Football Daily - The Commentators' View: Salah’s jazz hands & in the pocket

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

Conor McNamara joins Ian Dennis & Ali Bruce-Ball to talk travel, football and language. Ian & Conor give their take on Salah after the drama unfolded with them at Elland Road. They look ahead to the Wear-Tyne derby, it’s Ali vs Ian in Clash of the Commentators, there are yet more unintended pub names, and which commentary phrases will end up in our Great Glossary? Suggestions welcome on WhatsApp voicenotes to 08000 289 369 & emails to [e-mail]00:35 Why we all love San Siro 04:10 The Bruges or Brugge debate returns 07:15 Salah story unfolds with Ian & Conor 09:20 Has Salah played his last game for Liverpool? 16:25 John Murray’s message from Madrid 20:45 Wear-Tyne derby among Premier League commentaries 27:05 Unintended pub names 40:20 Clash of the Commentators 46:35 Great Glossary of Football Commentary5 Live / BBC Sounds Premier League commentaries: Sat 1500 Liverpool v Brighton, Sat 1500 Chelsea v Everton on Sports Extra, Sat 1730 Burnley v Fulham, Sun 1400 Sunderland v Newcastle, Sun 1400 Crystal Palace v Man City on Sports Extra, Sun 1400 Nottingham Forest v Tottenham on Sports Extra 2, Sun 1400 West Ham v Aston Villa on Sports Extra 3, Sun 1630 Brentford v Leeds.Glossary so far (in alphabetical order):DIVISION ONE Bosman, Couldn’t sort their feet out, Cruyff Turn, Dead-ball specialist, Fox in the box, Giving the goalkeeper the eyes, Head tennis, Hibs it, In a good moment, The Maradona, Off their line, Olimpico, Onion bag, Panenka, Perfect hat-trick, Points to the spot, Rabona, Schmeichel-style, Scorpion kick, Spursy, Tiki-taka, Where the kookaburra sleeps, Where the owl sleeps, Where the spiders sleep. DIVISION TWO Ball stays hit, 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, Easy tap-in, Daisy-cutter, First cab off the rank, Good leave, Half-turn, Has that in his locker, High wide and not very handsome, Hospital pass, Howler, In their pocket, Johnny on the spot, Leading the line, Nutmeg, One for the cameras, One for the purists, Played us off the park, Purple patch, Put their laces through it, Rolls Royce, Root and branch review, Row Z, Screamer, Seats on the plane, Show across the bows, Slide-rule pass, Steal a march, Stramash, Taking one for the team, Telegraphed that pass, That’s great… (football), Thunderous strike, Walk it in. 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, Cultured/Educated left foot, 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, Park the bus, 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, Roy of the Rovers stuff, 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, Towering header, 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, We’ve got a cup tie on our hands, Wrap foot around it, Your De Bruynes, your Gundogans etc.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Football Daily is sponsored by Spring Hill Suites, part of Marriott Bonvoy, the official hotel partner of US Soccer. As the US men's national team prepares for what's next, you can too at Spring Hill Suites. Enjoy complimentary hot breakfast and spacious all-sweet accommodation for the whole team, with room for up to six guests. Big journeys, start with the right stay.

Visit springhill suites.marriott.com to find out more. The Commentator's View on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis. Hello, welcome to the Football Daily. I'm Alastair Bruce Ball, and this is the Commentator's View where we five live commentators talk football, our continental travels and the language involved in the sport we love.

Those travels since last week's podcast have taken John Murray to Madrid to watch Manchester City win in the Burnabow, although he's travelling back as we record this today. So no John Murray today, but we do have Ian Dennis. Good morning, Ian, who's been in the San Ciro this week, and would that be, that's possibly for the last time, isn't it?

Ian in the San Ciro? Well, they don't know when the wrecking ball will go in because it's still got to host the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at the start of Feb. So I think that they would see out the rest of the season, but they're hoping that the new stadium for Inter and Milan would be ready by, I think it's the start of the 30-31 season

but they're going to be building the new stadium adjacent to San Ciro in one of the car parks so it could be a little bit like Tottenham where the building work can go on whilst they continue to play remember what they did at Whitehart Lane although as somebody pointed out to me that it's going to be very very hard to get nearly 80,000 people

into a stadium when they depend on those car parks so much that what they're going to do. So I don't know when the official last game will be. Commentating the San Zero as is. And sorry, let's say good morning to our TCV Super Sub, a man who's always ready to step in when one of John Murray, Ian Dennis, or I aren't here. Connor Macnamara is here. Good morning, guys. Yeah, very good to be here with you.

Very good indeed. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure I'm like you guys, all the years you go to the San Ciro, it is incredibly difficult to get in and out on public transport. where people do drive, as Deno says. So, yeah, that's going to be a problem if they're getting rid of all their car parks. But as a commentator, Connor and Ian, it's one of the great stadiums, isn't it? I mean, I think descriptively, just to paint the pictures of it, but you do feel like you're somewhere really special.

You know, I grew up sort of seeing that stadium from afar on television, thinking I cannot wait to get to the San Ciro one day and definitely loved it when I did. I guess we're of the generation, like Italian 90, was a very formative thing. And, you know, I think that the music and the sounds and that stadium and the spiral, you know, way that the fans walk in. And do you know this, Alley, that the very first place I ever met a certain Ian Dennis ever met him was in the San Zero. Wow. When Leeds had their great Champions League season. And I got lost and I couldn't find the way down to the mix zone.

