Best of the Football Ramble 2024/25 (Part 1)

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4:16Luke Moore: season just gone. Today's episode takes us from the beginning of the season to the end of 2024 and my word, a lot has happened this season. Today we've got Nonny Madawaki slagging off a town, reactions to unexpected managerial changes at England and Manchester United, David Cootes afters and loads loads more. So what are we waiting for? Let's get stuck in!

4:40Luke Moore: Right everybody, we start the Premier League roundup with Wolverhampton Wanderers 2, Chelsea 6 Speaking of that fever dream It was the most predictable scoreline of the weekend A feisty goal fest at Molineux I might suggest everybody From Daft Penguin on X Who had Wolves v Chelsea as the first barn burner of the season? Not me and also I think if you looked at the score on paper you wouldn't think it was a barn burner It's weird such an expansive score it gives you no idea of what actually happened in the game Yeah, so the first half was incredible. You know, you've seen four goals and you thought, well, who's going to come out on top here?

5:21Luke Moore: Yeah, that's the thing. It was 2-2 at half-side. Well, that's right. And if we said, oh, you're guaranteed another four goals in the second half, we didn't think it would be all one side that got them. But as I said, a feisty encounter. There was a little bit of pushing and shoving. You know what I thought, Vish, when I saw that? I thought, we've got our game back. I thought to myself, yeah, it's funny what a little post on social, media can do to whip up an atmosphere. Obviously, Noni Madueka, who scored a 14-minute hat-trick, said, or posted on his Instagram story the night before the game, everything about this place is shit.

5:56Luke Moore: He was then booed throughout at Molyneux. He apologised after the game and said, I'm sure Wolverhampton is a nice town. I love how he was like, no, yeah, that is what I meant. He didn't go, no, no, I was in another place. I was in a pub. Until that point, he could have just been talking about the hotel. Well, he could have done it. No, no, no. On Instagram, he tagged in the location of Wolverhampton. It was very clear where he was and what he was talking about. But then he claimed he was like, oh, sorry, that went out on the wrong account. I was like, do you have some burner account? Yeah, an anti-Wolverhampton kind of account.

6:25Luke Moore: He's slagging off all the towns of England. It's him. He's outed himself on that. Sorry, I meant to send that to Fesshole. Sorry. But what I loved is he did that thing that it's just the way people talk when something's happened. like Wayne really even did it on the documentary when he was talking about when he was asked about certain difficulties they'd had in their relationship and certain stories that had leaked about him and Madiweke said the worst and he went she wasn't that old he said well you know hopefully that'll never happen again well yeah let's hope so I mean it is all in your court that yeah that's not it don't slag off a town especially if you I've done it again Oh no.

7:08Luke Moore: Yeah, just hopefully I won't press those buttons. He should have finessed it a bit and gone, you'll never see that again. Exactly. You can't slag off Servette, come on. You can't, you can't. That would be quite bold to slag off, was it Geneva they are? Yeah. The lake here is rubbish. But yeah, what a hat-trick it was. Cole Palmer assisted every goal for him, Maduweke said, of Cole Palmer after the game. He is cold and I am fire, so it mixes well. I mean famously obviously don't mix well just running around a hotel in Wolverhampton being like we need no water and fire mix too well shit kind of operation take your face off yes but you kind of know what he means Peter I do yeah I think he does have ice in his face I think Corpom the way that he sort of plays the way that he looks always seems like he's in control yes but I think he just might be a bit bored do you know what I mean he's got like a really bored face about him I mean last season and that was probably a case of, I can't believe I have to do this again.

8:10Luke Moore: I have to dig these bastards out again, don't I? He just plays so upright, and he just seems so assured. Unfazed is very much it. I mean, there was, if I may take us back to the penalty shootout, England versus Switzerland, there's a reason why Southgate picked him to go first. He's just totally unfazed by the whole thing. He could penanker it. He could have done, but he could have done. But the way they linked was glorious. But Matemeka is the man, isn't he, Andy? I mean, took his goals. Well, it was like fortuitous with a deflection, but bearing in mind the pressure that was on him, he could have shrunk with that.

