Speaker 1: Joining us now.
Speaker 2: Oh, he's got a seatbelt on, so it is safe
Speaker 2: guesting with Ross Smith and we'll try and get our
Speaker 2: best Tony husband story while we're at it too, So
Speaker 2: there's row. Yes see, that's the idea.
Speaker 1: John N.
Speaker 3: Nice to see you.
Speaker 1: You're to be seen. Let's see. So you are safe
Speaker 1: guesting this morning? Where are you, sir?
Speaker 4: I am my apologies. I am actually heading to Nashville.
Speaker 4: Esse's training right now.
Speaker 1: Okay, so yeah, so.
Speaker 4: Whenever, yeah, whenever, I mean it's I'm in market, I
Speaker 4: live in Nashville, I'm based out of here. But on
Speaker 4: the Fridays, I love the access we get with Apple
Speaker 4: to be able to get on the training ground and
Speaker 4: chat with the coaches, and coaches have warmed up to
Speaker 4: it a bit more than the first year when they're
Speaker 4: a bit a bit, a bit skeptical of what we're
Speaker 4: up to coming onto the training ground, but now it's
Speaker 4: it's fantastic and the insight you get is.
Speaker 3: There's nothing like it to prep for the games.
Speaker 1: So you got BJ Callahan.
Speaker 2: When you get to show up on Fridays, what's it
Speaker 2: like to see the BJ Callahan era in Nashville compared
Speaker 2: to what Gary Smith had and he had going on.
Speaker 4: A different culture and I would say a different language
Speaker 4: and bj Callahan from the first day when he stepped
Speaker 4: on the training ground, the words that he was using
Speaker 4: is so different and unique to any other manager, not
Speaker 4: not just Gary Smith. He's made it his own and
Speaker 4: he's believed that the players, they all need to be
Speaker 4: on the same page as part of creating the culture
Speaker 4: that he wants, but the understanding as well. So he
Speaker 4: went when he uses certain terms and granted that was,
Speaker 4: you know, a year ago when he started out. Now
Speaker 4: when I'll step on the training ground today, everybody's talking
Speaker 4: the same talk. And I think that's it's really interesting
Speaker 4: to you know, to sort of see that. And then
Speaker 4: the style of what you go into and how he's
Speaker 4: approached it. He's very meticulous with his attacking phase of
Speaker 4: play and the spaces guys into. It's been, uh, it's
Speaker 4: been really neat to see him operate and how it's
Speaker 4: come together.
Speaker 1: What unlocked Sam Surage.
Speaker 3: His position?
Speaker 4: I think his position, and I know Gary Smith was
Speaker 4: was looking at that as well. And I think with
Speaker 4: with Sam playing more towards like a left winger, that's
Speaker 4: when he played, that's where he played when he was
Speaker 4: across in England.
Speaker 3: You know, I think that's his sweet spot.
Speaker 4: You know, it's It's interesting because Sam, when I say
Speaker 4: what stands out whenever you have a dos name player,
Speaker 4: I always say they have to have a separating feature.
Speaker 4: And when Sam first came in, I thought, I really
Speaker 4: don't know. He doesn't have blinding pace. He's not a
Speaker 4: beast in the air, and it's not as though its
Speaker 4: back to goal. He's bullying center backs. So what separates him?
Speaker 4: And for me now it's it's right place, right time.
Speaker 4: He understands where he needs to be. I think bj
Speaker 4: Callahan has made that very clear. And Tonney Mookdar also
Speaker 4: raising his game back to the levels that we've was
Speaker 4: known to Hanny since he's come into the league. You know,
Speaker 4: Hani's backed as well, and that certainly helps Sam surge.
Speaker 4: But you know, the positioning, the starting position of Sam
Speaker 4: surg I think he feels a lot more comfortable and
Speaker 4: he's used to that position from when he was at
Speaker 4: his best back at England.
Speaker 2: Traditionally it would be for going up against Nashville, you
Speaker 2: pin in Honey mooktar, you cut off the supply lines.
Speaker 1: Nashville doesn't have that second option.
Speaker 2: Now under BJ, you've got Sam and then there are
Speaker 2: some other supporting players that take advantage of this positional gravity.
Speaker 2: Who else, in your mind has benefited the most from
Speaker 2: the unlocking of surage and Hanni getting back to being honey.
