The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - WSL season goes right to the wire – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: May 23, 2023

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Chris Paouros and England legend Kelly Smith as they look ahead to a tantalising final weekend

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. It's going down to the wire. It's going down to the death. The WSL is going down to the last day of the season. Except most of us have actually handed the trophy to Chelsea and waved a sad goodbye to Reading. But anything is possible. Whatever happens, the place to be is the Medeski Stadium on Saturday.

Manchester United's dramatic late winner and defeat for Leicester leaves us with a tantalising final weekend. The SWPL was even more dramatic, so we'll discuss all that. Talk agents' fees, plus take your questions. And that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. What a panel we have today. Susie Rack, nice to see you last night. I know, right? We actually saw each other face to face for a change. It was a delight. I absolutely loved it. Normally just see your face either well or hear your voice on the end of a phone or see your face in a Zoom square. So it was lovely.

I have seen you more in the last 24 hours than I have my husband, which is slightly concerning, really. But, you know, we go with the flow. I say that quite a lot, actually, which is always a worry. I think my husband's quite pleased about that. Kelly Smith, a debut on the pod. Great to have you on. How are you doing?

How's the new role? Yeah, no, I'm very excited to make my debut on the podcast. And obviously my new role, like you just mentioned, at Arsenal. I've just come in off the back of five games, the last five games. And it's been really interesting to be back in the club environment, especially a club that's really kind of dear to my heart. Obviously played a long time there throughout my career. So it's quite a proud moment to be wearing that Arsenal badge again.

Yeah, we'll hear a bit more from you later about how it's going back there. Chris Poweros, I managed to squeeze in a hug with you at an event a couple of weeks ago. How have you been? All the better for that hug, Faye. Nice. It's always the best Chris hugs ever. Right, listen, we're going to start at Kings Meadow and the top of the table. Chelsea completed a 100% winning record at Kings Meadow with a 2-0 victory over Arsenal. Goals from Guru Wright and who else but the departing Magdalena Eriksen putting them within touching distance of

a fourth consecutive WSL title. Susie, the first half at least, it was a pretty dominant performance from Chelsea. At this point of the season, just look at a different level. Obviously, Arsenal have been depleted, but this was a deserved win, wasn't it? Oh, yeah. I mean, I think, you know, you say it after every single Arsenal injury, but is this one one too many? I do think the injury to Leo Votti was just that one too many, a little bit too weakened in the midfield. Defensive options have shifted around so much this season

without having her sitting in front of them, sort of making up for the losses at the back. You're struggling a bit. And then obviously Chelsea have a bit of a point to prove after the Conte Cup final. I mean, they're a different beast in May. Emma Hayes prepares them for this. They made six changes to the team that played midweek Arsenal made one enforced change it's a huge difference

in squad utilization which Arsenal just didn't have available so I worked out the other day that Chelsea has scored 29 goals in May and that's like 48 percent or something of their total for the season in one month. So to say that they step it up a gear in May is a little bit of an understatement. Second half, I thought Arsenal looked decent, good chances. It just sort of felt like nothing was going to go their way, though. It's felt like that all season, Kelly, hasn't it? And I'm sure you feel like that as an Arsenal fan, as well as employee. It has been a very long season with the injuries,

but obviously the result in the Manchester derby, which we'll talk about shortly, means that even though you lost this match, you've all but guaranteed Champions League football for next season. How important is that for the club and for Jonas Eidevall as well next year? Yeah, it's crucial for recruits that want to come in, that want to play champions league football obviously disappointed to miss out on the title so late in the season but

like Susie said the injuries have really taken their toll with the squad and I couldn't agree more Leovolti was a big miss and there's only so many players that you can lead out of the miss out of the starting 11 and she's a big key part of it. Working with her day in, day out over the past couple of weeks, I've just seen the qualities that she has and brings. She's that link between defence and attack and we really missed her. We made a few tactical changes at half-time, but we had a real clear chance with Stina when she was one-on-one. If that goes in, probably changed the head of the game.

