The Late Kick Off Football Podcast
Champions League Review / Premier League Review / Plymouth / Aberdeen / Cowdenbeath
Champions League review. Manchester City go out on penalties to Real Madrid. Analysis of the gam, City's misstep, Real's inevitability and a preview of the FA Cup and League for City. Arsenal lose at a whimper to Bayern. Arteta's staying power in league seasons.
We cover Chelsea 6-0 Everton.
Aaron talks us through Plymouth's season.
The big news in Scotland was Jimmy Thelin taking over at Aberdeen.
Aaron then covers Cowdenbeath!
All reviews, likes, shares and of course listens are hugely appreciated! Why not leave a review right now, it only takes a second!
Please follow and tag us on the socials @latekickoff:
Twitter - Late Kick Off Podcast (@latekickoffpod) / Twitter
Instagram - Late Kick Off Football Podcast (@latekickoffpod) • Instagram photos and videos
Thanks to all our contributors:
Ciaran Fowler for the artwork!
Ross McDonald for the logo!
Mike Leith and KMAND DJ for the intro music!
Champions League review. Manchester City go out on penalties to Real Madrid. Analysis of the gam, City's misstep, Real's inevitability and a preview of the FA Cup and League for City. Arsenal lose at a whimper to Bayern. Arteta's staying power in league seasons.
We cover Chelsea 6-0 Everton.
Aaron talks us through Plymouth's season.
The big news in Scotland was Jimmy Thelin taking over at Aberdeen.
Aaron then covers Cowdenbeath!
All reviews, likes, shares and of course listens are hugely appreciated! Why not leave a review right now, it only takes a second!
Please follow and tag us on the socials @latekickoff:
Twitter - Late Kick Off Podcast (@latekickoffpod) / Twitter
Instagram - Late Kick Off Football Podcast (@latekickoffpod) • Instagram photos and videos
Thanks to all our contributors:
Ciaran Fowler for the artwork!
Ross McDonald for the logo!
Mike Leith and KMAND DJ for the intro music!
Jimmy, jimmy, hello and welcome to the Late Kickoff Football Podcast, a chastising week for English teams in Europe Since we last spoke and the first teams blink in the title race. Up north, aberdeen have appointed the second coming of Jesus as their new manager, and Rangers all but hand the title to Celtic. I'm your host, jamie Guyon, and joined as ever by Mike Wood. Mike, how are you doing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was confused by the opening clip there, but now when you said Aberdeen manager, it all makes sense. Spare me. You know how? About yourself?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm tremendous mate. That song is going to be on repeat for the next five, six years as we lift ourselves to the top of the Champions League. I can't wait for it. And also, returning to the podcast this week, delighted to have Aaron Dugan on Aaron, how are you doing?
Speaker 3:Hi good, I say looking forward to you listening to that song on repeat for the next three months and then throwing your toys at the pram when he ends up getting sacked after drawing nil now, with us counting the Leib and Aberdeen adrift at the bottom of the table.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very good. We'll see how it goes, but for now I'm delighted and I can't wait. We'll come on to more of the mighty Jimmy Jimmy towards the end of the podcast, but to start we have to start with last night's fantastic Champions League action, and initially at the Etihad.
Speaker 4:And he scores. Rudiger scores for Real Madrid. They've won the penalty shootout. Manchester City are out of the Champions League and Real Madrid, who always seem to find a way in this competition, have got themselves through to yet another semi-final.
Speaker 1:Fantastic game again last night. Manchester City won, real Madrid won. It was a thrilling 3-3 at the Bernabeu last weekend which set up the blockbuster encounter. Real Madrid got their noses in front early on as Rodrigo bundled home at the second time of asking City. Huffton puffed for an hour before Kevin De Bruyne finally broke Real Madrid's resolve in the 76th minute to bring the game level. He was then presented with a glorious chance to win the game moments later that he squandered. Real defended resolutely in the game, ticked away to penalties. Modric seemed to hand the impetus to City missing the initial spot kick before Bernardo Silva and Kovacic had their efforts saved and upset Anthony Rudiger and the rest seemed inevitable.
Speaker 1:Fackenell still a bit early at this side of the world. Yeah, good game, mike. It was because Real Madrid get themselves in front early turned into a little bit of a game of attack v defence. But I think there's been a lot of disparaging comments about Real Madrid's approach to this game. But it's not too different to what we've come to expect from them in these tough ties over the last four or five seasons and once again they're the team that have gone through.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. It just felt inevitable, as Darren Fletcher said in commentary there, that once Real Madrid got their noses in front they were always going to see the tie-off, and it's just really a lack of bluntness from Manchester's side. We've seen it in recent weeks. Haaland's only got one goal in his last nine games, I believe, for club and country, and they just couldn't put the finishing touches on moves. And it really took the engagement of Jeremy Doakwood and that wing to really put some sort of fire into the bellies of Manchester City and really go out around Madrid and try and break down their defence. But we all know when Madrid get their noses in front, the best way to hit it is on the counter-attack and that's the only way they're going to go about it.
Speaker 2:It's a Champions League game, it's a second leg, it's a chance to get to the semi-finals and we know that Ancelotti's not necessarily tactically stuck to one system or one way of playing. He'll do anything he can to win the tie, and he has done once again to Norwich in the final. I think it's been a long time since he's been out of the semi-finals of the Champions League, especially under his management as well. So got to take your hats off to them. And yeah, it's just. It wasn't a case of really City being that poor or anything like that. It's just one of those days where you're blood and attack the wee differences that takes to win at this level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. There's almost a. People talk about the inevitability and the innate confidence built into Real, but there's almost like an anti-arrogance in them as well, in that they're so unbelievably confident that they can make it through to the next round that they don't really care how they do it. Perfectly happy to sit in for 90 minutes if that's what it's going to take, rather than sort of naively going toe-to-toe with a team that they know are better at doing that. How have you found the Champions League this season, aaron? Obviously that's where Cowdenbeath will hope to find themselves one day, so you'll be on a scouting mission, but for the time being certainly the group stages came under a bit of scrutiny for not perhaps being as exciting as previous years, but hotted up in more recent weeks.
Speaker 3:Aye, just, it's nothing. I really pay much attention to the Champions League because, obviously, cow Beef are a long way away from getting in, but it tends to be. For me, especially, it boils down to just the same teams time and time again. Like you said it there yourself, real Madrid are just built to find a way to get through. Like, honestly, I watched a wee bit of the game last night in the pub and then caught the rest out on the bit of the game last night in the pub and then caught the rest of it on the highlights of the day.
Speaker 3:I mean, they just know how to find a way, don't they? I mean, rodrigo tried his hardest to miss that, the whole net to aim for, and decided to smash it right up against Ederson, mind you, even on the call, it's a great save. And then, looking back at it, he the clock oh, it's a great save. And then, looking back at you, he says it's not a great save. He's just had to stand there. He's found it. But aye, I mean, you can't go toe to toe with man City, can you? They're just too, they're just too good at that, and they've just. Ancelotti, I think, is probably going to go down as one of the top five, if not top two, managers in history, I'd say just because he's that dynamic in his approach.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. On the game itself, mike, you're keen not to criticise City there. Perhaps one thing that stood out for me, and immediately wrote it down at the time, was the decision to take Haaland off at the end of the 90 and then, in extra time as well, taking Kevin De Bruyne off. Just thought, in a game where you know Real have been digging in and that's not to say Alvarez didn't play well or Alvarez couldn't have come on you know Real are digging in you must have at least half a mind on penalties, if not more. It seemed to me a really strange decision, short of injury, to take Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne off the top at that stage. And as it turned out, it does go to penalties and you would never know if they were to miss as well. But generally speaking, in a shootout like that you just simply want your best players on the pitch, if you can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I believe Pep said they asked to come off as indirectly or just they were that knackered throughout the game. That was the decision he said. Whether that's true or not is by the by, I suppose. But yeah, I mean, we've seen Kevin De Bruyne the last few seasons. He struggles with injury and for him to maybe play two hours would have been a tough ask, especially against the likes of De Alenham and Caravaggio in the midfield, and so, yeah, it's a strange one in one sense. But I suppose it's just at the stage where De Bruyne has his career that maybe he can't keep playing these games at such a high intensity for long periods.
