0:00

The Square Ball podcast. Hello

0:04

there. We're back with another West Stand. Our show

0:06

that debuted for this season, a season that's

0:08

nearly over, Michael. It is. And it's been

0:10

all right. It has been all right. As it turns out. As

0:13

a rule across this season, you've been able to find it

0:15

on YouTube and you podcast that Mondays and Fridays. But, you know,

0:17

let's face it, that's all gone out of the window because

0:19

we just had Easter. Don't know if you spotted it. We just

0:21

got promoted. We did. We did just get promoted. Do you

0:23

know we got promoted with? Leeds United. NordVPN.

0:26

No, NordVPN. Yeah, those guys, yeah. With us

0:28

all the way. Yep. Thank goodness.

0:30

I carried NordVPN in my heart on

0:32

the low fields on Monday when

0:34

we were drinking beer and singing songs.

0:36

I had 10 devices simultaneously connected

0:38

as we were promoted because you can

0:40

do that as part of the

0:42

package. Wow. So if you need a

0:44

virtual location somewhere around the world.

0:46

Exactly. To watch stuff happening. Stop happening.

0:48

Yeah. Bryn. You can see

0:50

him on it if you want. You can see Bryn dancing. In

0:52

fact, that's just on the YouTube. That's for everyone. But if you

0:54

want to see Bryn's match coverage. Not so for work, surely. Very

0:58

bad at a wedding. We'll have to address this with

1:00

him next time he's on. I'm sure you

1:02

won't mind. You can protect your private data, you bank

1:04

details and stuff like that on public networks. Ten

1:07

devices at once, as Michael

1:09

said. That's exciting. The fastest

1:11

VPN in the world, so you get no

1:13

buffering or lagging when you're streaming. If

1:15

we get Premier League Wi -Fi, you

1:17

can secure a connector that next year. We

1:20

probably won't. But if you're somewhere else

1:22

with usable public Wi -Fi, you can make

1:24

that secure. Right. You can get an exclusive

1:26

discount off your NordVPN plan. If you

1:28

go to NordVPN.com slash TSB additional months on

1:30

top of the year, the discounted two

1:32

year plan, NordVPN.com slash TSB.

1:34

The link is in the

1:37

episode description box as well.

1:39

Today's guest, welcome back. Premier

1:42

League, Baron Cross. Unbelievable, innit? Unbelievable.

1:44

What a week. I don't know about

1:46

you. Slept properly for the first

1:48

time in about nine months last night. Yep.

1:50

I was saying exactly the same to you, wasn't I? just

1:52

before we were recorded. Yeah, I've got my

1:54

watch tracks it. It's genuinely the best night

1:56

sleep I've had in like two weeks

1:59

was last night. Patheticism. After admittedly

2:01

coming off the back of a not brilliant night

2:03

the night before. Monday night.

2:05

It was a bit lacking in sleep. It lacked in

2:07

sleep, but it had entertainment, Michael. It certainly did.

2:09

And I couldn't even sleep in because I woke up

2:11

and just immediately wanted to go on my phone

2:13

and look at. Yeah. people being drunk

2:15

and daft. And I was like, ah, you

2:17

mean us? Yes. I part of

2:20

it. I realized I don't have

2:22

any pictures of myself. I took

2:24

pictures with me in them, down

2:26

the lowfields and stuff. I get to see you

2:28

every day. Don't worry about it. Yeah, I was checking

2:30

my phone. I don't have any pictures of Ellen

2:32

Road, which is bit of a shame. I mean, thankfully,

2:35

there are plenty exist. Yeah, absolutely. I

2:37

enjoyed the long read on the athletic

2:39

as well. Thank you. It was very good

2:41

and very informative and sort of let's

2:43

that lays out the path for the stuff

2:45

that's to come. I don't know about

2:47

you, but I just kind of, because these

2:49

moments are so rare, this feeling right

2:51

now, like the sun is shining today in

2:53

Leeds, and I drove in with the

2:55

car windows down, again, still listening to my

2:57

Leeds United songs that all started just

2:59

before Easter, just with a big smile on

3:01

my face, woke up, and I know

3:03

all is not right in the world, in

3:05

the real world, but everything's all right

3:07

in the Leeds United world just now. It

3:09

feels like suddenly we've just landed in

3:11

calm waters. This is

3:13

just really nice. tell you what, it's truly pathetic.

3:16

Just how much I'm willing to ignore the rest

3:18

of the world when leads are being good. Yeah.

3:20

Because I can sometimes talk myself into the fact

3:22

that when leads are playing badly, that everything's bad.

3:24

And that's also the reason I'm upset. And it's

3:26

not. It's just leads as it turns out, because

3:29

I'm kind of all right with things for a

3:31

bit at least. Yeah. It's been lovely, hasn't it?

3:33

The shed experience is fantastic, isn't it? I mean,

3:35

it's what you guys will miss that on five

3:37

years ago. And it was so lovely being inside

3:39

the stadium. Wasn't it on Monday? I mean, the

3:41

tension just ebbed away so quickly, didn't it, with

3:43

those early goals. And then the scenes afterwards were

3:45

just so special, everyone being there, because obviously it

3:48

was all done remotely in 2020. So seeing, you

3:50

could barely see Belly's statue with how many people

3:52

there were sort of gathered outside the East stand.

3:54

And the players did their bit as well. They

3:56

came out and made sure they sort of gave

3:58

the fans what they wanted and they walk in

4:01

view guys afterwards and just being stopped by everybody.

4:03

And it's just so special how you can speak

4:05

to anybody that was there, even if you've never

4:07

met them before, and there's just that shared feeling

4:09

of joy and happiness you can just talk about

4:11

whatever you want and just how brilliant is this.

4:13

It's really, it's all I've wanted all season is

4:15

that just that it's the shared experience. I realized

4:17

I just wanted to feel happy for a bit

4:19

really united. It's all the anxiety that builds up

4:21

and you know, the absolute meltdown that I'd post

4:23

Swansea thinking to please don't do this again. I

4:25

just want to have a nice day. They turned

4:27

it around and they gave me just the loveliest

4:29

days. It's genuinely one of the best days of

4:31

my life is Monday. And then

4:33

you know when you know you're living through a memory

4:35

that going to remember forever. I felt like that

4:37

all day on Monday. It's hopefully where it goes from

4:40

here as well now for in terms of the

4:42

next just the next days, really. But after we went

4:44

up last time, there was obviously the big promotion

4:46

there. But then we just went on and there were

4:48

more games and we just we just won. And

4:50

then we won the we get to see us lift

4:52

the trophy and all that sort of stuff. And

4:54

you kind of hope for the same again and hopefully

4:56

then followed by like a proper open top once

4:58

this time one that actually moves and isn't just parked

5:00

outside on the road. I think that one could

5:03

move. They just opted not to move it. OK, I

5:05

don't know. That's probably how they got it there.

5:07

I see. I see. But yeah,

5:09

like just all that and you think other

5:11

might push it lads. There's potentially such a

5:13

nice few weeks ahead of us here. And

5:15

we can, you know, all

5:17

the existential dread of Premier League and I don't

5:19

care about it. Yeah. Forget about it. It's

5:22

for the future, isn't it? It's just you can just

5:24

see a nice few weeks where you can think, well,

5:26

that'll be a nice, that could be a nice day.

