Marc White Fixes Football

A Premier League player told Marc White he hates football. Still playing, still brilliant at it, and counting down the days until he can stop.

That's one story from episode one of Marc White Fixes Football with Fulham captain, Tom Cairney.

Leeds had him from the age of seven. At sixteen they released him for being too small - "we haven't got time for him to grow" - while keeping a lad a year above him down a year to develop. His mum was arguing with the coach in the car park at Newcastle, and crying by the time she picked him up. His dad told him: as soon as you become a man, it goes back to who can play football again.

Two and a half years later he was in the Premier League. He's now twelve years and 300-plus appearances into a career at one club, with three promotions and a Wembley winner in it.

In a full hour, Marc and Tom get into:

⚽️ REFEREEING - whether ex-players sitting with officials would stop the big clangers, why a split-second read from someone who's played the game spots the acting, and whether old-school referees handled players better than the modern ones are allowed to.

⚽️ THE TITLE RACE - why Cairney thinks Arsenal's is theirs to lose, what it's actually like trying to get a shot off against them, the size of their back line, and why the peak Guardiola City side was the hardest he's faced: "if you won a corner, it felt like you'd scored."

⚽️ PROMOTED CLUBS - sack or back the manager who got you up? How many players can you sign before you break the dressing room that just won promotion? Why Fulham, Brentford and Bournemouth worked out how to stay and so many others don't.

⚽️ BEING RELEASED AT 16 - the full story, the coaches who put him forward anyway, the contract offered over the phone by a manager who said he didn't need to see him, and going from elite academy football to getting changed in a hockey goal outside the stadium.

⚽️ PHIL BROWN - the manager who gave him his pathway, what he was like in training, and why Cairney still mentions him every time he's asked.

⚽️ THE DRESSING ROOM - what captaincy actually involves, taking the armband off Scott Parker, helping foreign signings settle, why a squad without a proper core struggles however talented it is, and why Cairney reckons the changing room is the thing he'll miss most.

⚽️ JIMMY BULLARD - what it was like turning up to training every day as a 17-year-old to see what he'd done next.

⚽️ THE MODERN GAME - set-piece coaches, throw-in coaches, long throws, what it's like being the midfielder asked to block James Tarkowski, and why so much of it is "killing me a little bit."

⚽️ THE NUMBER NINE PROBLEM - nobody wants to be a striker anymore, kids aren't allowed to head it, and who exactly is going to be England's centre-forward in ten years.

⚽️QUICKFIRE AND VALUATIONS - best player he's played with and against, the toughest opponent, the loudest ground, and what Gazza, Gerrard, Scholes, Shearer and Henry would be worth in today's market. Plus what Cairney puts on himself.

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⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 - Tom Cairney: Welcome to Marc White Fixes Football
02:30 - Pro Ref and the calls they keep getting wrong
03:05 - Should ex-players sit with the officials?
06:55 - "Arsenal's title is theirs to lose"
10:08 - Promoted clubs: sack or back the manager?
11:25 - Released by Leeds at 16
17:30 - Phil Brown and the first-team pathway
19:50 - Captaincy, the armband and playing Premier League football
29:15 - Inside a Premier League dressing room
30:26 - The Premier League player who hates football
40:20 - Jimmy Bullard at Hull
48:43 - Set-piece coaches and long throws
56:30 - Captains swapping ends
58:50 - Quickfire questions
1:03:00 - What would they cost today?

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🎙️ABOUT THE SHOW
Marc White Fixes Football is hosted by Marc White, owner and manager of Dorking Wanderers FC. Marc is in the game every day - he owns a club, he manages a club, and he's not guessing. Every week he brings in someone who knows the game and they take on what's gone wrong with it: refereeing, VAR, ownership, ticket prices, academies, fan culture.

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Thanks to our partners at Canon, Sennheiser and Pro Light Direct for the kit behind this show.

And a special thank you to Iconic Studios, who built the Marc White Fixes Football set from scratch. If you want to see what they could create for you, visit https://www.iconicdisplay.co.uk/

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#Football #TomCairney #Fulham #PremierLeague #FootballPodcast #MarcWhiteFixesFootball

Marc White Fixes Football. Coming Soon 🚨

Right. Football's broken.

I've been thrown into the mix to sort it out, and I'll be honest with you - I'm the man for the job.

Big names, straight answers, stories you won't hear anywhere else, and a fair few laughs along the way.

The game's for the people. I'm here to represent you.

First episode drops Thursday 15th October!

🔔 FOLLOW so you don't miss it

⚽ GOT A PROBLEM WITH FOOTBALL?
Stick it in the comments and we'll read out the best ones on the show!

🎙 COMING UP
Tom Cairney - Current Fulham captain
Jimmy Bullard - Former Premier League footballer
Fran Kirby - Women's football legend
Tom Garratt - Football content creator