EFL EXTRA: Dockers and Black Country derbies

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1:07Gregor Robertson: Hello and welcome to the Game Football Podcast from the Times and Sunday Times. This is our weekly EFL Extra podcast with me, Greg Robertson, and filling the boots of Tom Clark this week, the Times' very own Joe Harston. Joe great to have you on the show again regular listeners well remember Joe is the one who talked most sense on our pre-season preview show so 8 games in we're looking forward to hearing your view on the opening weeks of the season and your beloved Middlesbrough as well who has started very very well indeed yeah yeah you could say that yeah I don't think everyone's completely happy never are lots to talk about no of course not only one place to start though I think this weekend and that's the Dockers Derby, Millwall 2 West Ham 2.

1:54Gregor Robertson: Incredible atmosphere in this game. And I would advise anyone, before we get into the action, to read a piece in the Times this weekend by the Millwall legend and Times columnist Tony Cascarino, who was in conversation with the West Ham legend Alvin Martin about some of their battles over the years. And this is a derby, it's fair to say, It's been a long time since they've played each other, but it's a derby with a lot of animosity and emotion, shall we say, Joe. And you could feel that even through the TV screen watching this game at home. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And on the pitch, it didn't disappoint at all.

2:34Plenty of goals, a comeback, a red card and a very tactical foul in that. I think that West Ham have been very happy with that red card. So, yeah, it didn't disappoint at all. Definitely not.

2:45Gregor Robertson: two long throws by Lyndon Dykes gave Millwall a two-and-a-lead in the first half first thing I want to say is where has he been hiding this torpedo throwing and why haven't Scotland benefited from it yeah I know exactly I had no idea he could do that either and I guess he's the type of player you'd expect to be on the box on the end of it so maybe it gives me the same vibes as Harry Kane on corners at the Euros it feels like that type of thing you're not expecting him to be at the start of the move but yeah, it's what an amazing talent he's got hidden there And it was very much, I mean Alex Neil was saying afterwards it was very much a game of two halves Millwall, excellent in the first half he worked from the first seconds in fact you could see flying into challenges real sort of reflecting the intensity of the occasion rolling into a 2-0 lead and then West Ham really had the better of the second half and probably deserved to come back, would you say?

3:40Yeah, yeah, exactly I think it was 16 shots to one in favour of Millwall at half-time. So it literally couldn't have been more of a game of two halves. But yeah, the West Ham goals were well worked. Mavropanos in particular is a player I really like. I saw him play very well against Fulham last week in the League Cup. And he's one of those players that is such a presence in both boxes. The type of player that I described, like Maximus Dev was like at Burnley. and a centre-back that just towers over everyone and is such a force we reckon within the Championship and I wasn't surprised to see him pop up with one here.

4:15Gregor Robertson: Yeah, four goals in five for the Greece defender and his all-important equaliser got the two-all draw. And as you referenced earlier, the chance at the end, Lisby running through and Kante who'd pulled it back to 2-1 with a very kind of cynical felt. Do you think Lisby though could have stayed on his feet? Do you think he was too eager and happy to accept going down and the red card and maybe he hoped for a penalty perhaps. Yeah, it's a funny one because I've seen people on social media saying the same thing and you'd hope that no player would want to do that. I think that there's an angle, the kind of close-up angle, you can really see how much of his shirt that he gets.

4:53I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that if you're running at that pace, he's a very fast player, I'd like to think that if you're running at that pace, you probably would go down and it's the type of, like I said before, it's the type of challenge that you want to see at the end of a derby. I think I remember seeing something similar in a Madrid derby a few years ago. So, yeah, I'd like to give Lisby the benefit of the doubt there. What do you think? You've played this pair more than I have anyway.

5:18Gregor Robertson: I don't know. The first time I saw it, I thought, oh, my goodness, you could have stayed on your feet and got the shot off there. But you may be right. He was running at pace. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt just like you. What have you made? You've covered a couple of West Ham games this season at London Stadium. and Tom and I were kind of a little bit doubtful about the ease of which West Ham would adapt to the Championship and that kind of bore itself out in the opening weeks of the season but they're second in the league now, they've been on a really good run, scoring a lot of goals and this is a one-off kind of unique game but what have you made of West Ham's start to life in the Championship?

5:55Yeah, I think that it doesn't feel like much of a coincidence that once the transfer window is shut and they've finished their business and they know who's in and know who's out, that's when things seem to have settled. And if you look at where they have slipped up, games like Charlton, I think anybody can slip up against Nathan Jones' Charlton. They're the type of team that does pick up points where you aren't expecting them to. But yeah, when you look at that Wrexham game, six goals and six goals of real quality and some of the players that they have in there that are scoring these goals, Devan Mokassa is one in particular that I've really enjoyed watching so far and he's come alive back at West Ham And yeah, I was there last week, like I said, at the Fulham game, and they played like a team that had found their confidence again.

