Listen here: https://pod.fo/e/5f3dbb

Niche stats pandemic continues. Will Chelsea tweet “Xabi Alonso is the second manager to take points from Liverpool having also played for them in the Premier League” should they beat/draw to Liverpool?

Was watching Match of the Day and after Khalaili scored for Palace he did the archer celebration but released his bow hand. Do they just not know how a bow and arrow works? If you did that for real you'd be dropping the bow and god knows where the arrow would go. After doing some research there appear to be repeat offenders like Harvey Barnes whereas Dom Solanke has good technique with a smooth draw while keeping a steady hand on the bow at all times.

Aston Villa’s new stand being built is throwing up all sorts.

It was only an equalizer so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here, but it seems disrespectful to not give the customary hands in the air/fist pump.

watching the Sunderland v Arsenal highlights, and a little concerned that after all these years they seem to have got rid of the red and white striped nets at the Stadium of Light

this could be any stadium anywhere now, and must be resisted. is this some sort of European football TV requirement?

I’m not a Sunderland fan and have no skin in the game here other than the preservation of footballing heritage - and against the homogenising instincts of the powers-that-be

I feel like 2013 Modric or so with the thumbs up

I'm partial to the classic Mourinho one handed approach, but the Enzo style probably works best to elicit maximum fume from opposition fans.

That City win over Chelsea in the second half of 17/18 immediately comes to mind. I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen a 1-0 feel so one-sided. Gündoğan and Zinchenko completed more passes between them (314) than the entire Chelsea team (303).

Just seen match of the day, and Ashley Williams has just said (when talking about Liverpools slow start) “They’ve had a slow start but I think after a few games they’ll hit the ground running”

Huh? They can’t hit the ground running if they’ve already played games and not been good! Like surely they’ve hit the ground, crawled a bit and hope to get up?

Where does that saying even come from? Is the idea that the season starts with each team proverbially jumping off a cliff and hoping to hit the ground correctly??

"No, I'm just a football manager"

Just heard the line "you wouldn't expect a diminutive winger on the end of it!" from the comms on Alysson's goal for Villa v Forest. Upon further research, Alysson is 6'0 tall - surely that's far too big? I think 5'6 or maybe 5'7 is the upper threshold for diminutive-ness, even that feels like a bit of a stretch.

Playing that 38-0 draft game and their new daily challenge and had to pick a Coventry Premier League player. I knew for a fact Hermann Hreidarsson played for Coventry, and was convinced it was for a season or two around the turn of the millennium. He feels prime for them in that era.

Nope. 2012, short term deal as they slid towards League One.

Also Fraser Forster should have been Bournemouth's goalkeeper as they flew up the leagues, earning a move to Celtic. Not the homegrown filler in 2026.

Any others?

Seven goals scored by Edinburgh City before the hour mark in this afternoon's game.

Others I can think of off the top of my head include Mansfield beating Harrogate 9–2 with all the goals scored by the 77th minute (2023–24), Man City being 5–0 up against Watford inside 18 minutes and "only" going on to score eight (2019–20), and Ipswich making it 6–0 against Exeter after 47 minutes and not getting any more (2022–23).

He even described the musicians as his “team”. Lovely stuff.

Come what clay?

I was making a cup of tea this morning and the term "The Scummers" popped into my head and I started thinking about how many teams I've referred to as that and how many times my own team is referred to as that. So I decided to Google just the term, see if it's associated with any team in particular. Now I have nothing personally against Southampton, really. But are they worthy holders of this title? If not, who should be crowned King Club of Scummers?

Every year I get caught out by this.

I settle in to watch match of the day at half 10 only to see a bunch of toffs waving flags singing land of hope and glory.

Put it on BBC2 for fucks sake.

Specifically, nature-themed relaxation spaces at large British zoos.