5:28

That should be a nice day. That can be a

5:30

nice day, and you can spread all the joy out

5:32

over weeks. Do you feel like we're on holiday? Yeah,

5:34

I was about to say, it feels like the two

5:36

weeks, you know, after you finish your last exam, yes,

5:38

and you've still got two weeks of school left, and

5:40

you're just with your mates going to school, you know,

5:42

none of it matters. You're just having fun at playtime,

5:44

playing football, telling the teacher what you

5:46

really think of them. And it's just glorious.

5:48

And then, you know, you've got another six weeks

5:50

of some holiday after it. It's just fantastic.

5:52

And all the tension just ebbs away. Yeah, it's

5:54

like that. Yeah. Just for now, it's calm.

5:56

And we can just enjoy being, we can just

5:59

enjoy being League United fans. And, you know,

6:01

football, as you've said, Michael, we spend

6:03

half your life wishing for it to be over.

6:05

You know, you're getting in front and you're like,

6:07

oh, be over now. Hold on to this. Hold

6:09

on to this. Come on, get to the end

6:11

of the season. And it felt a little bit

6:13

like getting it over the line. Although weirdly, the

6:15

first half is kind of a rare occasion

6:17

in that you're like, just keep playing this

6:20

game. I'd be happy for this first

6:22

half to go on for two hours because

6:24

I think we could get tenure. The way

6:26

it was set up, we were just destroying

6:28

him in a way that... Exactly what I

6:30

was thinking about. He's not a tall, leadzy.

6:32

What was your feeling with it during that

6:34

first half? Because I said my emotion peaked,

6:36

I think, around marching on together just

6:38

before the game. It was so loud. And

6:41

not only that, but when the players went

6:43

back in after doing their warm -ups about 15

6:45

minutes before kickoff, There's the sort of a

6:47

roar from the crowd then and I

6:49

thought, oh, this is just, it's one of

6:51

those. bubbling, wasn't it? Yeah, it was bubbling.

6:53

And then the marching on together was so

6:55

loud, everybody was singing it as loud as

6:57

they could. And I was like, and I

7:00

had to fight back tears at that point,

7:02

thinking this is going to be amazing. But

7:04

then actually it spilled over almost into

7:06

humor very, very quickly because that the release

7:08

came so soon, the tension just dissipated

7:11

within five or six minutes. Yeah, the huge

7:13

celebrations at one and then two. I

7:15

think everyone Sensed at 2

7:17

-0. This is finished now. Even

7:20

I wasn't trying to put my

7:22

daft insurance bets. And I was like,

7:24

no, there's no way we're not

7:27

winning this. And particularly because of the

7:29

vibe in the stadium there as

7:31

well, you think, this crowd is

7:33

not going to allow this to slip. Not that

7:35

the team look even vaguely like letting it,

7:37

but it just felt like it was fully thrown

7:39

on the next stuff. It was like, we're

7:41

going to put on the neck. not throw on

7:43

the neck. Throw on the neck and make

7:45

no sense. Well, on the throw

7:47

or neck, which one of the two. Yeah.

7:50

And we just felt like it was it was

7:52

happening. Is that what the Bristol Rovers game felt

7:54

like? Because I didn't I didn't I wasn't there

7:56

for that. No. Late on when when no, but

7:58

late on when there was that tidal wave, was

8:00

a bit. But then there was still a

8:03

because we still have 10 men and we

8:05

were only a goal up. And there was

8:07

always a bit of while while the Bristol

8:09

players quite close to the end. We're obviously

8:11

very eager to get to the tunnel to

8:13

the point where the full -time whistle goes

8:15

in that. And basically they're all in a

8:17

little, they're all basically on the right wing,

8:20

just waiting to dart down the tunnel and

8:22

get out of the way, which as you're

8:24

chefing out your plays learned was probably a

8:26

sensible way to do it. That

8:28

was much more dramatic and far tensor. Whereas

8:30

this was just fun. It was fun. It was

8:32

just relaxing to the point where it was,

8:34

it had been so much fun in the first

8:36

half. I feel like in the second half,

8:39

people didn't quite know what to do with themselves.

8:41

It was just, people wanted a,

8:43

I felt at that point was just like,

8:45

everyone was just thinking about the next thing. Cause

8:47

it's all this is done. It's just

8:49

about watching the next game where people then

8:51

probably thinking, oh, do I need, do

8:53

I need to get, should I leave now? So

8:56

it should leave now so I can get in a

8:58

pub and watch this. I don't know about you, but

9:00

I think the way that that game went on Monday.

9:02

I went into it absolutely certain that Leeds were going

9:04

to sweep Stoke away. I didn't want to vocalise it

9:06

too much. I thought we'd win. People

9:08

have said, like, God, how negative was Normaton

9:10

and it came as a surprise to tell

9:13

people saying, no, he believes we're going to

9:15

absolutely smash these lots today. And I didn't

9:17

think Burnley would lose either. That

9:19

was the point of it. Because of the way that

9:21

it went on Monday with Leeds. It felt there was

9:23

just an inevitability about the whole thing. So when leads

9:25

finish, you knew that Burnley were going to see us

9:27

up one way or another. Absolutely. I think all season

9:29

we've wanted Burnley to slip up, haven't we, and then

9:31

to give leads a bit of breathing space. But that

9:34

was the one game you thought, yeah, Burnley have conceded.

9:36

Is it 15 and 44? I've got

9:38

the table in front of me. There's no way

9:40

they were conceding. As obviously the game went warring,

9:42

you're thinking, right, can blade score two in 10

9:44

minutes, can it score two in five minutes? You're

9:46

thinking, no, this is done. Like there's no way

9:48

they're going to let this come back. Farka

9:50

had to make the point until the end during the

9:52

press conference. He said, if I could back anybody in

9:54

this situation to go away to Burnley, it'd be Chris

9:56

Wilders boys. And if they win today, they'll win the

9:59

last two thinking, just come on. Because

10:01

obviously you guys had it on in here

10:03

and we had it on in the screens

10:05

in the press room whilst Farka was speaking

10:07

and Burnley scored whilst Farka was speaking. And

10:10

he didn't even break strike. Not at all. He

10:12

didn't even stop or pause. He obviously had a

10:14

look, but nothing changed in his mannerisms or the way

10:16

he spoke. But you're all looking to think like,

10:18

The things happening. The good things happening. It was

10:20

the fire beast just waiting to get out. But

10:23

we should say, by the way, we've figured out

10:25

what a fire beast is. Fire beast is German

10:27

for a party animal. It makes sense.

10:29

It's not an actual fire beast, but that won't stop the

10:31

merch. I was going to say, if you think that

10:33

logic is going to stop us depicting him with little horns

10:35

and on fire when you are wrong. It's

10:37

F -E -I -E -R -B -E -I -E -S -T. Fire

10:39

beast is a party animal. He's not had

10:41

many laughs and presses this year, but

10:43

there was nine or 10 of us laughing

10:45

out loud at that. It was amazing.

10:47

That quote is fantastic. The way he's talking

10:49

about that, there would be more drinks

10:51

on the menu than coffee and more cakes

10:53

than cheesecake and gatto or whatever. And

10:55

I'd be the first on the table. It

10:58

was glorious. Yeah. I feel a bit

11:00

sorry for Farquhar in all this. Like,

11:02

you know, the... That's a promotion bonus.

