Football Daily - The Commentators’ View: Cheese ice cream & Champagne on ice

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

John Murray & Ali Bruce-Ball are joined by Vicki Sparks to talk Premier League, their travels and the language of football commentary. We’re back to league action with a tricky Clash of the Commentators. There are more unintended pub names from sport commentary and suggestions for the Great Glossary of Football Commentary. Messages, questions and voicenotes welcome on WhatsApp to 08000 289 369 & emails to [e-mail]01:45 Vicki in Iceland, 04:25 Lost phone & cheese ice cream in Bologna, 08:20 Ali’s commentary highlight of The Masters, 12:00 John reveals why he’s stepped away from The Masters, 13:40 Herr Chapman’s ‘bobby-dazzlers’, 15:20 Big weekend of commentaries on 5 Live, 15:50 John flips out at the ‘supercomputer’, 23:00 Man City v Arsenal preview, 29:45 Unintended pub names from sport commentary, 35:30 Clash of the Commentators, 46:45 Great Glossary of Football Commentary.5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Sat 1500 Leeds v Wolves with Ali Bruce-Ball & Michael Brown, Sat 1500 Newcastle v Bournemouth on Sports Extra, Sat 1730 Spurs v Brighton & Hove with Eilidh Barbour & Andy Reid, Sat 1730 Iceland v England in WCQ on Sports Extra with Vicki Sparks & Rachel Brown-Finnis, Sun 1400 Everton v Liverpool with Mike Minay & Pat Nevin, Sun 1400 Nottingham Forest v Burnley on Sports Extra, Sun 1400 Aston Villa v Sunderland on Sports Extra 2, Sun 1630 Man City v Arsenal with John Murray & Rob Green.Great Glossary of Football Commentary: DIVISION ONE Agricultural challenge, Back of the net, Back to square one, Backside and elbows, Booked, Bosman, Bullet header, Channel of joy, Coupon buster, Cruyff Turn, Cultured/educated left foot, Dead-ball specialist, Draught excluder, Elastico/flip-flap, False nine, Fox in the box, Giving the goalkeeper the eyes, Grub hunter, Head tennis, Hibs it, In a good moment, In behind, Magic of the FA Cup, The Maradona, Off their line, Olimpico, Onion bag, Panenka, Park the bus, Perfect hat-trick, Postage stamp, Put his cap on it, Rabona, Roy of the Rovers stuff, Schmeichel-style, Scorpion kick, Spursy, Stick it in the mixer, Sweeper keeper, Taking it to the corner flag, Target man, Tiki-taka, Towering header, Trivela, Where the kookaburra sleeps, Where the owl sleeps, Where the spiders sleep. DIVISION TWO 2-0 can be a dangerous score, Asterisk, Back on the grass, Ball stays hit, Beaten all ends up, Blaze over the bar, Business end, Came down with snow on it, Catching practice, Camped in the opposition half, Cauldron atmosphere, Champagne is on ice, Coat is on a shoogly peg, Come back to haunt them, Corridor of uncertainty, Couldn’t sort their feet out, Easy tap-in, Daisy-cutter, Drubbing, First cab off the rank, Giant-killing, Goalkeepers’ Union, Good leave, Good touch for a big man, Half-turn, Has that in his locker, High wide and not very handsome, Hospital pass, Howler, In the dugout, In the hat, In their pocket, Johnny on the spot, Lackadaisical, Leading the line, Leather a shot, Middle of the park, Needed no second invitation, Needing snookers, Nice headache to have, No-look pass, Nutmeg, On the beach, On their bike, One for the cameras, One for the purists, Piledriver*, Played us off the park, Points on the board, Points to the spot, Prawn sandwich brigade, Purple patch, Put their laces through it, Queensbury rules, Reaches for their pocket, Rolls Royce, Root and branch review, Row Z, Screamer, Seats on the plane, Sent into raptures, Show across the bows, Slide-rule pass, Staving off relegation, Steal a march, Sting the palms, Straight in the bread basket, Stramash, Taking one for the team, Telegraphed that pass, Tired legs, That’s great… (football), Thunderous strike, Turns on a sixpence, Walk it in, We’ve got a cup tie on our hands. We were right behind that.

The Commentator's View on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis. Hello, it's The Football Daily. I'm John Murray and this is the commentator's view, where we five live commentators talk about the football, the language of football commentary and what we've been doing on our travels around Europe and around the world, which is relevant. Ali Bruce Ball, because you are back from around the world. Yes, I have been, John... I mean, I couldn't quite believe it when I said it out loud on air, but last week's visit to Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia was my 20th visit to the Masters, which is just...

A, I can't believe where that time's gone, and just feel so incredibly lucky to have been to that many Masters tournaments, which is an event, you know, I watched as a kid with my dad growing up and never, ever dreamed I would ever get, there and now going there time and time again. But I'm also joining that weird, so we're recording this on Friday morning, and you will remember this well from your trips to the Masters. It's that odd thing where I'm sitting here on a Friday doing my prep for leads against

wolves, knowing that I'm going to be at Ellen Road tomorrow, but knowing that seven days before I was in the peace and quiet and beauty of Amen Corner, and then it's all going to kick off at Ellen Road tomorrow. I'm going to be updating scores from League 2 and promotion and relegation issues. and they couldn't be further apart those two things. Well, more on all of that in a moment, but we have to say, good day to Vicky Sparks,

who is joining us from a mystery European location. Vicky Sparks, where are you? Good morning from Reykjavik in Iceland. This is Vicky Sparks here. We were just working out off air, weren't me, my Icelandic surname, which is where you take the father's name and our dot here,

so I would be Vicky Kenton's, dotier in Iceland. Yeah. And how is it in Iceland? I must say that I think I've only been there once. I went and covered a Scotland match there and it was one of the favourite ventures that I've been on to go to Iceland. Do you know what? I've been so excited about this trip. I mean, it's a historic one, firstly for England women.

It's going to be their 500th game in their history when they play Iceland on Saturday here in Reykjavik. But, you know, just on a personal level. And a little similarly to you, Ali, you know, thinking about all those times you've been at Augusta and almost pinching yourself. You know, the fact that as part of my job, I get to come on these trips and visit these wonderful places and see football played in them. You know, we're just looking out of the hotel window here. We're up on the 10th floor, so it's quite high. And there are snow-capped mountains that surround all of Reykjavik.

