Gab & Juls Show: Is Spalletti the right fit for Juventus?

21:47Don Hutchison:100 million. We can't afford him. What's the next one down from Julian? Well, you have to show me you're committed to winning. With 100 million, I will definitely win the title this season. So it'll be worth it. No, what we're going to do is we're not going to give you Julian, but I'm going to give you two or three players instead. I don't want them. I don't like them. I can't win with them. sucked. There you go. There you go. There you go. No. Honestly, this is how I would act. If I were in that position, this is how I would act. And I would go to the fans and say, no BS. And I would open the books and I would say, look, this guy's still here.

22:21Why? Because some moron gave him a five-year contract X many years ago. And these are the facts. And we have to get out of this mess. And I think you can't say it too explicitly. I would also go out and say, with all due respect, stop crapping on about Bonucci and Barzaghi hey look how many champions did those guys win yeah you know what like let's be a little bit more realistic here about where we are I don't just want to go and blame all the bad decisions before us but decisions were made in good faith most of them that didn't work out and we have to get ourselves out of this own it own it that's my message to Juve and I'm not even a Juve fan music music music music Look, the economy is a lot right now, and if you're a small business owner, you probably feel it.

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24:38Just here for the snacks? Now we're talking. So grab a bag of Lay's and jump on the bandwagon. We're undefeated.

24:45Don Hutchison:Lay's, the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. All right, enough Juve. How about some quick hits instead? Let's do it. Liverpool are out of the League Cup, losing 3-0 to Crystal Palace at home. Don, I suspect we're going to disagree here. Technically, that's six defeats and seven, but given the team Arnest Law put out there, I'm not sure it makes sense to speak of a Liverpool defeat. Oh, we could get our boxing gloves on here. This is all... I'm very reluctant to lean on a manager before I have a go at the players. This is the complete opposite. it. You think he should have played a strong 11 and strong players on the bench?

25:21Don Hutchison:He picked a side last night and a young 11, even younger bench that had zero chance of beating Crystal Palace, who were a good side. And the reason why I say that is because for a number of reasons, I was a young player making my way into Liverpool's team and I had probably six or seven, eight first team players wrapped around me, which made my job a lot easier and it's easier for a younger player to stand out when you've got good players. If you go to what Man City done, they They brung Vardial off the bench. They picked a strong 11, but they brung Vardial, John Stones, Phil Foden. Newcastle last night brought Grunard Gimeraj, Joe Linton, Anthony Gordon off the bench.

25:56Don Hutchison:Spurs had a strong 11, brought players off the bench. You're saying Gwalt should have done that. He should have done exactly that because you let your young kids, and I'm not buying, we've got three games in a week. Everyone in the Champions League, or Europa League Football, Conference League Football's got three games this week. Yes, but I only have... Everyone's got games. Okay, fine. But I only have two centre-backs. Right, but the team that you picked last night had no chance of winning. There's a way round to find it. Maybe I don't want to play in the league top. So Bozlai is the most durable player at Liverpool.

26:23Don Hutchison:He would have played last night, got through it. Gakpo, durable. Florian Wurtz needs a game. He needs a performance. Play him. And then you wrap that with Chiesa. So if I play Florian Wurtz surrounded by kids, then maybe he ends up having a stinker and then maybe his confidence goes down. But please don't give me the maybe gets injured one. No, no, that's not what I said. Maybe he plays, doesn't get injured, but he has a stinker. alright and then his confidence goes down and then I pay price for the weekend but you can't say like I will know because if he doesn't play if I just have him train he'll be ready for the weekend yeah that's rubbish you can't say you're better off being up in the stand than playing the game trying to play well and get yourself fit and ready and in a good frame of mind going at the Villa game you can't say sitting on the stand is going to do you more good you can no you can't you can't you don't know what you're working on from my point of view I completely I blub in his face I completely understand why he did this.

27:14I think the League Cup is absolute nonsense and should be abolished. He's not going to keep his job based on the League Cup.

