The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Is the WPLL takeover good for the English game? – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Tom Garry and Ceylon Andi Hickman to discuss the NewCo, the Women’s Professional League (WPLL) and look ahead to the Barclays Women’s Super League season

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starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faye Carruthers and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Not much has happened recently, has it? Oh, we've missed you so much. We didn't miss Emma Hayes winning gold at the Olympics or Alex Morgan retiring, the Lionesses qualifying for the Euros or the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or.

Whether we should care, do or not. But we're focusing on the new season. Big name transfers, deadline day signings, four new managers and a new independent company that's taken over the WSL and Championship. We'll see how the teams are shaping up, make some no doubt terrible predictions and decide if we can cope with the stress that is fantasy football. All that plus we'll take your questions. And that's today's guardian women's football weekly

what a panel we have for the opening pod of the season suzy rack happy new season to you happy new season i already feel like i've done a season. It's been a tiring pre-season of work. So, yeah, I'm ready for May already, which is not a good start. Are you a player in disguise? They hate pre-season. Apparently so. I'll take it. Tom Gary, a very warm welcome. You've been busy breaking stories since joining The Guardian in the summer. Oh, good morning. It's so nice to be with you. Yeah, I'm really loving being with The Guardian. And thank you for inviting me on to make my pod debut this is really lovely oh listen this is the

first of many we've been very excited to have you on and also very excited to see salon Andy Hickman I mean what a start to life in the FA Women's National League for Dulwich Hamlet oh thank you Faye yeah it's good to be back I'm really really happy to see you all this morning yeah it's been a wonderful start we have yeah we've started strong showing that we can

we can compete in this league and it's really fun being in the National League there is definitely a difference it feels it feels more professional it feels more exciting

bigger attendances big teams yeah it's really exciting Lovely and producer Silas wearing his Dulwich Hamlet shirt as well, in respect to you. Right, listen, we are going to be focusing specifically on the football. I mean, you know, the stuff that happens on the green grass.

And this might feel a little trivial to some of you who just want to talk about what happens on the pitch. But the magic that we see on a weekly basis only actually happens because of what goes on off the pitch and with the new Barclays WSL season kicking off this weekend there has been significant change in its management and organisational structure behind the scenes so just to if you don't know just to remind you over the summer the Women's Professional Leagues Limited as it's now, formerly known as NUCO. You'll have heard us, if you've listened to the pod before, speak about that.

It completed the takeover of the top two divisions of English football. So the WPLL are dedicated to driving growth and maximising potential, placing players and fans at its core, is what it says. But Susie, can you try and give us a bit of a an explainer on what this new independent company is what the latest is you've heard from them give us a little bit more more background if you can yeah the snappily titled women's professional leagues limited um which apparently is just a temporary name uh well they decide what to do but I find it quite slightly funny that they've not been able to come up with one that they really really like before now given that they've had quite a lot of time slightly symbolic i would say um given that we actually know sort of very very

little about what plans look like but i mean they've got a 20 million pound loan from the premier league i think the first question that people have had is like where the money is coming from that apparently is a long-term loan on quote favorable terms i don't know what those terms look like but it was uh you know suggested to us that it's repaid over a long period of time and they have to hit various um like sort of revenue milestones along the way but that it's very very favorable then that gives the premier league a seat on the WPLL board and the FA have a seat on the WPLL board too so you know we have a little bit more detail than we had sort of at the start of the summer there's cons and pros to the league splitting away from the FA I mean the pros is obviously the fa is responsible for so many areas of the game um like it couldn't necessarily prioritize the women's game above say what like

disability football grassroots football in a way that like at the stage the game has reached it sort of needs to be it sort of needs to have you know people advocating it and putting it first we'd have reached a point at which it had sort of outgrown the FA's ownership of it to a certain extent so now it's got a team of people sort of dedicated to um to running it and advocating for it in you know important meetings although it's not represented on the FA board or the professional games board yet although I understand that like discussions on that are still ongoing so yeah like they're the sort of pros of it but there's also then a lot of question marks around like um you know whether they'll manage to negotiate a decent

broadcast rights deal for next year um obviously the women's football calendar um and the men's foot well just football calendar generally is really really oversaturated so finding a slot for it has been really difficult they were completely rebuffed on um the removal of the 3 p.m saturday blackout for women's football to use it so there's like been a few frustrating things along the way as well and then whether they can get the investors that they need to sort of like invest in a sponsorship of leagues and cups and things but also like investors that are wanting to invest in teams in the way that they'd like to see it's a little bit different from the states you know you don't have a load of teams independent from premier league clubs you've all big men's clubs so you

know they're sort of semi-reliant on big benefactors like michelle can coming in and buying clubs but that's not really an option here in the same way that it is over there so there's like loads and loads of question marks still and very few answers but I think the reality is is for now it's not going to look hugely different because they're not making any like sort of major changes to say promotion relegation or like you know the size of the leagues or any kind of big things like that in a way that you know we may see further down the line but at the moment I would say there's still more questions than answers which is for me slightly frustrating when we've you know sort of waited this long for them to take over and take ownership of it. I suppose that's a natural thing isn't it though you don't want to make too much change

coming in and upset the balance already it's going to take a little bit of time. By the way, PL could very quickly be replaced by Premier League, just saying. Women's Professional League's limited. PL fits in there nicely. Tom, what do you make of the progress so far? Like Susie, did you expect it to be a little bit further along at this point? Well, to be honest with you, I'm sort of on the fence with this because part of me did expect it to be further along

and part of me also thought that the takeover to get to this point might take even further in the first place. There's a strange sort of difference, I think, across what fans would want maybe and what the WPLL are going to be trying to deliver because I think there's a subtle sense I'm getting from the new body that are taking over is that they're urging people to be trying to deliver because I think there's a there's a subtle sense I'm getting from the new body that are taken over is that they're urging people to be quite patient they keep reiterating

that it's a startup in Nikki Doucette's words she keeps using that that term almost trying to remind people that big success may be much further down the line which is to a degree fair enough but because you know how many big businesses make huge money in their first couple of years? Very few. But on the flip side, I think they do have to realise that the supporters and the clubs and the players are going to be very, very hungry for quick improvements. And Susie alluded to that the broadcast deal is going to be significant. But there's been a few very subtle things that have been interesting in some of the messaging and I get the impression that they still see at this point

they still see the benefit of the reach of the sport on free-to-air as more valuable than the cash of a purely pay-per-view broadcaster so that clearly that's not done or agreed but I just get the sense from the some of the subtle conversations that that might be where they're leaning because they see the value in growing the sponsorship deals for sort of front of shirt sponsors, all the stuff all around the stadiums soaring if you're on free to air. So I think where we might see a little bit more increase in revenue over the first 12 to 18 months'll be through some of those commercial days. I would expect over the next sort of season, I wouldn't be surprised if the league starts announcing a, everything from a, you know, airline partner to a coffee mug partner to a window cleaning partner,

you know, just every possible partner that you can imagine, car, all those different types. I think we'll see that. And I'm just curious to see where they're going to go with it. I was having a conversation with somebody yesterday about whether they might, are we going to see some sort of equivalent to the drive to survive behind the

scenes sort of doc about the WSL, that kind of, what kind of access is there going to be? Because they keep talking about, you know, the product and the uniqueness of the WSL. Well, then they're going to have to get that out there. They're going to have to tell those stories. So I can't help but wonder if there's going to be a few moves like that. But as Susie says, right now, we're still in a very early stage.

