0:01

BBC Sounds, music, radio,

0:03

podcasts. Sky is the limit

0:06

and you know that you can have what you want, be what

0:08

you want. I'm Rick Edwards and this is

0:10

Fighting Talk.

0:22

Good morning and welcome to the show where

0:25

good punditry will get points on

0:27

what do points mean? I'm not sure if

0:29

that's a good question philosophically, though I don't think we should dwell

0:31

on. So instead as Colombian authorities

0:33

consider culling their invasive hippo population,

0:36

let's see who else has escaped from Pablo Escobar's

0:38

private zoo and been breeding like mad.

0:41

Which I obviously mean, who's on the panel today? First

0:44

up he's a former England and Lions international

0:46

who when the recent World Cup started didn't have any

0:48

grey hairs and still had most of his own teeth. It's

0:50

been a long old haul. He's a captain on

0:52

a question of sport but not the good one. You

0:55

go Monnier! You must do that

0:57

a lot though. Someone

1:02

from a question of sport? No,

1:05

not the Sam, the other one.

1:08

I do like Sam though, Sam's

1:10

good. You must be relieved that the

1:12

Rugby World Cup is over so we can stop talking about rugby now

1:14

though. I love it.

1:16

I love it. It's one of those where I reckon

1:18

I'm going to miss it in a week but it's been a slog. It's

1:20

been absolutely brilliant but I'm happy just to

1:23

be back. On and on and on and

1:25

on and on it went.

1:26

Yes, seven weeks of it. It

1:29

started in the summer. We're now

1:31

getting ready for Christmas. That's

1:33

wild. And I'll talk about

1:35

flooding. Next to you go a

1:38

football journalist and broadcaster who is a specialist

1:40

on Italian football. So you can bet

1:43

she's been pretty busy of late. She's always long odds

1:45

to make the final on this show. OK, you get the idea. Ciao,

1:48

Mina Rizzouchi! Ciao, how's

1:49

everyone doing? Yeah, pretty good. How's the

1:51

weather? Pretty good. How's

1:53

the tonali stuff gone down in Italy? I imagine they're

1:55

fairly relaxed, aren't they? Do you

1:57

know what's really annoying is everyone's like, oh, it's another

1:59

scandal. in Italy and I'm just like

2:01

oh god I'm trying so hard to really push this league

2:04

into everyone's thoughts and everyone just keeps getting

2:06

it. Oh it's in everyone's thoughts? Yeah for scandalous

2:08

reasons though I'm trying to take that away

2:10

from them but unfortunately it seems to be sticking.

2:12

Well you're doing a good job I think. Lining

2:14

up third we have one of the fastest runners in the country

2:17

probably the fastest member of our panel although

2:19

I do know Hugo fancy himself. He's an Arsenal

2:22

fan but we don't hold that against him. Nathan Neil Mitchell

2:24

Blake's here. Good morning good morning yeah

2:26

I remember actually when I was on a show

2:28

that shadowy mentioned that Hugo captains he uh

2:31

went on to say that he raised Martin Lewis Francis

2:33

so that's like the highlight of his sprinting career. That's

2:35

it. Martin Lewis Francis must have absolutely had

2:37

you on toast Hugo. He did as a schoolboy

2:40

he got paid to go to the trials

2:42

that was the difference in

2:44

quality I mean he's an Olympic gold medallist.

2:46

Yeah he is. I hold a record

2:49

at school.

2:50

Yeah what now go on what is it go I mean

2:52

if we want to talk PB's don't we? 10.6. It's

2:55

actually pretty good. Age six. That is rapid. That's

2:58

actually I think you were faster than me at 16 you

3:00

know. Yeah. They were there about. Yeah I was

3:02

sort of joking in my intro but maybe. I was

3:05

a late blue mark. What were you doing when you were 16? I

3:08

was actually living in Jamaica.

3:09

Yeah. I was a high school in Jamaica so I was trying

3:11

my best to emulate Usain Bolt but there

3:14

was no way. What times?

3:15

Uh 16. No you weren't fast in me sorry. What?

3:17

Oh no now I think about it no no no. I'd gone 10.5.

3:20

Oh there about. Unconvenient. Yeah.

3:27

Finally we've got a writer and comic making his fighting talk

3:29

debut on today's show following in the footsteps of

3:31

comedians who build the show such as Romesh Ranganathan,

3:34

Rob Beckett, Jack Whitehall and Daro

3:36

Breen. He's also an Arsenal fan so no pressure.

3:38

Hello Jacob Hawley. Hello. So 16

3:42

what were you doing for 100?

3:46

Well I wasn't doing much running. I

3:49

think I was a porter in a pub. I was

3:51

washing plates in a pub. You can walk

3:53

our own things didn't we? We've all got things we're good at. Yeah

3:55

yeah yeah so I wasn't really building myself for a sporting

3:58

career. I was looking at retail. taking

4:00

some GCSEs and praying that I might get

4:02

to do a BTEC one day. Well there we go, sensational

4:04

stuff. And things have worked out

4:07

fantastically because here you are. Alright then,

4:10

let's start with this. After

4:12

Manchester United were well beaten in last

4:14

weekend's Derby, 3-0 at Old Trafford, Marcus

4:16

Rashford got criticised for going out clubbing

4:18

after the game. I want to know who

4:21

is going to need to go out and drown their sorrows after

4:23

one of this weekend's fixtures, Meena.

4:27

Well last time it was Marcus Rashford going out clubbing,

4:30

but this time I think it's Tenharg out

4:32

for good. If they do indeed

4:35

lose to Fulham, which is a very strong

4:37

possibility after the kind of performances

4:39

that we've seen against Newcastle

4:42

and of course against City. If

4:44

they don't win against Fulham, which would be

4:46

a ginormous tragedy, then

4:48

I don't really understand how Tenharg can keep

4:50

his job. But the alternatives just

4:53

don't exist at the moment and it's

4:55

going to be time for Tenharg to

4:58

just admit that he can't

4:59

rest through this club. And pull an all-nighter. You

5:01

go. For me, it's Wayne

5:04

Rooney, yet to win a game

5:06

at Birmingham. He's taken on the

5:08

mantle from a manager who was much loved

5:11

and some say that he was prematurely

5:13

sacked. He's up against Ipswich, who

5:15

were second in the table. They put the best home

5:17

form in the Championship and

5:20

I can't see him getting a point.

5:22

So it'll be zero from four for

5:24

a much-loved footballer, not

5:26

so much a much-loved coach.

5:29

Jacob.

5:30

I think it's going to be Bournemouth goalkeeper

5:32

and captain Neto. They're travelling to Man

5:34

City. Ooh. The

5:37

thing with Bournemouth, they're doing that thing that I quite

5:39

like when sort of smaller teams in the Premier League try and play

5:41

nice football. They're like, you know it's going to

5:43

go wrong. You can't. Bit patronising. Are you

5:45

this rude? Look, if you're at

5:48

that level in the Premier League, you need good old-fashioned

5:50

British Brexit balls. Get it out. Get

5:52

rid. Yeah,

5:54

exactly. What are you doing? Exactly.

5:57

Yeah, I think it's going to be a long, long, long night for Neto.

6:00

Well maybe you'll enjoy it. Nethanyil. I'm

6:02

going to say England cricket team. All

6:04

be it still, mathematically possible,

6:07

it's safe to say it's end of a

6:09

white ball era. Defending

6:11

champions, playing Australia. They've

6:14

had a dismal world cup, the win percentage

6:16

sits at 20%, the lowest of the 13 additions

6:19

of the tournament. They lost to Sri Lanka by 229

6:21

runs, lost to South Africa by 6-9 runs, 9 wickets to Afghanistan

6:28

and they got out in the 59 overs. It's

6:30

terrible. Absolutely

6:32

embarrassing, but they will have a good night out of that team. Yeah

6:35

I guess so, they're all over 30 now, it's definitely

6:37

like a bad ball in the subcontinent,

6:40

it's not doing too well. Not doing too well at all. Alright

6:43

let's go to question number 2, comes

6:45

from you the listeners, this week's question 2 listener

6:48

is on the line. Hello Nick. Hi

6:50

Rick, how are you doing? Yeah I'm very well, thanks how are

6:52

you, what's going on? Yeah not

6:54

a lot, I've taken an early lunch to

6:57

ask the question. Oh well I'll ask. I

6:59

appreciate that. I appreciate that. You realise that

7:01

the afternoon is going to really stretch and

7:04

I apologise for that. Yeah it will be. It

7:06

does anyway, it's Friday isn't it? Alright I'm going to wind

7:08

you up with your intro song if that's alright, here we go.

7:16

Because Nick, your question is

7:18

this. My

7:20

question, hi panel,

7:22

is now that it's November, some

7:25

people will have started decorating the houses

7:28

and humming Christmas songs. But

7:30

who in sport has annoyed you by beginning the

7:32

celebrations too early? That's

7:35

a good question, Nethanil. I'm going

7:37

to say many night fans, after having

7:39

a somewhat okay pre-season, they finished third

7:42

last year, got the Carabao

7:44

Cup with the FA Cup final, handed Marcus

7:46

Rashford a brand new contract but one

7:48

thing he's been able to do is consistently

7:51

be inconsistent. They

7:53

beat my beloved Arsenal once again as I said in

7:55

pre-season but it's looking absolutely dismal

7:58

for them. I'm not quite sure where they sit. in

8:00

the table but two defeats from

8:02

the trot lost to Newcastle. Eight I

8:04

think. Yeah they're losing for fun right now um 10

8:08

hard gal everyone's saying that there's

8:10

tactical reasons for certain players not playing

8:12

but it's an absolute shambles right now.

