649: Kings of Anglia: World Cup winner on the way as magic Marcelino sends Foxes packing

23:32Mark Heath:We're going to hear from Sindra in a minute. Before we do that, Rossi, and it was, for me, it was no coincidence that when they switched back to where they would like to play after the break, they were much better. And obviously they went on and got the win. Jack Clark is a 10. We've talked a lot about Jack Clark this summer and whether or not he's going to get moved on, what kind of role he can play. Obviously he had a great start to the season when he was playing on the left. He got that winner against Sunderland. I can't remember him ever kind of thriving when he's been played at 10. have you got any kind of strong feelings on that?

24:04Is that something you'd like to see more of?

24:06Mark Heath:I mean, AJ's just said there that you can see so he's out for any reason. There's not loads of players putting their hands up saying, I can play there.

24:14Ross Halls:To be fair, I'll play Sindra there. I think that's, well, he can play there. I think he prefers to play there. Jack Clark, didn't he play at the 10 at Oxford? The game I was trying to figure out. Casey played left there as well. Yeah, as well. Yeah. I think once again, Gary O 'Neill, not in his head right now, but I can imagine he just wanted to experiment potentially in this cup game maybe he needed to do that in pre-season maybe it did feel like pre-season vibes didn't it in that first half very much so him just sort of like it did backfile because Leicester if they really went for it and Conor Chapman did Conor Chapman things we could have been going oh deary me but thankfully not it was just a rubbish first half and then switched it around but no Jack Lund for me he's a left winger especially with his trademark goal that's how he's going to score his goal is from doing what he does so if we're desperate maybe but no I'd like to see Sindra playing in that 10 row with Julio and Cissot is out injured and you know yeah Clark I hope he does stick around because I think he is a difference maker he's a good finisher as we saw on Saturday Okay let's hear from Sindra now obviously he got the first goal and it was a nice move to be fair when they're all in the right position.

25:30Clark involved in that as well.

25:32Mark Heath:So, Sindra gets the goal. It's always good to see early in the season. Let's hear from him now, shall we? Sindra, if you're in the cup, why did you make of that one? Yeah, tough one. They played a lot of passes, a lot of short passes. We had to run a lot, but in the end, we got the win and we deserved it. Very good performance. Competitive game, obviously, against a League One team, but they were right up for it. Yeah, you can call them a League One, but obviously I think they're a little bit higher level than that. They played a good game, we played a good game. It was a tough match, but we got there in the end.

26:06Yeah, and it's good to have those kind of tests at this point in the season as well, isn't it? Just to keep you on your toes a bit. For sure. We have a lot of players now, so I think we need to keep everyone on their toes and everyone ready. And I think a lot of guys performed very well today to try and push the other guys. So all in all, a very positive performance. It took a bit of time to click as well. Was it maybe a little bit strange seeing that three behind the striker? You on the right, you had Jack Clark through the ten and Casey on the left. A little bit of experimenting there, but it took you a little bit of time maybe to click in that period.

26:37Yeah, of course it always takes time sometimes to get into a match. I think we're all versatile players. So in the second half we switched it around again and I think it worked good in both us but maybe a little bit better in the second. Nice to get on the score sheet of course For sure, for sure I think I almost had too much time there to think but yeah and then a nice finish Really good teamwork there isn't it you see the hold up play from Chuba and the ball from Jack it kind of really clicked Yeah brilliant Chuba done well he's been so good the last two months it's been really fun to see Clark you've also been top so it's easy when you play with these top players AJ

27:24Mark Heath:AJ, two questions. Are you and Sindra mates now, having spent some time together in Berlin? And secondly, you can tell the influence already of the English footballer, can't you, there, where he says, Clark, he's been top. That's something he's picked up. Yeah, definitely. You notice that as well when players come in from abroad and within two weeks are saying the term gaffer. They definitely have no clue what gaffer meant before arriving. Are we best mates now? Yes, definitely. He was good yesterday. He came over to say hello. He seemed quite excited to catch up after we had our nice exclusive chat in Berlin.

27:59Go back and read that if you haven't seen it already. And, yep, he's got an invite to my birthday party in November. So, looking forward to it.

28:09Mark Heath:I can't wait for the pictures from that. You and Sindra sharing some cake. He got probably some neat cake, of course, as an athlete. Right, then let's move on, shall we? The next thing I want to talk about is the first look, proper look, we had at one of the recent signings in Abdul Utara. He played at left back, obviously had a cameo appearance against Sunderland. This is the first meaningful minutes we got to see him, AJ. What did you make of him? We had a brief chat with you about our very first impressions of him on Saturday, which were basically that he's a little tank. He looked like he's got the physical attributes, at least, to compete in the Premier League.

28:41Mark Heath:And clearly, we still don't really know where he's actually going to be played most. So he's already played in midfield and at left back. What did you make of him in this one? yeah uh i i think he's a little tank basically it's kind of what we're seeing yeah um really athletic i mean we're talking about someone that gary o 'neill kind of picked out and said he's fantastic physically but he's maybe a little bit behind having had a stop start pre-season has had a couple of injury issues and and given the work that the other lads have put in maybe isn't quite there but physically he didn't look any different to them he looked like he'd been bang up and training for the last seven, eight weeks, however long it's been.

29:20So that was really good to see. There's obviously a little bit of rustiness in there. Some bits where Leicester were able to take advantage down that side, but he generally managed to stay strong, was solid defensively, and then also really got up the flank as well and contributed. It feels like he's already on a similar wavelength to a lot of his new teammates, which is really positive. I just like the athleticism. That's really good. And given that I don't think left-back is, A, his natural position, or B, the position he's going to play next season, to see him look so comfortable there, I think is a real positive.

