630: Kings of Anglia: Our big end of season awards show

23:49I had Watford so what were my picks? Sheffield Wednesday you had Sheffield Wednesday oh sorry Ross had Watford apologies I was going to say you had Charlton Preston and Sheffield Wednesday Ross had Sheffield Wednesday Preston and Watford Ross can you remember why you were so down on Watford is it because they changed managers like most people changed their socks?

24:09Ross Halls:Pretty much I thought this could be the season where they will just They'll sack a manager again and then just go down because they appoint the wrong manager. They're just such a weird club, Watford, aren't they? Although, I like going to Vicarage Road, but they're just weird, the sacking the managers. The other steel brother's gone now, isn't he? So they're going to be looking for another manager this season. Anywho. Banter club, etc. Right, let's do best goal. I'm going to stick with you, Ross. Best goal of the season. there is an obvious one which did win the best goal of the season both a brilliant goal and also because of the I guess the context in which it was scored so are you going to be Mr Obvious or are you going to go for something else no I'm going to I'm going to switch up a little bit and this could be I've got two in mind yep so I'll mention the one I'm going to pick but then honourable mention we'll go to this one I'll mention in a minute but I want to go Azor Matasiwa to go against Old City nice Because he doesn't score often.

25:13Ross Halls:That was his only goal this season. And I just, I remember being right behind it and just, you know, it was fantastic. And AJ, of course, spoke to him after the game and he was just, just a great interview and, you know, what a lovely man he is. Lovely smile and just a lovely moment. And it was just a big goal at the time as well. So, yeah, that's my pick for my best goal of the season. And honourable mention, Leif Davis' header against Derby County away. And I just love his celebration as well. You know, he's about to become a dad and ball under the shirt and everything. And yeah, that was a big goal in that game as well.

25:49Well, Ross, you've also obviously seen there the opportunity for pushing content because both of those pitchers, Matt Tassi, were celebrating against Hull and Leif Davis with the ball up his shirt, sucking his thumb, are in our supplement today in both the East England Daily Times and Interstar in memorable moments. 16 pages, friends, of the best pictures from the promotion season. So you've got kind of stars of the season, you've got memorable moments, you've got the double over Norwich and obviously you've got the promotion pictures, the promotion parade and a huge pull-out centre-spread picture of the boys lifting the trophy with the fire, the pyro behind them.

26:23That's inside today's East Anglia and the Nipstrick stars. So go and grab a copy. Stu, what was the best goal of the season for you?

26:32Stuart Watson:I'll be Mr. Obvious then. jayden phillageen portman road norwich city 16 years of hurt over the spin away from pelomatsu the violent finish the ball's still accelerating as he 30 yards out and uh nearly breaks the back of the net it's not right in the top corner but the keeper's just beaten through pure power and the roof is raised um has to be it was all right wasn't it uh you know the spin beforehand as well already added to it, doesn't it? From the kind of poetry of it. Right, I'm going to jump in now before AJ gets to say, I'm going to say, I mean, obviously, Philogene is the clear choice, but I'm going to say Casey McAteer.

27:15And I should have checked which game this was. Off the top of my head, I think it was Birmingham with the cheeky little back heel from Azan. And then McAteer absolutely thwacks it with his left foot. Staggering. And for me, part of what makes that a great goal, obviously it is a great goal, but it's also the backstory of Casey McIntyre, where he's come from this season. You know, confidence in the pits, being a bit of a scapegoat, people saying, why have we got him, etc, etc. To take that on with his left foot and score in that manner just shows that kind of rising confidence. And he finishes the season as one of town's kind of most informed players.

27:54I thought it was tremendous. And obviously, AJ, from your reaction, I've stolen that from you. Yeah, and you stole it from me. And you even got the game wrong as well. Just to add insult to injury, it was Borough, that goal. Oh, was it? Yep. It was the equaliser against Middlesbrough. That's great, as you say. It definitely is. I think, obviously, Philogene is the winner of this award, but I think that is the clear second. The ball up the line from Furlong, the little flick. The fact is all weak foot plays as well. I think it's a weak foot back heel from Azon, and then a weak foot finish from Casey McIntyre is excellent.

28:29I'll throw in one more then it gets forgotten because of the game it was who thought that Cedric Kipre was just going to slam one into the back of the net from about 20 yards away at Wrexham, this was just a whole fever dream of a game for me and to be fair when we come on to the MVP it should be me actually from coming back from New York and going to Wrexham 24 hours later, however obviously I was very kind of out of it for this game and in my slightly weary state watching Cedric Kipre pick up the ball and like it was the powerful placement of the shot to get it top bins but also kind of it felt like such a nonchalant finish as well but still one that felt like he was going to rip the net off um I know that he's been a striker earlier in his career but I did not know that Cedric Kipre had that in his locker and um yeah that's definitely going to be in the mix for me outstanding you had an opportunity to give yourself an award aj and you didn't um you just made a play for mvp um which i'll take under advisement uh okay so what was the goal that casey scored against birmingham then why have i misremembered that he had a great celebration against birmingham didn't he it was a one-two in the box with george hurst he gets played in and he fires into the bottom corner i do actually you think that got nominated for goal of the month but yeah it's not the same one that you're thinking of okay well i got it wrong but it's still a great goal absolutely fantastic goal but i think everyone would agree probably philajeen is is the one uh right then let's do i think i've already said leading scorer predictions um me and stew both went for george hurst i said i said 25 goals for george hurst plus over that uh and aj and ross you You both went for Sammy Smoddix.