8:15

Oh Mina knows, Mina knows. Oh go on Mina.

8:18

No no I don't. Come on Mina. I

8:20

don't know. Spill Mina. We're

8:23

all looking at you. Spill. Nothing

8:25

from me. Give us your answer then.

8:28

Um I'm gonna say anyone who has

8:30

a tattoo of of an impending

8:32

trophy it is really

8:34

funny.

8:36

My first recording

8:39

gig when I started to make it in the

8:41

big time um I went to the Euro 2012 and my beloved

8:43

Italy had Germany in the semi-final

8:49

and we were just uh recording all these promos

8:51

and I was recording it with like um with like an

8:54

Italian who has a very strong

8:56

cliched Italian accent. It was very like you

8:59

know and we were doing

9:01

all these promotional and I'm not doing that again.

9:03

It's

9:07

blinking

9:07

you'll miss it okay and um

9:10

so we were out on the streets and obviously we were like covered

9:12

in the Italian flag doing these promotional live

9:14

videos and all these Germans would

9:16

come up to us showing us their trophies and they

9:19

did this in 2006 when we won the World Cup

9:21

you know and throwing beer on

9:23

us and everything like that and then Mario Varlo came

9:25

through and he scored those two

9:27

goals and I was like ah stop it. So anyone

9:30

who has those tattoos even

9:32

for the treble I mean they won the treble in the end Manchester

9:35

City but the fans just went and did it. There's a

9:37

part of you that's just like I want you to lose now.

9:39

The best way to finish that answer of

9:41

course is you going and just rolling up a sleeve and going

9:43

of course here's my Euro 2012. Uh

9:47

Hugo. My one's slightly conflicted.

9:50

As an Arsenal fan it was...

9:52

It's all Arsenal fans to be here. It

9:55

is I love it. It was watching

9:57

Arsenal celebrate with eight games to go.

9:59

league. I was celebrating, I was like

10:02

we've got it. Look at the league, look

10:04

at the lead we've got, look at the running that we've got.

10:06

Take points of city, okay, let's

10:09

do a job on Liverpool and the title was ours. We

10:11

were discussing it where are we going to be ours, we're against

10:13

walls and the tickets were going for £28,000 because finally

10:15

we were

10:19

going to win the title for the first time

10:21

since the flood. However, we

10:24

know what happened and it was so disappointing.

10:27

I loved watching them celebrate but ultimately,

10:29

must have a massive egg on our face and

10:31

no impending tattoos. All right, Jacob?

10:34

I'm going to go a number of Arsenal ones but specifically

10:36

Aaron Ramsdale. They showed

10:38

some clips of him this week when he played for us against

10:40

West Ham when we lost Wednesday night. His last game

10:42

that he played and obviously it's quite sad with Ramsdale at the moment,

10:44

he lost his place to David Wright and it feels like one

10:46

of those kind of toxic love triangles where Arte

10:49

is clearly in love with Ria and he's trying

10:51

to play it like, no, no, I still like you Ramsdale, but it's

10:54

nearly over. They showed a clip from the

10:56

last game he played for us which was against Brentford in the Carabao

10:58

Cup. He makes a deal and he's in save against

11:01

Brentford and he always has this sort of back

11:03

and forth with the fans that he's playing against. He turns

11:05

around and starts celebrating his save that he's

11:07

just made whilst the ball is still in play

11:10

in his

11:11

own box. You're celebrating a

11:13

save while you might concede a goal right now and

11:15

you're wondering why you've lost your place in the team. But

11:17

I mean, I like that stuff. That's good value.

11:19

You like it. I really don't

11:22

think you're a Liverpool player and I do

11:24

think that's it. Let's be honest, he

11:26

doesn't hold a candle

11:27

to Vicario. Any

11:31

of the Arsenal goalkeepers don't hold a candle to Vicario.

11:33

Vicario starts for Italy though, can he? Donnarum

11:35

is playing.

11:36

Oh, but he might be. He's the Italian's

11:38

choice.

11:39

The pundit spin up pundited.

11:41

Donnarum has cast a real freak

11:45

son in the room, isn't he? Yeah,

11:46

I mean, I liked Donnarum too, but Vicario

11:49

for the Premier League. I mean, Italy just has so much talent

11:51

in that. Just

11:51

wait for Spursby Spursy, you'll see. It

11:54

is exactly what I like about fighting so when people genuinely

11:56

start arguing, forget the

11:59

format. I don't like what this person's saying.

12:01

You know what a question, I want to snag off your goal. For

12:05

no real reason actually. I'll

12:08

tell you who's better, my goalkeeper. And

12:10

that is true, because Alison's obviously better than all of them. Now,

12:13

Nick, who are you going to get the points to? Um,

12:16

sorry. I actually forgot you were there, Nick,

12:18

sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, it's such a good time. I

12:23

really like me and his answer, but I do find

12:25

someone having a permanent mark on

12:27

their skin with something that they've missed out on to

12:29

be too funny to stay annoying. Yeah,

12:32

I'm with you on that. No, Nick, come

12:34

on, like, think about it.

12:35

No, you can't

12:37

lobby your case now.

12:38

I'm the only woman here, do it for feminism.

12:41

That is really, it's

12:43

really, and there were a question too, Meena. Save

12:46

that later at least. Right,

12:49

yeah, I'm going to strike out a bloke to misogyny

12:51

and go for an F and Eel. Surely

12:54

anything that puts that

12:56

on for Man United's fan

12:58

faces is fine by me. Yeah,

13:00

I mean, nothing is celebrating wildly over

13:02

there. Did you get the brand envelope, I think? Yeah,

13:05

you've made this day, Meena is just sipping her water

13:08

quite sadly. Thanks very much, Nick. Have

13:10

a good long afternoon. Yeah, thanks a lot, all. Next

13:13

topic then, despite coming

13:15

back, sort of, from a shock

13:17

knockdown to win on a split decision, many

13:20

fans thought that Tyson Fury lost his turnaround

13:22

fight with former MMA champ and

13:25

boxing novice Francis Nganu. Fury

13:27

said afterwards about his lacklustre display,

13:29

there's no who's to blame, blame me. Well,

13:33

we are always in the blaming business on this show,

13:35

so I want your best examples of it not

13:38

being a sports person or team's fault.

13:41

You go start stuff. I first of all just

13:43

love the blame game because it relinquishes any

13:46

responsibility that you had anything to do with

13:48

how bad you actually were. Yeah. And

13:50

one of the best examples of this, let me take you back to 1996 and

13:53

the delts where Southampton play, Manny

13:55

and I, could have taken on Southampton, they're losing

13:58

3-0 at half time.

13:59

the day when Man United wore the infamous

14:03

grey kit. It was the last time it

14:05

was ever seen. Sir Alex Bergson sent

14:07

him in at half time, made sure they stripped,

14:10

not for any sexual purpose, but to take off that

14:12

kit. Well we don't know that. Well yeah.

14:15

That would have been a fringe benefit. Potentially, yeah.

14:17

He thought it would enable them to rediscover

14:19

their form in the second half, it absolutely did

14:22

not. However, whilst it was all

14:24

predicated on superstition, he

14:26

got asked about it, it was about the grey shirt

14:28

and he says no. He said, well, if it was all about

14:31

superstition and colour the shirt, we've not won the title

14:33

for 26 years and we haven't sacked off the

14:35

red jersey. He has

14:37

a really good point, but the grey jersey was

14:40

dust after that. I'm going

14:42

to go on to the night of May

14:44

6th, 2006. The mighty Spurs are about

14:47

to play Wigan, sorry,

14:49

play West Ham in a game which they have to match the score

14:51

of their North London Rivals Arsenal to

14:54

enter the competition of the

14:56

elite in Europe for the first time

14:58

from 1961 to 1962 to unforeseen

15:02

circumstances. Ten Tottenham first team

15:04

players fall ill with

15:07

lasagna gate, food poisoning, Michael

15:09

Dawson, Michael Keck, Robbie Keane, Aaron Lennon,

15:11

Edgar Davids, Jimmy Lee,

15:14

Lee Bernard, Radette Kearney and

15:16

Andy Reid. Tottenham appealed to the

15:19

Premier League to have the

15:21

match replayed. Daniel Levy went to the

15:23

FA and said that there's a conspiracy here,

15:26

our food was poisoned, it later came out

15:28

that the whole team had a replay. Tottenham did want a replay, that's

15:30

interesting. He did want a replay, they had the Noronavirus.

15:34

Some of my wife's friends, massive Arsenal fans,

15:37

they've got an Arsenal fanzine that is called

15:39

Poison lasagna. Good

15:41

name. Very, very good name. OK,

15:43

Jacob. I'm not

15:45

just saying this by the way to appease our host who is

15:48

a Liverpool fan, but I'm going to say it was Liverpool's

15:50

lost to Spurs a few weeks ago. I don't think there was any blame

15:52

there. I think that was a large decision. A lot

15:54

of points coming in, a lot of points coming in. I agree.

15:57

You get a say on bookings as well, don't you?

15:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. That

16:02

was it. I

16:03

genuinely, I watched that and I was like, I think I'm

16:05

one of the only non-Liverpool fans who felt

16:07

this way. I think there should have been a replay

16:09

of that game and it's absolutely not just because it would have

16:11

meant that Spurs weren't top of the league anymore. But

16:14

I think the outrage was, I think

16:16

the way I feel about this. You can't have a replay.

16:19

Hold on, what about Wolves as well? They

16:21

have had

16:21

a replay. Hootenite, yeah.

16:24

It depends on who they're playing. Very much depends on who they're playing, yeah. United

16:26

they've had a replay. Half

16:29

of Britain last year, they've got goals off stage. Should

16:31

have been a replay. Should have been a replay. It's a more

16:33

tacitly, it's a more valid. It's a more replays. Exactly, yeah.

16:36

But as long as they see ourselves, but yeah, I

16:38

do think it's incredible that like, the amount

16:40

of money that's spent on the Premier League nowadays between

16:42

match-going fans, between the amount of like, hundreds,

16:44

if not thousands of pounds we spend every year on streaming services

16:47

to be able to watch the game, the very least you expect is they can hire

16:49

professionals who can do their job and actually

16:52

like, officiate the games properly. So I think

16:54

from a fan perspective, we should be able to

16:56

demand better for that. I mean, you make an

16:58

excellent point. I love Liverpool. You have buttered

17:00

me up. You're actually going to lose a point there, don't you?

17:05

I

17:05

asked about the referees and apparently this isn't

17:07

confirmed. They get like, 200 grand. So,

17:10

you know, you sort of expect for that amount of money, you know, you're

17:12

getting the same as a CEO in some companies. You should be

17:15

able to like, call Nick games. Anyway, I'm going to go for... Where

17:17

do they

17:17

get the money from? Directly from the Tottenham board or? Can

17:20

you leave the Enoch and Co.? You're

17:24

really endearing yourself to the crowd over here.

17:26

I'm going to take you back to the play

17:29

off for the World Cup and

17:31

it was the second game between France

17:34

and Ireland.

17:34

And

17:36

Thierry Henry decided to

17:38

just, you know, stick out a hand,

17:41

direct the ball in his direction, score

17:43

the winner and chuck Ireland out. And

17:46

you can't blame anyone, right? Because

17:48

Robbie Keane had put them one mill ahead and you thought

17:50

they had a real chance to do something special. Thierry

17:53

Henry has all the talent of a

17:55

man who doesn't need his hands to do much, you know,

17:58

unless it's outside of football, but generally speaking.

17:59

But

18:04

he

18:04

unfortunately needed to use his hand to make

18:07

sure that France got through to the World

18:09

Cup in 2010 and we know how that worked out for them

18:11

afterwards.

18:12

I mean I just I

18:14

love Thierry Henry so much I just don't really mind anything

18:16

he does to be honest. Okay question number

18:19

four and it's a quickie one as I'm sure

18:21

you all know today is International Common

18:23

Sense Day established by a

18:26

good friend of mine, Bart Billenich, career

18:28

mentor and life coach. Put

18:30

very simply who in sport needs

18:32

to celebrate this day the hardest i.e.

18:35

who needs a dose of common sense? Nathanil.

18:38

It has to be the English Premier

18:41

League and the referees in their

18:43

use of VAR.

18:44

Absolutely a business.

18:47

As we've said multiple times on this episode today

18:49

already the ability to not

18:51

draw a straight line or the ability to

18:53

use simple physics and understand

18:56

that if you're jumping you actually need your hand

18:58

so your hand might be raised for

19:00

the penalty that was given against William Saliba against

19:02

Chelsea. I feel like as we said the best

19:04

league in the world and the quality of officiating that

19:07

we have it doesn't correlate at

19:09

all and I feel like we need to take measures

19:11

far and quick because it's actually ruining

19:13

the league.

19:14

Meina. I'm

19:17

going to say because I'm a Scuderia Ferrari fan

19:19

in Formula One

19:20

and I just feel like every year there's

19:22

all of this you know interest that maybe just maybe

19:25

we can win the World Championship so

19:27

really it's just a dose of common sense they are never

19:29

going to win it again it's over it's always

19:31

going to be maxed to tap in wherever he is and

19:34

we just need to realise that Ferrari is just done

19:36

and done for Formula

19:37

One. It's heartbreaking but

19:39

I think you might be right and my god it's been a boring

19:41

season hasn't it? You go. Could

19:43

I have a pop at all of us? Us the football fans

19:45

because we I think for

19:48

me it's the reality that we expected

19:51

Gianni Infante to do better and

19:53

that the World Cup wouldn't go to Saudi

19:55

Arabia that he wouldn't chase the

19:58

biggest check like really what. What

20:00

on earth do you think we were expecting?

20:02

Oh, Australia just magically pulled

20:04

out. I'm not accusing anyone. I might

20:06

be suggesting there might have been a little bit of skullduggery.

20:08

However, we actually just need

20:10

to use our common sense a little bit more and just

20:13

actually realise that we're dealing

20:15

with people at the very top of the game with self-interest

20:18

at heart. And I will just say obviously

20:21

that he would vehemently deny that.

20:23

Jacob. I would say the British boxing

20:26

board of control in terms of what's going on with

20:29

the Chris U-Baint Jr fight and Conor Ben. Conor

20:31

Ben still hasn't really proved

20:33

himself innocent. We still don't really know what's going on there.

20:36

And it looks like that. It's a huge British fight.

20:38

That one is a huge domestic fight. That's gonna have to happen abroad

20:40

now because they can't work out whether he should be

20:42

allowed to fight in the UK or not. And the fans are

20:44

gonna lose their massive fights. Yeah, I'd

20:46

love to see it, but you're right. It's a complete mess.

20:49

Let's check in with the scores. Always

20:52

lovely and tight. Jacob on his debut

20:54

on 21, but in touch with

20:57

Hugo Amina on 22. Nathaniel

21:00

just ahead on 24, benefiting

21:02

from that very generous award of three points from

21:04

our dear friend Nick.

21:12

Okay, let's finish the half with this. New Zealand

21:14

only just lost 11.12 to South Africa in

21:17

last weekend's Rugby World Cup final, despite,

21:19

hmm, these didn't mean to say, despite playing

21:22

the final 50 minutes with 14 men, all

21:24

black Sam Kane who got the red card said afterwards, unfortunately,

21:27

it is something I'm gonna have to live with forever.

21:30

So what is the one thing you

21:32

still regret the most from your own sporting

21:34

career? Meena, I'm

21:36

interested.

21:38

So obviously I look like the most sporty person you know. Agreed.

21:41

And when I was younger, I wanted to

21:43

be a rollerblader because my sisters

21:45

used to watch a lot of 80s movies.

21:47

And I sort of liked the idea of wearing like

21:49

hot pants and going to Hyde Park and having a boombox

21:51

on my head. Sure. So I did that, except

21:53

I'd only had six lessons, so I wasn't exactly

21:55

a pro, and decided to go without a helmet

21:58

or any knee cap, you know, the stuff.

21:59

that protects you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kneecap.

22:02

No, it went without kneecap. I mean, that is stage one.

22:05

You've got to take your kneecap. That's impressive if she's done it without

22:07

kneecap. That's what I thought. I think she could be a pressure

22:09

roller blader. She's done it without kneecap. And I've had six

22:11

lessons, so I was very confident,

22:14

you know? Had a blow dry and everything, was

22:16

going down like Hyde Park, thinking

22:19

for sure like this is the start of like my

22:21

amazing like life going forward. Fell

22:24

down a hill so badly that

22:26

the ambulance needed

22:27

to come in. I don't know how I get back.

22:29

And

22:29

I still have three scars from that

22:31

day. So that is the first

22:33

and last time that I ever, ever tried

22:36

to do anything when

22:36

it comes to sport. Yeah, and as soon as I got you in the ambulance,

22:39

they're like, not only that, she hasn't got any kneecaps. Yeah.

22:42

You go. Similar, I imagine, for you rollerblading,

22:44

yeah? Yeah, exactly that. I have one mental scar

22:46

now, meaning for that. Playing

22:49

for the British and Irish Lions. The greatest and most

22:51

exclusive club you can ever play for. And

22:53

I played for them in 2009. Started

22:56

the first test. I don't enjoy a brag.

22:58

Carry on. They're just facts. They're

23:00

just facts of things that I did. OK,

23:02

but I guess balance it out. I then

23:05

end up dropping the ball over the tri-line.

23:06

Yes, Lee. And

23:10

yeah, it's like effectively getting

23:13

the greatest job you've ever wanted

23:15

and then by lunchtime, your boss pulling

23:17

you into the office and going, you're sacked. What?

23:20

Can I cry for a point? Yeah, of course you can. Yeah.

23:23

No, a bit better, please. Oh,

23:26

that's creepy. Point for it. Well

23:28

done. Jacob.

23:32

So when I was about 11 years old, I

23:34

had a bust up with a manager in the football team

23:37

I was playing for. I decided to leave that team. He

23:39

picked his son ahead of me. That's terrible.

23:42

And I will say, I don't want to be mean. His son was

23:44

literally called Bubble based on his physique. He

23:48

lives to this day, by the way. Shout out, Bubbly. He's

23:50

a good brother. He's a great cab driver.

