23/02/2014 MOTD2 Extra


23/02/2014

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Hello, welcome to Match Of The Day 2 Extra. Plenty to discuss on BBC One,

:00:31.:00:40.

BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC sport website over the next 45 minutes. We

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will look at the Euro 2016 qualifying draw. We will ask if

:00:46.:00:50.

Liverpool can stay apace after winds yesterday for Chelsea, City and

:00:51.:00:53.

Arsenal. There is a chill in the air at Cardiff, their trip to Abu Dhabi

:00:54.:00:59.

cancelled after their 4-0 thrashing by Hull. And David Moyes celebrates

:01:00.:01:03.

Wayne Rooney's new deal with a win at Crystal Palace. With me we have

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Kevin Kilbane, Andy Dunn from the Sunday Mirror and we have BBC

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sport's Ben Smith. If you want to get in touch, we want your views,

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thoughts and opinions. We will look at the Premier League

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very shortly. As the Euro 2016 qualifying draw has just been made,

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we will discuss that first of all. If you are watching on the

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television, you can see the three guests are massively excited by what

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they have just seen. Convey that excitement to the radio listeners as

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well, Kevin Kilbane! Looking at the top end of the draw, looking at the

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Irish draw, against Germany, Poland, Scotland, Georgia and Gibraltar, I

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think it is a tough draw. I really do think that. Looking at England as

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well, with Switzerland. I think England have a decent draw. For the

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Irish and Scotland I think it will be good games, but a tough draw for

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Ireland and Scotland qualify. This the thing, you get the draw made and

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you look for a group of death, that is the cliche. This draw, we are

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looking for a group of interest? That is the Scotland and Republic of

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Island draw, in with Poland, Germany, Georgia and Gibraltar. I

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think the fans will look at the draw and that is the one they will go

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for, the excitement and the games they can see. England will be

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delighted from a points perspective. There is no excuse if they do not

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qualify from that group. Inspiring the fans, getting people into sea

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games at Wembley, the likes of Estonia, Slovenia, San Marino, that

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is not going to excite anyone. I think you have to say this with a

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Scouse accent, but it is what we call a group of deffo. It is. I

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agree with Ben. One of the issues is how you promote these games, sell

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these games. England will qualify. In a way, it is good to see these

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lesser teams in the tournament, the tournament expanded. But on the

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other hand it does take out the uncertainty. Any element of

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uncertainty about the major nations qualifying has been totally removed.

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Any uncertainty about England qualifying has been removed. It does

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give them a chance to qualify. It's good from Scotland, Wales and

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Northern Ireland's perspective, it gives them more of a chance to

:03:30.:03:33.

qualify, but is it evaluate the tournament? Euro 2012 was a

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brilliant tournament, you go back through the 16 team tournament, it

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is an outstanding format, really top, top tournaments. I think what

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will happen is that nations such as England, I am not over inflating

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their capability, but they will qualify, it almost becomes a build

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up to eight tournament, rather than a qualification for the tournament.

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England will maybe use of those games to blood new players. They can

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take... Not risks, but they can give them a chance of competitive

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football. The great selling point in the past was that many people

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thought it was more difficult to win than a World Cup, because of the

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quality. Nothing is dilutive in the tournament. We have lost that. On

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the other side, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, perhaps they thought it was

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their chance to get into the top teams again, but in that group it is

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tricky. It will still be difficult for them to qualify with the teams

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around them. If you're looking at Ireland and Scotland, of course they

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have a chance. Apart from Germany, you say they will qualify

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definitely, you could beat Poland at home, you could certainly be Georgia

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and Gibraltar, you would fancy your chances. It's just a good draw.

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Wales in with Bosnia, Cyprus and Belgium. Northern Ireland with

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Greece, the Faroe Islands, Bulgaria and Hungary. Do you think there is a

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danger, when you look at a draw like this, because the tournament has

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been expanded and there will be 24 teams, as opposed to 16 just gone,

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is there a danger that we look at this sometimes from the arrogance of

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the English? I know that might annoy English people watching and

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listening, but the Scots, Welsh and Northern Ireland will probably be

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nodding along and say that England can be arrogant and it isn't just

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about the big nations? I totally agree, it can come across like that.

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It's important that what this does, expanding the tournament 24 teams,

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it will give nations a chance to qualify who not normally qualify.

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Players like Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, if you keep it up 16 teams,

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Wales will have a tough task to qualify. They may go through their

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careers not playing in major tournament finals. What this does is

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give nations with good individual players the chance for those players

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to experience tournament football. From that point of view it is good.

