Lauren's Journey and Matt Hughes on the Premier League Run-In

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The Premier League season is over and, in my humble opinion, United are deserving champions. Matt Hughes drops by to share his views on a dramatic final day and Steve Bennett gets little love from Guillem and Bill.
Guillem and I also grabbed some lunch with Lauren, the Portsmouth fullback (and accidental Cameroonian), who talks about what will be his fifth FA Cup Final, more than any other overseas player. One day they should make a film out of Lauren's early life, which featured military coups, desperate boat trips, polygamy, 22 brothers and sisters and a fair amount of juvenile delinquency.
We also treat you to some Quick Hits and Bill offers another statistical riff. Join the debate below...

As I said, United are worthy champions and most of us pretty much agree. Bennett had a bad game (Rio's handball, Scholes not getting sent off, Bramble's tackle on Scholes) but fears that Wigan wouldn't try were generally unfounded (though Giggs' goal looked a little screwy to me, it was fitting that he should score on the day he joined Sir Bobby Charlton in Red Immortality).
The relegation race went as a expected. Everybody who needed to win, did win. I'm a bit sad to see Birmingham go down, but, at this stage, they really only have themselves to blame. Reading too will, in my opinion, be missed. They are a well-run club, but their turnaround came too late. As for Fulham, job well done. It's great to see guys like Bullard finally getting some credit.
Lauren was one of my interviews of the season. His dad was a government minister in Equatorial Guinea, but, following a coup, he ended up in prison and his four wives (yes, he's a prolific man) had to escape the country by boat under cover of darkness. His mum was pregnant with Lauren at the time. They arrived in Cameroon, where she gave birth to him. A few months later, he was resettled in Spain (which is why, if you ever talk to him, you realize just how Spanish he is). Still, that accident of birth allowed him to play in the World Cup for Cameroon (Thomas N'Kono, the former Cameroon keeper, noticed he had been born there and just rang him up one day: "Hey, fancy going to the World Cup?" And that was that). He also tells us about falling in with a rough crowd and engaging in the odd bout of shop-lifting (a passion which, I would hope, he has since abandoned).

Comments

[michael]

I enjoy the podcast a lot but there are a few problems. First, the podcast is often hard to download. Links to the podcast are often broken or incorrectly link to previous shows. And has been previously pointed out, the comments page is hidden in a maze of links.

The podcast itself is very entertaining, thanks for an excellent pod season chaps.

[Craig Dunphy]

Hi guys - great podcast - I listen every week.

As a Spurs fan I always find transfer windows confusing. We've been linked to players from Eto to Dean Ashton! From Jarque to Dunne and from Capel to Bentley!

What do you think of Capello's decision to pick Huddlestone for England ahead of Carrick? Is he blind?

[Oby]

Hi Guys, great podcast! As usual. Been listening all season and it's something to look forward to each week. It would be awesome if you guys continue over the Euros. Thanks for producing such a podcast!

Arsenal in crisis - I'm not sure if that was actually being said on the podcast but it has been mentioned. I don't think there is a crisis at Arsenal, it's a very well run club. Being a Liverpool fan, I can only wish that we were run at boardroom level in the same way. However, as a neutral on the matter, looking at clubs who could be put into a 'crisis' situation then Arsenal could be considered quite high on the list. I don't think it would take much for Arsenal to fall into a tricky situation. With Chelsea it's the old story of Abromovich leaving Chelsea( I don't think it will happen) and leaving them with debt and wages they can't afford. Manchester United are quite solid apart from the debt which I think fans are still concerned about, it would take a lot for the club to be put into a crisis. Yet, there is no replacement for Ronaldo if he left. At Liverpool, if Hicks is as determined to keep hold of the club as he says he is,he might be desperate for money and sell Torres ( Chelsea seemed to pin their hopes on that recently). If Torres went, I'm sure Gerrard would be close to follow. An article today is saying the owner of Man city is selling his squad. You could already say that club is in crisis after the treatment of Sven.

Does Wenger have a replacement for Frabregas? Can he afford to lose Hleb or Adebyor if they chose to leave? Wenger has a vision of football which is about grooming young players to play exceptional football. This vision could be thrown out of sink, if he's forced to buy big name replacements. If he starts splashing the cash we're told he's got then his vision is spoiled somewhat.

Another point of crisis, is if Wenger left Arsenal. I know it doesn't look likely, but one day it will happen. The club is so relied on his scouting network and youth players who want to play for him. A change of manager would be mean a change of policy and could be a jolt to the club.

