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: 15. Kelly's Heroes

15. Kelly's Heroes

BBC Radio 5 Live - Moment of Truth, 15. Kelly's Heroes

The final minutes of Rotherham’s season see an unlikely potential hero enter the fray.

The final minutes of Rotherham’s season see an unlikely potential hero enter the fray. Can the Millers seal their route back to the second tier?

The final episode of MOT begins back in January with the transfer window signing of Georgie Kelly, the top goalscorer in Irish football. It then cuts to the touchline at Gillingham with 11 minutes of the League One season remaining as Rotherham manager Paul Warne brings Kelly on for his Millers debut. Leading 1-0 but under heavy pressure, can the former Bohemians striker score a crucial second goal and fire his side back in the Championship at the first time of asking?

After the full-time whistle, the manager spends time with his team, his wife, the fans, and with the Gillingham manager Neil Harris before boarding the bus for the long journey back to Rotherham and the difficult task of releasing players.

The series finishes six weeks later as we catch up with both managers to discuss their respective summers; were they able to get any time off or did the managerial wheel keep spinning on their holidays? For Paul Warne there was the disappointment of losing two of his best players to bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday during the break, and a never-ending series of phone calls; for Karl Robinson it was the possibility of leaving Oxford as a number of clubs made serious enquiries for his services. Before long, the pair are back in the dressing room addressing their players ahead of a new season.

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