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If you go back to the early... Around 82, 84, I still have strong

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memories of England playing Turkey and qualifiers. I remember 86. Do

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you want me to push you off that chair? Maybe it was 86. Just pretend

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to be the same age as you! But England were eight or nine past

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Turkey. It was eight, two, four, six eight, roast turkey on a plate! But

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you look at how Turkey has developed? You have to take the

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longer term view? It's important for these nations, for their developing.

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A lot of these countries are allegedly knew, from the break-up of

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the Eastern Bloc, they are developing nations, 20 or 40 years

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old. They need the experience of being in with a shout qualifying. If

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we balance of a lack of interest the qualifying with giving other nations

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a chance, the top two from every group goes through, the third is

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going to the play-off, best place to side qualifies automatically. Where

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UEFA could be criticised is how these qualifiers are going to be

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scheduled and staggered. They have changed that as well? We will see a

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change to the international calendar in the coming September. This week

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of football that UEFA and Pasini Billy Platini had been trying to

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organise, it means teams will play two games, Friday and Monday,

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Saturday and Tuesday, Monday and Wednesday, it is interesting for the

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fans. But it's a nightmare for club managers and it will be interesting

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to see how it's going to work. It means you are not scrabbling between

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seven different channels trying to keep up with this or that game? The

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problem with the clubs, they are going to be kicking up a fuss just

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by letting the players go and they want to keep their players back at

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the clubs around the big international is. How difficult will

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it be for players? Take us through a Premier League dressing room when

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players arrived back from international duty. Do you arrive

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back in dribs and drabs, even under the current system? That is aside

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from lads coming back from South America and Africa. When we used to

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have internationals, you would play Wednesday night and I invariably,

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you would try to get back into your club Thursday morning, you would get

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yearly flight, not fully recovered, trying to get back for a recovery

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session on Thursday morning for training. You are not fully

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recovered on Friday. By speaking to so many international players

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saying, we had a nightmare on Saturday, we were not fully

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recovered or prepared for that game for the club. You are not physically

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ready for it. You could have situations where one club team have

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a load of international players that finish on Sunday, another one might

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be playing that coming weekend, they might not have them back until

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Wednesday. When you are flying to Eastern Europe, if you are playing

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the cars at Stans, the problem is getting back, logistically, I

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difficult. -- Kazakhstan. Wayne Rooney must be made up, he has a

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chance of beating the England goal-scoring records. Then says that

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the qualifiers will be without interest, even third placed teams

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have a good chance of qualifying, it will be boring. Dave says that to

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keep football relevant, a way has to be found to avoid so many this

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matches, there are almost no matches that whet the appetite. Henry Winter

:09:27.:09:31.

has contacted us, forget quits for ?1, I think adults should be let in

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for free to some of these games. -- kids. Group I, France are going to

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be put in that group, Andy Dunn, just to give them some football.

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Apparently, it is difficult for host countries to arrange friendlies?

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It's a novel idea, the first time I think it has happened, basically, I

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think it is too rounded up to 54 teams, rather than anything else, to

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give it an even number. You could argue if you are looking at quite a

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lot of the games, France are going to Portugal twice, it might not be

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bad to watch, albeit nothing riding on it? I am sure in London would

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have loved to have France in the group, a game at Wembley, it would

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have been great for broadcasters, it could have really capture the

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imagination and there would not have been anything riding on it. That

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kind of a game just doesn't exist in England was not grow group in the

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current draw. Get in touch with us and put more of your thoughts and

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opinions to us shortly. Let's move to the Premier League. Yesterday,

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Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea won in very differing ways. It's

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down to Liverpool to respond to that this afternoon. It is one of the

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1:30 games, at home to Swansea. Brendan Rodgers is taking on his

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former club. Here is the Liverpool manager. It gives us a chance to

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ensure that players's fitness levels are correct. We can take in the

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week, in terms of focusing on the one game. The more games you have,

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you are playing and recovering. You could say that when you are in a cup

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competition sometimes they can give you that extra prop to move forward

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in your league campaign as well. As I said, for us, we are very

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determined. It is just narrowing the focus onto each and every one of

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these games and looking to be at our maximum. Brendan Rodgers, there.

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Jonathan Pearce is doing this game for Match Of The Day 2. Talking

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about how they have been beaten by Arsenal in the FA Cup, they don't

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have that destruction, it was not much of a distraction for them

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anyway, was it? There were progressing well even when they were

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in the FA Cup? It is expressed as disappointment and a half of the

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funds for going out of the FA Cup. I have just bumped into him about five

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minutes ago, he is still playing down Liverpool's chances. That is

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his way, really. He's not going to show from the rooftops and say they

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can win the title, they certainly have the attack forced to win the

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title, and attack force that should worry Swansea very much today. When

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a group 2-2 early on, Luis Suarez was still suffering from his

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suspension. -- when they won two - two. Sturridge, seven games in a

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row. The two of them are a very potent strikeforce and I think they

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will be too quick for the Swansea defence. The sprinklers have started

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and it is raining as well. Of course, it will make it slicker and

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better suited for the forwards. That is what I was going to go on about.