And it's a beautiful country. I've never been. And, yeah, just so excited to be here because the landscape is so different to anything that you have. experience in England. We've actually seen in the distance these plumes of either steam or smoke shooting up from between two of the snow cat mountains. And it is the reality of trying to work out, you know, is it a volcano? Is it a geothermal plume of a power station that's shooting up? And, you know, you just don't really ask those questions in England, do you? Just on Iceland, and I've never been. I'm very envious, Vicky. Actually, that is one I would love to tick off.

Pharaohs. Yes, that's true, John. That is true, which is beautiful and remote in its own right. But I've had some fantastic correspondence from our engineer, Phil Zentner, on the Icelandic language, which fits in perfectly with Vicky's trip and obviously our discussions about language and football commentary. So please remind me, when we get to the glossary, I need to read that out. There's some excellent stuff in there, really good. Well, Mr. Ian Dennis is not with us this week.

He is also on his travels. He's on assignment, as they say, in American media. He's actually on holidays, taking a few days off. So Ian's not with this this week. And it feels like this is the first one of these that I've done for a while because I was on a BBC course last week with a view to the World Cup. So I was being, so it's effectively a bit of safety training. But while I was doing that, Vicky, you went with Aston Villa to Bologna

and had quite an eventful trip. I understand. Indeed. And again, it was fantastic to go. Great performance from Villa, which obviously they followed up at Villa Park last night. What did you eat? What did you eat? Do you know what? This was one of the, as well as Ollie Watkins' performance, getting that brace. The highlight of the trip was a meal that Pat Nevin and I managed to have because Bologna, of course, home of the spaghetti bolognais. So we found a restaurant that did this wonderful ragu. And I also had, as a starter, cheese ice cream.

Either of you ever had cheese ice cream. I don't think I had ever had this sort of full on cheese ice cream. It was, I think, a Gorgonzola, something else. And they served it with this beautiful basket of puffed bread that you could put it on. And there was jam as well. But ahead of all of that, one of these trips where you just feel like if something can go wrong, it's going to go wrong, which started with me for the first time ever, I should say, losing my phone at Heathrow

just before I was about to board. And there was that horrible moment where the gate was called and I've been doing some work and finishing off some notes and so I gathered everything up, went to the loo, went to fill up the water bottle,

went to the gate. I thought I'd gathered everything up. And when I got to the gate, I realised that I didn't have my phone. And it's that moment of panic where your flight, you know, is about to board and you think, do I get on a flight to Italy

with no phone, with now no... And this is, this is. This is the horror of how horrifying it was that we're so reliant on them because I thought, I don't have an alarm clock. I don't have Google Maps. I don't know where my hotel is unless I can borrow somebody's phone on this plane and email work and say, I've lost my phone. You're going to need to email me and I'm going to need to try and get on the Wi-Fi.

So, yes, abandoned the phone. Luckily, somebody had handed it in, so managed to pick it up on the way back. But yes, as the Villafans had to navigate, there was an Italian airstrike the day after the game. Did you have your boarding pass? on your phone or do you have it printed off? I am so in many ways and my brother teases me remorselessly about this. I'm so anti-technology in many ways. I always print it out because I don't trust.

What if my phone runs out of battery? So that was the saving grace in terms of being actually able to get on the plane as I'd printed it out. But, you know, ran round Heathrow for 10 minutes and then decided I had to get on the plane. But yes, so we had flights cancelled. which we were still trying to sort out 45 minutes before kickoff. And so needed to get back to Heathrow before Lost and Found clothes. Anyway, it was one of these had problems with the lines. Our producer wasn't feeling super well.

And yes, it was, if you look back on it, I would say the highlights were, Olly Watkins Brace and the cheese ice cream that Pat and Evan and I ate on the lunch before the game. Oh, yes. And so Pat and I had to get up at 6 a.m. Get a train to Milan. And this was, again, everything that could go wrong. potentially would. We got to the train station and thought, okay, at least we've managed to

rebook, we can get to Milan. And of course, all the Villa fans were having to do this as well and try and get out of Italy by other means before this air traffic control strike happened. And we got to the station and there was a little message running along the information board in Italian and then translated to English. And it said, there's been a landslide. So there may be delays on the trains. And Pat and I thought, oh gosh, this is literally going to be the last straw. But Luckily, our train arrived and at Whist to Milan and via Scotland, we managed to, or I managed to get back to Heathrow and pick up the phone and breathe again. Yeah. It's incredible, isn't it, how sometimes there are trips that are just, as you say, if it's going to go wrong, it does go wrong. So anyway, you've made it to Iceland, which is very good.

I have, and that was very smooth. Good. I'm pleased to hear that. And, Ali, what was the commentary highlight for you? of the masters. Do you know what, John, I'm really glad you asked me that question

because it was a slightly unusual one so you know our commentary positions very well on that golf course and actually I think one of the great things about commentating there is you know that a lot of our listeners know exactly what you're talking about. I mean, sometimes they're watching the pictures

with the sound and listening to us but people know that golf course so well that actually you probably don't have to work quite as hard in describing what you're seeing because people have already got a picture in their minds, but quite often in those commentary positions, our view can be limited. I mean, for example, our grandstand to the left,

our position at the 15th green, to the left of the 15th green, when you're commentating on the 16th, the 16th is away in the distance in the shadows, and sometimes, you know, you're struggling to see a little bit with the naked eye, and we don't have monitors there. Tell me about it. Yeah.

So you're guessing a little bit at times, and I think our listeners are aware of that. But occasionally it just absolutely falls into your lap, and on the Friday night, when Rory Macaroy was hitting the ball all over the place with his driver and his long game, but was producing magical recoveries from hither and thither, he came up the 17th, and I was stationed in our commentary position at the 17th, which I would argue is probably the quietest spot you can be in for a day's commentary.

So you do the players as they come through, the last ones, but you're not that busy, and then suddenly you're busy, you know, for a very sort of intense period of time. But Macaroy missed the fairway off the tea, punched out right and then he was chipping directly. I mean, I couldn't have been, he was at 12 o'clock to me with no spectators, nothing in my way.

