Football Daily - The Commentators' View: Mighty Maguire & Trubin’s triumph

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

John Murray, Ian Dennis & Ali Bruce-Ball talk football, travel & language. They reflect on a dramatic finish to the Champions League league phase and discuss ideas for changing the format. Plus unintended pub and film names returns, as does Clash of the Commentators along with the Great Glossary of Football Commentary. Suggestions welcome on WhatsApp voicenotes to 08000 289 369 & emails to [e-mail]02:00 John’s fall from grace 06:50 5 Live commentaries coming up 12:50 Champions League reflections 17:45 Does the format need changing? 21:00 Unintended pub and film names 31:50 Harry Maguire for England? 35:45 Clash of the Commentators 47:15 Great Glossary of Football Commentary5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Sat 1500 Leeds v Arsenal, Sat 1500 Brighton v Everton on Sports Extram Sat 1730 Chelsea v West Ham, Sun 1400 Man Utd v Fulham , Sun 1400 Aston Villa v Brentford on Sports Extra, Sun 1400 Forest v Palace on Sports Extra 2, Sun 1630 Tottenham v Man City.Great Glossary of Football Commentary: DIVISION ONE Agricultural challenge, Back to square one, Bosman, Bullet header, 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, Rabona, Roy of the Rovers stuff, Schmeichel-style, Scorpion kick, Spursy, Target man, Tiki-taka, Towering header, Trivela, Where the kookaburra sleeps, Where the owl sleeps, Where the spiders sleep.DIVISION TWO 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 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, First cab off the rank, Giant-killing, Good leave, Half-turn, Has that in his locker, High wide and not very handsome, Hospital pass, Howler, In the dugout, In their pocket, Johnny on the spot, Leading the line, Needed no second invitation, Nice headache to have, Nutmeg, On their bike, One for the cameras, One for the purists, Played us off the park, Points to the spot, Prawn sandwich brigade, Purple patch, Put their laces through it, Reaches for their pocket, Rolls Royce, Root and branch review, Row Z, Screamer, Seats on the plane, Show across the bows, Slide-rule pass, Steal a march, 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.UNSORTED 2-0 is a dangerous score, After you Claude, All-Premier League affair, Aplomb, Bag/box of tricks, Brace, Brandished, Bread and butter, Breaking the deadlock, Bundled over the line, Champions elect / champions apparent, Clinical finish, Commentator’s curse, Coupon buster, Denied by the woodwork, Draught excluder, Elimination line, Fellow countryman, Foot race, Formerly of this parish, Free hit, Goalkeepers’ Union, Goalmouth scramble, Good touch for a big man, Honeymoon Period, In and around, In the shop window, Keeping ball under their spell, Keystone Cops defending, Languishing, Loitering with intent, Marching orders, Nestle in the bottom corner, Numbered derbies, Opposite number, PK for penalty-kick, Postage stamp, Put it in the mixer, Rasping shot, Red wine not white wine, Relegation six-pointer, Rooted at the bottom, Route One, Sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, Shooting boots, Sleeping giants, Slide rule pass, Small matter of, Spiders web, Stayed hit, Steepling, Stinging the palms, Stonewall penalty, Straight off the training ground, Taking one for the team, Team that likes to play football, Throw their cap on it, Thruppenny bit head / 50p head, Two good feet, Turning into a basketball match, Turning into a cricket score, Usher/Shepherd the ball out of play, Walking a disciplinary tightrope, Wand of a left foot, Wrap foot around it, Your De Bruynes, your Gundogans etc.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. To embrace the impossible requires a vehicle that pushes what's possible. Defender 110 boasts a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms, a weighting depth of 900 millimeters and a roof load up to 300 kilograms. Learn more at landrover.ca. The commentators view on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis. Hello, welcome to the Football Daily. I'm John Murray, and this is the commentator's view,

where we five live commentators discuss the football, our travels, and the language of football commentary. And we have a full house today. Ian Dennis and Alistair Bruce Ball are both here. And how good was it to have Jonathan Pierce on last week, Ian? Have you listened to it, Ali? Did you listen back to it? Yes, I listened back last night.

So that was the first sort of little window I found. I thought, A, that would be a good thing to do before I come on today, having missed an episode just in case, you know, my name might have been taken in vain, who knows? Not that I'm always thinking about myself, of course, but I just thought, B, I would also love to listen to it because I always think whenever you walk into a press room and you see Jonathan Pierce sitting there doing the same game as you, so if he's there's there for match of the day and you turn up to do five live, there's always a smile, there's always a story, there's always a joke. he always puts me in a great mood and actually just I mean there's this you know you could do a whole season of podcasts with with JP and his stories about football commentary but one thing I would say having listened to it last night as well it just reminded me what you know ever since I started I remember first you know first meeting Jonathan Pierce and it's you know always been so generous with his with his time with his feedback with his help with his he's just been a fantastic colleague and it was it was brilliant to hear him on the pod and also really lovely to hear how much he enjoys the the golf coverage on the radio as well. He clearly absolutely loves that. So that was nice to hear too. I think we only actually scratched the surface with him.

As you say, Ali, he's probably got so many stories. Some that probably aren't suitable for a podcast. But, no, it was great to have him. But, John, his presence actually meant that I forgot to bring up a subject with you last week. Because what you didn't tell us, John, is that you actually had a fall in the Arctic circle. Well, I did tell you that the pavements and the roads of Buddha were lethal.

