Why Bellingham isn't a Tuchel player, Irish joy and Ronaldo woe
The Game
The Times
3.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 17 November 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
He's back in the squad but can Jude Bellingham cement his place in the England team by next summer? Tom Clarke is joined by Tony Cascarino, Tom Allnutt and Gregor Robertson to discuss why the Real Madrid star continues to clash with the England manager Thomas Tuchel, and to debate the other starting spots in the England squad that are up for grabs.
They also discuss Ireland's heroics after securing a play-off place in dramatic fashion, and which Times columnist has a WhatsApp group dedicated to Ireland's historic World Cup success?
Also on the agenda: Scotland's match against Denmark, Italy's continued struggles and the Wythenshawe Vets - the Sunday League team packed with Premier League stars.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the game. |
| 0:06.2 | Football podcast from The Times. |
| 0:07.9 | England might have qualified for the World Cup with a perfect record, |
| 0:10.9 | but it was Ireland and Troy Parrott who stole the headlines this weekend |
| 0:14.1 | by securing a dramatic last-minute playoff place with a 3-2 win against Hungary |
| 0:19.0 | after that brilliant victory against Portugal too. |
| 0:22.7 | On today's show, we'll discuss Ireland's miracles, Cristiana Ronaldo's final role as a pantomime |
| 0:27.2 | villain, and debate the tension that exists between Thomas Tuchel and some of his benched |
| 0:31.4 | superstars. We'll also look at the other big stories from qualification and finish by hearing |
| 0:35.8 | about the former Premier League stars now playing Sunday League football. I'm Tom Clark and joining me today we have the reporter |
| 0:41.7 | and European football expert Tom Allnut, the former footballer turned journalist Gregor |
| 0:45.8 | Robertson and the former Republic of Ireland striker and Times columnist straight from the pub and |
| 0:50.7 | into the studio. It's Tony Cascarino. |
| 0:53.9 | Called off the bench. You know, didn't I? I never saw the night. I've seen Tom's on. I've even said to me misses as I'm on the city. I'm going, I'm doing the podcast tomorrow. So just to be clear, this is Tony Cascarino conforming to type, being a former footballer, a bit of a prima donner, he wasn't originally down to do this show. |
| 1:11.0 | Now you dropped me. |
| 1:12.0 | Yeah, I left you on the back burner for Thursday. |
| 1:15.1 | I wanted you come in with the big insights, but then I thought, no, we're going to have to get you in. |
| 1:18.4 | Tony says that the 1990 World Cup WhatsApp group has been going wild. |
| 1:22.5 | Yeah, it was hilarious watching the game last night. |
| 1:24.7 | You must be getting it. |
| 1:25.9 | I mean, it's in the 90s WhatsApp group. |
| 1:27.6 | It's all the players, obviously, that were there. |
... |
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