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00:00 Hello and welcome to National World Fitbit Talk, your nan's favourite football podcast Ken.
00:04 It's a show where we break down the latest news and results from around the Scottish
00:08 Premiership and across the SPFL. I'm your host Martin Simpson, joined by regular guest Lewis
00:13 Anderson from Glasgow World and making her debut on the show the Edinburgh Evening News' latest
00:18 recruit Susanna Sealy. We're going to be looking back at the latest round of results from the
00:23 Scottish Premiership, looking ahead to the next weekend results and we're going to be discussing
00:27 a surprise appointment in the SPFL Championship.
00:30 So Lewis, let's start with Rangers. One-nil win, back-to-back league wins for Michael Beale.
00:43 On paper, pretty good. Not on paper, less so. Not a convincing performance at all, probably.
00:52 Motherwell, you could say we're a bit unlucky not to come away with a point.
00:56 I think Motherwell deserved to win the match in all honesty. Martin, I thought it was a dismal
01:03 performance from Rangers. One of the worst so far under Michael Beale. They weren't at it at all.
01:10 Real kind of lackadaisical approach, no pace to the game, no movement, no real quality.
01:18 The new signings, once again, kind of flattering to deceive.
01:23 Hugely disappointing and certainly got away with it. I think Michael Beale was quite vocal about
01:28 that in his media conference post-match about how his new signings just haven't quite clicked. He
01:37 looked a fed-up figure on the touchline and they scraped this win. Motherwell had a couple of
01:46 glorious chances, particularly in the second half. Jack Butlan making an excellent double save to
01:50 deny Ollie Shaw. Motherwell, as you said, could have snatched at least a point at the end. Blair
01:56 Spittle passing up a great chance. Rangers really rode their luck at times and were fortunate.
02:06 With the goal, it obviously came via a heavily defected Rabih Matondo strike. Three points,
02:14 but Rangers fans far from happy with what they're seeing from the team at the moment.
02:20 What do we make of the upcoming fixtures now, given just even though they got the win,
02:26 how poor that performance was? That's three wins on the bounce in all competitions,
02:30 including the win over Bettis, which is a really positive result. They've then got the League Cup
02:36 match on Wednesday night at home to Livingston, which they'll be expected to win. They've got
02:40 Aberdeen going to Ibrox, so back-to-back home wins, home results, home matches, I should say,
02:47 is really good for them. Aberdeen, things may be finally starting to turn the corner there
02:52 after that 4-0 win against Ross County. Some really good football on display will get to that.
02:56 But I suppose, do you think these home games are coming at a good time for Michael Beale
03:03 to just sort of try and get things right, for lack of more context? I mean, what do you think?
03:16 I think he's on a shugly peg, let's just put it this way. I think he's one defeat away from
03:20 disaster, in all honesty. I think he's been in the job now for, coming up for about 11 months.
03:28 He's been backed financially in both transfer windows. I know they only brought in two players
03:35 in January. Yes, he'll be pleased that he's got a run at home fixtures. The ticket sales for the
03:41 game on Wednesday night against Livingston are pretty shambolic at this stage, Martin. I think
03:48 that kind of reflects the kind of feeling among supporters at this moment in time. And as you say,
03:53 Aberdeen more than capable at the weekend of going down to Ibrox and picking up a positive result.
04:01 I do believe that we know Michael Beale has already held talks regarding his position with
04:09 the board as things stand. I genuinely believe that he is one bad result away from being under
04:17 really, really serious pressure. So yes, a tough run of fixtures. As I said, probably a benefit
04:26 for them at this stage, having those games at home. They'll be matches, as you say,
04:30 they're expected to win, particularly the League Cup game in midweek. But yes, in terms of
04:37 performances, it's nowhere near the level that fans have been expecting.
