Football Daily - Monday Night Club: Man United beat Liverpool, Dyche to Forest & Rohl to Rangers

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Mark Chapman is joined by Rory Smith, Chris Sutton and Stephen Warnock on MNC this week. First up, with Ange Postecoglou being sacked as Forest manager on Saturday, the panel discuss whether Sean Dych...e is the perfect replacement. Then, the MNC team discuss Liverpool having squad issues and a lack of direction, and whether this is a turning point for Manchester United. In Chris Sutton's words, United "got away with it" at Anfield on Sunday.And with 2 goals on the weekend, Brighton's Danny Welbeck is showing no signs of slowing down! He joins the pod to reflect on beating Newcastle on Saturday. Finally, BBC Scotland's Chris McLaughlin chats to the panel about Danny Rohl's U-turn to join Rangers.Timecodes: 02:50 Forest's decision to sack Ange 13:57 Is Dyche the perfect replacement? 21:30 Are Liverpool in crisis? Where do the problems lie? 32:09 Can Manchester United turn a corner? 35:18 Chris says United "got away with it" 41:28 Danny Welbeck joins the show 53:16 Rohl's Rangers U-turn5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries this week: Tue 2000 Arsenal v Atletico Madrid, Wed 2000 Chelsea v Ajax,Sat 1500 Chelsea v Sunderland, Sat 1500 Newcastle v Fulham (Sports Extra), Sat 1730 Manchester United v Brighton, Sat 1730 England women v Brazil (Sports Extra),Sun 1400 Aston Villa v Manchester City, Sun 1400 Arsenal v Crystal Palace (Sports Extra), Sun 1400 Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest (Sports Extra 2) Sun 1400 Wolves v Burnley (Sports Extra 3), Sun 1630 Everton v Spurs.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 This is the Monday Nightclub with Mark Chapman on the Football Daily podcast. Welcome to the Monday night club, Chris Sutton, Rory Smith and Stephen Warnaker with us. On the way, we will ask what on earth is going on in Scotland, both with Rangers and Celtic, but with hearts, surging clear at the top of the table. We will talk Liverpool against Manchester United. Danny Welbeck will join us a little bit later on live to talk about.
Starting point is 00:00:30 about Brighton start to the season, his goal scoring start to the season, and we will start by talking about Nottingham Forest. But after last week's show, was it last week? Or was it two weeks ago? I can't remember. Anyhow, more people, Chris, have asked me what's been going on with your car
Starting point is 00:00:47 than any football subject over the last couple of weeks. Have you got your car back? Yeah, I've got my car back. Well, it took four days to recover. I had a call from the, I think of the chief executive of the AA to apologize for the treatment, the treatment. You've had a, no, not to apologise for the treatment. You were partly to blame yourself here.
Starting point is 00:01:11 You've had a call from, you were, you couldn't remember where you left your car to start with. You've had your phone call from the chief exec. I've had an email from the president of the AA. No, you have. You have. Really? Yes. Edmund King.
Starting point is 00:01:28 OBE. Dear Mark, Chris and co. We just like to reassure listeners that at no stage during the recovery of Chris Sutton's car was it lost. And we have VAR to back this up. Our team has liaised with Chris and sure his car is back in safe hands. The extra time added on in the recovery has been explained. But post-match analysis has shown that we could have communicated better. best, Edmund, president of the AA, a Norwich fan so I haven't got much to shout about at the moment. That's brilliant. At least they've held their hands up.
Starting point is 00:02:08 Fair play to them. A couple of years' free membership wouldn't go amiss. Right, we can't do that with the BBC, Chris, right? Oh, I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about me. No, but you can't do it on the BBC, here's my point. Oh, okay. You can't bear it.
Starting point is 00:02:23 A bit late now. We'll edit that out Yeah Begging for free stuff Doesn't really go down very well So I would try and avoid doing that Maybe you could take Edmund To a Norwich game
Starting point is 00:02:38 The two of you Well I don't know That won't be fair on Edmund At this moment in time Nobody wants to go to a Norwich game At this moment in time We're going to start with Nottingham Forest who were all but certain to appoint
Starting point is 00:02:55 Sean Deich as their new manager. Nothing confirmed yet, but the talks are advanced. He's set, if you believe the reports, to sign the contract that is longer until the end of the season, which again, if you believe the report, was one of the sticking point. Bearing in mind, Roberto Mancini was linked with it,
Starting point is 00:03:14 bearing in mind, Rory, that Marco Silver is a Marianakis favourite. Do they know what they want? I think Sean Dych makes a lot of sense in the situation that Forest are, but it's very hard to say they are like acting according to some grand vision given the strangeness of the Poster Codlou interlude, I think. I can see why they want Dyche now, but if I was a forest fan, I'd maybe not be assuming their... I'd have question marks over their expertise and general direction of travel.
Starting point is 00:03:49 Before we come on to what dice will bring and whether it's a sensible appointment Rory says he's not sure they have a grand vision surely the appointment of Edu which in some ways Well here lies your problem Which in some way started all of this in the first place By all accounts
Starting point is 00:04:08 That should lead to a grand vision It should be Yeah and there should be more organisation Or a more forward thinking club And thinking who's going to be in place For the next however many years And if it's not Nuno, then who's our ideal replacement to come into the football club? To change the style of play all of a sudden and think that they can do that midway through,
Starting point is 00:04:29 well, not even midway through the season at the start of the season is very interested in itself that they thought Poster Coglu was the man to do that. But there seems to be an issue with Edu, the breakdown of not only Michel Artetta at Arsenal, but also there's an issue with Nuno Spirita Santo at Nottingham Forest. So you'd almost as an ownership look at that side of things as well and think, have I made a mistake bringing him into the football club?