23:53

Anyway, so I moved teams. Moved

23:55

to another local team. My first

23:57

game on a Sunday, it was a bitter cold. January

24:00

morning my mum talked me into

24:02

wearing tracksuit bottoms underneath

24:04

my shorts Even

24:08

the referee taking the mick out of me before the game

24:10

began Who's the new kid? Yeah exactly that, exactly

24:12

that all the other guys like who is this guy? It

24:16

set my confidence bad and now I scored

24:18

an own goal on my debut. Ooh

24:20

and in tracksuit bottoms. In tracksuit bottoms?

24:23

Under the shorts. Even at training

24:25

sessions after that I could never wear tracksuit bottoms

24:28

again. Everyone else is wearing trousers, I'd have to wear shorts

24:30

because I didn't want to be called tracksuit kid. But

24:33

I hope you were still called tracksuit kid because you can't shake

24:35

that kind of thing off. You say. That's

24:37

a nail. Unfortunately you're going to go back

24:39

to the Covid season of the Olympics and

24:42

I was given the illustrious task of anchoring

24:44

Great Britain in the 4x100m final. The

24:48

stadium is absolutely empty.

24:50

The three guys before me do a fantastic

24:52

job, I get the batting in first. I'm

24:55

powering down the home straight, Felipe

24:57

Tortu from Italy that year.

24:59

Had a pretty good one at that and I

25:01

tightened up, I panicked. Shoulders raised,

25:04

stride levels get shorter and I got

25:06

dipped on the line. I

25:10

dipped on the line, we came second. Got a silver medal

25:12

so in all sorts it sounds good right. Three

25:15

weeks later it comes out that a member

25:17

of our relay team had taken a supplement

25:19

which had been contaminated. And so I

25:21

get then dipped on the line

25:23

and then I get stripped of my silver medal.

25:26

So in hindsight there. It was awful

25:28

but you would in a way rather have been dipped

25:31

because giving up a gold is worth it. You know what as

25:33

I said, that's how I know God is real because if we won

25:35

the gold that would have been the only gold for the team at

25:37

that championship. We would have had a whole celebration,

25:40

I probably would have got the whole nine there. Shout

25:42

out to Queenie, RIT Queenie and then

25:44

after that yeah. So

25:46

we Italy won the gold here.

25:47

I mean don't

25:49

put the boot in me. The guy's hurting over

25:51

here. Where's he, Char? It makes

25:54

me feel quite sweaty thinking about that actually. Do

25:57

you still speak to CJ? That's like my best friend,

25:59

man. Oh god,

26:01

that's hard. It's hard and parcel of it unfortunately.

26:04

That is it for the first half, back with more fighting talk

26:07

after this. I'm Mark Chapman

26:09

and this is Everton. Nothing

26:12

will be the same. This

26:16

is the story of what happened over

26:18

one of the most difficult and controversial

26:20

seasons in the club's history. We

26:23

go there, I don't think we'll even

26:25

exist in five years, buddy. We've

26:27

been inside the club, talking to

26:29

players,

26:29

coaches and managers.

26:31

Part nine and I've used one of these other problems. The

26:34

one book of me, the performance album, we have

26:36

three. Everton, nothing

26:38

will be the same. Listen now,

26:40

all the business out.

26:57

Welcome back to Fighting Talk and welcome back to our panel. Meena

26:59

Razuki, Jacob Hawley, Nathaniel Mitchell-Blake

27:01

and Hugo Monnier. Hugo

27:04

and Nathaniel genuinely still arguing about who was

27:06

faster than me on this team. It's incredible

27:08

and I really like it. Game

27:10

changer time. Five points for one

27:12

of you, none for the rest. I'll award

27:14

the bonus points to whoever I agree with the

27:17

most. After Eddie Jones resigned

27:19

as Australia's Rugby Union coach following a

27:22

disastrous World Cup. That's fair, isn't it? It was disastrous.

27:24

A hundred and awful. The former England coach

27:26

said, I did want to go on. Coach your team

27:28

is a bit like a marriage. You need commitment

27:31

from both sides. Who are the

27:33

other sporting marriages that are on

27:35

the rocks right now, Jacob?

27:38

I'm glad you asked me first because we've all mentioned there's a couple

27:40

of times. I think other people might have thought of this. Ten Harg

27:42

and Manchester United and we all know that he's struggling.

27:45

We all know that he's not doing well. I think what's important

27:47

to note and we're framing this within the kind

27:49

of framework of a marriage. There's martyrdom

27:52

going on there and that's very toxic. I'm

27:54

not married myself. I'm engaged. But martyrdom

27:56

is very toxic. He is being

27:58

presented as this martyr who... doing his

28:00

best, he's not to blame for anything, he's

28:02

been giving all the money in the world, he's been giving 18

28:05

months, they're worse than when he came in. That

28:07

marriage is going to end very soon and the

28:09

fans will still think he wasn't a bad guy, it

28:11

was all his fault. That's a nil. I've

28:14

got to say Manchester United and the Glazers, they've

28:16

been talking to the Qatari businessmen and that

28:18

was a marriage that felled ethically. Sir

28:21

Jim Ratcliffe, they courted him and they're leaving that

28:23

with the altar. There seemed

28:25

to be some unserious businessmen, they spent

28:27

a load of money yes but it's truly felled

28:29

the biggest club to not have a sporting director

28:32

and I believe that the system they have in place

28:34

is not synonymous of that with

28:37

a club that wants to be true champions

28:39

and yeah the stadium's falling apart,

28:42

Carrington Training gowns horrible and Cristiano

28:45

Ronaldo said they got the same cooks they did when he was there.

28:49

To keep

28:49

up with the Manchester United theme since it

28:51

seems to be that, their ex-coach Jose Mourinho

28:54

is now at Roma

28:55

and he's got them in

28:57

ninth and he keeps

29:00

talking about the fact that he doesn't have great players.

29:02

He

29:02

doesn't sound like Mourinho.

29:05

You know what it's amazing is that you've got like Romelu

29:08

Lukaku, you've got Paolo Gibala, you've got some

29:10

of the best players up front, Smalling

29:12

at the back, you should be better than

29:14

nothing. Yeah, Smalling's been really good

29:17

by the way, I mean he's been really good, he's been injured

29:19

at the start of the season so he's had his problems but

29:21

honestly I promise you he's been pretty

29:24

good as a defender for Roma for the last two

29:26

years and yet there he is, he's

29:28

always sitting there every time someone says you should

29:30

be winning against these teams that have a budget of three

29:33

pounds. He turns around and says well I just

29:35

don't have enough squad players, we're not asking you to

29:37

beat Inter or you know I don't know Manchester

29:39

City every day, we're asking you to beat these teams that

29:42

a lot of people haven't even heard of. Do you know what Frozinorn

29:44

is? Probably not exactly.

29:45

No, no I don't. I don't,

29:47

I ever will. Now what is it?

29:49

Frozinorn is a team, it's a very good team

29:51

but anyway.

29:52

It's like a frozen yogurt.

29:54

I know. One's

29:57

one. I'm gonna have Frozinorn for dinner.

29:59

How's the no on

30:00

it? Genuine question. Would

30:03

Manchester United like to have Chris Smalling playing

30:05

at the back for them at the moment? He'd be their best to say

30:07

that. Him and Johnny Evans will throw

30:10

back the stardust at his wagons. But I think it

30:12

would be an improvement, wouldn't it? Paul Parker. Yeah,

30:14

let's get a whole basket. But they should have

30:16

Tamori. I feel sorry for that

30:18

guy. Yeah, poor old Tamori. But he's

30:20

doing well, isn't he? He's

30:21

doing excellent, Nia. How he's not called up is beyond

30:23

me. The Champions League,

30:24

though, you just flat out deceive. I feel

30:26

like you just get sent off and get exposed to

30:28

every game. Yeah, I feel that. And

30:31

he doesn't deserve a kick in it. I don't think Tamori.

30:34

Let's leave him alone. You go. I can't

30:37

even remember what we're talking about. Oh, yes, sporting marriages. Sports

30:39

and marriages, I'd say it's probably football

30:41

and its fans.

30:42

I think one of the largest industries

30:45

on the planet that perhaps doesn't do

30:47

enough market research. I can mention a

30:49

million and one massive global brands. The

30:51

one thing they want to know is what their consumers wants.

30:55

And then they appease to it at the minute. And

30:57

it's been mentioned a couple of times of VAR,

31:00

additional time. So

31:02

many open goals in rugby. We play to 80 minutes.

31:05

If there's a pause in play, we stop the

31:07

clock and we always play to 80 minutes at the minute. We've

31:10

got 90 minutes plus 11. No,

31:12

it's not additional time. It's time that is wasted. VAR

31:15

listen to the fans. We understood during

31:17

Covid and everyone would repeat it. Cliché. We're

31:20

nothing about our fans. And then we get

31:22

them back and we totally, utterly ignore

31:25

what they want. That doesn't mean they have to be listened

31:27

to everything they say. But let's bring

31:30

them in. Let's value them in the way in which we

31:32

PR them.

31:33

Well, I got quite emotional then. Yeah.

31:35

Did I get points? You did get points, don't

31:37

worry. Let's

31:39

start petitioning

31:39

for points at this point. Yeah, we did.