Second half, we were a lot, lot better, but we just didn't have the strength and depth on the bench. But next season will be a whole new season for us. We'll recruit well, strengthen the side, and we go again. Yeah, it's going to be an interesting season next season. We need to touch on Lia Valti being missing because the reason for that is because she was injured in a challenge that then saw Chelsea

Loney, Aggie Beaver Jones sent off in their win over Everton. There were concerns though Susie about the amount of abuse that the young striker received afterwards. Yeah it was interesting because the discourse was very much like oh she's getting loads of abuse on one side and then other people going I don't see any abuse where's this abuse I mean the fact that she had to put her Instagram account private is a sort of indication of of the kind of level of stuff she was getting um there was quite a lot doing the rounds which isn't okay right like I was fuming at that challenge I'm an Arsenal fan as is widely known and you know in our private whatsapp chats I was raging uh about the challenge. But, you know, you never go and abuse a young player. No player goes in intentionally aiming to damage a player's career, right?

Like, that's just not a thing that happens. No player does that. I think it was odd that the referee sort of paused and upgraded the card and hadn't realised how bad it was in the first instance. But it's good that obviously they upgraded the card fine to rant and rave about all that kind of stuff but don't target a player I just think that's out of order yeah so many things like that are totally out of order and need to be addressed as we've mentioned on many occasions before Chelsea fans are also bidding

farewell to Magda Eriksson and Pilla Harder, whose exits were announced during the week. Both of them rumoured to be heading to Bayern Munich. Eriksen, of course, a stalwart at Chelsea. She's been there for six years, captain for four of them. Harder's been there for the past three years. And Chris, these two have been so important, both on the pitch for Chelsea, but also off the pitch for the wider LGBTQ plus community. Absolutely. And you could see how emotional Magda Eriksson was when she scored that goal. You know, the way she celebrated with her teammates. I actually saw, I mean, maybe I was

putting something onto her, but you could see her sort of welling up there. And I think it's going to be a big loss for the WSL actually to see them both moving on both in terms of the quality of the play I mean you know you talked about the FA Cup final but that you know Penelohada just changed that game and you know Chelsea are going to miss that but you know there's no doubt that Emma Hayes is going to have a plan and you know in terms of having their voices in women's football for the LGBTQ plus community I think they're sort of they're almost unparalleled in that sense because they use their platform really wisely, both separately and together.

And, you know, if you see some of the sort of podcasts and vodcasts they've done, you know, videos they put out to talk about what those sort of, what the issues are and, you know, in support of the trans community as well at a time that they're very much under attack. I think they're really, really important voices and we will miss them. Yeah, they will be a huge, huge, huge miss.

Actually, Susie, Chelsea almost got ahead of the announcement that they were leaving by revealing their first signing of the summer as well. Germany midfielder Schurke Nuschken, Katerina Macario and Ashley Lawrence have also reportedly agreed terms. How impressive is it the way that Emma Hayes is always changing this team, moving them forward? And how much is that crucial in Chelsea's long term success? Yeah, I can't remember which press, like all the press conferences in the last week and a half have merged into one giant press conference and one giant game. But at some point in the last week and a half have merged into one giant press conference and one giant game. But at some point in the last week, Emma Hayes talked about how she wanted to build the team to a point at which it was still competitive and winning whilst in transition. And I mean, that's proved effective. They're still winning.

You could say they're in a moment of transition now with Frank Kirby injured, with Penilla Harder out for most of the season. You know, they started the season with Khadija Buchanan phasing out Magda ahead of her going in the summer. They've had to sort of fall back where you had the Karen Carney's and Katie Chapman's and Claire Rafferty's and stuff all going. But it is a big moment. So to do this, to do what they've done whilst still winning is the most impressive thing for me. And it's interesting to hear Emma say that that is a very, very conscious thing, that the focus is maintaining winning whilst being in transition I think it'll be interesting to see how recruitment changes with the new Chelsea

ownership and like the control of that and like the money available and how that plays out I don't think a huge amount will change as long as Emma's there because she's doing everything right. I know you can't talk too much Kelly about what goes on behind the scenes at Arsenal in your new role. But do you look at what is going on at Chelsea? And, you know, Arsenal have always done things in a really good way. And in some ways, with all the injuries, you're in a kind of different transition yourself because clearly the squad depth has been a problem this season.

