Football Daily - 72+ EFL Pod: Mason out at West Brom & Cardiff flying high

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

Former Cardiff captain Sean Morrison joins Aaron and Jobi to chat the EFL. They dissect the festive period – were they surprised at West Brom sacking Ryan Mason? Is Will Still going to be the next man in the dugout at Oxford United? And can Wrexham make a charge for the Championship play-off spots? They also discuss Coventry’s festive form – is this just a blip? Sean chats about his former club, Cardiff, who sit top of League 1, and they discuss the other surprise packages in the league. In League 2, they analyse who might still be in trouble at the bottom. And they look ahead to which games they’re most excited for in the FA Cup third round!Time Codes: 03:55 – Hello Sean Morrison 06:35 – West Brom sack Ryan Mason 13:50 – Oxford’s next manager? 19:25 – Coventry 21:40 – Wrexham 24:55 – Cardiff 32:35 – Lincoln 36:20 – Jon Brady in at Port Vale 37:55 – Bristol Rovers 39:50 – Who’s in trouble in League 2? 41:30 – FA Cup 3rd Round 44:00 – Ultimate EFL Hard Men Squad 49:35 – 72Plus/72MinusCommentaries this week: Fri 9th Jan - FA CUP: Wrexham v Nottingham Forest 1930 KO - LIVE ON 5 LIVE Fri 9th Jan - FA CUP: Preston North End v Wigan 1930 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA Sat 10th Jan - WSL: Arsenal v Manchester United 1230 - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Macclesfield Town v Crystal Palace 1215 KO - LIVE ON 5 LIVE Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Everton v Sunderland 1215 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Wolves v Shrewsbury Town 1215 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA 3 Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Fulham v Middlesbrough 1500 KO - LIVE ON 5 LIVE Sat 10th Jan - A CUP: Manchester City v Exeter City 1500 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Newcastle v Bournemouth 1500 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA 2 Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Stoke City v Coventry City 1500 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA 3 Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Spurs v Aston Villa 1745 KO - LIVE ON 5 LIVE Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Bristol City v Watford 1745 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Cambridge United v Birmingham City 1745 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA 2 Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Grimsby Town v Weston-super-mare 1745 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA 3 Sat 10th Jan - FA CUP: Charlton v Chelsea 2000 KO - LIVE ON 5 LIVE Sun 11th Jan - FA CUP: Derby County v Leeds United 1200 KO - LIVE ON 5 LIVE Sun 11th Jan - FA CUP: Portsmouth v Arsenal 1400 KO - LIVE ON 5 LIVE Sun 11th Jan - FA CUP: West Ham v QPR 1430 KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA Sun 11th Jan - FA CUP: Norwich City v Walsall 1430KO - LIVE ON SPORTS EXTRA 2

72 plus, the EFL podcast with Aaron Paul and Joby McEnough. Hello, happy new year. Welcome to 72 plus, the EFL pod from Five Life Sport and the Football Daily podcast. Happy New Year, Joby McEnough. How was your festive period? I feel like I haven't seen you in time. Yeah, it seems like it has been a while, hasn't it? Really nice this year.

It was not as hectic, certainly leading up to Christmas. I think the way the fixtures sort of panned out. So I had a nice few days away with the family. family, then obviously got stuck into the Boxing Day fixtures from home, which was quite nice this year, feet up, way too much to eat, way too much to drink. But, hey, you know, I'm not a footballer anymore, so I can get away of it. Just one more thing, though, is, are we doing Happy New Year still? The fact I haven't seen you face to face, I'm saying it can still, it can still pass. Well, it is January the 7th, and, you know, we are still within that sort of

parameter just. But I have a thing with a mate with Happy New Year's. In fact, I'll tell Sean Morrison about it. The former Cardiff City captain is alongside us making is, is this your debut? This is your debut, isn't it, Sean? It is, yes. Yeah, but there you go, made our first January signing joke. A bit of experience. Early business.

Yeah. We do either. We like to get it done early. It's what we do. It's a pragmatic football organisation. Sean, happy new year to you. Happy new year to you guys. When do you stop saying happy new year? I, from pretty much the first of January. Okay. If I haven't seen you, before midday first of Jan then you'll be very lucky to get a happy new year out of me are you the

ebeneezer scrooge of i was going to say they just yeah i don't enjoy it but the years are coming too quick now so as each one ticks by i'm just like oh it's another one gone so yeah i'd probably say i'm the scrooge of new year so uh i was gonna tell you guys i i've got a producer that i work with called ella shout at ella uh who is like me she's just very very stupid we we we do we wind each other up and I just had this idea. You know, you're going around saying Happy New Year to everyone. Who can carry it the longest?

Who can see someone and just drop in a Happy New Year and just keep going to go? I'm talking about March. Easter is the first week of April this year. Could we carry on a happy new year? And look, there's certain parameters and rules to this. First, you don't say it twice the same person.

You've got to find a new person every day. but you've got to just drop it in it's got to be casual it's got to be seamless not hi happy new year no hi happy new year could i get a flat white please that kind of thing you know you're just just seamless like hi happy new year could you tell me where the toilets please hi happy new year what time does that film start like that what do you reckon i'm having it i'm having it i think this is a challenge i can get with for sure um if we have a little comp see how far we can go with it imagine how mental someone would think you were if you said Happy New Year in July.

He's a man for the job, Aaron. I've got to say, if there's one man that we've picked today that could carry this out, I'm saying by sort of November, I think he'll still be doing it, Morrow. But that's the one. That's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for someone who's committed to the calls. Joby, the thing is you'll go, you'll go, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll do it, we'll do it, we'll do it, we'll do it, we'll do it, we'll do it by February. What are you saying?