The ice, the packed ice. And of course, when it came to nighttime, the frost would come down again. It would get even slippier. So we were very, very careful as we were walking around Buda. But post-match, we had to go around to the other side of the stadium. So where the commentary position

was in one stand, the intervie. The interviews and the press conference area was right on the opposite side of the stand. So after the match finished, our producer Gary Flintoff went off round and I was going to follow him later once we'd finished our commitments on Five Lives. So I set off around there on my own walking in the sort of semi-darkness around the stadium. And after the whole, I thought Gary, at some point I thought Gary or Robbauer engineer I thought they were nailed uncertainties to go flying

and I was quite comfortable I kept my balance quite well and anyway because I did need to step on a little bit to get around to Pep Guardiola's press conference I was walking around there were all these Norwegian fans coming the other way towards me and I just just put my foot on

a particularly slippy piece of ice and just went whoop and down I went straight down, causing great mirth for the Buddha fans who'd already had a great night and then had the extra added bonus of seeing me go head over heels outside the stadium. But yes, there were no ill effect you'll be delighted to hear.

I wish I'd seen that. I was able to get straight back up onto my feet. So, but hang on, John, how was that discovered then? Did any of your colleagues see that? No. No. Thankfully, they didn't. I told them that.

I confess that I had actually had a little slip. That happened to me once in Minsk, in Belarus, on my first ever trip with the cycling team. So it was my first ever cycling gig and to commentate in the Velodrome in Minsk. And again, it was winter. And in front of all these people, I was working with Rob Hales,

who used to do the cycling with us on Five Live, alongside Simon Brotherton before me, and all the TV team as well. You know you sort of want to make a good impression. And the first night we went out, So we'd all work together. Coming down a hill, I did exactly that. And not only did the, I mean, the sound effect you just did there, John, was absolutely perfect,

but properly whacked my head on the pavement behind me. So there was quite a lot of concern. It was just hugely embarrassing having to pick myself up in front of all these people. I'd never really work with all met before. I was actually carrying my bag, which, as you know, is quite heavy. So I think that helped to anchor me. And that meant I went straight down. So there was no danger of bang my head.

But as we said at the time, you know, the number of matches in the UK that are called off because the area around the ground is dangerous for the supporters. Honestly, if they did that in Bura, they'd never play. Absolutely. That match would not have been on in the UK, I'm telling you, for that reason. Anyway, that was two weeks ago. And obviously, Jonathan was on last week,

and we've had lots of great feedback. I'm sure Ian Yulov had the same thing as well. People who really enjoyed that. So if you want to listen to that, and you haven't heard it, it's still on the football daily. And one other thing, because of various things, we've got an absolute mountain of emails and such like that we've not answered. So we are going to, in February, do a question and answer special.

And we're going to try and get through as many of those as we can. So if you have anything that you want us to talk about or to ask us about the life of football commentators, then do that on TCV at BBC.co.uk on the emails, or you can send us a voice note on 08,289-389-369. And we will have more of those a little bit later on. We've also got some interesting correspondence about Clash of the commentators, haven't we?

that you know there's been a tidal wave of support for me after the controversial clash of the commentators a couple of weeks ago. So all that is to come. And I can tell you two as well, we've got a very good, because I know there was some unrest about the question last time we did clash of the commentators.

This week's question, people will enjoy it. It is a classic of its type, and it's going to be you too, isn't it? Anyway, let me just run through the Five Life commentaries that are coming up over the course of the coming week. Excellent one, Ian, for you, for a Saturday, 3 o'clock. I'm not sure how this has ended up not being on live television, but it is Leads Against Arsenal, 3 o'clock, you and Paul Robinson.

I know. I'm actually really, really looking forward to it because obviously it affects both ends of the table, but the atmosphere as well will just be electric inside Ellen Road. So yeah, Paul Robinson, usual goal service, lead United Arsenal from three. Yeah, and I obviously saw them lose against Manchester United last week. And I thought Mikhail Artetta was very interesting because I interviewed him after the match. And I thought, what is he going to be like here? And I thought he really showed managerial leadership in the way that he came out and what he said after that.

It was very much a strong don't panic message. So I think to see how they react to my way. is going to be fascinating. Obviously, they had the game in midweek where they made all the changes. Yeah, he was able to rest in under key players, wasn't he, Rice, riring goal, Sacker.

So they will be refreshed and rejuvenated, but they'll need to be because, as you know, that can be a real bear pit. Yeah. So if you're listening to this, ahead of that, give Ian a listen with Paul Robinson 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon.

At the same time, we're also offering commentary on Brighton-Everton, which is on Sports Extra. I'm going to be, I've got a London double this weekend. Chelsea West Ham at 5.30 on the Saturday. Pat Nevin's with me for that. And on Sunday at 4.30, I'm going to be at Tottenham, Manchester City, with Clinton Morrison. Ali, you are going to be involved in a Bruce double.

Yes. I mean, Chris Sutton would have a field day with this because he obviously calls me Bruce, and I'm working alongside Steve Bruce for the first time ever. I've never commentated with Steve before. so I am doing Manchester United Fullham at Old Trafford with Steve Bruce, which also, John, just on the other side of the game you commented on last weekend with Manchester United, well, following up the Derby win with some fantastic goals, great performance against Arsenal.

I think this one now is really interesting because this is a game where, you know, the expectations are up again. And it doesn't take much, does it at Manchester United? We've seen it so many times over the last decade. A couple of performances right there back. Everything's great. And Fulham will be awkward. You know, Fulham will be awkward with a very informed Harry Wilson

amongst others in there. So I'm really looking forward to seeing how Manchester United go about it. And whether, you know, if they can suddenly make it three wins in a row and play in a similar style, yeah. Let's see how they respond. We're going to see how Arstall respond. Let's see how Manchester United respond as well, actually. Yeah.

And Steve Bruce, with everything that he's done in the game, all of that. I think he has taken charge of over 1,000 matches, hasn't he, Steve Bruce? Yes, he has, yeah, I think he has. All of that experience, you know, he's just got such a wealth of knowledge of the game. So, yeah, so that is Alley with Steve on Sunday 2 o'clock.