Starting point is 00:04:55 Is he one of the issues? Chris? Well, it's a mess, isn't it? I think the, you know, if Sean Deich gets over the line at Nottingham Forest, I think that the owner is thinking about surviving in the Premier League this season. It's an admission maybe that he,
Starting point is 00:05:17 got the Poster Coglu appointment wrong. I've got great sympathy for Poster Coglu. I really do have 39 days, whatever it is, in charge, eight games, an international period in there as well, going in to change a whole style. I mean, the game at the weekend, and sort of, you know, followed a lot of the games pretty closely. You know, in some ways they were making progress,
Starting point is 00:05:43 but the fact of the matter is that things contrived to go against him, but he wasn't given long enough and now they've gone into a bit of panic mode and there's that connection between Marinacchus and the supporters. The supporters love Maranacus and he's going back and saying to the supporters we're going to give you a manager
Starting point is 00:06:02 I think you want in terms of stylistically. I think what was very interesting was the interview with Ryan Yates after the game and I don't know everybody anyone else picked up on it where he said we've got a great relationship with the owner and he listens to what we say and I thought
Starting point is 00:06:20 well what have you said because you've obviously said something about Poster Coglu that the players aren't having him or they're not happy with that style because that was very telling in itself in your experience both of you is that that seems quick for players to turn to me
Starting point is 00:06:36 you can tell on the first day but would you not do you not think they'd give him a I mean it's not like he came in with no credentials whatsoever he had just won the Europa lead Would you not give him the benefit the doubt for a little bit? It depends on what he does on the training field and what the ideas are and whether you buy into it. It's like anyone in a major company,
Starting point is 00:06:55 if the direction and the leadership feels wrong and you don't buy into it and you think, I'm not quite sure about this, then there is an issue. But having been in the job, and I think Chris is spot on, I think he has been dealt a tough deal and the way things have gone
Starting point is 00:07:09 because having an international break in the midst of, what, 39 days, well, an international break is, roughly around about 10 days of that so he's had 29 days in the job to get things right and to change the style that's nowhere near long enough especially with eight games
Starting point is 00:07:24 and you know three games a week essentially traveling around Europe as well and then trying to you know work on the training ground as well I hate the whole player going to the higher than the manager thing if that was the case I saw
Starting point is 00:07:40 it must have been the same interview but he wasn't he wasn't backing post Coglu, but there is that sort of different relationship it seems with Nottingham Forest fans, certainly with the owner and, you know, where a lot of fans, they have
Starting point is 00:07:57 sort of, their differing views on sort of owners of football clubs. The forest fans absolutely adore Marinaccas, but for players, if that is the case, to turn on the manager, that's just plainly wrong. There's got to be another element to it as well. If you're in that changing room
Starting point is 00:08:13 and you know things aren't right and you think we're getting dragged down the bottom here you've got to protect yourselves as a team of players as well and think if the owner's not seeing this or Edu's not seeing it and you know a good manager when he walks through the door
Starting point is 00:08:28 you know a good coach you know there's a feeling around that the setup the organisation the meetings everything about it if you're not happy with it as a collective it can't just be one or two that's got to be a bigger group I don't think you can throw that out there
Starting point is 00:08:42 that it's you know it was a collective I think I heard Gibbs White speak pretty fondly of Poster Coglu. I think, you know, if it's Ryan Yates on his own, Ryan Yates isn't a world beater as a player, I don't think that he should be, you know, sneaking to the club owner and having words. Well, nobody's saying that.
Starting point is 00:09:05 Nobody's saying that, are they? It's a sneaky thing to do if you start doing stuff like that. Have a bit of respect for the manager. Know your position at the club. That's my view. You just concentrate on playing because the bottom line is, as I said, I've watched a lot of the forest games. Had players taken responsibility at the weekend,
Starting point is 00:09:22 had Gibbs White taken that chance in the first half, which he should have done, then, you know, it may have been a different story. It may have worked out. They didn't. Poster Coglu's gone. The way the forest supporters treated Poster Coglu was absolutely appalling. Is that what sort of football, modern football, is coming to where, you know,
Starting point is 00:09:44 a guy six games into a job his own fans are singing for his head a guy who's worked, built up a reputation throughout his coaching career, won a Europa League at Tottenham. I thought his defence of himself and the press conference before the game I thought he was absolutely bang on with
Starting point is 00:10:00 everything that he said. Do you think in his Nottingham Forest, in his time in Nottingham Forrest, he spent more time defending himself than looking at the bigger picture of the team, the squad, the tactics, the positives. It felt, and I didn't hear every interview, but the majority of press conferences felt like they were about him.
Starting point is 00:10:26 And I appreciate we, the media, dictate that a little bit with some of our questioning. But it felt like everything was always about him, not about the players in the club, didn't it? I think that's very difficult to answer that, really, as you say, if he's asked a direct question, he, you know, he will answer. I, you know, I just think, you know, the treatment of him for a guy who, I'm not saying, I'm not saying he did great things in his second season at Tottenham in the Premier League,
Starting point is 00:10:57 but he still won Tottenham a trophy, something which, you know, they haven't done for many a year. He still got them into the Champions League. He still finished fifth in his first season. And he's quite right to remind people that, you know, he lost Harry Kane as well. in the process but you know that taking over you may have a point
Starting point is 00:11:16 with that Mark but he can only he can only answer the questions which are well he didn't ask the question though did he
Starting point is 00:11:22 and he just went on the rant but I think Mark's probably right that to an extent it's a immediate thing just post of Coddle from almost the moment he arrived at Tottenham
Starting point is 00:11:32 has been kind of he's had like a main character thing around him he's one of the few managers who lots and lots of people whether they're invested in the clubs he manages or not
Starting point is 00:11:40 have opinions on he was really fated in that first season at Spurs and then the downturn in the second season there was this massive backlash to him so it did you know when whenever Wayne Rooney now are BBC Tolly DeVars obviously whenever he takes a job the club becomes
Starting point is 00:11:56 I believe he has a podcast No one mentions it They don't seem to talk They should promote it It would be popular You know whenever he took a job It was always like Wayne Rooney's Derby County Or it's the same thing happens with Lampard
Starting point is 00:12:10 It's like Frank Lampard's Cromentary citizens it became Ang's Poster Codoulouse, Nottingham Forest. Like, people were, the way that we told that story was through Poster Codoulouse. So I think you're right, Mark, that it became a lot more about him than about Forrest. But I think the interesting thing about Forrest more broadly is that they are the most owner-defined club, I think, since Abramovich's Chelsea, where the loyalty of the fans almost seems to skip the manager and is with Maranakis, because of everything he's done for the club he obviously stabilises them in the championship,
Starting point is 00:12:44 takes them up, keeps them up, pushes them back into Europe. You can see why they adore him so much and why they're so willing to kind of tolerate. He also, Rory, sticks, you know, two fingers up to the establishment as well. He does, which is incredibly, incredibly attractive. It's also a very zeitgeist for a fan base, isn't it?
Starting point is 00:13:07 It's really, you know, look, these rules are ridiculous. We are going to do this. If you charge us this, we are going to fight our corner here. Yeah, he plays to his base, I think. Yeah, he's really good at it. He kind of looks like he's fighting for Forrest. And they appreciate that and they respond to that. But there's a cost because you are at the whims of one man's Eden.
Starting point is 00:13:28 And we saw it with Abramovich. And, you know, there's still, even after everything that's happened, there's still loads of Chelsea fans who are quite loyal to Abramovich. And it's the same with Forrest that there is a price you pay for allowing, a man who's used to get in his own way in Evangelos Maranakis allowing your club to be defined by him and by what he wants.
Starting point is 00:13:48 And this is kind of the flip side that you do get a little bit of managerial chaos. He's had loads of success at Olympi Arcross, but he's been through a fair few coaches. Back to on the field stuff and if it is Daesh, when you look at his numbers, Chris, with Everton, they are very, very similar
Starting point is 00:14:05 to the numbers with Nuno's forest. That has to be an encouragement, doesn't it? Or is that too simplistic? Maybe. So I think there are similar type of managers. I think Sean Deysha's always managed clubs where you feel that it's been a struggle. Not Sean Deich has been a struggle, but Burnley, for example, when he took over at Burnley to sort of buck the trend
Starting point is 00:14:38 and stay in the Premier League and get the best out of the group of players which he had. I think he was very successful in doing that and Burnley stuck with him even when they went down and he got them back up and I thought he proved himself to be an extremely capable manager there
Starting point is 00:14:53 and I thought the job he did at Everton. He took over an Everton team who were in relegation trouble, stabilized the club and then they had all that the points deduction and what have you. And at the end it didn't end well at Everton I think he only won three out of his last 19 games and you could feel sort of the Everton fans
Starting point is 00:15:12 they were disgruntled in the end but over the piece with what he took over I think there'll be a respect from Everton fans for the job that he's done and it's another going into a job it's another club who are languishing at the bottom who the bottom line is they want to stay in the Premier League so it seems to be a sensible appointment
Starting point is 00:15:32 in that respect and they won't go down I mean they absolutely won't go down because I think they would have stayed up comfortably had Poster Coglu stayed on. I think that they just have too many good players. As you said, Burnley was always kind of strapping and clawing for every point for Deich, just of the financial situation.