I'm flaky. Nah, I love a patch, I love that. You're too cool for that. You're too cool for that. I agree with that. you do you do think you're too cool for that you wouldn't be saying when the clock's jumps on yeah jack has said uh jack our producer has said um should we say happy new year to every guest all the way through that's not a bad shout just see the response i think there be some interesting facial

expressions of like as he actually just said happy new year when we're doing it in the end of may playoffs and stuff so uh yeah let's go for it uh so shout out ella and shout out the happy new year gang Happy New Year, everybody. Welcome to the show. Sean, what's going on football-wise? I mean, you left Rotherham back in 2024. What you've been up to since? Just enjoying the family, really.

Once I left Rotherham, we're still looking for a club at that point, but Cardiff was home. So we came back to Cardiff, had a baby that summer, literally the season finished and three weeks later, wife give birth. And then it was a process of kind of, weighing up the options, do I want to move again? Do I want to move the family for the sake of

a season? Had a couple of options. None of them really sat right and then started training with Bristair Rovers. Bristol Rovers would have been great because I could have still lived at home, been home every night with the baby with the family, never really materialised. So got two or three months into the season and similar things, had a couple of offers. And it was just a case of do I want to move somewhere and commute or drag the family up north, or wherever we go because Cardiff is not club, there's not many clubs in and around here really, so I was

a bit... It's Cardiff and Cardiff, really? It's Cardiff and Cardiff. Yeah, you've got Newport, you've got Bristol Rovers is 45 minutes away, Swansea the other way, which is never ever going to happen, obviously. Do you not fancy the, um, do you not fancy the, the sort of the Welsh leagues? I had a couple of offers, yeah,

with the, but the thing is they play on AstroTurf and my joints just could not take it. I'd done my ACL a few years ago. I ripped my quad off the bone when I was at Rotherham. So it's one of them. I could have gone and maybe train once a week and try to get through it, but it would have just been hell on my body. So I decided probably about a year and probably about 14 months ago, I officially in my head, like knocked on the head and said like I'm going to give up playing because I don't want to miss what I've got at home at the minute, which is, which is the family life, which is I'm jumping into a bit of media here and there. I'm doing a bit of coaching, helping out with the

academy. So trying to keep busy, but also just trying to enjoy this little space I've got to actually enjoy, which I probably wouldn't have had if I was playing football. Sean, how old are you? 35 tomorrow. What's the further sort of level of education you went to? Did you do GCSE's A levels, that kind of thing? GCS, and then that was kind of it. Once you jump into the YTS, you do college as Joby would tell. You don't get really anything from that. Joby, Sean's missing a trick here. He could have got a Cardiff met and got the unique experience. Yeah, you could have been in the student union bar training twice a week.

Imagine all the nights out you could add. You could add fresh as week all over again if you'd played for Cardiff. As, as this guy played through the, yeah, he played through the Neil Warnock era at Cardiff. There was a fair new few nights out, I can assure you of that, mate. Good to have you with us, by the way, Sean. Happy New Year, too. So much to talk about today. We're going to try our best to get around as much as we can, but we're going to start

in the championship. We're West Romerjabian of sat Ryan Mason, the club seven point. above the relegation zone in 18th James Morrison takes over as interim six defeats from the last eight Joby they were beaten 2-1 at Leicester that was their 10th away defeat on the spin but you know what it's felt like the writing's been on the wall for a long long long long time for Ryan Mason it's just felt really meh for a while yeah I think you're right I think there's been a lot of questions over whether it was the right appointment,

whether he can deal with a club of that stature in his first full job. For me, I think he's been a little bit, when I say unlucky, listen, results are results. But I think the Leicester game probably typifies his reign, where they're actually decent enough in terms of a performance in the match, didn't take opportunities that they created, then go and concede right at the end of the match to a brilliant strike, to be fair. and I think there's been some positive signs along the way

and there's obviously also been some disappointing moments I think not seeing out games conceding sloppy goals which again as a coach sometimes you're kind of powerless to sort of deal with that he's obviously set the team up to play a certain way and sometimes in terms of what happens on that pitch in that 90 minutes you can't really have a massive effect on it

so I think he's been a little bit unfortunate because I think the performances have been better than their league position show but at the same time and it's a harsh lesson in management in his first gig as a number one it is a results based business we hear it all the time people look at the league table rather than maybe digging deeper into it and ultimately you know 10 defeats on the bounce away also maybe tells a little story of not enough grit and and know how to see out games and make sure they don't lose them so um i can see why they've come to the the conclusion they have as a football club

but I have got a little bit of sympathy with him over it. They've obviously had some changes in the squad in the summer, probably trying to lower budgets and it's still a very good squad for the championship and they've always been a powerhouse in the championship. We all know West Bromers that they're going to be in

and around that top six. That are you going to be in and around fighting for promotion and it's a good squad but it feels lumpy. That's the only word I've used to sort of describe it. I mean, yeah, Look, they sold players in the summer. I don't think they've replaced them at all.

I think it just, I don't know. There's something about that squad where I'm like, yeah, on paper it looks really good. It's kind of like the Belgium of like the, you know, sort of like 10 years ago when we used to sit there and go, they're going to win the Euros, they're going to win the World Cup. Because on paper they've got a great squad. When you've got players, like Metham, Phillips, Callum Stiles, Bealeck, Jed obviously is a friend of ours.

He's been injured. Josh Maga, Carl and Grant, Darrell D.K., obviously, come back from injury. Alex Moe it, you're like, yeah, that's the core of a good squad. Have they got a big enough squad, though, Sean? Maybe not for the championship, maybe not the amount of quality that you kind of want running through, especially a squad like West Brom. And you said that it feels lumpy, and that's probably why 10 away defeats in a row is not great, you know what I mean, at any level.