And Mark Chapman threw it to me nice and early, so I had plenty of time to describe him walking up onto the green, surveying the scene, describing the shot, what I could see, da-da-da-da-da, all of that. And then as he hit the chip, as soon as it landed on the green, A, you could see it was dead online, and B, it looked really good for power.

And so straight away, you could say this one's got a chance. And you could hear the crowd thinking, this one's got a chance. And sure enough, and given the round he was having, you sort of felt it was going to go in. But it doesn't all, as you know, it doesn't always fall like that for you in golf commentary. But it just couldn't have been more perfect. And also, it was just such a thrill because it was almost the culmination of that round, the story of his round, was so up and down and all over the place, but, you know, magical short game. And that was like, that was it in a nutshell.

So that was my favourite moment of the Masters. I ended up watching it in a pub in London with Connor on the Sunday night. So I didn't listen. I listened to Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but I didn't listen on Sunday. And if anybody wants to go back and have a listen to what it sounds like, you know, we always say this. On BBC Sounds, you can do that. Look for stations and schedules. Find the date.

Find the time of the program. And you can go back and listen to that again, which I would very much encourage people to do. And I must do that myself. And actually, we have had a message from David, who has got in touch TCV at BBC.co.uk. David says, I really want to know why John was not at the Masters. He loves going to the Masters. He's always at the Masters. Also, I lost a bet with my son because of John.

I had backed him to say Buddha or Bodo at Augusta, brackets. He mentions Buddha all the time, brackets. And he let me down by not even being there. I hope the excuse is a good one. Well, David, I've not done the last two, have I, Ali? No. In the style of various other people in golf, I've stepped away from the masters

because I just reached the point where I found it. With wearing glasses and not contact lenses, I mean, it is incredibly, as Ali has indicated there, it is very, very difficult because you're either commentating on things that are near to you or are far away from you. And I just found the juggle of wearing glasses using binoculars and using the microphone was just too difficult. I completely agree, John.

I mean, I wear glasses as well. And I've tried because I know you would always take glasses and kind of use them to look at, you know, warmups and stuff, particularly if we're high up in a stadium. And I find it too hard to adjust them and actually look through the glasses. But would you never consider commentating in contact lenses then? because I do wear them, but I find it to... Well, Vicki, there's something about glasses. I think it gives me a bit of a better vision.

When you reach a certain age, you then struggle to see close up. And I tried for quite a while to get contact lenses that I could use as sort of very focals. I just couldn't get away with them. And so I had to rely on my glasses. We have particularly felt for you over the last couple of years, because having covered so many, for McElroy then to go back to back on the first two that you don't attend, And it was, you know, our hearts went out to you because I think, I mean, this year was special. But I don't think, you know, last year was, it was incredible.

That's one of the greatest sporting events I've ever been. That was one of the, yeah, I agree. I think that is one of the greatest sporting events of my time, watching sport, that Masters of 2025. Talking about another item about your person, so not your glasses or your contact lenses or your binoculars, but Rashid in Kuln, or Kologne, Germany, says, Hi, TCV, off the back of you talking about John being photographed wearing his so-called shabby shoes while speaking to Thomas Tuchel, I'm wondering if any of you spotted the antithesis,

sported by Hare Chapman during the recent F.A. Cup TV coverage, I've attached photographic evidence. So this is the first time I've actually seen these shoes. They are, what, are they cherry red, or are they sort of really, rich sort of leathery brand. They're incredibly shiny. They're a sort of, they're an ankle boot. I would describe them as quite high fashion. Rashid says, I suggest all BBC Radio Five Live commentators consider an upgrade to a pair of these Bobby Daslers ahead of the World Cup this

summer. And Rashid's use of the term Bobby Dasler, I've really enjoyed there because that's something my dad would say. A wee Bobby Dasler. I love a Bobby Dasler. Very good. Well, that, I'm afraid, Rashid, is the difference between radio and television. vision. One other one very quickly on my dad and going back to Vicki's experiences in Bologna, he puts peas in his spag bowl. My dad, I grew up whenever we had spaghetti bolognais. It's controversial. It is. I was going to say, and not, and not cooked in the sauce, so they are, they are prepared separately and then sprinkled on top, these little juicy green bullets, which sort of freshen up the spag bowl. And I don't eat it like that now, but as

a child, my spag ball would have, I mean, I could have said no thank you, but. This is a very big weekend of football commentaries on Five Live. So shall we run through what we've got? And as you've mentioned already, Ali, big game for Leeds United for the 3 o'clock commentary on Saturday. Yes. So Leeds at home to Wolves after that brilliant winner, Old Trafford on Monday. And I think the general feeling is, I was speaking to a couple of Leeds fans yesterday. If we can beat wolves, you know, at home this weekend, then I think we're going to be okay.

You're going to love this one, John. I saw on the BBC Sport website this morning, the Opta supercomputer. No, don't. Don't. No, you're going to love this. You're going to love this one. It gives wolves a 100. It gives wolves a 100% chance of being relegated.

So even though mathematically they're not down yet, they might as well not turn up because the computer says it's over. 100% it's done. Last week or a couple of weeks ago, the supercomputer was giving Arsenal a 90-odd percent chance of winning the league. Now it's about 80-odd-percent chance. So what they're saying is that they were wrong.

It was wrong when it said it was a 90-odd percent chance. Now they're saying it's not a 90-odd-per-cent chance. Yeah. Doesn't that change? And what caused that? Well, who would have thought it? Results changed it. Isn't that how?

For crying out loud, it is the biggest waste of time ever. People... Look, can I just say, I'm not a fan of the supercomputer. I cannot believe we're talking about it. I hate giving it airtime and oxygen. But that's how percentages work, isn't it? Now that Arsenal have had some bad results there are now... Okay, if you...

We're leaving it. We're not talking about it. So anyway, Ali, you're at Leeds Wolves, 3 o'clock Saturday. afternoon. Also, big game for Newcastle, which is also commentary on Sports Extra, Newcastle against Bournemouth, given recent events for Newcastle United, and of course, Bournemouth, they'll be then playing for the first time since Irola announced that he's going to be leaving at the end of the season as well. So that's a big one. That's sports extra for that on BBC Sounds. That's where you'll find Sports Extra on a digital radio. Then also, Tottenham, Brighton,

5.30. Ealy Barbara and Andy Reid are going to be commentating on that. That's on 5 Live. I mean, there are some big games around this weekend. There aren't too many bigger than that, are there? No. I mean, everyone for Spurs. I mean, you know, Brightner obviously playing for their own goals this season and looking up, you know, higher up the table. But every single game for Spurs.

