Football Daily - Manchester United’s Fernandes blow & player discipline at Christmas

Episode Date: December 25, 2025

Katie Smith is joined by former West Ham and Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker and Brighton midfielder Fran Kirby to look ahead to the busy festive football period.They discuss what it’s like to be a footballer at Christmas time and whether it’s possible to enjoy the holidays while also getting ready for matches.Boxing Day’s only Premier League match this year sees Manchester United host Newcastle, the panel discuss how much Ruben Amorim’s side will miss Bruno Fernandes during his spell out injured.Coventry City look to take another step towards promotion to the top flight when they host Swansea on Boxing Day and Sky Blues fan Katie Stafford discusses what life is like at the moment.The panel also chat about West Ham’s struggles and the WSL headlines going into the winter break.1:00 – Nigel and Fran’s Christmas traditions 2:30 – Player management at Christmas 4:10 – Nigel on players being weighed after Christmas Day 7:30 – Festive training plans 11:00 – How much will Man Utd miss Bruno Fernandes? 17:30 – Opportunity for Kobbie Mainoo 19:30 – Newcastle focus 24:00 – Coventry City fan Katie Stafford 30:30 – Fran Kirby on WSL 35:00 – Nigel on West Ham 37:40 – Nigel and Fran’s Christmas wishes

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. The Dakar Rally is the ultimate off-road challenge. Perfect for the ultimate defender. The high-performance Defender Octa, 626 horsepower twin turbo V8 engine and intelligent 6D Dynamics Air Suspension. Learn more at Landrover.ca. Hello, Greg Jenner here, host of You're Dead to Me. In my new family-friendly podcast series, Dead Funny History,

historical figures come back to life for just about long enough to argue with me, tell us their life stories, and sometimes get on my nerves. There's 15 lovely episodes to unwrap, including The Life of Ramsey's the Great, Josephine Baker, and the history of football, plus much, much more. So this Christmas, give your ears a treat with dead funny history. You can find it in the You're Dead to Me feed on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the Football Daily podcast with Katie Smith. Hello everyone, it is Christmas and the football just keeps on coming.

We're going to chat about the big stories in the Premier League with Manchester United against Newcastle, the sole game in the top tier on Boxing Day. And we're going to find out what life is like as a Coventry fan right now as Frank Lampard's side fly high at the top of the championship table. Joining us are Euros winning lioness and Brighton midfielder Fran Kirby, former West Ham and Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Rio Coker with us as well. Merry Christmas to you both.

The first point I've got to pick up on here, Nigel. I don't know if you remember, right? We did this show together last year and you promised fancy dress. You delivered a year ago. Do you remember what you came as? Because you're not dressed like it tonight. I came as the Grinch,

a representation of my personality at times. Mm, yeah. Have we stepped on since then? You look quite happy. No, I'm happy, but I'm still very grinch-like when it comes to my children and installing the important things in life. Ah, I heard they were scuppering your Wi-Fi earlier

to get you on here with us. They had to sacrifice their Wi-Fi time so I don't get disconnected. So that's part of being a bit of a grudge. And Fran, welcome along as well. Happy Christmas. Grinch vibes for you. Are you quite into the festive period?

I never really used to be into it. I think because just with football, you just kind of moulds into one. But I think as I've kind of got older and been around a lot of Scandinavian teammates. They really, really love Christmas. So I feel like they've rubbed off on me a little bit in terms of the festive season.

So I'm a little bit more into it now than I would say a while ago. So what does Christmas Day look like in the Frank Herbie household then? I was very different this year, actually. Well, tradition is that I always do a gym session in the morning, always. I've done that for the last, how many years,

with one of my best friends from back home. So she's coming around. We're going to do a gym session. And then, yeah, it's quite quiet. this year, so it's only me, my best friend, my dad and my brother this year. Normally the auntie's come down, but they're currently on a cruise heading towards the Caribbean. So they're living their best lives and I'm in the cold. So are you doing the cooking? Unfortunately for everyone, yes. I am this year. Yes, I've been a bit ago, but yeah, I mean, hopefully we'll see how it

goes. Do you ever hitting the gym on Christmas Day, Nigel? You're tired? No, not at all. I'm done I'm out of that. Because that's the other thing, we're going to talk about sort of Christmas management, I guess player management, Fran, in the Christmas period, particularly for the men's team. It is a bit different for WSL teams like yourself, because there is an actual winter break, you know, like we see in the Bundes League or in other leagues around Europe. So you are actually not playing games now until January. Does that make it a bit different?