11:04

Well, no, no, in the sense that he's

11:06

probably never going to be appreciated in

11:08

the same way that Bielsa is, because that

11:10

was... I don't know if you have

11:12

that promotion almost felt like that was the

11:14

destination. almost whereas this I

11:16

think is a step on the road. And you

11:18

saw from you know, Pregma Rata's statement that

11:20

got put out in the wake of promotion. That's

11:22

very much how they're kind of seeing it. So

11:24

there's a different emotional attachment, I think to

11:26

the two. We were so desperate to get out

11:28

of the division last time and there was just

11:30

16 years, whatever it was that was like,

11:32

it was the monkey on the back and it

11:34

needed this maverick to kind of come in and

11:37

we never knew what we were going to

11:39

get from him to get it over the line.

11:41

And it fell almost like that. That was the

11:43

point of it all. Yeah, yeah, completely. Whereas

11:45

this is about a step on a journey. Completely.

11:47

So it's always felt a little bit a little

11:49

bit more transactional. This is the promotion specialist

11:51

who's going to come in. He's done it twice

11:53

before. He's going to see us

11:55

over the line. But I think just getting

11:57

to the end of this now, you realise

11:59

how how hard it is to do and

12:01

what a good job he's actually done under

12:03

the circumstances. I thought about this as well

12:06

in relation to all of the players as

12:08

well, because as we were saying, we've slept

12:10

properly for the first time in weeks last

12:12

night. Yeah. And is that times 100 probably

12:14

for the manager of this thing. And it's

12:16

your responsibility. We're just fools in a stand

12:18

watching it. We can affect it not at

12:20

all. And they're where support. So I suppose

12:22

we don't get the luxury of getting sacked

12:25

or walking away at any point. But it

12:27

must have had a huge toll on them

12:29

all. Completely. He's talking

12:31

about the only time Fark has really touched on it

12:33

is saying what an emotional club we are. But

12:35

we really are. Oh, very much so. I think

12:37

This will come out more as we become more reflective

12:40

and we look at things as a bigger thing

12:42

over the last two years and try to, like you

12:44

say, try to appreciate what he has done and

12:46

I think reflected it in pieces over this season and

12:48

also in the last couple of days when we've

12:50

done more and more podcasts and things and speaking out

12:52

loud about this and you kind of think it's

12:54

an unfair stick to beat him with because he can

12:56

only play the hand he's dealt and he's been

12:58

dealt two really good squads and obviously got pretty close

13:00

last year. He's got over the line this year.

13:03

He's got to manage egos. There's a lot of good

13:05

teams in that squad, sorry, a lot of good

13:07

players in that squad. who would play every week in

13:09

other teams. And he's had to artfully manage that.

13:11

And it hasn't been from what we've been told, obviously,

13:13

in the piece that we wrote, they haven't been

13:15

in any major bus stops. He's really kept it a

13:17

very happy camp and two point about Bielsa completely.

13:19

That's what Marcelo came in. He came in, woke up

13:21

the city, woke up the club, shook it all

13:23

up, made people feel love again for football in this

13:26

part of the country. And the

13:28

ninth place in the Prem was just an amazing

13:30

bonus. And we obviously know what happened after

13:32

that. But with Farka as a reflected in pieces,

13:34

I think he's effectively He's at par,

13:36

would you say? He's one under par, maybe. He's slightly

13:38

achieving what we expect. And it's going to be, if

13:40

he gets the chance, which we might discuss about, if

13:42

he gets the chance in the Premier League, that

13:44

is when he can maybe build that connection and

13:46

prove himself. And if he does establish leaves in the

13:48

Premier League as a, let's say, best case low

13:51

and mid table, that is when I think people sort

13:53

of think, you know what, you're our guy. We

13:55

really do believe in you. You're giving us something new

13:57

and you are now surpassing what's expected of you.

13:59

At the moment, I think he's probably at par. Yeah.

14:01

It's a good point is that I think, yeah,

14:03

because Bielsa took us to ninth

14:05

in the Premier League, actually. That's the

14:07

bar. That's the most recent thought about it

14:09

like that. I think you're right. It's the bar

14:11

at which we probably, not necessarily ninth, but

14:13

trying to avoid the bun fight at the bottom.

14:15

If we can get up into that next

14:17

group, then... I think if you get

14:19

to the chance and keeps them up, I think

14:21

at that point it was like, wow, you've done... Given

14:23

what we've seen this season in the Premier League,

14:25

if you keep them up, then I think that's very

14:27

much where it's like, wow, that's maybe the first

14:30

point. First point fans might think, wow, you are better

14:32

than we thought you were. Yeah. As boring as

14:34

it is, the thing with... team's focus had the wage

14:36

bill has been huge. Bielsa took us up with

14:38

it. I know in the end, in the accounts, the

14:40

wage bill looked a lot higher because it includes

14:42

all promotion bonuses and things. But the wage bill was

14:44

not in the top two that season under Bielsa. And

14:46

the performances were so far ahead of anything

14:48

we'd seen before. And with players we'd seen and

14:51

we kind of didn't realize could reach those

14:53

heights. Whereas someone like Manor Solomon coming in this

14:55

year, you go, well, Champions League experience, loads

14:57

of international games under his belt, Premier League experience.

14:59

Like he's been really good, but of course

15:01

he's been really good. Yeah. That's what that's what

15:03

we bought him for. That's the point. Yeah.

15:05

Yeah. That's the point. He should be the best

15:07

player in the league. Yeah. That's the point

15:10

of him. Whereas Stuart Dallas, the guy

15:12

we kind of got from Brentford, is he a winger?

15:14

I don't really know what he's. He's all right.

15:16

Like, but he's no strong feelings on him, essentially. And

15:18

then to have him transform into something else. Yeah.

15:20

Well, it was a different was a different thing, wasn't

15:22

it? I suppose I suppose what you're getting is

15:24

Bielsa was alchemy. It felt like alchemy. Whereas

15:26

this feels like, like you said, Baron,

15:28

he's about at par. He's delivered what you'd

15:30

expect him to with the size of the

15:32

wage bill that you've got and the talent

15:35

at his disposal. And I genuinely have said

15:37

all season, I think we've got... I wouldn't

15:39

swap many of Burnley or Sheffield United's players

15:41

into our team. If I was to And

15:43

maybe their fans will see this differently. But

15:46

if I was to select a championship

15:48

11, it would probably have... or eight

15:50

Leeds players in. Yeah. It's funny to mention that

15:52

we did our place. We did like our team of

15:54

the A yesterday and they asked the championship people

15:56

to kind of look at it. And I tried to

15:58

speak for you and try not to be too

16:00

biased to Leeds, but I think I put Trafford in

16:02

goal. I think I put Esteve in centre -back with

16:04

Rodon, kept Furpo, kept Bogle, kept Tanaka. I

16:07

think I shoehorned Brownhill in because of his goals. I

16:09

think I shoehorned Hamer and is one of three centre

16:11

-mids, which probably wouldn't even happen. And then

16:13

the front three is Pirro Solomon and

16:15

James. Yeah. It's actually Hamer Brownhill. S7 Trafford.

16:17

They're the four I would take from

16:19

the rest of the entire division. They'd

16:21

be the names that I'd probably have pulled

16:23

out of there as well. We just don't

16:25

show Peru to go to go nine games

16:28

without a goal, but then to have that

16:30

performance. It just I say when all the

16:32

it's when all the stars align stuff was

16:34

Monday, wasn't it? Like how many times have

16:36

you watched that game back now or the

16:38

highlights at least? I've watched the full game.

16:40

Well, the full first half anyway. Yeah. Yeah.

