Ranks FC - A Football Podcast

Hello Rank Squad!In the latest episode of Ranks FC we're digging your Transfer Guru back out of his hiatus to talk all things January Transfer Window, so Dean is on hand to walk you through the latest that he has heard on what might be possible in the winter spending window and which clubs could be tempted into splashing some cash. DJ splits his ranking into two parts - starting with what clubs in the Premier League might be the most interested in doing business in January and why - looking at Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in particular; before moving on to five players who are already attracting interest and could well end up being the big storylines of the window if someone decides to make a move for them. Before that, Jack talks about El Gran Derbi in Things We Love, waxing about a really impressive win for Betis in the Frying Pan of Spain, whilst Dean eulogises a little bit about the end of San Diego's incredible expansion season, where the Chrome and Azul put together one of the most immaculate freshman years that we've ever seen in MLS, but came up just short when it came to the crunch in the Western Conference Final against the Vancouver Whitecaps, who move on to play Inter Miami in MLS Cup. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Today the boys are discussing the emerging generation of superstar midfielders. We've had the £100m transfers in recent seasons of Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, as well as a number of other big money moves - so which players are in the conversation to become the next stars in the middle of the park?We discuss some of the main contenders, starting with Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton from the Premier League; moving to the Bundesliga to discuss RB Leipzig's Assan Ouédraogo and Eintracht Frankfurt's Can Uzun; chat through Como's Nico Paz and Juventus' Kenan Yıldız from Serie A; as well as a couple of others - including Porto's Victor Froholdt and Wolves' João Gomes, who is linked with a January move to Manchester United. So, are these players destined for nine-figure transfers or should we not be getting excited too early? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the fifth Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Emirates, where Arsenal downed Bayern Munich 3-1 in the battle of teams previously perfect; before heading to Anfield, where Liverpool's woes continued with a harrowing 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven that continues to leave Arne Slot with more questions than answers. In Part Two we head to Paris and discuss the holders PSG beating Tottenham Hotspur 5-3, in a game that saw an improvement from Spurs, but not quite enough of one; and also to Piraeus, where Kylian Mbappé scored four goals as Real Madrid held off Olympiacos' comeback to triumph 4-3 in a much-needed win for Xabi Alonso. And in the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - a late 2-1 win for Atletico Madrid over Inter at the Metropolitano, extending their exceptional home record; Atalanta getting the Palladino era underway with a good win over Eintracht Frankfurt away from home; Sporting's dominant 3-0 win over Club Brugge that saw some wonderful goals; Pafos' late goal to earn a point in a 2-2 draw at home against AS Monaco; and Copenhagen hanging on for a 3-2 win over Kairat Almaty at Parken. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the fifth Matchday of the League stage. We start at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea put the hammer down on brittle Barcelona, inspired by their own wonderkid in the form of Estevão, who continues to drop awe-inspiring performances on the big stage; before heading to Manchester, where Pep made 10 changes and suffered the consequences, as Manchester City were well beaten by a punchy, plucky Leverkusen at the Etihad. In Part Two we head to Marseille, where Newcastle United's woes on the road continued as OM came from behind to beat them 2-1 with an Aubameyang brace; and also to the Arctic Circle, where the half-time introduction of Kenan Yıldız flipped the game on its head as Juventus fought back to beat Bodø/Glimt 3-2 late on. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Napoli winning 2-0 over Qarabag thanks to the bottle opener Scott McTominay; Borussia Dortmund taking advantage of an extra man to beat Villarreal 4-0 in the all-yellow derby; Benfica adding to Ajax's woes with a 2-0 win in Amsterdam; Union Saint-Gilloise ending Galatasaray's outrageous unbeaten home run by winning 1-0 in Istanbul; and a drab 0-0 draw between Slavia Prague and Athletic Club. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Today the boys are looking at luck and the effect it has on any given Premier League season, off the back of an article that Sam has written about how you can quantify it over the course of a number of games. We examine the structure of how you try to manifest this in a discussion, and if this is something that you can have a sensible chat about in the grander scheme of football fandom. We discuss the variants - injuries across entire position groups, playing teams with serious injuries themselves, the context of a new manager bounce, VAR decisions that have been proved wrong by an admission or an apology, and a few more things besides, and come up with a solution to the question: does this all even itself out over the course of a season? Is it just a case of you play everyone twice or is there far more nuance to the idea of playing teams at the right time?As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! With the majority of the field now locked in for next summer's World Cup, we thought it was a good time to take stock of where the favourites are in terms of potentially winning this tournament. We work through the bookmakers' favourites and give our own ranking on where they currently stand, and why. We also take a quick look at some of the lesser known names that you need to be keeping an eye on as Dark Horses, including a defensively rock-solid CONMEBOL unit; one of North Africa's finest having a bit of a resurgence; and a Scandinavian power returning to the table for the first time in a number of years. Before we get to that though, there's a little bit of time for Jack to wax lyrical about his current hero, Troy the Boy, Troy Parrott; who inspired Ireland to make the playoffs against all of the odds. It's not by any means a guarantee that the Boys in Green will be in the US next summer, but from a seemingly impossible position, the Republic of Ireland have themselves a chance thanks to his exploits. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Today the boys are looking at the battle for survival in the Premier League, and trying their best to sort through the noise in the relegation battle. We work through all the teams at the bottom of the table - Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, Burnley and Fulham, to try and work out who is in the most immediate danger of slipping down into the second tier. We examine the whole situation for each of these clubs, the reasons for optimism and the gloomiest of outlooks, trying to work out if there are lost causes, and if the somewhat overwhelming fan-based optimism or pessimism has justification. As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's the November International Break, so we're taking a look back at the season so far and picking out some of the players who have broken out for their teams so far across the course of the campaign. We start by selecting three from the Premier League who have made this season their own thus far, before heading over to Europe. There's five players from across the continent, taking in the Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Primeira as we go, who vary from the household names at youth level to the surprise packages who have seemingly come from nowhere, as we scour the continent for some of the superstars of tomorrow who are making their name today. Before all of that, Dean has three stories for Things We Love, which he offers up to see if we love or hate, in a slight twist on the classic.It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam is back from his holidays and he's back in the studio with Dougie to discuss Real Madrid and a campaign so far under Xabi Alonso that has looked pretty seamless on paper - they're top of La Liga, going strong in the Champions League and boast a Kylian Mbappé in more lethal form than ever. But under the surface, there's a lingering feeling, exacerbated by their loss to Liverpool in midweek, that it's not all sunshine and roses at the Bernabeu just yet. We take a deep dive into the summer additions, the changes that Alonso is trying to make within his team from both a tactical and a personnel perspective, the performances that have ranged from the sublime to the soporific, and everything else in between as we try to work out just where this new chapter in Los Blancos' history is at the current time of asking, and where it might go in the near future. So, is this the silver bullet that Real Madrid have been waiting for in the dugout, or is it a case of things looking far more rosy on the surface than it is underneath? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the fourth Matchday of the League stage. We start in Bruges with a truly nutty game of football between Club Brugge and Barcelona which ended in a 3-3 that barely does justice to the amount of chances; before heading to Azerbaijan where a heavily Chelsea were punished for their wholesale changes by a Qarabag side who are punching above their weight this season. In Part Two we address two big wins for Premier League sides - Manchester City dispatching Borussia Dortmund 4-1 at the Etihad, in large part thanks to two glorious goals on the half turn from a seemingly rejuvenated Phil Foden; and Newcastle United rallying behind local hero Dan Burn to see off Athletic Club 2-0 and bounce back from their weirdly lethargic loss to West Ham at the weekend. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Inter making it four wins from four with a slightly underwhelming 2-1 win over Kairat Almaty, conceding their first Champions League goal this season in the process; Pafos beating Villarreal 1-0 to record the first win for a Cypriot side in the competition for over fourteen years; Atalanta's chaotic 1-0 win at Marseille where chaos doesn't do justice to the amount of bonkers bits that went down; Victor Osimhen grabbing a hat-track in Amsterdam as Galatasaray downed a sorry Ajax 3-0; and Bayer Leverkusen's smash-and-grab job to win 1-0 in Lisbon against Jose Mourinho's Benfica - where a strange disillusion is starting to set in. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the fourth Matchday of the League stage. We start at Anfield, where Liverpool put together their most complete performance of the season so far, fending off Real Madrid 1-0 in front of an electric atmosphere on Merseyside; before heading to Paris, where Bayern laid out their credentials as serious contenders by beating PSG 2-1, despite being down to 10 men for the entirety of the second half. In Part Two we address the North London sides - Rank God Sam Tighe checks in from Tottenham Hotspur, where he witnessed Spurs' best attacking performance under Thomas Frank as they won 4-0 against a hapless Copenhagen, in a game that included an absolutely breathtaking goal from Mickey Van de Ven; whilst Arsenal's outrageous run of both wins and clean sheets continued in a relatively routine 3-0 thumping of Slavia Prague on the road. Arteta's men keep marching onwards. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Sporting spoiling Spalletti's Juventus Champions League bow by earning a 1-1 draw in Turin; Atletico finally finishing off USG 3-1 thanks to some late drama at the Metropolitano; Monaco winning 1-0 in the Arctic Circle against Bodø/Glimt; PSV's smash and grab job to nick a late point at Olympiacos; and Napoli being held to a goalless stalemate at the Maradona by Eintracht Frankfurt. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam's away this week, so Jack steps up from the producer's chair to join Dougie in the studio and they're discussing Sunderland's unbelievable opening to this Premier League campaign. After winning the Playoffs back in May, the Black Cats made their fairytale return to the top table, but even the most optimistic of fans wouldn't have predicted them sitting in a Champions League spot at the end of October. It's still relatively early days, but the optimism is in full swing at the Stadium of Light, so we wanted to take a step back and look at both sides of the argument to see if Sunderland are in a halcyon honeymoon period with their new boys, or whether this is an unsustainable overperformance that will soon be dragged back down to earth. We look at the new signings, the managerial element of the whole, and the expectations from the fans, as we try to understand exactly what has made Sunderland so good so far this season, and whether they can keep on dreaming long into these winter nights. Is a European challenge genuinely beyond the realms of possibility? Will a tougher fixture list and the spectre of players leaving for AFCON bring a soaring SAFC down to earth with a bump? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We're now getting to the point of the season where we can start to take league tables a bit more seriously, and in doing so, we can see that there are a few teams who are a little (or a lot) higher in the table than they might have expected before a ball was kicked. So, today, we're exploring six of those teams across Europe's top five leagues - why expectations might have been lowered, how they've got to where they are, and whether their current situation is sustainable.We take a look at Bournemouth and Sunderland in the Premier League, AS Roma in Serie A, RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, RCD Espanyol in La Liga and RC Lens in Ligue 1, to see what's going down. Before all that, we have a quick look back at El Clasico this weekend, where Real Madrid saw off Barcelona 2-1 at the Bernabeu; as well as the fallout from Lamine Yamal's comments, and Vinicius Jr's flare up with Xabi Alonso that has dominated the post-game discourse. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the third Matchday of the League stage. We start at a very rainy Stamford Bridge where a very young Chelsea side made light work of 10-man Ajax, continuing their recent run of very impressive results; and then on to Frankfurt, where Liverpool bounced back from their recent troubles with a thumping win over Eintracht, with Hugo Ekitike returning to haunt his former club. In Part Two we address Spurs' flat display at Monaco, where their unbeaten record remained but without any real positivity for the Tottenham Hotspur fanbase to cling to; and also Real Madrid eking out a 1-0 win over Juventus in a game described as a European Clasico, but which didn't quite catch fire as we might have hoped. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Bayern continuing their perfect start with a 4-0 thumping of Club Brugge where 17-year-old Lennart Karl stole the show; Sporting coming from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 after some ludicrous thinking from Emerson Palmieri; Victor Osimhen's star turn as Galatasaray swept aside Bodo/Glimt; Athletic Club finding some shooting boots to beat Qarabag 3-1 at the Cathedral; and Atalanta being held to a 0-0 draw by Slavia Prague in Bergamo. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the first Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Tuesday's action from the third Matchday of the League stage. We start at the Emirates where Arsenal found a magical 13-minute spell to put Atletico Madrid to the sword, beating them 4-0 with a couple of goals for Viktor Gyökeres and a couple of goals from set pieces for good measure; before heading to Leverkusen to talk about a 7-2 (!) win for reigning Champions PSG over Bayer 04, in a game that had absolutely everything. In Part Two we address some more big wins - Barcelona putting six past Olympiacos in Catalunya as they overcame a mid-second half wobble to finish their Greek visitors off with some lethal finishing in a 6-1 win, and Newcastle United winning 3-0 against Jose Mourinho's Benfica at St. James' Park to continue their good form in the competition. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - PSV hammering Napoli 6-2 in Eindhoven; Inter travelling to Belgium and winning 4-0 over Jupiler Pro League Champions Union Saint-Gilloise; Borussia Dortmund scoring four goals for a third consecutive Champions League game as they won 4-2 against Copenhagen in Parken; Manchester City's comfortable 2-0 victory over Villarreal at El Madrigal; and the only scoreless game of the night - Kairat Almaty and Pafos drawing 0-0 in Kazakhstan. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Tottenham Hotspur, and the discourse around the idea that in just a small spell of games, Thomas Frank has fixed all the problems that saw last season become one of the most disappointing domestic campaigns in the club's modern history. Spurs have won four, drawn two and lost just a single Premier League game so far, seeing them sitting third in the table; but whilst everything looks pretty rosy on the surface, there are questions that remain after a couple of iffy performances - and safe to say that Sam isn't completely convinced that the underlying issues have been resolved, even if the results look impressive. But what is success for Tottenham Hotspur this season? Is Thomas Frank already achieving it, or have some impressive results put a little bit of paper over the cracks of what lies beneath? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! Ranks is 5 years old this week, so we wanted to start by saying Thank You to all of you who listen regularly and who have stuck with us on this incredible journey since we went independent in 2020. As a little celebration, we wanted to bring back one of our most-loved episodes from the staples and revisit Sacking or Saving Under-Fire Managers for a FIFTH time. It's tough out there as a manager. You can be winning trophies and be the designated Chosen One one minute, and then on the verge of losing your job the next. It's brutal, but it's the way football works, so we wanted to take a look at some of the managers under the cosh this season, and what the future holds for them. We start with a big one from the Premier League - the future of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, especially in the light of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments that he needed three years to prove his worth as a manager. Dean takes us on to three more in the Premier League - Ange Postecoglou at Nottingham Forest, Vitor Pereira at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Scott Parker at Burnley - as we assess their situations and give our verdicts. Then we head Continental, as Jack takes a look at who's under it in Europe - visiting Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid, Sergio Francisco at Real Sociedad, Michel at Girona, Stefano Pioli at Fiorentina, Maurizio Sarri at Lazio and Igor Tudor at Juventus - to see what their situations look like in this international break. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Liverpool - which seems to be the topic on everybody's lips right now. After a perfect start to the season from a results perspective, three losses in a week have opened up a discourse which was previously being kept at bay - whether Liverpool's imbalances since a summer overhaul have actually made them weaker, even just in the short term. We work through the starting eleven, and why things look so drastically different to last season at the beginning of this, examine some of the problems that are currently peeking above the parapet, and try to pull together some suggestive solutions that Arne Slot could employ to address said issues. So, are Liverpool too chaotic this time round? Is this just a minor blip that will be straightened out as soon as the break is over? And can the new signings become as crucial to the Reds as some of their previous itinerants were? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!With the international break upon us, we wanted to throw things forward a little bit, and dip into Dean's little black book of contacts to discuss some potential moves that could end up being the big stories of next year - either in January or in the summer transfer window. We start by examining the situation around Harry Kane at Bayern Munich and whether his release clause will trigger a scramble across Europe for his services; before discussing whether Enzo Fernandez could be one to make way in this Chelsea project if one of the big guns was willing to buy him out of what is a long tied-down contract from a huge transfer fee. We also talk through the future of Kobbie Mainoo, Mike Maignan, Dusan Vlahovic, Carlos Baleba, Joshua Zirkzee, Antoine Semenyo, Gleison Bremer and Yehor Yarmolyuk; who could all be subject to major interest over the next 12 months. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss Harry Kane, and the phenomenal form he has started this season in - continuing on from two exceptional seasons since joining Bayern Munich in 2023. Things start off with just some general appreciation of just how good the England captain has been in Bavaria, before we try to fit him into the pantheon of great strikers of the last decade. Better than Robert Lewandowski? How does he stack up against your Sergio Aguero's and your Luis Suarez's? Could anyone be as good as Karim Benzema? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's the second Champions League Takeaway of the week, looking back at Wednesday's action from the second Matchday of the League stage. We start in Barcelona in a game which many wanted to be last season's final, as Luis Enrique's PSG were in town to play Hansi Flick's Barcelona. It ended in a dramatic win for the holders, but not before a cracking game with plenty of drama. Following that, we head to Monaco to take a look at Manchester City's controversial 2-2 draw which ended in a late equaliser from the spot for the hosts. In Part Two we address two wins for Premier League sides - a 4-0 hammering that Newcastle United dished out to Belgian Champions Union Saint-Gilloise, in one of their best performances so far this season; and Arsenal's 2-0 win over Olympiacos at the Emirates, where the full depth of Mikel Arteta's squad was put on display. In the final part, we round up all the rest of the action - Villarreal's 2-2 draw with Juventus which swung wildly in terms of momentum; Borussia Dortmund's dominant 4-1 win over a weakened Athletic Club; Napoli running it back Manchester style as they beat Sporting 2-1; Qarabag making it two wins from two with victory over Copenhagen; and Leverkusen's relatively dull 1-1 draw with PSV. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!The Champions League is in full flow now and your Takeaway returns to have a look through all of Tuesday's action. We begin in Istanbul, where Liverpool's week took another tough turn with a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray - seeing Alisson and Hugo Ekitike injured in the process. We follow this up with a visit to their weekend opponents - Chelsea - who eked out a 1-0 win over former boss Jose Mourinho and his Benfica side. In Part Two we address the Madrid sides in the competition - it's been a very, very good week for Atletico, who backed up their derby win with another "manita" - smashing five past Eintracht Frankfurt; whilst Real notched five of their own on their long journey to Kairat Almaty - with Kylian Mbappé's red hot start to the season showing no signs of cooling off. In the final part, we address Spurs' 2-2 draw in the Arctic Circle against Bodø/Glimt - where Thomas Frank's side pulled off another rescue act - before rounding off all the other action: Bayern's 5-1 win over Pafos, Marseille's 4-0 hammering of Ajax; Inter swatting aside Slavia Prague 3-0; and Atalanta's 2-1 comeback win over Club Brugge. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to discuss the woeful start that Aston Villa have had in this campaign, and whether this is just a blip or something more concerning for Villa fans.We examine the fallout of the financial peril in the summer, the work in the transfer market that has potentially left Unai Emery shorthanded for this season, the influence of Monchi - who has now left his post at the club, the lack of width from the Villans so far in games, poor form from key players, and so much more. Is this just a blip or is there more deep rooted issues that might dog the club for the rest of this season? Can Emery turn things around, or is there cause for drastic action if a U-Turn isn't achieved in the near future? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! We're now a couple of matchdays into the new season and some interesting trends are starting to rear their head in different capacities. Today, we take a look through some of the things to be keeping an eye on this season, the storylines that might prove to be pretty important come the end of this campaign. We start in the Premier League with a discussion of the newly promoted sides, their hot starts and what this might mean for the bottom rung of the established order - pondering whether this could be the year where finally the three up are not the three that go back down. Then it's off to the continent, discussing Real Madrid's newly found structural awareness under Xabi Alonso; the exciting resurgences of both Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig; sleeping giants finally awakening in Serie A; a potential battle for the ages for the Champions League spots in Ligue 1, where everyone is flawed and fun; and Francesco Farioli's hot start at Porto coming up against the return of Jose Mourinho at Benfica. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to take a look at the concept of the Bundesliga Tax - the idea that it is more difficult for players who come from the German top flight, to establish themselves as successful in the Premier League - something often thrown around on social media. So, what is it, does it genuinely exist, and what are the examples and evidence that you can use to suggest that such a tax does or doesn't play a factor when players move from the Bundesliga to the PL? We take a look at a host of them, as well as examining the differences between the leagues stylistically which may play a part in why adaptation takes longer from some leagues than from others. Does the Bundesliga's style mean players look like they overperform and thus are overvalued? Or is this just a case of Premface, with fans dismissing continental leagues as inferior despite evidence to the contrary? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!We are back in business for the Champions League and there's plenty to discuss. We start with Thursday's action, where Marcus Rashford inspired Barcelona to a 2-1 win at St James' Park; before moving on to Manchester City's win over Napoli - which was fairly routine after Giovanni Di Lorenzo was sent off. We wrap up big wins for Eintracht and Sporting, before looking at Leverkusen coming twice from behind at Copenhagen and an incredible win for Club Brugge over Monaco. Then it's a look back at Wednesday, with Liverpool leaving it late yet again to win 3-2 against Atletico Madrid, Bayern sweeping Chelsea aside 3-1 thanks to a Harry Kane brace; as well as comfortable wins for last year's finalists PSG and Inter; a big first point for Pafos against Olympiacos; and honours even between Slavia Prague and Bodo/Glimt. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!The first day brought us 23 goals, and plenty of talking points, and Jack and Dean are here to discuss all of them with you after the first six games. We start with the game of the night - Juventus 4-4 Borussia Dortmund - where drama abounded in a goal-drenched second half; as well as looking at Arsenal's 2-0 win at San Mames, seeing off Athletic Club in what was a pretty much perfect start for Mikel Arteta's men, in a vociferous environment. In Part Two, we talk through Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Marseille that suggested that there's plenty to be excited about, and still plenty too to work on for Xabi Alonso; as well as Tottenham's opening night win over Villarreal thanks to some very strange goalkeeping - before wrapping up two big upsets - Qarabag stunning Benfica 3-2 in Lisbon and Union Saint-Gilloise seeing off PSV 3-1 in Eindhoven. And, finally, we take a look through some of the favourites to win the competition and a few dark horses to watch as well to round things off. We'll be back on Thursday to wrap up the action from the next two days of UCL action, so we'll see you very soon. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam and Dougie are back in the studio to dive into the incredibly chaotic summer that occurred at Newcastle United - headlined by the saga that surrounded Alexander Isak's eventual move to Liverpool, but that also saw an incoming holdout in Yoane Wissa; multiple targets move elsewhere until it became an internet meme; one of the most unique players in world football in Nick Woltemade make a late move; a number of strong additions across the first-team squad; and plenty more besides. Take a breath, Magpies. We examine the ins and outs from St James' Park this summer, and discuss if the squad looks in a better place overall than last year, even perhaps without the stardust of Isak to sprinkle on top of it. There's a brief chat about international football as well to start things off, where Jack's brutal treatment at the hands of his own beloved Republic of Ireland is starting to feel a bit like sadomasochism. Have Newcastle United found themselves in a weaker position from a bargaining perspective? Or have they eventually managed to hand Eddie Howe a more rounded squad to work with? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!The window is shut, there's been a few games to see how teams look, and it's time to finalise our long-term predictions for this season, which can only mean one thing here on Ranks - it's time for 5x5! After a diverging night for Jack and Dean on the international stage, we settle back in on club matters to try and keep things in check. The concept is simple - we each pick how we think the top five in England, Germany, Italy, France and Spain are going to look when the curtain falls in May.First, we take a look at what happened last time out, before working through our selections, our thoughts on how a shedload of sides have started their campaigns, and some more questionable bold calls from Jack, as has become tradition on this episode. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Sam and Dougie are back in business for the new campaign alongside Jack, and they begin the season with a look back at the transfer window, taking stock of the signings that could end up being the difference between success and failure for a multitude of different clubs. We start with a little chat about each of our clubs - Sunderland, Aston Villa and Fulham - catching up on what the summer has felt like for each of us from a transfer perspective, before moving onto the main topic. We try to find signings that will define the Premier League winners, the relegation battle, the overachievers, the underachievers, and the Champions League race. Will they be season-defining or is there major issues still to fix? As ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! With the chaos of the transfer window now safely in the rear-view mirror, we take a look back at an incredible wild Deadline Day and examine who came out of it looking stronger than they did at the weekend. Firstly, Dean takes a look back at how his Deadline Day unfolded, and compared it to a good many years of covering the busiest day in any transfer journalist's calendar; before we discuss the massive spends by clubs across the board this window. In the main segment, Jack works through five teams who had successful ends on Deadline Day, for a variety of reasons, from sheer desperation to well-executed late planning - Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Fulham and Juventus; before we break down some of our favourite transfers from across the window in Part Three. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!As Deadline Day approaches, there's still a lot of business that feels like it needs to be done in the market - perhaps more so than ever before. We take a look through the biggest deals remaining in the Premier League ahead of the window slamming shut, working through club by club to hit the big stories. We start with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester City - three teams that seem quite linked in the deals that they all are trying to make happen in these final days; before taking on three of the teams named United who desperately need reinforcements - West Ham United, Newcastle United, and Manchester United. Finally, in Part Three, we take a look at the slightly more luxury shopping elements going on at Chelsea and Liverpool to round things off. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! Whilst the Premier League previews dominated our thoughts last week, we haven't forgotten that there's plenty of excitement taking place elsewhere as well, and so this week we're turning our attention to Spain, where La Liga got underway this weekend. In Part One, Jack and Dean look through the big three of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, taking stock of their transfer business, where each team is ahead of the season, and the big questions that each have to face in a campaign where there is considerable pressure for all three to deliver on the silverware front. In Part Two, Jack is joined by Ruairidh Barlow, Editor of Football España, to discuss some of the other big storylines - who pushes for the final Champions League place, which big teams could struggle, the promoted sides and their chances of survival, and a couple of hot takes and predictions for the season ahead. Then, finally, in Part Three, Jack and Dean discuss the seemingly impending Liga game between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami, why it's happening, and our feelings about it - which are quite different, to say the least. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! Here's the second half of our Premier League preview, where we flip down the bottom of the table, examining the three newly promoted sides in the shape of Burnley, Sunderland and Leeds United - and whether any of them can defy the gravitational pull that has seen the last six teams who have come up from the Championship all go straight back down. We look at the teams who they'll be looking to reel in as well - Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United, Brentford and Fulham, as well as Community Shield winners Crystal Palace, European-bound Nottingham Forest, newly upwardly mobile Everton and Andoni Iraola's tricky Bournemouth, who caused all sorts of problems for teams last season. Which of the mid-table pack will be dragged into the dogfight, and which will be looking skywards to try and challenge for Europe? It's all up for debate in the final part of this double-edged Premier League Preview, and it's Ranks! And, if you're interested in a new daily football news blitz every morning, have a listen to First Up Football - Jack would be hugely appreciative! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's time for the first half of our Premier League preview, where we take a look at the top of the table - can Liverpool go back to back as Champions for the first time in 40 years, or will the revolution at Anfield take more time to settle down than they might imagine? Is Arsenal's stability enough to take them over the line? Will Pep Guardiola embrace the chaos with Pep Lijnders as his right hand man? And could World Champions Chelsea have enough to put themselves in the conversation? We discuss all of that, before heading over to the conversation for the last Champions League place and beyond - where are Newcastle United after a difficult summer? Where are Aston Villa after effectively standing still for most of the summer? Are we expecting Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur to rally hard enough to bother Europe? And are Brighton genuinely contenders at this point?It's all up for debate in the first part of this double-edged Premier League Preview, and it's Ranks! And, if you're interested in a new daily football news blitz every morning, have a listen to First Up Football - Jack would be hugely appreciative! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! We figured that with the new season drawing in, we'd start to draw a few conclusions of our own regarding where teams are right now - and what might happen over the next 10 months - so without being too wild, we've picked out a few bold opening statements each that we think reflect where the situation lies at this point in time. Dean goes first to pick out five warm takes that he's got ahead of the new season, from Erling Haaland having a fightback moment to Spurs potentially struggling given they have multiple fronts to compete on; before Jack takes over for a few on Chelsea, Brentford, Brighton, who might struggle in La Liga and a potentially transformative summer in Portugal. Before that there's Things We Love, which discusses the all-United tug-of-war for Benjamin Sesko's services, and Evan Ferguson's move to Roma which sees him now under the tutelage of 'dream for attackers' manager Gian Piero Gasperini. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! A slightly different take on the transfer window so far on today's show, because Jack has wrested the show plan off Dean to discuss some of the teams we haven't quite had time to deep dive on so far this summer. So, in the light of looking at very interesting windows that we've seen across Europe, it's time to scour some of the teams who have had the busiest starts to the summer. First, we take a look at two of the promoted clubs to the Premier League - Leeds United and Sunderland - to explore how their quests for survival are shaping up from a personnel perspective, examining what they've done already and what still needs to be done to become more competitive than their compatriots from last season. Then it's onto the continent, where Napoli are putting their foot on the accelerator after winning Serie A last season and seeing many of their competitors in a state of flux; Lille have had their spine ripped out by free transfers and look like they could be in a spot of bother; and Atletico Madrid are backing up last season's big spend with another huge summer of activity. Before we do that, Dean talks about a potential rebirth for Kobbie Mainoo at Manchester United amid reports that Tottenham Hotspur were trying to secure his signature; and Jack talks about the impact of the the Lionesses going back-to-back at the European Championships, after a tournament full of grit and never-say-die attitude. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! In the last few days we've seen deals for Hugo Ekitike, Marcus Rashford and Viktor Gyökeres come to fruition (or close enough as not to matter). So, how do those signings for Liverpool, Barcelona and Arsenal affect their fates? We discuss those in Part One. Then, in Parts Two and Three, we move on to the deals not yet done, with Dean picking a host of other players out whose potential futures - whether they stay or go - could end up defining the summer. There's discussion on Alexander Isak, Xavi Simons, Christopher Nkunku, Luis Diaz, Rodrygo Goes, Benjamin Sesko, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze, João Palhinha, and a few more besides. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's been a busy summer already - teams participating in the Club World Cup, plenty of big business, managers on the move, new stadiums and plenty more; so we want to look at the teams who are going to look very different to the end of last season when we get going in earnest again. We start with a look at the CWC Final, where Chelsea showed that they might well be a different beast to the slightly predictable side from last season. Then, after the break we explore a number of Premier League sides who have been busy in one form or another - Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland, Newcastle United, Brentford and Arsenal. And we wrap things up with a quick look around Europe - Como's changing transfer strategy, and completely new eras for Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen headline the bill. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! After Dean kept the streak alive last week (it's now the 339th week in a row where there's been a Ranks episode, shouts out DJ), Jack's back from marital bliss to take ahold of the reins again - and after a brief discussion about the festivities and the differing football mindsets of the younger generation of Jones', we head into our main ranking. Dean and Jack both pick a few of their favourite transfers out from the done deals this summer, and discuss them in some depth. DJ opts for Milos Kerkez's move from Bournemouth to Liverpool, Igor Jesus joining Nottingham Forest from Botafogo, and Matheus Cunha's switch from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Manchester United. Jack takes a dive into Cunha's replacement at Wolves - Fer Lopez, signed from Celta Vigo (and Celta's bounceback purchase of Ferran Jutgla from Club Brugge), as well as Martin Zubimendi switching Real Sociedad for Arsenal, and Alex Baena's move from Villarreal to Atletico Madrid. Finally, we wrap things up with a small tribute to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva, who so sadly passed away in a tragic car accident at the end of last week. And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's a Dean Jones solo special with Jack off doing marital bliss, so there's a different feel to today's episode, where DJ is taking things solo to discuss the Club World Cup and some of the ways it might affect the football we know. There's some discussion on the fermentation of cross-federation rivalries and why ticket prices need to be considered far more ahead of a second iteration of the tournament, before the rule changes are discussed, in terms of what's been good and what's made the game a worse watch in the grander scheme of things. Dean finishes things off by asking ChatGPT to come up with 10 rule changes that are feasible in the game in the near future, ranking them 1-10 in an extended return to the Nonsense Rankings. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!It's Jack's last episode as a Bachelor, and we thought we'd take a look at some transfers to send him off blissfully into wedded life. Liverpool have signed Florian Wirtz, breaking the British Transfer Record in doing so, and we discuss his arrival at Anfield and how he might fit into Arne Slot's Champion Reds next season. That gives us a launchpad to talk about some of the other most expensive transfers in Premier League history, so we rank 2-10 (feels a bit early to judge Wirtz just yet!) in order of the value they provided for their fee and also their transformative impact on their clubs - running through some of the obvious flops, all the way to the deals which are proving worth every penny. There's also time for a little Things We Love, where Jack gives some flowers to Santi Cazorla and Real Oviedo - one of the true feel-good stories of a summer mired in controversy and differing opinions. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!Today we're diving back into the murky depths of the transfer market, and looking at some of the potential deals that are being discussed right now. It's a seller's market, in so many ways, and that often means that teams will overpay for players - whether through a gamble on a major talent, a burning need to fill a gap, or because they're absolutely hellbent on trying to turn things around after a tough season the year before. We look at five deals that feel like they might be a big step, with Dean suggesting them, and Jack generally arguing about why it's actually a pretty good bit of business - for a variety of different price tags and reasonings. Before that, we get stuck into the Club World Cup, hear about Dean's experiences on the ground and Jack's ones watching from across the Atlantic, and try to work out what we can learn from the tournament a year out from the 2026 World Cup.It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!The (first) Transfer Window has officially closed, but there's been plenty of activity on the managerial merry-go-round across Europe, with new faces taking over at new places - to the delight of some and the chagrin of others. On today's episode we're looking at a number of new bosses and analysing how we think they fit their new home. We start with the most recent appointment - Brentford's Thomas Frank is all set to take over at Tottenham Hotspur, who moved on from Ange Postecoglou at the end of last week, and try to build on that Europa League trophy that Ange won in what turned out to be his final game. We discuss the differing approaches and how this might all work out; before moving on to talk about Xabi Alonso's new era at Real Madrid, after he left Bayer Leverkusen to replace Carlo Ancelotti; and his replacement at Leverkusen - former Manchester United and Ajax gaffer Erik ten Hag. Then in Part Three, we get stuck into the Calcio Chaos - Christian Chivu replacing Simone Inzaghi at Inter; Max Allegri returning to AC Milan to take over from the sacked Sergio Conçeição; Gian Piero Gasperini leaving Atalanta to take over from Claudio Ranieri at Roma, with the Tinkerman turning down the Azzurri to stay upstairs in the Eternal City; and former Gasperini disciple Ivan Juric replacing the old chessmaster at Atalanta. There's some chat too about the Club World Cup and some of the transfers yet to happen this summer at the start of the show, and don't forget to take a look at our Patreon, where there's loads more transfer podcasts and newsletters happening over the course of this summer. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! The footballing summer is officially here, with the Champions League Final crowning what has been a pretty unbelievable season in Europe all round. We start today's episode with the final word on that final, where Luis Enrique's brilliant PSG absolutely dismantled Inter in one of the all-time great showpiece performances. Then, it's onto the talk of the summer - transfer season; and whilst there will be plenty of this covered here on Ranks all summer long, we wanted to take a look at some of the deals already done or nearly done, that we have reservations about for one reason or another. Some are personal, some are club-related, and some are just a question of fit; but whilst there could and should be levels of excitement, it's important to try and be realistic as well. We discuss the details of moves for Rayan Cherki, Jobe Bellingham, Liam Delap and Matheus Cunha; and also touch on Bruno Fernandes' decision to stay at Manchester United. We finish off with a discussion of some of the deals we think are absolutely guaranteed to be a success, as well as some early thoughts on the links between Arsenal and Benjamin Sesko. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth! For the last time this season, Sam and Dougie convene in the studio to record, and for the season finale, they're looking back at the first year of the podcast - what they got right, what they got wrong, and some of the best bits as well. Picking for each other, the boys choose a Best Take, Worst Take, Most Enlightening Take and Most Surprising Take from the year just gone, and analyse them with the huge added benefit of hindsight - as well as a hint of some justification. Before that, we have a chat about Sunderland's promotion to the Premier League, and Aston Villa's failure to secure Champions League football, as we finish up what's been a magnificent first year for the podcast. How did the boys do? Well, as ever, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad!With the conclusion at the weekend of the domestic campaigns still running, we thought it was a good time to look back on the season just gone and hand out some awards for the best (and worst) of what we've seen across the board. We start by talking about our favourite stories of this season, where we both plump for underdogs turning their seasons around, before we head into the main event. Across the Premier League and the rest of continental football, Dean and Jack work through Players, Managers and Clubs of the Season; before finishing off with the Letdowns of this campaign, and the Best Signings for good measure. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at the Club World Cup, set to kick off just a couple of weeks after the European season ends. The tournament has divided fans and pundits alike, with some seeing it as a bizarre power play from FIFA to try and rival the riches of the Champions League, whilst others feel that it's an opportunity to spread the game's wealth on a more even keel globally. We examine the history of the tournament and where the concept originated from, before taking a look at how it matters differently to different areas of the globe - in some place, it's a real badge of honour; whilst in others, it's treated as a second-class trophy. Perhaps more importantly, there's a deep dive into the finances of the tournament and how it's going to work, as well as some thoughts on if we should really be adding more football into an already oversaturated calendar - whilst the concept of the CWC is a good one, generally; is there actually a real need for this given the amount of football players are already going through? So, is this global benevolence or a cash grab from the Federation? Are the big teams going to send shadow sides or are the megastars going to give it all they have? And to whom does this all matter most? Well, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Rank Squad! It's the first transfer focused episode of the summer, and we set out the stall for what's to come in some of the biggest deals. Set your stalls out, ready yourselves - because some of these ones will definitely become sagas, dragged on for months in negotiations. Jack starts things off by giving some love to Villarreal and the job that Marcelino has done with the Yellow Submarine, before we get down to business discussing the latest on the future of Florian Wirtz - the transfer that's likely to set the high bar for spending, if Bayer Leverkusen's star playmaker does depart the BayArena. Then it's on to Dean's list, where we chat through a host of names likely to be on the move, starting around the £25m mark and working our way up to long beyond the £100m boundary. There's chat about a host of players, including Dusan Vlahovic, Liam Delap, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Martin Zubimendi, Bryan Mbuemo, Xavi Simons, Viktor Gyokeres, Ebere Eze, Rodrygo, Benjamin Sesko, Alexander Isak and loads more. And then in Part Three, we take a look at which of the deals discussed might represent the best value for money in the market, trying to balance that impossible scale between risk and reward. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's time for The Truth!Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at where Arsenal find themselves right now - and whether there is complete faith in Mikel Arteta to make them take that next step to winning serious silverware. After six and a half years in charge, there is no doubt that Arteta has raised Arsenal's floor to a point where they are in the mix every single year, and yet since that first half season, there are no trophies to show for the progress that the Basque has made with this team. Trophies aren't everything, but Arsenal are on a dangerous verge of being considered nearly men, and it means that next season, there may have to be some bang to go with the buck. We examine Arteta's performances as a coach in the last few years, as well as the constant upward trajectory that Arsenal have been on, as well as peeking at the uncomfortable truths of modern management and the complications of squad planning when you're in charge of the entire operation. So, is it as simple as win or bust next season for Arteta? Does it matter who comes in during the summer to help them challenge? Or is this simply a project which needs to be given more time given how things have gone so far? Well, The Truth is somewhere in the middle... And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.