would have been able to have been overturned.

54:22Spoiler alert, as we all know now, no chance. And then it was kind of a bit fans-for-of-me from there, but it's been good to hear from Mark Ashton and get updates on things like the travel situation for Norwich, which I know has caused some concern. We've written about that today. not a great deal to update fans on but I think it's good to hear Mark Ashton's side of things a lot on the season so far how he's feeling about it kind of a rallying cry to fans but also to kind of put out his side of how difficult it is in this league and how other teams who've come down from the Premier League have found it quite difficult to be at the top and that's where he expects Ipswich to be for the rest of the season a bit on the training ground update I really liked the line of him saying that the new training ground is going to be the best facility Suffolk's ever seen.

55:09That probably isn't the highest bar necessarily when you're talking about Premier League-level facilities, but he talks about it in a really good way, and the plan is for that to open in June. A bit on whether they'll stay at Portman Road, the women's team, and also just day-to-day life and how things are for him ahead of the running. And as well, an interesting line on the Portsmouth postponement. I didn't realise that he'd mentioned that those postponements have cost town, as he said, hundreds of thousands of pounds for all of the losses that they've had preparing for those games and them not going ahead.

55:46And they all, as well, count towards FFP and what Ipswich are able to spend in the transfer market. So he's very angry about that, very angry about quite a few things. But he's called on, with all of that, a bit of a siege mentality from fans. And I think that he's still very confident that this season's going to pan out in the right way. So, yeah, good to hear from him more than anything. Excellent. We'll look out for lines coming out from that. As I say, we're going to drip feed them out this week. You've obviously never been to Brayson Edmonds Leisure Centre, AJ. Getting snarky there about facilities.

56:19We're going to Bray Leisure Centre, mate. Don't you worry yourself. Do you reckon that the town players would go down there? Well, they've got some great... Oh, no, we don't want to go to Playford Road. We'll go down. Got great badminton courts, running track, big swimming pool. Top tier, mate. Rossi, there was a big win. We talked about a big win for the men's side. There was a big win for the ladies' side as well yesterday. And they have been absolutely flying, for want of a better word. I know they've not been winning every game, but since David Wright's come in and they made all those signings in the transfer window, they've turned things around spectacularly, haven't they?

56:50It must be fantastic for them.

56:52Ross Halls:Yeah, incredible. You know, David Wright is unbeaten in the league since taken over. I know he's lost one game in the FA Cup, But since he's taken over, he's won every, well, not won every game. He's unbeaten in every league game so far. And now the table looks good viewing because there was a moment in me where I was like, oh, God, it's going to be a really tough second half of the season. But, you know, Portsmouth have dropped points. We beat Portsmouth. Although they out of nowhere beat Cholton in midweek, who have been unbeaten all season. And they're top of the table and they beat them in midweek.

57:26Ross Halls:And you're like, oh, no. but no, the Tratton girls got a really big win on Sunday at Colchester on good old Mother's Day with a 2-1 win against Durham who sacked their manager in the morning. Basically, an hour and a half before kick-off, they made a statement and said, oh yeah, we're getting rid of Adam Furness who's staying in the club in like another role but Neil Redfern who played as a former player, I think played for Barnsley and other stuff but he's also managed women's football before. He was at Sheffield United and Liverpool. Yeah, he was in the dugout because, yeah, an hour and a half before the game, they got rid of Adam Furness.

58:05Ross Halls:So that was an interesting one. But no, we got some early goals. Princess scored the opener. Go on, say the surname. Come on, let's say the surname. Just give him a A. I don't actually know what it is at the top of my head. Because it just says Princess 99 on her shirt. Right. Which, we won't get into that because, yeah, 99 deary me but yeah she scored a really good goal Ava Baker setting her up for that one and she got another assist Ava Baker setting up Lucy Ashworth Clifford which is very big on the shirt by the way that's a lot of a lot of letters isn't it a lot of letters because it actually goes down I think that's the first time I've ever seen on a shirt that it's like two rows of her name she scored and had a good goal to make it 2-0 and there was a few moments Durham had to score a screamer to get one of their goals to make it squeaky bum time.

59:03Ross Halls:And I will admit, they didn't really manage the game very well at the end there, their right side. And there was a moment where it was like, oh no, Durham, they're going to go and score an equaliser. But thankfully they didn't. Big three points. And as I said, the table is now looking a bit better. They're, of course, off the bottom of the table now because they were there for a while, unfortunately. I'll quickly give you an update. Because, yeah, we're heading back to Portland Road. so far there's actually four teams on 14 points which is incredible so Portsmouth are bottom on goal difference minus 22 we're on minus 19 with 14 points Sheffield United are on 14 but on minus 11 Durham are on 14 with minus 9 Town of course got a game in hand two games in hand over Portsmouth Sheffield United have got 15 they play 15 games so they've got three games in hand on Portsmouth so they'll probably be fine but yeah it's five games unbeaten in the league they've got to go Nottingham Forest next weekend before, of course, hosting Southampton back at Portman Road.