30:00Who knows where he's going to play? We've seen him in midfield. We've seen him at left-back. There's a good chance he'll play right-back quite soon. Who knows? He could end up in goal soon enough with the way that he can go about it. Not big enough. No, that is true. That's going to be a problem. But other than that, pretty much every other position I'd back him to fit in. And yeah, really liking these early glimpses of Town's new Swiss army knife.

30:23Mark Heath:Yeah, a phrase, of course, that you enjoy. You're writing something for tomorrow morning about what you think Town needs to do in the rest of the window. So I don't want you to give all of that away. But with Utara playing there last night, clearly as it stands, there is still no kind of obvious backup for Leif Davis. Do you think they'll be happy with Utara in that position? Or do you think they still need to go out and sign someone to actually kind of push. I mean, there's no reason that Ntaro couldn't push in there, for example, from what we've seen. But do you think they need to come and get a specialist there, for example?

30:52No, don't think so. I'll say it for the millionth time. There is a finite number of squad spaces for people over the age of 21. I think that Ipswich could do with prioritising other positions, which I've detailed some of. One in the back line, obviously midfield, as we've spoken about. Obviously striker, as we've spoken about. and maybe another one somewhere in there as well, which I've written about a bit for a piece tomorrow. And I just think that between Wattara and Jacob Greaves, I think they'd be absolutely fine being able to cover Leif Davis there. You've got two players who I think are very comfortable doing that.

31:27So, yeah, and that's the positive of having Wattara, where, for example, if they don't go out and get another right back, you'd be pretty happy with him filling in or probably even starting as a right back. Who knows? that could be the spot that Gary O 'Neill hasn't kind of penciled in for, whether he'll make up the midfield, whatever. It's just good to be able to have someone, especially someone who doesn't count towards the squad as well, who can fill in in so many different roles. So, yeah, I'm not too stressed about left-back.

31:53Mark Heath:It's going to be very useful, I think, at least on the kind of early observations of watching him. Rossi, there were a couple of other debuts last night which fall into your wheelhouse because you're our academy man. We saw Tudor Mendel make his senior debut. We've obviously seen him during pre-season, looking very exciting. And Charlie Compton, who we refer to that dreadful game at Oxford, he was the one bright spark in that game. He was the town's best player for me in that game. He also came on late on to make his senior debut. Great to see that kind of talent getting a chance. And Tudor has actually signed a new deal off the back of it.

32:26Ross Halls:Yeah, really good. I think everyone loves a homegrown player. Chanting is one of your own. Funny enough, Leicester fans were chanting that little bit in the game last night. I can't remember the players who, I think they had a few youth graduates in their squad. So a town we've not, unfortunately, because of the rise have gone on, you know, a lot of players have been sort of left on, you know, on the side there because the priority is to, you know, sign big players to get us promoted. But Gary O 'Neill, he's, I know some players he's had to use because we've got injuries and, you know, lacking depth in those positions at the time.

33:05Ross Halls:but he has used a lot of young players in pre-season and he's now done it in the cup. We've given Tudor. He's finally his senior debut. He's been someone town fans have been screaming, oh, I want to, you know, he's been playing so well for the 921s. People are going, oh, we're lacking wingers. I'll bring him in. But McKenna never did it in the end. He was always training with the first team but never really got that chance, which is always at risk, though, with a young player. You just never know. But Tudor is an exciting talent and he deserves that deal. and I thought he did all right, actually, when he came off the bench.

33:35Ross Halls:He had a few little moments. He had a really good pre-season as well. And Charlie Compton, what a shift he did, you know, from playing in Manchester on Monday night. Although he took off at half-time because they were losing 4-0. And, yeah, he was potentially going to be on the bench anyway. So he, of course, then travelled back to Suffolk on the bench and makes a cameo. It's just a good story, you know, to bring players through the academy. and hopefully Gary O 'Neill, he knows how important the academy is with the new training grounds. It's been a while since we've produced the homegrown talent.

34:08Ross Halls:You know, Cullen Humphries is probably the last sort of success story, you'd probably say. Of course, Elkhorn Baggett was sold this summer to Millwall. Hopefully with this new training ground and everything, we can really produce players again, especially with the Premier League too. And we're now going to be in the EFL Trophy, the International Cup. Just a nice story. and hopefully Tudor, it sounds like, he could be around a little bit more in the first team. Although I think a loan move would be ideal for him,

34:36Mark Heath:hopefully a League One, League Two team. Well, that's what I'm going to ask you, Ross. We're going to hear from Gary Neil about the Academy boys in a second. But in terms of their development, the obvious thing is to now send them out on loan. Although, as you say, there's a decent level of competition for the under-21s in terms of the level they're playing at. But Tudor, specifically, given that you'd say he's further along than Charlie, Charlie's younger as well, what would you do with him? And if you were going to send him out on loan, what kind of level would you want to see him playing at?

35:02Mark Heath:Would you want him to see in League 1 or League 2? What do you reckon? What do you think he's ready for?

35:09Ross Halls:You just don't know if he's ready, really. He's been ripping it up for the 1921s, but that's a whole different ballgame. There is points on the board, technically, because they are in leagues and stuff, but it's not really like League 1. It's some players' livelihoods. Some of them, they're trying to pay off their mortgage. with the academy games. It's like, oh, you know, next week, next game is the next game. But we've seen Soledad Boniface, who's now been another star on this academy teams. He's gone to Leighton Orient, unfortunately has just done, just got a knee injury. So he's out for a few weeks after an impressive start.