27:21Don Hutchison:What did those kids whether he wins the League Cup? What did those young kids get out of last night? Nothing. Well, they didn't seem to go for 40-odd minutes. Come on, Gab. It would have ruined their confidence. They should have played with first-team players or first-team players off the bench coming on to try and help them. It's not about winning the competition. They could still have lost against Crystal Palace. It's a way of going out, not before the game. You watch the team come in. You watch the bench come in. You're sitting there going, right Palace are winning this game and then when Virgil van Dijk gets a straight red and then he's out for the next three games if what you got crystal ball you might not get a straight red Liverpool win the game so it's the next round feel good going at the Villa game this is perfect you get knocked out you don't have to play in this nonsense again no it's not you can get knocked out but there's a way you get knocked out and by the way we're going on to Bayern who won 4-1 at Cologne see their team last night 14 consecutive wins in all comps flying strong team strong bench yeah to be fair the German Cup is equivalent to the FA Cup not the League Cup so that people actually try and actually want to win this.

28:15Semantics.

28:17Don Hutchison:Semantics. Still pick the strong side. Of course, because they're playing another Bundesliga team and they need to do well. They care about this. Harry Kane, by the way, 20 goals in 14 games and this 14-0 wins breaks Milan's record from 92-93. It's a record for big five wins to start the season. Max Dowman becomes a younger starter in the history of Arsenal as they beat Brighton 2-0. Don, he played 70 minutes. He doesn't even turn 16 until New Year's Eve. I mean, they've had a couple. I mean, one year he comes to mind, but from what he has young. No, I know. But from what I've saw, this Max Diamond kid is just a phenomenon.

28:55Don Hutchison:I heard Mikel Arteta saying, I'd be blind if I didn't see the talent that he's got, so I've got to play him. I mean, can you imagine? I mean, can you honestly try and imagine being 15 and playing for a Premier League side and being outstanding and being like this good? I'm curious. All right, so you played for Premier League sides when you were older. 18. You started with a man, you're growing into your body. No, no, no. But what I'm saying, my question to you is, do you feel that at 50, obviously you weren't ready? Were you not ready technically or mentally, do you think? Probably both. I mean, I listened to Declan Rice talking this morning about when he got released at Chelsea at a similar sort of age, and he said he was tiny, he wasn't physical, he said his running gait was strange because he couldn't grow into his body how he's doing at Max Damman at this age is just he's a man child a man child a bit like Wayne Rooney but just this kid's so gifted Luis Enrique rotates to Gab but he does it in the league on five regulars rested and PSG go beyond a 1-1 draw to Lorient yeah on top of that Desiree Douai gets injured as well hey how about that like picking up injuries I get to lead the game on crutches I think we're going to get an update soon probably sends your man not good I mean they could they had enough to win this game, sure.

30:09They even had their first shot until 37 minutes into it. Good news, as we'll see later, is Marseille also lose, so they're still top, also draw points. They drew 2-2, so they're still top of the table. Napoli win away Lecce 1-0 as Andre Franck, Zombo, and Giza scores, and wonder kid Francesco Camarda misses a penalty for Lecce. Don, how did Napoli look?

30:32Don Hutchison:A bit average, but it's one of those games, Gab, where if you do win the league, you'll never remember the Lecce 1-0 win. They were averaging the game. Kamada, the 17-year-old for Lecce, stepped up at 0-0 to take a penalty. It was never a penalty in a million years. Juanes just got guilty. Why was he taking the penalty? It's a good question. It's a good question. I think Di Francesco probably thought the story's there for a 17-year-old who led the line. Great story if he takes down one of the big guns in Napoli. Personally, I would have went of experience. but in terms of how Napoli looked okay they have to go to the bench for Spinnett Tolo McTominay and Hoyland to go and win the game but as I said just churned out a 1-0 win No one laying got a start finally wild stuff in Wolverhampton Gab crazy game this one Chelsea go 3-0 up at half time then get pegged back to 3-2 it finishes 4-3 De Lapp gets sent off another red for Maresca's men he called it embarrassing another red for De Lapp I think he got sent off the Club World Cup he did he did yeah Manesca's right it's embarrassing it's embarrassing that you're playing Wolves for the bottom team they've got other things to worry about they've got you know Vito Pereira getting into it with fans and you're 3-0 up I don't care who's on the pitch because Chelsea's lineup okay Enzo was on the bench Enzo actually I think gave the ball away for the goal that made a 3-1 at the start of the second half but and we saw some tremendous goals Jamie Giddens who I don't like what a goal what a goal and also he was really good you're in the game.