And this very nice gentleman from BBC Radio Leeds goes, oh, here I'll show you how to do it. I was like, what a class act this guy is. that was Don Mattoe scored a near post header that's his great memory wow yeah

yeah I always remember that yeah it was funny because I think then I'd had a 15 year absence of going to San Ciro up until 2022

and now I think I've been about 10 times in the last three or four years and each and every time and I said this to Stephen Warnock this week Ali I was walking up the stairs and you know when you get that

genuine buzz you're in such an iconic stadium as you say about the architecture of the you know conners mentioned that the spiraling concrete cylinder staircases in each corner you got the red girders in the roof and on the night before the game there was just a little bit of mist that added to the mystic of the stadium and because you're in such an iconic stadium and like you say all it might well be the last time ago there although recent history might suggest not but you still get that that genuine excitement, that little tingle. Yeah, and I actually love the approach to the stadium as well, so seeing it from afar, but in the car park where all the food trucks are and the merchandise, you know,

trucks where you can buy your scarves and your hats. There's a great buzz around there with sort of fans mingling. It is one of the great footballing experiences. So, Connor, this week in terms of your travels, I know you were at Tottenham on Tuesday to watch them beat Slavia Prague, so another home win for Tottenham. And then yesterday, I know you were wrestling with whether to go. with club bruges or club brouche what did you what did you decide yeah so this is you know as we're all well aware when it comes to pronunciations in football it's one of those rare things

when you can be wrong when you're right and you can be right when you're wrong and trying to be too correct makes you sound pompous and pretentious and anyway this is this is sort of my and by the way just I'm too old and too tired to be having rouse about these things so I just went with club bruges because that's what everyone says but but I'm pretty sure the club is brouche um and And the comparison I would give is Basel in Switzerland. So obviously the French speakers in Switzerland will say Baal. And I'm sure you guys over the years people have said, no, you're pronouncing the football club wrong.

It's Baal. It's not Basel. It's you pronounce it Baal. So the city can be known as either Baal or Basel. However, the football club is very much in the German-speaking part of town, originally the German-speaking community, and the football team is absolutely Basel. If you lived in the city, you would never call it Baal,

even though you can call the city ball. And I think that this is, you know, similar to the Bruges. You know, we all know the movie, the Colin Farrell and Brendan Cleese. You're in Bruges. You wouldn't say you're in Bruke. But if you live in the town, the football club is club Bruke, although the city, they would not be surprised if someone called the city bruise. So that's my understanding. So if you want to be technically technically correct, I think we should say Brochah.

But I did a little WhatsApp with other commentators outside. I said, what are we going here? and even Euroleague's presenter, Steve Krasman said Steve Brue, Steve Bruech, so I said, look, let's just stick with that for now. Let's not a for a row. That's the Belgian Steve Bruce, that is. Yeah, yes, Steve Bruges. You see, Conner, how do you phone hair Chapman?

He would have told you it was Brueger, but then equally he would have told me that I'd just been to Milan. Yes, Milan. Well, I've done that one, Ian, but also I find with the inter and the Milan thing is having lived in Italy for a bit and if you are a sort of Syria our regular it is Milan and it's inter but I still think over here to our audience I still think it's okay to say AC Milan to differentiate them AC Milan and and Inter Milan when I was texting Steve last night and obviously he was presenting the show so we couldn't get into too deeply but but he said look we don't say Byrne Munchen we say Byron Munich but of course the

immediate retort to that is we don't say Paris San German we all say Paris Saint-Germain. So it is just funny how some things become accepted and become, yeah, we can do that and then other things sound absolutely outrageous when you say them. Can I just say I've never said Paris Saint-Germain? Have you?

Have you? No way. I've never noticed that. Oh, that's a great quirk. I actually say Paris as in Paris. Right. I'll be listening after that. But maybe I wasn't very good at French.

Excellent. Now then, before we get on to the football that's going to be on Five Live and across the network this weekend and some of the games we're going to cover. Must ask you to about, because you were both there, Ellen Road last Saturday. So obviously brilliant game between Leeds and Liverpool. Mo Salas left out again.

But Ian, you were doing the commentary for us. At what point after the game did you become aware of Mo Salah wandering out and speaking to a gaggle of journalists and the whole thing just going kaboom? Well, Connor and myself were actually just having a little chat in the media room when Arna Slot walked in. So we had to stop talking. We listened to Arna Slot, and then no sooner had Arna Slot finished.

And he was talking about how the team had shown fight, even when, you know, they'd got pegged back to 2-2. They kept on fighting. Then all of a sudden, there was a quick buzz around the press room, and it was apparent that journalists had been outside the media room where the mix zone was. That's where the players walked through after the game and get stopped by journalists. Mo Salah had done this interview, and he'd said what he'd said. and all of a sudden there was a little bit of a buzz about, oh, they're explosive quotes, you want to hear this? So Conner and myself then were quickly taken away

by doing other things, but the interview wasn't going to drop until 9.30, and I wanted to hear what the context of what was being said because the initial whisper was that he said he'd played his last game for Liverpool, and that wasn't necessarily the case. So that was sort of like the story just after the game had finished,

and then obviously in the subsequent days it's continued to be a major story. I think there's an interesting sort of lesson there as well, Ian, because I was with you when a colleague came over and said, oh, apparently Salas said he's played his last game. And it just shows her that Chinese Whispers things works where, you know, someone hears something, it's all good intentioned, but a slight exaggeration by one person

gets slightly exaggerated by someone. By the time you've heard it three or four people later, it can have a very different substantive reason to it. And that's why, you know, as Ian says, it's always good to find the source material and find out what was actually said. You asked Arna Slot, Ian, on Tuesday night, whether he, hand-on heart felt Salah had played his last game for Liverpool,

which I think probably for him is an impossible question to answer. What do you guys think? Can you see Salah playing again for Liverpool under Arna Slot? You know, for me, Ali, even before he's come out and said what he'd said, his reaction on the final whistle, bearing in mind he didn't play at Ellen Road, I thought was quite telling because I watched him on a clip on social media, this supporter actually said for me that looks like a goodbye and he absolutely called it he nailed it

because salla walks he's not played the game and yet he walks and spends around 40 seconds and three times with both hands he does the old jazz hands waving goodbye to the Liverpool supporters that's before he said what he said so when anybody says oh maybe he was feeling emotional that tells me that that was premeditated for his actual comments since then i think he's double down on his approach. He's shown no contrition with the post on the day of the game with him training alone in the gym. You know, keep your head down, then say maybe, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said what I've said, but I think he's doubled down in his belief that he thinks he's right, this self-centered approach. And nobody's bigger than the club. And when I asked that to Arna Slot

in Sancero on the eve of the game, and he said, you know, hand on heart, I don't have a clue, Liverpool would tell you that this rift has been caused by Mo Sala, not by Liverpool, who only a matter of months ago had offered him a new contract. Until Mo Sala shows a little bit of remorse about what he's done, then I don't think there's a way back. I think the photograph from him in the gym, he very much looked like a grounded teenager, you know, and he's like whinging to his friends that, oh, my mum's after turning off the Wi-Fi as a punishment, you know, it just had that feel about it.

