For Our Sins: The Clichés Pod Archive

The "whisper it quietly, but" phenomenon, more psychological Cliches Quiz warfare, when a "game of chess" becomes "cat and mouse", the footballing definition of "Johnny on the spot", Keys and Gray meet Sean Dyche, cometh the hour... cometh the scandal, The Premier League of Club Badges, the logistical nightmare of being a proverbial fly on a dressing-room wall, Gareth Southgate’s postman, a For My...

In the first of an end-of-year double-header, Football Clichés takes another look at the podcast's very best moments of 2022, featuring: Plausible parliamentary football chants with Sir Keir Starmer, Les Miserables meets Serie A, Andy Townsend in and around the Foo Fighters, The Future Turkish Super Lig XI, the true origin of the proverbial "farmers’ league", bringing the great James Richardson do...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Nick Miller on the final Adjudication Panel of 2022. On the agenda: the finer details of the greatest World Cup final of all time, what kind of footballer that ubiquitous VIP Salt Bae would be, news of a multi-talented goalkeeper in the seventh tier and the last For My Sins Corner clash of the year Meanwhile, the panel imagine the parallel f...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare and David Walker on the latest World Cup Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: the official description for the World Cup exits of all 14 vanquished nations in the knockouts, some late-1980s industrial hip hop featuring legendary commentator Brian Moore, Peter Walton goes toe-to-toe with the ITV pundits and some hidden cultural references in...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare and David Walker on the latest World Cup Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: A poignant moment for the AI-powered Alan Smith commentary, the first ever player to plug their autobiography in a post-match interview, the most likely co-commentator to get annoyed about fans filming a free kick on their phones, Meanwhile, the panel establish the...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare and David Walker on the latest World Cup Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: Roy Keane's ITV kickabout goal celebration, a moral judgement on bringing on your third-choice goalkeeper when 4-1 up, how far down the football pyramid you can find "armchair fans", and when a Panenka isn't really a Panenka. Meanwhile, the panel compete in a tense...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and James Maw on the latest World Cup Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: EastEnders scriptwriters getting in on the World Cup act, Qatar 2022's baffling obsession with 90s one-hit wonders, 19-year-old Jude Bellingham's age, whether the third-place playoff counts as a "knockout" game, and the least cool Brazilian footballer name ever seen. Meanwh...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare and David Walker on the latest World Cup Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: Other possible group-stage tiebreakers, the mythical status of tiddlywinks, a curious mid-tournament friendly result, kit colour combinations, a brief history of World Cup lanyard sizes and the ominous first words of a new artificial-intelligence football commentat...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare on the latest World Cup Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: Peter Drury announces himself to the Moroccan market, Martin Tyler's solo World Cup commentary marathon and whether the phrase "nil-all" should ever be allowed into the mainstream. Meanwhile, the panel establish the threshold of "scoring for fun" and speculate on charismatic Canada...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Nick Miller on the latest World Cup Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: the least enviable venue to watch England vs USA, the most timeless World Cup fixture possible, a technical dismantling of Bebeto’s iconic USA '94 goal celebration and a sensational commentary moment involving a pigeon. Meanwhile, the panel decide which is the most "in th...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Charlie Eccleshare on the first Adjudication Panel of the World Cup. On the agenda: England's eventful opener against Iran, the latest tedious tournament-predicting animal, a brave new world for on-screen possession statistics and David Beckham's crisps advert with Peyton Manning. Meanwhile, the panel break down the latest, Christmas-themed...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey, Charlie Eccleshare and Michael Cox prepare for the small matter of Qatar 2022 by selecting a team of players who are most disproportionately known for their World Cup exploits, from Mexican goalkeepers, and centre-backs, to diminutive Paraguayans, an Italian full-back on the wing, breakout stars turned run of the mill Premier League midfielders, an Englishman who clocke...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Charlie Eccleshare on the Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: the most comprehensive post-defeat fronting-up in Premier League history, Peter Drury nails an unprecedented quadruple alliteration, confused baby-related goal celebrations, World Cup snubbings and squad-announcement-graphic layout woes. Meanwhile, the panel undertake a definitive...