Yeah, I mean, I guess so. I mean, obviously we have this break, but of course, you know, you don't go to the training ground, but you still train. and you still have to do the right things. You still have to, you know, I would love to be able to enjoy four or five Christmas dinners, but obviously it's not like that at all. You still have to kind of keep yourself in a good space. And yeah, it's more like you have time off,

but it's more kind of that you're not in the training round, but you still have a training program. You still have your nutritional advice and all of them things. So you don't have to go to work, but you still have to do work. So I'm not complaining too much, and it's nice to get a little bit of a rest. But, yeah, it's not like a complete shutdown from playing football. Well, on that theme, then, for many of the men's top flight players, this is going to be their first ever boxing day without playing a game.

Sean Deich says his Nottingham Forest players are therefore going to have Christmas Day off. Exciting. Here, though, is the warning that Pep Guardiola gave to his Manchester City team. The moment they arrive after three days, I want to see how they come back. No, they can eat, but they want to control them. No, I had to make a selection at 27 against Nottingham Forest. So imagine one player now. It's perfect. I arrived with three kilos more.

It will be Manchester. He will not travel to Nottingham Forest. 10 to 10, that's for sure. I mean, I was calling you the Grinch, Nigel. I think we found the actual Grinch of Christmas here. Have you ever been weighed over Christmas when you were playing? Never been weighed over Christmas. It's just how the modern game is. I think more so, if anything, it just shows the competitiveness of Pep Guardiota.

some people might find it palatable and some people might not. I think for players as well, we've been conditioned and programmed in to becoming professional footballers from such a young age. So all of what he's saying is not really new to us. I think the difference is the responsibility was always given to us as players. And I'll probably say in the modern game now that these players are more conditioned to a higher level of athleticism and looking themselves as athletes throughout the entire year. Even in time off the season, these players expected to do a program.

to a program, stick to a program and stay fit and come in prepared for pre-season. So it's not new. I think what's new is the fact of it's Pep Guardiolis saying it out and being that very direct and vocal about it. But we've always been very sensible when it comes to Christmas period. You know, it's great to spend time with a family. You train on Christmas Day. But you've already, as a player, subconsciously, you know you can't eat too much because

you've got a game the next day. I mean, to a lot of people, Fran, I think it's surely just common sense, isn't it? I mean, you know probably you don't need that last roast potato. You know eating to excess like myself and Niger going to be doing. It's just out the question. But I don't really think that it is much more than that, is it? Yeah, I mean, look, he's obviously said that he wants his players to go and have a good time. You know, he's not sitting there saying you can't do anything this Christmas,

eat broccoli and chicken for Christmas. You know, maybe he's saying that behind closed doors. I don't know him. So I'm not sure if he's being a bit more stricter with him there. But, you know, you can enjoy, but you don't have to overdo it. And I think that's kind of the message that he's giving. And for me as a player, and obviously Nigel as a player, we're not going to have alcohol probably two days before a game in normal circumstances.

So the players will know that. The players will know what they can and can't eat on certain moments and drink in certain moments. And they have to see it as, yes, we can celebrate, but we also have a game in two days. So as a professional athlete, whether you're a footballer or any other sports, you know, there's going to be other sports people out there who, can't do these things either, they just have to be a little bit more careful. I don't think he's sitting there going, you can't eat anything, you can't do anything. I think there is a sense of humour with it, but definitely a kind of firm stance on like,

don't come back into it. Or maybe, maybe I'm wrong. No, you're right, Fran. I think the other thing got to look into and be realistic about it is they're sitting second on the table, chasing Arsenal. And I think that Pep has that fire reignited now, really believing that he's Manchester city team can get back into this title race and maybe overtake Arsenal. So I think he's got that belief in himself. And what he doesn't want is any of his players letting him down or

letting themselves down. So I think that's what it is. If Manchester City were not second in the table and maybe let's say fifth or sixth, there was another indifferent season, I personally don't think he would say that. I think that he just sensed, I don't think he would say that. I think that if there are fifth or six, he probably would be a lot more relaxed. I just feel that it's the reality of them being so close to Arsenal and he believes these Manchester City team can catch this Arsenal team in the Premier League title race

and he doesn't want any of these players to get complacent in especially this Christmas period. So what's the training ground like on Christmas Day then, Nigel? Is it, is it fun? It's fun. It depends on the club environment you're in, the culture at the club, but generally you go in, you're very nice and polite to everyone. You wish everyone a happy Christmas. You talk about your family.

Training isn't super long-going tense. Then you can go home and spend a bit of time with a family and then probably the hotel in the evening or in the night, but every club's different. But many Christmases are spent in a hotel. So like you said, you get conditioned and used to it as a player. And nothing really changes that much as the years go on. And the weirdest thing, Kate, is when you retire,

that's when it's so weird to spend Christmas at home and be able to drink and not have to worry about a game. So you're thinking about a 15, 20 year period where you haven't been able to do that. And then the time you retire, it's like, oh, this is a new feeling. This is, and you even have to remind yourself that you haven't got a game the next day.