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I think Swansea will struggle. Liverpool need to win. They saw the

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teams above them win yesterday. They know what they need to do. There is

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a real reliance about Liverpool, a real confidence, and assured look

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about them. This is a very, very good team in the making. A tough

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game for Swansea, who did well against Napoli and could have won

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the game. I thought Britton was superb. But they have had fewer days

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to prepare and I think that will count against them. We will let you

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go so you don't get too wet. The sprinklers are still on him. We will

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let him go. He has put his hood up. Let's focus on Daniel Sturridge,

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first. Michael has sent a tweet. Can you

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class Daniel Sturridge as world class? No, not yet. I don't think

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you can. I think he needs to do it at Champions League level, that is

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the important thing. That is why it is important that Liverpool qualify.

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What I do like about him at the moment is what I think was levelled

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against him, though that City and Chelsea, maybe he was not that

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adaptable. You didn't like coming in off the left, or off the flank, he

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only wanted to play centrally. The suggestion was he kicked up a bit of

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a fuss when he had to adapt and fit into another system. 40 Seattle in

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the pool was that he is willing to fit into wherever Brendan Rodgers

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wants to play him. The game where they destroyed Arsenal, who played

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centrally to exploit a lack of space from Mertesacker. He is also adept

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at cutting inside with Suarez to the centre. I like the fact that he

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seems to have brought into the Brendan Rodgers idea, this Liverpool

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way that maybe he didn't at Chelsea and Manchester City. Depends what

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you mean by world-class. You would buy Daniel Sturridge. You buy him

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for what he can give you, goal-scoring and everything. He is

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in that world-class bracket but hast to prove it in the top bracket with

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Liverpool in the Champions' League before he can be considered along

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with the greats now. Ben Smith, how much credit you think Brendan

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Rodgers deserve simply from a coaching point of view? In this era

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where everybody thinks they can be a football manager. You play it on the

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computer and you say, I can do that. With Rendon Rodgers, you can

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properly see players developing under him. You can see them in

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proving? Absolutely right. If we go back to Daniel Sturridge, when he

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came in there was a reluctance on Brendan Rodgers' part to bring him

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in. Could have taken him in the summer, did not want to, wasn't sure

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then brought him in in the January. He has worked closely with him on

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the field and also his attitude off the field. That has gone through the

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whole squad, the team feel they belong and they wanted. There hasn't

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been any difficulty or bad atmosphere. Look at Jon Flanagan, he

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was considered to be leaving the club as well. Here's another one who

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has progressed in the last few months and gone on to establish

:16:07.:16:09.

himself as a top defender in that squad. Some people say his greatest

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triumph might be Jordan Henderson. Again, people write into the wake

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Brendan Rodgers coaches. The way he sets up his teams is impressive. And

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mostly Steven Gerrard in this role, pulling the strings behind Jordan

:16:29.:16:37.

Henderson and Philippe Coutinho. They keep desertion, not hurting

:16:38.:16:42.

teams in behind, albeit Luis Suarez was doing that. I was at the

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Merseyside derby and the way they closed Everton down and stopped

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them. Raheem Sterling's workrate was outstanding. That is the cornerstone

:16:55.:17:02.

of their success. It is pressing high up the pitch and getting the

:17:03.:17:07.

ball back quickly when they lose it and going straight back up their

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opposition. A text says, no disrespect to Swansea but we must

:17:13.:17:17.

beat teams of their standard. The way Chelsea got the win yesterday,

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they will win the title. Swansea, Garry Monk and all of them winning

:17:25.:17:28.

the Derby against Cardiff, they are still, as you look at the table this

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morning, four points above the relegation zone? It is a massive job

:17:32.:17:38.

for him to get them away from it. Think there are a few worst teams

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and I think that will be their saviour this season. They were

:17:45.:17:47.

impressive against Natalie and they could have won that game. Going back

:17:48.:17:54.

to Anfield today, it will be another big test. But I think they have got

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enough to get out of trouble. Do you think there is an advantage for

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Garry Monk? Because he knows the club inside out and he knows the

:18:07.:18:11.

players? You can see the way the players react did when they beat

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Cardiff. The players were running across the field and he has a lot of

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respect. I don't think they will win today but I think it does have a big

:18:22.:18:25.

advantage. Let's talk about the other sides in the race for the

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title. We will start with Chelsea who won in injury time against

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Everton. Roberto Martinez said he felt Chelsea had used every trick in

:18:37.:18:43.

the book to secure all three points? The disappointments, the know-how of

:18:44.:18:51.

