644: Kings of Anglia: Burns says goodbye as Town close in on signing number eight

27:53He'd have been, I don't think anyone would have balked at George Hurst being maybe a third-choice striker in the Premier League this season. I know he didn't kick on with the number nine on his shirt, as we hoped last season, but he did have a pretty decent goals per minute ratio in the Prem when he was backing up the last time around. Again, we're talking about, we've just had a long chat about Wes Burns being another of the band of brothers leaving. And, you know, George Hurst is one of those, lest we not forget. And he, you know, if he was to go, that's another one that goes and that's another bit of continuity that leaves.

28:26But no, I think, yeah, if the money comes that people are talking about, then George Hurst will leave. Harry Clarke will leave again, part of the back-to-back promotions um and quite clearly a striker would be required well if town get anywhere near 10 million for georgehurst i think that would that would supersede ashton getting a million for gassana hadme in terms of his his best business um in terms of outgoings rossi let's talk about what else town need then sue's written a big bit this morning which is available now to read online if you're a subscriber to either the anglian or of course the Kings of Anglia, and more on that in a bit.

29:05As you sit here, Ross, and you look at the squad, where do you see the holes that need filling? We know Suze has touched there on the field, still need, say, a striker potentially to come in as a starter. Any other areas you're looking at thinking they've got to get people in?

29:24Striker, obviously, is the one that everyone wants, sort of the main striker, because Emerson, unfortunately, still very raw so we need someone to really be the main man on top Leif Davis competition because at the moment we've got no one there I know Cameron Humphries can sort of play there if needed but that's pretty much and Ben Johnson of course but he's a right back funny enough me and Stu were actually talking about this on Tuesday night just talking about different players, different positions and stuff and we even mentioned maybe another centre half potentially because I know there's four, but sometimes you just need that extra just in case, especially if Daryl O 'Neill does go three at the back, which AJ is picking up already in Amsterdam right now.

30:10He's like, what? Three at the back? Happy days. Maybe another right back as well because you've got Furlong there and Ben Johnson, of course. But what you need is we need depth. I think that's one thing we lacked last time in the Premier League. We didn't have that depth because unfortunately there's injuries that happen. suspensions and all that sort of stuff, illnesses. I swear that's the thing we get a lot as well. Definitely during that Christmas period, people get ill. So at the moment, it's probably all over the pitch still to strengthen in different positions. Because, yeah, when certain players leave, you're then thinking, oh, we've only got one option there.

30:46We've only got maybe one or two in that position. So the priority is, of course, striker, leave Davis competition, another maybe flair midfielder. and then what else comes up really that really depends I'm sure there'll be a player that will come out of nowhere where like Gary O 'Neill's just been he's had a target in mind but they thought he's out of reach and then out of nowhere he's available and they bring him in so that's my hot take there'll be a player maybe a position we weren't thinking about and then out of nowhere boom deadline day they sign him okay remember that August the 7th that's where you heard it if it comes to pass.

31:23Stewie, let me ask you, I want to ask, I'm going to ask you the same question, but also I want to have a chat with you about Cameron Humphreys. Because we obviously talked about him a lot on Monday. He scored twice at the weekend. And as you said, has been outshining Nunes in midfield. And there's been a lot of people, I suppose, understandably, because he's one of our own and he's, you know, the sentimental factor saying, well, why can't he? Why can't he play in the Premier League? Why can't he be part of that midfield unit? He can cover it left back as well. I just can't see it, personally, because he's just, A, he's barely played in the championship.

31:55He's had one successful loan, which was in League One. Yes, he's a very, very good technical player and he runs for days and he's got a great engine on him. But physicality-wise, experience-wise, I can't see him being given a spot in the 25. Is that harsh, Stu? Can you see any way that he gets in the squad? No, I agree with that sentiment. I love Cam. Again, he's an Ipswich boy. he's got an old head on young shoulders he's got all of those qualities that you mentioned for a long time I've just been thinking that certainly in the Kieran McKenna system probably in a very similar Gary O 'Neill set up he just looks perfectly suited for that left sided six role because a bit like Massimo Luongo he's tactically aware he's someone that can fill the gaps when Leif Davis goes galloping forward he's honed his number 10 skills at Wickham so he can get forward and he can be a goal threat and create as well

32:57but this is the Premier League and ultimately this is someone that's really had a couple of proper seasons in League One so far so to make that step I just think is too big the question mark would be on his physicality in that area of the pitch the stars just haven't quite aligned for Cameron Humphries have they I think if it was going to happen for him speaking bluntly it probably would have happened by now how old is he 23 now he's not a kid anymore and I just think for his career it's probably best that he moved on which took the option I think just to protect themselves and to get some money back so now Florentino is through the door now Lukic is about to come through the door I expect there'll be another midfielder as well.