We've got quite a rich offering on Sunday as well because at that time, Aston Villa Brentford kicks off. So that's on Sports Extra. Also, Nottingham Forest Crystal Palace on Sports Extra too. You can listen to commentary of that there. And looking a little further ahead, and next midweek, Tuesday night, Wednesday night,

the second leg of the League Cup semifinals, where, you know, the heavy money is on it to be an Arsenal, Manchester City final. But I don't know about you, I just feel the way that Chelsea got that result in Italy this week against Napoli. And the fact that Newcastle performed as they did

when I was in Paris this week, I think gives them both a little bit of a hope. And also, you know, David Pleat will tell you that this is rather quirky rather than anything, you know, the statistics, but history is against both because Newcastle, from memory, haven't won any 11 visits to the Etihad. They haven't scored in their last seven. Law of average trips there, yeah.

But if you look, there have been 32 defeats at home in the first leg, in the history of the League Cup, and of those 32, only two have come from behind. to win away in the second leg and the last was Arsenal at Tottenham in the late 1980s. So history is against both Chelsea and Newcastle United. However, as you say, law of averages and records are there to be broken. Yes, mathematicians would say that that possibly increases the chances of it actually happening. The longer a run like that goes on. If Arsenal get through that semi-final, get through to the League Cup final, is that the

first time we're going to hear talk of a potential quadruple. Well, what time does that properly surface? Is it once a team is into the final, still in all other competitions, top of the Premier League, qualified top of the Champions League table as well? Well, we were talking this week about the possibility of Arsenal and Manchester City playing each other in the League Cup final. They've still got to play each other in the Premier League. They could yet play each other in the Champions League.

and they could yet play each other in the FA Cup final. Yeah. So chances of that happening, Ian, with your knowledge of odds, slim. Thank you. Thank you very much for that expert analysis. But just talking odds and numbers and permutations and everything, John, how was your, well, both of you? Because you were both on duty football-wise in the Champions League in midweek. And we've obviously discussed the format on the pod over the last couple of seasons.

It was a thrilling night of Champions League football and as I know you've said before John you were half commentating on football and half commentating on a league table It was it it's eventful. I'll I'll give it that it's eventful. It's fast moving But same as last year there is something about it that leaves me feeling dissatisfied Because there is too much going on. I know I said this in the builder. There's too much going on. And I just feel there is something of the manufactured about it. And that it is more of an event that is made for TV rather than a proper footballing product, if you know what I mean.

You know, if you give me an FA Cup tie or, as I've said, many. times, a group of four, where you're concentrating on one match or the other match, that is proper, that is more as it's supposed to be when the concentration is more on the match that is taking place in front of you. Do you think that the Benfica fans were aware of the importance of that goal and what it did, yeah. Yeah. I'd love to know if the Benfica fans really knew that they needed to get the fourth goal. What about the Buddha Glimp fans who were in, you know, when Buddha Glimp were hovering

above and below the line, the elimination line, you know, were they totally across what the situation was? Did they, did they realize that what they were doing was enough as it happened? And also from the English club's point of view, the peril of finishing in the top eight or not finishing on the top eight. You know, they need to win this to avoid two matches in February. It's valid from a football in point of view, but it's not do-or-die stuff, is it? No. I mean, the difference for Manchester City, and the jeopardy with Manchester City,

it really only came very, very late on with, you know, the results elsewhere. For what was meant to be the most complicated route of all the English clubs, it actually didn't turn out to be that complicated at all. and it would have meant them playing after nine games in 28 days in January that have played another nine games in 28 days in Feb had they not made the last eight. Now they're looking at seven games in 28 days. So I suppose in that sense,

that would have put a little bit of an extra burden on a stretch squad dealing with injuries. For those who say the competition lacks jeopardy, bearing in mind that going into that final round there were only four sides who'd been eliminated out of the 36 so 32 still had something to play for so that creates a little bit of jeopardy

if you look at the wider picture but I agree with John that the chaotic nature probably still needs refining in some way and again I think it's designed for people who are not at the matches. Yeah.

I agree with that. Yeah. Yeah. But I think it's better than the old group stage. Yeah, I'm not completely sold on that. I don't think there's a...

I don't think there are still matches here and throughout the course of the eight matches. You know, I've covered exciting games like Newcastle and Barcelona and Real Madrid and Manchester City in this league phase. And still at the end of it, you think,

both going to go through, which they all did. Yeah. And John, to your point about, you know, Newcastle dropping out of the top eight and that's still not being, I mean, it is Jeopardy in a sense they've got to come through another tie to try and get to the last 16. And I don't think they won't take Monaco or Carabag for granted, but you'd fancy them to do that. And obviously, they've got to play the two extra games. It won't bother Rail Madrid that much, I think that they've got to do that. but I think their topple from, they started the night, third in the table, lost 4-2 away to a Jose Marino-managed Benfica team,

and had two men sent off in the process. That was quite a spectacular collapse, mini-collapse on, you know, in the final round of games, and sporting popped in there, sporting took advantage, got a late goal and popped in there. I think many of the big clubs probably are interested by the fact that PSG last season finished 15th in the league phase and yet really stepped on. and he kept stronger and stronger and won it in the end and you know I think as well

in fact it was pointed out to me that Tottenham finished fourth and in their eight matches they won one match against another team that finished in the top 24 well although as you mentioned on on Wednesday night John the significance now with that changing the rules of finishing in the top four is going to give a lot of weight to those teams, isn't it,

knowing that they've got the advantage of playing in the last 16 and the quarterfinals for the top four, the second leg at home? Yeah. We've had a piece of correspondence, actually, from a BBC colleague of ours, Hamish Marshall, a regular voice on Five Live, who says,

I have a Champions League slash Europa League idea. What about the team finishing first in the group stage gets to choose their opponents in the next round? after the ninth to 24th playoff matches have concluded. Teams 2 to 7 get to choose in that order too. It would at least give teams some advantage for finishing higher up the table. It would also add drama to the draw and needle to the tie with the team chosen as opponents having an extra point to prove.