Speaker 2:Haaland, on the other hand, he just seems to be out of sorts at this moment in time. I don't think he's fully got over whatever was ailing him in his foot. That's seen him on the sidelines for such a long period of time doesn't seem to be the kind of sharp, dynamic way that he was. He doesn't seem to be as bullying defenders as he was. I mean, he's up against Rudiger, who's a specimen himself. But you would have thought maybe pulling on to Nacho he would have been able to get some more joy. But yeah, I think it's just the case that he needed to rotate and wait to win the game an extra time rather than see it all the way to penalties, which it's not, which is not a lottery.
Speaker 2:But you miss one chance, you hand all the impetus over to the opposition and we've got two of Pele takers. Was it? Elvis Pele just basically rolled down the middle to win it effectively. That's disappointing. If you're a team like Manchester City, you don't want to potentially just come down to catch from the spot to see yourself through. You want to finish the game off in two hours. They did have the impetus and they did have the bit of chances. They just weren't able to see themselves over the line.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. There's plenty of talk about it being a Kepa masterclass, for the penalty saves from facing up against Bernardo Silva in the 2019 Carabao Cup Final. I think it was so fair play if he's remembered how Bernardo Silva takes a penalty from all that time and there's no other prep involved, but it was a similar execution. I did enjoy Fletch on commentary and he does this every single time without fail that when a penalty goes in, he says that's a great penalty, and then when a penalty is saved, he says that's a really poor penalty. That's all it comes down to is whether it goes in or not, because Rudiger arguably got quite lucky. His didn't even skiff off the post. It proper chunked off the post and you could tell he was worried as well because he checked his run before he went to celebrate and then sort of ran off. But great performance by him keeping Haaland quiet, to be fair. You're absolutely right, mike.
Speaker 1:Completely agree that he's struggled since coming back from injury. Even things like his finishing has been really poor. He's missing a lot of one-on-one opportunities. When he does get himself into the right place, his goals in recent months are purely coming from tap-ins and bundles and not really what you would have come to expect from him, given the 50-odd goals he scored last season. He doesn't even find himself top of the golden boot race in the Premier League on his own anymore. He's got company as we'll come to. But yeah, poor one for Manchester City. Obviously fantastic for Real Madrid getting through. Up next for City is Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at the weekend before they go to Brighton in midweek, which might they're just going to have to, and you would expect them to dust themselves down and sort of crack on for that Chelsea game. But certainly if you are Chelsea, seeing them drag themselves through 120 minutes in a Bentley shootout isn't going to do any harm.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. It'll be interesting, because Chelsea seem to be a bit of a cup specialist at this moment in time, evidently coming off the back of a good win on Monday night as well. Extra couple of days rest, there'll be opportunities for them there. It's just rather the fact that they can keep the back door shut. I mean, up until this game on Monday, they played I think it was six consecutive games. They'd scored twice and conceded twice, and if you're doing that against inferior opposition, then Manchester City, you could be leaving yourselves up for a hiding. But who knows, it just might be too many games too quickly for Manchester City, and Chelsea might be able to get themselves over the line and still favour City. But I think it's certainly closer than we would have expected a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1:The two games between them so far have been 4-4 and 1-1. And that second leg, a second leg, the second game in particular, chelsea had countless chances. How do you see this one going, aaron?
Speaker 3:I think the way that Chelsea's had over the last couple of seasons and also City as the team they beat. Now in England I'm probably the world you see. City's the tip top there, so I can't really see past City but, as Mike says, played a lot of football in the last couple of weeks and that could just be a case of one too many.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and to be fair, mike, brighton's a team that's caused them difficulty as well. It's perhaps not a prime Desarby Brighton squad or performances at the moment, but equally that's not going to be an easy game, and Arsenal certainly play before they do over the weekend.
Speaker 2:And I can't remember off the top of my head, to be honest if the weekend and I'm I can't remember off the top of my head, to be honest, if liverpool play um at the weekend as well, but I can certainly check they do uh kind of maintain the play, but they definitely play the weekend as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I play for them. So, yeah, um. I know we'll probably get into more detail, but I do think it'll be like lots of um twists and turns in this title race. I don't think it's as effective as every team that's going to win, like a few seasons ago when it was Liverpool and City and then City just would pit the league. I don't think it's going to be like that. I think there's going to be plenty of drop points between now and the end of the campaign.
Speaker 1:Fantastic.
Speaker 4:We'll move on to the other Champions League game when they travelled to the Allianz.
Speaker 1:Tremendous goal this, aaron, for Bayern Munich to take the lead and win the game 3-2 on aggregate. Pretty poor defending with a lot of Arsenal players standing around looking at the attack, and that'll be something that you're obviously more used to following Plymouth than perhaps some of the Arsenal fans. But yeah, what did you make of this game?
Speaker 3:It came in. I thought it was a very well taken goal. But absolutely no pressure on him. He just ran, ran, just ran straight through the defence, as you say, caught watching. It's been a poor season for Bayern. In what they're used to, football bants it's Harry Kane and that Arsenal would probably be disappointed that the first leg going in two all draws. It's the third place to go Munich, that full stadium. It's quite an intimidating atmosphere. It keeps Bayern's season alive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. It was quite strange looking at the fans walking towards the stadium. Last time I was at the Allianz Arena was in July. I stayed in a camper van in the car park because that's what they do in the stadium when the season isn't on. So I had a bit of a different vibe to it when I seen it on the telly this time round.
Speaker 1:But, mike, it must be really, really disappointing. As an Arsenal fan, you're sort of back in the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in a long time, an opportunity to be back in the semi-final for the first time in an even longer time and a genuine shout at being one of the favourites to win the competition. And I think everyone on this side of the draw seen themselves if they got to the final, they'd sort of done the harder bits and it was likely to be a slightly easier tie in the final. But they genuinely didn't really do themselves justice in either leg, I would say. And I think Pep came out of the City game and said look, we did everything right, we just didn't get over the line. I don't think Arteta will be having the same thoughts for this Arsenal squad.
Speaker 2:No, the damage was definitely done on the first leg. Especially when you go and you score two goals at home with your stout defence, you'd expect to see the game off even if it was just a 2-1, and he's taken that to Germany. That's a much more favourable position. But no, 2-2 was poor and all three of the goals were quite defensively lax and no one was appealing, especially by Harry Kane. But I think there was still a bit of naivety at the top table for Arsenal and that's you've still got to take these chances.
