Football Daily - FA Cup Debrief: Mansfield cause a shock and refereeing decisions are shocking

Episode Date: February 15, 2026

David James and Luke Edwards join Rick Edwards as Mansfield Town take down Burnley and the lack of VAR puts referees under the spotlight.League One Mansfield were the big winners and VAR was the main talking point at Villa Park as Newcastle beat Aston Villa. Plus protests for West Ham, Leeds win on penalties and Wolves tackle a mudbath in Cleethorpes.    TIME CODES: 3:53 Louis Reed's freekick to win it for Mansfield 9:05 Will Scott Parker be the next Premier League manager to get the sack? 11:25 The financial windfall for Mansfield 14:10 Three refereeing errors at the Villa V Newcastle match 24:31 Eddie Howe's thoughts on the decisions that went against his team 28:34 West Ham survive a scare against Burton Albion 31:01 Protests against the West Ham ownership 33:14 Leeds win on penalties

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. To embrace the impossible requires a vehicle that pushes what's possible. Defender 110 boasts a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms, a weighting depth of 900 millimeters and a roof load up to 300 kilograms. Learn more at Landrover.ca. If there was a big rent button that would just demolish the internet, I would smash that button with my forehead. From the BBC, this is the interface.

show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work, your politics, your everyday life, and all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Football Daily Podcast, The Debrief. Listen on BBC Sounds. It is fourth.

weekend in the FA Cup, we're here to review the action that has been low on shocks, but really high on shocking decisions. I'm Rick Edwards. Joining me is the Telegras Northern Football Writer and VAR apologist, Luke Edwards, and FA Cup winner David James. Evening both. Good evening. Good evening, Rick.

It was, I'm sure this didn't escape your attention. It was Valentine's Day yesterday. And I think it'd be nice to try and establish who out of the three of us is the most romantic. So what did we all provide our partners? I start with you, David. Well, I think I win. Hunstanton. Well, you don't know that yet.

No, you don't. You don't. I mean, you've started with Hunstanton, so it's going to have to go up from there. Hunt Stanton, Indian arcades. That's actually pretty good. If I was dating it, lovely thought. I would like that. Hey, Rick, Rick, have you ever been to Hunstampton before?

No, are you inviting me? Can we go and play in the arcades? Yes, you can come and play in the arcades with me. What, um, have they, I mean, all I'm really interested in, have they got Sega Rally? Oh, different arcades. I'm, uh, two P-falls. Oh, right, old school. Old school, sort of, yes, okay, fine.

I spend as much as the transfer fee for Erling Harland to get an Erling Harlan key ring. that sounds pretty good um look i mean you've already you've already got an inkling where this is going to go i left my house first thing in the morning having not wished anybody uh valentappi valentine's day uh walks the dog got a train to birmingham um didn't acknowledge the existence of said valentine's day but did but did the night before i did because i knew i was going to be away working um I bought two Valentine's cards, one X-rated,

which can't be displayed for public consumption, and one family-friendly one. Is it a little bit? It was a... Is it huge? It was suggestive. When I bought the two valentines card, that looks really dodgy.

So I had to say to the woman when I was buying two valentines cards, these are both for my wife. Because actually, if you think about it, buying two valentines cards at the same time, makes you look like a bit of a wrong. Yeah. Look, you know what happened, didn't you? Particularly when one is crude.

Yeah, you left the store and they went, oh, there's another one of those guys. Yeah. With the old, no, they're both for my wife. So hang on, where is the crude one? I don't know. Kirsty's hidden it somewhere. In her bedside drawer.

It's sort of creepy, isn't it? It's not creepy. I cooked and bought some special sort of low alcohol wine that I thought was going to be a triumph that my wife absolutely hated. Yeah, I'm not surprised. And then we watched half of Marty Supreme. It was all right.

I think the wine, I think the wine lets me down. Yeah, David wins, doesn't he? annoyingly. David wins. With it, we're just putting up. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Good on, mate.

Can we also just agree, I know what we want to talk about, but can we just reflect a bit on the magic of the cup before we start moaning about the referees, please? Is that all right? Agreed. Agreed.

