The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Chelsea back on top as Spurs sack Skinner – Women’s Football Weekly podcast

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Ceylon Andi Hickman and Marva Kreel round up the highs and lows of another eventful week in the WSL How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

This is The Guardian. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. On Cheltenham week, how apt that we're at the races. Title races and sack races are under our starters orders as Chelsea win by a nose and Rhiann Skinner falls at the ninth fence. Meanwhile, the race to avoid relegation gathers pace.

Mark Skinner has a refereeing rant and is Bunny Shaw single-handedly rescuing Manchester City's season we'll discuss all of that take your questions and that's today's

Guardian Women's Football Weekly huskyfc.com is what Salon Andy Hipkman has just described this trio of panellists

we have and then add the force with me. How are you doing, Solon? 50 caps for Dulwich this weekend. Oh, thank you. Yeah, it was nice. It was quite a surprise. I was just in the warm-up and was told, oh, you're on your 50th. I was like, oh, great, thanks. But yeah, glad to be joining Husky FC and the full of head cold and hope everyone out there who's struggling as well is coming to the end of it. Yes, Susie Rack, how are you doing? Lover of polls. I was loving the polling situation going on on Twitter last night. Oh, I love it. I love to break out a little controversial poll. People

hate it. People love it. It's a lot of fun. Marva Creel, I think you need to be on more often in order to save Everton's season because the last time you were with us, it was a win for the Toffees. And so it is again, albeit the women drew, obviously, but the men won at the weekend. Yeah, it doesn't happen often. And also, I always get asked to be on men's football podcasts when we do. So it's quite nice to come on when people aren't just expecting my misery. That's quite nice. Yes, no misery today. Right, listen, before we get into the action, let's have a quick reaction to Rhiann Skinner's sacking last night.

I mean, Susie, you have been dot, dot, dotting it for a number of weeks now. Yeah, and I mean, it's not surprising given the poor run of form they were on and another defeat, but it was nine straight defeats, which is not the best record in the world. And, you know, there's a case to say that perhaps that's too long. The only thing that I, you know, I did wonder whether they would sort of cling on until the end of the season in the hope that they stay up and then go from there because there's you know not a huge number of sort of top quality managers out there and available at the moment so yeah surprised in that it's tight towards the end of the season but when

a win can be the difference of relegation or not. Even a new manager bounce of one game could make a difference. So not surprised, but also, you know, wondering about the timing and whether it's right or not. I think only the end of the season will tell us really. Yeah, we'll talk about this more in depth in part two of the Podsalon. But, you know, all over social media last night, the players were coming out and highlighting what an incredible job she's done with them all individually.

Yeah, I mean, it was testament to her and her leadership that she had such lovely statements coming out from players. But yeah, I think it had to happen. I don't think you can keep losing. I don't think you can be a club like Tottenham with a fifth place finish last season be where you are

in the league with a consecutive terrible run of form and nothing changes and often obviously changing your manager is the most obvious and easy way to go

even just from an external point of view to look like you're addressing the situation so perhaps maybe it was a bit of a

it's the only thing we really can do so we've got to lose you but yeah I agree with Susie I think that Le was a bit of a, it's the only thing we really can do. So we've got to lose you. But yeah, I agree with Susie. I think that Leicester game on Wednesday night, it's, you know, the new manager bounce of trying to guarantee a very, very critical three points coming up.

That also might have played into the part, I think, of the decision. Yeah, it's going to be fascinating, that match, isn't it? We'll talk about this more in depth in part two when we focus on the relegation. But let's look at the title race, shall we? Chelsea 1, Manchester United 0. Chelsea finding themselves back at the top of the table, two points clear with a game in hand, all thanks to that delightful little Sam Kerr chip, which gave them that 1-0 victory. Marva, Manchester United have never beaten Chelsea before. How much do you think that psychological barrier impacted this game? I think it did but it is that kind of thing that it feels like they're getting closer and closer every game which I know isn't much of a consolation to United fans who this season

are essentially going for the title even if they say they're not. But it definitely played in because they had I think like 75% possession in the first 10-20 minutes and just didn't have that kind of cutthroat moment and it didn't feel like they really believed they were going to have that moment. I think we'll get into it in a bit in terms of Skinner's substitutions but those in themselves for me showed that they the mentality of the team it seemed like they were just holding on to that one nil hoping to get an equalizer towards the end rather than going all out and trusting themselves they weren't going to concede again and given that well Chelsea had quite a few very clear opportunities they didn't

have that many opportunities it was sort of three very good ones, maybe four. But other than that, they didn't create that much else. And it just felt like Man United didn't really back themselves to just go full out without conceding again. We'll talk about the penalty decisions as well shortly. But Susie, it was a big win for Chelsea, but possibly slightly different performance than what we expected from them. Yeah, but then at the same time, I didn't think they ever looked overly troubled. That was the interesting thing for me. I think Marva touched on it, like possession stats. You know, Man United have 63% possession across that game, but come away with three shots on target, the same number as Chelsea.