Speaker 2:When they come, it's easy to say, oh, you go again next season. But these are the, these are the guilt edge chances. It's hard. It's like Atletico Madrid, madrid. They were so close for so many years back in the mid-2010s and they've still not got that Champions League. They've still got the same manager, they've still got some of the same players, but once again they've missed another chance to get to the latter stages of the competition as well. So it's really hard to win things as much as Manchester City. In recent seasons and remember during the Champions League we've shown that they can just be this juggernaut. But, yeah, you've got to take these chances. When they come, it's easy to say you can let the players go again for next season or the next game, etc. But you've got to take these chances when they come, because they might not come around again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I thought for this it was a bit of a just felt like it was a bit of a whimper really. 1.32xg for Bayern, 0.47 for Arsenal. It's such a specific moment, sometimes you can overanalyse it, but I kind of put it in the notes Specifically disappointed with Declan Rice for the goal. I think he was kind of marking shadows and looking around very quick to try and find somebody else to blame when Kimmich runs in and headers it. As well as a deep-lying midfield runner, you would have expected Rice to have been the one that was sort of stepping in question, posed by friend of the pod and one time appearance maker, keith Ward, was in relation to leading the line with Havertz in sort of a Champions League quarter final. Mike. It's a system that's worked well in the league and Havert's been an unbelievable form. But is it ties like this, is it the level like this where the argument resurfaces that Arsenal do need to strengthen in the summer, particularly with a striker?
Speaker 2:I don't know, because he has scored a goal in the Champions League to win it, of course, in the not too recent past. He's an incredible out of possession, he does a lot of great work defensively, but he just seems a bit more. He just seems a bit unorthodox, much like Jesus. So you know he will miss chances.
Speaker 2:But I just think if Arsenal had Haaland, I don't know if that would have rectified those problems on the night either. So I think it's very easy just to say they're a striker in a way. But if they're strikers like Haaland and he's isolated and he's not getting the service either, then what does it really matter, whereas Havertz has more of his talent and more of his attributes are suited to looking towards the play and Arsenal have got goals from all over the park. I think the worry is more the off form that Saka and Martinelli have been in the wider areas as well, because I think it's all interconnected, of course, and I don't think their contributions in recent weeks have been up to the standards that they're capable of, especially Martinelli, and I think maybe that's more about Laj rather than Havertz not scoring the vital goals at the vital times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's probably pretty fair enough, and it is generally hard to criticise a player that is in such good form because his team concede a lot of goals. It's not necessarily the fairest. They also lost at the weekend 2-0 to Aston Villa. Aaron put their title chances in jeopardy. Too late goals from Villa now find themselves behind Manchester City at the top. It's been a pretty compelling title battle at the top of the Premier League this season and probably gone on longer than it has done in previous years, but I think at the weekend there was suddenly a worry that we were heading towards. You know man City inevitability, as we do at fields every season.
Speaker 3:Well, obviously, liverpool tripped up against Crystal Palace as well, and you can't give man City any help like that, because they're the largest team to beat. But every time you saw man City falter or they've been beaten a couple of times this season they've drawn a few more games than what they usually do as well, and you think this is it. This is the time, and I watched the Villa game and I thought that Arsenal should have been up at the half. We're certainly a stronger team than what Villa were, and obviously Villa had that bit of smash and grab at the end. We're certainly a stronger team than what Villa were. Villa had that bit of a smash and grab at the end with the two goals. You've got to feel that it is man City's now to lose. People talk about Arsenal being this project. Arteta has been here since 2019. I mean, can Wendy eventually say that, right, we're no longer a project.
Speaker 1:We need to go out and win things. I think that's a fair question. I think actually, if Arsenal don't win the league this season, that's two bites at the cherry, and next year then I think the pressure amps up maybe a little bit on them in terms of being able to drive this project to the next stage. Maybe they were ahead of schedule a little bit last season, from where people perhaps anticipated. But yeah, expectations change very quickly in football and if you start getting close to doing well all the time, people suddenly want you to do well and kind of forget about necessarily where you've come from.
Speaker 1:Mike Aron just touched on it there. Liverpool also had a very poor week since we last spoke, lost in spectacular fashion to Atalanta, which is quite funny, given we spent last week saying it's Atalanta, they're a good team, but they're not the Atalanta of previous seasons and they get a thump and a nil before getting beat by a very well-drilled and great performance from Crystal Palace. But Klopp was incredibly tetchy after those games and the season just seems to be unravelling a little bit for Liverpool and in Klopp's final season you know all this talk of a quadruple and it's looking more and more likely leaves with the Carabao Cup.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we've touched upon this in recent weeks, though they keep on going to the well of conceding faster and coming back to win, and it's not a recipe for success. I I think the 21 times in 51 games they've conceded first, that's in the form of title contenders, and they've got very unaffected followers. Up top, I think it's Diaz and Nunez. I think they're in the bottom 10 players of underperforming in their XG stats. They can take XG for what it was or what it is, but it just shows you they're not very effective strikers, and if you aren't firing on all forms. Salah looks a bit sluggish, since he's returned from injury as well. It just seems to be a recipe for it all, kind of for a part of it, that seems.
Speaker 2:And the Atlanta one Atlanta sorry one was was astonishing just in the way that the defence crumbled, more so than anything. They were a very well drawn side, but the goals that they conceded were very easy, and I think that's the problem. They're lax in both boxes at this moment in time and obviously, when we get to April and May, that's not a time you want to be running into problems. You thought? Thought with the players that were coming back into, even though Robertson's actually been exceptional since he's came back to the side. They've just drifted off a wee bit and I think it's. I think we are seeing the fact that kind of what we've always said it's a three horse race at Liverpool with a third horse in the race all along.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were the horse that have managed to keep pace until the second to final fence, and then the other two runners have gone right. Fucking, let's win this race. Now kicked on a little bit, which is just reminding me a great video that was on the news of this lovely old lady that didn't realise she'd won the Grand National and then her pal told her she had horse number 5, not number 4, and then she proceeded to call all her pals and tell them she'd won 35 quid on the National. It's tremendous. It's exactly what it's all about. Yeah, it's been a poor week for Liverpool. They, as we just said, have got Fulham at the weekend and the title by the time we speak again. There's definitely a chance the title battle could have flipped back down. They might have given it the old. You know Arsenal are going to win the league and Arteta's project's all coming to the fore and Pep's shut the bed after the defeat to Madrid. It's kind of the difficult thing, week in, week out, talking about this, as it is so topsy-turvy, but then that's what's making it so interesting.
Speaker 1:Elsewhere in the Champions League, on Tuesday night, borussia Dortmund beat Atleti 4-2 to book themselves a place in the semi-final, and they'll play against Paris Saint-Germain, who ran out 4-1 winners after Barcelona took an early lead, before then going down to 10 men, which I said I thought was a really harsh red card. I thought it was quite a clear dive. I seem to be in a band of my own in preaching that, which is fair enough. These things happen, but poor from Barcelona obviously, being two goals ahead in the tie and then kind of capitulating against PSG, which is a shame, and there's a lot of talk about this being a sort of new, look likeable PSG side. But the longer they go without winning the Champions League, the better as far as I'm concerned. So all eyes on Dortmund in the semi and Mike we were just chatting before we came on there potential to set up a couple of rematches, depending on who makes it through to the final because obviously it's at Wembley once again in like 2013, and it would be if Dortmund and Bayern Munich both got there.