30:21Ross, what would you like to say for yourself?

30:25Ross Halls:It was a golden boot one-up previously. Yeah, it made sense. It did. I think going forwards, maybe we shouldn't use that as an example of a potential pick going forward because you just never know what can happen. But, yeah, it hasn't worked out, has it? And, yeah, we'll move on. But, yeah. I swung and missed wildly with George Harris, 25 goals. I was sure that he was going to be absolute flames this season. I mean, still, what, did he get 11? That's still a decent return, but definitely not 25. Right then, let's do another personal award. Stu, have you got a personal award? This is the one that will mean the most.

31:05People listening to this, the players, the staff at the club, this is the one they're waiting for. What's Stuart Watson going to give an award for?

31:11Stuart Watson:Well, I thought about doing something sort of sensible and football-related, some sort of most improved player and trying to crowbar an award for someone that doesn't maybe tick any of the other boxes. Then I thought I could just do something fun with it. And there's a bit of an overlap with some of what AJ said. Just to follow on from funniest opposition manager, can I throw John Eustace into the mix of Derby County? I don't often ask an opposition manager questions in a post-match press conference. I leave that up to nationals and... locals from their patch. But I had to pick up John Eustis being supposedly baffled at a world record amount of stoppage time added on in that game.

31:59Stuart Watson:He couldn't work out why, if you remember, Jack Clark equalised, I think it was 16th minute of stoppage time when he rolled hold on that penalty to equalise. The ball in playtime in that game was ridiculous, wasn't it? The time wasting, how early that started. So that amused me that day and I had to sort of pick him up on that. I'll go for sort of the funniest moment of the season, almost comedic moment of the season, and it ties in with some of what AJ was saying. And that was the scenes in the abandoned game at Ewood Park back in September from Cedric Kipre's aquaplane tackle, the never-ending slide challenge where water splashed up everywhere, to the frankly ludicrous scenes where the referee, I think it was Stephen Martin, who came back out, despite the pitch being underwater at that point, still went through the theatre of kind of dropping the ball to see if it would bounce, and it just popping and splashing to a cheer from the away fans every time it happened.

33:07Stuart Watson:We can laugh about it now. It felt pretty miserable at the time to get that deep into the game, for it to be called off, for that to happen in a season of abandonments and postponements with Portsmouth off twice as well. But I think anyone who was there to witness that slightly farcical end to that game can smile about it now. Nice. Just to add to you, I was sat next to you when that John Eustace presser was going on. There was something very Columbo about it because he kind of answered all the questions and then you kind of just went, just one more thing. and you also do you remember you also asked about Lewis Travis nearly killing Jenske Euster yeah and he went oh I didn't see it he went full wenger didn't he yeah yeah didn't see it yeah got no views on that what a surprise right then let's do I think this is going to be unanimous this award maybe you'll surprise me I'm going to go first best signing now then we all went unanimously pre-season for Azor Matasiwa and I'm going to stick with that Azor Matasiwa for me has been the best signing that Town have made this season.

34:10Don't really need to explain why. He's been extraordinary. Big shoes to fill, big boots to fill. Literally wearing Sam Morsey's number, playing his role in the side and being fantastic and clearly, you know, playing through the pain at the end of the season as well. What a machine. So I'm going Azorma to see, well, Ross, have you got anyone else you'd like to propose or indeed are we just going to all be in agreement?

34:31Ross Halls:David Button, obviously, being a key role in that third choice. It's very important, but no. it's got to be as all matters to you well there's a few other candidates potentially but you know as also massive has just been a machine and that tight rope he went on you know we're making you know the stories debating about it will he will he get around that tightrope and he did which is mad it's crazy i've completely forgotten about that to you but raised it yeah i mean we were at the start of that we're going well there's no chance he's going to make it to be ridiculous he's never going to make it how they're going to you know we actually wrote things about how they're going to replace him when he eventually inevitably gets the yellow car but He didn't.

35:07Incredible.

35:08Ross Halls:Was it 17 games, 18 games like that? So just incredible from him. And as I said, he's just such a lovely man. And I cannot wait to see how he's going to be in the Premier League. I think that's going to be a big talking point going into next year because, yeah, he's made a step up going to the Championship, you know, come to England for the first time. You know, he started in Holland, went to France, gone to the Championship in England, which is ruthless. The Premier League, yeah, maybe he can even be even more better because he's got more time and not as many games. So, yeah, Azor Matasiwa, what a man.

35:41I think he's built for the Premier League. I really do. I think he's going to be excellent in the Premier League. Stewie, anything to the contrary on best signing?