33:43Cameron Humphreys won't be an Ipswich Town player for this season, whether it's a loan, another loan or a permanent exit. I'm not sure at this stage, but I can't see him being a factor in this squad. Yeah, let's not forget, people, this is the Premier League. We're talking about the best players on the planet, elite players. And Cameron Humphreys to be thrown into that, I just can't see him living in that sort of competition yet. Maybe one day, but certainly not yet. Sue, what about the rest of the squad then? You've written a piece. If you had to kind of prioritise, would Stryker now be kind of top of the list?

34:16Yeah, I think midfield would have been top of the list. Lukic coming in obviously helps. The top two priorities in probably in no particular order is more of a midfield playmaker slash technician. I think that's still really important to add some variety in there. And Stryker, as Ross says, I think it would just be unfair to put the weight of responsibility on Emerson. He's 21 years of age. He's had a handful of appearances in Turkey and France so far in his career. There's a reason Ipswich have taken an educated punt on him for good money because it looks like he's got the raw physical qualities to have a really high ceiling.

35:00I think he needs a little bit of time to find his feet. Clearly earlier in the window, getting an experienced striker was something which we're looking at with Callum Wilson missed out to Brentford for him. It feels to me like the starting striker, the main man is not yet in the building at the moment. So they're two big ones. I think an X-factor versatile attacker is pretty high up on the list. That looks like it will be Julio Nciso. I'll be sad if Jadon Filagene leaves, but it looks increasingly like it's trending that way with him, the noise being created by his agent and him not being involved in pre-season games so far.

35:44Ross made the air quotes there, as I was about to say, hamstring injury. I'll leave him to do that. So, yeah, look, he's a match winner on his day. He's an X Factor player, isn't he? And Ipswich will need one of those. A lot of these signings so far seem to be physical, industrious, pragmatic. And, you know, that was the lessons from the Premier League last time. And it's great that Ipswich are addressing that. But you do need some good footballers in there as well. You do need some match winners. And if Philogene goes, you're losing one. So, Nciso would hopefully fill the void on that front. And then, as Ross says, I think beyond those three that I've mentioned, striker um exciting forward and playmaker midfielder those are the musts for me and then everything else around that is um is a bit more up for debate um like you say left back slash left wing back i think is required um right wing back slash right back i think there's there's a there's a conversation to be had there and as ross says center back as well of course you could kill two birds with one stone and maybe sign a fullback that's also capable of playing centre-back as well that might be something that they look at um there's 25 man squad rules to consider here as well so um yeah an interesting what three weeks left of the transfer window can i ask you before we move on to the half friendly how do you assess the business so far in terms of overall feel and preparedness for the premier league because we know that last time they went up they signed 12 of players but it feels to me this time they're very much swimming in an entirely different sea you know they've signed three world cup players for example international players all over the shop um you know getting that recruitment from abroad which they didn't really have before because you know the scouting wasn't in place and stuff it feels to me at least at this this early stage uh with just under what two weeks to go before kickoff that they're building a squad that feels like it's going to be have more of a chance in terms of the quality and the physical profile Would you agree with that?

37:56I hope so. But you never really know until the real stuff gets underway, do you? You can have conversations. We're having conversations about Emerson. Oh, is he ready? Is he raw? And the little we've seen so far suggests that. What were the conversations around Liam De Lappe heading into the start of that Premier League season? record in the championship for Hull and Stokes, not particularly impressive. And he's more of a right winger than a striker, isn't he? And I think that was the feeling inside the club at the time. And then, of course, he had to be thrust in at number nine and sink or swim.

38:34And he swam. So you never know. People might step up in ways that you don't expect. There'd be others that you thought would do well that don't. I mean, Calvin Phillips was the prime example last time. He was the one we're all excited about. England star and you know mega move to Manchester City he was going to be the the Premier League experience that knitted it all together and unfortunately it didn't work out that way did it so until it gets underway you're never quite sure but you can see the logic behind what went wrong last time in the Prem the physical profile of player that they were lacking and how they're trying to address that I still think there may be short of one or two good footballers to help sort of get results over the line but there's still time to address a few things indeed right let's move on to the latest friendly then Ross you were sat on the sidelines again Tuesday night as town beat Le Havre of Ligue 1 what was that experience like for you I wrote a couple of times in the live blog and also since in the various bits I've done that Le Havre turned up with no ambition at all.

