The Game

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Alyson Rudd and Matt Dickinson. Chelsea haven’t had a great festive period - are they complacent or are there other issues that need resolving? Why does Frank Lampard keep playing Timo Werner out of position when it’s clear it’s not working for the German striker? Arsenal benefitted from Chelsea’s problems but how do they build on this win? After the...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and Jonathan Northcroft. Leicester upset Jose on Sunday and everything is starting to click - but how long can their good form last? While people over-indulge - do footballers actually enjoy Christmas? Our resident former pro gives his take on what it’s like to be a player during the festival period. A year on from Carlo Ancelotti’s arriva...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and Jonathan Northcroft. Did the best team win as Liverpool and Tottenham swapped places after last night's match at Anfield? Slaven Bilić is out and Sam Allardyce is in - but was this the right decision for West Brom? The Times’ Chief Sports Correspondent, Matt Lawton drops in to tell us how the story broke before their game at Manchester...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and Alyson Rudd. Fans continue to trickle back into stadiums, but has the 12th man shown any advantage to teams in Tier 2? Arsenal’s poor run continued with a loss at home to Burnley - is Mikel Arteta starting to show the signs of a manager under pressure? Fabinho’s non-penalty gets The Game VAR treatment with mixed opinions and it leads t...

A bonus episode, originally appearing in the Stories of our times feed. All this week, rainbow coloured bootlaces and armbands are being worn by football players nationwide. This is to mark the Premier League's annual 'rainbow laces' campaign in support of the LGBT+ community. As well as being a celebration of inclusion, the campaign serves as a reminder of the absence of openly gay professional m...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and Tom Roddy. Manchester United have crashed out of the Champions League after a poor showing in Leipzig - is time finally up for Ole Gunnar Solskjær or should United fans have lower expectations? On the subject of United - is Paul Pogba worth the hassle? Sticking in Manchester and with the derby coming up - how are City getting on so far...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Alyson Rudd and Matt Dickinson. Mikel Arteta going back to Arsenal as manager was meant to be the romantic appointment in North London, but it’s Jose Mourinho that’s falling in love with his club. Why are Spurs players buying into his methods and are they happy in the process? How do Millwall deal with the section of fans who chose to boo players tak...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Alyson Rudd and Tom Roddy. The day after limited numbers of fans returned to select games in the EFL, Hugh and Tom share their experience of Wycombe vs Stoke. Oliver Giroud scored the perfect hattrick, then won and scored a penalty for Chelsea against Sevilla - but is he more than a good substitute? Aside from that, should a World Cup winner be happy...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Alyson Rudd and James Restall. Edinson Cavani came off the bench to turn Manchester United’s day around, but now faces potential FA action over and ill-judged social media post - do clubs have a duty of care to educate their players on cultural differences? As Raul Jimenez suffers a fractured skull in Wolves’ win at Arsenal - why is football lagging...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Jonathan Northcroft and Matt Dickinson to pay tribute to Diego Maradona, who died on Wednesday at the age of 60. An infamous World Cup winner in 1986, who inspired Napoli to become a double title-winners against all the odds before publicly struggling with his demons off the pitch - we celebrate The Golden Kid. We also get the mood in South America with The Times’ Lat...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and Matt Dickinson. Spurs are top of the Premier League table - are things coming together for Jose? Manchester City are way off the pace in the title race already - what’s going wrong for Pep? Did Arsenal make an expensive mistake with Nicolas Pepe? Liverpool look impressive despite the injuries and what constitutes a handball these days!...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and Jonathan Northcroft. The Scottish celebrations continue despite missing out on Nations League promotion and what did we learn from England’s dead rubber against Iceland? John Terry and Wayne Rooney are strong contenders for the Derby County job - but could they do the job at Pride Park? Today marks a decade since Venky’s took charge of...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and Alyson Rudd. England’s defeat to Belgium seems a lot more of a positive thing than the scoreline suggests - but why? Does Gareth Southgate know his best line up with only a handful of games left until Euro 2020? The team share their memories and pay tribute to the late Ray Clemence, who passed away on Sunday aged 72. The Times’ Scottis...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, James Restall and Jonathan Northcroft. The big changes at the FA are under the spotlight as Greg Clarke leaves following his comments earlier this week. Who does the FA look to next? Liverpool’s defensive woes continue with Joe Gomez’s injury - will they be forced into the transfer market in January? Should international friendlies be taking place du...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Alyson Rudd and Matt Dickinson. The weekend’s games get dissected, but are Liverpool and Manchester City already showing signs they may not be the top 2 at the end of the season? Aston Villa put in another impressive performance - but does the result tell us more about Arsenal’s problems? Do clubs have any right to complain about short turnarounds wh...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tom Clarke and James Restall. As we head back into lockdown, the pause on grassroots sport returns - but why is women’s football not considered elite when the men’s professional game continues? Brendan Rodgers is under the spotlight - is he underrated and what would prove his quality if so? As AFC Wimbledon play their first game back at Plough Lane,...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Gregor Robertson, Alyson Rudd and Tom Clarke. As Ole Gunnar Solskjær takes his 100th game at Manchester United - will he be there for 100 more? Brighton and Sheffield United both look good, but need results - why aren’t they coming? There’s been no yellow cards for diving since the season started - are the lack of fans the reason? Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still scoring a...