So, and a lot of their defeats have come by a single goal. That's massive. If you flip that, either way, one goal in like Jobi touched on, conceding sloppy goals which might be to do with experience with players with not the right personnel but Ryan Mason can only do so much once he puts that squad of players

onto that pitch in there conceding sloppy goals and then all of a sudden you've got 10 away defeats in a row you've been losing 11 out of 13 games by one single goal it just all amounts into that pressure that he's probably feeling

and the league position then is also affected massively I was at one of their games against Charlie an athletic. They lost to a last, last minute gone. And they were unlucky. What I found was interesting, though, were Ryan Mason's post-match comments and I interviewed him on a couple of occasions. And I just found him, he wanted to get the fans on his side really, really badly. And so I've gone in there and he's answered all the questions by saying, it's my fault,

it's not on the players, I'm doing something wrong. And I'm like, huh? Like, what's this all about? There was such a, I don't want to use the word desperation, but kind of the word desperation, comes to mind. There was such a desperation, a desire to get it right and to become popular with the supporters because they're an intense bunch that supporters. They travel well, they make noise, they

fill the hawthorns. It's a really, really lovely club and it's a good club and a well-backed club. I don't know. I think there was that element of sort of fear, Joby, where it's like I need to get on their side or I need to get them on my side. Yeah, I think

there's two ways to look at that, and of course you do as a manager you have to try and get you know which we all know once it is bouncing uh no pun intended but you know it's a great place when things are going well down there and i think from his perspective maybe also trying to protect the players and i saw that in some of the reactions to when they would get a winner or you know go and see a game out there was a real togetherness this isn't a case of a group of players that have lost faith in the manager actually far from it they were playing for him i do think it's a finer details point. And again, just, you know, coming back to my own experience of being an interim manager, you know, I'm sure there'll be times where he's thought, you know,

we've been spot on in training, we've prepared for the game where we've actually played all right in the game. And then it's just a moment. And then the easiest thing to come out and say afterwards would be, well, X, Y and Z hasn't cleared the ball or someone's gone to sleep. I mean, the keeper, both keepers have made errors, you know, on numerous occasions. But you can't necessarily throw them under the bus because you're trying to protect that group. And, but sometimes I think fans do want to hear that honesty of actually saying look this is a situation we should have done better in or again so and so missed an opportunity that we should have taken that would have won us the game so I think it's a hard balance to strike as a young coach finding your way

in the game and I think what is for sure he will have learned so much from this stint I definitely don't feel it's the end of of Ryan Mason he's a very very bright boy I was actually on my a license coaching course with him and he was always you know certainly working towards this moment of out alone and being a manager. And I'm sure there'll be things he looks back on and goes, maybe I could have done that a little bit differently. Maybe that interaction with, you know, the media, the fans. There's only so many times you can come out and say we've actually played well

and not got a result. I think that great some fans and actually sometimes you've got to come out. Call it as it is. Yes, we should have got better, but we didn't because of this or that. And maybe there was an element of trying to protect the players too much at times. It's a hard job to come into. It's a fine balance. and also what is the expectation from the fans

and what expectations from the owners when they do appoint this new manager? Do they just want a bit of safety? Do they want mid-table? Are they looking, well, with 10 points off the playoffs? Can we? Is there enough time now to catch that, get into that top six? Let's push on to the rest of the championship.

Oxygenite United sat Gary out just before Christmas. They're still without a permanent manager and will still currently the favorite for that job. I know that they wanted Liam Manning to return to the football club. He has turned the opportunity down from what I understand, Joby. And I think that's a really wise decision from him just to take a bit of, take a bit of time and sort of work out where he wants to go next and just have a bit of a rest as well. I mean, I was with John Brady the other day, who's been appointed the Port Vale Manager.

It's amazing to see what a year out of the game does for someone and how recharge they are. we'll still currently favourite for the job. Matt Bloomfield and Alan Sheehan are second and third favourite. Where do Oxford go with this? Because it's Eric Tohey's decision. That's what I've seen online. I think it's a really interesting situation at that football club. And I say this with the greatest respect to Oxford United.

You know, if they survive by a point or by one place, that is a good season for them in the championship. I genuinely believe that. You know, when you look at some of the clubs they're up against the budget, And again, what they haven't got, unfortunately, for them in this season, a couple of the clubs that have come up, Wrexham, Bermanham, you know, traditionally you'd have those clubs coming up that gives you a little bit more grace, you know, that you're going to be up and against some of those teams, newly promoted teams that might not be as strong,

even chart on the way that they started, but they've been sort of dragged into it a little bit. So for me, this is a know-how decision. This is someone who can get a little bit more out of a squad that is stretched to its absolute maximum at this level. to try and get results, make it a little bit harder to beat, which again, if you're looking at a profile of a manager, it sounds like a Gary Rowett type job.

Obviously, they've just got rid of him. So I wouldn't be going too open, too expansive. For me, this is someone who's got a little bit of a track record of salvaging seasons and getting the best out of a group that, quite frankly, isn't as good player-for-player as many others that is coming up against on a weekly basis. Do you think they were right to part ways, with Gary were out at Sean?

It's hard. I don't think so, no. I mean, I thought last year, I know a few boys in the camp last year, and once Gary went in there, they seemed to be extremely happy. They were happy with tactics, how they were playing,

kind of where they were with the club. There was no grey areas. He's a very experienced manager, knows how to do it at that level, and a really good guy from how I know the boys who have spoke at Oxford about him. So for him to lose his job,

obviously they're in a difficult position, but like Joby touched on, if you want somebody to come in there now and make a difference, you're looking for a character or a manager of that suit of the similar suit as Gary Rowett. So who are you going to put in there to replace him if not somebody with the same background or the same tactics as him? Because like Joby said, you need to go in there and make it a difficult team to play against a difficult team to beat,

almost ruin games to some extent to try and pick up points away from home and then at home, can you nick a few results and start building confidence and try and creep out that bottom free because last season they've done really well to stay up there, a fantastic season

after kind of, probably being promoted without really expecting to be promoted and their squad isn't big enough, it isn't strong enough probably to compete at the levels that they need to in the championship. I don't agree with them probably being sacked because I believe they're probably going to try and put somebody in there who's very similar to the style that Gary was.