Obviously, we had commentary on the Sunderland game last weekend, and I managed to tune into that away in Augusta and they lost that one and second half in particular didn't create very much I mean the pressure on every single game for Spurs now because well John what would you say to not I'm not going Premier League history here I'm going you know I thought you could ask me a percentage chance there for a minute

supercomputer top flight in terms of a relegation were Spurs to go down what would be the it would be the biggest since dot dot dot what would you say on that. Probably when Manchester United were relegated in the early 70s. And I mean, Spurs have been relegated since then. Spurs were relegated in late 70s. But I think probably that Manchester United relegation from the early 70s. I think particularly at this stage of the season where as a commentator where there are so many narratives and because of where Spurs are. And of course, Deserby facing Brighton again, his former club, it just adds another little strand to that. But because Tottenham are in the position that they're in, any result, any performance,

anything that happens on that pitch is a story. And I don't know about YouTube, but I love this stage of the season. And of course, Tottenham fans, it's agonising for them. But I think our job as storytellers and as commentators to reflect the narrative, that's probably the thing that I enjoy most about commentary. At this stage of a league season, it's so different to the start where you're relying on the game itself to kind of give you that story

and give you that narrative. Right now, we've got everything set up for us and anything can happen. and anything can happen. It will be fascinating regardless of what it is. So at the same time, Vicky, as Tottenham Brighton is being played, you will be commentating in Far Away Reykjavig. I will. I will. Again, and another huge narrative.

In so many ways for England women, as I mentioned earlier, it is their 500th game in their history, which in and of itself, I think, is such a moment for those of us who love football and love women's football just to reflect on how. far the women's game has come. And I'm going to be interviewing Serena Vigman in in a couple of hours here in Reykjavik at the the match day minus one press conference. And was just going back through her story because I think everybody who's been involved in women's football has their tale, particularly those who started playing, you know, 10, 20, 30 years ago

of how women at many times have had to really fight to be able to play football. And Serena Vigman's spoken in the past that when she began playing football as a young six-year-old girl in the Netherlands, you couldn't play if you were a girl. So she pretended she was a boy. She had short hair and she just went along and nobody questioned whether she was a boy and she let everybody assume that she was. And, you know, so I think I'm fascinated to hear for her, you know, what this moment, because she now is so intertwined with England women's football history, what this moment means for her and how, you know, she reflects on on her journey and the journey of the players she's played with, the players that she now coaches. And yeah, so I think that

there is a lot of emotion around it as well. In terms of the World Cup qualifying campaign, it's huge because England beats Spain, the reigning world champions at Wembley in front of a crowd of over 60,000, which again is just another reflection of how far women's football has come. And if they can now win this game against Iceland, who they've already beaten in this qualifying campaign back in in Nottingham last month. They're three points clear currently of Spain at the top of the group. If they can win this, and we presume that Spain will beat Ukraine in their match this weekend, they're overwhelming favourites for that.

But only one team qualifies automatically for the Women's World Cup in Brazil in these qualifying groups. So either Spain, the reigning world champions or England, the reigning European champions are going to have to go through the playoffs. So they've still got to go to Spain in June, but having one at Wembley, it is so important that they get the job done against Iceland, a game in which they are big favourites. They maintain what we think will be that three-point gap,

presuming that Spain beat Ukraine, and then it all comes down to that trip to Mallorca in June. So it can be heard on Sports Extra, 5.30 Saturday, when you will have the great Rachel Brown-Finnis alongside. Is she with you in Reykjavik already? Is she keeping your eyes? She is arriving today. She is arriving today.

So, yeah, cannot wait to see her. And then on Sunday, all of the Premier League games, you will be able to hear radio commentary on various platforms. And there is Everton Liverpool at 2 o'clock on 5 Live with Mike Miney and Pat Nevin. At the same time, Aston Villa against Sunderland on Sports Extra. And Nottingham Forest against Burnley is on Sports Extra too on BBC Sounds. And then at 4.30, The Small Matter of Manchester. Manchester City against Arsenal, when Rob Green will be with me again for a second consecutive Sunday, Rob Green will be my summariser. And Manchester City Arsenal, I see that on the Wayne Rooney show, Ali, Wayne Rooney himself says,

City will have the edge psychologically. They know how to win the title and have a manager who knows how to do it. They will be able to stay a little calmer than the Arsenal player. says Wyn Rooney. Yeah. Well, they've obviously won the title plenty of times in recent years and Arsenal keep coming runners up, don't they?

And Manchester City won the League Cup final as well. I mean, Chris Sutton on the FPL podcast from BBC Sport says it's going to be nil-nill. But even that, John, if it was nil-nill-nill, will bring its own tension and drama. Have you started your notes, John, in terms of what, is anything,

is there anything particularly your... Obviously, you know the players inside out and the stories inside out, but anything in particular that has caught your attention? I have reached this stage, Ali, if you can see that. That's a blank piece of paper, John. Yeah, I've got all my... I've got my grid drawn up with all of the places for the place to go in. But as we speak now, I've still got two days to prepare for that. Yes, you do, yeah.

Can I throw a stat in? And I need to clear this with John first, because it's not the opta supercomputer, but it is opta. Are we allowed to use just general opta stats as long as it's not the supercomputer? Supercomputer generating a percentage. It depends if this is a Premier League only start. Proceed with caution, Mickey. It's a Guardiola Arteta start that I thought was quite interesting. I'll tell you what, I'll throw it out there.

The statistics show, according to Opta, not the supercomputer, that April is Guardiola's most fruitful month and Arteta's worst. A 44% win percentage for Arteta in April. And I think it's interesting, isn't it? Because of course we know that Arsenal have capitulated in these sort of and so much is made of mentality. But actually to see it backed up in terms of actually when that happens, it's just the worst timing, isn't it, for Arsenal?

