Man United’s Downfall After Fergie & Roy’s Ryder Cup Rage! | Stick to Football EP 98
Oh, I love my bit of sun at this time of the day. Do you? This is perfect. Last bit of summer this as well. And it but it drops, you know, it gets cold and it gets Where are we doing the show from here? Just going to do it here. Where where am I s I want to be? Well, if we’re going by stick to football, you’re here. Oh, no. I’ve got me back to the sun. I will move. I will move. Give me a second. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, stop. But you’ve got the backing behind you. We’re not living, are we? This is my best time of the day. This bit of sun. I love holiday between half 4 5:00 till about half 7 where it’s not so intense the heat. Yeah. I just need a half an hour blast. If I get a half an hour blast, that’ll do me. It’s not too hot either, is it? When it’s this time of year as well. I don’t ask for much. I just It’s all you need. Good people, bit of sun. Bit of peace. It’s all I ask. Bit of peace. Why don’t people give you peace? I mean, people, places. It’s why you need to be in the hills here, though, isn’t it? I should put me speedos on. What? Speedos. I love that. Forget the show. Just leave me here. Oh my god. Do you like the sun? I love it. You happy to sit up for hours or I don’t think it depends what time of the day it is now. Yeah. I couldn’t in the middle of the day. It’s hot up here earlier when we were setting up. Oh, just that breeze is nice, isn’t it? Yeah. See, this what happens. People spoil it. Look, these coming in here now. That’s what I mean. See, this ruins it and beyond noise. You know what I mean? I should do my own podcast on my own. Just think just I’ll let just chat. No, even just on my own. Just you can just talk. Just chat. Just you talking. Okay, man. We’re not living. I I definitely want to move to a warm climber. Where would you move though? Rome. Move to Rome. I prefer Italy to Spain. Everyone seems to go to Spain, don’t you? Yeah. I think I I prefer Italy. I was think if I came to Italy when I was a player, maybe would have like really stayed, but would really like embraced it. You know, the language, the food. What a life you two. Eh, it’s What a life. What a life. Where am I? Over there, Gary. I’m in Roy seats. I need to get up. Where? I know. I move on. Where did it all go wrong? E should do this more often, Gary. Yeah, we should. I must bit hesitant about it really. I thought you I thought they’d all say no. They like they love it. I think everyone else will do it and I think about say no. Could we just do from different locations? I think we should get an overlap villa. Do you not need sunglasses? I tell you where we should do it. Sunglasses. I tell Yeah, I know. I tell you where we should do it. We should do it in Royy’s um coffee shop thing he took us to do that little barn area. That would be good to do it in one week. I tell you where else we should do it. We should do it at the AR shop in Liverpool. It’s hard though, you know. It’s tight to get the I feel like when you when um the finished when the end of what’s that film Oceans 11 or 12 when they walk out onto that balcony like Oceans 12y, you’re overdressed, right? I’m not I’m f I ain’t got that sun needs to go. I’m telling you needs to Oh, it’s perfect. Can I sit there? No. Cuz he’s happy there. That That’s You can stay there then. Yeah. Oh, on my own. No, don’t have anybody. Right. He’s next to you. Oh, Ry. No arguing today. I’m not going to argue. I’m not in a mood. Ro, look. Look where we are. We can’t be arguing today. Don’t start. Don’t start. I just put myself in Ry’s shoes. Right. You can’t believe your luck over here working with us. You are living the dream. I’ve been around at Burnley for all them years. Crystal Palace. Get out of that. Get out of that. You’ve been offered a contract by BT at the time, hadn’t you? Nobody said I had. It’s infuriating. I’m not meant to be sitting in my house infuriated by watching a football match. Am I showing personality and character by standing here getting like a volley of abuse? You know, just get down the tunnel. Oh, this is New York. This is New York. Thought he was in good fell. I’m dealing with a fan and that’s not getting in. I don’t need you to tell me what someone’s saying. Hey, I didn’t see him signing autographs afterwards, by the way. Right. So, you’ve had some journey since the end of football, haven’t you? How do you mean? You’ve reinvented yourself cuz no one liked you when you were. Well, Tom, tell me your journey. Let’s talk about your journey, right? From the end of football. You get to the end of football. How old are you? You’re the guest. You can be the guest today. 36, right? And then you’re 36. And then what happens? What do you What’s the first thing you do? What’s your first job? You know something? Um, ITV signed me up to do that um that um Ian the Friday Night’s All right show, right? Oh, they signed me up to do that. And so I I thought that I had um a life of um TV presenting coming up and it was pretty good at the time cuz you’re interviewing. Why did I ask you radio? Were you doing stuff before? You know what I done? I done I tell you what I done while I was playing. I done top of the pops. I done a thing of pop top of the pops and it’s quite chaotic because you have to do you have to be moving there. You have to do the link. Then you have to go. But you done a few top of the pops. I’ve done a couple of top of the pops. Um I’ve done a couple of them. That’s not live, is it? Is it live? It was. Yeah, it is live. Who are you presenting with on top of the pops writing? On my own, mate. On your own? Yeah. You presenting Top of the Pops on your own? There’s more money. Is there more money in if you’re by yourself if you’re doing somebody else? But right, that’s two iconic shows that you’ve been on like Match a Day and Top of the Pops. Probably the two most f would you say they’re the two most famous programs historically like Coronation Street maybe. Now you say Top of the Pops was massive and then Match of the Day is what it is. It’s the governor, is it? Yeah. But like Yeah. Yeah. I I thought that um I I I didn’t know I wanted to do the badges, but like the agents I had at the time, they they they steered me away from that. I told you, haven’t I? Yeah. I I really wanted to do those cuz I had a couple of years where I could have just like done those. See if I could have done them. See if I was capable of managing or doing that. And and now I’ll never know. I don’t think I could. But the time you mean the time commitment? Yeah. Yeah. I wish I could. I wish I would have done it when I had the opportunity. And people used to you you regret not having a go at management. Yeah. Well, it’s not even to do the management. It’s I I liked being in the dressing room. Even when I done that bit for MK Dons for a year. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Just love being in the dressing room. It was brilliant. Just being in there, seeing when the guys played well, when they played badly, it was really Wasn’t it crazy? Sorry, you make the point there, but for any of us, and I’m not I think doing the badges is good for you. But it’s a strange that a lot of ex players who played lots of games, I know I know there’s a commitment to doing your badges, but some players should be like, imagine Ry a big club now working with strikers. Do you think he needs coaching badges to do that? Does that especially if he’s got a lot of commitments like Riley makes points there about attackers and you’re thinking are these attackers or clubs getting them them kind of coaching points from a brilliant X striker. You know what Roy, I remember you’re like wasted in a sense, isn’t it? I remember I was playing um I have to drop one in. I was playing um golf with um Yoan Croy for when we was doing we had to play some golf in France in um UEFA golf day and he said the exact same thing. He said why why does a player who’s played all his career need to have a badge? Now I know there’s reasons why you need to have badges but said why would I need to? said, “Well, is it because you you can’t sit on the bench?” He say, “Well, stay in the stand and let someone stay down there.” But why shouldn’t you be able to manage if you wanted to? And it’s not, you know, the point is for like lots of expert, it’s not about going up necessarily taking coaching sessions. It’s just about giving key like when Dez was on a few weeks ago, Dez talks about center half, you go they’re just like usually like like factors for a player that they might be getting in coaches sessions, but just an experienced player. Imagine going up to Riley talking to his young striker at Arsenal or Man United and going listen these runs you it’s just a little point which you can give somebody go listen you wouldn’t get that I’m like I’m like that Roy people say to me about coaching I like to got no interest in it or something but obviously I talked to me son about the game he he plays my position but it’s it’s coaching but it’s not it’s not putting on a training session of like but it’s just your own experience of games and and and like perfect example was I did an antio’s goal against Brenford the other Hey. Yeah, I’m watching it and I’ve been there as a center back and I know exactly the mistake he’s made on what he should have done. That’s not because I’m a coach. That’s just because of you played hundreds of game top. No, you stay, you know, think situations like that. I’m le to believe I asked years. I don’t know if I I I’ve read somewhere Ajax do it where they get five or six ex players to come back every few weeks and they might look to watch 11 v1 against like a like academy players but like me going back into United or you going back in watching a game but I’m just focusing on the midfielder forget about everything else and after 20 minutes they stop the game and I would just go over to the midfield and go listen you’re getting drawn out too wide or you’re you’re you’re getting in the wrong position you’re not getting a half turn then the game and it’s only like 30 seconds you go yeah go back up and play You would go and speak to a fullback, you’d go and speak to a striker. That that’s priceless for a player. So you How long you doing that for? Top of the top of the pops. Well, I’ve done about I’ve done about um I think I’ve done a couple of shows and then that’s when ITV got um they offered me that um that Friday nights all right show and I remember I had to do it where I had to do a pilot Roy. It was a nightmare because it was just going to be network which is just going to be in London and then all of a sudden Lionel Richie said I’ll come on to it. So I think we had Lionel Richie, was it Chris Eubank, and I think Nasim, Prince Nasim Ahmed. I think we had I think those were those were the guests. What was your first show? Yeah. On your pilot. Yeah. Wow. Um Yeah. The pull and um and then what happened was honestly it was it was the it was the most