Will still isn't? No, he's not. And if he's the favourite... If I was the sporting director, whoever, I wouldn't be looking at somebody like a Will still who's going to come in and maybe, unless he's going to really change how he wants to play and what his values and how he wants to play football onto the football pitch, I don't know if he's going to be the right man to keep them in the championship. I'd steer clear of it.

If I was Will, I'd go a step further than that and say, look, I know you want to get get back into management and it's important that you do but sometimes you have to look at everything when you're going into a job and does that give him the best chance of re-establishing himself because if that doesn't go well after what happened at southampton what's his next opportunity going to be in england yes he's still going to have a good reputation in in france and and belgium where he's worked before but here we know how short those sort of memories can be in terms of, you know, it's a failure at Southampton. There's no other way to put it. If you don't keep Oxford up, although it's going to be difficult, and I think whoever goes in there will be

tough, that'll be deemed as another failure. Where does that leave him? So I was surprised to see him being the favourite for that on both counts, because I don't think he fits the mould for what they need. And I don't think the club, from his perspective, is probably what he needs at this moment in time. But I think there's a fear around management that if you don't get back in quick enough then the opportunities can start bypassing you so it's a it's an interesting one at that sometimes sometimes saying that's the best thing you can do isn't it it's a hundred percent the best thing you can do if you say you start jumping at those opportunities like you mentioned there leon manning's kind of taking himself away from it it's probably the best thing

he can do because he knows he's got time to reassess to reflect to see what other opportunities come and if you're a good coach you're a good manager those those opportunities will come they will come Absolutely. Let's push on and talk about the league leaders have had a less than ideal festive period, a squad riddled with the flu, but they still lead by six points. Joby, what have you made of Frank Lampardtide? It's the blip, isn't it? I think it's the blip that we all knew would come at some point. There's no way that you carry on the season that they were putting together completely. You're going to be talking about the Redding 106 team, if that was the case, which we've seen how difficult that is to replicate. which I obviously hear a lot about because we were sort of the second good decent Redding team after the 106 you know what I mean

you were the forgettable one basically yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you weren't as good as then it's never great to do it second time around is it so but no I mean that it stands a test of time that and then it just shows what an incredible achievement and how difficult it is to do

you know what the points that they wrapped up and you know Coventry were setting such a page playing such good football scoring goals and they've had a tough run of fixtures as I think sometimes it's as simple as that when you look at some of the teams they've gone and played against you know southampton at the time we're on a really good run they've played ipswich twice in this sort of recent sort of run where they haven't been as effective and then obviously the charlton and birmingham games which i think there's been big decisions there's not been a lot in

them i know frank lampard's not been happy with some of the penalty decisions i think there's definitely one at the end of the uh birmingham game with mason clark which i thought they they were unlucky with and they're just yeah having to try and find different ways of getting through games i think the biggest positive to take out of it is they've still got a nice little lead despite having this blip the question now is how quick can they get out of it and get back to winning ways because there's no doubt about it you know the longer it goes on the sort of question mark starts sort of slipping in and you know our players now going oh actually are we going to get caught where for so long it seemed as though it was

Coventries and Coventries only. I think January is a big, big month for them. I think if they can do a little bit of business, just to give the squad a little bit of a freshen up and inject a bit of just a bit of new blood into it. I think it's really important. We saw Matt Grimes come in this time last year and was a brilliant sign-in.

So I don't think it needs an overhaul by any stretch. Of course not, but be really important to just get one or two fresh ideas and fresh players in the building. Absolutely. What about the best of the rest? Who else are you looking at, Jobia? Who's had a good Christmas for you? Well, I have to give Rex them a shout.

Because, I mean, they were on not the best of runs. I did their game against Swansea, not too long ago. They got themselves a goal up, and it was a bit of a story of their season, getting into a good position and not holding on. They were really negative, actually, almost retreated to the 18-yard box and just tried to defend the whole game.

And I think since then there's been a bit of a shift, and you have to give Phil Parkinson credit for that because he came out and addressed it. and said, no, like, you know, we need to be more aggressive in games. We've got to go, you know, particularly away from home. Then there was obviously the big, big win against Sheffield United. I think if that had gone the wrong way, we could have been sat here talking about, is he going to be the man to take them forward?

I think it was that bigger win against Sheffield United. And obviously, they're going to beat Preston, who we've spoken about one of the toughest teams to turn over. And then the key for me has been those two away wins, which has been a real problem for them. And, you know, I've got to be honest, Aaron, I didn't think I'd be sat here. time of year saying actually quite fancy them to make the playoffs now. I thought they'd be steady, but I thought this would be a one season too many for in terms of carrying on that bounce. I mean, if they are in the playoffs at the end of this season, it will be an incredible

achievement. And we know they've got the resources to maybe have a look at that squad and go, right, is there one or two blockbuster ones? You know, you're looking at maybe Premier League players are out of squads at the moment or not getting game time that could really come in and be a difference maker between now and the end of the season. So they've spent money, yes, everyone talks about that, but they've spent it well on established, consistent championship level players.

And I think now you're starting to see that really come to the fore that they've got a little bit of a jelling going on. It's about Kiefer Moore as well, the last few games, which again, he's been a huge presence for them. So players stepping up when they've been required to. They know how to find a way, don't they? What's that story? They know how to find a way.

find a way. Well, they do, but finding away is a lot harder at this level than it maybe has been previously. So again, massive credit to the manager and, you know, that squad of players for really coming through this period. I mean, four wins on the bounce at any point in the season's incredible. But to do it in a short space of time when the turnover and the travelling and recovery is such a challenge, they'll be coming into this second after season absolutely bouncing now. From a small village on the banks of the River Nile. Everybody called me Muhammad, but, you know, short name or nickname, they call me more.