32:03But I want to focus on the lap. You cannot have this. When you know, you know, first game back, you know, Jean-Pedro's had a really difficult time. You know, Cole Palmer's injured. You know how badly they need you because nobody wants to see Mark Yu up front. I like Tyreek George, but I'm not sure that's his best position. And you go and you do this.

32:23Don Hutchison:He's right to say embarrassing. Yeah. I mean, it was just ludicrous, really. Why would you come on in your first game, push someone in the throat, chest, Get a yellow. Then an elbow to the face. Second yellow. Gone. Suspension coming. It's like he thinks there's no VAR. It's crazy. But let's celebrate your boys, Don. Yes! Newcastle down Tottenham Hotspur. Two-nale to advance to the quarterfinals. Eddie Howe wants that trophy. There you go, see. Do you know how you get the trophy gap? You pick a strong side when you're at home. It's phenomenal how Newcastle's still insatiable despite all the silverware that you've won over the years.

32:55Don Hutchison:It's the way to do it. We're trying to retain the trophy. Put Bruno on the bench and bring him on. put Anthony Gordon on the bench and bring him on. Big Joe on the bench grabbing people by the throat and by the necks tough and roughing people up. Another win. Valtemar gets another goal. Yeah, with a bit of help from Kinski. Don't matter. It's down on the records. Alexander Isak who? Valtemar in. All hail Voldemort. Yeah. Interbounce back with a 3-0 win over Fiorentina. Peter Sushic scores a worldy goal and Kivu gets a response he wanted, Gab. Yeah, he did. Again, I didn't think they were anywhere near bad against Napoli, although they put their foot off the gas and ended up losing.

33:38But this is pretty comprehensive over Fiorentina. Some wobbles maybe a little bit in the second half. Show them Piollini. He's having a horrendous start to the season. Results worse than performances, again, in my view. But Zucic, they really need this because obviously they need alternatives with energy in midfield. They have a deep team. Esposito, I thought, did well again in getting the start. And they're right up there. Erling Haaland gets the night off, and Manchester City have to come from behind to dispatch Swansea 3-1. Don, what did Pep learn?

34:10Don Hutchison:He just learned that Erling Haaland's gone down the shop. He's got his tomahawk steak. He's got his raw milk, and he's just doing things his way by having a night off. What did he learn? Not much. Did he learn that Kusinov maybe is not the sharpest tool in the box? Yeah, that's a good point. he needs a bit of coaching the kid but what he learned is probably not a lot he's looking at the experienced players at the start of the game and some fringe players that need to get up to speed Marmouche scored a fantastic goal so I think you just what you learn from that if you're Pep is you're just saying right we've got a lot of minutes into some legs that they badly needed and Shirky was good too I think they scored both Gasparini's men are keeping pace with Napoli at the top yeah Sab are we underestimating them it'd be amazing if Gasparini won the league but right it's It's pretty ironic here because, of course, they did 1-2-1 against Padma, but Artem Dahlbic, who apparently, you know, he likes as much as he likes venereal disease.

35:06He scored a good goal. Yeah, he was decisive, comes off the bench, and only came on at the end. I started with Ewan Ferguson, of course, who goes off injured early. Got a big-name game from Paulo Dybala, and I don't know how long this Dybala stuff is going to last because you never know with that guy. But onwards and upwards, I think based on a lot of metrics, Roma should be doing even better than they're doing. So we'll see if that comes to bear.

35:33Don Hutchison:Is that Shaka Hizlop metrics? What sort of metrics are these? I expect the goals, shots, possession of the final third, that kind of stuff. Stuff you love. iFab are under pressure to allow VAR interventions for yellow cards that lead to ascending off. Some suggestion that this might happen in time for the World Cup. Hurrah! It makes sense to you, yeah? 100 % it makes sense. It didn't make any sense not to check for like a yellow card to potentially then send someone off. You could make, you know, you could make like a horrendous tackle on someone, get a yellow card, and then make another bad tackle and say, oh, we can't check that one because, you know, it's just a yellow card.

