Sacked in the Morning

Former Brighton and Hove Albion and Sunderland manager Gus Poyet joins Craig and Amy to chat about promotions and great escapes. Just how did he pull off the unimaginable when everyone thought the Black Cats were heading for relegation to the Championship? Those with a sensitive disposition be warned, Gus and Craig play Top Trumps with some bodily function stories, plus what does the Greece nation...

Liverpool legend John Aldridge joins Craig and Amy for a hilarious episode. Just how hard are the difficult conversations you need to have as a manager? We talk to John about managing Tranmere (including a certain League Cup Final incident), signing on at Anfield plus how he came to play for Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland.

Former Celtic and Stoke City manager Lou Macari joins Amy and Craig to discuss his greatest ever signing, a fired circus clown called Neil. Also in the podcast Craig talks about the importance of the kit man, Lou takes us back to joining Celtic and what it was like under legendary manager Jock Stein, and why he chose Manchester United over Liverpool. Plus Amy puts Lou's knowledge to the test in ou...

Craig and Amy hit the road and visit Livingston gaffer David Martindale. Craig and Davie have an honest discussion about the impact management has on your health. We hear about what it's like to manage with the league's lowest budget plus Davie tells us how he went from prison cell to the dugout in less than 10 years.

Amy Irons and Craig Levein are back for a new series of Sacked in the Morning and what a guest to start. Graham Arnold led the Australian men's team to their best ever World Cup performance in Qatar before finally losing to eventual winners Argentina. Graham reveals how easy it is to get Scottish-born players to play for the Socceroos, takes us back to the World Cup and his plans for playing again...

Amy and Craig drop in to reveal who the first guest of their new series will be plus in a game of "Never Have I Ever" a certain former Scotland manager reveals whether he has ever asked a player to cheat!

Scotland legend Paul Lambert and former England international Trevor Steven join Craig and Amy for a World Cup special recorded in front of an audience in the Drygate in Glasgow. Trevor takes us back to 1986, the Maradona Hand of God plus what it was like being managed by Bobby Robson. He also played in the 1990 World Cup and by the sounds of things he could have filled a whole podcast with his Ga...

Scotland legend Gordon Strachan and Australian international Ryan McGowan join Craig and Amy for a World Cup special recorded in front of an audience in the Drygate in Glasgow. Gordon takes us back to his two World Cups in 1982 and 1986. He tells us what it was like to line up against the Brazilians in the tunnel, to take a drugs test with a couple of Russians and why Jock Stein told him to stay i...

Former Northern Ireland captain Martin O'Neill and ex-Scotland international Alan McInally join Craig and Amy for a World Cup special recorded in front of an audience at the Drygate in Glasgow. Alan takes us back to Italia 90 and has brought with him something that Craig hasn't seen for 32 years. Meanwhile Martin has tales of what could've been in 1982 and what happened when he didn't manage to ge...

Former Scotland captain Colin Hendry and ex Northern Ireland international Jimmy Nicholl join Craig and Amy for a World Cup special recorded in front of an audience at the Drygate in Glasgow. Colin takes us back to France in 1998 as he led Scotland out for the opening match of the World Cup against Brazil and recounts Craig Brown's famous last words. Jimmy started every match for Northern Ireland...

Legendary Celtic and Leicester manager Martin O'Neill joins Amy and Craig as he takes a look back over his career. Martin goes back to the start to talk about how it started at Wycombe Wanderers, he discusses his amazing time at Celtic including the one big regret of his career plus what it was like to win not one but two European Cups with Nottingham Forest.

Former Norwich gaffer Peter Grant joins Amy Irons and Craig Levein to discuss his time as both a manager and an assistant manager. Peter has managed in Scotland and England and has been an assistant at some huge clubs such as West Ham, Aston Villa, Birmingham and Scotland. So how does the role differ and which does he prefer? Craig and Peter also reminisce about the 'good old days', if days where...

Geoff Shreeves has been a touchline reporter for decades and on football pitches all around the world. Who better to ask just what it's like to interview a manager when they have just been hammered 5-0? He joins Craig and Amy to tell tales of a major run-in with Sir Alex Ferguson, how Gordon Strachan viewed him standing outside the dressing room and the time Brian Clough got a little too close dur...