6:37After that Wrexham game, Jared Bowen, it said something along the lines of, this is where you can see that it feels like it's clicking. And yeah, against a Premier League team low on confidence, West Ham attacked with purpose. They were great from set pieces. They scored their first goal from a set piece and the second one from Coz and a bit of chaos in the box. Mavropanos like I said before is just such a huge player in those scenarios and yeah when you've got players like Morato coming in from Nottingham Forest stepping down from the Premier League you can see how this team has come together and it immediately looks in far better shape than it was when we were talking about them on the preview show

7:15Gregor Robertson: Another big performance by Mano Solomon I think as well and I'm working on a great wing play to get the cross in from Mavropanos at the end I think he's going to be a really big player for them at this level too okay on to another huge derby the black country derby wolves one west brome nil um and an awful awful mistake by nat phillips to gift wolves and fair lopez the winner in the 50th minute here joe yeah yeah exactly that and the kind of the first player i felt so far was max o 'leary because he'd made two excellent saves before that um he's a keeper that i quite like i remember seeing him a few times at the riverside playing out of his skin for bristol city when he was there um so yeah i wasn't surprised to see him pop up with two huge saves but I don't think there's anything he could have done with that one and yeah I mean you might have been in have you been in that kind of situation before but with not but Nat Phillips was in there that you know as a defender last man and just you kind of I don't know what it was it was he didn't see Phil Lopez making that running behind or whatever but it was yeah it was it was one he definitely might want to see again yeah it was awful to watch I mean he the just the idea of passing him back to the goalkeeper in that scenario was the wrong choice and Nat Phillips doesn't feel someone who is like you instantly feel is comfortable playing that kind of football and West Brom West Brom have been really good this season in the fact that they've mixed their play up they can dominate a game like that and they can dig in and kind of ground out gritty wins as well so they've not made too many errors like this leading to a goal but I don't think we'll see Nat Phillips doing that again and thankfully I have to admit I can't remember playing in a centre forward like that quite so good terribly good yeah yeah definitely and Wolves Wolves have been Wolves have been one of the teams I think it's quite hard to kind of put your finger on how good they are or not I think so far this season they've clearly another team like West Ham where you look at their team sheet and you know Andre in midfield with Munizzi Mane Lopez and Gomez Adam Armstrong up front like a back four including Trippier on paper this is one of the best teams in the league but they've they've not really they don't really seem to have hit hit the stride yet what have you made of their start to the to the championship season as well yeah i'd say similar they haven't been as kind of high scoring as we've been expecting um but i think that like which was might be in the chef united game we saw one of the goals come from that um tripier to to him and his link um it was what we were saying that i remember are they on the preview show i just after the preview show we're talking about how it's the type of partnership you can't write off a player that's so good in the air and a player that's so good at crossing um i think we might get to see more of that at some point um but yeah it's it's one of those where you think that there could definitely be more to see from them however if this is them not at their best yet and they're still achieving high high places in the table um i think that if i think they have a game in hand on the teams above them i think if they won that then they would go top i believe so they're clearly in a very good position anyway even though yesterday it took a slight bit of luck for them to win in the Black Country Derby I think that for Lopez, although again he won't get many easier goals than that this season he's looked very good and he's not a player that I was aware of before this season but he's looked probably like one of the best players in the league so far so yeah, I agree but I think that it's also the case with a lot of teams up there I think just because maybe it's down to click for West Ham It doesn't mean it necessarily has done for Middlesbrough, Southampton, and they're not all Wolves yet either.

10:52Gregor Robertson: Okay. On to the other game on Sunday, which was a seven goal thriller between Norwich and Bolton Wanderers. Bolton coming out on top in the end, and it's been a really kind of torturous start to the season for Norwich City. a team that we all, I say we all, probably me primarily, tipped for promotion at the start of the season after a fantastic end to the season under Philippe Clermont. But they've conceded 17 goals now. That's a league high in the Championship. And scored in so many goals, Moturi with another cracker, give him a sighted goal and he will have a crack. And he's up to five goals for the season now.

11:35Gregor Robertson: but they're simply unable to keep a clean sheet or to keep the opposition out at the back and until that changes, Joe, there's not really much hope of Norwich mounting a challenge. Yeah, I would agree. When you see the goals that Bolton scored, there were all different types of goals and there were some very good finishes in there but Thierry Gilles at the start, and he's been playing really well this season, he's in good goal-scoring form but it was snooking at the front post, probably maybe should have been saved um ito's goal for the winner um you had four men on one side of him and he had lots of space on his left to to be able to run into and shoot from distance um so yeah it is and and you can see like the fact that they've had their last two championship games they've lost four three in the middle of that they've lost heavily to manchester city in the cup which we probably shouldn't take too much from um but yeah it is it is that case of like they they are they do look excellent going forwards as they did at the end of last season but at the back it is just shaky at the moment Maybe we'll go on to QPR 2, Preston North End 2 now I think, some great goals in this game as well Johnny Kenny with two first half goals the first in the opening minute and the second a fine finish and Kwame Poku pulling a goal back for QPR who reduced to 10 men in the first half as well with a lovely little roll of the ball under his foot before wrapping it into the corner and then a 90th minute rocket by Paul Smith Paul Smith to earn a deserved point.

