BladesPod - The Sheffield United Podcast

A Long-Awaited Home Win & The State Of SUFC Women with Anna Kent

Ben is joined by Anna Kent of Rainbow Blades to discuss United's win over Watford - a home win at last! - before turning our eye towards the current state of SUFC Women ahead of their season kickoff this weekend. We discuss last season, the impact of the club's takeover that has led to a messy summer exodus of players, the green shoots ahead of the new season, the Women's Championship as a whole, and players we're most looking forward to see this season including Izzy Goodwin, Molly Graham, Eva Butler and Ella Kinzett.

Huge thanks to Anna for joining me to talk about the Blades in Andrew's absence!

Join Rainbow Blades: https://www.rainbowblades.com/ Follow Anna on social media: @annavkent

Duration:: 1h 21m
Broadcast on:: 04 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Blades Potter. It's Wednesday the 4th of September. My name is Ben, Andrew is away. So I'm very, very pleased to welcome to the podcast, Anna Kent, who is the Vice Chair of Rainbow Blades, and a friend of the podcast generally. It's, yeah, it's great to have you on Anna. Thanks for joining me. - Thanks for asking me, I'm honoured. - So we were gonna talk anyway, weren't we, about you know, and women. And then with, with Andrew's absence in his, he only seems to go on holiday to places that have like complete internet black holes, I don't know. - It must be intentional. - I'm starting to think he is intentional, yeah. Anyway, within being, yes, in the aforementioned black hole and us gonna talk. Anyway, I thought, why don't we just talk about the men's game as well as United women. So the back half of this podcast, we're gonna cover chef United women, the summer that they've just gone through and I guess the season ahead 'cause the women's championship starts this weekend. But first of all, let's talk about United men because we finally won a home game. Oh my God, I've been waiting so long for this. - Yeah, oh man, when we scored after like, was it two minutes, I just, I was like, oh no. But which sounds ridiculous. But as a United fan, like, I think that's quite a common reaction because we're like, we've scored after two minutes, there's no way that we're gonna hold on to this for 90 minutes. - Well, we have recent evidence of not doing that, of course. - Well, yes. - Yeah, I guess I didn't cross my mind that much at that point. I think there's, I won't get into like transfer deadline day or transfer window stuff on this, but I think with our sort of choice not to sign any more forwards, there's gonna be, there's gonna be a lot of games this season where we kind of have to hope we're winning after about an hour and then hope we can kind of shut it down. And to be fair, I thought we did that really, really well in this game. I mean, the full-time result kind of backs that up, but Watford Bailey had a sniff of a chance in the second half and yeah, I thought it defended really, really well. Yeah, I'd like us, so I sit on the cob, where you've got a season ticket this season, right? - Yeah, I do. On the south stand like Cop End, so I get like the other end of where the goal was scored. Couldn't see what on earth was happening. - Yeah, so yeah, having now done two home games this season, I'm yet to see, I'm yet to see much action directly in front of me as most of it seems to be down the far end. I hope that will change in terms of, as having a bit more thrust in the second half, if you like. - Yeah, I mean, I hope so too, although I won't complain, it was not conceding. - Yeah, a rare inclusion. - In second half, I mean, I don't know if this is gonna be a sign of things to come. I hope it is, or maybe it's just a fluke, but yeah, not complaining at three points. I actually missed the first game as well, so it was nice to see a goal and celebrate that. And my dad as well, he missed the start of the first game because of the, you know, the new like mobile tickets, he couldn't get in, it just wouldn't scan. So then he had to go queue up at the ticket office and there was obviously a massive queue. So he got in, thankfully made it for the second goal and then obviously got to witness their two goals and the equalizer, which is very annoying, but thankfully there were no issues on Sunday, so. - Yes, no NFC problems from a straight, straight in both times. I don't know if there's, yeah, I heard there was like big accused on the south stand actually, I was got people just strolled straight in. - Yeah, so early goals are the theme so far. An own goal here with this Kalamo hair dribbles to the byline and it sort of gets bundled in via the goalkeeper. Mr. Penelope as well, which is, I was sort of, I was experienced. - I forgot about that, you know, I think I blank that from my memory. - I was experiencing quite a bit of frustration at this point, 'cause I was thinking, this is another game we should be out of sight in really. And, you know, now we're gonna tire, we don't have that much strength. - That's the classic United game where we'd miss a penalty and then concede, but we didn't. I mean, I turned around to dad at about 75 minutes. I was like, we really need to score. And we didn't, and we were fine, but again, like we're conditioned to feel like we're gonna concede. So, can't really help it. - Yeah, I think so. First time I've seen Michael Cooper, the goalkeeper, he obviously played at Norriston. I was gonna say you went to the rexom game, didn't you? So you have seen a United win already. - Yes, that's true, but not a legal one. - Yeah. So yeah, I went to Barnes and we played Adam Davis and goal instead. Cooper had almost nothing to do. I mean, there was that one shot that, I don't know if he did get a touch on it. It was given as a goal kick and it clicked the outside of the post. I'm sure he would have had it covered. It was from long range, that was the closest to the game. I don't know whether you notice this, but his ability to just pass the ball 20 yards is like transformative. - You thought of being going on about that kind of thing being good with his feet and I think that combined with like a confident presence in goal is something that we've really missed. Because since probably Ramsdale and Henderson, that they really shore up the defence, particularly when the defence is a little bit wobbly. So yeah, again, I hope this is a sign of things to come. We didn't really see much, but you didn't really do anything wrong. So that's a good sign. - Nah, and yeah, there's just a couple of times where I was like, oh, that's something we've not seen one of our goalkeepers do for, yeah, probably, I mean, probably going back to Henderson, who even he wasn't that good with his feet. And they weren't exactly complicated passes, but it's just the sort of thing that every other goalkeeper we've had has not been able to do. And yeah, it's, I guess it's what the modern goalkeeper can do these days and start an attack. So yeah, I enjoyed that. I thought our blaster was excellent again. This-- - Absolutely. Apart from when he lost his boot and then had to collect it and they were on the attack, they'd stress me out a little bit. - I completely missed that. I went where, where perhaps was he on the pitch? - He was like slightly into their half. It was in the second half to what, probably towards the end. And then they started attacking and he had to go pick up his boot. I was like, what on earth is he doing? Because actually, he'd be limping a bit as well. So I didn't know if he was injured, but now he lost his boot, but all good. We didn't concede. - We didn't know. Could you just play on with one, two? Like, you know, for two minutes, aren't you? - Yeah, I was like, if you were the only defender back, you'd have to carry on with me. But as like everyone else was getting back, maybe he thought it was fine. - Yeah, maybe. I was just thinking of that. It was Kieran Clark, wasn't it, that had his shirt ripped off his back, wicking around the leg to the pitch for this shirt any time. It's just hilarious. Probably my favorite moment from that season. The season we got promoted in, I think, and still that was still my favorite moment. Talking of running the full length of the pitch, Vinny Sousa, where did that come from? - I know. - I didn't really have that in him. - Well, me neither, that definitely didn't do that very often last season. Yeah, I thought he was really good on Sunday, excuse me. I've not been overly impressed with him so far this season, like he's definitely been better 'cause he's playing against inferior opposition, obviously. It's interesting that he and Alma Doddsich are still here. I did think, particularly Alma Doddsich, I thought he would have gone somewhere else before the deadline. And both of them played really hard in this game, which I is encouraging and hopefully, Karazan. - Yeah, I mean, I've not been a massive, I don't mind Vinny. He didn't really stand out for me last season, but he's obviously, I think maybe the championship is just a better level for him. And that's, you know, ready to see him shine really this year, but with an L, like, yeah, I've not really been his biggest fan. I think last season I just felt every time he was trying to defend, he was just pulling people's shirts. Like, the only way he tried to tackle, whereas he made a few good tackles in this game and he made a last ditch run back to save us as well. So, yeah, I wouldn't have been that sad to see him go, but he probably is a good player to have in our arsenal this season, particularly if we've not got great squad depth. - Yeah, obviously, like, trust to go to Celtic as well. So, and yeah, Jack Robertson's still injured, it seems. I can't remember if he was on the bench or not, I don't think he was. - No, I think he was, but it wasn't his birthday or something. - It was, yeah. - I saw a picture of him. He came on stage at the fan zone. - Oh, really? - Yeah, so, yeah, I don't know what was going on there, but hopefully he'll be back soon. I love Jack Robertson. You see, I put Rob Owen over an L, any day, but that's just because I love his passion. - Yeah, fair do's. But yeah, I thought both of those played hard. And it's, yeah, that's an encouraging sign. We'll see. I have my doubts about, well, I guess we saw, my doubts are based on what we saw last season in terms of when the chips are down. I don't think these two have shown the personality that you probably need when you're mixing metaphors here. But when you're like really in the trenches, you know, and up against it, I guess, they seem like players who will kind of shrink from that, whereas if-- - Exactly, yeah. - Yeah, whereas if they're in a team that's doing pretty well, they're absolutely, as we saw with Almadotch, particularly in his first season, they're absolutely, they can be really good players or as I think. But yeah, Sousa, I mean, that's, I didn't see the Luton away game last season. That's by