36:09Don Hutchison:VAR can't check it. It's dangerous. So there's two arguments against them, both of which I think are nonsense. One comes from the people just hate VAR under all circumstances, fair enough. The other one is like, oh, but what if the bad call was the first one and not the second one. And I'm like, you know what? If the bad call was the first one, are you going to go check that one too? It's a slippery slope. No. If the first one, if the first call is a bad call, then the player is a grown-up. He has to deal with it. No, I'm on a yellow unfairly. Correct. And I won't commit the second. Correct. So I'm okay.

36:38But if the second one's a bad call, why you got to send the guy off?

36:43Don Hutchison:Back to Serie A. Atalanta and Milan battle to a 1-1 draw as Leal has a hip problem. Adding to the long injury list. Yeah, he had to come off. Santi Jimenez is getting absolutely destroyed by the media because he's not scoring, although he's falling over. Again, this is vintage Alligue. The people are saying, oh, but look, but a.08 Atalanta is good. Atalanta have drawn, I think, four home games in a row. They're not great shakes. Expected goals, 1.34 to 0.36 to Atalanta. Atalanta, I think, had the upper hand in this. I think they missed not having a proper center forward. Mande Ketelare, not quite the same thing up front.

37:21But yeah, Milan, you need to work on things. And I hope Max is realizing this, because this is not good.

37:27Don Hutchison:No. And yeah, and injuries are a mitigating factor, but... Loads of them. You expect more. Yeah. I never thought I'd say this, but Martin O 'Neill is back at Celtic as they beat Fulkerk 4-0. And Don, there's a ton of bad blood between Brendan Rodgers, who was let go, and Dermot Desmond, the club's majority shareholder. As we sit here now, Gab, can you tell me what year it is? because I feel as though we're in a time warp and we've gone back to the 1990s. We're going long ball. We're going long throw-ins. We're going fights and scraps in El Clasico and Martin O 'Neill's back at Celtic. What year is it?

38:00So O 'Neill said, oh, I'm only here interim. I could be here two weeks. I could be here, you know, whatever. Fair enough.

38:07Don Hutchison:Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I was just shocked by this Dermot Desmond, Brendan Rodgers. Well, he's obviously got a lot on Brendan Rodgers to come out and make that statement. It was pretty two-footed. Brendan Rodgers has there are a lot of people who don't like him and not just in the red half of Liverpool but there's any arguing with the fact that he's a good coach if all these players Honda Civics Brendan Rodgers that's not going to go down well in the dressing room when you get called a Honda Civic I can tell you that big win for Dortmund in the German Cup as they knock out Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties Gab you've been praising Niko Kovac I have and they weren't terrible in this game but they got I think pretty lucky because Julian Brown scored the equalizer.

38:49Look to me offside, no VAR. And so they end up bringing it home on penalties. For Eintracht, well, at least they didn't ship four, five, six goals like they have been doing recently. So onwards and upwards.

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39:39As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. the times report that bruno fernan has a 57 million pound release clause by the way when these release clauses when they're all kind of like you know not nice round numbers it's probably in a different currency and so that translates it so i'm a guess it's like 60 million euros yeah anyway um now this clause is only valid for a period in the summer and only valid for non-english clubs.

40:34Don, he's 31. He's already turned down the Saudi Pro League once last summer where he told us. What do you make of this? Is this release clause even a thing? Is there anybody in Europe who would pay that kind of money for him?

40:49Don Hutchison:I'm afraid not. I don't see where his landing spot is. Don't see him at PSG. They've got the best midfield probably in world football. Don't think Real Madrid 100 % not Barca. Real Madrid have enough number 10s I think. Yeah, exactly. But 100 % not Barca. He's not their model. So the release clause is fine. It seems low. But I don't know where... Yeah, 57 million for a guy that's... He's 31 years old and he makes an enormous... 31 schmorty-one. Enormous salary. I don't know. I... Europe, no. Saudi, maybe. But as he said, no in the summer. Unless he wants to rethink it. I just... I don't see a PSG, Real Madrid, Barca.

