Football 1

1. Xabi Alonso new Chelsea Manager.

2. Brian Mbeumo Handball Controversy.

3. Pep Guardiola leaves Man City.

4. Arsenal win the 2025/2026 Premier League.

5. The Southampton Spygate Scandal.

6. Aston Villa win the 2025/2025 UEFA Europa Cup.

7. England squad for 2026 World Cup.

8. Morgan Rogers Correction.

8. Equal Rights Poem.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So Chelsea have announced the signing of Xabi Alonso as their new manager after they had um parted company with Leroy Um Rossinia. So yeah, um I'm a big fan of um Xabi Alonso, top top player, tough tackling midfielder. Um he started at Real Sociedad as a player, then went to Liverpool, who was part of that 2004-2005 team that amazingly came back from 3-0 down against um AC Milan in the first half and came back to win it um 4-3 on penalties. That was an amazing game. Um I must say, everyone thought that Liverpool would done and dusted at halftime, but um I remember um Zabia Alonso, but especially the um captain Steven Gerrard coming out and um saying to the players, come on guys, let's let's do this basically, let's start working. And something happened. It was as if they flicked a switch at half time, and it went to 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, and when it got to 3-3, you just knew that something was in the air and that um something amazing was about to happen, or was on a verge of happening, and yeah, they won it. Um at the end, I felt a bit sorry for AC Milan because I thought that Liverpool had lost it, but the um way it went, I think it was just meant to be for Liverpool. Yeah, so he was a top player there, um, he he won a f um lots of things there, I think. Um then he went to Real Madrid as a player as well. He went to Bayern Munich, and then after that, um his first um managing role, I think, was by uh Levi Kusin um being manager. Um then he went to Real Madrid. It didn't quite work out at Madrid. Um I think he was I think he was there for about seven, eight months. I think I think seven months. Um I think on with um two or three players or something like that. Um Madrid were going through a change. I think they still are going through a change. Um the fans were upset about certain players um not not putting in a real shift on the pitch and more about um their lifestyles um outside it. So yeah, um I think he'll do good at Chelsea. I do. Um you know he knows he knows how to win when you're down. Obviously, he was part of that 2004-5 Liverpool side. So he's got strong mentality, he's a tough tackler, um good passer of the ball, he was. So I think with all that mentality and experience, I think he'll do good at Chelsea. Um Chelsea, I think, are going through um a change at the club. So I think that this could be the start of a new beginning and a successful one, and I think that Xabia Alonso is gonna surprise a lot of people at the club. Um so yeah. Um I'm not sure um what trophies he's gonna win, but I think that he's gonna win a trophy or two. Um, yeah. Um he's a kind of manager that doesn't stand for any messing about. Um, if any of the players think that they're gonna um get a starting position because of their name or you know what they've done in the past, I think he's just gonna um put a line under those performances and say, look, right, yeah, um you are gonna be in the team from what you do on the training pitch. Um if players are not putting in a shift on the training pitch, I don't think he'll put them in the um starting 11. They'll probably most likely start on the bench and then um get subdone. So, yeah, he's a um top manager. Um, yeah, so I don't think he'll stand for any rubbish. Um it also depends if he gets on with the owners because Chelsea are owned by American owners. Um I don't think they see it as a passion project, it's a business for them, as all clubs are now, and they won't stand for any messing about. If you go through a period of lots of failures, they'll probably um call him into the office and say, Look, right, um things have got to change, otherwise, we might start looking around for a new manager. So, you know, they'll be watching, he'll be watching them. So I hope you get something with the owners. Um obviously they've looked at him, looked at his career, and decided that he's the um the best man for the job. So yeah, I wish Zabia Alonso all the best.