We don't know a lot of what their plans are. I suspect they're doing a huge review. The implication is I get that the first six months are going to be a lot of assessing everything. And then they're going to be a lot of assessing everything and then they're gonna come towards the end of 2024 and then be starting to make announcements about what they're going to do from next summer and that's when i think we'll start to see the big changes they're still hiring as well aren't they they're like they're still hiring for a whole load of roles so i mean it's maybe a little bit unfair to judge them this early on when it's taken like a hell of a long time like

tom said to get the legal paperwork done for the the track the switch to actually happen um but yeah maybe maybe we should be kind well i definitely think we should be kind and and wait and see what what they're going to do what what would you say salon are the kind of key areas that they that they need to focus on i think this conversation is really interesting because a lot of the assumption that we have about this takeover is grounded in how quickly can they make a really big product that generates a lot of revenue that then is back into the game that makes a higher standard of football and a greater quality league and I think we have to be careful in the conversation around growth for growth's sake and what's interesting here is there's almost like two tracks happening at the same time it's like we're looking at all the conversations and everything

we seems to be grounded is about how we build this product and how we generate more revenue and that seems to be the conversation but at the same time is about the leadership and the people and the people making these decisions and I know they've got an all-women leadership team with lots of different experience and I know that they have a few appointments to the board and they appointed the previous depop chief exec I think who sold to Etsy so you can kind of see that they're how they're building for like with the commercial lens Nikki Doucette's appointment was was about that explicitly right the job description asked for a ceo with commercial experience and what better than investment banking and nike if that's what you're looking for but i think those two things go hand in hand because the fan needs to feel and the media

everyone needs to feel trust in those people to make decisions in for the good of the, not just for the good of the pockets of people who will benefit from this game, who may not know it very well. And I'm not saying that they're doing that at the moment. I'm saying that the two things are going hand in hand. And because we don't know masses at this point, and we haven't seen all the moves that they've made, there is that question that remains. And I think as well, if you strip all of this back,

what actually matters to a fan, what matters to a fan is the ticket prices are they still paying affordable ticket prices to go is the quality of the game good are their players safe or are we making them go and play on freezing pitches and skate all over and that game goes ahead like what was it Chelsea Brighton or Liverpool Brighton a few years ago have you got are you surrounded by other fans do the crowd sizes feel safe for the stadiums that they're in can you get food without having to queue for ages around because because you've outgrown that stadium can you get the content and the updates that you want to see from your team and your club and so that you'd feel informed they're the things that matter to a fan so

I think what is interesting at this point it will be our it's so tempting to say nuko isn't it our wpll making decisions that maximize that for the fan the everyday fan because the everyday fan isn't looking at who's appointed to your board necessarily and they aren't thinking about who's in your leadership team and they aren't thinking about the how you're going to pay back the 20 million pound loan and what that means for the Premier League's power over the entity. The fan just wants to have a good experience. So I think we won't see that until the league starts. And if they get some of those early decisions right around and people start to feel it,

although Nicky Doucette has come out and said, fans won't feel too much difference. They'll just have more content. They'll be able to see stuff. That's where the jury will be out. And I think it's up to us and others to keep an eye on and keep holding to account and being mindful of what the decisions are going on kind of at board level and the investment decisions that might come along the

way, because that's where, yeah, you can kind of lose sight of what matters to a fan. Yeah, I think that's really key, actually, because I think a lot of the time we get a bit bogged down by all the intricate and, you know, detail because that is our job to then let you know, you know, what is going on behind the scenes. And actually, I think a lot of you maybe just aren't that bothered about the structure of it, if that makes sense. But it's important that we tell you how it's going to work because it could affect you further down the line sorry Susie go on so one of the things that I'm not totally sold on is this sort of like desire to build brands WSL like I don't know how much how much is worth the effort of trying to grow the WSL as the brand itself like people aren't gonna go ah the WSL so exciting I'm gonna go and watch that but they they will their clubs so I feel like that effort is is where where things

need to be is into club uh promotion um because that is how you like the Premier League is the Premier League because of the clubs and the the like support for the clubs in it like that is why it's become the force that it has that is why it's become a brand in and of itself I don't I think it'd be really hard to build brand Premier League before you built the clubs so I'm not totally convinced by that sort of like real like desire to grow brands WSL marketing strategy yeah it feels quite modeled on the end WSL I think um and on that point I think the one bit of content that I've seen around the brand WSL and championship was the stakes have never been higher piece of content I don't know if anyone's seen it just for those who haven't it is called the stakes have never been higher and it's about the leagues the two top leagues this season start kicking back

off again and the creative concept is 20 players going to the top of a building like a high rise and kicking a ball around like and I watched it and was like, what? That doesn't make me excited as a fan. It feels creatively flat and it feels slightly low budget. It probably wasn't. But the concept of it, I was like, what's this telling me? What's this making me feel? How am I connecting to this as a fan watching Sam Kerr and Jordan Nobbs do Keep You Up? He's on top of a high rise because the stakes have never been higher it felt I was like I don't know what

this is trying to make me feel and I think if you're trying to build a brand of a of a club of a league sorry there's so much more you can go I think I think of like a traditional sky sports adverts when the premier league returns and like the noughties like they're that's the kind of feeling you want to invoke in a fan to get that real excitement and this feels a bit flat and not particularly nuanced or emotive in any way really in the storytelling and I thought that's what from this appointment and this everything they're talking about product WSL I thought well that's where they're really going to blow out the water in the creative content so yeah jury's out on that one as well um it's interesting isn't it because you mentioned the usa there and and the modeling and suzy the other day put out a

form uh getting you all to send in some questions specifically on newco and by the way we could easily have done an entire pod on sorry i said newco as well i've just done exactly the same salon wpll it just doesn't roll off the tongue you know what though what we can start saying on, sorry, I said Nuko as well. I've just done exactly the same salon. W-P-L-L. It just doesn't roll off the tongue. Do you know what though? What we can start saying instead, because we've got Blue Co now at Chelsea. Have you heard about this?

Chelsea women are now owned by Blue Co. So if you go to say Nuko, just remember we've now got Blue Co we can hang on to. They have already achieved something impossible. They have found a worse name than nuko like i didn't think they could do that but they managed to pull it off in the first like fortnight well done well listen we've uh we've already spent ages talking about this and we've

got so much more to talk about because suzy sent out a a form getting you to put in your questions on it and by the way we are going to revisit this throughout the season so that you know it's not going to go away uh we'll keep talking about it we'll keep updating you on what's going on but some of you have sent some questions uh in um and based on what we just heard there about this kind of like modeling on the nwsl this is one of the questions that we've had in and there's no names on a couple of these first ones so bear bear with me. The talk of a more inclusive, almost US style match day experience has worried some of us. Do you have any thoughts on that? One of the things I love about going to women's games generally is the lack of overt, aggressive, partisan behaviour.

Tom, do you want to take that one? Yeah, I was at the opening game of the championship season between London City Linus and Newcastle, I was really struck that there was quite a big deal made of the fact there was like a half-time dance show by a local group who were dancing at half-time. I kind of got the impression that that sort of thing was going to become quite regular at London City and that perhaps, maybe not necessarily dancing, but certainly half-time entertainment might end up becoming a linchpin of the leagues going forward. And some fans seem to really enjoy it.