35:43Ross Halls:So if we can find a good club in League One like that, Leighton Orient, you know, under Richie Wellens, they're a solid team. If there's a team out there that sort of play good football. yeah I'm trying to think of some teams AJ would be better known in terms of League One you know Cambridge

36:01Mark Heath:I'm going to say you'd take him at Cambridge wouldn't you AJ? Yeah absolutely to be perfectly honest with how that transfer business is going I'd take most players at Cambridge Ross I think you could probably do a shift at the moment yeah I mean there's a weird split at the moment of teams there who are kind of very possession based attractive football and maybe some a bit like Cambridge and Bromley will go very direct so it might not suit him. Throw you one out there. I think they'll do well this season. They're playing some good football. MK Dons? I mean, I don't like them as a club. I'm going to be honest.

36:34Sorry. But yeah, maybe someone like that who can kind of have that quality of player but also will compete at the right end of the table and play a nice brand of football too.

36:48Mark Heath:Not very positive though, isn't it? Right, let's hear from Gary about the Academy boys. I'm delighted for them, delighted for everyone in the academy. They do some unbelievable work, late nights on the Astro and providing fantastic facilities and sessions for the boys. To have two players around the Premier League squad is credit to everyone that's done the work all the way through the years to get the lads in and around it. It's so important to the football club that we produce Premier League players, they're probably 20 million each at the moment, to buy one. So if you can produce your own it saves you a lot of money so even producing one that can be in and around it and be good enough is it's fantastic so hopefully that gives everyone a little bit of hope back there all the work they're doing is appreciated keep it going um if the boys are good enough they'll definitely get a chance to play under me so um yeah really appreciative of everyone really i think as i said it's going to take everyone at the football club pushing in the same direction from academy foundation um starters non-starters everyone around the training ground It's a massive effort this year, recruitment team.

37:51Everyone's just working so many hours so hard to give us an opportunity to stay in the best league in the world and to be competitive. So let's see. Next week's going to be big for us performance-wise and recruitment-wise. And then once we're pleased when the window closes so we can settle down and we can put together a good season, hopefully.

38:11Mark Heath:OK, moving on. The next thing I want to talk about is a fun conversation, I think. and it's Marcelino Nunes who obviously was the headline maker last night with his brace to get a second goal, lobbing from just inside the Leicester half to secure the win. First of all did you see it live? Because it was obviously late in the game I was head down right in the star back and then I looked up and they went, oh it's 3-1. So I didn't actually see it. I had to wait for the replay Did you see it as live? Almost. I think I saw the ball heading up and I realised it was Nunez who took the shot I didn't quite see it leave his foot in that way obviously right at the end trying to sort all the photos to go with the new match verdict hope you're enjoying the new style of match content we're providing but yeah trying to sort that one out near to print deadline and then looking up and thinking hang on hang on it is going to go in I thought it was going to drop perfectly into the net but actually the way it happened was so much better the way it just dinked in off the crossbar was proper chef's kiss territory.

39:21I was going to say kind of it's almost trademarked Nunez, but he's had a bit of rotten luck with those kind of shots. I mean, we saw him try and hit one from a corner on Saturday that almost felt like it, as we said on the weekend, came down with snow on it. This one did as well, but yeah, fun that happened against Leicester as well, given the Fatou incident from about six months ago, and And yeah, maybe Nunez has been picking up a few bits in training there.

39:49Mark Heath:Here's my question to you then, AJ. Do we need to reconsider Marcelino Nunez? Because when the starting 11s came out on Saturday, we had this chat, me and Sue, on Monday, the feeling was actually that might be the weak link. Is Nunez Premier League standard? We know he runs around a lot, a lot of endeavour, a lot of effort, which clearly is going to be important in this side from the way Gary O 'Neill set things out. and then last night he starts again and he gets two goals. I actually had a friend message me after the game, an old friend from Australia who knows who he is if he's listening to this because he's a KRO listener, who said, we don't need any more midfielders, let's concentrate on the striker, he knew this is going to be fine.

40:28Mark Heath:You would say going into the season that I certainly had him pegged as a backup at best. Has this kind of, is there any argument now that he should be pushing to start? But, I mean, for example, is it going to be difficult to drop him going to Man United with the way he started the season? Possibly. I mean, going into Man United, there certainly is more of a debate, I'd say, because you've got his closest competition in Florentino that is having a couple of injury issues, fitness issues. And Palacios, if that deal gets done, you'd imagine might not be ready to come in and be an immediate starter over the weekend.

41:05So certainly I could see him starting that game. I don't think he's suddenly going to make himself a first-choice midfield player here. I cannot in any world basically see him getting regular, regular minutes over Lukic and Palacios, assuming again that that deal gets done. I just cannot picture it. But it has changed my perspective a little bit because I was very much looking at it and thinking of a squad-cutting measure approach. It would be, let's try and move him on. Let's try and see if there's a loan out there. There's been whispers, I think, about Southampton, maybe having him go back to the championship or move on in some capacity.

41:44And right now, I certainly would not be looking to move him on because you've got someone who's ready to fight for a spot, probably knows he's not going to be a regular starter, who I'd also now back to contribute. And he seems fired up and ready to give it a real go. So, yeah, I'd certainly have him around. And also with, I'd say, Humphrey's likely to move on, Taylor likely to move on. Don't forget that Azor, who we all thought would nail down a Premier League spot, he hasn't played since the final day of the season. We haven't seen him at all. He hasn't played at all in pre-season since surgery.