16:42

At least three times. I think the three or

16:44

four times ago. lost count. I've only watched

16:47

the highlights back since, but yeah, it was so

16:49

strange, isn't it? You think if you could

16:51

have, if you could have taken one of those

16:53

chances against Preston, where he could have finished

16:55

that game on after it, couldn't it? But it

16:57

was so frustrating that we couldn't just feel

16:59

like we couldn't quite get it over the line

17:01

and Portsmouth away, misses some big chances. And

17:03

then a day like that, just, just all absolutely

17:05

happens for him. And he's almost certainly going

17:07

to be top scorer in the league now. You

17:10

would, you would imagine. you

17:14

wouldn't bet against him getting another two or

17:16

three in these remaining games, would you? We're really

17:18

interested to see how we're playing now. Now

17:20

all the pressure's gone. So we slept better

17:22

than we have done for bloody months. And

17:25

they're going to play with just a joy and

17:27

a freedom you expect. And I think Monday is going

17:29

to be amazing. How nice is it that you

17:31

almost have... I said to you, if Sunday was like

17:33

Christmas Eve, wasn't it? Thinking like, we're all being

17:35

well. Monday should be one of the best days of

17:37

our in leads. And you think... all again on

17:39

Monday, and they're going to be on the pitch. There

17:41

doesn't need to be any kind of subdued behavior.

17:43

The players can enjoy it. The champagne team have come

17:45

out. They're to have all the banners out because

17:47

they're going up. The fans are all to be in

17:49

there together again. It's not going to be spread

17:51

out into the streets. And hopefully they're going to go

17:53

and bat a bristle. I mean, it's going to

17:55

be amazing. And actually, just to our advantage, possibly, I

17:57

know when that game was moved to the Monday,

17:59

we were all a bit like, ah, God, that's a

18:01

bit painful. But actually, I suspect

18:03

Burnley celebrated in the same way that we

18:05

did to recover. And they've got less time

18:07

to recover. The extra sort of hangover day. We

18:10

all know, yeah. It might actually help. I was

18:13

going to say, you're speaking very much from experience

18:15

there, I think. I was not fit to, I

18:17

don't, I think I'd have done five minutes off

18:19

the bench yesterday. Actually,

18:21

when you look back at what

18:23

Leeds did at Derby in 2020,

18:26

it's remarkable. Absolutely

18:28

remarkable. Because, yeah. They were all

18:30

leathered, like Pry Park. They were, a lot of them were

18:32

leathered though. the base fitness level they have

18:34

though, isn't it? It's like, I've seen the Netflix documentary

18:36

about the guy who was just climbing the mountains. And on

18:38

one of those, he does, I can't remember which mountain

18:40

is. seven summits, that one? Yeah, he does one of them,

18:42

like, because they get word that... the weather's actually improved.

18:45

I was just in the area. And he can do it,

18:47

basically. But he's been on the piss and he's like,

18:49

all right, fine, do it tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,

18:51

he's the Nepalese guy, wasn't he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So,

18:53

fuck it, I'll just go up there, don't worry. He's like,

18:55

oh, it's ready, is it? Oh, no, fine. I've had

18:57

a few, but it's all right, isn't it? Yeah. It's only

18:59

like, it's only one of the biggest, most dangerous things

19:01

in the world. I'll just go up that, no bother. Yeah,

19:04

Dabby was that really for us, wasn't it? That they

19:06

all just, they were of a level where they could

19:08

just turn up and still do it. Muscle memory. I

19:10

love and click. Yeah. And it was great watching just

19:12

a little sides. Narrative that it

19:14

was Wayne Rooney, tiny shoelaces wasn't it?

19:16

I think as we scored one of

19:18

our goals, couldn't be asked. But

19:20

yeah, to look back at what they did then. Remarkable.

19:23

But yeah, you're right. I mean, hopefully

19:25

it's just it's just a lot of fun

19:27

on Monday. And I don't know. It

19:29

feels like a proper little honeymoon period at

19:31

the minute. And don't worry about the

19:33

Premier League just yet. We know we know

19:35

how difficult it's going to be. But

19:37

we've been striving. all year, all season, all

19:39

the anxiety, all the tension that we're

19:41

into the build -up for this Easter weekend.

19:43

And we did everything that we needed to

19:45

do. Everything for the last few weeks

19:47

has been absolutely spot on. Just huge

19:49

credit to them. Huge credit to everybody. Yeah. And

19:51

huge credit to Sheffield, you know, because no one

19:53

saw that coming either. Let's be honest.

19:55

I was going to say, I've got the table open

19:57

here on FOTMob and FOTMob shows the form guide. And

20:00

obviously, you can view it horizontally or vertically.

20:02

And I'm just looking vertically. Everybody,

20:05

third, fourth, fifth, 6th

20:07

and 7th lost in this

20:09

game week. It was on

20:11

Burnley 1 and then the next wins

20:13

were Millwall and Blackburn who were down in

20:15

8th and 9th. But looking at our

20:17

form, 4 wins on the spin, 4 out

20:19

of 5, same for Burnley. Sheffield, LLWL.

20:21

It's wild, isn't it? I was looking back,

20:23

actually. Even... The fully leads to in.

20:25

Well, even in our end of season collapses,

20:27

we've never had 4 defeats out of

20:29

5. We've always managed to throw in at

20:31

least an extra draw or a win

20:33

at the end of last season when we

20:35

had the... Coventry and that's spanning to

20:37

a nail nail. But then even in the

20:39

middle of all that, we did get

20:41

a win against Borra and there was a

20:43

draw against Sunderland. But to have not

20:45

lost to good teams as well in this

20:47

period, no one saw the defeats coming

20:49

from Sheffield United. I've actually got on the

20:51

Oxford and Plymouth. You can't

20:53

really do that. I've been tracking and getting screen

20:55

grabs at the table. So I started back game

20:57

week 33. And I've been creating an archive of...

21:00

you be releasing this as a bucket at any

21:02

point? No, no, no. It's almost a bit of

21:04

a souvenir about the running. I want to be

21:06

able to go back and look at it and

21:08

say, what were the last 12, 13 weeks of

21:10

the season like? The ebbs and flows. Yeah, and

21:12

how did it ebb and flow? And what I've

21:14

done is I've screen grabbed the table. So if

21:16

a team's playing on Friday night, I'll screen grab

21:18

the table and put that in there. And then

21:20

we play on the Saturday and how it shifted.

21:22

So be able to go back and

21:24

just look at how it... moot because I'll forget over time

21:26

and I want to be able to remember just what it

21:28

felt. I'll bet it felt at the time. One of those

21:30

flip books that goes through the picture. Yeah, exactly. So,

21:33

yeah, I've got all that. And yeah, it's

21:35

just, it's all a bit much. So it was

21:37

all a bit much. But at the bottom

21:39

of that, I put last season's running just as

21:41

a reference point, just so we could look

21:43

at the equivalent game weeks for last season. And

21:45

yeah, it was from game week 41, Coventry

21:48

away. We lost after we beat

21:50

hole 3 -1, first of April, then it

21:52

was Coventry away, lost that. drew nil nil

21:54

with Sunderland. I remember that just felt horrible

21:56

inside Ellen Rowe. It just didn't quite… Handballed

21:58

it. Leeds didn't get one the nine. Handballed

22:00

it. Lost at home to Blackburn then. Was

22:02

it Schmodex who scored that one? Yeah, he on

22:04

the break. Then it was the 4 -3, which

22:06

was just pure chaos. But then QPR away. Awful.