35:50Stuart Watson:No, Azor Matasiwa looked an absolute snip at£7.8 million. I think Ipswich paid for him the context of, by his own mittens, baptism of fire at Birmingham, opening day of the season. and I felt lost, I think was the quote he gave to me, reflecting on that. But he, you know, a man that never played in England,

36:15Stuart Watson:hadn't lived in England. You know, he talked about, I was trying to find a house. I was trying to speak English for the first time regularly, for the first time in a long time, moved with a young family, all of that. For him to get to grips so quickly with the championship, I think if you want to highlight his importance, you only have to look at the one game he missed through suspension was the 3-0 home defeat to Charlton earlier on. You mentioned it, the disciplinary tightrope that he somehow managed to get through. And then to finish the season, playing through the pain, he picked up that really bad dead leg against Birmingham on Easter Monday.

36:52Stuart Watson:He just revealed to me after the promotion celebrations that he was playing with a hamstring injury as well during that period. I think we could all see it on the pitch. But for him to have pushed himself through that at the business end of the season and help Ipswich get it over the line, he's been a leader in that dressing room as well. If you remember the Filagene incident, the little spat on the pitch at one stage. And yeah, and I agree with you. I think he's a player that's been signed with half an eye and getting back to the Premier League and having those kind of athletic qualities that are required, the physicality that's required.

37:29Stuart Watson:So no doubt in my mind, Azul Matasiwa, player of the season. AJ. Signing of the season, sorry. AJ, is it going to be a full house? Unanimous pre-season? Is it going to be unanimous post-season? It is the answer. I'll be honest, it is the right answer. Is Azul Matasiwa, I will throw in, however, I sometimes think the best signings are the ones that you kind of think, what when it happens and then at the end of the season you're like what an incredible deal that was so darnell furlong deserves his flowers in this because he came in with three other right backs at the club we all thought ben johnson was probably going to nail down that position ashley young as cover clark might be the one to move on and they went got another one we were like what it was a cheap deal it was a little bit confusing it's not a glamorous name he's not a snazzy attacking right back.

38:26And we ended the season with him in player of the season conversations. Scored a vital goal away at Charlton. Incredible one-on-one defender. Wind-up merchant. He's going to get a shot at the Premier League and he deserves it for what has been a really impressive season. Good shout, AJ. Right then, let's do unsung hero next. So there's various ways you can approach this. It can be on or off the pitch. Depends how you want to go with it. I'm going to go with you, Stu, your unsung hero.

38:59Stuart Watson:I'd put Darnell Furlong in this slot because I felt like he deserved something in these awards. For everything that AJ's just outlined, if you have a look at the record with and without him in the team, 58 % win record with him in the team, 11 % without. made that right back slot his own and you can just see the passion as well the way he celebrated that goal at Charlton the way he celebrated promotion if you go and watch the excellent town in 55 I think it ended up being at the end of the season you can see how much he's bought into this and what it means and yeah you're right he's AJ's right he's not the flying fullback in maybe the Harry Clark mold of the last championship promotion season.

39:53Stuart Watson:But I tell you what, he's rock solid. He's rarely dropped below seven out of 10. And he might just be what Ipswich need in the Premier League to be a bit more pragmatic, a bit more solid, fling a few of those long throws into the box as well. So I've put him in that slot. There's a few other names in there. I won't chuck them out because they might take them away from you guys. But Furlong, that's where I've placed him. Correct, like it. Rossi, what have you got?

40:20Ross Halls:Yeah, Furlong was my pick as well, and Christian Walton. But do you know what? As I was just thinking about this, we've not been mentioning this guy's name much at all. And it's probably a weird pick that I'm going to say, but Jack Clark is a bit... You know what I mean? I don't think any of us really penciled in to be the top goal scorer this season. I know there was a lot of penalties, but I don't know. I think he maybe doesn't get the flowers he deserves as much. I see where you're going because, you know, a lot of them come off the bench as well, isn't it? So it's not like he's, you know, nailed on star man, you know, for every game, as it were.

40:57Ross Halls:Yeah. I know I do get frustrated with him sometimes. A lot of times I sort of look over and see him playing with bloody hair or his, like, shorts. I'm like, Jack, come on, mate. Just, you know, sort yourself out. It's part of his process, Rossi. Yeah, I know. You know, if he goes on and scores a goal from that, then fair enough. but yeah, I don't know. I think someone mentioned actually on the last pod, a listener was saying that we're not really mentioning Jack Clark much about going into the Premier League and him potentially being a starter, which I think that he's just become top goalscorer.

41:29Ross Halls:The last two championship seasons, Sunderland he's scored loads of goals and got loads of assists. This time around, he's, yeah, top goalscorer, you know, assisted a few goals as well. So yeah, you know what? Donald Fulham wasn't going to be my original pick, but I'm going to give it Jack Clark as my one-song hero with the goals he scored.

41:47Stuart Watson:It's a good shout because he could have easily had a soul cut this season, couldn't he, being the sort of second fiddle to fill a gene for quite often part of it. Times where you think, you know, even like the Southampton game, rolling back a week or so, where he comes on, could have done nothing more off the bench, equalises, comes within inches of scoring the goal that would have sent him to shout. A lot of people are going, well, he has to start the next game and he doesn't but his attitude off the bench has always been remarkable some of the pressure penalties that he's tucked away late in games goals that have meant something as well um yeah 16 goals which puts him just having a look fourth in the championship top goal scorer charts for a left winger who has started what he's probably got to be in the 20s is he i'll just have a double check but for someone who shared his minutes um yeah i think that's that's a good shout that really Jack Pock has to take something away from from awards season doesn't he absolutely I will say he is one I am worried about in the Premier League I worry about his physicality he's not he's not the biggest and strongest guy I don't know how he's going to do in the Premier League but time will tell and we'll talk about that more over the summer so let's not get bogged down in it now shall we friends unsung hero AJ who are you saying so I did an awards piece actually that went up what happened last week now yeah it would have been last week where i went through and did all this you can go read all of my kind of extended picks and different awards i picked out and this was one that i was quite happy with the quite proud of the pick for because none of you guys have thought of this one we give a lot of credit and praise understandably to the players and to kieran mckenna in particularly for the work that he's done at this football club since the start throughout this season throughout all of it.