Speaker 3: It's a great, great question.
Speaker 4: And you know, I'll tie this back in when he said,
Speaker 4: you know the difference with Gary Smith would.
Speaker 3: Say Gary didn't he didn't have Patrick Gasbeck.
Speaker 4: He didn't have Eddie tag Seth, And they make a
Speaker 4: massive difference. And the style to which BJ can play
Speaker 4: now is that they press higher up the pitch. They
Speaker 4: can keep teams, teams locked in their own half, they
Speaker 4: can keep their team on the front foot in the
Speaker 4: front half, and so they make a massive difference.
Speaker 3: So there's wave after wave now coming.
Speaker 4: I don't think any tag Seth John has been given
Speaker 4: enough credit for what he is is done for the team.
Speaker 4: If there was an MVP category in terms of the
Speaker 4: most truly the most valuable player, he's got to be
Speaker 4: in the conversation for what he does winning second balls,
Speaker 4: you know, biting at the other teams their ankles, not
Speaker 4: allowing them to find a rhythm in the game. He
Speaker 4: makes the most difference for guys like Schaffelberg to go
Speaker 4: and and I still don't think we're quite seeing the
Speaker 4: best of Schaffelberg.
Speaker 3: We're seeing it in in glimpses what he can do.
Speaker 4: But Alex Mweel, I think he's the biggest benefactor of
Speaker 4: what we've seen in terms of players off the radar
Speaker 4: to what you wouldn't notice right away. You want to
Speaker 4: talk about Sirch, you want to talk about Haney, Mootar.
Speaker 4: Now we're starting to talk about Tag seven p Gasp.
Speaker 4: I think alexman Wheel has had the best season he's
Speaker 4: had an MLS. It's the position he takes up. It's
Speaker 4: the role he's been asked to do. And you know
Speaker 4: the guys that are around him as well. I've certainly
Speaker 4: benefited from the quality of of tech Seth and the aspect.
Speaker 2: Russ Smith practicing safe guesting on his way to practice
Speaker 2: this morning in Nashville, hanging out with us year on
Speaker 2: s D H A M. It is the Purple team
Speaker 2: coming to g Otis. We can't we can't use the
Speaker 2: O word here. Uh in an Atlantic program Ross so uh.
Speaker 2: They played in the midweek Gallesse ends up getting the
Speaker 2: same and the shot and the clincher in the PKS
Speaker 2: which was insane. What kind of a lineup are you
Speaker 2: anticipating for the Purple team coming to the Fairgrounds and
Speaker 2: the Speedway to take on Nashville this weekend.
Speaker 3: I think it's really uh, it's it's interesting. I don't know.
Speaker 3: And the one thing is that's helped them is that
Speaker 3: their their game.
Speaker 4: Next weekend, which my my partner Tony husband and I
Speaker 4: we were going to be covering their game has been
Speaker 4: pushed now to October eleventh, and so that allows them
Speaker 4: then to maybe turn out a stronger team today to
Speaker 4: be able to then flip that around and turn it
Speaker 4: turn it around against Miami knowing that they have next weekend,
Speaker 4: you know, with.
Speaker 3: Without that game. So I it's it's interesting.
Speaker 4: I think Oscaria that's the one the one standout feature
Speaker 4: to what he's done is depth in this team, and
Speaker 4: he's he's almost got two players for each position. And
Speaker 4: and for me, Oscar Perea, I don't think he's in
Speaker 4: the conversation enough for for being sought manager what he
Speaker 4: does with players from scattered all over the world. And
Speaker 4: I know that's the league we're in now, but there's
Speaker 4: there's no better example than Orlando, where you know, I
Speaker 4: feel like you have two players from from each part
Speaker 4: of the world that have come to his team and
Speaker 4: they found the common thread. So getting back to your question,
Speaker 4: you know, I think it'll be a semi strong team,
Speaker 4: but I don't think it matters because I think he's
Speaker 4: got the rotation, he's got the buy in, and he's
Speaker 4: got he's got twenty players that at any point can
Speaker 4: step in and do the job.
Speaker 2: And I think what we've also seen with Oscar and
Speaker 2: probably like over the last two seasons, it seemed like
Speaker 2: old Oscar when he realized, Okay, I'm safe, I'm in
Speaker 2: the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Everythink's cool.
