Lee Johnson: Fmr Sunderland & Bristol City Manager, 'Decision Making Needs to be Driven by Sport' (Ep57)
Release Date: 02/18/2025
Dominic Thiem: ‘The Making of a Grand Slam Champion’ (Ep84)
Business of Sport
This week we’re delighted to welcome Dominic Thiem to the show. We’ve waited nearly 100 shows but finally tennis has arrived, right in the middle of the US Open, which Dominic won in a 5 set epic in 2020. One of the few non-Federer, Nadal, Djokovic players to win a slam while those three were at their peak, Dominic’s career saw him win 17 ATP titles alongside the Slam before being forced into retirement at just 31 through injury. But in his own words, Dominic describes this as a ‘new beginning not a farewell’. From playing through the most incredible era tennis has seen, losing two...
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Simon Massie-Taylor, CEO Prem Rugby: 'From Red Bull’s Newcastle Investment to Building the Best League in Rugby' (Ep83)
Business of Sport
This week we’re delighted to welcome Simon Massie-Taylor to the show. Simon is the CEO of The newly branded Prem Rugby. The competition has faced well publicised challenges in recent years, with clubs going bust and broader questions around the viability of the sport as an attractive investment. But with attendances on the rise, commercial income flowing, major long term broadcasting deals and the Red Bull marketing machine as a new stakeholder, this is a competition looking forward not backwards. With talk of challenger leagues and continual disruption to the established order of...
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Michael Beale, Fmr Rangers, QPR, Sunderland Manager: 'Does English Culture Suppress Maverick Talent?' (Ep82)
Business of Sport
Michael Beale is part of a top crop of young English managers. At 44, he has already managed QPR, Rangers, and Sunderland, while also forming a successful partnership as Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Rangers, Aston Villa and Al-Ettifaq. As virtually every manager quickly comes to realise, there’ll be some roles that work out, and some that don’t, but the most important thing to learn from the experiences that don’t turn out how you’d hope and come back a better coach and manager…there is a difference. Michael’s roots are in youth development, and has played a huge role in the...
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Andrew Thompson, SailGP Managing Director: ‘Welcome to F1 on Water’ (Ep81)
Business of Sport
It’s a different take this week; welcome to Formula 1 on water! SailGP has become one of the fastest growing sports leagues, bringing sailing to the forefront of modern entertainment. The national teams that race identical F50 Catamarans go to some of the world’s most enticing coastal locations in a Grand Prix style format with millions in prize money on the line. The franchises are valued between $50m+ and owners include major PE and finance as well as consortiums of celebrities including Kylian Mbappe, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway. As Managing Director, Andrew is in...
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Mark Devlin, Leyton Orient CEO: ‘Striking the Balance Between Ambition and Financial Sustainability: The Leyton Orient Story' (Ep80)
Business of Sport
Mark Devlin is the CEO of Leyton Orient, a team that’s been riding the rollercoaster of English football right on the edge in recent years. From nearly going out of business and dropping into non-league football to bouncing back into League One playoff finals, the fans have been on a ride the few would choose. However, new ownership and big plans to build both on and off the pitch make this London club a hugely exciting football proposition for the next decades. What has this journey looked like from the inside and how is success being built into the fabric of the future? Having been...
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Peter McCormack, Real Bedford Owner: Can Billionaire Investment Take You From Non-League To The Premier League? (Ep79)
Business of Sport
Peter McCormack is the Owner and Chairman of Real Bedford, who play in the 8th tier of English Football. But this is unique for a number of reasons. We always look for the stories that represent a different approach to running sports assets, and building your Premier League ambition around Bitcoin is certainly one of those. Peter is the host of one of if not the biggest Bitcoin podcasts. As you’ll hear his journey to club ownership is as colourful as it is extraordinary; this is someone who has come through some challenging times to get to where he is now. As you’ve just heard in the...
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Ryan Bertrand, Fmr Chelsea, Southampton & England: ‘It Didn’t Feel Like the Chelsea I was Brought Up In; The Foundations of Champions League Success' (Ep78)
Business of Sport
This week, we’re delighted to welcome Ryan Bertrand to the show, the only man to make his Champions League debut in the final…and of course win it in historic style with Chelsea in 2012. The regulars of you will know a conversation like this is exciting for us both as big Chelsea fans, and the shirts we wore throughout gave the game away anyway. But Ryan isn’t just the player who won that cup, played over 260 Premier League games, and was capped 19 times by England. This is a former athlete with a story to tell that incorporates exploration away from football; interests that fans, the...