42:17He's going to take, I think, quite a while to get back up to any sort of match speed, given how long he's been out for, to really have a go in the Premier League. So I think he's going to be needed, Marcelino Nunez. And if he can take his opportunities, he'll have a part to play. But nailing down a starting spot with the two that are going to be likely starting week in, week out, I think that might be a bridge too far.

42:42Mark Heath:Placios comes in. Azor's like fourth in the depth chart, isn't he, to begin with? Crazy. Rossi, we're going to hear from Sindro about Nunes and the goal next, but I just wonder if you had any thoughts about Marcelino, because I think any of us were thinking that he was going to be a major factor in the season, but it certainly started well. Yeah, because pre-season he was rubbish. yeah he played the most he played the most minutes in pre-season he did but he was as you say he

43:07Ross Halls:wasn't very good in the game um i know it's only pre-season and sometimes some players have become a bad pre-season and out of nowhere they go and score loads of goals and play really well which is what he's done you know from what he did on saturday to then scoring two goals here um he does frustrate me as a player though at times because he's most on set pieces isn't he and i know he scored a few free kicks at qpr and i was like oh that's great but then i remember the next few free kicks he had he then skied him into the bloody crowd or went into the wall and i was like thinking bloody hell and then some of his corners um but for me we need we need the numbers we need depth and he'll add that and he'll run around um like a mad chillian so um i'm happy for him to stick around and he's got that passion and fans love him um i think maybe some people get blinded by that a little bit because of the Norwich connections and stuff.

43:59Ross Halls:I think people just love him because of that. You know, he is a good player, though, as well. And this is the first time he's playing in the Premier League, which is always a risk, isn't it, when you're, you know, sort of relying on players who have not played in the Premier League before. But now he's going to have some well-class midfielders next to him, which I think will benefit him. So, yeah, I'm happy he's going to stick around. And we need that depth in that midfield because injuries can happen at any time, suspensions and all that. so um yeah he's a goal i i remember capturing it and what i did is i took the picture of him shooting and i just remember just stopping for some reason and just watching it and i was like oh it's got him and he celebrated the wrong way but um i actually saw him after the game sort of walking like all the players and the nice very smart um off-field wear or you know sort of travel wear he um we'll i was being a photographer and we're sort of like joking he said to him why I should run over there.

44:54Ross Halls:He went, oh, I was just celebrating to my wife. My wife was up there. So, you know, I was just celebrating to her. So, yeah, Marcia Nuno's nacho. What boy.

45:06Mark Heath:Yeah. Well, you got some nice sellies of him, Ross. I wouldn't have known that had you not just confessed that. That was the first goal though. Okay. Well, I used, I used, I used one on the front of the Anglin, which is lovely. Yeah. I think my, I was very much of the mind that it was time to move him on properly in terms of the water levels rising, but now I'm, I'm not bothered. As a squad player, I certainly don't think he's going to be starting level in the Premier League, but as a squad player, all that effort and endeavour and all that kind of stuff, coming off the bench when needed or stepping up in spurts when he needs to, I can see it.

45:36I'm not anti that. Right then, let's hear from Sindra about the goal from Marcelino, shall we? Marcelino Nunez, wow. I mean, I don't have to say any more. Ah, he's crazy. I told him if he doesn't score there, I would kill him, honestly, because I was open, threw on goal. But this guy is crazy. Such a lovely finish and top player. He's got those shots in his locker, doesn't he? Look at the second one. He can really hit them. Yeah, he's one of the best foots I've ever seen in football. What does this mean in terms of the cup run? I'm sure you'd like that kind of run this season. The focus will be on Premier League, but getting an opportunity to have this run would be good.

46:15I think, as I said, we have a lot of players, a lot of very good players. So I think it's very good for the team that we go on a cup run. A very important win today. And then we have another match in, I don't know, one and a half week. Yeah. So I think it's very important, actually, to win this game. We took it very serious. That was very clear from the beginning. So a massive win.

46:39Mark Heath:I love that turn of phrase as well. One of the best foots in football. Fantastic there from Senja. Right, next up, Cup draw, which is tonight at the unearthly, ungodly hour of 10.30. I won't be awake. I go to bed at nine. Sleep is important. Rest, especially when you get to my age. But AJ, you'll be there watching, typing, watching, I'm sure, the game that precedes it as well and breaking it all down. We're going to hear from Gary about the Cup and how far town can go. But before we do, shall we say who we'd like? And more specifically, probably more interestingly, who we don't like. who we don't want um now we've already been chatting about this aj i think it's probably more interesting who we really don't want because i'm loathe to commit to saying this because it feels like then it's more likely to happen and of course it won't bother me because i won't go i'll sit here in a nice warm doing the boring stuff at home you're the ones who'll be on the road putting the miles in like the troopers and soldiers that you are but there's there's definitely well there's one we've mentioned already we definitely do not want yeah uh fleetwood town away is absolutely the must avoid because of obviously very familiar photos from League One from an Ipswich perspective and from me covering Cambridge as well and also it's really really really really really really really far away we just really don't want that so yes if we can avoid Fleetwood also can you imagine how packed out that press box would be it's a really small press box you've got like two rows basically where you can fit about five people in each and then trying to fit in everyone for a Premier League against a League Two tie, which will probably be on TV as well, it would not be enjoyable.

48:22So I'd really like to avoid that one. Anything that's really far north, I don't want to go to Borough again. That would be ideal. Even a Newcastle or a Sunderland would probably like to avoid that because we've already got to do that once. Or a Leeds would not be ideal. in terms of what would be nice. Anything at home is fine. I really don't care if it's at home. At that point, you could make it Man City, really. Obviously, you'd like something winnable to try and progress. A lower league side at home would be ideal. But if it's going to be away, don't take us too far. Don't be beyond London. Any of the London ones, fine.

