0:04

Hi there and welcome along to the Sunday

0:06

Supplement Podcast with me, Vicky Gomissel, and the

0:08

assistant editor of The Mirror, Darren Lewis. Joining

0:10

us this week is our senior reporter, Melissa

0:12

Reddy. Right,

0:15

let's get to the story at Liverpool. Their Premier League

0:17

title hopes look to be in tatters, don't they, after

0:19

they were held to a tour draw by West Ham.

0:21

But that wasn't really the story, actually, that everyone's come

0:23

away from yesterday. There was a heated exchange between Jedd

0:25

and Klopp and Mo Salah on the touchline, who

0:28

was actually benched for the match but did come

0:30

on. I want to start with that one, actually.

0:32

We're going to see it because I think it's

0:34

really important to see it so you can get

0:36

an idea of it. Klopp afterwards said it was

0:38

resolved. We spoke for me and that's done. But

0:40

his time is certainly wasn't very

0:42

happy in the tunnel. Let's see the incident, the initial

0:45

incident first. This is what happened on the touchline.

0:49

So Klopp says something. Now, what

0:52

you're not seeing is Michael Antonio has

0:54

just got the two-all equalizer

0:56

there. Salah needs to come on,

0:59

wants to come on, clearly wants to come on.

1:01

Still not happy. So we'll

1:03

just see that again.

1:05

Klopp does say something there. I

1:07

mean, again, I'm not a lip reader. But

1:10

there's definitely a heated exchange, you can see,

1:12

the way that Mo Salah is

1:15

gesticulating. This is what Salah said in the

1:17

mix zone later on. What did you

1:19

make of it,

1:21

Melissa, first of all?

1:32

My initial feeling was this is

1:34

a very sad scene

1:37

for two men

1:40

that have delivered so much for Liverpool,

1:43

not just in terms of silverware,

1:45

but moments, shared experiences, joy for

1:47

the fan base. And

1:50

to know that Klopp's tenure is

1:52

ending not just with results

1:55

and performances falling flat, but one

1:57

of the great relationships of this.

2:00

Liverpool transformation also

2:02

looking like it's disintegrating. Is

2:05

it disintegrating or is it just a little spat and

2:07

we the media love to kind of Frustration

2:10

and the spats are

2:12

so normal in football. And actually,

2:14

I've seen the same manager have

2:17

it out publicly with Jordan Henderson

2:19

and James Molnar. I think because

2:21

it's Mohammed Saleh, who is such

2:23

a huge figure, because of

2:25

the timing as well, with this being three games

2:27

from the end for the Year in Club Saleh

2:30

having a year left on his contract, there'll be

2:32

a decision for the club to make. The timing,

2:34

I think, makes

2:37

this a bigger issue than it

2:40

ordinarily would have been. And as

2:42

I said, my overwhelming

2:46

feeling about it is a sense of sadness, because

2:48

it was a great story. And it

2:50

doesn't deserve this kind of ending.

2:53

Yeah, I agree with that. Although,

2:55

the interesting thing for me personally is that

2:57

Mo Saleh, we know what he's like, doesn't

3:00

talk a lot. But he chooses

3:02

to say, if I speak, there's going to be

3:04

fire. So that was for me a little bit

3:06

more telling, even though young me and Molnar was

3:08

busy in the press and saying, look, actually, we've

3:11

spoken, it's resolved, it's done. And

3:13

there's a lot to kind of pick through in terms

3:15

of the dynamics of that, because young

3:17

cops in the press conference talking to

3:19

some of the journalists and saying, look,

3:21

there's nothing in it, we've spoken, it's

3:24

fine. But after matches,

3:26

what happens is some of our colleagues,

3:28

they go into the press conference, some choose to

3:30

go into the mix zone instead and get what

3:33

we call follow up quotes, quotes for the

3:35

Monday editions of the newspapers. And

3:38

that section of the media

3:41

contingent that go into that mix zone,

3:44

over the years, it's become more and more multilingual. So

3:47

if somebody were to come through, I don't

3:49

know, 15 years ago, for example, and said something,

3:52

maybe it might not have been picked up. But

3:54

obviously, because there is that change

3:56

in the mix of people who are

3:59

in those mix excellence as the

4:01

Premier League has become much more

4:03

multinational, there was

4:05

in that instant understanding and that clip

4:07

went viral after the match, you can

4:09

see it there, and it was immediately

4:12

interpreted and I was going

4:15

to say understood but of course there were lots

4:17

of different people who interpret it in different ways

4:19

and it's very important to make that point because

4:22

as Melissa says on the one hand it could

4:24

be seen as a real really

4:26

incendiary and on the other

4:29

hand as you've suggested and a couple of our

4:31

colleagues have done it was said in a very

4:33

playful way so we'll

4:35

get into it a little bit more when we do

4:37

the newspapers but I think the

4:40

mechanics of what happened yesterday were very

4:42

very interesting indeed. It's interesting we've

4:44

been speaking about Mo Sara a lot this week and he

4:46

went about his contract as well, do you think this could

4:48

be the end of him in terms of

4:50

his Liverpool career? It feels like

4:52

it because

4:55

with a year left there's a decision for

4:57

him to make and the club to make.