31:41

Yeah, you did. You did get one. Oh, was it a

31:43

game changer? Yeah. I was doing a point. In which case, I don't know

31:45

why I was giving out points. Honestly, I think

31:49

it's my eighth show now. I can't

31:51

get my head around the game changer. I just like giving out points

31:53

willy-nilly. So take a load

31:55

of points off, I guess, Charlie, if that's possible. Yeah.

31:58

And I'll give the extra. I

32:00

mean, I'm going to give it not just because you

32:03

were appealing for them, but I am going to give them to

32:05

you, Hugo. Thank you. Because I

32:08

think you spoke for a lot of us there. Yeah, thank you. Thank

32:10

you so much. Okay, let's move on then to this massive

32:13

shock. Already got a mention. USA Today said that

32:16

the awarding by FIFA at the World Cup in 2034 to

32:18

Saudi Arabia was the least surprising development

32:20

ever. But what was an even less

32:23

surprising thing to happen in sport-mina?

32:27

I'm going to say, I mean, you said it before, but

32:29

this is the worst Formula One season that we've

32:31

watched for a long time.

32:33

And I just kind of feel like we're never

32:35

going to, I just, I don't know if we're ever going to see

32:37

anything other than Maxis Dabbin winning everything.

32:39

No, we will. You've got to keep the faith in

32:41

me. I don't. I don't. Honestly,

32:44

I can't keep the faith anymore. I mean, this is, this is them with all the penalties

32:46

and they're still with Maxis just way

32:49

too bad. And I just feel like, you

32:51

know, Hamilton's getting a little bit older and the

32:53

clerk just likes the wall more than he likes to drive.

32:55

So I don't know.

32:56

I'm

33:00

going to say, Lionel Messi winning his eighth

33:03

Ballon d'Or. Now he had a remarkable

33:05

World Cup, but that's only four weeks of

33:07

the season for PSG. I would say he flattered

33:10

the sea. They won the domestic trophy

33:12

in what I would call a farmer's league. But

33:14

what an Erling Harlan done for Manchester

33:16

City, 52 goals in 53 games,

33:19

leading them to the domestic, well, domestic

33:22

double and then European treble

33:24

at that. I believe that he definitely

33:26

deserved to win the Ballon d'Or. And I feel that

33:28

we could have entered a new era of great

33:31

footballers within itself, the killing them back here

33:33

in the Erling Harlan conversation because it started

33:35

in that in the building and more

33:37

so. But in that instant, they should awarded Lionel Messi

33:40

the Super Ballon d'Or, which has only been awarded

33:42

once to Alfredo Stefano. Yeah,

33:45

yeah. It's a kind of end

33:48

is dominance in Europe. He's gone to

33:50

the MLS now and we get it messy.

33:52

Yeah, you're great. You want a different

33:54

boring now. He was in the Ballon d'Or. Get a hobby.

33:57

And then when they changed the law and they said, look, the law,

33:59

but the criteria. here is saying, oh we're now including the World

34:01

Cup, I'm like, alright just give it to Messi then. Yeah,

34:03

yeah you knew it was coming. But can I

34:05

take issue with Farmers League? I mean, who

34:07

beat you in the Champions League?

34:09

Arsenal. Lance. Where do they come from?

34:12

Farmers League. Not a Farmers League.

34:14

That is embarrassing. Me and his going for

34:16

Arsenal today. You can't win with a name that!

34:19

You know what? I'm top of the league,

34:21

yeah. I hear it.

34:23

You guys will be spursy, I'm telling you.

34:27

Jacob. Least surprising

34:30

development. Tyson Fury not fighting

34:33

Alexander Yurik on December 23rd. I think that

34:35

was incredibly inevitable. The

34:37

idea that he was ever going to go into a ring with Francis

34:40

Ngannou seven weeks before the biggest

34:42

fight of his career. Forget what everyone

34:44

was saying about Francis Ngannou before that fight. Yes, he'd

34:47

never boxed before. The guy is terrifying.

34:50

And like looking at Fury, I mean he performed

34:52

incredibly badly in that fight, but look at

34:54

the state of him after it. He's

34:57

been

34:57

beaten up maybe worse than he's ever been beaten

34:59

up in his career. He looks worse after that

35:01

fight with Ngannou than he did after the first fight

35:03

with Deontay Wilder. The idea that he was ever

35:05

going to fight on December 23rd. Also, I think we

35:07

can get to a point with Tyson Fury now, where whenever he

35:09

says something, just accept that he's going to do the opposite.

35:12

But he's a professional liar. I'm going

35:14

to retire on him. Yeah, yeah, I mean he's

35:16

going to have three more fights. He's going to have retire.

35:19

That clip that was like two days

35:21

before the fight where he was like, well, listen, we are

35:23

going to fight. Yeah, we are going to fight. We're definitely going to fight.

35:25

And if he doesn't fight me on December 23rd, then we'll

35:28

soon. And then immediately after the

35:31

fight, thanks, everyone. I'll see you after Christmas. Always

35:33

nice to the impression as

35:37

well. Hugo. For me,

35:39

and sticking with boxing, it was a

35:42

boxer winning a boxing match

35:45

against an MMA fighter. Like that

35:47

just had to happen. So you've got back,

35:49

you've got that Tyson Fury says I've not fought for 11

35:52

months in Ghana's never fought in

35:54

his life. And then secondly, in

35:56

a game in a fight, sorry, which in Ghana

35:58

should have won. It was absolutely

35:59

Absolutely no surprise at

36:02

all to know that Tyson Fury went

36:04

on to win the fight We had to protect

36:06

him at all costs because he is our savior Yes

36:11

a lot of stuff according to him he can't get

36:13

face value next question then is

36:16

all about this Fernandez closes

36:18

him down finish into the box There's the overlap there from

36:20

Bernardo Silva to the byline chips across Harlan

36:22

must score It's

36:25

2-0 he's got 2-0 here in Old

36:27

Trafford

36:29

So that going to Manchester Derby meant

36:31

Erling Harlan has now scored 11 league goals

36:33

the same number as the entire Manchester United

36:35

team have scored this season So I want to hear

36:38

some more truly damning stats

36:40

for other teams or sports people right

36:42

now Meena

36:45

Jude Bellingham has scored more

36:47

goals than eight different teams

36:49

in the Premier League

36:51

and he's a midfielder for Al Madrid

36:53

I mean, can

36:53

you solid that in there?

36:55

So look, I mean Crystal Palace Nottingham

36:58

Forest

36:59

Everton, Luton, Burnley,

37:01

Sheffield United Bournemouth

37:04

all of them have scored less as a team

37:06

than just what Jude Bellingham has managed for

37:08

Al Madrid

37:09

astonishingly Ireland

37:19

rugby team have never ever

37:22

gone beyond the World Cup quarterfinals

37:24

despite Going into the

37:27

World Cup in 2019 with the world

37:29

number one and then the recent World Cup

37:31

Which ended just a couple of weeks ago They went

37:33

into the tournament as world number one and in their

37:35

quarterfinals They were also world number

37:37

one and they've never ever gone beyond

37:40

the World Cup quarterfinals phase, which

37:43

I'm not too upset about So

37:45

go on. Let's be serious for a moment. Why what's the

37:47

problem? I

37:49

I genuinely don't know I worked

37:51

in the 2019 World Cup and I thought okay,

37:54

this is Travis D They got the coach of the year

37:56

play of the year. They were team a year I don't know

37:58

how they didn't get past the wild quarter final

37:59

This time round it was it

38:02

was really disappointing. They played against New Zealand

38:04

who obviously lost in the final It was a really

38:07

tough draw, but you've got to start wondering.

38:09

What is it about? I don't know He's

38:11

a mental block a physical block. I'm not quite sure

38:14

but for a team that is consistently So

38:16

brilliant to never go beyond that

38:18

stage is just beyond me and their

38:21

nation great fans Jacob

38:24

Daming start I would say it's Sheffield

38:26

United of 10 games I've had the worst start

38:28

to a Premier League season ever no team has ever Amounted

38:32

less points and they have they've just got one point Worse

38:36

than Swindon that year. Yeah, they're what

38:38

they're awful that they're absolutely dreadful and

38:41

what the reason I'm quite happy about this

38:43

stuff Is

38:46

cuz Luton have kind

38:48

of become the meme of the Premier League every

38:51

time you know There's been a lot of chat with when the Premier League

38:53

started Oh, these are the worst three teams to ever come up

38:55

that you know There's three teams that came up might go back

38:57

down again and everyone goes yeah Luton rubbish People

38:59

are only saying that because Luton is a bad town and

39:01

it is a bad town and because they've got a bit of a daft

39:03

Stadium Ken will throw it is the It's

39:08

the first stadium I ever went to it's the fact

39:10

I grew up near there That's the first game. So are you

39:12

from Luton? I'm from Steven it Oh Oh

39:18

Didn't want to have to say that There's a lot

39:20

of chat that Luton the worst team in the Premier League. They're

39:22

not

39:22

they're not that bad Like I would

39:25

even make the case I think there might be three

39:27

worst teams in the Premier League than Luton chevron

39:29

united a different Yeah, I think Bournemouth

39:32

Bournemouth and Burnley play really naive football. I think both

39:34

things could go down for that reason I think Sheffield United

39:36

are the worst team in the league. I think Brentford

39:38

and Fulham could get pulled into it as well Oh Brentford

39:42

Okay, let me make the plan for the let and for

39:44

what Fulham or what you have again They're

39:47

gonna win against United over the weekend.

