Moment of Truth

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BBC Radio 5 Live

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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: 12. Deflection Tactics

12. Deflection Tactics

BBC Radio 5 Live - Moment of Truth, 12. Deflection Tactics

With two games left, Rotherham’s squad gear up for one last push as they hunt promotion.

With two games left, Rotherham’s squad gear up for one last push as they hunt promotion. Paul Warne’s side need just three more points to reach the Championship.

There are two games left in Rotherham’s season and manager Paul Warne knows he needs a single win for his side to be guaranteed promotion to the Championship. But his team must travel to playoff-chasing Sunderland for a difficult Tuesday night fixture, which fills the manager with self-doubt. Not only that, he has to deal with the fallout from one of his players handing in a transfer request.

Warne’s emotions are contrasted with those of his captain Richard Wood. In the late autumn of his career, “Woody” discusses what the manager means to him personally, and how difficult it would be for the club if he were to walk away in the summer.

Ninety minutes before kick-off, the wives of the Rotherham coaches – Kerry Hamshaw, Tracy Barker and Rachel Warne – get together to talk about what it’s like to be married to a manager/coach, and how it affects their families because of the pressures of the job. The trio then watch on as The Millers and the Black Cats battle for a vital three points at the imposing Stadium of Light.

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Moment of Truth

12. Deflection Tactics

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