Currently, you could finish top and get a tougher tie than if you had finished fifth. What do you think? I mean, that's fun. That's never going to happen. I like the idea. It's like being back at school, isn't it, when he used to line up? Yeah. We'll have Buddha glimped, please.

Yeah, what do you think of that idea? I like it, but I agree with you that it will never happen. And actually, another mention for our excellent production friend, Gary Flintsoff, who said to me in the aftermath of Wednesday night, he said, do you know what, the best format would be just straight knockout, how the European Cup actually started. What a revolutionary idea that would be to actually just pay two-leg knockout ties

right from the start. No seeding. No seeding? Well, you could see that, you wouldn't see it. But it doesn't matter, as Ian says, there's absolutely no chance for that. But that would be the best format. Agreed.

I mean, if you went like the FA Cup, no seeding, well exactly you could get anything yeah it'll never happen never happen no and as I've said a couple of times on the radio this week I wouldn't be at all surprised we could have a scenario where there are six English clubs in the last eight of the Champions League and I would not be at all surprised if you were

if I start thinking about taking away the country protection from the league phase of the competition so that because again I keep talking about fairness of the league phase and if the Premier League is proved to be significantly stronger than the other leagues I don't think it's necessarily fair

that those teams don't play each other in the league phase of the competition yeah agreed agreed agreed anyway that's the Champions League and we'll have more commentaries coming up next month from that

and indeed for the rest of the season on the way to Budapest but we didn't get around did we to any of your unintended pub names from sports commentary last week. So previous examples included the absolute corker wine bar, the full-time whistle for post-match VAR debates, and Gerrads Cross as an unintended railway station.

Palace fan Tom says, love the podcast and the insight you all bring. Thank you, Tom. During the Tottenham v. West Ham commentary, I think I heard an unintended pub name said by Stephen Warnock when describing the Somerville goal. He just backs Pedro Porro into the penalty area and Porro shows him inside.

Connor Gallagher backs off him and as he takes the shot I think this comes off the backside of Castagnos. I think it's his goal. So the backside of Castellanos could be located in the rolling hills of Castilla and Leon in northern Spain, says Tom.

Just outside a tiny village called Castellanos where the locals may joke that the pub is literally the backside of Castellanos. Local crafts safeza and Spanish craft ale would be serviced along with a small but excellent list of Rioca. Picture clay-washed walls, wooden beams and flagstone floors, and maybe a few old farming tools and faded postcards on the wall. Excellent, Tom. I'm there already, Tom. I don't survey them as.

Do survey themass. Did you get to your Paris night spot, John, after the game on there? Yes, yes, very much so. You did? You got back in there, did you? Yeah. How was your friend? Yeah, he's great.

And he enjoyed the match, but he also thoroughly enjoyed, as did all of the PSG fans. And this little brasserie that we go to, hardly ever... What's it called? I'm not going to give the name because it's a little secret. Oh, oh. And part of the reason is it's always full of PSG fans. fans. I've hardly ever been in there when there have been fans of the English clubs in there.

So they were absolutely delighted by the fact that Marseille got knocked out by the Benfica goal. So there were lots of smiling and faces in there. But yeah, our friend he produced for us

later of the evening an excellent plate of grilled sausages. They were delicious. Simon in Scarborough gets in I too am part of the trending band of cockapoo walkers often seen grinning and laughing as I walk my two lunatic dogs whilst listening to the pod. Anyway, I believe for a number of weeks that I've stumbled across a glaring omission in the list of unintended pub names, and that is the false nine. I have little idea of what it really means in a footballing context, but I love the phrase.

I have once or twice thrown it into a pub conversation to test the water. Given the reaction, I don't think many people know what it means. Some nod knowingly, others return with a 4-42 comment or earnest mutterings about buying a striker. I'd like to imagine the false nine as a sports bar with wall-to-wall chalkboards and magnetic counters where people can discuss and demonstrate tactical ideas. The bar would sell Target Man IPA, messy drop cocktails and the Fomino Press. I'm writing the business plan as soon as I've sent this email. Can I also propose the false nine for the glossary Division 1 for football.

exclusive terms. That's excellent from Simon. I love that. And also, that does include, as he has purposely said, Target Man. Yeah. That's a phrase for the glossary. I don't think that's in there.

Is it Target Man? No. That's probably Division 1 as well, isn't it? Yeah, and I'm surprised we've not done false 9 in the glossary. I'm surprised. I'm surprised by that. Okay. Do you think there's someone somewhere who's about to open a pub,

a football-related pub, and he's lacking a little bit of instance? inspiration for the name of the pub and then all of a sudden he stumbles across the podcast and then goes I'll tell you what I'll call it the false nine or the target man Toby from Winchester has one he says whilst on route to the shops he wasn't walking his dog I was listening to the five live commentary of Newcastle versus wolves chowell collected for Newcastle and passes back to his goalkeeper the pink Pope and Nick Pope all in bright light pink this afternoon.

I like it out. Could you carry that off, Clinton? I think you could. You could. I had pink boots and everything. Yeah, yeah. You got to embrace it. What about John Murray?

Do you think he could carry that off? Absolutely no chance. Well, I agree with Clinton. I don't think he could carry it off. But John from Newcastle, not our John, another one. The Pink Pope would probably be an establishment very heavy on the cocktails.

The more fruity and flowery, the better. Nick Pulp is very much. much the gift that keeps giving to the unintended pub names. And I think I might even, when he meant penalty saved the other night, I might have said the spectacular pulp, which would also be a great pub, the spectacular pope. That was just an absolute gimmee because it was so distinct,

the pink and the alliteration with the P, it was just a tapping, the easy tapping. Yeah, and I suspect that's not Nick Pope's last contribution either. Carmen in Bromyard, Herfordshire. I don't think I've ever been there. Bromard in Harwichshire? Ian? No, no.

