:00:00. > :00:41.Hello, welcome to Match Of The Day 2 Extra. We are on BBC One, BBC Radio
:00:42. > :00:47.5live and on the BBC Sport website as well, to discuss the weekend's
:00:48. > :00:52.football. Coming up this lunchtime, we will look back on yesterday's
:00:53. > :00:56.games, and focus particularly on the boss -- on the battle at the
:00:57. > :01:01.bottom, which includes practically the lower half of the table. We will
:01:02. > :01:06.also look at Newcastle vs Manchester City and Stoke vs Liverpool. With me
:01:07. > :01:12.in the studio this afternoon is a former Burnley, Bolton and Wigan
:01:13. > :01:20.manager, Adam Coyle, and Rory Smith from the times. We want your views,
:01:21. > :01:24.as ever. Text us, or get in touch via the BBC Sport website as well.
:01:25. > :01:30.We've got an awful lot to get through, but any side, from ten
:01:31. > :01:36.down, must be worried about dropping out of the Premier League. Very much
:01:37. > :01:40.so. It is starting to compact at the bottom, and a lot of clubs will be
:01:41. > :01:44.looking over their shoulders. But that is the Premier League. There is
:01:45. > :01:48.constant pressure from week to week. Many will have seen it before, and
:01:49. > :01:53.it will stand them in good stead. I think we are in for the most
:01:54. > :01:59.exciting relegation battle we have ever seen. Possible. We often have
:02:00. > :02:03.seasons where we get the big finale on the last day, at the bottom or at
:02:04. > :02:09.the top. We may even get both this season. Normally you have three or
:02:10. > :02:12.four teams. That is not the case at the moment. I don't really see that
:02:13. > :02:17.changing, because if you play against each other week to week, a
:02:18. > :02:22.lot of teams, going into the business end of the season, have
:02:23. > :02:27.real fears of relegation. The cliche is there was always one team that
:02:28. > :02:33.dropped like a stone. That's true. A lot of teams are used to playing
:02:34. > :02:38.under pressure. It tends to be a team like Hull or filler, in the
:02:39. > :02:43.position they are in now - not that I am saying it will be them! -- Hull
:02:44. > :02:49.or Aston Villa. The other thing that is crucial now is the way the
:02:50. > :02:54.fixtures fall, who you played in the first half of the season and who you
:02:55. > :02:58.play and where you play in the second half. One club that will be
:02:59. > :03:05.properly affected by that will be Sunderland. They went to Fulham
:03:06. > :03:10.yesterday and beat them 4-1. Let's get the views of the manager. I
:03:11. > :03:14.think we started well. We were in control of the game. We were
:03:15. > :03:19.dominating. We had some really good chances. One was for Berbatov, and
:03:20. > :03:25.you want chances to fall -- to fall for a calibre player like that, but
:03:26. > :03:31.it didn't come across. From the free kick, we saw ourselves 1-0 behind.
:03:32. > :03:34.We had a massive mountain to climb, and that mountain grew bigger when
:03:35. > :03:40.we conceded another just before half-time. Every time we put a few
:03:41. > :03:53.results together, we couldn't make the last one to go off the bottom.
:03:54. > :03:58.We did well. We did it in style. A very, very good performance today.
:03:59. > :04:00.The interesting clip from Renny Meulensteen there was that he
:04:01. > :04:08.highlighted chances that Fulham missed. But you look at goals
:04:09. > :04:14.against. They have conceded 46, 11 more than anyone else in the Premier
:04:15. > :04:19.League. So they are going to have to have parity with the back four, and
:04:20. > :04:24.not miss those chances. They are always very strong at the back, and
:04:25. > :04:26.if they get back to that, I do think they have matchwinners and
:04:27. > :04:34.goal-scorers at the top of the pitch. But they have to stop
:04:35. > :04:40.conceding goals. If you are going to concede one two, three goals every
:04:41. > :04:45.week, that is a lot. I think Hangeland is key for them
:04:46. > :04:50.defensively. He has been and awful mess for them. He has been missing
:04:51. > :04:55.for a while now. I would expect them to tighten up defensively when he is
:04:56. > :04:59.back. You worry for them. They have made a managerial change. They can't
:05:00. > :05:06.do it again. They are now losing heavily, and that is a bad
:05:07. > :05:10.combination. It is a managerial change they have made without
:05:11. > :05:14.seeming to believe it. They brought in Meulensteen. They then brought in
:05:15. > :05:19.Curbishley as technical director, which I wasn't aware was a role that
:05:20. > :05:24.he wanted. You then bring in an assistant head coach. It looks like
:05:25. > :05:29.they are putting a patchwork staff together without having a cogent
:05:30. > :05:33.plan. That has been the case for so long at Fulham. It is an ageing
:05:34. > :05:39.side. There is very little pace and very little useful exuberance. There
:05:40. > :05:45.was a lot of material players there. You wonder if they have the balance
:05:46. > :05:48.in place. Like any team at the bottom, you need your best players
:05:49. > :05:58.available. West Ham have been decimated. Hangeland is a huge mess.
