A Football Report

Business Time - AFR Voice, Ep 18.

It’s early May, which in footballing terms generally means one thing: it’s business time. And AFR Voice is punching in for this week’s audio shift with plenty to talk about. Whether it be a 33-man match in Norway, horror challenges on reporters in Denmark, or the hottest thing out of the Madrid branch of IKEA since someone burnt the meatballs, we’ve got it covered.

The Premier League title may be all wrapped up and tucked away safely in Manchester, but there’s still plenty to play for. We’ll be taking a look at the cross-London melee for the final Champions League places, whilst at the other end, any team not in the top half of the table will be nervously looking over their shoulders as Wigan make their customary late push for survival (if they’re not too busy winning the FA Cup).

Then we hop down into the lower leagues where there was a crazy final day in the Championship, and Paddy waxes lyrical about the play-offs as the league pyramid continues to shuffle itself for a couple more weeks yet.

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AFR Voice Special - Graeme Le Saux & Faye White

The Champions League trophy has landed in London and AFR Voice can proudly say it had a hand in the journey after UEFA kindly invited us to see the famous big-eared trophy travel through the capital. The curvaceous silverware was transported via tube, taxi and London bus on it’s way to the home of English football for the glamour final.

You can watch the rather unusual journey here. 

Happily, we hopped on the bus to speak to the cup’s security guard for the day, Chelsea, Blackburn and England legend Graeme Le Saux. He told us about his Champions League experiences, what he makes of Jose Mourinho’s mooted return to Chelsea, and his take on the controversially late kick off for the FA Cup final. 

In this interview special pod, we also spoke to ex-England women’s captain Faye White who was marshalling the women’s trophy through the sea of star-struck and slightly bemused commuters. We chatted about the health of the women’s game, the pros and cons of wearing a protective mask in the biggest game of your life and whether Arsene Wenger should get the boot.

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Chewy Suarez - AFR Voice Ep. 17

The Premier League title race may be all wrapped up, but AFR Voice is by no means finished with the season just yet. With plenty of football still to be played, we’ll be taking a look this week at the movers and shakers in England and abroad, as well as discussing the latest artificial playing surface controversy to hit Norway, managerial frat parties in Eastern Europe, and Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa playing Dr. Dolittle in one of the most bizarre TV commercials that we’ve ever seen for a Japanese broadband provider.

We’ve also got an exclusive interview with ex-Blackburn, Chelsea, Southampton and England left-back maestro Graeme Le Saux, who has been talking to Ben about all things Champions League as the famous trophy makes its way to Wembley for next month’s final.

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Relegation Delegation - AFR Voice Ep. 16

Okay okay, as much as we try, we can’t seriously muster the belief that the Premier League title race has been blown wide open, even if Manchester City did triumph against their neighbours on Monday. After speeding through the Manchester derby, we pulled up and rubbernecked the almighty scramble for survival at the foot of the table. Whilst Aston Villa have really hit top gear and Stoke continue to stall, Reading and QPR are now surely all set for the scrapyard? Amongst our relegation predictions we discuss Gabriel Agbonlahor’s scoring record, Paolo Di Canio’s promising debut at Stamford Bridge and Newcastle amazing knack of scoring crucial last minute goals.

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The Long Road to Rio - AFR Voice Ep 15

We may be in the middle of an International break but AFR Voice isn’t taking a time out. No sir. We’ve got our passports out and spend this week’s podcast picking up some serious air miles as we charge around the globe bringing you everything you need to know about the World Cup qualifiers on 5 different continents.

So as teams from around the world have pulled out of the international lay-by and got back on the road to Brazil 2014, we start off by looking at the delicately poised groups in Europe, discuss if a pre-qualifying stage for so-called International “minnows” is a good idea, and look at the possibility of Montenegro installing trap doors under the pitch against England in an act of gamesmanship.

Then it’s off around the world where the USMNT have been fighting snow, frost and Costa Rica in the Hex, Lionel Messi has been getting some extra camera time in South America, and New Zealand have qualified top of the Oceania group (but Shane Smeltz has still been left with a qualification headache).

There’s also time for a quick round-up of all of the week’s MLS action, a special look at the Australian A-League (where it really is business time), plus we discuss what it takes to get the Blackburn managerial job, and why everything on Wikipedia must be true.