8:42Luke Moore: He booed every moment, but didn't seem to bother him. Maybe he's going to slag off every town. Before we talk about, more specifically, Spurs versus Manchester United, I just want to bring everyone's attention to Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce. They won 2-1 last night. So it's good that he's back on the wagon after falling off it because they were beaten 3-1 by Galatasaray, of course, in the big derby on the weekend. and he was fuming. He had an absolute meltdown and went on for about three or four solid minutes about how long he had to wait to the press conference. I had to wait 75 minutes for the press conference after the game, which is quite bad.

9:17Luke Moore: And he did this whole speech about, I have never shirked a press conference in my life. I'm trying to rack it in my brain. It must be right in there. But yeah, he never shirked a press conference. Because for Mourinho, of course, the game starts, really, the emotional side of the game starts when he does the press conference ahead of the game. and it finishes but now no one cares well that's what he's trying to get and it finishes when he does his press conference after the game and he's obviously trying to deflect more on that rather than the defeat he said you know I thank the opposing coach and all this sort of thing but he was absolutely furious it looked like a head teacher bollocking an entire school year about some and that is the dynamic of Mourinho in the Turkish Super League yeah very much so and I felt like I was being told off watching it yeah it was remarkable do you think in a similar vein in school that there are just loads of people trying not to laugh.

10:05Luke Moore: Yeah, yeah, I'd imagine so. Yeah, maybe. Well, there's also been further controversy in Turkey surrounding that Galatasaray victory over Fenerbahce. Now, the coach of the Turkish national basketball team, Ergen Ataman, is also the coach of the Greek basketball side, Panathinaikos. Now, basketball's very big in that part of the world, as it is in a lot of places in Europe. They played a friendly match recently, Panathinaikos, against Fenerbahce's basketball team. and the coach Ataman who again just to remind you is the Turkey basketball national coach is a it would appear as a Galatasaray fan and during the game to taunt the Feno Baccio side he raised three fingers of one as if to say 3-1 Feno Baccio have taken it well haven't they?

10:48Luke Moore: Well they're refusing to allow their basketball players to report for international duty It's incredible Absolutely incredible It is The whole thing is superb but it is utterly remarkable Try and Lee Carsley I was just thinking I was just thinking Yeah. You're not getting Trent now. Yeah. It's possibly one of the most Turkish stories I've ever heard. It's crazy. But, you know, they have the Euro basket qualifiers in November. So plenty of time for everybody to calm down. Just a little read here for me. We will be covering that in its entirety every week here on the Football Ramble. So you just said enough time for people to calm down.

11:23Having spoken about Mourinho starting his mind games from his first press conference to his post-game one. Do you think this is calming down?

11:30Luke Moore: I don't know, but hopefully the world of basketball can see past Mourinho and focus on the task at hand. If Marcus answers that, if he speaks, he's in trouble. I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. I prefer not to speak. I think Fenerbahce's statement said something like that it shames basketball, it shames the office of the national coach, and it shames the country. It's incredible. Well, Jim, it's not until mid-November they meet up. So again, plenty of time for calm and clear thinking. Or to escalate it. Right in the slow cooker. Probably escalate it, wouldn't I? But anyway, back to Spurs. Obviously, they face Manchester United on Sunday.

12:07Now then.

12:09Luke Moore: Previously on the Football Roundup. I make exactly this of it. Thomas Tuchel wants the Man United job. Thomas Tuchel's people and Thomas Tuchel are trying to force Man United's hand by saying to Man United, it's not going to get any better for Eric Tanhar. You know it. I know it. You need to make a move. If you don't make a move, my client is very, very likely to take the England job and you'll miss him. I find it very difficult to believe at this point that the FA are in negotiations with Thomas Tuchel. And did you listen to the brilliant interviewer tactic there? Just keep it going. I thought you agreed.

12:41Luke Moore: I thought you were strongly agreed. And that's what a lot of the best interviewers do. Enough rope to hang himself and my goodness, he's strung up this morning, everybody. Luke Moore, how do you respond? Listen, lads, I'm out here making big calls. I'm out here making big calls every single day. Every day. They're not always right. Hardly ever right. Yes. You could also use an example of me saying, Harry Kane, we're never going to buy Munich as well. What is it about the England-Germany crossover that I can't quite get right? It just blinds you, doesn't it? Well, to the production staff, I'd say, Dankeschön.