Speaker 2:You've still got some players from both teams that represented that final with, like Matt Hummels and Nuri Sahin is assisting at Borussia Dortmund now on the bench there and Marco Rosa, of course, and from the Bayern Munich side, you've still got Neuer and Gose time. You've still got Neuer in goals and you've still got Thomas Muller, even though he's a bit more of a peripheral player these days. So that'd be an interesting tie and, yeah, I think that'd be the interesting final of the pair. Of course, if you ever did go on and get through, you'd expect them to win. That'd be what? The fifth time in the last 10 years or something like that just unreal dominance at this level, really harking back to the days of the 60s. But yeah, it'd be. It'd be a nice symmetry if it was, if it was finally Dortmund getting their Champions League, replicating the time 97 when Paul Lambert won it and one of the few Scotsmen to win it as well.
Speaker 2:So Mark Zidane out the game yeah, famously, of course, and I think that's there's a few, there's a few instances or a few matchups. That'd be interesting, but yeah, but I think the least likeable one would probably be PSG versus Real Madrid, but I don't think we can recall too many games between the pair of sides in Europe over the years either, so that'd be something new, I suppose, in a sense yeah, yeah, dortmund getting to the final would be good.
Speaker 1:It kind of shows the um beauty of cup football in the pyramid and you know why you don't want it to be a closed shop and and all that malarkey. Um, so that'd be, that'd be absolutely tremendous. Um, I was gonna say something really interesting there. I've completely forgotten. So, um, can't be that interesting. We'll move on and just quickly touch on other business.
Speaker 1:In the Premier League it was Chelsea running out 6-0 winners against Everton on. Oh, that's what I was going to say. Sorry, it's just come back to me coefficient. I haven't actually double checked, but I assume Arsenal and man City get knocked out of the Champions League and particularly with the two German sides going through the England's chances of five Champions League spaces next year, the two German sides going through that England's chances of five Champions League spaces next year is dead in the water yeah, it's good, so definitely Serie A and Bundesliga to get an extra spot, which makes Tottenham and Villeneuve in the race to the fourth place much more interesting than it was probably a month ago, where it seemed certain that England would overlap Germany in second for the coefficient of sports.
Speaker 2:So that'll be interesting and kind of good for them to get their comeuppance. I suppose I think they can walk, especially in the lesser European competitions like the Conference League and the Europa League, where they've been seen in previous seasons, especially not to take it all too seriously- yeah, well, that's exactly it.
Speaker 1:You know, the other leagues always take the minor European competition seriously and it continues to boost their coefficient season on season. And look we. I was going to say we make a living. I think that's putting it a bit far. But I was going to say we make a living out of talking about the Premier League. I wish, but we waffle on about the Premier League every week and so we're obviously all premier league fans.
Speaker 1:But, um, it is funny when the arrogance of the premier league is brought back and slapped in its face and not getting the fifth champions league spot that all the punditry have spoken about all season as being all but a guarantee is is pretty hilarious, to be fair. So, um, but yeah, that's what I was going to say before moving on to Chelsea 6. Everton 0, the Cole Palmer show, Sean Dyche we'll have to talk a little bit about him as well. I'll not go into too much detail on this because Aaron's absolutely chomping at the bit to talk about other more interesting footballing matters. But Cole Palmer's been a player, Aaron, that's grabbed the headlines, particularly since Christmas, and will likely go to the Euros with England. He's been a revelation for Chelsea and a thoroughly exciting player to watch.
Speaker 3:Definitely what a pick up. You couldn't really see him getting into the City team. It's funny you can probably see Chelsea as a bit of a step down these days, especially from us growing up and living through the Abramovich era and Chelsea Chelsea really being the second team in England alongside man United for the time, and now Ross is sat at mid-table now, but I thought it was a great game. Everton are trying their hardest to go down, it seems at times, but aye, I mean Cole Palmer is a discernment of a spot on that England side for the Euros, I'd say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. I think the questions he's. It was Jack Grealish, it was James Madison. This summer it's going to be Cole Palmer because he'll play about 15 minutes as a substitute in a group stage game. England will get knocked out in the quarterfinal and everyone will moan because it's Cole Palmer didn't get enough time. Certainly think he's leapfrogged James Madison and probably Jack Grealish in the conversation to play in that front four. But Everton, mike, I've been harping on at this question since about week three whether Sean Dyche is actually up to it and, as you said in the group chat after this game, if a Sean Dyche team can't be defensively resolute, then what the fuck's the point in a Sean Dyche team? I feel like the tide is turning in terms of criticism being sort of put his way, bearing in mind, obviously, that they're still two points above the draw and they have had a points deduction. But there's a lot of these really really, really poor results for them Again, particularly since Christmas. I think that's one win in 15 now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the's not. The last two wins have been against Burnley, stretching back to the middle of December, which is, which is poor for Burnley and obviously good for Evan, because otherwise they could be in real, real trouble. Still not worried about them overall because of the kind of poor quality of them, but they're bottom three. I think that's what's going to save them at the end of the day and I think that's what's really saving Deitch from more criticism. The real problem with Everton even with those six goals conceded, they've still got the fourth best defensive record in the league, which is mental. And I think what's really letting them down is obviously not a scheme because it was 6-0, but in general their strike play has been really ineffective and obviously Calvert-Lewin got a gifted one when Muric, the Burnley goalkeeper, kicked off him and leaped over him to the net. And I think when they salvaged their draw against Newcastle, it wasn't the greatest of Pellies, it just had enough pace to see past the Dabravka and the goals. So really, if things are going their way in the work of the draw in that kind of sense, we could probably see them in more trouble than they actually are.
Speaker 2:But I think because of the poor form of Sheffield United, burnley and Luton. They'll be fine this season, but I think the real problem I think this goes for a number of teams kind of when that bottom half of the bottom half is next season if the teams that come up from the championship, it looks like two of the three will bounce back immediately if that's going to put them under real pressure, like a few of the teams, because of their financial play issues can they recruit, can they get better players? I mean, the big outlay they had this season was on Beto, up top for about £25 million and he doesn't look up to it either. So it's going to be interesting where they go from here. And yeah, it's not looking good for Dyche in the long run. I don't think, and if he doesn't get it done here, I don't think he gets an opportunity job off the of what he's done here.
Speaker 1:Anyway, no, I think he would. At best he would get a big Sam type job, sort of second half of the season to save someone. But I agree with you, I think he'd be back to looking at the championship and having to rebuild his reputation. It's crazy that Beto was 25 million he's fucking hopeless and that Aberdeen might get 8 to 10 million for Bojan Mijovski, who is definitely definitely a better football player than than Beto. Absolutely no two ways about it. If you put them in this Everton side he'd score some goals. It's just. I know it's a really obvious thing to say, but fucking hell, it's bonkers. Yeah, good result for Chelsea, though Three points off of sixth.
Speaker 1:Now we've been saying for a few weeks they're kind of sort of looking at sixth and yeah, it would be pretty bonkers. Um, if they, if they manage to get there, they've got a game in hand against the teams that are above them and two games in hand over west ham. So like that, it kind of coming down to gold difference against newcastle and man united. Potentially that sixth place is actually on the cards. And for chelsea, finishing the top six after the season they've had would genuinely be bonkers.
Speaker 1:And a little word for Pochettino losing his mind in the post-match press conference over Noni Maduike and Nicholas Jackson trying to take the penalty off of Cole Palmer at 4-0 for him to get his fourth. I thought that was quite interesting and actually probably warranted and needed by Poch to kind of finally call out some of the childish behaviour that he's alluded to over the last kind of six months and for everyone to see that first and foremost. But let's move on, that'll do for the Premier League. We'll come on to the exciting part of the show and touch on a few things that we don't get the opportunity to talk about every week. And where better place to start than with Plymouth Argyle, a football association, football club based in the city of Plymouth in Devon, england? How are they getting on, aaron?