Starting point is 00:15:48 Same at Everton. That was Everton in the midst of that absolute financial chaos. He'll get a good squad at Forrest, presuming he takes the job, and he's got an owner who'll invest. So I think for Sean Deich, it's an amazing opportunity. It's a chance he's not really been given before. Will he get the chance to invest, though?
Starting point is 00:16:05 Is this just a stop gap? That's the issue, isn't it? Yeah, that's the big question, because as Mark alluded to at the start, we don't know. Well, we think that Marco Silver is the one that they really like, and Marco Silver, I would guess, doesn't want to leave Fulham in the middle of the season. I think his contract is up at the end of this season. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:22 So it may well be that Marinakis and Eddie were looking at it and thinking, okay, well, he's the long-term target, but Sean Dych keeps us up, stabilizes the club, all that stuff. I wouldn't have thought Sean Dykes would want to sign an eight-month contract to be like a holding pen for Marco Silver. And also, what if he does really well, does then you try and get rid of him? It would be ridiculous if Sean Dax gets them to 9th to then sack him. He has a better, as Rory says, he has a better squad to work with here at Forest than he did at Everton.
Starting point is 00:16:51 Absolutely, he does. I think it's a great job for him to walk into. I really do. I think when you look at the attacking players that they've got, the structure that they've got behind the scenes, I think it's set up perfectly for him. I think he'll add quality to it. I think he's the ideal manager. safe pair of hands to go into the Premier
Starting point is 00:17:10 League. I don't think he's the type who's going to kick you on into the top six or top eight. I think he'll stabilise them and make sure that they're okay for next year. I mean, the only other side that Sean Dice looks at it is and says, it's almost like a Sam Halliday situation. I'll keep you in the league, but the bonus is huge.
Starting point is 00:17:26 Well, what's wrong with that? It's not a bad situation to be in, is it? But also, if he does a great job, Maranakis might go, well, actually, you're better than I thought. And that's the game you've got to play is that if you do well then you're hoping to stay on
Starting point is 00:17:40 or if you do well and you fall out that job other people go what a great job he did there Sean Deich and he just enhances his reputation I wouldn't claim to know Sean Deich but I have been frightened by him on the radio
Starting point is 00:17:51 before you have yeah so I will only be nice about him out of fear of it happening again but from my encounters with him I'd be surprised if he thinks that he wants to be a stop I'd be really, I think he always feels as though he's had a lack of appreciation. If he falls out the game for too long, then it doesn't matter how good your stock was at that time.
Starting point is 00:18:18 People think you're not relevant anymore. So by stepping in for eight months or whatever, however long, it might just be a reminder to people how good he is and what he is capable of. Yeah, and that's true. It may well be that he's looked across the board and thought actually Premier League jobs that I might be in the running for that are likely. to come up in the near future might be few and far between so maybe this is the one where I roll the dice
Starting point is 00:18:41 and also he's maybe more relevant Sean Dyche than he has ever been because the rest of the lead is busy shifting to a kind of Dychean model of football so I wonder whether he won't get a lot of the criticism that he has always felt
Starting point is 00:18:54 as unfair from people like me I wonder if a lot of that doesn't apply anymore because that's how Arsenal play and Newtassel play and everyone play but just to come full circle with how we started this discussion which was about
Starting point is 00:19:05 Edu. And maybe Edu himself wasn't responsible for all of Forrest's summer business. They had Ross Wilson who was involved as well, who's on his way, if not has joined Newcastle. But the majority of the summer signings, Chris, have featured very little.
Starting point is 00:19:22 You know, their main summer signing of the summer, Amari Hutchison, who signed for just shy of £38 million, hasn't started a Premier League game yet. There's only played... The don't think he's in the Europa squad, is he? He's only played 52 minutes. James McA who came from City
Starting point is 00:19:36 had one start in the Premier League only played 127 minutes. Igor Jesus hasn't started a game in the Premier League 146 minutes. A lot of people thought they'd done good business this summer and yet the good business hasn't really played.
Starting point is 00:19:56 No, no, that's... But that's the whole point of Edu coming in and I think they may have sort of got carried away a little bit with the seventh place finish and Europa League football and thought, you know, we'll make another step. And, you know, they've tried to do it and now he's just gone back to being pragmatic.
Starting point is 00:20:16 You know, we sort of, it's easy to forget Forrest's rise, really, 16th and 17th in the first couple of seasons in the Premier League. Then, you know, really overachieving. They may disagree with, you know, with me saying that overachieving. I thought that they did. And then to just sort of go again and get a, get a, of another seventh place finish. It's not easy.
Starting point is 00:20:37 There are so many clubs who throw so much money at it every summer. And, you know, you can look on the face of it and say there are some exciting signings there. But, you know, it's about points on the board and that's where Forest have struggled. Hence, Sean Dyshin now,
Starting point is 00:20:51 where they've got, you know, a pragmatic manager of the Nuno type who will go in and play with balance and just try and keep them in the Premier League. I don't think that he's a stopgap appointment. I think that he's a guy who wouldn't go in under those circumstances. I really think he'll, you know,
Starting point is 00:21:07 he backs himself, he rates himself, and his track record is pretty good. And as Rory said, it's probably the most exciting job with respect. He's gone into in terms of having a bit of talent and a bit of flair with respect to Everton, maybe not so much to Burnley. Let's talk about Manchester United Beach,
Starting point is 00:21:33 Liverpool 2-1 at Amfield. Liverpool have lost four on the bounce for the first time in over a decade. Manchester United have won two games in a row for the first time under Reuben Amram and won at Amfield for the first time in 2016. You were there, Stephen. Let me start with you. Was this Liverpool
Starting point is 00:21:51 playing badly combined with a bit, particularly in the first half of United playing well? Yeah, I think it was a combination of both. I think Liverpool weren't great. I didn't think they pressed them too well in the first half. I thought United got the system right and I got a lot of interesting messages last night because
Starting point is 00:22:07 I've been very forthcoming with my dislike for the system he didn't play as usual system he played 5-4-1 it was a difference Mason Mount played a little bit deeper as well in a midfield so it wasn't the usual
Starting point is 00:22:23 leaving Bruno Fernandez and Casamiro in that midfield to really get overrun they were very well structured they made life very difficult for Liverpool I just feel at the moment, Liverpool, and I said it in the commentary yesterday, they are missing Trent hugely, that quality of just a delivery from nowhere, that killer pass. But they're also missing the likes of Lewis Diaz, a player who can take people on in
Starting point is 00:22:48 1B1 situations individually. And when you look at Ekateke, when he came onto the pitch, suddenly it's Stretch United. It made life difficult because then he started taking people on and attacking them. And you just wonder whether he's going to have a little bit of a dialogue. at the moment, Arnes Slott, as to how he fits these players in. And it's not always the price tag of a player or a name of a player that suits a team as we're seeing with Thomas Tukle at England. Is that Gagpo being too predictable?