Okay, great. Look, it was not, think back to the third round, which was absolutely brilliant. This was sort of, you know, fine. And not much to get your teeth into, really. The one shock was Mansfield Town, coming from behind,

League One Mansewood Town, to knock out Premier League Burnley, and the free kick to win it from their captain, Reed, is, oh, very, very nice indeed. And he scored a cup. Apple in there third round winner at Sheffield United as well. And after the match, he spoke to the BBC's Julia Bold.

I've had a couple of three kicks in my career, but the whole day's been special and to top it off with the winning goal was incredible. 37 places between the two teams going into today. And at half time, as you say, Burnley had had plenty of chances in that first half to put the game away. What did the manager say at half time to you? Because you came out much brighter.

Yeah, just that we'd almost got away with a few chances in the first half. we were still in the game at 1-0. I think if they'd have got the second goal, it could have been a completely different outcome. But we came out, we tried to press them as high as we could, and it paid off in parts of the game. And yeah, to get the two goals and win it is incredible. This is going to be a story of this round of the FA Cup.

What does it do for you as players in League 1 to be this story going into the draw? Yeah, we've got to take this into the league now. We've come to two teams that are higher than us in, the pyramid and done really well against them. So if we can continue that form in the league and progress there whilst keeping the cup run alive, that would be great. So here's a question for you both.

As Julia mentioned, 37 places between them. But they've been in really good form, Mansfield. So I think they're one defeat in 11 in all competitions. You compare that to Burnley, who've got two wins in 19. I think maybe we shouldn't be that shocked in, in, in, that case? Yeah, we should. Okay.

Just checking. Just checking. No, no. We should be shocked. Yeah. We should be shocked. Yeah, we should be shocked. Okay, fine.

Yeah, the reality is. And I'm going to say bar wolves, perhaps, only because they're point tally this season. But the reality is the Premier League is such a higher standard. And having to even, I mean, we're talking about today. Even when I was playing and I played in the championship, I mean, what you think is top quality championship football, is nothing compared to the quality

that is in the Premier League. So here's the thing about Scott Parker. He made nine changes. Don't get that at all. Yeah, from what was such a great win for them against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. They're not playing again until Saturday. Getting a good cut run for Bernie would be massive, right?

Why make all those changes? I don't get it. Yeah. When I saw the, you know, you get the team news before the game, and I was looking at it. It's counterintuitive because you say they, it's been a miserable season. And I was listening to a Burnley fan, I think on Tony Livesy show on Five Live, and they were speaking after that, that midweek comeback with.

We listened to Tony, probably. Well, he was very excited as well, obviously. But it was, you know, they were, and she was saying that, come on, you know, we've got home tie against Mansfield. We've got a really good chance to just out, of this grim grind of a Premier League campaign, just have a bit of enjoyment, a bit of a thrill, some excitement,

and try and go as deep as they can in the FA Cup. And it just tossed that away. That momentum that they had from that win, he just tossed it away for what? I don't agree. I don't agree. Well, there's a surprise. No, no, no, because if Burnley were mid-table

and, you know, like a win or two away from Garrow and seed survival, if you like. Then they can do that. They go, okay, right, well, the team's in a good place now because we won a couple of games. Let's go for the Cup. But if he doesn't play the players that he played in that game, the nine changes, goes with his first team.

And even if they win, then he's going to change, keep them for the next Premier League game. Those players who aren't being used. It's in a week. It's in a week, David. Yeah, but understand this. The players that haven't been used at all, or very rarely in the league,

will be thinking, hang on a minute, I'm not part of any kind of survival thing now. If they're mid-table, it's fine. But because they're in a relegation battle, he needs to keep his whole squad kind of happy, expecting to win the game, of course. But there's a balance in there. Like, you could make sort of four or five changes, maybe.

But nine changes. Just go and win. Yeah, but winning brings momentum. You get momentum and confidence from winning. They should have. And you put back-to-back wins. When's the last time they had back-to-back wins? Last season.

