Drinking Inside the Box – Details, episodes & analysis

After a week off of premier league action we return with Liverpool showing signs of fatigue with 3 games in 7 days, appearing to open the door for an exciting Arsenal chase.  Elsewhere the Champions League new and improved knock-outs into the knock-outs(?) finished and we anxiously await the draw for the round of 16 so the real business can resume. Apart from City, England still boast 6 of their 7 European representatives, and boy does that feel good to say.  Especially with their new man opening his account in a big way at the weekend against Newcastle.  We talk about the relegation stinker between Spurs and United and the resurgence of Everton.  Forest are felled by Fulham, and Brighton embarrass Chelsea, hear all this and more on the latest episode!  

With big wins from Liverpool, Arsenal, and Forest, the red wave of goals at the end of the weekend was 14-1 in the red teams at the top of the table's favor.  Everton continues their revival under Moyes, and keep them hot on the heels of Spurs and United.  A big win for Wolves keep them at bay of the chasing relegation battle but just barely.  Off the field the action is just as fiery, as Rashford takes Amorim's words and runs, Crawley Town gives a lifetime ban to a fan thanks to supporters help, and the NWSL creates a fund to help the victims of coaching assault cases from the 2021 trial.   On the weekend eve of the second biggest sporting event of the year, we dive in deep to the real football and leave the other to it's commercial focused sport. So grab a cold beverage and join us for this week's episode.  

This week we begin with the bombshell new of David Coote's rant and Drug use... or "I told you so" moment if you have supported Liverpool over the years. We discuss what we think will come of the Coote's Snoot antics and what repercussions it will have on the PGMOL.  We dive into the Women's Champions League round, the slanted pitches up North, and some Match Week 11 stats compared to previous years.  All that is just the foundation for the actual action on the pitch, in which City and Pep have now dropped four in a row, and Arteta winds up on the floor after throwing his pacifier out of the crib.  Kelly forgets about a bicycle kick, which tells you how much action took place. Maybe that, or maybe it was because she had to stomach the complement she paid to Pickford's 6 save shut out.  As always, watch the video version via Patreon!

Stevie G is gone and Liverpool lose to City but Kelly and Gordon still show up and have a good time.  In a weekend of wild score-lines there's plenty to discuss.  Are Newcastle a real threat? Are Leicester out of the danger?  Are Liverpool in danger? Can Arsenal hold off the second gear City?  Have a drink with us and ponder the biggest questions surrounding the season so far. 

First off, let me apologize for the quality here, some bonehead forgot to turn the mics on and the recording defaulted to the laptop mics instead.  If you make it to the end, we LOVE you!  Anyways, the grunge look may be fashionably dead but it did not stop Patrick Bamford from sporting the look of a high school adolescent who hates authority and just lost his first girlfriend.  He then completed the look and basically said F*ck organized sports, and missed his penalty.  On the other side of the spectrum, Jurgen Klopp got so passionate about sports that he was called was called xenophobic by the rich kids at Man City, "assaulted" a ref, was given his marching orders, and beat City and West Ham all in one week.  With so much to talk about, it was tough keeping this one close to an hour.  Again, apologies for the mic mishap... It won't happen again.   

In a massive contrast from last week Kelly and Gordon start the pod with hot chocolates from Dunkin to combat the first cold rainy day of the fall season... the Dunkin slogan must only pertain to their coffee because this was basically a sedative to the lively pod from last week.  Regardless, we touch on the UCL incidents and games, some potential court time for Ronaldo, the Liverpool vs City game, and all the action from last week.  Our love for Jesus sways, our passion for Leno and Henderson burns bright, and the Cherry's renascence is in full effect.  So crack open some "Fun Juice" as Kelly calls it and join us. 