Starting point is 00:23:17 Yeah, I mean, personally, I'd like to see Echateke off the left and playing possibly with Isak through the middle and them two interchanging on that left-hand side. Or you play Vert's out on that side, on the left-hand side, and then you don't have to necessarily worry him about too much of him getting overrun in that midfield area and getting outnumbered and listen there's so many dilemmas that he's got at the moment that he
Starting point is 00:23:42 has to fix. Let's deal with Liverpool first then as that's where we've gone though with Stephen. Dominic King Chris wrote in the mail when a central midfielder is playing right back a fullback is playing as a forward and a central defender is playing as a striker and there are massive gaps all over the pitch
Starting point is 00:24:00 it tells you that the structure is a shambles. Is that a fair summation? Yeah, I think so the right-back situation is a mess, the left-back situation with Kerkas, he's sticking with him, but he's certainly not been an upgrade on Roberts, and that's a problem they haven't defended well. I think he's uncertain about all these new players coming in
Starting point is 00:24:22 about what his best 11 is. You think that how much did he spend on, it's over 100 million? And he can't find a place for him in the team. You've got Eckertique coming off the bench, who's actually arguably been their best forward this season. The ESAC situation, you know, him starting,
Starting point is 00:24:43 can't really find his top form yet. But this is a guy, you know, that's all self-inflicted. You know, the guy who chucked his toys out of the pram at Newcastle and what have you and would have missed crucial weeks of training. You know, he's playing catch-up. and all these things are conspiring to go against Liverpool. Mo Salas got his boots on the wrong feet this season, you know, all that stuff about a new deal,
Starting point is 00:25:07 and he just hasn't found any sort of form. Having said all that, you know, Liverpool still, you know, could have won the game. You know, Gakpo hit the post, what, three times. He had that headed opportunity. So I understand what Slot is saying in saying they didn't take the chances, but I think defensively is where I'm, you know, more concerned about Liverpool. I do think that forward areas is about finding that right combination.
Starting point is 00:25:37 I don't think ESEC should be starting as a central striker ahead of a head of Eckertique, but there's a lot of problems. But the right back situation, Stephen, I think is, you know, Soberslie playing in that position, I think it's been Liverpool's best, one of their best central midfields, if not the best. And that's sort of that, that kills him playing him out there. And the Frimpong signing, I don't care what anybody says, I'm just scratching my head over it.
Starting point is 00:26:01 How can you spend that sort of money on a sort of right back? And now he's realised he can't really play there because he can't defend very well, so he's going to have to play him up one. I mean, it's just bonkers. I think the Sobers Lie ones are very interesting one, because if you do play him at right back, then you almost get that Trent situation
Starting point is 00:26:19 where you get that box formation system in the centre, but then you lose his pressing high up the pitch, but he is the best option at the moment. He's tried Curtis Jones there and I like Curtis. I think he's a brilliant player but it doesn't suit him coming in from the right back position
Starting point is 00:26:35 because in individual 1v1 situations, Sobers Lai is better at defending in 1v1 and we saw that in the game yesterday on numerous occasions when he went to right back. I think the Frimpong one was almost Connor Bradley was always going to be the number one right back
Starting point is 00:26:49 but there was always inconsistencies with Connor as well and it was almost like sometimes it's very easy to come in and be on a high replacing Trent for two or three games but when you've got to do it for 10-15 games and you've got to do it for 50 games consistently that becomes very difficult to do at a club like Liverpool he's got the capability but it's the pressure that comes with it
Starting point is 00:27:13 and I think people will understand how good Trent was now and how consistent Trent was and that is one of the issues that you will have but Frimpong was bought in really Chris I think 30 million pound as a utility player I think that's right I was told from somebody connected to the club that
Starting point is 00:27:34 he was as much brought in as he could deputise for Sala if they needed him to as anything else They saw him as a right-sided player Well he played wing back didn't he for Labourcus and then he also played the high right position as well
Starting point is 00:27:48 he never played the right of the three at the back because he's not a defender I remember when he signed it was very interesting a lot of my mates of footy coaches and I'm not going to name who he is but he turned round and said Liverpool have got rid of a defender
Starting point is 00:28:02 who they say can't defend and replaced him with someone who can't defend even more but I think they looked at him as someone who could play right back if necessary but I think they saw Bradley as the first choice I'm slightly surprised
Starting point is 00:28:17 that there's been lots of mistakes and missteps over the course of the start of Liverpool season one I think is on the other side I don't understand why Kerkers who is not playing well is still in the team when you have Andy Robertson as an option just to kind of make things
Starting point is 00:28:33 a little bit more solid to be honest you'd kind of put Robertson back in I was just going to say on Kerkers it felt coming through the TV yesterday that Kerkers had slightly got to that lots of players probably get to of where you can sort of sense a nervousness in the crowd when he gets the ball.
Starting point is 00:28:58 I think there's a severe lack of confidence. And you can't help that as a fan. Yeah. And that isn't going to help him. And so you're in this vicious circle of fans going, and then him knowing that and then getting more worried about it. But there's also an element of you're desperate to do well and you try even harder and you're not relaxed
Starting point is 00:29:17 and things don't come off and you carry on. It kind of summed up his start to his Liverpool career and a little bit of how Liverpool were yesterday when Van Dyck managed to kick the ball straight into Kirkaz's nose and you kind of thought at that point it can't get much worse for him really maybe they'll bottom out there. I think it's an interesting signing though and I don't know what the guys think about it
Starting point is 00:29:39 but I look at Kirkers and I thought it would be a really good sign in but then when you come into a football club and you play a different style Bournemouth under Iriola are a counter-attacking team So he was a counter-attacking fullback He always had that space to drive into Now he doesn't because you dominate the football So now you're basically seeing everything in front of you And you're not leaving people for dead behind you
Starting point is 00:30:03 So you've got to try a different style Is he good enough on the ball? I think he is but he's just at the moment I think he's just trying too hard But I think the situation with what you've got now is you've got Connor Bradley and Kirk has who both want to fly forward. Andrew Robertson last year
Starting point is 00:30:19 wasn't a flying fullback. He was one who sat in and made it a back three. That's where Liverpool were more solid last year from a defensive point of view. So you are losing that balance at the back as well. I think throughout the Liverpool team the thing that kind of resonates is that uncertainty that none of the units
Starting point is 00:30:41 of the team looked right. and they didn't look right at the start of the season when they were winning games. They were performing really patchily. They'd have spells of half an hour, 45 minutes when they looked really, really good, and then they'd have 25 minutes where they just gave the ball away constantly.