I mean, that sort of speaks to itself, doesn't it? Like, you know, sitting and watching that, you never really saw Ankh-Katrim Berger, like, properly tested. It was a solid defensive Chelsea performance, but at the same time, United just lacked some real fight and desire, I thought, in that game. So I thought it was a combination of the two, a combination of a really solid, organised Chelsea performance, if not their usual free-throwing best,

coupled with United just not really seeming quite at it. Mark Skinner was quite at it in his post-match, that's for sure, Salon. Two big penalty shouts for Manchester United in the first half. One for Khadija Buchanan, clipping the heels of Nikita Paris. The other, Jess Carter upending Ona Batcha. Were United harshly done by, as Mark Skinner seemed to think? I think in kind of a law of averages, if you've got two that are pretty, according to Mark Skinner, stonewall pens, then you probably should get one of them.

I think the first one, the clip, that's really easy not to give, particularly from where the ref is. And you had to really say that in slow motion and from the other angle to be able to see the contact that's made on Paris' ankles. The second one I think is probably more clear and obvious. And I do think you'd be really frustrated if you saw that, like Arnaud Batia has got there first and Carter's gone into the back of her in the box quite clearly. But yeah, it is just frustrating.

It's frustrating to finish probably one of the most season-defining games. And then the conversation is about the officiating again. And the comments made after the game are kind of, the manager kind of just has to call it and just say things need to change and then we'll probably have another one of these in a week's time, a few weeks' time and the cycle continues until the refereeing quality improves.

In terms of Chelsea, Susie, they just seem to have one clear idea which was to play the ball long to Sam Kerr and it paid off absolutely perfectly, didn't it? What a pass from Lauren James and what a finish from Kerr. Yeah, I mean, the finish was nice, but for me, that was all in the pass. For me, inside your own half. What struck me, particularly watching it back, seeing it live,

I was in awe. But then watching it back, just how utterly laid back Lauren James is and she plays that pass like there's no there's no power in there there's no there's almost no effort like it's she just she makes it look so effortless just sort of you know glances up and then plays this absolutely beautifully perfect ball that just drops over samka's, enabling her to chest it down and then lift it over Erp's, the best keeper in the world, according to FIFA. And there's just so much talent there.

I mean, you can see how much Sam Kerr enjoyed the passing that she immediately ran and celebrated with Lauren James. But yeah, absolutely beautiful. And it was a game that needed that kind of moment of magic to make a breakthrough, really. And interesting that, again, it comes from Sam Kerr, but delivered by a new face in their sort of run of supremely talented forward players.

It's also so funny, that goal, because where Lauren James is on the pitch, where she receives it, as a defender, you're thinking, no threat, it's all right. She's in her own half. We can let her have it here. The one ball that we'll give away will be a mad cross-field diag switch if she pulls it off fair play. There's nothing we can do. So no one really applies that much pressure to her. And then suddenly she doesn't even need to bring it down. She's just like, boom, send it over the top inch perfect and the touch and the finish from Sam Kerr

also should not be overlooked in this that was incredible the way the chest and then the the scoop that had to be inch perfect but yeah it's just so from a defender point of view you're stood there thinking how has that led to a goal it wasn't we weren't in a threatening position at all you mentioned substitutions marva were you surprised not to see mark's gonna change things up a bit more as the game went on yeah definitely and this has been um an ongoing problem um for united fans especially in this game i just thought not only the moments he made the substitutions but also the substitutions that he did make to bring garcia on i think in the 90th minute when you're going for a goal just seemed absurd and also at one point he switched