39:48

Oh, yeah All

39:51

of these teams are gonna win over the man you know, the

39:53

reason I say Brentford might go down this year I

39:56

think they've lost their two best players in the average

39:58

lost your mind I

40:00

think they've lost their two best players from last season in David

40:02

Ryer and Ivan Tony and I think if Ivan Tony does

40:05

move in January, which we all kind of expect,

40:07

I don't really know where they get enough goals to last a season

40:10

and I've watched them a few times this year. They

40:12

play bad football. If Luton get

40:14

a striker in January, they'll survive.

40:17

Tell you what,

40:18

it's a proper fighting talk answer that. Nathan Hill.

40:20

I'm gonna go and say the damning stat of

40:23

Brentford's record against Chelsea.

40:25

Now Brentford have more wins

40:27

this calendar year than Chelsea do at home this

40:30

season. It's absolutely

40:32

abysmal. Brentford have won three

40:34

games against Chelsea. At the bridge. Chelsea have only

40:36

won one game at the bridge. I

40:39

can't believe it. That is an absolute shock.

40:42

With the Chelsea spent I think 370 million

40:44

this summer alone. Yeah.

40:48

Brentford's whole squad value is 370 million alone.

40:52

So just to look at the, you know, the simple economics

40:55

there, Chelsea should be far beyond and

40:57

better than that. So to be once

40:59

kings of London, they can't even run their own ends.

41:02

They'll slap up. They got Fulham and Brentford

41:04

who are arguably better than the West London

41:07

rivals in Chelsea. They'll beat Tottenham. They'll

41:09

beat Tottenham. Yeah. Chelsea. I agree.

41:11

Chelsea will beat Tottenham. It depends on how Tottenham play though.

41:13

I, I, I... Well if they play badly,

41:15

they'll lose. No, when I say that, when I say that... It's

41:18

top analysis, it's what the BBC likes to

41:20

play as they play for. No, I

41:22

say that because I mean, I feel like Chelsea play

41:25

well against teams who play expansive football. If

41:27

you play a low block against them, that's when they really struggle.

41:30

I agree. I agree. And I think that's why

41:32

their best games have been against Arsenal and Liverpool,

41:34

because those teams actually play football.

41:37

Whereas they can't beat a low block and then Nick is... That

41:39

Chelsea midfield is really difficult to play through. So

41:41

Gallagher, Enzo and Quesada. That's

41:44

just... It's a naughty... It's a tough midfield.

41:46

I mean, I love football chat, but I am getting a bit bored. So

41:51

let's move it on. A quickie

41:53

then. We're halfway through the Champions and Europa

41:55

League group stages. This is where things

41:58

start to get interesting. I

42:01

should be watching this week and

42:03

obviously we're just moving up to Mina's answer because

42:05

you'll have a good answer. I'm going to Arsenal to

42:07

be here on Wednesday. That's going to be brilliant. Of course you

42:09

are. There's a point for being unoriginal. But

42:12

Real Madrid against Braga, for one reason

42:14

Mina you've touched on it just to

42:17

watch Drew Bellingham and for us as England

42:19

fans to once again just further

42:22

just enhance the belief we're going to win the Euros.

42:25

Drew Bellingham's statistics as

42:27

you've already pointed out, absolutely

42:30

sensational. I don't know another

42:32

human perhaps since, I

42:34

don't know, Ronaldo going to Real Madrid that has

42:36

had such an impact and

42:39

at the age of 20. So watch that one. Nathanil.

42:42

I'm going to go Ajax against Brighton. Ajax

42:44

sinks a bottle off the air de Vizzi and it's

42:46

kind of interesting in that Brighton are now playing that

42:48

total complete football that Ajax was so well known for.

42:52

Ajax was the feeder club for the whole of Europe and now that's Brighton.

42:54

So it's kind of like the tables of terms, like in a parallel

42:57

universe of playing styles and history of the club.

42:59

Imagine that Ajax are going to play the seagulls

43:02

and they're high flying and Ajax is just absolutely

43:04

abysmal. They won last night. And they're

43:06

actually, yeah they did but they're still doing terrible.

43:09

They sacked their manager on the whole board. You had it out

43:11

for me today. I realise, Mina

43:13

has a rebuttal for everything we've played.

43:16

It's like she scripted it. She

43:18

found out for answers before you came

43:20

in. She's just poking me. I'm like, you

43:22

don't like my cologne? I was like, what is this

43:24

person like this playing?

43:25

No, they have a new cushion. They won yesterday.

43:28

Yeah, two Arsenal squad, Arsenal graduate.

43:31

Ah, there we go. Yeah, there we go. She won't

43:33

like them anymore now. No, no. Jacob.

43:37

My pick would be RB Salzberg

43:39

versus Inter Milan. The reason for that, RB

43:42

Salzberg have a young striker called

43:44

Benjamin Sesko, Slovenian 19 year old. And

43:47

he is a long lad. He's 6 foot 4 and

43:49

he's lanky. And this

43:51

is a big thing that's happening in Europe right now. The long

43:54

lanky strikers are back. We went for

43:56

a long era of Luis Suarez's, of you

43:58

know, Cunagüeros. to long lads

44:00

now we're back to big fellas Darwin Nunez Erling

44:03

Harlan and this boy Benjamin Tesco is as long

44:05

as they get doesn't matter how bad your crossing is

44:07

because his leg will get there he is one I

44:09

feel like you would just get your point every time you said

44:11

long lad there long with

44:13

Peter Crouch yeah exactly Mina

44:17

um Dorman

44:17

Newcastle this should

44:19

be the one where we find out what Newcastle

44:22

is really made of everyone thought that after

44:24

that performance against PSG that was it

44:26

that was it it's going to be Newcastle through the group of deaths

44:29

and then of course they lost to Dorman at home and

44:31

now they've got to face the great yellow wall

44:34

and it's the one to watch because it's the group of deaths who's

44:36

gonna who's gonna come out of it I'm obviously

44:38

pulling for me man

44:40

well yeah what do you reckon

44:41

Dorman Newcastle I

44:42

actually think Dorman might win it they will do I

44:44

think they will Arsenal will turn Newcastle

44:47

over this weekend and then Dorman slap them up

44:49

at home

44:49

God everything's just to do with Arsenal in the end isn't

44:51

it well they are playing them yeah it's

44:53

a bit of an in yeah

44:56

you're right all

44:58

right Jacob is in fourth

45:01

place but still very much in touch on 40 Mina's

45:04

on 41 you go on 44 but out in

45:07

the lead just ahead like in 100 metres

45:10

age 16 netherneel on 45

45:15

ultra

45:20

quickie to end this then as it's bonfire

45:22

night tomorrow let's do an

45:24

absolute classic who is this year's

45:27

Guy Fawkes of sports netherneel I'm

45:29

gonna go James Harden squabbling his

45:31

way out of Philadelphia squabble his

45:34

way out of Houston and

45:36

yeah it's just a bit more he's done you know he's got his

45:38

move to the Clippers for South Central guys

45:40

on the team let's see what he does but crybaby

45:43

crybaby which is what they always say about Guy Fawkes

45:46

of course Jacob Francis and Garnu

45:48

similar similar to Guy Fawkes came in to upset the

45:50

establishment and similar to Guy Fawkes

45:52

ultimately failed Mina

45:55

in Fantino he's only there for the for

45:57

the little guy he's there to protect

45:59

the little guy.

46:01

It makes me... oh yeah okay I will

46:03

give you a point, only just. You go.

46:05

Two words, Louis Ribialo.

46:09

Smashed it. Okay. What a mug.

46:12

Sorry. Five words,

46:14

sorry.

46:17

Just to be clear, I don't like him. Alright,

46:20

any other business then? Nathanil,

46:22

what's winding you up? There's a synergy with the clock changing

46:25

back, I feel like everyone's getting ill. I feel like

46:27

the government put something in the air and said the clock's

46:29

changed back and everyone gets ill. Oh it's the 5G. It's

46:31

called Mina Deva Verteciu's right now, she's

46:33

living proof of it.

46:35

I thought it was you, are you saying?

46:36

No, no, no, no, I'm fine. I don't get things. My voice

46:39

is raspy like this. Yeah, it's a sexy voice,

46:41

surely. I mean I shouldn't have to say that, it's very

46:43

clear. Come on. Mina, any other

46:45

business?

46:47

I'm going to be honest with you,

46:49

like one thing that really bothers me is that

46:52

I have like a

46:53

mix of introvert versus extrovert personality

46:56

and sometimes I'll get onto the

46:58

tube and someone will have all their bags

47:01

on the seat next to them and

47:03

I'm too embarrassed to be like, can I sit there? And

47:05

then I just have to stand the whole journey on the bus

47:07

or the tube because I'm too embarrassed to be like, can you

47:09

please remove your seat so I can actually sit down?

47:12

And there I am with all my heels and everything going on

47:14

and it just really bothers me, like you should

47:17

have... How

47:17

many heels have you got with you? All

47:19

your heels. Yeah. No kneecaps and multiple

47:21

heels. If it was an F and A... A physical

47:23

nightmare. If it was an F and A on the tube, should

47:26

have drop kicked some shit.

47:28

Yes, but unfortunately he's not always there.

47:31

I can't imagine he actually takes the

47:32

tube, but anyway.