Speaker 3:I mean just keeping their heads above the water now. Obviously, a massive win against Leicester at the weekend there. I don't know if you saw anything about it, but there was a clip from full-time and the place was bouncing. Obviously, ian Foster was shown the door after a very, very poor run. He took a team that was well, not sturdy defensively, but certainly one of the better attacking sides in the league, to turn them into a team that wasn't very good defensively but unable to score goals either. So it did feel a bit like it was a bit of an inevitability that we would have went down with Foster in charge.
Speaker 3:The board made a brave decision to get rid of him. Giving the job over to Duesnip, the football director to the end of the season Completely instilled a bit more belief about the side. Again. Obviously, drew drew 1-0 with QPR the first game. Yes, aye, aye, sorry. Beat Rotherham 1-0 in the first game and then drew with QPR on the Tuesday before coming up against Leicester, who kind of obviously started to fall away a bit themselves. But again, a massive win. It was a great goal by Mustafa Bundu. That kind of creeps us 18th right now with a well, a kind of big game coming up against Stoke on Saturday. Obviously, stephen Schumacher left us before Christmas. To take over at Stoke seemed obviously a bit of a ratty move, in fairness. So it's a massive six pointer coming up.
Speaker 1:What was the feeling with Schumacher leaving to go to Stoke? Was there a sense that he had done a good job for Plymouth and, fair enough, he's moving on to a bigger team? Was there a sense that he had done a good job for Plymouth and fair enough, he's moving on to a bigger team? Was there a sense that Stoke have been a basket case for nigh on a decade now and sort of you know why would you give up a good thing to go there? And how much are Plymouth fans looking below them at the table and hoping that Stoke get dragged into that relegation zone?
Speaker 3:Certainly, certainly. He's left a bit of a bad taste in the mouth of Plymouth. After coming out and saying he loves the Plymouth matches, he wouldn't leave that. A couple of weeks later Stoke supposedly flew down in a helicopter to see him. So anybody that's getting visited in a helicopter is going to feel big up on them and that, but still kind of a basket case at a club.
Speaker 3:I've went through the managers in the recent history and it was a feeling of why would you leave something that you've got going good and I know it's more money and certainly a bigger club? But you feel it's going to be a bit of a inevitability that Schumacher will end up getting the sack off the stoke at some point, if not this season, if they do get relegated, or next season when they are around that bottom drop zone as well. So, aye, it has left a bit of a poor taste in the mouth, especially after Ryan Lowe did the same thing. But at least Ryan Lowe went up a division to Preston and was having to run away from his affair with the cleaning lady. So, aye, it has certainly left a bit of a poor taste.
Speaker 3:The runaway from his affair with the cleaning lady. It has certainly left a bit of a poor taste, but I think the most important thing now is for Plymouth to stay up that season and get an appointment right in the summer. They had two successes in the last three management appointments that forced them as a mistake. So I think it's up to them to get somebody in early in the summer, somebody that can continue the work of a decent strike force, maybe try and find a proper backup or a decent foil to Ryan Hardy, who does go through hot and cold streaks, and somebody that can probably instil a bit of a better defence.
Speaker 1:And is there anyone that's top of the bookies charts at the moment that tickles your fancy? Neil Warnock's looking for a job.
Speaker 3:I was messaging Mike when we drew against QPR. When QPR went 1-0, I said that'll be Warnock making his way to the boardroom right now. He's obviously managed the Pundit before he's still got a retirement home in Corn and that says he's still got a retirement home in Cornwall and that. So honestly, I think he would have been my pick to come in as an interim manager as well. That says but obviously Dusnip's come in with Nance, and they've done really well to just instil a bit more belief about the team. If you haven't already, I'd have a look at that clip on Twitter. I'll send it to you after this. That's just because the place just looked electric.
Speaker 1:Is there any danger of him getting the job himself?
Speaker 3:I wouldn't say so. I think they'll probably revert back to the start score at the end of it. He's quite well involved with the football and operation anyway, so I think it would be a case of bringing in somebody as a head coach with an integrated role, rather than having an old fashioned football manager kind of idea.
Speaker 1:Moving into modern times. You mentioned looking for backup for Ryan Hardy. You've also got Morgan Whittaker seems to be having a cracking season for Plymouth 19 goals so far this campaign, eight assists as well. So it kind of backs up what you were saying earlier in the pod, that a team that certainly have it in them to score plenty of goals when given the opportunity to do so.
Speaker 3:I mean, last season we came in obviously we won League 1. The team was flying, but it was certainly a team that could outscore teams and needed to at times but say that we really need to work on the defence, certainly kind of like the middle of the park as well, and that's just kind of create a team that's going to be a solid championship side rather than a team that's wanting to just keep its head above the water and survive in the championship. Portsmouth are on their way up as well, which will be kind of obviously a bit of a rivalry there not on Derby, if you want to push that narrative.
Speaker 1:The Tottenham Derby. Sky Sports will be all over that.
Speaker 3:Obviously quite a big game. It's a good team to see. You don't really want to miss out on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. It'd be great to see them stay up and perhaps try and solidify themselves. And let's be honest, everyone else at the bottom of the championships, like Rotherham, Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield, Birmingham, Stoke, even QPI, gives a fuck. They're all perfectly welcome to get delegated. Let Plymouth stay up and see what can happen there. Howard Exeter getting on obviously the Plymouth's biggest rivals.
Speaker 3:Well, exeter can also take in Gary Coldwell, maybe one of the most bizarre appointments in recent history. I think he's learnt from his time at Parth at Thistle when he decided to have his team kidnapped by the SAS to instil a bit of toughness about them. But I mean, can Exeter are Exeter, aren't they? And that's? It's kind of just a wee team with a shitey stadium and that's one decent stand. It was the anniversary this week of the last Devon Derby, which was 1-1-0. Me and Mike watched that in my bit. It's absolutely tremendous to watch Niall Ennis run straight to the Exeter fans and get it right up them, but there's that mid-table that can leave one no real chances of them either getting relegated or getting promoted. I'd be surprised if we see a David and Darby in the next wee while.
Speaker 1:Fair enough, fair enough, yeah, that'll do. Then for discussions of English football. We'll move north of the border, and there's still plenty to talk about there as well and any opportunity to crack this out again. Big Jimmy Talon has taken over as Aberdeen manager, the much sought after Swedish prodigy, coaching prodigy. He took Ellsborg to second in the league last season, missing out only on goal difference. He'd been there for six years, improving season on season, taking him into Europe as well. Aberdeen were sort of touted with getting him a few months ago. He was actually mentioned before Barry Robson, but then, for obvious reasons, barry Robson got that job. And then, yeah, his name's been mentioned since. Robson got the boot back in February, but it looked to be dead in the water. He said several times he didn't want to leave Elfsborg at the start of the season and we'd sort of left it a little bit too late. But credit where it's due to the Football Monitoring Board and Dave Cormack for managing to get this one over the line.