to five at the back and it felt like are you just doing this because Emma Hayes is doing it or is there a particular plan for it because I could sort of understand that if you'd kept Toon on but he'd already taken Toon off for Williams which in itself was also a bit odd but to sort of go for five at the back whilst you don't have you know your sort of front five just all out attacking players it just seems like what is the plan here it seemed kind of overly cautious really and I think given the talent on their bench I was pretty shocked not to see something more in this game I know he's he's not one for making a lot of early substitutions but in this game you know more so than any game it was it was quite surprising really yeah there's a lot of illness in the Chelsea camp wasn't there it feels like

this was a bit of an opportunity missed maybe for for Manchester United so Salon at this stage of the title race and the race for the Women's Champions League it's so so tight who are you backing to get it over the line? At the start of the season my prediction was that Arsenal were going to finally get their uh their title back and uh I'm safe to say I think that one's gone um sadly I think Chelsea have got I've got the title um it's theirs to lose now and we know from these positions as well they they they do hold on and and they have that mentality and I think as well losing the league cup final again is something that there's a real spur to say,

this is our trophy and we've got to hold on to it. So yeah, I would say Chelsea are going to win the WSL. In terms of the top three and the Champions League spots, Chelsea, oh, it's so tight. I actually don't think I can call it. Well, basically what I don't want to say, well, the thing that I want to say is that I don't want to happen, which is that Arsenal miss out.

I really, really don't want that to happen. But I think somehow they'll pull through. Oh, I want to say United and Arsenal get it. Okay, so City, who are on the best form of all of them. City are just dark horses, aren't they? They're just consistent and they're just in the background doing their thing. You know, it's really hard to call. And they have bunny shorts.

Susie Rack, this is exactly why you did your Twitter poll yesterday. What are the people saying? The people say Chelsea will win the league. And interestingly, Arsenal came second in that poll, which really surprised me. You do probably have quite a lot of Arsenal fans following you, I would say. I mean mean there is that and Arsenal have a reputation on Twitter of always winning polls but still who is missing out on the Champions League was City 41.1% so go whistle on uh closely followed by Man United

then Arsenal Chelsea 0.9% um personally I think it's United's to miss out on you know I think it's United to miss out on you know I think Arsenal have the Conte Cup momentum behind them City are on a run of form that is pretty incredible and I think United will probably be slightly rocked by the manner of the

loss to Chelsea in my mind but maybe that's a wishful Arsenal fan in me What do you think Marva? It's so tough I think the loss to Chelsea in my mind but maybe that's a wishful Arsenal fan in me. What do you think Marva? It's so tough I think I think City are going to get it I just think the way that they're they're grinding out results at the moment but between Arsenal and United I think it's all going to come down to kind of a few big games where their mentality switches because we've seen it with Arsenal in that after that Conte Cup, they just seemed so confident. But then you saw a few run of games where they were not confident and you were thinking, is this team ever going to win again? So I think it's all going to depend on, yeah, a few moments of mentality, really.

The next three WSL match days, we've got Man City-Chelsea, then we've got Man City Chelsea then we've got Arsenal Man City then we've got Man United Arsenal now like it's going to be decided in those those fixtures surely like and if we pick pick a team to win each of those games like for me of Man City Chelsea that's Man City winning that game which then blows things open like that's the first one I like I don't know what other people think about that well surely I mean if Man United don't get Champions League football after the season that they've had does that represent a a failed season because it kind of feels like it what did the poll say Susie huge unacceptable 48 percent bad but not terrible 37.1 i like that we're bringing a data-informed approach to this podcast with a really like solid forward really solid sampling here you know really really solid sampling it's all of us answered the polls so there we go

no it would be massive though wouldn't it it would be massive if Man United missed out on third it'd be absolutely huge it would be it really would they've been incredible this season and yeah I think is it Marva did you say it was the mentality race yeah um oh dear that's how we're you're the only person that's ill so that's not ill so we're um we're going to take you on your word in the rest of the title race Arsenal picked up a 4-0 win over Reading goals from Kim Little, Frieda Marnham, Leo Williamson and an Emma McCandy own goal

while Manchester City needed an 89th minute winner from Bunny Shaw to secure a 2-1 win away at Brighton let's talk Arsenal, Susie they had to mix things up a little bit because Stina Blaxtinius picked up some illness. I hope she hasn't got what we've all got.

Frida Mahnum started as the striker, Leah Williamson in midfield. Jonas Eideveld seems to be coming more and more adept at shuffling his pack. And it felt like quite a comfortable win for you in the end. Yeah, and Leah Williamson was brilliant in midfield. And it's rare that you say that. I mean, she's usually okay in midfield or to some degree solid. I mean, against Reading, you've got the freedom to take risks like that. You wouldn't necessarily see it against one of the top three, top four teams.