22:08

And then the Southampton game didn't really matter. But

22:11

that was 4 defeats out of 6 at the

22:13

end. And 3 out of 4. But still, yeah,

22:15

nothing like what Schiffel United had done. You're absolutely

22:17

right. Did you expect that to happen,

22:19

dear? No, not at all. It's often the way

22:21

with promotion run -ins that… were four teams in

22:23

it until fairly recently. And when I started recording

22:25

all the results on the tables, I was still

22:27

including Sunderland at that point. And you often do

22:29

find it that one falls off, which is what

22:32

happened to Sunderland. They fall off about three -quarters the

22:34

way through the season. Then another falls off late

22:36

on, and it was us last season. I

22:38

didn't expect it to be Sheffield United

22:40

this season. I didn't expect it to

22:42

follow the archetype. And now

22:45

it makes Farkas 100 % Premier League comment look quite

22:47

wise. because he knows what the championship's like. Well,

22:49

it's interesting because obviously in the depths of despair

22:51

we had when he made those comments after the

22:53

Swansea draw and then he repeated after Luton and

22:55

at the time we were like, what are you

22:57

on about? You've completely lost your head here. I

22:59

mean, this is the first sign to the crack

23:01

showing. And as you guys made the point, he's

23:03

either a genius because he's going to be proven

23:06

right or he's going to be proven wrong and

23:08

he's not going to be here. So he's got

23:10

nothing to lose by saying that. And I asked

23:12

him directly about it on Monday and said, you

23:14

know, when you said that, you raised a lot

23:16

of eyebrows in here. Did you genuinely

23:18

believe that or was that? Kind of like a mind

23:20

trick. And it was more for the players' benefit to read

23:22

it because he could maybe sense they were shaking a

23:24

bit and he wanted them to read that. And he said

23:26

it was a bit of both. He said, I wouldn't

23:28

have said it if I didn't believe it. I did genuinely

23:30

believe it. But he obviously, normal Falka wouldn't

23:32

articulate that, wouldn't he? He wouldn't be that ballsy.

23:34

He'd say it's the league is relentless. It takes time

23:37

and, you know, we'll sort of keep winning each

23:39

game. He said at that moment he sensed the players

23:41

needed a bit of steel. They needed to have

23:43

that, you know, bit of courage, bit of ballsyness because

23:45

he could sense that. especially outside the club, it

23:47

was starting to shake a little bit. And he said,

23:49

you know, classic case of, you know, I'm a

23:51

bit long in the tooth now, I've got a bit

23:53

of experience. And I just sensed at that moment

23:55

that everybody needed to hear that from me. And again,

23:57

it seems even to say that now because he's

23:59

been proven right. But that's at least his explanation. I

24:02

was going to say, it's one of the things

24:04

you actually touch on. I think it's in your article

24:06

about his emotional intelligence. Yes, his well thought of

24:08

within the club and the fact that he was able

24:10

to read that. And I knew he was like

24:12

ostensibly correct. in what he was saying. And it's like

24:14

when Dean was sitting here saying, championship is going

24:16

to championship. Let's see what happens. I know that's the

24:18

case, but when you don't know what's in front

24:20

of you, it feels awful, doesn't it? Well, I did agree that

24:22

that was the case, but I felt like the bad stuff would

24:24

happen to us when he said that. I was like, yeah, that

24:27

will be the case, but it'll be, it'll

24:29

be losing it home to Blackburn. That equivalent where

24:31

you go, all right, don't expect that. Never

24:33

mind. That's all over and done with it. Losing

24:36

4 -0 away, QPR. that sort of championship stuff.

24:38

I thought I expected to happen. What I

24:40

didn't expect was a six nil win in a

24:42

must win game and just a complete walk

24:44

in the park. Do

24:47

you suppose then, Barron, like Farkas comments when he

24:49

said that the 100 % promotion thing Premier League was

24:51

it's the equivalent of walking into the casino with the

24:54

house deeds and putting it on red or black

24:56

at that point. Pretty much. Yeah. I think you guys

24:58

nailed it. I think he's either proven right and

25:00

he can now talk about it and talk about his

25:02

his mental dexterity and sort of the mind tricks

25:04

and being an experienced manager who knew what to

25:06

say. Or he's out the door and we're all

25:08

slacking him off anyway. So I think certainly now

25:10

we can talk about the good thing and be

25:13

open about it and say, yeah, well done, Daniel.

25:15

You said the thing they needed to hear. But

25:17

he sees the players more than us, doesn't he?

25:19

He sees him at the training ground. He can

25:21

see the way they're reacting in the dressing room.

25:23

And we have to trust that he knows how

25:25

to get a tune out of those players. And

25:27

I think much in the same way Bielsa was

25:29

an alchemist for Leeds. But that first Norwich title,

25:31

I mean, they were garbage. Do you remember going

25:33

down to Carreroad with the Elses League and battered

25:35

them 3 -0? He nearly got the sack after that,

25:37

kept his job. And as we know, went on

25:40

to win the league that year, again, with

25:42

effectively a mid -table team. So I think we

25:44

have to give him some credit and that he

25:46

doesn't know what he's doing. Yes, it's the

25:48

championship, but this is his... And he said it's

25:50

his third title. It's his third promotion, maybe

25:52

his third title. And maybe you just have

25:54

to bow down and say, you know, yeah, fair play, you got

25:56

it right. I think with... the fact

25:58

that he's been, in some ways, I guess you would

26:00

say, flat emotionally across the season because he's not

26:02

had, he's not, he's not really

26:04

gone high or low, has he, after the big,

26:06

the big ones? And Bielsa, I think

26:08

part of the reason that felt maybe a

26:10

bit more emotional is because even though, even when

26:12

Bielsa didn't say anything, he absolutely wore it on

26:15

his face, didn't he? He could see in his

26:17

manner and the way he was in press

26:19

conference and things, like you could see some weeks,

26:21

he was furious about stuff and he was upset

26:23

about things and he didn't like being criticized for

26:25

certain things and he felt, he felt it

26:27

all very personally. Spy game. Which means, I

26:29

guess for us, investing in it emotionally,

26:31

we bought into that a bit more. And maybe you

26:33

see in the downside of that, with Sheffield United, I

26:35

was listening to some of their fans the other week

26:37

and they were saying, winning with

26:40

Wilder feels amazing. But

26:42

then when you see him picking fights

26:44

with people and he's overly emotional on stuff,

26:46

you kind of realise the limitations of that

26:49

as a thing. Like when the emotion is

26:51

sweeping you along positively, it's brilliant. But when

26:53

it goes the other way, it's you

26:55

can get into a bit of a

26:57

spiral with it. And I suppose Farke's level

26:59

headed approach throughout the season is maybe

27:01

to be applauded. You're right. And it's what

27:03

Barron said about like, you know, being

27:05

the figurehead and transmitting that message to the

27:07

players at a time when they might

27:09

need it. Whereas Wilder's head loss and making

27:11

public comments about it. If you're seeing

27:13

that in your leader, it's surely just going

27:15

to breed in discipline within the squad.

27:17

And like you look at like, for example,

27:19

like Hamer, for example, have you

27:22

noticed how many like really sloppy yellow cards he

27:24

picked. He's had more than anyone in the league.