You can actually drink, indulge and really enjoy yourself without to worry about a boxing day performance. Don't worry. Come around to mine. I am so talented at it. I will teach you everything you need to know. Just out of interest, though. Before we move on to Man United against Newcastle, you're based in the States, Nigel.

And it's obviously a huge part of the culture there that in the NFL, so in the American football, they have Christmas Day fixtures, don't they? Yeah. I just wonder, A two-part question here. How well-received that is by fans and is that something that is just so kind of in the psyche

that they love it or they would rather it didn't happen? And then is there a possibility we'd ever see that come to the UK considering what's happening on Boxing Day now? Well, I'll just say it's America. It's capitalism. They love it because you know why? Everyone's at home with their family. They're watching TV.

And if there's large numbers watching TV, that means there's large numbers involved for advertising. And advertising goes back into all these different sports. I've just seen something, I think, is it the Lakers play, so you've got NBA games on Christmas Day, so they do the whole Christmas theme, but these stadiums are still sold out, and then people will be watching at home.

So you've got NFL games, NBA games. It's capitalism, it's money, money, money. And I would not be surprised if it makes it to the English shores very soon. I mean, this is the first year now. It's just one game on Boxing Day. Let's just leave it for a year or two. Let's just see if these games don't come on Christmas Day now. I lured the Grinch back.

Well done me. He's here. Would you play on Christmas Day? I mean, that would be quite weird, wouldn't it? Yeah, I mean, I think it would be really weird, but for me, I love football. I love playing football. So I don't think I would be,

but I also don't have a young family. I don't have kids that I want to wake up with and open gifts with. Maybe, you know, at some point when I do have kids, maybe my answer will be a little bit more different because I know a lot of these players have kids at home and they want to be there when they open their presents or whatever. But, yeah, I mean, I love playing football.

so I'd happily play on Christmas Day. As long as, I think the biggest problem in this country is everything kind of shuts down. So how would people be able to get to the games? How would they get home from the games? How do you manage them things? And I think you want as many fans in the stadium as possible, so you have to get them there.

So I think there's an opportunity for it, but I think at the moment we probably couldn't because of the public transport and the ways of getting to the games, getting home. But, I mean, I personally would love it. That's because I just love playing. football. Right. So this is the point where obviously normally we'd be talking about this raft

of all the Premier League Boxing Day fixtures that we have coming up. This is the first Boxing Day in Premier League history where there's been just the one game and it is between the team with the most boxing day wins, Manchester United on 22 and the team with the joint most boxing day losses, Newcastle.

So Manchester United also dealt a huge blow this week. Captain Bruno Fernandez out for up to a month. This is with the hamstring injury picked up in that villa loss. And there's no doubt how much Rubin Amram will miss him from his starting 11. We have other players. We need to maybe try to see different ways of playing.

I think it's impossible to replace Bruno. But I said that in this morning to the team. I think we need to take the good thing. If there is a good thing on that, that a lot of people need to step up. And if you see that it's not just the creation, but every set piece is the guy that is organizing sometimes. the team. And that is a good opportunity for everyone to step up and to understand that we

cannot rely on one player for everything. And sometimes we rely on Bruno in the organization, in the creation. We lost Bruno in set pieces. We lost Brian and Ahmad in set pieces. So he understands every position on the field. He pays attention to every detail. Every set pieces when you have a substitution is always the guy that is telling the other guys where they should be. This is massive for the team, but that is a very good opportunity for guys like Leach, Luke Shaw, all these guys. We need to step up to have more leaders in the group because this can happen to Bruno. It's not usual, but this can happen.

So it's a big opportunity for the other guys. So the captain out for up to a month, not quite as long as I think what was being feared initially. But Fran, quite strong quotes there from Amarim about how irreplaceable he is, but how it's this opportunity for other guys to be able to step up, aka suggesting that, you know, without their captain, they are going to require that to actually gain anything in the league. Yeah, definitely. It's hard when you lose a player like that. I think the leadership, you know, he speaks obviously that he knows everyone's role. He knows everyone's responsibility and those are the players that drive the changing room. They're the ones

that get behind people who are telling people where to be and they're really, really difficult to replace. And like he said, others have to step up now. And they've already lost a few players to Afcon. So they've also, you know, lost that perspective as well. They've obviously got CESCO back who I think needs to fire quite quickly. Otherwise, I think he'll see the fans coming on to him a little bit. So people, people have to step up in these moments because you, you You can't just rely on one person to drag you through. You can't rely on him to constantly be the one that's pushing people, that's driving people. And now they don't have him for a month.