4:59

Now I know people have

5:01

said and it is true

5:04

he's looked so off colour since

5:06

his injury and coming back

5:08

he's not posting the numbers

5:11

and the standards that he expects

5:13

of himself. Ethan Klopp has said

5:15

that himself. Let alone anyone else

5:17

so he's still talking about a guy

5:19

though that is the top scorer in

5:22

this recalibrated attack. He is still having

5:24

to shoulder a lot of the goal

5:26

scoring burden even though the

5:28

system no longer suits him as it

5:30

once did and doesn't play to his

5:32

strengths as much further away from goal

5:36

and this is a man

5:38

who's also contributed 296 goals directly and

5:40

directly with assists

5:45

in like 346 appearances for Liverpool. He

5:49

is a bona fide legend, he

5:52

is unbelievable and I know there's a lot of

5:54

talk of the Saudi Pro League they do want

5:56

to make him their poster boy but

5:58

there'll be a lot of top clubs that

6:02

he'll still walk into the starting lineup for

6:04

and they'll be circling and make him

6:07

offers the summer, there's no

6:09

doubt in my mind because Mohamed Salah

6:11

is still a Champions League player, he'll

6:13

know that, he'll believe that, other clubs

6:15

will see it and I think

6:18

he'll still be at the very

6:20

top end of this elite game. It would

6:22

be actually quite sad

6:26

if he's ending worse to go to the Saudi

6:28

Pro League because I still think there's

6:30

a lot of top quality

6:32

football left in him. That's

6:35

a key word, you know, sadness because when I watched

6:37

it I didn't think oh my word look at it,

6:39

I did think that's so sad when you look at

6:41

the two of the big personalities in

6:43

the last 10 years in the Premier League and the

6:45

moments they've given us and the title races they've given

6:47

us and the way that they

6:50

disrupted City's winning streak in winning

6:53

the Premier League title, all of those wonderful moments

6:55

that they gave us, it would be a real

6:57

shame if the last thing we remember of either

6:59

man would be that. I think that we should,

7:03

we'll see what happens over the coming games but

7:05

how does Klopp react to that, does he continue

7:07

to play Salah, does he drop him we don't

7:09

know but either way I think

7:11

what they've given this league it

7:14

will be a real shame if we were to lose

7:16

either. I mean for me knowing

7:18

what I know of young Klopp I don't think

7:20

for a minute he would just drop him and

7:22

there would be this big hoo-ha about this for

7:24

the last few games, I just don't see that

7:26

happening, however you can never say never. Look this

7:29

was meant to be the final hurrah

7:31

you know only a few weeks ago they were

7:33

on for a quadruple, that's gone

7:35

now and Jamie

7:37

Carragher wrote his analysis for the season on

7:39

skysports.com and he said it promised to be,

7:41

this season has promised more than it's delivered,

7:43

do you think that's a fair comment? At

7:46

the start of the season I don't

7:49

think the expectation was that Liverpool would

7:51

go and sweep up Solve aware I

7:53

think it was very much this is

7:55

a team in transition the midfield has

7:58

been rebuilt the attack is still trying

8:01

to find some chemistry with each

8:03

other and coordination and there's

8:05

a lot of young talent coming

8:08

through so the word transition was

8:10

used quite a lot and then

8:13

I think in the first half of the season they

8:15

actually over delivered and a

8:18

lot of it wasn't sustainable you know we saw

8:20

young kids stepping up in the absence of key

8:22

players I mean Liverpool spent a lot of the

8:24

season without Alison Trent

8:27

Alexander Arnold and really

8:30

Andy Robertson the core and the

8:32

backbone off the side but you

8:34

had youngsters coming in and stepping

8:36

up and doing remarkable things

8:38

and you know there was that feeling of wow

8:41

this there's some sort of destiny at

8:43

play and once Jurgen Klopp makes

8:46

his announcement then there's

8:48

this emotional swell-up it

8:51

could actually be the fairy tale ending but

8:54

I think that was the romantic idea and

8:56

when you look underneath it all it can't

9:00

be sustained that kids can keep stepping

9:02

up it can't be sustained that you

9:05

can continue to

9:07

concede first and rally

9:10

and win the game it just doesn't set you up

9:13

very quickly what do you say to the people who

9:15

are watching this to say hang on a minute you

9:17

media guys you what is it you called Arsenal chokers

9:20

or whatever you know you know we don't like that

9:23

word or bottlers or whatever and yet you're

9:25

going easy on Liverpool what do you say to them I

9:28

never called Arsenal chokers I

9:30

I didn't believe that

9:32

any of the stick Arsenal got

9:34

last season was justified because they

9:36

were a team building towards actually

9:38

the point they are now and

9:41

even if they don't win the

9:43

title this season again they've not

9:45

bottled it they are developing you

9:47

have to get close before you

9:49

actually do it and I don't

9:52

know why people pretend

9:54

that Manchester City are not this

9:56

absolute juggernaut yes that by

9:58

default when we start every season

10:00

we we all look at and say, sit

10:02

here going to win the league, we expect

10:05

them to, it's nature,

10:07

it's habitual for them to

10:09

do it. So any team doing

10:12

all the right things in terms of recruitment

10:14

in terms of changing their

10:16

culture, to

10:18

try and get like close and really

10:20

push them is a

10:22

testament to that team. And I don't take

10:24

anything away from them. If

10:26

they try and try and fall

10:29

short, if Arsenal don't do it the

10:31

season and people call them bottlers, there's

10:36

no point to football. I agree.

10:38

Because honestly, the journey that they've taken

10:40

their supporters on, how

10:42

they've advanced the season is just,

10:46

it's phenomenal. And Liverpool, when we

10:48

talk about it, we need to go back and look

10:50

at the predictions at the start of the season and

10:52

look at what people said before any ball

10:54

was kicked or after a few weeks. Yeah, they've had a terrible

10:57

season by their own admission. But

10:59

I think the Liverpool are a model

11:01

for recruitment, for culture, which talks about

11:03

that many times on the show before,

11:05

the way that they brought players through

11:07

because other clubs and we can't now

11:09

be hypocrites. Other clubs said we've had

11:11

injuries and we said, look at Liverpool,

11:13

look at the way that they brought

11:15

through Connor Bradley brought through Jayden Dan's

11:17

Bobby Clark and Daryl Kwanza and they've

11:19

just made it work. They were

11:21

winners in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea

11:23

and we use them as the

11:25

barometer for what other clubs could do when

11:27

they had problems. So I don't think we

11:30

can go too far the other way now

11:32

and suddenly start being extreme about them. Liverpool

11:34

2.0 have done well to get this far.

11:36

Okay, where are they in terms of

11:38

Anna Slott? Because I think that again, it was

11:40

a big discussion this week, which may be making

11:43

the whole team be a little bit discombobulated.

11:45

It feels like that could be on their

11:48

minds. The reason why Mo Salah wasn't

11:50

so happy on the touchline, you never know. So where are we

11:52

with Anna Slott? Is he in the door? The

11:54

agreement with Firenort has been reached for

11:56

him to become plop

11:58

successor. He's very excited by the

12:01

challenge as we saw with

12:03

him openly admitting to it. And

12:07

it comes at the end of

12:09

a very long process where Liverpool

12:11

were quite rigorous and ultimately it's

12:14

because there won't be an upheaval in

12:16

the playing style, in the approach. Remember

12:18

Liverpool's first team, what they do is

12:21

replicated all the way through the age

12:23

groups. So if you suddenly now bringing

12:25

a manager in who wants to play

12:28

three at the back or who has

12:30

a complete different philosophy or whose long-term

12:32

vision for the next five years does

12:35

not align with what is currently in

12:38

place, that's a lot of

12:40

cutting and shredding to do when

12:43

already the club is going to look and

12:45

feel so different post club. Slot

12:48

also came out as the

12:50

best communicator, the character references

12:52

the club did, was

12:54

very very positive in his favour. So they're

12:57

confident with their process that they've

13:00

found the right guy.