39:45They barely did anything, essentially. In fact, the closest they came was through a mistake by Cedric Kipre. Otherwise, they wouldn't have got anywhere near. What did you make of the game as a whole? Yeah, classic pre-season affair, this one. Good for the players to get more minutes, minutes in the legs and all that cliché, bingo. But, of course, it was good to be back at Porton Road, see some familiar faces. of course town fans to be at Portland Road for the first time since promotion day back in May against QPR obviously most stands were closed and stuff like that but it's always good for that first game back at Portland Road even if it is pre-season and just to see some of the new signings in action for the first time at Portland Road as well Dyson Maeda who was running down my flank as I was taking snappy snaps but yeah you know you don't learn much really in this pre-season as you said La Haff didn't really give us a game of such really I think it was just one of those where just blow off the cobwebs for some players I was a bit disappointed we didn't see the six foot nine goalie although he was pitch size and I remember sort of seeing him next to Azor Matassi where I was like oh that's two Dutchmen who are very different sizes you think he's a foot taller isn't he?

41:04Yeah, I think so. But no, once again, us and fans won't learn much from that pre-season game. But it was weird seeing Gary O 'Neill in the dugout because we've been used to Kieran McKenna in there doing his instructions. But yeah, it was just a game that was played and good to see through back on scoring another goal, which is another sort of question. Could he be that option up front? is he the third choice with George Hurst potentially leaving and then we want to get that experience number nine but yeah I think the next two friendlies it's going to pick up now you know Valocano on Saturday that's going to be a really good test and then the trip to uni in Berlin where it's the last game until the big game so I think the minutes are going to get extended for some players because yeah that's the problem with Love Harve they changed their complete starting 11 you know in the second half which always just the games just just goes away doesn't it when there's loads of changes um it was nice that Gary Neal did make a few different tweaks and there's some players we played a bit more than others um but yeah as I said it was a game that was played and I won't live long in the memory there we go then Stu it was a game that was played fans won't have learned anything let's analyze it now shall we okay yeah it was it was your first game of the preseason and usually I've seen three times as many preseason games as you have at this stage, which is very unusual.

42:32I want to start, Stu, before you get to your observations on the new players and stuff. Formation, I thought, was interesting at times, because I think it's the first time that we've seen them certainly out or in possession, rather, play with a back three. And Casey McIntyre and Leif Davis were doing interesting things, Casey McIntyre especially, who normally started at right back, but spent a lot of his time anywhere but right back. He was in midfield. He was playing as a 10 at times. A lot of the time he appeared further up the pitch than Tudor Mendel, who was the right winger. We've speculated a lot about formations and how that might play itself out.

43:08Was that something you were interested to see? Yeah, it was interesting to see Casey play at right back. I've pondered whether it might be a little bit of an audition for a right wing-back role. As I say, if you started the season now and you played with wing-backs, I don't see Fatou as a right wing-back. I don't know if he's got the defensive side of his game for that. I think you'd play him further forward in a front three. And McAteer, he was brought in to be the kind of Wes Burns 2.0 in many ways, wasn't he? He's got the same sort of qualities as Wes, who can play high and right, but he can.

43:47and he's got the energy to get back and get into shape in a back five, if need be. Yeah, it is interesting, as you say, he was the one rolling inside and taking up some inverting at times and taking up different positions. During the Kieran McKenna era, by virtue of Leif Davis wanting to get forwards, it was always the left-sided that tucked in, wasn't it? And it was the right-sided 10 that kind of pulls out to the right-hand side. Is that going to kind of flip a little bit, maybe, because I note that Florentino, who is more of a defensive midfielder, he tends to play on the left side of midfield, whether it's a midfield three or a double pivot.

44:26Even though he's a right footer, he tends to play more towards the left. And if he's the deeper of the two, does that mean the right-sider of the two holding midfielders has more licence to get forward? And how's that going to impact on Leif Davis' game at left-back? We're still learning a lot about Gary O 'Neill and his pattern to play and how he wants his sides to set up, aren't we? So, as Ross says, it's important not to read too much. Sometimes it's just about finding a way to get all of your players onto the pitch at some stage and just get some minutes in. But you can pick up some little bits here and there.