Brian Mbeumo Handball Controversy

SPEAKER_00 5:15

The Embuemo handball um controversy is still ongoing. Um I've seen the highlights, I've seen the playbacks, I've seen the two guys in the VAR upstairs studio um debate it, and to me it's pretty straightforward, it's a handball. Um it because if you look at it in slow motion, it's even more straightforward because when when the ball comes to his um body and hits his thigh, he moves his arm to the ball to cradle the ball against his body to to try and control it, and it's just so straightforward, and for the referee to give it not a handball is just ridiculous. I mean the refs and the VAR I suppose have their last say in these matters, and everyone has to watch the replays. Um everyone has to have their say. Um the commentator when it happened was Gary Neville, and he also agreed that it was a handball, it's it is clear as day, it's straightforward. What's the what's controversy? And to me it seems that VAR is just looking at things in an overcomplicated way. They always rewind it, look at it, rewind it, and the more they do it, the more it's a handball. And yet at the end of all that, the two guys in the VAR studio could not make up their mind with all that technology, they couldn't make up their mind, or maybe they didn't want responsibility, so they handed it to the ref and he went and had a look at his screen on the pitch, and all the players were trying to surround him to try and intimidate him. And at the end of the day, for me, I think the ref got swayed by the size of the club. I mean, I know that they'll say that oh we are not swayed by which teams are playing, but I think um, in my opinion, that some of these refs are swayed by how big the club is. Um for me, if that was if that happened to a player from Nuts Forest, he would have given the handball. Because obviously Knox Forest is the smaller team than uh than Man United or Chelsea or Man City or Liverpool. And I think by human nature, refs are gonna give the doubt or the benefit of the doubt to the bigger club. Um some of you guys might say, Oh, it's not right, but I think that's how some of these refs um operate. Um do they do it intentionally? I don't know. Um but with the amount of technology that they've got with VAR and the ability to slow down these um controversies, um you know, um sort of like frame by frame, it's just I think they overcomplicate it. I really do. And obviously it doesn't it doesn't matter what my my opinion is or Gary Neville's um the only three people who've got a decision is the ref and the two people in the VAR studio. But yeah, um of these var decisions are just ridiculous. Um I don't know if they do it on purpose to try and make more of a controversy than to give a straightforward decision after two or three minutes. But yeah, to me, right, I've looked at that over and over and it's a plain handball, but the people in charge, the powers that be, say it's not a handball. So um I take it you guys have seen it. What do you think? I mean, obviously some of you are gonna agree with the ref, some are not gonna agree with the ref. But yeah, um I think with the upcoming World Cup, there's gonna be lots of lots of controversial decisions involving VAR, you know, was it was it ball to hand, was it um uh hand to ball uh and things like that? And I think that whichever countries are gonna play in the World Cup, um the referee in charge of these matches, their heads are gonna be turned by top players, you know, and top countries, and more often than not, they are gonna give the benefit of the doubt to the bigger club or the bigger um a country or the um or the top four or five um players of that year. Um so yeah, that's my um opinion on the var decision of the Bueno um controversy.