But in answer to that question, I can understand why people quite like the lack of or perceived lack of aggression in the crowd or kind of there's certainly no hooliganism from what I've seen in in 10 years covering this league uh it's very very rare and protecting that is important but then I think there'll also be a group of fans who don't who don't want to be patronized into thinking that they're not partisan with their support for their club and they don't want to there's a lot of people

who don't like the idea of being told they're a family-friendly crowd. They quite like the rivalry and the banter and some of the more... I can't think of the right word, but some of that side of the game. So there's a balance to be struck there because you don't want to alienate different groups of people, but at the same time,

you want to keep that element of everyone feeling safe and going to the game. I suspect that we will see the league But at the same time, you want to keep that element of everyone feeling safe and going to the game. I suspect that we will see the league leaning much more towards an American model. Some of the people involved at WPLL have spoken about trying to embrace Swifties and reaching out to that demographic who love Taylor Swift, which is a very broad demographic goodness because it's not but they I get the impression they're going to be looking towards marketing the league to people who aren't necessarily your traditional die hard go every week football fan they have done a lot of um insight research into

who the fan is um one of the first things they did was like let's let's understand who we could be marketing to here which is what any any good marketing approach should do is ground it in the audiences you're trying to reach and they've come up with like three different types of fan it's like i'm gonna probably get their words wrong but there's like a casual fan um who's kind of into it because of the line there's like a new market that's completely untapped that i think is like the swifties that they want to go out for then you've got like the fan who became a fan because of the lionesses and then you've got the hardcore fan who is probably more in our worlds right who would like the rivalry and stuff so i think what they'll try and do is have a different approach for engaging those different

audiences and obviously the biggest market there that is untapped is the audience that hasn't arrived at the WSL yet. And how do you reach them is go to the things that they're interested in. So you can see the kind of logic around the going for the Swifties. And I think where you will see the tension and the discourse will come out on social media is when the hardcores are being subjected to the things that are not actually marketed to for them. Therefore, this big broad group that they want to get new new feet through the door and that will be the tensions we'll see play out this season on Twitter and and socials there'll be these fights over whether it's dancers at halftime at London City Lionesses or it's different endorsements we

get from different people who might say well they're not authentic in women's football that's where I think you'll feel that splitting a lot this season, which will make great social media content and everyone get whipped up for about 24 hours, have a big fight over what feels authentic to women's football. And then another thing will happen and we'll all move on. Yeah, I mean, this is the issue, isn't it? There may be trouble ahead, I think, is the best way to tee it up. With change, there always is because everybody has their own opinion of what should happen and shouldn't happen.

Let's go through some of the other questions. I'm going to focus on the National League in a second. But this is an interesting one, Susie, from John McLean. Is it more important to make the WSL financially self-sufficient before expanding it? No, not necessarily. I mean, like, what does financially self-sufficient mean? Because, I mean, like, obviously, you know, that's going to be a while off. It's got this £20 million loan from the Premier League to pay off.

Is that loan included in what you would describe as financially self-sufficient? A lot of men's clubs operate on the basis of huge losses. Like, I think we spend a lot of time talking about self-sufficiency, but not much time talking about what that actually looks like or means. I mean, I think it's important that it reaches a point where it's self-sufficient purely from the fact that, you know, clubs are so reliant and the league is so reliant on investment from the men's game at the moment that, you know, anything that impacts the men's game

will knock on impact the women's game. I mean, I think that would happen regardless of whether they were self-sufficient or not to a certain extent in a pretty natural way. But obviously there's a degree of protection there in being self-sufficient. But, you know, I think expansion shouldn't be held back by a need for self-sufficiency because you know expansion can help make something self-sufficient right like expansion can help bring in money whether it's the right time to expand the women's super league now I don't know I'd say potentially you could add a couple of teams as you know some clubs in the

championship who are doing some really good stuff but at the same time like we don't want to undermine the championship either so I think if you're looking at expansion of one you've got to look at expansion of the other but yeah I don't think that like expansion should be prohibited by um not yet being self-sufficient I think that's going to take an extremely long time to reach that point we've been asked about the time scale on that and we just don't know what the timescale is on that. Sorry Tom, go for it. I was just going to say something rather pessimistic but it's not necessarily specific to the Women's Super League or Championships

ability to make money but I don't think it will ever be entirely financially self-sufficient in the same way that men's football is not and how an extraordinary amount of men's clubs lose money and my gut feeling for the future is that they will keep growing revenue and revenue will grow, but so will wages.

And so will transfer fees and agents fees. And the extra revenue that the league starts to create will be spent on the top superstars in the same way. And then you can do a wonderful job of growing revenue in this league but if there is another club somewhere in the world who's willing to pay twice the amount to sign a player from the top clubs they're going to up their game on the the salaries and and I suspect that's where we're heading and that that's just the cycle that football has been on and I'm sort of pessimistic that I don't think we're ever going to see clubs making a profit.

But I don't mean that in that women's football will fail. I just mean that people who want to win will always try and buy that success. And therefore, the richer owners will always end up just paying the highest players the most money and winning it that way. And I don't think yet this dream world where it's really it's a financially sustainable league and lucrative league i said it doesn't exist because when does the next saudi pro league come along and suddenly blow the blow the landscape of salaries out the water and suddenly everyone's paying more money for the players again so there is a bit of utopia about aiming for this financial sustainability and it might never be possible unless the entire culture

of sports is rethought somehow a little bit which is unlikely to happen producer sophie makes a really good point as well she says uh why do we always have to prove return on investment to be able to do things the men don't and that is very true they don't um listen one last question because we have spent a long time on this. It's from Ros Morton. I think you're going to like this salon. Is the sense from Newco that they're looking to grow the game for the benefit of those who want to play and watch from grassroots up? Or does neoliberal late stage capitalism mean that we're set to endure girl bossification dressed up as investment? Side eyes Kang's private jet.

Oh, it's good. It's a great question. I mean, we are all at the mercy of the forces of late stage capitalism in everything that we do. And girl bosses, they are a product of capitalism. They are propelling capitalism. And we are all just part of that big machine. Just mere pawns.

And so is the WSL. And so is the Women's National League. And so is the championship. And let's end it there, shall we? Let's keep going with this conversation. Keep sending in your questions on this if you want to know anything else, if you want a bit of background. Susie, anything to add to round this all up? Nope.

Right. Excellent. That's it for part one. In part two, we're going to look at how the all up? Nope. Right, excellent. That's it for part one. In part two, we're going to look at how the teams are shaping up for the new season. And we're going to wow you with our brilliant, always accurate predictions. Welcome back to part two of the guardian women's football weekly let's focus on the football shall we and after what feels like the longest ever summer the 2024-25 season gets underway this weekend with a pretty eye-catching schedule to kick us off as well champions chelsea start everything on friday night against Aston Villa. Manchester United host West Ham at Old Trafford, while Brighton entertain Everton on Saturday. Arsenal

play Man City in the early Sunday kick-off before Tottenham Crystal Palace and Liverpool Leicester round off the weekend. So let's take a look at how each club is shaping up ahead of what promises to be another fantastic campaign. Let's start with the champions, shall we? And Chelsea, who are looking to make it six titles in a row after their final day victory at Old Trafford last season.

The departure of Emma Hayes has meant new beginnings for the club under former Lyon manager Sonia Bambastor. And with that, of course, come quite a few unknowns. Susie, question for you from It's Camille F. They ask, what style of play slash tactical changes might we see from Chelsea based on Bombastor's tendencies as a coach?