Speaker 2: He would decelerate and then it's like, okay, purple teams
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, everything's cool, and then they hit the
Speaker 2: wall the second they get into the postseason.
Speaker 1: That's not the case anymore.
Speaker 2: With Orlando, they're just still pedaled down and they haven't
Speaker 2: taken the foot off the accelerator win their late season anymore.
Speaker 4: They know what they are, John, And I mean, first
Speaker 4: and foremost, when you talk about all the stylistic points
Speaker 4: that I think in Nashville will get and you know,
Speaker 4: seems like San Diego first and foremost, they are horrible
Speaker 4: to play against Orlando, and I think they embrace it
Speaker 4: every game they go in.
Speaker 3: It's a street fight, it's a brawl, and teams know it.
Speaker 3: They have to be up for it. They have to
Speaker 3: be up for the gamesmanship.
Speaker 4: Players like Schlegel, I think he defines what Oscar Perea's
Speaker 4: side is all about. That he will fight and he'll
Speaker 4: he'll go for every little moment to go his way,
Speaker 4: and that is just it reverberates throughout the whole team,
Speaker 4: and that's what they're about. So first and foremost they fight,
Speaker 4: and I think they wear you down. And then you
Speaker 4: get into a long season, you start to step into
Speaker 4: playoffs and you think, oh my goodness, we've got Orlando again.
Speaker 3: You know, the body's may be a bit tired.
Speaker 4: We're piecing ourselves together, and we got to go up
Speaker 4: against this team who aren't going to give us a
Speaker 4: second to breathe. That's where they get at you, and
Speaker 4: that's where I think they become stronger and stronger, because
Speaker 4: every single player knows what they're about. Every single player
Speaker 4: fights for their lives for every single ninety minutes, even
Speaker 4: at this stage of the season.
Speaker 2: So then how do you combat that kind of a team. Say,
Speaker 2: say you're on the opposed touch. You're going into this
Speaker 2: matchup knowing it's going to be a street fight. Do
Speaker 2: you match street fight for street fight? Do you change
Speaker 2: your mindset a little bit? How do you attack a
Speaker 2: street fight in this case?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's it's difficult because you can't get sucked in
Speaker 4: because that's exactly what they want is to rile you up.
Speaker 4: But then at the same time, you can't back down.
Speaker 4: So you have to find that that balance of not
Speaker 4: losing your head. And and think about you know what
Speaker 4: Messi in his first year, nobody could figure out the
Speaker 4: formula to to to beat Miami until Orlando came out
Speaker 4: along in a ujo in the center of the park,
Speaker 4: God under Messi's skin, you know, and you thought, that's
Speaker 4: the first player to do that to Messi. And Orlando
Speaker 4: turns Miami over. It's impressive. You gotta find the balance.
Speaker 4: You got to find the balance, and you've you've got
Speaker 4: to as best as you can let your quality show through,
Speaker 4: and that's will have plenty of it.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: If you don't have the quality, then you have to
Speaker 4: grind it out against them. But you have to match
Speaker 4: it to a certain level, but you have to trust
Speaker 4: that your quality and you have to rise above it
Speaker 4: with with your ability levels.
Speaker 2: Okay, let me go through secondary transfer window. Will do
Speaker 2: some of the greatest hits here. As you're on your
Speaker 2: way to practice. Paxton Aronson comes from Europe comes back
Speaker 2: to Major League Soccer. That's another big get for MLS
Speaker 2: three point zero whatever you want to call it. You
Speaker 2: now have players from Europe who are of the US
Speaker 2: M and T quality coming back to play here in
Speaker 2: Major League Soccer. How big a get is having somebody
Speaker 2: like Aaronson come back to Major League Soccer.
Speaker 3: At his age as well the European experience.
Speaker 4: You know, you've seen it with Mahalovich when you know
Speaker 4: coming back to Colorado and then obviously Toronto and the
Speaker 4: amount of money they've paid, So it's it's great for
Speaker 4: It's great for MLS getting guys in their prime and
Speaker 4: wanting to come back to a league that's you know,
Speaker 4: they were very much a part of before and helping
Speaker 4: to grow. And I think that's important. And when he
Speaker 4: hit on that point, is that players who want to
Speaker 4: be here to see the league grow.
Speaker 3: I think you're starting to see more and more of that.
Speaker 4: Yes, you know Paxton being an American, but you've seen other
Speaker 4: players from outside the country.