Starting point is 00:30:55 The attack isn't right. The midfield is, the balance is wrong, the defence looks uncertain. Even the goalkeeper. Well, I mean, it's the old trampoline touch, isn't he, at the back, and the ball goes back to him. The really worrying thing to me,
Starting point is 00:31:12 would be that Slot, it doesn't look like Slot knows what he wants the finished product to be. Because I think if they were losing games or the problem they've had throughout the season is that all of their games are decided by late goals. Whether four or against it, late goals, everything's one goal in it. Liverpool haven't had a 2-0 win yet,
Starting point is 00:31:32 a 3-1 win that everyone forgets within sort of two or three days. Everything has been late drama or kind of nip and took. And they hadn't conceded a set piece at this stage last season. They've conceded five from set pieces. Which is an obvious weakness. And at a time when the lead is shifting to a much more direct style, that does appear to be how you beat Liverpool,
Starting point is 00:31:54 and that is a worrying trend. But the thing that would strike me as most concerning is the way that Liverpool tend to end their games, whether they win them or lose them, it is with five or six attackers on the field and Virgil Van Dyke playing up front. That doesn't scream, we've got a master plan. I mean, there will be a lot of Manchester United fans,
Starting point is 00:32:11 listening to this, thinking, you know, typical, you know, BBC Scouse bias going on, on and on about Liverpool and not focusing on United. You said that from being there yesterday, Stephen, the thing that impressed you most was that he did adapt. Yeah, 100%. And I've said he's needed to do that for a long time because I don't know whether you're probably working, but in the buildup we were talking and Steve Crosman said, is it a surprise that Chesco's not playing? 70 million pound strike and I was like no because you want to plan B for the second half and if you want to press properly
Starting point is 00:32:46 and you want to be able to get hold of the ball I thought Cunya yesterday was outstanding best player on the pitch by a country mile he just retained the ball took the pressure off his team
Starting point is 00:32:57 drew fouls at important times and it was one of those moments when you think and I don't want to throw out a big name but I'm going to the influence of Camtina he's got that aura he's got that sort of weight of the shirt
Starting point is 00:33:12 and he goes yeah I love it it's not a problem for me give me the ball in tight situations there was a moment very late in the game and I was just peering over it and commentary going there's three players around him he's not fussed and doesn't care at all but he got the press right from the it wasn't necessarily a press
Starting point is 00:33:29 but he got the organisation right by putting Mason Mount alongside Casamiro and Bruno he took the fullbacks in or the wing backs in it really narrow to the centrebacks and he just made life difficult and said, okay, if you're going to go anywhere
Starting point is 00:33:42 you're going to have to go right down the sides well then we've got three big centrebacks in the middle who are going to head the ball and deal with that situation which they did time and time again you have to ride your look at times
Starting point is 00:33:53 at Liverpool and they did ride the look Liverpool at the post what three times however that's part and parcel are going to Amfield and there'll be many a team who go in a way performance and ride the look and walk away and go we've done well there
Starting point is 00:34:06 that was the game plan and we've bought into it and it worked and I thought he got everything right yesterday even down to the timing of his substitutions bringing on his substitutions
Starting point is 00:34:15 I mean Casamero literally gave a free kickaway got a yellow card and went I'm done and he went yeah I know you are he already had the sub ready Ugarte was out ready to go on the pitch
Starting point is 00:34:23 so it all came together for him yesterday and it was almost like the perfect storm I suppose the question why are you grown him I mean I was going to say I suppose the question is already
Starting point is 00:34:36 what next But do you not think that Amarim's played that really cleverly? They'll probably lose to Brighton at the weekend. But Amarim, Chris, has been really smart about this, I think, does he keep saying there's no such thing as a corner turned? He's just driving that message home, maybe getting into mixed metaphors. Yeah, but he's used to being manager there,
Starting point is 00:34:55 because that's why he's saying it. Because, you know, how many times have we actually said, you know, every weekend Manchester United win? Well, they don't win every weekend, but every weekend which they do win, We say, oh, is this a corner turned? I haven't said that then, Chris. I just said it was a great game.
Starting point is 00:35:12 No, I'm not saying you did say that, but that is what a lot of people have said about them. And, you know, they got away with it. Whether you like it or not, you know, I've mentioned Liverpool hit in the post three times. The first goal shouldn't have been allowed. They, you know, they get themselves in front and then they have something to sort of hold on to.
Starting point is 00:35:29 I think the point you made about CUNIA, absolutely spot on. I always felt in Burma would be a reliable signing for Manchester United. I think he's a really excellent piece of business, but you just don't trust him. The goalkeeper, you know, has gone in, and he sort of looked okay.
Starting point is 00:35:47 Let's just see, you know, further than that Harry McGuire. Hang on a minute. Hang on a minute. Hang on. He hasn't put a foot wrong yet. I know, but yeah, but just that's, you know, two games, whatever it is. Well, I know. Two, three games.
Starting point is 00:35:59 Yeah, so that's good, but let's just wait and see. Let's not pretend Manchester United have cracked it. A couple of weeks ago, Harry McGreg. why I was running out at Brentford trying to play off side, giving away the first goal. Really, I think he's a great bloke, really pleased for him, he scored and what have you. I thought, you know, it's a brilliant win for Manchester United. And I like what Rory said, the way that Ruben Ambrim talked, but let's not get carried away. I mean, they stood out on the pitch like they'd won a European trophy after the game.
Starting point is 00:36:26 I mean, for God's sake. I mean, I understand that's a big derby, but I mean. So you can't celebrate. You can celebrate, but not for 25. minutes. Well, they didn't, did they for 25 minutes? Mark, do you think that the United fans who would complain about
Starting point is 00:36:43 about stow's bias would maybe prefer it if we got back to criticise in Liverpool then I'd enjoy that a bit more than just have a go at a moment, you know. They did win, you know, Chris. Yeah, no, and it's a great, it was a great win. You know, a brilliant win and I get it and I understand it, but we've been here and that's what Rory says.
Starting point is 00:37:00 Amram said it himself, we've been here so many times, they haven't cracked it. I love what Amram is saying. I love it. So here's the question, really. When I said, what next? And I think you will probably find, Rory, plenty of United fans do you think,
Starting point is 00:37:18 well, they could easily lose at home to Brighton on Saturday. What next is Money Night's one, Brighton three. So, yeah. So there will be that element. But from Ruben Amarim's perspective, what next? When it comes to his team, because one of the things we found out today,
Starting point is 00:37:35 he's never named the same starting 11 in any of his 35 Premier League games in charge so you can do the analysis which is what they did last hour and match today about that right-hand side looking as though that was starting to click and the relationship between Ahmad and Buomo and Fernandez and whatever it may be
Starting point is 00:37:55 you can look at Coonier and what Cooney did from his position and Mason Mount from his position and Harry McGuire in the middle of a back three four of them might not start. If you're following the pattern of Amarim selection against Brighton. Yeah, and I think there is an argument that Amarim does like tweaking. That seems to be kind of something that he does, and that's fine, a lot of managers do it.
Starting point is 00:38:19 I think it's probably contextual to an extent in that he has been stretching around for results with an imperfect squad. And so a little bit like we were saying about slot, he is kind of mixing and matching, seeing what works. that has been a long, laborious and slow process, probably longer and slower than it ought to have been, to be perfectly honest.
