Ranking Big Transfer Stories Ahead of January

It's the season, so Sam-ta Claus is dropping down the chimneys of five lucky clubs to give them a special gift under the tree that could turn around the second half of their seasons, or at the very least, improve things from where they are right now.Sam and Jack are joined by Pet Berisha of the State of Play Podcast and Copa90 as the Rank God drops in to Manchester, London, Newcastle, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Barcelona to help out some of the managers who are not seeing things quite go their own way this season.There's also Things We Love, where Sam discusses Jorge Molina's glorious hat-trick at 39 years of age, Pet talks about Gabriel Martinelli's wonderful winking habit and Jack brings up the brilliant Shelter 'No Home Kit' campaign tackling homelessness through football on Boxing Day.There's also time for Dean to ring through a pair of Melons of the Week, and for Sam's Gibberish Rankings, which this week are about what Football could learn from Formula 1. Merry Christmas, Rank Squad! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

22 Des 20211h 10min

16 teams remain in the Champions League, drawn (at the second attempt) into eight knockout ties that will take place in February. We examine each of them and how they rank in terms of winning Europe's top competition right now - from the favourites to the outsiders and everyone in between.There's also a chance for Jack to wax lyrical about the other two competitions - the Europa League and the Europa Conference League - and to add in some mini-rankings about the most entertaining matchups and the best narrative prospects thrown up by the two other draws done on Monday by UEFA.Then there's Melon of the Week, where there were no shortage of candidates for a second week running, and a Gibberish Ranking where Sam delved into the ins-and-outs of his Spotify Wrapped for this year. It's Ranks!If you're looking to contribute to the relief aid for those affected by the Kentucky Tornadoes this week, the link, as promised, is here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

15 Des 20211h 19min

So the Bundesliga, eh? Jesse Marsch gone at Leipzig, Marc van Bommel gone at Wolfsburg, Freiburg in 4th, Mainz in 7th and stories all over the place. We decided it would be prudent to bring back an expert on all things German football to enlighten us on what is happening across the board - so it's a glorious time to reintroduce Jasmine Baba, German Football Consultant.Jasmine talks us through all the big stories mentioned above, plus the strange goings on at Borussia Dortmund and what's happened to last year's success stories Stuttgart, as we blitz through the good, bad and ugly of the first half of the Bundesliga season!There's also time for Things We Love, where Sam talks about the chaos left in Champions League Matchday 6, Dean discusses the beauty of a perfectly timed volley and Jack waxes lyrical about why Empoli are one of the most fun teams to watch in Serie A. There's a first too in Melon of the Week, where a whole team are nominated, and the Gibberish Rankings threatens to derail Sam's impending marriage.It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

8 Des 20211h 7min

Certain players play the same way their entire lives, whichever coach, manager, tactical setup or formation they're deployed in or by. Some though, are utilised in quirky and interesting ways, and it's those we're looking at today - from Julian Nagelsmann's use of Leroy Sane to Denzel Dumfries' position at Inter.There's also Things We Love, where Dean discusses Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher's big punditry bust-up live on Sky, Sam talks about the brilliant madness of football in the snow and Jack waxes lyrical over Dries Mertens' two glorious goals as Napoli paid tribute to Diego Maradona on the weekend.Melon of the Week has about eight contenders, but the winner comes to us from Norway where Viking went, well, Viking, and the Gibberish Rankings is about 'Things that wind Dean up.' It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

1 Des 20211h 6min

It's very nearly the most wonderful time of the year (unless you're Sam) and that means it's time for the Ballon d'Or! After a year that has seen a lot of different players make their individual marks to shine sporadically, the big question is - who lifts that Golden Ball in Paris next Monday.We look through the main contenders and some outside bets as well, and talk through the pros and cons of our favourites for the award, ahead of the ceremony.There's also time for Things We Love, which this week includes Mauricio Pochettino's future job prospects, some sumptuous goals and assists from the weekend, the chaos of Fiorentina vs. Milan and a feelgood story from Roma about Mourinho's latest starboy.There's also a Melon of the Week, which has some real contenders this weekend, and a Gibberish Rankings which is the bits we can tell you from Sam's Stag Weekend in Liverpool. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

24 Nov 20211h 3min

So the World Cup kicks off in a year and four days, the first teams are starting to secure their spots and qualification is starting to get to the sharp end. We let Jack loose on a couple of mini-rankings to take a look right now at the early front-runners in terms of contenders, the teams with a lot to do in the year ahead if they're going to compete, the dark horses to cause a stir at the tournament, and the big names in a little bit of jeopardy in terms of qualifying at all!There's also time for Things We Love which includes early thoughts on All of Nothing: Juventus, the unbelievable month of narrative ahead of Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa, and the redemption arc of Aleksandar Mitrovic which ended with him sealing Serbia's place at the World Cup, almost a year to the day after he missed the penalty denying his nation a place at EURO 2020.Melon of the Week sees us take a detour to Australia and the FFA Cup, and Sam's Gibberish is the weirdest things that he found on his weekend away in Paris. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

17 Nov 20211h 30min

The last international break of the calendar year gives us a chance to breathe and take stock of just what we've seen so far this season - now we're around 11/12 games in. Trends have taken shape, teams have gelled (or not) and certain players have emerged already as leading Player of the Year candidates,We stretch our legs across Europe to rank the top three players so far across the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue seasons, with plenty of honourable mentions and disagreement along the way. There's also Things We Love, which includes our new merchandise range with New Balance (football shirt, hoodie and walkout jacket), the Brendan Rodgers to Manchester United (and City!) rumours, and Hugo Duro emerging as a cult hero for the right reasons this time, at Valencia.Dean has to backtrack on some big claims last week to pick the latest Melon contender, and Sam's Gibberish takes on the form of his last three searches on Google - don't worry, it's clean. It's Ranks!If you'd like to join us over on Patreon, for two extra podcasts a week, we'd love to have you as part of our brilliant Ultras community! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

10 Nov 20211h 14min

Antonio Conte is the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur, and if this season's performances are anything to go by, he has a job on his hands. We're joined by Nathan A Clark of Tottenham podcast The Extra Inch to take a look at five issues which need to be the pillars of Conte's reign at the Lane if he's to succeed where plenty of others have failed.From structuring possession to reigniting the midfield creativity to leaving the club in a better place than he found it, it's a comprehensive look at how things are going to need to pan out under the Italian, if Spurs are going to reach similar levels of success to that which he's achieved elsewhere, both short and long-term.There's also Things We Love, which includes Dean waxing lyrical about the brilliance of West Ham United this season under David Moyes, and how they're a very well-coached unit honed by the togetherness of the squad; and Jack singing the praises of Giovanni Simeone, who is having a purple patch at a resurgent Hellas Verona.Our Melon(s) come from South America and a riled-up fanbase, whilst the Gibberish Rankings discuss the perils of living through Autumn at least once a year. It's Ranks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

3 Nov 202159min