Oasis star and rakish comedian hit the airwaves

Russell Brand made his triumphant return to radio in a one-off talkSPORT special with Noel Gallagher last night. Highlights included a Daily Mail reader-angering phone call to Jonathan Ross, and a call to the White House in order to confirm Barack Obama’s support of West Ham.

The duo also spoke to Steve Lomas, who judged whether Brand’s club West Ham are bigger than Gallagher’s beloved Manchester City, as well as revealing something that John Moncur would have preferred to have been kept quiet.

Other highlights included Noel Gallagher analysing the lyrics of “Fog On The Tyne” and the Oasis guitarist’s anecdote about Wayne Rooney.

Check out the rest of the show after the jump…

After The Spoiler’s visit to Stan’s talkSPORT studio, the gulf between blogs and former players is wider than ever.

Dear Stan,

Oh dear. That didn’t go too well, did it? Not radio’s finest half hour. Still, thanks for having me.

There seems to be some confusion over my comment that players can’t be fans, not least because it was so poorly articulated, so let’s clear that one up. You say that fans cannot have the same appreciation of the game that players have. “Have you ever been in a professional dressing room?” you asked. (Of course I haven’t - why would I?) And only an imbecile would attempt to argue that this doesn’t give you an exclusive perspective on the game. So I agree - as players you have direct, first hand knowledge of situations that spectators can only watch and speculate about.

My point was that by the same standard, players cannot have the same experience of the game that fans have. Yes you can have supported a team since childhood, yes you can still put your scarf on and go and watch them. But the fans’ experience is one of identifying with their team at one remove - we don’t score the goals ourselves, you do it on our behalf. We don’t save the penalties with your own hands, you do it for us. Fans spend years of their lives meditating on football and develop immensely sophisticated and emotional theories about the game, but we don’t know first hand what the pressures and personalities are that shape play - we can only guess. So you can either know what it’s like to play professional football or wonder what it’s like to play professional football, but not both. (And this is not to mention players being unable to physically participate in the fans’ experience of following the team, week in, week out or the contradiction of having to wear the colours of one team while supporting another.)

So when you set out your credentials as a fan - you mentioned the time when your drove to see England with your home made flag - I don’t doubt your passion for the occasion, but when you sit in the stands, you are Stan the ex-pro, not Stan the fan. People want to talk

Have your say on the Bendtner issue

Thanks to everybody who tuned in to talkSPORT last night to hear Stan Collymore shout at us every time we tried to answer a question defend his view on Nicklas Bendtner’s ‘Hero of the Weekend’ status. If you have an opinion on the subject, why not cast a vote at the talkSPORT website?

Click here to listen to talkSPORT live online

The Spoiler have accepted Stan Collymore’s invitation to appear on his talkSPORT radio show tonight. Tune in from 9pm to catch Ed Needham argue with the former Aston Villa and Liverpool striker over his decision to name Nicklas Bendtner his “hero of the weekend”.