13:03Gregor Robertson: QPR are another team that have the sort of inconsistencies have been something that has almost characterised QPR as a club for a number of seasons now. Last season they went from the sublime to the ridiculous with every passing week. This season they're up to sixth. They've found a bit more consistency, a bit more attacking threat. They shot themselves in the foot with the red card to Dennis Sarkin in the first half here, Joe. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, they did. And I think that, well, it says a lot about them. I remember seeing there was times towards the end of last season where Kupia didn't really look like they had much fight in them.

13:38But this season, you can see that that is the case. Yeah, it was a real shame with the Dennis Sirkin red card, which I think probably was a red card. His follow through was quite high. I saw a few people saying that they didn't think it was. But I think that's probably right. But yeah, the fight that they showed to get back into it. and I don't know if you've seen the clip from the stands of the Paul Smith equaliser right at the end but it just looked like an unbelievable scenes in there That's one of the best developments

14:05Gregor Robertson: in recent seasons actually isn't it the kind of behind the goal cam Yeah it is although I'm not sure Yeah although I'm not sure that if I was stood behind the goal and I was seeing my team chasing a last minute equaliser with 10 men I'm not sure if I could bring myself to have my phone out No I know absolutely not You question the people doing it, but I'm glad they are. Yeah, exactly. I've been in matches before where I've seen people filming from every corner just in case. But yeah, all the ones that don't get deleted, they're usually pretty good content. And yeah, it was an excellent finish from Paul Smith and deserved in the end.

14:40But I think that the concern here is the fact that Preston couldn't hold on to a two-goal lead against Hemman.

14:48Gregor Robertson: Yeah Preston part of the company with the manager Paul Heckingbottom last week of course and it's been a very very difficult start to the season for them, let's go on to talk about Birmingham 2 Middlesbrough 2 now, Joe your side, I mean you were very excited about Will Lancashire at the start of the season and the idea that you'd sign someone to fill a hole that was clearly evident you needed someone to stick the ball in the back of the net and finish all the chances you were creating you must be very excited about Amario Cozzi-Dubri as well and his run in the build-up to that first goal, my word.

15:24Yeah, yeah, it's a funny one with Cozzi-Dubri because it wasn't someone that was on our radar. Well, I think it was someone that was on everyone's radar but nobody knew where in the championship he was going to end up and then on deadline day when the news kind of came in that Morgan Whittaker was going to be moving out to the MLS I was with Tom in the office and we both said to each other I think he could be coming to Borough here this could be the perfect replacement And many fans have been, were concerned that although Whittaker was quite inconsistent a lot of the time, he was still an output machine and he was our highest scorer last season.

15:54And to swap, effectively swap someone for someone who has played very well in League One but not had championship experience did feel like a risk. But so far, he looks excellent. A goal against Norwich and the run for the assist. I mean, he probably should have had a goal before this point against Birmingham. but yeah the assist was excellent and we've been able to see right from the start how just just kind of how much of a difference he can make on that side I was at Crystal Palace in the away end when we played in the cup and although there wasn't many wasn't much to shout about from a Borough point of view Cozy Dubry you could tell on his debut was was already going to make a difference and I think that this this example this assist for Max Arfston at Birmingham is the biggest example so far.

16:39I can't think of another Borough player that kind of has that tight control and pace at the same time. And it's also great to see Max Arfston get on the score sheet because he's kind of been in and out of the team, not been playing in that left wing back position as much as a lot of fans expected him to. So yeah, he completed that trio of Americans that Borough are having there now and it was a really good finish from him.

17:01Gregor Robertson: Birmingham, of course, turned the game around. Liam Miller leveled. He's had a great start to life on loan from Hull City. And then a bizarre pinball-owned goal. I think it hit Reilly McGree last to go behind. So is there any sort of fear about the fact that you're having to salvage points from behind? 18th minute leveler here, probably a bit fortunate given the way the goalkeeper James Beedle fumbled it. Is there any concern about that amongst Beedle's fans? Yeah, not necessarily these type of goals, but just the defensive record in general. And I guess that if you talk about Norwich being on kind of the wrong side of these goal fests, Middlesbrough have kind of just about been on the right side of it.

17:40But also there's, you're seeing that this back line, the back line just isn't really remaining the same. And funnily enough, one of the only constants in the back line has been Luke Ayling. And he's one of the players that fans are thinking maybe he's a little bit past it. When they drew two all against Millwall in midweek last week, he was outpaced completely for the first goal. He looked really exposed at the back. and he's playing centre-half because we have Callum Britton playing at right wing back or right back and he just doesn't feel like he has the aerial threats in those positions. Milanda didn't play against Millwall and it already felt like a huge loss and a concern having Ayling as one of your centre-halves against a very physical Millwall team and while we weren't necessarily caught out in the air in that game, I think that in this game, even with Milanda back, you can see that we maybe lack that a little bit.