:05:59. > :06:05.Sometimes it takes that one key player to make a difference. --
:06:06. > :06:10.Hangeland is a huge mess. Do you think that Martin Jol is culpable to
:06:11. > :06:16.allow that squad to age in the way it did? He is looking for people who
:06:17. > :06:21.are a decent value for money with lots of Premier League experience,
:06:22. > :06:30.and as a consequence, he had or has a really old squad. They made the
:06:31. > :06:33.change, with players coming in, and that eventually happens. For me,
:06:34. > :06:39.Martin Jol would have seen that three. To me, it is a great
:06:40. > :06:44.opportunity for Meulensteen and his staff to see the situation through.
:06:45. > :06:48.I'm not sure what Martin Jol could've done. There wasn't the
:06:49. > :06:54.money there. That's true. We live in a blame culture now. For any
:06:55. > :07:00.football club, it is always a collective effort.
:07:01. > :07:05.For Sunderland, not getting any blame at the moment. He went into
:07:06. > :07:11.yesterday's game saying, we have to treat this as a Cup semifinal. Every
:07:12. > :07:19.game now ought to be a Cup semifinal for Gus Poyet, because it worked!
:07:20. > :07:23.Every game is a cup semifinal! It was good for Sunderland. They are
:07:24. > :07:27.restrained side. They do have some good players. They have a lot of
:07:28. > :07:31.players on more money than they may be deserved. Again, it is a
:07:32. > :07:35.patchwork squad, but there are two or three matchwinners there. I have
:07:36. > :07:39.watched them since Gus came in, and I think they have played very good
:07:40. > :07:44.football. They have never looked at that cutting edge in the final
:07:45. > :07:47.third, but they looked it yesterday. They looked as though they could
:07:48. > :07:51.score more goals, and that will stand them in good stead. The other
:07:52. > :07:57.thing, prior to yesterday, Sunderland wanted four points from
:07:58. > :08:01.the bottom teams in the table. If you can win those games against the
:08:02. > :08:06.teams at the bottom end of the table, those other games that keep
:08:07. > :08:10.you the league. If he keeps them up, it will be one of the achievements
:08:11. > :08:17.of the season. That's right. I think he has given them performance. The
:08:18. > :08:24.Cup wins have helped as well. There's been a lot of speculation
:08:25. > :08:28.about Fletcher leaving. For me, he is an outstanding player. Those are
:08:29. > :08:33.the type of players you need to keep at your football club. The point you
:08:34. > :08:39.made about the amount of points they have picked up in that mini league
:08:40. > :08:45.at the bottom, most of those sides still have to go to the Stadium of
:08:46. > :08:51.Light, because, as everybody knows, they had this difficult fixture list
:08:52. > :08:55.at the start. The way it has fallen, they should have a stronger finish
:08:56. > :09:00.than they did start. They have all of their rivals to come. You win six
:09:01. > :09:05.or seven games at the Stadium of Light, and you should probably stay
:09:06. > :09:10.up. The other thing, as well as being a blame game at the moment in
:09:11. > :09:14.this country, as soon as somebody puts two good games together, they
:09:15. > :09:18.then ought to be going to the World Cup! We have had tweets about Adam
:09:19. > :09:23.Johnson and whether he could make a late run for the World Cup squad. I
:09:24. > :09:28.would be surprised. When he was at Man City, playing 20 minutes, he
:09:29. > :09:32.looked an England player. Then when he went to Sunderland and you were
:09:33. > :09:37.looking for 90 minutes from him, week by league, he looks less of a
:09:38. > :09:40.long -- less of an England player. If you can get Adam Johnson doing
:09:41. > :09:46.what he did yesterday for 90 minutes, week in, week out, then
:09:47. > :09:52.maybe. That is a key. Particularly for winners. There is no doubt he
:09:53. > :09:57.has talent and pace. But you have to do that week in, week out. No
:09:58. > :10:03.question about his talent. He is one of the best technical England
:10:04. > :10:07.players about. But he is quite predictable in terms of what he is
:10:08. > :10:13.going to do. He will cut in and shoot. But he is very two footed. He
:10:14. > :10:17.needs to realise that he needs more than one string to his bow to mix
:10:18. > :10:22.that up. But he is a strong player. Mentally, he is focused. Gas has him
:10:23. > :10:28.in the right place at the moment. For me, Gareth Barry has been
:10:29. > :10:32.outstanding. He scored a great goal yesterday. If you are looking for
:10:33. > :10:36.players to force their way into the England squad, he is a contender. He
:10:37. > :10:43.looks like he has a new lease of life at Everton. So if you sent your
:10:44. > :10:47.full back up to allow Alan Johnson to go down -- Adam Johnson to go
:10:48. > :10:54.down the outside, he would rip you up! He tends to play on the right.
:10:55. > :11:01.He does come in a lot. He is better as a sort of impact sub, for half an
:11:02. > :11:06.hour at the end. That's not an insult. But as a World Cup player,
:11:07. > :11:13.him and Townsend could do the same thing. I think you will be getting a
:11:14. > :11:20.few full -- a few phone calls from the full backs he has been playing
:11:21. > :11:28.against! He loves feedback! Robert Wilson, a Fulham fan, says that it
:11:29. > :11:33.is a dark day when Adam Johnson scores a hat-trick against you.
:11:34. > :11:36.Michael Brown said that Fulham made an abysmal start under Martin Jol.