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He gave us hope. I'm Kelly Kate. This is Sporting Giants, Mo Sala. Listen on BBC Sounds. 72 Plus, the EFL podcast with Aaron Paul and Joby McEnough. Let's drop into League 1 and talk about your former side Cardiff City. Sean, three points clear at the summit with a game in hand. And Brian Barry Murphy getting a lot of the plaudit, and rightly so.

Yeah, he's been phenomenal. I've been to a lot of the games this year. in contact with a lot of the boys and I just think Cardiff getting relegated was the best thing that could have happened to them because I think if they hadn't have been relegated, I don't think Brian Barry Murphy becomes the manager, they've got a young squad

with exciting players, he's come in and he's taken a lot of those players under his wing, he's made them better, he's made players who went a little bit stagnant, young players who had broken through a few years ago who had kind of, you felt like

had reached their peak and they weren't going to get any better And were they good enough for the championship? Were they good enough for Carter City? And he's just elevated everyone in that building. He set standards. Speaking to some of the boys in the building, the training every day has to be at this level. If it's not at this level, he'll just toss you to the side

because he has standards and he wants the boys to live up to those standards. And you can see that from how, for one, how they actually are performing on the pitch, they're controlling games. And the one worry I had for them this season, I thought they were going to be bullied at times by a club. By those away from home, I thought the likes of Northamptons, the clubs who would put it on them, Port Vales.

I've done Port Vail at the start of the season. I watched them and those were the games I thought they were going to really struggle at, but he's got those, that team controlling games so well that the other clubs can't impose himself on them. They just can't do it. They're really struggling to kind of ruin Cardiff's flow. and they've had injuries this year, the likes of Ruben Colwell, Olly Tanner.

They've missed boys throughout the season and he's almost got that mentality of like next man in, but because of the way they train and the standards he set, it's not a problem for these boys who 17, 18, 19 years old to come in and just do the job as well as anyone else. I've been so impressed because it isn't easy to come in and implement a style that he has done. And what I've loved about watching his side this year

it is not just possession for the sake of possession. Yes, it's a, you know, they want to hurt teams. You know, they want to have possession in the opposing half. You know, it's not just roll it across the 18-yard box. Did their game against Chelsea in first half, they were magnificent. And although they didn't get the result in the end that day, they would have taken so much confidence to be able to do that against the team of that caliber. And again, I've just got to go back tomorrow's point, you know,

in terms of the away potential soft touch, because we do associate teams that want to play with the ball as maybe, struggling a little bit on that front but I mean a few weeks ago they went to Stevenage midweek and dug out a result you know Wickham away got themselves a draw and when the home forms as good as it is you only need to pick up the odd point away from home here and there and it and it keeps you going so yeah I think he's been a a huge factor in that it's incredible the difference one man can make because you talk about Ruben Cole I know he's injured now but the form he was showing we've seen

glimpses of it in the past as we have done with somebody have a young Cardiff but not consistently on what he's done is that. And again, coming through an academy system when I was at Cardiff and the academy system there, Joe Ledley, James Collins, Danny Gabnon was Welsh. We brought him in, but he was a young lad. And that's what Cardiff City fans want to see. There is a difference there.

There's no two ways about it. You know, it isn't just Cardiff against Chelsea or Cardiff against Steve. It's Wells versus England. Every time that team goes out onto the pitch and they do want to see that identity, they want to see young players that academy is produced out on the pitch.

And I think he's really married that up with getting the most again out of some of those senior players, you know, and the impact that some of those have had chambers again this season, you know, when he's needed, Willock, you know, at times. You know, he hasn't played all the time. But he just seems to have a really nice balance to what he's doing there. And, yeah, an incredible season so far. I think he's put the onus onto those, that group of players that are like the middle age group and a few of the older boys. He's demanding them to be leaders now. He doesn't want them.

If they got the quiet personality, he wants them to really push these young lads on. He wants the Dylan Lawlers, the Ruben Carwills. He wants those boys to be pushed on by the likes of Callum Chambers, Willock, Ryan Wintel, these players who should be stepping up and be those leaders, be the captains, the vice captains. He wants them to be the voice of the change room to really, to help those young local talent, those boys to really come through and be Starwaltz in this Cardiff City team. I've been around young coaches that sometimes are afraid of that, the senior pros, or maybe they try and clear the decks completely.

And then you're just left with a core group of, yeah, talented, good young players. But those young players need that experience around them. Something we talk about a lot on this pod. And actually as a young coach, the help you can get from those senior pros is absolutely huge. I'll go back to my time at Stevenage. You know, we had Michael Tong, we had Stephen Schumacher, Ronnie Edwards, Jamie Jones. we had a young coach in Darren Sahl, first gig, and he really did exactly the same.

He had the leadership group leaned on us and then made sure that we were the ones making sure that those younger players were the ones that then had that sort of safety blanket almost around them. So, you know, to marry that all up together, that is one of the big reasons I think he is getting the best out of these younger lads

because they've got that experience around them at certain times. What about the stability off the field as well? We've heard from Vincent Tam, Mehmet Dalman, and the people who run, the football club. This season it feels a bit more quieter, though, Sean. How important is that for getting on with it? It's, if Cardiff

with mid-table right now, we'd hear a lot of noise. I'm pretty sure, and we'd hear a lot of noise about Vincent and how he does things. How hard is that, Sean? You've been through that. You've been through periods where you're as captain probably having to field conversations with the owner or, you know, a director or whoever.

like how much of an interference was that? And actually, again, we will obviously expect this to be the case. But you think that is something Brian Barry Murphy's really making the most of maybe not having that interference because things are going so well on the pitch this season. It definitely is probably papering over the cracks a little bit because of how successful and how well they're doing it as well, how this new model he's kind of, this model that Brian's got at Cardiff is so far removed from anything that's been Cardiff since I've been part of this journey

10 years, the way he's bringing in young players and stuff. So there's a lot of the fans are happy winning games, they're top of the league. So it does paper over the cracks a little bit with the likes of the ownership and the chairman, like you said,

Mehmet Dharman, whether if they are to get promoted this season and now we're back in the championship, what are the aims for the club? Will it become difficult again? Because when managers, who have come and gone over the years has been many of them do struggle with the interference that does come from above.