13:02

Obviously it's a huge step

13:04

up. In theory

13:06

it might be great, we don't know how it

13:08

would work in practice but I think a few

13:10

things are really important. One, the squad

13:13

suits his style of play and there

13:15

won't be that massive

13:19

chance for the players to make in

13:21

terms of technical demands. And

13:23

the other thing that he is excited, not

13:25

really daunted by the challenge, he'll

13:27

understand what he's walking into. The

13:30

other thing as well is Liverpool

13:33

haven't been the all-conquering side

13:35

that a few months ago people were saying

13:37

this could be the impossible job. I

13:41

think the reality of what

13:44

he's walking into has now been

13:46

laid bare from the 7th of

13:48

April with how Liverpool's season has

13:50

derailed. So that makes

13:52

it easier I think for him as well. Jamie

13:55

Carragher sort of felt that they should have gone with

13:57

a proven winner, somebody like Thomas Tuchel. Do

14:00

you agree with that at all? Well,

14:03

as Melissa has been saying, Liverpool have

14:05

done all their due diligence. Jamie knows

14:07

as much as anybody how assiduous they

14:09

are in terms of making sure that

14:11

they've got the right man who ticks

14:13

all of the boxes. Good piece by

14:15

Sam Wallace in the Telegraph today saying

14:17

that Arna Slott's potential arrival is

14:20

a victory for up and

14:23

coming coaches. Now, like

14:25

Jamie says, Tuca lives a winner, he's

14:28

the last man to win the Champions

14:30

League with Chelsea. He

14:32

is into the last forward nine minute, whatever

14:34

you might say about their season. He's the

14:36

guy who knows how to manage big players

14:38

and he's got a fantastic body of work

14:40

behind him and if you bring him in

14:42

he does settle the ship as far as

14:45

Liverpool maybe having some time to get maybe a

14:47

younger coach into bed in. But they

14:50

know, they've known what they've been doing

14:52

at Liverpool for quite some time. Slott

14:54

is five years Tucal senior so as

14:56

I say, Sam Wallace is pleased today

14:58

about the victory for the up and

15:00

coming coaches. It does help. There

15:10

were lots of boos at full time in Old Trafford.

15:12

Manchester United roaring 1-1 with relegations

15:14

threatened Burnley mounting yet more pressure do

15:17

you think on Eric Tenharg. Two

15:19

wins in nine in the Premier League now, Melissa.

15:23

And it was quite a torrid performance

15:25

from them in the end. Do you think this is going to

15:28

in any way ease the pressure on Eric Tenharg because he

15:30

does feel, I feel like he's under the pump all the

15:32

time. It definitely

15:34

doesn't ease the pressure especially when

15:36

match-going fans tend to turn and

15:39

they're now questioning not just

15:41

the results for the boos weren't just at full

15:43

time. It was when the substitutions were made they

15:45

were vocalising their dismay

15:48

at that as well. You

15:51

know what, there's a lot

15:53

of people at Manchester United who

15:55

are so desperate for

15:57

Eric Tenharg to do well because they

15:59

understand. the state of play at the

16:01

club and what it's been like, what

16:03

he's dealt with, how much effort

16:05

he's tried to put into correcting

16:08

a lot of the flaws they've had in terms

16:10

of discipline and the culture

16:12

around the place. But

16:15

as it was put to me, he's talking

16:17

himself out of the job. Some

16:20

of the stuff

16:22

he says in press conferences and when you're looking

16:24

at it back and you're thinking, I

16:26

understand he's now probably feeling in

16:28

a place of needing to defend

16:30

himself and defend his job. And

16:33

so he's trying to find the things to

16:36

highlight that could be positive

16:38

or underlying reasons that things aren't

16:40

going well. But

16:43

it's sometimes charged with reality. And I

16:45

think as a fan, if you're reading

16:48

or listening to that, you're thinking, have

16:50

you just watched the same game as

16:53

I have? Or have you not seen the recurring

16:57

trends over the last few months? So

16:59

that I

17:01

understand he feels that he's under so much

17:03

pressure and he has to really

17:06

fight for himself. But

17:09

the quote I was given was he's talking

17:11

himself out of the job. Yeah, he's taken

17:13

the media on, hasn't he? I mean, it

17:15

was a fascinating press conference this week when

17:18

he sort of said, he went back at

17:20

them and said they just, the media had

17:22

described the game against Coventry, even though it

17:24

was a victory in the end, as, you

17:26

know, disgrace, embarrassment. And then he said, you're

17:28

in a disgrace, you're an embarrassment, you know,

17:31

to describe a win like that. Is

17:34

he fighting the wrong battles at times?

17:36

Because, you know, is it really important? And I say

17:38

that generally, is it important to get the

17:41

media behind you as a manager, to get

17:43

the fans behind you? Because actually the job

17:45

might itself become a little bit easier. Well,

17:47

the first thing to ask is what is the

17:49

media now? And I

17:51

was very fascinated by that in

17:54

midweek, because it's

17:57

changed now from the days when you would win.

18:00

wait until newspapers landed either right about

18:02

half past ten at night or the

18:04

following morning. Now fans

18:06

are making their judgments on matches in real

18:09

time. You only have to go on social

18:11

media and look down the side and you

18:13

can see what fans, the people

18:15

with the financial investment as well as the

18:17

emotional investment, the way that

18:19

they are assessing matches. So and

18:22

what very often journalists do

18:24

is they take into account, that's our job

18:27

to take into account what the fans think

18:29

of it. We cannot be arrogant enough to

18:31

believe that we are the arbiters and we

18:33

are the only people who can decide what,

18:38

that our judgment of a game is the be

18:40

all and end all. The fans match them. Your

18:42

agenda is already there. It's already there. So kind

18:46

of picking that fight I was very

18:48

fascinated by that. The numbers tell their

18:50

own story. Before yesterday United had conceded

18:52

76 goals in 45 matches. That's the

18:55

most in all competitions, that's the

18:57

most in Premier League history. Now

19:00

if you go into any given match

19:02

they are giving teams regardless of where

19:04

they are in the Premier League opportunities

19:07

to score against them. A better side

19:09

for example the day after

19:11

that press conference would

19:13

have taken the many chances that Sheffield United had

19:15

to put them to

19:17

the sword. Now given that

19:20

yesterday Newcastle made short work

19:22

of Sheffield United, again there's

19:24

context for you. So everything

19:27

that, and after the match

19:29

I kind of looked at some of the United

19:32

fan sites to see what they were

19:34

saying and to a man and woman

19:36

they were all saying very similar things

19:38

to the ways that the media, the

19:40

traditional media were characterising the match. So

19:43

I do feel, it's a good question,

19:45

I do feel he's picking the wrong

19:47

fight. It is not journalists

19:49

that are coming for if you

19:51

like or turning up at Manchester.