43:36And in all of that, you can kind of sometimes forget the man behind the man or the people behind the man. And I think that, you know what? I'm going to give my credit to Martin Pert as the unsung hero from the season because I think that anyone that you speak to within Ipswich is full of praise for what he does. He's the man who is out there during the warm-ups. He's the one that you see talking to the players. He's so often alongside Kieran McKenna. He's such an integral part of that coaching unit. I think that he has a big say and a big input in what goes on tactically and building a culture, all of those different things.

44:15It's not just, it's obviously led by Kieran McKenna, but it's not just his ideas and his input that has shaped what Ipswich has been, A, on this entire journey, but also this season. And I know that Martin Perth has had a big input in that. You hear it from people that you talk to around the club and from the players. So full credit to him. And I think that he's someone that kind of gets forgotten about a little bit in all of that. So, yeah, he's going to be my unsung hero pick. Nice, a bit left field. That just leaves me then. I'm surprised none of you have gone for this, actually, boys, because when you look at the kind of context of the season, the story of the season, this guy came into the club at a really important time.

44:56And the record shows helped really get them over the line. And that guy, of course, is Nigel Farage, but unsung hero. came in, had the right impact, galvanised the support and the record shows that he drove Ipswich Town over the line. So Nigel Farage, a clear winner for me in this unsung hero category. Moving on. Let's do personal awards, shall we, before we get to the big one, which is MVP. Rossi. What's your personal award of the season?

45:27Ross Halls:I'm going to be a bit soppy here. Yeah, obviously the fans, listeners love you all but you know what stuart watson my friend oh god get out get out no no honestly honestly he has driven me to wrexham twice in back to that week okay i like this i see where you're going and um yeah i just think he's been the workhorse for us this year so um yeah that's all I've got to say Stu how does that make you feel?

46:02Stuart Watson:slightly uncomfortable

46:06Stuart Watson:thank you Ross that's very kind I'll just do my personal award then before we get to the big one which is the MVP the big one everyone wants to win my personal award it was originally going to be Nunes at Norwich but obviously I pivoted and that went to best moment so my personal award now on reflection thinking about it I'm going to give out a beast mode award. And that goes to Jack Clark for his, I don't know how many minutes on the pitch against Southampton, but it was one of the most inspired displays I've seen for a long time. Every time he touched the ball, it looked like he was going to score.

46:40It was incredible. He went close so many times. He obviously got the goal. He just looked so dangerous. It was like somebody, he's suddenly on Super Cyan. Do you remember NBA Jam back in the day? Did any of you ever play that? You'd heat up and then go on fire. You basically couldn't do any wrong when you were on fire. That was like Jack Clark in that game. Absolute monster he turned into. So that would be one. And the other one, I think, would have to be celebration of the season. It has to go to Wesley Burns. We've already talked about it. But to score and then, I don't know if I mentioned it, friends, but I actually have ruptured my ACL.

47:12So I have knowledge of what it's like. And to score the goal and then slide on his knees, his damaged, surgically repaired knee, told me everything that I needed to know about his kind of state of mind, because I wouldn't do that now. I still can't really kneel down now. I mean, admittedly, I am slightly older and just a little bit less of an elite athlete than Wes Burns. But yeah, that was tremendous. It was a great moment. Which brings us on to the greatest of moments, which is MVP, most valuable player, for those of you who don't understand what that means. Star man, player of the season. Our picks before the season were thus.

47:48Stu Dara O'Shea

47:51Ross Halls:nice AJ Jack Clark nice me and Ross George Hurst oh dear probably not an MVP conversation right then let's go with Ross MVP

48:11Ross Halls:Dara O'Shea it's got to be it's got to be played every single minute in the league this season. Didn't get a yellow card and he's had his doubters. But for me, he's been incredible. I cannot wait to see what it's going to be like in the Premier League once again. We've had some great captains, you know, Matt Holland, Nick Milne, of course, Sam Morsey in the last promotion campaigns. But Doro Shea, yeah, I think fans are now really buying into his captaincy now, especially that speech for the Norwich game. He's now the first captain to do the double over Norwich in 30 years. And you can just see in his celebration, lifting that trophy.

48:57Ross Halls:And he's had great interviews with AJ throughout this season as well. Maybe not so much. One of them won't get into AJ. But he's just been solid this year. He's had a few moments where I'm like, what are you doing defensively? Wrexham was the big one. I was like, he's just pointing. What are you doing, Dara? but overall he has been solid and he's my MVP. I think in terms of context of the season, it's been a kind of odd up and down rollercoaster season. He has had his own kind of journey, hasn't he, Dara? As captain, taking over again, obviously someone taking over from Moorsley, an icon of the club.