How do you go about making sure that Arsenal keep up with Chelsea going forward when, you know, the Champions League places has been so competitive this season? Yeah, I mean, with the squad that we have, we reached the semi-final. So we have quality, a lot of quality. But when you lose five, six players,

the spine of your team for injury is going to affect the way that you play. And we did change formations and adapt to a different playing style because you're missing Beth, Viv, Leah at the end and a couple of other players. So, yeah, it's always going to be a struggle. But I'm sure Jonas and Claire Wheatley have a plan to bring new players in. You know, I'm not in those talks, but they have to strengthen the squad. Hopefully the players that we've lost will come back next season and be fit and ready to go because they are fantastic players. So yeah, it's all about the recruitment process. Yes,

Chelsea have done it. And like you said, Emma Hayes knows the players she wants. And years in advance, she's checked them them out written them on a piece of paper and then got her people to go and have those talks so for Jonas I know he has his own plan and the players that he wants to bring into a side that likes playing possession-based football creates very good high scoring goal opportunities and hopefully securing Champions League football bring that elite player to our club I think anything you know finishing fourth would have been a real big disappointment we have to beat Villa on Saturday with a depleted squad but what I've noticed about this team obviously be working in the media side of it it's about giving

opinions didn't really know what was going on now I'm in it I know know what's going on. So I think it's crucial that we get that win and then we can get that high elite player to come to us in the summer. Yeah, it's going to be fascinating, I think, for all teams in the summer because it feels as if everybody has stepped things up a bit this season, for sure. Adam Salter says, anyone think that there will be a final twist to the WSL season and that Chelsea will lose at Reading? They lost their last season.

I mean, they did and it was 3-2, wasn't it, earlier on in this season in the reverse fixture? But I think I know what the answer to this question is going to be, but I'll let you all answer it. Susie said earlier how many goals Chelsea have scored in May and I think they're going to score another hatful. I agree. I'd agree with you, Chris.

I can't see Chelsea slipping up from the last game of the season. How good would it be, though? Like, I mean, it's going to be devastating, right, for Reading relegated watching that trophy lift. I mean, it's going to be the complete opposite end of the spectrum of emotions on that pitch. But could you imagine if it's the other way around? Like, that would be brilliant.

Oh, no, I don't want to see United win the league. Listen, we're used to the London derby being a real humdinger and it was comfortably in Chelsea's favour, I would say, at the weekend. But the Manchester derby was the game to be at. Chelsea looked ready to get their party started when United and City were drawing one all with five minutes to go. But Lucia Garcia was the party pooper. If you're from the blue bit of London, that is, obviously.

She scored the late winner for United in a 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Leeds Sports Village. United had gone one up after just two minutes following a fantastic shot from Hayley Ladd. And when Ellie Roebuck was sent off for a challenge on Nikita Paris, it looked like United would be absolutely fine. But a Philippa Angledahl cross looped in over Mary Earp's head to make it 1-1, requiring Garcia to rescue the title. Chris, given that Manchester City knew that Arsenal losing reopened the door for a Champions League spot,

were you disappointed perhaps with how they performed in this game? Interestingly, I thought they didn't start very well. Although I think, you know, I'm sort of loving the Nikita Paris renaissance. I thought that she opened the game just beautifully. I thought City started playing once they went down to 10. I mean, Ellie Roebuck looks so devastated. It's like her face, she almost couldn't believe what she'd done herself. I think that you can imagine that they're going to be gutted

not to be in the Champions League. But I think it just goes to show, we're just talking about Emma Hayes' transitions and what it means when the team changes. You can't underestimate what losing Georgia Stanway, Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh is going to do to a team. And they obviously haven't, you know, they haven't quite managed to kind of make up for that. So I think they're going to have to look at what they're going to do next, because, you know, not being in the Champions League is a big deal for Manchester City.

Yeah, we'll talk about Gareth Taylor's potential new contracts shortly, but another late goal for Manchester United, Kelly, and another win for them when the pressure was on, which is something that Mark Skinner has really improved on this season, I think. Everything that Chelsea have thrown at them in this run-in, they've just had the answer to it. Yeah, they have. And I watched the game and I was thinking,

God, it's Chelsea's title and then Garcia pops up. But I think they've changed the mental side of the game psychologically to stay involved for large parts of games, especially the latter part of the season, to push City all the way. And they don't make too many changes, United. I think the fewest in the league. So they have this real understanding of those 11, 12, 13 players. And you can tell, obviously, the early goal really settled the nerves for United.