the holding team of how to get free kicks and dead. As a referee you

:18:52.:18:58.

need to have a crystal ball. It is impossible to get the decision right

:18:59.:19:01.

and it became a bit of an impossible case. Obviously we defended well. We

:19:02.:19:06.

had to defend many dead ball situations and we did that well. In

:19:07.:19:15.

injury time it is a harsh reality. That interview is all over the

:19:16.:19:20.

papers this morning. Front page of the Sunday mail. Says, " Martinez

:19:21.:19:30.

left fuming over Chelsea's tricks". Is he right to be fuming? I am not

:19:31.:19:38.

sure a crystal ball would help a referee, by the way. He said every

:19:39.:19:44.

trick, trying to get a free kick in a dangerous area. Every team does

:19:45.:19:46.

that. When he came into the press conference, he started talking in a

:19:47.:19:53.

complimentary fashion about the way his team played, and he is right,

:19:54.:19:58.

Everton played well. But it came out of the blue when he said Chelsea

:19:59.:20:03.

used dirty tricks. They didn't, it was more a case of Everton getting

:20:04.:20:08.

tired. The crucial free kick, Ramires come on. He is very good,

:20:09.:20:15.

powerful player and they were tiring and they were running past tiring

:20:16.:20:22.

Everton players. The fact of the matter is, they should have defended

:20:23.:20:26.

the free kick better. I agree with that. Maybe Leighton Baines could

:20:27.:20:32.

have prevented him getting in. But the quality of the ball Frank

:20:33.:20:42.

Lampard put in, was amazing. And Tim Howard's I line seemed to be taken

:20:43.:20:46.

by John Terry. John Terry did well to react and get in. It is typical

:20:47.:20:54.

hard-nosed Jose Mourinho style. That goal will not make it into the end

:20:55.:21:00.

of the season highlights package, but it is one of those moments if

:21:01.:21:04.

Chelsea are going to win the league. Everton played so well. They didn't

:21:05.:21:09.

go there just to defend, did they, Everton? Same at the Emirates, they

:21:10.:21:15.

played well but did not create and that was the big problem. Everton

:21:16.:21:18.

played so much good football throughout. Also the striker they

:21:19.:21:24.

were going to play, pulled his hamstring in the warm up. Then he

:21:25.:21:29.

had to reshape the team, so they did not have an attacking focal point.

:21:30.:21:34.

They did play well. Chelsea used to strikers, they were terrible

:21:35.:21:49.

yesterday. Torres came on and was a half-hour cameo of what he could do

:21:50.:21:56.

wrong, he did do wrong. A tweet said Will the lack of forward firepower

:21:57.:22:01.

catch up with Chelsea? All of those top teams have a weakness, whether

:22:02.:22:09.

it is Chelsea's lack of a striker going forward, Manchester City not

:22:10.:22:12.

being able to shut the back door, Arsenal have lost heavily at the

:22:13.:22:18.

Etihad Stadium against Liverpool. I've been Chelsea just have enough.

:22:19.:22:21.

They have experience and the know-how. In some of the papers this

:22:22.:22:27.

morning, Didier Drogba has been linked with a return with a playing

:22:28.:22:37.

return or the Sunday Times suggesting he will come back as a

:22:38.:22:40.

striker's coach. You will hear more as that goes on.

:22:41.:22:47.

Is that because they are playing Galatasaray? Yes, they play them

:22:48.:22:57.

will stop he is out of contract in July and he has a number of offers.

:22:58.:23:02.

He will take his time. He will definitely play one more season. I

:23:03.:23:09.

understand his family do like living in London. I'm not sure they still

:23:10.:23:15.

are. His son was at Chelsea? He has three children who are still at

:23:16.:23:21.

school in London. He can also help develop the strikers within the

:23:22.:23:29.

squad. Whether or not he will come back and have a major impact, I

:23:30.:23:37.

don't know. You look at Chelsea's 1-0 win and you look at Manchester

:23:38.:23:42.

City's 1-0 win and you think they ought to be similar. Chelsea

:23:43.:23:50.

celebrated their 1-0 win more the citrus leader Manchester City did.

:23:51.:23:55.

Manuel Pellegrini said they just won ugly against Stoke? They did, when

:23:56.:24:03.

you look at the reaction. Babs it might have been the circumstances, a

:24:04.:24:09.

last-minute goal against a top Everton side. Stoker caused problems

:24:10.:24:14.

the city and showed their vulnerabilities at the back that we

:24:15.:24:19.

have seen. You start to question when you see how exposed they become

:24:20.:24:25.

at the back. That was their first Premier League goal in almost a

:24:26.:24:31.

month. They scored 16 Premiership goals in January, but they miss

:24:32.:24:42.

Sergio Aguero. Also they need someone to get hold of the game.

