04/03/2018 MOTD2 Extra

Hello, and welcome to

Match Of The Day 2 Extra.

We're on BBC Two, 5 Live,

the BBC Sport website and app,

as well as the iPlayer.

Joining me today, former Liverpool

midfielder Stephen Warnock,

former West Ham midfielder

Nigel Reo-Coker, and

the football correspondent

of The Telegraph, Jason Burt.

As ever, we want to hear from you,

using the hashtag #bbcfootball

on social media, or you can text

us on 85058.

Here's what's coming up...

It has been a bad day for several

teams, but who was it worse for?

West Brom stay rooted

to the foot of the table

after yet another defeat.

But it doesn't look great

for Everton, either -

they suffer a third loss in four,

and the fans aren't happy

with Sam Allardyce.

Meanwhile, Swansea are out

of the relegation zone

after a mightily impressive home win

over West Ham.

And Whidbey activate's tit games,

Brighton versus Arsenal and

Manchester City against Chelsea.

Some of the headlines

in today's papers...

The Mail On Sunday suggest that

Germany manager Joachim Loew

is the favourite to replace

Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

The Sunday Mirror say Pep Guardiola

is planning to sign Andres Iniesta

and the Sunday Telepgraph lead

on VAR getting the go-ahead

from the International Rules Board -

that could be at the World Cup.

Let's look at the bottom half of the

table.

Everton in tenth to Stoke in 19th

are separated by only seven points,

with nine games to go.

West Brom are adrift of everyone

else, they have lost five in a row,

seven adrift of their nearest team,

and they are eight of safety.

And yet they did not play too badly

at Watford yesterday, despite the

defeat. So, when we discuss Alan

Pardew's future, we have to balance

the performance with the bigger

picture?

You do, but it is a results

business, and I think the way he has

tried to come in and played

football, tried to get the ball down

and play, completed the opposite to

what Tony Pulis wanted to do, it had

an effect at first where the fans

took to it, they wanted to see that

side of the game but the results

have not come, so I don't think it

has worked, if you are honest. I

think it is a big ask the West Brom

to come back from where they are at

the moment, you can virtually write

them off.

So, when we talk about

Alan Pardew's future, we will hear

from him in a moment, in many ways,

even though he has not been there

long, have West Brom left it too

late?

I think so, it is a difficult

situation to come in as a manager in

these situations and inherit a

squad, he has to do their best he

can do with the players available,

they tried to bring in Daniel

Sturridge, I think goal-scoring was

a big problem for them, and he got

injured. I think a word that has

been bandied around a lot this week,

character, it gets to a point where

the players have to take more

responsibility, there has to be that

passion coming from the players.

Sometimes as a manager and coach you

can want to motivate the players to

be successful, to want to do well,

but sometimes the players have to

take that on board and say, we want

to do well, we want to stay in the

Premier League, we don't want to get

relegated. It comes

about when players police their own

dressing room, I have experienced it

at West Ham and other teams, myself

and Stephen played at Aston Villa

and there were times when we, as

players, took charge when things

were not going right.

You have

played under him, before we bring

Jason in, does he expect players to

police their own dressing room?

I

think so, yes, he likes characters,

he likes players with character and

personality, and a bit of edge. He

will do the best he can do, he will

always back himself, he always

believes himself, he is a fighter,

that is Alan Pardew, but sometimes

he likes that to come from the

players as well, the players he is

managing and coaching, he wants

that, we can do this, we are going

to do this, let's get some kind of

reaction.

I think the problem he has

got is, when Alan goes into a

football club, he gets the media

reaction, he is very much a manager

who makes an impact, things happen

quickly, turned it round, it is

often the longer term problems in

terms of sustaining that, people

talked about he has been a streaky

manager in the past, wins five games

and loses five games. That has not

happened at all. Discussions at West

Brom will be, we are going down, do

we make the change to get a manager

in who will get us back up, do we

stick with Alan Pardew and see if he

is a manager to get us back up? The

biggest issue of all this, who is

going to go there anyway? The last

few weeks will have been discussing,

do we get rid of him, at what point

do we get rid of him?

They are going to go down, I think

that is it, people will say they

have to keep fighting but they have

to think now of the longer term

future, do they stick with him as a

manager or cut their losses in a

sense and think, he is not going to

be the man to bring us back up and

we need to make that change now and

give us the best chance possible of

being promoted. I am going to give

you all the chance to Aston?!