No? Could be a venue for the... That we haven't mentioned for a long time? Well, we are looking for a venue, for the world tour. Herefetchers is lovely as well, isn't it? Do you think they'll have the Target Man or the false knife club in Brum yard? Anyway, Carmen. Hello to you, Carmen.

She says hello to the Holy Trinity she calls us. That sealed it. That sealed it. We're going to Brom yard. I'm going to see, Carmen. Yes, I hope she doesn't have a rollers in that night. Probably don't remember that. Anyway, Carmen says,

Because I don't have a dog to walk, I listen in the gym, which is made almost bearable by your excellent discussions on football language and Ian's knitwear. It's been a while since I, heard this unintended pub name. Towards the end of the

Macclesfield Crystal Palace, FA Cup match, we're going back to that again. Summariser, Paul Robinson, said this. I think us looking to our left-hand side to dodge these two posts in between us to see the 18-yard box of the McElsefield goalkeeper is going to be a common theme

in the last knockings of this game. Carmen says, in my mind, the last knockings would undoubtedly be an old-fashioned pub. In the middle of nowhere, a real spit and sawdust place, which sells nothing more exotic than a tickled egg, and is somewhere you can still get a pint of mild, frequented solely by old men playing dominoes,

each time the door opened, the entire place would fall silent, and all heads would turn to see who dared to enter. I feel ABB is a bit too metropolitan for the last knockings. But Ian would fit right in, if only because the regulars would refer to him as youngen. I hope you feel this is worthy of intuition. That was...

That from Carmen would be akin to the scene from American werewolf in London. When at the very start, they walk into that bar, which is on the Moors, isn't it, somewhere? What is the moors? The slaughtered lamb. Slotted lamb. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brian Glover's in there. Is that it? Brian Glover's one of the actors. Could be the latter. Yeah. be the last knockings. Yeah. I'd be happy to drink in there.

Yeah, I bet you would. Yeah. And actually, hearing that has reminded me that in the, did you see, was it last week's edition of Private Eye in the Coleman Bowls? We had a Holy Trinity in there from the Macclesfield match. Me, Hare Chapman and Paul Robinson were all in Coleman Bowls that week of Private Eye. And what did you all say? Why were you in there?

I can't remember what it was now. I should have brought it wrong. Chapman will dispute his, won't it? Yeah, almost certainly. The amount of times he would get booked for arguing with the ref, actually. I mean, I know, I know, honestly, you can imagine it, can you? Dan in Bristol, hello TCV. During the Forest Arsenal match, John and Pat Nevin gave me an idea for an unintended film name.

He shows who his takes that down and then he's buffeted by Sangari. And the two of them are having a little conversation together as they run. There's a little bit of, yeah, still chases. Turns to Sangari. Even though the ball is over here on the right-hand side, he's still chatting away to Sangare. How much chattering did you used to do, Pat, to fullbacks? Wethering looks of my speciality.

That is, you cornered the market in withering looks. Smouldering withering lukes. That, that, because I listened to that. I was listening to that at the time. That went on to the Paddington hard stare as well, didn't it? That's exactly the look that I can imagine Pat Nevin giving. But rather, rather than the upcoming romantic film Wuthering Heights, the film we really want to see this Valentine's Day, says Dan in Bristol,

is Pat Nevin's withering looks. All the best from Dan. Very good. Yeah. We've also had one from Maxwell from Ghana. Aquabar. Garner. Yeah. Moretti Seine. Not the Ghana.

No. You just couldn't ruin my Garnay in there, ABB. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Start again. We've also had one from Maxwell from Ghana. So Acuaba to the TCV and Moherty Seine. Hello guys, I'm an ardent listener of the pod and I am eagerly awaiting the Ghana England game in the FIFA World Cup next summer when I hope the Black Stars get one over their colonial masters.

during Manchester United's impressive 2-1 winner Arsenal last weekend, the commentator, John Champion, I believe, described one Red Devil centreback as the Mighty Maguire after the big man whacked the ball away in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time. The Mighty Maguire wouldn't be a bad name for a pub or even an Oscar-worthy action movie. I think that's a good shout that, a Mighty Maguire.

I can see the pub sign, the sort of cartoon illustration of, McGuire. You'd have features that you could exaggerate quite bulging biceps and yeah. I think if Harry McGuire plays every match now, stays fit, alongside Martinez, Manchester United had a good finish to the season. I think there's every chance Harry Maguire would be in the World Cup scored, don't you? Yeah, certainly with a question over John Stone's fitness. Yeah.

And as I mentioned, last Sunday afternoon, and the prospect of, Harry McGuire also in the opposition penalty area with Bucayo Saka and Declan Rice taking corners. And I also would throw in the fact that they've now reverted back to a back four and Luke Shaw stays fit. Agreed. Luke Shaw, who I think even towards his form back in the autumn was pushing for a place in England squad,

I think would also enhance his claims for a return to the international setup too. And what about Cobby Maynor, who's now starting games in central midfield? as well in that position. Probably got a little bit more to do, but yeah, same applies. And anyway, finally, with the unintended pub names for this week, Mackenzie

in Oxford, writes in, what a trio that is. Carmen Maxwell and McKenzie, three of the contributors. Sounds like a solicitor's first. It does, yeah. McKenzie says, I thought that Chris Sutton's description of Manchester City being battered in Buddha was a great unintended film name. It would be a great title if any film director wants to mark Buddha Glimpse incredible victory, which, actually,

I didn't tell you as well. When I was in Buddha, I did a round of interviews with various Norwegian media outlets. It's not like you. I know, I knew you said that. One of them also was an extensive interview with the Buddha news. Beat that. Brilliant. I might have been front page. What the listener needs to know is that wherever we go in the world,

especially when we are away and the home nation are looking for somebody to appear on their local news, invariably, they will make a beeline for the big man. Would they not? I'm always willing to oblige. I always enjoy listening to a Chris Sutton commentary as well. because he always has a little thing before a game about potential outcomes and lines he might go with. And I'm not saying that is overly thought the battered in Buda one,

but it's just a classic Chris that, isn't it? He's always got something up his sleeve that just puts a smile on my face when I'm listening. So thank you to McKenzie for that one. And if you do spot an unintended pub or film name in any sport commentary, it doesn't have to be us, can be anyone. Do let us know.