I was I was petrified. Yeah. Because then now it’s national. It’s going all deep ended that really. It really was. And the thing is no auto quue. So I had to do all So I had to do all the um all the all the words and all the start and everything. Right. I want you to get us that copy of that and let’s put I wouldn’t want to watch it. No, let’s put some in the show. Be nice. Oh god. Watch and I had on all I had on all leather as well. I was trying to be like shaft but like um I remember I messed up the first two or three cuz it was a long monologue to start and it was live audience there. Family was there. Everybody’s there and I came out. Oh, sorry. Went out. Come back. It was like when I went back the third time, I thought I was going to cry. Said, “I can’t do this. I can’t do it.” I remember my guy, was it Bob Massie? Came out. He said, “Listen, you know what you’re saying. Just slow down. Stay take your time. Breathe. Just come out and just speak at a nice nice tempo. Just tell us what’s going on. What’s going on in the show here?” You know, don’t worry about what you what you’ve got in your head. What’s going on in the show? I know it’s hard though. You know what I mean? And then, you know something? I didn’t realize how tough it would be um when you’re doing a show that’s recorded because they could stop you when you’re in your flow and say hang on a minute can we just and then you know you have to start again and this is why once I started doing live I prefer to do live cuz bam it’s just happening as it’s happening but right I think that’s the most uncomfortable that I see pundits and feel myself is when you have to ask the managers questions sometimes when they come into the set you know I mean you’re thinking you’ve got to ask a and getting a question out concisely it’s like it’s difficult sometimes isn’t it you end up saying too much or you don’t say enough Oh yeah. And then the thing is as well what happened with me after I done that show then it started to get a bit of momentum and then I remember Michael Parkinson done this scathing like attack on you. Oh it’s honestly horrible. And the thing is I you know when you say you know what I just read I see what he said. There’s no need for that though. Honestly it it it hit me to the c it touched me to the core. You know what towards the end when he was he actually he did apologize to me for that piece what he wrote about me. Do you think he was worried? Is he still doing? It’s not that he was worried. I think was Was he doing that at the time? Yeah, he was there because like what happened was is that see you as a challenge. That’s what I’m saying. It didn’t seem as a challenge, but that show what I what Lionel Richie came to do with mine. He was meant to do that show and he said, “You know what? I’m going to go and do his show.” You know what I mean? And he came and done the Friday Night Right Show and I think he might have had a bit of a bit of the ump about that, but he done this and I read it and I was I honestly I was devastated. That’s not good. That it really it cut me to the to the deep. you could cut me deep and I was like gez. I think I think it’s like that when you get into a football team or when you get when you join a broadcaster, your first experiences of who you’re working with, they can either decide they can make you a failure or they can make you a success. I know sometimes you can stand on your own two feet, but if if the production team and the hosts, you know, bring you in and make it enjoyable, you’re going to be better, you’re going to enjoy it, and all of a sudden you think, “Right, okay, I belong here.” But it can easily go the other way. I’ve seen it easy to go the wrong way. And I thought that when I came out the first time to try and do it live, I thought this ain’t going to work out. I should have I should have stick to the coach. I wish I’d done the coaching. Well, what you doing during the day then? Right. You’re just doing the No, you’re doing You’re just doing a lot of reading on the on the guest that you’re going to be. Yeah. Yeah. You’re doing a lot of reading on that. Reading about could be that night. Did they help you out a little bit? Yeah, they were. Especially Lionel Richie. Yeah. In the end, you had to sing a bit of a song and it’s [ __ ] so cheesy. Righty. Bring the show, will you? I don’t know where that show is. I don’t want to see that show again. People I’m sure will find it now. But like it was um it was one of those where when it finished I think it’s the most relieved I’ve ever been relieved I’ve ever been. It was it was really tough. I found that very tough. But then you get going then all of a sudden after the first couple they said why don’t you try this auto quue? And then they put the auto quue and then they so they gave this long dialogue and I done it without even slipping. And I said could I have had this at the start and they said yeah we didn’t think you I said you didn’t even offer it to me. They could have taken away all of that. I could have been totally different. Why didn’t you go into hosting football shows like you know football focus or Cuz the managers and the agents I had at the time were they the monies that I was getting offered there entertainment. Yeah. Was was was much better from than um than anything else that I would have been able to get at that stage. And they wanted to keep it flowing like that. And it was just like a result for them because my career’s come to an end but now I’m going into television where I can go for another few years and they could do the exact same thing what they’re doing. It was it was easy for them. It was um it was poor decision for me. I should have got rid of those agents years ago. Ages ago. When I think about the three of us really. We I mean I I I didn’t know what I was going to do at the end. So I did TV. I did I did coaching badges and obviously a bit of coaching and then I did the businesses. I didn’t have a clue. But you were absolutely fixed. You’re right. You went into coaching. You were adamant you wanted to be a manager. You didn’t really want to be a pundit, did you? When you first I don’t know if I was I don’t know if I really wanted to be a manager either. Obviously I’d done my badges and then the kind of Sunderland snuck up on me. He had only just finished. So I wouldn’t say that was part of my plan, but sometimes something comes in front of you and you have a you have a look at it. That’s the Sun was I certainly wasn’t I’d only just retired from playing remember that was it was only a few months. Well, and when they asked you when they when they said to you well I I actually said no to Sunderland at the start and then I was wearing Holiday and I thought Sunderland obviously really good club they were struggling and instead of overanalyzing everything I thought why not and I and I had no regrets. I thought yeah I’ll go I’ll go up to Sunderland and give it a go. But it wasn’t part of my master plan, shall we say, even though I was obviously doing my coaching badges to at some stage to have a go off it. This episode of Stick to Football is brought to you by Arm Clothing. What advice would you give now all of us to a player that’s getting to 32 33 and they’re about to get to that point whereby their adrenaline rush every week’s going to go and they’ve got 35 40 years of their life left and they know they’re going to end up basically not stimulated every day if they unless they do something. What advice would you give them now? You know the thing is girl is that um what everyone says playing football for a living is the one it’s it’s the greatest thing that could happen to a boy for me from where I come from it’s the greatest thing that can happen to us so to be able to do to make a living out of what you love what you’re passionate about to be able to do that then that’s coming to an end you have to try and find something yeah because because if you try to find something that’s just going to get you a job to for you to just continue to be you’re it’s not going to happen for you and this is why we But you can’t just say I’m going to go into the media because you don’t know whether whe that path’s going to be successful or not. No, this is why you have to find something. You have to be a bit openminded. Very openminded. A lot of ex players the danger is obviously the biggest challenge for a footballer is when you stop playing. Yeah. Don’t sit in your backside either and thinking something happened like try management right try go into whatever you might want to do then you’ll find a path that works for you even even when you’re 32 33 you don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few years but something will open up for you. But don’t be sitting on your backside. Now that advice, Roy, I got that advice uh from a sounds a local comedian in Liverpool called Willie Miller. Now, he did the after dinner probably took the piss out of here. Uh but he’d obviously see your next players. He was he was in with the play. He knew the players well and so he he do the after dinner stuff with them and all that and and something he’s always he just he just said to me when I was coming to the end and listen I had Sky and things going on. He just said, “Fill your diary.” And it’s always stuck in my head as if like you this thing advice that fill your diary and that was all it was. And it was a bit like always makes almost like you not every single day but you’ve got somewhere to go. You’ve got something to do. You do. And the sky thing was obviously a weekend, isn’t it? You know, you got you got off the because I remember getting the call. I was remember was I was in um I was in Norway or Denmark. I can’t remember which one it was. And you’d been offered a contract by BT at the time, hadn’t you? Nobody said they had. Yeah, I could see you doing that. Sky Sports producer ring me say, “Look, Cara’s been off the contract by BT, but he’ll only come to Sky Sports if he can do Monday Night Football.” And I said, “Yeah, I’m okay with it. You’ll bring him on.” But that’s what he said to me that you’ve been off. Car I thought that they deliberately put you two together because of Man United Liverpool. No, he wasn’t planning like that. I what happened with me was my I I knew I was finished at the end of me contract. I had 12 months to go. So in the in the summer Roy, we did we done the Euras, didn’t we? Yeah. So not we I mean I joined you were part of ITV. So I did it that summer not because I wanted to be a I wanted to see what it was like. And that summer that summer I said to Kenny who’s the manager of Liverpool just before I the season had finished. Could I shadow you shadow you over preseason? I’ve I’ve just fell out the team. I know me last year. I’m going to get really get back in. I wanted to just have a little It dipped me toe in bit of punditry. Yeah. And then Kenny lost his job. Uh obviously he he he he changed him for Brendan Rogers. So Brendan Rogers came in and I was on holiday