04:41 But how long does that last, do you feel? Just because
04:45 if they lose any of their next two league games, their next two matches, Livingston in the Cup,
04:52 Aberdeen at home, Michael Beale's going to go, okay, fair enough. Let's say even without convincing
04:58 performances, he wins those, then it's Aris Limassol away in the Europa League, the bottom
05:04 side or the bottom pot side in the group. Okay, we'll see how that goes. Then, listen, October
05:13 looks like a tough run. You've got Saint-Myrin away. I don't think anyone fancies going there
05:17 at the moment. Hibs at home is going to be an interesting prospect. Sparta-Prague is going to
05:22 be tough. And then Hearts at home, we'll see where Hearts are at that point. How much time do you
05:29 think two more wins back to back, which would put him on five consecutive wins, would that buy him
05:35 any time if, for example, the Saint-Myrin result, there's maybe a slip up there? Or do you think
05:40 he's still going to be under enough pressure that he's won? He can go right to the bottom end of
05:46 October, knowing that one bad result is going to cost him his job. I think as long as he continues
05:54 to win, the Rangers board won't take any action. In my honest view, I think that the next couple of
06:00 months are crucial for him, as you say, both in terms of keeping, not dropping any more points in
06:08 the title race, of course, but also they've got the League Cup final later this year. That's a
06:14 competition that Rangers realistically, Michael Biel, needs to win now. And also in the Europa
06:22 League, it's a group that they're certainly expected to come through fairly comfortably
06:28 from a positive start against Betis the other night. So as long as they continue
06:33 to do that, then I think he'll be okay for the time being.
06:38 Susannah, welcome to the show.
06:41 Thank you. Thanks for having me.
06:44 Great to have you on. We'll float you a nice easy question to start off.
06:50 What is going wrong at Hearts?
06:51 Yeah, it's tricky because I mean, obviously, a couple of weekends ago, we saw a very positive
06:59 performance against Aberdeen. And I think a lot of Hearts fans were really hoping that this might
07:04 be a turning point. Unfortunately, that hasn't come to any fruition. As you sort of mentioned
07:09 earlier, St Mirren have obviously been a real surprise. Well, it's surprising for me, but
07:16 shock results they've been producing. And they've managed to keep up that unbeaten run.
07:22 I think one of the problems that Stephen Naismith has spoken about quite a lot is that despite having
07:29 loads of possession, Hearts are just not doing anything with that possession. And I think that
07:34 happened once again against St Mirren. We see the stats, they had about 70% of the possession.
07:39 They had a few chances, but they just couldn't, they just couldn't do it. And I think, you know,
07:45 Stephen Naismith, he hasn't been there for that long. But I mean, if we don't see,
07:50 I think Hearts fans will begin to get even more aggravated if something doesn't happen. St Mirren
07:57 is a side that sort of on paper Hearts should be beating. There's no reason that they shouldn't be
08:02 coming away with that, those three points. But if they can't make anything happen with all that
08:07 possession that they're enjoying, then it's a real problem.
08:12 Don't want to take too much away from the Aberdeen result because it was a good result. And
08:16 Aberdeen, regardless of the form they're in, are always going to be formidable opposition with the
08:20 players that they have. But at the end of the day, the two goals in that match, it was the first one
08:26 was a major deflection. The second was, it was persistent play and it was a well-earned goal.
08:32 But it did come off the back of sort of the defensive confusion from Aberdeen and a bit of
08:37 a stramash in the box. And eventually Liam Boyce is able to just, you know, tap it, well not batter
08:41 it in from close range, certainly. But it was certainly a match that slightly improved Aberdeen
08:47 performance and it could have gone the opposite way. And Hearts now, Susannah, it's the run of
08:53 fixtures they've got coming up. Losing to Kilmarnock on Tuesday night, we're recording this on Tuesday
09:00 morning, obviously, losing to Kilmarnock in the cup, given that Celtic have been eliminated and
09:05 we've leaned heavily on this in this show in the past. Every team in that competition now is going
09:10 to feel like they've got a shot at winning. But I think in particular, Aberdeen and Hearts getting
09:16 knocked out of this competition right now is going to be a real hammer blow to them. So losing that
09:22 is going to be really devastating. And then if they do, and then you look at the matches they've
09:27 got, they've got a tough trip up to Ross County in the Highlands, the Edinburgh Derby, they've
09:31 got Celtic coming to Tyne Castle, then they've got to go to Ibrox. I don't know, like.