Email TCV at BBC. dot co. UK and WhatsApp voice note messages to 08,289 369. Okay, now it's time for Clash of the Commentators. From a small village on the

banks of the River Nile. Everybody call me Mohammed, but you know, short name or nickname, they call me Mo. To the biggest stages of world football. Goes for the Colonel! Marsha! Sala is more. more than just a player. He's an icon, a symbol, a king.

Muhammad Sala represents a dream for Egyptians, for Muslims, for Africans. More than just a football player, he gave us hope. I'm Kelly Kate. This is Sporting Giants, Mo Sala. Listen on BBC Sounds. The Dakar Rally is the ultimate off-road challenge. Perfect for the ultimate defender. The high-performance defender, Octa, 626 horsepower, twin-jerkers.

turbo v8 engine and intelligent 6D dynamics air suspension. Learn more at landrover.ca. The commentators view on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis. Before we get on to Clash of the Commentators, we have had some correspondence, as I suggested earlier, after the recent debacle of things you could do during a five-minute VAR delay, when, as now the listeners have very much come on board, the feeling is that I was robbed of a win over Ian

and pessimistic Ross, Evey and Lexi from cold, dark Norfolk say, gents, since my last email back in August, where the days were long, the weather was hot and when I had optimism as a West Ham fan to the cold, dark, pessimistic days of January, I haven't felt the need to write in. However, while at the gym on a Saturday morning,

I had to pause my workout to air my grievances at the latest clash of the commentators. Shambles, they say. Give John the win. There's no way Ian won that. This, in my view, oust the millionaire major as the biggest controversy in quiz show history. Well, thank you, Ross, Evie and Lexi.

Thank you for your support. Just remind me, I mean, so I'm going to throw producer Nathan's under the bus slightly here. Is it just the category that was the issue? What was the shambles about it? Was he allowed on? I gave so many answers, but it was only allowed. Well, in fact, we've got... Oh, I see.

Okay. Yeah. People will explain. Yeah, they will. They will explain in this. Like, I'm going to do... Whole city fan, Chris, says, John definitely had a case for victory.

The introduction of a T-C. VAR is most certainly needed. Keep up the great work behind the mic. Craig from Western Supermare says, Hi chaps, always a great listen. But the other week's clash of the commentators was rubbish. And even VAR would rule this one offside. I hope we never see or hear this type of non-football nonsense again.

Otherwise, keep up the great work as you entertain me on my lunchtime dog walks. That's the best correspondence yet from Craig. And there is another one as well, which, again, this, this chance. with what you felt at the time, Ian. John from Gateshead said, said, I love the pod, but I felt so outrage listening to the most recent clash of the commentators that I felt the need to set my concerns out in writing. I'm afraid ABB has brought the game into disrepute with that shambolic performance,

but it gets worse. Me? Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think with the way that you were so weak. That's the question, master. Well, I know, I'm afraid. I wish he'd been so weak when we did that quiz for Christmas. He was weak.

He was too weak then as well. Oh my God. Ian made his feelings clear, says John from Gateshead, and was quite right in calling out the subject matter on the recent clash of the commentators. I believe he went further, suggesting munch and consume were perfectly legitimate answers. I didn't.

I didn't seem to recall that either. Which, had they been accepted, would have meant him forfeiting victory. I definitely did. No, I didn't remember it that way either. It'll not be lost on you guys that. that I did question Denno's morals in my one email that was aired

when he attempted to suggest hockey and ice hockey were one and the same. Did you do that? Did I? I don't think I did. However, if proof were ever needed that Ian is indeed a truly honorable fellow, I agree with that bit. There, you have it, says John.

I mean, I was, I'm going to say, I was only following orders in terms of correct answers I gave. I do not want to be given the blame for that. I do think the category was the issue, John, but you've promised us, Nathan's delivered today in terms of category. He has. Hold on. Engineer Liam agreed with the official

verdict of a win for me, which is very disappointing from Liam. No one asked Liam for his opinion. Anyway, we wait to find out what the court for arbitration for sport has to say about that.

But this is how the clash of the commentators table currently stands. And this, if you've never listened before. This is where two of us take turns to answer a question and give as many correct answers as we can in 30 seconds. And the table currently, pending appeal, is Ian first with nine wins from 11 attempts. Second, the defending champion, Ali, four from 11 attempts. And third, me, for the time being, with four wins from 12. Alley's recent record is streaky. Lost

four in a row, then won three in a row, now on a three-match losing streak. And Ian is on yet another four-match winning streak, but that is pending appeal. So the result stands. No, no, there is an appeal, in there. We have to listen to the people. That is our responsibility. It's pending nothing. We have to listen to the views of the people. Behave yourself. Just think if those poor people in coldest, darkest, Norfolk for Ross and Evie and Lexi and they need something to later. They'll live in Norfolk.

Norfolk is a beautiful county. Nelson's county. Right. So who between you wants to go first? I will let Allie decide. Okay. I'll go first, please. Okay. It's a good question this as well,

once I find it. Love good questions. You'll enjoy this one. Deno's unplugged. Doesn't mean I'll be any good at it. No, it doesn't. Okay. He's done it again.

He's on the phone. That's disrespectful while I'm playing. Well, I'm trying to constrain. I can see him on the phone on my Zoom call. Okay. Ready? Yeah. Yes, yes.

