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0:00Hello everybody, welcome to the Football Ramble. Newcastle and Manchester City march on in the League Cup. Bits Thursday 18th of December. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Pete Donaldson. And I'm Jim Cameron.

0:24Hello everybody. Welcome to a thrilling Thursday here at the Football Ramble. I'm still Marcus Speller and I'm joined by these two guys. Pete Donaldson, you must be really happy because Newcastle beat Philip in the Newcastle. I am really happy. I'm happy I'd see my team win a football match after what's a boring sea I saw at the weekend against Sunderland. It was just nice to see them actually win a football match. And it was... It marches on. We're going to take this cup back, quite frankly. From ourselves. You're not going to give it back, are you? You're not even going to take it out of the cabinet.

1:01I can exclusively reveal that the reason we're doing a show remotely today is it just wasn't deemed safe for these two to be in the same room together. Yeah, exactly. After that clash of the Titans yesterday. Yeah, Pete was just going to batter me in celebration. Yeah, I was, yeah. Yeah, look, obviously being a Fulham fan, I'm a bit disappointed. Let me just get my one little churlish point out the way. I'd rather be out of the cup and not have those owners than the opposite. All right? Wow. Salty. It's going salty. Going deep and dark. I mean, is this because when both teams made their substitutions, who we brought off the bench is very different to who you brought off the bench.

1:46I mean, we were bringing on your Alangas, your Volta Mardas, your Gordons, your Tenales. And who were you bringing on? Josh King and Andama Traore. Hang on, what's wrong with Josh King? He's on the bench, for starters, Mark. Future England World Cup winner. You can clip that. I stand by that his name's King for crying out loud isn't it he is a king yeah no you're right Newcastle panicked but they got over the line look to be honest with you they did at no point did I really think Fulham were going to win this game and at no point would I have thought they would beat Man City over two legs or Chelsea or Arsenal or Crystal Palace so but no when that Lukic goal went in though did you think because Fulham played really well first 25 minutes I thought and then obviously Newcastle's slight slight breach in quality told.

2:34But do you think when that goal goes in on the 16th minute that Fulham have kind of got this? They're kind of in the driving seat? No, I wouldn't say driving seat, but it obviously gives one hope. I mean, Fulham obviously won at St James' not that long ago. And Newcastle haven't been that convincing this season, generally. They've been frequently poor. Of course you're still in the tight. To be honest, as the game went on, really you're thinking, probably penalties is the best way. You know, like in the same way when Fulham managed to get Wiccan Wanderers to penalties, we thought, ha-ha, we've got you.

3:10And so it proved to be in the previous round. So, but even then, yeah. But I think, yeah, definitely as the game went on, Fulham were probably thinking, well, we would take penalties here and then you chance your arm there. But look, I think Newcastle, they needed something, really because they've been as we say quite inconsistent after that dreadful performance against Sunderland a victory here was like nothing else you know you can't draw a cup game we know that so I think if they'd have gone out to Fulham an inferior opponent okay still you know a decent enough Premier League side so they needed something I did I did I was I surprised no I wasn't hugely surprised by the team selection but you're also very aware as you've mentioned what they have on the bench and that they could bring on oh right yeah sorry i was surprised that um they went with the goal kick they went with and so leno's not doing the things that he did in that football match i know miley's header was you know kind of out of nowhere yeah the first goal but um the first goal was yeah was kind of poor and he he didn't look um he looked pretty shaky from most of the match.

4:25Yeah, and the irony is the best save he made in the game leads to the corner that Miley scores ahead of him. It was such a good save, wasn't it? Yeah, I felt like watching it, Fulham seemed on top in the very early stages, then Wisser scores that brilliantly instinctive goal, because he's got to be really kind of quick with the thinking there. Yeah, but if he touches that ball, it's got to go towards the goal, and he's right from the goal, so I guess maybe a double save is in the offing at best for... Which is kind of what Newcastle has been missing a little bit this season. Yeah I mean that's a massive massive boost isn't it for him to get on the score sheet straight away but then it kind of it settled down into a into a slightly more even pattern didn't it and I think Fulham were good for their goal when they got it but you just sensed as this game went on that it was going to be a repeat of the game in October where Fulham played pretty well and then lost it right at the death because as you say Marcus you can't draw a cup game it's pretty much identical circumstances isn't it?

5:24An identical heartbreak. And also, you know, I as a neutral was robbed of a penalty shoot out there as well. So it's a bigger picture. I mean, the goalkeeper was the hero in the previous round for Fulham, saving all those penalties as he did. So maybe that's what Wachersilva had in mind. I don't know. But I think that, you know, he'd given the bring a Dharma Traore on for a penalty. Yeah, they're talking. Well, yeah. That's a test. He would have a good run up at it. Surely. I'm pretty sure he scored in the previous round when he took his penalty. But anyway, he didn't go to Pens and it's all futile chat.

5:54order for Fulham. The thing is, it's, and Crystal Palace fans know what I mean, when you support a club and they've never won a major trophy, even though you find yourselves in a quarterfinal against a better side, but a beatable side, but still a better one. And beyond that, you will have teams that are better than you, especially that two-legged nonsense in the semi-final, which I've made so much about. You know the chances of it are so slim. But of course, that's not how one's mind should work in football because if you're still in the cup, that little dangling carrot of glory is still there and of course, it's gone now.

6:34So it's still a little bit disappointing but I would say Fulham now, the beauty of this is they can turn their attention to the FA Cup and the Premier League. You know, so the charge for the conference league. Well, not really because the League Cup winners win the conference league. It depends on the league placing of course. The shuffle to the Conference League is on. The administration to the Conference League is on. That's Crystal Palace fans know too well about. But what did you think Peter of Newcastle United with Wisser up front? Did you think that that looked a little bit more like it?