Hugh Woozencroft is joined by Jonathan Northcroft, Tom Roddy and the Times Chief Football Writer - Henry Winter. With Marcus Rashford impressing both on and off the pitch, the team discuss his impact on both the game against Leipzig and on the Government. Frank Lampard thanks he’s being treated unfairly because he’s English - does he actually get an easy ride? And do EFL clubs deserve a Government...

Hugh Woozencroft and Gregor Robertson are joined by Alyson Rudd and Matt Dickinson. With unexpected early leaders - is this the most open Premier League season ever? After losing to Leicester on Sunday - is the party already over for Arsenal or are they looking at the bigger picture? It’s been a year since Southampton lost 9-0 at home to Leicester - how far have they come in those 12 months? We’ve...

Hugh Woozencroft and Gregor Robertson are joined by Tom Clarke and Jonathan Northcroft. The Mesut Özil situation has got even messier in the last few days - but is Mikel Arteta really a failure for not getting the best out of him? Footballers are using their positions for activism more than ever - does anyone have the right to tell them to ‘just get back to football’? The English success in Europe...

Hugh Woozencroft and Gregor Robertson are joined by Tom Clarke and James Restall. West Ham’s comeback against Spurs is under the spotlight, did Gareth Bale show signs of positivity during his 18-minute cameo? Virgin Van Dijk is potentially out for the rest of the season - should Jordan Pickford have been sent off? A debate breaks out over the latest VAR controversy and the Champions League is back...

Hugh Woozencroft and Gregor Robertson are joined by Tom Clarke and Jonathan Northcroft. England are once again in focus after defeat to Denmark, with no sign of Jack Grealish and no Harry Maguire for the majority of the game. Does the Manchester United defender need a break or should he continue to play on? Does the demise of the short-lived 'Project Big Picture' mean the discussion about protecti...

Hugh Woozencroft and Gregor Robertson are joined by Tom Clarke. The big talking point is the proposal to overhaul English football as set out in ‘Project Big Picture’. The Times’ Chief Sports Reporter, Henry Winter joins us to give his thoughts on the proposed changes and look back on England’s win over Belgium. Molly Hudson brings us the latest from the women’s game and which Premier League match...

Hugh Woozencroft and Gregor Robertson are joined by Tom Clarke and Alyson Rudd. As the dust settles on the European transfer deadline day, the Chief Sports Correspondent for The Times - Matt Lawton - gives his insight into how the window works as a journalist, with the team adding their thoughts on which teams had the best transfer window. England are in the spotlight, in particular the goalkeepin...

It's a podcast takeover with the Stories of our Times podcast. The decision by the government to prevent fans from attending football matches in the UK has left many lower league clubs facing an uncertain future. What's it like to play for a National League and just how important are local clubs to their towns? Guest: Gregor Robertson, Times Sport columnist and co-host of The Game podcast.&nb...