1:00:00Ross Halls:But yeah, the nine new signings in January have helped a lot and they've all been pretty good quality. And yeah, a very good win at Colchester. That game at Portman Road, Ross, we've seen it a few times now, but WSL 2 football for the first time. And also it feels like there's going to be properly something on it as well this time, isn't there? Yeah, like last year they played Plymouth and they were on their way Joe Sheehan's side were on their way to get promoted to second tier so that had a Sutton on it but I think deep down we knew we were going to win because Plymouth I think they were like you know, getting close to getting relegated so there wasn't much really to play for really but this one they've got Southampton who are at the moment they're mid-table they're still in for a chance to get promoted or in the playoff spots I think they're going to have to really win loads of games and hope teams drop points.

1:00:54Ross Halls:But Southampton are a team we've got history with, you know, from, you know, the third tier days. Of course, they got promoted when we were trying to fight back then. So, yeah, this game is going to have a lot on it because, you know, it's something to play for because, you know, you just never know what the next few weeks are going to be like. You know, Portsmouth pick up points. We need to make sure we get up points. So, yeah, looking forward to it. It's going to be 12.30 kickoff. It's non-league day as well for men's games, so it's going to be a good weekend of football. But yeah, I have a feeling they're going to break the record.

1:01:29Ross Halls:They've been able to get over 10 ,000 the last two games. I think they're going to be able to get even more because it's WSL2 football for the first time at Porton Road. Yeah, great day, great occasion, and probably something on the game they need to win, obviously, in terms of the battle against relegation. Right, we've come on to the Magic Hour, boys. Who wants to hear about my holiday in Mexico? go on then how was it well it didn't happen did it of course friends um all got a bit all got a bit murdery out in mexico sadly um the day before we were going to be going so we woke up on the day when we go there was a warning out exercise extreme caution uh in the area that we were going to which doesn't sound to me like a relaxing holiday so sadly we decided not to travel cost us two grand to not go that's fine that's fine um so yeah i was i was in a bit of a grump my wife is even more of a grump because she was super diving out there we're not going to porto for city break instead which um thanks for all those by the way who sent me recommendations place to go in porto highly recommend porto as a destination portugal's lovely one of my favorite countries porto as a city fantastic um eating and drinking all sorts out there also i thought of you as i tucked in some sardines you're a fan of sardines sardines from a can yeah yeah yeah oh yeah you like a bit sardines i like fish big fan of fish well porto is a good place for fish and steak bloody hell they love their steak out there uh and they have two specialities in porto one's called the uh cacciarino which is like a deep fried um hot dog with like a kind of spicy sauce um which is filth absolute filth but very good filth big big favorite of anthony bourdain we went to the place that he he went to famously and made famous um and that was a great experience because we're pretty much the only kind of non-portuguese people in there it's very very loud and lively and also francisina which is a mighty sandwich basically like a toasted sandwich it's got steak in it's got ham it's got sausage they toast it then they melt cheese over the top of it then they put tomato sauce over it and then they put fried egg on top of it they love fried eggs fried egg on things my goodness not good for the old uh not good for the old arteries but it It makes you feel good eating it, let me tell you.

1:03:40So, yeah, I had a different sort of holiday. And then, to cap it all off, went and seen the Peaky Blinders film. Have you seen that yet? Have you seen it? It's good. It's not going to win any points for plot. Very straightforward. But I think it's apt as a kind of capping point to the show. It's very entertaining. AJ, how was your weekend off? What did you do for your better half's birthday? not a great deal to be perfectly honest we kept it quite chill because it was also it was her uh it's my girlfriend's mum's birthday on the same day oh god how annoying well yeah there is that side um but yeah so there was it's a double whammy birthday uh which was quite chill uh went over to theirs on the friday and then um sophie had lots of birthday money so she went out to spend it and we went out and did did the whole shopping routine uh and i was uh definitely you know kind of subtly been asked you know when you're getting us opinions on what do you make of this what do you think of this going oh yeah just trying to like swipe and see what's happened with wes burns he's come on the bitch stuff like that um but yeah not it was a nice chill weekend needed after a busy run and yeah, at least town won.