phone. We had was on the phone for about an hour talking about football, his ideas, his plans and he just said at the end of the phone call, “Would you want to be a player coach?” I said, “I’d love to.” I said, “I’ve had this conversation with Kenny and you know, it’ll give me a good opportunity.” And then I met him face to face in Liverpool and he changed his mind, which you know, so we brought Mike Marsh in from the uh the academy and he’d worked with Jose Brendon. If you remember Jos, every club he went to, he almost he sort of promoted a club man sort of next to him, didn’t he? I think Steve Clark did that at Chelsea. He did with Kieran McKenna. Nice. Exactly. So I think maybe I don’t know if Brendan was thinking okay next Liverpool player’s got more coaching experience you know get that and I was fine with it was fine no problem and but he’d offered you that he’d offered you the job ide coach Brendan he said it on the phone and then I’d never met him face to face so it was just a chat on the phone he said would you like to do I said I’d love to yeah who do you think’s put him off that before he’s met you then or anyone could be anyone you know what it’s like people always say don’t they an experienced player he could be after your job or something like that was that was what people used to say years ago didn’t they or something you know that’s got to be that’s got to an element of something in it because you know Jamie Carra got one club man you know coaching in the background if it’s not going well for me maybe you know you say Gary have a plan but sometimes you have to be adaptable don’t you if the coaching door shuts and you be ready to whatever you say about ex players there’s there’s loads of media opportunities I’m I’m not saying that’s for everyone but be prepared to like righty go throw yourself into the deepest it is you know beggars can’t be choosers sometimes it’s do what might be local radio might be mainstream TV, but be be ready. But you know the thing is though, just on that with Roy, I I’m pleased that I went and done that because I don’t want to do that. Every now and then they ask me to do I want to do the football now and that made me realize I want to do it. Talk about football. Yeah. Sometimes you do something and then it proves you don’t want to do it. You know what I mean? You got to dip your toe into it. What it be about management, coaching, media stuff? There is opportunities out there for ex players who’ve had listen some sort of career. Don’t sit at home going, “Oh, I’m the ex player. I played.” No, no, no. you have to get up off your backside and do something whatever it might be. I I think I made a when I look back now I think I’ve never been obviously in coaching. So I don’t know what the buzz would be like when you get a result or how you feel afterwards but the way I used to feel as a player when it hadn’t gone well and we’d lost. I look back now I just think you know what I I don’t want that. I love football. You know I love football but that feeling I used to have to get beat that feeling. The beauty then if you if you’ve been an experienced player you just mentioned there coach young players or you become a manager or a coach and then you go into punditry. Oh that’s a big help. It has to be. This is a different type of you get asked questions that we about management or coaching or dealing with a player. You know, you have all got that experience that I haven’t. You mentioned losing as a player. You’re right. When you’re a manager, I could imagine honestly I used to touch myself. Yeah, of course it I remember even like with MK Dons done it with Kyle Robinson for for that year and it is it’s seeing what it used to do to him and how it used to make him feel because obviously he’s got to put on one face for the for the players whether he’s angry or he’s sad cuz he can’t say certain things to certain players who he thinks let him down we’ll talk about those players and that players he could have played better and then afterwards when you’re in like me and him driving back in the car sometimes you I think he’s going to cry. Yeah. Really? And I thought to myself you know after the year I remember my miss I said I I can’t do that. I don’t think I could do that. I don’t think I’ve got the the personality to be able to to do what what I saw him do. Go in and lie about a player that should have done more for him or players that haven’t done what he’s asked him to do and then say, “But hey, just keep I can’t I can’t lie.” And what happens recently, I think again players are having more power. We’ve seen on them. I don’t want to go back as far as the Bosman ruling, but the players have so much power now. Every time you read a manager interviews, they’re just desperate to keep the players on side all the time. So even if you do have a go to player, even if it’s through the media, you’re just worried basically you need the players more than they need you. And that’s that’s a hard place to be sometime. This episode of Stick to Football is brought to you by Arm Clothing. [Music] We’ve all become pundits or people who work in television mainly and offer opinions on players. Do you ever think about the responsibility that you have? Obviously, you’re an ex player, so you’re looking you’ve been where they’ve been, you’ve made their mistakes, and you’ve been criticized. It’s never pleasant when you’re criticized as a player or a manager or a coach. You know, it’s awful at times, particularly if you think it’s personal. What about when you see pundits, sorry, when you see players or you see managers talk now about the fact that what’s being said in the media is having a big impact on players. I know the easy trope and I’ve thrown this out in the last week and I thought, should I have said that? Oh, you shouldn’t be playing for Manchester United if you can’t take the criticism. That’s that’s a that’s the that’s the obvious reply, isn’t it? And there is an element of that. But is there more than that now with the almost the the elevation of of the noise that exists around everything? But if you’re gonna if you’re going to play a top level sport, you’re going to have to get used to setbacks and criticism. That is part of that that’s part of your journey. Is it more constant now for the players? different obviously again to when we go back to we played there more social media there probably is more media coming more podcast there is but I I think the top sports people have a mental strength to say again nobody likes getting nobody likes getting criticized but the top people have a way in their brain of going I’ll just push that to the side you have to that is part if you’re going to play four five 600 games you’re going to and some sometimes it is personal personal on me right yeah but and sometimes it is from from certain people but Right. So, who was personal on you? Sorry, Ry. When when we’ve all been criticized, I think some days most of it does feel personal. Of course, like all the all the all the rag papers like you know, so the newspapers back in the day. Yeah. And and plus because I think because it comes in that’s from journalists, isn’t it? Yeah. But the thing is it was it was kind of criticism that was um that went further than football. Yeah. Yeah. So then, you know what I mean? It was just it was just nasty. Whereas you talk about like me now I know off the back of how they made me feel I would never be criticizing people to the point where they do you ever feel you’ve overstepped the mark right is it can you think of any time where you feel like you might have been a bit too harsh on someone no I think that you know what it’s funny because like with Micah even though obviously I’m tight with Micah um I remember he was playing for Villa once I was doing a doing some punditry on match of the day and he was a captain at the time and I mentioned the fact that as a captain I I don’t think he should he should be there. He should have been. And I don’t think that had anything to do with it. And I think he was right. He was vexed with me for a for a bit. But like other than that, I don’t I don’t really I don’t go for that person because I don’t dislike anybody enough to say I’m going to say something that can throw him the other way. What what do you think about the fact that when we’re speaking you talk about the player, what do you think about the fact of the impact on their families? Yeah. Well, now it’s even because I know how you if I was criticized, I know it actually would impact my mom and dad more. You know, the thing that happened with me is that I used to get in trouble for my mom because I used to even when I scored, they’d find a negative of what happened in that game. If I had a conflict with um with the ref or with a fan or something, they’d find a conflict amount of times that police are waiting outside the dressing room because they said Ian Wright made a gesture. And what would happen was is that my mom, my aunts, and older my uncles, those people who read that, they believe all of it. Yeah, they believe it. So my mom, I’d always get my mom would say things to me, “What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you be normal? Look how long it’s taken you to get there. Why are you being like this? Why why you acting like that?” And I said, “I ain’t done nothing.” I said, “I’ve not done nothing. This is what they wanted. This is what they wanted to betray me.” I didn’t honestly, Roy, in some of them game, I didn’t do anything. I remember I scored a hat-tick at Yoville in the cup. They went, everybody went up to Yoville to watch Arsenal get beaten by the giant. Can he score a hat-tick? I done a thing like that like this cuz I was getting stick from him. I done that and they took the picture where it was just the two fingers. They said, “Why does he have to spoil it?” Right? Cuz they took this picture out of it. That finger out of it. So it looks like I’m giving two fingers. Chipper one of them. Yeah. I remember a beautiful chip. Remember what I And the thing is I didn’t want to do it but it set your family your family I I I think when you’re a player you you I don’t know what us like you I used to almost create this bubble around me where like it was just you know if things weren’t going well you know I drive to training I train come home I deal with the people in the dressing room and the manager and it’s just like but it does affect your family because you get you you create this it like this you know ball of steel around you a little bit but the worst thing with your family is if someone is criticize izing you know a phone in or Liverpool supporters they tell you and you be like that’s what happens don’t leave me alone don’t worry about it you’ve got to deal with it and I’ve got to deal with it I’m dealing with a fan and that’s not getting in I don’t need you to tell me what someone’s saying but it does it does affect you know I know it affected me dad all different surely when you’re playing again that level