:11:37. > :11:44.But we have had had sparks of improvement. Another, we find it
:11:45. > :11:47.pretty disappointing how we are playing at the moment. If you look
:11:48. > :11:52.at our squad compared to the others around us, I would generally have
:11:53. > :11:58.thought we would be ahead. But the players are still struggling under
:11:59. > :12:03.Rene Muelensteen. The other big game yesterday was Cardiff against West
:12:04. > :12:09.Ham. West Ham won by two - zero. Mark Noble got the second of those
:12:10. > :12:14.goals, and we spoke to him. It was tough, but the lads stood together.
:12:15. > :12:19.To get the goal and hang on, because Cardiff put us under some pressure
:12:20. > :12:26.in the second half. Obviously, Thomas got sent off. It became a tax
:12:27. > :12:34.versus defence. But then I managed to get the point, getting in the box
:12:35. > :12:41.on my own, and slotting it away. I have been on my NatWest Time for
:12:42. > :12:48.years now, and I am used to it! -- on my own at West Ham. We have stuck
:12:49. > :12:52.together as a club. It was big that the chairman came out and stuck by
:12:53. > :12:58.the boss and backed him. We have come here today at a tough place,
:12:59. > :13:02.with a new manager, and managed to get three points. There was such a
:13:03. > :13:07.contrast in the West Ham that played at Cardiff yesterday to the one that
:13:08. > :13:12.played at Man City during the week. Some have said that that is down to
:13:13. > :13:18.the opponents. That is no disrespect to Cardiff, more praise to Man City.
:13:19. > :13:25.But it is more than that, surely. I know they put out a young team at
:13:26. > :13:29.Nottingham Forest, but they have scored a lot of goals against
:13:30. > :13:35.everybody this season, especially at the Etihad. But you should not be
:13:36. > :13:38.conceding six goals to anyone. Sam Allardyce has always seemed to be
:13:39. > :13:44.well organised, disciplined and intelligently set up, so that will
:13:45. > :13:51.have full and infuriated him. But it doesn't say a lot about Cardiff. In
:13:52. > :13:57.their defence, you have to say that, in their defence, they are very
:13:58. > :14:04.short of players. Manchester City, in full flight, can do that to
:14:05. > :14:15.anybody. They have opened teams up, cut them, and everything else. Sam
:14:16. > :14:19.Allardyce, even maybe the players mentally don't want to go to
:14:20. > :14:23.Manchester City and lose heavily. Knowing that Saturday's game at
:14:24. > :14:27.Cardiff was huge, so mentally, physically, that was the game they
:14:28. > :14:33.were prepared for. I completely agree. He didn't exactly sacrifice
:14:34. > :14:39.the cup. You know you have a big game coming up, and that can affect
:14:40. > :14:44.you. For West Ham, that was probably the biggest game of the season.
:14:45. > :14:48.Going into that, Sam was under duress. With West Ham, the owners
:14:49. > :14:52.came out with the letters to the fans, which was brilliant. That
:14:53. > :14:57.performance from the players and the staff yesterday showed that West Ham
:14:58. > :15:03.were united. Guy Demel is out of hospital this
:15:04. > :15:07.morning, which we should say. Andy Carroll is the gamble that Sam took
:15:08. > :15:12.this season. He has not played for the first five months of the season.
:15:13. > :15:15.He came on yesterday and set up Noble for the goal. That is an
:15:16. > :15:19.enormous boon for them going into the rest of the season. If they get
:15:20. > :15:24.Collins back as well, they look too solid to really be sucked into it.
:15:25. > :15:32.You would have thought they would get out of it if those players get
:15:33. > :15:36.back. Andy Carroll never started, but he was in the squad and that
:15:37. > :15:40.gives the squad left. Good players like to play with good players. They
:15:41. > :15:44.recognise a top talent is back in their squad, the body-line which
:15:45. > :15:50.changes, they think they can win the games and that is how it proved.
:15:51. > :15:54.Nolan is an interesting one, that is a major decision for Sam Allardyce.
:15:55. > :16:01.Getting sent off once for a silly tackle, you can accept, doing it
:16:02. > :16:04.twice... There is a source of frustration as well. He's desperate
:16:05. > :16:10.to do well for his team. He's a real team player. But the fans have been
:16:11. > :16:13.on his back. He made a bad decision, that is what happened. If you
:16:14. > :16:17.watched last night, he was at the side of the pitch and when West Ham
:16:18. > :16:20.scored you could see his face, as a captain, the celebration and
:16:21. > :16:24.everything else. I think you still got an important role to play. Let's
:16:25. > :16:32.move onto side that were beaten by West Ham, Cardiff. Here is Oleg
:16:33. > :16:39.Solskjaer's thoughts. We never got going in the second half. The energy
:16:40. > :16:45.and enthusiasm we saw was not there. Obviously we wanted to win here
:16:46. > :16:50.today, but it wasn't to be. We had about double the possession of them.
