Set Piece Menu Football Podcast

The football: The second part of our conversation about early season knee-jerk reactions asks if players are immune to them, or whether in the social media age they're more aware of those premature judgements. Are they capable of inoculating themselves, or can the sanctity of their bubble become compromised by all the talk going on outside the club? And if they do hear it, how do they react? The food: Hugh is very proud of his Dutch Spiced Apple Cake, which he has purchased from his local garden centre, a place that you wouldn't normally find Dutch Spiced Apple Cake. PLUS: The team make their own knee-jerk based predictions, in an effort to: a) be childish, and b) undermine everything that has been said in the two most recent podcasts. There's still time to enter this year's SPMPLPL! Head to tinyurl.com/setpiecemenu to enter your predictions for how you think the final Premier League table will look. Your deadline for submissions is October 5th! Email the podcast on setpiecemenu@gmail.com

The football: Why are we so obsessed with coming to such early, sweeping conclusions each and every season? It would appear these knee-jerk reactions are ever-present, and they are opinions that are becoming more and more staunchly held, regardless of how often they are completely disproved. The food: Rory has moved house, and christened his new abode with his mum's lasagna, which he insists is the best around. Chinch disagrees, leading to the proposal of a lasagna-off, probably the first in history. Don't forget to enter this year's SPMPLPL! Head to tinyurl.com/setpiecemenu and follow the instructions. Email: setpiecemenu@gmail.com

The football: Is the pyramid that has so long been the structure of English football still secure? The new season is about to start with the prospect of lower league clubs playing without fans, something that was considered financially unviable just a few weeks ago, and if some of the bricks at the bottom of the pyramid start to crumble, that would dictate the whole building is under threat. But does the Premier League's relative strength even in the face of a pandemic suggest it doesn't need those clubs who might have previously provided part of the foundation of their success? The food: Rory has been to Ireland, where he apparently only had one lunch per day. His favourite: socially distanced fish and chips. NEW FEATURE! If you have a meal you're particularly proud of and would like us to adopt for an episode, send a picture and description to setpiecemenu@gmail.com! Plus: The SPMPLPL is back! The Set Piece Menu Premier League Predictions League is WAY better than all the other ones on all those other we

The football: As plans were being made for the post-lockdown return of football, many the apocalyptic prediction was made about how the game would suffer without fans being allowed to attend the matches, but have we, the players, and broadcasters come to terms with behind closed doors quicker than we expected, and has that led to us learning something surprising about all three? The food: Chinch parades an avocado, banana and lime loaf baked by his step-daughter. It leads to him being very confused about the difference between a fruit and a vegetable. This week Chinch has set you a quiz! Please send your answers to the questions he poses in 'Football Fun: Soccer Story Edition' to setpiecemenu@gmail.com - each listener with all the correct answers gets a shout out on the pod! You can also check us out on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube!

The football: This year's Champions League last eight tournament had everything we'd expect of the final stages of club football's elite competition, apart from ties played over two legs. If it worked so handsomely, why is it so unlikely to happen again? Rory decides to answer this question by comparing European football to an electric car. The food: Steven has "eaten out to help out" by returning to the Didsbury Deli for coffee and bacon butties. By doing this when everyone else is on zoom, it transpires the only person he's helping out is himself. All emails to setpiecemenu@gmail.com You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube!

The football: After three (chaotic, mistake-ridden and VAR-affected) exits in three Champions League quarter finals in a row, we try and work out why the best manager of a generation can't get it done in Europe. Is the narrative about Pep Guardiola 'overthinking' things true? Why are Manchester City's knockout games chaotic, mistake-ridden and VAR-affected? And why does Guardiola make significant tactical changes before each one? It's time... for a Pep talk. The food: Rory lovingly describes his homemade cookies, flavoured with toffee, an ingredient that is apparently only available because he now owns a toffee hammer. Emails to: setpiecemenu@gmail.com We're also on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube!