-- to

answer the question in a moment. But

under Alan Pardew they have

collected the fewest points and

scored the fewest goals in that

time.

It is tough but it is not about me,

it is about West Brom and it is

tough for the fans and the players

to experience gained that are so

tight we just cannot get ourselves a

win. Obviously that is putting us in

a very difficult position. We will

not give up the fight, we will keep

going until we get something.

What

would you do? I will get Jason to

answer his own question! Because he

has taken teams up from the

championship, yes?

Yes, he has.

So

what would you do?

We were talking

of air and said when you have an

owner who has not got the best

interest of the club at heart, it is

very difficult to put someone in

place, it is almost like the Chinese

consortium have come in now and they

are trying to run the club in a

certain way. John Williams, who I

worked with at Blackburn, is an

amazing chairman. Suddenly he is

taking the flag for party's

appointment and that is the end of

the relationship so he has left the

club now. It is a very difficult

situation for the club and they

almost need someone who has got the

interest of the club to step forward

and say... I think they have just

reappointed someone?

The previous

chief executive...

Whether they are

looking in the background now with

Alan and saying, do you want to be

here, do you want to take the club

back up, or do you see it as you

cannot do any more at this club?

Would you keep him and go, you know

what, we will give you a chance to

bring us back up?

I think when you

look at his record he is more than

capable of doing it, but I think he

will leave the club.

I think I would

honestly keep him. I am a believer

in David versus Goliath, I love

being the underdog and I don't think

they are fully done, I think they

have an opportunity to turn things

around. I have never seen the

Premier League as competitive as it

is from bottom to eighth or ninth...

But when you are losing game after

game, where you are looking in the

changing room or to get the

confidence from someone because I

could be sat next to you and you are

feeling even worse than me and the

guy next to you is feeling even

worse, it is difficult for someone

to lead the team. You mentioned

Daniel Sturridge before, when he

walked in the changing room they

probably thought, here is a guy who

can fire us back of the league, and

they lose him after five

minutes of the first game.

What is

interesting is the striker they

wanted was Troy Deeney, he scored

the goal yesterday, he is that

strong character in the dressing

room, but they could not get him

because Watford quite widely said,

we are not selling him to one of our

relegation rivals, and it bit them

yesterday. He is the type of

character Alan Pardew blogs, I think

Troy Deeney is one of the best

characters in the Premier League, he

shows that commitment and desire,

some fans might not like him but he

makes you want to watch football, he

is from that old school generation

that really cares.

To answer the

question...

It was your question, to

be fair!

I suspect they will make

the change. I think they need to

look at the work he has done over a

wall at the club and only they know

that. I think public incidents will

have gone against him such as what

happened in Barcelona, that will not

go well at all in the club, the fact

they got rid of the chairman

suggests they don't have a lot of

faith left in the manager either. I

think what they will do is, if they

are going to go down, a few of the

players will go, they have got

clauses in the contract, Jonny Evans

and so on, I think they might go for

a younger manager, try and reboot

the club, get some younger players

in. I would not be surprised if they

go for someone like Michael Atherton

who was at the club before,

assistant manager at Leicester City,

they might be looking at that

profile going forward to bring them

back up.

Thank you for your texts

and tweets. One says, sacking their

manager thinking they should be a

top table club, they should be happy

to be in the Premier League. These

small teams have too much ambition,

the Bible should be all, anything

else is a bonus. They are his words,

not mine, West Brom fans!

Giving fuel is a new contract in the

summer and then appointing Pardew

were the mistakes,

were the mistakes, he is tactically

clueless, his handling of the taxi

four was shocking.

One final question about John

Williams, somebody being a fantastic

chairman. As a player, what do you

look for in a chairman? As in, why

was he a fantastic chairman for you?

Because, at times, there were

players who felt they wanted to

leave the club to go elsewhere and

he backed the manager when the

manager wanted to keep those

players, it was Mark Hughes and

there were players who wanted to

leave, who had ambitions to go to

other clubs, he stuck by Mark Hughes

100%, he always backed the managers

when they came in, Sam Allardyce,

Paul Ince, he backed them with

whatever they wanted to do, backed

them 100%. If they said, we want to

go on a warm weather training camp

to benefit the players, that is

fine,

you are the manager, he gave them

sole control of the club and let

them go on with it because he knew

he was not a manager.