Pep Guardiola leaves Man City

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Two big stories that I want to tell you about today is that um Pep Guardiola of Man City is um leaving the club. I knew that there was rumours of him thinking of leaving over the past few weeks, but um it was announced yesterday that um he's in fact leaving um the club um um after the last game on um Sunday. So Sunday will be his last game for the club. Um I think he's been there for about 12 years, I might be wrong, but what a man, what a manager, what a man who had passion. Um Pep won um twenty trophies, and the trophies that he won are six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups, three FA Community Shields, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Super Club, and one FIFA Club World Cup. But what a man! Um when Pep came to the club, I didn't think that he would do as well as he did. I knew that he was a very good manager, um, but yeah, that guy he knew how to manage players, he knew how to get the best out of every player, um, and yeah, he is gonna be sorely missed. Um and the manager that comes to replace him, I don't know how they're gonna do it. I might be wrong, but it's gonna be as big as replacing Sir Alex Ferguson when he left. Um yeah. For me, Pep is the second best manager of all time behind Sir Alex Ferguson. Um Pep has got time to beat Sir Alex Ferguson's record um of trophies. Um will he do it? I don't know. It all depends if he's successful as he is at other clubs, as he was with Man City. But yeah, what a man, what a legend, a living legend. Um his inspiration was Johan Cruyff, and he learnt a lot of Johan. He learned how to manage a club, he learned how to manage um players, he learned about um tactics, and um yeah, for one fan being myself, I'm not a Manchester City fan, but the way how he handles a club and his tactics and his passion and the way how he gets animated on the touchline when players don't do as well as he know that they can do. And he was a manager who wasn't afraid to drop players. If players were not following his rules, he would just drop them. He wouldn't care about oh, this player is too big to be dropped, oh this this mega money player is um is too good to be um dropped out of a team because of his off-field um activities. So yeah, um Pep Guardiola is leaving, but I do feel sorry for the manager coming in after him. Um who it's gonna be, I don't know. There's rumors that it's gonna be Enzo Moresca, who was the former manager of Chelsea. Um will he be as successful as Pep Guardiola? I doubt it. I very much doubt it because the likes of Pep Guardiola doesn't come along very often. Um so yeah, thanks for all you've done, Pep, and I wish you all the best in your future club. Um or if he goes on to manage um a national team, which he couldn't he could well do, so yeah, all the best to Pep.

Arsenal win the 2025/2026 Premier League Title

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Um the second story, and one that is linked to Pep, is um his understudy, Mikhail Arteta, who manages Arsenal, they have at last won the Premier League because for the first time in 22 years, because um this evening um Man City played Bournemouth at home and they drew 1-1, which gave the title to Arsenal for the first time in 22 years. Um, and even though again I'm not a fan of Arsenal, I must say they have deserved it. Last season I thought they were too weak in all areas. I think they was too weak in defense, um, I thought there was too weak in midfield and also too weak in um attack. Um, but yeah, I think they've learned from the mistakes from last season, addressed them, and they've learned how to draw games, lose games, but I think more than anything else, they've grown as a team, their mental um toughness has improved, and Mikhail Arteta has come of age as a manager. He learnt a lot from Pep because he was Pep's number two for a long time. He's learnt a lot from him, and in a way, it's the story of two people, it's the end of an era for Pep Guardiola at Man City, and hopefully it's the beginning of a next era with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. So um, yeah, huge congratulations to Arsenal and all the players and Mikhail Arteta because over the past few weeks he's he's found it hard. Um, the questions that he's been asked from um the press and the journalists about will he end 22 years of hurt for um Arsenal? And he says, right, he's always says that yeah, we're gonna fight, we're gonna do our best that we can. Um he's been asked a few times as well, has the pressure been been getting to him? And I think it has, it's only natural that pressure gets to a manager who's managing a team that hasn't won it for 22 years. So, as as I said before, huge congratulations to Mikkel, the players, and the club in general. Um, and I can say that at last this new Arsenal team has come out of the shadow of the Arsenal team, which was led by um Arsen Wenger for a very long time, and the likes of Thierry Henri, um Neil Adams, um and all the rest of them at Arsenal from 22 years ago. So, yeah, um again, all the best to um Arsenal. One last thing, um Arsenal could have more to celebrate because in a week's time or two weeks time, I think, they're also in the Champions League final, so they could have more to celebrate and more um silverware to win. So I wish them all the best in the Champions League. Um and yeah, that's it.