And it was a brilliant free kick. Who could have preempted that brilliant free kick? It doesn't matter, David. It's a stupid decision. And I stuck up for poor Scott Parker last week, and I was a bit emotional because he sounded emotional talking. And they had a chance to have just a really good week in a miserable season. And he's ruined that by taking Mansfield too lightly,

giving his squad players a run out. For what? For what? Because they're not going to stay up. And they're not going to win the cup? we stuck the boot into Thomas Frank and he got sats. You did?

Yes. You went early as your mate. Yeah, I did. It was your mate and you just decided right. I speak on behalf of all Topham fans. He's got to go. It's basically what you said. Yeah.

Yeah, I think I was right. I also think we've put the boot into Sean Dyche, not just with your impression. Yes, that was mainly me. And they both got sacked. Is Scott Parker next in our side? Do you think you should go then, Rick, because you're the man who seems to be executioner on this podcast now?

I mean, I actually think probably not. Okay. And the reason being, I'm not sure that you could bring someone else in and they would keep them up. And you've got to think about next season already. And you've got to think about next season. And he's got a very good record in the championship.

So I would probably stick with him. Sorry, I mean, I'll play devil's advocate here, though. Of course you will. Well, actually, I'm, yeah. If he's good for the championship next year, which he might be. Likely to me. Yeah, I mean, surely there's an argument that you get someone else in now to see out the rest of the Premier League and then they should be...

And then sack them and then bring Scott back. Well, there is that. It'd be a new approach, wouldn't it? It'd be a new approach, a fresh. We'd like you to take just a few months sabbatical. Have a holiday, Scott. Go have a holiday. He could be on loan somewhere.

He could be a loan manager in another country. Yeah, but I mean, I just, I think there's a bit where... Do you think so can come in and keep them up? Well, it's that simple, isn't it? Yeah, well, if he can't keep them up, then it doesn't matter whether someone else can. But the idea that someone else... You bring them in? No, no, but for next season, I mean, Burnley should be good enough to stay to get promotion again.

But you're bringing in someone else who, you know, at the end, of another promotional season, they're not going to get to Premier League and do the same thing again. I mean, you're only asking him to do the same thing in two years' time, surely. Yeah, but then you can think about whether you want to persist with him. I'm just saying for now.

I'm not after him getting the sack, I think. I think he stays as well. I think he does a good job again in the championship next season. On just the sort of significance for Mansfield of that win, just sort of financially, you get, so they've

got 375 grand for their four FA Cup victories so far plus the gate receipts. Then if they were to draw a Premier League team away in the next round, that would almost certainly be on TV. You can make a lot of money by going deep into, or again, deepish into the FA Cup. and you've got to be absolutely delighted for them. Well, the point is, for a league one, league two team, this is deep into the competition to get to the five round. I mean, they've had to play five rounds to get to this point.

So that money is huge and we always, I think we're always in danger of forgetting that because I have to admit, I was slightly underwhelmed by the football this weekend because there weren't any great shots and we were sport with Macclesfield. But Mansfield, the money that, you know, when most League 1, League 2 clubs, if you look at the figures,

are running multi-million pound losses. We're talking anything from sort of two to five million pounds, six million pounds, six million pounds losses every season. That money, which I would estimate with gate receipts, with TV money, he's probably pushing,

he's going to push around to get to about a million pounds by the time they've reached in the next round. That's huge for them, absolutely massive. And they've had a great, great day out at Burnley, a far better day out than we can have at Arsenal, but we'll probably talk about that in a bit, but, you know, they've had a great day out. Reseotes and Louis Reed, you know, there are two players now who will go down in, in sort of, you know, Mansfield folklore.