I agree. I think that, you know, at the end of the game, so he hasn't come on, and obviously Liverpool are disappointed because they had the lead and they end up drawing. And I remember at the time, and I didn't see him at the time doing the wave thing. Obviously, I've seen it subsequently on video. But the time I remember thinking, oh, well, look, you know, Liverpool fans are like this, that he's on the bench tonight, he's the big superstar, but he's still going over to applaud the fans. And I think that's the sort of PR gesture that in a parallel universe would bring Mosella

a lot more sympathy from people at the moment. But because he's sort of thrown his dummy out of the prime here, it comes across to a bit pitch it. It's not like he's been on the bench for months. You know, there's been three games. He's not been included in. One of them he was brought on, played the full second half against was it Sunderland and didn't do great.

And I just think, you know, it's not exactly like he's been left out in the absolute cold and frozen out. You know, he's a lot of extremely high-profile players could be left out for that amount of time and it wouldn't be such a big issue. In terms of Ali, can he play again? You never say never in football. You know, from an Irish perspective,

Roy Keane after Saipan did come back and played for Ireland again. You know, people sort of forget that. There's always a way back in. And the reason I give that example was that that was a big seismic thing that went on for years. And even then you can still come back. You know, and if he does come back in and he plays well, he scores a goal, this will all be forgotten about really quickly. You know, you'd imagine that won't happen.

The only reason it might is that there are going to be astronomical sums involved, no matter, you know, where he might go, wherever he would go, it's a huge amount of money that you just can't take for granted that that would all fall into place immediately. And what's key here in terms of the way the fixtures fall, Ian, is you are at Amfield, 3 o'clock on Saturday for Liverpool, Brighton, because after that game, it's the African Cup of Nations, and Mo Salar is off to play for Egypt. So there's an enforced break there in terms of time away from Liverpool, but it means when you go to Amfield on Saturday, you know, the buzz before the game, the team sheet comes in, keeping an eye on him, is he on the bench, is he in the stands, what does he do at the final whistle? It's going to be a fascinating watch that, isn't it? It is.

But I think even before that game, Anna Slot will no doubt be asked about it when he does his pre-match press conference. I think that the onus now is on Sala to build bridges. If Sala doesn't show any sort of way of with an olive branch of saying, look, I was wrong, then I don't think that Liverpool, especially after the performance and the result in midweek,

will risk upsetting anything. because fair play to Arna Slot, I asked him the question, and you know what sometimes managers can be like, they can sometimes bristle or they can get irritated by a question. Arna Slot, for 10 minutes in Sancero asked numerous questions about the future of Mo Sala. And I asked him why he, why all of a sudden, for the first time in his career,

was Mo Sala on the bench for three successive games? What or why, what prompted that? And Arna Slot offered a really, really great insight as to the tactics behind it and if anybody hasn't heard it then go back to the Monday night club where it was played out in full is in the first 10 minutes

where Arna Slot just describes it and breaks it down because in those three games before they'd conceded something like 10 goals and he explains why he wasn't selected and yet then Mo Salah because he's upset and thinks he's got this right to play

then does what he does and the other side of it Ali as well is that from a business point of view, he signed his new contract in April till 2027. Liverpool this year would be the only year that they could then cash in on Mosella if they wanted some sort of financial return. Now if they're prepared to let his contract go and as a legend say, thank you for your years of service, then that's fine at 2027. But if they do want something for him, then they've got to sell him by the summer anyway. I think they were so close to getting away with this PR-wise, both Sala and

Liverpool because, you know, think if this all had just happened 10 days later, he's going off to the African Cup of Nations anyway. There's no pinch point. You know, Arnestlock doesn't have to be asked why you're leaving him out. There's a really good, justifiable reason why I'm leaving him out. Salah is away with his country and he's doing his own stuff. You know, they nearly got to that little break point, which could have allowed the pressure cooker just to ease, let the fizz out of the bottle a little bit, and they could have reset. But I think it feels like it's all just come to a head 10 days too early. That's what Salah wants, doesn't he? That's what Mo Salah wants.

He wants that to breed before he goes and get everyone talking. Because he so rarely speaks to the media. And that was it. I wanted to say that, actually, Adi, you know, speak about, you know, Ian mentioned the mix zone there. So, you know, at Ellen Road, because it's a very old stadium, it's all very close to each other. When you come out of where the manager press conferences are,

you're immediately in a corridor which you will see the Liverpool support staff, the away team support staff, bringing out big trolleys with all the equipment and the shirts and the food that they bring and whatever they have and the bus is immediately outside there. So that's where the players walk by and you know to be fair play to the journalists

for getting this. Obviously Salat wanted to get it off his chest but so often players just brush and particularly most Salat would brush straight past the journals pretend to be on their phone pretend to be his chat, you know, don't want to engage in this conversation.

The fact that he's come out and he's gone straight for journals and he's wanted to speak that absolutely backs up the point of who has created this issue. So now, in Milan for Liverpool in midweek. No John Murray on the TCV this week

on quite an important episode for us. So it's the 50th episode of the commentator's view and John is not here, which I know he'll be devastated about, but he has sent us this voice note. Hello to you three from inside the Santiago Bernabeo Stadium late in the evening. The lawnmowers are on the pitch.

People are clearing up the commentary positions behind me and Shabby Alonzo. by the time you play this out, I'm not sure what the future will have brought him after Manchester City's win here. But anyway, yeah, can't be part of it this week. Operational reasons have dictated otherwise

and I am going to go off instead, into the night in Madrid and maybe see if I can get a little drink in the beleaguered manager or somewhere like that. If he misses three in a row, people are going to talk, you know? And despite despite the glory that he's brought to this podcast over the years,

you're only as good as your last. You know earlier on we were talking about how you pronounce certain names and cities and whatever. Controversially, he's gone with the Bernabeo. John has always, always said the Bernabaut. Through the whole commentary, he said the Bernabaut. And then, of course, he's come on here and he's gone the blue. Consistency is key.