And I think those mentality questions, they are never going to get away from it until they finally see it out. But I love your opinion on this, John and Ali. How brave are Arsenal going to be in terms of getting the result and what result do they feel they're going to need to get going into this game? Well, the John Murray computer can tell you that, up to the point where they lost to Manchester United in January. So, you know, they'd lost only three matches all season at that point.

Lost to Liverpool away back in August. They won the next match, 3-0 against Nottingham Forest. Next defeat was against Aston Villa. Two-one away. Next match, after that, they won 3-0 away against Club Bruges. Their next defeat was at home to Manchester United. The next match, they won against Kairat and the Champions League. So they bounced immediately back with good wins

after those first three defeats. And up until the Carabou Cup final, those were their only defeats. So it's after that defeat, and we'd asked on the day, will that have a psychological effect? It's after that that they have really faltered and stumbled. But they've also had the injuries

that they have to cope with. And as we speak now, we don't know how many of those injured players are going to be available for Sunday. And that's significant. I think that Jury and Timber has been a huge miss at right back. Is he going to be fit? Is Saka going to be fit?

Is Saka going to be back to somewhere near his best? Odigard as well is another one. Califiori's also been out. And of course, any team that wherever you play has to cope with injuries. And the thing I would say, and it is true, and I've seen that, about the way that R. Teta's Arsenal has fallen off in the last three seasons. You know, that is a fact. that is there, we know that.

But this is the biggest and deepest squad that Arsenal have had. And that's the question now for Arsenal is, are you capable now, after the little run that they've had, are they capable of coming again? That's the question. And there's different ways of showing that bravery, isn't there, Vicky?

Because unless Mikhail Artetta really surprises us, I mean, I think people would associate that with let's get on the front foot and take it to Manchester City, there's no chance. I don't think that Arsenal will do that because the draw suits them better than Manchester City and actually almost being the underdogs in the game

even though they're top of the table given recent form and they're away from home kind of suits them in a way and their main strength this season has been their defensive solidity. So I think we're going to see from Arsenal what we've seen in a lot of the big games under Mikhail Arteta is the more cautious approach and trying to strike on the break.

Manchester City have got to come out Arsenal, which could offer opportunities. Can they take those opportunities? Can Ezer deliver something special? Can Yoccarez do something special in a big game? Or Madaweke if Saka doesn't start? I think that might be the question. I can see it ending a draw, I think.

Maybe a nil, nil, or a 1-1, but, you know, we'll see. And the other thing as well is, I'm interested to see what the city approach is. They've had the week off. Pep Guardiola said at Stanford Bridge last Sunday, he said it over and over again. got the week off. We've got the whole week to prepare. I'll be sitting back while Arsenal are playing in the Champions League. Will they feel that right from the outset, this is a point where they try and unleash hell on Arsenal and get this game one and try and really capitalize on what might be some Arsenal vulnerabilities. It's,

I can't wait for it. So anyway, five, five live, fourth. Sunday afternoon is the place to listen to it with us on the radio. Five light sports. So here's the first ball of this series. All the cricket you laugh. Shave Ralebi-Darby. H lives on BBC sounds. Smash straight back down the ground.

This girl. Here ball by ball coverage of the biggest competitions on the domestic and international circuits. It's a fourth cricket and it's the huge one. Ateachie. Walsh. Shuttle down. Sorry, me. Cricket.

On five. Have sport. Oh, I've living every ball of this. Listen on BBC Sounds. The commentators view on the Football Daily. Listen on BBC Sounds. Unintended pub names. We've got a couple of unintended pub names from sports commentary.

Last time we had the Leaping Bassie and it's Shirley Bassie Karaoke Nights. We also had the horrible little fly that bothered Paul Robinson and Ian Dennis during a commentary. We've got a great film name coming up. But let's first have this unintended pub name from Peter in Stark's Borough, Vermont in the United States. While watching Arsenal lose to Bournemouth, the commentator Peter Drury described as the match was winding down how the Emirates was, and I now quote, bathed in sunshine and pain. Indeed, sunshine and pain would be a dandy name for a pub, providing both kinds of emotional nourishment, depending on a customer's mood. Dandy name. Yeah, I like it.

The Sunshine and Pain. Yeah. It'd get shortened though, wouldn't it? Locals would just say, I'm off down the sunshine. They wouldn't use the full title, would they? Well, the sun and pain. Yeah, that's true.

Yeah. Now then, this one is quite a lengthy read. It's beautifully written, so I will endeavour to do my very best with this. This is from History Mike in Sydney. He says, Hello, TCV. After listening to the Champions League debrief podcast

on the Football Daily, I was inspired by Ian Dennis's report to write a script summary for an unintended film. That penalty was not awarded, but before that, Gravenberg had had a rising whistling drive off target. The rising whistling drive would feature John Murray and Ian Dennis driving back to London after commentating on Liverpool's loss to PSG

when they diverted from the motorway to a quiet country road. Strangely, the road is straight and rises slightly with each passing mile. After about 10 minutes and a passionate discussion about the rules of clash of the commentate, both spy a ghostly figure standing in the middle of the road. Unsettlingly, the figure suggests the shape of Alistair Bruce Ball. John jumps on the break and beckons Ian to investigate. Suppressing his fear, Ian emerges from the car and takes a few hesitant steps towards the ghostly Bruce Ball.

As he moves closer, all he can hear is a whistled version of Una Paloma Blanca. but in the minor key Ian is transfixed by the song and loses all sense of reality John sensing something is wrong quickly exits and brings Ian back to the relative safety of the car John hits the accelerator, manoeuvres around Bruce Ball and speeds down the road

but Bruce Ball rises into the air and pursues the car with menacing intent Ian who by now has regained his senses says there is only one person we can call John gives a knowing smile and replies, Yes, Hare Chapman and his supersonic helicopter. Ian makes the call,

and Hare Chapman, who always tracks his colleagues by their phone signal, is soon in the air and approaching the car. He sees the ghostly Bruce Ball pursuing the car and expertly lands upon him, trapping Bruce Ball beneath the struts. Ian and John abandoned the car and scramble into the helicopter

as they fly to safety, Hare Chapman quips, I told you that song would bring you doom. That is out there, Mike. Thank you, History, Mike, for your imagination, your flight of fancy. Yes. So if you spot an unintended pub or film name in any sports commentary, doesn't have to be any sports commentary, do let us know, tcb at BBC.co.ukuk. WhatsApp to 08,289369.

