Wednesday 08 July 2026
Andy Goldstein, Darren Bent, Troy Deeney – Talksport Drivetime (2026)
Some jovial sounds are coming from my wireless this afternoon. I’ve recently rediscovered TalkSport. It’s good background chatter to get me through the working day.
Another heatwave is supposedly upon us.
Or, more accurately, everyone is panicking because it’s got a little warm.
Bloody hell.
No football today.
For the first time in almost three weeks.
What on earth am I supposed to do after work?
It’s remarkable how quickly a World Cup takes over your life. A month ago, the thought of watching three matches a day sounded ridiculous. Now, one blank evening in the schedule feels like somebody has cancelled Christmas.
The Balogun fiasco continues to rumble on.
What on earth Donald Trump thought he was doing getting involved remains a mystery. It was a football issue, not a political one, and all his intervention achieved was winding Belgium up even more.
Sometimes the best contribution is no contribution at all.
His utter cluelessness about the beautiful game was baffling.
“I didn’t know what the hell a red card is.”
Everybody breathed a sigh of relief when Belgium comfortably disposed of the USA. None of it was the American team’s fault. Any momentum they had built disappeared the moment the President decided to involve himself.
Meddling idiot.
Then there was England.
What can I say?
Mexico provided a huge examination and England passed it.
You have to keep the quality of the opposition in perspective, but winning in that sort of footballing cauldron takes character.
For the first time in a long while, I’ve genuinely rediscovered some passion for the England team.
Norway await.
It won’t be easy.
Keep Erling Haaland quiet and England have every chance.
England have an unfortunate habit of raising expectations before pulling the rug from under us. World Cup 2018 under Gareth Southgate still lingers in the memory.
I’d love to see a semi-final against Messi.
Speaking of whom…
Argentina against Egypt was another World Cup classic.
Lionel Messi somehow dragged his side back into the contest in extraordinary fashion, although Egypt can feel understandably aggrieved.
Were the officials influenced by Messi’s reputation?
Football supporters have been asking versions of that question for decades.
VAR, meanwhile, continues to be inconsistently consistent, stepping in when it feels like it and remaining silent when it doesn’t.
I’m surprised Mr Trump hasn’t tried to intervene.
Finally, my beloved sweepstake outsiders, Switzerland, somehow stumbled through on penalties.
Watching it was hard work.
Supporting them has become unexpectedly stressful.
I can’t honestly see them stopping Argentina.
Then again…
I’ve been underestimating teams all tournament.
I’ll be cheering them on anyway.
WORLD CUP LOG #8
Manchester, England
The Listening Log 