45:03Yeah, I was really impressed with Casey McAteer. The ground he covered was insane. I know he only had to play 45 minutes, and that makes it easier to empty the tank, I suppose, in that respect. It's just a reminder of what kind of – what an engine he's got on him and how hard he does run and the kind of physical aspects of his game, which I think, as you say, make him probably the leaving the clubhouse in that right wing back spot at the moment. Let me talk about Wes Burns leaving and how sad that is. But ultimately, purely from putting emotion aside, purely from a business point of view, it makes more sense for Upswich to put the minutes and the development into Casey McIntyre, who they've signed for 11.5 million.

45:40He's of an age where you hope you can improve and get better and ultimately turn a profit on him further down the line because that's the name of the game rather than Wes at the stage of his career. So I know it took a while for Casey to get going and he'll be the prime example if some of these new signings get off to a slightly slow start that sometimes you have to show a bit of patience with people. But he finished last season really well, didn't he, Casey? Three goals in three games at Portman Road and a decent little start to pre-season as well. So he can certainly be an important factor in this squad, I think.

46:16Right, Stu, it's the first time you've seen a lot of these players. So I'm going to throw some names at you and just get some observations. I hope you don't mind, Ross, if I kind of go large on Stu's verdict, because it's the first time you've seen them. I'm going to start with the obvious one, because he was very excited at Wickham and he's boosted our page views and video views as well. Dazen Maeda, first time you've seen him, Stu. From my personal opinion, I don't think he was quite as lively in this game as he was at Wiccan, where he was like a buzzsaw. He was everywhere. But first time you've seen him, what did you make of him?

46:46As advertised from Celtic fans, full of energy, full of pressing. There was one couple of times that, you know, it just got the crowd with him because he's, you know, fans will look beyond some, you know, a bad pass or a bad technical moment if they can see that you're someone giving your all for the shirt. and he's certainly one of those, isn't he? Sort of pickpocketed a few players sometimes at times where he had no right to. Had a driving run up the pitch from sort of halfway, carried it all the way to the box. But the other side of things that people have said is that the final delivery, the end delivery in the final third, be it pass, shot, cross, can sometimes be a little hit and miss.

47:34And I think we saw some evidence of that as well. So that's why I go back to that point about maybe Upswich just need to add some real technical footballers. Even the attacking players they've added so far, Maida, Emerson, they look like grafters. They look like hard workers. And you need that. And fans can get behind that. But, yeah, I just think he's going to be one that supporters get behind just because of what he gives to the team and the way he sort of empties the tank and never stops running. 100%. Right. Right, Tuba Akpom, Ross, make a note, 47 minutes and a half. This is the chat. He scored again, Stu.

48:12He is Town's leading scorer in pre-season, if you include behind closed doors games. George Hurst potentially on his way out the door, looking likely. Tuba Akpom, who I thought at the start of the summer when they signed him, was saying they'd have to sign him. He'll be on his way. Is he playing himself into the conversation to be the third striker going into the season? his returns last season weren't good obviously two goals in 30 plus games mostly to be fair to him playing as the 10 in pre-season he's been as a striker what do you reckon about tuba yeah i mean of those 30 appearances last season i don't know what percentage of them were starts but not many um yeah didn't work out for tuba as he or others hoped you know he was the former Championship Golden Boot winner at Middlesbrough, snatched from under the noses of Birmingham late in the transfer window, but Ipswich, Kieran McKenna couldn't quite find his best role, could he?

49:14I think he'd been signed to play as a 10. Very quickly, it became apparent that Ipswich performed better with a creative spark in the 10, i.e. Nunez, to kind of replicate what Chaplin did before to a certain degree in terms of being an attacking glue. So when Ipswich had tried second strikers like a Schmodix, like an Akpom, it just didn't work the same way. But yeah, whenever he played as a nine, which wasn't often, he showed an eye for a goal and he did get a couple of important goals along the way. And he's continued that in pre-season, hasn't he, with a couple of goals. This one was a stretched header at the far post after some good work from Fatou.

49:57So, yeah, my feeling going into the summer was that he would be signed and loaned or sold straight away. But that picture seems to have changed. And if Hurst goes and another striker comes in, he could well be a third choice striker for Ripswich, I would say. How are you feeling about that, Ross? Would you be okay with that if he went into the season with Chuba as the third striker behind Emerson and A.N. Other? I'm not against it. He only made seven starts in the league last year, so he didn't really get the opportunity. And he played in the 10, which, even though that was his position he played for Borough, where he scored all those goals, it just didn't really work out for him.