49:32He'd had some dodgy moments. That interview obviously didn't go down very well, where he kind of was honest, really, maybe unwisely. And there were people saying that he shouldn't be captain anymore, if you remember. and yet then he recovers from that Nadir at Wrexham. And I think he's really grown into the captain's role. Really good leader. The fact he's played every minute of the season in what was kind of a physically demanding part of the team and hasn't been booked is pretty remarkable. So good shout there, I'd say, Rossi. AJ, MVP? Yeah, I mean, it was a toss-up between two. Again, when I did my player of the season picks, going into final day and I'll stick with my my my original pick which is going to be Azul Matasiwa and I know that it's easy to be swayed I think by the running and the fact that his performance levels dropped and then I'm almost pushed the other way because he's played through an injury for the last few weeks and that deserves immense credit he's before that injury been playing unbelievably well.

50:41He's one of maybe two players who, when he drops out of the team, Ipswich just crumble, just totally collapse. He's come into a league that obviously is very different in terms of the physicality and the tactical setups. And it's obviously very different to France and to the Netherlands, but also one where you don't play 46 games. You don't play Saturday, Tuesday. There are 18 teams, sometimes 20 teams um not 24 teams you don't have this kind of regularity he's come in and he's looked like he's played in the championship for the last 10 years and i think that that has to be taken into consideration where i i think dario shay's been fantastic he's an obvious candidate for for this award and can easily be the pick for a lot of people but the reason i'll go with Matasiwa is O'Shea's done this before.

51:36O'Shea's had these seasons in the Championship and in the Premier League, and has done really well, it should be said, and could definitely be player of the season. Matasiwa hasn't, and I think that should really be factored in with how well he's done, that this is totally new to him, and yet it just feels like he's done it probably as long as O'Shea has, which he deserves real credit for, and Ipswich would not have been promoted without him. Yeah, I agree, AJ. I think Azor is the pick, and you can base that on that game that he missed and how they performed in that game. So I think I can see the argument for O'Shea, and he certainly had a great season, a valuable contender, valuable to this side, clearly, but I'm going to go with Azor being my MVP.

52:19And it's only right that on this highest of awards, in the final part of this awards show, Stuart Watson has the final say. Who is Stuart Watson's MVP? And if you say Ross Hall, Stu, I'll immediately mute you.

52:32Stuart Watson:No, sorry, Ross. It's not you. I've changed my mind on this so many times over the last few weeks. It's between Dara and Azor. We've spoken at length about Azor Matasewa and the context of him coming into this season and what he's done. but you've reminded me that I picked Dara going into the season so I feel like I should stick with him at the end of it. Played every minute. He's been on his own journey, as you've rightly said, some lows along the way but I just think he's been a real culture driver behind the scenes with the our people stuff, the way he's really bought into the foundation work and ensuring that all of his teammates do the same and don't sort of slack on any of those responsibilities.

53:29And then on the pitch, from that Wrexham 5-3 defeat onwards,

53:35Stuart Watson:he's been absolutely immense and has been a driving factor in getting this promotion over the line. The way he celebrated that tackle late on at Carroll Road, was desperate to get that clean sheet over the line. he suffered World Cup heartache in there along the way as well, you know, not quite getting there with Ireland. How many games has he played when you chuck internationals in there as well this season? Yeah, it's a hair's breadth between the two of them, but I'll just tip it in the way of Dara O'Shea. There's another great pitcher in the supplement today, Ross. I think it's one of yours, in fact.

54:16I think it must have been at the end of the Norwich game. Dara is on his own. no one else around him and he's just celebrating like double-fisted kind of bent over you can see how much it means to him to get that win he knows within the context of the club you know how long it's been since they've done that um i also the other thing i like about dar is he's incredibly honest boys um whenever you talk to him he seems to just be completely there's no kind of kind of sugarcoat things or um or kind of spin things he's just he's just really honest which i think is quite refreshing. Zach, would you say that's fair, Stu?

54:47Stuart Watson:Yeah, I think so. He's a very different type of captain to Sam Morsi, and I think this is another reason where he deserves a lot of praise, that there was so much love from the fan base to Sam Morsi, a captain who was so intense on and off the pitch. And Dara is a different type of player. I'm not sure I'm one that's celebrating, oh, and he didn't even get a booking. You can look at that two different ways. but on the pitch and off the pitch, very different to Sam Morsi. And to have the conviction to be a captain, be comfortable in your own skin and do it your way and not try and replicate what's come before, I think deserves a lot of praise.

55:29Stuart Watson:And also, you know, AJ makes a point about Azor's coming into this fresh and he's not done it in the championship before, and that's correct. but also Dara's coming into it as one of the players that's got real scars from relegation in the Premier League as well. And you're suddenly trying to change the feeling around a football club from a losing habit into needing to win under real pressure and expectation this season as well. So, yeah, I think Ipswich fans should be very proud to have him wearing the armband for this football club. Well said to you. Right. Any more for any more. Those are the official categories.

