Ranks FC - A Football Podcast

Hello Rank Squad! We've got a very special second episode for you this week, looking at five players who have joined (or are joining) European clubs from South America this year, and picking our way through the best of the bunch. Joining Jack is Nathan Joyes , founder of The Copa Club website, magazine and podcast, and aficionado on all things South American football, to provide the insight and kn...

Hello Rank Squad! It's something a little bit different this week, as we take each of the clubs leading various leagues around the world and pit them against each other to see who we think would come out on top. It's a journey that takes us from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, Munich to Manchester, Cincinnati to Catalonia, Brest to Bavaria, via Milan and Jeddah for good measure. Then there's time for a...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for the first main course Champions League Takeaway of this season - a midweek bonus meal on all the week's UCL action. The biggest competition in European football is back, and we’re amongst it to take a look at the action from both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We start with what went down tonight, with three big takeaways on Manchester United’s defensive woes, Arsena...

Hello Rank Squad! It’s time to take a look back at some of the most interesting things that we’ve noticed in the new season, and so returning to the fold is our Head Coach, Mr. Harry Brooks, who is here to discuss some of the trends he’s picked up on from a coaching perspective. First off, we get his views on the revolution taking place under Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur, a club very clos...

Hello Rank Squad! The window is shut, there's been a few games to see how teams look, and it's time to finalise our long-term predictions for this season, which can only mean one thing here on Ranks - it's time for 5x5! And, for a big episode like this, we wanted to make things special, so we've brought back the Rank God Sam Tighe for his first appearance of the new season. The concept is simple -...

Hello Rank Squad! It's time to reflect on the transfer window and the clubs who have come out of it in better shape, in a couple of different ways. First of all, Dean Jones takes a look at the Premier League's Big Seven - Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United - and compares how their business has looked at the end of the window, bef...

Hello Rank Squad! Welcome back to Champions League Takeaway, the first one of the new season, where we're reacting not to the games that have just taken place, but to the draw for the Group Stages, which threw up all manner of questions and answers. Jack watched the draw live to have a think about things, but Dean gets the draw for the first time on air - so it's the best of both worlds! We talk t...

Hello Rank Squad! We're into the last few days of the transfer window in Europe's top leagues and there's plenty of work still to do in the final hours. We take a look at the biggest storylines left to play out, including Saudi interest in Liverpool's Mo Salah, where Atleti's João Félix might end up, potential exits from Arsenal for Gabriel Magalhães and Emile Smith Rowe, Manchester United's left-...

Hello Rank Squad! Welcome to the Transfer Emergency Room - the show that takes a look at which clubs are in need of severe player transplants ahead of the transfer window closing, if they're going to have any chance of achieving their goals this season. Dean starts us off in the Premier League, where we talk about Manchester United, Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool - dissecting the s...

Hello Rank Squad! It’s the final instalment of our League Previews series, and we're headed to Germany to talk all things Bundesliga. Jack is joined by Kevin Hatchard, German football commentator and expert, to talk through the major storylines ahead of the new season. In Part 1 we talk a summer of turmoil at Bayern, and how they might not have things all their own way this season, even with Harry...

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...