Rule The Roost - A Tottenham Hotspur Podcast

On today's 15-minute briefing:


Spain Kick Into Gear: Spain are finally looking the part against Saudi Arabia. Dani Olmo is just such a wonderful player, and with Lamine Yamal in the side, they can probably pose a massive problem to absolutely anyone.


Belgium Underwhelm: Belgium underwhelm yet again, but I have to give a massive shout out to Iran, who dug deep to pick up a huge point.


The Story of the Tournament: Are Cape Verde the story of the World Cup? Going toe-to-toe with Spain and now Uruguay—it is incredible to watch.


Egypt Get the Job Done: Egypt show up and get a result against New Zealand that was probably expected of them, but you have to give credit to NZ, who made them work incredibly hard for it.


Messi Makes History: Lionel Messi becomes the outright World Cup leading scorer with two great finishes against Austria, surely solidifying himself as the GOAT. He did miss a penalty though, which makes me wonder: did he miss it on purpose because he didn't want to break the record with a pen? Either way, Argentina are safely through to the next round.


France Battle the Elements: Despite a chaotic two-hour rain delay against Iraq, Kylian Mbappe just keeps the goals coming. But once again, Michael Olise is looking like one of the best players in the world right now. France also book their spot in the next round.


Haaland vs Mbappe Awaits: Erling Haaland bags two against Senegal, who are genuinely a good side and managed to cut right through Norway's defence. That vulnerability is going to be fascinating to watch in their upcoming clash with France—it is officially Haaland vs Mbappe.


Jordan Say Goodbye: Finally, Jordan officially exit the competition after their result against Algeria.

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Jack is joined by touring stand-up comedian and Spurs fan Aidan Jones to talk all things Spurs and stand-up. We kick things off by talking to Aidan about his viral video where he stopped a live gig to celebrate Spurs surviving relegation, before diving into how his critically acclaimed show Chopin's Nocturne blends classical piano with raw comedy, and how an Aussie in London ended up adopting the club.

The conversation then pivots to the massive news broken by David Ornstein over the weekend: Lucas Bergvall has reportedly asked to leave N17. We debate whether it was naive to think we could develop both him and Archie Gray at the same time, question if Roberto De Zerbi is simply acting as a brutal hand for course correction, and ask if we are cashing in just to fund moves for Sandro Tonali and Mattheus Fernandes.

Finally, we look at the newly released fixtures—specifically that horrifying end-of-season run-in—before getting into a brilliant round of listener feedback. We pass on some high praise from Ben Haines, share our intrusive thoughts during Spurs matches, and tackle your questions, including which Chopin piece perfectly soundtracks Tottenham Hotspur.

Find info for and buy tickets to Aidan's shows here: https://linktr.ee/aidanjonescomedy Follow his Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/aidanjonescomedy/

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On today's 15-minute briefing:


Pochettino's Magic: The battle of the jocks saw the USA come out on top against Australia. Mauricio Pochettino simply continues to work his magic, and the hosts are looking seriously impressive.


Scottish Heartbreak: A really difficult one to swallow for the Scots against Morocco. Looking back at the crucial moments, I have to ask: should they have had at least one penalty in that game?


Brazil Bounce Back: A good result for Brazil against Haiti, showing they can absolutely put the so-called lesser nations to the sword. But do they actually have enough quality for the real monsters of the tournament? I am not entirely convinced yet.


Turkey Tumble & Almiron's Red: Miguel Almirón was sent off for covering his mouth against Paraguay—honestly, this is the sort of no-nonsense officiating I can get behind and something the authorities should have been doing for a while. As for the game itself, the result caps off a very disappointing World Cup for Turkey, whom many were expecting so much more from.


Dutch Delight: A huge result in what many expected to be an evenly contested fixture between the Netherlands and Sweden. The Dutch played some scintillating football at times, which makes me wonder: perhaps they have been written off too soon?


Heartbreak for Côte d'Ivoire: Absolute heartbreak for Côte d'Ivoire, who were genuinely brilliant against Germany. There is a lot of talk around Diomande at the moment, and he is definitely good value for it—a great player. But Deniz Undav was the hero for Germany, showing great composure to secure the winner.


Wasteful Ecuador: Eloy Room continued the tournament's theme of standout goalkeeping performances for Curaçao, but you have to say Ecuador were incredibly wasteful in front of goal.


Japan Show Up: Japan are showing more signs of being the team everyone said they were ahead of this tournament, putting in a great attacking performance to ruthlessly punish Tunisia.

Tournament Update:


Qualified Teams: Mexico, USA, and Germany.


Eliminated Teams: Haiti, Tunisia, and Turkey.

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On today's 15-minute briefing:


Ronaldo Holding Portugal Back: A brilliant result for DR Congo, and a massive well done to Yoane Wissa. But the main talking point has to be Cristiano Ronaldo—he is looking way off the pace right now and genuinely seems to be holding this Portuguese side back.


Hope for the Three Lions: England getting it done against Croatia. It begs the question: are things finally different for the Three Lions? It really feels like they finally have the team to cause serious problems deep into this tournament.


Ghana Make Hard Work of It: Ghana made things look far more difficult than they probably should have, but you have to give credit to Panama, who looked incredibly handy.


Diaz Dazzles for Colombia: A historic moment for the Uzbeks, but the story of the game was an absolutely incredible opening goal for Colombia—definitely worth checking out if you haven't seen it. Luis Díaz was the undisputed star of the show, which really makes you wonder what on earth Liverpool were thinking getting rid of him to Bayern Munich.


South Africa Grind It Out: A largely uneventful but quite open game between Czechia and South Africa. Well done to South Africa for grinding out a solid point against very tough opposition.


Dying Stages Drama: Switzerland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina exploded into life in the dying stages with some great finishes. Honestly, I don't expect an awful lot from either of these teams going forward, but it is completely mad to see Edin Džeko still playing at this level.


Host Nation Chaos: A big, big result for Canada against Qatar, which is great for the momentum of the tournament. However, it was a really feisty affair featuring what looked like a leg-breaking challenge. Qatar were pretty dirty throughout, and things properly kicked off at full-time.


Mexico Progress: A very boring game between Mexico and South Korea, complete with boos ringing out at half-time. Still, Mexico get the job done and go through to the next round.

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Jack is joined by Conor Mummery where the lads kick things off by checking in on England’s World Cup campaign, celebrating Harry Kane reaching 10 tournament goals as he puts Croatia to the sword, and reflecting on his legendary status. Attention then turns to young defender Luka Vuskovic’s recent performance, evaluating reports of friction between the youngster and Roberto De Zerbi, who reportedly feels the teenager is still a few years away from first-team readiness.

We celebrate Jan Paul van Hecke officially getting the "Here We Go" confirmation, before breaking down an incredible bit of off-air drama on talkSPORT. With Ben Foster revealing that Daniel Levy texted Simon Jordan claiming Spurs "had their pants pulled down" on the financial terms, we question if this confirms years of suspicion that Levy’s obsession with "winning" negotiation squabbles has held the club back—and whether the hierarchy are finally moving differently.

Finally, we talk about Sandro Tonali, sharing our honest ratings of him as a player, how he fits into the modern game, and what his addition would mean for our midfield.

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