Speaker 1:Perhaps they sent some helicopters to Sweden, aaron, just to make sure that they landed them. I'll bear it in mind if I'm ever negotiating. Just I'll charter the helicopter to get what it is I need. But, joking aside, a really genuinely interesting, genuinely a little bit more left field, out the box thinking exciting appointment to the helm of Aberdeen. Mike, it shows a little bit of ambition. You would suggest They've gone out and got a manager from a league that is taking Rangers and Celtic out of it. Maybe not taking Rangers and Celtic out of it, but the Swedish league is certainly no worse than the Scottish league. Their teams perform in Europe year on year. Aberdeen were dumped out by BK Haken in the summer there and Haken finished behind Elfsborg in the league. So you know, it's not a case of getting a manager on the way down, it's not a case of getting a manager from a much, much lower league. It's a bit of a coup, I would say.
Speaker 2:It's certainly interesting. I think the Swedish league itself in general is pretty anglified by the likes of Roy Hodgson really bringing in tactics across in the 70s and Svensen he was kind of his managerial idol growing up. I think you see that with a lot of the Nordic and Scandinavian countries that they do have English teams as a second go-to, that they do have English teams as a second go-to and I think the Allsvensker is really known for being quite a physical league, much like the Scottish league. So I don't think it's necessarily going to be a transplant to the league. That's totally unfamiliar with the kind of profile of what the league is in Scotland.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people maybe get caught up with how frantic the pace can be in Scotland when they move up with their players or managers and how they can get stretched very quickly. I'm sure under Peter Levin, who's a coach of great repute. To be honest I know he's stepped into the job a few times and not really wanted it on a longer term basis, but I think that's a good pair and obviously he's got the experience of being abroad in Bulgaria and the likes and Russia as well, so he's experienced football on the continent as well as playing in Scotland as a player for the likes of Kilmarnock and that. So I think it's a good balance and it's a good blend. And look at Sunday with a track profile of performing well in the division, with a track profile of performing well in the division, with kind of a lesser budget as well.
Speaker 2:Now, aberdeen of course have got a great budget compared to the likes of Harts and Hibbs who would be their peers in the division. But of course, aberdeen's next step, of course, is getting back to a level first and foremost, but then it's taking tracks of the old firm, of course, in the cup competitions, and really that's where the bread and butter is going to lie there. So if they can get him back into Europe on a consistent basis, if he's given the time to build his team up, which he should be considering the kind of draft of push that you've had the last few seasons in the dugout, I think it could be a good appointment, given the time and as long as the media can stay off his back just because he's not Malky Mackay or Stephen Robinson or Neil Lennon God forbid.
Speaker 1:What was the name of the page? Is it PLN?
Speaker 3:PLZ.
Speaker 1:PLZ coming out and saying that what was the boy's name? Peter? Saying that Malky Mackay, stephen or neil lennon had a stronger claim to the job than jimmy t linden, which is just the same like I genuinely like. They must be trolling. They must know that that it's going to wind up aberdeen fans and get you, because it's so fucking pathetically stupid thing to say, like malky mckay, who was s sacked by Ross County for Derek Adams, who are one of the only teams fucking propping Aberdeen up at the moment, and that's who we should give the job to. Neil Lennon, I've seen a Celtic fan apply and be like yeah, can't get my head round him not giving it to Neil Lennon. He's got so much success in Scotland.
Speaker 3:Oh aye. He had a fucking great time at Celtic. He threw away 10, didn't he? His success came also with Rangers having their financial issues and then being knocked out in the leagues. And then his second spell was atrocious.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I completely agree. Certainly my old man, I don't think, would have been renewing his season ticket if Neil Lennon was brought in at the helm. So yeah, pretty boring, shitty Scottish football discussion, isn't it? Which is the reason why the league never improves. So, like you say, mike, the fans have got to stick with him. It didn't get off to necessarily the quickest start at Elfsborg. They finished 12th in their first season, which was the worst in sort of a decade at that time, and there was some calls for him to go. But the board stuck with him because they could see what he was trying to do and it was improvement after improvement.
Speaker 1:I think perhaps the difference in Scotland is that, as you've alluded to there, aberdeen sort of have the biggest budget outside the old firm. He'll have an opportunity to bring some players in in the summer. Who knows, he might go back to Elfsborg and bring in one or two from there. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. We've also got a fairly decent squad and it's likely that Bojan Mijovski will go for decent money in the summer as well which can be reinvested. And then you, even if there needs to be progress and I think we'll accept there needs to be progress.
Speaker 1:I think Aberdeen fans will still expect them to be able to leapfrog your St Mirren's, your Motherwell's, your Dundee's, even Hibs, if they stay in their current state without too much effort. You know, kind of just by starting to put some of the right pieces in the right place and then start to sort of even if they don't succumb Hearts, at least kind of push them a little bit more next season and, as you say, try and get back into Europe, which isn't out of the question this season. We'll find out on Saturday. It might be out of the question by, uh, lunchtime on saturday, but for now they can still get into europe next year. So I think it's brilliant.
Speaker 1:Um, there's a fantastic thread on twitter, uh, with a page at vitamin t, um, a scout but also an aberdeen fan primarily, and he um has put up a fairly lengthy section on Thielen and his style of play, the way he likes to use wingers, the fact that it's going to be a bit more direct as opposed to long ball, but certainly the balls played will be longer and it's not going to be a heavy possession-based game. Mike, you wanted to come in on that as well.
Speaker 2:Not really on that point, no, but I just think it'd be very funny not for you, of course, but it'd be very funny if Thielen comes in to a team that just gets relegated and he's got to build a different championship. He's got to start it all over again with a new team in the premiership as well. So even though he's coming to the job he's got, a three one of those years are going to be perhaps going to be used to get them back into the premiership, which would be very amusing for a team that's never been relegated, famously.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also it would mean that he's guaranteed to have the worst finish in Aberdeen's history in his first season through absolutely no fault of his own as well. A lot of Aberdeen fans have surmised that the fact there could be a relegation clause built into his contract too, and he says, nah, fuck that if we go down. I was listening to friends of the pod on the ABZ football podcast last night. They had their Jimmy Thielen episode up and I did agree with them that it would be nice if he could come in sooner. Elfsborg have called a press conference on Sunday morning at 7am I think, on Sunday morning to speak about their managerial situation. I'm hoping that what happens there is they confirm that they're going to appoint their manager, release Jimmy. He can come to Petotri and sort of just get a look. I don't expect anything from him in the next four or five games, but it'd be nice for him just to get a bit of a feel of the squad. It worked very well for Derek McInnes all those years ago. He came in when we finished in the bottom half and was able to have a look at the team, and then it was a much quicker process for him to sort of find the squad that he wanted, after that obviously going on to lift the League Cup. So, yeah, hoping for similar for feeling that he can come in with five games, have a look at some of the dead weight that we've got around, and perhaps it's a third lifeline for Vinnie Bazowan as well, who might come back from his loan spell. He scored an absolute cracker from the halfway line at the weekend. So, with Jimmy Thielen liking the use of wingers with ace crossing, yeah, we've already got one on the books and it'd be nice to see him actually given a chance.
Speaker 1:Still a very young player as well. I think he's 23, 24, so possibly an opportunity for him. But I think recruitment's got to be spot on. He took control of a lot of the recruitment himself at Elfsborg scouted, highlighted the players that he wanted. I think we might see at Pataudry, despite the over use of data which is great and analytics, that maybe the manager will have a bit more of a say in that, and I would have thought, if we're paying good money for a manager and the effort we've gone to bring him in, that we're going to want his opinion on players as well, rather than jumping on Y-Scout and putting a little star next to someone for 12 months and seeing if they score any goals Any more for it. Aaron, I don't even think I've come to you on Aberdeen, sorry, I've, just. I was on a big old soliloquy there. But have you got anything to add on the appointment or maybe more on the broader sort of sense of it being a little bit more interesting for top flight Scottish football?