49:05Peterborough, fine. Anything like that, yeah, that's all right. And the other thing I'll mention as well, because I know everyone's going to disagree with me and Ross is going to get really angry. I'll have Lincoln. I'll have Lincoln City. I'm sure most Ipswich fans would absolutely hate that, given the previous. But that's why I went to uni, and it's not too far. So I'd be all right with going back to Sinsel Bank.

49:27Mark Heath:Tripped down memory lane. I'm sure they've got a little blue plaque there, haven't you? Alex Jones went to uni here. This is where he first picked up his pen. I'm going to ask you the same question in a minute, Ross. First, let's hear from Gary O 'Neill, if I can just clear this email. There we go. All right, here we go. We'll try. We'll try to go as far as we can. I said earlier, I think, I'm not sure who to, but I had a great cup run last year in France and loved every minute of it. And at the start, we were drawn away against a league three or four team. And it was like, OK, do we take this serious?

50:03And we just kept trying to win every game. And then before you know it, we were in the semi-final. So that will be the approach. it doesn't mean we'll always pick the same team from the weekend. Like I said, I trust them all. They all need minutes. They all need to be ready. They all need to understand the roles. But we will constantly keep trying to be as competitive as we can in every game. So let's see how far we can go. See if another home draw would be great. Loving it at Portman Road at the moment. So another home draw, hopefully. And then let's see what we can do. But focus has switched fairly quickly now to making sure we're ready for a very tough test away at Old Trafford.

50:40Mark Heath:Right, Rossi, I'm saying it now. I'd take Norwich at home. I'd take Norwich at home. I want something at home. And normally I'm like, oh, I can't be bothered about the Cups. Let's just get out of them as quickly as possible and focus on the league. But because the Premier League is so much slower and there's so fewer games in the Premier League, I quite like the idea of having a bit of a cup run. It helps us, obviously, because there's more games. Also, I think it helps that feel-good factor around the team. you're playing games or winning games that you know that kind of thing what do you think about

51:08Ross Halls:it and who would you like and not like yeah we haven't had really had a cut run ever really we of course got to the semi-finals of the this competition back in 2010-11 season under roy clean keen slash paul jewel and of course we played arsenal in the semis and won the first leg and lost at the emirates so but we're now a premier team so i'm not really fussed about going to a primitive ground but um yeah anybody at home a lot of people are saying yeah love to skip norwich you know you want a derby um if we're going to get a derby or one at home i don't want to go to carl road um especially on a midweek um no it's not far to go over that yeah just no home game i'll just take a look at who's in the draw and just if there's any new grounds but there's no new grounds for me really bradford i don't think i'll be in the bradford but they've got to beat Burnley.

52:02Ross Halls:Bradford, I know that's Yorkshire, isn't it? It's not too far. I don't want to go to Bradford on a Tuesday night. I'm happy to go tick it off as a ground as well, but Christ. That's pretty much it though in terms of new grounds. Late in Orient maybe, as we spoke about that. That's not too bad. Maybe a London away day. But if we get Fleetwood, I will kill whoever does the draw.

52:30Mark Heath:Well, I mean, obviously, if you listen to this after 10.30 on Wednesday night, you're going to know who town have got. And you might as well be laughing at the boys, as they say, anyone but Fleetwood, as Fleetwood's been drawn out of the hat. If Fleetwood at home, that's fine. Yeah. When will the game be played, AJ? When is it? It's between... So, essentially, it's all a bit weird because of the Champions League and Europa League. If they're going to play basically any team that isn't in the Champions League, it will be on the week of the 7th. So that will be after the Liverpool Friday night. So likely the 8th or the 9th.

53:06Leading into Crystal Palace, if they're playing a Champions League team, it will be the week after that. So 15th or the 16th, most likely after the Palace, essentially between the two away games between Palace and Everton. So it could be really, really could get mugged off here and end up having to do hypothetically Crystal Palace away on a Saturday, City away on a Tuesday in the Cup. and then Everton away on the Saturday in the league, which will be quite high mileage and not what we want. Just make it easy. First week, home game, Tuesday night, League One team.

53:41Mark Heath:If that does come to pass, the latter scenario, I'm off. I'll be in Italy when that happens. Oh, good. You're saying, will it? Not something for me to worry about. Anything else from the game before we move on to what's happening at Old Trafford this weekend? Any other notes? Anything else you want to mention? Leicester were quite good. They were already, you know what, I thought, given everything, they were going to be really, really, really crap. And they weren't. They were fine for a League One team filled with youngsters. So, yeah, I'm sure that... I was going to say they went okay in the Heath household, but I don't think that Liz really cared.

54:14Mark Heath:She lost interest after the first half. I mean, the first half was so bad that she just went, I can't watch the second half. I'm going to bed. What about the reception for Conor Chaplin and Wes Burns, which was clearly a narrative before the game? What was that like? Yeah, really good. I mean, fair play to Connor Chaplin. I thought he was really good in this game. And I think... Well, he scored, didn't he, first half? He had the best chance. He almost scored, forced Walton into a good save. And one of the biggest problems was that with a Russell Martin team, they're very front-footed, they're going to press high, they want a lot of the ball.

54:46And so when Town were on the ball and playing out from the back, he knew all the pressing triggers. So he was, as captain as well, organising exactly where all of Leicester's attackers would go. and you could see it was actually really causing Townsend problems playing out from the back as well with a lot of players that he has played with before at Ipswich. So that was quite interesting to see. He got a warm reception while coming off. Wes Burns got a very warm reception coming on and also when he went down the touchline to do his warm-ups and I think it was just the perfect balance. It was the perfect balance between showing the right respect to two modern-day club legends, I think is fair enough to say, and also not going overboard in a competitive game that I just wanted to win.