And what team will be a surprise performer this season? How do you reckon they're shaping up under their new boss? That's a good question. I mean, on the basis of pre-season incredibly well right I mean they had a really successful tour of the states won both their games there against Arsenal and uh Gotham um including Gotham who were you know mid-season in the NWSL and then uh have come back and have absolutely smashed Feyenoord 9-0 I think it was and I mean like there's signs there that despite quite a high turnover in playing staff as well as obviously the staffing changes they like have gelled really really rapidly I mean I think that speaks to the sort of quality

of the players at their disposal quite a lot what kind of football can we expect to see? I mean, I think that 9-0 defeat sort of, or victory shows like, you speak to Sonia Bonpastor and she's very much about dominating is the word she uses a lot. They want to dominate possession. They want to dominate time. They want to have a real sort of attacking threat throughout the 90 minutes,

like there's a desire there to sweep teams away. Whether they can do that with the number of changes they've had, I think remains to be seen. I think there's an incredible playing squad there that they've added to really, really effectively despite losing some pretty big players that are sort of, you know, be influential. You think of the likes of, obviously, Frank Kirby, but Mielder, Melanie Loupols, Jess Carter, Ankerton Berger.

I mean, I think if you had said a season ago or two seasons ago that those players would be leaving, what state would Chelsea be in? Would you be worried? Most people would have said yes. But, like, I don't think anyone because of the groundwork was sort of done almost before this summer in prepping the squad with a number of young players and blooding them in to sort of make those losses a bit less noticeable so I'm really struggling to look past Chelsea's threat this season as being as strong as it has been in previous seasons but yeah looking very very good and the fact that

they've not had champions league qualifiers as well i think has really given them a bit of time to um to gel everything and sort of get everyone understanding what sonja wants to do tactically and has injected some freshness into a team i think that was starting to look quite tired yeah and you know you mentioned the outgoings there, but they have strengthened, Tom, as well over the summer, even more quality added to an already substantial playing squad. Lucy Bronze, Sandy Baltimore, Julia Bartel, just a few of the newcomers. But, I mean, what do they specifically bring to Chelsea?

And most importantly, actually, with this kind of bloat, I don't want to use the word bloated, but you know what I mean? Like bigger squad. Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel are on their way back from injury. How does Sonia Bombastor keep everybody happy? Because that's going to be really important. That is one of the big challenges. But she's got good experience of having to deal with that

with big name players in Lyon. I think so far the signs that are coming out from within the camp, people you talk to, is very positive in how they've taken to her methods. To answer your question about what the new signings will bring, I think it's very clear that Lucy Bronze particularly is going to

just add to that winning mentality on another level. They've already been these mentality monsters, haven't they Chelsea? They in this sort of serial winning machine uh particularly when it comes to the Champions League and I think that that will be Lucy Bronson's kind of experience in that dressing room for those European games will be absolutely huge and just if you're Arsenal and Man City and you're sitting there and you didn't manage to beat chelsea last year when chelsea were the only team juggling european football and now all three of them will hope to be juggling european football i think the more and more they're going to think

that was an enormous missed opportunity that if they couldn't beat chelsea in the league when they were the only ones who had the midweek extra games, then they got a lot of catching up to do. It was very fine margins, wasn't it, with Man City only on goal difference? I think Man City should have won the league last year if they'd kind of played their game a bit smarter against Arsenal in that really decisive game,

final game of the season. But there's still a big gap in the fact that Chelsea are the team to beat and they've not exactly downgraded by getting Sonia Ban-Pastor. She comes across very well in her interviews, in the press conferences. And I think that they'll still be the team to beat. The interesting thing is whether they can take the next step and win the Champions League,

because that's been the elusive thing for them. But when you mentioned there about Sam Kerr coming back into the side, maybe around uh you know midway through the season and I'm so excited about Mara Ramirez this season I just maybe it's reading too much into the performance at Old Trafford where she just sort of battery rammed her way past the Manchester United defence but she was awesome and I know people have been very impressed with her in the preseason. And I think she'll have a great campaign.

Yeah, let's speak Manchester City in a second. But first of all, I just want to send Sophie Ingle all our best because she suffered an ACL injury in Chelsea's preseason game against Feyenoord. By the way, interesting times at Chelsea. Behind the scenes, Kelsa Prees, the co-owners wanting to buy each other out. That could factor in some trouble at the top, potentially this season, just to make you aware of it. But let's see how they do against Aston Villa

at King's Meadow at the weekend. Let's focus on Manchester City. Gareth Taylor's side pushed Chelsea all the way last season, as Tom just said. But obviously that injury to Bunny Shaw in the final weeks kind of caused them to stall at the final hurdle they'll have not been particularly happy to see that they've drawn Arsenal as their first game of the season either

bearing in mind what happened last season but they have had a pretty active summer window which is very different to last season seven new signings a handful of departures, and Viv Miedema's move from Arsenal was the one that caught the eye, I would say. Jill Roard's been pictured back in training as well after rupturing her ACL, but new signing Risa Shimizu suffered an ACL injury at the Olympics.

So, of course, she's also in rehab and we wish her all the best as well. Solon, this is a message from Hans Solo asking whether Manchester City have a depth problem. Do you reckon they've got enough cover now to stop any injuries derailing their challenge? Great to know that Hans Solo is tuning in, first and foremost. A depth problem? No, I think the seven new signings really sets out their intent for this season, I think. Yeah, they perhaps overperformed last season with the injury to Jill. Jill Ward was their biggest signing

and she obviously ruptured her ACL. And they still did really, really well in that season. And now it's like, right, let's go for it. We know what we can achieve. I've actually got City down to win the WSL this season. I think if they're going to do it, this is the time to do it because of the potential transition that Chelsea will face. Although I think we could overstate how much that will actually affect them.

Not only have you got Miedema in that squad now, I think for me it's brilliant having creative players and goal scorers, but you have a backbone of Hatagawa and Miedema combining in a midfield to set off Bonny Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly as your kind of lethal front three. Players like that really rely on the kind of creativity and service of people playing slightly behind them. And if Miedema plays in that 10 role or just behind, I just think it could be completely deadly. And if you can keep all of those players fit, I think that's one of the most exciting lineups in world football at the moment I also think they've been quite smart in they had a brilliant breakthrough keeper last season in Kiara Keating who was absolutely

phenomenal but you don't want her to drop off and they've signed Yamashita haven't they who is another brilliant keeper so you keep that competition at the at the back for that spot and it's going to be really really important that they are really solid at the back as well. So, yeah, I think I've got City down to win this year because if they can keep everyone fit, I do think you've got some of the most exciting football being played there. Yeah, definitely. Well, let's see what happens in the opening game because they're away at Arsenal, a game that perhaps frustratingly is sandwiched in between two important Champions League fixtures.

That's the way this always seems to happen, isn't it? But I suppose, Susie, it's good that it's exactly the same situation for both sides. Yeah, I mean, it's quite an intense start, isn't it, to the season for any team? And, you know, obviously City have slipped up at this stage previously, like not reaching the group stage because of being knocked out in qualifying. It's tricky. I think Arsenal may have a slight advantage in that sense, in that, like, obviously they've played a couple of Champions League qualifying games already.