19:53

I must just on that, that

19:56

contingent in Manchester they are, they are, they

19:58

are, they are, they We know them

20:00

to be a contingent that do not

20:03

turn up to press conferences with set

20:05

agendas. They are fair, they are balanced,

20:07

they take things on their own merits,

20:09

and I think it's incredibly unfair

20:12

to suggest that they are the bad guys

20:14

in all of this. I think for

20:16

him, in some respects, he

20:18

probably feels a little bit damned if I do, damned if I don't.

20:21

He comes out and he's a disciplinarian and he gets shot

20:23

down for that because it's not working for him. Even

20:26

in the Sand Show situation, he's had off-field problems. He

20:28

then tries to solve things by backing his players and

20:30

then people come out and say, well hang on a

20:32

minute, did you not watch the same game? How can

20:35

you back your players? Then he comes out and says,

20:37

actually my players aren't getting it right. What

20:41

manager hasn't had all of those problems? No,

20:43

I agree. You go to any of the

20:45

big clubs and there are managers who are

20:47

fighting fires all the time and we know

20:49

that. And actually, there have been a lot

20:51

of people who have been incredibly sympathetic. I've

20:53

said on this show many times. It's very fair to him. I

20:55

don't think any manager has had to deal

20:57

with the spate and the scale of off-field

21:01

issues that Tenharg has had to.

21:03

That's one of the rare things I disagree with

21:05

you on. I think all managers behind the scenes,

21:07

some managers are just better and

21:10

some clubs don't have the profile of

21:12

Manchester United. Every single thing

21:14

that happens with Manchester United, because they are

21:16

this monster in world football, it

21:19

is exacerbated far more. But they

21:21

have had their off-field problems. I'm thinking of on

21:23

the club, for example, in

21:25

the championship that saved itself from relegation.

21:27

There are individuals within that team where

21:30

if they were playing for another

21:32

club, the situation regarding

21:34

those individuals would be huge. So

21:39

I just think as far as

21:41

United are concerned, when

21:43

you go to a big club and you're managing a big club,

21:46

there's almost a symbiotic relationship with

21:48

the media. Because obviously the media

21:50

is a job, and I

21:52

say media rather than press people. Media takes on

21:54

very different forms. On this show

21:57

and on this channel, there is a job to be able

21:59

to do. not only to represent

22:01

the game as it is, but to represent

22:03

the fans' views of the games as well.

22:05

And we have to recognise the ways in

22:08

which media has changed. So to come into

22:10

press conferences trying to pick fight with individual

22:12

journalists, I just don't think that... I just

22:14

find it fascinating that if we look back to

22:16

May 2022, Eric Tanharg came in and shook everyone's

22:18

hand and it was this lovely kind of like,

22:20

Eric Tanharg, look at him, I mean, he's just

22:22

come in and it's changing everything. And then now

22:24

it's like, I'm not sure you'd want to shake

22:26

anyone's hand. And that, you know, there just has

22:28

been a lot going on. What

22:31

are the papers saying today? Yeah,

22:33

there I am. And that's another thing, you know,

22:36

it's that whole thing, I suppose when you're, if

22:38

you're a paper reader, then you, you know, Eric

22:40

Tanharg probably hasn't been out of the papers all

22:42

year. There are so many, but I am just

22:44

going to pick out one for you. I'm going

22:46

to pick out, let's

22:48

see, let's go with Sunday Times up

22:51

in flames because Jonathan Norzcroft was

22:54

at the game and he

22:56

talked about, let's have

22:58

a look, sorry, this

23:00

is the Manchester United paper. Yeah, which

23:02

page do you want? James Ducky, yeah,

23:05

so Telegraph, yeah, we're looking at, yeah.

23:07

And that's the Telegraph. I

23:09

knew that eventually I would get one wrong.