But yeah, there is speculation about Rousseau and Battier leaving at the end of the season. They're in talks to potentially keep them or move on. I think Battier will be a big miss. I think she had nine assists from right back this season. And obviously, Rousseau, we know that she's a fantastic talent.

Can they keep her? I think that will be key to their progression next year. But it's great to see that they've secured Champions League football because they finished fourth the last couple of seasons and always missed out. So to push the title all the way, I think Mark Skinner's done a fantastic job for them just to keep them believing, keep them in games.

And you saw the celebrations after the game, what it meant to them. It's their first ever win in a Manchester derby. So we're not talking about, you know, the top three anymore. It's the top four and potentially Villa coming into a real strong league with five top teams that can beat anybody on any given day. And that's what you want, a competitive league. And certainly the Barclays WSL, for me, is the most competitive league in the world. Yeah, it really is. And actually great for Manchester United finishing second they've just got to go through that qualifying stage which you know is better than finishing third and having god knows how many games like Manchester City did earlier this season. Susie Serena-Veegman was in attendance at the Leeds Sports Village I think we're due the squad

announcement next Wednesday for the World Cup. But neither of the England goalkeepers covered themselves in glory, particularly. Firstly, Ellie Roebuck, as Chris said, looked devastating. She got all of Nikita Paris, none of the ball. And then Mary Earps conceding another one of those goals that she likes to concede. This is a very broad question, but what going on with uh english goalkeeping right now oh god i really i i hope they're getting it out their system right this is this is their blip pre-world cup and then they're gonna come out and have an incredible summer i mean obviously we we

know that goalkeeping is massively behind the rest of the development of the game in terms of like levels of goalkeeper coaching that players have had you know it's only really the Ellie Roebuck generation that have had high quality goalkeeper coaching from an early age so you know there's going to be bumps along the road I don't think Roebuck has looked the same since her injury I mean I'm sure she'll find some form at some point I think she she looks like she's lacking a little bit of confidence, to be honest, at the moment. It's not helped by the fact that City haven't had the best season. It's not been the most solid defence in front of her.

The team have struggled a little bit here and there. In terms of Mary, I mean, she's a big game player and has a mistake in her, but often will step up in the right moments. And made a couple of cracking saves. Exactly. And, you know, just oozes confidence, really, really believes in herself in a way that for me makes her absolutely undroppable for England. It's going to be interesting to see who goes as third choice, like, you know, not necessarily whether it would be an Earps, Roebuck one and two, it could be Earps Hampton or Earps McIver one and two Erps, Roebuck 1 and 2. It could be Erps, Hampton or Erps, McIver 1 and 2

and Roebuck as number three even, I think. I think that's going to be an interesting dynamic to see which way things go. Never thought we'd say that a few years ago, did we at all? No, nailed on number one. It was nailed on, exactly, exactly. Question from Adam Bateman. Should Millie Bright be taken to the World Cup

if she doesn't play for Chelsea against Reading? Because by the time of the World Cup, it would be about five months since her last game. That's surely too big a risk to rely on her. Yes, take her. She has to go. She'll be the captain, won't she, if Leah's out? I think she's vice-captain.

So, I mean, they're going to play very high training sessions. They're going to play behind closed-door games. So there's no worry for me on a fitness level. She's already up there in terms of fitness. A couple of weeks off is not going to hinder her performances at the World Cup. She has to start for me. There you go. You've been told, Adam. In no uncertain terms, Millie Bright is going to the World Cup. Just a quick one, Kelly. On the news that broke yesterday that Gareth Taylor is set

to get a new one-year deal at Manchester City, despite missing out, as it looks, on Champions League football. Were you surprised that they're going to keep him on? Well, if you think they haven't won anything this season and Manchester City as a global brand, especially with the men's team being crowned Premier League champions, getting to a Champions League final and the women coming away with nothing this year. To be honest, I was a little bit surprised. Manchester City are known for winning. You know, they were a big powerhouse, not to say that not now, a good few years ago. But other teams seem to have caught them up,

especially United in their recruitment and resources that they have. But yeah, you know, he's had a hard job because so many players left in the summer. But you have to ask the question, why did those players want to leave? Why did Lucy Bonds want to leave? Why did Stanway want to leave? Kiera Walsalsh someone that is a product of the academy and probably one of the best holding