And it's a really important game for them against Newcastle. Obviously, you know, they want to get back to winning ways. So it's a massive loss, but it's also an opportunity for someone who maybe hasn't been playing. It's an opportunity for someone else to come in. Of course, you're not always going to find someone who can play the way that Bruno plays or do the things that he does. But it gives an opportunity now for someone to come in and go. right, I've got a month now to show you that I'm ready and that I want to play week in, week out and have that opportunity. So on the flip side, you see it as an opportunity for someone else,

but it's a huge loss for Manchester United, huge loss because of what he brings. Well, and exactly on that point, Nigel, if you look at over-reliance of one player, just listen to this. Bruno Fernandez for United this season in the Premier League, most goal involvements, most assists, most possession won, most touches, most crosses, most expected goals, most chances created, most passes into the box, most progressive passes, most through balls. I mean, it's, it's kind of damning on the rest of the team, no? It is. Thanks for doing all that, Kate. You just stole all my research that I grew, all my the show. I have absolutely nothing to stay now. He's all ready to list them out and he's got to

killed him. And she's just read it all out. AI is a beautiful thing, isn't it? No. 100% right. I think Fran hit the nail on the head. I think for me, my biggest thing is you're going to say it's a bit damning on Manchester United to hear Rubin Armourin, just be so honest and open about Bruno Fernandez and how important he is that there is no other leader. It shouldn't just be one at a club like Manchester United. That's the worrying thing. And when you hear a manager speak like that player, that means for me that Bruno Fernandez is the manager on the pitch. And great teams always have that player, but there's also more than one. And he's telling and talking to us about, yes, okay, we understand the technical aspect, what he brings in scoring assist,

but also knowing the details, the attention to detail that he plays, knowing the responsibilities of players and taking that responsibility on to let them know their jobs and roles on the pitch, it's fantastic. There's not many players who can do that. But for Club Black Manchester United,

you need at least four or five of those guys to be really successful for pushing for titles, for winning things. You need five or six players to be in same-intuned like Bruno Fernandez. I think this conversation is going so many different way. There's only one way I want to go with it now. And I will let you do that because I would never steal what you want to say, Nigel, so go.

Well, you've already stole it, but it's okay. It's fine. I'll let this one slide. I think now for me, the interesting thing is it wasn't so long ago that this same manager said that Kobe Manu was in competition with Bruno Fernandez for his place in the team. And now if you looked what's happened recently with Kobe Manu and his brother in the t-shirt and everything that's been going on and he's pushback, now is it going to be an opportunity for Kobe Maynui to get some games in the team and does that push this young man under pressure? Is he really all of a sudden going to turn it on like a light switch where everyone's going to be scrutinizing his performances?

And at the same time, we've got to be human about this. How will this young lad be feeling about the manager knowing that the manager doesn't like him? But we're not preview to being in the training round to see whether he's applying himself correctly. Fine, I understand that. But still with human beings. Confidence is, I would say, a hell of a drug in football.

And when you lose your confidence as a player, especially. to a manager, unless you're really strong-minded, it's not that easy to get back. Now, we know Kobimei Neufran is ruled out for the Newcastle game, but it sounds like from what Amaram's been saying that he's expected to come back before Fernandez. So it does feel like there is this window of opportunity,

even if it's not, on boxing day. It also feels, I think Nigel's totally right. There is a level of pressure there because of how Amram has directly pitched them against each other. Yeah, look, obviously you're always going to do that when you have two players that, you know, he obviously appreciates. both players, to put Kobe Mayno in the same conversation as Bruno Fernandez, he clearly

rates him as a player. My question would be, if he doesn't play Kobe Mayno and he plays someone else, what are you thinking then as a player? Are you thinking, you know, you're looking at the World Cup in the summer, you're going, I need to try and push myself and get myself out of this team. I need to go and play on loan somewhere, go and do something. So I think now we'll get a real clear and obvious answer as to whether they are competing against each other. And he does see him as someone who can step up for Bruno, but at the same time, what Nigel said, we have to be human about it. He hasn't played a lot of game time. He's coming back off an injury now. He's probably a little bit low on confidence. It's not going to be the first

game, bang, he's going to produce these magic moments or these moments of brilliance that maybe we're used to seeing Bruno Fernandez do. So I think there's got to be a calm mindset if he does come into the team and he does play. We have to give him time. We have to give him match fitness. he has to catch the speed up with the game and also deal with the pressure deal with the pressure of I'm the guy who's coming in for Bruno Fernandez. It's not easy.