41:31Don Hutchison:maybe Bayern maybe Bayern could you see him in a Bayern shirt yeah because they only had Musiala so at number 10 so yeah he's proved this season he can play a little bit deeper I don't know Bayern's probably the only one he's proved other than he's playing further away from goal and getting fewer goals and fewer assists I hear you I hear you while stuff in the velodrome gab Marseille come from behind to take a 2-1 lead against Angers only to concede an equaliser in the 6th minute of injury time so first of all putting on my Jules hat and I'll tell you about Rubinho Vaz, 18 years old, scoring both goals to cue the comeback.

42:07And I don't know if Jules would claim him as Paris born in Breda. Probably. He was born about 30 miles away. Close enough. That includes the catchment area. But it's a heartbreak for my boy Roberto de Zadby. The way they defended on the first goal wasn't great. Where the guy seems terrified. It's a one-on-one on a counterattack. The guy seems terrified that he's going to get sent off and let him get the shot off. on the second one, he seems to just kind of wander in the penalty area. Everybody backs off and he gets a shot off. That was Ousmane Kamara. Big shout out to him. The only good news is there is no good news.

42:42This is a massively missed opportunity with Paris Saint-Germain drawing and they've been passed by Monaco in the table because Sebastian Pocugnalli who replaces your boy Adolf Hutter. Monaco are just one point behind and they 153 away to Nantes. Guess who's back? Rafa's back. Yes. Rafa Benitez is the new boss of Panathinaikos. Don, you're a huge fan of Rafa. Yeah. Panathinaikos.

43:15Don Hutchison:Yeah. I'm a bit perplexed on this one. Why? Well, did he need that job? Was there not bigger jobs for him? I mentioned, I mean, you can argue who's bigger Panathinaikos Rangers, but that's a whole new debate. They had a nice long chat with Rafa. Does he not feel at the very top level he could contribute? Could he not contribute to a bigger club? I don't think those jobs are coming. Look, the job before this he had was Celta, which, by the way, he really, really struggled in that job. I think he's at the stage where he loves coaching, he loves working in football. Good day, good on him. He just wants to go and do that.

43:51He's not going to sit around waiting. you know I mean Real Madrid been there done that Chelsea been there done that City ain't gonna happen United obviously not I mean that would have been an interesting one Camoli and Rafa you know we ride again but yeah but of course Tudor was still in the job what did it say for Madrid

44:16Don Hutchison:what's happening in a regional court in Madrid it's back to A22 the company behind the Super League in their case against UEFA. Real Madrid said they will seek damages. All right. So you remember the lawsuit, the European Court of Justice. Yep. Releasing one of the super complicated judgments where they say, oh, UEFA's rules governing external people, setting up football competitions. They're too restrictive. And therefore, Super League proponents say, aha, look, this means that, you know, There's a restraint of trade, and we could set up our own competitions. UEFA and FIFA can't punish us. UEFA coming out and saying, no, no, we rewrote those rules, and our rules are compliant with the European Court of Justice judgment.

45:05So it's amazing because this judgment, which, you know, it's a regional court in Madrid. I'm just going to leave it at that. So for the layman, what do you expect them to say? So for the layman, what does this mean? So essentially, I'll explain this, for the layman. So basically... It's got nothing to do with the Super League, is it? No, it's got everything to do with the Super League. So European Union has rules about restraint of trade, which is basically free business, right? Essentially, Don, you want to start a business, you want to compete with big pens, you want to make your own pens, you're free to do that, right?

45:43So equally, a bunch of clubs want to get together to form their own league and play with each other. theoretically they're three or they should be free to do that which is what Real Madrid argue right? We create a Champions League. We invite. It's my invitation. We're going to Super League. UEFA can't touch us. At the same time so that's kind of there's the restraint of trade argument but then on the other hand there's another argument saying wait a minute football is not just a business. Football isn't like Don Hutchinson pen company right? Right. Yeah. Football is the social trust. Yeah. It's cultural.

46:21We have a pyramid. We have concepts such as the fact that you have to qualify for competition and merit and so on. For better or worse, football is governed by football associations and band together. And they have a confederation, UEFA, which runs football in Europe and UEFA answer to FIFA, which is run football globally and so on. So how those two things are in conflict. Right. How do you how do you resolve that? And so the court came out with his judgment on the Super League, which says, okay, I think essentially they're trying to thread a needle, right? UEFA made rules and we wrote the rules saying, yes, you can go and start your own competition, but can't play during international windows.

