Football Ruined My Life

• 96. Pundits

  Andy Hamilton returns to join Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes as they discuss the contentious subject of football pundits.  By pundits, they mean those know-it-alls who are either very wise after the event, are outstanding at stating the bleeding obvious or are as clueless as the rest of us when it comes to predicting the future.  Yet somehow, they have become increasingly important in the broadcasting of football on radio and particularly television.  Indeed the BBC Director General, guided by the new BBC Head of Sport, recently told us that audiences would prefer to listen to the pundits rather than watch the highlights of the match.  Contentious?  We should say so.  In the days of Kenneth Wolstenholme and David Coleman, John Motson and Barry Davies there were very few pundits besides Jimmy Hill and we related largely to those commentators unless there was a World Cup panel.  Why have the pundits become so important in recent years? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 95. Is English football still recognisably English?

  This week Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler are joined by Omid Djalili to ask the question, “How English is the English football pyramid?”  Of course, football reflects society and since we all began watching football, British society has changed out of all recognition.  If you look at old football matches on The Big Match Revisited on ITV4 on Saturday mornings and other archive film programs you can see how different it was 40 years also ago and how widely British society has changed since then - not just off the field but also on the field.  There is no question that many of the imports into the game from the rest of the world have been a blessing, not least skilful players who have added to the pleasure of the crowds who went to watch them.  However, the sheer number of players playing in the English football game who are not English, Welsh, Scottish or Irish might be to some a cause of concern.  The idea of the one club man who spent his entire career with his local club has passed into History.  Is the globalisation of the game something to celebrate or regret? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 94. England Managers After Sir Alf Part 3

  Jim White returns to contribute to the last in our series of podcasts about the England managers which takes the panel from Sven to Thomas Tuchel and the glories that lie ahead for the England football team - which is usually a reminder that they haven’t won anything since 1966.  In the name of Allah go, they said to Bobby Robson.  Yanks 2 Planks 0 the Sun helpfully pointed out to Graham Taylor.  We know that the press, not just The Sun, can be very hostile and extremely rude to England managers.  Are the national managers judged by a different yardstick from ordinary club managers?  Are the press just waiting for England managers to fail so they can pile in on them?  Jim White tries to defend his profession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 93. Onfield Behaviour

  In this edition of the podcast, Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes are joined by Andy Hamilton to talk in a very headmasterly tone about Onfield Behaviour which quite frankly is bringing the good name of the Football Ruined My Life school into disgrace.  In a Champions League quarter final this season two Real Madrid boys in the Lower Sixth, Rudiger and Mbappe, were shown on television after a fortunate win over their rival boys school Atletico Madrid making obscene gestures.  Rudiger was appearing to make a throat-slitting motion, apparently towards the Atletico crowd, while Mbappe was shown seemingly making a crotch-grabbing gesture.  Both boys then had to report to Mr Infantino’s study after Assembly where it would appear nothing at all happened to them.  Government regulations unfortunately no longer permit Sir Stanley Rous to give both those boys a severe caning which would have happened in the more enlightened 1960s.  Has onfield behaviour deteriorated so badly in recent years or does football simply reflect an increasing disregard for authority which can be seen in so many facets of society in the 21st century? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 92. Fan Sentiment

  We’re all fans.  That’s why we make this podcast and that’s why presumably you all like listening to it.  Fan sentiment is something we suspect we all feel strongly about but probably in our different ways.  It’s not just foreign owners, ludicrous transfer fees, and (present company excepted) cynical agents taking money off both their clients and the clubs.  Today’s panel (of Jon Holmes, Colin Shindler and Jimmy Mulville) consider how fans like all of us are being slowly alienated from the clubs to which we’ve given a lifetime of devotion.  Colin even has sympathy for Manchester United fans who are appalled at the antics of their club since it became apparent that Jim Ratcliffe was not a knight on a white horse but a panic-stricken tax exile in a limousine trapped in a car park, surrounded by angry fans.  We can’t help but accept that our clubs have to change, it’s inevitable but is it still our club?  It’s a question we all ask ourselves, some with increasing anxiety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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