I wanted Arsenal to win the league when it became clear Liverpool were out of the race. It would have been a great story, for Wenger to bring up this young squad, capable of winning the league. I don't think there is a crisis at Arsenal but after a season of boardroom trouble at Liverpool, I've seen how easy it is for a club to get into that situation. It's not a nice feeling. I worry about my club, I hear reports about Torres and Babel being paid for by loans which we might not be able to pay for. At Man City, no one knows what the owner will do next or how much money the guy actually has. Spurs will be buying big this summer - but I can't quite work out how they are affording these top line players - even if they are selling a few of their own.

The premiere league this season was boasting how it was the most exciting league in the world and maybe it was but how unstable are these clubs? It can't be good for the future of English football. There will be an exudos of talent I'm sure, as Spain and Italy become the places to play football.

[Tom Eldridge]

Hi Gab

As an expert on the transfer market, I was wondering what you thought of the hilarious smokescreen of Malouda to Liverpool? Seems funny that this rumour goes to press the day after Gareth Barry has a crisis talk with the Villa management.

[Kev WIlliams]

Guys,

I always enjoy the podcast but feel compelled to drop a line. Gab always ends the show by pleading with us to add comments to the blog. Well, you should make it easier to find. The site needs to be seriously re-designed because you've got everything all over the place. How about links to the podcast at the top of the page or a side bar? Furthermore, is it Gab's blog above because there's no indication that it is.

Keep going with the pod but sort the site out!

PS - Guillem, I enjoyed 'A Season On The Brink'.

[Robert]

Hi guys, another fine podcast. How long are you going to carry on this season, will we see any Euro Game editions for the championships in the summer??

Also as an Arsenal Fan I think you're way off on a few points. Firstly I think Flamini must earn more than 5k a week, it seems ridiculous he would earn less a fair few Championship players. So where do you find out how much he gets paid, and does it include appearence and other bonus related payments??

Anyway he's left for more money and the draw of Milan which for some players would be enough on it's own, just seems a shame that come the weekend they probably won't qualify for the Champions League.

Sometimes I think people get caught up in the "Crisis at Arsenal" hype that has gone on pretty much every summer since Viera left.

[Jonathan Carter]

Gab / Guillem

I'd be interested in your thoughts on Crystal Palaces John Bostock (who I know you have touched on before) regarding his likely move it would seem to Spurs or Arsenal.

Palace have established a fantastic academy, with such recent graduates as Victor Moses, Shaun Scannell and Lee Hills establishing themselves in the 1st team.

Now it would seem JB will sign pro forms with a top club, rather than continuing to learn his trade with the team that has developed him since the age of 9.

Is there any real point to the smaller clubs even bothering anymore? Shall we just have 10 clubs and the rest of us just act as feeders to them? Its really depressing that teams like Palace can work so hard to develop strong youth set-ups only for a chequebook to be waved and it all counting for nothing

Cheers

Jonathan

[Dhaval (from Birmingham)]

Hi Gab and Guillem,

I am a big fan of you guys and have been listening to your views(mostly spot on and occasionally controversial) for years through talksport, now bbc, Sky, etc and this is my first blog(yes, after season being over - very apt timing, but as they say "better before the Champions League final then never...").

I follow United and agree with you Gab that United are worthy champions - Guillem, you questioned the term "worthy champions" but as Gab and Bill pointed out United have combined both efficiency and flair and have been really entertaining to watch(mostly - apart from those early 1-0 scorelines, which again showed characteristics of champions - "winning when not playing well"). Also the reason that the title came down to last day of the season and United did not run away with it was because of lack of out-and-out striker. If United had Saha fit for longer(which was surely too much to ask) or had signed someone like Berbatov, it would have given United an extra dimension in games such as Reading away, Man City away, Portsmouth in FA Cup, where despite dominating the game and creating numerous opportunities, couldnt score and as Gab likes to say "made their centre half(e.g. Dubbery for Reading) look like Sir Bobby Moore". Also, I have to defend United's approach in recent CL games as if United had won more CL titles then there would have been more freedom of play. They have dropped the ball one too many times in Europe so Sir Alex just wants to get his hands on trophy one way or another.