1:05:02That was the big thing. Maybe I'm the problem. Do you take... From what I know of your better half, Sophie likes to shop. Oh, yeah. Went to New York with a list of shops you wanted to go to. Oh, yeah. Interesting. Do you do what I do, which is, I think, the correct approach as when you're a better half, for example, my better half comes to me and says, do you think i look thin thinner and i'm like yep straight away not even not even looking at the picture do i look good in this yep straight away yeah there's that uh you learn all these things over time the biggest thing as well uh is the boyfriend slash husband chair and shops as well they're a really good one so if you're going into a clothes shop where is the chair what's the wi-fi as well what's it what's it have you got yeah because you can be there for a while i log into a lot of them automatically these days which is good i don't have to go through and deal with any of the logins or the passwords and bits like that uh hey keep your step count up as well good to be walking good to be standing even if it's not fresh air uh but yeah i'm getting used to it and used to it ross what news of you

1:06:18Ross Halls:not much to be fair looking forward to getting a haircut tomorrow because you do need a trim to be fair has your hairdresser made it back from I was a little bit worried about this yeah she was stuck in Dubai because of the Middle East situation because she was going to Sri Lanka I struggle with that so yeah she had to cancel my haircut so and I was going to have it after the Stoke game but it was just going to be a bit tight getting back I was like no so yeah Kale listeners if you're getting worried I'm getting a bit too hairy I know I am hairy Roscoe anyway but yeah I'm just debating what to do people right now are probably turning off the podcast going I don't need to know what Roscoe is going to do with his hair but yeah people have said they're liking the longer locks on me so So, yeah.

1:07:15You know, you've got the Italian, obviously, part of you. Maybe you should go for the long, flowing Italian locks, like a sort of midfield maestro. Yeah, my problem is I've got to make effort, though,

1:07:30Ross Halls:to actually do my head. Like, there is times where I love when I had a short art. I just love waking up and going, oh, that's done. Don't have to worry about it. Now I have to really, like, get the gel up and stuff like that. So, yeah, I'm going to have to make more effort if I'm going to keep it this long. but uh we shall see um tomorrow well um i don't know if it happens you guys um my barber she always says good old manners shout out to her i know there's actually a few listeners who actually has a cup with her as well um and she goes okay what would you like and i went uh you know you know what you want you know what to do just do it um but maybe one day i will just out of nowhere just blindside her and go you know what i want this top yeah basically so um well do you know what shave it all off oh yes my fear my fear though is will it grow back but she has told me that i'm fine at the moment um because it would be showing if i was receding um anywho what way to end the calais podcast do you remind me about this is it there because you're looking a bit hairier you remind me of that guy emmett scanlan you familiar with him actor look a lot like him he's in a lot of good irish things usually plays a baddie a psycho look it up that was me last week on the seven side picture goals so yeah maybe i have got maybe that's what's happened growing his longer hair yeah you turn into a nutcase yeah so bald roscoe tomorrow right friends that brings it's the end of the show it's been slightly longer than normal but um obviously we had a lot to talk about and we had to have a little bit of a catch-up as well just to remind to support our sponsors use the code koa10 at uh molecular uk dash molecular-uk.com it's been a while friends i've quite forgotten molecular-uk.com uh 10 off all their excellent car cleaning products my car is filthy after my two weeks off we're not here there and everywhere in it so i need to get right in there with the banana dining various cleaning products it is excellent and also friends leaves us a five-star review on iTunes.

1:09:30If we don't have one of those in a while, just help us lift our visibility in the charts. Follows, of course, all social media, Kings of Anglia, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, sorry, X, Facebook, and Tiki Tiki Tiki Tox. Did you watch, have any of you watched the Louis Theroux Manosphere documentary? I can't bring myself to put, I cannot watch a documentary of so many insufferable people. I can't. I quite like Louis Theroux. Hey! Hey! H.S. Tiki Toki. He's a good lad, isn't he? He's a well-adjusted young man. What's your name? Yes. Other words for him as well. Friends, this brings us to the end of the show.

1:10:07I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you have a good start to your week. And I hope you're going to be looking forward to listening to us again. We come back later this week to build up to the Alex Jones derby. It's so big that Stuart Watson's taken the day off. He said, I can't be bothered. It's all going to be about AJ. I need to rest up. I don't think you've ever been involved in a game like this, AJ, where there's so much on the line. And you've got experience in, you've got foot in both camps, metaphorically speaking. You looking forward to it? Yeah, it is a really big game. Also as well, because the two teams are at the top of the table, like put me to one side.

1:10:42Like, yeah, the other narrative as well is that it's a big, big game in the promotion battle. We will, I believe there's a sit down hour long podcast just with me coming out later this week. Just talking to yourself. Yeah. I'm going to be interviewing myself. Absolutely. We look forward to that. I like the way you said the other narrative. And narrative A, the Alex Jones derby. Narrative B, massive promotion game at the top of the championship. I think we should finish, Ross, don't you, with how we started and just another look at that lovely table as we fade to black. Where is it? Come on, get it up.

1:11:14Get it up. Come on. Yes, this is the big news. The big takeaway is Heath is top of the leaderboard, cruising now towards the title with just nine games left. Friends, have a great start to your week. We'll be back later on to speak to you all over again.

1:11:37Thank you.

1:12:02Thank you.

1:12:28Thank you.

1:13:26Ross Halls:We'll be right back. Casino. America's Social Casino.