I I think no matter what criticism I was if I had a bad game or going through a bad phase it’d never be as bad as the criticism I would give myself yeah your family course they pick You were too hard. I’m talking about myself, but I’m thinking about all of us here. I I look back at my kid and think I was far too hard on myself. And and I I don’t know, Jamie, but I think I think that’s why you played 700 odd games. I get it. I think you need to be your own worst critic. You have to be you have to be judging myself if I didn’t. So did I because I was I The thing is coming in the time I came in, I always thought it was going to get taken away. I always thought Yeah. But that would drive you on, right? Honestly, I think people say about you, you were you were hungry. You were afraid of Yeah. But that so that being harsh on yourself also I tell you what Roy you know when when I signed for Palace after going through all the trials and then you finally sign and then he says Steve Copel said I’m going to sign you as a professional and honestly everything just light lit up in me then he said for 3 months I was like [ __ ] talk about the light the fire and [ __ ] extinguish it. Oh can I ask you something? What if he gave you a three-year deal on the spot really good money? Would you have then maybe not as hungry? Do you reckon? I don’t. At the time, Roy, I was so I was just so pleased that even he said that even when he said that he knew, it stayed with me for for for a little while while I thought Okay. So, you said you went to Arsenal. Arsenal weren’t throwing out money like crazy to you. So, that kept you No, Forest used to do it. United, well, I don’t know about Liverpool. It’s well documented these clubs or these managers that go, “No, just keep them keep them on their toes.” Yeah, maybe that’s what he’s doing. Yeah, of course. That’s what exactly what he’s doing. Keep the hunger. That’s the we see young players now get four or five year deals. We see it all the time. They get huge money quickly and they just lose the eye of Tiger. You see it? I think that’s what kept me that’s what kept because I never stopped thinking like this this next contract I two years. That’s my last I never stopped thinking like that because I was like I was the same. You know what I mean? I bet you we were all the same. And then when you got good money you thought I better get I better really improve now because I’m on big money. I don’t want them thinking oh he’s relaxed now because he’s on X amount a week. So it just drove you on. and all the top players we worked with. It’s never about the money. It’s about the challenge about you know Roy with the amount of money that they get now on that the amount can that do something. I don’t know if it would do anything to me. I don’t know because I never got the money what they got. But that’s where the people around you and your family. It it doesn’t matter if you’re on 10 grand a week, 100 grand a week. The people around you, you about your family hurting your family, my that’s all good. They’re all feeling the pain when you lose a match or you’ve had a bad spell that keeps you that that drives you on. That’s your DNA. This episode of Stick to Football is brought to you by Arm Clothing. I want us to go back to 2012 13 and Alex Ferguson is about is 6 months away from leaving and David Gill is six months away from leaving. What can Manchester, if you go back to that period now, what do Manchester United do that means that they don’t have the next 12 years that they’ve just had which is lack of investment in the stadium, lack of investment in the training ground up until this year and and a team that’s underperformed and spent 1.5.6 billion pounds. How does that what if you go back to that route there? What changes? Well, there was always going to be a drop off, wasn’t there? was the Roy because I say that but then I look at to be fair a couple of I look at what slot’s done after club I know it wasn’t quite the same dynasty and I think Joe something that sort of made that changed my mind a little bit because after Wenger there was there was a drop off with you and I emry after slot after club I was expecting there to be a drop but there wasn’t so what could have been done there in terms of sort of think about this massive problem that’s been created for the club chopping and changing managers Dave Moyes after eight months you think when you look back I mean I was I was on television at that time. It was my first year, well second year actually at Sky and I was adamant that they couldn’t sack him just purely out of Manchester United had always given managers time and I went just stick to what you do. Now he was having an awful time and it was it was you say an awful time was he jokes aside where where were United at the time? How bad was it? I I think seventh that season. Was it seven? I thought it was it was right. The drop had gone from first to seven though. It’s like I’m not used to seeing United there. That’s what it is. I get that. But why you’re on the club’s trying to do the right thing, whatever, and obviously result for honorable at United, you have to win. So David Moyes signed and he signed a six-year deal when he goes there. Yeah. He’s gone eight months later. Yeah. That’s not good. Is that David Moyes’s fault or the club’s fault? I think do do you think the team I I always look at that team and I and I I think I I said this at the time that that team won the league the year before, didn’t he? Yeah. Yeah. Robin Van. Yeah, you know, Ferguson’s record and you know, he’s right some of the greatest probably managers we’ve ever seen was his brilliance in almost fooling everyone at that. Yeah, that’s and I’m not having a go at this. I mean, they won the league and they won it by a decent margin, but when you sort of they didn’t really buy anybody big that summer. It was almost like we’ve got a title winning team. Let’s just take they were getting they were getting Bale Cristiano back. They were getting Baines. They were getting Fabregas. they were getting. Yeah, that didn’t help David Moyes. The speculation of the players were getting in and then remember the last minute deadline they got in it. So I think again straight away the fans were like well David Moyes been in Everton. This again this is perception what fans are thinking about. He’s never won a trophy which at Everton we’re bringing Everton players in. So already some managers go in there like they almost snook it from the start and David Moyes he said it a few times. He he had these kind of players lined up and he spoke with him and the deals were never done. Do you think that like sorry when Liverpool when Klopp won the league with Liverpool? Yeah, I know you’re on change of manager. Where did it finish the following year? Didn’t have a proper drop off. They did Roy but to be fair to them they lost four center backs to all the circumstances around it but Liverpool where you go clock one you going it’s I think they finished fourth right but like a point so I think I’m going to say I think they were like 30 points off. They only they only got fourth in like the last stage. Yeah. And I think they were like 30 points worse off. So it can happen in terms of different circumstances, but it was always going to be a drop off. Guys, you talk Yeah, but you’re talking about then what they need to be doing now because you have to start somewhere United in what’s going on now because like it seems like it’s you can’t see you can’t see the No, we’re at a point you can’t see the end at the moment. You can’t see the end. So when when you look at him like what’s it Jason Wil was he the he’s the technical director now he’s the sporting director. Well, Man United are are just what promoting. Why don’t they go out and get a a top director of football who is going to look City wouldn’t do that. Arsenal wouldn’t do that. Well, United did do that, didn’t they, with Dan Ashwood? Yeah, but then what? Look what’s happened to What’s happened to him? They have to go again. How many months was he there, Dan? 5 months. Wasn’t long. Did they wait a couple years for him? He had big compensation and he’s out the door with him. Wait a year. He’s surely they’ve got they’ve got to do something about that. They’ve got to do something about their director of football. You can’t just He’s the technical director. How comes all of a sudden now he’s good enough to be the director? That’s now I mean I mean to be fair we can go to now but I was talking about back then when you think about what’s happened. Yeah. But we would never envision what our man this this for Man United. So you’re thinking okay it’s not working out for Moyes but they’ll get a manager. It’ll be fine soon. And then it just hasn’t. That’s what you’re thinking. You know the we before about punditry and us putting uh things that we say at times can affect other players but when you you think of predominantly Manchester United they are they are the club in this country have probably most eyes on them and media on them and and we say you can’t be good enough or you’re not a Manchester United player if you can’t deal with that. But do you think they do you think it’s tough for them to become what they’re not a Manchester United player straight away. They almost have to grow into being a Manchester United player. Do you think they’re almost it’s too much for them before they even become what you want them to be in some ways? Cuz it feels like so many players at United leave. I don’t say they they go and be amazing world class players, but you think they do a lot better somewhere else than they do at United. It feels it feels like that happens at United. I definitely think there’s something going on at United in terms of the environment has to be. The last few years have been too many good managers going in, too many good players go in and it’s just it’s just not happened. They listen they’ve had some cup runs and they’ve been a cup team but yeah there must be something going on again my my mindset always thinks of what the training ground is like. What’s the culture like? Are they driving each other on? Are they training properly? Are they all are they all are they decent lads? Have they got enough quality to play for Man United? Are they brave enough to play at Old Trafford when things are going against him every time he gets into an armrest and now they seem to go under. What is the What’s the Yeah, but Roy, what about the what about the fact that Man United’s old ethos is built on youth? Look what they look what’s happening to the players who come through the academy at United at the minute. Yeah, that’s something as well. We go you could go back to the Busby Bay all the way to class of 92 to now look at Main Rashford McTominay where you can go what’s happening with that with Man United. The one thing I’d say right when we we’re not daff and I’ve said this before when we played at United we we’re not that we knew there’s there’s a business side