Yeah, I think he's doing that slightly tongue-in-cheek as he might look at me. So as well. Yeah, I'm with the locals. Anyway, WhatsApps and voice notes. John probably sent that in on 08,289-369. I actually thought the technical recording of that was a little bit scratchy and bumpy,

so even the great man's got a few things to learn there. Emails please to TCV at BBC.com.uk. Right, let's start on the emails. Mattin Sterling, I found it somewhat surreal to see John reporting from a snow-covered Washington, D.C. at the World Cup draw last Friday for BBC TV. So John was obviously doing his stuff for Five Live, but yes, I saw him on the TV too. It's always odd to see commentators or indeed anyone from the radio in front of a camera.

I know that you're real people with a physical form. But when you only listen to someone's voice, you can tend to forget that at times. I know exactly, you know, there are certain people as I've grown up who you see for the first time, don't you? Having listened to for years. And so, I mean, I think everyone probably, you know, we do a lot of describing of John because he's so tall, probably have an idea of what John looks like but there are people who surprise you I think at times with

how they look I think we all have great faces for radio I think that's the bottom black I didn't expect you to look like that is definitely one that I get a lot in people's head and I think when I was younger it took a compliment people said oh I thought you'd be much older and funny enough people don't say that as much recently

although the thing is nowadays is that because we're tending to post for a photo that Five Live Sport will put on their socials there's every chance that now anybody who does a commentary, you will be able to see visually. Yeah. My dad got asked a few months ago how long his brother had been working for Radio 5 live. So they clearly think, my dad's 80, so they clearly think my voice is like, come on, come on, come on.

James from Brighton's also got in touch. This is quite app from last week's pod. Just catching up on last week's excellent pod. I heard John mentioned the Italian Greyhound. So John wasn't only talking about pub names, but he'd come up with this idea of trying to find players that fit a pub name like the Italian Greyhound. We were all sort of scratching our heads.

And James says, as it happens, Brighton had an Italian player. And I remember this guy named Ezekiel Scalto, who was nicknamed the Greyhound. So he was quite literally the Italian Greyhound. He played for Brighton between 2017 and 2020. So that's that one done. ticked off. Do you think James could send in his email next week because John won't listen to this episode because he never listens back? So we can say what we want about the big man because he's never going

to hear it. No, I'll tell you what we do next week, Ian, is we sort of throw it to the floor and you and I am and R and then you from nowhere pluck out, didn't Brighton have a guy called Ezekiel Scolto and you'll look amazing. Yeah, love that. So we've already said Ian's at Amfield 3 o'clock Saturday for Liverpool against Brighton, which is just an intriguing game all round. Brighton in decent form as well. Sports extra 3 o'clock Saturday is Chelsea Everton. Chelsea, you just hit a little bump,

having lost to Atalanta in midweek and drawn at Bournemouth in the Premier League last weekend. Burnley-Fulham Saturday 5.30 on 5-live. That's Mike Minay and Michael Brown. Now, Connor, not for 5 live, because John Murray's there for 5 live, but Sunderland, Newcastle is tasty on Sunday at 2 o'clock I think particularly given the way Sunderland have gone so well

at the start of this season. That is a mouth-watering derby, isn't it? Yeah, I'm commentating on that for Telly, and I'm really looking forward to it. And look, look, this game in any time, you know, even if they're in different divisions or whatever and they meet in the F.A. Cup, you know, time where-tine derbies are always fascinating.

This one particularly so. I mean, Newcastle have been through the ringer. They've had tough games lately. Obviously, the Champions League last night, I think their last three games, they've conceded a very late goal in each game. So there's going to have to be a bit of fatigue and tiredness coming in.

And then Sunderland, who, you know, they're still in the top ten. I think we've all been raving about what a great step up they've made to the Premier League, particularly when you look in the context of recent years and how newly promoted clubs have struggled. But just lately, and I commented on their game at Anfield when I thought they did really well last week,

but they've only had one win now in what six games I think so you know as great as they've been people are going to think oh hang on are we going to start slipping off now so I think this this fixture has come at a really nice time

they're going to be so up for it it's not lunch I mean it's a two o'clock kickoff I think it is slightly earlier kickoff but I'm really looking forward and I'll obviously see John there but that's one where you will make an extra effort to get there a bit early

and you'll be in the stadium and you'll just savor that atmosphere around the ground before they game it's going to be brilliant yeah i was i was just going to ask actually in do you have any particular memories of sunderland newcastle commentaries that that you've done yeah i've had a few when i worked at radio newcastle i tended to cover newcastle united so we didn't sort of like sometimes in local radio you can have a sort of like a split can't you that you can cover both both teams or every team in your patch but we'd made the choice that i'd be the newcastle commentators

so I didn't tend to cover Sunderland but I remember one time even before that I went as a fan my ex-brother-in-law was a massive Sundaland fan and he said do you want to go to the game and I said yeah yeah I'll go to the game

but it was the early 90s and in those days I grew up thinking if you're going to go to a local Derby you don't wear your colours but up there you wear your colours so he said here he said put this scarf on so I was that

went got out the car with a red and white scarf on no sooner had i got out of the car that these group of newcastle fans starting abusing me him his mother and his sister and i'm thinking oh my god this is this is quite tasty this is really raw and uh anyway went into the stadium was in the full will end at rocca park and there was just pockets of fighting breaking out in every area of the ground and it was when newcastle had gone on a really long unbeaten run in the days of Kevin Keegan and they won Liam O'Brien scored a free kick and I think they won 2-1-2-0 and the atmosphere was just edgy really really edgy and it was just sort of like it was it was a real eye-opener my first ever time going to uh to a weird time derby so um passions run high

let's put it that way yeah was it was it was it is my memory playing tricks on me was it was it a Derby when Hullet Bent Shearer Was that in Newcastle-Sunderland game? It was, wasn't it? Yes, it was. Yeah, in the That was in the pouring rain at St. James's. Yeah.

Yeah. For me, and again, maybe it's my bias towards the North East, but it is the closest thing in terms of atmosphere that you get to the old firm a time we're we're at Tyne Derby. It is intense.

Okay, well that's 2 o'clock Sunday. Connor will be doing it for for Telly, but John Murray and Paul Robinson and doing it for five live. Your choice of listening then. Sports Extra has Palace against Manchester City. Sports Extra 2 has Nottingham Forest at home to Tottenham. Sports Extra 3 has West Ham against Aston Villa.