It's not an easy thing to do. I was going to say, Fran, you make great points there. I think also what the listeners don't understand is because he's still young. This is the first time really in his professional in footballing career that you face adversity and I'm sure Fran and I have got experience when we're young when you face real adversity

at different clubs. It takes time to go through that. When you go through certain adversities at different clubs, whether the fans turn in you or whatever happens it is, you're actually put in a more stronger mindset for future adversities that you may face. So for Kobe Maynard,

this is really the first difficult period he's had being an academy graduate that he's going to face and he's under a lot of pressure. But again, football is such a unique sport. And I think sometimes I hate when all footballers or players get tarnished with the same brush when you've got to see the individual qualities of different people. Some people are just different in handling different situations.

Let's look at the Newcastle side of things. then, Fran. So no other team has thrown away more points from winning positions this season than Newcastle. Total of 13 points lost. But then I feel like there's this weird contrast in their situation where, yes, you saw games like that against Chelsea. But remarkably, the season still feels quite wide open for them. They're still in some good positions. You look at the Carabal Cup. You look at the six points off fourth place. It all feels possible. Yeah. And I think as well, when you see a team throw away a lead, you kind of associate that with loss because obviously it's never a nice thing to be leading 2-0 and concede two goals and you're

kind of sitting there going how did we throw that away and I think the fans leave the stadium the players leave the stadium feeling like they've lost the game because there's nothing worse than when you're in a winning position like that you're comfortable and then boom defender slips player goes through one-by-one goal you know and these are the moments that really dictate whether you can keep building into the premier league or you know you're not quite there yet And I watched the game against Chelsea and I felt like even though they obviously blew that 2-nually, they probably had the better chances

to go on and win that game. So it wasn't like they just kind of went, oh, 2-2, we've ruined it, where Harvey Barnes had an excellent chance, which I think could have been goal of the season if it had gone in. The build-up play was incredible. And he just couldn't put the ball in the back of net.

But you could see that they still want to create chances, they still want to push forward, even though they have conceded the two goals. So I don't think it's a worry streak right now. I think there's still, you know, so many positives in the way that they play and the way they do things. But if they are going to keep building and keep pushing into that top four, top three, which they, you know, they do speak about, they're going to have to start sitting out these games and have better game management when things aren't quite going to plan. And Eddie Howes talked about this, Nig, in terms of the kind of psychological impact of losing leads.

And he says the timings of the goals that we concede is irrelevant. It's more how they're constructed. We want to be the same team throughout the game, not worry about timings, confidence comes from, you know, having that feeling of whether it's a 1-0 lead or 2-0 lead. Yeah, he's right in that. I think good managers and good coaches would look into that aspect of it.

It's not the timing. It's the nature. It's the individual development of players of making sure that they're one unit and how to defend for the full 90 minutes. If they have that understanding, that football intelligence of just how to defend, then you won't concede.

Then the timing becomes irrelevant. So I think he's right in what he's saying. I think Fran's 100% right as well, where I don't see any. kind of issues or struggles with Newcastle. I think the only thing for me is it's again, it's competing in the Champions League, which they're doing quite well in, and they should

comfortable make it into the next round. And then in the Premier League, we saw them do it last time they were in the Champions League where they kind of struggled Premier League form. So my only negative element of Newcast is, again, you'd have to question the strength and depth of the quality of the squad. It's still not quite there. And in comparison to another

team that they might be competing with, but in a different competition, is Aston Villa. And you look at Una Emery. And realistically, Newcast have a fantastic starting 11. But when you talk about strength and depth and a real squad, I think Aston Villa has that quality that Newcastle still are not at that level yet. And that's why they can still compete in the Europa League

and also in the Premier League. So I think they still need some more quality to come in to be able to change the team around for Premier League games. But Eddie How is a terrific manager. I think he'll get it right. From a small village on the banks of the River Nile. They call me Mohammed, but, you know, short name or nickname, they call me more. To the biggest stages of world football.

He goes for the Kerla. Mal Sala is more than just a player. He's an icon, a symbol, a king. It's six still, and Sala rips off his shirt. Mohamed Sala represents a dream for Egyptians, for Muslims, for Africans. More than just a football player, he gave us hope. I'm Kelly Kate. This is Sporting.

Giants, Mo Sala. Listen on BBC Sounds. Bring more gear, carry more passengers, face greater challenges. Welcome to the world of Defender, with seating up to eight, ample cargo space, and legendary off-road capability. It's built to make the most of every adventure. Learn more at landrover.ca. Hello, Greg Jenner here, host of Your Dead to Me. In my new family-friendly podcast series, Dead Funny History, historical figures come back to life but just about long enough. to argue with me, tell us their life stories and sometimes get on my nerves. There's 15 lovely episodes to unwrap, including the life of Ramsey's the Great,

Josephine Baker, and the history of football plus much, much more. So this Christmas, give your ears a treat with dead funny history. You can find it in the You're Dead to Me feed on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. There is a stacked schedule of EFL fixtures on Boxing Day, even if not in the Premier League. Coventry sit top of the championship at the moment, having bounced back, of course, from playoff semi-final heartbreak against Sunderland last season.

