Gary Lineker meets Mark Hughes The Premier League Show

Welcome to the Premier League show, back after a short winter break.

Joining me this week to reflect on the big stories are an uneasy

alliance of former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy and comedian

and Manchester United fan Justin Moorhouse. Gary Lineker travels to

Stoke to meet up with his old Barcelona team-mate Mark Hughes. We

hear from Paul Pogba ahead of Manchester United against Liverpool.

We look at the anatomy of a rivalry and we reflect on the passing of a

legend. Talk to him. Why we have been on a hiatus, football hasn't,

is what has been going on in Premier League. Another defeat. Link WSDL

Palace. Alan Pardew has been sacked as manager. Mkhitaryan, what a

finish that is. Brilliantly put away by Pedro. No matter how we start

again, we find a way to go down and pay the price. Could this be another

one? It is. It is a goal. A 13th consecutive win. We are proud.

Headed in Elliot Lee. -- brilliantly. Dele Alli. Dele Alli

gets his second of the game. Basically killed us, a big mistake.

Fernandinho, it is a red card. You are the journalist, not me. Marco

Silvestri is the new Hull boss. -- Marco Silva. If he was to leave, I

would be angry. It is 2-0. Welcome, we have managed to find a cosy spot

not far from Craven Cottage, your old stomping ground, just round the

corner from Stamford Bridge as well. Things wobbled after the 13 match

winning run over the Christmas period. It all came to an end at

White Hart Lane. Thankfully for the Premier League. For the

competitiveness of it. It did, what a performance it was from Tottenham.

I thought they were fantastic. They showed in that performance and the

one against Manchester city that they will be competing as well. From

back to front, they were brilliant. Dele Alli, for his age, keeps

amazing us with those brilliant conformance is and the goals he is

now scoring. Well done Spurs and the title race is on again. They didn't

start the season with the same meant from a team that came so close last

season. They seem to be getting into their stride now. Some great young

players. I agree with everything, he said they are good back to front, I

think they are better front to back to be honest. You have not brought

me in for the expert analysis. I think every neutral wanted that gap

to be maintained at three or four points, not extending to six or

eight points. As a fan it has been fascinating watch Chelsea march on

and grind out results like they used to. But they won 13 games on the

bounce and were only six points clear. Which shows the quality of

the top six. You could put everybody's top four is in that top

six. It is the familiar top six. Last year was clearly a blip, no one

outside the top six is thinking they can break in easily, money talks. It

does. The quality that has been brought in and the new managers and

the money that has been spent. The brilliant thing is you will get

these six teams playing each other. So many games to look forward to in

the next couple of months. The games between the top sides have already

been entertaining. No bigger coming up at the weekend than Liverpool and

United. You do feel that it is hard to predict the top six encounters.

Chelsea against Manchester city, Man City can lose, even with Guardiola.

That gives it a wonderful competitive edge. City did win ten

games on the bounce but they are still in the top six after a blip.

You would be hard-pressed to think anyone would think this would be not

the top six at the end of the season. I think United could have a

significant impact on the top six. In the summer of 1986, Barcelona

boss Terry Venables signed Mark Hughes and Gary Lineker to be his

new look front line. 30 years later, Gary has travelled to slightly less

exotic Stoke to catch up with his old strike partner.

Hello young man. I've only come for the weather, beautiful. I think you

are winning on the great front. And the beard actually. Not seen you for

a while. When not kids any more. Mark, it is over 30 years, July 1986

was when we signed for Barcelona. I have a few snippets and clips to

have a look at. I will leave you to translate.