27:26

He's got more than anyone. And it feels to

27:28

me like Leeds deliberately trying to avoid that where

27:30

possible. Like you saw that crazy scissor tackle that

27:32

Ampedou did out near the Westland touch line, which

27:34

felt a little bit out of character for the

27:36

team. I will say not for him. Bogle's got

27:38

one in him. Yeah. But he's had quite a

27:40

lot of shit. There's a lot of he weren't

27:43

under Chris Wilder. Let's blame that. And I think

27:45

it's possibly one of the things that that

27:47

made it difficult to get on board with Emotionally

27:49

earlier in the season because it's also even, there's a

27:51

lot of Emotional control in that squad to try

27:53

and not pick up bookings that don't argue with refs

27:55

a lot. And people say, we need

27:57

to fight more. And I was genuinely concerned

28:00

at the lack of fight in that little spell

28:02

that we had. But actually, over the course

28:04

of the season, it's the right approach, isn't it,

28:06

to keep your head in this game. I

28:08

think the fuck has been himself, probably, while he's

28:10

not said it. maybe a bit concerned about

28:12

the lack of fight because I think that explains

28:14

him bringing Ampadou back in clearly not fit

28:16

the other week because he was thinking well I

28:18

need him to play because I need him

28:20

to get fit because we need him for this

28:22

running and I mean he's come back he's

28:24

come back twice this year hasn't he very early

28:26

Ampadou and I think that is where Farka

28:28

sees the fight in the team and the leadership

28:30

so maybe there is a bit of a

28:32

a bit of a lack of that when he's

28:34

not there I think yeah maybe that is

28:36

going to be something that we history will reflect

28:38

kindly on the way Farka managed it and

28:40

that yes he was a bit emotionally flat but

28:42

Ultimately, in the years to come, we might

28:44

look back and say, that's exactly what we needed.

28:46

He couldn't master some of the things that

28:48

Bielsa could master. So he had to play on

28:50

the strengths that he has and the things

28:52

he can manage. And one of those was to

28:54

keep everybody level. And again, with the people

28:57

I spoke to for the piece, both people that

28:59

were close to the players and people in

29:01

the hierarchy, they said, his press conferences are immaculate.

29:03

And they made the direct comparison with Wilder.

29:05

They said, they said, quote, Daniel Farka

29:07

doesn't get enough credit for how put together he

29:09

is. And yes, he doesn't give lines to us as

29:11

journalists. We don't get many headlines out of him

29:13

because he is very, very sort of on the straight

29:15

and narrow. And it plays in the dressing room.

29:17

We've said you, if you say we're an alien landing

29:19

in that dressing room, you would never have been

29:21

able to tell when Lee's run a bad run because

29:23

his manner was just, it just never changed. And

29:26

ultimately the players were grateful for that. And it really

29:28

is what they needed to get them through at

29:30

the sticky moments. Whereas we had the contrast, the Bible

29:32

did the other week where he played the clip.

29:34

I don't think it was after the. Oxford defeat, wasn't

29:36

it? He actually addressed the fact that some of

29:38

the fans had had to go. And he goes, my

29:40

media guys told me not to say this. But

29:43

anyway, he just launched into and called

29:45

him disgraceful. It's emotional controls and it

29:47

couldn't help himself. It felt the need

29:49

to point score back and Farqua would

29:51

be well positioned to do that to

29:53

us. I mean, I could hold my

29:55

hands up and say, I

29:57

thought like Swansea that they were doing

29:59

it again. And I was really, really

30:01

worried about the whole thing. you

30:04

could shoot back. And he did mention

30:06

it a little bit in the post

30:08

-victory stuff. More on the journalists

30:10

than the pundits. He just said, just like the

30:12

pundits. But what he said is it's about

30:14

just how it's supposed to control in the whole

30:16

messaging and feeling within the entire ecosystem. Although

30:19

I will say after Swansea, nearly all the

30:21

annoyance was that, why don't we just give Caldalo

30:23

a try? Yeah, that's true. And we did give

30:25

Caldalo a try. And it's been absolutely plain sailing

30:27

since then. I don't think he's dropped across, that

30:29

I can remember. That was the

30:31

only criticism that came through from the hierarchies that the

30:33

only pinch point in what's been two really good

30:35

years was even they couldn't understand why he's stuck with

30:38

Mel A for so long. That's the only criticism

30:40

they really had of him. Yeah, that

30:42

was whole of January and I think

30:44

the appetite for that change was there. He backed

30:46

him through January and that was frustrating, I think, with

30:48

hindsight. Particularly because it was January and they gave

30:50

him the option of replacing him, didn't they? But it's

30:52

something he opted not to do. Interesting

30:54

hearing his comments in the wake

30:56

of Monday, suggesting that he wanted to

30:58

do stuff in January. Yeah.

31:03

kind of disparity because the message from the club

31:05

was always, he doesn't really want anybody. He

31:07

wants to absolutely keep the ecosystem very nicely balanced

31:09

because we were saying it's all about, you

31:11

know, a vibe is going to be enough. And

31:13

I would have liked to have added something,

31:15

which is crazy when you see how many goals

31:17

we scored. But I think because you're seeking

31:19

that kind of perfection from your football team or

31:21

you're hoping for it, I would have liked

31:23

us to have added somebody. I would have liked

31:25

us to have an alternative to Aronson in

31:27

the number 10, maybe some more goals up front,

31:29

he says, I've been scored what 90 or

31:31

whatever. And yet, Farka mentioned

31:33

this on Monday, which is the first time he's broken

31:36

cover on this. Yes. Yeah. I need to watch it

31:38

back. His interview with Tim is on Sky Sports. People

31:40

want to go and find it. And yeah, he alluded

31:42

to if he was jealous, wasn't he? He said, I

31:44

think jealous was the strongest word he used in that

31:46

he looked at what the other teams were doing. And

31:49

I think, again, I need to watch his

31:51

back. I think he said when he wasn't available

31:53

or he was told, he was told that

31:55

it's not going to happen. Or, you know, if

31:57

you're going to get anybody, it's a very

31:59

small pool of players, i .e. Archer. that

32:02

you can get. So I don't know if he

32:04

just got swept away in the post -match haze because

32:06

he had a beer in his hand and stuff and

32:08

whether he was speaking too freely or maybe he

32:10

didn't think through how it came across. But

32:12

yeah, that was, it was quite telling what

32:14

he'd said. And the other side to this is,

32:16

it's actually irrelevant. Oh, yeah, yeah. 89 goals,

32:19

is it? Yeah. And, you know, saying

32:21

football, it's always the case of the end justifies

32:23

the means, doesn't it? So we got there. Like,

32:25

yeah, I would have liked us to added those

32:27

a nine and a 10 to that squad, but

32:29

I'm just like I said, I'm after perfection. The

32:31

fact that they didn't. prove to be inconsequential. And

32:34

equally, I'm listening to Sheffield United fans and they're

32:36

all saying, we need to stay down if Tom

32:38

Cannon's going to be a success here because there's

32:40

not a chance he's good enough for the Premier

32:42

League and they're not wrong. So I guess there's

32:44

not that any of us are advocating signing Tom

32:46

Cannon, just to be 100 % clear on that.

32:48

I don't think anyone wanted him. But

32:52

yeah, you can spend money well and you

32:54

can waste money. Did you see their tweets

32:56

or social up about Tom Cannon from Sheffield

32:58

United account? Not the result we wanted on

33:00

Monday, but at least we got to enjoy

33:02

Tom Cannon's first goal. I was like, lads,

33:04

mate, read the room. still thinking about the

33:06

bad thing, are you? The reaction

33:08

was amazing to that. Even the fans were saying, just please

33:10

delete this. What are you doing to us? Who's thought

33:12

that's a good idea to put that out there? It's wild,

33:14

isn't it? We've not got promoted, but hey, Tom Cannon's

33:16

good. It's good for the

33:18

playoffs. Yeah, you still think about that. Who

33:20

do you want to win the playoffs? Don't

33:22

care. Really? Do not care. I

33:25

sort of am veering towards Sheffield

33:27

United still. Okay. For the implosion factor

33:29

next season. Well, I don't feel

33:31

like anyone who comes up in the playoffs

33:33

would be particularly strong, but

33:35

I don't know. A bit of keeps a

33:37

bit of Yorkshire interest there, doesn't it? I

33:39

suppose it does, but do you know what?