18:27Alfie Jones is currently injured but I think that you would think that Jones and Ashley Phillips would probably be our best centre-half pairing but Helberg seems to really like Ayling and when he plays he's captain and it's probably a big part of why he wants to keep him on the pitch

18:45Gregor Robertson: Okay, well, draws for Middlesbrough and West Ham gave Swansea the chance to move out clear on top of the Championship table with a 2-1 win at Lincoln City Peter Matos joined Swansea on November 24th last year and now since the start of December the only team to win more points than Swansea are Southampton so it's been a remarkable turnaround and he's made a remarkable impact and before we discuss this one we have a voice note to listen to from our roving reporter Tom Clark who sent us this before he jetted off on his holidays Please. Hi, lads. Couldn't quite go on holiday and crack open the beers without sending some final thoughts for the EFL Extra show.

19:31I was at Sinsel Bank on Saturday to watch Swansea beat Lincoln 2-1 and go top of the championship table. Lincoln were good, probably the better team in the first half. Lots to like as a Lincoln fan, but unfortunately, set-piece FC doesn't work if your set-pieces aren't very good. One of the main reasons for that was that Lawrence Figueroa in the Swansea goal was excellent, came for everything, claimed everything, punched everything, looked really, really eager to get off his line when those crosses came into the box. Ben Kabango at centre-back was good as well. And I like the look of him, you know.

19:59Gregor, they didn't come up when we were discussing, you know, automatic promotion contenders in the Championship. But I think they could be right up there. As I mentioned, tough at the back. They've got Stamanić, who just sits as a defensive midfielder in front of that back four. And then they've got four creative players that play around a central striker, whether it's Vipotnik or Ida. Really quick, incisive play. They came out after half-time. They were 1-0 down and sucker-punched Lincoln with two brilliant goals. One of them was deflected, but the moves and the intensity with which they played at was excellent.

20:31That generally emanated from Vito Matos on the touchline. Really interesting character. He and his bench were up and down all the time. Quite Mikel Arteta-esque, actually. And he's very much a kind of sidelines conductor. You can see him moving everyone around a bit like players on a chess board. So I think they'll be up there. I think they could be really contenders so my question after that little bit of analysis for both of you is if I'm saying Swansea could make a charge Gregor I know you've mentioned Norwich before but who are we seeing as the outside contenders to push up we've got West Brom up there as well they lost to Wolves of course but who do we think could challenge that top three or four elite Gregor I think from memory you picked out West Ham, Middlesbrough and Southampton last week's show who could be the outside contenders look forward to hearing what you've got to say

21:20Gregor Robertson: Okay Joe, who will you go for then as surprise contenders for promotion? I mean, it feels a little bit early to be saying this but especially on current form I'm going to go with Stoke they looked really down and out with Mark Robbins at the end of last season and at the start of this season some really poor results right at the beginning but from the last five games they picked up the most points in the league 13 from the last 15 points so that must be what, four wins and a draw and yeah they look they look excellent i think i'm sure we'll get on to their uh their winner at sheffield united this weekend um some excellent goals in there um sam gallagher scoring we've got um ethan galbraith is they're finding out kind of how to use him properly he wasn't really being utilized so well at the start of the season but he's picked up a few assists in the last few weeks and yeah things seem suddenly um a lot brighter for them and and i remember them starting the season well in the in the past so maybe i won't say that they're going to be promoted but i think they're going to be up there for the next few months at least.

22:22Gregor Robertson: Yeah, I think I switched to a back three as well as kind of transformed their season after losing Sorba Thomas. So really interesting there. And it was getting towards the point of no return for Mark Robbins. So being a fantastic turnaround for Stoke City. I'm still not giving up on Norwich, purely because they have so much firepower. And I don't know whether it's a change of personnel or whether some more work by Philippe Clement on the training ground. It wasn't really a characteristic of their team last season. I feel like it's something that could be rectified, this sort of defensive openness and weakness.

22:59Gregor Robertson: And also, again, we've mentioned this in recent weeks, when the playoffs go down to eighth place, you could be in the bottom half of the table in February and still have a chance. and Norwich turned around their season last season, I still think that they've got a chance and I would also say QPR look like they're a bit more of a grown up team this season so they would be my two shouts. I think next we should maybe talk about Wrexham 2, Southampton 1. A big win for Wrexham win that they needed after some really disappointing results including the 6-0 defeat by West Ham United, Kiefer Moore header and a leveller by James Ward-Prowse, his first goal since rejoining the club.

23:45Gregor Robertson: And then a late goal under pressure by Calum O 'Hare, Schlotterbeck, in the 89th minute. So really, really big win for Wrexham because Phil Parker's done an incredible job, but it doesn't seem to take that long for the fans whose expectancy levels have spiked enormously to start kind of murmuring about whether he's the long-term man to take him forward. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think these two teams have been just prime examples of how the championship works because you just can't predict any of their scorelines after you see the way that Sal Ampton were scoring so many towards the start of the season and then they go to Lincoln and struggle in front of goal.

24:25And then, yeah, it felt like that again here. Also, Kiefer Moorer and James Ward-Prowers aren't names you see on the score sheet so much these days. So that was fun to see. But, yeah, this is a really interesting one. I also quite liked, you know, I fell for the Hollywood bait of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mack getting involved in the Spygate drama before the game. Yeah, well, I had to really, but it was funny.