"Barcelona Manager at Terry Gornell is assigned to English strikers to

boost is teams campaign." I was a young 23, in years and probably

attitude to life. It was hard work for me. I think your attitude helped

you succeed better than I did. My debut coming up. Lineker and Hughes

helped make it a winning start for Terry Venables. I remember it

because I scored after two minutes. Usual, three yards out. Based a

career on it. Your personality and how you was as a player. He is off

with a red card. And how you are off the field is entirely different. You

were a very aggressive footballer. And you are quite a calm and

laid-back individual, especially for a manager. I'm never going to be

life and soul of the party. At times, yes. I have two distinct

personalities, as a player I was completely different. Maybe that's

how I was able to express myself as a person more readily than maybe off

the field. I think this role tests you. It makes you do things and

takes you out of your comfort zone. To stand in front of 25 grown men

and make them believe what you are saying is true. Do you ever lose it

in front of those 25 individuals? What do you think? We had Terry

Venables as coach of course. He was great, I liked him as a guy and he

knew the game very well. He knows this is his responsibility. The

translator gave him a terrible time. You get to that four yards, but the

brakes on and when you shop him, go again. He is actually talking about

forward pressing which is interesting. Clearly you have

completely switched off there, I am not far behind you there. Gary has

the angle to cut that off. He was head of the time, we talk about the

high press now. Sylla macro it is interesting to see what they say.

When you see someone like Terry working, you forget about what

happened when you under his tutelage. That looks a bit of a mess

really. Goes around the goalkeeper and makes it 4-1. I worked with a

few managers, interesting to see how they all very in how they approach

defeats, does it affect your mood badly over the weekend if you lose

on Saturday? It shapes your week. One quality I've got that I'm

grateful for is that when I get home, I can shut the door and I can

switch off. My experience with other managers is that it is quite rare. I

don't toss and turn in bed thinking about formations, that is something

I am grateful for, not many managers have that. You used to live there.

That was my good lady. This is after you scored that hat-trick. Against

real Madrid. What do you miss most? They would ring me every Sunday

afternoon to make me feel better. Saying they are having a pint. You

had trials and should relations. At Barcelona and Bayern Munich, did it

help you nowadays because you get so many foreign players when you are

managing. Without a shadow of a doubt. Going back to those

experiences helps me when I'm speaking to players here. I use it

when I try to acquire good players. It is always useful to say that you

have played for Barcelona and Bayern Munich. They can't a member me

playing but they checked Google to see if I am telling the truth.

That is my attitude, completely the wrong way to embrace the culture of

another country. I regret to this day that I didn't break it. When you

go abroad, you have to go with the mindset that you want to stay there

as long as you can. If you do that, you can be successful and give

yourself time to understand different cultures and languages and

you can get a better experience. My attitude was to do it for a couple

of years and see how I go and then get back home. At Stoke you have

been in the top ten for three years running, do you get the credit you

deserve for that? You had to change the style of play as well?

Bill-macro it is not for me to say. That is what it is. As a club, to

get ninth for three seasons running is an unbelievable result. Did you

think you were unfairly treated at Manchester city? Big-money was

coming in and they wanted a big name from somewhere else. To be must be

thinking you would have won all sorts of things. It was always going

to happen. I was close to being fired on three occasions, I was

unaware of the first two but then I finally had a bad result. They will

always going to replacement, I always understood that. I probably

lasted longer than they thought I was going to. I take that as a

positive. Spanish guys talking... This should

be interesting! Show we stop there? -- shall we stop there? Nothing

changes, does that! Everyone has a view! Everyone knows best! What is

the best that Stoke City can do? If you look at the top six as it stands

that is difficult. The best would be to do a Leicester. Perhaps to win

that middle league. We are talking top six and there's a gap to

seventh, why can't we be seventh? And on any given year when things

fall in place maybe we can get into the top six and see where that takes

us. Certainly we should always look to be an established top tens side

which is what I I got this job, I felt there was potential in the club

but year on year on year it is and more difficult. -- it is getting

more and more difficult. It is great to see you again. I wish you well.

You're doing quite well, well done! I lurve the use of archive footage,

looking back on those early days and Barcelona. You played under him at

full, what is he like as a bloke? I got on with him really, really well.

