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Cycling journalist Richard Moore reflects on his critically-acclaimed book In Search of Robert Millar, a fascinating portrait of the famous Tour de France cyclist. It’s a book that combines biography with a real-life detective story

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Whatever happens next between Real Madrid and their manager, the roadmap to a more stable and successful future has been laid out by the troubles confronting Zinedine Zidane this season.

Here's my take on why Madrid president Florentino Perez, his head coach and their embattled players need a director of football - a sporting brain connecting the front office to the dressing room. And the scenario in which the answer to all their problems may be closer than they think.

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THIS clip show comes to you from the treatment table. Don’t worry, The Big Interview is as fit and healthy as ever - we’ve just gone back to find out what some of our guests from Season Two had to say about injuries. 

 

Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon retraces the steps he took on the long road to recovery from a tear in the patella tendon of his left knee, an injury which left him in almost constant pain for two years. 

 

A back problem put a teenage Neil Lennon out of the game for 18 months, and he reveals that only a bone-shuddering challenge during a game with Rochdale convinced him that he was back to his best. 

 

Steve Archibald also talks about how being maimed by Rangers’ Tom Forsyth helped him to become a more clever striker, before we hear from Stan Petrov and how his brave, successful fight against leukaemia has changed how he lives his life today. 

 

Strictly speaking, cancer may not be an injury, but, believe me, the message from Stan is one that we should all take the time to listen to. 

Enjoy!

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Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl talks us through his 2012 profile piece about FC Barcelona. It was headlined ‘The World’s Team’ and for it, he was given unparalleled week-long access to the club’s new training facility, where he interviewed Xavi, Fabregas and Pique

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The closest player to Sergio Busquets in Europe's top leagues may just be the guy playing alongside him for Barcelona.

In this podcast, I put the microscope over how Valverde's team are using Ivan Rakitic, and how this is the key to the acceleration in the football they are playing.

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Hola!

Well, well, well... what does last weekend's defeat at home to Villarreal mean for Real Madrid? More to the point, where does it leave manager Zinedine Zidane?

That is the very question I answer in this podcast.

Enjoy!

Graham

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Dennis Bergkamp was a unique footballer, a player who inspired Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal to greatness in the nineties and noughties with an exquisite blend of technique, balletic grace and unforgettable moments. It was always going to take something special to encapsulate the Dutchman’s unique talents in book form. Written as a collaboration between David Winner, author of Brilliant Orange, and Dutch journalist Japp Visser, Stillness and Speed moves between hugely insightful interviews with Bergkamp and traditional biography.

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David Winner talks through his legendary exploration of Dutch football, Brilliant Orange. Published in 2000, it has become a classic of sports literature. Winner's book is both an idiosyncratic journey into the cultural and social forces which produced the greatest-ever generation of Dutch footballers - embodied in the legendary figure of Johan Cruyff - and a rollicking good football story.

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Hello Big Interview listeners! Well, you’ve been very patient, so here it is: Part Two of my Big Interview with Terry Gibson.

And, I promise, it is well worth the wait. If you remember, at the end of Part One we left Terry after he had cut short an unfulfilling spell at Manchester United and signed for Wimbledon. We’ll pick up the story there, as Terry takes you inside that club and introduces you to the Crazy Gang.

The chances are you’ll have heard of them, but Terry takes us beyond the headlines and describes a group of rival factions who shared a dressing room. I found that fascinating but there was a happy ending, with Wimbledon going on to lift the 1988 FA Cup. Terry talks brilliantly about that cup run and the final against Liverpool.

I enjoy speaking to Terry and consider him a friend, but that’s not why I wanted him on the show. He also has a shrewd, brilliantly analytical football mind - just listen to how he takes clubs in England to task over their reliance on financial might instead of effective scouting.

Take it away, Terry.

Graham

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Sports Illustrated writer Ben Reiter talks through his 2014 cover story on the Houston Astros. His piece predicted that the Astros - then the worst team in baseball - would win the 2017 World Series. In November, he was at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, to see his prediction come true. This is the extraordinary story of perhaps the greatest long-shot in all of sportswriting.

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