And if all that isn't enough for you at half four, I'm with Pat Nevin at Brentford against Leeds. So it'll be interesting to see how Leeds pick up from some excellent results. The home win over Chelsea and the three all draw against Liverpool. And then Monday night, there will be updates of Manchester. Manchester United against Bournemouth, into the Monday nightclub, which it says rather cheekly in the script here with the wheels Mark Chapman. I didn't actually watch the wheel on Saturday night,

but Chap has appeared on the wheel on Saturday night, although he told me his appearance was pretty brief, but that is something I'm going to have to go and find on the eye player and watch back. And next week, very quickly, it's League Cup quarterfinals. Tuesday night, we've got commentary on Cardiff, Chelsea. Wednesday night next week Ian will do Manchester City against Brentford and Wednesday night as well

so there's separate kickoffs there 730 and 815 John Murray is at Newcastle against Fulham My name's Steve Bradnell A sister manager of Royal Oak FC You may have seen me online with Vinyl Vinyl sensation

And now the BBC have given me the chance to set the footballing world Banteer Rice This could be a great opportunity for us, lads, a podcast for the BBC. Can I just say, what's a podcast? Brilliant. Great start. Well done, Bob.

Brilliant. We could completely show utter transparency to Royal Oak fans. I'll use my charm, gift it gab. Games gone. The Steve Bracknell podcast. Watch on YouTube. Listen on BBC Sounds. Football Daily is sponsored by Spring Hill Suites.

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from various sports commentaries this week, some really good ones as well. Just going to remind you, WhatsApps and voice notes to 08,289-369, emails to TCV at BBC.co.com. So last week's highlights, we had The Sockless Man, which came from Steve Bunce talking about Rick Edwards

presenting at the boxing. The Dancing Docu, which I think was Ian's, and the Doggett and Duckit from the Ashes Cricket. David writes in, he's a Crystal Palace fan in Texas. I was intrigued by the suggestion last week of a Watford pub called the New Manager Bounce,

specifically because of the word new. Now, I think this establishment would recognise the opportunity to have a laugh at the expense of newcomers and football tourists. Imagine, if you will. A guest orders a pint and casually asks about the name. The bartender sighs and tells this entirely fictitious story. You see, the original manager bounce, was along the riverside in the lower high street

but there was a terrible fire a few decades ago in one of the abandoned paper mills nearby and the pub didn't survive. The patrons couldn't bear to see it go though and so they pulled their money together, purchased this building and renamed it the new manager Bounce. 40 years later we're still here, still called the new

manager Bounce. Maybe we should drop the new but by now it's just become tradition. He would then point to the wall where a sepia toned image of an old pub would have been created aged and framed for the express purpose of extending the roos. So there's some incredible detail we're now getting. Yeah, I was going to say

I think David was good at creative writing in school, wasn't he? That's very well written David. You've painted that picture perfectly. But fair play to you, Alan, because you offered the sigh there as well. Yeah, a bit of acting in, a bit of acting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, chucked a bit in there, yeah. Other fresh suggestions. We're going to start this week with

some Ashes commentary from TMS on BBC Sounds. That might have been half a chance as well. Off the bat of Kerry, root away to his right hand side. It flashed away. Is that another one? Was that catchable? I don't think got any fingers on it.

It was a difficult one to his right-hand side. Yeah, it's just camera Winterstokes. And again, the unlucky Atkinson. Oh, yeah, he did get a hand on it. He was diving to his right route. He did touch it. I'm not sure I'd want to drink on the unlucky Atkinson. No.

Now I can picture some fella sort of sitting in the corner with his head down, just shaking his head, having another tough day at, you know, whatever he'd been doing in the unlucky Atkinson. Listener George has been hot on the cricket pub names for us this week Australia just flicked at the switch and off they've gone Yep they were dominant for the rest of that session They've been rained in just a little bit since the breakers Archer is into the crouching weather

Order who drives into the offside But can't beat extra cover as it hits it into the ground All the Polkfields Yeah that's the crouching weather-ald So we've had the unlucky Atkins in the Crouching Weatherald And Stephen Sutton-Cullfield also gave us the crouching weatherald but George also sent in this one

pitch fully in shade now yes it is yeah and those horrible sharks teeth are moving across the outfield oh yes I see the teeth from the shadows from the stand as Atkinson comes in to the fidgeting Smith

and Smith just defends as easy as you like it to the offside there is no run yeah Francis and Cambridge also suggested the fidgeting Smith and Francis I think it would be one of those pubs with old rough wooden tables that could definitely do with some smoothing. Nick from York has been involved, says it turns out the TMS is a treasure trove of unintended pub names. Here are his favourite too.

Archer, round the wicket. It's a stark, and he beats him on the outside edge. Oh, and it goes right over the top of middle stump. That wasn't far away. It was pretty quick. 142 kilometres an hour, so shade under 90. Geoffrey can't believe it. Straight over the top and middle.

I do like exasperated archer. There's something very expressive about him. Here is Jacks. It's a bowler who defends solidly on the front foot, back to the bowler. There is no run. Just watching this shadow here. It's just creeping further to the left disson.

The menacing shark teeth. Yeah. The menacing shark teeth, says Nick from York. I'm imagining as more of an Australian beach front bar serving expensive snacks and a signature shark tooth. cocktail and the exasperated Archer would be a bit of a

dilapidated and run down sticky floors patches on the bar stools and Archer sign up front that is that is hanging off its hinges I think you've nailed it there Nick Cameron would surely have to drink in the in the second one wouldn't he? Cameron Archer yes in very good yeah well done

Oran in Belfast can bring us back to the football hello to all the wonderful commentators I'm surprised no one else mentioned this as an unintended pub name from the Manchester City versus Leeds game the other week. Leeds back in this from nowhere. Well he's certainly no Max Dalman. You might have seen his

goal in the UEFA Youth League in the midweek where he pirouetted and then scored the ball with a plumb for for Arsenal at Borum Wood. All I would say is that the Calvert Lewin Pirouet, Fox the Manchester City defenders who presented it back towards the England International and he

needed no second invitation. He didn't. There was nonsense from Nunes. What was he thinking? Orin says the Calvert Lewin Pirouin pirouette definitely sounds like a wine and cocktail bar that would be adjacent to a theatre and would offer a pre-show meal and post-show cocktails. Thanks for all the hard work you and your tech teams do and for giving us all the wonderful imagery that we are unable to see. Well, thank you for that. By the way, before our listeners pick up on that, there was another one in there, Ian,

which I quite like. You said no second invitation. So I quite like a place called no second invitation as in you come in or you're never coming back you know go bigger go you've got you've got to go exactly you got to be bold um Connor one of yours features here Wimbledon fan Derek I think I might have spotted an unintended pub name during Connor's commentary on Fulham against Crystal Palace here is Starrate Mitchell in around Kenny Tete oh he's not around Tete because a sliding Dutchman just veers back and cruising along the turf to make the the sliding tithe to win the ball back for his team.

