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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Except for... Live every weekday morning from 7.30 on your smart speaker. Just ask Alexa to play OTB Sports Radio. Irish football. On Off the Ball. Brought to you by Cadbury. A proud sponsor of the Republic of Ireland football teams. This Now then, breaking news coming out of Arsenal. Katie McCabe will leave the club when her contract expires at the end of this season.
So it's obviously been one of the great Irish football careers in England. Champions League winner last year, over 300 appearances for the club. So big news. It had seemed in the last couple of days that there might be a future for her.
at Arsenal so this is interesting on a multitude of levels Ben is back with us in studio and our producer Emma Carroll has popped in as well Emma heartbreaking news the WSL superfan
Not heartbreaking news for me, but for a lot of Arsenal fans from the look of Twitter, they're quite angry with the club for the announcement coming today and not pre their last game last night. So she didn't get her Emirates goodbye, along with Bette Mead. Victoria Palova and Kadena as well, all got a big send off after the game last night.
So everybody, I think, thought if Katie was gone, it would have been announced before that.
Did something change today?
Like, you kind of thought after the game there was a lot of tears from Katie. I don't know if you've seen the videos on social media. She was very emotional. So it looked like maybe she wouldn't be staying, but it's just so bizarre timing.
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Chapter 2: What breaking news was announced about Katie McCabe?
Yeah, yeah, okay. That's mad, really, because you'd maybe give them a bit of a break if there was a big send-off a week ago. But for this to come literally the day after that actually happens at the club is quite mad. What's in the mix here? Because when this story first started to bubble along during the season, you start to think, is this actually McCabe agitating for a move?
Is she going to get paid better? Is she going to have a better opportunity to move elsewhere, maybe to a different league? What's on the table here for McCabe?
you feel it must be a club decision 10 years at the club maybe like maybe she does want to try new things but like Arsenal have been linked with One Batier coming in from Barcelona so if that goes through and they also extended Steph Cattley's contract as well they've got Taylor Hines they've got Emily Fox so they've got a lot of depth in that position already
Man City were obviously linked with her a couple of weeks ago. Then that looked to go dead. Obviously, we know Michelle Kang is a massive fan.
Chapter 3: How has Katie McCabe's career at Arsenal been perceived?
So London City could be a destination, although I'd be surprised if it's London City. Maybe it's Lyon. Although London City have also been linked with Alexia Patel. So maybe they're going to go big in the summer. You never know.
I see Tim Stillman reporting that McCabe was offered a deal which was still up for discussion recently, and that's why the announcement couldn't be made ahead of the Everton game. So maybe it's not unreasonable to suggest that perhaps she was offered a deal that wasn't to her satisfaction. As a 30-year-old player, maybe they saw her as a depreciating asset. I don't know.
I'm just speculating here, but maybe that's a reason for the last couple of days. What do you make of all of this?
I think it's mental I think not giving her a send off is absolutely insane and I get obviously this contract situation that comes into it but to know to announce it like 24 hours after the game
like it's not like you would have you would have been somewhat aware of the decision last night I also think for someone who like 305 appearances for Arsenal she has won quite literally every trophy possible that you can win at Arsenal she won the Champions League she won the WSL title she won the FA Cup she won the FIFA Champions Cup last year as well so
to not give that type of player the send-off she deserves. And, you know, I'm lucky enough to cover the women's national team here in Ireland and every time you get a chance to speak to Katie, you realise she is a bona fide superstar. And Arsenal fans, I think, realise what they've had with Katie over the last 10 years.
And they are well within their rights to be fuming that they're not going to give her the send-off that she deserves at the Emirates. I think whatever is next for Katie, she deserves that move to hopefully another top-level Champions League club in Europe. And whatever contract that may come with that, I think she's well within her rights to deserve it.
She is a club legend. All I can hope for is maybe she's going to visit her new club on Saturday at Anfield. Maybe Fadi and Denise O'Sullivan will have a word in the air and she pops up as a... well Sted's in a red jersey I suppose Sounds like City though City is probably the place Champions League qualified team so yeah perhaps them
Interesting. Looking through social media now, a lot of Arsenal fans not happy with how this has been handled over the past 24 hours. I think it's fair to say.
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Chapter 4: What are the reactions from fans regarding McCabe's exit announcement?
I don't think it's just green-tinted spectacles reading those tweets. The lack of a send-off, I think, is definitely going to be the big story here. Ben, Emma, thanks a million for popping in to break that down. So, Kelly McCabe, leaving Arsenal at the end of the season.
Now, back to Gaelic Games and this week's football power rankings are out and you can listen to the full episode in the Off the Ball GAA feed. The power rankings in Off the Ball are with Harvey Norman, official stats sponsor of the GAA.
And here's a clip of Tommy, Mick and Matthew discussing this week's Harvey Norman stat of the week, which is David Clifford overtaking Gooch Cooper to move third in the all-time goal scoring list. David Clifford had just scored his 24th championship goal. He overtakes Colm Cooper on the list who had 23 goals and he's now third in the all-time list. Any idea who's first and second?
For championship goals or Kerry? Championship goals. All time. Bomber? He's a teammate of Bomber's. Mikey Sheehy? No, you're both wrong. Mikey Sheehy is second on the list with 29 championship goals. Number one. Give me a second now. Number one. Cillian O'Connor has 34 championship goals. Ah, of course you forget. Yeah, yeah.
David Clifford's championship goals, just to give you a rundown of them. Eight last season. He's got eight goals in the first year of the new rules. And maybe that's a sign of things to come. And he's got two in two games so far this year. So I just think, and you just see the manner in which a goal is more than a goal. Like a block is more than a block.
These moments that happen in games, they're energy shifters, they're momentum swingers. And when Clifford buries a goal, it's worth more than three points. I know it was a four-point goal. We tried it for a while. He celebrates it. And that just totally settled down Kerry at the weekend. The way he takes it around, takes on the double hop from Tony Brosnan's hand pass.
He sucks in Daniel O'Mahony. He, you know, invites the contact. He bruises by him. He sells a little dummy hop on the solo and then bang, back in the net. And there must be no better feeling than scoring a championship goal as a Kerry footballer. And you can hear the full episode of this week's Power Rankings in the Off the Ball GEA feed now.
After nine o'clock, we'll bring you the news and then Kevin Kilbane is on the line for the football show.
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