Also, I have to say I feel for Birmingham and Arsenal. I am studying in Birmingham(yes, I have exams soon and so should get back to revision, technically learning as I am going through some of the stuff for first time..)and there is generally a really feel-good factor about Birmingham City FC, but the way the takeover was handled was really poor by the board. Also, like Guillem I had reservations about Steve Bruce's management style although he made some really good signings in terms of young players such as Muamba, Larsson, Jerome(although he should have performed much better this year), etc. Although I thought the appointment of Mcleish was a good one for the longer term, was it a good appointment through the midpoint of the season where Mcleish had no experience of premiership and was thrown in the deep end and looked shell shocked for first couple of months? He like Roy Hodgson is a type of manager who would need pre-season behind him to get the team player a certain way and bed-in his signings, although Roy Hodgson's wealth of managerial experience clearly was defining factor in pulling off the "great escape". Should someone like Chris Coleman have been a better appointment?

Initially, I thought that Arsenal did not spend even some money(£20-25 million) because of Arsene Wenger's philosophy of simply developing young players but recently Arsene Wenger conceded that his transfer budget also includes wages and things are really tight. This means they cannot compete on same financial level as United, Chelsea, Liverpool and even recently clubs such as Tottenham(who seem to be buying everyone), Man City, etc. However, there were funds to strengthen in January and he should have added at least two bodies to the squad. Guys, do you not find slightly surprising that Arsene Wenger has not won back-to-back titles? Does it not say something about him as a manager(bear in mind financial troubles only started fairly recently and they even could not build upon their "invincibles - unbeaten team" which was dispanded within 2 seasons)? My brother, who follows Arsenal, hopes that they get taken over soon so the club can compete financially with ever increasing riches of premiership's top clubs.

I would also like to congratulate Chelsea on playing their part in a good finale. I think Avram Grant has handled man-management pretty well however I am not convinced that he can build a team i.e. if Drogba and one or two others were to leave, and Makelele and Ballack had to be replaced because of their advancing years. Also, I dont think he can provide exciting brand of football like United or Arsenal although last month it has been good. I think club with Chelsea's resources should be doing far better in terms of bringing huge names like Messi, Kaka, etc (Galacticos) and playing the brand of football that people like Rijkaard can provide.

Finally Good Luck to Portsmouth and Rangers in their respective FA Cup and UEFA cup finals as British Qualification for Europe looks even stronger and teams like Everton, Portsmouth, Tottenham, Aston Villa, etc can really have a big impact in UEFA cup(as they have good experience after this year and will strengthen again through big bucks from sky) and have extremely good managers (yes Gab, in case of O' Neill excellent communicator and good man-manager instead of the complete package). I think CL final is going to be exciting despite the systems of 4-5-1 by both teams(thats a whole different discussion) and if United score an early goal, then they should see it through. Prediction 2-1 United.

[John Legend]

United have not been the all-conquering team that people claim. They have had their share of injury problems as well:
Gary Neville was out until March
Silvestre was also out until March
Park was only available since December
Hargreaves in and out due to knee injuries
Rooney got three one-month injuries (25 PL appearances)
Saha. No more need be said
Vidic has had a couple of knocks late in the season
van der Sar has only played 29 PL games this season due to groin strains
Scholes was out for three months (22 PL appearances)
Carrick broke his arm so was out for a month while Fletcher got injured in a Scotland friendly

United won at Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Man City, and Tottenham last season but could only get 3 points out of a possible 12 this season. Of course, it would be unfair and stupid to say "if only United had won those" but add those poor performances to the United's own injury list and Chelsea's incredible consistency despite buying Anelka as a replacement for Drogba when he was away and being able to call on only Makelele instead of Essien then you can see why United didn't run away with the title this season.

[Daniel]

Hey guys. Great pod once again. While it wasn't mentioned in the pod, as the news may have arose following it's recording - did the Marca story of a €50,000,000 bid by Chelsea for Torres hold any ounce of truth? Or was it more Marca nonsense?

[Keenan]

Steve Bennett (season ticket holder at Old trafford)?????? Ask Javier Mascherano about him?

[Sam]

Am I missing something? I am sure Danny Murphy's goal sentenced Reading to relegation.

[Joseph]

Guillem,

You mentioned that David Villa was a Spurs target, but the newspapers have been focusing more on Samuel Eto'o. I think it would be a mistake for Barcelona to let Eto'o go, but how would Eto'o feel about the move?

Gab,
I completely agree with you on the Wigan defending for the Giggs goal. How can two defenders stay so far a part from each other without monitoring any runs in between them. I'm not a fan of Titus Brambell to say the least, but surely this was so amateur that they deserve some heavy criticism.

Also, you mentioned the inclusions of Huddleston and Harte, but what about Stephen Warnock? I've been a bit surprised that it has taken this long for Capello to pick him. England are hardly blessed with a long list of top class left backs, so surely it would make sense to give Warnock a start ahead of say Wayne Bridge, who plays for Chelsea once every blue moon.