So we are ready to go. And the question is, Ali. Back to the Champions League. Oh, hang on. Hang on, hang on. That's a bit unfair. Back to the Champions League. Okay.

Okay. It's back to the Champions League. Goals scorers. in the final round of Champions League games in the league phase this week. There are 56 to go at. So goal scorer's in the final round of Champions League games in the league phase. And we'll do double points for each Englishman that you can name. Oh, right.

So your time starts now. Trubin was the goalkeeper who scored. That's the first one that comes to mind. Harlan scored for Manchester City. Yoccarez scored for Arsenal. Who else? Did Martin Nelly's scoring that game? Who else were looking at? Chelsea, Jual Pedro, got two Enzo Fernandez scored a penalty.

Hoyland scored for Napoli. Can't remember who scored their first goal. Who else have we got? Tottenham, who scored for Tottenham? Salanky scored, that's double points. What about Newcastle? Who scored for Newcastle? It was, can't remember.

Oh! It was blooming. It was Blumen an English goal scorer. Was it, was it, was it, was it, was it, was it, was it, was it, was it, was it, Willock? Joe Willock? it was Willock yeah I got Salanki

I got Salanki I got Salanki oh yeah yeah I missed out with the Newcastle yeah yeah I think I've lost that I think I've lost that

I think you did okay yeah maybe not quite enough I don't think that's gonna be good enough because I think he'll be straight away I think you'll be good at this and I think you'll get the two

at city straight away it's another yeah should we call him back is he off the phone yet yeah you can see the slump shoulder as the resigned look on my face

he's lost his headphones Hello. I couldn't find the Jack. Oh. The old Fleetwood. Right. Fleetwood Mac. Yep. Jack.

Right. He hasn't gone. Never mind. I'll move on. A tumble weed there. Ian, the question for you this week goes back just a few days to the Champions League. Yeah. I'm asking you about goal scorer in the final round of Champions League games.

in the league phase. There are 56 to go at. So goal scorer is in the final round of Champions League games in the league phase and you get double points for each Englishman you can name. And your time starts now. Okay. Well, Trubin,

the Benfica goalkeeper. Arsenal was Yockeresh, Habits, Martinelli, Tottenham, Kola Mawani and Selanky. Zhao Pedro got a couple

Fernandez penalty Willett got Newcastle's goal Cherokee and Harlem Manc City Bert Sala Eckertique Keizer or Miss McAllister Yeah never mind

One by a mile Don't need to worry about that I just stuck to the English teams Yeah Not many English players No you got enough though That's a thrashing The final school

Is this a sort of record. Ian 17 Ali 9 points. Quite pleased with 9. Yeah. So, just to run

through, you got most of them, I think. We both went for the Benfica keeper. He did. Got the keeper first up. Yeah. For the English goals scorers, they were Rashford, who got a late one, didn't he, for Barcelona.

That's the free kick, yeah. Salanki. Harry Kane scored. He got late. got late goal for buying Munich and Joe Willock. I've got to say that the later recording today has worked in my favour because only this morning I actually updated my red book with all of the midweek games. So this means that with yet another win that is Ian now double figures for the time being 10 from 12 pending appeal then it's Ali four from 12 so we are joint second you and me, Ali, both four from 12, obviously pending appeal.

10 from 12 is a fabulous win rate. I do take my hat off to that. That is consistently top performance in this game this season. Very good. And even when it becomes 9 from 12, that is still very, very good. You're not letting it lie, are you? Well, I can't let it lie because there's a process. And as football managers keep saying, we have to follow the process.

Well, you know when England had a grievance with the Frank Lampard goal in Bloomfonte in 2010? Yeah. The result stood. It was over the line, but the result stood. Therefore, two weeks ago, it's too late now. You've missed your opportunity. No, I haven't missed my opportunity. No.

No, I haven't. So that is a clash of the commentators for this week. What were you going to say, Ali? I was just going to say what will be interesting if John launches an astonishing comeback in this competition and it comes down to a point at the end of the season and we're still arguing about that one then it's going to be massively controversial

I think you're right about that it is now straight to the great glossary of football commentary to round things off for the podcast this week as we add listener suggestions of commentary terms and phrases to an increasingly long list, which you can actually find the entire glossary in the episode description for the podcast. But this is how it works. We put phrases and terms into Division 1, if they are football exclusive terms.

I think already this week, we've put Target Man in there, and Division 2 for terms used in football commentary, but also used in other sports. Last week, we added Grubhunter and Onion Bag into division one. We also decided to keep Elastico and Travella in Division 1. And it's funny now, as I'm commentating, Elastico and Travella is often, they are often crossing my mind when I see these things happening. But I'm not yet at the point where I would use them.

This week's suggestions, Steve from Brighton has this from Steve Bauer in the Burnley-Tottenham match for the late Equalizer. I would have been a delivery. Oh, what a finish! Christian Romero it was a towering header that flew into the top corner

Steve says division one for sure towering header yeah I like towering header and I can't hear that in other sports so I think that would be div one yep yeah I suppose bullet header could be another one yeah well Dr Julian in Albany Western Australia

more correspondence from down under good A commentators massive fan of the pod and Spurs for the last 50 plus roller coaster years Christian Romero has scored with two bullet headers recently John. The late equalizer at Burnley was described as such on several

platforms. I think it's a no-brainer that bullet header should go straight into Division 1 so that's towering header and bullet header. They paint a perfect picture. I can picture those headers as soon as you say that. You see I'm with the doctor. I'm with the doctor. I actually think it was

more of a bullet header than a towering header. I agree. Give me a famous example of a towering header, Ian, that people can picture from days of yore compared to a bullet header. Oh, who was the Watford Centre Forward? Was it George O'Reilly? George O'Reilly.

