Ranks FC - A Football Podcast

Hello Rank Squad! It's our penultimate episode in the Preview Series, and we're headed to Italy to take a look at all things Serie A! Dean and Jack start by taking a look at Champions Napoli, and discussing how they'll get on in their title defence after a summer defined by their change of manager from Luciano Spalletti to Rudi Garcia. Then, we assess their main title challengers - in the form of...

Hello Rank Squad! The Premier League is back this weekend, and so it's time for it to get the Ranks Preview treatment. Dean and Jack start by taking a look at Champions Manchester City and whether they've regressed or progressed this summer, before discussing the teams that will look to challenge their dominance. We discuss Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle in terms of w...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the third instalment of our League Previews series, and today we're off to France to talk all things Ligue 1! We start with a deep dive into everything that's been going on at PSG this summer, as Jack is joined in Part 1 by Peter Rutzler of The Athletic to look at the new manager, the incomings, the outgoings, and the general feeling around Kylian Mbappé and Neymar right now...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second episode in our League Previews series, and this time it's a double bill as we focus on both the Eredivisie in the Netherlands and the Primeira Liga in Portugal! We start on the Iberian Peninsula, where old friend Zach Lowy joins us to talk through Benfica, Porto and Sporting's summers, as well as focusing on Braga's breakthrough into the Big Three and how their bu...

Hello Rank Squad! With pre-season in full swing it's time to start gearing up for the season proper to start again and we've decided to give first billing to Spain in our season preview series! We talk all things La Liga - starting with a deep dive on the two Clasico sides vying for the Spanish crown in Barcelona and Real Madrid, taking a look at the signings brought in this summer, the question o...

Hello Rank Squad! We're back to talk about the players who really need a season to go their way - from young guns who need to regrasp their potential to the old guard looking for a last crack at the top, we discuss Raheem Sterling, Heung-Min Son, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kai Havertz, Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mané and João Félix. There's also Hot Takes from the Rank Squad, discussing Liverpool's tit...

Hello Rank Squad! With Declan Rice becoming the second most expensive Premier League signing in history, we decided to have a look through the top 10 and cast our eye over what we could learn from the others - from Virgil van Dijk to Enzo Fernandez, and everyone in between. Jack and Dean take a look through the deals that make up those headline purchases, and examine how and why they either succee...

Hello Rank Squad! The Women's World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand this week, so it felt like the right time for us to delve into everything you need to know about this summer's edition of the tournament. Jack is joined by the brilliant Mina Ibrahim to talk through her three favourites for the competition, three dark horses who could be in with a shout, and a heap of players that you n...

Hello Rank Squad! Welcome to a very special crossover episode here on Ranks FC, where we bring you our very own Dean Jones in his alternative form - hosting Chasing Green Arrows with the ever-brilliant Gianni Buttice. The boys run through their first drafts for next season's Fantasy Premier League, looking at some of the most exciting options who are sure to catapult you to the top of your friends...

Hello Rank Squad! The Under 21 European Championships concluded this weekend with Lee Carsley's England triumphing over Spain in the showpiece event to end a 39-year wait for the trophy and see the Young Lions become the first side to win the tournament without conceding a goal. Jack is joined by the brilliant Seb Stafford-Bloor of The Athletic and Tifo Football to talk through a feisty final betw...

Hello Rank Squad! We're just over a month out from the return of the Premier League, and there's a lot of questions still to answer for various clubs. The Head Coach, Harry Brooks, returns to walk us through a selection of things he's got on his radar. We start with Manchester United and how they might operate without a World Class Number 9, discuss Bournemouth's new manager Andoni Iraola and how...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time to talk Serie A - where after a few seasons of things looking like they were firmly on a positive trajectory, everything now looks like it's on fire. Jack & Dean are joined by the brilliant Christine Cupo to talk five Serie A clubs with big issues to fix this summer - Roma, Napoli, Inter, Milan & Juventus - and how they might go about starting to sort them out. Things W...