09:38 Yeah, it's not a pretty sight at all. And as we mentioned, the sort of their away results at the
09:44 moment have been far more catastrophic than at home as well. So the fact that they're sort of
09:48 playing Kilmarnock at Rugby Park is going to be potentially very problematic. I'd like to
09:54 obviously think that it won't be. But it's hard to see past the fact that, as we've mentioned,
10:01 they're just not enjoying scoring at the moment. At the beginning of the season, like Laurence
10:06 Shanklin was finding the back of the net relatively easily. It looked like he was going to be on course
10:11 for quite a good season. That has sort of dropped off. And I think he just, don't know if it's a
10:17 sort of lack of confidence with things going on. He sort of said after the match that there is a lot
10:23 of pressure there, obviously, to now perform. It's a good pressure, but pressure nonetheless,
10:28 that they need to start getting the results. But he is a driving force behind getting those results.
10:33 And he is unfortunately just not doing his bit at the moment. I think the Edinburgh derby should be,
10:39 it should be a really good match. It should be very exciting to watch, especially with
10:46 Hibbs hopefully sort of finding their feet as well with Nick Montgomery. I think
10:50 with Ross County, I mean, obviously a 4-0 defeat is going to knock anyone back. So I don't know
10:57 whether that's something Hearts will look at to be like, oh, this is a good time to strike,
11:02 or whether this will be Ross County's sort of sign to come back fighting even stronger. But
11:07 yeah, it's a sketchy time in Edinburgh at the moment.
11:11 Yeah, we'll see how Ross County get on in the cup against Aberdeen. We'll move on to Aberdeen
11:14 in just a second. But before we do, Susannah Lewis obviously talked about Michael Beale being on a
11:19 sugary peg. What a phrase by the way.
11:23 As a phrase we like up here in Scotland, being on a bit of a sugary peg. There's a bit of a
11:29 creak maybe with Stephen Naismith now. And after all that kerfuffle with him and Frankie McAvoy,
11:37 and who's the head coach and who's the director of football, and now he's finally back as the head
11:41 coach. And listen, it was all just paperwork and saying something that wasn't really true in the
11:46 first place anyway. But that Edinburgh derby, depending on how the Kilmarnock Cup match,
11:53 the Ross County League, I mean, if Hibs get a result at Tyne Castle, wouldn't I feel like Naismith?
12:00 Yeah. I think we could soon be seeing the back of him if things don't change within the next
12:06 couple of months. I think his win percentage is, and I should preface that obviously he hasn't been
12:12 there for a huge amount of time. But it's about 29% or something like that, which is one of the
12:20 lowest percentages that Hearts have seen in recent years. And obviously, he's a former Hearts player
12:26 himself, he will not want to go. But there has been a kerfuffle. And I mean, every single player
12:34 and Stephen Naismith has said that nothing has changed within the dressing room since that sort
12:38 of change back. But yeah, I think especially as you say, if Hibs get the win away, that could be,
12:47 yeah, that phrase will be coming back, I think.
12:50 Aberdeen, Lewis. I don't know if you got the chance to see the Frankfurt game. I certainly did.
12:58 There was talk from Aberdeen fans saying that they would take a 3-0 defeat if you'd offered
13:06 it to them before kickoff because they just didn't want to go there and be humiliated.
13:09 And in the end, Aberdeen go out and put in a superb performance. I wouldn't go as far to say
13:18 they were unlucky not to come away with anything because Frankfurt, Aberdeen did what teams like
13:26 Ross County and Motherwell have previously done to them in the past. They were happy to sit back,
13:30 they let the other team have all of the ball and then they looked to strike on the counterattack.
13:34 It worked brilliantly for that first goal from Dante Polvara. A brilliant counterattack and
13:40 move, a great assist by Devlin, great play by Bojan Majovski in the build-up.