They're arguably the story of the season so far and on the hunt now for an automatic promotion spot this time around. Let's bring in Coventry fan and member of the Sky Blues fan cast, Katie Stafford. Evening Katie, I mean, it's a pretty good time to be a Coventry fan right now. Oh, it's a fantastic Christmas present, isn't it? I think if you'd said to people in August that we'd be celebrating Christmas top of the championship table, then people would have been overjoyed at that

and it certainly makes it for a special time now. It's not even just being top of the table as well. It's the emphatic nature. I mean, you get to see, Katie, so many goals with this commentary side. 53 so far this season. Rather spoil. They have dried out a little bit in research. weeks, but it was probably unsustainable to be expecting four or five

goals a game. But yes, definitely stood up more than I've sat down. It's been fantastic. They are a joy to watch. Really nice, attacking, fluid football. Defence may be a little bit shaky. Still, we've been exposed a few times. But you know, when they're going forward, they are a real joy to watch. Katie, are you really honestly that surprised from last season when Frank Lampard took over and you just saw the run, the Coventry went on there. Didn't you have more belief that you guys would do it this year? I think so, but you do always worry a little bit, that there's a bit of a hangover, especially after losing the playoffs, because that was the third year of successive heartbreak really

when you take into account losing the playoff final against Luton, narrowly missing out on the FA Cup final against Manchester United, and then what happened at Sunderland. You do always have that in the back of your mind, but we built a strong squad. We kept all of the strong players in the summer, which was a real key part. And I think that this season, there's a whole new level of confidence and togetherness about the squad

and that togetherness is flowing from the fans to Lampard, to his coaching staff and to his players. There's a real unity around the place. If you had to pick one standout player so far, Katie, in your squad, who would you pick and why? I think Matt Grimes, our midfielder, He was an absolute bargain when we got him from Swansea last January, and he is the glue that holds the side together.

There have been so many standout performers, but he's played every single game, and he's just the man in the middle of the pitch that makes it happen defensively and offensively. I think he's, if we go up, then he's probably been the sign in that does it. Jack Rudoni's an amazing player, but this season we've had to do it mainly without him, whereas last year he pretty much carried us to the playoffs.

Fran, I was just going to bring you into the conversation as well because I think it's going to be fascinating if Coventry make it up next season back into the Premier League, what that means for Frank Lampard, just considering his experience at that level already with Chelsea, with Everton, then he comes and brings a club up.

It just feels like a fascinating, different angle. Yeah, absolutely. And look, I had the pleasure of chatting with Frank Lampard quite a bit when we were both at Chelsea and when he came back kind of in that managerial role and you can just see how much he loves football and how much he wants to play a certain. and style. And I think, obviously, talking about the togetherness, you could see that Chelsea

when he was there. You could see what he was trying to bring into the club and, you know, try and build it. And obviously, he built the team that ended up going to the Champions League, although, you know, he wasn't the one that helped them win it. But he was the reason, you know, why they were in that position in the first place. So, yeah, it doesn't surprise me that he's doing really well with Coventry. And it doesn't surprise me as well as if he goes up into the Premier League, I'm pretty sure as much as he did Chelsea Man through and through, I think he'll be looking at the to see when that game is coming up against Chelsea so he can go back home and, you know, give them a really tough game. But I mean, obviously, you know, he did fantastically well

of Chelsea, obviously with Derby as well when he was there. So, you know, it's a good pattern that's following him. And also now in terms of being at the top of the table of Coventry and, you know, be in some points clear. Would you be concerned, Katie, though, that if he gets Coventry promoted, that Premier League clubs are going to be sniffing around him straight away? No, because I think he loves the club. He's really brought into the ethos. and what commentary as a city is about. And I think that the only thing that would maybe slightly worry me is if Thomas Tuchel goes after the World Cup,

that maybe the England job might be there. But in terms of Premier League, no. I think that he needs to see this project through. And I think that he needs to be given the season and the Premier League as well to prove who he is. And it would just be fantastic. Even from my point of view, I'm 25, and I've never seen us play in the Premier League.