It's a very, very difficult club to run when things aren't going well because the owners put a lot of money in over the years. He got the club out of a lot of debt, so he does have his own right to be able to say and do what he wants to a certain point, but it does become messy when things aren't going well. And I've seen that firsthand it becomes very difficult for a coach or a first-team manager

to find the balance between the two. Just chatting the rest of League one. Lincoln, what a mega Christmas period they've had. And Huddersfield Town as well. League Grant seemingly under pressure at one point across the winter. But his side of really pull results out of the bag, Jopes. Yeah, and much needed. And again, I think a manager who just needs a bit of time.

And I know it's something we don't give managers enough of and we're big advocates of it. you know he's learning his trade yes he's got a great budget you know he's been able he's been backed in the summer to go and put together a squad of players that can go and compete but you're not going to get it all spot on first time around all the time and actually again you know he's having to to learn on the job and you know I think they stuck with him through some difficult results and performances and you see the other end of it you know what's never going to be questioned for me it's a long hard season all of the eFL divisions and actually

that squad when I look through at the start of season and go, right, who do I really fancy? You know, the squad that they've got, it will come good because of the amount of games, being able to keep things fresh and, of course, the quality, you know, it's a huge, huge factor and I think they're benefiting from that right at this moment in time. And, you know, I certainly see that continuing for the second half of the season, but really pleased to see Lee Grant doing as well as they have done now. Again, we expect it. Of course we do, but, you know, he's still got to go out there and deliver it, and so do the players.

Lincoln as well. I mean, Michael Scabala, he goes under the radar a lot of the time and the work they put in there to bring in the players, to do things on sort of limited resources. They don't have the same resources as some of the other clubs in that division. But they just, I mean, they're flying, Sean. Absolutely flying. I had a look at, I know they had a fantastic Christmas, but 14 points in the last six games, which is some turnover, especially like you said, with the amount of congestion in games. And I spoke to James. Collins, who unfortunately just got injured there, but I messaged him saying, mate, what's going on? And he was like, it's nuts. Like, we just keep churning out. They're just riding this wave as well. They've, they started really well at the start of the season. And it just feels like they've always been in that top six. And they've just been picking away at the top two, Bradford, Cardiff, just chasing them, just chasing them. And now all of a sudden, their few points, I know they've got the teams around them have a game in hand, but they've just been brilliant. They've been fantastic. And the fact that

They've just got that squad to be able to just keep churning out wins and just keep in pace with the likes of Cardiff and the likes of Bradford and those Huddersfields, absolutely brilliant. Toby, can they maintain it? I think so, because I think they've got clearly a manager who's done a brilliant job there for some time now. They've got an identity. They've got a way of doing things.

And they've got no expectation. I mean that, you know, with respect, you know, in terms of what they're up against. You only have to look at what's around them, Bolt and Wanderers, Huddersfield, stop Port County. We know the resources that have gone into their loot and are in eighth at the moment. So to be in the mix for automatic

is absolutely brilliant. They lost Jova McCarma as well. You see how well he's done at Norwich City. So to be able to keep finding a way to get results and be effective and play effective football. Obviously defensively, they've been absolutely solid,

which has been a big part of it, but they've also scored goals as well. So, you know, an incredible job. for me, probably one of the best jobs in the EFL over the last few seasons Michael Scabala's done at that football club and shows no signs of stopping. I would certainly not rule them out of making sure they're in those places come the end of the season.

Is the squad deep enough to withstand maybe one or two other injuries? Could that be a factor down the stretch? Yes, but I can't see them falling away too far from where they are now. Let's flip the table and talk Port Vale. John Brady is their new head coach that after? Darren Moore was sacked just after Christmas. Firstly on Darren Moore, look, we know Carol Shanham very well on this program. We love it a bit.

You know you're going to get time and he had time. It just didn't work, Jobs. Where did it sort of like all come apart effectively? Oh, this is a hard one to unpick, really. And again, I think what you have to say, like you've just mentioned there, big credit to Carol, because she did give him a lot of time. I know certain fans are saying maybe too much time because is the position now unsalvageable?

I would probably hazard a guess. Yes, I think it's a real tough job. And I just feel there's a way of playing sometimes that I know with Darren is very pregnant. I don't mind that in terms of trying to get results, but I just feel that it hasn't helped this squad. I think the squad is better than they're showing. I think at times they're a little bit restricted with how they can play.

I think the lack of goals is a huge indictment of that really and I think they just got a bit stuck, Aaron, if I'm being completely honest and it's a real disappointment because I love Darren I think we all do and we always want to see him do well but I don't think he'd have too many question marks over was he given time, was he given resources, I think he was given the tools and ultimately you know, couldn't get the job done So on to the next one now in John Brady.

Looking into league two, Steve Evans has his first win as Bristol Rovers manager. Also, Christian Fuchs, celebrating the first win at Newport, although they've been beaten since. For Bristol Rovers, disappointment, Sean, it feels like it's won for next season. It isn't one where you're just kind of like, right, let's focus on getting out of trouble. because, you know, we used the phrase too good to go down about Premier League teams. They seem too good to go down in league too. But with Steve Evans, you know it'll be planning something in the background. Even Paul Rainer, you know they'll have some pots and pans going in the background.

I know already that they're looking at certain players and are trying to get certain players over the line and having conversations and saying, right, what can we do for next year? That club will be in the mix next season. Yeah, they've just had a really, poor 18 months. They've had a really poor 18 months, obviously. Last season was a disappointment and then to roll into this year is kind of just snowballed in and they've got off to a really bad start. They've really struggled. Steve Evans has come in and this is the reaction they want.

