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The Squareball podcast.

Welcome to the show. This is The West Stand, our guest show that you'll find in your feed on a Monday and a Friday, generally speaking.

It's available on YouTube if you'd like to watch.

If you want to listen, it's in your podcast app.

Guests from across the world of Leeds United people who you might just find in the West Stand. My name's Dan Moyland. Hello. With me is Michael Norfolkne. Hello there. NordVPN, Michael. We enjoyed its use extensively last week when we were in Ireland. extensively, That's correct. That's correct. Hotel Wi-Fi.

Hotel Wi-Fi? Your 55-inch teller you took everywhere with you. Your fire sticks. Your tablets. All of them. Ten devices, it was, in total. You're listing that because you can use it on up to ten devices. Yeah, we took all ten just to test it, didn't we? And it worked on all ten. Because of fortune. Which was great. In hand luggage.

Yes, VPA is a virtual private network,

which means that your device will connect securely to a remote server, either in your country or abroad, and nobody can see your traffic. It keeps it nice and secure, for example, on hotel Wi-Fi. It means you can watch sport TV and movies that are not available in your native region by switching virtual location. Keep your traffic away from Prying eyes. As Michael said, it's available on up to 10 devices with your account. Turn it on with a single click and you are protected and you're sorted on the fastest VPN in the world, which is backed by a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. To get hold of it, NordvPN.com slash TSB. That link will give you additional months off on top of your discounted two-year plan.

NordvPN.com slash TSB. There's a link in the episode description box. Joining us today from The Athletic, here is Berencross. Beren, how are you doing you right? I'm good. Welcome back, chaps. Your livers are in good state. Yep. Just like getting that. Well, we'll see.

It's more long-term damage than has been done rather short.

Well, the'll see.

It's more long-term damage than has been done rather than shot. The fact you weren't stopped at customs show you had a pretty good time and you get your noses clean. Yeah, something like that. Although, Michael, you did do a little bit of light smuggling. I did accidentally bring a penknife through airport security. Isn't entirely reassuring when you're getting on a plane,

is that you manage to get quite a large knife through the airport.

But, you know, all's well that ends well. It isn't entirely reassuring when you're getting on a plane, is that you've managed to get quite a large knife through the airport.

But, you know, all's well that ends well. All fine. So, Berrin, let's rewind to what's happened through the week. And it's been the international break. You went down to Wembley to be reunited with Marcelo Bielsa. How was it? It's a dire game. I would much rather have been sat with you chaps in terms of a spectacle.

But it was just a dire game. I would much rather have been sat with you, Japs, in terms of a spectacle. But it was just a nostalgia, really, and I think that's probably why so many Leeds fans went. I don't know if you guys have seen any of it, but there was, thankfully, the TV cameras picked to a couple of lads with Pudsy White's flags in the gangways. I thankfully heard three fans near the press boxing. and sadly because obviously you you've got 80,000 people in there's pockets of leads fans everywhere. It's not like they're all together. So the songs were never going to cut through. But thankfully, like I said, I heard two or three right near the press box who were chanting his name during breaks and play, which was nice. And yet, it was, it was just little things like just seeing, seeing him sat on his box, you know, seeing the way he was gesticulating with the players, you know, the way he was, you know, the palms out from hip height, like demanding more and sort of forgetting where the technical air wasn't sort of wandering down the pitch, they were shouting at his staff to do his bidding. And it was quite nice. He made a beeline for Ben White, which was, which again, was quite a nice little sort of flashback to, to, yes, the year. Ben White obviously started on the bench for England. And, you know, Bielser obviously is very much someone who doesn't kind of, what he said in his pre-match presser, didn't he? He finds it hard to kind of reflect back on nostalgia and finds it quite difficult because there's such cherished memories.

But he obviously shook two callsand and then made an effort to go to Ben White in the, you say it to dugout, but you know, on the sort of the seats behind. I made an effort to go and say hello to him and asked him afterwards, you know, what did you say to him? And he said, you know, only a chance to say hello and just say that I've, you know, I've greatly admired the development of his career and I've got a great affection for him for the time

we had in Leeds together and only a chance to say hello and just say that I've, you know, I've greatly admired the development of his career

and I've got a great affection for him for the time we had in Leeds together. And a lot of years have passed and, you know, I think people's maybe opinion had been why it might have Searwood sort of with the fact you went to Brighton and then Arsenal. But when you think back, he was phenomenal in that promotion season, played every single minute and he was, he was flawless. So that was quite nice,

seeing him be able to reflect back in his own way on his, on his time at Leeds. You tabbing into the feelings of nostalgia. Did you feel nostalgic? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Being there just seeing like little things like the cool box be wheeled out. Yeah, yeah. So obviously, at Leeds, of course, it was the famous blue bucket, but on International Duty, he had one was obviously I was watching him. I was obviously down there to kind of do a piece on Bielsa and the reunion with Leeds fans and was sort of trying to watch as much of him as I could. And one of the minions sort of wheeled out the cool box gives it a little wipe. And then Bielsa just stood there sort of gripping his shoulder like, well done, good boy. And then he takes his seat, of course, and he's on his perch and then watching the game from that vantage point that he likes. So we did the pro's match presser and so if you have that brief moment where you get a chance to say hello to him before the presser then kicks in. But of course, he doesn't look up, does he? Like, he smiles and we'll sort of give a slight little sort of nod, but he doesn't actually look up at eye contact. Not that he'd have recognized me anyway, but I want to just sort of have a chance of saying, you know, I remember, hopefully you sort of remember our time that leads and sort of covering your presses for three and a half years, but never really had that eye contact, to be honest so it was nice to ask him a question and to have the translation and things and go through the motions like that and hear his voice and hear his opinions on football. I think the pre-match press was probably better. He got into the, like I say, the nostalgia of Leeds and his time there and the problems with modern football. He just always puts it across in such a perfect way, doesn't he? The nostalgia and the returning, I think, is quite an interesting thread to pull on. We featured it, didn't we, as part of the live shows over in Ireland. We put the quote up on the screen, and then we chatted about it on stage, but also threw it to the crowd, would you want him back? And I feel like the overall sentiment is always yes, but it is all rooted in nostalgia and fondness, isn't it? Because there is a danger that it doesn't go as well, second time around as it did, first time around, and you're constantly comparing the two experiences. Ahead of the game, we did a piece, a chatting to put a word out for Leeds fans on social media

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