The Southampton Spygate Scandal

SPEAKER_00 20:21

One major um controversy that also took place um on the weekend, which I thought was strange and weird, and I sort of couldn't believe it. Um but then when the evidence was shown to the public um and footage of what was going on, then everyone believed it. It was when um Southampton were expelled from the Champions League um playoff with Hall because of spying. Apparently, um a Southampton employee was filming Middlesbrough players training at their training ground. Anyway, um security staff noticed this person, tried to um apprehend him, he saw them coming, he ran into the nearby golf club, he changed his clothes, and then he um ran to the car park and drove off or something. Anyway, when um when um Middlesbrough um put in a complaint a complaint to the EFL, which is the English Football League, um and approached Southampton Football Club, the club admitted it and they were expelled from the playoffs. For the um championship to gain entry to the Premier League, and they were also docked um four points. So from next season, they'll start off with minus um four points. Um the rules that they broke were EF1 regulation 3.4, which requires clubs to act towards each other in good faith, and EFL Regulation 127, which prohibits any club from observing or attempting to observe another club's training session with 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs. Um it also conspires that Southampton admitted to spying on another two clubs, which were Oxford United and Ipswich. Um this leaves me again, I don't get why they've done this because all of the matches that Middlesbrough play are recorded anyway. So Southampton could easily have just um watched the reruns of Middlesbrough's um previous games and uh and took a note of the formation in the in the defence attack and midfield, so I don't know why they had to go to the lengths to get somebody to spy on Middlesbrough. Um it doesn't make sense to me. Um and the people that I feel sorry for is not the club but the fans. Because if you think about it, before Southampton were expelled from the championships um playoffs, their fans bought tickets to see them at Wembley. Um they bought train tickets, they reserved uh hotel rooms. So who is going to pay them their money back? Um you'd think that it would be um Southampton Football Club because it's their fans. If they really b um care about the fans, they will reimburse them for any um money that they've lost, you know. And um going forward, as of next season, when Southampton do play against a team from the championship and win, how do we know that they haven't won fair and square? You know? Um there could be other clubs that they've been spying on but haven't come forward and admitted it. Also, the club hasn't said why they've done this, and they also haven't said if it was one person, if it was more than one person, and they haven't named names. This is it just doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make sense. I've never heard anything like this in my footballing life of something like this going on, and the thing is now alright they've got to win back the trust of the fans because it's the fans who've been let down. Um and I don't know how the club are gonna get out of this because this stain on a reputation is gonna most likely um follow them for years and years. So yeah, it's um even talking about it now, um by the way, it was called Spygate. So yeah, it's just it doesn't make sense. I've I've looked at it from every angle, and the only reason I can think why they would do this for is for money, because any team that gets to the Premier League is guaranteed between £150 million and £200 million from TV rights and merchandising. So that can only be the reason, you know. So I do feel very sad for the fans. I don't feel sad for the club and the people behind it because they knew that there was a chance of getting caught, and as it turns out, there was caught. So my advice for any club who is trying to copy Southampton, don't do it. Because if you do try it, eventually you will get caught and you will get justly punished like Southampton have been.

Aston Villa win the 2025/2026 UEFA Europa Cup

SPEAKER_00 27:05

I have to say, a huge congratulations to um Aston Villa, um, a team who I do not support, but they are in the same um city as me. I'm from Birmingham. Aston Villa are from Birmingham, so yeah, it's the first trophy in 30 years, and it's the first European trophy since 1982, I think it was. Um so yeah, the team played amazingly well. Um, the scorers were Yuri Thielemans, Emmy Buendia, and Morgan Richards for England. So yeah, they played well. Um they've had a long wait for this um trophy. It's their first um trophy of any kind since 1996 when they lifted their League Cup. Um, so yeah, um it was good to watch, even though I didn't watch it. I was at work, but I listened to it on the radio. Um, and yeah, it must have been a great night, um, especially for our heir to the throne, Prince William, who's been um a big fan of Aston Villas since his school days, and to see him dancing and celebrating and hugging his friends, um, yeah, it was a great scene to see. Um I was told that Prince William he went into the dressing room before the match and after, and had a few beers with the team after the win. So, yeah, um a huge congratulations to Aston Villa, um, especially because they're from my hometown in Birmingham, and to be honest, um teams from Birmingham don't do that well in Cups, um, not to mention European Cup. So, yeah, um, it's been a long wait, and they work for it, and yeah, um, and it also guarantees them, I think, um, into the Champions League for next season. So, yeah, um, things are looking good for Aston Villa. Let's hope they can um carry on into next season. So, yeah, well done to them.

