The relentless verbal punching power of Peterborough United chairman was on full display in debate with podcast hosts

The pre-release blurb used the weekend Eubank v Benn fight as a comparison of what was to come. It was certainly one-sided with an outcome many would have seen as inevitable, but the underdogs were far from outclassed. They were still standing at the end, but, understandably, they’d been worn down by the relentless verbal power of a one-man, punching machine.

It was actually brave of three members of a Peterborough United-themed podcast to take on Darragh MacAnthony in a format that suits a quick-talking, quick-thinking and quick-to-sing-his-own-praises chairman. He also has an answer for everything, and he speaks from a position of strength, as he is, after all, the one who really does know what’s going on behind the scenes.

The fans did their best. They put their points across eloquently. They had clearly revised hard before their big test and they even had ‘receipts’, something the chairman loves to say. They tried to hold their ground under a rapid fire blitzkrieg of facts, exaggerations and occasional flashes of anger, but arguably the hardest part of debating Darragh is getting a word in edgeways.

The man just doesn't pause for breath. He claimed to be a ‘Hall of Famer’ football chairman, but he would definitely be a ‘Hall of Famer’ at speed dating. He could rattle through his successful, all-action life story without leaving anything out in under a minute. A tsunami of words flowed from his mouth in this 82 minutes. It was overwhelming, impressive and yet also daunting and unnerving to see three fans who spend their cash freely on the club, and who have probably never known another Posh chairman, get such a working over.

For background the chairman was rattled by comments apparently made on ‘UpThePoshcast.’ I say ‘apparently’ as I only listen when the chairman is on as he can be relied upon to let slip some juicy nuggets of information from his privileged position. Fan chat is not for me, but it is for the 1,000 or so regular watchers/listeners of a pod that only surfaced at the start of last season, just as Posh went bad which meant negative comments were inevitable.

The chairman believed he had been disrespected by suggestions ‘anyone could have done what he’d done in the last 10 years.’ He was also irritated by claims he’d been soft for failing to sack Darren Ferguson sooner, that transfer recruitment had gone awry lately, that Posh have gone backwards in recent times and that he’s no good at appointing managers not called Fergie.

All reasonable points for which he gave reasonable, and well-prepared, answers. The podcast posse felt misrepresented by some of his responses, which was also true, especially regarding managers as the chairman tried to pass off bosses with strong career records (Steve Evans, Grant McCann, Gary Johnson) as good appointments at Posh regardless of the fact they didn’t come off at London Road.

The chairman also delivered a passionate defence of Barry Fry (‘80 going on 30’) and insisted he was a firm believer in freedom of speech, presumably as long as he’s allowed to interrupt it.

He denied Posh had made panic signings when a cluster of new players arrived at the end of the last transfer window. It was all part of a cunning plan with an insurance strategy for unforeseen circumstances as well as a reaction to unforeseeable injuries. “We only made panic signings when we were in the Championship one season and players arrived who were all crap,” the chairman said, rather truthfully.

The language became more choice as the podcast went on, but his speech patterns never flagged. He has impressive lung capacity for a 49 year-old.

It was a broadcast that did deliver some snippets of info. Matt Garbett has a three-year contract not two as previously thought, while a deal to sign right-back Kayne Ramsey from Harrogate as a replacement for Peter Kioso in the summer of 2024 was hijacked by Charlton Athletic at the last minute. A Swedish club offered Posh £200k more than they had paid for Gustav Lindgren, so £700k then, recently and that the eldest son of Barry Fry, Adam, was the first to tip the club off about Ephron Mason-Clark.

There was also some familiar hyperbole as he declared Alex Bass was the best goalkeeper in League One, that he still believes Posh have a top-six squad and that Luke Williams will be one of his ‘best hires.’

This could all become true. He received some pushback on the middle point, but as ever the chairman has the last word with a passionate defence of his record at London Road.

"I’ve done ******* marvellous,” he announced. “Modern DMac has been better than old DMac. The last four seasons as a League One have seen us finish second, sixth, fourth and 18th and we’ve won two cups at Wembley.

"I have a Hall of Fame record as an owner. There have been lots of highs, lows and near misses, but I’ve had a hell of a career in over 20 years.”

He’s not wrong, but that doesn’t mean he should be immune from criticism from fans with honestly-held opinions. This podcast certainly confirmed there’s passion for Posh on the terraces as well in the boardroom and long may that continue.

The podcast is available on YouTube now here and from your usual podcast providers on Wednesday morning.