It's FRIDAY baby, and you have earned a beer or three with us this week! A manager was fired, but to Kelly's disappointment, it wasn't Brendan Rodgers.  Bruno and Wolves part ways after their lost to West Ham at the weekend drops them into the relegation zone.  Three hat-tricks and three red cards grace the weekend, and Kelly and Gordon pay dearly for it.  Three shots and beers to boot cause all sorts of mayhem this week, to the hosts, to the script, and to the weekend prediction.  One in which Kelly not only predicts the score line of the Forest Villa game, but also an on field display of passion.  Also below is the full read out of Graham's history piece.  Check it out! 
 Midlands Derby – Well actually Villa is located in the West Midlands and as a district inside the city of Birmingham you would think that their natural rival would be Birmingham City but
actually their biggest rivalry of all seems to be with West Bromwich Albion. On the other hand
Nottingham Forest identify themselves as an East Midlands team and their biggest rivalry is
with Derby County, Leicester and obviously their next door neighbors Notts County whose
home ground is actually less than 300 yards away from their own City Ground. Which happens to be the shortest distance between two English professional teams. 
 So how about the rivalry between the Aston Martin race car and the Raleigh Bicycle. I have
always assumed that Aston Martin cars were constructed in the midlands but it turns out that
the Aston in Aston Martin refers to a testing track on Aston Hill which is located closer to
London than Birmingham… Shows how little I know about history although I am correct
regarding Nottingham and the Raleigh Bicycle. I understand that during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s
ninety-five percent of bicycles sold in the US originated in Nottingham. 
 So why did I get excited when I first saw this fixture for this weekend? Well for me I was most
active as a football fan during the late 70’s and early 80’s when English sides dominated Europe.
The Big Four of the day were Forest, Villa, Leeds and Liverpool. You could argue that they were
the Big Four in Europe and not just England. In the eleven seasons from 74/75 through 84/85
those four English sides made it to nine European Cup (Champions League) finals which
included back to back winners Forest in 1979 & 80 and Villa 1982. Leeds were beaten finalist in
’75 Liverpool made up the other 5 final appearances’ winning 4 and losing just the one.
Both Villa and Forest have also won the European Super Cup – Forest twice and Villa once a feat
that not many English teams can claim.
 Forest has won the English League once and the FA Cup twice to go along with their two
European Championships while Villa have been crowned English League champions on 7
occasions to add to their 7 FA Cups trophies so between them there has been quite a haul of
silverware.
So I was a little surprised and even disappointed that there was not a juicier back story to come
out of this particular fixture although on September 11 th 2016 Aston Villa tied 2-2 with
Nottingham Forest in the Championship, the second tier of English football and what was
special about this particular game? Well it was the very first time that two former European
Champions have met in a second tier league game anywhere in Europe and even though they
played each other a further five times in the EFL Championship they are still the only two
former European Champions to have played against each other EVER in the second tier.

Kelly and Gordon are joined by Arsenal faithful Aaron and Spurs fanatic Gio in this epic showdown of who can make the funnier comment.  FINALLY the episode isn't all about Liverpool, although Gordon tries his hardest to steer the conversation back that way.  Since there were no EPL games to speak of the gang focuses on the upcoming North London Derby, which is looking tasty in recent weeks with the form both teams are in.  They also touch on the depressing displays during international break.  Join us for a fun conversation, this one gets rowdy. 

The Queen returns... well our Queen, not THEE Queen.  Kelly is back from vacation and is ready to tackle the short week... well sort of. Vacation brain is a real thing, but luckily Gordon has no life and dedicates his void to keeping the podcast on track.  The only thing that's missing in this one is the goalie mentions, but that's literally because we lost audio for that portion... sorry Kelly,  I promise it was not on purpose. Anyways, relive Son's redemption off the bench, Adam Lallana's 30 seconds at the helm, and a few good flicks.   

Gordon is alone again as Kelly explores the wilderness of the American Southwest, and since there was no football to discuss, since that old rich lady croaked, there was no point to call her into action.  In lieu of football action, we decided to bring you a long version of a Kelly's Shot Glass History segment and a short version of the pod.  This one is for our loyal listeners so your earholes don't forget the sweet sound of the DITBox pod.