So they've had competitive football before the season kicks off, which could maybe give them an edge but then again like you know you look at the squad that City have and they're training at a level that is probably pretty close to replicating that kind of environment against the kind of teams that they're coming up against in this these early stages of Champions League anyway so it maybe it's an exaggeration to say that it will have to a impact. But yeah, I mean, that opening fixture is going to be really, really exciting and really like an opportunity to make a statement, particularly, I'd say, for Viv returning to Arsenal on the opening day.

I'm going to call it the Miedema Derby from now on. That's what it's called. And I mean, it's going to be a bumper crowd as well. It's going to be fantastic at the Emirates. Just call it Suzanne's tears. Yeah, hopefully not for you. She thinks she'll celebrate if she scores. She doesn't celebrate when she scores anyway.

Definitely not. They've had a quite quiet summer window, actually, Arsenal, Tom. Three new faces, Mariano Caldente, Daphne von Domselaar and Rosa Kefahi. We know that Jonas Eideveld likes a smaller squad, but have they actually done enough to compete on multiple fronts, do you think? Yeah, I do think they've recruited very, very well.

I love everything that I've seen on a football pitch from Rosa Kefahi. I think that's a really clever signing for the future as well, not just for now. And Mariano Cadente brings this sort of stardust, this wonderful quality on the ball that I think will really help Arsenal. And we've been seeing them building, but I do think now this is the time when Arsenal really,

really have to deliver. You've got this marvellous, large support base who are going to be packing out the Emirates for 11 games in all competitions at least. You've got this potential in the team, so many huge name stars. And I think the pressure is now going to be on them

to really deliver. And I don't want to belittle the League Cup, but it needs to be more than just the League Cup. I think they will know that in themselves. And I think Jonas Edeva will know that, that the expectation is right up there. That doesn't mean that you kind of have to, you have to win the league

because all three of them are trying to win the league. And all three of them, I think it'll be very, very, very close. So, you know, but they need to be right in the mix, right until the very, very end. You know, if you miss out on goal difference, like Man City did last season, then I think you're absolutely gutted,

but no one's sort of throwing shade at you for dropping off the title race. But I think this season, Arsenal really, really need to deliver. But they're in a great place to do it. I'm so pleased with some of the business they've done. I've been quite impressed with a few of the other players who've now

had a bit more time to settle in, like Khadim that's playing really well, for example. And I think that we might see players like that really come through. And I would like to see, don't know how much game time she's going to get, but I would love to see a bit more from Katalin Kuhl as well

in that kind of attacking midfield role. So let's, yeah, exciting times for Arsenal. But I think the other thing, sorry, one more thing on Arsenal that I think it would be really good to see this season for them and from England's point of view is Alessia Russo actually really in contention for the golden boot. I think she started really well for Arsenal, you know, has done, had a good, good strong season last season.

But I think for Arsenal, if they want to be right, right up there, they'll need her to have that kind of 19 20 goal season and so from an English point of view I guess the fans will say fingers crossed yeah just a really quick one Susie on Keira Walsh and the reports of that world record bid what happened fill us in well I mean like for me it's uh it's a really clever move right like similar to the Russo uh move last season in that like you put in this massive bid for a player you let them know they're really wanted and then you can potentially pick them up on a free when they're they're looking around at the end of the season but it really tested Barcelona like a club that's like known for its financial struggles resolve it

shows how highly regarded Walsh is there in that they, you know, clearly see her as pretty critical to their Champions League hopes if they're willing to lose her for free injury troubles and you know kim is on the older side as much as i never ever want to see her retire and uh you know we need to work on that cloning machine she would add a huge amount of depth in that area but they're not like desperate for it yet so like personally i think it was a really clever tactical move in that it builds it up nicely for either January or the summer. You know, best mate Leo Williamson is at Arsenal as well, which helps the cause. But I feel like it feels like quite a tactical move. But like, yeah, put a bit of pressure on Barcelona, who don't necessarily get a lot of pressure. So what we need is Barca to drop out of the Champions League before January.

That'd be great, yeah. Then Kieran Walsh will come to Arsenal. Perfect. I'm sure that will happen. Looking forward to that game between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday. Now then, Liverpool,

major disruptors last season. Matt Beard guiding his side to an impressive fourth place finish, which I don't think any of us tipped, surprise, surprise, at the start of the season. He's gone for stability in his playing squad, but they did break their own transfer record, buying young Canadian star Olivia Smith. Let's not get too carried away, Salon, I would say, but how do you think your Liverpool side are going to fare this season? I think Matt Beard proves that he knows this league really, really well, right? He knows what needs to be done and he clearly can build a brilliant culture

and get his younger players really fighting and back that team, right? And I think Liverpool will be disappointed, I think, if they're not up there disrupting as much as possible and I think I think that they finished on points closer to winning the league than they did being in the bottom half of the table last season and for me like that's a sign of intent and it also is a bar that is set really high for them this season um can they meet it have lost one of their their um I guess scout stars in Missy Beckhans going across to Villa which is a really interesting move and I'm

excited to see more of her playing at Villa but I think under a Matt Beard team you should never write off in the WSL and I think they'll probably yeah they could finish anywhere between 4th and 7th in that gap and they'll probably be disappointed with anything

less than 4, fifth. They've got a new home as well which is exciting. They've moved from Prenton Park to St Helens Stadium over the summer. Improved the players' facilities, the matchday experience as well which is good news and they open up there

against Leicester on Sunday. Let's move on to Manchester United. A disappointing league campaign in the end for Mark Skinner's side last time out. Although, you know, first ever FA Cup win kind of softens the blow, I would say. But it has been a little bit of a mixed summer. The club's largest minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe,

made waves. Various comments that he's made about the women's side. The team had to spend a chunk of pre-season at St George's Park, while U-Tom reported that back in June, they'd actually been moved into portable buildings to accommodate the men. What is going on at Manchester United at the minute? It's such a mixed bag, isn't it, at Manchester United? There's kind of so many good things and so many really, really bad things that you're sort of all at the same time thinking, what is going on, a complexity?

Let's just start with the week that maybe set the tone for the summer when they won the FA Cup brilliantly, and then six days later they lost 6-0 against Chelsea. And it sort of feels like the summer has been a little bit like that. They've done some really good things in the transfer window, like holding on to Grace Clinton. Huge big tick. Great success. That's a future superstar for England who they've said is our player. We're not

losing her. But they also lost Mary Earps, wow, Katie Zellum and Nikita Paris. Three of the biggest names and kind of most loved players in the squad and particularly Earps. As an organisation to let Earps go 4-3 was a real colossal

failure so goodness we could be here for hours talking about them but it's just been a really mixed bag but I think they have recruited quite well but do I think they'll be in the mix for the title? The answer is no. I think there's something really interesting about losing those players Garcia was also in that

part of players that they've lost. For me, that's probably your highest wage bill. They're the players who are either going to be demanding the most money or they're unable to pay them that. So that would follow suit with the rest of what is happening at Manchester United, which all we're seeing, if you're an Athletics subscriber, all you get is an inside leaks basically from Manchester United, right? And how everything is being deprioritised.