far the best I've seen him play. Not just in terms of sprinting the full length of the pitch to put a tackling or, you know, gene up the carp as everyone else, having a big fight in the center circle. It's how he used the ball really well as well. A couple of like really basic mistakes that he does, obviously. But yeah, I thought overall that was, that was probably by far the best I've ever seen him play for us. So yeah, absolutely. And there are, I saw a few people on Twitter complaining that he got player of the match and people were being over the top. But I don't think you can complain at that. He stood out on Sunday and that's all we can ask for really. - Yep, in a game where, so the QPR game, it was quite critical about while there's sort of game management after that and you know, just not really adapting. Whereas I think, I think this was much better. I mean, you know, bringing on, McCallum was like, you know, it wasn't like the best player, anything like that. But a reactive change really that did help stop Watford having any chances in the second half. And yeah, we kind of, we kind of saw the game out brilliant really. I think, I think they only had two shots in the second half and they were, they were both from miles out basically. So yeah, when you've got a lead, that's a good job by everybody involved. And then we, I don't know, I quite like this, this sort of spikiness that we showed to on the end of this game. You know, just getting the opposition riled up. I was crying out for us to do that last season. What do you, what do you think of that? The sort of, you know, city pet coming on and immediately fouling someone and starting to fight. Yeah, I mean, I'm normally on the side of that's ridiculous. But I do love to see the passion. And I think, you know, it kind of comes with it. It's a very crisp, wilder team, that kind of thing to happen. I mean, okay, we should probably avoid getting five yellow cards in the next game because it's going to result in suspensions further down the line. But no, the passion for me like that is what it's all about, being a United player. So yeah, Peck coming on. I mean, I saw it, did he play against Rexham? I think he did. And I was really impressed by him in that game. And I think, you know, I think he could be really good for us this year, actually. Yeah, it's quite funny because I saw him on social media. You know, I kind of remember exactly what he said, but it was a sort of classic, like, once a bling, I was a bling and I was like, yeah, he's, you know, local lad getting into the team. Like, hang on, no, he's from like North London. And then we picked him from like Arsenal's Academy about two years ago. Yeah, but you know, people were drawing lines between him and Baldock, you know, Baldock's definitely not a Yorkshire lad, but fair point. Yeah, he's a club legend. He'll go down in history, so. Yeah, probably from, yeah, from similar parts of the country, I think, aren't they? Yeah, so that was, that was good to see, in a way, you know, without, without heads, heads getting lost, I suppose, and red cards flying around. Yeah, I mean, the hate, that haemor wild tackle was that, when the ref ran straight over, I was quite concerned that was going to be a straight red, actually, but. That was weird, like, I've seen that back, because I saw loads of people, not United fans, Watford fans, and neutrals, I suppose, on social media, saying like, that haemor should have been sent off and I'm thinking, like, are we talking about the same thing? Like, it was definitely a yellow card, obviously, but it wasn't exactly dangerous. It was just a professional foul, as they say, to bring the guy down. Yeah, and I think given the fact that the ref hadn't given a load of yellow cards for tackles that they made on us in the first half, I don't think you can complain at yellow, but if we were the opposition, we would probably be saying, oh, that could have been red, so. Yeah, maybe. We've had some good old championship referee in the first two home games. Yeah, well, at least we don't have the AR to. Absolutely. Bad decision, you just move on straight away. If anything, it just energises you a bit as well. And the offside flag coming up much sooner as well, like, I don't know, it just. Yeah, it's nice to know when a goal goes in. Like, that's a goal. Like, they can't take that away from us, I suppose. I think with the QPR equaliser, I was sort of looking around going, like, oh, maybe there's something they can disallow this for, and then remembering that that's not how it's going to work. Anyone in particular stood out for you in this game that we, or indeed from the start of the season as a whole, that's kind of really impressed you. Yeah, I think Peck and our blaster, it's always great to see the youth players doing well. But Peck, in particular, just, I don't know, it just seems to have, like, confidence. He doesn't seem to be worried about losing the ball, or whatever, he just kind of plays his game. And that's really impressive to see, I think, you know, the players that have been with us for a lot longer are kind of scared of making mistakes. And maybe the youngsters are less like that, and it's really exciting. And I guess also there are different generation of football, you know, they've had much different technical training from a younger age. So they're going to be different players anyway. Yeah, yeah, that's true. And particularly from our youth system, they're generally used to hammering everybody as well as... Yeah. Eight to the other day against... Yeah, so against Watford, wouldn't it? God, I... But why did you see, like, Noynton Davies was playing? So there must be, that was technically the under-21s, right? But there must be some rule about you've been able to have a few older players. Yeah, you can have Sotari's Campbell played as well. Yeah, of course you. I think you can have, like, three over-age players. So it is, sort of, notionally meant as, like, fitness as well as development. But I think still it was a pretty young team. Like, we do generally... Well, yeah, because, I mean, the best of the youth players are in our senior squad. That's a very good point, yeah. I keep thinking all these other teams need to club together and pay for us to get a category one academy so that they don't have to keep getting hammered by us all the time. I mean, I think we must, you know, outperform other teams at our level in terms of the academy, both in the men's and the women's. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, we'll definitely get on to that, yeah, with the women's side of things. What else was I going to say? Oh, yeah, so it's an unbeaten start. That is, I think, that is officially a good start now. You know, we're taking eight points from four games. Obviously, you knock that down, too. Just sort of quickly before we move on, what are your expectations at United Men this season? Do you think this is a playoff promotion push? Or are you expected of the difference? I mean, I don't want to go up. I don't know if that's a controversial thing to say, but I really wouldn't want to be in the Premier League next year. And that's just based on the bad experience of the last two Premier League seasons. I'm not sure in that much danger of that, but it would be nice to aim for the playoffs to be competing for that. But I was on something to pub on Sunday, and they were complaining that they had to pay 36 quid for a ticket the other week. And I said, "Well, I paid £41 to watch us lose 8-0 to Newcastle. So I know what I'd prefer to pay for." This was actually competing in the championship. So, yeah, just being able to compete, maybe a season not plagued with injuries. That might be quite nice, but I don't know if there's any chance of that, to be honest. And, yeah, just witnessing the progression of more youth players coming through. I think that's really exciting. Yeah, I think that's all a fair aim. You never know with the injuries. I mean, our blaster, actually, you mentioned he was hobbling a bit. He has pulled out of the, what is it? It's called like the men's elite England elite league. Yeah, it's like 23, basically. Yeah, I think it might be under 20. So he's pulled out that, but I don't think it's supposed to be serious. And Louis Marsh has actually been called up in his stead. So that's quite a nice feather in the cap for... Yeah, I mean, he's been decent, what I've seen of him this season as well, so... And, yeah, with our inability or a decision not to sign any more forwards... Well, yeah, it's a good game. We aren't speaking about Kiefermore yet. Yeah, and I'll start from him. Like, you know, I'm like a semi-data nerd. And his expected goals numbers are really good, which is kind of what you want to see from a striker. And he's just that he's really underperformed it so far. Penelope Miss doesn't help, but, you know, he had that chance in the second half as well, where he tries to go around the goalkeeper. Miss the real sitter at what was it pressed in a way? I think he had quite a close range header against Norwich as well. But he's getting into the right positions. I am feeling the lack of McBurney. I'm not sure if you're following McBurney's start to his career in Spain, but he was in like the La Liga team of the month. I know Bob, did you see that screenshot where he's rated higher than Mbappe, a staff of one of the games? Oh, that was so good. Yeah, that was last week when they took the lead. He got an assist to give him a lead against Real Madrid. I think it was. Yeah, really, really impressive start from him. But yeah, I think more has been OK. I'm not like, I don't know, I'm not expecting him to be amazing. I'm expecting him to be good. And I think he will be good and score sort of 10 to 15 goals for us. Yeah, that's the thing, if he can achieve that, then, you know, he's done what we needed him to do. But I think the lack of depth in terms of other strikers is a bit concerning. For me, anyway, you know, Bruce to coming on. And that's kind of like your best second choice. It's not doesn't fool you with confidence, really. It doesn't. Terry's Campbell did get a hat trick in that under 21s game. Yeah. So, I mean, what we got, it's like, it's pretty much two weeks between league games and next ones a week on Friday. Yeah, week on Friday. So hopefully he'll be closer to being able to start again. But yeah, I'm really feeling like 70 minutes gone. He's sort of looking at Keith and Morgan. He needs a, like, we need to be able to swap in with someone. I mean, fair play to him for keeping going, I suppose. But yeah, mad, mad choice to not have another forward in the building. But yeah, it seemed mad. I mean, you can only assume they were trying to do something and didn't get it over the line, because otherwise, you know, if they think that what we've got is good enough, then. Well, maybe they'll prove us wrong, but I don't feel like they will. Yeah, maybe, you never