:24:43.:24:55.

Without the grade, -- Sergio Aguero, you need Negredo. They say they

:24:56.:25:04.

should be resting players because of the Champions' League. It is great

:25:05.:25:09.

to be in the cup final and the FA Cup, but I think Chelsea will play

:25:10.:25:13.

two more games in the league before Manchester City play again. So

:25:14.:25:19.

Chelsea could be nine points clear by the time the next time Manchester

:25:20.:25:23.

City play again in the league. If Chelsea are in form next week, and

:25:24.:25:30.

Tottenham Hotspur and then they come back into the league and find they

:25:31.:25:33.

are nine points behind Chelsea. It plays on their minds. Even when you

:25:34.:25:39.

have The Games in hand, is it the fact other sides could be further

:25:40.:25:45.

ahead? It plays in your head when you have the Saturday game and the

:25:46.:25:49.

other teams are playing on a Monday. You're looking round to see, you

:25:50.:25:56.

have to win this game. Seeing Manchester City win yesterday, they

:25:57.:25:59.

did not look like they were going to open up Stoke. Stoke were defending

:26:00.:26:04.

well and defending deep. It could have been a 6-point ad vantage, a

:26:05.:26:10.

5-point advantage over Manchester City. It could have been a huge goal

:26:11.:26:20.

for them. We said yesterday, head of the last two league cup finals, all

:26:21.:26:22.

four sides involved in those games were beaten the week before.

:26:23.:26:28.

Liverpool, Swansea and Bradford before last year's final, Manchester

:26:29.:26:35.

City struggled yesterday. Sunderland were thumped at Arsenal. Kevin, they

:26:36.:26:42.

did not help themselves at times. They tried to play out of the back

:26:43.:26:46.

which is what Gus Poyet at once them to do, but that cost them at times?

:26:47.:26:51.

Gus Poyet at spoke about how he likes to get his team set up. He

:26:52.:26:58.

said he will never change it. I was talking to him about his philosophy.

:26:59.:27:05.

He said, we will never change that, I want players to express

:27:06.:27:08.

themselves, use the goalkeeper at times and the back four. But it did

:27:09.:27:18.

cost them. It was the new Argentine player, he played the backpass

:27:19.:27:23.

blind. It was an absolute error. But that is the sort of thing that can

:27:24.:27:29.

cost you. He stepped in, looking forward, ended up playing a simple

:27:30.:27:36.

pass and it cost them. Barcelona were playing one touch football?

:27:37.:27:42.

Giroud being back in the team looked fresh. I do like that play. They

:27:43.:27:57.

seem to have an understanding. If you factor in the route has played

:27:58.:28:03.

in every game for his country as well since the middle of August. It

:28:04.:28:11.

is a ridiculous amount of games. When he was at real Madrid he was

:28:12.:28:16.

quite often brought off? He has looked like a player who needs a

:28:17.:28:21.

rest. I was at Anfield and I think Jordan Henderson pinched the ball

:28:22.:28:25.

off him and he did not have the energy to chase him down. You

:28:26.:28:31.

mention yah yah Toure, you need those players to step up and take

:28:32.:28:36.

you over the line. He was brilliant at Newcastle. You need that. So Ozil

:28:37.:28:43.

can have a few days off, come back stronger and play at Arsenal. When

:28:44.:28:52.

you are a record signing, will you get more criticism? Definitely the

:28:53.:28:57.

case. You're looking for Attallah 's Matip character to get you through.

:28:58.:29:04.

-- talismanic. Arsenal were flying at the time when he signed. We had

:29:05.:29:09.

Ramsey playing so well, Giroud was playing well, so when you have your

:29:10.:29:17.

down spell, and he has looked tired. When you are winning, rue revel in

:29:18.:29:23.

his luxurious talent. When Arsenal are losing we want him to be Lee

:29:24.:29:27.

Cattermole. His workrate is not going to be high, he is not going to

:29:28.:29:34.

win any tackles. Also injuries and suspensions have made him work that

:29:35.:29:39.

bit harder and exposed him a bit more. You look at it from a

:29:40.:29:45.

player's point of view, saying he is pointing at players, but when you

:29:46.:29:49.

see him pointing the finger, it highlights something that is not

:29:50.:29:54.

there. I don't like to see that. If I was disappointed, I would go to

:29:55.:30:06.

him in the dressing room. And also Mertesacker stopped when they were

:30:07.:30:11.

playing Liverpool. You cannot just lame him for the way he is

:30:12.:30:16.

performing. Another tweet, Arsenal played well, but they lack against

:30:17.:30:21.

big teams like Manchester City and Chelsea. Which is what you are

:30:22.:30:25.

saying earlier. Let's focus now on the bottom half of the table. The

:30:26.:30:33.