56:10We've covered them all now. Is there anything else that you boys want to throw in that's worthy of note? You did miss one, but I didn't want to bring it up because it's not as sexy. What have I missed? You didn't touch on the list you sent across. We didn't do best game. Oh, best game. Sorry. I missed that out. Let's do best game now then. Yeah, you want to do that? Should I kick us off? You kick us off because you're the only one. I brought it to you. Okay. Do I do the obvious one? I'm sure that you guys... Yeah, you know what? I brought it up, so I'll take the obvious one. Southampton away. It was the whole 2.0, basically, where the narrative was delicious.

56:54Ipswich can get promoted. Southampton have to win to ensure that their top two dreams stay alive. And obviously, the draw didn't really do anything for anyone. But what a game it was where a defeat didn't really change it for either team and you just saw great end-to-end attacking play. Yeah, really entertaining, great goals, two of the best teams on performances. I'm sure that Southampton had a great idea of what Ipswich were going to do going into it, having prepared by sneaking around the bushes possibly. But other than that, yeah, real credit to both teams in their approach and it just led to what I think could possibly be the game of the season in the Championship on the night where I think it finished PSG 5 Bayern 4, that was the real game of the evening.

57:40Champions League day not really football is it? That's the correct answer AJ, Ross what's your answer, I'm just going to nip in before you have your say, Southampton is the right answer I'm going to say Norwich away, not because it was necessarily an amazing game but as a spectacle it was so compelling it was so absorbing, there were so many plot lines and obviously Town ended up getting the right result so that would be mine, what's yours?

58:03Ross Halls:I'm going to go for, we've sort of mentioned the moment in this game already. That is the 2-0 win at Coventry to end 2025 because of the Wes Burns moment, but also a great way to end a pretty bad year in the club, really, because of relegation to the Premier League, a lot of defeats. It wasn't really a memorable year, was it, really, as a whole. Just for us to beat the runaway leaders at their ground. and wasn't it? We beat them that month as well, didn't we? I think we played them in December. Yeah, start and end of December, wasn't it? Yeah, to get a 5-0 aggregate score against them was a pretty good going.

58:47Ross Halls:And yeah, as we already mentioned, the Wes Burns moment was a perfect way to end 2025 and from him getting that injury, was it in January of 2025, and him to come back and score. Yeah, that was really good. Very special moment. Mad. Sue, have you got the best game?

59:05Stuart Watson:Southampton is the correct answer. Hell of a game. We thought it had all the ingredients to be one. But for both teams, Southampton credit as well, to dish up what they did at the final knockings of the season after such hectic schedules. It was another game that had to be sort of crowbarred in because of abandonments and Southampton's run in the FA Cup. To just go at each other from start to finish in the way they did was quite something. And it was a privilege to be there that night. I'm glad Ross has mentioned Coventry. Ipswich did, as Ross mentions, beat the champions 5-0 on aggregate. And you look at the context of when those both wins came, just looking at it, the 3-0 home win against Coventry came, if you remember, off that really flat 1-1 draw.

59:54Stuart Watson:Ipswich got away with it with Egelli's late equaliser that night. They'd lost at Oxford a few days prior to that as well. so that showed real grit and determination to beat Coventry. And then the second game, I'm trying to remember when that came off the back-off, but that had... New World Goals. Boxing day, yeah. Yeah, so again, at the end of the busy Christmas period, Jacob Grease at left-back, who was great that night. That was good. A couple of honourable mentions, 5-0 against Sheffield United, lift-off after a five-game winless start in all competitions. I know they were in a bit of a state, Sheffield United at the time, but a great night nonetheless.

1:00:34Stuart Watson:And I really enjoyed the 3-0 against Swansea, if you remember that, in late February. And it felt like we kept saying that was almost like an Ipswich of old. It was sort of the real chemistry about that team that day. And I thought they played really well. So, yeah, there's been some good ones in there. Can I throw in? You want another? Yeah. I want another. But this is a really controversial one. And I'm taking the Ipswich side out of this and looking at what was – I've got to be honest. on reflection and we can laugh about it now close a really good game of football wrecks them away the five three if i was a neutral which obviously you can't really be well you know as close to a neutral as possible but you know if you try and take your ip switch tinted glasses off what a game that was kiefer moore with the narrative with the opener um town equalizing through memetti the windus goal to make it 2-1 as on equalize it was 2-2 at halftime kit pray with that goal i mentioned just after the break.

1:01:32And then three goals from Wrexham without answer. And Broadhead, of course, it had to be wrapping it up to make it 5-3. If you look at it from a totally neutral perspective, which I know is really difficult to do, and I'm sure that there are town fans who kind of collapsed in horror listening to this, having to think about this game again. But that was some game, wasn't it? Great game. I was driving to a boxing event, so I was listening to it on the radio, and Brenner's commentary on that game was tremendous. It was like that kind of, you know, what's going on sort of thing. It was tremendous.

1:02:05Obviously not the right result. But now it doesn't matter now, does it? Because it's just the end of the awards.

1:02:12I don't know. It doesn't actually, does it? Of course it doesn't. Because I've forgotten the big one. That is, who is the best man award? And we all know how that's determined by the Prediction League.