50:45But when he was playing as number nine, he scored two goals. You know, Oxford and the whole City away game he scored. So I know there's some fans out there going, no, I don't. You know, he's not good enough. You know, he couldn't do it in the Championship. Why? You know, he can't do it in the Premier League, surely. But I think for an option, he's got the profile. He's got the build, I think, for the Premier League. You know, he came through the ranks at Arsenal and, you know, he's played, you know, Champions League football and stuff like that. I'm not against it. Once again, I think if there's other options out there, then maybe they'll go down that route.

51:19But as it stands, I am not fussed if he is the third choice. And I think give him a go. And he's proven, he's just knuckled down, isn't he? And he's just gone, okay, this is my role at the moment. He scored the goals. I know it's only pre-season. You can't read too much into it. But I think give him a go. Give Chuba Ackham a go and we'll see how it goes. Give Chuba a chance. I think you can't have everyone that are sort of bona fide starters. And going back to the Band of Brothers chat, again, the strength of that squad is that everyone bought into the collective. And people like Marcus Harness and Caden Jackson, you know, we sit here and we talk about all the main names and the starters.

52:03But those guys behind the scenes that were pushing training every day, knew their role, bought into their role of, you know, they might only get a game here and there, but always being ready. Those guys are just as important. And I think people picked up on the fact that Chuba looked like right in the thick of it in the promotion celebrations and looks like he's a sort of a bubbly character behind the scenes. Don't underestimate those sort of qualities, certainly in a third choice striker. And if, you know, if you put last season to one side and Ipswich signed him now fresh, straight from Ajax, and you said we're dropping£7 million on a guy who started at Arsenal, has been playing Champions League, has been at Ajax, and he's going to be your third choice.

52:42I think people would probably be okay with that, wouldn't they? So I'm prepared to kind of give him a bit of a pass on last season in terms of just how it played out. Some of it wasn't all of his own making. And yeah, he seems to have taken his fresh start under a new manager. Right, and shoot, other people to impress me, and I'd be interested to get your take on this, Tudor Mendel I thought looked extremely lively again on the right wing. And also, of course, my boy Abdul Fatou who just comes on and gets the game-winning assist. He is tremendous. um first time for you seeing it's at the opera as well stew i know you mentioned cindra as well you were impressed with he he whipped in some excellent free kicks to be fair to cindra and he did so actually oxford looking back um anyone you particularly want to highlight in terms of your your impressions second half was certainly much better than the first um cindra looks far more effective in the 10 um so hopefully he's one we talk about some players just need a bit of time and he's a young lad that's come over from Denmark and championship is 100 miles an hour week after week.

53:46So hopefully he can kick on a little bit. Issa Diop, oozed experience. I thought he was fantastic in that second half. Yeah, he's quick. I didn't realise how quick he was. When you read about Issa Diop, You're kind of thinking he's a big centre-half who's going to win headers, but he's fast across the ground. And he's got voice as well. He was organising players around him. So that was good to see. Tudor Mendel, you can see the excitement around him because when he gets on the ball, he's someone that you think is going to make something happen. He's got really sharp feet, stepovers, can beat a man.

54:32he just looks a little lightweight at this moment in time um yeah so whether he stays and has another exciting season with the with the 21s who've got some great fixtures now playing in europe playing in the in the trophy etc or whether it's a lone move for him i don't know um but that you know good experience for him getting a little taste of first team action this summer yeah um how about we've not had this chance to have a chat about jack clark stew who was the leading scorer last season, a man for the big moments, was with the second string at Oxford on Saturday. We kind of went, well, you know, maybe just so he gets a game.

55:09But again, he didn't start this one. Clearly, they brought my aider in that position. I have said before that I worry about him in the Premier League purely because of the physical aspect. I don't think he is. He's not the strongest. He's not the fastest. I don't know if he's going to be able to be a star at Premier League level. Do you share those same concerns given what we've seen of him so far? Or is that just a bit harsh? I don't know where he's at in terms of his thought process going into this season. He looked frustrated on Tuesday. He was involved in that second half. Hit one shot that was miles wide, didn't get hold of it.

