With special guests:
Guillem Balague, Spanish football expert and author; and Keegan J Pierce, sports PR analyst & La Liga Global Network delegate.
Hosted by author and journalist Richard Gillis, episode eight of The Line goes back to the beautiful game, specifically discussing Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino and the Spurs jinx, as well as delving into the obession with football in Spain, one of the world's most passionate hotbeds for the sport.
Sunday Times best-selling author, journalist and Sky Sports analyst Guillem Ballague talks to Richard Gillis about Brave New World, his new biography of Spurs' highly rated young manager Mauricio Pochettino, the most talked-about sports book of the year.
It’s a rare glimpse inside football’s inner sanctum and one which has proved highly controversial: the book was blamed for Spurs dip in form, leading to frenzied - and very valuable - coverage in The Sun and the Daily Mail, and even analysis on Match of the Day.
We talk about the role played by the comms industry in the memes and tropes of football media coverage and whether the cult of the football manager is a particularly British trait.
Guillem is joined around the podcast table by La Liga global delegate Keegan Pierce, who is tasked with promoting Spanish football to the world. The conversation roams from the post-Messi and Ronaldo era, the strength of the Spanish club game and the brand impact of the Neymar transfer, which saw the most expensive player in the world move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain last summer.
Missed any of the first seven episodes? Listen to them here:
Episode 1 – big money transfers, player power, silly videos and social media comms in football
Episode 2 – NFL, Premier League, rugby - sport's global question
Episode 3 – Anatomy of a sports PR crisis
Episode 4 – ArsenalFanTV and the rise of football's new influencers
Episode 5 – Women: the market sport forgot
Episode 6 – Brian Moore: 'Stop moaning, France deserved to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup bid'
Episode 7 – What's the point of a sports agency?
The Line is supported by Cake.
Main image via @SpursOfficial on Twitter