England squad for the 2026 World Cup

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Um, the next big talking point has got to be um uh let's have a look. Yes, um Thomas Tuchel naming his England squad for the World Cup this year, um in June 2026. Um I was surprised by some of his um picks, but um I think he's done the right thing by picking the players that he wanted in the team that were based on form. There's there's a lot of um stars who didn't make the cut, but I think that's because they wasn't playing good for their club teams and there wasn't playing that good on form. So I think he's done the right thing and picked players on their um on their team form and season form, which is a good thing. So the goalkeepers are Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, and James Trafford. The defenders are Reese James, Tino, Liv Ramento, Mark Gahey, Esri Conza, John Stones, Gerald Kwasi, Nicole O'Reilly, Dan Byrne, and Jed Spence. The midfielders are Declan Rice, Eliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Morgan Rogers, and Kobe Mainu. And lastly, the forwards are Harry Kane, Ivan Tony, Ali Watkins, um Bukayo Saka, Nanni Maduaka, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Gordon and Eberetchi Ezzi. So yeah, um, that's our squad to see if we can make it to the deep end of the World Cup. My own predictions are um for me, England has got to get to the knockout stages. They've got a fairly good group, so I expect them, and the country expects them to get through that group and also to get to the um deep knockout um sections of the World Cup. For me, England have to get to the semi-finals, and once they get to the semi-finals, they have to win and get to the final. Um, England have beaten um in the last two um finals of the last European championships. So if England don't get to this final, um I don't think it's gonna be on form. I think if they don't get to the final of this World Cup, I think some people are gonna start to name England um a team of chalkers because for me they should have won that first European championship final against Italy. They had chances, they did not put them away, um, and at all levels at um European championship level and world cup level, if you get chances, you have to put them away. The top teams are gonna put their chances away. So um, yeah, winning European championships and world cups is never gonna be easy. Um, but yeah, um England have to get to the final. If they got in if they get knocked out in the quarter finals or the semi-finals, I think it's gonna be um a disappointment and it won't be good enough. For me, England have the players. Um I think they've got the experience because they've got players who've been to two European finals, so they know what it's like, they know about the pressure, so they've got to produce it on the pitch. So um, yeah, the best of luck. And um England this time have really got to step up. They can't say it's bad luck or bad this or bad that. So um I don't think it's a question of now or never, but for me, England have got to you know win a major um trophy, they haven't won anything since 1966, and you know, um they have the players, but I think this team have got to believe in themselves and they've got to start playing as a team. Um if you look at each player, the world class, but just because you've got the best um players, right uh, player for player against the other World Cup teams, it doesn't mean that you're gonna win um championships and world cups and European titles, you know. So these group of 26 players have to play as a team, they have to believe in themselves and they have to get over this mentality of pressure because every um every team that wins European championships and world cups have got the same pressure as England. They can't keep using this excuse as the pressure was too much by the media or the fans of the country because that that pressure is put on the countries that win it apart from England. So yeah, um I think it's a question of they've just gotta do it. By any means, they just have to win this World Cup. So yeah, let's um wish them all the best, and yeah, I think it's gonna be a rocky road as it always is with England, but yeah, it's um part of the journey, it's part of the emotions. So yeah, I wish them all the best.

Morgan Rogers Correction

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Um I made a mistake earlier on in this um episode when I was talking about um Aston Villa winning the UEFA European Cup. Um I said one of the players' name I'm wrong, um Morgan Richards. That is a mistake, his real name is Morgan Rogers. So if you're listening to this um Morgan, which I don't think you will be, I apologise. Um it was just a slip of the tongue, and there you go, Morgan Rogers for Aston Villa.

Equal Rights Poem

SPEAKER_00 36:22

Um also when I um finish talking about football on each episode, because I've got um a fondness and lightness for um poems and poetry, I would like to um say um a poem. So this first one is called Equal Rights, and it goes something like this Is it your looks or personality, or are you white or black? Will you pay the price for something that they lack? What gives them the right to think that you are inferior when all the time they judge you by your exterior? So you can decide how you think about that one.