You're getting club emails that are saying, you know, you might not have a job in a couple of weeks. That is the path that it's following. The women from everything that we've seen are at the bottom of the priorities pile for the ownership. And they're therefore losing their big names because they can't probably or don't want to pay them as much that upsets your fan base will people still come and watch will you generate any income I think they're going to be they're already making a loss on that team and that's what the ownership hates so I think it's going to be an absolute shambles for Man United this season and maybe I get a little bit of joy in that because of being a Liverpool fan since birth but I think other teams will smell blood you're losing those

players you haven't got that spine of a team of senior players anymore you know that they've been bouncing around different training grounds over the over the summer I think Mark Skinner probably isn't a good enough manager for a club of Man United's prestige if you want to be challenging but I also don't think he will I think he will remain in a job because I'm not sure there's Again, it probably isn't a good enough manager for a club of Man United's prestige, if you want to be challenging. But I also don't think he will. I think he will remain in a job because I'm not sure there's enough scrutiny or kind of accountability over the women's team. I don't think there's a genuine care from a performance side of things. So I've probably got, I think I actually, when I did my predictions, I've got them finishing ninth and I will go on record. I think it's going to be a really difficult season for Man United.

Wow. I mean, I'm also kind of just going for vibes shouts on here because when I was doing all my prep yesterday, I'm reading all the brilliant detailed expert previews in The Guardian by the three people who were sitting on this Zoom call who are clearly, what else can I add other than vibes I'm just going to go for controversial shouts because Susie, Tom and producer Soph

have got all the information that you need go and read all their previews and I'll just say things like Man United could get relegated or finish ninth and you are about to get bombarded on social media bring it

it's interesting though because Jim so jim ratcliffe has essentially openly admitted that the women's team aren't a priority for him like he's there's sort of a weird irritating but refreshingness about how honest he is about that he's been he's even saying it out loud they're not his priority which is sad to sad to hear, but at least he's not pretending that he cares and sort of paying it lip service. But the good news is that from the conversations I've been having, Omar Barada, the new CEO, and Dan Ashworth, the new sporting director, do care about women's football.

I've got a growing optimism maybe for the longer term future that things might get sorted out, but they really have to sort out the structure of who runs and how the women's club is run. They're so disorganised in the transfer market. And the goalkeeper situation is such a good example. Obviously, the big story in the summer was Marriott's departure. Everyone was expecting it for months and months and months.

Everyone apart from, it would seem, the recruitment team at Manchester United, who were still scrambling around to try and find a goalkeeper on deadline day and didn't get one. Now the good news is they have one who's excellent I think Favon Teller's choice will be a really good number one for them this season and that was sort of the succession plan that some people had but if that was your plan to

make her the number one then you need to sign a new number two of a high calibre and they didn't do that so to lose the England goalkeeper and not sign any goalkeeper and still be trying to sign one on deadline day and failing is just a great sort of

symbolic image of the chaos of the recruitment over the last maybe four years and there's been so many recruitment things that haven't worked out

if you think about Irene Guerrero great exciting signing it didn't work out Gemma Evans they signed last summer only one year it didn't work out

she'd gone to Liverpool Fielder-Barrisa. And I think we could point to a lot of recruitment failure. And that's the thing they've really got to sort out because the recruitment at Chelsea and City and Arsenal is light years ahead in terms of their organisation. Sure, money helps with that, of course. But they just need to get ahead of the game a little bit more

in their succession planning and be thinking, OK, that player's contract's coming up next next summer we need a plan the year before and that those conversations need to start happening because there's a lot of potential there's so many great exciting players i'm so excited by the progress that may leticia is making she's still so young you know grace clinton's got i think jay-z i think she'll now she's settled in england i think jay-z could have a fantastic year there's great potential potential, but it just needs... Not that every club in the WSL can't have Paul Green, all of them sitting as head of football,

but I wish there was somebody of that ilk for the fans at Manchester United who deserve so much better to see someone running it in a bit more organised way. Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that. Hopefully that's answered Sue Klesnick's question. She wanted to know whether United had replaced Zellum Garcia in Paris adequately. It's the organisation though, isn't it?

And the long-term planning that's important. Elizabeth Turland in there and Dominic Janssen as well, a defender and a goal scorer. So actually maybe ninth is a little bit harsh, Salon, when you look on paper at the players that United still do have. But anyway, they face West Ham in their opener. Susie I'm going to make you talk about Tottenham I'm very sorry

they were another team that caught the eye last season under the stewardship of Robert Villahan they reached the FA Cup final for the first time. The Spurs manager then rewarded with a new long term contract and they have added to their squad over the summer.

England youngster Ellen Morris has arrived from Southampton. Maite Oros from Real Madrid is with them. And Australia internationals Claire Hunt and Hayley Rasso are also incoming. But as you heard there, they have had to say goodbye to loan signing Grace Clinton, who'd had a brilliant impact on loan last year. They did want to keep her, but ultimately United wanted her back. And you can see why.

They're also going to be without Kit Graham as well, who is another casualty of this growing pre-season ACL injury list, which is just bonkers always. Susie, do you reckon they've got sufficient cover for those players? How are Spurs looking this season? I don't know what you're talking about, Faye. I love Tottenham. I think Robert Villar is great and the players are lovely.

Someone's going to clip that up, aren't they, and just have this on repeat. Susie's out going, I love Tottenham. I love Tottenham. And it's going to drive me insane for the rest of my life. But no, I actually think they've recruited pretty well. They've not done a huge amount of business um in terms of incomings lots lots of outgoings but I think they have strengthened to a certain

extent I mean I think the biggest loss is Grace Clinton without a doubt um like keeping her was you know the dream but I don't think United were ever really realistically going to let her go it was um inevitable really that she was going to leave but in terms of the others I think they have actually done a fairly decent job at sort of replacing them and Maiti Oroz's like deadline day signing I think is a really really good uh good coup Hayley Rasso brings a ton of experience Claire Hunt brilliant Ella Morris like you ask them the other players in the Spurs squad about her when they're just like floored by her I was going to say her pace but it's not

quite her pace it's her like her engine she's like she just keeps going and going and going she's got like stamina that's the word I was looking for I know tomorrow so there's like some actually really really good players that they've brought in when you speak to Robert Villahan about it he he talks a lot about consciously not wanting a high turnover this season because they had quite a high turnover last season and needing to keep some level of stability amongst the amongst the squad that said they've had so many players leave that there is you know inevitably going to be a fair bit there but yeah he was trying to limit that um which I don't think is a bad strategy because

generally speaking when you get a team that finishes, like has a great season, finishes a decent level in the table, as we saw Everton do a few seasons back when they finished fourth, as we saw United do a few seasons back when they finished fourth, obviously Spurs didn't finish fourth, but had that great FA Cup run to the final, you sort of get this like desperation to bridge that gap with the top three immediately and try and bring in a whole load of players that are going to put you up there with them. And then like a high turnover when you've got a squad that is actually, you know, developing something quite special can lead to quite a big rupture in the dynamics of the group and the playing style and you're sort of back at square one and it it doesn't necessarily work out so the the sort of long-term strategy of slowly building up the squad is not it's not the perfect squad it's not gonna necessarily do amazing things but it will like kind of gradually build up if if they give if he's given the time to do that yeah they open up at home to newcomers crystal palace which i'm sure they'll be eyeing up as a good opportunity uh we'll talk about palace shortly but it is the start of the robert

de pao era at aston villa i just keep thinking about to pow every single time i see his name written down i know that's ridiculous um but oh maybe you're all too young to remember to pow china in your hand no maybe uh the dutch manager arrived in june after carla ward departed at the end of last season i mean the good news for villa fans is they have managed to keep the core of the squad uh together i suppose salon uh enjoyed a decent pre-season as well but what do you make of their chances on improving on last year which was pretty difficult i would say well they've got something to prove definitely they were a little bit of a victim of their own success from the previous

season where they had this yeah brilliant season of over performance took lots of points off the big three and really competed up there then completely plummeted things just didn't seem to go right for them and you'll get within that you'll get a lot of them those more senior players more experienced players and the hungry ambitious ones who are really disappointed with that and will have a chip on their shoulder to have to prove something this season so yeah I think it's exciting you've got Katie Robinson and Missy Boe Kearns in there now so I think that is you know they're showing intent with those signings and they feel like the right kind of level of signing that Villa want to make to set that intention for this season.