47:33

Another little dick there. It's

47:36

a little run everywhere. I don't know, man. Shout

47:38

out to the Great Britain Olympic Association,

47:40

she's not a free oyster crime, I love the tube. But I just

47:43

thought

47:43

that's because you know you're such an athlete, you're

47:45

going to run everywhere, but I just... Far,

47:47

far too late for that. It takes

47:49

me 25 minutes to run like three seconds. 25

47:51

minutes to run three

47:54

seconds. Yeah, I mean sometimes you just got to let

47:56

these things go. I think that... film map. So

48:00

what's been winding me up, the weather's

48:02

sort of changed enough that you need a coat outside nowadays,

48:05

you sort of want a nice big warm coat when you're outside,

48:07

probably as soon as you get on the tube you're too hot with

48:09

your coat, you know what I mean? I can relate to that, taking

48:12

a tube and a hood. So what it is, you get on the tube

48:14

and you're too hot so you take your coat off, you put it on the seat next

48:16

to you and then some selfish person starts glaring

48:18

at you just because you're taking up an extra seat on the... Yes!

48:21

Yes! Wear appropriate clothing

48:24

layers! You go. The weather,

48:26

just commit one way or another. My

48:28

worst type of weather is light drizzle, just

48:30

commit, like do you just want to hammer it down

48:33

with rain so I get a brawly out and a coat?

48:35

Or is it not? You can't sit

48:37

on the fence when it's weather. Who are you addressing

48:40

that to? The weather. The weather,

48:42

yes. No, you know what it is,

48:43

it's the irony of a man thing, you just need to commit.

48:45

I

48:48

mean the things are going in every direction now, doesn't

48:50

like you go, doesn't like that. It sounds personal.

48:53

You've got to wait for one of these because you're sitting far away from

48:55

me now. I've never done fighting talk before, I didn't realise

48:57

it was an actual fight. It's a proper aggro. Yeah.

49:00

Unprovoked attack. Again. Okay,

49:02

let's have a look at the final scores

49:05

then. Mina

49:07

trailing in in last position. What? I

49:10

know. I was the best. Well,

49:12

apparently not, according to my eccentric scoring

49:15

system.

49:15

47 points. Jacob,

49:18

creditable, first place on his debut.

49:21

Nathaniel on 53, you go

49:23

winning it on 55 which means Nathaniel

49:26

and you go go head to head in

49:28

defend the indefensible. This

49:30

is a ridiculous statement. You have to answer,

49:33

you have to defend it however much

49:35

it hurts. If I say I, I mean

49:38

you. You go, you

49:40

scored the most points so you're going to go first. You'll

49:43

have 20 seconds on this.

49:46

After failing to win the Rugby World Cup

49:48

England should sack Steve Borthwick and

49:51

bring back Eddie Jones. Yeah, 100%,

49:54

you know, you go to World Cup to win. Not

49:56

to take part unless Eddie Jones says we're not here

49:58

for the croissants, mate. Apparently we were.

50:01

I know we only got to the semi-finals

50:03

but we live in a results driven business.

50:05

And unfortunately Steve Borthwick didn't give us

50:07

the results. Eddie Jones, he's won a World

50:09

Cup. Yes, he might not be very well

50:12

liked, but at least he knows how to get the job

50:14

done. Bring back Eddie. I'd be very

50:16

surprised if you win that with that Australian

50:18

accent, but you never know. Neff

50:21

the Neil. 20 seconds on this. After

50:23

losing to West Ham in the League Cup, we

50:25

should let Declan Rice go back there for

50:28

free. Do you know what it is? I feel like it was a

50:30

good stint at the club. He showed his leadership abilities,

50:32

but I feel like we got what we wanted. It's time

50:34

to put Kai Havoc in that CDM position

50:37

and really show what we're about. I

50:39

mean, let's focus on England

50:41

and West Ham opposed to what he's doing with Arsenal. To

50:43

be fair, we're not going to the league anyway. So go

50:45

back to the Hammers and come on you iron. We're

50:49

trying to spare as well. I don't know.

50:51

Is that bad that you had time to spare? No, that's

50:53

terrible. Like the brief was to

50:55

fill the 20 seconds. Do you know what? My PB

50:58

is 19. I like to go sub 20. Yeah. You

51:02

can't relate though. 10.6. All you needed was

51:04

just a couple more. Come on you irons. Come on you

51:06

irons. You would have been fine. I'm

51:09

blowing bubbles forever. I am still, I am

51:11

still, I think, going to give it to

51:13

Neff the Neil because of the accent you go. I'm

51:16

sorry, the accent. The accent was bad,

51:19

wasn't it? Neff the Neil, you're the winner. How

51:21

are you feeling? Do you know what? It's been a great

51:23

season. I think I started off 2-0 and long

51:25

made it continue. I'm not going to celebrate the trophy yet

51:27

because it's a long one. Hopefully I can get the tassel. Get

51:30

the tassel. You're undefeated,

51:32

invincible. 49-49. Thanks

51:35

very much everyone. Fighting Talk is a world's

51:37

end production for Radio 5 Live. Next up,

51:40

it's Steve Crossman with 5 Live Sport.

51:42

Thanks for listening. You didn't have to obviously, so we

51:44

appreciate it. You're listening to the

51:47

podcast's extra Fighting Talk. Neff the

51:49

Neil and Mina are still arguing. What's

51:51

going on guys? I don't argue. I was just

51:53

checking in to make sure she's okay. Being, trying to be a

51:55

good person, a good human being in the society. And how is that

51:57

really true?

51:57

All that's left is for him to be like... Right,

52:00

babe, you just need to calm down.

52:01

He's not gonna- I didn't want

52:03

to take it there. This is a modern man. Renner's

52:06

not the man at that, and I'm a feminist. He all's gonna

52:08

come off. Now, what I really want to talk about is

52:10

your silver medal. Where

52:12

is it now? It's

52:15

in my living room. Do you have to give it

52:17

back? So, all right, this is like an

52:19

exclusive here, guys, breaking news. We

52:21

were instructed to

52:24

give the medal back voluntarily,

52:26

but-

52:27

By the IOC or?

52:29

By the IOC, the International Olympic

52:31

Committee. Pretty important people. Yeah, give us

52:33

our medals. So, I said to them, what happens if I don't give it

52:35

back? And they just kind of went silent

52:37

and said, well, nothing, but in good jest, you

52:40

know, it would be a good thing to do, you know. You may

52:42

face repercussions down the line. The Olympics

52:44

is a goodwill game. There's no prize money

52:46

for it. So, you can't ban me from not making

52:48

money from an Olympic that doesn't give you any money.

52:51

So, I just said, you know what? I need to keep the medal.

52:53

And they just said,

52:54

never got back to me, to be honest.

52:56

And so, do you still sometimes wear the medal and pretend that

52:58

it was valid? It's still valid

53:00

in my mind. But, you

53:03

know what? In all sorts, I'm sure you were

53:05

gonna attest to this too. You don't really look at your

53:07

silverware, do you? Like your medals or your trophies

53:09

or your accomplishments. They're just kind of there. I don't

53:11

have any of it in my house. There we go. None

53:14

of it. None of it? Where is it? Mums.

53:17

It's at my mum's house. So, like, maybe you're like, nice for her. Yeah,

53:19

she loves it. She bowls about. Your

53:22

jersey. Oh, it carries the trophies everywhere. She

53:24

walks around my England cap on. That's

53:27

obviously gonna work. Do you have any framed jerseys

53:29

at home though? Maybe like significant ones. Or

53:31

maybe that you may have like, traded with our players. Uh,

53:34

no, I've got none up. And it's weird because-

53:36

They've got a photo at the moment that you dropped the ball when you were playing

53:38

for the Lions. Yeah, I've got that up. Yeah, of course, yeah. That's

53:40

about the best. It's pretty interesting you say it because I think everyone

53:43

expects you to have like, all of your greatest moments,

53:45

but like, no one's life or career is ever

53:47

like that. So, the worst game of rugby I ever played

53:49

in was England against Argentina. And I

53:52

have that shirt framed. Really? Yeah,

53:54

yeah, 100%. It's a little bit like Instagram.

53:56

Everyone just expects you just to be brilliant all the time

53:58

and you're not. No one ever is.

53:59

That was such a bad day, but it's also a

54:02

real good, humbling lesson for me. So I

54:04

look upon that as much inspiration

54:06

as like playing for England or doing

54:08

anything like that.

54:09

What have you got other than the silver medal you're supposed

54:11

to give back? As far as... Yeah,

54:13

like memorabilia stuff in the house. Yeah. Well,

54:16

because I'm kind of in the temporary place right now, I'm in a

54:18

rental accommodation. I don't really put anything

54:20

up here. Yeah. But will you?

54:23

Really? Yes, I will. I'll

54:25

probably frame at my vest and my medal from

54:27

the world champs the way you won gold. And

54:30

apart from that, I can't really think of anything

54:32

else. Is there ever a thing with athletes

54:34

that you get with footballers where you get someone else's

54:37

vest? No, there's not. No. What

54:40

do you swap? You

54:40

don't really swap anything to be fair. Really?

54:44

No. I've had what you will do at an Olympic Games,

54:46

for example, I'll get like a Great Britain vest

54:48

and get the whole team to sign it. Yeah, that's nice. And

54:51

then you may frame that. Like I have a battle

54:53

of the four members where we became world champs, but

54:55

it's signed by all the members of the relay team. Yeah,

54:57

yeah, yeah. No. I like my

55:00

memorabilia of other sports people and personalities.