know. Just last thing or more, I thought was really funny. The best moment of his game for me was when he picked up City Peck and removed him from the fight, right at the end. Oh, that's good. Good father figure moment. Trying to think if there's anything else to say about that one. That wasn't an incredibly memorable game, obviously. Our games with Watford tend to be like this, don't we? I think it was last season. We won one nil also with an own goal. I think in that game. So yeah, they tend to be very, I remember losing one nil away on the first game of the previous season as well. I had to laugh. It was in Roy's view from, I think it was the first comment. It was like, oh, chef, you know, I'd have not won at home for 10 months. Enter Watford. And I'm thinking, we're just returning the favor from... They also went about 10 months without winning a home game when they got relegated from the Premier League and then they beat us one nil in that first game. So we just returned in the favor. Don't worry about it. I was looking at that because I saw the Bladesman on Twitter said first four league games unbeaten for the first time since 2012, 13. So I was trying to look back. That was Danny Wilson era. I was like, oh, that's quite an impressive. I don't really remember him being that good, but then I realized that that was in League one. So it's a bit of a different kind of fish, isn't it? Yeah, I'm assuming that's the last time we won the first two games. In a row as we've talked about on here before. Yeah, I didn't realize that unbeaten in four being a row achievement. Good stuff. And yeah, oh, so nice to leave the ground with a smile on my face. It felt like a really, you know, full-throated roar at full time. Like, yes, finally see this with a game. I mean, I know I could have gone to like the Rexum game or like maybe to loot in a way or something like that, although, you know, big demand for tickets and stuff. Yeah, just, that's all I want to unite this season. Just like, yeah, give me something to put a smile on my face, please. And we'll, you know, we'll see where we are at the end of the season, I guess. Particularly after that defeat to Barnsley in the week as well. You definitely needed something to pick you up a bit. Yeah, that was a pretty rubbish game. It was a good evening ruined by night and it's a football. The classic fan experience. Right, that's United men. Now, what I really do want to talk about is United women. And yeah, there's, oh, God, there's so much to talk about here. So they're, their season starts this weekend in the Women's Championship. And as I said before, we start recording, like, I think we can, we can talk here, like, you know, like people listening might be completely new to United women and the Women's Championship in general and maybe not familiar with them. Like, I guess what's happened in the last, well, the summer and the last 12 months. Because it's been a lot. I mean, the last year, last season, I think that's like the point where I started to follow the team properly, if you like. I've been to a few women's games the season before and, you know, when we had like Courtney Sweetman Kirk playing for us and people like that. But last season was the one I like properly zeroed in on it. You know, I was, I got a season ticket for myself and my daughter. I wanted that to be like an introduction to football for her. And I started writing the Women's Steel newsletter. So that like gave me a kind of a hook, I guess, to pay, you know, even more attention to them. So I'm like fully locked in as a fan now. And I've got to say, as a first season to be locked in as a young women fan. It was challenging. Yeah. Not uneventful. It was, it was, yeah, we had things thrown at us from all quarters. Yeah. So you, you presumably have been following the team a little longer than I have. Yeah. Yeah. Quite a while. But I, well, I own, I've only lived in Sheffield since last September. So this will be the first season I've actually got a season ticket with both the men's and the women's, which is very exciting. And I had a season ticket for the men's team when I was a kid. We've come over from Lincolnshire, but, but yeah, first, first women's season ticket and first men's season ticket for quite a while. So it's exciting if we have a squad. Yes. Now, for anyone who's not paid attention, the summer has been slightly troubling if you are a fan of Sheffield United women as we both are obviously, I think, I think before we get to that, it's probably worth just laying out the landscape of the previous season. And unfortunately, I guess I have to be quite careful with how I phrased some of these things. I'm always really conscious of this because it, it wasn't pretty. There was a lot of off field stuff that was frankly really horrible. I mean, obviously the, the, the main thing that I'm sure everyone knows about is the tragic passing of the United play, Madikusak in September last year. I think it was. Yeah. That must have been only so, and in, obviously, again, this is where I feel like I need to just sort of like almost preemptively apologize for terrible phrasing here and stuff. But that must have been obviously was a huge tragedy for the family. But I guess if we're just talking from the football side of things, that must have been immensely difficult for those players to go through to lose a friend and a teammate. And yeah, it didn't, you know, that, that wasn't like just a standalone event, I guess, you know, in terms of other off field distractions, we had a whole lot. I mean, even just on Monday, you know, she'd achieved like loads and loads of appearances for the club. Over 100 was over 100. Yeah, over 100. In the end. And she'd been named vice captain for the season. I'm not sure she actually played at all. She had a couple of games at the start of the season. Yeah, I mean, she'd been at the club for quite a while. You know, she'd go up the nickname, "Ms. Chef United." And there was a reason for that big fan favourite. So yeah, that was just awful, you know, as someone who met her a couple of times and she was one of my favourite players, that was really awful. But I can't imagine what it was like a for a family. I mean, it was just horrendous, but also for her teammates because how do you even move forward from something like that? Absolutely. No idea. And I think, yeah, the way, the fact that they were kind of able to keep going, I suppose, to the season is kind of testament to the mental resilience, I suppose. Absolutely. But then obviously the season was plagued with other off-field controversies as well. And, you know, there was, well, the eventual dismissal. Is that the right word? I don't know. Was he dismissed, or was it by mutual agreement? I think he was dismissed in the end. I think he was dismissed. The manager, Jonathan Morgan, yeah, he was, I guess, in the wake of Maddie Cusack's passing. There was an independent investigation into wrongdoing for which he was found. I think he was cleared of any wrongdoing, but then it came to light the previous club. He'd had a relationship with the player and the club being chef for the night and made the decision to, yeah, to relieve him of his duties with immediate effect. I mean, I was so relieved when that happened, but it almost felt like too little, too late. You know, I don't really know the ins and outs of it, but it was reported that the investigation was a bit bogus and that the right people weren't contacted to, you know, the family gave them a list of people that they should speak to and they didn't speak to those people and all of that. I don't know. It's so hard to know what to think, but I guess one hope for the season is that we can put that Jonathan Morgan chapter behind as obviously Maddie will never be forgotten. And actually, I'll mention it a bit later, but there's a memorial for her on the 20th of September, which is the anniversary of her death down at Blame and Lane. But yeah, hopefully, like in terms of football, we can move forward and start to build a bit of a new team. Yeah, well, that's, I guess those were like those are the sort of really serious off field things that happened. The club was Luke Turner took over as interim manager for the rest of the season and steered as a way from any potential relegation troubles. I mean, I don't think it was ever really an issue, but, you know, we put together enough wins and good performances towards the end of the season to make that not an issue. And yeah, so I, you know, I was kind of thinking, I was kind of looking at the team then as that season ended, again, just just talking purely footballing now. I think in there's quite a good like base here to potentially, you know, go a step further next season. I think you know, I've finished 8th or 9th out of 12 teams last season. Yeah, I can't remember. We're very firmly mid table and for anyone unfamiliar, only the top team in the championship gets promoted to the WSL, which I think is probably going to change in the next couple years. Yeah. I would expect it to anyway. And the bottom two teams got relegated, although as we'll talk about, I'm sure I think there will be one relegated team this season. Yeah. So I thought this is a good base to like build off basically, you know, you know, as some seriously talented players, I sort of expected we'd lose a couple just on, on how good they were, I suppose, you know, the WSL was probably too tempting. But then nothing happened for a long time. I mean, sorry, sorry to go ahead quickly. You mentioned about any one team getting relegated this year and people might not know it's because there's only 11 teams in the league. There's normally 12 and that's why any one team will go down. I think it was too late for a team from the leagues below to come up and fill that spot, unfortunately. Yeah. And this, the reason for that, for anyone not aware is that Redding essentially made the decision to cancel their women's team in terms of the first team, all the youth in academy levels. They pulled out the championship, Redding, by the way, of like a very rich history in the women's game. Absolutely. You know, stable top flight team for a long time. You've got players like Fran Kirby, you know, England's Fran Kirby came through that system. Larry Earps was a big player for them a few years ago. Wow, I don't even know that. Yeah. And you know, just for financial reasons, essentially, they just made the decision, yeah, we're just not doing this anymore. We're just just pulling the plug on the women's, the women's side of things. And that was happening at the same time that nothing was coming out of United. And so it was quite easily in your head to think, oh my goodness, you know, what is going on with the women's team? Are they going to scrap it? I mean, maybe there was never any chance of that. But there was a real concern that, you know, nothing was going to happen and we literally wouldn't have a squad for this season. I was on red alert because, you know, the reason Redding were in that financial situation was because they were trying to sell the club and what of chef United, you know, the club, the men's side of things as well, been trying to do all summer, sell the club. You know, there's very, it came out just after the end of the Premier League season. There is a new bidder, there's a takeover that's expected to go through. That kind of put all the men's stuff on hold for quite a while. But it had a far greater effect, I think, on the women's team because... I find that so frustrating because, yeah, obviously it has hampered the men's team a bit, but like we literally didn't sign anyone, we didn't give anyone new contracts. Then, I mean, I think 14 players have departed. I think I counted them, could be wrong, but around that, like more than 10 players have done. And I think a big part of that, I mean, off-shek and only speculate, but it feels like a big part of that will be because nothing was happening. They hadn't appointed a manager, they hadn't signed anyone. Why would you want to stay in the team when you, you know, someone after, someone like Charlton is coming after you? Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, from the outside looking in, the women's side of it was basically on hold for three months or so. And what that meant was, all the player's contracts expired, you know, there was that report in the mail that only two players were still under contract, as in the only two players had contracts that ran beyond the summer that we've just gone. Do you know who those two players are, by the way? I would guess it is a bell-good win because she's still there. And potentially Molly Graham, unless she, on Molly Graham's side, you need to deal with that. No, she's still. I wondered about Eva Butler, but I don't even know if she would have been on a contract. Yeah, I think she's another 21 player, and she, I mean, we just saw today that Fallon Connolly Jackson just signed her first pro deal. I wonder if we'll see the same with Eva Butler in a day or even an hour or a couple hours. Where was I going with that? Yeah, so only two players were under contract, seems bad. And so, yeah, naturally, these players, many of whom had had good seasons in the championship, but individually, if not collectively, I suppose, we're looking for employment elsewhere. And it's sort of telling, I'd say this is like a double-edged sword of like, incredibly frustrating, but also kind of encouraging that almost everyone who left this summer has gone to a team in the championship, or even the WSL. But at the same time, that's an incredible talent drain, and, yeah, I cannot blame them for, I mean, we basically cut our players a drift over the summer through an inability, I would say, to plan for this takeover. Yeah, I think it's more of a soccer punch when they've gone to kind of equitable teams in the championship, you know? Players go into the WSL, I mean, that's just a totally different thing. It's an actual full-time job for a start. Yeah. But even in the championship, you know, if a club like Charlton or Southampton can get them over us, like, I don't understand, we should not be allowing that to happen. It's a bit like, you know, when Sander Berger left, and it's like, we shouldn't be allowing him to go to someone who's like basically the same as us. If he'd gone to someone like Arsenal and sat on their bench, then fine, it's about the money, whatever, we were never going to keep him. But it's so frustrating when you're going to someone who's kind of like the same thing. Yeah, I think that's actually a really good analogy because, yeah, I think people say, well, you know, Berger was in the last year of his contract. He wasn't going to sign a new deal. He had to sell him. But the thing I always come back to with him and with him, as well, is like, well, why did we create an environment where they felt like they had to leave, which is, you know, they felt like they didn't want to sign that new contract. And that's kind of what we've done here with the women's team in it over the summer, where we made it, I would say we probably made it unthinkable that, you know, players like Tara Bourne or Charlotte Newshym, who were, you know, regulars for his last season would pick around and wait for us to get our house in order, which we'll get on to that has happened. Or begun to happen, maybe. A big gun to happen is probably a better way to point it, yeah, but yeah, you know, this is the livelihood. It's not. No, and actually, I've made the point before that for the women's players, it's actually more important and that sounds ridiculous, but for someone like Ellie Wilson, who was a defender for us a couple of years ago, she's playing for us and then she was also working for the Community Foundation. Now if she moves clubs somewhere, she actually moved to wolves so she could get there and keep working for the Community Foundation, but say she moved to a club in London, she would then also have to find another part-time job that would fit around her football job. The men don't have to think about that because that is their main job. So for the women, they've not only got, you know, where they're going to play football, but they've got also then finding a job that fits with the football, which can't be an easy thing. I mean, not that many jobs are going to allow that level of flexibility and also then the money to go alongside it. I mean, I know now a few women's clubs offer accommodation for the women's players, which will take the financial strain off quite a lot, but you know, it's not like every club is doing that. So it's a real financial concern, something that, you know, the men's players, they don't really have financial concerns, their financial concern is how rich can they get, but it's not will I actually be able to afford to pay my rent? Yeah. And that's, that is essentially the situation a lot of these players will have faced in the summer, obviously. I didn't know that about the accommodation. Do you know any times off the top of your head? Well, wolves, I'm pretty sure they, I think, burnly might as well. Two national league teams, obviously the level below United. And I think some of the WSL teams, I think, offer it for the like youth players. So like, say the equivalent of R under 21s would get it. I don't know what the situation is that United, but I suspect we don't offer it. It seems like an educated guess, yeah. So yeah, you know, nothing was happening in United women, apart from players leaving, you know, and it was sort of, this is where I don't really want to slam the club for this because I'm talking like about a communications role here, I suppose, and like, you know, you know, the person responsible for communications isn't the person responsible for these decisions. However, like the first we were hearing about these players leaving was when they were signing for other teams. Hang on. I didn't even know you were left. Like, because there's no information about which players are out of contract or how long indeed players contracts run for. I mean, last year, this time, last year, was when you know, it went full-time for the first time or others, some of the players, yeah, which again is not publicly available information. I don't know whether that's, how do you feel about that? Is that like, do you think that's sensitive enough that there's no public interest to know that? I mean, I'd kind of like to know it from a five point is, you know, I mean, it's like the fact that they didn't put out a released and retained list that I think it's embarrassment for one of a better word, you know, they've not got something to be proud of so they're not going to publicize it. I mean, the whole going pro thing, which was, you know, I can't remember how many players last season they were offering pro contracts to, but those pro contracts, this is a stab in the dark, but I would suspect, you know, the players were probably earning about 25 grand a year for that pro contract. And then the non pro players would be getting about, I don't know, like six grand a year. Yeah. So it's, I mean, for people who aren't kind of very fair with women's championship, you know, it's, it is a totally different kettle of fish to the men's game. And if, you know, if Charlton come along and say, well, you've, you've been on six grand and we'll offer you 12, I mean, why would you not take it? And also if they say, oh, we'll give you security for two years, not one, because that's another problem. Yeah, I mean, Sophie Barker was the club captain. She was one of the players who left this summer, she was out of contract and, you know, falls into that, that bracket of, of uncertainty about their futures that we were talking about. Three year contract at Portsmouth, like that's, that, I mean, I'm assuming she's not earning, you know, life changing money or anything like that being, what would it be in the second tier of the women's game? But a three year contract for, I think she's 32, like, that's, yeah, that's hugely more appealing than, I'll just sit in Sheffield twiddling my thumbs, hoping that this gets sorted over the next few months. Yeah, so it was a, it was a real mess. I mean, it still sort of is a bit of a mess, if we've been honest. The club have now sat, look, the club have now appointed a manager, Ash Thompson steps up from the end of 2021s. Raises the question of why that didn't happen a lot sooner, I suppose, you know, that was, when was that announced? That was like July, I think. Yeah, there was a long hiatus, and I thought what was going to happen was they were then going to announce Luke Turner, who'd been the interim, being manager, I was like, well, it really didn't take you that long to sort that out, but I think in some ways I'm, I'm quite pleased that there's going to be a bit of continuity with Luke staying as assistant and Ash coming up from the under-21s, actually a few under-21s players now in the first team as well. I think after a couple of years of real turmoil, I think some kind of stability will be really important if we want to start building. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, you know, Jonathan Morgan was brought in, I believe at the end of the previous season, right? It came in with like six or seven games to go, and then obviously- Is it like February? I think it was February. Yeah, that sounds about right. So a few months and then obviously start the following season and yeah, it was essentially not the manager from about September onwards. So yeah, having a manager who has worked with, I guess a lot of the players who will be involved in the first team this year, because the under-21s were a shining light for United last season. Such as the men's under-21s won the professional development league final. The women arguably, well, I think almost they know arguably a bigger achievement winning the professional game academy cup because they are, they are against WSL Academy. Yeah, I mean, was it Chelsea they beat in the final of that? Chelsea in the final, Liverpool in the semi-final, these are very moneyed clubs by- Chelsea are basically the best women's team in England. So yeah, like to beat their youth team is a massive achievement and that goes back to what I was saying earlier about our academy over-performing compared to other teams at this level. And Ash Thompson was of course the manager, so he steps into the big chair if you like, and yeah, there's quite a few players that already transitioned into the first team. Connolly Jackson was one I just mentioned, even Butler I think is probably going to have a bigger role this season, she scored bucket full of goals in the 21s last season and got some minutes for the main side as well. So yeah, I think that continuity of someone in the club that kind of has a, I guess has an understanding of what United have been through in the last 12 months is important. I think Luke Turner as well, you know, I thought he did a decent job when he came in for that I don't know how many games it was, but yeah, I thought he did pretty well, it was a shame not to get a win on the last state of the season, but apart from that you couldn't really have asked much more for a very fraught squad by that point. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, Ash Thompson takes over the main role if you like, I kind of like that he's at the start of his career as well, I think he's only like 33, 34. So he's obviously, you know, learning and developing as a coach himself. I think that's a, I don't know, I see a quite a lot of upside in that of having somebody who's learning how to be a manager, rather than somebody coming in and just being like, this is what I've always done, like you're, you're just going to, I'm going to autocratically tell you exactly how things are going to go, you know, particularly at this level of women's football, I guess, where, you know, this isn't the elite of the elite with almost certainly going to be a mid table, second tier team with, you know, a relatively low budget, even for this league, I would imagine, based on what's happening with some of the other teams. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's, I think that's an encouraging appointment. Again, I don't know. Well, I do know why it took so long, it's because we went on hold for two months, essentially. I think it's just, I kind of said this before, but I think I found it frustrating because the men's team wasn't on hold for as long as the women's team was. And so if the men's team didn't have to be on hold, why did the women's team have to be, especially when we're talking about, you know, much lower budget, signing a women's play, it doesn't cost you, you know, 10 pounds. It costs more like, yeah, no, absolutely. It costs, it costs relative chicken fees compared to the, yeah, it's less than a week's wages for a men's player, you know. Yeah. And some of the higher owners would probably cover several, like a good chunk of the women's squad, I imagine. Yeah, I mean, as a fan, I've found this incredibly frustrating just how hard would it have been to just, just because we talk, as you said, because we're talking about such small amounts of money relative to, you know, running a football club like just have some forward planning just to keep the wheels turning and, you know, get these, you know, even like Connolly Jackson signing a pro contract, she signed it the week before the season starts, that's, without knowing, that's, that's not because you spent three months negotiating that contract. It's because we're only now starting to get ducks in a row, I suppose. Well, you know, like, reportedly we started pre-season training late. Have we had any pre-season games? Not that have been publicized. Yeah. So I assume there's been some, like, interest squad ones, although the squad isn't very big. I mean, I don't think we've got a bench, let alone enough to put two 11 aside teams out. Yeah, I know we pulled out of a under 21s friendly against Hull a few weeks ago, late in the day, which, again, is just, like, annoying. I think, you know, just, you know, judging by whole social media, they weren't overly impressed with that as well. It was like the day before. So yeah, I don't think we've done a great job of running in act women in the last, uh, over the summer. I get why it's happened, like, because of the takeover, but at the same time, like, you know, that's a choice to not forward plan. Yeah. And when it comes at a time when we've just appointed a head of women's football, you know, who happens to be a man? I have known about this before, and I'm not against men being involved in women's football at all, but it would have been nice after the events of the past 24 months to have some kind of female involvement in that set up. Yeah. I know what you mean. I thought this was kind of paving the way for Sophie Barker to be the first team coach. She was involved. She was the head of the academy last season, as well as being, you know, ever present for the first team and club captain. I believe she'd completed a UA for A license the summer before, so it was kind of setting up for her to potentially, you know, go into first team coaching, I guess. But no, she got, she wants to carry on playing and got a very nice offer indeed. So, yeah, I guess it's, well, it's not difficult for me to talk about it as a man, but, you know, I completely see where you're coming from with that, and I, yeah, it would have, it feels like it would have been an easy thing to do, I suppose, just to, yeah, not just fill all these positions with men again, but let's see, hopefully, hopefully the right people were appointed in all those jobs. Well, yeah, I mean, on the, yeah, the head of women's football, we yet to see much apart from these six, is it six new signings and four new contracts, but hopefully the best is yet to come. Yes, so things are moving along, and we have brought in some new players. I think there's going to be a lot of youth players involved in a squad this season. I mean, what are your expectations for, you know, and women this season, or what would you like to see kind of on and off the field, I suppose you mentioned like stability or like karma war is essentially what else is it that you're kind of hoping to see with your season ticket this year? I think, I mean, realistically, avoid relegation, and that sounds very pessimistic, but we have brought in some really good players, but we've also not had a preseason, we've lost 14 players, you know, we're not, we're not starting off in the best position. So I think an opportunity, a bit like the men's team, I guess, an opportunity to rebuild. We don't need to do anything crazy, just rebuild, lay the foundations, and then really attack the league next year. I mean, you know, if we could finish mid-table, that'd be quite nice, but with only 11 teams in the league, you know, if you want to finish in the top half, then you've got to be fifth. So, you know, it's not, that isn't an easy thing to achieve, especially when you've got, you know, new teams like Newcastle join in the league who are big spenders and other teams that have really invested and at least had a preseason as well. So I don't know, it's hard to know what to expect because we don't really know what our squad is, we haven't seen them play, but for me, yeah, just build some solid foundations, have a bit of stability, avoid relegation, definitely, I mean, that would be a disaster. That would be like the number one disaster. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. If this takeover happens, then investment in the team and then we can try and make some more forward progress and start competing for, you know, top three or something. Yeah. I'm very curious when the takeover of the club happens if there's any mention of the women's team. Yeah. Like, I have a, you know, I think there's a non-zero chance of the women's team not being mentioned at all in like communication about taking over your night and like what the plans are for the club. So I'm kind of on alert for that, I suppose. It's a bit like with the, you know, the club announced a new training ground up at door and it was like, you don't actually mention what the women's team are going to do. Like, you know, do they get to share a cliff? Like, what wants this move? Well, which team was it, man, you women were the men's training ground was being redone. So the women were having to go into light port cabins so that the men's could, men could use their facilities. It's not been a great summer for the, the English women's game, I'd say. I mean, there's stuff about United we've touched on, but yeah, you had, yeah, that situation with my United and their, their owner is Jim Radcliffe and it was just like, well, you know, the women seems just not a priority. You know, kind of what we're talking about, like total, you know, billionaire CEO type of attitude of like, well, this doesn't make much money. So we don't need to, we don't need to, like, prioritise it. But bizarre at a time when, you know, the women's game nationally and internationally is making big leaps forward and clubs that do invest, like Arsenal and Chelsea, you know, are reaping the benefits of that. I mean, Arsenal have moved all their home games to the Emirates this season. Yeah, I think Villa are playing majority of their games at Villa Park. You're preaching to the choir here on a, well, from me, from me anyway, but, um, but yeah, that was what I mean. It's just like, you know, they did an incredibly powerful figure in English football, basically, just when, well, don't make much money. So we don't really need to bother with it rather than looking like, it doesn't cost anything like relatively cost absolutely buttons. And I was like, you know, for man, you now, they've had, you know, Katie Salom, the captain leave, Mary Earps, that goalkeeper leave and Russo left last season. Yeah. And so, you know, you don't invest or you don't prioritise it like with United and you lose your best players. And then you have to start from scratch. Yeah. Earps as a statement when she left was, was fascinating, obviously a very popular figure at Man United. And basically, she basically said, I need to leave for the good of my career. Like, you know, the stage where I'm at with my career, it's better if I leave. Man United right now, which is a, yeah, that's, that's not a great thing to hear if you're a man, you're not a women fan. Or indeed, if you're a man, you're not a player because, you know, the players that are left like Ella too. And what are they going to be thinking? I mean, surely she's going to be wanting to get out at some point. Yeah. I'm a little surprised she's still there, actually. Maybe it's just give it one more season or something. Yeah. So there's that. There was Blackpin Rovers