midfielders in world football there was a big exodus to players why and that's the inner inner thinking for me but look he got the team together brought in some younger players Hasegawa was a good signing for me from West Ham. A similar player to Walsh in that respect. You can tell that he likes that relaxed technical player in that holding midfield, but it did take them a while to gel. And they picked up a lot of points the latter part of the season,

but it's a little bit too late. I do feel like they're too heavily reliant on Bunny Shaw. Not enough goals from Lauren Hemp this year. She assists, she's been good, but goals need to come from other players and that didn't happen for them. So yeah, he's on for another year and hopefully for him and them next season,

they can push on again. Yeah, it's going to be a real fascinating off-season, isn't it? That's it for part one. In part two, we'll look at the bottom of the table and the battle against relegation. 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. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Tottenham 4, Reading 1. The first ever WSL Premier League doubleheader was both good and bad for Spurs.

The women at least managed to bring some joy to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as goals from Beth England, Celine Bizet and Kit Graham saw them guarantee WSL football for next season. Chris, you were there. What was the atmosphere like? What did you make of the club's decision in the first place to play the games back to back? I think it was a great idea. I think particularly in May, the sun's shining. You know, what could it be like?

I think it was always going to be dependent. The numbers, I think, were always going to be dependent on two things, the weather and how the men's team played. By the time that third Brentford goal went in, a lot of people left, like a lot of people left. And so you could sort of see sort of the writing was on the, slightly on the wall there. But a number of people did stay.

Actually, there were lots more people in the South Stand that stayed than I thought they would. But a friend of mine went who, he's been with me twice more recently, but he hasn't had a season ticket for a number of years because he's got a young family. And I made him stay for the women's game. And he just said, he said it was really different and he couldn't put his finger on what was different and a lot of the people i'm in the atmosphere before we get to

the game susie come on now i was very polite earlier you can't help yourself i was just thinking this chris stayed very very quiet during the Arsenal section and straight in there, Rack goes for the jugular. I know, right? But a lot of the people in the South Stand left at half time in the women's game because I think that they were expecting the same kind of vibes and they weren't getting it because actually it was a big game for the women's team. There was no kind of, we want to critic to criticize the club we want to do any there was none of that

because it was like we had to win that game to stay in the WSL and we know I think we all know that we're too good to go down that's never an excuse you can see teams that have been too good to go down in the past that have done so I think it was just a great relief when that first goal went in and you could sort of see that they came out playing with a bit of a swagger and a belief that I don't think we've had a lot of this season I think Vicky Jepsen called it a pressure cooker afterwards um and then you saw I don't know we finally saw it whistling the pressure cookers whistle I don't know yeah something like that like that. They do. Very old school, like a whistling kettle. Yeah. But it was great.

And I think that second goal was wonderful. You know, there was like, I don't know how many touches it was. It was like six players and an eight and nine pass sequence and a really sweet finish from Celine Bizet. And I'm always delighted when she scores because I've made my, I've made up a song for her that I absolutely love. Sing it,

Chris, sing it. When she scores, do you want me to, I'll tell you what, because I love made my I've made up a song for her that I absolutely love when she scores do you want me to I'll tell you what because I love it it goes near far wherever you are I believe that the lead will score goals it took me a second to get it I love it I know sorry I've tried it sort of I've tried to make it footballish the first time she scored I was like oh my god her name's Celine we have to come up with a Celine Dion so between us we did a little bit of kind of you know a little bit of workshopping like in the stands at Brisbane Road and uh up with that. So, look, that was great. But you cannot underestimate the impact of Beth England. You know, 10 goals in 11 league appearances for us. You know, she's got 12 in total.

So she's ahead of Sam Kerr and Alessia Russo in the WSL scoring charts pretty much from half a season. It would be an absolute travesty if she didn't go to the World Cup. Like, a travesty. Like, I go to the world cup like a travesty like i think you know we should all you know i can't even get my words out because i think you have russo and toon were impact players in the euros right and now they're definitely starters so if you're not going to start her she could definitely come on and make an impact and she could score a goal from from nothing you know we've seen individual goals we've seen goals that are from the team I think you know I know there's already

a campaign out there but Beth England for England I mean it even works from from her name you need a new song Chris for that I've got one for her as well to be fair but not for her not for England and I'm not doing any more singing yeah I really I really, really, sorry, Susie, to interrupt you. I don't know about you and Kelly, Susie, but I would love just to walk down the street and have Chris behind me serenading me with my own song. Come up with one for all of us. I'm desperate. Be like, wow. Sorry, Susie, go for it.