:16:51. > :16:55.Twice the shots. Sometimes, for all is that way, you don't get what you
:16:56. > :17:02.deserve. Five points of Number 10, so there are two leaks. It is so
:17:03. > :17:08.tight, from ten down. We will be competitive, don't worry. Let's do
:17:09. > :17:15.the possession and shots stats first. We love stats, obviously. But
:17:16. > :17:18.West Ham allowed Cardiff to have the ball in front of them, they allowed
:17:19. > :17:21.it to get it wide and put a cross in because they knew they would beat
:17:22. > :17:27.Fraizer Campbell in the air, for most of it. Stats can be misleading?
:17:28. > :17:31.Of course, teams can dominate games, 70% possession, but they don't turn
:17:32. > :17:39.it into real goal-scoring opportunities. Whereas the team with
:17:40. > :17:42.35% have a cutting edge. I think Sam realised what Cardiff's threat was,
:17:43. > :17:48.they let themselves more wide open, they allowed across is to come in.
:17:49. > :17:53.Talking to a lot of West Ham fans this week, on phonings, if they did
:17:54. > :17:56.not have a manager and were in the situation that they were in, Sam
:17:57. > :18:06.Allardyce would probably be the man they would turn to to get them out
:18:07. > :18:12.of that. Which is a huge tick for Sam Allardyce. How may people would
:18:13. > :18:18.have gone for Solskjaer to get them out of it? I think it's quite an
:18:19. > :18:21.exciting appointment. He is a young guy. People say he has no expedience
:18:22. > :18:27.of the Premier League as a manager, but he did work at Manchester
:18:28. > :18:31.United. You know, he has worked in England, done well in Norway. It's
:18:32. > :18:36.exciting, but it's a gamble at the same time. Appointing any manager is
:18:37. > :18:43.a gamble. In fairness, he cut his teeth, he went to Molde, and he has
:18:44. > :18:46.ten down opportunities before. If he feels this is the right opportunity
:18:47. > :18:51.for him, there is no getting away from it, it is a tough job. Joachim
:18:52. > :18:56.K did fantastic, we are all surprised by the events when he
:18:57. > :19:01.left. Now Solskjaer comes into a real dogfight, relegation battle. It
:19:02. > :19:04.will certainly mean knowing what the Premier League is about from a
:19:05. > :19:10.managerial point of view, it is a tough job. I asked the Cardiff
:19:11. > :19:14.chairman yesterday, if you look at the programme notes, a lot of his
:19:15. > :19:18.backroom staff have got Manchester United connections, was that
:19:19. > :19:23.deliberate? He looked at me like I was an idiot and said, well, would
:19:24. > :19:30.you not want to tap into that expertise? He introduced the
:19:31. > :19:35.Glazers to Manchester United as well, which I'm sure everybody at
:19:36. > :19:38.Old Trafford is grateful for! Some of the people from Molde have gone
:19:39. > :19:42.with him, they are well thought of as coaches. I think it's an exciting
:19:43. > :19:46.appointment in terms of being a young manager. He has as much
:19:47. > :19:51.pedigree as you could hope for, he has won two titles. We tend to look
:19:52. > :19:56.at Norway as a lesser league, but it is not an amateur league. There are
:19:57. > :20:01.some decent sides. He took a side that hadn't won a title in 100 years
:20:02. > :20:05.and did it twice, then won the cup. The issue is if the timing of him
:20:06. > :20:08.arriving in a land or Wales is a right one, if he is the man that you
:20:09. > :20:13.want in the thick of a relegation battle. I think he understands how
:20:14. > :20:19.football works, he's been a terrific player, he's using it as an avenue
:20:20. > :20:24.to get a terrific job. If it was a Championship club, went to Molde
:20:25. > :20:27.grow and did well, then to have got that job in the Premier League, does
:20:28. > :20:32.it help that you have been a fantastic player Manchester United?
:20:33. > :20:36.Of course it does, I think we understand that is how it works.
:20:37. > :20:41.Another Premier League manager, an ex-player managing in Norway, Brian
:20:42. > :20:48.Deane, who saved them from relegation. He's a great goal-scorer
:20:49. > :21:00.for Leeds, but would a Premier League club be wanting to bring
:21:01. > :21:03.Brian Deane in? It's not to be dismissive, I think you can do a
:21:04. > :21:08.fantastic job, it's just some have easier routes than others. One of
:21:09. > :21:12.the reasonss we want to talk managers is that the Sunday Times
:21:13. > :21:15.has done an interview with Richard Bevan, Jonathan North Croft has
:21:16. > :21:19.spoken to him and the interview says we want clubs to obey the law. With
:21:20. > :21:25.all of the sackings that have gone on, the Observer today as well, they
:21:26. > :21:28.do a double page spread of all of the managers that have been sacked
:21:29. > :21:31.in the Premier League since it started. There was no football
:21:32. > :21:40.before the Premier League, as we all know, of course(!) But his point is
:21:41. > :21:45.that clubs don't necessarily obey employment law because their first
:21:46. > :21:51.way of thinking is, we want to minimise the amount of money we paid
:21:52. > :21:55.to a manager? First and foremost, Richard Bevan and the LMA do a
:21:56. > :22:00.fantastic job, protecting managers and everything else. That goes
:22:01. > :22:03.without saying. From my own experience, all I can say is that
:22:04. > :22:06.any club I have been at they have always dealt with it the way that
:22:07. > :22:11.they showed. But, like any business, people will want to cut costs and
:22:12. > :22:15.everything else. For me, it's important when any manager goes to a
:22:16. > :22:18.foot or club that, contractually, everything is there for them and
:22:19. > :22:22.they know it will be honoured. If it is, that should be done right. I
:22:23. > :22:27.think it is when grey areas crop up in contracts that can happen. 23
:22:28. > :22:33.managers sacked in this season, 2013-14. Should we be worried about
:22:34. > :22:37.that, Steve Wilson? I am not desperately concerned about it, I
:22:38. > :22:42.have had to say. Because you are not a manager! So managers get sacked
:22:43. > :22:45.and it leaves you scratching your head and you can't understand it.