They brought in a manager who they want to get a reaction out of these players. They're already in there. They're probably feeling low, down on themselves. What guy is out there we can get into this building that's going to get these boys going, whether it's going to be in the best way, shape or form, however he does it, is he going to get these boys going? And I think Steve Evans is one of those guys. He came in at the back end of when I was at Rovroom. And we all know Steve Evans and we know how he operates and how he gets things done. And he will get players, like you said in January,

he will get players that he's worked with into this building to help the squad move forward this season. And then next season they're going to be in a really positive position, I imagine, going forward to try and break back into League One. Joby in terms of the teams at the foot of the football league only one team picked up a win over over the Christmas period and that was Newport County all the rest I mean just losses all over the shop

big for Christian Fuchs to pick up a first win but it is so miserable if you're if you're a Crawley Shrewsbury Newport a Harrogate fan you know you look down there and listen at any stage you look at teams at the bottom of the table and look at sort of form guides and how many games are not a lot between all of them I've got to say Crawley Shrewsbury

Newport and I think maybe just that that win for Christian Futes of getting less than your first one as a manager's massive at any point but just to get that bit of you know feel good factor in the football club get the players on board with what you're trying to say because as good as it might look on the training

pitch if you're not going to then get the results which is what you're working towards there can be a little bit of an element of are we really having what the manager's saying particularly when it's not tried and tested whereas a Steve Evans walked in and you know he's done it there he's done it before so actually we're going to

really get on board with what he wants to say so I think again for a lot of the teams Harrogut who probably been on a lot of our list for being in danger for a number of years and have just somehow been able to conjure up results and get safe I think this is a year for them that

is obviously not going too well but I think they're all in touch and I think for me you know it's going to be just an almighty scraps to try and get out of it. I've got to say I certainly see Bristol Rovers pulling clear for sure and then it's one of potentially what, four or five out

of the others I think that are in real danger down there. Absolutely. One of the most anticipated weekends the football calendar is upon us. It's FA Cup third round weekend. Sean, which one are you looking forward to most? Which tie?

I love the clubs that are, the non-lea clubs are going and play in places. So for me, the Western Supermare Grimsby, I love the fact Western are going up away to Grimsby, and Grimsby haven't probably had the season they probably wanted this year, but I feel like Western Supermare can go up there

and cause a little bit of an upset. And that's what the FA Cup's all about, isn't it? We love those games where the big clubs go away to smaller stadiums or you get those upsets. So, yeah, I mean, Western Grimsby's one on my list and also in Maconfield Palace. I'm really looking forward to. So that's,

that for me, the Maccosfield Crystal Palace is a, is a bit of a highlight fixture, definitely. Huge game jobs. Absolutely. You make a chart and Chelsea as well. Really looking forward to that. Yeah,

a bit of London spice to that one. Cheltenham at home to Leicester's one that I've picked out. Just obviously, Lester not doing too well at the moment. And Cheltenham have had a decent enough spell of late. So I think that's going to be a tricky one. I'm not sure there'd be too many Leicester City players fancy in that game. It's tight changing rooms down there as well.

Yeah. Tough place to go. That's one that I've sort of looked at maybe being a bit of a sticky one for Lester and certainly a test of the team spirit and togetherness, which has been certainly questioned of late, hasn't it? I'm going West Ham QPR Sunday and I'm really, really looking forward to that one. I think it's going to be a solid London Derby. It's going to be great.

It's an absolute feast of a FA Cup football. for you this weekend across Five Live and the Sports Extra Network. 19 FA Cup third round commentaries on BBC Sounds. Just scroll across the dial at the top of the app to find them. It all starts of Rexham versus Nottingham Forest on Friday night. Me and

Lyle Taylor building up to that one on BBC Radio 5 Live from 7 o'clock. There's four matches back to back on Five Live on Saturday. Two more on Sunday. Derby Leads and Pompey Arsenal or throwback game that is Portsmouth Arsenal at Fratton Park. And culminating with

Liverpool against Barnsley on Monday night. You know there's a great tagline once a great ad that the BBC once ran. I think they should bring it back. The FA Cup, great drama from the BBC. Yes, I love it. Let's talk now about Ultimate EFL Hard Man 11. Now, Sean, you've never really experienced this. We're putting together an 11.

I'd say an 11. It's kind of a squad at the moment of our Ultimate EFL Hard Men. We're asking for listeners suggestions. At the moment, we also want your input. I'll fill you in on the squad right now. Paddy Kenny is our goalkeeper. Barry Fuller, Chris Morgan, Paul Robinson, Carl Pierre Jani, Sol Bamba, Kevin Muscat, Guy Brantston and Gary Brabbing make up our backline.

We're not all playing all of them, obviously I said it's a squad. There's three midfield, Kevin McDonald, Jonathan Hogg, Michael Tongue, and Michael Brown. And up top, John Akinday, Bayerkin, Bayer. Venwa, Lucas Yukovitz, Darius Henderson, Steve Morrison, and Nicola Ziggich. Would you like to lob anyone in there? Darius Henderson has to stay forever. Thank you. That was my shout out.

Cheers, mate. When you said that straight away, he was the first guy that come to mind. Darius, one of the nicest men off the pitch you ever met, but he's got these scary eyes, Annie Jobe. We've got those scary eyes. If you look into his eyes for too long, wow, you didn't know what was going to happen. another one that comes to mind as well just popped in their Danny Shittu maybe oh yes

he was uh yeah well I remember Job when we were at Redding I remember being in the tunnel and we he must have been at Millwall Millwall 2010 11 around that time 11 and he just started screaming at the top of his voice like they don't want none of this they don't want none of this and then just started like yeah and I was looking across thinking now I do not want none of this Absolutely, I don't. This guy's massive. You were a 6'4 massive centre-arve,

so can you imagine a 5'10 striker that he was actually going up against? And I've seen people absolutely melt in the tunnel with Dan. He'd literally, at the top of his lungs, just belt out. They don't want it today? Look at him. He doesn't want it. And then everyone's sort of in the tunnel going, right, who's going to buckle? And then you're sort of waiting for, like, the strikers to sort of turn around.