Get in touch with the team to mock Paddy’s poor betting selections, suggest more leagues to cover, or anything else for that matter - tweet us on @AFRvoice, or email afrvoice@gmail.com. You can also subscribe to AFR Voice on iTunes and find us on Soundcloud. Do it.

Springing Back - AFR Voice Ep.14

Spring is in the air, except in freezing cold London, so it’s an especially husky outing for the AFR Voice team as they wrap up the last two weeks in football. Amidst all the usual winter fare of Premier League and FA Cup action, the green shoots of MLS and the Champions League have sprung again, we’ve seen quite literally a new breed of pitch invader, and perhaps most importantly, you can now watch games from a pitch side jacuzzi in Zurich (and yes, you did read that last point correctly).

There’s the usual look at all things Anglophile – have Liverpool hit form at the right time? Will Chelsea and Man United be able to play their FA Cup replay before the final itself? And when Spring arrives, are Wigan the best team that the world has ever seen? We’ll also take our pick of who is going to jump off the managerial merry-go-round and straight into the Reading manager’s office, and we’ll see who’s been getting all artistic at Stoke.

Then it’s straight into all of the action from around the world. We start off in MLS where both the Western and Eastern conferences seem to be having a Canadian affair, Seattle may soon be making a significant addition to their roster, and Ryan Nelsen starts to make his mark in Toronto. Then it’s back over to Europe where Palermo put Chelsea’s managerial dismissal policy to shame, Atletico Madrid surrender their 100% home record, and Montpellier attempt to start discussions with a certain Diego about taking charge next season, so watch this space….

As always, you get in touch with the team by emailing afrvoice@gmail.com, or join in with the ‘at which point before the World Cup will Jack Wilshere get injured’ sweepstake by tweeting @AFRvoice.

Africa Cup Of Nations Debrief - AFR Voice Ep.12

What a couple of weeks it’s been in the world of football. We start with an interview with ESPN FC’s Mark Lomas to talk all things African Cup of Nations, before discussing the possible implications of the Europol match fixing scandal, what it means for football, and if there is a solution to the problem.

Elsewhere (in case you hadn’t noticed) David Beckham has signed for PSG, the Premier League has seen one of its finest own goals, and England have pretty much made themselves favourites to win next year’s World Cup. So strap in and let the latest edition of AFR Voice take you through all of the issues that you need to know (as well as plenty of stuff that you don’t), including bridal showers at the Bernabéu, a delightful selection of carpets in Turkey, and a new kind of card being brandished by referees in the Greek lower leagues.

We’ll also be taking time to get under the skin of this weekend’s Premier League action and decide if Manchester United already have the title sown up, before heading overseas to discuss toiler humour in Germany, running baths in France, and just how the USMNT are going to fight their way out of the most sinister-sounding of World Cup qualifying rounds – the Hex.

As always, you can get in touch with the team by tweeting @AFRvoice or emailing afrvoice@gmail.com.

Through The Window - AFR Voice Ep.10

Blow up the balloons, get those cake candles lit and fire up the party tunes - it’s the January transfer window’s 10th birthday! To celebrate the momentous occasion we give the old boy the birthday bumps - providing a bruising analysis of the Premier League institution. Sure, it’s a guilty pleasure for fans to enjoy, but is it more disruptive than helpful to clubs and what are the alternatives?

Also in our party bag is a complete round-up of the weekend’s top-tier games - we doff our caps to ageing fine wines Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, whilst also dressing down Jon Walters’s double own-goal fiasco at Chelsea and salivating over Reading’s incredible comeback against West Brom. The club game is wrapped up with a giddy dance around the European leagues - including a look at Kevin Prince-Boateng’s stand against racism and some deliciously mischievous rumours linking Pep Guardiola to Bayern Munich.

The cherry on the top of the audio cake is our preview of the African Cup of Nations - we’ll be assessing the traditional big boys’ chances, launching a sweepstake and lighting a candle of hope for ‘plucky minnows’ and AFCON debutants Cape Verde.

For those with an irreverent sweet tooth, we’ll be giving a nod to Clarence Seedorf’s miraculous music career, an adorable dog invasion at Galatasaray and champion Italy’s less complimentary answer to the Ballon d’Or…the Golden Bin Awards!

As always, you can get in touch with the team by tweeting @AFRvoice or emailing afrvoice@gmail.com. You can also subscribe to AFR Voice on iTunes and find us on Soundcloud.