in our division, basically said we're just putting all the players on minimum wage for the coming year, which, you know, attracted the criticism it absolutely deserved. I think Georgia Stanway, the England player, used to, used to be part of that system. And she was naturally very vocal by that because that really is the sort of, you know, 6,000 pounds a year that you were talking about. And that's in, yeah, that's in the second tier. That's a team that finished, I think slightly above United last season. So. And I mean, let's not forget that 10 years ago, 6,000 pounds would have been music to most of the players is, but we've moved on or we're trying to anyway. Yeah. Absolutely. We had the whole messy situation and reading as well that we talked about. On the other hand, there are teams that are investing in this level. Newcastle, you mentioned is, and maybe we've got time to just talk about this quickly. This is quite, I have mixed feelings about this. So they're looking for a third straight promotion Newcastle for anyone who missed it. Newcastle are essentially owned by Saudi Arabia these days. This is the whole, the whole club of. And I mean, to be fair, we are also owned currently by a Saudi prince. Yeah. Sorry. I was, rather than a, from a moral stance there, I was talking purely financial. Yeah. Yeah. Because yes, they certainly have more financial backing. And chef United have done up to this point, they're, they're very successfully buying their way up the league. They're just brought in Demi Stokes, the former England left back from Man City. They cherry picked the championship's best player last season from local rivals Sunderland, which is, I mean, that's, when you think about it, and I know this is the difference to the women, the state, the, the stage of progress to the women's game and the men's game. But I mean, just imagine a team doing that, like, like getting promoted from league one to the championship and immediately signing the best player from another team in the division you just got promoted to. But that's, that's essentially what they've done. And yeah, they're, they're gunning for promotion. And then, tell me how you feel about this, because on the one hand, like, I'm happy for the people that play for Newcastle night women and the fans that go and watch them. On the other hand, it's, it's like pure sports, watching it. It's like most effective. I mean, I know a couple of Newcastle fans and they're not complex. If I was a fan, I'm not sure if I would be, but, you know, as an outsider for the, for the wider game, I don't know, like, on the one hand, they're investing in it. On the other hand, why are they doing that? I don't think it's because they believe in women's rights. So, you know, can we, can we really give accolades to this progress as much as we would like to, probably not? I mean, I kind of hope that they don't get this back-to-back promotion, because otherwise it almost proves that it really is just about the money. And, you know, we've seen that in the men's game with the X-1 new players buying Solford and taking them up the leaf, but, but then it gets to a point where they do get a bit stuck. Yeah, Rex probably see the same as okay. Yeah, exactly. Like, I don't, I think there is a point where obviously money is part of it, but there's other stuff that goes on. And I kind of hope that Newcastle see that this season, but also, you know, I'm excited at Jess Sigsworth has left us to go there and I've got that right, haven't I? Sophie Hayward left. Oh, God. Yeah. No, Sigsworth has retired. Sophie Hayward has gone to play for Newcastle, and, you know, wish her all the best in Demi Stokes as well, a big fan of Demi Stokes, but, yeah, the club as a whole, I'm definitely skeptical about their project in Inverted Commerce. It's, it's, it's, it's weird to think, like, weird, not the right word, it's just, I have trouble sorting my feelings on it because, yeah, I, I, it shows what can be done by investing a little bit of money. You can, you know, take a club from, you know, below the Women's National League up to the championship and suddenly be a promotion contender and potentially in the WSL. But yeah, at the same time, the WSL starting to become a little bit of a closed shop as well, innit? You still see a one and done last year, they're back down in the championship. This is where a shakeup will need to happen because, in the leagues, I mean, because there's only one promotion spot. Who's the other team that's just escaped my mind that have, like, invested quite a bit this summer? I call me Southampton. Obviously picked off some of our better players. Yeah, in Charlton and for a bit as well, and Charlton as well, yeah, and they got, yeah, they obviously missed out on promotion last season, Charlton, by, you know, quite a small margin. Yeah, so there's, you know, there's a chance that you could have like three or four absolute heavyweights in this league next season relative to the competition and only one promotion spot. Well, I mean, it's always been an issue this one team going up, but at least the teams have maybe been more similar in terms of the investment and that kind of thing. Yeah, whereas now, not so much, and with only one spot for grabs, you know, you can get halfway through the season and be third and have absolutely nothing to play for. Yeah, you know, and we're kind of like that with about eight games to go, weren't they? It was like, they're going to have to lose every game to get relegated from here, but equally they can't get close to the top. So yeah, just sort of playing out the string. Surely they're going to bring playoffs in next season. Sure. I really hope so. I mean, I think that this new co has been founded and is taking over the running of the women's leagues, and I'm hoping there's going to be an expansion as well, because again, you know, 11 games or 10 games for us a season is really not 10 games a season, 20 games a season. It's really not very many. So yeah, we'll see. And I mean, we'll also see, you know, how can Crystal Palace get on in the women's Super League as well? Yeah. Because as you say, you know, it's been tricky for all of the teams that have gone up recently to try and stay there because the Gulf is massive. But then if there's no opportunity to go up, how do you improve? How do you get more money to then invest in it? I don't know. Yeah. Indeed. So yeah, from in terms of United and my expectations this season, very similar to you, just don't get relegated. There's only that one spot. As I said, I kind of, and we'll see how it goes. I don't have a super in-depth knowledge of every team's squad or anything like that, but just looking at like the investment made in certain clubs, it does feel like there's a potential for three or four, like I said, sort of super heavyweight teams essentially that just mash everybody that they play apart from, you know, the games against each other, you know, potential like Scottish Premier League thing with like, so this just sort of can range as the only, you know, the only two teams and they're like an automatic win, whoever they play and except when they play each other. That's boring, isn't it? Well, yeah. And this is why you need more promotion spots, I think. But yeah, I think for United, it's just, just keep out of danger. Keep developing, particularly some of these young players coming in and, yeah, is there any, who are you looking forward to seeing this season, if you know what I have? There's one, there's one name we've only mentioned briefly so far, though. I think we definitely should talk about because she's awesome. Is he good when? He is. Is he good when? Yeah. It's a big surprise she's still here. Yeah, I think we were messaging each other daily at one point and everyone else was leaving it felt inevitable, but, but we don't know, maybe she was one of the players still under contract. Is she, I mean, she has to be because she'd be gone. She won't be still here if she wasn't. Well, surely she could get a WSL me, but I didn't realize how young she was. Yeah. So 21 I think. Yeah. She's got a massive career ahead of her, but she's, she's a joy to watch. I think she's scored 15 goals last year. Yeah, 13 appearances or something. You know, she was, I don't know if she was the official player of the year, but she certainly won the Roma Blades play over the year by a massive margin and that, you know, that's for a reason. Yeah. She was United's player of the year. I think she was a lot of quite a few websites had her as like the best player in the championship. I mean, I think, I think she was the best player in the championship. I have a hard time thinking of anyone who was, who was better than her. She was, yeah, an absolute goal machine where he signed her last summer. It's like her first full season of senior football should say the women's transfer deadline is not until next Friday. So even if she is under contract, there is no regret this much. We've got to talk about her though, because the fact that she is still here right now, as we, as we start the season on Sunday, it, I mean, I, I honestly feel her presence enough is it should be enough to keep us away from relegation. That's a bit like the men keeping Hamie, you know, it's, it's a really big deal. Mm. Yeah, absolutely. I'm also really excited actually to see Molly Graham. She had some strong defensive performances last year. She's a blade, which is always good. And yeah, I mean, she's young. And I'm really excited to watch her grow, not literally, because she's actually really tall. She is really tall. She's how it's over the whole team already. But, but yeah, I'm excited, excited to see where, where this season takes her. Yeah. I just think, I mean, just one more season of Goodwin, like when we're really almost certainly have no chance of promotion, I don't think unless something really strange happens. But I mean, a bit like Gary Linnaker saying on much of the day, I'll, I'll do much of the day in my box as if Lester was the Premier League. I mean, like, it's getting promoted, but we have to come first to get promoted right. So I was getting promoted would be absolutely mad. It's not going to happen, basically. It would. But I would very much enjoy another season of watching Isabelle Goodwin bang in the goals. Because, yeah, as you said, I'm almost certain she'll be playing for a WSL club within 12 months. Surely, surely. Yeah. She. Well, if not in January, I mean, again, what the details of her contract are or anything, but. Yeah. For anyone like completely new to United women, she really has it all as a striker. She's tall, she's fast, she can dribble, she hits the target, an insanely high amount. Like, this is, this is why I was one of the, like, parading this that she was like the best player in the championship last season, like, she shoots a lot and she always hits the target. Like, she hits it just, I think it's like 60, 70% of the