Hello, hello,

Hello, everybody, and welcome to a big thing episode of The Total Soccer Show.

My name is Taylor Rockwell.

And each Friday, we like to take a look back at a big story, issue or concept that's dominating the headlines, but we haven't really been able to dive into yet.

This week, we're talking impending vacancies.

I capitalized that phrase because reasons.

Much like a hotel with a noon checkout at 1150. We've got looming departures.

Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and theoretically Barcelona are all expected to be without managers at the end of the season.

And multiple other clubs could quickly find themselves in similar situations.

So who's leaving? Who might be arriving? And who might be staying after saying they were leaving. Here with me to talk it all out are Joe Lowry. Hello, Joe. Hello, man. I feel like the hotel checkout times are just getting early and earlier. Like it's noon or is it 11? Is it 9 a.m.? What time do I need to be out of this place, man? Tell me. You don't need to know, Joe. You don't need to know until they show up banging at the door, in which case, probably get out at that point. Now, Joe, you've been linked with the Byron Munich gig. Is that correct? Yeah. I'm just waiting for them to meet my salary demands and for them to finally realize that Julian Naguismann is the X they shouldn't go back to. But once we get those, you know, very small details sorted out, I am planning to head to Bavaria.

Good details to work out. And Graham Ruffin joining us, Graham has been linked with, according to reliable sources, A Chiki Nando's, whatever that is. Hi, Graham. Hello, Taylor. Love being linked to Chiqui Nandos. hopefully we'll be linked to her cheeky anders at some point this weekend, if all goes well. I hope for the best for you, Graham. So Joe gets by our

music. Graham gets chicken. Perfect. Let's dive straight in. I think I clearly went in that scenario.

You really might be. Let's dive in by first talking some more about Chavi Alonzo. Because it's about to me, like we had a game of Domino's set up. We just needed to see where Chambia Jabi Alonzo would go. Then the rest would start to fall. Instead, he's staying at Leverkusen. Joe, this was a surprise to me. I believe it was a surprise for Graham and to you. Our Discord seems to think this wasn't a surprise at all because it was logical for him to stay at Leverkusen. So let's start there. What would you say are the primary reasons he's decided to stay in Germany for another season? It sort of seems like this is just who Chabi Alonzo is. And credit to Graham, because you were the first person, and I think probably of the three of us, the least surprised about this whole thing happening. You pointed out on, what was that Monday, the days are really running together for me this week, about how when Shabbi Alonso was at Socied, coaching in their system, not coaching the first team in Spain, coaching their second team, that he was given a chance to go and coach Barusia Manchin Glad Gladbeck in the Bundesliga, a well-respected, like solid mid-to-upor-mid-table Bundesliga club. And he said, no. He said, I'm going to stick around in Spain and do this for another year and continue to grow as a manager. So in a lot of ways, this sort of just seems to be who Shabi Alonzo is. Like, this is a very, very similar

situation. I thought, and maybe this is me just being jaded at this point, I thought, I mean, so many big clubs open. Like, yeah, okay, Shabi Alonzo showed some patience in the past. He seems, by all accounts, like a smart dude. It seems like a very good manager. Maybe one of the, one of the ones that in my estimations, likeations can actually tangibly impact a team on the extremes. Like, he seems like he's got a pretty good hat on their shoulders, but I thought at a certain point that would run out. Because I don't know if I could, if I was Shabby Alonzo, turn down a Liverpool or a Bayern Munich. Two teams that, by all accounts, were very, very interested in getting Shabby Alonzo on board. Surely that comes with a nice little pay raise, although Alonzo is not necessarily hurting for money after an illustrious professional playing career. But like, these doors only open up so often. And you don't truly know what's going to happen in another season. You might miss your window, even though we all think that's probably pretty unlikely for Alonzo. He's still going to have offers, but you just don't know. In life, you just don't have the answer to what's going to happen in a year. And so that was the big reason, even though he showed patience before, that was the reason I thought, hey, he's at a great year with Leverkusen. There's pretty much nowhere to go but down for him at Leverkusen, frankly, and he will go down in the league table. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't next year, or at least in terms of points or something along those lines.

He will not... for him at Leverkusen, frankly, and he will go down in the league table. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't next year, or at least in terms of points,

or something along those lines. He will not have the same success. You don't think they can go two years undefeated, Joe? It seems unlikely, doesn't it, Taylor? But, man, it does, in a lot of ways, feel like Alonzo making another Shabby Alonzo decision, and a lot of those Shabia Lantso decisions have gone very, very well.

Yeah, I don't want it to revise what we said on... making another Shabia Lanzo decision, and a lot of those Shabia Lanzo decisions have gone very, very well.

Yeah, I don't want it to revise what we said on Monday when Jabby Alonzo last Friday a week today.

Say you called it all along, Graham.

No, I did not at all. I was surprised when those words came out of his mouth.

And I think a lot of people were, I'm not convinced by Munich and Liverpool were surprised.

There's some interesting reporting that has come out after the fact. And with that context and with

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