And, yeah, there's a sort of practical brilliance of what having the come, because of having a long cup run than the money, but they're also truly special days out for the supporters and for those players. And I hope we never lose that. I get tired of sort of defending the FA Cup, but it As you know, I am a fan of a lower league club, and I know some of my greatest moments as an Orient fan of all come in the FA Cup through the years. So don't downplay it for Mansfield, but also that money is really, really important to them as a business

for over than, not just this year, but next year, because it'll probably help them build a better squad in the summer. Yeah, I mean, you look actually at who's left in. I mean, obviously, we've got still a game to play, Maxfield against Brentford, but Mansfield, Norwich, Southampton and Wrexham are the only non-Premere League teams left in the cup. So it is fairly stacked with Premier League teams.

Now, so that's how much you've got a cup, I think, covered off. Let's talk about the Villan Newcastle game, which you were at, Luke, and Newcastle won, 3-1 in the end. No one cares about that, because everyone just wants to talk about what an absolute. Absolute clown, the referee, and his assistants. I just unbelievable.

I think, actually, in terms of just three stone cold howlers, I can't really remember a game like it. So just to go through them, the Vita goal from Tammy Abraham, very clearly offside. Not close. Not close. It was close. It was in real time inside the stadium, David. You could tell he was offside.

And also if I'm standing, if my job... Says the Newcastle reporter, you were going off-side. David, David, if your job is standing on the, looking down the line and telling whether something is outside or not, that should be very, very straightforward. I'm not asking a rest of it. Luke suggested that where he was sat, he could see it as clear. Yes, I could tell he was off-side inside the stadium. Well, anyway, I mean, he was.

so does that. Thank you, Rick. Lucidia's handball. I mean, I don't know, you're going to tell me you couldn't quite tell that was in the area, David. Or hit his hands. From where I was, yeah, okay. Yeah, fine.

And then this is the one where you're like, okay, I'm not sure. Lucadena probably should have been sent off for that tackle on Jacob Murphy with his studs up. but I don't think in real time everyone necessarily thought that No inside the stadium again

Oh really interesting It was the speed with which he hit him Right And the fact the ball wasn't there And sort of how high Jacob Murphy went up in the air That you sort of thought And a very big stud mark on his shin actually Yeah it was at speed

I think it was naughty That probably didn't quite come across on television On handballers I think you can't get you can't be wrong with that one as in you're right it was very wrong I think with the tackle the tick the tackle was interesting

because watching on telly you look at it and think oh was his leg high was his foot high because players quite often throw themselves up in the air look so if referee makes an interesting decision it's going to be okay it's a heavy challenge

but did he actually hurt him and it wasn't until the replay and when he said he showed his shin and there was stunned there was a bit there where you're thinking, can the referee actually go back and go, hang on a minute, I've made a mistake here. I don't know.

He should be able to. Yeah, I don't know, though. He had his yellow card out immediately. Yeah. So he, we already had his yellow card when he was running over to the incident. I don't think he'd seen it properly. I honestly don't think he'd actually seen it properly in real time. I think he'd probably.

And he might not have done, because, I mean, again, I can only go about what I saw on TV. What it looked like was, Deania's foot was on the ground. So it was a low tackle. And it wasn't until the replay that you see he lifted his foot right at the end. And you sort of thinking, okay, that's a bad tackle. If you're kind of just looking at the whole movement,

you think, okay, that's a normal rough tackle, not a normal, dangerous tackle. But when you see the injury on the player, then I'm sure the referee must be all going on a minute. I've got a reconsider. As a stug got up there, yeah. Yeah, I think my point is, and I think they've got lazy the match officials, and I think they've become too reliant on VAR.

and I've written a sort of, in the telegraph, I've written this argument that this proves why we need VAR. I don't think it's actually as straightforward as that. I just think it was a rank-bad, officiating display from Chris Kavanaugh and his two assistants. But here's the question, and maybe I haven't read your piece because I think it's behind a paywall, and I'm not going to line those people's...

Nor am I. I've got to tell you. But... It can screen shot it and say it to us. Yeah, it's true, actually. Is there an argument? A reasonable argument to say that irrespective of anything else, VAR is making the referees worse at their job? I think, yeah, I think that is it.

