Moment of Truth

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BBC Radio 5 Live

Podcasts

Sport: Football

Three months in the life of a manager. This podcast goes where others don't.

A raw, tense and illuminating deep dive into the real lives of football managers. Intimate and unfiltered, this podcast reinvents fly-on-the-wall to take you where cameras can't.

What does it take to be a football manager? We all think we can do it: pick a team to win a game, sign a couple of players who looked good on FIFA....I mean, we've all played Championship Manager right? The reality is very few people can ever truly master it, can deal with the torment, the anguish, the pain of defeat or even the blessed relief of victory. And what about putting their families and friends in the firing line of fans, the media and everyone else who has an opinion on how you do your job?

For the last three months of the 2021/22 League One season, this podcast had unparalleled access to the life of a football manager as two teams battled to change their collective stories forever and win promotion to the Championship. From the dressing room to the training ground, the team bus to the technical area, Rotherham's Paul Warne and Oxford's Karl Robinson have worn microphones to record every single critical moment of the job during the tense and eventful run-in.

You'll get to eavesdrop on how the personal reality of football management is a constant gnaw of sleepless nights, skipping meals and missing out on family life. You'll hear how the wives and children have to tiptoe around their disillusioned husbands following losses and you'll listen in to how they rarely enjoy those hard-fought victories.

Narrated by Jimmy Nesbitt, Moment of Truth is an audio experience unlike any other that will give you an answer as to what it takes to manage a professional football club. This podcast is a love letter to our greatest game spread across 15 episodes. It's a rollercoaster ride through the footballing cauldron of League One where you get to sit on the bench of both teams as they battle to reach their Moment of Truth.

Moment of Truth: 9. An Easter Rising

9. An Easter Rising

BBC Radio 5 Live - Moment of Truth, 9. An Easter Rising

The managers of Oxford and Rotherham both try to secure promotion amid torrents of abuse.

Tensions reach breaking point for Karl Robinson and his family, drawing parallels with Rotherham boss Paul Warne. The abuse they both receive has traumatic consequences.

As the season draws to a close, tensions in the Rotherham dressing room are starting to boil over after a 3-0 loss to Portsmouth. Manager Paul Warne is trying to dissect why his side is self-imploding having previously been top of the league. The post-mortem lasts half an hour before Warne has to address the waiting press.

As night falls, Warne reveals that he’s considering his position and that this may be his lowest moment in management. He talks of the abuse fans have been shouting at him and how much he is dreading speaking to the club owner about the side’s performance. Sounding exhausted with how frustrating his job has become, he mentions how lonely he felt on the sidelines.

Like Rotherham, Oxford have also suffered three straight defeats. They need to win each of their last four to give themselves any chance of making the play-offs. Rotherham need to stop a slide that’s seen them take just five points from the last available 21.

As The U’s travel up to Fleetwood for the Easter Friday game, anything less than a win would be enough to end their season. The pressure, not only on the staff and players but their families, is beginning to show. Karl Robinson’s mum Carol talks about her own stress watching the games and how the abuse Karl has received from fans has affected their family.

Despite the tension, Oxford takes a quick 3-0 lead and just manage to hang on to a 3-2 victory during nine minutes of stoppage time. The win keeps their season alive but at the cost of midfielder James Henry, who is taken to hospital for two hours of facial surgery after a sickening clash of heads. He will be lost for the rest of the season.

Ahead of Rotherham’s fixture against Ipswich, Warne’s family are also feeling the pressure. His wife Rachel worries that her husband hasn’t been sleeping and dreads the abuse from fans if the side goes a goal down. In the tunnel, Paul says it is the most scared he has ever felt. Fortunately for the Warnes, Michael Smith nets a 78th-minute winner for Rotherham and favourable other results mean The Millers were now back in automatic promotion places – albeit on goal difference. For one night, there is relief. How quickly the picture can change.

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