55:02

Like that's... I'll

55:05

have a drama rant jersey signed. Okay, that's cool.

55:07

My friend is his trainer and so I asked him to get a jersey

55:09

signed for me and I actually got one for Eddie and Kitty as

55:12

well. Did you now? Yeah, because

55:14

we got like the same. Well, not the same, but we know

55:16

from osteopath in

55:18

common. So actually osteopathic

55:20

common is the most sports person thing

55:22

I've ever heard. Yeah, pretty much. And

55:25

it was funny because Man United, Arsenal

55:27

lost... Well, at the Emirates

55:30

that just went by, I was with Dwight Howard

55:32

for the game, right? And so we go to like the players

55:34

box after and then Dwight

55:37

Howard asked for Eddie and Kitty's jersey because remember he

55:39

scored two goals at the Emirates. And I think he

55:41

was so in shock of what was going on in

55:43

that moment. He just gave it to him. But

55:45

I feel deep down, he probably wanted to keep

55:47

it because he just scored a race against Man United at the Emirates.

55:50

But it was happening... You can't ask for it back then. No, I have it

55:52

so quickly. He was just like, here you go. And

55:54

he was just like, wait. And I was like, I wonder if

55:56

he actually wanted to give it to him. Have you

55:58

got the track you've got? bottoms framed. That's

56:05

the mentality of an elite athlete. You

56:07

don't dwell on your achievements. You

56:10

look back at things you could have improved upon and use that

56:12

as a sort of motivation every day. I'm the complete

56:14

opposite. I've got one achievement. I won

56:16

a radio academy award three years

56:18

ago that is still pride of place in my living

56:20

room. I point at it to my kids all the time. And

56:23

if anything, that's motivation for me to never try and get

56:25

better because I did the right one. I'm happy to have

56:27

peaked. Did

56:30

you have to pay for that? I didn't. Did you have

56:32

to pay for the trophy? Did you just

56:34

get it? No, no, no. As in... We

56:38

won one this year and I was like, well,

56:40

I've never really won anything before, so that's cool.

56:42

Can I get a trophy? They're like, yeah. 300 quid. What? With the

56:44

BBC, yeah. Yeah,

56:49

BBC paid for mine.

56:51

Oh my God. This is an absolute disgrace.

56:54

You paid the 300? Yeah, I paid the 300. I

56:57

was like, I won it. I'd never won it.

56:59

The only thing I've won before is the House of Games.

57:02

Did you win or did you buy it then? That's

57:05

not a mistake. It's a good thing I've never won

57:07

it. BBC paid for yours. Yeah, studios as well. Hashtag

57:09

defund the BBC, honestly. Oh my God.

57:12

Meena, have you got any stuff?

57:14

I won an egg and spoon raise.

57:16

No, no, but like you've got off sports booting,

57:18

got off footballers. What do you mean,

57:20

like, engage? No, no. I mean, I'm not

57:22

prying into your personal business. I'd say have you got any

57:24

signed shirts or anything like that? I

57:27

have

57:27

a couple, but I don't know where they

57:29

are. I'll be honest with you.

57:30

What are they that valuable? Biggest name you

57:32

have?

57:32

Ronaldo. Which

57:34

one? The original.

57:37

No, which Ronaldo I'm watching. Oh, Cristiano. Okay.

57:40

Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Cristiano Ronaldo. I

57:42

was wondering why that was a hard question to answer. I

57:44

was like, you must know which Ronaldo. There's

57:46

a lot of them, you know.

57:47

In my head, I was like, who's the other one? I

57:49

forgot about Brazilian Ronaldo. I'm sorry. Ronaldo,

57:53

I have Quaresma. Oh,

57:54

that's a nice one. Yeah. Is it really though?

57:56

Is it

57:56

strong?

57:58

I'd like

58:00

it. He's the guy that got me into football.

58:03

He's the guy that got me into football. Is

58:05

he? Oh, tell him. He

58:07

bust that story down.

58:07

No. Was

58:09

an engagement ring involved there? Hold

58:12

on, if I asked to knock Nathan

58:14

Eall, would you give us a story? I know, right? Sorry,

58:17

let me stay smiling when it comes to me in here.

58:20

No, I just remember talking football

58:22

with him. I used to be a trader, financial.

58:25

And he's like, you

58:27

know a lot about it. I'm like, why don't you? A trader

58:29

who wasn't Benini's thinker. Yeah.

58:32

Pokemon cards. You've got cash

58:34

in his front ten as well. I said

58:37

that

58:37

once and someone also thought I was an auto trader.

58:40

I would have think I'd ask him more Pokemon

58:42

cards. No.

58:43

And I had to clarify also because I don't know like someone that

58:45

would be an auto trader. And

58:48

yeah, and so he was like, you know, you need to get into it.

58:51

And we go to Stanford Bridge and

58:53

then I got into it. And I left my career

58:55

and I became a football journalist.

58:57

And happily ever after and here we are.

58:59

Yes, we used to go

59:00

out. Are you dated? Yes. Oh,

59:03

okay. We finally got away.

59:05

Nepotism. That is indeed how I got. I mean, but

59:07

at the time you have to understand he was an intramulant and

59:09

he was like heavily

59:10

booed because he wasn't a very good

59:12

player.

59:13

He was a funny player because he was clearly

59:15

like incredibly talented. He was a maverick, wasn't

59:17

he? Yeah, he was a bit of a maverick. Was he like that off

59:19

the pitch as well?

59:20

I think he just had a lot of stuff that was going on

59:22

in his life and football was something that

59:25

was rescuing him rather than I think his real passion. Yeah.

59:28

Like I don't think like you see like people like Cristiano

59:30

Ronaldo where they just want to play football. Like life

59:32

is about football, you know, and you see like,

59:34

I don't know, Vix Osmond, for example, is my favorite strike.

59:36

It like life is about football.

59:39

But with Credismer it was like life is so busy.

59:42

Football is my opportunity to rescue

59:44

my life from like any

59:45

of the pitfalls. Especially

59:46

if you're dating people that just make

59:48

life quite hard. Is that a

59:50

gig? No, no, no. I was just saying.

59:53

Is this like a roundabout? Like it's a carousel of gigs, right? I've

59:55

not done anything. I was just picking up from my boy

59:57

that's all.

59:59

you say you like memorabilia

1:00:02

from other sports what's your best bit?

1:00:05

Without bragging I've got so

1:00:08

much cool stuff I've got a

1:00:10

signed NFL ball from Barack Obama that's cool

1:00:13

that's pretty cool how much? How

1:00:21

did you get it? Do

1:00:23

you know whenever anyone goes on a presidential election

1:00:25

tour so they go around

1:00:27

they meet a lot of people they get they

1:00:30

sign lots of bits and pieces and I remember

1:00:32

being in the States and I managed to be

1:00:35

there and get a signed NFL ball Did

1:00:37

Trump do something for you as well?

1:00:38

Yeah a lot of ag

1:00:41

mainly on social media actually I

1:00:44

know the dude but

1:00:46

that would be that'd be up there I've

1:00:48

got messy shirts,

1:00:52

pillow, Ali I've got yeah

1:00:54

but I'm a collector like that I

1:00:57

would put more value on that and their

1:00:59

achievements than quite clearly anything

1:01:01

that I ever did because they're the people

1:01:03

that inspire me to try and

1:01:05

do what I want to do Any interest in buying

1:01:08

Nathan Nils revoked

1:01:08

silver medal? No

1:01:12

Sorry mate, just trying to get over

1:01:14

there I think that makes it even worth a bit

1:01:16

more you know the fact that I shouldn't have it Yeah

1:01:19

that's contrabass Yeah it's quite

1:01:21

a naughty thing to have isn't it? I think I might reignited

1:01:23

the investigation and after this you know Do you know

1:01:25

what mate I'll throw it back It's similar

1:01:28

to Mona Lisa It is a bit

1:01:30

I'm saying you frame it right but

1:01:32

you have like a dummy picture over the front Most

1:01:36

people don't see it and then you just hit a button

1:01:38

and then it just slowly opens and there it is I

1:01:41

could speak for you Yeah there

1:01:43

it

1:01:44

is I feel like I need you guys to sign everything

1:01:46

now and then I'll have something like you know to put

1:01:48

on Not sure you need anything from me and Jacob I'll be honest

1:01:51

This is my 300 pound Aria That

1:01:54

is it, everyone can go home,

1:01:56

lovely stuff, thank you Thank you

1:02:00

EEC guidelines. Hello and welcome

1:02:03

to Kerry Ben's proper football podcast. Absolutely

1:02:06

thrilled to say we've been invited back

1:02:08

to third series. A lot of times you've been a

1:02:10

little bit surprised.

1:02:12

I thought he

1:02:14

was cheating. My captain had been sent off

1:02:16

because an Nisroids was training injury. All

1:02:19

the boys were going, have you given up the mum line? I went,

1:02:21

yeah, yeah, yeah. So a couple of plays went, did you sell it?

1:02:26

I've had so many nice comments

1:02:28

about our podcast. It's incredible.

1:02:31

Kerry Ben's proper football podcast.

1:02:33

Listen on BBC Sounds.