TheGame Podcast: Phill Jupitus presents our new show

With the start of the new season just around the corner, TheGame Podcast is back and, as is customary at this time of the year, boasting a new signing to lead the line.

Phill Jupitus, regular Game columnist and dedicated West Ham fan, will lead the team throughout 2008-09 and he gets the season underway by debating the biggest issues in football.

This week Tony Cascarino, Matt Hughes and Gabriele Marcotti join him to talk about why Chelsea can win the title by ten points, why Liverpool can overhaul Arsenal and why Manchester United's title defence is doomed unless they sign a striker.

Plus there's much more to keep you entertained as the team share their thoughts on why English football managers haven't been this bad for 30 years, and just what Luiz Felipe Scolari has in store for the Premier League this season.

Click here to download the podcast

Click here to subscribe via iTunes

Click here to stream the podcast

Click here to subscribe via RSS

Comments

[Michael Seto]

What happened over the break? Why has Gab become the most sensible voice in the podcast? Chelsea to win by 10 points? Liverpool to overhaul Arsenal? Scolari to be a major improvement on what Grant did? West Ham's personality?

[Darlovsky]

Not a bad start, but where is Guillem?

And, Gabriele as a guest?

I hope the podcast keeps up it's high intellectual standards, otherwise it'll be no better than every other podcast or sky sports news/tabloid football analysis - cliches & stereotypes galore.

There aren't many places to get intellectual football discussion in Britain

[David]

Wheres Mr William David Michael Phelps Edgar

[andyg]

where is guillem?

[Will]

Hello, great to have you back.

Gab, Gareth Barry for 19 mil? Proven premiership consistency is a rare quality to be able to count on, and Villa are in the drivers seat it seems, but how do you rate him? I think he's probably a better buy that Carrick and Hargreaves at similar prices, but when Man U. get Anderson, and Nani, for a similar, probably lesser, fee I want to leap off a bridge. I guess that's just Benitez going all in, along with the 20 mil Keane move, for the Prem title.

I appreciate the blunt words on England managers. There is no other country in the world that shows such a gap between interest in the sport, even quality of players, and the dearth of even decent managers and lack of analysis of the problem in the media.

That said, Carra is going to be a very good one.

Also, what on earth is going on at Everton? They are looking to follow up a great season, despite some major injuries, with a totally useless summer. The new stadium changes the bank account, but why does it seem like players don't want to go here? Not London? No city is and other than West Ham, oh West Ham, there a precious few spots in one of the city's squads. If I was a young central midfielder or defender I'd be kicking the door down.

[Matt Riley]

Hi Gab and the rest of you, although i bet only Gab reads this....

Great to have you guys back, it's been a long summer, without your excellent discussion, chat and banter.

I am interested to know what you think of Blackburn's chances this season under Paul Ince in the coming season.

As usual we have been written off by large sections of the media already, however i think there are a lot of teams with bigger problems than us this. Also added to the fact we will have a 45 game season tops this year we could do pretty well on Sundays against tired teams such as Villa, Pompey and Man City...

of course Bentley is a loss, as is Friedel, however it may turn out to be a good bit of business, particularly the last part. The guy is 37 and can't go on forever, and Robbo at least used to be a good keeper, Brad himself didn't have a great Rep when he joined us...

so what do you think? Where will Rovers be this season, and i heard in the past that Ince's ultimate goal would be to manage Inter Milan, what do you think of that Gab?

[IamJoe]

Why is everyone so totally sold on Scolari? Oh yeah, he has won the World Cup...

That World Cup where Brazil's toughest game came against England...? That World Cup were he could thank Ronaldo's genius to save him from a very mediocre but nonetheless superior Germany? That World Cup that where South Korea and Turkey made the semis? Oh yeah, that World Cup that was maybe the weakest of all, with Brazil maybe the only team with some quality.

And what has he then done with Portugal? A team holding maybe the greatest riches of talent in Europe?
Oh yeah, he beat England every time... Wow. Often lucky enough though...Then he failed at the next big hurdle, time and time again.

True enough Chelsea is loaded with good players and Grant getting them to challenge tells a lot (Although this maybe was a good thing, because it forced the players to take on more responsibility than they had ever been needed to do under protective Mourinho). But winning the league by 10 points? Get a grip already!

Marcotti is right, there are little question marks all over the team (Drogba/Anelka and attitude? Mikel for Makelele? Injury prone central defence? New system, new philosophy for a squad assembled with something different in mind? A lot depending on a 31 year old Portugese who is going to experience his first London winter?...) and even if they are almost guaranteed to challenge, this championship is not a foregone conclusion.