to football of course but I always felt that United rightly or wrongly that was always about the football first and then there was obviously a business side to it in terms of tickets and chairs or whatever about yeah but that comes from the football but I think it seems to be it’s more about the business side and the football seems to be behind the business side that’s how it feels and that’s all we’re reading about United the numbers and new stadiums and this and I think I’d like to see it be a good business as in, you know, build amazing stadiums, training grounds, have amazing facilities, fan experience, all I’d love that because I don’t think they could I don’t think they actually you have to have one or the other. I think you can have an amazing business and I think you can have an amazing football team. Doesn’t that come with the success of the team? That’s the kind of thing that comes right. We’ve got a great team. Let’s keep let’s build up our um our training ground, our training facilities and let’s keep that going because our teams do it should be all driven by surely football and football of course is football’s number one of course football’s anyway but we look when you look at United we I don’t see it as United that we were involved in it just doesn’t seem certainly doesn’t seem the same nowhere near the same this episode of Stick to Football is brought to you by Armed Clothing. [Music] The Super 61 million pound jackpot is still up for grabs. It’s crunch time. If it’s not won by the 26th of October, the season leader will be walking away with the lot. So now is your chance to get involved. It’s completely free to play. Just predict six scores this weekend and the money could be yours. So, if you fancy becoming a million pounds richer, get your Super Six picks in before 3 p.m. on Saturday the 18th of October for a chance to win 18 plus TNC’s apply. [Music] No, Should we start the show? Oh, is this the show? Oh, sorry. Jesus. I I thought we done. We’re in Rome, by the way. We’re in Rome. Hey, nice. It’s brilliant. E. Hey, we weren’t expecting this. Brilliant. What show was that in that one show? sat at home last I was sat home I was sat at home last night and thinking oh why did we agree to do this why didn’t we just do our normal show in our normal thing but then actually now we’re here you got someone just put on a favorite Italian dish ko peppe is that pasta can you pepper now you know this one where you got that block of cheese oh yeah served in a block of cheese block of cheese and then you put fancy that that’s ketchup pepper uh favorite Italian dish fish. Well, right is the guru on it. He knows everything how to eat and pronounce it. You’re going to let me go with that. Jesus, I only told you not to cut your pastor off. Jesus. No, it’s the torn. It wasn’t the in front of everybody. Carrie, are you not doing Italian food? Lasagna. Lasagna. But you know something. There’s a thing about lasagna. I’ve got to have I’ve got to have crispy and not too much that creamy yellowy stuff dripping out. I know you mean a bit of It’s got to be a bit crisp on top. It’s got to be when you cut through it, you can slice it. I don’t lasagna just go away. Yeah, the uh the lasagna in Cassidal didn’t have a pool. That’s my He’s after free meal. Oh, what do I haveis in Swinton? I used to have I used to have Yeah. Used to have my own pasta in there. Roy, what’s your what’s your pass? Bit of spaghetti. Spaghetti bolognese. Yeah, nice to see. Yeah, I’m 442. Well, this program is going to be centered around We’ve done this before, but there is Is there anything in football that you’ve noticed lately that you would like to get rid of? To get and then we’re going to get rid of? Oh, long throwins. I’ve had enough. Yeah. Can you Oh, no. I love long throw. You can’t get rid of long throws. I’m glad they’re back. Listen, listen. It’s some of these games come back. But I’m I’m back. It’s an entry into the box. Jeremy, you know what J I remember when I was a kid, Wimbledon came up. So that must have been late 80s and it was like long throw in Vinnie Jones long throw. It was almost looked down upon. Okay. And then more teams done it, but it’s now become like every team in the Premier League has took a long throwing. Now I get it late on it or something. But you know what, Jame? Can I just say the game’s coming? I know, but Can I just say James had a good when you watch the games now people can get to the last third and it can still end up coming back to the goalkeeper. I’d rather them throw it in the box. I’m tired of seeing this recycling it back. Defenders defenders have got the best passing passing possession in the [ __ ] game. Carrie, you’re the best an analyst in the business. I want you to tell us why long throws have come back. Go and do some digging. I asked a question on Sunday during the Brenford City game. You know why I think it’s why why it’s come back? It’s not just long throwins. It’s it’s kickoffs. Have you seen kickoffs now? Everyone’s getting back now. Don’t forget if you go back 30 40 years, God rest the soul. Graeme Taylor was absolutely vilified for for that sort of style. Done it with Andy Gray in his first game for Poland. Yeah, you know, kicking out the corner flag and all all that and and and that was sort of looked down upon 30 40 years ago. The game has moved on to technically and you know, more football’s played. That’s fair to you know, playing out from the back. a more technical game where that’s Pep Guardiola and maybe we have gone too far with that. I think that is definitely there’s definitely something to say for that. But I think what what’s changed is I think when the big teams are doing it, it becomes fashionable. It’s not looked down of like say the smaller teams. So PSG last season actually started doing that kickoff in the Champions League and it came from I think Lewis Enrique took it from Le. There’s another French team in the in the French uh league who were doing that kickoff and maybe getting success from it. Paris Sanain started doing it. So then if the European champions are doing it, we can all do it. And if you actually remember Arsenal away in PSG in the second leg last season, they battered them for the first. Remember PSG couldn’t go and it was just long. Yeah. Long. So Arsenal now like almost the best setpiece team probably in the world. And it’s like, well, it’s good enough for the team top of the table. If it’s good enough for the league champions, so everyone’s doing it. It’s not like, oh, Big Sam’s doing it or Tony Purus is doing it. We we’ll turn our nose up at it. The best teams in the world are doing it and getting success. I’ve got another theory that if you think of what Charles Hughes did all 30 years ago, which was that basically position of maximum opportunity pommo, which was so wild widely um disregarded and actually to be fair at the time, blamed for England’s downfall in technical football for 20 years. I generally think this will be coming from data and AI and analysis of of of stats of where you lose and where you win games and how you score goals. I think this is coming from something that’s more clever than just I think it has caught on, but I suspect there is definitely data behind it somewhere now. But well, obviously well a set piece is done as a set piece. Do you know what I mean? We’re talking about corners and penalties. That’s always been a big factor in football. I think I don’t think anything in football now, I mean anything is getting left to chance. I think it’s like every mind squeezing everything out of I heard a phrase a couple of weeks ago and it was digital twin and I think these clubs and you and Phil go hey we set that I mean we called the chuckle brothers for 20 years digital twin amazing but you think about it right you can replay a game now through data analysis and AI and create the game again and say where would we have won that game if we what we done different and I think generally they’re getting fed like details and points almost like they’ve got they’ve played the game again on some sort of computer system like some form of digital tweet and they get all the data from it and they never do not see it as way an entry into the box and if the balls No, I completely agree. You’re getting big bodies in there. You get people Charles Roy did the biggest ever study and research program of scoring goals. He did like 10,000 games or something and he worked out that the ball had to get into this area so many times and you would win football match. It was like a it was a real deep piece of work. It was unbelievable really. Ahead of it time maybe before Yeah, it was before his time, wasn’t it? because now like you say it’s the margins now it’s about winning however you can it’s like like I saying about watching the the game it’s so hard to watch sometimes you watch football match um like Brenford and City the other day it was a tough one to watch when you were at England was I was with that long throne I’m I’m not joking Liverpool remember Liverpool’s great night against Barcelona they gave a couple of quick corners it was like so the set pieces I notic that long th pieces win world cups do you know I have a problem with long throws long throws I think to be fair it’s the time it takes for them to So for instance, when we used to do it, you know, I would sprint down the line if a center half was coming up. Pali sometimes came up for a long throw. He’d sprint, we’d do it quite quickly. It wasn’t like or Teddy would sometimes go and stand on the touch line and make a run like sort of five yards towards the six yard box and I’d throw it towards the six yard box and he’d come away from the center half. So what Teddy used to do really cleverly, let’s say that’s the touch line there, he’d run away from the center half. So basically the center half was never getting to him. He’s always just nipping it on. He was clever at that. Do you know do you know Thomas Frank when he came in uh at at Spurs this summer? So he he must have done something on TV and there was like a like a board behind him about what the day was you know like the the thing and one of the things was uh throwing auditions. Oh wow. So all the players used to b he’s coming new to the club there was like so people would see a long throw. Yeah basically. Yeah that’s what it was. Right. K did that at Sulford last year. I can’t remember which player it was now. They worked out like long unbelievable long throw. They just literally said, “Right, everyone go stand over there.” I can’t remember who it was. Did Liverpool get a throw in a throw in coach a few years ago when he was criticized for that clock? Well, surely a manager’s job is to find the best way. Arsenal got criticized a little bit. Everyone’s given a bit more credit now is you you find as a manager got to find a way to win a football. I think it’s unbelievable what Arsenal done on corners. It’s one of the I’m I’m mesmeri That’s your word. Mesmerized by Yeah. But then Jamie, it