So to me, it would be in the absolute world and to think we're so close now. I know we're only half a season through, but you look at the table and it's really Coventry's to throw away. Nigel, you've got a grinchy smile on your face. What are you thinking? Oh, I don't want to reveal my age, but I do remember Coventry playing in the Premier League, a young lad,

but it's okay. Now, I think Katie, don't worry about it. I don't think Frank Lampard will be really high up yet on the England list. I think for me, Eddie Howe is still the front runner when he comes for England lists. And I think that give credit to Frank Lampert, I think what he's done is the right way to go about it. We talk so much about this golden generation of players. And I feel the championship is one of the best leagues for those players to start their managerial career. Coventry's being great to Frank Lampert and you can clearly see he's enjoying himself. And I think they'll give him

the time, even if he gets promoted to the Premier League. And I think he'll be very wise to stay there and build something and build something of his own. There's no need for him to go to a so-called other bigger club, because you've still got to learn about yourself as a manager. There's one thing when you deal with young players, but it's another thing when you have to deal with dressing with big egos and big players. So I think you have to continue to learn in the manager realm. And I think he's in a perfect situation. It doesn't surprise me what he's done at Coventry. He's going to be judged more so when he gets to the Premier League. That's what it is with this so-called golden generation of English players. They're going to be judged when they're in

the Premier League, what they do. And right now, when you talk about English managers, Eddie Howell is the front runner for me. And you look at Scott Barker. He's another player who played for England, got Burnley promoted, has been given time with Burnley. It's more now these guys showing that they're capable of being managers in the Premier League. Katie Stafford there, joining us, Commentary fan, member of the Sky Blues fan cast looking at one of the stories of the championship so far. Commentary top of the table, 11 points clear of third at the moment. We're going to talk a little bit about the women's Super League now. We mentioned it earlier. It is in its winter break stage at the moment at the halfway point in the season.

And as the table looks, it's Manchester City sitting pretty at the top. Six points clear of Holders Chelsea, Fran, as a former Chelsea player then. How are this Chelsea side under Sonja Bonpastor going to find themselves chasing in a chasing mentality? It's not something they tend to have to do hugely often. No, it's not. I think the majority of the year Chelsea is always top. And then there are some little blips here and there that kind of you look at it. But Chelsea also have been in positions where they've had to chase.

I don't think there'll be anyone in that changing room that's feeling anything different apart from, we're still going to win. Because that's the mentality that that group has. Or maybe it's different now compared to when I was there. But there was always that element of, I remember my last year at Chelsea, we lost away to Liverpool with two games to go. We were six points away. and then Manchester City mess up. They messed up against Arsenal. We saw that and scored eight goals against Bristol.

So, you know, there was always a way that we knew we could come back in. But, I mean, I think this year, Manchester City, they look much stronger. They're not messing up this year. That's the difference, isn't it? And they're scoring a lot of goals. And normally it's come down to goal difference on the last day of the season. And they are scoring more goals. They're ticking.

Their players are connecting. They've got Viviana, Medemar, and Bunny Shepard. or fit so they can play with each other in previous years. They haven't been able to kind of find that rhythm playing with one another because one's been injured, one's been away or whatever it is. So they finally got that cohesion together. And I can't see them messing up this year. But saying that, you never know when it comes to the last three games of the season,

what's going to happen. But they look really, really strong this year. And Chelsea also, you know, they look a little bit, you know, they have a couple of good results now leading into the Christmas break, but they still look a little bit outsource. I'm not sure if I'm completely convinced on them right now. And also, they have Champions League games. Manchester City don't.

So they get that break throughout the week. Chelsea have to travel. They have to stay overnight and all of these things play against the top teams. And Manchester City don't have to do that, which I think is really helping them in terms of keeping players on the pitch and fit. Yeah, I was at their 9-1 win over Liverpool in the League Cup this weekend working on that. So I think if you speak to any of the players you scored in that, they are firing.

Well, it would be interesting to see if the break comes at a good or a bad time, I guess, for Chelsea, won't it? I mean, from your perspective, Fran then at Brighton, seventh in the table as the break comes in, what is the messaging for you going into the second half of the season? Yeah, it's been difficult. I think obviously we had such a good season last year. I think everyone was looking at the team going,

okay, what are they going to do this year? And I think, you know, there's been games where maybe we've played really well but haven't been got the results. maybe we would have last year. So that's obviously been really disappointing. But I think for us now, it's just to go into the next half of the season and just literally just forget about the games that maybe we didn't perform well in and see what we can build.

