Festival of Football

In the latest episode of the Festival of Football Podcast we discuss Nuno's appointment as Spurs manager and the round of 16 games in Euro 2020. 

The lads started talking about the recent appointment of Nuno Espirto Santo as the new Tottenham Hotspur manager. Henry actually called this on a previous podcast and Billy didn't like the idea then. He still wasn't best pleased with the appointment, especially if Nuno brings all of his old players with him. The last thing Billy wanted was Neves, Adama and Jimenez turning up at Spurs. Henry felt Nuno could even be gone by xmas if results dont go his way, something no Spurs fan would be surprised. Its fair to say Nuno was not Levy's first choice but the fans would have to just get behind him now. 

As part of this discussion the boys then spoke about Rafa at Everton and Arsenal transfers woes. Will Rafa be a success at Everton? Listen to find out the lads views. 

The lads then went on to discuss the round of 16 games from the Euros. The results were,

The main talking point was around the England vs Germany game. Both lads had bad memories of facing the Germans at major competitions. However this as different with England coming out on top and deserving to win. Goals from Sterling & Kane sealing a historic win over the arch enemy. 

Listen in to hear the full discussion. 

In this episode of the Festival of Football podcast we discuss, 

We first discuss Euro 2020 and the dramatic scenes around Christian Eriksen. We both wish Eriksen well and speedy recovery. 

Next we discuss our greatest ever West Ham United XI. With legends in the team such as Di Canio, Moore, Defoe, Lampard, Noble etc.  

The countdown to UEFA EURO 2020 is well and truly on, with 24 teams set to vie for the trophy between 11 June and 11 July.

Group A: Turkey, Italy, Wales, Switzerland

In this special Euro 2020 episode we cover all the build up to the summers biggest tournament. 

Please note this episode was filmed before the England squad announcement.  

In episode 8 we discuss,

We talk about all the Premier League clubs without managers and who they are likely to appoint. More focus on Spurs as you would expect from the lads. 

We also discussed the transfer rumours for both Spurs and West Ham. 

Listen in to hear the latest news and views from Billy & Henry. 

In this podcast we are joined by a special guest, Matthew Tacey to discuss, 

First we welcomed Matthew to the pod and we discussed the weekend results. The results were, 

We discussed in more details the Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham games. Henry being very excited to finish above Spurs for the first time in many, many years. Which lead West Ham to to qualify for the Europa League next season. At least this time that cant draw Asta Gugu. Matthew also reflected on Chelsea season and thanked Spurs for doing Chelsea a favour in beating Leicester so they could secure another season of champions league football. 

Up next we spoke about the upcoming Champions League final with Chelsea and Man City.  Matt felt that if Kante and Mendy were both fit that they stood a good chance of winning against Man City and reminded us that they had turned City over the past two times they played each other. Henry felt the game was a 60/40 split in the favour of Man City but conceded anything could happen in the game. Billy still felt it was City's to lose and even went as far as saying it could be the most boring final yet with City just strangling the game. 

We then went on to discuss the England provisional squad announced by Gareth Southgate. See the full team below, 

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Ben Godfrey (Everton), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ben White (Brighton).

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice (West Ham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).

Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

Tune in to find out our thoughts and more on this squad.

In this episode of the podcast we talk about,

We started off taking about the weekend games that included the following results, 

We started off by looking at the Friday night in for Man City against Newcastle in a crazy game. Scott Carson making his debut in the City goal just so he could get a winners medal. His first Premier League appearance in 10 years, crazy. 

We then briefly went through the Leeds game and Billy getting the prediction of a 3-0 Leeds win almost right. Leeds being a far superior team to Burnley on the day. Southampton also beating Fulham in a nothing game. 

One of the big shocks of the weekend was West Ham drawing against Brighton and they now could miss out on European football after such a strong season. Henry mentioned he could not take the suspense of the season as he was not used to having these issues being a West Ham fan. Something he wanted to get to know more but didn't know if he could handle. 

Spurs also sprung a surprise on Billy winning against Wolves, a game in which Spurs dominated from start to finish. Billy would be happy if we finished in the top six and got the Europa League. However he did not want Ryan Mason in charge of the club next season. Even in somehow they managed to get top 4. 

Liverpool through up and interesting topic too, their goalkeeper scored a last minute winner in their game against West Brom. The lads then talked about other keepers who had done the same thing. 

We also spoke about Everton's shock defeat against the already relegated Sheffield Utd, meaning it was likely they would miss out on European football. Doing both Spurs and West Ham a huge favour. 

In the last section of the podcast we spoke about the 26 men we would take to the Euros in the summer. Listen in to find out who we would take, there is some real shockers in there. 

In this episode of the podcast we talk about, 

The lads talk about Man City winning the league due to Man United losing their game against Leicester. Did Man United throw the game or did they need to play a weakened side? Billy & Henry give their opinions. 

Next up was the build up to the weekend games specifically focusing in on Spurs & West Ham. As the lads normally do giving their thoughts and opinions on the results. 

Lastly they chat about the most hated subject in world football, VAR. Both lads weigh in on the technology and give their views on how the tech can be better used, plus are the refs to blame and not the tech? 

Listen in to find out more on the hottest topics in world football. 