47:08You can't play when the Champions League is on. You can't do this, can't do that, right? Yep. So Real Madrid are arguing UEFA's new rules, like their old rules, are way too restrictive. This is essentially punishment for a club that might have done. What do they get out of it, Real Madrid? Well, Real Madrid say... No, that will never be a Super League. Real Madrid say that they're going to seek damages. Right. Money. Yeah, but I don't think it's Real Madrid needing money as much as it is if they get a court to say, oh, Real Madrid, you're right. UEFA's stance on the Super League cost you half a billion, you're going to say, all right, Real Madrid, do you want half a billion or do you want to sit down and negotiate?

47:48And then they sit down and negotiate and they come out with a Champions League structure which is closer to what Real Madrid wants. Yeah. Whatever that may be, right? So like more games between the top, whatever. And some might say, well, it's already moved that way, right, with the Swiss model and so on. I just find this really frustrating because, again, I don't like lawyers. But this verdict from the European Court of Justice can be interpreted and can be spun every which way. So you have UEFA's lawyers saying like, oh no, this verdict from the regional court in Madrid is totally irrelevant, and actually they're backing us.

48:24And then you go around Madrid and say, oh no, look, we won the verdict, and this verdict's really important, now we can go and sue them. Ching, ching, ching, for the lawyers. For the lawyers, yeah. What does it say in the Bible? It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a lawyer to enter the kingdom of God. So good, so good, so good. New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Get ready to save big with up to 60 % off brands like Rag & Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and Free People. Join the Nordic Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more.

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49:37the way tv deals are structured means this is in the premier league there will be just one premier league game on boxing day this year this would have been unthinkable not long ago and i

49:48Don Hutchison:can just see you're so it's so sad our whole tradition was built on the festive period playing games boxing day football for men and women who work extremely hard their little bit a time off for the family to sit down in front of the TV or go to the games and watch the games derby games it felt like to me were lost a long time ago I can remember when I was growing up it was it felt that way anyway to me that boxing day fixtures was derby day fixtures because you didn't want teams to travel yeah because which makes sense yeah over a festive period with the lack of travel that would be available so to me to only have one game feels pretty sad no so I I think the argument, like, it is sad, and I think they need to take fan sentiment into account just because it's a good business decision.

50:34If enough people think like you...

50:37Don Hutchison:Which I would imagine they do because they're all emotional. So basically, I think this has to do with the fact that the Boxing Day, which, again, for those who don't know, the terminology is the day after Christmas, December 26th. It's on a Friday. And so if you were to play a full slate of games on that Friday, unless you want teams to play two games in three days, which I know used to happen. We used to do that, believe it or not. Two games in two days, not three days. Okay, I find that demented. But if you were to do that, then you would then have to play the next batch of games on Monday, right?

51:16Monday and Tuesday. And then you start coming up against the fact that you always have games on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, and it just screws up the whole weekend thing. And when they sold the Premier League television packages, they guaranteed a certain amount, I think it's 33, weekends of football. Now, what bugs me is, bro, the calendars, we've got calendars figuring out through the year 2500. You knew when you sold this package that Friday was going to be Boxing Day. You knew you would run into this problem. So what this says to me, it's not like this is a surprise. you chose to sell the packages in this way.

51:58Television chose to sell the packages or bought the packages in this way. So I think there has to be some accountability. Somebody's got to come out and say this. Yes, this is what's going to happen. And the games haven't been confirmed yet. Maybe there's just some hope that they can move it around. But enough outlets have reported like, yeah, this is what's happening.

52:17Don Hutchison:Pretty sad. And totally sad to worry in betting stories involving referees. Gab, one from Italy and one from Turkey. That's right. So the one from Italy first is a guy named Luigi Catanozzo, who is he's a, for lack of a better word, a low level referee. He officiates Primavera games, which are essentially under 21 games. He's been arrested. prosecutors say that he was trying to recruit people and recruit other referees and was willing to pay them 10 ,000 euros a match to basically ensure that when you bet, you can bet on the overs, which is over 2.5 goals to ensure that there are more than 2.5 goals a game.