24:51Gregor Robertson: Go on, explain for anyone who hasn't seen it what this was. Yeah, so they'd filmed an advert for one of their sponsors. I think it was, you might be able to tell me, was it a security firm or something like that? I only watched it last week. I've not seen it since. something like that it was and they basically green screened themselves on onto what I think was was looked like Rockcliffe and the tree where where the Southampton spy was against Middlesbrough and that and they did their ad read in front of that but it was all very you know aimed at aimed at Southampton and when when Tonda Eckert was asked before this one kind of what he thought of this one and whether what he thought of this advert and and the joke and the jibes at his players and his are his more specifically him um he was uh i think it was just a very diplomatic uh i think you know i don't find that funny or something like that it was uh i think you can see why i don't see the funny side here which uh i guess is probably what what you know he's going to be told to say in that situation this result leaves southampton 13th uh tied with rexham 14th place on 10 points although southampton of course had a minus uh four point deduction which would actually put them level with force plate wolves important moment for in southampton season coming up this week donda eckhart's hearing over uh said spygate scandal is scheduled for for thursday now uh joe what's your uh what's your gut instinct about about the outcome of this one i'm i'm really not sure it just feels like it's i don't know from my point of view it it feels like it should be kind of water under the bridge by now but really a little bit from a Middlesbrough point Middlesbrough fans point of view I mean I try not to think about something so much um you know in terms of Borough kind of got what they wanted out of out of that out of their punishment already um I think that it's it's it's the it's the what what was in the nitty-gritty of the written reasons from the EFL stuff and that the you know the way that um interns were used in this way and things like that is what could be what feels to me what could be what comes back to bite Tonda Eckert.

26:59Obviously we won't get to see these type of things that the FA has used to make that decision until after they've made it but what about you how do you see it going?

27:08Gregor Robertson: I think it would be enormous news and probably the kind of spotlight that neither the FA nor the EFL would want if he was to be punished any more severely than really the happy been already you know it's within their power to ban him I don't think that'll happen and he's you know he's been very repentant and he still is you know there's been more kind of noises coming out of Southampton in the last few days about him having learned his lesson and I think you're right actually after I remember our discussion and the preview show in pre-season about and I was kind of probably slightly stronger on the idea that Southampton this is going to be a bit of an Albatross are going to have to carry around for the whole season.

27:54Gregor Robertson: I think you're right. I was wrong. I think it's kind of died down in the minds of most supporters. And, you know, you're a Middlesbrough supporter. Really, you've got more skin in the game than me. And I think that the FA will probably find Southampton and that would be it and everyone will be able to move on. Yeah, exactly. Because, you know, they've talked about the sanctions they've already faced. And I think that the line from the club in the recent interviews was kind of like, well, yeah, if you sanction Tonda now individually, then that still becomes another sanction on the club because it sounds like they don't have anyone else lined up ready just in case.

28:32They're obviously happy with how he started the season. So, yeah, it really would be back to square one and something that is kind of brutal to give them, what will it be, eight or nine games into the season by the time it comes. So, yeah, it would feel like a really odd one to have a manager banned midway through the season but you just never know there hadn't been a team kicked out of the playoff final before so this is really unprecedented Indeed

28:59Gregor Robertson: Another manager who's probably the wrong thing to say but the job was under threat is Nicky Hayen who was so close to his first win as Burnley manager Zeki Anduni his back post header gave Burnley a 34th minute lead and they held that lead until the 93rd minute when Mohamed Fusil Zinni scored his first goal from Derby. Great strike this one. Really good one. Yeah, yeah. Swerving outside the end of the far post, as you say. Yeah, yeah. When I first watched it, I didn't realise kind of how... I watched it back again when I was doing my prep this morning and realised just kind of how far and wide away from the goal he actually was.

29:38He really had to really put a lot of, yeah, swerve on it and it came in off the post, really put his laces through it. It's an impressive finish, but I really feel bad for Burnley in this one because this was one that they really did have to win.

29:48Gregor Robertson: Cardiff City get the first win of the season Jack Moylan's double, the second of which was an absolute beauty either side of Yusuf Sellers' goal Finally, Cardiff, who despite some really encouraging underlying numbers in terms of expected goals and touches in the penalty box and big chances created they're a team that dominate possession almost as much as anyone in the league they've struggled to turn that into points so this was a big win against Nathan Jones Charlton Portsmouth 2, Blackburn 2 Atholian with another strike and Morishita you feel that those two players in Blackburn's team will always give Tony Moebrey's side a chance Pompey probably deserving to get the equaliser from Colby Bishop even though it was quite a fortuitous one big deflection didn't stop Colby Bishop running off and celebrating as if he'd scored an absolute beauty and Bristol City with a 1-0 win over Watford Don Ballard with a lovely header from Rio Cardenas cross the Crystal Palace defender now has six assists in seven league games he's got a remarkable run it's a beautiful cross as well Joe if you saw this one yeah it was fantastic yeah he reminds me of I think does he play on the right Cardenas but he reminds me of Ryan Giles when he was in his kind of early championship lawns just cross after cross and it's absolutely pinpoint and yeah if it's working it seems to be working for Don Ballard I think that there's still more we can see from Laurent Tulli, a big target man forward as well.