55:31And yeah, it just kind of felt like a nice halfway house there.

55:35Mark Heath:Okay, right. Let's move on, shall we? Two wins already in the bag. Next up, Man United at Old Trafford, Super Sunday. Beware the wounded animal because United didn't start well. They lost at Hull doing Man United things. Already, one imagines people are going to be saying, well, Carrick can't lose to Ipswich at Old Trafford. He can't even drop points to Ipswich at Old Trafford. So, you know, ideal in terms of the way you want Ipswich to go into this game, off the back of two wins against a man of the outside, probably already feeling a bit of pressure. They've obviously just signed Balaba for about a billion pounds.

56:12Great signing. How are you feeling about this, Ross? Do you feel like, you know, within reason, do you feel like there's a chance?

56:25Ross Halls:yeah you know what i am i'm not feeling too bad about this one um old traffic of course theater of dreams and all that um i think it may not have battered hole and we you know lost against which just came out we're like okay we can get over get a good result against underlands then liverpool man united will be free hits but um because we're two wins in a row here we're like we're all buzzing aren't we all giddy it's still going to be a tough game as you said beware of the wooden animal it's going to be one of those where they're going to be a lot of pressure they'll turn that United fan base even if it's 0-0 half time I don't think they'll be happy so yeah it's going to be it's going to be a test of character for us as well though because there'll be some players who hopefully won't be intimidated by the Old Trafford crowd in terms like there'll be a few who may be going to Old Trafford for the first time some of the you know players who have been there already of course in the last Premier League season but there will be a few that haven't been there so yeah it's probably the best opportunity really to get something at Old Trafford because of their bad start but we do need to be aware of that because I'm sure they want to bounce back straight away May-nighted but yeah looking forward to it and although I've seen the forecast and apparently it's going to be really really bad weather so not looking forward to that

57:49Mark Heath:Summer is gone Grim up north. AJ, how are you feeling about it? I'm going to ask you who should play, who you reckon is going to be in the XI. Last time we were there, it was a weird game, wasn't it? Off the top of my head. Was that when Jadon scored the most under-the-radar brace that's ever been seen at Old Trafford? Yeah. Man, you know, I tried everything to let Ipswich Town win the game, and they still couldn't do it. Yeah, I mean, Ross mentions this as one of the best chances that she'll get to win at Old Trafford. I mean, it was handed to them on a silver platter last time. they had the Jade and Filagene brace, Man United were down to 10, Dorgue got sent off and then Ipswich who'd been really good at defending set pieces all season decided that what's the point, it's a bit of fun just to let him in, why not?

58:34Harry Maguire? Who? What? Yeah, it's fine. And then they lost the game 3-2 so the sooner we can forget about that, the better. That was not a good night at the office and hopefully as Ross says this will be a better opportunity to go there and get a result. I don't like... I almost think that Ipswich thrived more when the spotlight isn't on them. You think about the last Premier League season, going into that, everything was on Ipswich. Nobody cared about Leicester and Southampton. We've seen them a million times. And this year, it's kind of a little bit different, but the focus seems to be more on Coventry and Hull.

59:08And Ipswich, oh, well, they were there for a couple of years ago. And I think that they kind of thrive outside of the spotlight a little bit. And I worry that this is Ipswich under the spotlight. on a Sunday half four, super Sunday slot at Old Trafford, where a lot of people will be saying, oh, you know what? I fancy Ipswich to get something. I fancy Ipswich to go and get a result. I don't like that. I don't like that at all. I really wish everyone was writing Ipswich off in this game, to be honest. So yeah, in theory, they've got a chance to go get a result, but I think this is going to be an incredibly hard game for Ipswich when you look at the quality that Man United possess and the amount that they can spend in the transfer market.

59:44The Labour, Tielemans come in, Andre Santos come in, I'm sure they'll probably do some more business before the deadline. As for who should start, this is really tricky because I think that Ipswich need to make this look like a back three or a back five because Manchester United, it is their Achilles heel. It's their weak link. They just could not figure out how to get to grips with that whole team. And it's a running thing that Manchester United cannot handle back fives. So I think that needs to be the setup from Ipswich. But obviously, if you're going to do that, you're going to have to make some tactical tweaks to a team that worked really well last time out against Sunderland.

1:00:20How do you find that balance? I mean, it works quite well that O'Shea has been the right back, so can you shift it around? I think maybe yes. Then can you make Fatahou as the right wing back in that system? His out-of-possession was really good, I thought. Yeah, it was, yeah. So that's how I'd try and do it. I wouldn't try and tinker with it too much. I know there's ideas you could maybe do Watara as a right wing back and working into that system. I would try and essentially just tweak that system with the same personnel into more of a 3-4-2-1. Fatou is the wing-back, Davis on the other side, having CISO and Maida just playing off Emerson.

1:00:56The only change I'd look to make, as harsh as it is, but he has played quite a lot of football in the last few days. I'd take Marcelino Nunez out if Florentino is ready to go with this one. I'll go Florentino and Lukic in the middle.

1:01:09Mark Heath:Any thoughts on that, Ross? I generally don't care about who plays and what formation it's in. But, I mean, is there a conversation? Will there be a conversation at some point around, I know AJ thinks there will be, because it's one of his predictions in pre-season about Sherpen and Walton. Walton played well last night, I thought. And Sherpen, OK, he was fairly solid in his debut, but Walton clearly had a good season last season. can feel unlucky that he's not starting this season as number one. There's a conversation there, the conversation's elsewhere on the pitch. Would you like to see Fatou at right wing back, for example?