Hello Rank Squad! We're back with some brand new fun - and this week Dean and Jack are looking through some of the storylines that are throwing the standard order of things out of the window ahead of this transfer window. We take a look at the pull of the Saudi Pro League, the impact of Leo Messi to MLS, PSG's superstar exodus and Manchester United's ownership takeover to see what kind of knock-on...

Hello Rank Squad! Welcome to something slightly different here on the channel. On Wednesday evening we teamed up with the excellent folks at Preediction to do a live, interactive transfer show with a load of guests who came on to talk to us about everything and anything transfer related. We talked a whole host of things - Kylian Mbappé's potential exit from Real Madrid, Harry Kane and Declan Rice,...

Hello Rank Squad! The domestic season is (mostly) over for 2022/23 and so it's time for us to look back and hand out some awards, especially for those who might have been missed out! We hand out some alternative awards - Coolest player, most watchable team, most pointless transfer, worst decision maker, and many more - to try and get a full lid on the best and worst things that happened this seaso...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the final (and perhaps the biggest) game of the European Season this Saturday as Manchester City take on Inter in the Champions League Final, held this year in Istanbul at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium - 18 years after maybe the most dramatic of all UCL Finals when Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties in the Miracle of Istanbul. We take a look at how...

Hello Rank Squad! News broke on Tuesday that Tottenham Hotspur had appointed Ange Postecoglou as their new Head Coach, after two very successful years at Celtic where the Australian won five trophies, including a treble this year. Reaction to the news has been mixed in the Spurs camp, so we decided to get some friends along to help us look through various different facets of the appointment. First...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the Europa League Final between Roma and Sevilla, so we've brought in some very special guests to walk through a few reasons why both sides will feel they can lift that trophy in Budapest on Wednesday night. John Solano joins us to talk all things Roma, before we welcome back an old friend in the form of David Cartlidge to discuss Sevilla's chances of getting their hands bac...

Hello Rank Squad! As awards season begins to roll in, we turn our attention to the Premier League and which managers have impressed enough this season to be considered in the conversation as the league's best. We discuss cases for Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, Mikel Arteta of Arsenal, Eddie Howe of Newcastle United, Roberto de Zerbi of Brighton & Hove Albion, Unai Emery of Aston Villa, Marco S...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for another Champions League Takeaway - a midweek bonus meal on all the week's UCL action. We have a final on our hands after Manchester City blew Real Madrid away at the Etihad and Inter comfortably saw home last week's advantage against city rivals AC Milan. We start in Manchester, where we discuss how Kyle Walker's moment at 1-0 was the epitome of a City side in comp...

Hello Rank Squad! Finally, it feels like the Mauricio Pochettino deal to Chelsea that's been floating around the ether for weeks now is a done deal, so we've decided to take a look at the first orders of business for him when he takes the reins at Stamford Bridge. There's a lot to get through, so expert help was needed in the form of The Athletic's Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey, an old friend...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for another Champions League Takeaway - a feast on all the week's UCL action. With the first legs of both semi-finals in the books, we sat down to dissect Milan's 2-0 defeat at home to Inter and Real Madrid's 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the Bernabeu. We start in Milan, where we discuss the absence of Rafael Leão and the knockon effects that had on Milan's team sele...

Hello Rank Squad! It's a Champions League Week again, so it's a double drop and a little look forward on our first episode - this time taking it into the summer to discuss some of the biggest deals that are already being put on the table. Dean brings his expertise to discuss the situations of Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Alexis Mac Allister and what the summer transfe...

Hello Rank Squad! May has arrived and the football train is pulling into the final few stations for this season, which means we're in the closing stages of the Champions League. Four teams remain - Inter play Milan in a Derby della Madonnina in one semi-final, whilst we have a re-run of last year with Real Madrid playing Manchester City in the other. Which of the four teams is most likely to lift...

Hello Rank Squad! With the NFL Draft coming up fast, there's always an excuse for us to dig out an old favourite out of the Ranks playbook and give ourselves a Draft challenge as well. This time round, we've added some more parameters - we each get an ordered pick to try and build the best team of players who are aged 23 or under, and no player can be picked twice. Joining Sam, Dean & Jack is Rank...