13:10Luke Moore: I need everyone out there in the Luke Nation to support me in this dark hour. I need them to rally around me and say, listen, Luke, it's all right. Not everyone gets it right all the time. We're still marching. But at least you're out there making big calls. Look, it's apparently going to be announced at 1.30 today. It's currently 19 minutes past nine in the morning. It's not over. I'm not actually wrong. I'm not technically wrong as we sit here now. Honestly. Come back to me tomorrow, mate. I'll tell you what, Luke. If for whatever reason it doesn't happen, I'll get pretty quiet until now. That'd be the greatest victory in the history of the League Nation.

13:44If it falls through, I will be driving in my car to all of your houses and bringing you personally back to the studio. I'll sit up in a studio in the street. Yeah, not my finest hour. But listen, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

13:56Luke Moore: Yeah, well, as Jim said, the FAR expected to unveil Tommy Tookes at 1.30 this afternoon, because it was reported last night that Tooker has agreed to become the new England manager. My goodness, Jim Campbell, you're back in the Ramble studio. England have a new permanent manager. Obviously, Lee Carsley has still got a couple of muggy little games left. He must be really confused based on what we found from him the last few days. I said I wanted it, or did I? Well, perhaps it's maybe a little bit more understandable, I stress only a little bit more understandable about Lee Carlsley's comments but today is not about Carlsley Jim it's about Thomas Tuchel Yeah I am so surprised by this I was kind of to be honest I felt the same as Luke I thought Tuchel was always an sort of unlikely link and just one of the names on a very long list that the FA would have liked as manager Can I say short list Jim?

14:43Luke Moore: Yeah shortish list I would assume it is because you know you've got every top manager I would imagine was on it If it's between a short list and a long list it's just a list true yeah just call it a list yeah medium list yeah exactly i wouldn't be surprised if a rego saki was on that list like the way they kind of operate but um yeah i i think it's a it's a really exciting appointment um because he is a a great character as we know he is incredible at knockout football we know that it's going to be really box office really entertaining and he's used to playing uh with squads packed full of talent um in a way that the england squad hasn't always been but currently is.

15:21Luke Moore: So it's a really nice fit. And I think you have to ignore all the jingoism. I mean, we've said on this show before ourselves, I think we would all broadly prefer the England manager to be English because the idea is that it's the best of your nation and it's the best of other nations. But that's not a hard and fast rule. The FA have obviously looked around and gone, you know what? Don't think there's anybody good enough to get what we need out of these players. And that's fair enough. And if he's not English, I don't care if he's a dog. like if he's got the qualifications if he's good enough then unlikely it is unlikely sorry Joe I wasn't expecting to have to say this just on behalf of myself as part of this show Marcus I do care if it's a dog but you carry on alright well what type of dog you're both forgetting Lassie and how good that dog was at all kinds of different things but yeah I think he's going to have to weather the sort of storm of tabloid nonsense about his nationality already happening him yeah exactly it's already happening as bad as it used to be but it'll still be and it's not as bad as it's going to be but it has started already yes um but yeah i think it's a really exciting appointment i'm i'm surprised to be honest i'm surprised they could get someone as good as too cool not as bad as it used to be uh the back page of the daily mail today a dark day for england three lions gamble on a german is that what they actually put a gamble that seems to be it He's the best manager realistically available.

16:45Luke Moore: Yeah. The odds are pretty good on that gamble. Yeah. So I understand what you mean, Jim. Well, Luke, you haven't really had your say. I think I've said enough. I think you have. I'd like to see what you think about this, because obviously you thought it wasn't going to happen. It has happened. It's very much expected to happen at 1.30. We're duty-bound to say. I thought it wasn't going to happen, and it still hasn't happened. Carry on. And I'm not in on Friday. and then the Premier League will be back I think you will be on Friday if it doesn't go through but what do you think though they've gone for Thomas Tuchel obviously Guardiola everyone thought it was a bit of a pipe dream I was kind of trying to talk it up a little bit trying to will it into existence but that's not going to happen now as Jim has said and a lot of people have said that if you can't get Guardiola and Klopp made it absolutely clear that he's now Red Bull's man he's got wings indeed he has really the next best group of managers you probably look at maybe Ancelotti who's not really been linked and Tuka would be one of them.