time, which is so far ahead of, like, everyone else on the top score list. It was only because she got an injury with, like, three games to go last season that she didn't win the golden boob, basically. And, and I mean, cynically, that was almost a bit of a relief because I did wonder whether that helped us keep on to her. It's possible. Yeah. But yeah, she, she's a star in the making. Yeah, if any of United's new signings this summer are even close to her ability level, then sit back and enjoy it because, yeah, she, she really is a star. And, yeah, fingers crossed that I get to see her play for United plenty of times this season. There's a few of those have left that I'm really, I mean, most of the players that left, I was really disappointed to leave. Jody Hutton, she's had for Charlton, like, powerful left back with a, you know, the archetypal wand of a left foot, particularly from set pieces, obviously we'll, we'll get to see her back at Brahma Lane very, very soon because we play Charlton in the first home game. Yeah, cool. Yeah. I'm already like, oh, no. Are they every time Charlton get a corner? And we're like, hey, no, there's almost an automatic goal last season. I think that's going to be a huge miss for us. I've got new Shimang Tut and haven't they? They have, yes. And, yeah, they, they look, they look better than they were last year and they finished second last year. Um, yeah, they'll be good, that's a tough, that's a first home game, I think. We haven't really talked much about Vex Rayna, but I mean, she was the one I was most gutted to see leave. Yeah, I, I wasn't too gutted because I expected this one. Yeah. Not knowing her contract situation, but so Vex Rayna attacking midfielder, she's made over a hundred appearances for United, she is a baller and she's absolutely brilliant. Like, such a, I mean, it was laughable how far ahead of every other player she was in the championship if you just look at like the number of successful dribbles per game. She was like 6.3 or something and nobody else was above two. She was just like, slaloming past people, like, incredibly creative player. She's got a couple of good goals for us as well. Um, yeah, there was, I don't think there was any way she was going to still be here this season and low and behold, she signed for Brighton of the WSL, which I think is a great move for her. Because Frank Kirby's just gone there as well, right? Um, yeah, and a couple of the strikes of Katie Robinson's left, aren't you? Robinson's left. Yeah. So she actually may well have an opportunity to play. I mean, I think this is what I was saying earlier about, you know, if she'd have gone to another championship team, then I would have thought, well, what's the point in that? But yeah, going to play for Brian, I mean, you really can't blame her and it would be really good to see her hopefully linking up with Frank Kirby. Yeah, that's awesome. Like, she, I mean, as much as no player owes us anything, it feels like she owed, you know, an absolutely nothing. Like she'd, she'd kind of done her time here, if you're like, you know, she's another one that had reached over a hundred appearances as well. Yeah, that's right. And, and one, I mean, one of the few, well, not few last year, but she was another of our over players that were over 21 and I think, you know, we've probably only got two players in that category now. So. Yeah. I'm trying to think there's a signed, uh, Sitara Murray from Bristol City, who is, I believe in 30, the goalkeeper, Sean Rogers, as well, I guess, but yeah, you're right. There's very few players over 30, I think, um, I guess, or even, or even mid to late 20s. Oh, sorry. I've got my words wrong there. Over 21, I meant to say. Yeah. I mean, Leanne Cowan, I think she's 22, but again, like, you know, it's not like we're signing 26, 27, 28 year olds. Yeah. And maybe this is us looking to the future, but I, I, I kind of don't think it's, it's a, uh, intentional tactic. Yeah, potentially not. Um, a couple of the ones I'm looking forward to seeing the season, uh, Eva Butler, we mentioned, um, it reminds me a bit of good, like a very similar physique to Goodwin from when I've seen her, like sort of, uh, kind of rangy, you know what I mean? Like, sort of very long stride fast, but she, she seems to have a bit of that rainer dribbling ability about her in the, in the cameos I've seen. And yeah, I, I quite like to see her upfront with Goodwin, I have a feeling she might turn in and out to be more of a winger from what I've seen. Like, she seems from the bits that we've seen, she seemed like most effective out wide. I mean, there was that thing. Yeah. I feel like she's not got that presence that Goodwin has in terms of being a target player, but really it's, I see you've played like that coming through. Definitely. I think it was the last game actually. I've been black burn at home last season where she came on and just, she, that's right. Yeah. She came off the bench. She liked 20 minutes ago and just made life completely miserable for the left back. Yeah. Completely skinned at the time after time, Ela Kins at the midfield is the other one I'm looking forward to seeing more of that. I'm quite high on her. Like, I don't think she had like an amazing season for his last season, but like when I watch her, I just think like you can sort of see that she's, she could potentially develop into something really good, like very athletic, you know, constantly moving. I think a great energy in terms of being like a box to box midfielder. I think if she can, and she was quite unlucky not to score last season, actually to keep her made some good saves off of her, but I think if she can start to add some goals to her game and maybe have a, I don't know, slightly more dynamic midfield partner next to as well, you know, much as our admire Sophie Barker is like a defensive midfield presence as well as like a leader last season, like maybe Monique Robinson, the new signing will kind of free Kinset to get forward a bit more as well. So yeah, that's, that's another one I'm looking forward to seeing. But yeah, is anything else, anything else you want to mention about, you know, women and just a calmer year general generally let's hope for? Yeah, I mean, there are a few other kind of random bits and bobs. I mean, that it's moving back to the Southstand, not really sure why. I don't think, I don't know if you've seen anything about that. Not an official reason. So yeah, the two years ago, all the fans were in the Southstand, then last season we were in the John Street stand and now we move back to the Southstand again. I mean, as a, you know, somebody takes a young kid, I don't really notice a huge difference in facilities like in the John Street stand compared to Southstand. I don't know, I'm kind of, I was talking to my daughter about this the day. I was like, well, you know, now we'll be closer to the, like the, the teams coming out and the subs and the manager and stuff like that. It might, it might feel a little bit more like your part of it, I guess. Yeah, I think that, you know, when you've only got a couple of thousand fans or 1000 fans in a 33,000 capacity stadium, yeah, anything that they can do to improve the atmosphere will be good. Like I cynically thought it was just to save money because having experienced how expensive it is, even just to open a stand when we did our Rainbow Blades charity match, I can understand why they just want to open the Southstand rather than Southstand for the players and finally stand for the fans. Yeah. Yeah, I suppose so. I guess we were out of the sun in our eyes. Yeah, that's true. Although we'll also be a lot colder. The other slightly strange changes that a lot of our games are one o'clock kickoffs. Oh, is that right? Yeah. Yeah, when they release like the confirmed, I think I'm right, I'm going to check now, when they release the confirmed fixture times, I notice like the home games, this is a lot of them at one o'clock, which again, it just seems a bit random. It's not a huge issue, although it is quite early. It kind of messes up lunchtime. I'm wondering if it's, I'm just looking now. So we play Sunderland at one, Bristol City at one. Is that like just travel time, like we just letting them go home earlier? Yeah, maybe. Yeah, we play Durham at noon this weekend. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, it's a good little alert that, yeah, did, if you've got a season ticket, are you planning on coming to you now at Women this season, then do check the kickoffs because they're even more inconsistent than the men, I think. Well, the first one's obviously Saturday, half five as well, say. Yeah, I don't know, again, I don't know why that is. It's not like it's on TV, I mean, it might be streamed, I guess, on the via the FA, the official FA YouTube, but yeah, I don't know why that is. However, there was a night game and we've got another Friday night game, I think, haven't we, this season? Yeah, there was a night game last season and I thought like no one's going to go to this. I think it was a what for that, she, you know, it's, I think it was during school time. It was like a seven, 37, 45 kick off. It's like there's going to be such a low attendance for this game. And it was you. It was like by far the biggest attended game of the season. There was a good like two or three thousand there and it was a really good atmosphere because you've got so many like youth groups and like youth football teams that obviously, you know, got tickets to get to it. So yeah, I'm hoping that first home game might have a similar kind of vibe. Yeah, I really hope so. I mean, I love an evening game, actually, not all the time, but there's something different in the water, anything game, I think. Absolutely. Yeah. And for, you know, for me personally, that's that'd be the first, this, this chart on game at half five, that'd be the first kind of evening game I took my daughter to, I think. And the half five was a bit more reasonable for young kids, I guess, than an eight o'clock or something. Yeah, yeah, exactly. We took her to Sweden versus Netherlands and the women's euros, which I think was like an evening kick off. And she, she did stay awake, although she was much younger then so she's at an age now where it gets to like half past six and she starts to just fall asleep while she's doing so. Which is, I'm not complaining about as a parent. Anyway. On that note, on the euros, the line S is a back at the lane, aren't they? In December, I think. Yeah. Yes. And I cannot wait. I was on sale, but I needed like, yeah, they haven't, they haven't announced that yet. They did on the Tanoi on Sunday. They did say to register with my England football to access the presale. But I suspect that's going to be a pretty popular one and I've, I was talking to some friends about it last night and I do think that in a couple of years, the line S is will have outgrown stadiums like Brahma