31:20But yeah, when you have crosses, I like going to the box. That is a striker's dream and they keep on coming.

31:25Gregor Robertson: And I think we'll save the best to last. Stoke 2, Sheffield United 1. Three absolutely sublime goals in this game, starting with Calvin Phillips. Deceptive, near post free kick, and then two absolute peaches from Stoke City players, Joe. Yeah, I saw a clip of Calvin Phillips speaking afterwards where he'd actually said to the referee, do you reckon I can shoot from here? And the ref had said, I wouldn't if I were you, but he did anyway. And yeah, I think that Calvin Phillips said himself that Johansson was out of position and that's why he was able to sneak it in. But then in the end, it's not the goal that I think that people remember this one for because Jack McGlynn for the second week in a row scoring an absolute worldie.

32:08and he actually said in his press conference afterwards that it's something that he's known for. So that's something promising for Stoke and especially if I'm going to be backing them up the top of the table then they need to be scoring more of them. And then I think the pick of the bunch came at the end from Sam Gallagher. It was a great ball over the top from Ethan Galbraith but talk about a lot to do. I think he hit it on the bounce. I know there's been a lot of talk this week about what is and isn't a volley from after Sovel's eyes go but I think this one was just a shot on the bounce. What was it?

32:41Gregor Robertson: I'm calling it a volley. It's high enough. Yes, he plucked out this guy. It might have bounced beforehand. I know there are some people who think that the ball has to, it can't bounce before you strike it if it's to be termed a volley but it bounced high enough that this has to be a volley and it struck so sweetly. Yeah, to keep it under control like that is serious, serious technique and yeah, I think he scored not one quite as good as this but one as far out as this on the opening day. so yeah Sam Gallagher obviously a strike it's been about in the championship for a while it's not one that I remember scoring goals like this but yeah if it continues then Stoke are obviously in a good position I think they were probably good value for the win here there was lots of disappointment from the performance from the Sheffield United ended the end from this one Yeah that one takes Stoke up to 7th after a fantastic run and Stoke City are the place to go for for worldly goals this season it seems Swansea top the table on 17 points two points behind them are West Ham United and Middlesbrough Wolves and West Roma point back in 14th QPR 6th Stoke 7th, Bristol City 8th make up the top 8 now it'll still take a while getting used to saying that actually I think the top 8 instead of the top 6 but that's the way it is and still propping up the table are Burnley, Winless Burnley on 4 points Managel is Preston on 4 points as well and Derby County one point ahead on 5th making up the bottom 3 Cardiff City's first win of the season lifts them out of the bottom 3 onto 7 points and they are looking up that wraps up the Championship Review after a break we will be looking at League 1 and League 2 see you then

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37:09Gregor Robertson: Hello and welcome back to the game football podcast from the Times and Sunday Times This is our EFL Extra podcast coming to you every single week although next week we will take a break because of the greatly reduced slate during international break even games in League 1 and League 2 are dropping like flies nowadays so we'll take a break next week but we'll be back with you in a four nights time when Tom Clark's back from his holidays as well. Into League One now, Joe. Fascinating start to the season. We've got a new league leader in Bradford City and I think that influences your win of the weekend in League One.

37:50Yeah, well, I mean, I've actually been a bit sneaky and chosen two wins. So I've said Bradford going top is my moment of the weekend. Yeah, they're a club that I really like. I went over there last year to do a little newsletter piece and they'd lost against Cardiff on the day. But you can see that they're such a well-supported club. They play good football and Graeme Alexander has done excellent work there. And I think that I also hate to see managers being poached in the moment Graeme Alexander is being linked to a club that he is a bit of a legend at in Preston North End. And I'd like to think that the better they keep on doing in League One and the more chance they have a promotion, hopefully we won't see them being poached, which is why that is my main win of the weekend.

38:37Also, this Luton side is maybe not doing as well as they'd hoped, but yeah, they're not an easy team to beat. And yeah, they did it in, they defended a lead from after four minutes, from going in the lead in four minutes. So yeah, my moment of the weekend, I guess, happened in 90 minutes when they officially went top of the league.

38:57Gregor Robertson: Three 1-0 wins out of the last four. for Bradford City that's very much Bradford City's calling card very resolute defensively and you're right I think Graeme Alexander is someone who is actually an underrated manager he's been very successful almost everywhere he's been and Bradford City go top of the league that is a fantastic story for a club that's been away from the championship for far far too long so excellent weekend for Bradford City I have gone for Doncaster Rovers' win against Peterborough. For several reasons. First of which is it was Doncaster's first win of the season. Very, very much needed.

39:42Gregor Robertson: Still in the relegation zone, but lifted them to within a point of safety. But also it was Grant McCann returning to his former club, Peterborough United, who as a result of this game sacked their manager, Luke Williamson. and really Luke Williams is about the only guy that Peterborough have turned to who isn't called Darren Ferguson or Grant McCann in recent years so it'll be very interesting to see who Darren McCann turns to next but dire times for Peterborough and a moment of light amid the gloom for Doncaster Rovers let's go for your goal of the weekend Joe Yeah, a little bit controversial, maybe, because I've gone for a Russell Martin goal, a Russell Martin special.