still comes down to the delivery is unbelievable. Yeah, how can they always get it right? Because they obviously they’re doing a lot of work on it. The quality of the ball in is un unbelievable. The thing I would get rid of would be the player going off for 30 seconds after getting injured. Oh yeah. I hate that. I think that’s so punishing for a player who might have been fouled or kicked, who’s gone down and needs treatment and then basically have to go off for 30 seconds, stand on the touch line and wait to get back on whilst the team to be fair who may have been the perpetrators of the foul could go and score or I I think that’s going to I think that’s going to cause a big moment in football at a key point where there’s a genuine injury or a genuine point where it can or something like that and they don’t let them back on and then all of a sudden there’s a massive goal scored 11 B10. I I get rid of that. um not calling the offside offside when it’s playing it go through. I can’t I just can’t take it anymore, you know? I I I can’t and and it makes me want to throw something at the telly every time and then you think, “Oh, maybe he’s not.” And then it gets down to and then the lines goes like that and I’m like, I just can’t. That is so infur it’s infuriating. I’m not meant to be sitting in my house infuriated by watching a football match because someone’s not calling someone offside when I’ve seen in my living room on my sofa is offside. Yeah, just put the flag up. What about managers? What about managers moving the manager technical area further away from the touch line so it’s not right on the edge of the touch line? I’ I’d actually give managers I’d give them more technical a little bit managers like did the Chelsea manager get done the other day for running out. Did he get but that was like a last minute goal? But did he get a booking for another was okay? I don’t mind that after every game now all managers on the pitch everyone shaking hands with each other for ages. The managers hugging other players all most teams all walking around the pitch and the home game of honor. Sorry, lap of honor. Yeah, I think they got that from the women’s game, you know, because the women after every women’s game, they all they walk all around the pitch. They’ve something that’s that’s something that’s just coming not not too long a you just shake everyone’s hands and leave normally. No, to Well, I I don’t mind away from home. If a if a team have won and then they all go over to the away fans, clap and then go off. I don’t mind that. I’m okay with that. Here’s one we’ve got to get rid of. What about when the the away team have got beat and being beat badly and they go and see the supporters? this new thing in I’m commentating on games and they stand there clapping like this. They all stand there and the crowds are going mad at them. It’s a bit like am I showing personality and character by standing here getting like a volley of abuse, you know, just get down the tunnel and and someone always ends up arguing. Jared Bowen did someone always ends up involved. Just just clap and go. Clap and go. Like clap clap and go. Right. I think I might have to make an apology. Why? What’s up? As we said, the World Cup final was basically uh uh I think the RDER Cup pushed it close. I thought, you know, I thought he pushed it close after incredible television that unbelievable. And what like I said for three days Roy saying it was over after how bad were the Americans by the Can I tell you something? Can we just talk about the Americans first? Roy, just quickly is they were so unco bro. Yeah. Yeah. It was disgraceful behavior and like the thing is is that that’s America at the moment. Well, the apple don’t fall far from the trees. Exactly. And that is where they are at the moment. And they they you know what? You know what? One of the worst things about that, none of the players have come out and apologized for the way that they’ve acted towards the the European players cuz that will not happen in a dare manner. I guarantee you in Ireland in two years time. It will never happen. It won’t happen. But they were wound up and pumped up. Keegan Bradley, all of them. Oh, this is New York. This is New York. And like we ain’t got no problem. thought he was in good fellow. We got no problem with banter and like but in their back swings shouting [ __ ] like you fat f to like Shane Larry when he’s getting ready to do his partner. It was just this gracefulness. No football no football match, no sportsman would go through what them did it put them off. Of course it put them off but they got through it. It put them Of course it put them off. Roy Rory told him to [ __ ] shut the [ __ ] up. While he was playing he turned around and told someone to shut the [ __ ] up. That doesn’t happen anywhere else. This is what I’m saying. The levels of me strength of their mentality is something I can’t even fathom. It was a brilliant watch. It was amazing. Ro said it was over in the first. It was over after two hours. Anybody who’s watched golf know it wasn’t over. It wasn’t over. It was over after two hours. Of course it was. It was Oh, you never know. You know something? Nothing happened on Sunday. That last day. It was over on Friday after after the start date. after I think only one of you got a couple of half. Yeah, because they knew they couldn’t lose it. Ian, America could never win after exactly after two hours. I can’t believe I’m here in two hours. I must admit on the Sunday on the way home from Newcastle Arsenal, I was watching for three and a half hours. I have to say there was a moment where you thought this could be No, it was never going to happen. That’s way it’s designed. It’s meant to be a little bit close. It’s like football team, you know, we’re four four and it up and they get one back. You go can happen go. No, it’s not going to happen. We’re four. This is why this is why this is why you put the players out. you put out. That’s why you you load it at the front with the better players and you try and put a couple at the bottom experience like Shane and Bob McInty that eventuality just in case it gets to a place where they cuz the Americans are much better at singles cuz they’re more selfish and it’s all about them. The English players and the European players are used to the foresomes and the four balls playing for someone else. It was over after two hours. I’m telling you now it was I’m not going to argue. You should have done a bet with me. I’d have won the bet. I’d won bet because I wonder I told you it was over after two hours. No, no, I bet because it was a better sporting um event than any I thought it was one of the highest pressure environments you could put in sport when you’re thinking about sort of the put the pressure that were going in and the sort of atmosphere. So, you tell me right I’m no expert in golf. I don’t play the game but I watch top level sport. So, you’re sending pressure on these players cuz some people were shouting become a footballer and go to leads or Anfield on a Tuesday night. Let me tell you these guys playing big torrens every week. cuz all of a sudden they’re going to be upset by a few yanks. These people are right in there. You know what? I’m not even going there because I know he’s right. You got Mroyy’s won all the big prizes. Do you think he’s going to be upset by a few people? It’s ridiculous. And then they get upset because of their partners. Let me tell you what you said to your partner. If I was a golfer and my partner was getting abused, I said to me partner, my wife, and my girlfriend going, “Just stay at the hotel, love. I’ll see you tonight when I get back.” Good. You don’t come to all the other tournaments. But guess what? You get a new outfit and you come to write a cup. Stay home. Right. See, you got a lovely new outfit. You got a new belt, new handbag. I’m going I’m getting loads of stick. Well, go home. Right. We need to get Rory back up. And I guarantee you they’re going back to a nice hotel. You know what I mean? No. No. You know why the You know the why the wiser Oh, here we go. Go on, Nick Faldo. Go on. You know why the wise are there? Because it’s meant to be a lovely sporting occasion where you bring your money. They knew that before it. They knew that. Ian, you are you? No one knew they were going. Of course they did. Ian, they knew they were going to get something. No one could say they knew the last 6 months. Wait till he come to America. He’s going to be of course they knew they’re going to get abused. They knew they were going to get abused, but it was never they thought to a football match. Cory M had to tell someone to shut the f up. Well, he shouldn’t be swearing either, should he? Hey, I didn’t see him signing autographs afterwards, by the way. He’s waiting for him. Yeah, exactly. Listen, I’ll give you that one. I’ll give you that. I’ll give you [Laughter] Don’t call me Nick F. I didn’t enjoy watching it. It was over on Friday. Oh, no. If if you’re a golfer, that was not over on Friday. You sit there and I was petrified right up until Shane Lowry cuz even when it was even when Shane Lowry done it for us to to retain, what was the final score, please? I’m serious. I think it was 1513. That’s a lot. It’s like 4-1 in football, isn’t it? Who’s the most annoying American golfer that you thought on this over the two or three days? It’s not even um that they were annoying cuz I I quite like um um Ryson Dashambo. You know who was annoying me? It’s Keegan Bradley, the captain. He’s the one that tried to call a foul on Justin running down with a Did I shoot him? Flag. Yeah, he had the flag. Yeah, he lacked class. Not like Luke Donald. Luke Donald. Oh, Luke Donald’s class actor. Class after two hours, isn’t it? Class Rider Cup at home. Donald on air. Should we get Luke Donald on air? I’d love to get him, can’t we? Yeah. Bring him on with who you like him on with. Captain. The best Donald. But if he’s the captain, Rory, why don’t you sign him autographs for them kids? If he’s a captain, tell Rory to sign the autographs for the kids. Rory did sign autographs for the kids. He just there was a couple of two two maybe one. Okay, next one. Years to come this someone’s going to say, “Yeah, Rory, you didn’t sign this for me. Now look at me. I’m star.” Awfully. This episode of Stick to Football is brought to you by Arm Clothing. [Music] Is there any sport that you’d like to get rid of? Sport? Yeah. Golf? No. No. Sport? No. It’s hard to say, then it everyone’s got different passion for different sport. Everybody’s going to play the so-called f the best sport. Sport sport sports where everybody find Yeah. find themselves. Are we refusing to answer that? Yeah. Yeah. Not asking that every sport. Give people give give brother a chance. If I had to pick one music, is there any band that everyone likes that you don’t like? I don’t I don’t feel the the Oasis vibe that everyone seems to be like going crazy for. I saw a lovely band you like, Manchester. Deacon Blue. I was there. Beautiful, wasn’t it? A good night. Blue are great. But like Oasis are great as well. Listen to the question. What’s the question again, Gary? Is there any bands that everyone likes that you don’t like? That’s what I’m saying. I said everyone likes feel it like you know I don’t think United don’t know about. See what I mean? This is what I’m saying. I can’t take it seriously. I’m serious. Jesus. It’s a simple question. Can I answer? You spoke for half an hour about top of the pops and hell and I listened. I was polite. I meant you in one of them moods. That’s what you said to me the other night. I went to the concert. I went to the Oasis concert. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms I’ve watched them like five, six times going back and I get it. They were absolutely incredible. Can I answer the question everyone and I’m going but I don’t feel them. That’s it. You don’t have I’m not been judging you liking them. Read the question again. [ __ ] hell. Jame, what is there any band that everyone likes? Don’t like. Yeah. I don’t know that many bands. I like Oasis like to be fair. Who’s the one Cold Play everyone goes to watch? I’ve seen them. Do you like Coldplay? Who does everybody like? You’re not feeling Cold Play. Is he? See? Yeah. There we go. I don’t I think they’re really good. It’s funny because it’s a bit fluffy for me and I’m not sure it because they support Spurs. No, it’s not because they support Spurs. I don’t know. You said that about City, you know. But like No, you say that. Yeah, just my message goes crazy. I’m not clean. I’m not clean. I’m not I just got words on these things. I mean, just that’s what normally happens. Food and drink. What does that mean? What What am I doing here? Get rid of a food. Sorry. Now the running order is important, is it? Thank you everyone. Pleasure to be here. I’ve got a riff. It’s because there’s no running order. There is. Okay. What What food and drink doesn’t everyone like? What food and drink does everyone not like? Not like Okay. I don’t like anchovies. Yeah. You don’t like them? Anchovies. I hate an green things. The little fish. The little green tapers. No. Olives. Olives? I don’t like You don’t like olives? I like olives. I don’t. You know what I don’t like? I don’t like people like on to what’s that nightmares with them when I was a kid. Don’t like rhubarb. Rhubarb. Yeah, rhubarb and I love that one. I don’t like rhubarb. I had I tried I tried it again the other day on a little pub lunch and I said, “Let me try it.” Maybe because I was younger. I just didn’t like it cuz I didn’t like the I [ __ ] hate Oh, you know what? I don’t like And everyone’s putting it on everything. Truffle. What? Truffle. It’s expensive. Truffle as well. Truffle. Truffle fries. Truffle mashed. Truffle everything. I don’t want truffle anyway. If they overdo it, G. It can be an overpowering thing. But truffle’s amazing. But like if they Why is it amazing? So it’s It just It just gives a nice flavor. It’s a lovely taste and that. But like if you put too much on it can be very overpowering. I don’t like I’ve never had a coffee in me life. What? Yeah. I don’t like coffee. Not a coffee drinker. Wow. Not a coffee. None of you coffee. I’ve never had never I mean I’ve had a to try it but smelling it as a kid and then everyone went coffee mad about 10 15 years ago was I got jealous of that. I got jealous of it because there was so many on the market. I just don’t drink coffee. Oh no, not for me though. Espresso is mine. If I smell espresso, it’s strong. That’s strong though. That’s strong, right? You like the taste of it. Yeah, but you can’t start on espresso. I don’t think I think you got to start on something with a bit more milk in it that’s a bit more sort of like It’s even like my favorite dessert like tiramisu. I love them. And like if it’s got too much of that coffee. I don’t like tiramisu. That’s funny. You don’t like tiramisu? No. Something on the news the other day actually. The more tea you drink, it’s actually quite he thinking loads of tea was bad for you. I’ve stopped drinking tea. No, but they actually said tea is actually quite good for you if you drink loads. I don’t know what to believe. Think it goes in cycles. What’s good for you and what’s bad for you? He just talks [ __ ] You know what I mean? I haven’t got a clue. It was that woman who called the news years ago and said, “Don’t eat eggs.” And everyone says eggs are the best thing you need. Was it What was her name? Edwina Curry. Edwina Curry. Don’t listen to her. Oh yeah, that was Salmonella. Is that not Oh, that was that was your major mate, wasn’t it? Yeah, mate. Allegedly. Yeah. This episode of Stick to Football is brought to you by Arn Clothing. [Music] Uh, right. Travel. What travel would you get rid of? Travel. I love the train. Airports are I know it’s not the airports are stressful. I think airport them scooters. Them scooters zooming along. Airport. You know what I don’t like about airports? I don’t like the fact that obviously I get they have to obviously make sure security is right, but I used to think airports like 15 years ago was more of a like a hospitality experience. People would welcome your security. Everything now is very much they’re looking at you in a very doubtful fashion. You’re like you’ve got to sort of like prove you that you’re not a criminal almost rather than them. You know what I mean? Like almost like you’re going in and it’s looking at you aggressively. I think maybe is that just me? No. Stressful. I think I I would say them scooters are really danger. They need to do more. They should be wearing helmets. The scooters should be something to do with insurance and stuff. Oh, to be fair and bicycles going through red lights all the time. Yeah, I’m tired of them. God, they need to do more on on cyclists to make them a little bit more like lawful in what they’re doing. I love the train. I think the train is number one, though. Yeah. What’s the one TV program that everyone loves, but you don’t get? Lost. Can you give us options? Lost. What’s Lost? That’s exactly it. It was this program that everybody went crazy on and they were somewhere that they were lost forever. And you know what else? Prison Break. How long? I love Prison Break. I love Prison Break. Yeah, but it said Prison Break or not. Are they breaking out or not? How can you have a How many series is it? It’s about seven. I know. It’s so good. I get it went a bit far in the end. I’ve never seen I’ve never seen one of them. Last star of that prison. Last star prison break. Roy, you need to watch House of Guinness. I started watching that. I am. I am. How many shows is it? How many series? Eight episodes of 40 minutes. I started watching. I could commit to that. It’s written by the guy that wrote Peaky Blind. You watch Pey Blinders? You know, I’m not feeling that either. No. Oh, Peaky Blind is unbelievable. I’ve never seen I know it is, but you got to watch how many All right. Can I ask you how many episodes and series is there? I a few. Five or six? Yeah. Yeah. And how many series is How many series of Pey Blinders is there? Five. There’s six in it, in there. Five or six? And two movies. It’s too much of a commitment. Follow some. I like a movie. I know. I like closure, you know. I like closure after an hour and a half. I watched it the other day. You’ve got you’ve got to watch the I said to you before on the plane the new uh decaps movie. What’s it time? Another time Titanic. No. No. The one I’ve heard good stuff about it. I’ll watch it this week. Definitely. I like a movie. What is it? Another time. I can’t commit to a series. You watched Tomorrow Night Seven. We might. No, but you have to watch House of Guinness because it’s about basically the Guinness family. I was I was stunned at like the history of it in terms of like That’s cool. Yeah. No, I might make an effort with that. I have to say I I think Pishrish is one of the greats alongside Sopranos and Breaking Bad in Italy. I want to give a good mention to Gamora. Yeah, what’s that? Gamora was brilliant for Napoli. Mafia Mafia Napel. It’s you know what was really I really enjoyed the subtitles cuz you really are engrossed because you’re reading it. You’re right there with it. You know sometimes you’re just watching it and you kind of like lose it a bit. When you’re reading it, you get everything. Sopranos is my number one. I’d say Gamora is number two. Did you ever see that movie? Righty done. What was it called again? Righty the kitchen. Hey, have you watched it yet? No. Righty, bring us the top of you didn’t get an Oscar for that to be honest. Bring us the right and then your movie. We want all three. No, that was that was No, it was good. You know Daniel K, you know Daniel good movie. I’m serious. It was a good movie and Rody was brilliant, didn’t it? Get so intimidating. It was Yeah, but yeah, it might not be. Well, you’ve done a lot of stuff like that out of your comfort zone. But the thing is Roy is that again like you mentioned earlier, you got sometimes you just got to try it. Like even when Daniel said, “Listen, we got this part. We think that you’d be really good for it. We’ve got this DJ who’s giving the news and I was thinking to myself, you know something, I’m so afraid of trying to learn those lines and in the end I had the most monologue and I had to do it in different times and then you got in watching and you got How did you start with the news? Was there a certain thing you said or something or was he just came on? Was it right? to start with um this is Lord Kitchener live and direct from kitchen radio. Right. Do you think we could do you think we could write a program and put it on the overlap and do it as like a a drama series like a No. See, I’m I’m just I’m just sat here watching thinking why don’t we just Why don’t we just do a program? Why don’t we do a program? What’s What’s Get someone get get what get the guy who wrote House of Guinness and Peaky Blind? Steven Knight. Is it Steven Knight? Yeah. He’s probably not busy. Steven, Steven, can you just write us a program for an hour and then we’ll do it and we’ll do it and we’ll put it. I’d be I’d be killing the for scene, wouldn’t I? It’s honestly, no, it’s it’s honest. It’s acting. How does it take that for an hour program? That take a long time. A couple of weeks of filming. Yeah, yeah, probably a couple of weeks. The program draw. So, we’re actors. We’re not We’re actors. So, we’re part of the film. Is it like the office? We know the cameras there. Can we do that where we can I don’t know. Yeah, that’s the way to go. We need to bring someone talented in to do this. No, but if you’re a proper actor, you don’t look at the camera. You’re not You know what I mean? You don’t look at the camera. You’re not supposed to. You look past it like my We need a talented. What’s the famous? So, you look Danny Bole. Danny Bole or Steven Knight. We need to just like put a little bit of magic around it. I don’t know, girl. I