:22:46. > :22:47.Sometimes they get sacked and you scratching your head and it works
:22:48. > :22:54.out to have been the correct decision. Nigel Adkins is the
:22:55. > :22:57.obvious example. I don't think there are ever right or wrong decisions,
:22:58. > :23:01.it is just the decision, it is what happens after. The other thing I
:23:02. > :23:04.have said before, as long as we understand the nature of the beast,
:23:05. > :23:08.we enter into it with our eyes wide open, as long as you are always
:23:09. > :23:12.treated fairly, that is the key evident Richard Bevan said, as long
:23:13. > :23:16.as people are treated fairly, they understand the nature of the game
:23:17. > :23:19.and how it works. There are some downsides in football management.
:23:20. > :23:26.But the good side outweighs that. It's the best game in the world and
:23:27. > :23:29.that is why we enter into it. The managers where you hope the LMA
:23:30. > :23:35.provide back-up, legal advice and the rest of it, people managing for
:23:36. > :23:38.six months in League Two, the rotors pulled out, short contract, no
:23:39. > :23:43.payoff and it's hard to get another job. Those are the managers you
:23:44. > :23:49.should be concerned about, with all due respect to the people in the
:23:50. > :23:52.newspaper that have been sacked with Premier League clubs, they have all
:23:53. > :23:57.left, you would expect, with a good payoff because there should be grey
:23:58. > :24:02.areas in the contract. Nigel Adkins, 40 public sympathy there was when he
:24:03. > :24:07.lost his Southampton job, he will have got eight good payoff from the
:24:08. > :24:12.job and will take over at Reading? And then West Brom will think about
:24:13. > :24:16.appointing Nigel Adkins. There is a huge issue further down the league
:24:17. > :24:20.were the managers have no security, often the contract are not paid up
:24:21. > :24:25.and they are living hand to mouth. That is why it is important that
:24:26. > :24:28.everything is seen by the LMA, and those contracts are honoured to the
:24:29. > :24:33.letter of the law. There is a flip side, you might argue there are
:24:34. > :24:36.managers that are still in the job because the club can't afford to
:24:37. > :24:40.sack them, lower down the division. It might even extend their life?
:24:41. > :24:44.They might get a board saying, we can't afford to get rid of them? If
:24:45. > :24:47.that's the case, you might give them the opportunity to do the job that
:24:48. > :24:54.they came to do in the first place. Exactly, it might work out well.
:24:55. > :24:57.Andy in Southampton, speaking as a Southampton supporter and
:24:58. > :25:01.yesterday's match, I think West Brom are in trouble. They were abysmal, a
:25:02. > :25:05.waste of time from the first minute and put everybody behind the ball.
:25:06. > :25:10.Martin says Martin Jol must take the blame for the mess Fulham are in.
:25:11. > :25:13.Players brought in on an ad hoc basis, with no plan on how they
:25:14. > :25:16.would work together. He was sold short by the board on transfer
:25:17. > :25:22.fees, but fitness and organisation cost nothing. The most popular
:25:23. > :25:27.question on Twitter this afternoon was asking you three who you think
:25:28. > :25:30.are the three that will get really get it. I know people and for all
:25:31. > :25:38.our lowest to point out the three-day think will go down? -- I
:25:39. > :25:44.know that people in football are loath to point out the three that
:25:45. > :25:48.they think will go down. It is probably three from ten teams at the
:25:49. > :25:51.moment. That is not wriggling out of the question? If I genuinely felt
:25:52. > :25:58.there was one team guaranteed to drop, I would tell you. Steve
:25:59. > :26:07.quickly agreed with you. Steve and Rory are in a better position to do
:26:08. > :26:12.it. He's BBC, he has to be in impartial. Sunni I asked Michael
:26:13. > :26:18.Laudrup if he thought he could get sucked into it. He said, the fact it
:26:19. > :26:21.is so tight, if you can put together back-to-back wins, you can shoot
:26:22. > :26:26.from 17th to 11th. He thinks his team is good enough to put together
:26:27. > :26:35.back-to-back wins if push comes to shove at the end of the season and I
:26:36. > :26:38.agree. You heard Solskjaer say five points from 10th, they will all feel
:26:39. > :26:42.what they need to do is make sure they park that and that they are
:26:43. > :26:47.capable of winning those games. The other thing is, it will change from
:26:48. > :26:50.week to week. When your team wins, fans think you are the next
:26:51. > :26:53.Barcelona. You lose the game and they think it is the worst scenario