Because I think they know, I think they've got into this state of mind. Well, it's a safety note, isn't it? Yeah, where, you know, for example, we take the Dignor Tackle. He was almost on autopilot. It's like, oh, I'll show a yellow because it's a foul. And then I know that if it's a red card,

I'm going to be called over to the screen. And it's like, so I can. see why that sort of, that has kind of happened, but they don't, they know they haven't got that system. It's not like it's a big surprise to them when they suddenly realize, oh, there's, there's, there's no VAI. They know when they're, they're refereeing. I think it's changed the way referees are looking at the game. I don't think they are as used or as sharp. I think Eddie Howe used a really good word, sharp. They're not as sharp in, in their sort of looking at incidents. And I mean, I thought there were other ones. I mean, Harvey Barnes,

You know, and Arna doesn't get the ball. He does make contact with him. I'm not calling for a penalty, but it's one of them that might have been looked at. I think the Lewis Hall one, which was sort of been slightly ignored. I thought the Lewis Hall one looked like a pet. I thought it was a penalty.

I thought it was a penalty. I thought it's a penalty. But he didn't really... He didn't complain. No. Which is odd. But the amount of decisions for Newcastle, it's just one after another,

and you're sat there in the game saying, that's one bad call. And then it's like, that's two. That's three. And then the run, just the icing on the cake half the half time when they miss the blatant handball. It's like what on earth is happening here?

How bad is this? Can I interject a minute? Because the one thing I cannot, I haven't got, although I did send you a load of some information on Kavanaugh and Newcastle Coast. It wasn't rubbish. We're assuming that all referees only referee

with VAR in this conversation, which isn't the case. A lot of these guys must be refereeing at championship. level as well. Which is worrying because they're hoping. Yes, that is worry. Listen,

referees have had a bad day, right? They had a very bad day. Yeah, they can have a very bad day as well because unlike us who don't. But also, it's not just the referee, is it? It's the team. The assistants. Yeah, yeah.

Because they've got to help him out. But I go back to the point. On the off side and on the handball, certainly. The paradox is that there are fewer games that are VAR'd than games that aren't. and these referees referee a lot more games than just Premier League and VAR games, yes? So it's not like they don't have the practice of making these decisions and are not getting assessed for refereeing without VAR as well.

So I just think that they only rely on VAR is wrong. Okay. Well, it was a net. It was a net. It was a net. No, it was an net. But here is my maybe lukewarm take, which is, I would still rather be complaining

about the referees making bad decisions than egregious decisions made or not made by VAR. I find VAR errors much, much harder to accept. I think that's a reasonable position. Yeah, so that, I sort of, I would, as a Newcastle fans, whatever, I would look at that and go, were the referees had an absolutely shocking game there. And then that's sort of it.

No, I would, I would, I think there's a, there's a middle ground with that argument, no, Rick. You want it to be better than that, but... I go back to the original use of EAR. The words are clear and obvious. We all, it was the, it was like the Tieri-onri-Hanball goal against Ireland. It was goals like that. Frank Lampard shot against Germany, hitting the crossbar and going over the line. which is

Yeah, well, fine, but, you know, it's, but it was those really huge

blunders that you thought, oh my God, I can't, that is so wrong, that is so unjust. He's made such a horrendous error there.

So for all of those decisions, if you peel them all back, it would be two of them, wouldn't it, that actually you'd think, well, VAR, an acceptable use of VAR

would have been to rule out the goal for offside because that's factual, it's clear, it's obvious, and the handball. The others are all fairly subjective. So if you scale back

the use of VR, I think you can actually have a nice, happy balance, an equilibrium between the

use of technology to get rid of the absolute howlers and also stop that joy being sucked out of football,

the goal celebrations by over meddling of the VAR. But also if it's if it is actually clear and obvious, it doesn't take long.

So neither of those, like the offside goal and the hand ball, that's pretty much instantaneous. It's just someone at Stockley Park saying,

oh, by the way, that is side. I've done. Oh, by the way, that hand was definitely in the penalty area. Yeah.

It takes 10 seconds. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I agree. I mean, one of the, if not the primary reason for VAR, even becoming a discussion was the mistaken identity.

