A golden retriever and a game of guess the pasta were unusual to see in a Women’s Champions League show – but I understand how they arrived there

Disclaimer: I have made a lot of bad TV programmes. I have done quite a few below-average radio shows. Podcasts, there are millions of them – some might say too many – and I’ve done my fair share that won’t go down in history. In between those, I’ve hopefully done some pretty good ones – it’s not for me to say.

I have had good ideas and the odd great one that didn’t make it to air (attention the full-size unreferenced post-Keys and Gray elephant in the Soccer AM studio). I’ve had more awful ones. I’ve hosted shows where I’ve had almost complete editorial control, and ones where I could have been replaced by a performing monkey.