Speaker 3: They want to be part of something and to push
Speaker 3: it forward.
Speaker 4: But in terms of this transfer, when John is as
Speaker 4: well with other you know, big ticket names coming in,
Speaker 4: obviously Muller, obviously Sun for for l a FC.
Speaker 3: You know, everybody's making a push.
Speaker 4: Columbus crew have gone out and signed a designated attack
Speaker 4: or designated player attacker, spend a lot of money on it,
Speaker 4: you know, Cincinnati. I don't know if it's over the line,
Speaker 4: but Brenner's coming back. It sounds like who was terrific.
Speaker 4: I don't know if that's over lined by today. But
Speaker 4: it's just the names that are coming back in and
Speaker 4: more and more. The talent is UH is improving and
Speaker 4: and I'll finish on this.
Speaker 3: What what has stuck with me? I sat with Jim Curtin.
Speaker 4: I think it was the start of last season and
Speaker 4: Jim Kurtin, I'm waiting to see where he's gonna pop up.
Speaker 4: But Jim Curtin said, what other league overpays for play
Speaker 4: than MLS? And he said, we'll go out and we'll
Speaker 4: spend a little bit more to be able to bring
Speaker 4: in the talent. And he's right when you do actually
Speaker 4: sit and you think, what are the leagues in the
Speaker 4: world will pay the money that that MLS is paying,
Speaker 4: and you know it's a it's a league now that
Speaker 4: is taking you know, more investment, further pride in the
Speaker 4: talent coming in and they're willing to spend a bit
Speaker 4: more than other leagues to bring that time.
Speaker 2: All right, what's your best Tony husband's story? I know
Speaker 2: you turn into a pumpkin here in a second.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, my best Tony husband's story.
Speaker 4: You know what Tony Tony as He's never won for
Speaker 4: a signature goal call, and this one stands out to
Speaker 4: me because Tony to find humor in his own jokes.
Speaker 3: You know, that's that's never won for him.
Speaker 4: But our Saint Louis game last year, we had Nelly,
Speaker 4: who was from Saint Louis going to be He delivered
Speaker 4: the match ball and he was in the stands and
Speaker 4: he is asked for the producer. If Saint Louis score,
Speaker 4: make sure you get a shot of Nelly because I've
Speaker 4: got a great gold call and that's never Tony. Tony's
Speaker 4: gold calls are always you know, off the cuff, and
Speaker 4: he had it ready that and he didn't tell me,
Speaker 4: and it wasn't until after the game it was nil nil,
Speaker 4: so I never got to do the gold call. But
Speaker 4: he wanted if Saint Louis scored, there was going to
Speaker 4: be a shot of Nelly and he was gonna go.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's getting hot in here. See it's so cheesy.
Speaker 3: John though, it's so cheesy.
Speaker 4: But I thought that's brilliant and it had me in
Speaker 4: stitches because it's so unlike Tony and he was so
Speaker 4: happy with it.
Speaker 2: Well, I would have I would have said that it
Speaker 2: was something like I'm from the lou and I'm proud.
Speaker 2: That would have been what I would have done if
Speaker 2: it was a Nelly shot in there. Just don't talk
Speaker 2: Plymouth argyle with him. I think that's the key with
Speaker 2: you can't talk because all right, full disclosure, Tony's been
Speaker 2: on with us in this time slot before and over
Speaker 2: my shoulder in my studio, I'm in a hotel room
Speaker 2: about two hours east southeast of Atlanta today in my
Speaker 2: studio space over my shoulder, I have the Plymouth art
Speaker 2: our guyle AFC Wimbledon Promotion Playoffs scarf over my shoulder
Speaker 2: because I'm a member of the Dons trust.
Speaker 1: I forgot.
Speaker 2: I kind of conveniently forgot to tell Tony that that
Speaker 2: I'm a Don's trust and so literally I just I
Speaker 2: shifted over and I said yeah, and I've got that,
Speaker 2: and he noticed that I had the plymouth arg gyle
Speaker 2: thing there, and it's just like, yeah, man, we're just
Speaker 2: we're not good this year. And it's literally, if you
Speaker 2: get him going on a plymouth argyle riff, he's gone
Speaker 2: and you can't bring him back.
Speaker 1: And it's awesome.