:26:54. > :27:02.ever. That is the beauty, why we love football. For full disclosure,
:27:03. > :27:06.in the paper last week, we had to predict who would go out of the FA
:27:07. > :27:09.Cup, a stupid thing to do, because it is a random draw. I predicted the
:27:10. > :27:19.castle, I am probably not well-qualified. -- that Newcastle
:27:20. > :27:24.would win. I think Swansea, Stoke, they are too good to be sucked into
:27:25. > :27:29.it. I think the bottom six as they stand will be where the bottom three
:27:30. > :27:34.come from. We are getting a lot of Villa fans saying they will be in a
:27:35. > :27:37.relegation battle. I am surprised they are where they are. I have seen
:27:38. > :27:42.them play three or four times this season and they have difficult
:27:43. > :27:47.matches. I haven't seen very much from Villa this season. Craig
:27:48. > :27:50.Walker, I am at a Villa on Monday night, I don't want to take response
:27:51. > :27:54.ability for your comments, he says, I have been a Villa season ticket
:27:55. > :27:59.holder for many years, I personally think we are that big team that will
:28:00. > :28:04.be relegated this year. Let's focus on today's games with Owen Coyle,
:28:05. > :28:09.Steve Wilson and Rory Smith. The four o'clock game, which you will be
:28:10. > :28:14.able to listen to one BBC five live, Stoke against Liverpool. We have had
:28:15. > :28:18.some excellent results, very good performances. We know it is going to
:28:19. > :28:28.be a tough game. We respect them, we still have a lot of the players that
:28:29. > :28:36.were there, they are strong and committed. It is a difficult place
:28:37. > :28:40.to get a result. We will be prepared and ready for that. Given their
:28:41. > :28:44.form, given what they are trying to achieve this season, if they are
:28:45. > :28:50.ever going to win and Stoke they've got to do it today? They have won
:28:51. > :28:56.very heavily at Stoke in the past, a League Cup tie, about 7-0 a few
:28:57. > :28:59.years ago. What is the weather? If it is raining, the wind is blowing
:29:00. > :29:07.at the Britannia Stadium, it is very hard to play football there. Stoke
:29:08. > :29:13.are a decent side. What Liverpool are going to turn up? They look
:29:14. > :29:16.great at home, not too clever away from home sometimes. The performance
:29:17. > :29:21.at Hull, who would have happened down to lose there? The one thing I
:29:22. > :29:42.would say is that Stoke can't play Assaidi. Even when they lost against
:29:43. > :29:46.quality sides, they were terrific. Do you feel that they just have that
:29:47. > :29:51.little banana skin in them, in a way that Chelsea debut don't? I think
:29:52. > :29:57.people are saying that because what happened in previous years. Chelsea
:29:58. > :30:00.have certainly looked more solid at the back. Liverpool are pleasing to
:30:01. > :30:06.the eye, they look at the top end, they looked explosive. I think
:30:07. > :30:11.Liverpool can go and win it at Stoke. A tough game, but I think
:30:12. > :30:18.they can win that match. They really have to. They have lost their once
:30:19. > :30:21.and drawn four times, it's not the fact that Chelsea won yesterday, it
:30:22. > :30:26.is not the fact that Manchester City might beat Newcastle, Liverpool need
:30:27. > :30:30.to think about Manchester, Spurs and Manchester United and they won
:30:31. > :30:39.yesterday. They have to win to keep that slender advantage. Top at
:30:40. > :30:45.Christmas, Liverpool, and if it goes against them today, they could be
:30:46. > :30:49.seventh. I know they normally get points, but they perform really
:30:50. > :30:54.well. Coming out of those two defeats, it was really important to
:30:55. > :30:58.get that win, and they did. Is Brendan Rogers a good example, when
:30:59. > :31:04.we go back to talk about managers being got rid of after six months or
:31:05. > :31:10.year, that actually - and I hate word project - but when there is a
:31:11. > :31:15.project, it takes time. Both in coaching the players you want to
:31:16. > :31:19.play and bringing in the personnel. Brendan had a coaching history of
:31:20. > :31:24.working at Chelsea. Then he had a managerial job at Watson -- at
:31:25. > :31:31.Watford. Then he went to Reading. No doubt up to that point. I think it
:31:32. > :31:37.was six, seven months. Then Reading made the change. But to be fair,
:31:38. > :31:42.Jenkins at Swansea recognise the ability he has. He has a great lad.
:31:43. > :31:47.Outside of football, he is a terrific man, and I am delighted to
:31:48. > :31:51.see him enjoying the success he has. I think he can take Liverpool from
:31:52. > :31:55.strength to strength. It was difficult for them last season.