It won't be just some good work in the midfield. Definitely a pub name, although I think the sign would be of a Dutchman on a skeleton bob competing in the Winter Olympics. Jordy Julie, who celebrated her birthday this week. Happy birthday, Julia. I hope you had a lovely day.

I missed your commentaries on the midweek games. It's not just the same when it's not five live. Clocking Ian saying, what's happening down below or John, I must make a note of that. I might have caused offence to both Julie and John there so apologies leak anyway where was I on the script

she says it's commentators bingo and I love it I've just got one pub name for you early in the Chelsea Arsenal game the other week with John Murray Kukarerea in with a challenge on Saka a crunching challenge looked like he took the ball took the man as well referee Taylor blows the whistle free kick

to Arsenal seven or eight yards inside the Chelsea half and Chelsea players reacters though the greatest injustice has just been perpetrated against them right well there's no injustice because it should have been a yellow card the greatest injustice would be a brilliant watering hole for debating contentious decisions and VAR over good ale and company during and after the match all the best Julie hua the lads you see you don't want it to be too negative you wanted to be like a positive thing

And for some reason, the greatest injustice is good because you can sort of, you know, you're feeling well, whatever went wrong, it wasn't your fault, it was a great injustice. So I think that works pretty well. Julie's idea in there as well. I mean, I bet people must do this, commentator bingo,

because there'll be phrases that we come up with all the time that you could tick off a bingo. Reminds me of playing, and these are in far more irresponsible sort of student days, when England would play a televised football match, we would all pick a player's name out of a hat. You took an England player's name out of a hat. hat and then there were various rules if your if your you know player scored or whatever or you know

made five tackles you would have to take a drinking fine for doing it and the one the one that always caught people out the most was when paul ints played for england we had a rule that if your player there was a camera close up of your player obviously cussing or swearing at the ref or having a go at someone then you would have to like take take a little bit of drink honestly if you got paul in an england game you were absolutely stuffed because that's all the ever happened. He would come charging to a tackle or whatever and immediately be bawling at someone. So that

just reminds me of a story. There was a referee in Gaelic football in Ireland and he was refereeing the big All-Ireland final, which is like the big version of the FA Cup final. And his brother was living in New York at the time when he went to an Irish bar and he was so this is the brother of the referee.

So they're watching the game on television live in New York from Dublin, the All-Ireland Gaelic Football Final. And he says the guy before the stranger guy he doesn't know and he said he said I bet you a drink that the referee is going to scratch his head just before and what they do in this game is you don't kick off the referee kind of throws the ball in so the referee is very prominent on the screen and he said he said I bet he's going to scratch his head and the guy goes what like how would you know that he said right yeah I'll take that bet and then the referee blows the whistle to start the game when normally

immediately the ball was going he pauses for a second scratches his head and then throws the ball in and this is all preordained with his brother so his brother can earn a free drink in new york which I always found very amusing. Another one coming in from Bradford fan, Will. As an EFL fan, I also enjoy listening to the 72 plus EFL pot on the football daily. During last week's episode, Aaron Paul said an unintended pub name when he was describing the terrible weather conditions of one of the weekend's matches. I've never seen rain like that.

And then, again, I bring back a phrase, I coined about eight years ago on Five Live, you had all the sort of detritus from the game. You had old pies, drinks. rappers, all sorts of bits and pieces flying around. And it was like a centrifugal effect when everyone disappeared. And so I'm stood there

and you're getting hit by packets, hit by rubbish, there's all sorts of stuff flying around. It was disgusted. Did you see the Gaffer's trousers, though? I've seen them after the game. I've seen them. I actually went to congratulate him after the game in the manager's office and his pants looked like he'd actually played himself.

The Gaffer's trousers, I will give that to Aaron. I am though on a point of order going to say I don't think, Aaron, that you yourself can claim that you've coined a phrase i think someone else has got to say that for you you can't you can't say i coined a phrase on five lives so that that's a point of order there and i look forward to discussing with you when i see you next but uh but bradford fad will said i thought this would make a good pub name the gaffers trousers also an idiom to be used in the same way as the cats meow the bees knees or the dogs you know all the best yeah that that's at east london booze of that

the gaffers trousers definitely definitely um couple more that have coming on the email tcv at bbbc Co. UK. Stafford Rangers fan Ray. Chris Coles last week mentioned the deserved opener. I reckon that would be a pub specialising in happy hour prices when you walk in after a hard day's graft. Also, I think the unintended pub names feature is now trending

more than the whole 6-7 TikTok thing. And before we move on, we'll have this one from Saints Van Darren. Love listening to your pod. Find it great entertainment whilst driving my van for work. But I've got a new suggestion. We already have the unintended pub names, but how about the unintended

film names. So while listening to The Ashes, I heard one of the commentators say the ball had passed the outside edge of the flashing blade of Wetherald, which sounded like some swashbuckling Jack Sparrow type film to me and gave me the idea.

So what are your thoughts? Flashing Blade of Weatherald as an unintended film name. Listen, keep them coming. That's all I can say. It means that we might extend to another 50 episodes. Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. TCV at BBC.com.com on the emails, WhatsApp to 08,000, 289-369. And I love this one from Deputy Headteacher, Sam. Sam says, Love Listening, went out running last week while plodding along the Coast Road listening to the pot. I had a eureka moment. Maybe the most unintended pub name, not strictly from commentary, but certainly from this podcast, would be the unintended pub. I love that. I know there was a live show over the summer of TCV.