55:54One time he thought he got bundled over and he grabbed the ball with his hands and the free kick went against him. His body language just looked a little bit frustrated. And is that because he's thinking, hang on a minute, I was top goal scorer last season. I finished the season really well. You know, you've only got to think about that cameo against Southampton where it was unbelievable right at the end of the season. Jadon Filagene is seemingly off. This is my moment. You know, Kieran McKenna talked about the conversations with him all last season was, we know you're a championship star. You've proven that countless times.

56:27Sunderland, us, it's now about becoming a Premier League player. And, you know, he started out at Tottenham. His feeling is to sort of get back there and be a Premier League player. And then all of a sudden he sees Maeda come in, who he's probably looking at and thinking, technically, he's not as skillful as I am. So I don't know what's going through Jack Clark's head at the moment. In terms of the concerns about physicality, no I don't because I don't think every player just because we're talking about the athleticism needs to go up a notch it does doesn't suddenly mean all 11 players in your team have to be of that that mold and I think there'll be it's important that Jack Clark is someone that can he's a ball carrier and he can win you fouls and I think that as a team that's going to be up against it in the Premier League those are two qualities that could be really important when When you're under the cosh, he's someone that can win you a bit of time and can get you up the pitch.

57:26And he had a few penalty shouts last time he was in the Prem, and I think he's a better player now than he was then. So, yeah, let's not sleep on Jack Clark and what he can bring to this squad this season. OK, watch this space. Right, Ross, let's move on, shall we? Another friendly this weekend, ramping up the preparations again because it's Rio Valicano, Europa League finalist, no less. so a real big step up and a good test for X-Fichetown. Surely, Ross, surely now we're going to see a proper starting XI played for at least 60 minutes and we get a proper idea of where Gary O 'Neill's head is at.

57:58That's what we want, isn't it? None of this 45 minutes for everyone nonsense. Yes, and just to quickly clarify, just in case people are screaming at you, Conference League runners-up, just in case. I know there's so many different stupid competitions. Oh, whatever. Mickey Mouse. I know. They got to the European final. Who cares? They did, and they lost against Crystal Palace. But yeah, it's sort of all new though for Raya Valocano because they've got a new manager. Some of their star players are leaving. I think one's going to Chelsea. Funny enough, little fun fact, Samio Eto 'o's son plays for them.

58:35So he could feature at Porton Road. So that's exciting. Is he a striker? Yes, obviously. Is he? Good. Well, he doesn't have to be. I'm just interested. Yeah, true. But most of the time it's like, you know, if I were like some, they play in the same position. But no, this one should be a better watch because, yeah, it's going to be a better test. And it is to that stage where, like, surely players now are ready to play potentially 90 minutes. I'm even going to say that at a stretch. It'd be good to see a few key players play 90 minutes or at least an hour or so. If there's changes at half-time, I'll be going, come on, boys.

59:14You've had three weeks now of pre-season. You've done the runs. you've had games minutes on the legs you can play you know a good amount of minutes so yeah I'm excited of course maybe to see Florentino Luiz he can make his first appearance potentially the 6 '9 keeper Cole Sherpin will we see him for the first time I think the youngsters unfortunately they may we may not see them now so that's fair enough yeah which they've done their job and they're hopefully going to get low moves and they're going to play a key part in the under 21s in the Premier League 2 season as Stu mentioned this a lot of games for him to play, which is good to see.

59:51But this should be a better watch. And yeah, we're going to maybe see a few, maybe tinkering in terms of formations, maybe tactic-wise with Gary O 'Neill. So yeah, it should be better. I want to see Tudor Mendel off the bench again. I want to see more of him before he goes out on loan because I'm excited by him. Stu, if you could pick the team right now, who would you want to be seeing trotting out as a starting unit on Saturday? We want to see big Sherps, don't we, in goal for the first time. We want to see Luis, I'm assuming, if he's ready to go. he's going to have to be playing at the start of the season.

1:00:19We're only two weeks out from the actual big kick-off, Stu. So what would you like to see? Yes, I don't think we'll see 90 minutes. It's a fine line between starting to build some chemistry into a team now and starting to build some relationships and starting to move towards something that's going to represent your starting XI. but from what I gather he's working them very hard in training. Jacob Greaves was I asked this question of him or he was asked this question after the game and he sort of you know Kieran McKenna was known for being a hard taskmaster in training and you train as you play and by all accounts that's not dropped if anything it's been upped so as much as we want people up to speed we don't want injuries going into the season as well so I guess the sports science guys will know what's right there.