And obviously not having the best result against Chelsea for our last game was a bit tough to take going into the Christmas break. But also, it's a way of going, right, okay, we had a good season last year. We've had some good performances, but we're not there yet. We're not there to, you know, push ourselves and compete against, you know, the likes of Chelsea, the likes of us. Arsenal and it's going to take time. And hopefully, you know, we have a little bit of business in January to give us a bit more squad depth because we struggled a bit with injuries. You know,

we've had a chunk of players who have been out injured at the same time, which is always difficult when you don't have a large squad anyway. So hopefully we're able to bring in some reinforcements to help boost the squad, a bit of fresh face to come in. But I'm excited for it. I'm excited to get going again. And I, you know, I enjoy having a break, but I don't because I'm still like itching to get out there and play. So yeah, I'm excited for it, even though, you know, we're not firing probably as much as we did last year, but I see the progress and I see the way that we're playing. So WSL returns then in January. Let's switch back to the Premier League then, Nigel. Nobody needs more festive cheer right now than fans of the teams in the bottom three. If we look at the table

then kind of working downwards, we've got leads on 19 points, Forrest on 18. Then the bottom three is West Ham, your former club on 30. Burnley on 11 and then Wolves sitting on two points and I almost think I feel like we've discussed wolves

so much now and what a horrendous I mean it's the worst position that any team has ever been in the entirety of English football at this point in the season so I think we can sort of park that one

should we talk about West Ham Nigel they are in an interesting precarious position clearly under Nuno what difference if any is he making right now I've seen some slight

difference in organization in how they are. Still, I think the application of the players can be questioned. Also, probably Nuno hasn't helped himself with one or two team selections that he has done. But this isn't something that's a Nuno problem or something that Nuno created. I think it's a lot more responsibility from higher up in the club in recruiting in what they've done.

I think they stood still and made some bad decisions in players that they've recruited. And now this is the situation they find themselves in. Looking at some stats that I pulled up from the BBC Sport. website earlier. So Westtown fans supposedly, Niage, have the most reason to be optimistic. Oh, yes, sorry. I'm doing it again. That is such a good point, Fran. No, no, it's fine, Fran.

She had it before me, so she might as well, carry on now. I'm just doing my homework. So, right, team in 18th has survived in two out of three seasons on average. They've got a 64% chance versus 45 and 12% if you're looking at the second bottom and the bottom teams. I'm not sure if I explain that particularly well. So essentially what we're saying, which kind of makes sense, is the team sitting in 18th,

have more chance of not finishing in the bottom three than the teams in the two below. They play Fulham on the 27th, Nigel, who are a team that I think are just sort of competing as we'd expect them to be. They've been fairly mid-table, fairly routine win this week. What do West Ham need to do?

And I'm interested looking ahead more towards January as well in terms of business. I think, I mean, to simplify it, because we can go in this conversation in so many ways, I would say the problem that West Ham have right now is Leeds. Leeds are doing tremendously well. The difference between Leeds and West Ham is a striker named Dominic Calvert Lewin, who's finding his form right now, scoring goals. That is something that West Ham don't have, and he's being the difference maker.

You want to stay in the Premier League, you need a goal scorer that's going to score goals. Leeds players are starting to growing confidence, and again, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is scoring. That helps the team while West Ham are still struggling. They don't have a striker. There's obviously talk about full crew leaving to go to join a C. Milan. So that's going to be a loss for them. And again, it's down to bad recruiting and not being proactive and too much standing still. I think that's one of the biggest difference that they've got right now. It feels a bit doom and gloom to end on that, doesn't it? I think

I'm going to be a nice Christmas fairy, just finish off very quickly. I don't know, grant you both a Christmas wish or something. Nigel is yours West Ham related? You've got a football wish for me? Oh, come on, West Ham to survive in the Premier League. Do you think they can? Yes. Fran, I'm going to grant you one player signing to Brighton this season. Who are you having? I would say, she's injured at the moment, but I would say Patrick Guerrero. Oh, wow, we're going big. Yeah.

I mean, I got told I could have any player I want. I said it doesn't have to be realistic, because obviously, realistically, it's not going to happen. But I would love it to happen. That's all we got time for on the Football Daily podcast. So thanks to Fran and Nigel for joining us. Thanks for listening and, of course, have a very, very merry Christmas. And if your idea of a good time at Christmas is tucking into a football daily pod or two, loads more to download right now on BBC Sounds.

serious hard-nosed cricket over the next few days. He drives into the offside. This will be his hundred. Well played Joe Root, England's finest. Runs to. Oh, he's going to get better again. Cease, whoosh. Sorry, settle down, tougher.

Sorry, Ray. Oh, I'm living every ball of this. Listen to the TMS podcast. Every Day of the Ashes with BBC Sounds. Hello, Greg Jenner here. Host of Your Dead to Me. In my new family-friendly podcast series, dead funny history, historical figures come back to life for just about long enough to argue with me,

tell us their life stories and sometimes get on my nerves. There's 15 lovely episodes to unwrap, including the life of Ramsey's the Great, Josephine Baker, and the history of football, plus much, much more. So this Christmas give your ears a treat with dead funny history. You can find it in the You're Dead to Me feed on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.