The Game

Can it get any worse for Spurs? Losses to Everton and at home to Leicester have piled the pressure on Ange Postecoglou, but the fans are turning on chairman Daniel Levy. How long before something breaks? Tom Allnutt makes an impassioned defence of Ange…Alyson Rudd isn’t buying it! Bournemouth in contrast play a similar pressing game, have lots of injures but are on fire. What is the difference, ho...

Manchester City threw away a two goal lead again. As they sign three players in a week, will Pep Guardiola be around for the re build? The result proved one thing, this new Champions League format is great, isn’t it? Is the criticism levelled at Kai Havertz unfair? His stats suggest he is an effective forward so what’s is the problem? After the break, clever footballers, the hipster derby and a ne...

All the latest from the Football League with Tom Clarke and Gregor Robertson. Tony Mowbray is back, and he is back at West Brom. After recovering from cancer one of the most well-liked managers in football has returned to the Hawthorns. What could he achieve there? Burnley and Sunderland made headlines with a nil nil draw. Who will be happier and which is better placed for a promotion push? The bo...

What is the future of Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou? With his Spurs team sitting in their worst league position at this stage since 2009, injuries galore and the pressure mounting, what happens next? For Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest life couldn’t be better. Andoni Iraola is drawing rave reviews for his style of football as his team are one point of the Champions League places. Forest are...

A tough win in the north London derby has but Arsenal well and truly back in the title race. But who else is in the picture? Liverpool and Forest; Chelsea have stumbled but are Newcastle – on a nine game winning run - now live contenders? Is Gabriel Arsenal’s best defender? What is good football and do Tottenham play it? Forest don’t press, what a refreshing change. Liverpool didn’t win but they s...

Did Manchester United display fantastic spirit, organisation and grit or were they lucky and should have lost by three if Arsenal could finish? For Mikel Arteta has his Arsenal team stagnated? Is extra time a good thing or a bad thing for smaller teams? On Tuesday Nottingham Forest play Liverpool. Will it be blood and thunder or a cagey stalemate?   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

How many Newcastle players would get in a Premier League team of the season - two, three…five?! Would any manager other than Ange Postecoglou buy a twenty-one-year-old goalkeeper on Monday and play him in a cup semi-final on Wednesday? After big results for both teams what’s next. For Arsenal, have they progressed this season or was their best chance last year? After the break how will a rejuvenat...

A must listen for fans of teams in the football league. With Stoke, Millwall, West Brom, Oxford, Hull just some of the clubs who’ve changed manager. But, will it change the table? It’s a two from five for automatic promotion in the Championship. Sheffield United are in it but they’ve had a bumpy Christmas. Across the City Could Sheffield Wednesday make a push for the play offs The Times’ Paul Hirs...

Manchester United were more than worthy of their draw at Anfield. Should they have won? Was this an exception or a sign of things to come? Plus, Arsenal concede a penalty for a header, Bournemouth fans are getting excited and Ange Postecoglou is still Ange Postecoglou. Join Tom Clarke, Paul Hirst, Gregor Robertson and Peter Rutzler for a dissection of the weekend's action. Hosted on Acas...

Arsenal go within six points of Liverpool, could they make it a proper title race? Chelsea have slipped up Martin Samuel thinks it is self-inflicted and questions Enzo Maresca’s approach. But he is very impressed with the work done by Nottingham Forest, does it set a template for PSR? Why did it go wrong for Wayne Rooney? Tony Cascarino and Gregor Robertson think it could be tactics…Martin thinks...

It goes from bad to worse at Old Trafford, are they really in a relegation fight? Will Amorim change his system, can he change his system? Ipswich have their first win in the Premier League this season at Portman Road; it came at the expense of a stuttering Chelsea side. Are Maresca’s problems self-inflicted ? It’s time to give Nottingham Forest enormous credit, and Nuno Espirito Santo in particul...

Could Manchester United be in a relegation fight? Could Manchester City finish mid table and could Fulham or Forest make the top four? It might have sounded fanciful at the start of the season, but not now. Paul Hirst, Martin Hardy and Gregor Robertson join Tom Clarke to look at a resurgent Newcastle, the two floundering Manchester clubs and predict the top four come May. Hosted on Acast. See acas...

Another pulsating game at the Tottenham stadium, another win for Liverpool another six conceded for Spurs. Is the title Liverpool’s to lose? For Ange Postecoglou is it injuries or game management? Rubin Amorim was left scratching his head as Manchester United were beaten at home - again - by Bournemouth. Across Manchester, City continue to struggle…could Pep even walk? Plus, when did Burnley beat...