George Riley. He would often get you a towering header where he would climb, hang in the air and then bang. Well, I'll tell you, who's the current master of the towering header? Is Erling Harland? Erling Harland. Oh, yeah. Yeah, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sir Les Ferdinand. Yep. Yes. Les would always pop up with a towering header. Was that Sir Les Ferdinand or sole Les Ferdinand? It was Sir Les, because that was his name when he was at Newcastle. What about Trubin's header? Is that bullet?

Is it towering? What, what do you, I mean, that was such a clean contact from a delivery from deep? What sort of header was Trubin's header? I don't think I thought it was neither bullet nor towering. well placed. But you wouldn't have in commentary, John, you wouldn't have said, oh, Trubin scored with a header

that's neither bullet nor towering. I would like to think I would have thought of something else. Have you seen the clip, actually, of the Comcam for the Portuguese commentator? No, I actually heard it. When I was on the breakfast time yesterday morning, they played the Portuguese commentary. And actually, what crossed my mind was

when I heard the radio, if it was the radio commentary, which I presume it was, I thought, oh, I'd love to hear the shableness. mate's doing that one. Because the co-commentator at one point just says, Trudein. I thought the commentator was actually going to have a heart attack.

It looked, I mean, it was absolutely brilliant. It looked a little bit performative to me in the end of it, that he knew the camera was there. But I do think the reaction was, I mean, he almost fell out of his seat. I've done seen that. I must look for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was brilliant. The language is so good as well.

Yeah. The Portuguese language. Yeah. Let's dig into some voice nods for the glossary. This one from Bolo from Southampton. My entry for the football glossary would be agricultural challenge. Never heard that in another sport before. And would mean a particularly clumsy or gruff challenge.

probably done by a centreback on a winger on a cold ready night in Stoke Agricultural challenge Yeah I mean in other contact sports You're fine aren't you It wouldn't get described as that I think that could be another div one Because you'd expect it in rugby wouldn't you

Yeah You know my agricultural background And my brothers and nephews Were and all rugby union players So they were literally agricultural challenges. I think Div won and then people can argue the other way

if they want to. I'm looking forward to this one. Before we do the summary, I can't believe this is reared its head again. Ollie has alerted us to this absolute gem from 2017 when John Murray was challenged to do a football commentary

in slang. Have a listen to this. Keahill's messing with the ball on the edge of the box. Come on, Brew, what you're playing at? You're going to need some help from you. So, here it comes. It's Victor Moses. Dribbling on fleek.

He's got his swag on. Shoots! It's in! That's sick! That was proper good. The whole stadium is lit. All the fields. I've never heard that. How on earth were you persuades to do that?

Fortunately, I haven't heard it for a long time either. Well, as I always say, as I always say, to Herr Chapman whenever he tries it on, I always say in this business, in this broadcasting business, at some point or other, you are going to agree to something that does make you look like an absolute fool. Well, now one of my favourite ones with Hare Chapman on that front was the promotional picks they took for Euro 2016 of all the presenters dressed up as sort of figures from French history and the French Revolution.

And wasn't he in a sort of dandy breeches and wig? sort of Louis XIV. Yeah, it was true. Yeah, I mean, come on. Come on. What about when Hare Chapman

was dressed as a train driver? That's not just going to mention that. Was that kid a MFFA cup? There was an FAA Cup. Was it a kiddeme? There was a train. There was actually a train track right next to the ground,

and the train would come past. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Brilliant. There you got, you see. Good. We've nicely deflected things away

from that terrible memory. And Ollie also says, I heard on Sunday during the Arsenal Manchester United game with John Murray and Matt Upsen, there was extended discussion on the number of invitations a given player may receive before he goes down under a tackle. I'm not sure if this is Division 1 or Division 2

and whether we need to define the explicit number of invitations. I'll leave that to the experts to debate. This was what happened. The Odegaard's going to do well to keep this in and then he tugs Casamiro down Just a hand on the shoulder. Casanoero, as they say, needed no second invitation to go down and wins the free kid. No, he didn't.

He had half an invitation and he grabbed it. Clever because Odegaard's trying to stop him play the ball forwards. And the moment he gets the wrong side of him, the legs collapse. And yeah, I can see it does look like a foul, but there's very little contact. Clever from Casamero. Never mind a second invitation. He didn't actually get a first. No, he didn't.

Just half an invitation. Yeah, not even one, John. As Saliba is able to deal with this long... He, he got a polite inquiry. It's a brilliant way of describing that, though, isn't it, of it not really being a foul, but there's enough there for the referee to give you a foul. Putting it in that form of words,

again, just encapsulates perfectly what's happened. I heard that bit of comment, and it, that tickled me. I enjoyed that. So that is a potential for the glossary, certainly, isn't it? Needed no second invitation. Probably at Division 2. Got to be there too. Do we ever come across a suggestion

where it doesn't go in Division 1 and it doesn't go in Division 2 and we just disregard it altogether? Yeah? Yeah. Although slightly mischievously, I notice in summing everything up this week, our producer Nathan has included

dribbling on fleak as a potential Division 2, but I don't think that that goes into either. division one or division two so Ian you're absolutely right and we are putting needed no second invitation into division two and this week quite a large entry into division one unusually target man false nine towering header bullet header and agricultural challenge so that is it for this week do keep the glossary suggestions coming in remember if you have a question for our

Q&A special, please send it in to TCV at BBC.com.uk or as a message or voice note on WhatsApp to 08,289-389-369. And that is it for this episode of the Football Daily. The next one will be the football interview with Florian Veertz, or Florian Veertz, as some people say.

And remember, you can find each and every episode of the commentator's view by scrolling down your football daily feed. Anyway, we wait to find out what the court... Anyway, we wait to find out what the... Anyway, we wait to find out what... Spin it out. Anyway, we wait to find out to hear what the court

for arbitration for sport has to say about that. 5-life sport. WSL. Our referee for this afternoon, blows her whistle, and we are underway. BBC Women's Football Weekly The latest news, insights and analysis from across the women's game

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