Share
The Game Football Podcast
Is Pep Starting To Panic?
Tom Clarke is joined by Gregor Robertson, Jonathan Northcroft and Martin Samuel in The Times office.
Mason Greenwood will leave Manchester United imminently, but how easily will he find a new club and where in the world could that club be? (00:00)
Manchester City are being forced back into the transfer window later than they usually would. Are they starting to panic or just simply reacting to the injury to Kevin De Bruyne? (06:38)
Aston Villa are practically through to the group stages of the Europa Conference League after a 5-0 first leg win at Hibernian. How much does this European involvement mean to the club and why do Scottish clubs struggle to compete at this level? (18:22)
Everton have started the season badly and look like they’ll struggle for goals. Is this the season they finally go down and how important is moving to their new stadium in the search for fresh investment? (27:15)
Martin Samuel has written in The Times about Bruno Fernandes’ captaincy at Manchester United and why managers choose certain players to lead the team. As a former pro, Gregor has some thoughts on his favourite skippers he’s played under (38:31)
A mention of Ben Foster’s second retirement leads to a conversation about the difficulty players have getting into elite sides and how the quality of the football pyramid is improving as a result (49:31)
Get more of The Times and The Sunday Times for less than £1 a day. Start your free trial: thetimes.co.uk/thegame
More episodes
View all episodes
Manchester City stalling; Liverpool soaring
01:00:18|Manchester City lost for the third time in a week. That hasn’t happened since 2018. Is it more serious than a blip? Martin Samuel thinks it could be. He joins Gregor Robertson, Hamzah Khalique-Loonat and Tony Cascarino to look at City’s dip, Arsenal’s worries and Tyrone Mings mental aberration. Liverpool are top in Europe and top in the Premier League, what more could Liverpool fans want…? And Manchester United have a four year plan…another one.Arsenal and Man City Shocked
01:05:55|What’s going wrong at Arsenal? Was this a freak result for City?After both lose again is it down to better opposition, poor performance, lacklustre management or plain old exhaustion? No such problems for Nottingham Forest who are now third in the table or Liverpool who roared back to go top against Brighton.Gregor Robertson dissects the weekends results with Martin Hardy, Alyson Rudd and James Gheerbrant.Plus, hats off to Bournemouth, Newcastle and Spurs and a quick look at dapper Van Nistelrooy and woeful West Ham.Is Amorim the man for Manchester United?
01:07:06|Is Ruben Amorim the man to bring the good times back to Manchester United? As the current Portuguese coach is set to be named the new man in charge at Old Trafford what will he bring and more importantly what kind of squad will he inherit? Martin Samuel, Jonathan Northcroft and Gregor Robertson join Tom Clarke to assess his credentials to take over “…the biggest club in the land.”Can Ange-ball win a trophy at Spurs; Chelsea’s B team looked light against Newcastle and what makes a good leader?Oh, and a quick mention of rampant Aberdeen.EFL Extra: Is Sunderland's start sustainable?
39:03|On the latest whistle-stop tour of the EFL, Gregor Robertson and Tom Clarke discuss Sunderland's surprise surge (which is starting to look less surprising), Coventry's potentially season changing win against Luton, Ian Holloway's latest adventure in Swindon and much more.Ten Hag sacked - midway through the show!
01:03:26|The big talking point from the weekend was Arsenal's draw at home to Liverpool, until it wasn't. Midway through today's episode, news broke that Erik ten Hag had been sacked by Manchester United. Join Tom Clarke, Alyson Rudd, Hamzah Khalique-Loonat & Gregor Robertson as they react to the news in the moment. And much, much more...“Arsenal won’t beat Liverpool playing like that!”
01:02:52|Is Arsenal’s mounting injury list going to derail their title bid? Not according to Martin Samuel or Hamzah Khalique-Loonat who both think teams that win titles win regardless of injuries – think Alisson, Haaland, De Bruyne or Van Dijk.Liverpool may not be the swashbuckling side from the Klopp era but are they even more effective under the controlled Slot?Does Erling Haaland get the credit he deserves? Who cares about link up play when you’ve scored 44 goals in 42 champions league games! Gregor Robertson oversees proceedings.Are Liverpool and Chelsea serious contenders?
01:05:41|Liverpool passed their first serious test of the season and Chelsea looked good even in defeat.Tom Clarke is joined by Gregor Robertson, Tony Cascarino and Tom Allnutt as they ask; can Liverpool win the title and are Chelsea a top four team?Are Arsenal’s chances of the title being undermined by their poor disciplinary record? Do referees favour the top teams? And it wasn’t just a bad day for Julen Lopetegui at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it was a forgettable day for James Maddison too.Plus, Brighton, Man Utd, Southampton and VAR.Will Tuchel win England the World Cup?
58:24|England have appointed one of the world’s best coaches. What does he bring, how does he manage, and will it be enough to win the big one?Tom Clarke, Gregor Robertson, Tony Cascarino and James Gheerbrant are joined from German football journalist Constantin Eckner.What do we know about Tuchel’s number two, young English coach Anthony Barry? Gregor did his coaching badges with him; he can enlighten us.After the break a look ahead to the weekends premier league fixtures and the big clash at Anfield as Chelsea take on Liverpool.EFL Extra: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
39:55|Tom Clarke is joined by Gregor Robertson as they assess the Championship, League One and League Two. Leeds, Norwich, Plymouth. Wycombe, Exeter, Port Vale and AFC Wimbledon all feature – as well as many in between. Plus a look at the many ex players taking to lower league management.