Lane. So it could be our last opportunity to see them there. That's a great show. Yeah. I've been desperate for them to come back because I mean, you, you wrote a lovely, lovely article about the, well, the semi-final and the final women's euros, but that, that semi-final I've talked about on air before, that was one of the best footballing experience I've ever had. It was absolutely, it was like goosebumps, you know, pack Brahma Lane singing footballs coming home. It was, it was awesome. Like just, I was sat in the south stand. So I was like, not in my, my usual seat. If you like, I don't, I'm very rarely sitting in the south stand these days and just looking around at this, you know, England fans in every bit of every stand. It wasn't like, you know, Brahma Lane Loewa was away, away fans or anything like that. It was, yeah, it was, it was like a, I don't know, I don't really know how to describe like a transformative experience. It was, it was incredible. And actually, I don't know if I wrote this in the article, but probably because I'm biased because I'm a United fan, but for me, that was actually better than the final. Yeah. That's why I like to hear because you went to both and I didn't get to go to the final. The winning the final was an amazing moment, but a, it was incredibly stressful. The atmosphere wasn't as good. Oh, interesting. Yeah. The atmosphere was really good. It was just, it was noisy and packed and close at Brahma Lane. And I guess, yeah, I mean, Wembley, it's a totally different thing, but you don't quite get that closeness. Yeah. I don't like Wembley. Wembley. It's a, it's a stadium. Wembley's rubbish. Yeah. That's in December. So, yeah, as I think you kind of said there, if you're interested in going, don't. Don't hang about when the tickets go on sale because, yeah, I expect they will sell out very quickly. Just this is more for my own curiosity, really, do you, do you have like a second team in the women's game? Do you, do you have like an eye on the WSL? Do you follow a WSL team or a team in another league, for example? Well, when I lived in Cambridge, I went down to the Emirates a few times to see the women play there, which is, I mean, it's a really easy journey from there. So, I always keep an eye on Arsenal, but then also Chelsea, I mean, I was a massive fan of Emma Hayes. Yeah. So, she's just for anyone who doesn't know, she was Chelsea's manager. They won, I think four back to back or five back to back WSL titles, and she's just moved to manage the USA team and won the Olympics with them this summer. Yeah. But yeah, I tend to just keep an eye on all of the big teams, Arsenal, Chelsea City. I'm not really got an allegiance for any of those. My sister lives in Brighton, so I was keeping an eye on how Brighton and Lewis as well are doing. Yeah, of course. So, are you going to try and go and see Bec's reigner in the flesh for Brighton this season, then? Yeah, 100%. I would really like to. I think I'll have to go on my own because my sister plays football on Sunday, so she'll be busy. There's no way she'll miss her playing, but no, I would love to do that. I mean, Frank Herbie is an absolute legend, you know, for Chelsea, but also for England. So, to get to see her in the flash, again, would be brilliant. Yeah. Um, I probably watch, I think I watched more Dolby Ocel than Premier League last season, like largely because I was so bummed out about the Premier League, but also it's just, I think there's, I don't know, it's so much more relatable having like followed the journey of that England team at the Euros and then the World Cup and just sort of like locked into their personalities, I guess that, yeah, I just, I just find it more interesting watching like, you know, Lauren James and Elotun struck this stuff. I mean, Lauren James, if you're going to ask me for my favourite current player, ask me Lauren James. I mean, hopefully she'll be playing when the Linus has come to the lane because she's, you know, silky, the definition of silky on the ball is insane how good she is compared to a lot of, a lot of the competition that she's going up against us both. Mia Enderby is another one I keep an eye on for Liverpool. So she was a, she was on United's books the season before last, so what would have been 22, 22, 23, super young. I think she was only like 18 when she was 17, maybe when she was young. Yeah, banged in a load of goals for United, playing for England under 19 at that point, picked up by Liverpool at the WSL and was kind of in and around their first team last season. I feel like, so I'll follow her on social media and I, I don't know, she seems to be getting a bit more, a bit more pop around at this summer, I think, like, you know, it is, she seems to have been a lot of ad campaigns and things like this, like, just doing some modelling and stuff. I mean, like, whether that means anything, but, you know, CNX blades doing well is always a good thing. Yeah. And it was the, was it the women's under 19, Euro is the summer? Oh, God, I'm just going to test the mic on it. Sorry. Yeah, there was something. Anyway, England, England youth were playing in a tournament this summer and we lost a Spain yet again. But, and, and to be with like, for some reason, not in the starting 11 and basically scored every time she came on. So, yeah, I think she's, she's in for a breakout season, I think. Yeah. And, you know, Liverpool did pretty well last year, so hopefully they can carry that one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. I, to return very quickly to how I feel about Newcastle, I suppose, I, I do have a soft spot for Manchester East women's team because of players like Lauren Hempe and Esme Morgan has now moved to Washington spirit in the USA, but she's from Sheffield. Chloe Kelly as well. Love watching a Bonnie Shaw. The striker is just an insanely good forward player. Oh, yeah. Bonnie Shaw again, one of the best in the world. She's incredible. And also some of their players that have retired, you know, Steph Houghton in particular, absolute legend of the women's game and Ellen White as well. Yeah. And she's got actually, I mean, you know, they've had a lot of top, top players, I think. We did joke that were a bit gutted that Lauren Hempe's girlfriend has retired. I was a bit surprised that she was retiring, but it does mean that Lauren Hempe, I assume won't be coming to the lane for the women's game to this year. Yeah. We had, we had England superstar Lauren Hempe at promo lane several times last season, because she's in a relationship with Hodgson, who played for United, but yes, she's, she's now retired. Unfortunately, Hodgson, that is Lauren Hempe who's very much still going strong. Alex Greenwood, obviously another United connection with Man City. He is the partner of Jack O'Connell and Gareth Taylor is their manager, isn't he? I used to very much enjoy watching for the blokes team back in the day. So yeah, Matt Man City is like, I guess, my second team, which sounds, it makes me feel like a sort of, you know, 12 year old at school by like a Harlan shirt or something, but they've just got so many players that are kind of, yeah, I admire and enjoy watching. So, yeah, I'll have an eye on them when they're, I think it will be our sole season starts. Is that this weekend or the following weekend, actually? I think it's, yeah, I think it's the following the weekend, but maybe I'm wrong. No, you ask for one week later. Yeah, one week later, that's right. Anna, thanks so much. It's been great. Let's try and wrap it up because I know you've got stuff to do and what have you. You mentioned it earlier, but do you want to, do you want to quickly talk about the, the vigil for Maddy Q, sir? I've got the details here, but yeah, of course. So, yeah, a year to the day since she died on Friday 20th of September at 7 p.m. there's going to be a memorial for Maddy Q, Siker, Brahma Lane. I don't know where, but if it's anything like the vigil last year, then it will be in the car park. Yeah. And they're encouraging people to come down and bring memorabilia and stuff to leave out for Maddy. So, yeah, I would encourage everyone to get down to that it'll be a sad but moving occasion, I think. Yeah, absolutely. I'd say for more details, just search for the Maddy Q, Siker Foundation online and yeah, I'll retweet it the other day as well. So, you can find it on my Twitter and I'll continue to share it as we get closer to that day. Is there anything you'd like to plug, do you want to talk about the, you know, any rainbow blades activities? You obviously do the pre-match meetups, which for the men's on the women's, I believe, right? Yeah, sure. So, actually women's ones are new for this season, so we go to our official bar, Lucca, which is in New Era Square, it's not Spelt, Lucca, it's Spelt, L-Y-K-K-E in case you're trying to find out. Yeah, I'm glad you've told me how it's pronounced because I was like, well, I was like, what like? Yeah, like, like you, but no, it's Lucca. And so, with their every pre-match men's and women's, so for the men's two hours before kickoff, the next one will be Saturday 21st, 1pm and then the women's, is it next weekend now? Yeah, it is. It's the same with the season, 90 minutes before kickoff, so 4pm. So, hopefully see some of you down there and also, you know, more generally, if you're interested in finding more about, out about rainbow blades or joining as a member, which is free and you get a free pin badge, very exciting, obviously. Then just visit rainbowblades.com or look for us on social media. And last, last thing, there's a new Sheffield United Women's official supporters group, so do check them out on social media as well. Yeah, I've been meaning to plug those, actually. I don't have that in front of me. Do you know what the handle is for that? I can't remember. I've got it. I was just SUFC women fans. Okay. Yeah. Do you, are you involved in that? No, we're, so we're working with them to run the women's socials jointly, but apart from that, not yet, but, you know, I've been in touch with them a bit and, yeah, really hoped that that gets off the ground, it's very new, so it's mostly just social media accounts for now, but I'm sure they'll get going this season. Yeah, nice. Well, the season is, yeah, just a few days away in the first-home game, about 10 days away. And, yeah, I can't wait to see how this squad shapes up. I guess I'm expecting more signings, like, in between now and the weekend and certainly before that first-home game. Yeah, it's going to be an interesting one. So I hope it's a calmer season for, you know, at women, and, yeah, they steer clear of any possible relegation trouble. Things crossed. Things crossed, indeed. Anna, thanks so much. I really enjoyed that, and I really appreciate having you on to talk about United men and women. And, yeah, I look forward to seeing you again or two this season, I'm sure. Pleasure. Thanks for having me, then. [MUSIC] [MUSIC]