Have you been

at clubs where players have known

that you could maybe play a chairman

off against a manager?

I haven't

myself but I know it happens at

other clubs and it is a sad thing to

see in football because the players

should not have that power, the

players should get on with the job

in hand and the managers deal with

tears and relate to the chairman.

Let's move on to Everton, they are

tense but have only 12-macro out of

11 league games, they were beaten at

Birtley yesterday, here is Sam

Allardyce with Guy Mowbray.

Talking about the frustration with

the fans at the end, do you feel how

they feel?

They won't believe it but

I feel worse because it is my

responsibility so I go home and say

to myself, and have been for a

while, how do I put this right, then

set out a plan and do the best but

that week's training to show the

players what they have got to do

against each team they come across

and hope they go out and show their

abilities. I think that, for me, to

see them underperform in the second

half, not the first, but the second

half, is very disappointing for me.

But it is my problem to sort it out.

Everton fans were furious yesterday,

particularly in feeling that

Allardyce didn't necessarily really

care, they were judging it on

whether he laughed at an

inappropriate time or smoked in an

interview, whatever it may be.

Can

you understand the fans'

frustrations? Definitely, Everton

fans have always been passionate. It

is not just a football club to them,

it is a way of life. You can

understand how they feel for a club

like Everton, I find it puzzling as

well with the recruiting they have

done, the players and the squad, why

are they in this position? I just

don't understand why they are in

this situation right now and some

has gone in there and he has his

style of play, whether it is working

with the players and personal

present at the club, I don't think

it is working at the moment.

Do you

think it is huge mismanagement at

the highest level? And I'm not

talking about Allardyce here, I'm

talking about right at the top of

the club?

It is two years last week

since the majority shareholder

became so at Everton and they are no

better and have spend an awful lot

of money and you wonder who is

really calling the shots at the top

of the club. They are trying to

progress with the new stadium, Bill

Kenwright is still chairman, Steve

Walsh 's director of football,

managers come and go, it seems a

mission mash, no direction at the

top of the club. They seem to have

wasted a huge amount of money,

fortunes have been wasted at

Everton, and they haven't moved

forward.

You would question the

recruitment, what direction are they

going with the players they have

recruited? Are they trying to get a

more footballing team, are they

trying to go for building a

foundation with players to work with

for the next couple of years?

When

they bought those players last

summer, I said, how many were top

four, top five, top six clubs want?

They did not buy players that others

were going for and were paying a

premium for them all. Jordan picks

would you could argue but he would

not necessarily be a first choice

keeper at other clubs so they were

spending lots of money.

With the

others are sniffing around Michael

Keane?

Manchester United were but

they did not necessarily regard him

as a first choice player. You are

right, he is probably the other

player, but they were not fighting

big clubs to get these players.

You

look at Klaasen, though, he

potentially was in the eight Eksteen

that was playing well in Europe and

a lot of teams were looking at him

but to come from the Dutch lead to

the Premier League and do it week

in, week out is a massive ask.

But

you bring in Bruni and Klaasen and

Sigurdsson, who will play?

You bring

in three Number Ten expert but don't

replace the biggest problem, which

is Lukaku, and everyone is turning

around and saying, we would take

Lukaku back in a heartbeat but I

know Everton fans at the time were

sailing he is not good enough to go

to United but they would have him

back now but still has not replaced

the problem. If you are get 60, 70

million four Lukaku and more, how

can you not replacing with a proven

goal-scorer?

Here are some of the text messages,

Julia says get rid, that smile

leaving the page says it all.

Another, the owner should not have

appointed him to begin with. Daniel

Evans says it may be controversial,

but Everton could be sucked in

easily. There are worse teams, but

it would not surprise me. Some

Everton fans were pointing out

yesterday, this was the early game,

they kept saying, we thought Sam

Allardyce was a strong defensive

coach, and knew how to organise the

team. There have been lots of games

since he has taken over where

Everton have looked a shambles,

defensively?

