Author: martin

The Graham Hunter Podcast Challenge: Week Six

16 Sep 2016

My FanDuel career has had an – ahem – slowburning start, but last week I finished in the money in the Graham Hunter Podcast Challenge. I am the sum total of £2 richer, which may not buy me a yacht in Barcelona harbour but does give me the bragging rights over the BackPage boys.

Roberto Firmino was the top-scoring FanDuel player thanks to a couple of goals for Liverpool in their 4-1 caning of Leicester in last Saturday’s evening kick-off. I had the Brazilian in my team. I also backed fellow Scot Robert Snodgrass to have a big weekend and his performance, ending with an injury-time goal in Hull’s 1-1 draw with Burnley earned me 41.75 points. Cheers, Snoddy. Michail Antonio’s brace fore West Ham – in their 4-2 defeat by Watford – also boosted my tally.

And so, to this week. After hours in a darkened room – my £2 winnings didn’t cover the electricity bill – here’s my team for this week. Riyad Mahrez is a confidence player and Claudio Rainieri claimed the Champions League theme tune “woke him up” this week. His two goals in Leicester’s 3-0 midweek win over Club Brugge will have given him a huge boost and I expect him to do some damage to Burnley.

Laurent Koscielny has had a strong start to the season at Arsenal, and he is the lynchpin of my defence this weekend. I’m backing Romelu Lukaku to follow his hat-trick against Sunderland with a goal or two against Middlesbrough in the late kick-off.

The entry fee for this week’s league is £5. That means the prize pot is bigger, and in forthcoming weeks we’ll be offering special prizes connected to the podcast, one of which may well take you all the way to the Camp Nou.

If you want to join in, it’s really simple. Log in at fanduel.co.uk/graham and please make sure you use promo code BIGINTERVIEW. That means if you don’t finish in the prizes, you get your entry fee refunded. If you’ve signed up already but not used this promo code, you can still put it into play to get a free shot at the podcast challenge.

Have fun. See you on the app!

Graham.

Phil Neville: Spanish Lessons

12 Sep 2016

The first time I chatted to Phil Neville was in the Hilton gym in Manchester, which overlooks the Cervantes Institute. Gesturing to the building below, Phil mentioned on that occasion that he would love to learn Spanish.

Years later. the opportunity to coach at Valencia gave him the chance to fulfil that ambition. Phil breaks down how he learned the language and soaked in the football culture of the nation. He is fascinating on the differences between coaching in Spain and Britain and the legacy left by his brother. Gary, at the club.

Enjoy!

Graham

Phil Neville: Out of the Comfort Zone

08 Sep 2016

Phil Neville always wanted to be a cricketer and his talent matched his ambition. He was one of the best schoolboy cricketers of his generation, having served an apprenticeship in the Lancashire leagues where he faced bouncers from world-class West Indian bowlers.

Then he walked out at Wembley to represent England youths at football in front of 80,000 fans. His decision was made. Cricket’s loss has been football’s gain. We spend time talking about both sports, exploring how his experiences in cricket helped form his football mentality, and even shaped his outlook in life.

In an era where the professional game is awash with money, Neville’s insistence on installing work ethic and morals in young footballers has never been more relevant.

This is part one. The second half – where Phil talks extensively about his time in Spain – will be out on Monday.

Sit back and enjoy Phil Neville in full flow!

Graham

Phil Neville was promoting the new book Class of 92: Out of Our League, out now

Thomas Hitzlsperger: From Bayern to Brum

25 Aug 2016

He helped me with a German perspective on the final of Euro 2008 when I was writing my book on Spain’s trophy treble, but you’re about to find out how much I didn’t know about Thomas Hitzlsperger.

In this, part one of our conversation, he breaks down his 11 years at the Bayern Munich academy, where he played alongside Philip Lahm. The courage and daring of his decision to quit the club, aged 17, will amaze you. Villa fans, listen closely.

We also touch on his part in Stuttgart’s Bundesliga title win in 2007. Thomas talks us through his decisive goal on the final day of the season, a stunning volley.

Finally … it’s time to get a little technical. A few listeners have not been getting the new episodes – Vialli parts one and two, plus today’s – flowing through to their apps. We’re working on a catch-all solution but, meantime, here’s a manual fix.

Most apps have a search function (often a + sign at the top right) that allows you to add a podcast manually using the RSS feed: 
Add this and do a fresh search. Hopefully you’ll see the new episode.

Hitz part two is along on Saturday

Enjoy part one!

Graham

Podcast Challenge Week Two: Graham Hunter’s team

19 Aug 2016

Well, what a first weekend of Premier League football… and a worthy winner of the first ‘Graham Hunter Podcast Challenge’. ‘Goucho23’ (winning team below) stormed to victory with some big performances from Tadic and Redmond in midfield, who both played key roles in Southampton’s 1-1 draw with Watford. Sergio Aguero’s strike in Man City’s 2-1 win over Sunderland also helped his cause.

As well as £25, ‘Goucho23’ will get a shout-out on the next ‘Big Interview’ podcast.

Week 1 Winning Team (Goucho23)IMG_1171

My 85th-placed finish – out of 213 entrants – was no more than a solid start to my FanDuel career. I had loftier ambitions around 3.45pm on Saturday, as I sat 4th on the leaderboard, but it only went one way from there. I am delighted to have edged out Big Interview producers Martin BackPage – 105th – and Neil BackPage -199 – whose policy of choosing former Falkirk players backfired on him.

For this Saturday, I’ve remained loyal to one or two of my big point-scorers from last week. Kyle Walker has earned another run-out, so too David Silva. I had the pleasure of catching up with Darren Fletcher in Manchester this week. He’s in again, along with his West Brom team-mate Jonny Evans, a player I rate very highly.

And what about that front three? Aguero, Costa, and my old pal Fernando Llorente (below), whose company I have enjoyed when I’ve covered Spain at big tournaments.

Fernando LlorenteLet’s play!

Graham

Join in by picking your team for opening day at FanDuel. Use promo code BIGINTERVIEW and then join the GRAHAM HUNTER PODCAST CHALLENGE in the ‘competitions’ list. It’s £1 to play, there’s lots of cash prizes and the winner gets a shout-out on the podcast.

 

 

 

Use bonus code BIGINTERVIEW here