Speaker 3:100%. I mean we spoke about it there with PLZ and hopefully it was just a wind-up to try and get a rise out of Aberdeen fans. But outwith Neil Lennon's had a wee bit of success. Or Stephen Romson, who's done an alright job at Motherwell and set him around like that. She's turned around and said that Malke Mackay, who was emptied by Ross County and replaced by Derek Adams, who the least said the better about him.
Speaker 3:I think, as Mike says, the media is going to be after him, because Scottish football and Scottish media does not like anybody that doesn't have a mick at the start of their name usually. So, aye, I think Aberdeen need to give them time. I think they need to listen less to the likes of Chick Young and Graeme Spears when, if it comes to a slow start for them, and just stick to their guns for a bit. Aberdeen fans need to give them a bit of time as well. Obviously, a lot of them are quite short tempered at times, but the massive club Aberdeen needs to be doing a lot better than what it's been doing recently.
Speaker 3:I did have, when he was announced as the manager, the BBC had asked Aberdeen fans and obviously you've got quite a few negative ones. But somebody was talking about the misconception that Ellsberg were picked to the title and saying that they blew it. But I think if you're going to get a guy that's going to have your team in a title race against a strong Malmo side the biggest side in Sweden and one of the bigger sides in Scandinavia itself, I think, a team that's only won the League Cup once in the last decade I think if you're going to have somebody that's going to have you in Cup finals again and hopefully pushing for third again and hopefully pushing for third place and hopefully cutting that gap between first and second, is only a positive that you're going to have.
Speaker 1:I tell you, what if we fucking blow the league against Celtic next year? Remind me of this, but I'll be a happy man because things can only have gone well.
Speaker 3:If you're picked to the title, and that I mean I think they drew. They drew when they kind of I think if they had won against the bottom side, they won it, but they drew and then they had to go up against Malmo and win against Malmo and also Malmo beat them on the daylight, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean it. If we lose the title to Celtic because we bottle it against Ross County and then Celtic beat us on the final day, I will be annoyed at the time, but I will look back at this and be like yeah, what a season.
Speaker 3:I know I see that you can't complain if you're getting beat off of Celtic on the last day of the season. No exactly.
Speaker 1:Any more, Mike, before we move on.
Speaker 2:Just a final point. Really, I think Dave Cormack and the Grander School of Things has got to take a step back as well. I think ever since he's intervened and been more forward-facing, it's not been for the environment of Aberdeen. I don't know how Aberdeen fans feel about that in general, Obviously being closer to the situation, but I think sometimes it's an intervention. Maybe the fact that he's very hands-on as a businessman has not been for the environment and you've got the likes of the CEO of the former Motherwell.
Speaker 1:Alan.
Speaker 2:Burrows. I think he needs to be more of the forward-facing guy because I think he did an exceptional job at Motherwell. I think if he's given more of the reins, I think he'll be for the better of the club.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think Alan Burrows is now starting to do some of the television interviews and stuff when required. I think generally I'd just like all the board to sort of shut up and take a step back a little bit. There's this really strange over request from Aberdeen fans, for what they keep saying is transparency and then they moan every time the fucking board say anything. So I think I'd rather the board just shut up and went back into the background, as you say, like we never used to hear from Stuart Milne and you know it wasn't fine, but it was what it was. I just I don't think we need to hear from Dave Cormack every time Aberdeen lose a game and what we're going to do about it. That's the manager's job as far as I'm concerned. We'll move on to the mighty Cowdenbeath Lowland League. What Lowland League fame for Cowdenbeath this season it's maybe a bit strong, but yeah, talk to us about Cowdenbeath. What's going on? Recently lost your manager for bigger and better things. That seems to be a common theme for you as a football fan.
Speaker 3:Exactly every team that I support seems to seems to have a management issue, they know. I mean it feels a bit of a one step forward, two steps back for us at the moment, like, obviously, calum Elliot coming at the tail end of last season that was announced on the last game of the last season and it was a brilliant appointment I thought didn't really go right on the pitch at times. This season still found ourselves, though we had improved, definitely have improved. We're stuck in the same position as what we were last season, but we felt that we were growing to something, that the team was building the right way, that we just needed a couple of extra bits of quality and we could have made a good start. But obviously there's no chance any team are really laying a glove on East Kilbride this season and obviously they've won the league now and are going to go up into the playoffs against the Highland League champions, whoever that might be. But aye, cowbeef. Well, bonyrigg got rid of Robbie Horn. That's his relegation fight. And then about 12 hours later Calum Elliott's been to a cross in Bonnyrigg signing his contract there. But I mean it's going to be a big appointment in the next one and that's Stevie Crawford is coming in as interim.
Speaker 3:That says he will have four games by the end of it. He's already had three of them. That says with, with Linlithgow, cumbernauld, colts and then Gretna, 2008 being one. Two of them lost against Cumbernauld after being 2-0 up at half time and that's that's the story of Canby's season, as we've not been able to concentrate for a full 90 minutes at times. But aye, just hopefully get the right appointment. I hope it's Robbie Horne who can done wonders at Bonnie Rigg. He also got them promoted at our expense. It seems like a straight swap between us and Bonnie Rigg to change our managers and bring Robbie in. Hopefully, hearing talks that we're getting closer to appointing a manager. Hopefully by the end of the season we'll have an idea who's coming in yeah, was it Bonnie Rigg that put you down, was it?
Speaker 1:yeah, aye they've been up longer than I sort of perhaps appreciated. Who came up last season? Spartans, spartans. Aye, that's it. Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, so you said, is there no danger of similar questions to ask you about Plymouth, no danger of Stevie Crawford getting the job full time?
Speaker 3:I don't know. I'd asked Colin, the club coordinator, and he kind of told me can you tell me anything like that? So I think it was a bit interesting that.
Speaker 3:But I mean I wouldn't be opposed to Stevie Crawford getting the job if he wants it. That's obviously done alright with Dunfermline, but he's notoriously a slow starter as a manager and that and Well, I've watched the game tape from the home game against Gretna when we won 2-1. We didn't look great. The shakes were an absolute tremendous goal by Robbie McNabb to get us the win in the end. But apart from that, gretna did cause us a lot of trouble. This is a team that's only won twice this season. I know that they're in a bit of a relegation battle and fighting for their life, but you can expect us to be a bit uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure if it's much of a relegation battle being 23 points in drift, 23 points.
Speaker 3:But between them and Edinburgh University. They've got a massive game on Saturday. The two bottom sides going up against it but I mean Gretna have been poor this season but have caused us in both games, have made us look less than comfortable. I think Robbie Horne would be my choice for the job if we were to go get it, but I think the key is that we get this one right, because we're becoming a team that's going to end up being a permanent position and you don't want to languish any more than what you have to there and we you look to East.
Speaker 1:Stirlingsshire, don't you? And you know they haven't really managed to get themselves out of mid-table mediocrity since going down yeah, well, that's.
Speaker 3:I know that we're potentially in a better situation than East Ellingshire with us having a kind of having a kind of roaming ground.
Speaker 3:I know that we don't own it anymore, but obviously round.
Speaker 3:I know that we don't own it anymore, but obviously East Lanarkshire are kind of like squatters with Falkirk now and we have been for the last 10-15 years with them spending time at the Dockoville as well.