Starting point is 00:38:39 It does strike me that it's maybe a time for him to say, okay, that triangle there, whether it's Fernandez, Ahmad and Mbuemo, that works, right? That stays for a little bit. Bear in mind, United, have no European football. They've got plenty of time on the training pitch, which is a luxury that very few teams
Starting point is 00:38:55 in the top half of the Premier League have. We can do that, and then maybe, yeah, the back three seem to work. so Harry Maguire and, you know, starts next to the delict or whatever. They'll have Lissandro back at some point, which confuses things. You might have to get him back in the team. Casamiro and Bruno in midfield, okay, we stick with that for a while, at least for an hour, after which point Casamira seemed to get tired, so we'll Brinugarte on then.
Starting point is 00:39:15 Like, there is an argument to try and do the same thing. I guess the flip side is, I mean, the timing of that is right. Does they've won two games in a row, and that's a big thing? I know Maguire was kind of suitably bashful about it, but that is quite a big thing. It does suggest that you've managed to repeat something, and that's important. I guess the difference is, can you play that way against Brighton at Old Trafford? Because as much as I don't agree with Chris, I don't think they got away with it. I think they had a couple of hairy moments against the team that in theory could be quite good at some point.
Starting point is 00:39:51 But they were really well organised, disciplined, they played it right. Can you do that at Old Trafford against Brighton? And I don't know if you can. Well, you can't sit in and play that way. You can't sit in and defend how they did and that's what you have to do at Liverpool and there's going to be so many teams that are going to go to Amfield this year
Starting point is 00:40:09 who are going to be better than Manchester United and we'll do the same thing because they feel like they can't go toe to toe. They're not capable of that at the moment and that's what you have to do and that's part and parcel of football so what I like about it is he's gone there without an ego and gone
Starting point is 00:40:25 we can't do that. So we do have to change the way we're going to play and he'll sit in. But now the question is, and this has always been my thing with Amarham is, and the system is, can you do it against Brighton at home? Can you do it against Bremford away? By live sport. And what a game of football it is to kickstart this new WSL season.
Starting point is 00:40:56 That's the only goal, and she is able to just. Pick her sport. Curls this way past the best goal. Keep it in the division. BBC Women's Football Weekly. The latest news, insights and analysis from across the women's game. Lucy Bruns, welcome back. What one lioness do you think would make the best rugby player?
Starting point is 00:41:14 Me? Listen. With the BBC Sounds app. This is the Monday night club with Mark Chapman. On the Football Daily podcast. Let's talk Brighton. in particular, let's talk to Danny Welbeck next about the form that he is in. Danny, how are you?
Starting point is 00:41:37 Yeah, very well, thank you. Thanks for having me, guys. Thank you. Thank you very much for being on. And you are four goals in eight games at the start of this season. You've now scored in 17 different Premier League seasons, which makes me feel incredibly old. I don't know what that makes you feel like. But that's some record. Danny? Yeah, it's a good record to have
Starting point is 00:42:02 to have scored in every Premier League season I played in. It seems like a long time ago the first time around that it happened but I'm feeling good and I'm really enjoying the football and hopefully there's more that I can add to that. Are you approaching training and preparation differently in your 30s
Starting point is 00:42:26 than you did at the early stage of your career or are you just doing the same things? No, you know, I think I'd say I prepare for training a lot better than I did when I was younger. I think when you're young, you just run out on the pitch, you're smashing balls from the off and you don't feel in any way about it.
Starting point is 00:42:49 But as you get older, you do prepare, you make sure that I feel like with injuries and stuff like that, I learned a lot about myself and a lot about how to cope with my body, how to manage my body and get ready for training and to prepare in the right way. So that definitely was a positive, even in them negative times. And I've always carried that with me. And I just feel like I'm always prepared, be professional and be ready for training.
Starting point is 00:43:17 And I wonder whether what comes with that as well, because of how experienced you are now, you are able to say to coaching staff and sports scientists and physios, Look, that isn't going to, if I do that, that isn't going to work for me. Whereas I suppose in your 20s, they will say, well, just do it anyhow. We know your body better than you do at that stage. Is that how it works? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:43:42 It's a bit difficult. You try and have that conversation with our manager sometimes. When he wants to have a heavy day, then you try and say, oh, no, today's got to be a bit less low. But, no, do you know what? He's very demanding of us as a team, as a group. And, like, in his style of play, how he wants us to play, he demands you to be able to be on the front foot, to do the high press.
Starting point is 00:44:09 And do you know, I'm feeling good and I'm capable of carrying through them loads, the work load that's been put in front of me. Danny, Stephen Warnock, are you a beneficiary of what's gone on in the modern-day football? of more physios, more masseurs, and you're seeing the benefits of that now, which is helping you? Or when you were saying then about learning more about yourself, have you just been more of a student
Starting point is 00:44:35 and gone away and learnt about it and then done things off your own back? Bye, Stephen. I think it would be like a combination of both, really. Obviously, with my experience, the past experience that I've been through and what I feel like maybe I could have done a little bit differently
Starting point is 00:44:50 in certain situations. And also, as you said, with the number of staff that Premier League teams have these days and the medical team and all the sort of data that goes into the sports science and there's so much detail
Starting point is 00:45:05 I think it's a combination of both from I get the help from the coaching staff and then for me as an individual I know I kind of know my sort of body and you let you go to learn your body
Starting point is 00:45:21 and what you can and can't do and what you feel like would put you in the best position, really. Danny, what do you do to prepare for training? What's the routine? Sleep. You know, I just try and get a good night's sleep. And obviously, after training, there's numerous amount of things you can do,
Starting point is 00:45:43 like, you know, to prepare in the right way. You should nutrition. There's the recovery stuff, like maybe you could get a matter, You could be doing your stretches, you could be doing a bit of gym work and there's so much stuff that goes into it. There's a lot of, we've got incredible facilities at Brighton and I think they're on hand for you. It's like your beck and call, you know, everybody's got the opportunity to recover in the right way and then to obviously put that into fruition and make sure that you're ready for the next day. I think it's incredible though because if you think on from when I sit and with us playing and what technology the disease like now.
Starting point is 00:46:25 If you look at players, everyone's wearing whoops and golfers are, tennis players are, and you can monitor your sleep and you know if you've had a bad night's sleep and it tells you you need to catch up on sleep. So things have evolved.
Starting point is 00:46:39 They just, that's all just made up nonsense. You need a nap. You're still grumpy. All those things. Oh, you've had a good sleep. What a load of rubbish. I'll decide that.
Starting point is 00:46:51 That's funny, Chris, because you know what? There's a load of our players who do have whoops and they're tracking everything, but I'm kind of, I don't have a whoop or a ring or anything. I just know, like, when I wake up and if I feel good, I feel good. I don't want, sometimes I would have, I prefer not to, if I don't have a great sleep and something's telling me, oh, you've not, you've not had a good sleep. You're not going to be good today. It's kind of difficult.