1:01:48Ross Halls:Quickly, yeah, talk about Walton and Sherpin. I think it will be Sherpin. Walton, of course, got that injury, unfortunately, and maybe he was going to potentially be number one going into this season, but because Sherpin was signed and won't go that injury, Sherpin was the man with the shirt. And yeah, Walton had a really good game against Leicester City, but I thought Sherpin was fine against Sunderland and I think Gary Neal will stick that because once again they have spent a little bit of money on him. Do you know what? I'll start Nunes again. I think once again chucking in Luiz, who is coming back from an injury, I know some players can recover and then go straight into the line-up but I don't know, would that be a bit of a risk bringing in someone who's coming back from an injury?

1:02:29Ross Halls:So I think Nunes is ready to go. He's hungry and I'm sure he'll be up for Old Trafford as well. So, no, I'll start Nunes alongside Lukic. Other position-wise, Fatou, yeah, I'm happy of him to be at right wing back. I think he'll thrive with the Old Trafford lights as well. Any other position-wise, yeah. Emerson, was there any reason why Emerson is just rested? Was he just the two back form? Yeah, I don't think there was anything more than that, yeah. Yeah, and Dyson Mider, of course, there'll be so many Japanese fans. all eyes will be on that. I know, as AJ's already mentioned, there'll be a lot of Japanese journalists probably in the press box.

1:03:11Ross Halls:I know there's actually now become a bit of a talk with photographers getting contacted by Japanese newspapers about pictures. I'm waiting to see if I get any DMs soon saying, you've got any pictures of Doizen for our outlets? So I'm waiting to see on that. But yeah.

1:03:27Mark Heath:The answer to that, Ross, is yes, I have, for a very good price. Yes. That's going to cost you money if you want those. Who did you have playing? You had Emerson, Mider and who up top, AJ? So essentially, if you're moving Fatou to wing back, it would be Mider left and CISO right. Of course, and CISO, yeah. Emerson up top. Okay, right then. Let's do predictions, shall we, friends? Which seems vaguely ridiculous, even though they've only just played. But this is the last pod before this game. And we have to, of course, review the first weekend's predictions because there's an uncomfortable truth.

1:04:03After all, truth has emerged from the first weekend, and that's this, as I bring up the leaderboard, that as it stands, we're all losing our jobs. That is unfortunate. AI basically got everything right on the first weekend. The Cyborg said 2-1, Emerson to score first. It also said Sunderland would score from a set piece, which, of course, they did. And it also said that NCSW would score the second goal, which he very nearly did with that mental kind of drag, flick, spin thing that he did. Rossi, of the human individuals on the team, you sit second. You got 2-1 as well, didn't you? You just didn't get Emerson as the first scorer.

1:04:42You went for Davis. Me and Stu both got Emerson as the first scorer. And AJ, God, dear, mind the gap. Look all the way down there. Jesus, already. Bloody hell. Might as well make plans for losing your job now, mate. Because you're already five points behind the machine. What have you got to say for yourself? Yeah, I've been mugged off by the machine. The machine took my prediction. And I thought, you know what? AI is rubbish. I'll let AI have my prediction. That's fine. Little did I know that the AI is very much coming for all of our jobs. So, yeah, not looking good. Right.

1:05:14Mark Heath:I'd say I've had a few messages about the man versus machine concept, people enjoying it, and they're adding it into their own prediction leagues, us and the machine. So it'll be interesting to see how we go from here, won't it, after that very successful first prediction from AI, the cyborg. I'm going to let you go first this time, AJ, because you were moaning. I was, yes. Oh, I stole my... I want to go last. And we know that otherwise you'll bitch and moan and complain and use excuses if you don't get your own... Yeah, absolutely. So you can go first. AI is going to go last today. What do you think is going to happen at Old Trafford?

1:05:52Just to add to the extra vibes, I think it's actually going to lose this game. Hey! So, yeah, I've got... I think it's just a tough place to go, trademark. I think it will be fairly competitive, but ultimately you're playing up against some of the best players in the world, and it's a team that just is missing a couple of pieces of the puzzle still. So, yeah, Ipswich will get there. I think they'll try and remain compact. They'll strike on the counter. There'll be a threat from set pieces, but ultimately I think United might be a little bit too strong. So I'm going to go with a 3-1 defeat. Manchester United, three.

1:06:26Ipswich, one. First goal scorer, essentially my thinking is going to be that United were really bad at set pieces in the game against Hull. Really poor. So Issa Diop is going to be my first goal scorer, which would also be a bonus point if it is true with our new system. So I'm going with that also to try and claw back some points

1:06:49Mark Heath:against the AI. 3-1 Man United. Issa Diop to score. Rossi, do you want to go next? Do you want me to go next? You should probably go next because you're in second.

1:07:00Ross Halls:Yes, I will. There's a lot of booing right now to AJ's direction from listeners right now. I'm not backing a Town win, but I think Town can get a draw here. I'm going to go 1-1. Julio and CISO to score Town's goal because he was so close, as we mentioned, at Sunderland. So, yeah, 1-1. Julio Nciso, solid draw. Good point. Head to Porton Road, Liverpool.