standout result was Cardiff's 4-0 home defeat by Hull. Solskjaer

:30:34.:30:40.

suggested they created more chances in the first half and didn't take

:30:41.:30:43.

them, but that doesn't alter the fact they conceded four at home,

:30:44.:30:48.

against another side who were promoted last season? Absolutely. A

:30:49.:30:53.

side that have invested very well, actually. He said they created more

:30:54.:30:56.

chances, I remember Norwich creating more chances at Cardiff, and won the

:30:57.:31:02.

game. That is what happens in the game. Taking nothing away from Along

:31:03.:31:05.

and Jelavic, they were outstanding, brilliant signings by Steve Bruce,

:31:06.:31:11.

and by the owner that provides the money, another story. Defending

:31:12.:31:16.

wise, for a couple of those goals, four Jelavic's header, there were

:31:17.:31:20.

six Cardiff players in the box. That looks like a team that doesn't quite

:31:21.:31:27.

know what is it is supposed to be doing. The Cardiff owners were

:31:28.:31:30.

trying to point out that Malky Mackay's transfer dealings were at

:31:31.:31:33.

the root of why they fell out, and then they said Solskjaer has spent

:31:34.:31:37.

brilliantly in the transfer window, five of those were playing them, and

:31:38.:31:41.

they don't look like brilliant signings to me. Kenwyne Jones, Fabi,

:31:42.:31:50.

Zaha, I don't think you can drop them in and accept a big upheaval.

:31:51.:31:57.

Can include Sunderland, we will bring in West Brom and Fulham who

:31:58.:32:00.

played each other. West Brom and Pepe Mel, Felix Magath, Fulham's

:32:01.:32:07.

third Manager of the Season, do you get a sense, the majority of these

:32:08.:32:12.

new managers, you can even go to Muelensteen as well, they don't know

:32:13.:32:15.

their players yet and therefore the crowds are looking unsettled, more

:32:16.:32:24.

often than not? Sunderland might be the exception? Some of them don't

:32:25.:32:27.

have experience of being in the trouble that they are in. You sell

:32:28.:32:35.

Shane Long to a direct rival, he may not have been prolific from a

:32:36.:32:38.

goal-scoring point of view, now he has a partnership with Jelavic.

:32:39.:32:47.

Fulham, look at them, Hull signed those two for 12 million, both with

:32:48.:32:51.

Premier League experience, regardless of Jelavic's form, you

:32:52.:32:54.

have a top-class player that is going to work and create for others,

:32:55.:32:58.

you have Shane Long thrown into the mix. West Brom, to let him go the

:32:59.:33:02.

way that he did, he would not have seen too much Shane Long. I think it

:33:03.:33:07.

a huge error. They have got Victor Anichebe, who will cause

:33:08.:33:14.

problems... But he's not starting? That's the thing. They bring him on

:33:15.:33:18.

at half-time, and they look better in the second half. Doesn't this go

:33:19.:33:23.

to the heart, managers coming in, perhaps not knowing the legal their

:33:24.:33:28.

players, you have to question that. Look at Tony Pulis, he knows the

:33:29.:33:31.

league, he knows what the opposition are going to do, how they are going

:33:32.:33:37.

to set up. The experience he has got, you know that Sam was going to

:33:38.:33:41.

get them out of trouble. There were a lot of people questioning why they

:33:42.:33:47.

were sticking with him. A lot of the fans had turned. For them to make

:33:48.:33:51.

that brave decision, seeing David Sullivan interviewed in December,

:33:52.:33:54.

when everyone was saying they should sack him, they were saying they are

:33:55.:33:58.

going to give him till the end of the season, if they get it wrong,

:33:59.:34:01.

they get it wrong. They backed the manager, the players were behind

:34:02.:34:04.

him. How much does that help the players? Take Felix Magath, the

:34:05.:34:11.

reporter said, have you made any changes? He replied, I don't know, I

:34:12.:34:15.

didn't pick the last team, so I don't know who was playing. The

:34:16.:34:20.

players must know if they are coming or going? The problem with Fulham is

:34:21.:34:25.

the negativity that is going around, through the coaching methods,

:34:26.:34:28.

straightaway. There is a negative field around the appointment.

:34:29.:34:31.

Everybody is talking about how he likes to work the players, he runs

:34:32.:34:34.

them into the ground, these sort of things. I think that. I know a lot

:34:35.:34:48.

of Norwich fans probably disagree. A lot of Norwich fans are not in

:34:49.:34:51.

favour of it at times. But he's done a great job and his continuing to do

:34:52.:34:54.

that. He has done it at other clubs he has been out and had success.

:34:55.:34:58.