1:01:13But I agree with you. I think we need to now start seeing something resembling the starting 11 and maybe getting more 60 minutes or so together. This is a step up in opposition, as you've mentioned. Valicano start their season in a week's time. So they're a little bit more, this is their final warm-up game. if now's the time to trial a kind of back three wing back system perhaps with the i think they'll go 4-2-3-1 against sunderland and go for it on the opening day um a rocking portman road hopefully but then it's man united away at the end of the month and liverpool to follow after that so with that with those games in mind certainly the man united one is this the time to try out a bit more of a back three wing backs?

1:02:03I think so. Do you want me to give you a team that would probably be... Yeah, go for it if you've got one in your head, yeah. If, I don't know, say you fast forward to Man United away now and you went with 3-4-3 slash 3-4-2-1. On paper, it'll probably be Sherpen in goal. We need to see him for the first time. Not quite sure why he hasn't featured so far, but hopefully he'll be ready for this one. My back three would be O'Shea Diop-Greaves. I think Reeves is ahead of Kipre. From what I've seen, Kipre, I know we talked about his physicality for the Prem, but there is a mistake in him at times, and we saw that again on Tuesday night.

1:02:43I think that the midfield duo will be Lukic and Florentino at the moment. Whether Lukic is signed in time to feature in this one, I don't know. That might be Florentino and Nunez for this one, I'm not sure. Davis at left back, slash left wing back. probably McAteer at right wing back at the moment, although Ben Johnson's an option. Emerson up top. Flanked slash supported by Fatawu and Maida, probably. Yeah, sounds right to me. Interesting. Let's hope we do get to see some of the new boys. I'm really interested to see Sherpen, particularly. The boys are obviously going to be there, friends. Follow it all with them on the new Kings of Anglia website and apps.

1:03:29You'll be doing a live blog giving you a match verdict immediately after the game. And obviously hoping to get some match reaction as well from Gary O 'Neill on Saturday. And Ross will be there doing his snappy snaps and his game days and his post-match verdict as well, which now is going out as a video verdict, friends, which is a KOA exclusive. Goes out at 6 a.m. the following morning after every game. So that'll be there for you to watch with your cup of coffee, cup of tea, and your bowl of cornflakes or whatever you have for breakfast. One more thing before we say goodbye today. And it's back in the day when Trevor McDonald was presenting news at 10 he always used to have an and finally partly off the wall story a skateboarding squirrel or something uh our version of that happened last night in and it normally would have been a back page story but because of what was happening with burns and lukic it just kind of got relegated in the end to to a leg he will be in the paper but ipswich town have got a a new minority owner stew uh he joins in fact a celebrity ownership because nba legend and he's genuinely a legend.

1:04:27If you don't follow basketball, this guy is a legend. Udonis Haslam of the Miami Heat, three-time NBA champion, played with four of the greatest players of all time in Shaquille O 'Neal, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. I think you've heard of those even in passing. Even if you don't know anything about basketball, you should know Shaq and LeBron James. And he just casually just dropped on social media last night, Stu, that he just bought shares in the club and he's a minority owner just a month after coming and saying hello to Mark Ashton and having a look around Portland Road. Yeah, as we said right at the very start, it's some crazy times for Xwich Town Football Club.

1:05:03We don't know the exact stake, but it's going to be a minority stake in the, you know.

1:05:12But yeah, I think this is a good thing, right? Isn't it someone that's bringing extra eyes to the football club? And you will be able to educate our listeners more on the NBA basketball side of things because it's not my jam. but um i see what you've done there yeah uh unintended that's space jam is probably the extent of my basketball knowledge if i'm honest um uh speaking to our good friend hutchie who is a fellow nba lover um i understand he's quite big on uh yodonis is very big on the sort of the cultural aspect of sport and it seems to be that he's been really taken by the running towards adversity mantra and that was sold to him.

1:05:55And then he came over on the trip and sat down with Mark Ashton and co and really fallen in love with that message and the cultural piece behind it. Switched down. So, yeah, great stuff. Yeah, it's just a positive story, I think. I mean, anything that brings more eyes to the club, particularly from that big American market. Udonis, as I say, won three NBA titles. He played for the Miami Heat for 20 years, which is, I think, some sort of record. He's the same age as me, a little bit taller, a little bit richer. I mean, he will have made, he will be comfortably a multi-multi-millionaire. I don't think he's quite at Ed Sheeran levels of wealth, but he'll certainly have a few bob in the bank.