Stevenage gaffer Steve Evans joins Craig and Amy as they discuss how you control your emotions in the technical area. Has Steve calmed down over the years? What is it like when you are supposed to be setting an example as manager but find yourself sent off? Plus Steve reveals that even his wife wasn't safe from his touchline antics on her Christmas night out. All that plus will Amy find a new lead...

Craig Levein and Amy Irons are joined by former Inverness, Falkirk and Hibs gaffer John 'Yogi' Hughes as they discuss the importance of a good team spirit in the dressing room. Yogi explains the impact promoting a youth team coach at Inverness had on his players, he talks about the legend that is Russell Latapy and he reveals just what possessed him to streak passed the TV cameras while a player a...

Craig Levein and Amy Irons are joined by former Arsenal vice chairman and co-owner David Dein as they discuss his time at the Gunners. David reveals how if he had his way a certain Scottish manager could've arrived in London instead of Manchester, he recalls the story of how a chance meeting with Arsene Wenger in 1989 put the wheels in motion to the Frenchman becoming boss and as one of the main d...

Former referee Mark Clattenburg has officiated some of the biggest games and clubs in the world so no-one knows better what it's like to try and control some of the game's biggest managers. Craig Levein tells us how referees have changed since he played the game, Mark reveals what happened when Sir Alex Ferguson tried to get him to play "Fergie Time" and Amy wants to bring in some competition to t...

For the first time Craig Levein and Amy Irons take the podcast on the road and in front of an audience. Recorded live at the Edinburgh Festivals they are joined by three of their favourite guests so far to share some amazing, shocking and hilarious stories of life in football management. Current Northern Ireland assistant manager Jimmy Nicholl tells tales of Millwall, Raith Rovers and Toronto. For...

We're back for Series 3! Amy Irons and Craig Levein drop in to tell you about a very special first episode of the new series which we recorded LIVE at the Edinburgh Festival plus Amy quizzes Craig on an old football magazine's Q and A. Can he remember who his favourite actor was in 1986?

To finish the series Craig answers your questions including - Do coaches encourage diving? What happens when players don't get on? & what is the worst game he's been involved in? Not only that but we hear all about what he did to get a 14 match ban and what it's like to hear the crowd singing "You don't know what you're doing!"

Just how did Bobby Gould mastermind the greatest FA Cup Final shock of all time? "The Gouldfather" takes us on a trip back to 1988 as Wimbledon battle the mighty Liverpool at Wembley. In a fantastic interview he recounts the characters of the Crazy Gang, how the Wimbledon chairman invented "bush tucker trials" decades before Ant & Dec and we hear how Bobby even bribed someone in an attempt to...

Former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy is a Manchester United legend, he was the last player to be signed by Sir Matt Busby and went on to rack up over 400 appearances for the Old Trafford club. Sammy joins Craig and Amy to talk about those that impacted his career the most from the promise George Best made ahead of his debut to how it all ended under Ron Atkinson. Along the way we hear abo...

You are minutes away from the opening game of the 1998 World Cup, you are about to send a team out to face the mighty Brazil and everyone expects you to get hammered...what do you say to cut the atmosphere and calm the boys nerves? Legendary Scotland boss Craig Brown joins Amy Irons and Craig Levein to reveal just how he had his players laughing as they got ready to line up against the World Champ...

Former Preston North End, Leeds United and Sunderland gaffer Simon Grayson joins Craig and Amy to discuss how you go about getting a job as a football manager. He joins us fresh from a secret zoom job interview with a foreign club and reveals how it went, we hear how it's not uncommon to be offered a job when there is still a manager in the hot seat and what happened when as a player coach at Blac...

Michael O'Neill is one of Northern Ireland's best ever managers - so how do you follow that up? Current Northern Ireland Men's Head Coach Ian Baraclough joins Craig and Amy to discuss just that plus Craig reveals the lengths they would go to to discover if a player had a Scottish granny. Ian reveals that the international door isn't closed for one Northern Ireland striker and we hear the tale of N...