40:32Leicester, this was obviously a very disappointing result for Leicester. There was more boos towards Russell Martin at the end of this game because they drew one all and couldn't keep hold of a one-goal lead against 10 men, Barnsley. They were smashed and grabbed a little bit, and the reason why they went 1-0 up was because of a passing move that started from a goal kick. It was 22 passes long. When I first watched the highlights, I didn't notice this because it was so long it was cut off and then you only saw the last few passes but then on socials I actually saw one of those classic graphics with the clock in the corner ticking up each pass and yeah 2022 from a goal kick from a short goal kick and yeah for all this talk of Russell Martins football not working I mean at all or specifically in the lower leagues this was one that he will at least should at least feel a little bit vindicated with Liam Cullen was the final scorer but it must have gone through pretty much every player and yeah a rare kind of positive for Russell Martin that that yeah this this was an excellent goal and it should have been more than a point for them on the day.

41:32Gregor Robertson: Great goal as you say though you know doesn't ease the pressure on Russell Martin and given that we're unable to be a team with 10 men for most of the game so still tough times for Russell Martin and Leicester City. My goal of the weekend in League One is Jack Marriott's first goal for Reading against Notts County 2-0 win for Reading against Notts County and you know there were perhaps better goals scored this weekend but this is I would say the most satisfying goal to watch of the weekend a brilliant, brilliant cross by Hayden Roberts, left foot a kind of cross that is almost undefendable and behind the back line, goalkeepers not able to come and Jack Marriott running onto it proper diving header emphatic, just about burst the net, just so satisfying to watch and Jack Murray is someone who's in outstanding form, 8 goals for the season now, top scorer in League 1 scored the second in this game as well after some lovely wing play by Kairis Lisby playing with so much confidence real journeyman being around a lot of clubs but still still firing for Reading and Reading are very much glad to have them this is a great, great goal so I advise anyone to go and have a look at that if you haven't seen it already okay so I think we got your win and your moment mixed up earlier what's your win of the weekend in League One then Joe?

42:56So my win of the weekend I guess probably on the similar lines to your Doncaster choice I've gone for Bromley beating Huddersfield this is Huddersfield's first loss of the season and it's Bromley's first home win and yeah it was just a much more lighter and more impressive result usually we see teams that can go straight up from League 2 and excel in League 1 and that hasn't necessarily happened for Bromley yet but this was a much needed win and against a position that wouldn't expect it.

43:29Gregor Robertson: Huddersfield going really well 2-4th in League 1 so you're right that was a very very big win for Bromley who are still down in 19th place and have conceded a bucket load of goals, 18 goals they've conceded from their 7 games, a lot of which came against Sheffield Wednesday of course My moment of the weekend in League 1 A little bit cruel this maybe And I feel like you're going to highlight An awful miss in League 2 in a moment too But I've got to say Dan Kemp's miss For Stevenage in the one they'll defeat Against Leighton Orient was a howler Lovely cross into the box When they were 1-0 down Towards the end Sanderson's cross from the left In swinger, flicked onto the back post And Kemp who's in great form this season we should say I think he scored three goals this season the minute of number 10 ball falls to him at the back post and he just completely fresh fresh aired it missed the ball completely and turned round and managed to find find the wherewithal to to pull a smile across his face because it was just an absolute shocker so that was my moment perhaps a slightly cruel moment of the weekend in League 1 into League 2 give us your win of the weekend Joe I've gone for Gillingham's win at Bristol Rovers because you know a couple of weeks ago it all looked like it was going very well for Bristol Rovers they were top of the league Gillingham actually haven't lost since the opening day though although they went on a streak of three draws and now they're on a streak of three wins and I think that this one is the biggest kind of statement of the lot before that it was against Tramier Alv Rochdale so those two that maybe you'd expect a team challenging up there to win whereas Bristol Rovers is beating a team that you expect to be up there with and to beat them to nil and to win comfortably like this I think is really impressive and that's why I'll say that Gareth Ainsworth's Gillingham has my result of the weekend We've Gillingham up to fourth on the table on 12 points behind three teams who have yet to lose Barnett, Walsall and Grimsby and that's why my win of the weekend is Barnett's victory against Fleetwood Town 3-1 win they just aren't going away Barnett last season were one of the best teams in League 2 very unlucky not to make the playoffs after winning promotion from the National League Dean Brennan's sides are the highest scorers in League 2 and actually they've won the last two but threw three before that and with some comedy defending and actually without that they would have been out clear at the top of League 2 so it's going to be a really competitive field this season I think as I say Barnett unbeaten, Walsall unbeaten Goomsby behind them unbeaten both of those teams are 2 points behind Barnett and actually 9th place Crewe on 11 points are also unbeaten, just a few too many draws there so yes Barnett look like they're emerging as the favourites for the League 2 title although you have to say it's going to be a crowded field this season.