I was going to say, I mean, firstly, I hate double headers in football. They work in other sports in some scenarios, like rugby have managed to do it really well. And I think maybe for international football, it might be easy. I think when emotions are so high around club football, particularly towards the end of the season, when things are getting tight and people are really frustrated or whatever with how their team has done so far on the men's side it becomes

it's always going to play little sister right i mean even down to you know the facilities that we get as journalists like it's all second fiddle to what has happened earlier in the day in that match from the way i understand it the amount of time you get after games the food you're like everything is inferior you know and then yeah putting it as when it's such a huge game and there's so much at stake was a real like risky move it's paid off obviously to a certain extent but um I think that's just Beth England being amazing but on Beth England I completely agree with everything you said Chris one thing I would say is I would have her starting I think Russo has had a poor end to the season, not being that impactful. I think she struggles over 90 minutes for England.

And for me, keep her in tune as the impact players and have Jordan Nobbs and Beth England starting. I think Beth England is a player that thrives off of consistency, off of confidence in her from the manager, off of a lot of minutes. I don't think she's a very good impact player I think she's a very good starter and I would actually switch it around and say yeah keep keep Russo coming off the bench and running tied defences in Australia that for me is is the move I make like if she doesn't go some there's something bigger at play there because she has to she has to go if if you look at anything and everything that she's done this season she has to be on that plane the only reason I said don't like I wouldn't suggest her as a starter is because she hasn't been picked since think and everything that she's done this season she has to be on that plane the only reason i said don't like i wouldn't suggest her as a starter is because she hasn't been picked since she's been at

spurs hasn't even been picked so it would feel unusual to pick her and then start her but i agree i think i'd i'd put her on there you know 10 goals and 11 appearances that's what you want from tournament play you want someone who's going to score in every game and she can pretty much score in every game just quickly back to the double header though i will say it was a test because as i said you've got to figure out how you're going to do it and from a fan perspective it certainly made me feel better about the men's game because i'd forgotten about it and that was great for me that was a great way to end the day and to end the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. So I was all right with that, to be fair.

Brilliant. Just one more thing on Beth England. The good news for Serena Wiegmann is if she does pick her, she's got a good month before the first game of the Euros. I think they're due to meet up on the 19th of June, aren't they? She's selecting the squad on the 31st of May. So she's got time to see where everybody is at, which is more of a luxury than Gareth Southgate had going into Qatar and the World Cup there, at least. So we'll see, won't we? And as you say, Susie, it will highlight whether or not there's something more at play if she doesn't get selected.

Just another quick one on Tottenham in terms of, you know, Rosella Ryan caught the eye, obviously Beth England as well. And the safety is guaranteed with a game to spare. And it felt as if, weirdly, they played a little bit more with the shackles off in this game. But does it almost highlight how disappointing they've been as a team all season, Chris? Well, I think Kelly mentioned Villa earlier being sort of the fifth place team and, you know, the best of the rest and all the rest of it. That's West Burr's thought that they were last season. Finishing fifth, ready to push on, you know, making some key signings.

I think the challenge is probably that there were a lot of new players at once and i guess well you know might be not used to sort of managing that and you know bigger players and all the rest of it but it's an interesting time because we've got i don't know how many players that are at the end of their contract you know the goalkeeper tini corpola shalina zadorski the captain cho as meter ale chioma ubagagu manor uabuchi's um was only on a half season loan but hopefully they'll you know give her a full-time contract kaya simon rozella ayan esther morgan they're all out of contract and there's a there's several others that have got one year to go so it'll be interesting to see what happens there.

But of course, we need a manager. Someone needs to, you know, again, it's like, who's the manager going to be? He's going to, you know, be part of making those decisions and figuring out what they want to do next season. So, you know, the search is on for the men's manager. Hopefully they're doing all the work behind the scenes to figure out what's going on with the women's manager too.

But Vicky Jepsen, as you know, has said that the club's in her heart. So it'd be interesting to see what happens with Vicky as well. Yeah. You have a club who needs a manager and a load of players. That's not a team.