And then when you've got her playing alongside Kim Little or Leah Vaughty, there's a level of freedom there. And seeing her career through the middle, a little bit higher up the pitch, I found that really, really satisfying to watch. So yeah, really, really solid performance despite the sort of shift around. Although Black Stinius did come on off the bench as well.

So clearly, that's not something that's going to be a long-term problem. But yeah, like, it's a result that was expected, right? Like, not far from the script and what Arsenal needed, given that they've not had the best run of form of late. Yeah, absolutely. A word on Bunny Shaw, Marva. 25th and 26th goals in City's game against Brighton to become their record goal scorer in a single season. The first goal, that combination play with Yui Hasagawa was exceptional and it did take City right until the end to get the winner.

But this is a team that seemed to gel more and more each week yeah definitely I think you know you've seen it in the improvement from from the beginning of the season where you looked at their midfield and they'd lost their whole midfield as well during the summer so you kind of thought how are they going to rebuild this and to be fair on them they've done a really good job at that that interplay in the the first goal was incredible but I think it's also just the the manner in which they are kind of scoring lots of different types of goals as well. And Bunny Shaw, she's just, even her hold-up play, her ability to sort of bring other people into the game, her ability to play a beautiful through ball,

then her physicality, her finishing. I feel like if Man City were going for the title right now, Bunny Shaw would be getting sort of a lot more hype, Bonnie Shaw would be getting a lot more hype. Obviously, she's getting a lot of hype, but I think the amazingness of the season has almost been lost a bit just because of Man City being a bit inconsistent. But yeah, both goals, even the second goal for her, just that kind of scramble in the box and just to have that one bit of quality to just sweep it past the goalkeeper

when they needed it most. She's just been incredible this season. I've got a controversial opinion. Ooh, go on. I'm going to phrase it as a question so it's less my controversial opinion and more a controversial opinion. Is Bunny Shaw papering over the cracks at Man City? Because I don't think, as I've said repeatedly on this podcast that Gareth Taylor

is the best manager in the world I don't think they're necessarily playing the best football they could with the players that they've got and Bunny Shaw is scoring a lot of goals and I sort of feel like we're in a 2019 World Cup Ellen White-Phil Neville situation where there's a lot of goals being scored that help get results. Because Brighton were good in that game. I mean, I'm always loathe to say a team deserves a point because if you lose, you don't deserve a point, right? But they played really well.

They caused City lots of problems. And again, Buddy Shaw pops up and sort of, you know, salvages things. And I think that's, you know, it's obviously not happened every game that she scored in, but it's happened a few times. And I just wonder if there's a slight over-reliance on Bunny to get them over the line a little too often maybe. Well, I did say in my intro, didn't I, is Bunny Shaw single-handedly saving Manchester City's season. I mean, you can't look past the fantastic wing play and the width that they've got in this team

and the balls into the box. Bunny Shaw needs that in order to score. But she was just the poacher for this winner. She was just stood there with nobody around her waiting for Brighton not to clear their lines and then she was in the right place because that's what strikers do to get the goal so she's doing her job but yeah what do you think Marva? Last season sort of City were playing with a few different strikers and not kind of really knowing what their build-up play was

leading into that so you kind of had almost an over-reliance on Hemp and Kelly to do that on the wings whereas this season their game plan's a lot clearer so it means that Hemp and Chloe especially coming off of the Euros where it did seem like they were a bit knackered towards the beginning of the season it means they know exactly what to do when they're on the wings which is to cross in rather than that kind of over-reliance being on them to go and get a goal so it might be just a little bit of a switch up in the way that Man City are playing as well but there's no denying obviously that that Bunny Shaw's many many goals are helping them through this too. I was going to say don't we have to then give just to play devil's advocate and wind Susie

up don't we then have to give Gareth Taylor credit for that? I mean we can I think that in the context of that City squad any manager should be winning like I don't think Gareth Taylor's a bad guy I just don't think he's a good enough manager and getting the best out of that City squad like when you look at that squad on paper for me that squad should be walking the league like it's a really competitive talented squad and they shouldn't have lost a lot of the players that they did in the summer as well and i think that's partly to do with stuff off the pitch as much as it is on the pitch and it's not quite right there something is not quite right there like in terms of something is stopping city from fulfilling their potential, for want of a better phrase. And for me, that falls at the manager.