1:02:22Stuart Watson:I think we've run out of time, Mark. No, no, no. We've always got time. This is the big one, Stu. Let's just see how this ended, the Prediction League. Oh, what a surprise. I am the best man, officially. As we've always said, this game, I mean, some people would say this is a game of luck, no skill whatsoever. But to you, I'd say don't be so silly, naysayers. This clearly is a test of who knows football best, who is the best man. And that, my friends, in black and white there, is myself. First Heathie, 54 points. championis watson close but no cigar 52 points second best man aj all the way down there in third 45 points and rossi oh dear dearie me rossi take a part like like derby county in 2007 right the way down the bottom so does this mean that since i've joined the eadt i have been the best man pretty much uh well i don't know if you qualify i think only this season actually should be taking the only this season's okay so not the last two when it mattered yeah because last season we didn't really finish it season before we just let you win um this season i think has been the one and rossi you've been relegated now of course um so are we going to get someone coming up from the koa posse to join our pre-trian league next season well you go you'll be the big fish in that pond next season um so i'd expect you to bounce straight back up but uh what have you've got a safety cell, Ross?

1:03:57Ross Halls:I'm going to go to, I'm going to appeal this and say that, yeah, there was cheating involved. And I blame Itrashtown, really, because I was being too positive for most of the season and there was times where they were, you know, not doing well. So I've learned my lesson and next season, I'm going to bounce back, baby. I'm going to get, I'm going to take that crown from you. It's going to be difficult next season, isn't it? Because I remember, I mean, obviously, we abandoned the Premier League one just because it got a bit depressing. And AJ, of course, therefore that season was void, so he didn't win.

1:04:32That's a shame. I think that's because you went on holiday and just stopped replying to text. No, I don't know about that at all. That's not how I remember it. Anyway, let's just take the key thing, which is I won this season and therefore I'm the best man.

1:04:48Stuart Watson:I will acknowledge this victory when you finally fulfil your forfeit for finish bottom of the FPL that we did. And I think we went into that saying that whoever finishes bottom had to do something, which you were fully on board with. I think we came up with the idea that you had to walk out with Sam Morsi as a mascot for a pre-season game. You were fully on board with that at the time. And then that just quietly got forgotten about at the end of the season.

1:05:19Ross Halls:But let's focus on the here and now.

1:05:23Stuart Watson:You're the best. I think that Sam Morsey wouldn't have been as receptive to that as Dara O'Shea would be. I think he'd be right up for that idea. Yeah, with the club, though, that's the question. As I said, I don't remember agreeing to that. So I'm not sure that can happen now. Anyway, are we going to bring back FPL next season, boys? Obviously, AJ would be bang up for FPL next season. FPL in itself will be back next season. FPL actually never went away. So if you set up an FPL account this season, the league renewed and there is a league going on. but I kind of forgot about it. Nobody really cares because Premier League football this season was crap and it will obviously be great next year because Town are in it.

1:06:00So FPL will be back. If you set up your account, the league will be there. I'm sure we'll do something around that, whether it be the pod in the same way. I'm not too sure, but we'll definitely try and keep people updated. But the one thing I can promise is the league will be there. Get yourself signed up ahead of the new season and you will be signed up if you were last time. And if not, then we'll share the code around again. I think I might retire now, actually, thinking about it. Just retire as champ. Anyway, friends, we've done this over an hour. So let's do any other business. I have one more piece of business.

1:06:33Well, two more pieces, actually, I think we should talk about. One is another award, Hardest Man on the Planet. That goes to Fabio Wardley from The Weeknd. I don't know if you will watch that fight, but good Lord, Fabio Wardley is in all-time classic fights. He's been in three of the best heavyweight fights he's ever been. And that was maybe one of, well, Certainly one of the greatest heavyweight title fights there's ever been. Extraordinary fight. Extraordinary heart, determination, courage from Fabio Wardley. How he ended the fight on his feet, I have no idea. The guy has got a bomb-proof chin and clearly the heart of a lion.

1:07:07And he will be back. I just don't want to see him fight now for quite a while. He needs to go away and have a good long rest and think about the next move. Obviously, there is a potential rematch with Dubar. We'll see what happens there. But he's certainly still very much in the mix. I don't want anyone to think now just because he's lost, that he's been exposed. I saw someone say something. I think it was in reply to you, actually, Stu. Oh, he's always going to happen when he faces a proper boxer. Fabio Wardley has already beaten an Olympic bonds medalist, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, former world champion, former British champion, and one of the hottest prospects in the sport.

1:07:38He's fought many, many, many proper boxers. Daniel Dubois is one of the most dangerous boxers on the planet, and he dropped him twice. On another day, he may have finished him. Absolutely no shame in that. and that the idea that he's suddenly been exposed is ridiculous. And if you are saying that, you know nothing about boxing. Did you watch it, boys? What did you make of it? I know you're not all massive boxing fans, but we are all Fab fans because we all know him pretty well and have had, obviously, dealings with him. What did you make of it, boys? Brutal, I think, was the main thing. It was one of those where there is an argument about that one being stopped, should have maybe been stopped earlier, and Fab taking quite a bad beat.