Speaker 4: To me and with Wayne Rooney when he went there
Speaker 4: and he couldn't believe it.
Speaker 3: It was. It was tough times.
Speaker 4: We were having an extra pint at the bar nights
Speaker 4: after games to talk about to commiserate over his time
Speaker 4: with Uh with Rooney, I've got to ask you before
Speaker 4: I know, you've probably got to cut me loose. But
Speaker 4: uh so you were Don's Dons and are you Don's Wimbledon?
Speaker 1: Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa whoa.
Speaker 2: You just mentioned you mentioned a team that's a bunch
Speaker 2: of carpetbaggers, sir, that the on the ones that exited. Okay,
Speaker 2: so here here the deal. And I thought you were
Speaker 2: turning into a pumpkin because you parked. Okay, so I
Speaker 2: got a couple of minutes here. Full disclosure. When I
Speaker 2: when I started, like a decade or so ago, getting
Speaker 2: back into the EFL and the English Pyramid and all
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff, I thought it would be cool
Speaker 2: to join a trust in each of the divisions. And
Speaker 2: so what I did is I joined Swansea's trust, I
Speaker 2: joined Pompey's trust. I joined AFC Wimbledon, and I joined
Speaker 2: Scunthorpe United. And I'm like, okay, I've got one in
Speaker 2: each and you know, it costs like sixty bucks a
Speaker 2: year to do all four and that's cool and everything.
Speaker 2: And you know, when a Portsmouth was being sold, they
Speaker 2: send you this forty page document that you've got to
Speaker 2: go through and you know, approve it to Michael Eiser,
Speaker 2: all this kind of stuff, and I'm like, yeah, great,
Speaker 2: I've got one in each of the four divisions. Then
Speaker 2: that whole pro rail thing got in the way, and
Speaker 2: so literally I'm now having teams playing each other that
Speaker 2: I have trusts again with, you know, so it's like
Speaker 2: AFC Wimbledon's playing Portsmouth. I'm losing my hair about what's
Speaker 2: going on with all of this stuff? But no, I
Speaker 2: am AFC Wimbledon. I've got the document on the other
Speaker 2: side of the desk back in the office.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: And so that literally was I'm look when AFC Wimbledon.
Speaker 2: And I didn't tell Tony this either. When Ak and
Speaker 2: Fenn was scored the penalty to secure promotion, I was
Speaker 2: screaming in the office and.
Speaker 1: The boss back home.
Speaker 2: Literally she comes running downstairs and she's like, what is
Speaker 2: going on?
Speaker 1: Is everything okay? I said, yeah, yeah, everything's great.
Speaker 2: We just got promoted and so and she's like, oh
Speaker 2: that and then she just kind of did her hand
Speaker 2: and then she goes back upstairs. But yeah, so that's
Speaker 2: I didn't tell Tony that part about Ak and Finn
Speaker 2: won the PK.
Speaker 1: I didn't get it. So, yes, literally, that's that's how
Speaker 1: that is.
Speaker 3: What are you gonna get? Have you had Robbie urrole
Speaker 3: on your show?
Speaker 4: So I learned sort of my trade of broadcast under
Speaker 4: Robbi eurro because we're both at Portland's and what a guy,
Speaker 4: What a fantastic guide, what a fantastic person mental But
Speaker 4: if you want stories, what a guy for.
Speaker 2: That is you get Robbie on here and we probably
Speaker 2: I'd budget twenty and we'd probably go for an hour
Speaker 2: and a half.
Speaker 1: Have a great call with Tony. Now that you have
Speaker 1: the key, now that you have.
Speaker 2: The garage door opener. Like I tell everybody else that
Speaker 2: comes on in this ten o'clock slot, Tony Terren's you
Speaker 2: witting Ham, all of you. You get bored on a
Speaker 2: Friday and you want to pop in and here in
Speaker 2: the hour of chaos, say you're three minutes, get in
Speaker 2: and get out. That's what this hour is for for
Speaker 2: all of you to kind of sit there and so like, hey,
Speaker 2: I'm sitting here at practice and I figured out would
Speaker 2: check in.
Speaker 1: That's what this ten o'clock East hour is.
Speaker 2: Four Rock, you've got the garage door opener, go to
Speaker 2: practice and have a good call this weekend.
Speaker 3: I would love to come on again. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: John the evet that goes ross Smith, He's going to practice.