I think, you know, the TCV goes on tour, the venue that it takes over. should be called, you know, branded as the unintended pub. That's where you go and get your drink at the interval of the live show. Oh, no, now that is a good idea. We should do it at the best sounding unintended pub name for an intended pub. That is good. Yeah. Maybe we could do it at Tottenham.

Maybe our good friend Anthony Marshall could pull a few strings and we could host it at Tottenham at the easy tapping. Ian's having a production meeting live in the pod. Yeah, exactly. Excellent. Right. Time for Clash of the Commentators, where two of us take turns to answer a question, give as many correct answers as we can in 30 seconds. And I see in the script here, Connor, you're not playing today. So I'm wondering, I'm just sort of throwing this out there as a question. So this is an official, this is not a friendly exhibition. This is an official game that counts towards the league table, I think. This is a competitive fixture. Yes. Can Allie get back to winning ways and try and reel in the runaway league leader,

Ian. So Ian on top, six from eight. Second place is reigning champion Ali, four from nine. And in third place, languishing and quite frankly, under pressure now, John Murray with three from nine. So that lead could be extended. Who's going to go first? So I think last week I went second against John. So why, let's let, and I lost. So let's mix it up. I'll go first this time, please. Okay, right. Now, I'm going to unplug. He's gone. Okay, Ali, you're good to go? Yeah. Manchester City won 2-1 away to Rail Madrid on Wednesday night. It was their first victory over Madrid in their last five meetings. The last time City beat Real was in May 20203.

It was a 4-0 scoreline as City progressed to the Champions League final. But I want you to name any player who featured in that match. So any player, either team, who played in Manchester City 4, Rail Madrid-Nil in May 2023. Your time starts now. I remember Jack Greelish scoring in one of those games. So Foden Harland Who else should we have? Gvardiel Stones,

Ruben Diaz, don't know about Rico Lewis, Kyle Walker, Edison in goal. What about Danny Carverhal? Tebow Courtois. Who else would have been playing for Madrid? Enesto Valverde. What about Man Cities, midfield, Rodry. That'll do, that'll do. Oh, you've done very well there, Ali.

You've done very well. I'm impressed. I'm not sure that'll be enough, though, you know. So we need to contact Ian Dennis, and give us a shout, Denno, when you were back on the line. He's gone, Connor. He's knocked off, hasn't he? He's got up to the unintended pulp.

Hello. Oh, I can hit. Hey, you're back. We thought you'd gone for a swift half down the unintended pub. I also unplug my mic. I don't know why I did that. I just had to unplug the headphones, but I did both. Complete dislocation.

Yeah. All right, Ian, Manchester City 1-2-1, away to Rail Madrid and Wednesday night. It was their first victory over Madrid in their last five meetings. The last time City beat Real was May 23. It was 4-0 as city progressed to the final. But I want you to name any player who featured in that match. Manchester City for Rail Madrid-Nil, any player for either team from May 2023. Your time starts now.

Covetich, Stones, Edison, Walker, Diaz, Greelish, Debruner, Harland, Foden, Bernardo Silver Rodry Then you'd have had Courtoire Mbapé Vincius Junior Rodrigo Squeezing a few in at the end there

He's done really well Vincius Junior Rodrigo Very good at the very end I've been pressed that up I've focused on Manchester City first and then I went to Madrid that was my yeah whether it's

well I'm impressed because I know how hard it is being on the other side of this and hearing the music and being under pressure you both did so well on the city players very very impressive so we'll just we'll just tot up the final standings feel the tension building yeah I've got a bad feeling

I think Vincius and Rodrigo we didn't say Benzimar sure he was played in those games so Denna you said in Bappe he didn't play that was before he had joined So the scores are Of the 22 players who started the game Well, subs would have been allowed as well

Alistair Bruce Ball named 11 of the players It was a very good show However Today's winner On a score of 13 Is Mr Ian Dennis Congratulations That's good then I

And Vinicius Rodrigo Two names at the end Just to take it past Otherwise it would be a truck in an erroneous Mbapé Very good That's good he's away again now. John's going to be disappointed

at that, that I've not managed to halt his charge. The big man will be most disappointed that no one has been able to hold my charge at the top of the table. The correct answers were, and we'll start with Manchester City, Edison, Rubin Diaz, Manuel Akanghi, Kyle Walker, Rodry, Ilka Gundawan,

Maris came on as a sob, Kevin de Brunner started, Phil Foden, did play, only came on late, but he came on as a sob. John Stones, Jack Greelish, Bernardo Silver, Erlinghalland, And Alvarez came on as a very late sub in that game for Manchester City. So those are the city players for Real Madrid that night. Courtois, you both mentioned in goal.

Carvajal. Vasquez replaced him. Edder Melitao, Alaba, Camovina, Chiuameli. Luca Modrich started to the game. Antonio Rudiger came on as a sob. Valverdi, Cruz. Asencio, Benzima. Venetius Jr. and Rodrigo, the two that Deno got late.

and Danny Sabayos also came on as a substitute in that game for Rail Madrid. So the only incorrect answers given were Gvaldiol, he didn't play. Rico Lewis, Kovitchich, who of course had played for both teams in the past, but he didn't play in either of them, and Mbapé, who was still at Paris, Ian, San Germain. Paris, San Jermann, he used to play. Trebio, Trebier. Let's finish up with the glossary,

our great glossary of football commentary, where we add listener suggestions of commentary, terms and phrases to our collection. Division 1, football exclusive terms, division 2 for terms used in football commentary but also used in other sports. So, for example, Rolls-Royce is in our division 2 for terms used across different sports. In fact, this week, I messaged the group this week on the TV cricket commentary. Rob Hatch on TNT described Mitchell Stark as a Rolls-Royce of a bowler. So there you have it, an actual example of it going across sports.

Anyway, Amit from Leicester gets in touch first of all. Here's my suggestion for the great glossary, the perfect hat trick. When a player scores three goals, one with the head, one with the right foot, one with the left foot, basically the football equivalent of completing the set, like Pokemon, but with body parts. I've always loved this phrase because it sounds like something you brag about in a pub quiz or whisper dramatically in a Netflix documentary. Love the pod and the FPL one too, thank you, Amit. even if my team is currently doing a better impression

of Leicester City than Manchester City. So, the perfect hat trick. I like this. I think there's something there. Everyone knows exactly what it is. Everyone knows this expression, but I'm not sure that's ever used outside of football.

