Over the last few years I have become a sports podcast fiend and they have become a sort of comfort of mine during hard times. House chores are a pain but have to be done so I have an agreement that the headphones go in while I am doing them so nowadays I am looking for more house chores to do when there is a new podcasts. Now I used to listen to an Irish sports podcast called Off The Ball but their main presenter left and they also went behind a paywall which was the end of them. So I had to branch out for my sport content that was not Tottenham. Somebody recommended the Guardian Sport podcast and I have not really looked back since as it is the best football discussion out there in my opinion. The panel changes every day as they have a pool of journalists on which are all very very good in their own right so the insight is great. I also like that they don't really have ex football players on it because I find sometimes that ex footballers talking about football a bit biased and also they look down their nose at journalists who have an actual better knowledge of football than the actual players themselves. The show is presented by Max Rushden who would be ex soccer am 9in its heyday) and he does provide some laughter and discussion as he knows his stuff himself. His right hand man is a no nonsense Irish reporter called Barry Glendenning who is excellent. The football nerd of course is Jonathan Wilson. I love Jonathan and his knowledge of the game but he is not everyones cup of tea. Other panelists include the excellent Nicky Bandini who specialises in Italian football. Phillipe Auclair who specialises in French football and FIFA. Lars Sivertsen , John Brewin , Lucy Ward to name but a few excellent journalists who appear on the show depending on the themes of that weeks show.
I would never miss a Guardian sport podcast. I don't care if they are talking about the a club in the 1800's. It is always excellent and a good laugh. I started getting into some offshoots from the Guardian sport. Here are two :
It was What It Was
This show is hosted by Jonathan Wilson and presenter Rob Draper and it talks about the history of football. These are brilliant and I especially like the one about "The fall of Diego Maradona" , "The Horse That Changed Manchester United" and "Don Revies Leeds" and "The Life of Helenio Herrera" who invented the Catenaccio which means "Door Bolt"
The Catenaccio sets behind the defence and sweeps up any problems that get through. Herrera first thought of this move when he saw two fishing vessels at sea and another fishing vessel behind these two that was taking up any fish that got through. Hook these stories to my veins. Anyway Helenio won all around him at Inter and he was the first coach to make the players stay the night before at the teams training ground before a game which is normal nowadays.
It was what is was is more about story telling but it is good to gain an insight into how football changed through the years and the Hungarian Coffee Houses are mentioned alot which is the birthplace of modern football thinking.
Libero
Libero is a new podcast created by some of the Guardian panelists and some independent journalists such as John Brewin , Micheal Delaney and they concentrate on the different aspects of football such as the transfer market , FIFA regulations and as they put it , the less important of the important things. Their most recent podcast about Arsene Wenger is excellent and it gives a great insight into Le Prof.
The Athletic FC
This is a more general football podcast which focuses on the big news and not exactly football analysis. Levy leaving Tottenham would be a something they would cover. They have different experts on to talk about certain topics so its very good.
What I am Falling Out of Love With
Stick to Football
I used to be a Stick to Football fan but what grinds my gears about this is they start the podcast ten minutes before the podcast begins so we hear them flutter about eating scones and going on about their clobber and haircuts. I don't really wanna hear it really. They are also very biased towards their own clubs (basically Man United) and even though Man United are terrible there is still this snobbery about them that they are the best. Jill offers noting either and she is only there to pander to the woke brigade.
The Overlap
This used to be Neville and the boys but they rebranded to Stick to Football leaving Scholes and Carragher with their fan forum. I do still listen to this but when Carragher said there is no chance that United lose to Spurs in a European Cup final was a hill that I did not think Carragher ( a Liverpool supporter ) was going to die on. However I still listen to it and I quite like having the fans opinion
These of course come after my precious Tottenham podcast which I will list in order.
Spurs Podcast
The View from the Land : Their podcast host Danny Kelly lives down the road from me and I like him so I listen to this the most. It is the best Spurs podcast out there and Danny is not afraid to offer his opinion as a host.
Last Word on Spurs More an instant reaction podcast. Listen less as some of the panelists are a dose especially the posh ones.
The Extra Inch Excellent analysts of the technical aspect that not many podcasts go into such as formations , players roles , changes in tactics. The lads are good but the problem is that they know they are good.
** The Tottenham Way** Dan KilPatrick, Marcus Buckland and Tom Alnott talk about Spurs. I like this with decent insight.
The Spurs Show The older boys perspective of Tottenham which I like to hear and most of the time they are bang on the button. They don't take themselves too seriously because they are used to being losing so its not a disaster if we lose a game. More mature about it. Also when Jonathan Lipton appears on it , he's analysis of Spurs is excellent.
So while I am hoovering , ironing , gardening, tidying up this not just eases the pain and makes me want to do more. I am now available for hire if anyone wants their house cleaned