23:11

There's a lot to go through. There are

23:14

so many newspapers to get through, as James

23:17

Ducker. And this is his piece, all

23:21

around the post-match press conference,

23:23

as you've been saying, he says that

23:25

Eric Tanharg referred back to that time,

23:27

the aftermath of this latest stimuli received

23:30

disappointment, referencing how even that team, the

23:33

one of Ronaldo and a young

23:35

Wayne Rooney in 2004-05, quote,

23:38

didn't play that great football, but

23:40

were building and required the patience

23:42

for him, he himself was now

23:44

calling for. He even

23:46

went as far as to suggest that some

23:49

acerbic critics of his United who played in

23:51

that Ferguson team, Rio Ferdinand, Roy Keane,

23:53

Gary Neville and the like, had forgotten

23:55

the pressure they were under then. It

23:57

was an interesting point, says James, well-

24:00

but others might also note that those

24:02

United sides never finished lower

24:04

than third in the Premier League

24:06

and unlike Tenharg Ferguson had an

24:08

exemplary body of work behind him

24:10

that ensured him time and that's

24:13

the point that James makes that

24:15

Ineos has come in and they've

24:17

wiped out the hierarchy

24:19

at the top of

24:21

the business which suggests that they are

24:23

not happy with what they've seen so

24:25

far and given Tenharg's body of work

24:28

the spotlight is now on him. Okay look

24:31

you teased a little bit a moment ago because

24:33

you were talking about Joseph Northcroft in terms

24:35

of the Liverpool papers I just want to go

24:37

back to Liverpool because we did we've got lots

24:39

to discuss about it but I do want to

24:41

bring something in live because we are a live

24:43

show this is the

24:45

paper we will look at that in just a

24:47

second the reason why I want to say look

24:50

because I think Jamie Carragher is watching right now

24:52

because he has tweeted and he said this so

24:54

this is fascinating he said Mo Salah and Jurgen

24:56

Klopp are both Liverpool legends we don't need to

24:59

take sides Salah is frustrated and

25:01

angry with Jurgen that he's not playing and

25:03

at that moment didn't want to fully embrace

25:05

the boss Jurgen understandably

25:07

took exception Mo was

25:09

daft with his comment in the mix

25:11

zone but let's them sort

25:13

it out and enjoy the last few weeks

25:15

together they've been a massive help to each

25:18

other in all that's been achieved at the

25:20

club he's absolutely right I think and

25:22

exactly what we said it would

25:24

be a real shame if the

25:26

remaining weeks of these two Premier

25:28

League icons I would suggest is

25:31

dominated by trying to take sides between the two

25:33

of them I know there've been some people on

25:35

social media who've gone for Salah which I think

25:38

is incredibly unfair when you can see that and

25:40

actually quite a surprise given what he's done for

25:42

the club and what Klopp

25:45

has done for Liverpool you couldn't even begin to

25:47

encapsulate in the two hours of this show

25:49

so I think James is absolutely right it was

25:51

sad to see yesterday but hopefully they will be

25:53

able to patch it up and we can move

25:56

yeah what do you make of Jimmy Carriga's tweet then do

25:58

you agree with that? I think he's spotty on,

26:00

there's no point taking sides. It's the

26:03

word we used with sadness for both of

26:06

them. And you know, you speak about what

26:08

they've individually delivered for Liverpool, but

26:10

also what they've given each other. Klopp gives

26:14

Saller the platform to resurrect his career

26:16

in England. You know, he was seen

26:18

as a Chelsea flop. And now we've

26:20

seen as one of the greatest ever

26:22

to come and play in this country.

26:24

Also, what Saller helps Klopp been able

26:26

to do in terms of his rebuild

26:29

and delivering that success to Liverpool. And together

26:31

with the entire collective,

26:33

the moment and the journey

26:36

they've taken that fan base on has been

26:39

extraordinary. So I think Jamie is

26:41

right in terms of look at

26:43

the full picture, don't just look at that incident

26:46

and you know, these last few games

26:48

left in how we talk about them.

26:58

Now let's get to a dramatic finish Villa Partridge

27:00

has done and I've just been discussing. Chelsea

27:03

had a potential late winner ruled out,

27:05

controversially by VAR, came back from two

27:07

goals down to draw two with Aston

27:09

Villa. Now Mauricio Pochettino has claimed the

27:11

use of VAR by match officials is

27:14

damaging the image of English

27:16

football. I'm not coming to

27:19

you Melissa. Look,

27:21

do they have a point at all

27:24

about VAR do you think yesterday? I think

27:27

I can understand his frustration because it

27:29

was a very soft decision. Was

27:32

it a foul? I think it was

27:34

very, very soft. I think it

27:36

was calling that a foul then. No,

27:38

no, no. Was it a foul? The amount of fouls we're

27:40

going to have in a game in my opinion.

27:43

Was it a foul Melissa? In my opinion

27:45

not. You can judge for yourself. It's

27:47

this isn't it here? A little

27:50

shove and they know often.

27:52

Really? Come on. Come on, what? You're

27:55

going to shove the guy at,

27:57

look, he shoved him here. And

28:00

then it makes space to cross the ball for the ball

28:02

to be headed in. Come on,

28:04

I'm sorry. We give referee sticks, but I will defend

28:06

the officials 100% at this moment. I

28:12

can understand the frustration there because

28:14

of the state Chelsea are in, it would

28:16

have been an important winner. But

28:19

just in terms of the

28:21

general theme around the AR

28:23

and refereeing, and we've seen

28:25

more managers come out this season

28:28

to be quite critical of it. More players

28:30

come out as well. And

28:32

I think we've got a few issues

28:35

here. Firstly, we

28:37

are now investigating

28:39

every single small

28:42

thing that happens on the pitch, right? In microscopic

28:45

detail. And yet

28:47

we're not getting the

28:49

correct decision every time because that's impossible.

28:52

And yet the whole promise of the AR

28:54

was that it would get the

28:57

big decisions right. It

28:59

was going to minimize mistakes. And

29:02

yet that hasn't been the case. And we've had something like

29:06

I listed it down, the amount of numbers

29:10

or referees and the

29:12

VARs are choosing not to get involved

29:15

in situations now where they should be

29:17

getting involved in. Then we've

29:19

had situations where the VAR shouldn't have

29:22

stepped in and has stepped in. So

29:25

I think the perception

29:27

around everything and the

29:29

faith and the trust has

29:31

been eroded, unlike

29:34

never before previously. And

29:36

there's a lot of work to be done to change that. We'll

29:40

talk a little bit more at length on that in terms of... Is

29:42

it a foul Melissa? Stop

29:45

it. I think we've agreed it is a foul. It's a

29:47

bit soft, but it was a foul in the letter of

29:49

the law. Well, go back to the AR a little bit

29:52

more. I live with a Chelsea fan, what can I say? I

29:55

have my ear chewed off about it. Look,

29:57

it was a positive fight back. That second half was a

29:59

good one. great performance. Do they just need

30:01

to play like that for 90 minutes and

30:03

problem solved? You've been

30:05

asking me about Chelsea for a lot of

30:07

weeks now. You're saying the same thing. I've

30:10

got no issues really with Pochettino because I've

30:12

seen what he does at

30:14

Southampton, at Spurs. You've seen the work

30:16

that he's done. He's a tremendous job.

30:18

The issue at Chelsea has always been

30:20

the recruitment and I would expect

30:23

a lot of players to go in the summer

30:25

and for that squad to be pared down. But

30:27

we have seen in recent weeks and months signs

30:29

that there's a team there. There is the pulse

30:32

of a team there and we're

30:34

seeing it in moments offensively. Clearly

30:37

they need more in the final third.

30:39

I think that a trademark of his

30:41

successful teams in relative terms obviously, given

30:43

that they were Southampton and Spurs, but

30:45

a trademark of those teams has been

30:47

the bit that the defensive strength that

30:49

they've had when he was at Spurs,

30:51

second best defence in the league

30:53

in the first season, the best defence

30:55

in the league in the second season.

30:57

Had they built on that Champions League

30:59

final appearance, they would probably have done

31:01

the kind of thing that Angel Post and Claude Glue is

31:03

doing now that we're giving him credit for. So I've got

31:06

no issues about Chelsea going forward. They'll be

31:08

good. Okay. What does that result do

31:10

to Aston Villa's top four hopes? Seven points

31:12

I think ahead of Spurs who of course

31:14

play later? It doesn't

31:17

help them in any way, but I

31:19

still think Aston Villa will feel they're

31:21

in the driving seat. And

31:23

some of their performances, especially in bigger

31:25

games, has let them down, but they

31:27

do have a consistency

31:30

and a sort

31:33

of automations in the way they play.

31:35

So I think they'll feel comfortable. Whereas

31:38

I think sometimes with

31:40

Tottenham, even post-Chicago has

31:42

admitted he doesn't quite know what

31:44

he's going to get out of

31:46

them at any different time. Obviously

31:49

their style is he doesn't change,

31:51

but they can be very naive

31:53

in situations and let themselves down.

31:55

But Villa will feel for themselves

31:57

that they're in the driving seat, especially given.

