
The Commentators' View: Macc magic & the Arctic awaits!
16/01/2026 | 59 mins.
John Murray, Ian Dennis & Ali Bruce-Ball talk football, travel & language. They share their experiences of Macclesfield’s FA Cup triumph and have their say on the Michael Carrick & Liam Rosenior appointments. John is getting ready for his trip to the Arctic. There’s Clash of the Commentators controversy, more unintended pub names, and which commentary phrases will end up in our Great Glossary? Suggestions welcome on WhatsApp voicenotes to 08000 289 369 & emails to [email protected]:40 Macclesfield sprinkle the magic 09:40 Thoughts on Michael Carrick & Liam Rosenior 15:15 5 Live commentaries this weekend 18:05 John prepares for the Arctic! 21:40 Unintended pub names & railway stations 27:25 Clash of the Commentators 35:10 Great Glossary of Football Commentary 42:00 John’s FA Cup error!5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Sat 1500 Tottenham v West Ham, Sat 1500 Chelsea v Brentford on Sports Extra, Sat 1730 Nottingham Forest v Arsenal, Sun 1400 Wolves v Newcastle, Sun 1630 Aston Villa v Everton, Tue 1745 Bodø/Glimt v Man City, Tue 2000 Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund, Wed 2000 Newcastle v PSV, Wed 2000 Marseille v Liverpool on Sports Extra.Great Glossary of Football Commentary: DIVISION ONE Back to square one, Bosman, Cruyff Turn, Cultured/educated left foot, Dead-ball specialist, Draught excluder, Elastico/flip-flap Fox in the box, Giving the goalkeeper the eyes, Head tennis, Hibs it, In a good moment, In behind, Magic of the FA Cup, The Maradona, Off their line, Olimpico, Onion bag, Panenka, Park the bus, Perfect hat-trick, Rabona, Roy of the Rovers stuff, Schmeichel-style, Scorpion kick, Spursy, Tiki-taka, Trivela, Where the kookaburra sleeps, Where the owl sleeps, Where the spiders sleep.DIVISION TWO Back on the grass, Ball stays hit, Beaten all ends up, Blaze over the bar, Business end, Came down with snow on it, Catching practice, Camped in the opposition half, Cauldron atmosphere Coat is on a shoogly peg, Come back to haunt them, Corridor of uncertainty, Couldn’t sort their feet out, Easy tap-in, Daisy-cutter, First cab off the rank, Giant-killing, Good leave, Half-turn, Has that in his locker, High wide and not very handsome, Hospital pass, Howler, In their pocket, Johnny on the spot, Leading the line, Nice headache to have, Nutmeg, One for the cameras, One for the purists, Played us off the park, Points to the spot, Prawn sandwich brigade, Purple patch, Put their laces through it, Reaches for their pocket, Rolls Royce, Root and branch review, Row Z, Screamer, Seats on the plane, Show across the bows, Slide-rule pass, Steal a march, Straight in the bread basket, Stramash, Taking one for the team, Telegraphed that pass, That’s great… (football), Thunderous strike, Turns on a sixpence, Walk it in, We’ve got a cup tie on our hands.UNSORTED 2-0 is a dangerous score, After you Claude, All-Premier League affair, Aplomb, Bag/box of tricks, Brace, Brandished, Bread and butter, Breaking the deadlock, Bundled over the line, Champions elect / champions apparent, Clinical finish, Commentator’s curse, Coupon buster, Denied by the woodwork, Draught excluder, Elimination line, Fellow countryman, Foot race, Formerly of this parish, Free hit, Goalkeepers’ Union, Goalmouth scramble, Good touch for a big man, Honeymoon Period, In and around, In the shop window, Keeping ball under their spell, Keystone Cops defending, Languishing, Loitering with intent, Marching orders, Nestle in the bottom corner, Numbered derbies, Opposite number, PK for penalty-kick, Postage stamp, Put it in the mixer, Rasping shot, Red wine not white wine, Relegation six-pointer, Rooted at the bottom, Route One, Sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, Shooting boots, Sleeping giants, Slide rule pass, Small matter of, Spiders web, Stayed hit, Steepling, Stinging the palms, Stonewall penalty, Straight off the training ground, Taking one for the team, Team that likes to play football, Throw their cap on it, Thruppenny bit head / 50p head, Towering header, Two good feet, Turning into a basketball match, Turning into a cricket score, Usher/Shepherd the ball out of play, Walking a disciplinary tightrope, Wand of a left foot, Wrap foot around it, Your De Bruynes, your Gundogans etc.