I think the smirk is

because of that. Almost like, what

am I working on in training? I am

working on things in training and

you're not relating it onto the

pitch. That is what fans are being

frustrated about, that smirk. It is

the thought in his head, I am trying

my hardest, but they are not getting

it on the pitch. That is one of the

things that I see. Defensively, he

is very, very good. I worked with

him at Blackburn and the work that

he carried out on the pitch, you

knew where you stood on the pitch,

you knew what your role and your job

was. Those idle errors. The first

goal, Pickford should be higher from

his line. -- the individual errors.

He should know that anyway, that

comes in training. That's knowing

your job. Then Michael Keane,

struggling during the game, I think

he found it tough going back to

Burnley, the boos got to him. But he

can't deal with individual errors

while they are happening on the

pitch, he has to put it right in

training, but it keeps happening,

time after time.

Then you have to

take responsibility for that. People

say individual errors, but if there

are always individual errors, there

is a structural problem in the way

you set out your team?

You do, but

if it, does Michael Keane play

yesterday in front of Jagielka? If

he is fit, I don't think he does. He

is playing the team that he has to

deal with. If Leighton Baines was

fully fit, he is playing left-back.

But to go back to your point, a lot

of people would look at Michael

Keane, he is in the England squad,

thinking, you know, this is an

exciting young player. It's not a

terrible player to put on the pitch.

Don't get me wrong, but it is not a

Sam Allardyce signing, that is when

you go to Steve Walsh and say, tell

me, what did you see in certain

players? That is what a lot of

Everton fans are saying. I am in the

area and I hear that all the time,

what is Steve Walsh doing? What is

his job? Is he the sole person

bringing his players in ordered him

and Ronald Koeman sit down in the

summer and say, these are the

players, they agreed on them?

On the

Michael Keane thing, then we will

move on, he was sensational for

Burnley last season. There is a

school of thought that Michael Keane

was sensational for Burnley because

of the system that Sean Dyche

played, how he uses his full-backs,

the support around him, maybe

protection in front of him. I don't

know if he will be able to answer

this or not, but did you feel at any

point in your career that you were

flying at a certain club, in a

certain system, because of how

everything was set up, and then you

move somewhere else and struggle

because that club wasn't necessarily

suited to your game?

For me, I was

quite fortunate, all of my clubs

that I was at I was in the system,

everything worked well with each

other. We were told where we should

be when the ball is on this site,

you need to be here, these are your

options. I was fine with that. I

didn't have issues. What people have

to understand is that the younger

generation, the young guys coming

through, it is a lot more individual

man management. You have to spend a

little bit more time, individually,

to get them to understand certain

aspects of the game. As you said, a

lot of it does come from the

manager. You have your system, even

if it means you go on the training

pitch and set your team out on that

formation, with no opposition, you

say this is where you need to be,

this is what I want, you have to do

it.

Sometimes you don't get two

world-class players that gel

together. It doesn't always happen.

Sometimes you get one lesser player

and one really good player. I'm not

saying he was a lesser player, but

when I was at but then I had Morton

against Pedersen in front of me. I

knew if I ran forward, he was behind

me. If I went into a tackle and

missed, I knew he was behind me,

covering. We had relationships on

the pitch. Leighton Baines, at the

peak of his career, with Stephen

Pienaar, it just happens. You get

that sometimes within teams. Ashley

Williams and Michael Keane, they

look like they have never played

together before. That is me being

very harsh, but it is very true.

Michael Keane may not be able to

play, he might not feel comfortable

with Martina playing outside him. He

does not know where he is moving. He

is a right back playing at

left-back, not naturally suited to

that side of the pitch. There are

fundamental things that are

happening that have a knock-on

effect in the team.

Stephen Warnock,

Nigel Rio

Nigel Rio Coker with us.

Here we are the Lamex... Amex.

It is interesting that you talk

about the calm of Brighton in the

maelstrom of relegation. It has felt

very much like that at Brighton &

Hove Albion. I am joined by the

chief executive. Paul, you have not

really made any negative headlines.

You have hardly been on the back

pages. I imagine that is how you

like it, and that is very much Chris

Hughton's demeanour?

He is very

calm, he does not get too high on

the highs, or too low on the lows.

We have tried to compete as best we

can, we knew it would be a big step

up, and there have been a couple of

games where the gap between us and

the top six has shown. Overall I

think we have given a decent account

so far, but we still have work to

do.