Good sense of humour, stern when he wants to be, he has a bit of a

temper, there's no doubt about that, stands back in the training, lets

Eddie and Mark get on with it, come in when he wants to make a point,

likes to join in and show off his volleying techniques. He was great

with me. You've got to work hard for him. He demands a hell of a lot. You

can see that with his Stoke team and he has done really well to move them

forward while playing in a bit of a different way, credit to him, he's

done a good job. We've talked of the top six and if you look at the next

band of clubs he has cemented stoke there, they've finished ninth in the

last three seasons. It's difficult for teams like Stoke. There is not

that much it is Stoke. They are not the... I've got a theory, Danny will

probably pooh-pooh it but it is hard. To do better than they will

ever do. Because people say, Johnny foreigner has come in, he's done it

at Real Sociedad but can he do it on a wet Wednesday at Stoke? So every

Carlos Bacca Ball who comes in house to raise their game at Stoke! And as

a compliment to him, I've done it on Tuesday and Wednesday and it's hard

work! Actually the budget has gone up and they've brought in a better

quality player, in terms of Arnautovic, and Bojan. I think they

are doing as well as they will ever do. He said seventh. It feels odd

seeing someone like Mark Hughes who was so competitive and played for

the very best, having to almost concede that he cannot win the

league. It's probably practical and good for Stoke. If they finished

seventh, possibly six, I think that's what they look for. You would

have to ask a Stoke fan but I think they are a very well-run club. They

make the best of... What other club in the world deliberately don't fill

the corners in to make it windy in the stadium? Just to make it more

difficult to play! I know that you are both looking forward to this,

Manchester United face Liverpool this Sunday and who better to get us

in the mood for this and the world's most expensive player? COMMENTATOR:

What a header by Paul Pogba. Brilliant strike.

How is life back at Manchester United, how would you describe it?

Life is good, we enjoy it, every moment. Just enjoy it. Is it

everything you thought it would be? I knew it would be like that. The

weather didn't change! One say Manchester United versus Liverpool

at Old Trafford does that sent a shiver down your spine? The history

of Liverpool and Manchester United, big derby, more than Manchester City

I think because the way you feel, the atmosphere is more. I want to

win, I want three points. It is good to win three points against Stoke

City, any team in the league, doing even better, it is better when you

win three points against Liverpool because it is the Derby communal.

Hear more from Paul Pogba on football focus on Saturday. Before

this week's game we asked Ivo Graham for his unique take on rivalries.

# Life is a struggle, baby you've got to choose... #.

As a football fan nothing set the pulse racing like the phrase Clash

of titans. The beautiful thing about the Premier League, the greatest

league in the world trademark, is that you loads of these every

weekend. This Sunday we are gearing up for the most heavily hyped title

clash of all, Manchester United against Liverpool. We came, we saw,

we kicked their backside! I should say early doors that I'm a neutral

for this one. Both clubs have attracted a good few glory hunters

over the years mainly because they've had more glory than anyone

else, Liverpool, 19 years leading up to my birth, Manchester United the

22 years leading up to the loss of my virginity. Oh yes, I was one of

those cheering them on while clutching my copy of one of the most

confusingly narrated sports memoirs of all time. But then I started

something that would cause an even more pain than their emission of May

from the squad, my long-time relationship with my home team,

Swindon Town. In the years I've been following them they've slipped down

the division weathermen excitement now comes from Brussels with the

Auld enemy, Oxford United in the a 24 Derby. Police are hunting for

vandals who broke into the Oxford ground on the weekend and burned the

initials of their rivals into the ground. It is never we hate Reading,

it is always, we hate Oxford. I hate the Derby but I would say that

because we always lose. You have to tell yourself it doesn't matter, we

are to clap teams linked by one clap Rd, it does not matter who gets the

come, we are both still bored. That's the thing about lower league

derbies, passionate and Betty. Something to boast about apart from

having the most famous miniature roundabout complex in the UK. Of

course I will watch Manchester United against Liverpool this

weekend, it is the big one, both great teams trying to knock each

other of some nonspecific perch. But in three weeks' time and fifth

February I'll be here, at the County Ground for my own personal big one,

Swindon versus Oxford, the clash of the non-Titans, not about who is the

best but who is the worst. All of the hatred, none of the hope. At the

very least, please let us get a draw! You will be relieved to know

I'm not going to ask you anything about these and- Oxford rivalry but

there's a big rivalry this weekend on the hotly anticipated much

always, Liverpool versus Manchester United and you have special memories

of playing in these games. How long have you got? Strap yourselves in.