13:45 And Aberdeen, they could have got something out of that game because they had a couple of half
13:50 chances late on, just maybe a slight bit more rubber than green and they could have been leaving
13:55 Germany with a brilliant point. It didn't matter for anything if they didn't back it up in the
14:01 lead of the weekend and they certainly did that, didn't they? Things are starting to look a bit
14:07 more positive at Petaudry. Yes, it's a funny one because you wouldn't class a defeat as a positive
14:18 in a way but I feel it's a bit of a turning point in all honesty. They came away from that game
14:22 thinking that they could easily have taken something. Obviously, we know Antrac Frankfurt
14:26 certainly aren't the team that faced Rangers in the Europa League final a few years ago. I know
14:31 they've been going through a bit of a transitional phase and lost a lot of their star names,
14:36 if you like. But yes, it was certainly a performance to be proud of and they took that
14:44 feel-good factor away from that match and put on a brilliant display yesterday. They certainly
14:53 managed to get the best out of Duke yesterday. He's cut a really frustrated figure so far this
14:58 season. I thought he was back to displaying flashes of the player that we know he's capable of and
15:05 Mioski is showing that clinical instinct again, getting his two goals. Much improved performance.
15:12 Ross County were poor, let's not get away from that. I think they certainly made it easier
15:20 for Aberdeen. But it's a very positive result now and I feel like this could act as a bit of a
15:29 turning point as I see in this season. I think this could be a real catalyst for Aberdeen now to kick
15:33 on up the table. I'm fairly confident they'll finish top six. I think they'll be eventually
15:41 in the mix for a third-place finish again, I really do. I have faith in Barry Robson that
15:48 he and Mew will be able to get them out of the predicament that they found themselves in at the
15:53 start of the season. Certainly based on the last two performances, there's plenty to be positive
15:59 about moving forward. Probably the one downside from the County game is that it finally looks like
16:05 I think Aberdeen fans now know what Barry Robson sees as his best back three, back five.
16:12 And that's the back three of Gartenman, Rubicic and Jenson which has started the last three games.
16:18 And then you've got Nicky Devlin and James Magari at full-backs. James Magari goes off
16:22 injured, we don't quite know the extent of what that's going to be. But I do think we look at the
16:30 business that Aberdeen have done and having a veteran like Johnny Hayes who's going to fill in
16:36 at that left wing back position and also Jack McKenzie as well who's a perfectly competent
16:44 Scottish Premiership level full-back and had a great... Listen, I'm doing him a disservice because
16:51 he had a pretty good game. I'm not trying to have a dig at the kid but by his standards it was
16:59 certainly above his usual level that we'd see at Aberdeen and he's a solid option.
17:05 I do think Aberdeen obviously needed another left wing back. I imagine
17:11 for Europe we might see a bit more of McKenzie there if Magari's out injured. Probably in the
17:16 league and in the cup we'll maybe see Johnny Hayes but we know Johnny Hayes probably now in his older
17:21 years doesn't necessarily have a full 90 minutes in him, especially with the directness that he plays.
17:28 But we've seen that now. Jamie McGrath, I think a few Aberdeen fans maybe rolled their eyes a bit
17:35 at that sign and it's like, "Oh, okay, McGrath's back." He's looking like a shrewd acquisition.
17:41 And then Bojan Majovski. Listen, we know Duke hasn't had the best start but he finally was
17:49 looking a bit like his old self against County. Bojan Majovski, I think he's had a terrific start
17:54 to this and he's certainly been the standout for Aberdeen so far. He was the best player on the
17:59 park against County and probably, thank goodness they have him because... And he was one of the
18:05 best players against Eintracht Frankfurt as well. This could be a season where he really breaks out
18:10 and establishes himself as one of the best centre-forwards in the Scottish Premiership, I think.
18:16 And Aberdeen could, when the summer comes around, maybe even January, they could be looking,
18:22 as much of a blow as it would be to lose him, they could be looking at a pretty healthy transfer fee.
18:26 Yeah, yeah, 100%. I think it's important to know, I think on paper this is one of the strongest
18:34 Aberdeen squads I've seen in recent memory. I think the strength and depth you just touched on,
18:39 the players that they can call off the bench. I'd even throw Ryan Duncan in there, Aberdeen fans
18:46 rave about young Ryan Duncan. I think they've got a lot of real talent in that squad at this moment
18:53 in time. In terms of Majovski, I mean, he displayed flashes of real brilliance during his debut
19:00 season there and he's managed to continue that on this season. I think it's important as well that
19:07 he's obviously got a really good understanding, as I said, with Duke. They know each other's
19:13 games really well and he's just got that predatory instinct that you look for in a number nine.
19:19 And certainly, full Macedonian international, of course, as well, his stock will continue to rise.
19:26 I think Majovski is a better all-round player than you look at the previous number nines that
19:32 Aberdeen have had. The likes of Sam Cosgrove, Jadon Stockley. Majovski is a level above,
19:37 in my view. And I think, as you said, further down the line, I'd be disappointed if Aberdeen
19:44 were to lose him in January. I think they should be trying to hold out to the end of the season at
19:48 least. And I think they'll command a decent transfer fee on the back of it.
19:56 Luke, we've got a lot to get through. So let's just have a quick fire. Susannah,
20:00 Hibbs 2-0 win over St Johnstone. Positive early signs for Montgomery?
20:04 Yeah, definitely. I mean, it was his first home fixture. So it was just really important that he
20:11 managed to get it. I think St Johnstone, obviously, they're not the greatest at the moment in the
20:17 league. So once again, just another really important result. I won't draw too much on it,
20:22 because I know you guys have got a lot to get through. But obviously, they've got St Mirren
20:26 in the Scottish Cup this week. So I think that will definitely be the biggest test Montgomery's
20:32 had so far. But yeah, it's going to be a huge test. So if he can manage to come away with
20:38 hopefully the win, I think that would be a huge step towards something really great at Easter
20:43 Road this season. Celtic, Lewis,
20:46 moment of madness from Joe Hart, but they react really well to going a man down, to losing their
20:53 goalkeeper and just a professional performance against Livingston.
20:56 Yeah, very, very good. I must say, I feel like Brendan Rodgers starting to see signs of
21:04 improvement there. Obviously, three red cards in the past week doesn't look great from a disciplinary
21:10 point of view. But yeah, it was one of them once Joe Hart got himself sent off, Celtic were 1-0
21:15 up at that stage of the game. And the way they started the second half never really looked like
21:20 losing the game. Livingston will have been disappointed that they kind of didn't pose more
21:24 of an attacking threat. And they obviously need to dust themselves down quite quickly before going
21:29 to Ibrox on Wednesday. Dundee 2, Kilmarnock 2, probably a good result for both teams.
21:35 Dundee going a man down fairly early into the match. Kilmarnock maybe will have failed that,
21:41 they could have got something more out of that. But I think overall, both teams probably not
21:44 going to complain at that. And just to give them their due, which they really deserve,
21:49 St. Morin, we spoke about them briefly earlier, but they're just going great guns this season.
21:54 And it's really good to see. And listen, long may it continue for the Buddies fans. But
21:58 I really wanted to speak about this. That's kind of why we've been rushing through these last few
22:03 segments. Duncan Ferguson, Inverness Cali Fissile Manager. How does that sound guys?
22:10 Because I'm still struggling with it a bit.
22:13 - Bizarre.
22:14 - What are you thinking?
22:17 - It was not a name that I saw come up anywhere. I have to say, you do a lot of speculation type
22:25 pieces and that was just, yeah, not a name that popped up whenever I was going through.
22:30 - He left Scottish football 30 years ago and I think everyone just assumed he was going to spend
22:34 his whole career in England. And now he's swanned off to the highlands and he's taken up in charge
22:40 of a team that were even, he was linked with a Dundee United job. He was linked with a Rangers
22:43 job if I'm not mistaken, Lewis. And he's in charge of the team bottom of the championship.
22:49 Listen, I don't even want to see if it's a great coup for Cali Fissile because his record at Forest
22:56 Green Rovers, I just don't know where to go with this. Someone help me out here.
23:03 - Yeah, well, it was at one win in 18 games, I think, down at Forest Green. And the most bizarre
23:11 thing is they've given him a three-year contract, which Inverness previously, I know, they're very
23:18 good normally when it comes to getting their appointments correct. History will tell you that,
23:23 but I wouldn't be too confident that this one, a three-year deal, seems a bit over the top.
23:30 But they clearly feel that he's the man that can get them back to the Scottish Premiership long
23:35 term. - You couldn't have asked for a better
23:38 fixture for his first game in charge. He's going to Gayfield to face our bro, Dick Campbell in one
23:43 dugout and Duncan Ferguson in the other. Sign me up now. Pay-per-view, £15.
23:49 [Music]