You said you tried to be in

games, there have only been two

heavy defeats, Liverpool and

Chelsea, every other game has been

really tight?

Even those games, we

felt we had good chances. Maybe the

scoreline was a little bit

flattering to those clubs. But we

played well for many parts of the

games throughout the season. You

know, we have enjoyed the experience

so far and we are working very hard

to keep in this league.

The club has

come a very long way. People know

the back story about Goldstein,

Priestfield, everything else. But

you are the biggest show in town. I

have lived in Sussex nearly 20

years, a big county, with the

greatest of respect to Crawley Town

and the thriving non-league scene,

you are the big show in Sussex. How

much further can this club go? How

much can it expand and develop more?

The first priority is to stay in the

Premier League. Obviously to become

an established and stable Premier

League club. We know that takes a

lot more hard work. Beyond that, we

have great infrastructure, we have a

fantastic stadium, we sell out every

week, a world-class training ground.

We are fortunate to have a wealthy

and committed owner that loves the

club and has done for many years of

his life. We feel we are in a good

place, but we also know there are

many other clubs

that want to be part of the elite 20

in the Premier League. We know this

is not going to be easy to stay in

this league and we know that

establishing ourselves will be even

harder. It will be a tough few weeks

ahead but we're looking forward to

it.

What is harder, do you feel, as

somebody that is running the club,

the tension that comes from trying

to get into the Premier League,

something that Brighton experienced

for a few seasons, or the ten shall

try to make sure that you stay in

it?

You would think that staying up

would be harder than getting in,

doesn't feel like that. It has been

a very enjoyable season. Chris and

the players take a huge amount of

credit, just from the way that they

have maintained good form,

confidence throughout the season,

belief in themselves. Even when we

went in a bad patch, they maintained

the belief and came through that. We

have another big test here today.

I

look forward to that. Thank you for

joining us. It promises to be a good

afternoon as Arsenal come to the

Amex, one of the big games for the

people of Sussex.

Thanks, Steve.

We have full commentary from 1.30.

All the makings of an awkward

afternoon for Arsenal and Arsene

Wenger. Unsurprisingly, Chris

Hughton is naming an unchanged team

to the one that beat Swansea 4-1

last weekend. Glenn Murray continues

to lead the line. He scored seven

goals in his last nine games and

that means the recent arrivals

upfront have to satisfy themselves

with a place on the bench. Arsene

Wenger's response to back-to-back

defeats against Manchester City,

three changes today. Hector Bellerin

is left out of a Premier League game

for the first time this season.

Calum Chambers replaces him. Jack

Wilshere is back. He could not play

on Thursday because of an ankle

injury. Aaron Ramsey is missing out

today. I understand that as a

precaution, he had a slight groin

problem, the first leg of the AC

Milan tie in the Europa League is

coming up on Thursday. The third

change sees Alex Iwobi coming in,

replacing Danny Welbeck.

If history tells us anything, it

would be that Arsenal, criticised,

huge pressure on Arsene Wenger, who

will replace him, knowing them, they

will put five past Brighton this

afternoon?

3-0 up in ten minutes!

That is what happens?

You hear them

saying wounded animal, absolutely

right. The talent in that team, they

could do that easily.

And then the

whole thing starts again?

Then they

play AC Milan, that is a difficult

tie. We have gone beyond the tipping

point, I think. The defeats against

Manchester City, albeit against

Manchester City, it has change the

atmosphere right at the top of

Arsenal, not just the fans and

media. There is a real sense that we

are probably reaching the end game

now. The Europa League is perhaps

the one thing that might save them.

You are right, they could quite

comfortably go and destroy Brighton

today. I don't think they will. I

think it is a tough game. I am a big

fan of Brighton, Chris Hughton, they

had an amazing season. Structurally,

they are an amazing team. Builds

everything from the two Centre

halves, which is very unusual. The

way they have managed the season so

far, getting through to January with

basically just Glenn Murray upfront,

and now

and now they have brought in Locadia

to give them more options.

Like you

said, Arsenal is a wounded animal.

You have to be careful when they are

backed into a corner. At the same

time, do they have characters in the

dresser in saying, you know what,

let's capitalise and really turn

this around? We have had a tough

week, who will be in the dressing

room coming to say we need to win

this game? Who will come out, stand

up and be counted? I just don't see

it.