32:00

Tottenham's fixtures coming up. They have a

32:02

very hard end to the season. They

32:05

do indeed. Let's turn

32:07

our attention to the Women's Champions League now

32:09

because Emma Hayes describes the decision to send

32:11

Khadishah Buchanan off in Chelsea's semi-final defeat to

32:14

Barcelona as the worst decision in the history

32:16

of the competition. Delighted to say talk sport

32:18

broadcaster Shabana Hern joins us now to discuss

32:20

it in detail. Good to see you Shabana.

32:22

Hi Shabana. Look, we're going to focus on

32:25

the WSL in a moment but let's get

32:27

to Emma Hayes then because she was really

32:29

upset, wasn't she? She wanted perfection. It was

32:31

her final game at Samford Bridge as well

32:34

with Chelsea. Anything but that

32:36

and shrouded in controversy. What were your thoughts

32:39

as another trophy has ebbed away from her?

32:42

Yeah, it's been not the end to

32:44

the season and our end to her

32:47

tenure as Chelsea manager that anybody really

32:49

expected fair play to

32:51

Chelsea to get that one goal advantage

32:54

away and then last week. Right, Vicki,

32:56

she spoke about perfection. That's what the

32:58

side had to be. However, post-match I

33:00

spoke to Emma Hayes and she also

33:02

spoke about needing things to

33:05

go her way and Mayra

33:07

Ramirez who was absolutely outstanding

33:09

the game before then picking

33:11

up that injury didn't

33:13

help the situation. Also,

33:15

the referee. Was that the best standard

33:17

of refereeing in the Champions League yesterday?

33:20

Now, it's certainly debatable that Khadishah Buchanan

33:22

is sending off and actually from there

33:24

it all went downhill. Chelsea

33:26

were starting to come back into form at

33:28

that point and we're starting to look dominant

33:30

in the game. So that's where Emma Hayes

33:33

was very clear with saying it's not a

33:35

game that we lost. It was a game

33:37

that was taken from us and unfortunate circumstances

33:39

as well. Her final game at Samford Bridge

33:42

39,000 fans there and it didn't quite

33:44

go to plan for the Blues. But

33:46

Barcelona progressed to the final of the

33:48

Champions League next month in Bilbao and

33:50

it'll be the winner of the PSG Leon

33:53

today here in Paris that will join

33:55

them in that final. On

33:57

to WSL Shaban, the League's last game.

34:00

leaders Manchester City they're facing Bristol

34:02

City live on Sky

34:04

Sports this evening. We've got a

34:06

three-point advantage over the defending champions

34:08

Chelsea but tell us about the

34:10

good news and the bad news for

34:12

City coming into this weekend. Yeah

34:17

dad, in a bit of an up and a down

34:19

week for Manchester City let's start with the good news

34:22

shall we. Lord and Hemp will

34:24

remain at the club until 2020. This

34:26

is a huge shot in the arm

34:28

to Manchester City. She's been one of

34:30

their star players for the last few

34:32

years scoring 65 goals and 157 appearances

34:35

for the club so great that Manchester

34:37

City got her tied down. Now they

34:39

are looking like they might possibly win

34:42

the league title this time around.

34:44

She's also helped the club to four

34:46

trophies as well. I believe she

34:48

was wanted by Barcelona but committing

34:51

herself to Manchester City until

34:54

2027. The bad news,

34:57

the top scorer Bonnie Shaw

34:59

is now out till the rest of the

35:01

season that's following that boot injury

35:03

that she picked up in the 5-0 win over

35:06

West Ham. So not good news for Bonnie

35:08

Shaw. It's not good news for Manchester City

35:10

either especially at this stage in the season.

35:13

21 goals in 18 games. Bonnie Shaw has

35:15

scored at this weekend so it's not looking

35:17

good for her. Bonnie Shaw out till the

35:19

rest of the season. Shaban

35:22

Chelsea they'll have two games in

35:24

hand and they don't play until

35:26

Wednesday. Night Live on Sky Sports.

35:28

How important is it that Manchester

35:30

City pile on the pressure? Very

35:34

important Melissa and with Bonnie Shaw ruled

35:36

out we wonder how this will upset

35:38

the Apple Kirk for Manchester

35:40

City. Don't get me wrong I see them getting

35:43

over the line today but Chelsea

35:45

they've got Liverpool on Wednesday. Liverpool haven't

35:47

been here for taking part in the

35:49

WL cell this season. They've been very

35:51

much so involved in setting the table.

35:54

The best of the rest shall we

35:56

say. They've been really there and thereabouts

35:58

and have really up. their standard

36:01

and their performances under Matt Beard.

36:04

So I'm a bit concerned for

36:06

Chelsea, you know, how do they bounce back? I

36:08

asked Emma Hayes that, you know, when you're at

36:10

this stage of the season, you need to go

36:12

and win one trophy. It's your last time. She's

36:14

won how many consecutive WSLs in a row, born

36:16

a row. Can she do it

36:18

again? She's now relying on these other

36:20

teams around her to hopefully slip up

36:22

and hopefully that her team do not

36:24

drop points. Like I mentioned earlier, now

36:26

possibly without Matt or Ramirez. So Manchester

36:28

City can't afford to drop any points here.

36:30

They've got to keep pushing through. And

36:33

so too with Arsenal, I was looking

36:35

at the opposite supercomputer who says they've

36:37

got a zero chance, basically, which is

36:39

nice, of winning the title. They're going

36:41

to have to rely on Manchester City and Chelsea dropping

36:43

points. Do you think they're capable, I think they're against

36:45

Everton today, do you think they're capable of winning all

36:47

their games till the end of the season, Arsenal? I

36:52

do think they're capable of a win against

36:54

Everton today. Yeah, I think I'm confident with

36:56

that one, but, and that's no disrespect to

36:58

Everton. They're a good side, but I just

37:00

think Arsenal has that bit more. But I

37:02

think this is a

37:04

sign of a very poor season for

37:06

Arsenal at this stage of the season. You

37:08

know, when they lose them, say four games

37:11

in total, it kind of rules them out

37:13

of the title. You know, they're relying on

37:15

other sides to drop points, but with the

37:17

star-studded squads that is Arsenal, I

37:19

expected a bit more from this season.

37:22

They'll be happy that they've got that

37:24

place spot for the Champions League. But

37:26

let's not forget, Vicky, next

37:28

week they go to Manchester City,

37:30

you know? So if it's easier to go

37:32

on and win that game, it looks like

37:34

the title could be theirs or Chelsea, but

37:37

relying on losses from the clubs above them,

37:39

it's not really Arsenal, so they need to

37:41

change something this summer. They certainly do. Always

37:43

good to see you. Enjoying, Paris. Thank you,

37:45

Shaben. Thank you. Au revoir.