And there's enough talent there to pull them over the line enough times at the moment. I think it's really interesting if you're a really talented, hungry, ambitious player and you're not that happy with management. Your success is the manager's success. Like Bunny Shaw scoring goal after goal being the highest record for City in a single season, that will, like Faye, you just said, it reflects really well on the manager. So it's really hard to pinpoint the issue because a player's never going to just not play really, really well because for them it's their career

and it's their profile and it's their whole life so it's really hard to draw that distinction of is it is it the management problems is it the players the players playing in spite of the manager or the players playing well because of the manager and that's something that you know it's really difficult to know well let's see if gareth taylor gets that contract it's dragging on apparently is what he has said and if he does get that contract, it's dragging on, apparently, is what he has said. And if he does get that contract, let's see whether there's an exodus or not in the summer again. Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we'll look at the race against relegation.

Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. mentioned at the top of the pod and managerial sacking before we recorded a podcast now i was going to say it's a first but actually it happened last week with jens schuer so we selfishly say thank you to the footballing gods and efficient club hierarchies uh rian skinner sacked by tottenham

following that 2-1 defeat to liverpool at the weekend their ninth consecutive WSL loss just to pick it apart more forensically Susie what exactly went wrong for Rhiann Skinner at Spurs? I find it really hard to pinpoint I don't know if others feel the same but like for me it started off so strong obviously she came in after Karen Hilton what Carlos Morris went who had done so much to get the club up into the Women's Super League, had given so much to that effort, on a personal level as well, really lifted the club off their own backs to a certain extent. And Skinner came in when they were really struggling and looked quite disjointed and were sort of struggling to make that final leap up

into being competitive within the Women's Super League at any kind of level above the bottom. And did a really good job and really impressed me. And watching the sort of early games under Skinner was looking at a team that felt like it had a game plan that there was a strategy there that there was like a map to to what they wanted to do that they were all looking at and following and then you know actually Sions players is able to make the squad her own a bit and you think this is this is the moment they're really going to push on right like she's done that with the pre-existing playing squad now she's got a chance to sort of

make us put her stamp on it really really making her own and you know surely it's just going to push on a level from here because she's you know slotting pieces into the puzzle instead this season we've sort of of seen a complete reverting to a team that just doesn't really look like it knows what it's doing. And obviously, praise the signing of Beth England in January, which I still think was a really smart move, and it was smart for her to go there, regardless of whether they're playing well or not.

I think she needed minutes, whether or not they're winning or losing. But nothing has really clicked still the relationships between the players on the pitch just aren't really there so yeah I find it hard to pinpoint why that's happened because the ingredients are all there I like the only thing that I could think of is that you know she came from the international setup with England youth coaching and obviously club football is different obviously you know you're to a certain extent at international level working with pieces of a puzzle that you don't necessarily get to play around with that much because you're not like signing players to improve a squad and things

so that's quite a new thing so when you're then sort of trying to build around your strategy rather than working with the pre-existing that that's a slightly different thing to be dealing with but maybe that's not giving her enough credit because like I say initially it was all going so well so this is like a really rambly way of saying I don't know yeah it's really difficult isn't it Marva because when you see players come out and specifically highlight how amazing you know particular man management is which you know so many of them are so canada's shalina zadorski for example rihanna's given absolutely everything to this club i cannot thank her enough for believing in me and this team she's pushed me to new levels as a player and person i I'll forever be grateful for our time together.

Wishing you nothing but the best, Rhiann. Ash Neville, thank you, boss. Thank you for everything you've done for me on the pitch, but also personally off the pitch with the support you've given me and my family. We'll be forever grateful. It's been a pleasure working with you. I've seen myself grow immensely as a player

over the past few years, and that's all down to your incredible ability and your passion to only be the best. So, I mean, she had the support of the players, Marva. Do you think that's perhaps why she held on for so long or were you surprised that she held on so long? Maybe. I mean, as an Everton fan, I feel like I'm a bit of an expert on managerial sackings

and players' reactions to them. So, when you see this happen, I've seen a lot of sackings and players' reactions to them. So when you see this happen, I've seen a lot of sackings where players say nothing and it's like, right, there you go, that was very clear. But to have this outpouring of love does show how much she was respected. And like Susie was saying, it is hard to pinpoint kind of what's gone wrong there