The way you are questioning

that, it would imply that there are

not many?

Jack Wilshere is back in

the team, I'm a big fan, a great

player, true Arsenal player, how

many players will follow him and let

him lead the team?

Let's move on to Swansea and West

Ham. They have lost two out of three

games out of Carlos Carvalhal. I had

a Swansea fans say to me recently

that while they are very grateful

for what Carlos Carvalhal has done,

they have a slight fear that they

might be turning into Sunderland, in

the sense that every year they

started badly, they bring somebody

in, he gives them an amazing lift,

they stay up, but it can only go on

for so long?

That is the problem

now, the one worry they will have.

It is something they have to address

in the summer. We don't want to be

in the situation, like the last

three seasons, the turnover of

managers is probably the most within

a Premier League club. It is

absolutely frightening what they

have done. But you can't go away

from the job that he has done. Five

games ago they were bottom of the

league. It just shows you that if

you can hit a run of form and you

can pick up results, where it can

catapult you to, but I don't see

many teams around them doing it. We

talk about Brighton, just then. They

got Glenn Murray, who can score

goals. I don't see many other teams

having a striker that is going to go

on a run of seven in ten, that he

has scored. That is how you're going

to stay in the lead. With Swansea,

they seem to have a collective unit,

where everybody is chipping in with

goals. The form of them has been

fantastic.

The changes they have

made, it has always been the same

time of year, three or four years in

a row they sacked the manager in

December. I think they recognise the

biggest problem has been

recruitment. They had three of four

bad transfer windows. To be fair to

Carvalhal, who will obviously stay,

this is a big summer. That is what

they need to address. They made

mistakes that managers are paid for.

Is it a lesson to a lot of us,

particularly in the media, fans as

well, just because something doesn't

necessarily go well at one club, in

the end, because it did go well for

him at Sheffield Wednesday for a

long time, just because it goes

badly towards the end and you lose

your job, does not make you a bad

manager?

Not at all. Modern day

football now is that there is such a

quick turnaround of managers. It is

a results business. Managers now are

not given the opportunity to build

something at the club, build an

everlasting dynasty, like Alex

Ferguson did at Manchester United,

Arsene Wenger, to make Arsenal who

they are. Managers are not going to

be given that opportunity. They are

under so much scrutiny now that they

need to get results. You need quick

reaction, instant impact.

From a Western perspective, not good

yesterday, here are David Moyes'

thoughts.

Simple header at the back post, you

hope to head it away, I thought we

should have saved the first one and

we gave away a goal for the third

one from a corner kick and forth one

from a penalty kick, it was a poor

performance but the worst since I

have been at West Ham, but we have

got to work to get out of it and we

are going to have to do much better

and get back to doing much more like

the things we were

doing six weeks ago.

Do you sense a frustration very

similar to Sam Allardyce? I am

telling you to do this and you are

not doing it?!

Definitely! The first

goal yesterday comes from switching

off at the back post. When you have

players who are inexperienced and in

a relegation battle or down that end

of the table, there was a lot of

pressure on you and you have got to

do good job week in, week out, and

it comes with experience so they are

missing the likes of Collins,

Winston Reid went off injured, it

will be a massive concern for David

Moyes because at the other end of

the pitch they have goals, and out

to Mitch, Hernandez, Campbell when

fit. He will be a massive plus for

them if he

gets back before the end of the

season. Antonio is flipping between

hamstring injuries at the moment, in

and out of the team, and on his day

he is a threat. But at the back end

of the pitch, he needs to keep it

tight, he will look at that and

think, if we keep clean sheets, we

can score goals.

Do they have

character? Or is it simply Mark

Noble and everybody else?

They have

got Mark Noble and James Collins who

have been at the pub for a long

time, they have got character there.

The thing now is they need to get

everyone else to buy into the club

of what it means to play for West

Ham, and that is a difficult thing.

Sometimes you need a good solid

foundation of British players to let

foreign players understand what it

means. When West Ham play Tottenham,

let them know what it means to the

fans and is as players that this

derby

derby means so much, we need to win

this game. It is them now stepping

up to the plate to give players

around them to buy into it, it is a

tough task.

Did you find playing for

West Ham different to playing for

any other club? I would be

interested to know.