There's no team there. There's quite a lot of building work to do, I would say, in the summer at Tottenham Kelly barring something very surprising against Chelsea which I think all of us in our heart of hearts if we're truthful don't believe will happen Reading are likely to get relegated on Saturday even though Leicester did lose to West Ham and Leicester could still lose against Brighton at the weekend. Do you think it's all over for Kelly Chambers and her side? Yeah, I mean, I'm sad to say that. I think it's been a season too far for Reading. They haven't been able to expand the size and the quality of their

squad this season. They are the lowest resourced club in the Barclays WSL, I believe. And it's been hard for her because other teams have really strengthened in and amongst them. Relegation to the men's team. I fear for them if they don't beat Chelsea at home. I can't see it happening the way Chelsea are playing. Reading, for me, leaked too many goals. You know, recently I was watching the game against Everton. They were 2-0 up and they ended up losing the game 3-2. So they really struggled. They conceded way too many goals. And the strength and depth of their squad, they just don't have it.

And Kelly Chambers has done fantastic for that club. You know, she started out behind the scenes as a general manager. Then she's worked her way up into the first team. And yeah, she's had some really good, talented squads. But I don't feel this season they've really got going and haven't really looked comfortable. And it come out of nowhere, really, because I really thought Leicester were going to go down,

having picked up no points, I think, in the first nine games. And I'm thinking, God, Leicester's going to really struggle. But Reading just have struggled to pick up points in the business end of the season. And yeah, I don't think it's going to be a happy day for them on Saturday. No, and I think all of us are really sad about that sorry Susie go for it. I was going to say if I'm Tottenham I'm knocking on Kelly Chambers's door and saying you you've done incredible at an under-resourced team

for a very long time here's a decent level of resources go for it like someone needs to give her a chance with with a bit of money and some decent players because what she's done there for six seasons has been basically buck every single like expectation so yeah I'd love I'd love to see a cup like Spurs coming for her elsewhere in the WSL there was a rare win for West Ham a first in the WSL since December. They beat Leicester 2-1 to stop the Foxes from guaranteeing their safety and sending Reading down with a game to spare. Rachel Daly tightened her grip on the golden boot, scoring again as Aston Villadrew 3-0 with Liverpool.

Hannah Bennison got a stoppage time winner for Everton in a 2-1 win over Brighton. We also have a new member of the Women's Championship as Watford beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 in their playoff thanks to a first half header from Poppy Wilson. Susie after seeing Bristol City promoted back to the WSL Watford's return to the championship really reminds us actually that relegation doesn't mean the end to these teams and hopefully that's a good omen for for Reading as well. a little bit of patience and maybe foundation building goes a long way yeah I really hope Watford invest because obviously

they took the decision to not stay in the WSL2 as it was then and like then go into the championship when it was going semi-pro so I really hope they're like ready and willing and back the team properly. As long as the ambition is there from ownership level, then it's really, really good news. Otherwise, it could end up being just another devastatingly sad period of their history, which would be extremely disappointing given the battle they have had to fight to get back into a league that they were in on merit as well yeah I really hope that the club has changed their mindset around the team

yeah they did it the hard way didn't they they had Oxford United and Ipswich breathing down their necks and I think they actually only won the southern premier on on goal difference in the end then had to do the playoff against Forest who'd won the northern premier so you know they certainly worked hard to get where they are it would be disappointing from the club's point of view if if they didn't push on there was a lot of excitement on the final day of the season in the Scottish Women's Premier League as Celtic thought they'd clinched the title only to be foiled in stoppage time by Glasgow City such a dramatic. Celtic had started the day in third. They were winning 2-0 at hearts.

Glasgow were drawing 0-0 against Rangers, but a stoppage time winner for Glasgow City meant they won it for the 15th time in 16 seasons, despite the investment from Celtic and Rangers trying to usurp them. Celtic thought they'd had a reprieve when Rangers equalised, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Lee Gibson.