because it didn't seem like they weren't necessarily playing for her but it seemed like they didn't know what they were playing I think there is an element of they were a very hard team to beat last season they were just very defensive and this season there's been a lot of defensive mistakes and I don't know whether then sort of confidence drops and then they they don't have that that same confidence in sort of just defending deep um and then also to kind of add that attacking ability um into your front line where you will then sort of over rely on that so maybe then they're trying to play out they're trying to do something different rather than kind of being the underdogs and just playing up to that and it's kind of now they're just stuck in sort of nothing in in that sense in terms of how they're playing

and the defending in this this Liverpool game for the I mean that second goal was just shocking I mean I'm sure Solon can speak to it in terms of her being a defender but I just to leave that much space in the box and just there was a moment I can't remember who it was but I think Drew Spence was running in and the defender sort of looked over her shoulder saw the two Liverpool players there in space and just left it and then they scored and it was just like what are you doing this is just basic basic defending and you just think for a team like this who was so good defensively last season with such a good manager it just I think it had to end at this point because I was expecting at least a draw for Spurs here. And now they're really in a relegation battle.

Yep, they are. It was a big win for Liverpool though, Salon. This should, should, bearing in mind how topsy-turvy this relegation battle has been, make sure that they're in the WSL next year. I think so. I think they're benefiting from the fact of a sort of combusting Spurs struggling Brighton and a predictably struggling Leicester beneath them right and I think that should be enough and you could see how much it meant or how much relief there was after that that second goal that actually these are a huge three points. But yeah, I was laughing as Martha was talking about that Drew Spence look because I have a screenshot in my notes in prep for this,

where I've screenshotted, I can't remember which Liverpool player it is, who's just crossed the ball in and there are one, two, three, four, five Spurs players, either just kind of relaxed body language, sort of the ball's midair being crossed into the box into quite a dangerous area and there are five players around her either doing very little or kind of looking behind their shoulder and it's like that it's just you know if you if you need something for an example of why you've conceded a goal it's because you've got five players committed on the edge of the box and no one picking up in the middle but yeah it you know it's time I think also what you saw I think is the lack of resilience

from the Spurs players I think you take the lead last Sunday against City they took the lead again against Liverpool and there's something about actually you should be able to manage that obviously you're probably going to concede against teams like City, of course, but against Liverpool, you're 1-0 up. You've really got to lock up and capitalise on that. Obviously, we mentioned probably the sacking was sped up a little bit when the bosses at Spurs looked at the fixture list because Leicester on Wednesday,

who, thanks to a goalless draw with Everton, are only two points behind Spurs now, still at the bottom of the table. That's seven points from the last five games for Willie Kirk's side. And, you know, he has spoken about it before. He said the race isn't over and he has the belief, as he says the players do as well, they're close to staying up. Yeah, which I always thought they would when Willie Kirk came in. Like I said, I think I put it in my WSL talk and what's,

I think I said it on this pod, that he could pull off the greatest escape in WSL history. And I think that could happen. You know, Brighton are chaos, Spurs are chaos, and Leicester look well organised so there's a real chance of them clawing their way out of trouble in a way that

I think many people didn't think was possible I think it's very telling that Spurs have got rid of Rhian Skinner ahead of this huge game on Wednesday night. I don't think we can underestimate just how massive a game that is.

I mean, you look at Spurs' results, fixtures after that. They've got Arsenal, they've got Everton. This is in the league. They've got Reading. Three tough games against good teams, Reading included. Very well organised. So it's really crunch on Wednesday night. and Leicester will be smelling blood. I think there's no doubt about that.

And I think we could well see the tables turn a little bit and Leicester claw off the bottom for the first time. Solon, how do you see this match going? Former Liverpool manager Vicky Jepsen stepping up from her assistant role to take charge of it? I think there'll be a real fight in the Spurs team and in the Spurs dressing room.

You go into games like that and you think we have to do something and we have to get a result out of this. So it will be really hard for Leicester. Yes, they'll smell blood, but I think it was going to be a close game anyway. And anywhere that you get the edge in this

will be the thing that wins. The team that just really, really, really wants it more. And Tottenham have got a point to prove and I think they'll want to do it. So I'm going for a Spurs win on Wednesday. Okay. Marva, has it reached that strange point of the season where Everton don't really have much to play for? I mean, that's good, I suppose.