17:42He would. And I'm not against the idea of him per se. But as I said yesterday, this is nationality. No, I don't want it to be a foreign manager for such jingoistic reasons. I just think that I want England to continue the work they've done in bringing their own coaches through. And it's been a pretty barren wasteland traditionally since we've been doing this show when it comes to the amount of good quality English coaches that we've had. and that's been addressed somewhat in recent years and Southgate's of course set the example for that and I wish as I said before people are probably tired of me saying it now but I'll just repeat it very quickly I wish there's a succession plan in place and the reason that my point is that they're going for Tuchel because the succession plan hasn't been good enough now it may not be entirely their fault the succession plan has not been good enough because maybe they did have all their eggs in the Carsey basket and he's not proving himself to be up to it off the pitch particularly in my view but they as I said to Marcus yesterday Jim they could have once Carsey won the under 21s Euros it was the Euros wasn't it the World Cup they couldn't they could have had him in speaking of the 90s but I want to talk about David James right oh yeah saving the penalties in the warm-up um either the warm-up or the half-time probably half-time yeah he didn't have that in the warm-up.

18:59A bit odd. Salah's practising. So at half-time, they're the kid in the Liverpool shirt, the Liverpool kit taking penalties at the cop end. Right. And I guess it's like, you know, it's part of the mascot experience and this kid, he's really young. It's hard to see from the angle but he's really young and he takes a penalty, quite a nice strike and David James obviously saves it because he's massive and he's still in good nick and he probably does really need the money. Yeah, yeah. So he wanted to try to find investments. Yeah, yeah. But he's already got that.

19:26Luke Moore: It's not on how many penalties he saves. No, but someone might see it and go, I'm taking a chance on him. One year deal. They're playing Cueven Kelleher today. Yeah. And the second, and obviously everyone boos, the second penalty the kid gets to take, David James tries to not save it, but still inadvertently save it. No, he tries to dive and the kid puts it down fairly central and then James at the last second just thinks, yeah, well, I was a fierce competitor in my day. And he saves it. I thought it was poor. He turned around and was like, well, what do you expect? That kid's a fucking idiot.

19:54Luke Moore: Yeah. Maybe he spoke to the kid before just didn't like him. I said, I'm not giving him anything, this kid. He doesn't deserve it. He's not a good person just because he's a kid. That's true. Instantly. It's not a lottery anymore. These kids should know exactly where to put the ball. The kid's changed his mind to write up. That's his problem. Never do that. One of the... Never grab a good wine, never change your mind for a penalty. One of the biggest pairs of hands I've ever shook. Yeah. David James. What makes up the other top three? David James. Yeah. Chris Eubank. Good one. Peace is Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

20:25Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Yeah. Then Barrymore. Barrymore! You did this. Michael Barrymore, not Drew Barrymore. He's got very dainty hands. And it was just his hands shook, wasn't it?

20:38Luke Moore: Have you done this? And the third one. One for the live show. That's all I'm saying. And the third one was a police officer. I have checked David James' hands, so maybe he's in my top three as well. He must be. A very impressive top three. He took a penny against me. Absolutely. And he scored. did he ever what situation was this Isle of Wight Festival needed the money you were him yeah both of us did you bet on him scoring and he was like yeah of course I'll he didn't understand it we'll split the money 10 month ban yeah blimey O 'Reilly Peter that's amazing what was so good about Hacksaw Jim Duggan's hand they were just absolutely massive oh well he has to carry around a lot of wood all the time he carried a 2x4 yeah good grip strength

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22:29Hi, pod fans. Max Rushton here from the chart-topping Guardian Football Weekly podcast. Don't like to crow. If you enjoyed the World Cup with us, you'll be glad to know we're back for the new Premier League season. Expect three episodes a week, questionable predictions and the biggest stories in soccer from the Premier League to the Champions League and beyond. Watch now on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Paige from Giggly Squad. Summer gave your home a workout. Cookouts, long weekends, probably at-home improvement lists that never quite got finished. And now it's fall's turn.