Starting point is 00:47:15 It's a fine balance, but me, I prefer to just go off my feeling in my body. I know. I'm with you, Danny. Danny, I love you. What I wanted to ask you, your finishes at the weekend were brilliant. And, you know, you are getting on a bit now, it's fair to say, you know, do you think differently about finishing? And I suppose it comes with experience now, your first goal, the way you finish at the dink,
Starting point is 00:47:45 to what you did at 18. Do you have a different sort of picture? Does that come with training, confidence? Tell us. I'd say it definitely comes with the experience I feel like the more you do things like the repetition and being in certain situations so say for instance
Starting point is 00:48:03 going through one and one with the keeper you kind of I kind of knew the sort of outcome as the ball was being played through to me and yeah I feel like with the experience and you have to confidence that you know you've been in this
Starting point is 00:48:21 in this position plenty of times and you know what you can do and the quality, what you do throughout the week in the training and yeah, everything just, it falls into place. It just feels natural really. And, yeah, I'm really happy with the football,
Starting point is 00:48:36 to start the goal and then to finish it with a nice finish. Did you play with Michael Owen at United? Yeah, yeah, I did, I did. Does he always talk about having a set of finishes in his head that was kind of how he approached it? Like he had certain finishes
Starting point is 00:48:50 for certain situations. Is that how you, do you know in a certain situation, right, this is the right, the right call here? Well, I think you have an idea, like, in certain positions, you definitely have an idea. But obviously with football, like, it moves so fast than, like, any sort of how, if the keeper maybe pretends to come out but doesn't come out, or if he's staying still,
Starting point is 00:49:13 and you know you're up against different sort of keepers, keepers who tend to stay up longer, keepers who are stronger, maybe sprinting out, they might be quicker. So you have an idea before, well, in every single situation and different scenarios, I think, you can kind of play it through in your head, you visualise things and see how you feel like the outcome would be.
Starting point is 00:49:38 But once you get on that pitch, it just becomes that sort of natural instinct. They've brought in some amazing attacking talent around you at Brighton, haven't they, over the last two? two or three, well, longer than that, two, three, four years. And also, you know, one of the things we often talk about Brighton is recruitment and where they find players. When some of these new, like when Metoma arrives, and you're saying,
Starting point is 00:50:02 are you thinking, well, first of all, you probably, I'm guessing you don't know that much about him when he arrives. And then it's like, wow, we've got something here. Yeah. It does catch you off guard because some of these players that come to the club. You've never heard of them before. and you might not have been aware of them or what sort of player they are,
Starting point is 00:50:23 but when they get onto the training pitch and you can instantly see, well, some players you can instantly see, like, they've got something. Say, take Carew, for instance. I remember, like, his first training sessions, I'm just like, whoa. He has got some incredible attributes.
Starting point is 00:50:42 And, yeah, and then it's, for other players, it might take them a little bit longer. and like I remember Moises came and then he went on loan to Belgium and when he came back it was just like everything clicked into play for him and he was an incredible player
Starting point is 00:50:57 and yeah some players take longer than others but I think with the club and the way that they operate and with the players that they brought in over the years that I've been there you always know that the players that you you play with are going to have some
Starting point is 00:51:18 sort of ability. You go back to Old Trafford at the weekend. Do you like going back? Yeah, I love it. I'm a Manchester boy. I'm a man at heart, so it's just home for me and my friends and family are all there.
Starting point is 00:51:36 Obviously, for the first time I went back, it was very strange I would say, because I was grown up at Manchester United and I've been, it was or that I knew. So to even like go back or more on the other side of the pitch or go into a different dress room, it's so strange.
Starting point is 00:51:52 But I've done it a number of numerous amount of times now and it's just like any other game really. And I also learned at Manchester United and the Academy from my good coaches, Paul McGuinness, Jim Ryan, Warren Joyce, play the game and not the occasion. So don't really think too much into it. You just want to go back and you want to be professional to win the game. we'll let you go
Starting point is 00:52:16 you're giving us loads of time on a Monday evening just a final thing though no Englishman's got more goals than you this season
Starting point is 00:52:22 in the Premier League does that come into your thinking in a World Cup year still you know it's obviously after the weekend
Starting point is 00:52:31 it's come up again but for me it's very important to just control what I can control it's really important for me to be enjoying
Starting point is 00:52:40 every single session every single game and doing my best that I can for Brighton and obviously with England the doors never close
Starting point is 00:52:52 and I know that if I'm called upon then I'll be loving to do the job but for me I don't even come into my thinking at this moment in time I'm just focused on Brighton and winning games
Starting point is 00:53:05 and picking up points here thank you for giving us your time this evening Danny much appreciated thanks guys so congratulations on the season thank you Danny well with us on the Monday night club.
Starting point is 00:53:16 Scottish Premiership next. Rangers have appointed Danny Roll as their new head coach. Celtic lost at Dundee with plenty of fan protests going on. Hearts are five points clear at the top of the table and play Celtic next. Where do you want to start, Chris? Probably the good story, which is Harts who have had an incredible start of the season.
Starting point is 00:53:39 I think Harts can win the title this year. I really do. partly because of the way that they have recruited, partly because of the manager, partly because of their form, and partly because of the way that Rangers and Celtic are playing. And I just at this moment in time, don't really see a way out for Rangers and Celtic until January,
Starting point is 00:54:01 but because hearts have got themselves into a handsome position, they're pretty well clear at the top. They don't have European football to contend with, as Rangers and Celtic do so. there's a lot of things pointing sort of in heart's favour and who knows with the Jamestown Analytics and Tony Bloom they may well go again in the transfer market in January and bring another couple of gems in because they recruited well in the summer
Starting point is 00:54:27 and a really impressive win at the weekend against Kilmarnock on a plastic pitch. They've beaten Rangers of Ibrox this season won the Edinburgh Derby and they are a well-balanced team. They play Celtic this weekend and at this moment, in time, I don't think there are many Celtic fans out there who actually think that the Celtic team are capable of beating them. Well, Alan Park, as email does, to say, I'm a Celtic fan, but I think that if Harts were to push on
Starting point is 00:54:54 and win the SPL, it would be good for the country, Rory. I think that is, yeah, self-evidently true. It would be, to equally annoy both sides of Glasgow, Scottish football desperately need somebody else to win the title. we kind of cursed Aberdeen last year Mark didn't we when they were doing around this time I think Similar time
Starting point is 00:55:17 Chris is got a different way this year He's actively trying to jinx hearts Which I think is a really nice A nice change of pace You'd still have to make Celtic favourites Just because they've got depth That hearts can't muster Have they? Have they Rory
Starting point is 00:55:33 Have Celtic got depths Because I think there's a lot of Celtic fans out there Who would totally disagree with you I don't think the Celtic manager may disagree with you there. I mean, they don't do they have depth compared to a Premier League team? No, but they've probably got a greater depth than hearts. Although I take
Starting point is 00:55:48 your point, Chris, that yeah, hearts could go out and get a couple more in January and that might make the difference, but I still think it's very early to say that hearts can win it, but that they are in a position to force us to have that conversation, to force you out of desperation
Starting point is 00:56:03 to try and jinx them. That in itself is really good for Scottish football because anybody else breaking that duopoly is obviously a good thing. That's absolutely not the case, but I don't know whether you saw Brendan Rogers' comment on the, it's been given keys to a Honda Civic. I would not suggest that he thinks that Celtic have good strength in depth.
