Ranks FC - A Football Podcast

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the sixth Matchday of the League stage. We start at San Siro, where Liverpool, came out victorious over Inter Milan thanks to a controversial late Dominik Szoboszlai penalty to quieten the noise in what has been a hectic week for the Reds; before heading to Camp Nou, where Barcelona had to...

It's time for The Truth! Today the boys are discussing the Premier League title race - and if there's one about to explode into live. We're all in agreement that from the evidence in front of us this season, Arsenal are the favourites - some bookmakers even have them as short as evens to win the title for the first time since 2003/04. But is this a procession for Mikel Arteta's men or are there so...

Hello Rank Squad! In the latest episode of Ranks FC we're digging your Transfer Guru back out of his hiatus to talk all things January Transfer Window, so Dean is on hand to walk you through the latest that he has heard on what might be possible in the winter spending window and which clubs could be tempted into splashing some cash.  DJ splits his ranking into two parts - starting with what clubs...

It's time for The Truth! Today the boys are discussing the emerging generation of superstar midfielders. We've had the £100m transfers in recent seasons of Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, as well as a number of other big money moves - so which players are in the conversation to become the next stars in the middle of the park? We discuss some of the main contenders, starting with No...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the fifth Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Emirates, where Arsenal downed Bayern Munich 3-1 in the battle of teams previously perfect; before heading to Anfield, where Liverpool's woes continued with a harrowing 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven that continues to leave Arne Slot...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the fifth Matchday of the League stage. We start at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea put the hammer down on brittle Barcelona, inspired by their own wonderkid in the form of Estevão, who continues to drop awe-inspiring performances on the big stage; before heading to Manchester, where Pep ma...

It's time for The Truth! Today the boys are looking at luck and the effect it has on any given Premier League season, off the back of an article that Sam has written about how you can quantify it over the course of a number of games. We examine the structure of how you try to manifest this in a discussion, and if this is something that you can have a sensible chat about in the grander scheme of fo...

Hello Rank Squad!  With the majority of the field now locked in for next summer's World Cup, we thought it was a good time to take stock of where the favourites are in terms of potentially winning this tournament. We work through the bookmakers' favourites and give our own ranking on where they currently stand, and why.  We also take a quick look at some of the lesser known names that you need to...

It's time for The Truth! Today the boys are looking at the battle for survival in the Premier League, and trying their best to sort through the noise in the relegation battle. We work through all the teams at the bottom of the table - Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, Burnley and Fulham, to try and work out who is in the most immediate danger of slipping do...

Hello Rank Squad!  It's the November International Break, so we're taking a look back at the season so far and picking out some of the players who have broken out for their teams so far across the course of the campaign. We start by selecting three from the Premier League who have made this season their own thus far, before heading over to Europe.  There's five players from across the continent, t...

It's time for The Truth! Sam is back from his holidays and he's back in the studio with Dougie to discuss Real Madrid and a campaign so far under Xabi Alonso that has looked pretty seamless on paper - they're top of La Liga, going strong in the Champions League and boast a Kylian Mbappé in more lethal form than ever. But under the surface, there's a lingering feeling, exacerbated by their loss to...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the fourth Matchday of the League stage. We start in Bruges with a truly nutty game of football between Club Brugge and Barcelona which ended in a 3-3 that barely does justice to the amount of chances; before heading to Azerbaijan where a heavily Chelsea were punished for their wholesal...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the fourth Matchday of the League stage. We start at Anfield, where Liverpool put together their most complete performance of the season so far, fending off Real Madrid 1-0 in front of an electric atmosphere on Merseyside; before heading to Paris, where Bayern laid out their credentials as...

It's time for The Truth! Sam's away this week, so Jack steps up from the producer's chair to join Dougie in the studio and they're discussing Sunderland's unbelievable opening to this Premier League campaign. After winning the Playoffs back in May, the Black Cats made their fairytale return to the top table, but even the most optimistic of fans wouldn't have predicted them sitting in a Champions L...

Hello Rank Squad! We're now getting to the point of the season where we can start to take league tables a bit more seriously, and in doing so, we can see that there are a few teams who are a little (or a lot) higher in the table than they might have expected before a ball was kicked. So, today, we're exploring six of those teams across Europe's top five leagues - why expectations might have been l...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the third Matchday of the League stage. We start at a very rainy Stamford Bridge where a very young Chelsea side made light work of 10-man Ajax, continuing their recent run of very impressive results; and then on to Frankfurt, where Liverpool bounced back from their recent troubles with...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the third Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Emirates where Arsenal found a magical 13-minute spell to put Atletico Madrid to the sword, beating them 4-0 with a couple of goals for Viktor Gyökeres and a couple of goals from set pieces for good measure; before heading to Leverkus...

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Tottenham Hotspur, and the discourse around the idea that in just a small spell of games, Thomas Frank has fixed all the problems that saw last season become one of the most disappointing domestic campaigns in the club's modern history.  Spurs have won four, drawn two and lost just a single Premier League game so far, seeing...

Hello Rank Squad!  Ranks is 5 years old this week, so we wanted to start by saying Thank You to all of you who listen regularly and who have stuck with us on this incredible journey since we went independent in 2020. As a little celebration, we wanted to bring back one of our most-loved episodes from the staples and revisit Sacking or Saving Under-Fire Managers for a FIFTH time.  It's tough out th...

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Liverpool - which seems to be the topic on everybody's lips right now. After a perfect start to the season from a results perspective, three losses in a week have opened up a discourse which was previously being kept at bay - whether Liverpool's imbalances since a summer overhaul have actually made them weaker, even just in...

Hello Rank Squad! With the international break upon us, we wanted to throw things forward a little bit, and dip into Dean's little black book of contacts to discuss some potential moves that could end up being the big stories of next year - either in January or in the summer transfer window.  We start by examining the situation around Harry Kane at Bayern Munich and whether his release clause will...

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Harry Kane, and the phenomenal form he has started this season in - continuing on from two exceptional seasons since joining Bayern Munich in 2023. Things start off with just some general appreciation of just how good the England captain has been in Bavaria, before we try to fit him into the pantheon of great strikers of the...

Hello Rank Squad! It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the second Matchday of the League stage. We start in Barcelona in a game which many wanted to be last season's final, as Luis Enrique's PSG were in town to play Hansi Flick's Barcelona. It ended in a dramatic win for the holders, but not before a cracking game with plenty of drama. Foll...

Hello Rank Squad! The Champions League is in full flow now and your Takeaway returns to have a look through all of Tuesday's action. We begin in Istanbul, where Liverpool's week took another tough turn with a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray - seeing Alisson and Hugo Ekitike injured in the process. We follow this up with a visit to their weekend opponents - Chelsea - who eked out a 1-0 win over former boss...

It's time for The Truth! Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss the woeful start that Aston Villa have had in this campaign, and whether this is just a blip or something more concerning for Villa fans. We examine the fallout of the financial peril in the summer, the work in the transfer market that has potentially left Unai Emery shorthanded for this season, the influence of Monchi - who...