Marcus Rashford looks to be on his way out of Manchester United. A tail of a talent lost or stalled? Martin Samuel, Jonathan Northcroft and Tony Cascarino join Tom Clarke to discuss how he ended up here and what happens next for him and the club. Everton have finally secured a take over deal. Where is their true place in the pecking order - big club or a midtable club? After the break a thorough l...

If Pep Guardiola is the greatest manager of the modern era, its time for him to prove his worth. Manchester City are a “crumbling dynasty” losing again in a derby where they looked nervous throughout. While a Chelsea team with four ex City players in it and a manager honed under Guardiola are now two off the top and “having a lot of fun, playing with palpable joy.” Rubin Amorim has again showed wh...

World Cup 2034 is heading to Saudi Arabia and WC 2030 to Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Martin Samuel was revolted by proceedings… “FIFA conducted two one horse races yesterday.” Is it a decision to grow the game, or a demonstration of 'money talks' ? Martin joins Tom Clarke, Tony Cascarino and Jonathan Northcroft who offer their thoughts on the decision, the process and Gianni Infantino. Elsewhere,...

The top of the Championship is dominated by teams from the north – Sheffield United, Leeds, Burnley, Sunderland, Middlesborough and Blackburn. Martin Hardy joins Tom Clarke to look at who is best placed to kick on. A Leeds squad with great depth, a rejuvenated Sheffield United or a Burnley team with a very tight defence? Sunderland had a rough November but got a win last time out. Is their success...

Can Chelsea win the title? Some think it is a silly question, but why? Were Spurs trying to perpetuate the ‘Spursy’ cliché? Two up at home but ending in defeat. Where now for a beleaguered Ange Postecoglou? Fulham are no longer just pretty, they’re gritty and they might have just solved how to defend an Arsenal corner. For Arsenal are they creating enough chances from open play when they are level...

A six-goal thriller at St James Park allowed Arsenal, Chelsea and City to pick up points on Liverpool.  Gregor Robertson and Martin Samuel wax lyrical about Trent Alexander Arnold – “I’ve never seen anyone kick a football like that!” Tom Clarke asks the team – how do you stop Arsenal at corners? Chelsea are no longer Cole Palmer plus ten others, they’re now a serious team. A touching and funn...

Manchester City are out of the title race…right? Some think they might even have a fight on for top four. Liverpool by contrast looked in control throughout and playing in a variety of ways too. Could Arsenal and Chelsea be Liverpool’s biggest challengers for the title? With Odegaard back Arsenal look at their free scoring best. Chelsea, with a young squad, finally look to be repaying the billion...

Under Arne Slot Liverpool are top of the Premier League and the new Champions League format. They’ve beaten Real Madrid for the first time in fifteen years; lost once in nineteen games and all with little fuss. It begs the question: just how good is Arne Slot. After the break Pep Guardiola’s woes continue. Be it confidence, injuries or tactics this is no longer a blip for Manchester City. What hap...

Gregor Robertson and Tom Clarke return to cast an eye over a busy week of EFL action. Leeds are starting to look like a team who were preseason favourites. The underlying data on their performances marks them out as the best in the Championship, by some distance. A standout player for Leeds is midfielder Ao Tanaka; Gregor looks at the impressive list of recent signings from Japanese and South Kore...

What a weekend! Are Manchester City in crisis? Has Martin Odegaard put Arsenal back in the title race, or are Liverpool going to run away with it? It was another Ange Postecoglou masterclass and Southampton self-destructed…again. Ruben Amorim has seen the size of the task at Manchester United; Ipswich showed how 3-4-3 should be played and Gary O’Neil took Wolves to their first away win since Febru...

Will Pep Guardiola’s contract extension end Manchester City’s poor run? Martin Samuel, Gregor Robertson and Tony Cascarino join Tom Clarke to look at what Guardiola signing means for City and for the Premier League – another unbeaten run or a stop gap till the end of the season? Across Manchester Rubin Amorim begins his tenure at United, what can we expect? Finally, a run through the weekend’s fix...

Lee Carsley has left England with a veritable spring in their step – a five-nil defeat of Republic of Ireland, four first time scorers and the joy of scoring seems to be back. So... who impressed most in Carsley’s brief reign? Will Tuchel continue the young blood approach and could captain Kane be under pressure? Scotland have a new star; Ben Doak is giving full backs nightmares…how good is he? If...