I mean, it kind of puts our title race to shame a little bit, Kelly, doesn't it? But very exciting for Scottish football to see these record crowds being pulled in to watch historic clubs battle to win. Yeah, absolutely. It's great that it's just not our league that's thriving. The Scottish league is also, and it's great that it's just not our league that's thriving the Scottish league is also and it's very competitive yeah and it's great

for the fans to go out and show their support like they have and what a way to end the season so close right to the end

It's good to see Scottish dominance being broken as well right because you don't see anything but Rangers and Celtics so to have

somebody else in there kind of shaking things up, it's good to see. Yeah, it really is. Just finally, some interesting research from Tom Gary at The Telegraph that came out yesterday showing how much clubs are spending on agents' fees versus what they're investing in their women's team. Chris, it's maybe not surprising that there is a discrepancy, but the size between some of the figures is astounding. It feels a little bit as if we're kind of Manchester City baiting today on the pod. And we're not, but this is an example, right?

So Manchester City spent close to £120 million on agents' fees in comparison to just under £20 million on the women's team. Liverpool spent under £10 million on their women's team, while they're splashing out around £80 million on agents' fees. It's quite scary. I saw that graphic yesterday and I actually couldn't believe it. And I appreciate that there's commerciality at play and you sort of talk about the fact that women's football isn't bringing in the revenue, etc. But you do know that with any business, particularly when it's in startup phase,

you have to invest in it in order to build your product and drive the revenue. And to honestly see that much money being spent on agents' fees, which, you know, look, agents do great work. Some agents do great work. Yeah, that's fair. So, yeah, some agents do great work for their players, but those are obscene amounts of money that are going nowhere into the game. You know, I want to see the game invested in,

whether that's men's or women's football. And that can be for the players because the players are the ones that produce the magic on the pitch, absolutely. But to see that level in the agents fees, it feels obscene. Absolutely obscene. You know, from Tottenham's perspective, I was pleased to see that we were the lowest on the agents fees. Forty five million, it looks like. But also pretty much, you know, on par, maybe a little bit more than the Liverpool and the investment in the women's team. And and actually, I want to see I want to see more investment in the talent on the on the pitch pitch and that's going to be in the women's team and just see what we can do there so it was an interesting comparison to make as well actually because you didn't have to put those two

things up against each other but actually it was quite stark to see it so forget what the investment is in the in in the men's team men's football overall but just in those agents fees to outstrip investment in their women's team overall that's everything that's i'm sure the infrastructure the players agents in that perspective you know all of those things yeah if something felt wrong looking at that graphic yeah you're nodding suzy yeah i mean it's horrific isn't it like the the i think chris hit the nail on the head when she said that the it's the amount of money that isn't going back into football that is really gross, because that's the key, really. Like it's the idea of profiting off a game that is supposed to be there to serve a community that, you know, the FA is a not for profit body.

Clubs should be not for profit-profit bodies they should be building and investing in their communities in grassroots football in their local areas in their women's teams in their disability teams that's where money should be going the idea that you've got this like like hundreds of millions of pounds being creamed off the top by agents to buy super yachts and you know be able to be at the beck and call of their players you know ring up and say oh I need this tomorrow get it for me and they can do it because they've got this like endless pit of money pouring in from these really obscene deals that are driving up transfer fees in the men's game to a absolutely disgusting level. Look at the pandemic and how that really contextualised

football in everyone's minds and where the real value in society is when you've got nurses going in, working in the most horrific conditions, putting their lives at risk, and then only a couple of years later having to go on strike to try and get a semblance of a living wage

that matches the rate of inflation how have we gone from a period where there was so much anger around what mattered in society around the pandemic to then looking at things like this it just doesn't make sense none of it makes sense and the idea that football which is a community birthed sport isn't having all of the money it produces being put back into the benefit of the community is just madness. Susie Rapp for Prime Minister.

Absolutely, absolutely. What a great place to end as well. Chris, it's been an absolute pleasure. I think you need to get your songwriting sheets ready and next time you're on the pod, I expect one for all of us, please. I am working on it as we speak Faye I love that I love that Kelly always a pleasure listen good luck with what's going on at Arsenal and I'm sure we'll dip in and find out how you're getting on again very soon cool thanks for having me on Susie Rack for Prime Minister

I'll take it I'll go Lotta Wobbamoy for Prime Minister. That'll be my pass the buck. Are you going Deputy then in that case? Oh, I don't know. I think Leah would have a good case for that, wouldn't she? Oh, okay. She's shirking the big job already. Unbelievable. It's too much fun criticising. We'll be back next week for the last day of the season. A reminder as well, you can now email

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