And further correspondence here from Mike in Salt Lake City. Very much enjoyed Denno's commentary at Brentford versus Everton and thought he opened up a whole new fertile seam of wordplay around nicknames for football clubs. I loved his Brentford risking coming unstuck at the hands of the toffies. Is this something we could develop? Could, for example, we say that the gunners have been pipped by the cherries? Thanks very much. Mike sounds like he's actually walking on the salt flats there, didn't he?

Yeah. A crunch underfoot. Sweeping up leaves, yeah. Stung by the bees or stung by the hornets is definitely one of those, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. I think I did one the other day. Brighton were at Sunderlands. Oh, do you know what it was?

There was actually a real seagull in the flesh or the feathers. Swooping around the stadium of light just as Brighton were preparing to take a corner. And I think I can't remember what I said. And it's always that in your mind you're like, is this straying into Alan Partridge territory or not? But something about the seagull swooping around. the stadium of light and the seagulls will look to pounce from this corner and then i think they did actually score from that corner so it made it into the edit and at that point you're like well it's gone now let's hope it uh let's hope i actually find it funny when i watch it back as it sounded in my head

at the time when i was saying it i think we might have strayed into allan partridge territory with history mike actually um but also producer nathan has suggested mauled by the tigers is a popular one in the championship with whole city which is a very good one uh and we did get this from robert Cowan on match of the day. Tiago slots it home. The perfect start. The bees applying an

early sting in this matchup for Europe. That's exactly what I was saying. Great sound effects there of the ball hitting the net, by the way. That's a real match of it. That's a real TV sound effect, isn't it? Yeah. So anyway, unintended tub names, always welcome.

We've got the glossary to come. But first, Clash of the Commentator. Yes, here we go. Clash of the commentators. Here is how it works. Two of us take turns to answer a question and give as many correct answers as we can in 30 seconds. Now last week, Mike Miney beat Connor McNamara in an exhibition match. But this week, we are going to make a long-awaited return to league action. It is John versus Ali. John is on a two-match winning streak, which has lifted him off the bottom. of the table. So who wants to go first? By the way, I must mention at this juncture, Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian, you will both know. Jacob tells me that he listens to the commentator's view with his seven-year-old son, Raziel, and I say seven, because he has turned seven this week, and Raziel enjoys Clash of the Commentators. So a specific dedication to Riziel. Happy birthday, Rezeal.

So who's going first? Yeah, who's up, John? Who's up? Well, how's the chat like going? Do you want to go first or second? Okay, I'll go first. Yeah, I'll go first. Yes, please.

Thank you. Okay, so John is going to disconnect. Headphones are off. So we are ready to go. So here we go, Ali. After beating Rail Madrid to reach the Champions League semifinals, Bayern manager Vincent Company said this in his post-match press conference. Where does this sit in terms of nights?

in your managerial career. I remember we beat Blackburn twice in Burnley. For nobody in this room, you will actually want to compare it with the game today. But it was amazing. It was like something I was like, I've experienced so much as a player, and this was incredible.

Vince and Company comparing beating Real Madrid in the Champions League to beating Blackburn in the championship. So this one will test you. I want you to name any player to feature in the Burnley Blackburn Games in the 22-23 season when Vincent Company's Burnley did the double over their Lancashire rivals. Blackburn, Burnley players from the East Lancashire Derbys 22-23.

Ali, your time starts now. I mean, that is a shocker. James Trafford maybe in goal. was Murritch and goal, Ari Murich, Ashley Barnes, Dar O'Shea. Can't think of the Blackburn players. Who else is in that Burnley team that came up under Company? Playmakers in that team. I'm not going to get anywhere here.

No. Honestly, my mind is complete. On jet lag, I've got no chance with that one. No chance. I've got to say that is a stinker of a question. So that is Ali's efforts, John. headphones back on the jack is plugged in

John Iceland's to John Murray can hear us yes I can hear you and actually I was just looking at the top of the leader board or the leader board and I was thinking this is quite an important one because if I win this

and then also win the appeal to the court of arbitration for sport that would take me to that would actually take me to eight and Ian back to nine So this is actually pivotal in this season's clash of the commentator, pending the outcome. As we said when it comes to this stage of the campaign, the storylines, the narratives.

I wonder, you know, is this too meta to have commentary on the clash of the commentators? Maybe that's something we should look into. Okay, so, John, are you ready? I am ready. John, we're going to hear something that Vincent Company said after his buy-inside knocked Rail Madrid out of the Champions League this week. Where does this sit in terms of nights in your managerial career? I remember we beat Blackburn twice in Burnley. For nobody in this room, you will actually want to compare it with the game today.

It was amazing. It was like something I was like, I've experienced so much as a player, and this was incredible. So there we go. Beating Real Madrid in the Champions League is up there with beating Blackburn in the championship for Vincent Company. So, John, I want you to name any play. to feature in the Burnley Blackburn games in the 2022-23 season when Vincent Company's Burnley did the double over their Lancashire rivals. Blackburn, Burnley players, and your face is just the same as Ali's was when I read it. Blackburn Burnley players from the East Lancashire

Derby's 22, 23. Your time starts now. Cricy. Is that James Trafford's time? Or is he not there at the time? Anyway, James Trafford, Esteve, who had been in midfield. Oh, cricky. I'm really going to struggle with this. Cullen. Oh, God. What about Blackburn? Berwick Diaz, 22, 23.

Oh, God. I'm not going to lie, John. That was pretty similar. to Ali's reaction and agony. How do we feel we did? How confident are we feeling? Badly. Yeah, terribly.

Well, I can reveal that in this crucial game, as John has rightly said at this stage of the season, it's a draw. Two, two. You both... A low-scoring thriller.