Yeah, exactly. It's nice to see a relegation battle unfolds that I'm not involved in it's a rare a rare chance for me but um yeah it felt a little bit like that this game um I think especially after losing to Villa last game it was kind of like well that pride battle is is sort of over as well so there isn't too much to play for obviously you've got some players who are pushing for world cup call-ups but other than that it seems more just kind of less let's build on on this team and get ready for next season but i think um this game was just there were a few moments where it was just our decision making we had quite a few chances and a few chances where we were sort of

three on two or four on two and just made the wrong pass or shot from you know yards out when you just shouldn't have shot but also Leipzig for Leicester I mean Spurs need to be careful because Leipzig's saves in this game were just insane there were two moments where I was like right that is 100% a goal there's no way that this isn't going to be a goal and then she just pulled out a world-class save so that's been an incredible signing for them. I thought Ruby Mace as well has been incredible. And she was great in this game, so young. She was just bossing the midfield and we've had a pretty good midfield this season.

So it's going to be a difficult one for Spurs because it was a difficult one for us, even though we had some good chances. But it just shows that they're on this path now where they can grind out results. And when you're in a relegation battle, as I know very well, this is exactly the kind of thing that you need to do,

is just grind out a few nil-nils, a few one-nils and hope for the best. Saving it all for the derby, right? There you go. Yeah, definitely. It's very interesting that all the bottom three teams have changed their manager. Brighton twice, actually. We'll touch on the other two teams around the bottom of the table. Reading haven't changed their manager. Kelly Chambers still in charge.

And I was worried about them at one point. But both Reading and Brighton lost this weekend against teams they probably weren't necessarily expecting to get points off of, though. Susie, where are you rating their chances of staying up, particularly Brighton, because like Tottenham, they've invested significantly and they are in a very precarious position? Yeah, I mean, I think Amy Merricks could do a good job at sort of putting things together very much against the odds.

You know, I think she should be given a chance to do so though it's like a bit of a you know hard place to be put in but I I feel like Brighton is a bit more organized and together than than Spurs as a unit like if anything I think Spurs have more talent within that squad it's like much stronger across the board but there's something about Brighton that I really like and they caused City a lot of problems could have got a point and I just feel like there's there's more in them obviously they've got the game in hand over Spurs as well um two games in hand over Reading. There's a little advantage there that gives them an edge as well that I think helps mentality-wise too.

We are not finished yet. So for me, I'm less worried about Brighton than I am Spurs. For me, the race to the bottom is between Spurs and Leicester. I don't think Reading are going to be in trouble. I think every know we've every season sort of go through that is this the year that Kelly Chambers luck runs out or magic runs out luck isn't fair because she's incredible but um you know where she's unable to rinse every ounce of like talent and every point out of a threadbare uh set up and side and every year she seems to make that happen again so I'm not worried about her but yeah for

me it's between it's between Spurs and Leicester for the drop interesting just finally Aston Villa did beat West Ham 2-1 goals from Rachel Daly and Jordan Nobbs giving Villa the lead, despite Vivian Assay pulling one back. Carla Ward's side able to hold on and looking pretty comfortable in that fifth position. Carla Ward is doing a good job, I think we say, pretty much every single week on this pod. Next week is a week off for some teams, not for others, though, as we hit the quarterfinal stage of the Women's FA Cup. Some really interesting matchups here Birmingham host Brighton, Reading host Chelsea and Villa play host

to City but the showpiece fixture will be Lewis playing Manchester United and Susie you've been speaking to some of the Lewis players in the lead up to this match. I have yeah because they've done an open letter to Karen Carney and the reviewing to women's football uh calling for equal prize money for between the men's women's fa cup and like what's brilliant is that the club have been doing it for a long time you know lewis are a campaigning club they've got you know real strong record on it they play the men and women's team the same they have the equality fc sort of label to them. They campaign on this every single time. The FA Cup rocks around pretty much.