Speaker 3:So you don't want to be there too long and I think the history of the club should say that we should be an SPFL side. But we've got a slight walk for the last decade and I think relegation has given us a bit of a wake up call. That says we've got the supporters of society now trying to get members to sign up, to raise money for the team and to give us a secondary income stream and then to get representation on the board. It's been a bit of a slow pick up but it's one of those cash 22's where you've not really given anybody anything to cheer about for however long and we've lost a lot of supporters to. Obviously there's a lot more to do on a Saturday now than just go to the football like that, so you can't really it's harder to find, it's harder to get young people involved, isn't it when it's special?
Speaker 3:yeah, that's it. There's nothing. There's nothing that like you're taking a young kid to the to the like that. My first season was the to the like that. My first season was the mix of backlining season that my dad took me to. So I had that to look back on fondly. And that says bringing kids to watch us beat 1-0 off a civil service stroller is not exactly. Take me back to Ken B, please, dad. Hopefully that says but hopefully this summer we get it right. We can add a bit more quality to an already decent side that just needs a bit of a helping hand and a bit more organisation, and then hopefully we can clone our way back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. Maybe we'll need to see if we can get a late kick off football podcast side of pitch billboard for next season to help with the fundraise and get one behind the goals.
Speaker 3:I do the podcast with Mike for Cown Beef. When I was down in Cosford on a course I went to see Shiffnell Town. Shiffnell Town's got a podcast by Midlands Leagues. They've got a sign in their ground. I came to one of the. Came to the guys at the ground and says I need my own sign and I was told to get back in my box like that's right, I said see what happens there. But I mean, yeah, it's, it's a, it's a special club, it's, it's. It's never a dull moment.
Speaker 1:No, absolutely, and it's always great to get a wee catch up about Cairnbyth. Anything to add to that, mike?
Speaker 2:Just next season's Lone League could be very interesting. Say, east Kilbride do go up because they've spent a huge amount of money in that, that Division 2 go up. Say, if they say it's a Shannara that comes down, I think you're looking at a number of teams who, if they get it right off the field in the off-season, they could potentially be pushing for that playoff spot. It's the sad thing about the Paralympic playoff spot that the team that wins league doesn't go up and there's a second playoff spot for the team that finishes runner-up, because it does create bottlenecks and, as we've seen in the lone league, every team that's won it has eventually gone up one way or another, with the exception of East Kilbride, there might be their season this time.
Speaker 2:So I do think if Stranraer come down, they'll face the difficulties that the likes of Albion Rovers, reece Stoncher and Ruth Berwick Rangers have faced as well. So and there's teams that are maybe not as financing it as much as they have in the past, like Trenet and Llanlithgoe. So I think it could be a real toss up for who does finish top, especially if the B teams pull out as well. It could be really interesting to see who finishes the top of the pile next year.
Speaker 1:Did you say if the B teams pull out?
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, rangers already have. I don't know, I've not heard anything, but I think there's less of a clamour, especially amongst the lower league teams, for B teams to remain as well. So who knows, who knows what can happen. The only thing with the B teams is it's more an integrity point. You could have a really strong B team one week that faces, say, civil service, and next week you get a really weak one that faces kind of beef, and it feels like if these teams are in the league, their points actually shouldn't really count for anything because you're affecting other people's season that can get promoted as well. So I think if they do remain, then there's got to be a shake up, certainly of the system and how it affects the sporting integrity of the league more so than anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think that's all pretty fair enough. We were just going to touch on the title battle in the Premier League in Scotland as well, which is Aaron joked about what title battle. But yeah, that that's sort of taken taken a bit of a turn over the last couple of days, mike. The Rangers lost to Ross County at the weekend and then Drew 0-0 with Dundee last night, a game that's taken a lot of effort to get on, much to the anger of Rangers fans. It was only funnier that they then went on to not win the game but find themselves three points behind Celtic going into the split and they've struggled to perform now for a couple of months and what looked like it did look like at one point that they were sort of running away, going to start running away with it, and seemed to have very much handed the impetus back to Celtic.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. It's two teams kind of stumbling over the line here at the end. Hearts comfortably in third. I think they're basically secure at now. Maybe it's a win post-split and that gets them there. Come on, they're basically secure it now. Maybe it's a win post split and that gets them there. Come on, looking comfortable. So really top six. You're only really playing for that potential. Who wins the title and who finishes fifth, rather than the overlap similar. I think they've got the capability to do so as well. I think Celtic play Rangers in the third game as well. That might. I think they've obviously tried to do it where you don't get a title, a title win either way.
Speaker 1:But I think it's quite possible now that it could be a title party at Celtic Park if yeah, so it works out that if both teams win, if both teams win all their games up to that game, celtic can win the title against Rangers which obviously the police don't want, the Rangers fans don't want and all the people will be happy and will be Celtic.
Speaker 2:So I'll be interested to see how the fallout of that happens. I think most cases, in almost all cases, the bottom six is much more interesting than the top six post split. Because I was assuming in the past Hibs looking comfortable on 7th was it 10 years ago or so? Then they fell down the league on the Terry Butcher and eventually got relegated against Hamilton.
Speaker 2:Don't quite foresee that this season, I think if Ross Kent, I think Ross Kent will probably manage to stay up and I'll be seeing Johnston to a fight and possibly Airdrie the way that they're going. To be honest, they've basically secured both. They're a level on points with Partick Thistle on third. I'm sure they played this weekend, if not it's next weekend. Their form over the last half of the season has been exceptional, almost as good as Dundee and Aid at the top of the table and the way that Rafe Rovers have defaulted in the head-to-head games between Partithas and the Ardionians. You'd probably fancy the Ardionians to actually make the final Now. Whether they have enough to see past Craig Lewin's stymied defence is another thing, but it'd be some story for East Mackey and Manchester to do back-to-back promotions via the playoffs as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that'd be fantastic and it'd be great to see a different team in the Scottish Premier League as well. We haven't had that for a very long time. Whether it's Wraith you boys might not want it to be Wraith, but whether it's Wraith or Ayrsionians would be interesting, just to shake things up a little bit. But Aberdeen go to Hamden at I was going to say at 7.30, 7.30, my time 12.30 to play Celtic on Saturday lunchtime, which really is to keep Aberdeen's season alive. Of course, try and win the Scottish Cup and get back into Europe for old Jimmy, jimmy, celtic looking to add another trophy to their bustling cabinet. But I think that'll do us for today, boys, that's been absolutely tremendous. Aaron, big thank you for coming on. I know thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:It's been lovely to speak to you and hear about get our little mid-season updates on Plymouth and Cowdenbeath.
Speaker 3:We'll need to get you back on. It's not a mid-season in the slightest. Yeah, no, there's one game left in the home league. Okay, fair enough. Three games left in the championship, or something.
Speaker 1:End of season updates from Plymouth and Cowdenbeath. We'll obviously be keeping an eye out to see how they get on and, you never know, you might see a late kick-off football podcast billboard at what's the name of Cowden Stadium Central Park, central Park next season. And, oi, you get extra advertisement for that, don't you? Because are the stock cars still there?
Speaker 3:yeah interesting.
Speaker 1:That might be a business opportunity for anybody out there looking for football advertisement and want to throw a few hundred quid at Cowdenbeath. Check them out, because you get the stock cards as well as you get the football. Mike, thanks as always for jumping on absolute pleasure, and I'll speak to you boys again next week.