1:06:33And for me, Ross, it's just another one of these kind of positive, feel-good stories about Ipswich Town. We have genuine kind of icons of sport, legends of sport, buying into the Ipswich Town project. Yeah, it's incredible. As you said, the journey, like, I don't think people like this would be putting shares in the club when we were in league one and not doing too well um i think you know success do get other people's eyes on what are they doing over there but um yodonis what a name incredible name shout out to his parents because they've sorted him out in terms of being a basketball player because like that is just a nice classic basketball name he's not adonis he's you donis yeah you donis you donis but um no i like this i like the story um it doesn't beat swansea snoop dog though does it that's that's pretty impressive that remains i think the the ultimate investor yeah if i'm honest but we do have a global superstar in ed sheeran so it's you know we've still got that sort of superstar singer and all that but it's now good to see a superstar you know sportsman involved you know birmingham of course got you know tom brady you know most clubs i think that's the go-to now for a lot of clubs they're getting sportsmen stars i think it was a michael b jordan at bournemouth JJ Watt at Burnley, an NFL superstar.

1:07:50Yeah. So, yeah. What have Norwich got? I think they've got, like, hockey or something. Nothing. Nothing. Yeah. They've got MLB, haven't they? Milwaukee Brewers and all that. Yeah. I hope that we see, and it's probably a forlorn hope, but if there's any way we can see LeBron James at Portman Road, that would be extraordinary. And I think LeBron's got shares in Liverpool. I think Liverpool are his team. So if we can see, you know, when Liverpool comes to Portman Road, just saying, that'd be incredible it is a great story though and as I say, on any other day, it would be the story of the day, in the end it was just a kind of footnote with everything else that was going on right then friends, we've come to just over an hour now, coming to the end of this podcast is there anything else you boys want to share want to talk about?

1:08:35No, I'd better check in to see where Mr Lukic's transfer is at, so check on the websites Ross, anything from you? just no a thank you to to koa army because um they're enjoying the app and the website which um you know it's been now two weeks um that's been live and launched so um yeah thank you everyone so far for signing up and to continue um we've got obviously special offers so i'll let you to let the viewers know but um yeah thanks so much for support so far yeah in case you've been living under a rock um we've launched a new koa website and app uh which we're very excited about the app particularly i would say friends is the way to go totally ad free lovely user experience and right now you can get it for two pounds for two months of coverage or 29 pounds for a whole year and a lot of you jumping on the year off and why wouldn't you because what else can you get better than that for 29 pounds all of our coverage in one place for the first time everything we write all our videos all our podcasts available to watch and also listen to um as i say we're very very proud of it and in terms of people have obviously been struggling with the concept of if you get it for if you're an angling subscriber you get it you get koa as part of that package we have to create an account first on the koa website friends before that will work for you that's what you need to do and you should be fine other things that people have mentioned we are looking at working on uh in terms of the app updating in the live blog um that has now been improved it was only previously updating every five minutes or so now it should be pretty much as as live um and we're also working friends as part of one of a number of updates coming down the line with that pull down to refresh um functionality which would be great if we can get that on the app but i personally i'm i'm really happy with the app and from the feed that you've been getting once you're in a lot of you are as well and it's been great the amount of people who support with that it's fantastic much appreciated and if you haven't joined now is the perfect time clearly just two weeks out from the big kickoff other things to mention just remind us about our sponsor user code KOA10 at molecular-uk.com for 10 % off all their excellent car cleaning products Ross and AJ were both very impressed with the Heathmobile on our recent trip to Oxford it was spotless it was shining uh yeah so they've got some great stuff there I always bang on about the banana dime but you know pretty much everything they've got that I've used is brilliant and also if you can follow us across all social medias Kings of Angle on YouTube Instagram TikTok Facebook X I think that's all of them and me Ross and AJ are individually on Blue Sky because we're cool and Stu can't be bothered with it Friends Ipswich Town play their penultimate warm-up friendly this weekend against a conference league finalist a big step up this weekend Stu and Ross will be there follow it all with them if you can't be there and then we will return next week friends when we'll be just one game away, one game away from the big kickoff.

1:11:31And of course, the boys, and I'm very jealous about this, will be going out to Berlin next week while I sit in my pants in my middle room, wishing I was there. That's the image I want you to take with you this week, friends, me and my pants in my middle room. Have a great weekend and we'll speak to you again next time.

1:12:01Thank you.

1:12:32Thank you.

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