33:41

There's an argument for the weakest, least prepared

33:43

team possible coming up I quite like that

33:45

idea of Bristol for that. Yeah. Well, either

33:47

Bristol, who have actually been a bit of

33:49

a dark course, I think. Manning's done brilliantly.

33:51

He's managed with the year, I think, brilliantly.

33:53

a little bit of a dark horse this season,

33:56

as they have come up on the rails, haven't

33:58

they? And just almost cemented their place. So they're

34:00

four points ahead of Middlesbrough now. They've

34:02

got nacky rolls up top. There's nobody in that

34:04

team, I think, your promotion. I mean, at least

34:06

Coventry have got had you right, or an Ellis

34:08

Sims, or a Mason Clark that a decent player

34:10

like Ben Chieff in midfield. But look at Bristol.

34:12

There's nobody in that team, and he's got them

34:14

in fifth. So he's been a great

34:16

team. And he's had a, personally, had a very difficult season

34:19

as well, hasn't he? So there'd be the nice I

34:21

suppose there'd be a nice start there, I suppose,

34:23

for him. So, yeah, I won't

34:25

mind Bristol. Yeah. And also, it's a decent,

34:27

it's a good away days, Bristol, too.

34:30

Yeah. So in the... Which was late at

34:32

12 o 'clock on a Monday afternoon or

34:34

something. There is an argument. There

34:36

is an argument for Coventry though, isn't there? I

34:38

think I don't want to have nice things. I

34:40

don't want to see Frank Lampard having a nice

34:42

time. I don't want to see him celebrating at

34:44

Wembley. But as much as we're saying, let's celebrate

34:46

this here and now and we'll worry about what's

34:48

coming down the track later on. I've got one

34:50

eye on the Premier League and I think that

34:52

could be fun if they were to come up

34:54

because I let him right now. Let him rot

34:56

in the championship. He's lost. They've lost 16 times

34:58

of Coventry this season. And yet they're somehow in

35:00

the top six. They've lost more than a third

35:02

of the games. Let him lose some more games

35:04

in the championship next year. Yeah. Keep him away

35:06

from us. He gets more at his stock rises

35:08

again and there'll be some Prem Club's think. I'll

35:11

tell you what, Lampard's got Coventry. That's what I mean,

35:13

because come up and it'll achieve nothing. They're

35:15

so ill -prepared. Some new idea owner will

35:17

employ him again if he gets Coventry

35:19

up. I'd rather see him just... I think

35:21

that's good. No, I see. I

35:23

don't want to see him have the success

35:25

in the payoffs. I want to see him struggling

35:27

at Coventry for another season, ultimately finishing eighth

35:29

next year and then getting sacked. Although there

35:32

will be something quite poetic about the fact that

35:34

Coventry might finish sixth, which seems to be...

35:36

what he does in the championship. I would

35:38

say it's nothing against commentary either. No, no, no.

35:40

It's purely good club. It's purely lampard. It's

35:42

still not forgiven for 1987. So.

35:44

Well, fair enough. Just before my time. They

35:46

made me cry, though. That's fair enough. Yeah.

35:48

Yeah. I don't really mind, to be honest,

35:50

Beren. What I will say

35:53

is I'm looking forward to hate watching the playoffs. Oh,

35:55

yeah. I might just not watch them.

35:57

Yeah. Just pretend they don't exist. This

35:59

is beneath us now. Well, exactly. It's really

36:01

not my concern, is it? Yeah. I

36:03

tell you, it would be some spectacle

36:05

from a competition point of view. because although

36:08

Sheffield United on 86 points and 20

36:10

points ahead of Coventry, I mean, there's

36:12

something really hilarious about seeing Coventry knock Sheffield

36:14

United out. We're

36:16

31 points ahead of Middlesbrough

36:18

in 731. It's

36:20

a madly split division. And then for

36:22

absolutely ages, you've just had Sunderland somewhere

36:24

in the middle, not ever really close

36:26

to the top two, a million miles

36:28

away from dropping out the playoffs. But

36:30

you don't fancy anyone in there, do

36:32

you? Doesn't feel like anyone's coming into

36:34

this with a great run of form

36:36

behind them. It's all

36:39

very patchy. Sheffield United have obviously

36:41

had a disastrous period. Sunderland have

36:43

been bumbling around for a while, just not to be

36:45

ready. They almost lost the momentum. They sort of don't

36:47

know what to do. I guess Sheffield

36:49

United are in this for the last couple

36:51

of games as well. You were the point of

36:53

resting players to get keeping fresh. Or do

36:55

you need to keep a match sharp? Sunderland

36:57

have lost three on the spin. not. not. They're

37:00

They're not. They're not. They

37:02

know where they are and it's done.

37:05

They're finishing fourth and have been

37:07

for ages, so it's hard to

37:09

exactly motivate yourself. Can we please

37:11

keep Millwall out of the playoffs? They've

37:14

crept back into the picture and let's not

37:16

play them again. Although that'd be funny

37:18

if they came up. I know you want to escape,

37:20

and Michael, I know you do. I just can do without

37:22

them. You said that's the price for escaping the championship.

37:24

You don't have to play Millwall anymore. Yeah, exactly. I

37:27

mean obviously they're in league one as well, but

37:29

just like the annoyance of having to play Huddersfield

37:31

is all in that being a big thing. I'm

37:33

just glad to keep them away from us because

37:35

I can't be bothered with it. They're not having

37:37

a nice time either, are they? Oh, not at

37:39

all, no. No. Yeah, the gap from Plymouth to

37:41

a bottom to Middlesbrough, who are in 7th just

37:44

outside the playoffs, is 20 points. Yeah, and the

37:46

gap from Middlesbrough towards the top is 31. So

37:48

Borough are closer to bottom than the Ileads? Yeah.

37:50

Wild, isn't it? It's absolutely insane. Are

37:52

you going to get on to Plymouth on the final day for

37:54

the trophy? That's a long way. There's a lot of driving in it.

37:56

There are a lot of Leeds fans there, weren't there? I'm a

37:58

wedding, so there you go. I'm personally delighted for

38:00

the fact it's all done. Yeah, true. The promotion's done

38:03

by then because I'd have maybe slightly resented having to

38:05

go to this wedding. Oh, the title. missing out on

38:07

a big promotion in Leeds, a big promotion party. The

38:09

title won't be awarded until that game, though, will it?

38:11

Unfortunately. I realised that the other day, and it kind

38:13

of annoyed me a bit that even if And that's

38:15

not me presuming that we're getting it, by the way.