Yeah. A low-scoring thriller. So, Ali, you're... Interestingly, you both started with, James Trafford who is actually incorrect but Ali you then got Murritch yeah and Barnes was the other one for you and John a late equalizer with Brereton Diaz pulled that one out of the bag and Cullen was the other

correct one that you got that's tough though I mean I was trying to think of the Burnley team that came up and then you know must have commented on them but yeah but then I was thinking they changed everyone didn't they they changed that's right the whole team yeah that is difficult Anyway, what happens now? Do we both get a point? Well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you, John, what happens now is that we have our hastily added to our document,

tiebreaker, our mics at the ready, our headphones on, our headphone jacks plugged in. First one, to shout out the correct answer to this tiebreaker wins. Who was the Blackburn manager for those derbyes? Johnny Morbrey. Oh, that's a good shout. Incorrect. No. Oh, Paul Lambert?

No. No. Incorrect. 223. Blackburn manager, Blackburn manager. Oh, no. Oh,

John Eustace. John Dahl Thomason. Yes. The win goes to Ali Bruce Ball. That was terrible. That's a win where you feel slightly dirty afterwards, John. I don't feel good about that. Well, do you know what?

Taking it back to the Arsenal, Sporting Lisbon conversation. Sometimes, Ali, at this stage of the season, when you're jet lagged, and it's the big buildup to the end of the campaign. you've just got to find a way to win, and that's exactly what you've done

with the 95th minute extra time header at the file post. Just as early you didn't ask us who is in goal for Blackburn. Thomas Kaminsky. Do you know, the one that I did think before I saw this list, it might be because I am in Iceland

for Burnley. Johann Berg Goodmanson. I've done quite a lot of Burnley over the year, so it's thinking of the ones that have been there for a while. So Jay Rodriguez, Connor Roberts, Jack Cork, as well, Josh Brownhill.

Brownhill, yeah. Yeah, Charlie Taylor. Ian Mattson as well was there at the time. And then Blackburn, as you said, John, you've got Thomas Kaminsky, Lewis Travis, Bradley Dack, John Buckley, Tyler Morton, Sam Gallagher, Amelie Pears, Hayden Carter, Adam Wharton. Sammy Smoddick's. Yeah, so.

Nip switches, Sammy Smodder. Anyway, but I think that is one of the toughest assignments that we've had all season. I would say. And I would say it. Let's move on from that one and consign it to history. Before we do the glossary, Rees in East London writes in. First, I wanted to say,

thank you so much for reading out my unintended pub name two episodes ago. The pod went out the day before my birthday, and I still don't think I've stopped smiling. I was even more delighted when one episode later, a fellow Reese from London, a different one, left a voice message. I chuckled as my imagination pictured an entire football league's worth of Reese

wandering around London listening to TCV. It got me wondering what commentators do when two players have genuinely identical names in sport, both first and last name. And what is the etiquette for that? Is it something you've ever experienced in your career from Reese in East London? Strangely enough,

last week in Lisbon, when I was commentating on Rui Silver, I did say during the commentary, I feel like I've commented on 25 different Rui Silvers over the years. And it's that thing with Portuguese names and Spanish names. And sometimes I think Barcelona and Real Madrid are teams that churn out players with very similar names. And you think, have I seen him before or not?

And of course, I commentated on Louis Suarez as well, the sporting Louis Suarez. That's it, isn't it? You get to a squad and without looking at the details, you see your name. And you think that can't be the Fabino from Liverpool. That must be another Fabino. And then it does turn out to be another. I'm looking at my wolf's notes for the weekend. This is slightly different because they've all got different first names,

but they've got Juel Gomez, Rodrigo Gomez, Totti Gomez, and then signed Angel Gomez as well. So you have to use the first name every single time with a Gomez. But they've also got the Buenosinos as well. They've got the Bueno brothers. Yeah, well, they're not brothers. So I've had a couple. There are two Sam Kerr's in women's football.

There is the Sam Kerr who plays for Chelsea, the Australia captain, the leading scorer. and then Samka, the Scottish midfielder as well. So sometimes you have to be very careful about making sure you're being clear about which one you're commentating on. But also, I think the most challenging one I've had is I have actually come across identical twins, Sarah and Karen Holngarde. And of course, we've had this in the past as well, haven't we at Manchester United with Fabio and Raphael as well. But when you're commentating on identical twins,

just getting that in your head, even though the names are different, the fact that obviously they look exactly the same is rather challenging as a commentator. I remember one of those young Manchester United twins married very young to a woman called Barbara. For some reason, that stuck in my mind. Let us move on to the great glossary of football commentary

before we go. This is where we add commentary terms and phrases to our collection. And you can find our entire grocery in the episode description on BBC Sounds. So we put football exclusive terms into Division 1, and for terms used in football commentary, but also used in other sports,

they go into Division 2. Last week, we did not put anything new into Division 1, but we did put Pile Driver on the beach and sent into Raptures all into Division 2. However, Joe in Seattle says, I must quibble with demoting the term pile driver. Yes, it is used in professional wrestling, but that is not a sport, says Joe. It is theatre, good theatre, but not a sport, says Joe.

Therefore, I request a re-promotion for Pile Driver. We can't allow terms to be demoted because they are found in a theatre production, can we? also we've already suffered the injustices to John Murray in Clash of the Commentators. Well said, Joe. So let's adjust this error to Pile Driver. And Ben, who's a villa supporter, John, gets in touch on a similar theme and says a pile driver is not a permissible move in the sport of Olympic wrestling and is not used in the commentary for those sports.

So obviously that distinction between Olympic wrestling and the W.WE. WWF, as we knew it before, Pile Driver is permissible in the entertainment that is WWE, says Ben. As such, pile driver should correctly be placed in Division 1, not Division 2. I rest my case, says Ben. So, I mean, that is a topsy-turvy ride for Pile Driver, isn't it? It is. I think we should wait for further correspondence on that. Okay.

See, I would agree. I think the case is strong. Yeah, I think the case is strong. But I'm happy to be outvoted. Can a boxer hit you with a Pile driver? Pile driver, yeah. I would have said, yes. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. That's a... Okay. More deliberations required. More deliberate... For the moment, it's got an asterisk against its entry, I would say. We also left Needing Snookers for a listener verdict.