The football: After Juventus took a punt on Andrea Pirlo, a man of legendary status and undoubted elite playing career, to take on their manager's job having had no experience, we consider how rare it is that a world class player becomes a world class manager. Having realised that, as a result, coming up with a (trademarked) SPM Select XI would be a fairly easy task, we do exactly that. The food: Chinch has broken free of his Cheshire shackles to return to Portugal for the first time since the pre-pandemic era, and he's showing off by having some of his wife Nicky's special scrambled eggs on carcaça (a Portuguese bread, the shape of which is debated at length). Correspondence, including any suggestions for our latest Select XI, to setpiecemenu@gmail.com Check out our YouTube channel, or on twitter or facebook!

The football: Covid-19 forced football to think differently about the way football is played, run and financed, but will the game learn any of those lessons? Can the only legacy of the lockdown and restart really be five substitutes? We discuss the things that should stay, should go, and should have been given more consideration. The food: Freshly returned from a trip to Bergamo, Rory reveals the tale of two lunches from his final day in Italy. The second, the one he was eventually culturally satisfied by, is described as: 'ham, field mushrooms and some sort of quite soft cheese inside a freshly-baked focaccia'. Send us an email! setpiecemenu@gmail.com Send us a tweet! @setpiecemenu Like us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/setpiecemenu Subscribe to our YouTube channel! Just search for Set Piece Menu

The football: Many traditions have been delayed in this unique Premier League season, but this is the one you've all been waiting for the most. The 3rd Annual Hot Takes and Takeaways episode brings together our typically jumbled but hopefully consistent (ie: repetitive) thoughts about the last 11 and a half months of Premier League football. And yes, we mention VAR. The food: Steven is on holiday in Devon, and so regales us about the glamorous first breakfast of his summer break. Upsettingly, it includes a pastry in plastic. PLUS: We reveal the winner of the Set Piece Menu Premier League Predictions League, which once again delivers some extraordinary drama. This time though, it mainly involves Chinch... Keep your emails coming to setpiecemenu@gmail.com, and check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube!

The football: Why the sudden obsession with records, and attempts to devalue achievements if milestones aren't simultaneously broken? Has modern football discourse become overwhelmed with the idea (to quote coach Coach Reilly in Mighty Ducks) that "it's not worth winning if you can't win big"? The phenomenon we're calling GOATism (TM Rory Smith) applies to teams and players, especially emerging talent, which finds itself burdened with comparisons to icons before their careers have had a chance to mature. The food: Hugh arrives at Steven's with Krispy Kreme donuts for all, plus the Wyeth offspring. A generous gesture, somewhat undermined by Chinch's complaints that they're not quite the full-sized versions he's clearly all too familiar with. Your emails are very welcome at setpiecemenu@gmail.com, while we'd love you to visit our twitter, facebook and youtube pages too!

The football: Why have the Premier League's current bottom three so far appeared to show very little fight in their fight against relegation? Norwich are down after losing every game since the restart, while both Aston Villa and Bournemouth have taken until their most recent game to register a first win after the hiatus; not really any typical dramatic against-the-odds victories, or scrapping for a vital draw, and, as a result, dwindling hopes of avoiding the drop. So why has this relegation battle been anything but? The food: For Andy, Hugh and Steve, some elite level croissants. For Rory, originally nothing, before he discovers a rogue stroopwaffle in his bag. Your emails are very welcome at setpiecemenu@gmail.com, while we'd love you to visit our twitter, facebook and youtube pages too!

A special bonus pod to discuss the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to overturn Manchester City's two-year European ban. It's the MCFC FFP UEFA CAS pod of acronyms. Usual pod still coming on Wednesday!

The football: Reunited in person for the first time since the lockdown, we talk about professionalism. What do we expect of players, and what do they expect of each other? Are footballers held to higher or lower standards than the rest of us, and has it changed over the years? Expect a lot of talk about the Ndombele/Mourinho conflict at Spurs... The food: Is actually cooked and eaten by all four of the pod crew, and it is the Wyeth special of poached eggs and smoked salmon, with a spinach garnish. All very predictable and pre-lockdown you might think, until you add in the homemade sourdough bread, a very welcome bonus provided by Steve's partner Katie. Our email address is setpiecemenu@gmail.com, and you can also find us on Twitter and Facebook, while please subscribe to our YouTube channel!