37:55

Now, the second part of Super Sunday sees Nottingham

37:57

Forest host Manchester City a week on their

38:00

defeat to Everton which was obviously

38:02

dominated by that VAR controversy and

38:04

that led to Forrest releasing a

38:06

statement or two singling out a

38:08

VAR official Stuart Atwell for criticism

38:11

and as the row has continued throughout the week

38:13

Morgan Gives White and Callum Hudson-Adoyes you see

38:15

here sat down with our reporter Daniel Kahn to

38:18

give us their opinion. Morgan

38:22

Callum, lovely to see you both once again.

38:24

Before we look out to the City Game

38:26

this weekend just reflecting on that Everton game

38:29

kind of dominated by VAR I just wonder

38:31

to you both what was that kind of

38:33

experience like and how frustrating is at this

38:35

point in the season. It's frustrating and

38:39

just we just feel like there's no

38:42

consistency in it anymore but yeah we've looked we can't

38:44

we can't control that at the end of the day

38:47

and that's how we can control all we can

38:49

control is how we perform and

38:53

you know we can see the two goals in

38:55

the weekend which wasn't good enough and so

38:57

like I said we can control what we control and we need to

38:59

do better. You look at it throughout the season I think as

39:02

what Morg said it's not been consistent I think there's been a

39:04

lot of times where there's been decisions made

39:06

against us where we're like that should have been a

39:08

penalty or that should have been not a red

39:11

card or something like that but there's been decisions where we

39:13

all look at and we're like how is that not how

39:15

is that possible I think the consistency

39:17

with the VAR stuff is just not helping

39:20

really so for us as he said

39:22

you can control where you can control and which is what we're

39:24

doing the pitch of a performance but apart from that and

39:26

I think more so we just gotta keep

39:28

going and perform better. Going forward now looking

39:31

at the City Game organ in terms of

39:33

where you were at last season the club

39:35

obviously escaping relegation I wonder what

39:37

this situation is like compared to last season

39:39

it does it feel similar or does it

39:42

feel completely different? I feel

39:44

similar and I don't

39:46

think there's a good feeling for

39:48

fighting relegation battle and but

39:50

like I said we've been in the situation before

39:53

so we know what needs to be done and

39:55

I feel like we've

39:57

got the right group of players and the right togetherness and

39:59

the right mentality to get out

40:01

of it. And can that experience, for the

40:03

players who were here last year, can

40:05

that really help, do you think, at this point in the season? Yeah,

40:08

of course, massively, because we know what needs to be done. So

40:10

yeah, we're looking forward to the

40:12

game against City. It's going to be a really tough

40:14

game, obviously one of the best teams in the world.

40:17

But at City Ground, anything can happen.

40:20

So we just hope our fans are right behind us,

40:22

because we're going to need every single person on that

40:24

pitch, on the bench, in the stands to be behind

40:26

us. Going into these final

40:28

games of the season, what do

40:30

you think the deciding factors will be in terms

40:32

of staying up this season? I think

40:35

it's more the mentality and the drive

40:37

to push day in, day out. I

40:40

just think the season's coming to an end, and we're in

40:42

a position where we don't want to be in. So

40:44

I think every game, every point matters, no matter what

40:46

it is. And I think for ourselves, we

40:49

have to just have that right mentality in training, knowing

40:51

that, look, the game's coming in a week, and we

40:53

have to push each other, push ourselves, and make sure

40:55

that we're ready for the game. Making

40:58

sure that we're always giving 100% in every, whoever

41:01

is finishing, defending, I don't know, tackling,

41:03

whatever it is, but just

41:05

making sure everybody has that hunger and desire to go

41:07

and win the game. So I think

41:09

the most important thing would be mentally, and

41:12

just see how it goes from there. And

41:14

what would you say, Morgan? Would you agree

41:16

with that? Yeah, 100%. Really showing, really

41:19

trying to show how together this team is. We've

41:21

shown it in glimpses this season.

41:24

But I think now is the real time to show

41:27

how together we are, and show that

41:29

we've got our winning mentality, and

41:31

to go out there in these last four games and try and

41:33

pick up as many points as possible to escape

41:36

the relegation. I

41:39

believe we can do it. I believe we've got the players to

41:41

do it. I believe we've got the manager. I believe we've got

41:43

the fans to do it. So listen, it's

41:45

all down to us now to pull it right and get out

41:47

of the situation here. Good to hear

41:49

from the players there. It's an

41:52

interesting one, wasn't it? The statement that

41:54

came out. Could they

41:56

have handled it differently, do you think? They should have

41:58

handled it differently. Can you please, in public, please,

42:02

in the impartiality, offer

42:04

referee and

42:07

question these ethics, which the

42:09

post ultimately did? I

42:12

understand that they have legitimate concerns about

42:14

a lot of decisions that have gone

42:16

against them. So not just that incident.

42:18

By the way, two of the three

42:20

decisions that they were

42:22

unhappy about were correct calls. But

42:26

throughout the span of the campaign, a

42:28

lot has gone against them. So I think

42:30

it's that build up of annoyance and also

42:32

the fact that they've got Clattenberg in there.

42:35

To advise them on things means that they

42:38

feel that they have a

42:40

better understanding of the nature of

42:43

officiating and the processes, which

42:47

probably isn't actually helpful in the end.

42:50

They should have definitely gone down

42:52

the private route of engaging the

42:55

PGMOL. But this speaks to

42:57

that point I was making earlier. There

42:59

is a complete erosion in the

43:03

entire process, in how the AR

43:05

operates, in refereeing standards.

43:07

And a lot of the issues

43:09

were we brought in the

43:11

system without thinking about the

43:13

training and stuff that needs to happen around

43:15

it. So you had referees

43:17

who've spent their entire lives being

43:20

in the middle, now having to

43:22

referee a game in front of a video that

43:24

they weren't equipped to do. There

43:27

was also no real guidance

43:30

on how, if you're a VAR,

43:33

how to engage with the on-pitch

43:35

referee. Because if you've been a

43:37

referee all your life, you don't want someone interfering.