That is why I think they will stick with him. You think they will? The

:34:59.:35:03.

rumours going around... I think they should. Briefly going back to

:35:04.:35:16.

bringing in somebody, Southampton is the exception. I think if they lose

:35:17.:35:23.

today, I think he will go. Why? Because that is what I think. David

:35:24.:35:27.

McNally will think, there will come a time when there are X amount of

:35:28.:35:39.

games left. It comes down to the business that Hull did again. The

:35:40.:35:43.

understanding is that David McNally says the brief of Chris Hughton is

:35:44.:35:47.

to keep them away from the bottom three. If they were to lose today,

:35:48.:35:50.

they still would not be in the bottom three? This is not the first

:35:51.:35:58.

time that we have heard this. In December they came close to making

:35:59.:36:01.

this decision, I think, they pulled back and went on a decent run and

:36:02.:36:04.

now they find themselves in a difficult position. The last four

:36:05.:36:08.

games are against Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and

:36:09.:36:11.

Liverpool. That probably gives you seven or eight games to win four or

:36:12.:36:15.

five matches. That's an incredible task for anyone. But who do you

:36:16.:36:20.

bring in? Exactly. Who wants to take it. It was his relationship with

:36:21.:36:26.

David McNally, that is the big thing you are reading. That has been going

:36:27.:36:29.

back three or six months, with Neil Lennon coming in from Celtic. That

:36:30.:36:35.

is a huge call, for Neil Lennon, let alone for Norwich. He's going to win

:36:36.:36:39.

the title with Celtic, he will have Champions League football again.

:36:40.:36:42.

They are saying, these are Norwich's last four games, you have

:36:43.:36:46.

seven or eight to make sure that we are not playing Championship

:36:47.:36:50.

football? Unless a couple of those teams are already sorted where they

:36:51.:36:54.

are going to finish, that might be the case. But I think you are right

:36:55.:36:57.

in that it would be a huge call for Neil Lennon. From my understanding,

:36:58.:37:03.

maybe he will be ready to come down for a new challenge. And why

:37:04.:37:06.

wouldn't he want a new challenge? Fantastic club, Celtic, fantastic

:37:07.:37:10.

what they have done and are doing, but he has been there for a long

:37:11.:37:13.

time as a player and manager, you might want a new challenge. But it

:37:14.:37:19.

only lasts for 11 games... All of a sudden he could be in a Championship

:37:20.:37:23.

club next season, and he's made a big error leaving a Champions League

:37:24.:37:27.

club in Celtic. Let's touch on Wayne Rooney, Manchester United won at

:37:28.:37:30.

Crystal Palace yesterday. Wayne Rooney scored one of the goals to

:37:31.:37:33.

celebrate the new Deal. This is what he said too Match Of The Day

:37:34.:37:36.

afterwards. To be honest, I knew what I was doing for a while now. It

:37:37.:37:40.

was just a matter of getting it done. I have been settled, I have

:37:41.:37:45.

been enjoying my football. Obviously, it's great for myself and

:37:46.:37:54.

hopefully for the fans. I'm here to stay and I want to help this could

:37:55.:37:59.

be successful. Hopefully, we can do that. Janet in Bridlington, what do

:38:00.:38:03.

the panel think of Rooney think of him getting that amount of money?

:38:04.:38:09.

Bismarck says, people need to get off his case over wages. If my boss

:38:10.:38:14.

wanted to pay me 50p per second, I'm not going to refuse that. We need

:38:15.:38:17.

him to stay to attract top players in the summer, if we fail to qualify

:38:18.:38:21.

for a Champions League, which looks likely. That is the argument

:38:22.:38:24.

Manchester United fans are saying. It would have cost them an awful lot

:38:25.:38:28.

more to replace him, rather than to keep him? In a way, his contract was

:38:29.:38:35.

so far advanced that you're thinking, it is almost like signing

:38:36.:38:40.

another player. You think about how much it is going to cost to sign a

:38:41.:38:44.

29-year-old world-class player, ?30 million, plus wages. It's only a

:38:45.:38:49.

small percentage of the turnover for your marquee talent. I don't worry

:38:50.:38:52.

for the figures. But I think might be an issue, they mentioned acting

:38:53.:38:59.

chilly attracting players -- attracting players to the club, and

:39:00.:39:02.

they are going to look at Wayne Rooney's wages. Why would Toni Kroos

:39:03.:39:09.

sign former test United? You been at possibly the best club side in the

:39:10.:39:12.

world, he'll get good money. He might sign if they say, you can have

:39:13.:39:16.

the same as Wayne Rooney. But that creates a problem, that is the bar

:39:17.:39:20.

being set for world-class talent. So when they are being linked with a

:39:21.:39:29.

player somewhere in Europe, as good as he is, he's not likely to come in

:39:30.:39:34.

and say I want ?300,000 per week. But he is more likely now he's

:39:35.:39:38.

staying? The question was if Manchester United could have

:39:39.:39:41.

afforded not to do this deal. In the summer, Wayne Rooney fell out with

:39:42.:39:49.