He'll be dining out on his three goals a game. I know you are never

asked about them! Old Trafford became a fantastic place for me for

many reasons, I made my England debut there, but the winners I got

for Liverpool there were always special, growing up as a Liverpool

fan. The second came from a selfish point of view, the late winner. The

previous couple of games I hadn't been playing very well and that kind

of turned things around a bit for me, coming off at the end, the

supporters, and Stevie was the captain for the night, personally

that meant a lot to me. And the first that the club, United have

been so successful, ten years we hadn't won at Old Trafford and that

first one kind of put that to bed. We did OK against them. It is my

best memory of playing football, going there and winning games,

because of the fact that they were the best. If you try to rationalise

this to someone who is not a football fan and doesn't understand,

would they think this logical, there are other teams, why focus on them?

It's almost always about these two periods in history,

the dominance of the teams and it will never change, that intense

dislike. I grew up watching football in the late 19th 70s and the early

1980s and Liverpool were the best team in the country and in Europe,

for periods, and they were close enough to us to be almost a derby

rival but far enough away that you did not know many of them, which was

thankful! You said you grew up! When Fergie came in 1986, that was his

thing, his job, he was going to knock them off their perch, that was

a clarion call to us, and do you know we are over obsessed with

Liverpool and they are over obsessed with United. Your big memory? Live

and John O'Shea scoring the winner at the Kop in the 90th minute. I

heard afterwards that Gary Neville hoped him and whispered to him, you

have stolen my dream. And that dream was my dream and the dream of every

kid who grew up wanting to be a Manchester United manner, to score

the winning goal at the Kop in the 90th minute. Does it carry on until

the next time you meet? It wasn't until about to stick you have to

wait until the area has been evacuated! -- it wasn't until about

Tuesday that I could leave! I know a view Liverpool fans. Why do some

outreach work! You can confers with them once you've got over the

language barrier and you have stopped showing off about use, they

are all right. And now we have these two great characters, Jose Mourinho

and Jurgen Klopp, it means a lot to them, they get their history. They

both love the game. You can feel that question. It's like having a

fan on the touchline. Jurgen Klopp is the Liverpool manager but I like

the way he's immersed himself into the culture of the club. Both have

immersed into the club the type of player with a from. When I was

growing up is still had Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen and

United always had Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, it's not all

about that but some sort of resemblance to the supporters goes a

long way, I think. It is lost a little in terms of that but it is

still a huge game and one that is massively important in terms of the

Premier League. One thing, Win, lose or draw I've never enjoyed one of

them. I have an them all. You never enjoy them, they are horrible games.

That's the point of being a fan. It's like playing, you only enjoy it

when you finish. And score the winner. That's all from us, big

thanks to Danny and Justin, let's look at the weekend, Tottenham kick

us off on Saturday with the early visit to West Brom, three games

featuring teams from the bottom five before faltering Leicester City take

on Chelsea. On Sunday its Manchester versus Merseyside beginning with

Everton against City before Manchester United take on Liverpool.

And today the sad news reached us that the former England manager

Graham Taylor has died aged 72. After a playing career in the lower

divisions he began his managerial career at Lincoln City and had

spells at Aston Villa, walls and the national team but it was with

Watford where he had extraordinary success, taking them from the old

fourth division to the top flight and guiding them to the 1984 FA Cup

final. Spell at Watford was probably the best of my managerial career. It

was fantastic. I think that I've got qualities as regard coaching. I

think that is what I ought to be doing. I've always had admiration

for him. People come to be entertained, to be excited. Nowhere

does that action take place. Cheers. I've got an 83-year-old

mother-in-law that wants his autograph. You can get a position

that Gary Lineker has got, now the captain of his country, but you must

keep working hard. It is a game for the man on the terraces, a game to

excite the people. The sound of hitting the football thrilled me.

Now my playing career is over and I'm fortunate that I'm a manager and

I would like to remain one, simply so I can hear a football being

struck.