43:40

So when you're in the VAR booth, you

43:43

actually might not want to interfere. And

43:45

do you remember that Mike Dean podcast

43:47

that he did, where he came out and

43:49

said he didn't review a misread card

43:53

because he didn't want to pile

43:55

more grief on the referee. So

43:58

you have interventions that should happen. that

44:00

aren't taking place and there's

44:02

just a lot of problems

44:06

around the entire officiating

44:08

process which like I

44:10

said we've had so many managers and players

44:12

come out this season. I

44:14

really don't know how they restore

44:17

faith in it. It's interesting the Premier League

44:19

and the FA are actually investigating it now

44:21

you know could potentially be punished for it.

44:23

And that's a real shame

44:27

because I think Forrest do raise legitimate

44:29

points and there was widespread sympathy over

44:32

the fact that there had been a

44:34

couple of incorrect calls made on the day. But

44:37

to a man the journalistic fraternity

44:40

was all of the opinion that

44:42

regardless of whatever errors there may

44:44

have been from any referee you

44:47

cannot impugn the integrity

44:50

of any official. You just cannot do it and

44:53

people might be watching this saying yeah but this

44:55

yeah but that but you

44:58

cannot throw words like that you're

45:00

corrupt and and and if you're

45:02

anything of any level whatsoever at

45:04

any official it is you know

45:06

it's defamatory and they can take

45:08

legal recourse and I think our

45:10

game should not be heading down

45:13

that road. And just one point on what

45:15

Melissa was saying I think

45:18

that the system does

45:20

need an overhaul but referees go

45:22

out there with that they

45:24

try to do the best they can but they

45:26

are working within a system that they weren't necessarily

45:29

trained to do and it could well be

45:31

as they say they don't want to re-referee

45:33

the game. So if you have people who

45:35

are just directing them towards what they should

45:37

be looking at and leaving them to make

45:39

their decisions rather than recommending what action they

45:41

should take. Melissa, Shepherd

45:43

United's relegation confirmed after that five-wound

45:45

defeat to Newcastle, Luton lost to

45:48

Wolves as well. Burnley's pointed Old

45:50

Trafford are they finding form at

45:52

just the right time do you

45:54

feel? They are. I know Vincent

45:56

Company says he just wants to go into that

45:58

final game of the season. with them

46:00

having the chance to stay up. And I

46:02

think the way it's shaping up,

46:04

it is going to be decided in

46:07

those, on the final day,

46:09

probably even in the dying minutes, the way the

46:11

season is going. I think

46:14

Burnley have found a bit

46:16

of their belief in themselves,

46:18

especially in their offense. In

46:22

the championship, I think

46:24

they just expected to do well,

46:26

obviously completely different challenge. And they

46:28

probably forgot some of their offensive

46:30

movements or what made them so

46:32

good. And I've seen a bit

46:35

of that really come back. Perfect

46:37

timing will probably a little bit too late,

46:40

but they've given themselves a fighting

46:42

chance. But Everton, wow. Yeah.

46:45

Remarkable from Everton, three

46:48

consecutive wins without conceding. And

46:51

I want to say, you know, a lot has been made of

46:54

Sean Dyche, keeping

46:56

them afloat with all

46:58

the PSR charges. But actually,

47:00

it's not about the charges. It's about

47:03

how badly Everton have been

47:06

mismanaged and to be able

47:08

to pull them out of it in

47:11

the scheme of everything that's gone on.

47:13

And not the charges, but the actual

47:16

process that led to them being

47:18

charged and how badly they've been

47:20

run is curtium. He

47:22

was always seen as the guy who

47:24

could come in and fight and

47:27

claw and battle, and he's done just

47:29

that. Should they have ever been in

47:31

that situation, though, you know, scrapping for

47:33

their lives? Well, yeah, I know they've

47:35

had pointed options. But also they didn't invest

47:37

with quality in the squad. They invested,

47:39

but the recruitment's being poor and it

47:41

paid over the odds for that poor

47:44

recruitment. But we've always

47:46

said on this show, there is a clarity of

47:48

actual Dyche's message, which meant that of the teams

47:50

who were down there, it was always they were

47:52

always going to be among the favourites to stay

47:54

up. What I think they might have a problem

47:56

with now is that Sean Dyche is

47:58

a man who I could... see a bigger club and

48:01

I think that they might have a little bit

48:03

of an issue holding on to him. I would

48:05

not be surprised if one or two bigger clubs

48:07

had a look at Sean Diesch but as far

48:09

as Everton are concerned, terrific performances. We felt they

48:11

would stay up. We didn't think, I certainly wouldn't

48:13

have seen them beating Liverpool on the way to

48:15

doing that but that's a measure of the

48:20

steel that is built into that side. There's

48:22

no way they could let him go

48:24

quite frankly because after what happened with

48:26

Karl-Arnoldo you go and thank God for

48:28

coming in. The club has not, it's

48:30

needed the stability that Sean Diesch has given

48:32

them. They've got to look after him now.

48:34

I'm not his agent or anything but if

48:36

I'm them, that's the first thing I'm doing.

48:38

Forget about players, I'm nailing him down to

48:40

a longer term contract. He's done a fabulous

48:42

job there. Okay, I

48:45

think we can see the bottom of the table. Who's

48:47

staying up then? Because you know, we've

48:49

got the fixtures as well. Burnley,

48:51

they've got Newcastle Spurs and that

48:53

forest which is going to be

48:56

epic. You've got Luton, you've got

48:58

Everton, West Ham and Fulham and

49:01

then Forest,

49:03

Shepherd United obviously, they've got Chelsea

49:05

and then said that Burnley game.

49:07

I mean, who stays up?

49:10

Luton for me. I look at Luton and

49:12

I still see the fire there. I think

49:15

Burnley, Vincent's done a

49:17

fantastic job but I just feel they missed

49:19

too many chances. I had a couple of

49:21

chances to put United to the sword yesterday.

49:23

They didn't take them. I look

49:26

at Forest and my concern for them is

49:28

that they are knee-deep in arguments that they

49:30

don't need to be having and

49:32

they've got the quality if they focus on the

49:34

football to win all three of those games but

49:36

I think there is so much going on

49:38

off the field that is putting that in

49:41

jeopardy. In terms of

49:43

the team that isn't on that board

49:45

there, Shepherd United, what do they take from

49:48

this season do you feel? You know, they are down.

49:50

How do they look back? How will they reflect on

49:52

it and go again next season? I

49:54

think it was a very very harsh lesson

49:57

for them to learn. Obviously need

49:59

to to improve dramatically in

50:01

a defensive sense. I

50:04

think they need a little bit more experience in

50:06

there. There

50:09

was a point made about a lack of leadership,

50:11

but I also think there's a distinct lack

50:14

of quality. And so that needs to be

50:16

addressed as well. Lots of work

50:18

for them to do. And like I said, they

50:21

learnt it very painfully.