Alex Ferguson, he went into the manager 's office and said, what do

:39:50.:39:53.

you think, do we go our separate ways? He wasn't in the team, there

:39:54.:39:57.

was interest from Chelsea. All of a sudden he's back in the team,

:39:58.:40:00.

playing well, the power comes back to him. United are suddenly

:40:01.:40:03.

thinking, we could lose this guy in the summer for far less than he is

:40:04.:40:07.

worth. They have to do the deal and then they have to pay the wages he

:40:08.:40:10.

wants. Ultimately, Wayne Rooney's team have played a blinder. They

:40:11.:40:18.

have got their client... The figures are what they are because the club

:40:19.:40:21.

can afford it. It's an astronomical amount of money, but you have to say

:40:22.:40:24.

he is worth it because of what it would take to replace them. Thank

:40:25.:40:28.

you very much for all of your text messages and tweets. Might read some

:40:29.:40:33.

more out in a moment. The other 1:30 kick-off today is Newcastle against

:40:34.:40:36.

Aston Villa. Steve Bower is doing this game for Match Of The Day too.

:40:37.:40:39.

I spoke it to him earlier that both of these clubs always seem one match

:40:40.:40:46.

away from a crisis? Cull as you well know, here on Tyneside it doesn't

:40:47.:40:52.

take much to create a crisis with the natives, but they are not happy

:40:53.:40:56.

as far as Newcastle is concerned. Four home defeat in a row and they

:40:57.:40:59.

haven't scored a goal in any of them. If they were to lose today,

:41:00.:41:03.

that anxiety would increase. They have not lost five league games in a

:41:04.:41:08.

row at home since 1953. Paul Lambert has stoked the fire by saying he

:41:09.:41:10.

thinks the edginess within the crowd can help Aston Villa today to three

:41:11.:41:19.

points, as they look to get some consistency. Still in natural

:41:20.:41:24.

addition fight. He mentions that the crowd might

:41:25.:41:28.

help Aston Villa, and Villa are better away from Villa Park? As

:41:29.:41:32.

Newcastle are, as well. That has hampered their form here. Yes, Aston

:41:33.:41:37.

Villa are dreadful at Villa Park. We have seen them a few times this

:41:38.:41:41.

season. Away from home, they play with a little less fear, that more

:41:42.:41:45.

freedom. That is their hope today. As far as Newcastle are concerned,

:41:46.:41:48.

you look at their team sheet, since Cabaye's much publicised departure,

:41:49.:41:54.

that has hit them as well. They have big names back, Coloccini, their

:41:55.:42:00.

captain back in defence. Loic Remy will return after suspension. Their

:42:01.:42:03.

top scorer, where would they be without him? Already, they have a

:42:04.:42:06.

stronger line-up, but undoubtedly they need to win. Let me confirm,

:42:07.:42:13.

Coloccini, checked Coyote and Loic Remy all back for Newcastle, as is

:42:14.:42:24.

appalled at. -- Dummet. Mignolet, Johnson, Jordan Henderson all

:42:25.:42:27.

recalled for Liverpool. It's interesting, we talk about how great

:42:28.:42:32.

the Newcastle fans are, but they are under real pressure at home?

:42:33.:42:35.

Newcastle were incredibly edgy against Tottenham the other week. I

:42:36.:42:41.

think Paul Lambert has just started to get the flames stoked a little

:42:42.:42:46.

bit more, by saying what he said. Our Jew has said he is not happy

:42:47.:42:49.

about his comments. -- Alan Pardew. It's more edgy for both sides. Just

:42:50.:43:05.

by having Coloccini, checked Tiote back, it improves them. They need

:43:06.:43:12.

three points? Leads to keep his stock higher, because he needs to

:43:13.:43:16.

get away from there. One thing about Mike Ashley is that he's always

:43:17.:43:19.

probably wanted mid-table security for Newcastle, no more. They went

:43:20.:43:23.

into Europe, they struggled because of their squad size. I don't think

:43:24.:43:26.

they wanted to replace Yohan Cabaye in January. They go too high up the

:43:27.:43:30.

table, they give themselves problems, so mid-table is good for

:43:31.:43:38.

Ashley. A text from a viewer in knowledge the Norwich, -- Norwich,

:43:39.:43:46.

if we get four five wins from the easier games, it won't matter if we

:43:47.:43:49.

lose the last ones. Match Of The Day 2 is that 10:25 on

:43:50.:43:59.

BBC Two. See you next. -- see you next week. Goodbye.

:44:00.:44:00.

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