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Football Daily

The Commentators' View: Robot Wars, Cantona & Bodø

Football Daily

BBC

Sports, Soccer

4.34.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jonathan Pearce joins John Murray & Ian Dennis to talk football, travel & language. John is back from Bodø, Jonathan tells tales of changing football on the radio, his thoughts on the Cantona kung-fu kick commentary & Robot Wars reflections. Plus which commentary phrase will JP add to our Great Glossary? Suggestions welcome on WhatsApp voicenotes to 08000 289 369 & emails to TCV@bbc.co.uk

00:25 John back from Bodø, 04:00 5 Live commentaries this weekend, 10:55 Does Jonathan like the new Champions League format? 13:15 How Jonathan changed football on the radio, 24:35 Jonathan’s best gaffes, 32:25 Cantona’s kung-fu kick, 39:05 Robot Wars reflections, 44:40 Great Glossary of Football Commentary, 54:05 Bonus Bobby Moore story.

5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Sat 1500 Burnley v Tottenham, Sat 1500 Man City v Wolves, Sat 1730 Bournemouth v Liverpool. Sun 1400 Newcastle v Aston Villa, Sun 1400 Crystal Palace v Chelsea on Sports Extra, Sun 1400 Brentford v Nott’m Forest on Sports Extra 2, Sun 1630 Arsenal v Man Utd, Wed 2000 PSG v Newcastle, Wed 2000 Man City v Galatasaray on Sports Extra, Wed 2000 Napoli v Chelsea on Sports Extra 2.

Great Glossary of Football Commentary: DIVISION ONE Back to square one, Bosman, Cruyff Turn, Cultured/educated left foot, Dead-ball specialist, Draught excluder, Elastico/flip-flap Fox in the box, Giving the goalkeeper the eyes, Grub hunter, Head tennis, Hibs it, In a good moment, In behind, Magic of the FA Cup, The Maradona, Off their line, Olimpico, Onion bag, Panenka, Park the bus, Perfect hat-trick, Rabona, Roy of the Rovers stuff, Schmeichel-style, Scorpion kick, Spursy, Tiki-taka, Trivela, Where the kookaburra sleeps, Where the owl sleeps, Where the spiders sleep. DIVISION TWO Back on the grass, Ball stays hit, Beaten all ends up, Blaze over the bar, Business end, Came down with snow on it, Catching practice, Camped in the opposition half, Cauldron atmosphere Coat is on a shoogly peg, Come back to haunt them, Corridor of uncertainty, Couldn’t sort their feet out, Easy tap-in, Daisy-cutter, First cab off the rank, Giant-killing, Good leave, Half-turn, Has that in his locker, High wide and not very handsome, Hospital pass, Howler, In the dugout, In their pocket, Johnny on the spot, Leading the line, Nice headache to have, Nutmeg, On their bike, One for the cameras, One for the purists, Played us off the park, Points to the spot, Prawn sandwich brigade, Purple patch, Put their laces through it, Reaches for their pocket, Rolls Royce, Root and branch review, Row Z, Screamer, Seats on the plane, Show across the bows, Slide-rule pass, Steal a march, Straight in the bread basket, Stramash, Taking one for the team, Telegraphed that pass, Tired legs, That’s great… (football), Thunderous strike, Turns on a sixpence, Walk it in, We’ve got a cup tie on our hands. UNSORTED 2-0 is a dangerous score, After you Claude, All-Premier League affair, Aplomb, Bag/box of tricks, Brace, Brandished, Bread and butter, Breaking the deadlock, Bundled over the line, Champions elect / champions apparent, Clinical finish, Commentator’s curse, Coupon buster, Denied by the woodwork, Draught excluder, Elimination line, Fellow countryman, Foot race, Formerly of this parish, Free hit, Goalkeepers’ Union, Goalmouth scramble, Good touch for a big man, Honeymoon Period, In and around, In the shop window, Keeping ball under their spell, Keystone Cops defending, Languishing, Loitering with intent, Marching orders, Nestle in the bottom corner, Numbered derbies, Opposite number, PK for penalty-kick, Postage stamp, Put it in the mixer, Rasping shot, Red wine not white wine, Relegation six-pointer, Rooted at the bottom, Route One, Sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, Shooting boots, Sleeping giants, Slide rule pass, Small matter of, Spiders web, Stayed hit, Steepling, Stinging the palms, Stonewall penalty, Straight off the training ground, Taking one for the team, Team that likes to play football, Throw their cap on it, Thruppenny bit head / 50p head, Towering header, Two good feet, Turning into a basketball match, Turning into a cricket score, Usher/Shepherd the ball out of play, Walking a disciplinary tightrope, Wand of a left foot, Wrap foot around it, Your De Bruynes, your Gundogans etc.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts.

0:05.7

Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked.

0:12.7

But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's Saturday bonus episodes,

0:18.2

The Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Ryland, and comedy specials from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffel and Romash Ranganathan.

0:25.9

However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncloked.

0:30.3

So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds.

0:35.1

The commentator's view on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis.

0:43.2

Hello, welcome to the Football Daily.

0:45.2

I'm Ian Dennis and this is The Commentators View where we five live commentators talk about football,

0:50.3

the language that comes with it, and our travels across the continent,

0:55.1

talking of which,

1:02.3

correspondent John Murray, you are back from the Arctic. Back from the Arctic Circle. Yes,

1:08.3

the most northerly outpost of the Champions League, and I know we've talked about it probably since we started doing this podcast.

1:18.3

And Ali, Bruce Ball, was able to experience it last season in the semifinals of the Europa League.

1:19.8

But that was in springtime.

1:21.8

We went in January.

1:33.3

And I think the most remarkable thing is that from this time last week, I got there and back and the match was played without a hitch.

1:38.3

Incredible. In the middle of January. I think that is almost a miracle.

1:42.0

Well, given your record, that is... Exactly that. That is remarkable.

1:44.9

We'll talk more about that in a moment.

1:46.7

There is no Alley this week, actually.

1:49.8

So we've taken the opportunity to make a January signing.

...

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