Football Today

Earlier this year, it was announced that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia was close to securing an 80% share of Newcastle United. But time has passed and the deal still remains incomplete.

In fact, the Premier League have an almighty dilemma on their hands. Not the obvious moral dilemma… but one that involves the esoteric world of broadcasting rights. 

The introduction of a Saudi player in the marketplace of the Premier League puts the league at the heart of a row that has riven the middle east for the last three years.

In this episode, we ask: how could a broadcast rights deal scupper the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United?

Guest:

Matt Slater (@mjshrimper) is a football news & investigations reporter at The Athletic.

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In 2016 as Hull City were preparing for a season back in the Premier League, fans were calling for the end of Assem Allam's ownership of the club.

Now, four years later, the club sit in 21st place, facing possible relegation to League One. Attendances are at a new low and the club have won since January.

To make matters worse the club recently banned the Hull Daily Mail from attending their latest home match against Charlton and have publicly condemned an investigation by the Athletic.

Today we ask, why is Hull City at war with the media?

Guest:

Adam Crafton (@AdamCrafton_) is a journalist for The Athletic.

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Additional Reading:

'Special investigation: The story of Hull City’s decline'

2012 might not seem that long ago but the world was a very different place back then…

There was a different political situation for a start…

The Olympics were held in London…

And Instagram released on Android devices…

But in the world of football, something even more remarkable happened… A team named Bayern Munich didn’t win the Bundesliga.

Last week, Bayern confirmed that they would finish the season top of the table again.

The Bavarian club have now won eight Meisterschalen in a row, raising questions about the league’s attractiveness to foreign audiences.

In this episode, we ask: is Bayern’s dominance an issue for German football?

Guest:

Raphael Honigstein (@honigstein) covers the Bundesliga for The Athletic, Der Spiegel, BT Sport and the Totally Football Show.

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More than 3 months after it was suspended, the Premier League has returned. Leagues in Germany, Spain, and Italy have also restarted their seasons. France is the only top-5 European league to cancel its season. However, there are still questions about how that decision was made.

Today we ask, who really canceled Ligue 1?

Guest:

Tariq Panja (@tariqpanja) is a sports reporter for the New York Times. 

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Additional Reading:

'How French Soccer Fell Apart'

It’s been quite a year for Timo Werner.

Second highest scorer in the Bundesliga, he’s now wanted by a host of Premier League clubs.

But after a deal with Bayern Munich fell through last year, everyone was expecting the young German striker to end up in Liverpool.

Last week, though, it became apparent that the Merseyside club couldn’t afford him, opening the door for Chelsea to make an approach.

In this episode, we ask: why can Chelsea buy Timo Werner and Liverpool can’t?

Guests:

Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) covers Chelsea for The Athletic.

Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) is a football finance expert working at Liverpool University and co-host of the Price of Football Podcast (@POF_POD).

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Arsenal have qualified for European competition every season since 1994-1995. As the PL restarts they sit in 9th place, putting their streak in jeopardy. Today we preview Arsenal's remaining 10 games and examine if the Gunners are still a top 6 club.

Guest:

Tim Stillman (@stillberto) is a writer for Arseblog and a regular contributor to the Arsenal Vision podcast. 

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It was the news that everyone had been waiting for: after a long break for coronavirus, the top two divisions of English football were back.

But not everyone is happy about the news about the resumption. 

Despite the best efforts of the FA, the Premier League and the EFL, there are still concerns about the safety of Project Restart.

In this episode, we ask: just how safe is Project Restart?  

Guest:

Alex Benham (@aut_omnia) is a PhD student at the University of Oxford whose work focuses on public health and the history of pandemics.

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On May 30th, UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden announced that live sport could return. However, there are public health officials who are still concerned the UK is loosening restrictions too early.

Today, we speak Labour MP and Shadow Minister for Sport, Alison McGovern (@Alison_McGovern) to discuss if now is the right time to bring back the Premier League and how the coronavirus pandemic will impact the futures of the EFL and women's football.

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When an unknown eighteen-year-old scored for Spurs against Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League back in 2011, little did the fans realise what an important role he would play in the club’s history.

Fast forward a decade and Harry Kane has a World Cup semi-final and a Champions League final under his belt.

But where the rise of Harry Kane has been dramatic, so has his decline. Beset by injury, a hamstring tear against Southampton in January was the latest of the litany of problems the Spurs striker has suffered throughout his career.

With Kane’s underlying numbers dropping away in recent seasons, in this episode, we ask: will we ever see the old Harry Kane again?

Guest:

Nathan Clark (@NathanAClark) is an analyst working in media and football. You can hear him talking about Spurs on The Extra Inch Podcast (@TheExtraInch).

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The hottest club in Germany is Bayern Munich. Bayern have won 16 of their last 17 league games and sit 7 points ahead of second place Dortmund. With 5 games left, they appear to be on their way to their 8th straight Bundesliga title.

But back on November 3rd this didn't seem so inevitable. At the time Bayern had just sacked head coach Niko Kovac and hired assistant Hansi Flick on an interim basis.

Today we profile Hansi Flick's career and explain how he might be building the next Bayern Munich dynasty.

Guest:

Manuel Veth (@manuelveth) covers the Bundesliga for Forbes and Transfermarkt

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