But it's a little bit different this time because it's the players making the call. You know, they've come together. I spoke to three of them on the phone together. You know, no press officer over their shoulder or manager listening in or anything like that. Just the three of them sat in one of their flats as they like talked through why they decided to do this and it's completely led by them and for me that's really interesting and the other interesting part is that they were super inspired by the lioness's letter to rissy sudak and liz truss in the summer and that's what sort of prompted it they they realized that you

know we can make a real difference they decided that long before we got the announcement last week that the government was pledging to meet a lot of those demands. So it's a sign of the impact that, you know, the Lionesses letter and player power can have because, you know, you've got other players picking it up and thinking, wait a minute, we can do something here. We can make a real difference. Because the gap between the men's and women's prize funds in mad you know lewis were lewis

have received 45 000 for getting to this point and men's equivalent reaching the quarterfinals would have made 450 000 and i mean that's like just completely transformative for any team that makes the latter stages of competition but yet yet Lewis almost being punished for having got that far. You know, they're barely meeting costs. They're having to make a lot of changes ahead of this FA Cup tie, which is being broadcast as well, which they also get no money for. So, you know, they get the host team of the men's quarterfinal will get 200,000.

Lewis gets zero for for that gaming broadcast um and yet they're gonna have to change signage to vitality around the pitch and all that kind of stuff so they lose on advertising they don't get to reward the sponsors that have like really committed to them as a a championship side and it's quite disappointing that for all of the success on the pitch and off the pitch that has helped them get to this point that they don't then get any kind of like financial gain from it like they're literally just meeting costs if that which is really disappointing when you look at the impact that you know some of the big fixtures have on this i don't want to call Lewis a smaller side.

They're not a smaller side. They're in the championship. They're doing really well. But like you get the gist, like a team operating on a much, much smaller budget. You know, when you get those teams on the men's sides breaking through in the FA Cup and having a good run, it transforms the future of their club for a number of years, right? Like sometimes they get new facilities built by the club that's come to visit as a gesture of goodwill. Sometimes, you know, the TV money will pay for new dressing rooms.

Like it changes the ability of those clubs to run, lifts the pressure, makes them able to do loads of community work and stuff too. And the women's teams don't get that, which is a massive shame. Yeah, it really is. And this is big for the women's championship teams left in the competition salon, an opportunity for two of them to make the semifinals. Birmingham fancy themselves for this one as well? I'm just still quite seething.

Not everything Susie's just said. I'm like fuming about that. I just feel like, I don't know, I'm just, yes, it'll be a wicked moment when the players, like I feel really proud to be an owner of Lewis and to support this club, but actually knowing what it feels like to be on the inside of a small club

in a time like this like when all the world is looking at you thinking this is going to be the sickest moment of their season and their history so far and actually the burden it takes on the team and the club and the people who run the club and the volunteers and all that sort of stuff to know that yeah they're just getting absolutely rinsed on this moment I'm just quite angry sorry yeah no you're exactly you're exactly right it should be a celebration and I certainly wasn't Yeah, they're just getting absolutely rinsed at this moment. I'm just quite angry. Sorry. No, you're exactly right. It should be a celebration. And I certainly wasn't dismissing what Susie was saying by moving on to the next game.

I think it's something that, you know, we've talked about doing specials on, you know, about governance and what's going on behind the scenes and how to improve things for women's football because there is change hopefully coming and improvements coming but it's something you know clubs like Lewis in particular it's vital that we keep promoting their voice and making sure that everybody knows exactly what it's like and how difficult it is

because it's very easy to gloss over it isn't it with the with the slickness at times of the WSL and the promotion of women's football at the moment. There's still a long, long way to go. Good luck to both Birmingham and to Lewis this weekend. Marv at City, yet to beat Aston Villa this season. Can Carla Ward's side spring a surprise, bearing in mind the season that they've been having? It's such a good opportunity for them to go all out and potentially reach a cup final you've got players there that

know exactly how to do these kind of things yeah I think they can definitely and it's also a case of Villa don't have as much to play for now in in the league whereas City are still very much fighting um in the league and it's kind of similar to the Birmingham-Brighton matchup as well where Birmingham, you know, they've been a staple of the WSL for a long time but Brighton right now probably have their minds

elsewhere so I think it's a good opportunity for both Birmingham and Villa to cause a few upsets so we'll see. Yeah, absolutely right. Listen, it's been a pleasure

as always. Get your heads under a bowl of steamed steamed water. Oh my God god i just can't speak how have we just done an entire pod you know what i mean don't you do what your nan used to tell you to do put your head under some hot water no no in the steam of the hot water shut up face stop talking right now uh see you suzyie. Bye. Going to put my head in a bowl of hot water.

Oh my God, please don't anybody do that. Marva, nice to see you as always. Thank you. Hope everyone gets better. Take care, Salon. Cheers.

Get the vapour up on, guys. Ah, that's it. Thank you very much for being much more articulate than me. We'll be back next week to see who makes

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