38:17

I'm going to say the possibility. But even if Burnley

38:19

lose and then we win on Monday, we don't get

38:21

the trophy, do we? Yeah, even though our goal difference

38:23

is not, they're not going to have a service of

38:25

14, but even still, they won't do it, just in

38:27

case. Which is a shame, really, because

38:29

it will be just, but that said, spreads it

38:32

a bit more, doesn't it? If you can win

38:34

it. Another Christmas day. But yeah, I was going

38:36

to say that said, yeah, returning to what you

38:38

were saying before, bearing about, about Monday, if, let's

38:40

say, let's imagine a world in which Burnley lose

38:42

at QPR and then we win on Monday. Even

38:44

if we don't get the trophy, the chance to

38:46

sing champions. Exactly. Yeah. Everyone can properly bask in

38:48

it. Yeah. And then to go to Plymouth on

38:50

the final day, who I imagine are going to

38:53

be down by then. Sadly. Probably. Yeah.

38:55

Can you believe they beat Coventry?

38:57

Yeah. And it made a difference because

38:59

everybody else won. I can ask

39:01

the killer in it. Finish the season

39:03

wins against Sheffield United and Coventry.

39:05

It's going to be nothing. Such a

39:07

killer that. Yeah. Although they

39:10

are away at... yeah,

39:12

this week who seemed to be trying to

39:14

play themselves into a relegation fight. Don't they

39:16

haven't been completely clear about the Robbins was

39:18

a bit worried in the post match on

39:20

Monday. They've they've if they don't sort themselves

39:22

out if they play like that in the

39:24

next two, they could be banging trouble. 50

39:26

points. Yeah, looking on 46. Yeah, you got

39:28

you are looking over your shoulder a bit

39:30

there on the end. They've got Sheffield United

39:32

next, which is going to be no walk

39:35

in the park for them. Although you do

39:37

wonder whether Sheffield United's heads have completely gone

39:39

three red cards. You think so? Yeah. Sheffie

39:41

and I just completely combusting. Yeah. Chris Wilder,

39:43

like, swinging haymakers at the touch line, him

39:45

and Robin's shirts off fighting. I'm just looking.

39:47

Preston have got two points from the last

39:49

seven games. Right. It's a

39:51

real good end of season. Do you know what?

39:53

It's much like the season. Heck, you finish with

39:55

those when it just absolutely nose -divered. It was like,

39:57

oh, God. They're only three points outside it. I've

39:59

got a bit of a goal difference. That's what

40:01

I mean. They need to get off the beach

40:03

quickly. They've completely played their way into it from

40:05

beating. Portsmouth in middle of

40:07

March, they've not won a

40:09

game. And if they've somehow managed to

40:12

drag themselves back into it, having achieved an amount

40:14

that you thought, oh, that'll probably be enough now. And

40:16

we'll definitely pick up another, at least one more

40:18

when people get us there. Sort of making me

40:20

feel a little bit nervous by proxy. They were

40:22

terrible. In fairness, they were awful out on the

40:24

road. No Preston, when we played

40:27

Preston, we should have won that by

40:29

three or four. And

40:31

so, and I wouldn't necessarily mind

40:33

seeing Hecky relegated just for fun.

40:35

Just for a bit of extra spite, really. Just a little

40:37

bit of shard and fire. Yeah, just come the end

40:39

of the season. Imagine it. We could have easily passed 100

40:41

goals this year, and possibly, I think, barring

40:44

a few. Ricks, shall

40:46

we say, we would have possibly done the points record

40:48

as well, depending on how things go in the

40:50

next two games. Yeah. I mean, I don't

40:52

have a point of finger at Mellier again, but you

40:54

look at the games where he has made those high -profile

40:56

errors, and that gets you beyond 100 points if they do

40:58

win the last two. But again, it's... Stop being a

41:00

naysayer. It's all about 100 goals. Two games left. That's true.

41:02

Yeah, if we can do six per game. between now

41:04

and then. It's a big

41:06

ask, I would say. But

41:08

you know. Stranger things have happened. Let's give it a

41:10

go. Well then, do we

41:12

wrap it up there? We've had a

41:14

nice time again. We're just going to basically

41:17

talk about promotion for the next two

41:19

weeks. Probably do it, won't

41:21

it? Speak to everyone about it. That's how

41:23

nice it's been. What

41:26

have you got for propaganda? The Sheffield United

41:28

fans are all right. They already knew it. The

41:30

upset was a week, two weeks ago. They

41:33

expected exactly what we did. They expected

41:35

us to win. They expected to probably

41:37

lose. So it's fairly low.

41:39

The acceptance stage. Fairly low jeopardy. Yeah.

41:41

Yeah. They've taken it quite well. They just...

41:44

But that said, don't leave it out.

41:46

Oh, no, no. And it's quite insane. And

41:48

I watched the... Oh, the Cardiff boy

41:50

bless him because they threw it at home.

41:52

to Oxford. They are in trouble. Yeah,

41:54

they're pretty much down. So Cardiff are second

41:56

bottom on the same points as Plymouth.

41:58

They'll stay above them because, again, the goal

42:00

difference is too great to overturn, but

42:02

still giving out tight ears down there. Their

42:04

goal difference is considerably worse than Derby

42:06

and Hull. So, yeah, he was, he's

42:08

very sad. Bless him. I felt really sorry for

42:10

him. But this is going to be some funny stuff

42:12

too. I believe Manchester United Football Club

42:15

have lost some games. I've not got into that stuff yet.

42:17

I've just noticed it's Hull Derby at the weekend. They

42:19

game that. Hull were in the playoffs last year,

42:21

weren't they? Yeah. They're in big

42:23

trouble. Oh, yeah. Were they in the playoffs last

42:25

year? I can't remember. They were very close. No, no,

42:27

no, no. They nearly got injured. I've seen you

42:29

had them there. Yeah, they just missed out in the

42:31

end. Yeah. He's doing good

42:33

things in France, but okay. See,

42:37

a propaganda will be a treat. We don't quite know what's

42:39

going to go where yet. Do we? I think we're just

42:41

piecing ourselves back together this morning, Wednesday morning,

42:43

when we started recording this. Obviously,

42:45

like Monday, Tuesday, generally the days for

42:47

putting propaganda together. And they were

42:49

not for that. Hold up

42:51

the can of beer. This is actually still here

42:53

from the other night and he's not open it fresh.

42:55

In fairness, I can smell it

42:57

again now. Yesterday, it may have been a

42:59

bit of a struggle for me, but yes,

43:02

the Lowfields Lager. Look at that can. Yeah. And

43:04

you can find that at lowfieldslager.com, which

43:07

will send you to the web shop. We've teamed up with

43:09

Kirk Stilbury, haven't we, to do a beer? Celebrate.

43:11

Celebrate moments. Celebrate beer. And

43:14

all that. Beren, I want to leave

43:16

you on this thought. We had witnesses

43:18

in the West Stand over... the Easter

43:20

break, the Easter Monday game, and said

43:22

you were singing lead songs. I

43:25

can't believe you dropped that on me. Or

43:28

were you just being swept along by the moment?

43:30

Maybe. I think marching on together is very hard not

43:32

to sing under your breath when the players are

43:34

coming out. I can't remember singing any of the lead

43:36

songs, but... Did you sing the song about Wilder? No.

43:39

No, I definitely didn't. I

43:41

think it's no secret the fact that the job

43:44

is much better when leads are doing well, and

43:46

we're only human, aren't we? When it stays like

43:48

Monday, it is amazing. It's just you try to

43:50

soak up the best you can. Definitely

43:52

at fist pumps when Pirro scored. Definitely. I've exchanged

43:54

messages with Phil Hay this morning and he's

43:56

pleased as well. So it infects you, doesn't it?

43:58

It infection, you, but there's no there's no

44:00

getting out of it though. We're in

44:02

for life, but enjoy the moment and we'll, yeah,

44:04

we'll speak to you in a bit.