Ash says, love the show. Needing Snookers is surely when your destiny is out of your own hands. For example, you rely on another team losing to escape relegation. Chris from Brentford says Surely wolves are the perfect example of a team needing snookers Not according to opta they're not They're not yet relegated

And there are points still available So has Ash got it right there Is it div 1 or div 2 Well the suggestion is that it should be In Division 1 isn't it Well it can't be can it Because if we're using it in football and snooker Yeah so it's a div 2 isn't it

Yeah I love it though I love needing snookers Because people understand exactly what you mean well not everyone does but most people will I was just going to say as someone who's not the biggest new I don't know if I could wangle that into a football commentary but maybe that's maybe that's just me this from paddy in Indonesia these are new suggestions

a term which we added a long time ago but haven't yet sorted into either division one or division two I think it's fair to say that illiman and jai's goal versus Chelsea was postage stamp stuff This was said by Sky Sports commentator Seb Hutchinson at the time. This refers to when the ball is perfectly placed into the top right-hand corner with the goalkeeper having absolutely no chance of saving it. Also, John, I'd highly recommend visiting Bali because you'll see lots of palm trees. I bet a better word.

What a good suggestion that is. I saw lots of palm trees in Lisbon actually. The top right thing. interesting, isn't it? Because stamp on a letter goes top right. So are we now drawing distinction between a goal that goes in the top left? Can't be postage stamp. No, exactly. Is that division

one? Postage stamp? Probably is, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. This applies well to Manchester City and Arsenal, and it's from Millwall fan Terry in Bromley. I have a suggestion for the Great Glossary, which I believe would be a solid Division 2 entry, as I'm sure it's likely to be used

in other sports. Points are on the board. It's a term that increases in relevance and use at this stage of the season. It does, of course, also reignite the age-old debate as to whether it's better to have points on the board as opposed to games in hand. Thank you very much. Terry, yes, I think Division 2 for that, isn't it? Yeah, I like that. Yeah, that's very much a cricket one for me. I know points and runs are different things, but it's that thing, isn't it, about being in that position, runs on the board, sets the pressure. So I think, yeah, I think Div 2, John. and do the next one.

Yeah, how about this from James in Taunton? Hi, TCV team. I was surprised that no new entry to Division I was made in the last podcast, but fun enough whilst listening, how the brainwave? Please can I suggest the phrase, taking it to the corner flag, be added to Division I. Perhaps seeing the 18 August of Masters gold flags in spite of this idea.

I know it's quite a literal thing to say, taking it to the corner flag, but for those who are listening to the commentary, this phrase pretty much sums up how one team are clearly trying to protect their lead you can almost guess what the score is from hearing that one player is

taking it to the corner flag I think I said that myself this week about Arsenal that's probably Division 1 isn't it Vicky? Yeah well the only thing I would say and he touches on it there it is quite literal so would you ever use that as a phrase unless they were actually taking it to the corner flag

so is it more descriptive rather than it is fitting for a glove Would you say? Okay. Yeah, I think so. And we've got one more from Chester Fan Dan. I've only recently discovered your podcast. I've been catching up from the start and I've loved it all. Obviously apart from the two outrages, not cantonar gate from last season and then the travesty of eat munch consume gate this season. Anyway, I love the glossary you've been building.

It was great to hear leaping like a salmon this weekend in the Sunderland game and then amid chips in the Chelsea game. I felt moved to some submit a voice note thingy to suggest a phrase that I've only ever heard in football commentary. The phrase is, we were right behind that. I love this phrase because it makes the listener feel they're right at the ground. This is the beauty of radio commentary, I think. You can really picture the ball going from somewhere out wide up to where the owl sleeps. Keep up the great work and thanks very much.

Well, thank you, Dan, for catching up. And I think already on this particular episode, we have, demonstrated that right behind it, Ali, because you said that about Rory McElroy's That's the perfect bookend to the podcast. Perfect bookend to the podcast. And Phil our engineer has been sitting there patiently in Reykjavik. I must include this at the end of the glossary. Now this is not looking for terms to go into Division 1 and Division 2, but Phil is a supremely talented linguist and loves all things to do with language. And I think his interest has been perked by being over in Iceland. So he sent me a message and he says it seems to

the Icelandic language has changed little in a thousand years. In fact, they actively discourage the adoption of new words. They just combine words that already exist and then bolt them together to form compounds or they recycle old words that have fallen out of use and they repurpose them. So in Iceland, an idea is a mind picture. Psychology is soul study. The telephone is the long thread. So we'll be joining you on the long thread. But Phil's favourite, he says, and I absolutely love this,

a computer, possibly the opta supercomputer, John, is known in Iceland as a number prophetess. That is excellent. Well done, Phil. And Vicky,

I expect to hear some of those in the commentary on Sports Extra from Reconvick. I will do my very best. So let us summarise. Oh, one more. I must mention.

I hear this very, every day at the moment and it needs to go into the glossary the champagne is on ice all the time and it is got a it's a division two it's a division two but that desperately needs to go into the glossary so summary for the glossary this week we have pile driver which we are leaving in division two for the time being asterisk needing snookers division two points on the board, division two. We were right behind that, division two, champagne on ice is going into division two, postage stamp division one, and taking it to the corner flag, division one. Hooray! And that is it for this episode of the Football Daily. Do keep the unintended pub names

and glossary suggestions coming in, TCV at BBC.co.uk. Or you can send us a message or voice note on WhatsApp to 08,000 289-389-369. Tell a member of the family, a friend about the commentator's view who might not listen. I was in the library this week and a volunteer in there was telling me that he listens to our commentaries with his 13-year-old grandson. So well done to him. And remember, you can find each and every episode of the commentator's view by scrolling down your football daily feed. We've got the same pen.

Isn't that fascinating? Now, is that, have you got a yellowy bick or an old school? Orangey? Yeah. I've got three oranges and one. Didn't mention Trin Cow's mustache. I meant to mention that. Oh, yeah. Moustache.

I'm Rich Hall, and this is Sports Strangest Crimes presents Confessions of a Super Bowl streaker. When people ask me what I do, I say to them, well, by day or by night. The story of one man's mission to conquer the holy grail of streaking the Super Bowl. Mark Roberts is too largely for his body. He's just like the entertainer. Mark pushes the boundaries of what is socially acceptable. No chance.

Texas. It's really strict, but then the moral thoughts about it. No, I thought, I'm not. What are you about? Sports Strangers Crimes presents Confessions of a Super Bowl streaker. Listen on BBC Sounds. Thank you.