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Guenther Steiner: ‘A Life in F1: Moving On From Haas, Christian Horner’s Sacking, & The Genius of Verstappen' (Ep77)
Business of Sport
This week, we’re delighted to welcome the legendary Guenther Steiner to the show. One of the most iconic Team Principal’s to grace the paddock, the personality and energy he brings to the room is not just a show put on for the Drive to Survive cameras. What you have seen on TV is a true account of the man, taking the mickey out of us from the off while delivering such a compelling view on life as a Team Principal and the wider world of F1. Having left Haas at the end of 2023, he seemed relaxed and free from the pressures of day to day management in one of sport’s most high pressure...
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Thomas Hal Robson-Kanu: ‘How to Run a Business & Play in the Premier League' (Ep76)
Business of Sport
This week, we’re delighted to welcome Thomas Robson-Kanu to the show, known to many of you I’m sure as Hal. The different names he has gone by is the perfect demonstration as to why this is such a unique story. A footballer with over nearly 500 competitive games under his belt and a businessman with revenues in the tens of millions, Thomas is the epitome of creating additional opportunity alongside elite sporting performance. Many of us think straight to that momentous moment in Euro 2016 when he scored the goal of goals against Belgium to put Wales in their first Semi-Final. As incredible...
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Jeff Shi, Wolves Chairman: ‘How to Succeed in the Premier League & Be Financially Sustainable’
Business of Sport
This week, we’re delighted to welcome Wolves Chairman Jeff Shi to the show. Having been at the club since 2016, he has been a key part of the club’s rise from Championship survival to top half Premier League finishes and European quarter finals. Currently enjoying their longest run of Premier League football, there is a lot to be proud of. Jeff hasn’t done a huge amount of interviews. With the club surviving a tricky period last year when their top flight status was at risk for half the season, now is the time to talk to the fans and wider football community about both his...
info_outlineThis week, we’re delighted to welcome Lee Johnson to the show. Lee has had a stellar career as both a player and manager, playing over 400 games before becoming the youngest manager in the Football League at 31 when he took over at Oldham in 2013. Since that first job he has managed some historic clubs including Sunderland, Bristol City, and Hibernian.
After a tough year, leaving Hibs followed by a very brief spell at Fleetwood, Lee took the time out to reflect on the next stage of his career and gain some different experiences, from working with Manchester City’s development squad, to going to Africa to source the best young talent.
The life of a football manager is a pretty crazy one. You live on a knife edge; job security is not something that exists for 99.9%. Lee has been a victim of his own success on more than one occasion, over-achieving and setting new expectations that then need to be continuously met. Hire and fire culture is a reality of modern day football, but it’s not a good one. What is it like being on the manager's end of the deal?
A huge advocate of technology, data and modern coaching methods, this is a detailed review of life as a top level manager while also looking at an evolving football industry continuously in a state of unpredictable change. As always with the best football shows, topped off with some eye-opening stories!
On today’s show we discuss:
Life as a Manager:
- From becoming the youngest manager in the Football League to taking a break following two sackings in a season, the ups and downs of management.
- What was the transition like when Lee made the step from being part of a dressing room to leading one?
- What is a manager’s greatest anxiety?
- Learning from the best; how a relationship with Kenny Dalglish helped Lee establish his managerial career.
- ‘Sometimes football gives you a rest’. What is next for Lee now he has had some time out from the game?
- Why managing mavericks in the game is something a manager has to learn to use to the team’s advantage.
Managing Top Clubs:
- ‘Bristol City was a team for tomorrow’. What does Lee mean by this?
- The importance of balancing good business and player sales with ambition on the pitch and being able to compete.
- A manager can very quickly become a victim of their own success; how strong starts at Bristol City and Sunderland raised the bar of expectation for future results.
- How do you manage up? Why the relationship between manager and owner is crucial.
- Changing the goal line; how a job can be sold to a manager as one thing and be very different when you get there.
- What it was like beating Jose Mourinho and competing with Pep Guardiola in a historic Bristol City cup run.
The State of Football:
- Are clubs making too many business decisions that are not based on sporting success?
- Data led recruitment has become the most important strategy in football, but are there other things to consider when signing a player?
- Should managers change their style when you get promoted to a new league?
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