So I know I keep referring back to this, but I've got them finishing seventh this season. You're jumping ahead to the predictions. I'm going to ask you in full at the end, seventh, okay. That's when I'm going to get cancelled. So I'm drip feeding them slowly. A quick one, Tom, because Satya Grahi, I'm so sorry if I've pronounced that wrong,

sent us a message on X asking whether or not, you know, selling two top keepers in Hannah Hampton and Daphne van Domselaar in two successive seasons mean, are they just kind of a selling club or do they have ambitions of their own? They've certainly got ambitions of their own but I think they have been

slightly naive over the last few years with the kind of release clauses they put in the contracts I think particularly

with Van Domselaar it just seemed a little bit too easy and it was very similar with Laura Blinkielder-Brown when she was snapped up by Man City.

I think there was a lot of frustration at Villa. They allowed both those players, or at least of course, to be a bit too low, and they just got a bit stung. However, to answer that listener's question, I think Sabrina D'Angelo is a perfectly strong and really good replacement for Van Domselaar, so I would urge Villa fans maybe not to panic

around the goalkeeper department. Where I am surprised with the recruitment which has been good like this summer it from an attacking point of view is that i'm surprised there's not been more defensive recruits in the summer like the problem for me last season watching villa was that they were really struggling at times to defend i thought some of the defending was was really poor sometimes and that doesn't seem to have been an area they've hugely prioritised to address in terms of the back four or strengthen much this summer, whereas they've signed lots of quite exciting players going forward. So I'm a mixed bag with Villa as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing them going forward. I think that Bo Cairns could thrive in this team. I think we could see Katie Robinson doing really well, but I'm just a little bit of a question mark about their defending yeah I can

see that good news is for Villa fans every Barclays WSL game is going to be played at Villa Park this

season which is great news Everton's financial situation continues to cast a shadow over them Brian Sorensen

side actually impressed last year despite the lack of money and a severe injury crisis as well. The loss of striker Martina Piemont and Swedish international Hannah Bennison have been balanced out with a number of arrivals. Nigeria's Tony Payne has joined, a Spanish youngster Inmar Gabaro and Vietreki Sarri as well.

How much optimism do you think Everton fans can have this season, Susie? Or is this just a case of surviving because of what is going on behind the scenes? I think the latter to a large extent. I mean, they're so hamstrung financially by the situation above them and off the pitch that it's really difficult. They're operating on a really really small budget the squad is thin right it was thin last season and they got through to the end of the campaign sort of intact to a certain extent but like i mean surely surely they can't have the

injury crisis that they had last season surely lightning won't strike twice in that sense if they have any kind of like number of injuries in like even like half the scale of what they got last season then um they're going to be in real real real trouble um and i like i am quite worried about them they're losing their best players year on year and just don't have the financial clout to be able to kind of replace them at the same level immediately obviously getting in some you know fairly decent WSL experience and some good youngsters but that's sort of not enough really when you're looking at you know kind of how other people are operating around them. I went to watch Everton play on

on Sunday against Liverpool in a pre-season friendly. And two things were really striking. One was, as Susie says, the depth in the squad. Because what happened, Everton were the better side, I felt, for the first hour. And then they do that thing in friendlies where they all make loads of subs. And Everton brought on a load of young kids. And Liverpool brought on some very strong, experienced and good quality players. And their depth was clear. And their subs made them by far the better side

in the final 25 minutes. And so that was really evident. But on the flip side, early on in the game, I was seeing real improvement from Everton. And the key thing they've done in the summer is they didn't have any pace last season, really. The way they try to play football, they really rely on being,

having acceleration and pace to get in behind teams when they, when they get the ball. And they didn't have any last year, but in signing Tony Payne, particularly, and Mel Lawley, but certainly in Tony Payne, that's really changed. And that was really evident in the first half for St Helens on Sunday. They, they had a real threat with her pace and that made them look very different as an attacking unit. So I think there's cause for positivity for Everton in that they found a couple of bargains there. Inma Gabaro looks like a very talented player. I haven't got them in the relegation battle, but I certainly don't have them in the top half.

OK, well, that's reasons to be cheerful, I would say. They face Brighton on the opening day. There's been a revolving door down on the south coast this summer. Ten new faces have come in with just as many departures. But some of them, Ceylon, have really caught the eye. Names, in inverted commas, if you like. Frank Kirby, Nikita Paris, Jelena Cankanovic. The Seagulls have also welcomed in a new manager in Dario Videsic.

He's made the move over from Melbourne City. Question for you. Tim Joshua says Brighton have made some interesting signings, but what are your predictions for them? Top half of the table, good cup runs, all of the above. What say you, Salon Andy Hickman? Top half of the table. I've got them finishing sixth I really really want Brighton to do well this season

I think they're a very well run football club they are building they are aspirational they want to be challenging at the top and their signings

reflect that signing Fran Kirby Nikita Paris is I don't know if you'd have sat here and asked us five years ago

where would Fran Kirby and Nikita Paris end up playing at one point in the year, you wouldn't have probably had Brighton in that list. So that shows a real sign of intent. Also signing Michelle Agumann from Arsenal will be, she's on loan, right? But to watch her play and get some minutes in women's football, we saw a little bit of her last season.

That is a wonderful signing as well, I think. So even though they've lost Herland and Katie Robinson, I think this could be a really good season for them. And a new manager wants to build in their image and this is them doing that and setting out that stall. So I think they're going to do quite well. Excellent. Reasons to be cheerful for Brighton fans too.

Leicester City are another club welcoming in a new managerial face. Omandine Mikel has made the move to the Foxes after impressing during her time in charge of Stade de Rheim. There was a recent media day, wasn't there, and Mikel said we can expect fun from her new side, which is probably much needed after the disruption of last season, I would suggest. What did you make of the appointment, Susie, and the recruitment that she's done? She seems a pretty exciting person in that, you know,

every single player you speak to talks about how hilariously funny she is and, you know, that they're really enjoying working under her. They've made some decent signings in the transfer window. You know, the likes of Asmita ali coming in from spurs who i think confidence was a little bit knocked by you know sort of not getting enough minutes at tottenham like now looking a little bit rejuvenated uh at leicester ruby mace like really really shrewd signing you know one of the sort of ones to watch a couple of seasons ago sort of slightly stagnated at City but comes in with the experience of having been in that environment and

played with those players week in week out um you know she's brought in players from France uh from Fleury from Stade de Rheims like by all accounts her recruitment in France was very, very strong. So there's some really, really good signs there. And they've got the facilities around them to kind of build a really, really special environment. So I think people could sleep on Leicester a little bit. Yeah, I think they could be quite exciting this season. There's a fair few players that have gone out, but I think their recruitment could be really, really smart. They were one of a handful of teams that went on high-profile pre-season tours. They travelled to Western Australia, taking part in the Perth International Cup.