West Ham is a

special part because it is more than

a football club, it is generation to

generation to generation. It means

so much to the fans, it is a family

thing. You could not grow up in a

West Ham household and support any

other team.

But do you not find that

at Villa or... That is not a

criticism of Villa, I just find West

Ham such, I love going there, I find

it fascinating.

It is fascinating,

that is just what I was told from so

many West Ham fans, you just buying

into it, even in the championship,

West Ham fans, when you play

Millwall, you have to win that game,

they don't care about the rest of

the season but you have to beat

Millwall!

But you do get that at

most clubs, don't you, you have to

beat other clubs. At Villa, we had

to beat Birmingham, we had to beat

them, we knew we had to win that

game or at least not get...

Dispatched!

You could not come out

with a defeat, but that is similar

at most clubs. I think West Ham fans

have a perception of their club and

how they wanted to be, Sam Allardyce

alluded to it when he was manager,

playing the West Ham wait. What is

the West way?

It is football, they

really want to play football, they

see their club as a big club and

want to push into the next level.

The problem is, we were discussing

it earlier, West Ham are in the same

category as Everton, when you look

at the recruiting and the players

that have come in, you question some

of the players that have come in

and, if you are a West Ham fan, you

will look at the club and say, what

direction are we heading in? What

are we training to build?

We are

getting this player from here, this

player from there, the same as

Everton. I need to get to the Etihad

because the 4pm game is Manchester

City against Chelsea and Guy Mowbray

is at the Etihad for us. Is this a

bigger game for Chelsea, perversely,

because of the state of the table?

Good afternoon, Mark. I think it

probably is, yes, because if city

lose today it will just delay the

inevitable, they need five more

wins, ten games to get them, they

are going to be the Premier League

champions. For Chelsea, as Antonio

Conte has said, it is the start of

an important two or three-week

period because they cannot afford to

have the gap five points to

Tottenham for much longer. They have

Palace in a week's time, Barcelona

in the Champions League, Leicester

away in the FA Cup, they could go

into the game on the 1st of April to

Tottenham adrift, not able to catch

them, and out of everything else, so

the start of an important period for

Chelsea and they have to try to get

something here today, as difficult

and, frankly, unimaginable as it may

seem.

Chelsea were the last team to

win in the Etihad and it is

interesting the way the two clubs

have gone since then?

Yes, Chelsea

have not changed that much since the

game in early December 2016 but they

have changed in a key area down the

spine. Dafydd Louise was at the

start of their backline, now he is

nowhere to be seen, injured at the

moment, completely out of favour.

Nemanja Matic has moved on, and

Diego Costa has moved on as well.

Otherwise, pretty much the same

Chelsea team that we will see

today. The difference is when you

see who they are lining up against

because the city team that day,

though not too different in terms of

personnel, had a back three of

Otamendi, who has improved, John

Stones, who was looking nervous at

that time in a Manchester City shirt

but has come on leaps and bounds,

and Aleksandar Kolarov, who has gone

altogether and was never a

left-sided central defender in the

first place. You look at the rest of

the team, did bring a particularly,

even Aguero and David Silber, and

you see how Pep Guardiola has

improved those players. You can talk

about the money you spend and the

players he may have boarded but it

is the players who were here already

that he has made even better that is

the key point. Another point is the

weight managers come and go from

clubs, it is all relative, it is all

how clubs are expected to perform

and what they do with their managers

as a result. He was

as a result. He was given a in

Manchester City terms he did not win

anything so I suppose he failed in

his first year but look at what is

happening in the second year. There

are rewards for patients and

Guardiola has been fantastic in how

he has transformed things this

season.

Nigel, you were nodding

along to that last point. You were

nodding along to everything I said

because everything he said was spot

on!

It is about giving the

opportunity and Mikey said, you see

how many players have improved under

Pep Guardiola, he pays attention to

detail, I still speak with Fabian

Delph, who I played with at Aston

Villa, and he tells me a lot about

how the training is, what he's like

as a manager. Everyone is talking

about how great Sane is coming he

said that Pep Guardiola has paid a

lot of attention to him and helped

him understand the tactical side of

football and how to get to the next

level to be spoken in the same

breath as a world-class player. If

you look at how he is playing you

can nearly give him that tag because

he is playing like a world-class

player.

Does Fabian feel, without

betraying confidences, does he feel

like, which obviously you will have

to do to answer the question! Does

Fabian feel he has crafted a greater

understanding of football?

Definitely, he has said how training

is structured, he is so different to

every other manager, it is

impossible to train at such a high

tempo and turned up to a game on

Saturday and be lethargic, it is

impossible, and he pays so much

attention to detail, positioning,

getting players to understand how

important distances are, and when

certain players are on the ball,

what is the best for them as an

individual and also for the team to

isolate the player in one-on-one

situations? If he is there, let him

be won on one and you make your

space elsewhere, it is that

attention to detail that has made

them go to another level this year.

Do you think footballers have bought

into it because it is Pep Guardiola

who has been so successful at

Barcelona and Bayern Munich and have

a back catalogue of work to come

with it and therefore you accept

maybe some stuff that you might not

accept maybe with other managers? I

don't know?

Definitely, you have to

respect what he has done so far in

world football and as a player you

would have to get together as a team

and understand that this is what he

wants to do, this is his style, give

him the opportunity and see how it

goes.

He started at Barcelona B and

all the ideas in his head had to

work for them to win games and as

soon as you are a player and you go,

we are winning games here, we

comfortably winning games, you

believe in him, don't you? So

whether he had a reputation or not,

sometimes a manager will come in and

you might have, you might wonder why

they got the job but then they come

in and you see things yourself and

go, well, I get that, I really get

why he has done that. Thierry Henry

did a PC of the day when he said, I

learned how to play football at 30.

You are thinking, at 30?! You Toure

the Premier League to pieces for

years, then went to Barcelona at 30

and saw a completely different

perspective of the game and learned

the game again. That is great to

see.

I know Arsene Wenger bridled at

it when he was asked whether

Guardiola has risen the level in the

Premier League, but he has. People

talk about them being freakish, away

on the run, but it is an admission

of failure from other clubs, they

should be thinking, how is this team

so much better than us? Yes, they

have spent a lot of money, but the

players he has bought, look at Sane,

not every club was looking for him,

they spent a huge amount of money

for Ederson, who else was in for

him? He was well known but not

really well-known. Those signings

have come in, those not gone out and

bought mine Messi, he has bought

these players in...

They could!

But

he has not, I know he has spent an

awful lot of money, but he is

getting a return on that money. I

think the others need to look at

themselves as well. It is almost

like, oh, we can't compete. Why

can't you compete?

Why can't you do

things better yourselves? What

you're saying is right, attention to

detail. The players he has gone

after is players that other clubs

were paying attention to, he

identifies players he believes will

work in his system with the squad he

has.

My biggest worry is that, I

love him, I think he's brilliant,

how long is he to stay?

People said

two, three maximum, almost burned

himself out. Manchester City is

slightly different in that at

Barcelona the pressure was amazing,

Bayern Munich the pressure was

amazing. Man City is a lot of

pressure but he will look back at

last year and think, I didn't win

anything, they stuck by me, I can

carry on. They will win a lot this

year, next year they will expect to

win again but I think they will

stick with him so it is up to him

almost, the pressure around him is

not as great with Manchester

City as other clubs.

It was

interesting in the press last year,

as funds ourselves we looked at him

and said, welcome to the Premier

League, you will find it so much

harder. And he did, he found it

tough, but he adapted and it is a

sign of how good he is.

I spoke to

somebody quite close to him in the

summer about how he found it and he

admits it was hard but what he also

found is it is a different league,

the Premier League, the physicality

and intensity but also the

unpredictability of it, that is why

they have gone out this season and

not just beaten teams but we are the

destroyed them, they don't go one or

two up and sit back, they go for the

third or fourth to kill the game.

They know in the Premier League

could be 2-0 up at 88 minutes and it

is not over. One thing he does not

complain about animal is the second

ball, he never complains about the

physicality of it will the tackles,

that is a little crusade at the

moment, and on that as well when

everyone criticised him last year

when he said, I am not a coach for

the tackles, it is obvious what he

meant. It is not about flying into

tackles, it is not having to do

that, playing a more technical game

of football and winning that way.

If

you look at the squad he has built,

Manchester City have a good squad

that can stay together, Dominic the

Premier League

for a a couple of years, that is a

club