1:08:17him and you saw it with the referee being soaked in blood by the end of it it was a proper battle and my main feelings afterwards were i hope fab's okay because he took a lot from that the fact that he was standing by the end of it he was still delivering hits by the end of it was pretty unbelievable so um i mean he posted it afterwards didn't he you know i'm happy that if anything's going to fail me it's my body rather than my my heart and my fight that was definitely the one thing that didn't um physically i think he he caved in well not caved in that's the wrong phrase but his body did give up at that point it was too much for him but the way that he persevered mentally and took all of that withstood all of that punishment and still tried to fight back and still did fight back um deserves huge huge credit yeah i've spoken to his team i spoke to his team in the aftermath of the fight actually he's okay that's the main thing he's you know He's resting up now with his family.

1:09:14He's fine. Obviously, just gutted that he's lost. Because I don't think in his head, I don't think he thought he would. He's that mentally tough. The other thing I want to mention, Ross, is one for you, is Natasha Thomas leading. Because we talk about legends. We talk about icons of Ipswich Town Football Club. She is a legend of Ipswich Town Football Club. And she's not going to be playing for the Tractor Girls next season. You've written a bit about looking back at her career. She's set some records that will probably never be broken. so it's sad to see her go isn't it

1:09:45Ross Halls:yeah it's end of an era stuff this really you know she's left a legacy and she'll always be remembered when you think of Itchristown woman Nastasa Thomas is the name you think of straight away you know there's fans out there who have got number seven Thomas the back of their shirts because they're such a big fan of hers and yeah it's a bit sad but it's maybe not as shocking as you think it is because, you know, I think there is like a new era now coming at Itchristown with David Wright in charge. I think they're going to, you know, want to keep pushing on with the WSL too. You know, they survived this year.

1:10:19Ross Halls:They want to improve and improve. But, yeah, Tash is just an incredible person as well. And, you know, someone who's 260 plus games, 175 goals, being part of this journey that the club has been on, you know, from tier four football to playing second tier in women's football. she's always going to be remembered because she's on the international role of honour at the Portman Road because she's the first international just incredible stuff and I would not be surprised if the club go and induct it into the Hall of Fame become the first woman's player to be inducted I think there's a few women's sort of people who have worked at the club I think Pat Gobbold I think she's been inducted to the Hall of Fame but she won't be the first woman but in terms of a player I think she should definitely deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame But yeah, as I said, end of the era stuff.

1:11:09Ross Halls:Me and Tom Cairn did a Track the Girls Talk podcast. So go and listen to that where we discussed the whole retain list and of course discussed Nassast Thomas' career as a whole. But yeah, incredible player. And she's going to be a great asset to whatever club she ends up next. Yeah, she has to be in the Hall of Fame, doesn't she? Absolutely. Anything else to mention then, boys? We've just gone over 70 minutes. Anything from you, Stu, you want to mention? Now it's the summer, Stu. Are you going to finally get your metal detector out?

1:11:36Stuart Watson:Maybe just to get you off my back more than anything. Just give it to me, mate. If you're not going to use it, I'll have it. I'll make use of it. Okay. No, just Fabio Wardley. Heart of a lion. That was enthralling and uncomfortable in equal measure. I know there's a big debate about stopping it earlier, but it's heavyweight boxing. We've seen Fab's finishing power, even in that sort of final melee where he was taking so much punishment. He still landed a brutal uppercut in there as well. I mean, we're applauding Fabio's staying power. Dubois as well, character, a guy who's been, you know, that's been questioned of him, put down twice in the first three rounds.

1:12:17Stuart Watson:Hell of a fight. Unbelievable. And as you say, hopefully Fab can have a good old rest and come back stronger for it. But, yeah, what a warrior. Absolutely. Anything else, boys, anything you want to mention? No?

1:12:32Ross Halls:All good. Yes, Ross? Just want to say thanks to all the listeners. Don't give another award to someone. Don't say AJ as well. No, yeah, you boys. Yeah, you boys have done a good job this year as well. Good. All right, brilliant job. I want to say thank you to all the listeners and, of course, to Coway Posse who have done all the game day interviews with me outside Porton Road, the away games. If it wasn't for them, we would have the game day series we do. So big shout out to the Blue Army. And yeah, thanks for listening. And keep listening because we'll have content throughout the off-season too.

1:13:13We will indeed. We probably won't be doing two a week during the off-season. Obviously, we'll be around when things happen, when they start signing players, start being linked to players, et cetera. But we'll probably be down to one show a week as a solid base to build from. So that's where we'll be going this summer. Friends, just to remind us, support our sponsors. Use the code KOA10 at molecular-uk.com with 10 % off all their car cleaning products. Obviously, this is the time of year you want your car to be looking swish. If indeed you have a car and can drive, Ross, you'd be wanting to use that code.

1:13:44Shout out to the drivers. Shout out to all the drivers. Liam from Crew. Big up yourself. And also, if you can follow us across all social media, just Kings of Angle, on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, X. No, Twitter and X is the same thing. TikTok, that was the one I was trying to think of. And if you could leave us a post-tribute on iTunes, which helps more people find us in the charts. Friends, I hope you enjoyed today's show. We've given out a lot of awards and we've looked back at what's been a very memorable season. If there's one thing I want you to take away from today's show, it's this.

1:14:16There we go. I am the best man. Friends, have a good rest of your week. We'll be back next week to speak to you all over again. Speak to you then.

1:14:40Thank you.

1:15:11Thank you.

1:15:33Thank you.

1:16:02Thank you.