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24:12Luke Moore: Let's go a little bit further afield in Spain now. We're going to go to Spanish TV show El Chiringuito, a favourite of yours, Jim. Absolutely. A quite ridiculous television show. We don't have anything near it, do we, Andy, in this country? Like the Big Breakfast would probably be the closest thing we've ever had to that. But like a really angry Big Breakfast. Yeah, the Big Breakfast with, like, Crimewatch lighting. But does football. If GB News did the Big Breakfast. In a football context. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's on at night as well, isn't it? Chiringete, do they have as troubling views as GB News?

24:47Luke Moore: No, no. Oh, OK. It's more ridiculous. There's a lot of conspiracy on there. OK, OK. Yeah, it's an absolute madhouse. But there was something stunning happened. Even for them, this was quite brilliant. They had former La Liga referee Pajares Paz being interviewed. Now, Pajares Paz, I thought that's... Because Paz means peace in Spanish. And I thought, Pajares, what does that mean? If you go to Google Translate, Pajares means, according to Google Translate, whatever you think, Haystacks. So we're saying he's got like a ref with a wrestler name. They were talking to Haystacks P, Sandy, is what I'm saying.

25:22Luke Moore: But anyway, we'll go with his Spanish name, Pajares Paz, because that is his name. And he was being interviewed from his home, sat there, you know, a high-profile referee. And, you know, imagine in this country, we see this now, don't we, that Sky Sports make, you know, TNT Sports. when they have a recognisable referee in the studio, and I saw it at the World Cup. In the background, his parrot started to whistle a little tune, as parrots do, and then it became apparent that he was whistling the Real Madrid anthem. The great thing about it is his face, isn't it? His face betrays him more than his parrot does.

26:01Luke Moore: He starts going, shut up, shut up. But he doesn't understand the technology because he doesn't realise that we can hear him and see him. And see him. Oh, Matt, he's so good. Imagine, like... Right, well, we've got Howard Webb. He happens to be in his house at the moment, his living room, and he's got a minor bird going, come on, you reds. Like, you know? I mean, I'm joking. Like, it's the same, essentially, isn't it? It's a difficult one for me, because, like most people, I love parrots, but at the same time, we know that no-one likes a grass. Good point. Where do you stand for that? You are ultimately from East London, of course, Jim, So, yeah, you would very much take that.

26:38Luke Moore: But, like, again, you often see shocked faces and people trying to leave the studio in horror during that show, whereas it was genuine without a doubt. Their minds were blown. But fortunately, no one in the last 70 years has ever thought that Real Madrid have had preferential treatment from referees in La Liga. Well, Andy, it could start a new conspiracy. Definitely a new one. Apparently, old Haystack's piece. Paolo's powers claim that another ex-Leliga referee a guy called Urizar Apatate has a parrot that says cabron at the word Barcelona which of course means bastards yeah so why do all these referees have parrots I know it's weird isn't it what is going on in a very weird story that's easily the weirdest bit yeah that's his defence why are you training people to drop you in I have to do this to balance it out you should talk to his parrot It's some of the stuff that he comes out with Imagine that Domining someone else's parrot Is that all you've got But the thing is though It's not a word How many times has that parrot Had to hear that tune to perfect it To know it The idea that The equivalent over here would be like an XL bully So you'll never walk alone Yeah yeah Stunning stuff Hello everybody, it's emergency pod time.

28:03Luke Moore: Welcome to the Football Ramble. Ten harps been sacked, it's happened, they've done it. Bloody hellfire. I'm here with Luke Moore. I'm Luke Moore.

28:13Hello everybody. Yeah. They know what they're doing. As soon as they stop recording, we'll announce it. Everything went right with the press release. Yeah, it's fine. Should we put it out? Nah. Wait. Wait an hour.

28:25Luke Moore: We're ahead of them now. Jim and Vish went home. Yeah. For some reason, I stayed around. For some reason, Luke turned up. I did. Yeah, man, you know, you've got to ask yourself. For some reason, it's my job. It's actually where I work. Well, he's come back again. Oi, listen, seriously, though, there's no laughing matter. The good die young. Eric's gone. I have a bit of respect. A man's lost his job. A man's lost his job today. We're duty bound to say that. We are. A man's lost his job with a mere reported£17.5 million potential payoff. So have a bit of respect, Marcus. Now I know why he hung around.