Starting point is 00:56:27 I thought that was the car you'd lost Chris. I know, Stephen, Chris was very keen to make it clear that the car that he'd lost was rather more expensive. Oh, okay. Let's bring Chris McLaughlin into this. because we spoke to Chris a couple of weeks ago when Rangers were were they looking for a manager at that stage
Starting point is 00:56:46 do you know Shappers I was actually just trying to figure out at what stage in the saga we were at I think they were I think perhaps Stephen Gerard was the favourite at that stage but yeah we've kind of come a long way from there I think
Starting point is 00:57:02 so they have well we have come a long way in the sense of that they have appointed someone Although at sort of 11 o'clock this morning, we could have been having very similar conversations to the ones we'd had two weeks ago because it's only this afternoon that they have agreed the deal with Danny Roll
Starting point is 00:57:19 on a two and a half year contract. What was he in the end? Their third choice? Fourth choice, second choice? Well, the third choice that we know of, I've heard suggestions that may well have been the fourth choice. I think what's really intriguing about this, I mentioned the word saga
Starting point is 00:57:39 I think the Rangers fans would say that the board have completely bungled this process and I think what's really interesting is that Danny Roald yes said no last week and Kevin Muscat looked as though he was on the verge of signing
Starting point is 00:57:56 all of the noises that were coming out of Rangers suggested that Kevin Muskat was going to be the next man and just hours and this is last night after Kevin Muskat said no then clearly someone in the Ibrox boardroom was desperately looking for Danny Rolls number again
Starting point is 00:58:14 straight on the phone to him and within hours and they'd convinced him for whatever reason any reason that he had to turn it down they've obviously convinced him to go again so it's bizarre that's bizarre but we have said that many times with regards to Rangers over the past few years
Starting point is 00:58:30 but this is Mark can I just say with regards to Muscat Chris I don't know whether I'm right with this but because Muscat is managing in China. His team were in a title race. They're four points clear at the top. I think there's three games left. It seemed to be a time thing where Rangers didn't
Starting point is 00:58:45 want to wait any longer. I don't know whether that's right, Chris. They got the semi-final against Celtic at the start of next month. What's your knowledge of that? I'm not sure about that test, to be honest, because having spoken to a number of sources at
Starting point is 00:59:01 Rangers over the past week, they were well aware that that was going to be the case. The noise is coming from Rangers was that they would take Kevin Muscat, they would put someone in interim charge, and they were just determined that Kevin Muscat was the right man for them, and they would bide their time. I'm not sure what's changed in a few hours
Starting point is 00:59:24 that has changed the opinion on that. So I'm not sure I completely buy. Did Kevin Muscat watch Rangers play? Was that what changed? Maybe, maybe. But we're talking about a man, remember, Chris, who was very open about the fact he wanted to manage Rangers. I mean, on three separate occasions. I was going to say, has he not been in the running for this job three times?
Starting point is 00:59:48 Yeah. So whatever they have said and whatever he has looked at has clearly been enough to put him off because he was, by all accounts, desperate to take this job. So that itself's intriguing. We will get a chance to speak to the board tomorrow. there's some very, very tough questions, I think, coming for the Rangers board tomorrow. When you say the board, who on the board and who has, who has eventually decided on Roll? And sorry, there's another question.
Starting point is 01:00:20 There's so many questions here, sorry. And the final one in this little section is, why did he rule himself out originally? So I think that Danny Role ruled himself out because he thought that Kevin Musk, that was getting the job. That's my understanding. He will say probably something different tomorrow. I don't know. But it was my understanding that he decided to rule himself out
Starting point is 01:00:44 because he thought it was going to be Kevin Muskett. And everyone thought it was going to be Kevin Muskett. What's the reaction to Roald Bean like, Chris? Not great, to be honest. I think most fans initially wanted Gerard, and then they consoled himself that Gerard wasn't coming, and then they threw all their support behind Kevin Muscat. He seemed to have the character
Starting point is 01:01:06 they were looking for. He knew the club for what that's worth. So many pundits in Asia said that the clubs that he has been at there, there's an expectation to win. So that was impressive for the Rangers fans. So I think for the Rangers fans,
Starting point is 01:01:22 they see and they can't help but make comparisons to Russell Martin. Now that might be unfair for Danny Rolt but he is a young man who doesn't have a lot of managerial experience and see on the face of it like a bit of a project and that's what the Rangers fans
Starting point is 01:01:39 don't want. They don't believe that their club should be a project for anyone. Like I said last time, whoever gets the job and it's obviously Danny Rule now, the Rangers fans will get behind them. There's no doubt they will get behind the manager but he is on borrowed time. He doesn't bring the character,
Starting point is 01:01:57 he doesn't bring the name that Stephen Gerrard would bring and there is already eyebrows being raised. that's not a great atmosphere to come into for Danny Roll. He will know this. More experience, though, than Gerard, wasn't he? I know Gerard was a name, but Gerard came from under 21 football at Liverpool without having done anything, but was just a name.
Starting point is 01:02:17 It's nothing to say that you're going to be a great manager. So I think there's an element where I understand Roll's not a name, but he's got potential. He did a good job. He did a hell of a job at Sheffield Wednesday as well, under difficult circumstances so he goes in as well having managed under difficult circumstances
Starting point is 01:02:38 and effectively is going into difficult circumstances again well that that was going to be my sort of final question to you on it Chris was is there is there any positive that actually the circumstances at Sheffield Wednesday were a lot more difficult than the circumstances are arrangers I get there were issues behind the scenes at Sheffield Wednesday but just to give you an idea I was doing a piece tonight for our TV colleagues outside rangers
Starting point is 01:03:02 and every second or third car that passed and I'm not getting this with rush hour in Glasgow every second third car that passed had someone shouting out of the window something about Danny Roll that's the kind of cauldron that he's walking into here and you really have to experience
Starting point is 01:03:20 it, Chris knows this, you really have to experience it to understand the expectation, to understand the pressure to understand the goldfish bowl that is football in Glasgow. I think Russell Martin probably underestimated that. The Rangers fans will be hoping the new owners don't underestimate that,
Starting point is 01:03:39 and they'll certainly be hoping that their new head coach won't underestimate that either. Were they shouting nice things about Danny Roald? Mostly no. Were you doing it live, or was that a pre-recorded thing? How many takes did you have to do? Thankfully, at that stage, it was pre-recording, so we were fine.
Starting point is 01:03:57 Right. Chris, thank you. Chris McLaughlin with us on the Monday Night Club. Stephen, thank you. Thank you very much. See you on Wednesday. Champions League on Wednesday. Rory, Chris, thank you. You like that. Five live sports. Go to the end show, touchdown. NFL.
Starting point is 01:04:20 Touchdown, Philadelphia. Great play design. I think you just have to go out there and be the best that you can be. We're going to go out there and lay it all in the line. Yard touchdown one 105 yards on the return where speed, power and skill collide.
Starting point is 01:04:38 And the Eagles have beaten the Chiefs convincingly in Super Bowl 59. Five lights for NFL. Listen on BBC Sounds.

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