53:01So not necessarily interfering with the outcome of the game although of course you need to know it is a low score. It is at 1-1, yeah. Well, you don't care who scores at 1-1. But you're 1-2-1. Yeah, exactly. That is pretty horrifying. The thing in Turkey, I do this a little differently, and I feel like I need to read more about this, because basically it was a big investigation by the police with the Turkish Football Federation, right? There are 581 referees in Turkey. This is at all levels. and apparently 371 of them had betting accounts. 152 of them had actually used them or were actively gambling.

53:43Now, it's only a handful of referees in the top two divisions in the Super League and in the First League. And we don't know if they placed a bet five years ago. Yeah. A couple of things don't fully add up to me on this one. First of all, if I'm a referee who happens to be a gambling addict, I would know better than to bet on football in my country. There's plenty of other things you can bet on if you're a gambling addict.

54:15Don Hutchison:But I think the addicts probably, the switch is not there in your brain. Right, but they're not suggesting that these people, like yes, some people pay thousands of bets, but there's no suggestion that it's these guys. and secondly it's not that difficult to get a betting account that's offshore that's unlicensed or that's not in your name or that maybe it's your missus or your brother or your cousin or they might think which is stupid because the modern day we live in they might think the guys that are refereeing down in the lower leagues some of them might be betting on the top league which they've got no influence on they shouldn't be doing it no no no I agree but they might think That's what the bulk of this is.

54:57And thirdly, if you're a corrupt referee, surely, if there's an element of corruption to this, surely you don't open up your own betting account. You just take cash for fixing games. I mean, I don't... So I think this whole thing needs to be explained more clearly because there's been a lot of pearl clutching over this. It is obviously worrying. It's obviously very, very serious. But I think they need to actually explain, oh yes, look, you know, this guy did this, that guy did this, Mehmet did this, and Servette did that, or whatever, right? Anyway, according to the Times, Sheffield Wednesday will auction off two golden elephant statues in a bid to raise money for Sheffield Wednesday.

55:42Now, their disgraced former owner, Defjohn-Shansiri, had bought them for good luck back in happier times. Administrators are coming over. They said these really serve no purpose. you've got room in your house

55:54Don Hutchison:I'll tell you what I'll do I'll buy one of you buy one honestly tell me how much they cost no because I ain't buying one that was a joke well look I'm assuming they're not solid gold right yeah I don't know I might what are you going to do have a think what's your top if you buy one I'll buy one what's your top bid I don't know I'd go off to a couple hundred pounds a couple hundred cheap you're not getting one for a couple of hundred I'm thinking five hundred how do you know they're not I'm not I'm not an ex-pro I'm not as rich as you how do you how do we know these aren't just like crappy plastic things probably are with gold paint on them probably are um I find it I tell you what was a nice sight though it was a lovely sight of the Sheffield Wednesday fans the day after Chancery had left the football club and they spent about quarter of a million pound in the club shop the day after buying tickets and buying shirts because they know the money's not going to which is brilliant to see.

56:53Yeah, well done, Schiff. Well done, Alcance. Yeah. Texter time. It's time. It's time. It's Texter time. Oh, it's amazing because he's got the court case in Brazil. He's lost control of Leon. He has the issue with those people who filed the case against him because they had invested in Eagle football and they claimed that if he wasn't going to go and float Eagle football, they had to give the money back with interest, which he's not going to give back. Not clear to me that he has the money because it's close to$100 million. But reportedly, an offer to buy Wolverhampton Wanderers, of course, by Fosun, the Chinese group.

57:38And it's a 400 million pound offer. That's the number, which seems like a crazy amount of money for walls.

57:45Don Hutchison:So remind me, where's he? He's left Palace. So remind me, where's he at and what's he doing? Well, he... So is he still... He's not still anything to do with Palace? Has he got any shares in them? No, no, no. He sold his shares in Palace. Sold all them. Gone. Yeah. So he still has Molenbeek. Yeah. Although he tried to change the name. I think he's supposed to change the name and fans got angry about that. Of course, he's got Botafogo. I think he still has shares in Lyon, although he doesn't control the club. Yeah, he's kind of all over the place, What's funny about this is the offer is$200 million in cash, so 160-odd million pounds, plus$350 million in shares of Eagle Football Limited.