28:59Luke Moore: Yeah. I said after that FA Cup final win, ride off it into the sunset. Get it done. And lovely old job. I mean, in light of what's happened since, it's essentially a whole load of more shit he's had to take. And money. Admittedly being crap. But he could have gone at the FA Cup final, steely look in his eye. Absolutely. Off he goes. That would have been pretty good, actually. I know, this is the thing. He'd be another job now. Big time. He'd be somewhere moderately good right now. Yeah. I think, imagine though, if he'd have won the FA Cup and basically used the press conference to raise the cup aloft and go, the owners and those who were coming and all the rest of it.

29:41Luke Moore: No, he didn't sign the extension until what, the 4th of June, I think it was. Early June. And he'd have just gone, shove it up your arses. Get a load of this. This one's for the fans, but more importantly, it's for me. Sod off the lot of you. Up yours with a rusty one. And off he went. he'd be a Ramble favourite. Yeah, he would. You can't put a prize on that. We cannot understate how much stuff he's given us. So he has to be a Ramble favourite by definition because the amount of content he's given us. True, so Ineos and whoever else is making these decisions, they are enemies of football content.

30:13Depends if they get in next. If they put the bat signal up for Big Jose, they're back on board.

30:19Luke Moore: Make the right move. You can do this. But you're right in saying that Eric Townhouse Ten Hag has left Manchester United after they won only four of their 14 games in all competitions this season. Do you know what the thing that pisses me off the most is? One of them was against Fulham. Chelsea fans are loving it because they're going to Old Trafford next. Yeah, I don't know. Will they love it though? No, they'll be gutted. Yeah, does the Man United voucher still count? I don't think you can cash it in. Who knows? West Ham forgot, didn't they? They forgot. And at some point in the game, Lopategui went, oh, I think we're going to use this now.

30:48Luke Moore: It's like, bloody hell, better later than never. Can I activate that after the game started? Yeah, you can. but I'll tell you what we're also we were dangerously close so tantalisingly close to Mourinho finishing him off do you know what I mean with a one-all draw they scrapped out and they were in a draw and everyone's like oh it's not as good as it could have been bang he gets the tin tack off the back of Mourinho that would be so good that would be amazing I didn't think of that I'll tell you what though go on if producer Charlie can patch us into Mourinho now get a reaction yeah that'd be lovely wouldn't it well will he say well you know Ten Hag and I have won a lot of trophies as well echoing the thought I don't think he will Eric well look Ten Hag yeah finally it's happened and of course on the pod earlier today on the Monday main podcast I haven't even listened to it yet I haven't had a chance well you won't have a chance because this happened so soon of course I was again exclaiming how on earth is he still there you know what's going to happen so they've finally done it why now Luke Moore why now is it because they've got someone lined up or did they think ah sort of let's give it rude to end of November I'd love them to use this as a big hard reset and go, we're arguably the biggest club in the world.

31:57So actually, notwithstanding the obvious shit, like Pochettino's just taken the US jobs, he's not really going to be available. You should be able to go and get whoever you want. This is not a mid-level Premier League team. This is Manchester United, and it's a great opportunity if you can convince your chosen candidate that the hierarchy is there to go and get whatever you want, whoever you want, sorry, and they can be in a position if they get it right where they can be a fucking hero because it's got so bad, as you've said, any marked improvement over time. So look at what Maresca's done at Chelsea.

32:31If United start a season like that under the manager, bang, it's fucking party time. Fan dabby dozy, it's party time. So I think that's the attitude they should use. They shouldn't be bouncing around a manager every couple of years and almost been overly too humble to go and target who they actually want. Now, ideally, they find an Arteta-style candidate who comes in, like I say, new broom, gets it, does it. If they could get an Arteta-type character who played for Man United, that would be perfect. But in the absence of that, they have to go and get a big name, big guy, a Carlo Ancelotti-type character who can do all this stuff.