Remember Arsenal? I can't remember the name the players now. So long ago. And it was the mistaken identity thing, which is only ever happened once. That was a primary reason for VAR. Then it was the clear and obvious and all the pulling and shirt pulling

and stuff like that. I agree. I think I like VAR in, principle. I think the subjective nature of decisions on the pitch is only being transferred to subjective nature of some guy in a caravan somewhere or a Stockley Park.

I'm sure the idea of them have been a caravan now, can you imagine? Just in a layby on the A1. I'm picturing a real sort of snatch set up as well. Yeah. But that subjective nature is what infuriates you. I think in recent weeks, it's got even worse.

It's almost like everything has been VAR'd And you're like You like you said You're sucking a soul out of this Just make decisions quick And if you're wrong We already expect you to be off Just scale it right back

Yeah I think that's I think that's for a bit weird Should you have a listen to Eddie Howe's Take on it He chatted to the BBC's George Cummins Well I think usually I'm very focused on the game And I'm very reluctant to get involved With fourth officials

And discussions on decisions But I felt today I had to So I was trying to lend my opinion Because I felt it was having an influence on the result. And as I said, no one did it intentionally. It was just one of those things that went against us. Most important thing was that it didn't affect our performance.

The players did really well in that respect. Do you think referees have almost become too reliant on VAR? And this is one of the problems tonight was the errors, because it was clear there was a few errors in tonight's performance. Yeah, possibly. And I think you have to sort of understand that as well. The linesmen would usually keep his flag down, allowing the attack to finish. And then VAR would do its thing.

But of course without that, you're reliant on the decision to be right. And unfortunately for us, a few went against us. And that said, despite the no-v-a-I, it was actually a belting game, wasn't it? It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. But it makes the game faster. So it's like... Well, it's good for the neutral. It's good for...

I think that's why I'm slightly against VAR, because I think it's a spectacle. I think it's a much better game without. But of course, then you end up with more inconsistencies on decisions. But I think there's no denying for me. It's a much better spectacle when a goal is a goal, and you can celebrate it knowing that no one's going to take it away. We'll talk more about the weekend's FAA cut matches shortly, but first here is your halftime teaser before Mansfield Town, who were the last four teams from League 1 or lower to make it to the fifth round of the FA Cup? Passers on the way after this.

If there was a big rent button that would just demolish the internet, I would smash that button with my forehead. From the BBC, this is the interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work, your politics, your everyday life, and all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, this is Matt Chawley's urgent questions, your daily dose of political mayhem from the heart of Westminster. Order, order. I call Matt Chawley.

I'm a supporter of flags. It turns out. as finite. Government doesn't want to be involved in this. I did not think the candidates are fruit loops. Match release. Urgent questions. Subscribe to the podcast and you'll get the best bits every day from around 5 o'clock.

Listen on BBC Sounds. On the Football Daily podcast, The Debrief. Listen on BBC Sounds. Before the break, I asked before Mansfield Town, who were the last four teams from League 1 or lower to make it to the fifth round of the FA Cup? any guesses from anyone

Grimsby Topmo how far back are we going No no the last 14s are probably not that far No not Grimsby Portsmouth No not Portsmouth Fleetwood Yes Fleetwood

Fleetwood Fleetwood 22 23 Yes Burton No not Burton One of them has I would argue One of the most famous Chairman

in English football. He might not even be their chairman anymore. Well, I can't work with rubbish clues, can I? Okay, he's director of football at this team. That's narrowed it down. Solford? No, Peter, bro. Fine.

But, you accept why. You know what I'm saying about Barry Fry. Did you use the term legend? Yeah. Okay. You don't think so. Like, for someone to be that well-known and not a, like, a...

I just had no idea he was still involved at Peterborough, so that was a rubbish clue. Okay. One, yeah, I don't know. Crawley. No. Maidstone. Oh, David, thank you.

Maystone United, 23, 24. That was quite recent. And the other one is, I think this place isn't... I don't even... I genuinely, I'm not entirely sure where this is. I think it's sort of... I think it's sort of Hertfordshire. No idea.