In the 4th episode of the podcast we discuss, 

First Henry ran through the scores at the weekend and then the lads discussed the Spurs Vs Leeds game in depth. Both Billy and Henry thought that Leeds were the better team on the day and deserved the 3 - 1 result in their favour. They discussed the Kane goal that was disallowed for being a toe nail offside. In the boys opinion an offside is an offside and that what VAR is for. Imagine if that was a goal given against your own team you would be fuming. Billy mentioned that Spurs again had no plan b and lacked a lot of creativity in the centre of the park. Henry agreed and mentioned that Spurs were not there mentally and are mentally weak as side, something Billy agreed with. Spurs have been very inconsistent and they both felt it was down to this mental weakness. 

The lads then discussed the City and Chelsea game, saying that they felt Chelsea have the edge over City and these mind games could be a huge factor in the Champions League Final. Henry went on to talk about how disappointed he was with his side in their 1-0 defeat to Everton. Claiming they were poor and never looked like winning the game after DLC scored. Everton he thought deserved the win and he now felt that top four would be too much to ask for. 

The lads then discussed moving the Champions League final to London from Turkey. As currently you can not travel to Turkey from the UK due the the COVID restrictions. They both agreed that the government and UEFA should move the final and allow fans back in to watch it as they both felt fans would travel to Turkey even if they could not get in the ground. 

Lastly the lads spoke about the signings they would make if they could buy 5 realistic transfers this summer. Henry throwing some curve balls in their with his picks, signing a certain lethal EFL Championship striker (no not Toney). Billy also gave his thoughts on who Spurs should sign and sell, he listed a lot of sellers and Henry allowed him to have 6 picks instead of the 5. He still probably needed more given he wanted to sell the vast majority of the squad. 

The boys then mentioned some new content they would be doing in the coming weeks including a club legend flashback episode for each side. They both will pick a player they love form their clubs and ideally who they have seen play. 

Listen in to the best pod yet and do not forget to subscribe to our socials for exclusive content. 

In this podcast we cover the most talked about topic in the world right now, racism. Racism is not only the biggest issue in society today but also the biggest issue in sport. 

This episode of the podcast Billy and Henry talk honestly an openly about a topic they are both very passionate about. Billy & Henry grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of the most diverse areas in London, with people from all backgrounds, race, religions and creeds. Canning Town is a melting pot of African, English, European, South American, Easter European culture. In Canning Town you can meet someone from every walk a life. 

Billy and Henry spoke about their school and the things they saw growing up and going to a school that had 65 different languages spoken. The lads had seen racism first hand at school with Asian kids racially abusing African kids and vice versa. Although Billy & Henry had not experience racism, due to them both being white skinned males, they felt that by offering experiences on what they had seen it could be part of the discussion. 

Billy thought that people who had been found guilty of racist crimes should face huge financial fines if they were adults & homeowners. He felt that a strong hand would stop this type of behaviour in the future but conceded it was not likely to be dealt with in such a way. He also felt that schools should do more at an early age to teach children about the right and wrongs around racism and teach them about other cultures and values. If we can stop it at an early age we stand a chance of getting rid of racism forever. 

Henry shared the fact that his family was foster parents to many young children from all races and religions. He felt that they were his brothers or sisters and it didn't matter that they were not biologically. He felt that y having these different cultures around him from an early age it made him more aware of the rights and wrongs. 

Billy shared a story about a time a new kid moved into their council estate called Edward. He said that they were probably around 6 or 7 a the time and all the kids that lived in the block would play football in kids area. He remembers Edward being fine the first few times around all the other kids, just to note it was a mixed group of race and religion. Then one day Edward racially abused his Ugandan friend and Billy remembers the shear anger and hurt from the all kids. Particularly the black children who felt angry, Billy recalls that he was shocked and knew what Edward did was wrong.  What unfolded later was that police had to come to Edward house for the family protection as everyone in the block was knocking on his door causing a scene. A few days later the family was moved, looking back this was for their safety. 

Billy and Henry felt that social media needs to do more to stop fake troll accounts and shared their thoughts on how to stop troll culture. Both Billy and Henry gave examples and thoughts, Billy mentioning that you need to provide your home address and ID. 

Both of the lads felt strongly that the world needs to change and that we need to come to together with combined energy to get finally end this stain on society. 

Listen into the pod for the full discussion. 

In the third episode of the Festival of Football Podcast we talk about, 

In the first part of the pod we discuss Spurs thrashing of already relegated, Sheffield United. Gareth Bale scored a hattrick in the game with Son scoring a worldie. Billy was completely wrong with his prediction of a close game and Sheffield United going in front first. Henry was very close with prediction on the earlier pod, he predicted a 3-0 easy win for Spurs. Could this be the catalyst for Spurs to get into the top four? It could well be. We then went on to talk about the huge result for West Ham beating Burnley 2-1. They did have to come from behind to get the job done. Billy as nearly right saying that Chris Wood would score but he felt Burnley would win. Henry went on to talk about Diop and the mistakes he has been making the last few games and felt he was not good enough for West Ham. Can West Ham now make the top four? Henry seems to think it is more than possible they will, especially if Chelsea begin to drop points. 

On the next part of the pod we turned our attention to the Manchester United fans protesting against the Glazers owning the club. Billy felt strongly that they should not be protesting as they could spread COVID across all those fans who turned up, reports had it that 10k people were there at various stages of the afternoon. Billy also felt that their protest would achieve nothing as you cant force owners to sell a privately owned business. Henry felt the opposite, he felt that the United fans should be allowed to protest and vent their anger against owners who have done nothing for the club. Where they both agreed was that their was no need for violence. Should United be punished for getting the game called off? Billy felt a 20 point deduction was fair to stop this happening in the future. 

Lastly we discussed a combined Spurs and West Ham 11. It was an interesting debate with the spilt of players being much more even than you would expect. Listen in to find out who we chose.