:31:56. > :32:00.There is no pressure for him inside the club. The owners have always
:32:01. > :32:04.been very supportive. They made it clear that Brendan Rodgers was their
:32:05. > :32:10.guy, and they wanted to see the project through. You can't avoid
:32:11. > :32:14.that word now! I think they sat that -- sat down collectively, and said,
:32:15. > :32:18.we are going to get young, talented players through the side who can
:32:19. > :32:23.grow and get better. That's what they are doing, and they are getting
:32:24. > :32:27.better. They hit the point that was more or less rock bottom for
:32:28. > :32:33.Liverpool, in that context of how bad it gets for them. Under the
:32:34. > :32:36.previous owners, really. The club was shattered. Roy Hodgson was the
:32:37. > :32:42.manager at the time. They had a home game where there was about 13,000
:32:43. > :32:46.empty seats. The lowest crowd at Anfield for donkeys years. Then they
:32:47. > :32:52.went to Blackburn and got heavily beaten midweek. Roy lost his job
:32:53. > :32:56.after that. You are not going to bounce back from that quickly, and
:32:57. > :33:00.the new owners have to... I think they are going to have to get a
:33:01. > :33:05.Champions League place this year, otherwise your top players are going
:33:06. > :33:08.to crave Champions League football. Suarez will be playing in the
:33:09. > :33:14.Champions League next year, for somebody. Let's hope it's for
:33:15. > :33:21.Liverpool. In Carlisle, someone says they have just watched Norwich. He
:33:22. > :33:31.says, just watched Norwich to slip into trouble big style. Hope you are
:33:32. > :33:35.back soon, Owen. And on Johnson, Phil says, he is playing at a
:33:36. > :33:40.struggling club, and that makes it difficult to play well week in, week
:33:41. > :33:44.out. How will we know if Johnson is up to international standard and
:33:45. > :33:50.less we give him a chance? Do contact us. The early game at 2pm,
:33:51. > :33:55.Newcastle vs Manchester City. We will talk about that after we hear
:33:56. > :34:00.from both managers. It is very important when you come up against
:34:01. > :34:05.teams of this quality, that the consistency of performance goes
:34:06. > :34:10.through 90 minutes. You can't start poorly or end poorly, like we did
:34:11. > :34:14.against Cardiff. That's something weenie to work hard on. We have lost
:34:15. > :34:21.the last three games on set plays, something else we have touched on.
:34:22. > :34:28.Manchester City have got a real flair from set plays. It is very
:34:29. > :34:35.important for me to be an attractive team to see. I think that, for the
:34:36. > :34:40.moment, we just scored one goal less than the complete last year of this
:34:41. > :34:45.team, so that is very important, not only to win a trophy for me or for
:34:46. > :34:54.the team, but the way that we must play. The former Newcastle keeper,
:34:55. > :35:00.Steve Harper, is covering this game for 5live this afternoon. How are
:35:01. > :35:03.you? Newcastle's recent form, after going so well, they have lost the
:35:04. > :35:10.last two in the league, and the defeat in the Cup as well, which is
:35:11. > :35:15.a concern for Alan Pardew. It is. They had a good run before that,
:35:16. > :35:20.winning seven out of nine. But this crowd soon forget that. It's a very
:35:21. > :35:27.important game here, but certainly one the can go into and get a very
:35:28. > :35:33.positive result. How'd you think they can take on Man City? Can they
:35:34. > :35:38.match them how wise, at least? I am not sure power wise, but they need
:35:39. > :35:43.to do what they did against Chelsea, which was stay in the game
:35:44. > :35:47.for an hour. Turn them round, get a bit of pressure on them in the
:35:48. > :35:51.second half, and hopefully come on top that way. It is a very
:35:52. > :35:59.powerful, frightening Manchester City. As far as Newcastle are
:36:00. > :36:03.concerned squad-wise, the starting 11, they are fine there. They could
:36:04. > :36:10.do with some reinforcements, couldn't they? Of course. As a fan,
:36:11. > :36:14.you would want that. Manchester City and Chelsea are mega clubs with
:36:15. > :36:18.almost infinite budgets, and Newcastle are not like that. As a
:36:19. > :36:22.fan, Alan Pardew would like one or two options at the top end of the
:36:23. > :36:28.pitch, because they have been pretty good defensively. Man City tore them
:36:29. > :36:31.apart first game of the season, so they will be looking for some
:36:32. > :36:36.revenge. As a fan, you would be looking for one or two additions.
:36:37. > :36:39.You look at the likes of the players Manchester City will have on the
:36:40. > :36:42.bench, and it just shows you the difference between the two clubs,
:36:43. > :36:49.the gap that has appeared between them. As far as the budget is
:36:50. > :36:56.concerned, that is. Alan Pardew has said that a successful season for
:36:57. > :36:59.Newcastle would be to finish sixth, if they don't qualify for the
:37:00. > :37:06.Champions League, because he would not want to finish fifth and qualify
:37:07. > :37:11.for the Europa League. We have seen the effect that qualifying for the
:37:12. > :37:15.Europa League does have on you. The teams in the top three seem to be
:37:16. > :37:22.away, and the next four teams are in there. The bottom 11 clubs are going
:37:23. > :37:26.to be in for a scrap. It will be very tough for Newcastle to get into
:37:27. > :37:30.the top six this year, but as long as they are comfortably in the top
:37:31. > :37:35.ten and can build on the squad going forward, everybody will be happy.