Just tell us. Yeah, Borum word. Boreham Wood. Anyone know where Boreham Wood is? Yeah, it is. It's on the border of Harfurture and it's at the end of the A1. There you go. I've definitely driven past it. Hartford, North London. Sort of place you drive past, I think.

Yeah, so there you go. Maidstone, Fleetwood, Boreenwood and Peterborough United. Wonderful. West Ham survived a bit of a scare against Burton, League 1 Burton. Crescentio Somerville off the bench, score his fifth goal in six matches for West Ham. He's really good. I really like him. I thought he was, weirdly,

I thought he was really good for Leeds a couple of seasons ago and then assume that a big team would snap him up and then it didn't happen. And then when he joined West Ham, I know he had, no, you know what I'm saying. And then they, then he, I know he's had injury problems and stuff, but it looked like he just sort of fizzled out.

And now he looks like the player that I saw when he was at Leeds in flashes. And a lot of credit that was. have to go, obviously the player, first and foremost. I'm not sure a lot of West Ham supporters were particularly complimentary about him. No, they weren't. Even this season. But then also Nuno, and if you look at the way Nuno's Nottingham Forest team played with those sort of lightning fast wingers on the counter. He's his sort of player, yeah. He's his sort of player, yeah. If you look at the performances, he got out of Anthony Alanger last season at Forrest. I think, yeah, he's He certainly fits the mould of a Nuno winger.

And it's funny, isn't it? Because you have to have the strength for character to be able to earn the right to play for some clubs. And I think there are lots of them around in the Premier League. And I think with West Ham, with everything that's going on, the sort of acrimony and toxicity in the stands, and it can be very hard for players

to show their best form and to play with confidence and with freedom. and Somerville just looks to me like a player who's found that confidence and freedom and he's getting his rewards for them. I don't know what David thinks. Yeah, I do. I think the whole West Ham situation

is interesting with, obviously, with Packetar leaving. I think what has happened now is the rest of the players have the opportunity to flourish. And I think Somerville has fallen into that. If you look at his recent form, it's all since Packetar's not been there,

if I'm not mistaken. A lot more. I'd just, I say confidence, the games planned better, perhaps, from Noon. I thought he was a great signing when they signed him and waited for him to show the kind of form. Like you said, when he was at Leeds, sometimes he was superb. Yeah. And now we're seeing it.

You mentioned the acrimony, and there was that, you know, a plane with a banner, Sullivan and Brady out. Not going away, is it? No, it's not. but then they are now they've only lost one in their last seven matches in all competitions like Nuno is

he's turning it around I don't know if it'll be enough but he is turning it around their upturn in form has cost Sean Dice's job at Nottingham Forest absolutely because suddenly and someone else's

yes probably yeah Tom's Franks so they've changed the manager they brought him in Paul Graham Potter friend of the show you know, got the chop early on.

They brought Nuno win to keep them up in the hope that he could do, you know, what he'd done with Nottingham Forest. And they've had some tough patches, some bumpy spells. It hasn't always gone swimmingly for him. That background of unrest towards the ownership doesn't help the team really.

It can be hard. But he's, yeah, he quietly, but slowly, but surely he's done a really, really good job. And they are, they have given them. themselves at the very least, Rick, a really good chance now of getting out of trouble. And they're still in the FA Cup, which will potentially give them some difficult decisions to make in the latter rounds. I will obviously want them to pick a strong team in the FA Cup, but David might say that...

Just take the Scott Barker route and just ignominiously depart by playing your youth players. Yeah, well, I've got to say, the Manchester United game, the frustration... Yeah, they had a game plan, they stuck to it. Yeah, it was a wonderful goal and all that stuff. But the thing that I was gauging was the atmosphere in the London Stadium. And at times that place was rocking. And I thought, do you know what, this is the thing that I would love people to talk about. I know the result in the end, fortunately it was the last minute,

but the result in the end, up until that point, that place was like superb. And all I've heard this season is about how bad it is. And it's just like if they do the stuff on the pitch, then they get the fans behind them. Birmingham and Leeds drew and then Leeds won it on penalties. Probably Leeds will be disappointed that they had to kind of grind it out. But you look at their record now. We're just saying that West Ham have lost once in their last seven. Leeds have lost two in 15 in all competitions.