As a widely-criticised winter World Cup approaches, The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by James Maw and Jack Pitt-Brooke to dream up a Perfect World Cup, composed of the best individual elements from the tournament's history. From the complex concept of the "dark horses" to optimum TV kick-off times, the greatest kits, the textbook controversies, the most rightful hosts and the ideal World Cup f...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and James Maw on the Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: Which year each Champions League last-16 tie really belongs in, the mid-table vocabulary of Graham Potter, Peter Drury lending his voice to Aldi's Christmas advert and Ally McCoist's knowledge of the Ancient Greeks saves humanity once more. Meanwhile, the panel decide what constitutes a tra...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey and Charlie Eccleshare are joined by Joshua Robinson, co-author of new book Messi vs Ronaldo, to examine the way football has consumed the two greatest players of the modern era. From the textbook elements of Ronaldo's backstory to Messi's curiously non-famous voice, the more quaint examples of Ronaldo's ego running riot, bafflingly bad TV adverts, the goalscoring number...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare and James Maw on the Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: the "tunnel of doubt" tries to disrupt the stranglehold of the "corridor of uncertainty", football chants that just don't scan, some bawdy commentary from Martin Tyler, the superstar DJs who could derail England's World Cup dream and one of the best Halloween-themed Football League go...

The Football Clichés Quiz returns ahead of Qatar 2022 with a special World Cup edition. Reigning champion Michael Cox aims to become the first to retain the title as he takes on former champion Charlie Eccleshare across five rounds of niche World Cup knowledge, including Evers & Nevers, World Cup Kits, Name That Squad and, of course, World Cup Clichés. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Nick Miller on the Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: Did the Premier League bring badge-kissing to US sport? Can Tottenham's stadium be your "old stomping ground" if you only played for them at White Hart Lane? Is a "Panenka volley lob" physically possible? Meanwhile, the panel assess the concept of the "new-manager bounce" for hastily-appo...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey and Charlie Eccleshare are joined by Sky Sports' chief touchline reporter Geoff Shreeves for the latest edition of Mesut Haaland Dicks. Among Geoff's selections for his footballing fascinations and irritations are pundits' pointless turns of phrase, microscopic modern shinpads, why Steve McClaren's infamous umbrella has also led to an anti-sunglasses stigma in football a...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare and David Walker on the Adjudication Panel for the 200th episode of the pod. On the agenda: the official end for football/politics crossover humour, former guest Doc Brown returns with a new twist on his big footballing bugbear, a deep dive into the MLS Assistant Referee of the Year award and some passionate co-commentary from the fabled "...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey, David Walker and Nick Miller field this month's listeners' entries for Mesut Haaland Dicks, where the Clichés faithful nominate their niche footballing fascinations and irritations. Among the selections are identical wondergoals in the same match, the precise kind of player £6 million buys you these days, the dying art of strikers rounding the goalkeeper and the seeming...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Nick Miller for the Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: the epidemic of non-regulation-height crossbars, Countdown's Susie Dent plants her flag on Clichés soil, a predictable twist for anti-VAR discourse and a very curious description of a Serie A penalty. Meanwhile, the panel debate if a striker can be the "heartbeat" of a team and whether a...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Nick Miller for another Adjudication Panel. On the agenda: the Oxford English Dictionary's new football-related entries, the six-year saga that Gareth Southgate and his opinionated postman and Glenn Hoddle adding to the sub-genre of Unexpected Co-Commentator Noises. Meanwhile, the panel decide how each footballing scoreline should best play...

The Athletic's Adam Hurrey is joined by David Walker and Nick Miller for the Adjudication Panel. On the agenda this week: Kevin Keegan hosting yet another obscure industry awards ceremony, an Irish variation on the new-fangled "draught excluder", a close inspection of Erling Haaland's signed hat-trick ball and John Terry gets the standard BeIn Sports treatment over in Qatar. Meanwhile, the panel e...