33:13That's what they've got to be aiming for, at least.

33:16Luke Moore: What about a young manager who is currently in a huge job, right, could end up... Gag. No, no, no. Could end up winning a big league title this season in European competition. Vincent Kompany. Oh, Vinny Kompany. Imagine that. That's for Marcus. Imagine that. I said that in the press release. Just what it said. Just head to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to listen to that. And we also, I think we're going to, I know we've done watch-alongs in the past before, but we're now exclusively going to offer Afters with every Patreon member, and they can ask us about other, you know, podcast hosts and what we really can't do.

33:58They can video us. No, no, they can't.

34:01Luke Moore: They very much cannot do that. That's the one thing we agree, because they can't video us. Could we have another video which says, please don't send this around if this gets out? I thought that was the point of the old Afters, was to just let it all out. It's fair game. It's off the record. I've never seen an on the record afters, actually. No, that's true. Until this week. Maybe this is the start of a trend. Yeah. Oh, dear. Well, of course, on Monday afternoon, a video was leaked on X, which used to be known as Twitter, and it appeared... Appeared. Jim, it appeared. Yes. It appeared to show Premier League referee David Coote saying very nasty and naughty things and xenophobic things about Jurgen Klopp.

34:42Luke Moore: Everyone's seen this. You've had a couple of days to let this sink in. It's interesting that you said it appeared to show, David Coot, because everyone was thinking, is that AI? It was like a VAR check. There's no way that's AI. I'm not counting this as a goal just yet, but it really looks like that was a goal. Yeah, and in the space of an hour, he went from denying it to, no, it is genuine. I just can't remember what I said. Yeah, that is so much worse. This should jog your memory. Yeah. It's so much worse because of that. Yeah, or is it like leaning into it to the point of I was so inebriated I just don't remember.

35:20I could have said anything.

35:22Luke Moore: That's true. That's true. Well, the video thought to be at least two years old, of course, saw Coote calling Liverpool shit. Not in a particular game, wasn't it? I think so. I think he's referring to the Burnley game that they're talking about. Yeah, it was certainly right after. Because when he talks about Liverpool being shit, in reference to that game. Yeah, okay. So lots of people won't overlook that, of course. Some of them go, well, yeah, okay. Then he calls Jurgen Klopp arrogant, and I'll soften the word for you, he calls him a cunny. All right? He does. Yeah. I'd want this podcast to be a PG-13, as they would have in the States.

36:01And he calls him a cunny. That's cunt to everyone in the UK.

36:09he calls him a conny in kind of as you mentioned at the start like in a in a xenophobic way which kind of in isolation of everything yeah he references

36:19Luke Moore: his nationality yeah and I think a lot of people have spoken about well he can't referee anymore because of this that and the other I mean that's enough for me regardless of any kind of clouding of judgement he might have due to his dislike of the club I mean He said James Milner's all right, though. Yeah, but arguably, that just leans more into that James Milner is a bit meh. Look, I feel like... Ah, come on. It's because he's in that photo he's holding up. No, I know. But I felt a bit for Milner. He's like, why am I involved in this? Leave him alone. Why am I getting a mention? Yeah. I know, yeah.

36:53Luke Moore: Well, then the second video was leaked, of course, where the chap next to him said that the video can't go anywhere because it would ruin his career. And to be fair to whoever that was sent to, for a good couple of years. They were true to that bargain. I don't know who broke the pact, but somebody has done. He's obviously suspended by Pugmol. And UEFA have removed him from the list of referees for the Nations League this week. I wonder if actually the way this goes is PGMOL go, you know what, some of us do have biases. We try our best to fight it. It's just human nature. You can't really do it.

37:28Luke Moore: So from now on, every referee has to wear the kit of the team they support while they're refereeing. Or we could have an amnesty where every referee comes forward. Who's the biggest cunning in football? They'll get a go. It'd be like the TNT eye-dents they do where they step to camera. Speaking of TNT, I love this, that Peter Walton had his say in. He said, I would have described David Coote as Captain Sensible, maybe a bit highly strung at times, and not one of the lads. Presumably, they then went back to Fletcher and Manaman on commentary. We should get Coot in as our Peter Walton. Yes. David, is Arna Slott a cunny?