Euro Leagues: What next for Real Madrid?
15/01/2026 | 46 mins.
What next for Real Madrid after Xabi Alonso's sacking? Steve Crossman is joined by Guillem Balague, Julien Laurens and James Horncastle to discuss all of the fallout from the Spanish capital and where Real Madrid go from here. Who might they look at to replace him? Rafa Honigstein drops by to talk about the Jurgen Klopp links - could the German really be heading for Madrid? Elsewhere, they look at the rivalry in the French capital after Paris FC knocked out PSG in the Coupe de France - could this be Marseille and Robert De Zerbi's year? They also take a look at the Serie A title race - can Napoli or Milan catch Inter? And with the AFCON final this weekend, will it be Senegal or Morocco who triumph?TIMEÂ CODES:00:40 - Real Madrid sack Xabi Alonso 29:00 - Paris FC knock out PSG from the Coupe de France 38:50 - Serie A 44:00 - AFCON Final

The Debrief: Five-goal Stamford Bridge thriller, AFCON final is set
14/01/2026 | 33 mins.
Will Liam Rosenior drop Robert Sanchez for Chelsea, and is Viktor Gyokeres good enough for Arsenal? Ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Rob Green, former Arsenal defender Matt Upson and football correspondent John Murray join Steve Crossman from Stamford Bridge to react to Arsenal's 3-2 victory over Chelsea. That puts Mikel Arteta's Gunners in prime position to progress to the Carabao Cup final, but raises big questions for both sides. The panel debate them all, and you'll hear from the two managers, including Liam Rosenior reflecting on his first match in charge at the Bridge. Over in Morocco, there were two more semi-finals being played, as Senegal triumphed over Egypt and hosts Morocco defeated Nigeria on penalties to set up a mouth-watering AFCON final. Sadio Mane reacts to his goalscoring display which downed Mo Salah's Egypt in the early game, while John Bennett reports from Rabat, as the hosts celebrated long into the night. Finally, Kenny Crawford rounds up the night's Scottish Premiership action, with further reaction from Celtic boss Martin O'Neill and Hearts goalscorer Lawrence Shankland. Timecodes: 00:45 Chelsea's goalkeeping errors in defeat to Arsenal 07:50 Is Viktor Gyokeres enough for Arsenal? 16:45 Reaction from Mikel Arteta 18:43 How good can Alejandro Garnacho be? 22:15 Reaction from Liam Rosenior 25:15 AFCON finals set, with reaction from Senegal goalscorer Sadio Mane 27:58 Hearts win with 10 men 29:10 Interview with Hearts goalscorer Lawrence Shankland 30:30 Celtic win under O'Neill again 31:35 Reaction from Martin O'Neill

72+ EFL Pod: Wimbledon, FA Cup & New Championship Managers
14/01/2026 | 46 mins.
Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson joins Aaron & Jobi to chat the week’s EFL headlines. Johnnie talks about Wimbledon’s start to the season, and the challenges of being a fan owned club in League 1. They discuss the aftermath of Exeter City’s 10-1 loss to Manchester City, and whether Macclesfield’s FA Cup success is the greatest FA Cup upset ever. They discuss the new managers in the championship – how good a fit is Eric Ramsay at West Brom, or Matt Bloomfield at Oxford United? And does it really matter if they are the manager or the head coach? Plus they discuss struggling Shrewsbury Town.TIME CODES:03:05 – Wimbledon 10:30 – FA Cup 3rd Round 20:55 – Eric Ramsay in at West Brom & Matt Bloomfield in at Oxford United 33:40 – Shrewsbury Town 37:15 – EFL ‘Hard Men’ Squad 41:30 – 72Plus/72Minus

The Debrief: Carrick confirmed at Manchester United & City control League Cup semi-final
14/01/2026 | 48 mins.
Kelly Cates is joined by former Newcastle forward Dwight Gayle, former Scotland winger Pat Nevin and senior football commentator Ian Dennis at St James' Park as Manchester City take a two-nil lead into the second leg of the League Cup semi-final. Antoine Semenyo scores his second goal in his first two games for Manchester City but is denied a brace on the night by VAR. Football Issues Correspondent Dale Johnson tells us why that was chalked off.With Michael Carrick announced as Manchester United's head coach until the end of the season and Steve Holland and Jonathan Woodgate brought into his backroom, reporter Simon Stone joins the pod to discuss the appointment. BBC Sport's Football Tactics correspondent Umir Irfan offers how Carrick's style at Middlesborough may be implemented in his new role. Plus, Football Correspondent John Murray previews Chelsea against Arsenal in Wednesday's League Cup semi-final first leg. Timecodes: 0'20 Michael Carrick appointed at Manchester United 17'05 Umir Irfan on Carrick's tactics 22'42 Reaction to Newastle United 0 Manchester City 2 34'31 Pep Guardiola 40'20 Eddie Howe 42'18 Chelsea v Arsenal preview



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