don’t know what’s the What’s the plot twilling people? What’s that? I think there’s probably going to be a bit of death. He He said What did you say on the plane? Can’t watch without a bit of hanky panky. Got a bit of hanky. Yeah, I can’t do that. That’s a little bit too much. Hey, that’s only a 5second shot then. You’re all right. They give they get coaches in for that. Oh, yeah. I think we honestly I think we should do like I don’t know. Think of the think of the sort of line. It’s like Think of how it works. Hook. What’s the hook? It’s got to be something. It’s got to be mystery. No way back. Trying to find something out. Solving a murder. Yeah. Yeah. I like it. I love those. I love a thriller. Yeah. Solving a murder and the clues, but not loads of series, just one blast. We just do two weeks for one hour and we do a and then in the end it finishes like the usual suspects. Remember the usual suspect. So then in the end Gary’s Royy’s walking like he’s s wrong and then all of a sudden he walks I’m walking over my hips your hips hips. You could do that. Did you that movie did you know excited about this? You didn’t call that. You know what was really great about usual suspects when when we found out how he done when they showed us the board afterwards and the fellow looked in his soul. Yeah. They devised honestly I know he’s it’s all gone tick. I think that was one of the greatest twist. I think Kieran could be in this film. Do you think Kieran could be in this film? What did they do? I think you’d be like the sort of like the the assistant to the bad man in it. Whoever that is like assistant to the regional manager. Anyway, just thinking there Diego Maradona right on Royy’s shirt. If there was one football player, Manchester United are playing Liverpool on Sunday. Let’s imagine we’re all going to go and watch that game. If there’s one football player from history you could bring and put into that match, who would it be for either team? No, just one player that you could put into the game. Let’s say it’s for United just for things. What player from history would you now just want to see live? I’d love to see just for the view. I’d like see Duncan Edwards or George Best, right? Yeah. Just purely to see George Best at his peak play at Anfield and see I’m actually getting goosebumps a little bit. Imagine that. You’d bring George Best back at like 23 years of age. Yeah. Absolute peak. And literally go and play against Kirz Anfield off the right side or on the left side. I’d probably go um Yeah, that’s a good shout. But I’d probably go Yan K. Yan K. Yeah, I’ I’d really love Yan K. And even obviously Pelle was massive in in the black community. Like when Yian Cro came in 74, I didn’t see anything. Good question. I like it. I like that question. Yeah. The idea of one of them one of them coming back like that. Who would you have? Brilliant. brilliant answers. I’ I’d draw Maradon off the front for United. Even again, Roy, I was watching the um his document just to start everything about him was a football way, the shape of him, he had a bit of nastiness. Yeah, I’m thinking and I just got to keep you can just say obviously any player ever, but there’s a there’s a there’s an account I follow on social media is a Liverpool fan and what he does is he he puts the clips of say like Kenny Hansen Sun you know you don’t see he puts like say their 10-minute clips of games and I saw one of Barnes wow against Man United in about 19 ultra fine no it’s at Anfield field and what year Germany did you say? It was about 89 I think Liver li uh and he’s up against Viv Anderson and he and he just it’s just John Barnes’s clips and I think of like where Liverpool are now and probably you know could probably do with a world class left winger. I’d say John Bar just because I watched him a few days ago in this particular game and I think he said it was his best game for Liverpool. Is that his playing? What year was his playing during the round end you reckon? He was he was 87 to about 90. He was the best player in Britain by a mile and probably one of the best probably in the top you know five or six years. Was he still at Watford 1884? Then he did he when did he when did he get to he went to Liverpool in ‘ 87. Yeah. So Liverpool won the league in ‘ 87 88 that was the but then after that it was great watching him proper player man. Yeah. Right. I forgot we had these questions on the back. Go on then Gary. So we’ve done an hour if you want to. Now let’s see the questions because what else we going to do? It’s beautiful. What is your favorite city in Europe? We’re in Rome. Rome Rome’s got to be up there. Yeah. I like I say I like the Scandinavian phrase this I’m going say London. You know in the summer I honestly do you not like Copenhagen or do you not like No, I look if you said your own city it’s outside your own city. But for me I look at London when I go I think it’s got everything. Why don’t you move there? No, I wouldn’t move there. I’ never moved from Manchester but London’s too big. London. Uh, if you go on a on a trip in L in Europe, you what I was saying basically. Yeah. Where would you say favorite capital city or? No, no, it just has to be the favorite city in Europe. I think if I was going on a trip with Nicola, I think I’d come here. Would you come here? Rome. Yeah. Yeah. This is N’s favorite. But like the Maui coast is that can is that come down? That’s quite nice. Scandinavia. I like that. I love Scandinavia, man. Nice and peaceful. And okay, we we’ve all we’re Manchester United. You’re Arsenal. You’re Liverpool. Which Italian player, past or present, would you love to see in your team today? Questions warning on his raising. I take Paulo Rossi, mate. If I could pick an Italian player from past or present United to go into United today, he was the first one that came to my mind. Basio, but let me have a think. I just went straight. [ __ ] No, you want some Jokes. Maldin is amazing, but you want something a bit more exciting. Yeah. Bio in his prime. One of the players we mentioned while ago for United are Liverpool attacking players, isn’t it? They’re the ones who excite you. Uh I’ll take Po Rossy for us. So I’ll take him. I’ll go with Bio. Basio just the swagger. Brilliant. He had a beautiful swag. And then we’ve got a question from our sponsor an best football shirt you’ve received as a child. Well, I I got mine mine was West Ham on it. I got a West Ham kit. You West Ham fan. No, my brother. My older brother No, my older brother. My older brother to me was West Ham. So the first kick we got was West Ham. Mine was United 85. Mine was Everton 85, 84, 85. Half. You know what I was So that the Jay me the lad who takes me to the airport. He’s an Everton fan. So we were talking this morning about uh sponsor. Sponsors. Yeah. And we were talking about the that Everton kit. Hafneer. He told me what it I didn’t know what it was. I knew it was a Danish company. He said it was spam. Seriously, I knew it was a Danish company. He said he did ham or sp like a bad ham or something like Yeah, but I just wanted to just Yeah, I was speaking about that this morning. Hafne, that was a cool kit though cuz it was quite tight and it was Leox Sport. He used to do a few kits then, didn’t you? Yeah. Well, that’s the end of Rome. Stick to football, right? It was a bit of a a journey. We got there. Very good. Nice. It’s the ambience place. Yes, it’s the ambient. We never had the food. The hu is beautiful warm. Gorgeous. That garlic bread looks good as well. I was just thinking of should I have a bit, but it looked like it’s there too long. [Music] [Music]
Welcome back to Stick to Football, brought to you by ARNE.
In this episode, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane and Ian Wright are still soaking up the sun in Rome, delivering one of the funniest episodes yet.
The team start by looking back at life after football, with Wrighty heading into showbiz while Roy, Carra and Gary stayed in the game through management and punditry. How did each of them find their path, and what challenges did they face along the way?
The conversation then turns to Manchester United, revisiting the moment Sir Alex Ferguson announced his departure from the club. Could United have done more to stay on track, and was David Moyes really given enough time to succeed one of football’s greatest managers?
Attention then shifts to the modern game as the panel reveal one thing they would remove from football, from long throw-ins to offsides, everyone has their say.
Golf then takes centre stage, with Wrighty and Roy going head-to-head over the Ryder Cup. While Wrighty loved every minute of it, Roy was far from impressed.
To finish, the team answer a few lighter questions, from music and food to films, including one big debate: which movie does everyone love that you just don’t get?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to like and subscribe so you never miss an episode of The Overlap.
This episode is sponsored by Huel.
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00:00 Intro
06:28 The Challenges of Transitioning from Football
12:40 The Impact of Media Criticism
15:43 Advice for Retiring Players
30:19 Man United’s Decline Post Fergie
40:19 You Thing to Change in Football
49:20 Ryder Cup Controversies
55:39 Unpopular Opinions
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35 Comments
What’s your biggest unpopular opinion? 👀
That was painful
Brilliant quote from Roy “ didn’t see him signing autographs “ 😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉
Apologize
Roy should do a podcast about RELAXING- aimed at the massage community
Go an episode without mentioning Man U challenge impossible
Bring Tommy Smith back for a game. Leg breakers!
Brilliant program
F.O.
stopped watching when GN walked on
Get lost Kieran… mooching off the lads for publicity
1:01:18 The Office. Both UK and US versions. Oh and, Seinfeld. Bin em all. 😅
What's those little green things? Capers
No.
Olives.
Yeah them. 😂😂😂😂😂
I agree Roy Oasis 😮💨
Roy Keane is hilarious 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪
Roy’s own podcast every week would go OFF
What sneaks is Roy wearing? I want a pair
maybe the producers realised this is what a podcast is about and finally let it flow
Yanks!
Roy likes "the it crowd", he cannot enjoy any other tv series.
Gary busy taking Italian flags down 🤣👍
It’s simple…Ferguson was bigger than Man Utd.
"we're not living, are we?"
49:11 Reeeeaaaaaal bad man
Roy: "I should do my own podcast, on my own"😂 1:40
roy keane is F**KING amazing,,, so funny
Why is Saipan movie never mentioned? Bit topical considering they were discussing movies
Anyone know where the tshirt Roy is wearing is from pls?
I didnt see him stay back and sign autographs, Honestly the tears are rolling down my face.. Hilarious😂
casa italia is the one
Roy was one fire
Ian is so classy and his opinions are brilliant
Ricky gervais would write a good story
An absolute vintage Roy Keane episode! hats off.
Keane is golden