58:26Now, what is Eagle Football Limited actually worth? What's actually in it right now? It seems to be irrelevant because folks would have said, no, no, no, we're not looking to sell the whole club. We just want a minority investor. And it's not going to be tech-staring. and sometimes I wonder, like, are these things just to keep his name in the news? Are these things designed just to give me and Jules content so we can discuss them more on the show? Get him in. Yeah, stay away. Cristiano Ronaldo won't be winning the Kings Cup, Don, despite going a goal up and despite El Itihad, their opponents, playing a man down for 41 minutes.

59:02Don Hutchison:El Nasser lose 2-1. They haven't lost many this season, sitting top of the league, but the wait for the trophy goes on. He'll be devastated at that. Yeah, I got to say one thing, and about kind of viral moments. And I don't know if this is... I know people experience the game in different ways. And obviously you saw the whole thing with I Show Speed. I was on comms that night banging the drums, yeah. Right. Apparently a clip, this one from Cristiano, haters went viral among certain people because they had a free kick towards the end of the game, which could have leveled it. And he's this whole thing where he looked like he was talking to himself, breathing, preparing.

59:40And then, of course, he doesn't score on the free kick. now people are like oh look he sucks he thought he was going to score I think people know anything about football scoring a free kick

59:50Don Hutchison:is extremely difficult and all the top boys Ronaldo included have stood there many a time thousands of times and not scored yeah the culture around some of these people who just seem to worship individuals and rather than love the game of football I just don't get no talk of worship Lionel Messi will sign a new contract up to keep in the Major League Soccer for another three seasons. He had some suggestions how to improve Major League Soccer. So MLS, of course, they published their salary survey. I think they're the only league to do this. So we know that he's making something like$20.4 million in guaranteed money this year, which if you like to think in euros, I think it's around $18 million and change.

1:00:35If you like to think in pounds, it's going to be maybe$320 ,000 a week, because we 30, we 40, something like that. Not a lot compared to what he's giving them. And of course, he's got endorsements and makes other ways as well.

1:00:50Don Hutchison:Well, that's the thing because I was at the Club World Cup doing it into Miami game. Every single person had a Lionel Messi shirt on. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think he gets money from that, but yeah. But what was interesting was his suggestion to improve Major League Soccer, right? Let me run this by you. He said, well, for starters, every team should have the opportunity to bring in players and sign whoever each team wants without limitations or rules for players to bring them in. No PSR! No PSR. Yes, Leo! FLS has a whole bunch of rules in the name of stability, in the name of clubs being sustainable, whatever.

1:01:25I'm assuming you're team Messi on this one. You don't want to see any rules. No rules. Just simplify the game for me. No rules. Spend what you want. So, given this is US, given that every league in the US has major, major rules and restrictions which are designed to make the league sustainable, to make the owners money because the owners are in it, not just for the love of the game, but because they want to make money, this ain't going to happen. And I might also add, it's probably a good thing it doesn't happen because I want the sport to grow organically. I don't just want people to show up because, oh, look, Messi's here and then Messi leaves.

1:02:04Don Hutchison:Well, it's basically that's coming in Saudi. That's basically Saudi. aren't they just trying to fast track you said that not me no aren't they just trying isn't messy suggesting we're trying to fast track the mls into being like one of the top leagues i bring all the best players and then you have four teams that spend all the money and everybody else stinks and draws and when you look at look at what uh the average attendance is in saudi and then get back to me before you suggest that's a good uh leo look i i'm glad you know messy is not running a league but it's very easy to say from somebody else with somebody else's money of course but I want to run it.

1:02:35There you go. Yeah, maybe a Hutchinson-Nessi partnership to replace Don Garber at MLS one day. Don, this brings us to an end, but thank you for, you've been a phenomenal stand-in for Jules. Anytime. We're going to be back on Monday. Until then, love the game. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.

1:02:58Don Hutchison:Good energy in. Good energy out.

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