46:43Gregor Robertson: Give me your goal of the weekend in League 2. So this was in Chesterfield's win over York, which again I'd say was another statement win. Two teams that have started the season very well and York have picked up some really impressive wins themselves. But in this one, they were 1-0 down to Chesterfield. And in the last minute when they're sending men forwards, Dylan McAndrey for Chesterfield, he took the ball a little give and go just out of the center circle but in his own half um gets it out on the wing and he pushes past two defenders like sprinting i when i had to check if he was a sub because it looked like he was kind of it looked like a substitute taking on you know players with fresh legs um but it wasn't um even though this was in the 91st minute and yeah he took it took it right right down the wing um really tight to the byline cut himself in and and a really emphatic finish at the end of it and and yeah just just just a really really nice nice goal and a good win and a good way to cap off a really impressive win against a promotion or maybe a playoff rival.

47:45Gregor Robertson: Yeah, great finish by Bonas who you have to say as well in the 57th minute for Chesterfield. He also rattled the crossbar with another. Well, he would have been my other one if he just scored that one off the crossbar. Yeah, I know. Yeah, Chesterfield. Yeah, Chesterfield, a few people were writing them off earlier in the season, but I think under Paul Cook who will always be in the conversation for the playoffs at the very least. My goal for the second week in a row goes to Joe Powell of Salford City. Scored an absolute screamer last week against his old club, Rotherham United. The only issue with that was that he apologised for doing so afterwards.

48:22Gregor Robertson: He held his hands up. Tom and I were not happy about that. We agreed on that one. This was another absolute howitzer with his left foot, which in my view probably a little bit biased always makes a strike from distance look even better and a big 1-0 win against Windon Town Southwood won three of the last four now after a very difficult start and the goals of Joe Powell have played a big big part in that Okay, Joe give us your moment of the weekend in League 2 Well, yeah you teed me up to say that it's another mean one and this one is Mike Fondorf's miss against Rochdale for Oldham. Yeah, he's a very experienced striker at this level and I'm sure he was able to kind of, well, maybe not laugh this off straight away because they'd get beat in a derby against a team that's right by them in the league.

49:14But yeah, I think this might have even been worse than the Birmingham one last week, Vasquez's, because to see his teammate chase down the keeper, won the ball, worked so hard to win the ball and it rolled straight into his path and I can't think of any other possible infringement that could have been made. But yeah, he missed the target and he missed a much harder chance before that, a header that he'd just put over the bar. And in the end, I think Rochdale, Oldham had missed five big chances in this match. So I think that kind of summed up their luck on the day, but a really big win for Rochdale who haven't really quite got started yet since their promotion.

49:55Gregor Robertson: it was an extraordinary miss yeah maybe 12 yards from goal the goalkeeper it was around about yeah close to the penalty spot the goalkeeper's on the floor desperately trying to make it back to put him off but you know failing and no one between him and the goal and somehow he slotted it wide it was extraordinary extraordinary miss I think you're right it was up there with the Mascos one and blew my one in league one out of the water Dan Kemp's one so yeah if we've not seen this I urge anyone to go and watch this mess it's a howler finally my moment of the week in League 2 I don't know is this one cruel?

50:35Gregor Robertson: I hope not I found it really funny watching this in the extended highlights between Colchester United and Cheltenham in the 78th minute of their 1-0 draw Sean Raggett just had a moment of madness across into the box and he threw his arm up into the air and clearly handballed it and it was just at that moment afterwards it felt like the entire stadium in unison along with the entire Cheltenham Town team and all the players on the pitch raised their hand and shouted, handball! It was like this kind of chorus of just absolute no doubt whatsoever that this was going to be a penalty and then you saw Sean Raggett very sheepishly trying to claim that he was pushed in the back, but his heart wasn't in it at all.

51:25Gregor Robertson: So a kind of comedy moment, I thought, in League Two. And Andy Wyman dispatched the penalty. So ultimately it cost his team two points as well. So not a good one, a good moment for Sean Raggett or Colchester United. But I would urge anyone to go and see that if you haven't seen it yet. I think that any time when a crowd is involved, but I think that it makes a moment even better I can't remember which game it was now in the championship but there was one where the keeper had saved it this was just this weekend keeper saved it you hear everyone go oh behind the goal away fans behind the goal and then it rolls just past the post and they do it all again and you hear them react twice in the same shot and I think that yeah it makes all of these things sound even better when you can hear the crowds reactions behind the goal Okay the live landing league 2 as I say Barnett out in front making up the playoffs Gillingham Cheltenham Bristol Rovers in York City and still Crawley Town and poor Vale whose manager John Brady was booed off after their latest defeat of the weekend are mired in the relegation zone just above Northampton Town whose takeover by a Brazilian consortium including Alexander Pato is nearing completion so possibly more exciting times ahead for the Cobblers but we shall see if there's more on that when we are back for another show in two weeks time.

52:57Gregor Robertson: Joe, thank you very much for ably standing in for Tom Clark. Thank you for having me. Great to have you on. We will be back in a fortnight for another EFL Extra. Hope to see you then.

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