And then there'll be some that would look at him and be like, right, that's it, they're done for the day. And there'd be others that would sort of just try and keep the gaze straight, but they knew that he was talking about them, and then you'd go out first header, absolute sort of turtle neck, make strikers are jumping up, not wanting to get smashed, and that was it. But he was a big, big voice.

And he used to scream, when the ball was coming down for a header as well, he'd be like, Daddy, he'd just come through, and he'd head the ball about 50 yards, half a pitch, he was an animal. I love that, I love that. So Danny Shittu is your selection. I mean, I always enjoyed the combination of him and Jada Merritt at the back for Watford. It was like, you know, good cop, bad cop.

Like, you know, Danny Shitty's going in there, smashing people up and Jada Red's like, hey, how's it going? Ever been in New York? Bang, let's go. He was mental as well. It was an absolute mad, hodgepotch of players that was. We had Clark Carlisle,

Gavin Marn in midfield, little Al-Bangora. Do anyone remember him? Al-Hasang Bangora. I remember when they were desperately trying to get him a visa to stay at Graham Simpson, the Watford chairman was like he took it, he took it to the local papers and whatnot. It was, it was mad. Al Hassan Brangorah, oh, I remember.

Barlon King, he'd be up there, by the way, just in terms of like, just got a certain side to him that, again, you just did not want to cross, like, just real nasty sort of streaking him, really. and we had to train with her every day. Having heard about sort of Adi Boothroyd and like, you know, the way he operates a football club, are you surprised that there were these sorts of characters lurking around Watford at that time? Not with him, and I remember the first day I went and trained and one of the boys in the change room,

it's actually Adrian Marriapa, who was a young lad who we both played with and just the loveliest lad you would ever play with. So he's like, oh, you know, make sure you got your shin pads on. And I'm like, hang on a minute, we're going out for training. And he's like, yeah, yeah, the gaffer wants everyone to have shin pads. Like, we don't mess about, like, it's proper tackles and all that. I'm like, yeah, no proper tackles, but I don't need shin pads on.

And he's like, no, no, put your shin pads on. So anyway, me being me thinking, oh, you know, I've been around the block, don't need shin, go out there. Very first time the ball got rolls to me, 80, of all people, comes absolutely flying in, studs up, bang, straight down the shins. And he just looks over at Adi Bufroid, and I could see a sort of. of like almost as if they did sort of said to him just make sure he knows what this club's about first chance you get from that day on the shin pads were very well and truly on until i can imagine your first day of what for being like you know when will turns up for in the in between us on day one it's like you know lovely little joby bobbing along wearing his blazer and his tie and everyone's like all right welcome to watford luckily enough i had a couple of lads of marlon king and i were actually with the same agency so he did look after me a little little bit but it was very much like mate what have I walked into it was just absolutely bonkers that proper proper lively dressing room great times it was it was proper but yeah I mean if you weren't up for a game against us that season then you were going to get turned over that's for sure

absolutely right it's time to finish with this 72 plus 72 minus on the football daily Jobe, it's time for your best and worst moments of the week. What are you got for us this week? Well, we've touched on the run that Wrexham have been on. Can they? I mean, just can they make it another incredible promotion winning season? Certainly looks like it at the moment. And Matty James, what a way to step up and win a game of football.

A brilliant strike from all of 25 plus yards for Wrexham to win 2-1 against Darby County. Let's hear it. Straight back to James. It's it. Oh, what a goal! It's 2-1 Rexum and Matty James with a curler into the top corner. And those 2.5,000 Rexum fans are celebrating wildly. And they have every reason to celebrate wildly.

What a goal from Matty James. And it's Derby 1, Rexum 2. Mega from Matty James. And your minus, please, Joby. Well, this one made me chuckle. I've got to say, unfortunately, there was a few games. cancelled due to the freezing conditions, but I'm not quite sure I've ever heard one cancelled where the pitch was actually playable, but just the runoff area by the touchline and the

manager's area was frozen solid. So a bit of an old school solution was attempted. They got the old glow torches out. I can't say that it probably would have passed the health and safety. Unfortunately, still didn't work and the game got cancelled very, very late on in the day. So whether it's the groundsman or the weather, that's my sign. 2 minus this week. Let's have a listen. Well, it looks like an ice ring down in front of the technical areas, doesn't it? And they've got the Bunsen burners going on in front of the south stand trying to remove the frost from that side.

They were doing that on the perimeter of the Chris Chilton stand a few minutes ago. The pitch is obviously fine, isn't it, because the undersoil heat has done the job. But the surrounding areas, the safety office has just gone over on his backside as well, which you have to laugh about. I hope he's not pulled hamstring out for six weeks or anything like that. Six weeks to three months up here. Could be, yeah. Or maybe he's done his calf as well. Well, the safety officer is all right.

I don't actually know that. I'm just making out of it from this night. We don't know. Good luck to the safety officer there. The best I've ever heard of when a game was cancelled is Director of Football saying that the pitch looks like a giant green ice lolly. Lovely. Joby, thank you for your company as ever. Sean.

Good to have you on with us. Come back soon. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Give Cardiff met a thought, by the way. I mean, clearing must still be open or something like that. get yourself on a course and be playing for him and up the student union. Thank you to you for listening.

Hey, happy new year. Hope 2026 is great for you. That is it for this episode of the Football Daily. Up next March, Chapman will be here with reaction to Wednesday's Premier League games. As for us here on 72 Plus, we'll be back next week. Catch you then. WSL Our referee for this afternoon

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