38:10Luke Moore: Well, Jim, I haven't officiated him that much. But I can safely say... Savage tribune afterwards. Oh, that's very weird. I wouldn't say it. He's not. They're bigger cunnys. Much bigger cunnys. Me, for example.

38:27Luke Moore: FIFA have been up to their old tricks. They've been accused of what a lot of people have dubbed astonishing whitewashing after their official report into Saudi's bid to host the 2034 World Cup rated the bid at 4.2 out of 5. It was unveiled. You can't give yourself 5 out of 5, though, can you, really? That's too... No. It's too cocky, isn't it? I would argue they're learning. Yeah. I remember... They're learning something. Do you remember at school when you used to get stars and stuff? I found out where they kept the stars, and I gave myself like 20 stars more than everyone else on the chart. Yeah, you buggered it.

38:59And they were, yeah, too cocky. Just go for the half million on the million, as Luke always says.

39:04Luke Moore: Didn't you just get a star? And if it was particularly good, a gold star? You did get a gold star on a chart. But I just really, it was clear that there'd been something going on. Yeah. But never give yourself 10 stars. Never give yourself 10 stars, especially when it's out of five. Yeah. So, yeah, so it's 4.2 stars out of five. And that's a good rating. It is a good rating. It is a good rating. It's not on Uber, but it's a good rating. It is a, yeah. 4.5 is a good one. I think it's a good rating. And you're thinking 4.2 out of 5. Okay, so accommodation is decent, obviously. Transport, you'd think were there.

39:34Luke Moore: Stadiums are obviously, you know, they're scoring highly. This is all good kind of thing. Again, 5 out of 5 is a bit too much. The bid and etc. has been described in the report, the risk of human rights violations as medium. Medium. Medium. So 4.2 stars. Not none. Not even low Medium seems bad If I get up in the morning and I've got a medium risk Of perpetrating human rights crimes Low gives you pause for thought Even like A small amount Moderate Moderate is still way too high But a medium Human rights violation Can still allow you To reach the dizzying highs of 4.2 out of five. So we hear all the time of institutions who investigate themselves and find that they've done nothing wrong.

40:31Luke Moore: FIFA can't even do that. No. They won't even do that properly. They've investigated themselves, found they've done loads of things wrong in the past, you know, to the point where previously it's cost people their lives and decided, ah, it's fine. When you investigate yourself and you do not like the results, just go, ah, but look over there. It's nothing to do with us. Which is why that Ramblin' Turtle investigation, we scrapped it very quickly. Well, apparently the report did appear to promise some human rights reforms. Some human rights reforms. Some, some, some. That would ensure rights for migrant workers, press freedom and no torturing of critics of the regime.

41:13No torturing of critics. Why are they writing that down? That's damning, isn't it? No, I mean, that makes it worse. You're saying no torture. Oh, some torture, come on. Just a little bit. So if they said, okay, fine. Can we do Torture Tuesdays? Come on, we need a torture. We're horny for the tea. Come on!

41:31Luke Moore: Torture Thursdays, it doesn't work. It's still a tea, though. Give us two days. I mean, how are you going to improve this? Right, well, we're going to ensure rights for migrant workers. Okay, okay, okay, right, that's good. Press freedom? Yeah, good, good. And no torturing of criticism? I thought you'd been that. I thought that had already gone. I thought I got that one through. There is obviously a kind of worrying lack of clarity on LGBTQ plus rights as well, which, you know, was an issue in Qatar. It's likely to be an issue again. And it just like... Love is complicated, Jim. Not getting involved, mate.

42:05Luke Moore: It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it, this? Like, they've done this before and it was, you know... Do you think it's worse? I think doing it again is worse. Yeah, I mean, it's true to form. Sure. It is true to form. I find it astonishing. I mean, this was the only bid for the 2034 World Cup, as we were led to believe. Thanks for listening to today's Best of the Football Ramble episode. Make sure you join us again tomorrow for part two, where we'll get through plenty more lols from the last six months of the Good Ship Ramble. See you then.

42:46The Football Ramble is a Stack production and part of the ACAST Creator Network.

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