The football: How important is desire? With Liverpool's Premier League title being the product of good data and good decision-making, how much of a role did desire play? Could they have succeeded without the relationship between Jurgen Klopp, his players, and the Kop, and how easy will it be to sustain? The food: Chinch bucks his recent trend of appalling food choices by parading a wrap filled with jumbo fish fingers, tartare sauce, and home-grown chard and rocket. He, of course, played no part in the making of it. Get in touch with the podcast via setpiecemenu@gmail.com

The football: Now the Premier League has returned, have we realised we missed the conversation around football, rather than the football itself? Is the game only partly about the games, and is the football entertainment complex fuelled by much more? The food: An early morning recording means coffee is the only thing being consumed, although who figured that would lead to the great cinnamon sprinkles debate. Whose side are YOU on? Thanks for all your emails, keep them coming to setpiecemenu@gmail.com And don't forget to check out our YouTube channel, just search for Set Piece Menu!

The football: The Premier League returns this week, but given that its marketing sells the league as 'the best in the world' primarily because of the full crowds at its games, will the brand be damaged by the behind closed doors matches that we'll see for the rest of the season at least? The food: Hugh's brother-in-law was 40 at the weekend, and his wife and daughter baked him a cake, a large slab of which is produced as evidence. Rory disapproves of the lack of icing. Thanks for all your emails, you can send them to setpiecemenu@gmail.com We're also on facebook, twitter, and now youtube! (just search for Set Piece Menu) And the SPMPLPL is back for its season finale, head to tinyurl.com/setpiecemenu to see how you're doing!

The football: Listeners from all around the world (including Swindon) join the four friends to talk football in the second edition of our live (not live) show. Once again, a Select XI is chosen to ask questions, and once again they're mostly better than ones the pod team would ever think of. The food: Another listener is asked to provide us with details of their most recent meal, and another listener makes Chinch's culinary habits appear more normal than he'd previously been given credit for, by revealing he's just had a peanut butter sandwich. All your emails can be sent to setpiecemenu@gmail.com And you can find videos of our zoom calls on twitter and facebook - just search for Set Piece Menu!

The football: We are joined by a live audience over zoom, a Select XI of which ask questions to the team. Some of those questions are deeply thoughtful; one of them is about hair colour. The food: A listener is chosen to reveal their most recent meal. It's Chinch-in-lockdown-level simplicity: a can of spaghettios with meatballs. Emails to setpiecemenu@gmail.com, and have a look out on twitter and facebook for some videos!

The football: We discuss how the dynamics of a dressing room have changed over the years, and ask if there can there be a dominant force, or whether cliques are now more prevalent. Chinch walks us through some of those who might fall into either of those categories, while talking altogether more than we expected about Carlton Palmer. The food: Still in lockdown, the food we're eating isn't particularly noteworthy, apart from Chinch's further reliance on hot dogs, which he now reveals he's eating once a day. Thanks for all your emails and tweets! You can send the former to setpiecemenu@gmail.com, and the latter to @setpiecemenu

The football: With fame and fortune thrust upon them at such an early age, elite footballers have an opportunity to experience things outside of work that most of us can only achieve a lot later in life. Buying cars and houses, getting married and having children, are all affordable and manageable when you're a successful young player, at a time when you're not traditionally considered mature. We discuss how a youth/maturity paradox has developed, particularly at the top of the game, and how we should be more understanding of how players have to deal with it. The food: After his confession about pitta bread last week, Chinch has more disturbing lockdown food-eating revelations, this time about a hot dog. Also: It's the 25th anniversary of the 1995 FA Cup Final, which is obviously the only excuse significant enough for Chinch to mention what he, and nobody else, calls 'The Hinchcliffe Final'... We have set a deadline of Saturday midnight (BST) for applications to join our upcoming SPM Live (It's Not Live) s