Injuries are fun, aren't they? Well, not fun as such. But interesting. Sometimes. This week's Football Fives Podcast is all about the treatment room, where you'll find five questions related to bashes, snaps, breaks, slaps and tears. Both kinds. First up: are players being asked to play so often that injury is inevitable? Daniel Storey, David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee pick over the subject and discuss whether football could and should do more to prevent, diagnose and treat head injuries, and whether fans and the media could show just a little more understanding about the long-term psychological effect a serious injury can have on a player. There's a chat about doping - and yes, as per usual, we dodge the topic hugely - and we end this week's show by talking about some players whose careers were fundamentally sidetracked by injury problems. All that and more, on this week's twofootedta... Football Fives. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

The Football Fives Podcast is a three-hander this week because of Chris Nee's work commitments, but don't get too excited - his absence is a temporary one. Daniel Storey, David Hartrick and Ryan Keaney hold the fort admirably with a topic we've not covered in isolation before. This week's show is all about management in the Premier League. Of course, this being Football Fives, we indulge ourselves by talking about some managers we just like. Which manager is our favourite in the Premier League to have never managed our clubs? And which active player could make a great manager in the future? More to the point, why would any of the current crop bother their arses? There's also a chance to focus on a couple of the bosses in the spotlight at the moment. Claudio Ranieri and Arsene Wenger have both achieved the extraordinary at their clubs. They're both under pressure. And they're each the subject of a question in this week's show. So sit back, relax and try to enjoy. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

Football is a broad church. On the one hand, the world's elite leagues are awash with cash, endlessly exposed to the world and subject to the maximum amount of waft and waffle. Oh, and often sensational football, which is kind of a good thing if you ask us. On the other, grassroots and non-league are a different experience with different ups and different downs. In the middle - in England at least - we have the Football League. And it's from there that most of our selections for this week's show are sourced. Yes, it's one of our five-a-side selection episodes, and this time we're picking a team of our favourite players whose longest time or most noteworthy achievements occurred outside the top flight. Daniel Storey, David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee are on hand to pick five players each and whittle the 20 down to the best team we can muster. Or, on this occasion, a pretty ramshackle team of people we like. Hey, it's our podcast. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

It's another wide-ranging Football Fives Podcast this week, with David Hartrick back in action for good measure. The format is simple: four men answering five questions about one game: the game of the association footballs. Dave is joined by Daniel Storey, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee to talk about the things mentioned below this bit here. We begin in the Premier League and ask whether the results that went Chelsea's way last weekend might have ended anything approaching a meaningful title race. Not our usual fare, perhaps, but we do pay attention sometimes. Elsewhere in London, Dimitri Payet is causing a stink. Would we sell him, cuddle him or find some other way of dealing with that situation? This week's show is completed by questions about the prospect of future goalscoring records, whether Zinedine Zidane should be taken more seriously as a super-elite head coach and our favourite ever defensive midfielders. If you can guess who we've picked before you hear it, you've been listening to us too much. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

David Hartrick is injured. I know, right? We miss him. But his loss is greater, for this week's Football Fives Podcast is a groundbreaking affair in which Ryan Keaney's latest "blind episode" - in which the rest of the panel tackle five football questions on a theme unknown to them until recording begins - morphs into a possible format for the future. That's how it came to pass that Daniel Storey and Chris Nee found themselves in an imagined present, an alternative reality in which one major football event has been removed from the timeline and things are a little bit different. The theme? The Butterfly Effect. Loosely. Kind of. The event that didn't happen? David Moyes being appointed as manager of Manchester United. So Ryan, Dan and Chris talk about what might have happened to Moyes, Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, Everton and Ryan Giggs had Moyes never made the switch to Old Trafford. See what you missed out on, Hartch? Read 'em and weep. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

The loss of Graham Taylor has taken the wind out of our sails, and unfortunately this week's Football Fives Podcast was recorded before the news. You can rest assured we'd have been speaking about him if we'd had the opportunity. Nevertheless, here we are with our 75th episode. To mark the occasion we didn't bother to prepare, opting instead for one of our "anything goes" shows. We begin with a question about Wayne Rooney and his Manchester United future, or lack thereof - should he take action himself? We gaze into our crystal balls (fnarr) and predict when we'll stop watching the World Cup, and we muse over the argument that doing one's badges is enough to earn a manager's job. And because we're cheery souls, we also take the time to talk about the current status of the FA Cup and the irresistible (or otherwise) lure of a big-money career in that there Chinese football. Would we go? Find out within. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

When listener Ashley Connick suggested the topic of penalties for this week's Football Fives Podcast, three of us were delighted. The other? Shocked that one of our listeners opened up a subject that wasn't bloody awful. So we went with it, and this week's show is all about the art of the spot kick and its assorted other odds and sods. Par example, how would they be replaced if FIFA binned them in favour of another football match tie-breaker? Can a penalty ever truly be saved? And, most importantly of all, is the penalty shoot-out in any way a lottery? (Spoiler: of course it's not, stupid.) And, of course, we talk about our favourite penalty takers as well as our favourite and least favourite ever shoot-outs. Because it wouldn't be Football Fives without us just talking about stuff we remember, would it? Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

While other football podcasts have either had the good grace to disappear over Christmas or have chosen to give you good stuff for free, the Football Fives Podcast is dragging its toes through the sludge at the bottom of the barrel and delivering whatever solids it finds into your ears with its feet. Yes, it's quiz time. David Hartrick is in charge this time round, with Daniel Storey, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee put through their paces across five rounds of kickball quizzing. There's a squad numbers game, a wotsit about some clubs and that, a bit about Football Fives favourites, and some other things. I dunno. I can't remember. So sit back and enjoy the festive dead air as three people forget everything they know in the glare of the spotlight. And, of course, Happy Christmas to most of you. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

Ho ho ho! It's, like, three days until Christmas. You didn't know, did you? That's because Sunday Christmas is a right old stitch-up. Some of the Football Fives Podcast team haven't even put their Christmas trees up yet, such is the fleeting nature of this year's festivities. But we're trying to do our bit in this week's show, so get the Quality Street out and settle in. Apologies for last week's absence, by the way. Illness, work, life and other matters interfered with our ability to get a show together. And, this week, we've had to settle for an awardless three-hander, because Daniel Storey isn't with us. So David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee have taken the chance to make five recommendations each, material or otherwise, to brighten up your footballing winter. Part gift guide, part self-help, this week's show offers up a smorgasbord of good stuff. Stuff to buy, stuff to do, stuff to see. Stuff to wear, read, love and support. And if you've been sent our way because Daniel won that thing, don't worry - we've got a list of gubbins from him too. Happy bloody Christmas, yo. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

It's five-a-side team week again here at the Football Fives Podcast, and this time we put the subject out to a public vote. An Irish team was the resounding winner, and so this episode of the show is our chance to build our ultimate team from Irelands Northern and Republic. Speaking of public votes, Daniel Storey's on this one and he won an award. Helping Dan bulk out the show with triple pod meat are David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee, who each picked five Irishmen and argue the toss over the inclusion of each one until the collaborative Irish Fives is complete. We pick a goalkeeper, a defender, a forward and two other guys we're able to crowbar in on spurious rationale. There's sentiment in abundance, a few surprise shouts and an exceptional final team. We hope you like it. One of us won an award, you know. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes