It is a full house this week as Susanna, Graham and Georgia all join the show to discuss another wild week of WSL action. The team look over the shock results of the weekend as West Ham topple Arsenal and ask - just what is happening in North London this year? One former Lionesses tipped Frank Lampard as a surprise choice to take over from Emma Hayes in the summer - but do we agree?
Plus we deep dive on Brighton's sacking of Mel Phillips and ask if it was the right choice.
Plus we deep dive on Brighton's sacking of Mel Phillips and ask if it was the right choice.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 In a nutshell, his credentials don't warrant a space in the Women's Super League.
00:04 We've seen managers come in with no women's experience.
00:08 Phil Neville is the best example.
00:10 And that was just an awful time for all involved, I think.
00:14 Welcome back to the Women's Super League show with myself, Susannah Sealy.
00:21 And this week, we are a full house with National World writer Georgia Godding
00:26 and Scotsman and National World writer Graham Faulk.
00:30 How exciting to have all three of us.
00:33 So a few things once again to get through this week.
00:37 So let's firstly start with what on earth is going on at Arsenal.
00:42 They lost 2-1 to West Ham.
00:44 And I think we spoke about it last week on the show, Graham,
00:48 as for where, you know, West Ham were in a bit of a sticky situation
00:52 and we thought that this weekend probably wouldn't be the kindest for them.
00:56 So obviously we said that and then the complete opposite happened.
01:00 So what do you make of that result? That's crazy.
01:04 Yeah, I didn't expect it. I'm not going to lie.
01:07 And I'm never going to discount anyone out of the title race in February.
01:13 But I think what people probably don't realise is how big six points can be in the WSL,
01:18 because it's not like the Men's Championship where you've got 24 teams
01:22 and you play teams sort of every three days.
01:25 You have more or less one game a week and you're hoping for Chelsea to drop two games,
01:30 basically. And like, how often does Chelsea drop two games?
01:34 And then that means you also have to win all of yours.
01:38 So it's really put a dent in their title hopes.
01:42 And I think off the back of like the Spurs game, they're playing teams that I don't think anyone should expect to beat anyone.
01:51 I don't want to be disrespectful, but like as Arsenal,
01:53 if you're going to chase the title, you've got to beat Spurs and West Ham.
01:56 Or at least not lose those games if you're going to win the title.
01:59 And I think it's all like good and fine, hammering Chelsea at home and looking like amazing.
02:06 But there seems to be one, I think even Jonas sort of alluded to it in his post-match,
02:13 the kind of try to score the perfect goal sometimes.
02:16 Just put your foot through it sometimes and try and score it.
02:20 You know what I mean? Like don't mess about.
02:23 And I think this is going to sound like a real criticism and the Arsenal fans are going to come for me here.
02:28 But when you look at the strength and depth that Arsenal have,
02:31 there's absolutely no way there should be six points behind Chelsea.
02:34 There just shouldn't be. Like their strength is far too much.
02:37 And I'm not 100% convinced that Jonas's business in the summer,
02:41 at the time of speaking, has really done the job that he wants it to do.
02:46 And ultimately when results are not where they should be, it always comes back on the head coach.
02:50 But you could turn it around. I do like Jonas.
02:53 I'm not a kind of person that thinks he's the worst guy on the planet, the worst coach ever.
02:58 But at the minute, he's not having the best of season based on his team's results and their expectations.
03:04 Well, that's some statement. Georgia, what do you make of that?
03:07 Do you think this summer we could potentially see the back of Jonas?
03:14 So hard to say because as Graham says, the manager always has the target on their back,
03:21 which is right or wrong. I think there are a few managers at the moment you can definitely point the finger at.
03:27 But a lot of the time, it's just something's not clicking as a whole.
03:33 And I do think it's unfair the way, it's less so in the women's game I've found,
03:38 but you know, the men's game is notorious for just sifting through managers.
03:42 And it's like, maybe take a look at your actual squad.
03:45 You might just need better players. Like, I think people are very hasty to blame the manager.
03:52 I know Graham said he doesn't count people out of a title race at this point.
03:56 But as he said, it's relying on Chelsea to drop two games.
04:01 And as much as I really would like to see someone else win the league this season, just to change things a little bit,
04:09 Emma Hayes is swan song and everybody is going to want to win everything possible for her.
04:15 So I think the odds of Chelsea not winning another WSL title is very slim.
04:21 So I do think it's tough for Arsenal at the moment.
04:25 I do think it's just looking further and further out of reach,
04:29 which sounds insane because there's still a long way to go,
04:32 but Chelsea aren't going to want to be dropping anything in time soon.
04:35 So, yeah. So do you think the transfers obviously happened in the summer?
04:42 The main one that we all talked about, Alessia Russo,
04:45 she moved to Arsenal and she said to get trophies was one of the sort of keywords that she used.
04:50 Where do you think she's looking now?
04:53 Or like, what's that sort of headspace you're in? You're going to Arsenal, hoping to get these trophies.
04:58 They were out before they even reached the main stages of European competitions.
05:04 And here we are now in 6th of February, suggesting that they are in no way, shape or form likely to win the title.
05:14 What is that? What would you think she's sort of like making of that?
05:19 I don't think she expected to join and immediately win the WSL.
05:23 Definitely not. And also, if you're comparing the two, she'll look at Man United and go,
05:28 well, we're probably going to finish above them. So that's still an improvement.
05:33 Because I know we were discussing it before she moved, saying,
05:36 you know, she probably needs to stick it out and see what she can do with United before she makes a move to a direct rival.
05:42 Yes, this season, United are struggling. Just look at the table.
05:46 There's four points between them and Arsenal. If Arsenal just kind of keep their heads up,
05:49 they'll beat United to the Champions League qualification.
05:53 So as long as that happens, there's no reason for Russo to be thinking, oh, goodness, what have I done?
05:58 And also, it's insane to think that, you know, your first season is going to be this big gold rush.
06:04 Like maybe we'll have this conversation in a season or two if they don't look any closer to, you know, pushing it up.
06:11 I think this transition period with Emma Hayes leaving,
06:17 it'll be interesting to see if any players kind of follow suit and think,
06:20 because people are at clubs for managers, they might think, I don't want to be at Chelsea if Emma's not here.
06:24 We don't know that. So it'll be interesting to see recruitment, departures,
06:29 and then how that affects next season and whether City, Arsenal, maybe even United can go,
06:34 now's our time to really pounce while Chelsea are kind of putting the pieces back together.
06:41 Well, so you mentioned sort of replacements at Chelsea, and actually,
06:44 I want to hold that conversation for after the break because I think there's enough for a full segment in what we have all decided we want to talk about.
06:53 So before we do get onto that, obviously, Chelsea beat Everton 3-0 with some fairly controversial decisions.
07:02 We had two penalties with right-hand scoring.
07:06 Now, what did you make, Graeme, of those penalty decisions?
07:12 I'm always sceptical of like refereeing, not just in the WSL, like everywhere.
07:17 Like I'm not going to lie, I don't like refs that much. It seems that I feel like they ruin the game.
07:22 So I'm always inclined to be like, oh, ref is wrong.
07:25 And I don't know if that's, well, no, you know what, I'm going to say I don't know if that's wrong or right.
07:28 That is wrong. Sometimes they are right. And I should admit this.
07:32 However, I struggle to do so. You don't want to see me on a Saturday when I'm screaming at linesmen and referees because, yeah,
07:39 I do not come across as balanced as I may be doing now. But I don't know, I kind of thought they were.
07:45 I can see why they were given, put it that way.
07:48 I can understand why they were given, but I also understand why people are fuming about it.
07:55 But do I think it would have made too much difference to the scoreline?
08:00 I just, you know what, in a way, like, right, I'll change my opinion.
08:06 I wish they weren't given and that Everton scored a really late winner and it was 1-1
08:11 and the WSL title race was actually interesting this season because at the minute it ain't.
08:16 Like Man City's interesting. That's cool. Man City are great again, or good.
08:21 Are they going to match Chelsea this season? Is anyone going to really challenge Chelsea?
08:27 I mean, I feel like Emma Hayes could put like a hammock on the on the dugout and just be like,
08:34 yeah, just do what you do girls, no worries.
08:36 I mean, Sam Kerr's injured for the rest of the season and they just make a record move for a player
08:41 and they've got like loads of other quality players underneath and then Guru goes and bags goals,
08:48 goal after goal after goal. And I mean, what really needs to happen to stop Chelsea from winning the league?
08:55 Referees just stopping giving them any decision ever.
08:58 And that's like a new rule in the game where Chelsea just get no free kicks,
09:01 no penalties and they get at least four red cards a game.
09:04 Yeah, let's have a go and see if that works.
09:07 It might. It probably won't because Emma Hayes is class and Chelsea are class
09:12 and there's just no one that can get anywhere near them.
09:16 It's a bit like for me, it's not quite as far as a disparity.
09:20 But you know, when you look at like the Spanish league and you just go, well,
09:23 Barcelona are going to win every game. And if they drop a point, it's like, whoa, massive news.
09:28 They only drew this week. What's going on? Is the world flat now?
09:34 It's not, by the way. That's not my assumption of saying the world is flat.
09:38 No, I'm not saying that. Please don't make a Netflix documentary about me.
09:43 But I just think like Chelsea are so far ahead of the other teams.
09:47 Yeah. Like so far ahead. I think you could like give seven penalties to Everton
09:52 and not give those like penalties to Chelsea. And it's still just win the league anyway.
09:58 Like I don't want to be boring with it. But I'm at that point.
10:02 Do you think, because we've seen this, there's no sort of necessarily like proof behind it.
10:10 But a lot of criticism comes when refs arguably favour the sort of the higher
10:17 or the more higher profile clubs like Celtic and Rangers
10:21 and the men's team tend to get favourable odds from refs, apparently.
10:28 Georgia, do you think that there's a case that that might happen?
10:31 So if you've got the likes of Chelsea, Man City or Arsenal compared to say your Brighton
10:38 or Bristol City in the Women's Super League,
10:40 do you think there is a sort of favouring that they're more likely to give it to those high profile clubs?
10:46 It's tricky to say. I think the, you know,
10:50 the standard of officiating has come under criticism a lot in the women's game.
10:54 And while things are allowed to be criticised, people do need to remember these people are human.
11:00 But there are some decisions that are just wild, like, you know, wrong bookings for the wrong player.
11:10 Just, yeah, it's just so odd. And you know, those penalties,
11:15 I think as Graham said, I personally don't think it would have changed the game that much.
11:20 But the first penalty, I think it was, I think if it was against your team, you'd think it was harsh.
11:26 But the second I've watched it and watched it and watched it, I don't see any contact.
11:30 No, neither did I actually. I don't know if it's pressure.
11:34 And that could be because, well, these are the champions.
11:36 I don't kind of want to get on the wrong side of Emma Hayes. Yeah, yeah.
11:39 But it's tough to say. It's a hard job, but some stuff's got to be better.
11:45 Yeah, it's definitely not a job that I would want. But on that note,
11:47 we will head to a short break and when we come back,
11:49 we will discuss whether we will see Frank Lampard in the WSL.
11:54 Welcome back to the WSL show.
12:07 So we spoke before the break about Chelsea running away with the title and hopefully,
12:12 well not hopefully, depends on your preference. But for Emma,
12:15 here's a swan song whether they're going to go and bag all the trophies possible.
12:20 So now many of you may have seen that there has been one name branded about as a potential replacement,
12:28 which I think the three of us have decided we find baffling.
12:32 So Georgia, Frank Lampard as the new Chelsea manager, your thoughts, please.
12:38 Yeah, so I saw it originally and it said he'd been tipped and I thought it'd come from the bookies.
12:44 I was like, where's that? But it's in a nutshell, Izzy Christensen has said that's a name
12:50 she thinks could be a good shout basically. She's getting a lot of pie along,
12:55 which I don't agree with. She's a pundit. She's there to give her opinion.
12:58 That's her opinion. She's worked with Frank during her time at Everton.
13:02 So she knows what he's like as a coach. But I don't think his credentials, in a nutshell,
13:07 his credentials don't warrant a space in the Women's Super League.
13:11 We've seen managers come in with no women's experience. Phil Neville is the best example.
13:17 And that was just an awful time for all involved, I think, putting it as nicely as possible.
13:25 I don't agree with, I think, because let me just get her quote up.
13:31 So she said, he's somebody who knows the club inside out.
13:33 From my experience at Everton, listening to him speak,
13:36 he's the right type of character to Frank Lampard. Yes, he does.
13:40 You know, he's Chelsea through and through. He's a club legend. Great.
13:44 But club legend status doesn't warrant being given the role as the women's manager,
13:49 especially after what Emma Hayes has done. We were saying a couple of shows ago,
13:54 I was saying anyway, I don't know who, if I was a Chelsea fan, who I'd want personally,
13:58 because who's going to step up to Emma's legacy? It's definitely not Frank Lampard.
14:03 Sorry. And it's definitely not any other men's manager who's never coached in the women's game.
14:08 I feel we need to step away from, it's not a jolly, it's not a day out.
14:14 It's not a learning curve. Give this job to someone who wants it,
14:19 who thinks they can improve or keep the ship going, and who can actually do the job.
14:27 Like, it's just, it really gets under my skin.
14:30 And I know it annoys a lot of other people as well,
14:32 because there are so many other candidates who have the experience.
14:35 And then there's names being thrown about who have never even stepped foot in the women's game before.
14:41 Well, so actually, that's a good segue into another point that we were discussing just before recording.
14:46 So before we come back to Frank Lampard, it was announced that, sorry,
14:53 Mikey Harris was going to be the interim Brighton manager.
14:57 And we're saying that not only does he not have any experience necessarily within the women's game,
15:02 but he doesn't actually have any first team professional experience.
15:07 And he says, this is a bit of an adventure for me.
15:12 I don't know how else to describe it. So, you know, he could be there for a week,
15:17 depending whether they find a replacement. He could be there for six months.
15:21 Not really sure. But Graham, to have that sort of, this is Brighton.
15:28 They've been in the WSL for a while and they've been sort of firm hold.
15:32 They've been holding these positions. They're competing with, you know, best of the best.
15:36 And then suddenly you've got someone coming in who not only has never coached in WSL or Women's Championship,
15:44 but hasn't actually coached in the EFL at top team level.
15:49 What does that, like, what is that? What does that sort of show for the rest of the leagues, the fans, the players?
15:57 I think first and foremost, I was really surprised that Melissa Phillips got the boot.
16:01 Like that shocked me quite a bit. Look, I know they're 11th, second bottom, if you prefer,
16:05 but if you look at the table, they're on 11 points, same as Everton, same as West Ham, two points behind Villa.
16:12 Carla Ward had a difficult start of the season.
16:15 She's below probably where Villa would expect to be.
16:18 Everton are probably below where they would expect to be.
16:21 And Leicester are having a slightly better season than they would expect to have alongside Spurs.
16:26 And Liverpool, who are having very good seasons so far, but it's tight.
16:30 Like, I know we talked about the six point gap before at the top, but you're talking like there's no gap between 11th and 9th.
16:38 And there's a two point gap between 11th and 7th. And if Brighton were to finish 7th,
16:43 I think that's a real big achievement for what Brighton have been like over the past few years.
16:48 So I've seen like the comments from David Weir, the great David Weir, big fan of him personally.
16:55 But he did say that he wanted, or the club had decided they wanted more.
17:00 For me, I don't know what more would be.
17:03 They could easily finish 7th, they were getting points against Man United, you know, the top four teams.
17:10 They were competing in almost every game with the occasional disappointing defeat.
17:15 I think they pulled it back really late against Bristol City to win 3-2 in the 95th minute.
17:20 Turland's playing really, really well. She's been like the other clubs.
17:25 And they're kind of still fresh in that period of time where Melissa Phillips has brought those players in.
17:29 So I didn't really understand her being sacked. On Harris,
17:35 I'm not going to comment on the guy's coaching ability because everyone has to start somewhere
17:40 and he might be a very, very good coach and end up doing a really, really good job.
17:45 But I kind of echo what Georgia said before in the sense that like,
17:50 this is a really good opportunity sort of thing. Like the WSL is not a jolly, not that, like you're talking top-tier women's football.
17:57 And I just think, I don't know, it depends how long he's there.
18:00 Look, he could be there two weeks and if he's there two weeks, whatever, that's fine.
18:03 Okay, someone's got to steady the ship and look after something for the time being.
18:06 And if that's the case, then that's the case. I'm sure it won't be a problem.
18:10 We'll probably forget about it and we'll probably never even microanalyse it too much.
18:13 I don't know. But if he's there till like the end of the season and you've sacked Melissa Phillips,
18:17 there's someone who's a risk at the best. I don't really get it.
18:25 It's a bit like, you see, I think you see a lot in football, don't you?
18:28 In men's football, women's football, where people talk about, you know,
18:32 they've made this decision that surprises a lot of people.
18:35 And then it's sort of said that, well, we did this because the results weren't where we wanted to be.
18:41 We want to be in X, Y, or Z. And you think, well, okay, well, you must have had a succession plan then.
18:46 And you must have thought, like, we'll have this next manager come in and steer the ship and take us to the next step.
18:52 Because if you sack Melissa Phillips, then a point like Emma Hayes, you go, oh, right, okay, that makes sense.
18:56 You know what I mean? Like, that's not going to happen, but you get my point.
18:59 If you're getting an improvement on Melissa Phillips, it makes sense.
19:03 If they've got someone who's in interim charge at the moment who doesn't have experience in WSL,
19:08 let alone experience elsewhere, that alone to me strikes as like the sack and didn't really have a plan behind it.
19:16 And that would always concern me, like as part of, like my men's club recently did that.
19:24 It terrified me. It doesn't work. I think if you're going to sack someone, you've got to know what to do next.
19:29 You can't just sack someone and go, right, let's see what's available. Brilliant.
19:32 It's like selling your house and being like, right, don't have anyone to live at the moment,
19:36 but let's see what's on the market and hopefully we'll get this house that we have never seen.
19:40 I don't know really what it's like in about three weeks time.
19:44 And hopefully, you know, I won't, I don't know, suffer over the next few weeks.
19:48 But of course I'm going to, you know what I mean? I just, I don't get Melissa Phillips sacking.
19:56 I don't understand it. And I understand it even less.
19:59 The fact that it appears there's no one ready made to come straight in.
20:03 Yeah. Well, so with the bringing in of these news, and obviously as we've pointed out,
20:09 the Frank Lampard mention has just been sort of one person commenting that it could be a good idea.
20:14 But now I've suddenly got the ball rolling and we're all like, if Frank Lampard,
20:18 who famously failed at his previous clubs, can come in for the top tier.
20:28 Did he fail because he became very memeable? He became very memeable.
20:33 So is that a success in a way? At Edmonton, I don't think you could call him successful.
20:38 But if you create your own meme, he actually didn't do as badly.
20:41 If you create your own meme, I think that's a level of success.
20:44 Maybe not on the pitch or off the pitch, but it's kind of a success being memeable.
20:49 I think in the modern society. I don't want my next Chelsea manager to be successful in a memeable context.
20:56 I would prefer them to be successful. I'm not a Chelsea fan, but I'm just saying for the women's Super League.
21:02 But does that mean that then, you know, we had all these comments before and we were saying just in the break there,
21:08 how, you know, he can come in, but say Emma Hayes couldn't go to Wimbledon.
21:15 So Georgia, what is that sort of like? It's almost, you could say, a double standard.
21:20 You know, how is that reflecting? It's irritating because I think your average football fan will see a women's manager to a men's club
21:32 and think they couldn't possibly make that step. Men's football is elite, different sport, all this absolute nonsense.
21:39 But then the other side, it's the same argument but reversed.
21:43 It's like, well, what he needs, he needs a job. And what better way to do it than to walk into the women's league?
21:49 Like, it's just such a backwards attitude to have. But I genuinely think that your average fan thinks that way.
21:57 This isn't tying to like what Izzy Christian has said, because I see where she is coming from.
22:03 And she has insight that we don't and fans don't.
22:06 But I just think as a whole, it needs to...
22:12 I don't know why these are kind of conversations that are being had because the pool of women's coaches is big and it's great.
22:20 I don't know why we need to string out and look at men's league coaches who have either been out of work for a while,
22:28 or as we said with Harris, hasn't ever coached a senior team professionally.
22:34 He was doing the men's academy at Brighton.
22:37 And then they've gone, "Oh, do you fancy a bit of work experience with Brighton women?" is basically how I've read it.
22:43 And I've read his interview. And I think some of it's come across wrong.
22:48 I do see in his comments, he likes this.
22:52 And I'm going to use challenge loosely, because I am giving him the benefit of the doubt.
22:55 I think how he's worded it's come across wrong.
22:57 And I hope he's not taking it as work experience, but that's just how it's come across to me.
23:04 I just hope that people start listening to what fans want and bring in genuine qualified coaches.
23:11 Well, that remains to be seen. But on that note, that is plenty from us this week.
23:16 There is a break in the SSL this weekend, but we'll be back to discuss potentially whether Wayne Rooney will suddenly come and join.
23:25 So please, Graham.
23:27 Before we go, I just want to say that I disagree with Izzy on the Lamar shout,
23:33 but she once gave me some candy at Manchester City and her choice of candy was very, very good.
23:39 So while I don't agree with her Lampard shout, I 100% agree with her choice of sweets.
23:45 Well, thank you very much.
23:47 So please head to www.shotstv.com to catch up on all the latest episodes
23:53 or head to Freeview channel 276 to find out more about candy.
23:56 (upbeat music)
23:59 (upbeat music)