And I know we've all been on this podcast. of changing our mind about Daniel Farker. And fine, it was not... I think we liked him, didn't we? Yeah, no, no, no, absolutely. I think we liked him but thought he was in real trouble. And now he is another one who has massively turned it around. And fine, he would rather not...

Rather, it was a slightly better performance and they'd breezed through. But getting through to the fifth round of the FA Cup and having, you know, put together a run in the Premier League that has got them, well, not out of trouble, but in a much better position, you'd be pretty happy as a Leeds fan at the minute, wouldn't you? I would like to think so. Yeah, I think the season is unfolding probably a lot better than many thought it would, even back in August, but certainly sort of September or October.

I think these are good times, and they've got that momentum behind them, haven't they? And I think there's no shame really to a championship team in the, to a championship team in the FA Cup and winning it on penalties. They found a way to win. And it's, you know, they've got that positive momentum still because they've, you know, progressed into the next round and Burnley don't because Burnley managed to lose. And it's the same for Wolves, you know, winning at Grimsby.

They haven't won enough games this season. And that positive energy that you get from winning is all that matters. And that's why I will never, ever understand the bigger picture thinkers who say, oh, well, you know, you don't worry about the FA Cup because you're not going to win it. I mean, that argument is just lots of people said it. What they've done is enough. Yes, he went a penalty is, and Perry and goal with a big save, obviously helped them. I tell you what, the save you made in the 90 minutes was superb tipping onto the post.

Anyway, but the point is you get through, and I know when we were talking in the group chat about the way that wolves got through with that need goal. What a pitch, though, David. What a pitch. I really enjoyed that game. That was such an old-school game. That's like retro. Proper throwback.

That was like a 1970s, 1980s pitch. It was so filthy, and it was the perfect goal to win it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, sometimes you have to respectfully low yourself to play on those features. And it was, yeah, it was, it was F-A-Cup wonder. It's a throwback, wasn't it? That pitch of the throwback, and that's the sort of F-A-Cup time.

And they used to be the great levelers, didn't they? playing on a really bad pitch away from home. Like everything's David saying there about you have to lower yourself. I mean, he's been slightly disrespectful. But, you know, that's fine. We take that with David. But yeah, that was a great, that was just a great level. Because you can tell wolves weren't enjoying it.

They weren't, they weren't enjoying it. But you basically just got a load of Portuguese fellas thinking, oh my God. What is this? What is this much? What is this, Blackster? Yeah, throwing their boots away afterwards because they don't know they've never had to clean him before, yeah. Yeah.

There was a pretty good last ditch tackle from Santiago Bueno who scored the need goal as well. Did you see it? Brilliant, yeah, no, really good. Because I thought that was a goal. I was like, oh, he's pulled the trigger here. Yeah, so he scores the goal at one end and saves them at the other.

Yeah, yeah, that was a low-key, sort of quite good FA Cup tie that one, mainly because of the pitch. Mainly because of the pitch. Okay, that's all we got time for. Thank you very much, David. Thank you very much, David. Absolute pleasure.

David, thank you very much. Yes, very enjoyable. Yeah, as always. Just one FA Cup match left to play, and that's Macclesfield, Brentford, tomorrow night. You can hear a full match commentary on Five Live. Five Live Sports. The Six Nations.

Rugby's greatest championship. What a day of the Six Nations it's been. Live commentary of every match on BBC Sounds. And I think he has to try. Just a start. Darling School, one of the all-time great tries. The rugby and weekly podcast will be daily throughout the tournament with all the best insight and analysis

and the biggest names in the game. The Six Nations. Listen on BBC Sounds. If there was a big rent button that would just demolish the internet, I would smash that button with my forehead. From the BBC, this is the interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews.

It's about what technology is actually doing to your work, your politics, your everyday life, and all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.