I think Amit might have nailed it here. Yeah. Yeah. Div one. Div one. Div one. And questioning the script here, I don't know the answer to,

last player to score a perfect hat trick in the Premier League. I would have no idea. Yeah, you'd guess at Harlem, wouldn't you? He's got to have a chance, doesn't he? Cole Palmer. Ah. When Chelsea thumped Everton. Cole Palmer with his head, actually.

Don't often see Palmer screwing with his head, do you? But there we go. Okay, but well done, Amit. That's in Div 1. Wolves fan, Richard, writes, When a defender is all over an attacker and keeping them quiet, there's a phrase used where a defender is described as having the attacking player in his pocket.

For example, Matt Doherty had Halland in his pocket all afternoon and denied him a single shot on goal. This is Wolves fan Richard writing this, by the way. Perhaps an ambitious example, but I hope you get the impression. Also, when a team is dominating possession, the commentator may suggest that they are camped in the opposition half. For example, wolves were camped in villas half for the majority of the game. So Richard's suggesting in his pocket and camped in the opposition half, what do we think of these? So in his pocket we've discussed, and now that's already gone in the glossary, but we've not actually put that into Division 1 or Division 2.

So in other sports, can you have someone in your pocket? That's the key question there to decide which division it's going to go into. And, Connor, I mean, with your rugby expertise, Camped in the opposition's half, surely that's rugby too. Yeah, I think Camped in the opposition half can go across a lot of things. Basketball, I mean, any game that's played across half. so div two. I think in his pocket,

I'm going to say div two, not that I can think of specific examples, but, you know, just on top of my head, sort of NBA basketball or something, you could say superstar player is being kept quiet because, you know,

the opponent who's marking him has him in his pocket. I'm up to debate on it, my initial reaction is div two. I don't know about you, Ali, but my initial reaction is both div two. Agreed. Like that.

And the next one, let's hear from Brighton fan James. Hi, chaps. Whilst watching a pretty uninspiring performance from my team Brighton at the Annex on Sunday. I found myself saying out loud, oh, he telegraphed that pass, as another pass in the Brighton midfield

was easily intercepted by West Ham United. I haven't heard it mention other sports, but I suspect it will end up in Division 2 because, as previously discussed by yourselves many times on the pod, hockey seems to mirror many football phrases. Anyway, absolutely love the pod. I look forward to listen to it when I'm out on a run on a Saturday.

I think James has sort of answered his own question there. I do think that's going in Div 2. I do like it as a phrase, though. I'd like, Telegraph is quite an old-fashioned word, it seems to me. It almost takes you to telegram, doesn't it, Telegraph? So I do like using it. I would use that in commentary, but I think that's probably Div 2. It is Diff 2.

And the classic for me would be in rugby, particularly when it passes interceptors, so the inside centre is passing it towards the outside center or maybe sort of skip it out to the fullback or something and then the opposition player nips across and intercepts it because the pass had been telegraphed they they sort of could could anticipate what was going to happen there so for me very worthy inclusion but into div two okay so in summary this week from the glossary going into div two in their pocket having a player in your pocket that's going into div two being camped in

the opposition's half definitely belongs in the glossary but is going into division two and And the same with telegraph that pass, which I absolutely love. But Div 1, the perfect hat trick is in. And it wouldn't be a TCV episode. Without that, John Murray does feature in the 50th episode, even though he'll never, ever hear it. Further confirmation on Schmichael style, by the way, chaps. Connor, I don't know whether you were across this one, but we were talking about how you use this. often you know when a goalkeeper spreads himself yes and then someone got in touch with us and said

he got that from handball in Denmark so maybe they used that in in commentary on handball in Denmark but actually he didn't play handball in Denmark so it wouldn't have been called you know we we've adopted it and turned it into into English football so so Peter from Copenhagen gets in touch and says I don't think I've ever heard Danish commentary used the term schmichael style in handball ever best regards so that is staying in division one if it comes to danish commentary of handball i'm going to trust peter from copenhagen ahead of any of our opinions on that one i tell you what i'll let's just finish with this one from will in cornwall felice navidad chaps as the festive season is in full swing we ought to bring in the best unintended

christmas party name and one that is mentioned weekly and with regularity namely the alistair Bruce Ball. It would be a grand ballroom, black tie and ball gown, Suarez, with a TCV triumvirate, providing the jazz music with a hint of deacon Blue. I like that, Will. You've got me there already. The society occasion would be held in some Grand Suffolk country estate. Keep up the great work, boys. All the best. I think that the Alistair Bruce Ball, which we would all get into our glad rags to go and attend, would surely be held. in the Kiernan-Dewsbury Hall. Yes, that's a great shout, Connor. Lewis wouldn't be happy with that. I think the Lewis Hall in Newcastle would be helping to.

Yeah, yeah, there'll be a few. So maybe that's something for next year for the World Tour. You know, we'll inaugurate the Alistair Bruce Ball, make it an all-seeing, all-dancing black tie-do. Huge fundraiser. Who knows? Who knows? Right. Keep the glossary suggestions coming in.

Thank you, everyone. We've had tons of those this week. and remember if you do hear an unintended pub name over the weekend in a commentary, send it in to TCV at BBC.com.com. And your voice notes, always welcome as well on WhatsApp to 08,289-389-369. That is it for this episode of the Football Daily.

Remember you can find each and every episode of the commentator's view by scrolling down your Football Daily feed. Who'd be on Sacks in the Jet? Could you see John Murray on Sacks? That'd have to be Dion, wouldn't it? Deon on Sacks. Absolutely, yeah, Dionne.

He would be percussion as well, Dion. Yeah. I could see Deno on drums, sort of slightly shady figure in the background, just sort of doing his thing and no one really, little, you know, drink on the table beside him. Yeah, my inner Duggy, Vipon coming out.

I'd be like Duggy. Exactly. This winter, cricket's oldest rivalry is reignited. Small is first one. England and Australia do back. Battle to compete for the Ashes. That is extraordinary.

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