 Phil Forden, thoughts on his game in the Derby, thoughts on him this season, thoughts about his place within world football at the moment. I think Derby really highlighted where Phil Forden stands in this team right now. I think he's obviously, we call him starboy, anyways he's our star guy. He's meant that he's a city fan and come through the academy and everything. Sometimes players you don't know how far they're going to get to, they look like talented, then they kind of get capped somewhere and you're that's kind of, they've not really achieved it. Phil Forden is continuing to achieve where what we expect from him. He looks mint and I think a lot of it is, he's sponged from all these mint players like Kevin De Bruyne and Davy Silver. Is that all these players trying to learn from? The finish against United was Leroy Sarnes. Do you know what I mean? Things like that, he's learned from a lot of players. I think this season has been incredible, 18 goals, 10 assists, his best season at City so far and I expect this to go a lot further for him. I think he's going to have a great year. I think by the time he comes to the end of the season, we'll be pointing to Phil Forden as he had a massive, massive part to play in those winning anything should win things this year. Is he a star boy anymore or is he a star man? Star man, he is a star man. I think he's a star man. I said to you before that I think of Phil Forden sort of having two really crucial seasons thus far in his career, which to me are this season where I feel like he's really arrived and actually stapled himself as not just a rising star, not just a talent, but like a mainstay. He is now a world-class player. He's not just, oh, he's got the potential, it's the we're seeing it. He's here now. He is currently the best player in the best team in the world, which is mad. So I think of this season and I think of the 2020, 21 season, the COVID season where he sort of arrived. He burst onto the scene, which I would say he had, you know, that goal against Auckland in the quarterfinal of the Champions League. He had winners against Brighton. He won PFA young player of the year. Like that was sort of that initial season. Then he had one, two, two and a half seasons where you had all the media going, well, what is his best position? Why is he not starting for England? You know, is he going to fulfil his potential as he's stolen a little bit? Why is he in and out of the city team and now at just the age of 23? And that's the thing that I think people sometimes forget about, Phil Foden. I think he's been around for ages. He's been around for like six seasons. Yeah, it's been time that he's been about. He's 23. He's 23 years old. He's 23. Like if, you know, if I was cooking a player in the oven, the perfect time to take them out and expect him to be ripe and ready is 23, 24. That's when I want that players to be reaching their potential, which is what we're seeing from him now. It's so crazy because he still feels like that youngster in the team. But he's, he's one of our senior starters. Like I feel like that comes down to like almost like a parental feeling that the fans have towards him because we've seen him grow up. It's like parents never see their, their kids as adults. That's it. That's it. That little boy or he's the ball boy. He's the ball boy. He's that ball boy. That's it. But he's not anymore. He's not. He's not. He's a world-class talent and currently the best team in a star studded squad. Yeah. And I think what really summarizes that is that there's, there's early talk, maybe mainly amongst fans, city fans, but early conversations of him potentially being a Ballon d'Or candidate. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think that's actually something realistic? Do you think that's just overhyped? Well, my Ballon d'Or thoughts kind of went out the window last year because of Harlan getting robbed. Is in how much you respect it as a trophy? Yeah. So I don't really, I don't respect it too much. But having said that, I'd love it if Phil Fordham was that first one to, to win a Ballon d'Or for city. Yeah. It'd be so sick to see a city player win the Ballon d'Or. Yeah. And I think Phil Fordham has the ability to do that. I still, he's not hit his ceiling by any stretch of imagination. It's still so long to go. If you look at players in their peaks round 27, 28, Phil Fordham has got so much to go. And the more he stays under pep, the better. But sometimes I feel like, I feel like city fans sometimes are too modest with our stars. I feel like sometimes we don't puff out our chests enough and say this player demands the respect. Yes, they play for Man City, which I know a lot of the wider media don't love, but they are absolute stars. I mean, because the comparison that I'm trying to draw here is that the person who's getting the most Ballon d'Or shots early on this season is Jude Bellingham. Young English player plays in the same position as Phil Fordham. Obviously, I know football is a game that we watch with our eyes, not just on this statistically, but same number of goals and assists as Phil Fordham. So they're pretty much taking each other pound for pound this season in terms of how they contribute into each other's teams. Obviously, Jude Bellingham is at Real Madrid, one of the most respected clubs in world football, Phil Fordham is at City, a club that people seem to love to hate. But actually that, is it ridiculous to say that Phil Fordham's been as good as Jude Bellingham this season? Why is it so standard to say Jude Bellingham ballon d'Or this year, but not Phil Fordham? Yeah, why? When they're both putting in incredible performances, they're both doing this. Why should we feel ashamed to say? Well, we should have our chest up. It feels like half the world, I mean, it feels like all the football is on Jude Bellingham's side in this, there'll be the whole lot, but Phil Fordham plays for City, but he's playing for Real Madrid. Yeah, he's playing for Real Madrid. He's playing in a great side. I guess he's doing bits and he's coming in clutch. Well, that's Seoul's Phil Fordham. That's the thing is, and no disrespect here, but you're not really necessarily going to get seen in the Ballon d'Or eyes of the world. If you're playing for Doncaster Eye, you're like, you've got to play for a big team. You've got to play for the big club. You have to play for the world stage. So you can't go, oh, he's playing for Man City. Of course, he's going to go get goals and assists. It's like, yeah, you can't have both anyway. Yeah, to an extent, but that sort of the way that it is, you know, it's just, I don't think it's a ridiculous conversation to have. And also, I think that a lot of this is to be decided over the coming months. If Phil Fordham ends the season with another Champions League or a fourth Premier League in the row, and he's continued to contribute, continued to be a mainstay scored and turned up on Derby days in the running for titles, scored winning goals throughout the course of a season, then why should he not be there? If Jude Bellingham does finish the season without a trophy, does he just still deserve to shout? Yeah, yeah, that's the thing. What's your minimum for Phil Fordham to win a Ballon d'Or? What was the minimum he'd have to win? I think, for me, I'd be choosing Premier and Champions League. If we're sitting going in the Premier and Champions League, and he's had a say in it and obviously keeping his numbers going forward now, I think a Prem in a Champions League, and Phil Fordham's had a big part to play in all of the, which he worried, you know, he has in the Prem, but in the Champions League as well, I think that puts him right up there. The thing is though, is it like we know from this season just gone by, that what should happen and what will happen are two completely different things, because let's say a Bayern Munich or a PSG win the Champions League, so neither of Real Madrid or Man City. And Man City go win a fourth Premier League in a row, and Real Madrid win the La Liga. People will still be saying Jude Bellingham. People will still go, well, Jude Bellingham, he's won the La Liga, but they'll discredit Fordham for City for winning the Prem. I mean, that's my opinion, at least, that's one thing. We won a treble, actually, over the Highland, and people will still say Messi. For a seven-game tournament, yeah. Which is wild. I know, I know. It is absolutely insane. Well, that's the barn door for you, like you can't predict it. It's just, I think, personally, Bellingham and Fordham are two players that both deserve to be up there. Now that the mantle has passed from Ronaldo to Messi, it's time for these younger players to step up, and I think these are the two of the brightest stars in the world. Yeah, and this whole conversation is absolutely no disrespect for Jude Bellingham. No, he's incredible. Unbelievable. And I've met City like that in a heartbeat. You'd said if you could sign any player, right now, you'd say Jude Bellingham. Yeah, and I'd probably be the same. Like, he is ridiculous, and I'm not saying at all that he doesn't deserve it as much as Phil Ford. I'm just saying Phil should be in that conversation. There's no reason why he shouldn't.