1:07:30Mark Heath:I was going to go with 1-1, but for the fun of the game, I won't. I also think they might be able to get a draw here, Rossi. So, I'll say I'll move from 1-1 to 2-2. Let's make an exciting, entertaining game, shall we, Old Trafford? I'll say 2-2. And I will stick with the big lad up top, the unit, Emerson. Scored in three games in a row, if you count pre-season. let's make it for old traffic shall we that'd be lovely wouldn't it so i'll say two to emerson stew clearly off today so we'll get his prediction um and share that closer to the game the only other thing question is what does our friend the cyborg think what is what is it predicting um let me find out shall i i have asked it already so let's hope it's not vanished oh it has good that's all right i'll just get it right then so the cyborg says I think this is more competitive than some people might suggest.

1:08:24Ipswich go to Old Trafford after beating Sunderland 2-1 while United lost to Nurt Hill. Yes, we know this. All right, A.I., stop banging on. Stop showing off. My prediction, Man United 2, Ipswich 1. I think United will have too much position. I think United will have too much position in territory at Old Trafford, but Ipswich will score. And it's got goal scorer. I'm not sure about this Jack Clark Jack Clark he'd be my pick because he scored the late win against Sunderland and he's the sort of player who could cause United problems in transition how I see it going, Clark puts Ipswich ahead or equalises and then United eventually turn the pressure into goals but Ipswich make it uncomfortable right to the end so AI the Cyborg which currently is top of the predictions league says 2-1 Man United Jack Clark to score So we've got two defeats on there.

1:09:18AI agreeing with AJ, but not quite on the score. We've got two draws and obviously still to come. If they get something from this game, Ross, I would be tremendously encouraged for the season as a whole. If they can start this season by winning two in a row

1:09:35Mark Heath:and then getting a point at Old Trafford, or dare I say, get a winner, that would be lift off. But if they get a point from this game, that'd be great, wouldn't it?

1:09:43Ross Halls:That'd be massive. I'm also a bit worried for my job because I know my main job isn't to be a pundit really you guys are the main you're a utility player pretty much but what you've found there with the AI that they're thinking behind their prediction with me it's just like it's vibes and it's just like I just feel that can happen and CISO loves a big stage and I think we can get a point but no, that would be massive, especially away from home because we know Porton Road is going to be very important for wins and points away from home, there'll be some grounds we'll probably get nothing from it so if we can get a point at Old Trafford, that would be massive so what start would be under Gary O 'Neill three games unbeaten, unbelievable

1:10:31Mark Heath:Dare to dream. Right boys, that brings to the podcast, we're coming up to the 70 minute mark, again quite a lot to talk about, lots of positive vibes other than AI stealing all of our jobs as it stands. Anything else you want to mention, AJ? I really like how you built that up or AI rather built that up to be like predicting that Ipswich are going to get a result only to go and I think Ipswich are going to lose actually after trying to big it up as a competitive game. AI is a show-off. It likes to show it's working. That's my finding when it comes to... We're very similar. AI and that's good. Yeah, no other business.

1:11:10keep an eye out on doing that transfer bit as mentioned, looking at the four positions that I think Ipswich could look to strengthen in before the end of the transfer window. Transfer window shuts next Tuesday. Will they get four players in? I picked four players out that they could sign as well. Who could leave? I picked some of those out as well. So yeah, keep an eye out for that one that we drop in tomorrow morning. Okay, Ross, anything from you before we head off?

1:11:37Ross Halls:No, just safe travels to everyone who are going to Old Trafford. I'm sure there's a few people maybe ticking off the ground if they didn't do it before. I'm just once again pinching myself that we're going to these sort of grounds. I know we did it last time around in the Premier League, but it's still mental that we're going to Old Trafford for a league fixture. So if you're not going to the game, as always, you'll plug it anyway, but follow our coverage. We'll be there. Do our normal bits and bobs.

1:12:02Mark Heath:So yeah, check it out. Excellent. Well, segue to that, of course. the KOA new website and app up and running. Very, very pleased with it, especially the app. Totally ad-free. I recommend that to anyone. Really, really happy and proud of it. £2 for two months. That's the offer still on at the moment. You need to get that through the website though, as I said. Don't sign up through Apple or Android if you want the offer. £2 for two months or£29 per year. Normal price will be£3.99 or£39 for a year. And thank you for everyone who's given us good feedback about it because we've had a lot of good feedback.

1:12:34Mark Heath:As I say, we are pretty bloody chuffed with the app. I think it's great. And there's nothing else out there like it. So jump on board. Exciting game to build up to, obviously, this weekend. The perfect time to sign up if you haven't already. And the more of you supporters, the bigger our egos get. That's not really the reason. It just means that we can carry on doing what we do and giving you this level of coverage, bluntly, because it's important in the current climate with newspapers and all that kind of stuff. So if you can support us, it really is massively, massively appreciated. so jump on board if you can uh and the other thing to mention of course it's just our sponsors use the code koa10 at molecular-uk.com for 10 % off all the excellent car cleaning products um i've used several of them now and i've been impressed with every single one they really are tremendous products and if you are car proud both inside and outside you will not find better products than these at least that i've tried in terms of getting your motor clean especially if going to give it a little wash ahead of these road trips we've got coming up this season.

1:13:33All right, then, friends. The other thing I want to mention was, of course, the Firestore review on iTunes. If you could just leave us one of those. It just helps us visibility-wise in the charts and helps more people find us. In this Premier League season, as we're Premier League podcast again, we want to swell the K-O-A army. OK, right then, friends. Two games in the books. Ipswich Town have won both of them. It's all going rather well. but can they now, can they now go and get something at Old Trafford on Sunday? If you can't be there, follow all the boys if you can. Have a great time and we'll be back next week to break it down.

1:14:04I will speak to you then.

1:14:28Thank you.

1:14:53Thank you.

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