:37:36. > :37:42.Good to talk to you. Steve Harper covering the game for five line this
:37:43. > :37:47.afternoon. -- 5live. Aside from winning the FA Cup, what would be a
:37:48. > :37:53.successful season for Newcastle? I think finishing sixth will be
:37:54. > :38:01.fantastic. They will have let me down personally! I think finishing
:38:02. > :38:07.sixth will be a dream come true for Newcastle. In terms of reality, as
:38:08. > :38:11.it stands now, possibly eight. They might get seventh if one of the
:38:12. > :38:16.teams above them falls away, but as Steve says, that is the perfect
:38:17. > :38:23.analysis of the league. The top three have gone. There are four
:38:24. > :38:29.teams behind them. Then the bottom 11 fighting it out. That is how it
:38:30. > :38:34.will pan out. I wouldn't disagree. It is a priority for Alan Pardew, in
:38:35. > :38:38.this transfer window, to keep what he's got. That is maybe his first
:38:39. > :38:46.priority, because there's a that someone might come in and bid for
:38:47. > :38:51.Cabaye or Ben Arfa. He needs to keep what he has. He has a good 12 or 13.
:38:52. > :38:56.He needs to have them in February as well. Alan Pardew was the first
:38:57. > :39:02.manager to come under pressure this year, when people were gunning for
:39:03. > :39:06.them, and he has stayed. He will be looking to get them back to that
:39:07. > :39:10.quality, because if they do, they have shown they are capable of
:39:11. > :39:18.winning games. It has shown, the Europa League - you have experienced
:39:19. > :39:22.that that season. I think Tottenham is an example of that, who compete
:39:23. > :39:30.on the Thursday, and then play on Sunday. How did it affect you? The
:39:31. > :39:36.Thursday-Sunday thing is trotted out a lot. A lot of fans will say, why
:39:37. > :39:46.does Thursday - Sunday differ to Wednesday-Saturday? The whole club,
:39:47. > :39:49.especially the fans, loved the adventure for Wigan Athletic. It was
:39:50. > :39:57.the first time they had been in Wigan -- in Europe. In terms of the
:39:58. > :40:04.answer to the question, when we were playing the games and sometimes we
:40:05. > :40:07.were three -- three games behind, and there were games we couldn't
:40:08. > :40:14.play because we were playing in Europe. I think it's psychological.
:40:15. > :40:19.We now play Mondays and every other day in the Premier League, but I
:40:20. > :40:22.think it is psychological. It is more catch up thing for you. Your
:40:23. > :40:28.players could be looking at the and saying... For Wigan Athletic, we
:40:29. > :40:33.went to play a game on a Sunday, and we were three games behind the rest
:40:34. > :40:38.of the league. If you win games, you will be here, but you have to go and
:40:39. > :40:43.win them. So there was a little bit more in terms of football pressure
:40:44. > :40:49.on you to win that game. I think it is about and mental rather than a
:40:50. > :40:52.physical aspect. I agree entirely, but one of the things I find most
:40:53. > :40:56.baffling about modern football is the way that clubs talk themselves
:40:57. > :41:01.out of competitions, like the Europa League or the League Cup. Everyone
:41:02. > :41:05.says, it doesn't matter, it is a distraction from the league. Look at
:41:06. > :41:10.Sunderland. They beat Manchester United, and then they went and
:41:11. > :41:20.smashed Fulham. With any cold addition you go into, you want to do
:41:21. > :41:25.the best -- with any competition. For Russ, it was a catalyst for us
:41:26. > :41:30.to get promoted, because of how well we did. I love competition as a
:41:31. > :41:37.player, and I love them as a manager. It is fantastic. You look
:41:38. > :41:43.at Michael Laudrup, and his position is that their league position will
:41:44. > :41:49.suffer. If you talk to yourself like that, it is going to happen. You can
:41:50. > :41:53.use it to your advantage. We can actually do very well. Swansea are
:41:54. > :41:56.going all the way in the Europa League because of the quality
:41:57. > :42:01.players they have. Man City are not going to talk their way out of any
:42:02. > :42:07.competition. They are up for a quadruple. Many people say it is
:42:08. > :42:18.understandable because of the players they have. You can't be up
:42:19. > :42:23.for a quadruple in January! Newcastle are not. I think a
:42:24. > :42:24.quadruple would be great for Manchester City, but extremely
:42:25. > :42:30.unlikely. They are playing Barcelona. Even though they have the
:42:31. > :42:35.strongest squad in the Premier League, their big-name players are
:42:36. > :42:45.still playing, for example, in a capital one semifinal. -- Capital
:42:46. > :42:54.one Cup semifinal. They have that quality. They have strength and
:42:55. > :43:00.depth. I think they are looking the team, for me, who are on track for a
:43:01. > :43:05.quadruple. If I had said treble, would that have been better! It
:43:06. > :43:12.would have been more realistic, but no. Even that is a big ask! The
:43:13. > :43:18.Champions League is what they all crave, but it is a fantastic draw. I
:43:19. > :43:21.think they are in for a real game against Barcelona. We are out of
:43:22. > :43:29.time. We could keep arguing all afternoon. Thank you to Harry in
:43:30. > :43:33.Southampton... Sorry, from Warwickshire. He says West Ham,
:43:34. > :43:42.Fulham and restore Palace to go down. -- Crystal Palace. The live
:43:43. > :43:48.football on the BBC in the game this afternoon, Stoke against Liverpool.
:43:49. > :43:54.That is on 5 Live. And Aston Villa against Arsenal is tomorrow night on
:43:55. > :43:57.5 Live. Thanks to all of you. We will see you on Match Of The Day to
:43:58. > :44:01.for all of today's games. Goodbye.