They lost on penalties to Manchester City, beat West Ham. I think we'll have a discussion about pre-season tours another day in terms of their benefit or not. Rhian Skinners West Ham also spent part of their pre-season in Perth as well. They're another side that have seen significant turnover. Seven players have left. And Skinners put that down to the prevalence of short-term contracts in the WSL. Some interesting comments from her.

It's a conversation I had with the club, she said. Something we needed to iron out and put in place. Short-term contracts have been an issue for sustainability. What did you make of her comments, Tom, and what did you make of their recruitment? I think she was making quite an important point, but it felt to me as though it was more pointed towards the West Ham board and West Ham as a club

rather than more broadly at the women's game. I'm a little bit worried about West Ham board and West Ham as a club rather than more broadly at the women's game. I'm a little bit worried about West Ham. 12 months ago, I predicted they would be right down there in 11th and that was one of the only things I got right.

And I think they'll be right down there again, to be honest with you. I know we can't read too much into pre-season friendlies because everyone's at different stages with their fitness, but I watched Leicester

against West Ham, not in Perth, unfortunately, but on television. For those who didn't see the game, it was 5-2 to Leicester against West Ham not in Perth unfortunately but on television for those who didn't see the game it was 5-2 to Leicester but the two goals West Ham scored from Vivian Assehi came quite late on in the game as sort of consolations in stoppage time and when it was 5-0 Leicester were really good value for that 5-0 lead it could have been 7 or 8 and it was partly because Leicester were playing really exciting attractive football and Mimiki was on great form, Ruben Mace was dictating everything.

And there was some lovely, intricate football from Mikel's side. But then also it was because West Ham were just all over the place at the back. There's a perception from when you talk to agents and maybe recruitment staff at other clubs, they don't think West Ham are shopping in the same supermarket as the other teams in the WSL. And I think there's a slight lack of desire from the club, which is evident in how few games they played at London Stadium, for example, in the last five years.

I sense there's a slight lack of willingness to throw investment into it. They may well find themselves right in the mix of a relegation battle with Palace. It's very hard to make a case for Brighton or Villa or Liverpool or

any of the other kind of mid-table. I mean, I can't make a case for them getting relegated. So if there's anybody who might get sucked in by Palace, I'm looking at West Ham. Okay. Well, let's look at Palace because last but not least, we're not putting

you in the bottom for that reason, Crystal Palace. I promise. We've just gone in order from last season as to how the table finished. And, you know, we kind of anticipated a busy summer with the club making the step up from the championship. Katie Stengel and Josie Green were brought in alongside Mike Cato and Lexi Potter. But just how difficult, Susie, is the step up from the championship to the WSL? And how do you think their recruitment's been? It's a huge, huge gap. And it's going to be really, really difficult to make that leap up. That said, I think their recruitment has been really, really smart. Not just in the, you know, the players that you

mentioned that they've signed, but also the loan signings of like Georgia Fox, Brooke Aspin, Lexi Potter, Poppy Pritchard like bringing in players who have been in and around top environments that are hungry to prove themselves to their parent clubs that's proved really fruitful in the past when you think of like A.B. Vujovic's loan at Everton and things like that you teams who pick up some of these young players you have a really good shot at making something happen with them that said obviously that's not a long-term strategy so you sort of need those those um those more permanent deals alongside that and I think they've done that to a decent extent with you know like Katie Stengel and stuff but um yeah it's going to be really interesting and I like if completely agree with Tom if I'm West Ham I'm really really worried looking at the business that Crystal Palace are doing relatively yeah

okay so that brings us to our quickfire predictions which is gonna go one of two ways and I would suggest probably uh a bad way Tom just let you know you need to try and improve the predictions on this pod because we are terrible we have have a very, very bad track record. So you need to be the outlier here. This is really quick. I need you to be super, super quick for me. Salon, who's going to win the league? Manchester City.

Susie? Chelsea. Tom? Chelsea. Who's going down, Salon? Everton. Susie? West Ham. Crystalton. Susie.

West Ham. Crystal Palace. Just. Just. Who's going to be the best signing? Nikita Paris at Brighton. Through my tears with Miedema. Mouchon by Leicester.

Ooh. Who's going to be top scorer? Bunny Shaw. Ramirez. Bunny Shaw. Okay. Notice how I did not give my predictions. They're always wrong, so it's totally pointless.

I will give them. I will give them next week, but we're running out of time. Just some any other business before we go. Two weeks into the Barclays Championship season, Charlton are the early frontrunners. They had a great season last season, didn't they, under Karen Hills. Backed up an opening day victory with a 1-0 win over Sheffield United at the weekend. Elsewhere, London City beat Blackburn 2-1, while Southampton earned a 3-0 win away to Sunderland.

Durham beat Newby's Portsmouth 3-0, while Bristol City played out a goalless draw with Birmingham at Ashton Gate. We've touched on the FA Women's National League with Salon. It's also in full flow. Started back in August. Newly professional outfit, Nottingham Forest leading the Northern Premier. Well, there's a four-way tie currently at the top of the Southern Premier. Middlesbrough lead the Division One North.

Loughborough Lightning, the Midlands Division. Norwich, the South East Division. And Swindon Town, the South West Division and Salon has said how much she's loving it already. Quick one from Hatters in England, a question for you Salon very quickly, where did you begin your football career? The mighty Luton

Town. Oh yeah! Excellent, thank you. Was that Faye's question? That's Faye's burner account. Yeah, it's my burner account. Absolutely. Elsewhere, the UEFA Women's Champions League Round 2 gets underway this week.

Arsenal are away to BK Hacken. Manchester City face Paris FC. And we also said goodbye to Rebecca Welsh, who hung up her refereeing boots after a trailblazing career. The first woman to ever referee a Premier League match has moved into an off-pitch role at PGMOL. She's going to be manager of the select group Women's Professional Game.

No doubt we will hear from her very, very soon. By the way, just join us, please, in taking part in our Fantasy League this season. Susie Rack set this up. You need to go to fantasywsl.net. Our code is Guardian Women's Football Weekly, as in Guardian WFW. Robin Moorman has sent us a message saying,

I'm in need of some Play Fantasy WSL help. Any hidden gems expected to shine this season? Susie, bearing in mind you've put us through all this torture we're going to experience for the next nine months, you can give us your tips. I don't think anyone wants my tips ever. I think that's a terrible idea for anyone. I mean, I've gone with a very safe front three of Ramirez, Mead and Shaw.

So, you know, let's see if anyone takes my lead. But yeah, I expect to finish bottom of the league. How have you got the money to do that? Good planning. You've just got no one in defence. I'm much, much better at managing my money than Everton and West Ham. I need to do mine today. It's on my list of things to do.

Listen, it's been a pleasure. All of you, Ceylon, good luck at the weekend. Thank you so much. Back to Cambridge. Cambridge United away. Come down. Woo-hoo. See you soon.

Tom, solid, awesome, wonderful debut. We shall see you soon. Lovely to see you all. Take care. Susie, I've missed you so much. It's good to have you back. I know, right? We haven't seen each other for ages.

It's too long. It's too long. We shall get our heads together soon no doubt keep having your say as well by sending in your questions via X or emailing us at womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com and as ever a reminder to sign up for our bi-weekly women's football newsletter

all you need to do is search moving the goalpost sign up and in this week's edition Anita Asante looks at what it takes for a club to win a league title The Guardian. 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.