7:10Yeah I mean he was kind of caught out by the off sides a little bit and he sort of didn't judge his, he didn't sort of time his run properly but you know we're looking at a player who's barely played football He's forgotten what offside is. He's forgotten what offside is. He needs to be sort of he needs to have like a little speed awareness course in the Premier League like when the time you run he thinks he's playing in the Championship that way they can't VAR this exactly although we didn't have VAR last night anyway more on that on Manchester City by the way yes exactly but well I think Tonali probably probably should have gone for something that happened at the end of the match under the AR rules but yeah I thought he played okay I thought he looked pretty lively and that's kind of what we need somebody will actually sort of camp out in the 18 yard box and trying to finish stuff off.

7:53I think the way that Newcastle is set up at the moment is to supply really high balls into Voltemada. And when he's not on the field, you're like, right, Willock's not getting that, Barnes isn't getting that and Whistler isn't getting that. So maybe they need to adjust their approach a little bit. But great to see utility player as well. We've got a pure utility player, Lewis Miley. The absolute man, boy, head, 19-year-old Lewis Miley playing it right there. Yeah, well, obviously, and Nod's the winner as well. he's an impressive player and yeah he's dare I say Liverpool Newcastle's a Dominic Saboslay is he?

8:28is that what I go with? OK nice I'll tell you that well he's probably more likely to be homegrown souls this time next year to Forest but we'll see how it will find out Is this just the fattening up period? It is yeah look look he can also play right back we're shoving corn down his gut Winner in a cup game late on that's probably worth an extra 5 million isn't it? Oh, Peter. Well, he wasn't playing in the midfield. And, I mean, as you say, Willock started the game. Joel Linton was on the bench. I hate seeing Joel Willock at the moment. Why? I don't know. I've got a real problem with Joel Willock.

9:06It's like, you know, as an ex-Arsenal player, Jim, you'll remember his performances for Arsenal. He was sold for a reason. He obviously kept Newcastle up. And for that, I absolutely adore that side of him. but he is a very limited blind alley footballer. Yeah, he's obviously a good player, but he's not necessarily someone who's going to move the dial for a team in the ambitions of Newcastle, right? And I think he's probably a really good example of the progress that Newcastle have made, in that he now seems sort of a bit of a relic. Most players are. And the kind of player that you don't really need.

9:45Yeah, your Trippiers, your Dan Burns and stuff, Dan Byrne, you put him in that bracket as well. Yeah, I think, I mean, I love Dan Byrne. I love what he's done for the club. I love that he's a local hero. And I love the fact that he's, you know, that a player of that sort of weird physicality is, you know, rocking it at full back in the Premier League. And he's a great player to have around the club. But if you have got Champions League ambitions and wanting to go deep in a competition, I think we all realise that the manager's loyalty to a player like that, you know, they may really re-appress.

10:19Is that a bit of, maybe there's an element of inertia setting in there. There's an element of being in the Champions League as well. A lot more demanding football. Because you mentioned Bruno Guimaraes yesterday and said that you wouldn't be surprised if he was moved on. There hasn't been a lot of support for your take on that. I saw those comments. There was about five of them. Yeah. And what did each of them say? They told you to shove your... Yeah, they did. and sometimes when people sort of talk to me about my opinions about football, whether it's a big take or whether it's a small take or whether it's a medium-sized take, I think people do forget that.

10:54I do watch a lot of football and I've watched Newcastle United since I was like 15. And you've got feelings. So I do watch every match and I have feelings and it's a game of opinions. But no, in all seriousness, I'm not saying he's not a very good football player and right now he's very important to Newcastle United, but if there was the sort of money that Newcastle United would need to bring more players in around about your 100 million, you'd take it because of what the team needs now. I'd recommend going to any Newcastle United forum and looking week to week. Three weeks ago, he was overplayed.

11:26He plays too many against Newcastle and Brazil. He needs a rest. He's a mouthpiece for poor performances. He comes out after every match and goes, oh, it was terrible. It was a disgrace. Well, you know what? You're on the field and you could affect that change. And he does play too much football, in my opinion. He does overcomplicate stuff and loses the ball quite a lot because of his lack of pace. And that invites pressure upon yourself. A cheeky dribble against Brentford in a loss isn't it for me, to be honest. And it's, with him in the side, Tonali is relegated to the man who you will have seen yesterday, just takes the ball off the counter-attack.

12:00That's all he's kind of doing at the moment. And to see him a little bit further up in the field would be really, really helpful. So I think Newcastle, like I say, are at a level where then they shouldn't be relying on an emotional, very mercurially talented footballer in the centre. They should throw him under the bus, is what you're saying? I don't think they should throw him under the bus. He's very important to the club right now, but if they want to kick on, I think if there was money on the table for him, I think Newcastle would genuinely consider it. Would they have any ins and links to, say, the Saudi Pro League where they could sell him?

12:37Because obviously there's big money there. You could actually pick up the phone and see if there's a number or two but he's a perfect if you're kind of like a blood and guts fan of a football team he's a perfect captain he's really emotional he fucking loves the club he loves the area but in the cold you know at the end of the day we've been bought by an unlovable regime they've bought us a 50 million pound soon to you know 50 million euro midfielder and this is the level we're talking we're supposed to be non-emotional we're supposed to not care about where the money comes from so I'm being unemotional I'm being strict and I'm being cruel and that's You wouldn't have said all that about Harry Kane though, would you Peter?

13:14Well, I don't like Harry Kane as discussed on previous shows. I'm trying to kind of figure out how different this show would be if Newcastle had lost the game 4-0 last night. Because I don't think it would be that different at all. No, no, you're quite right. Keep reminding myself that you've got a really good win and they're back in the semi. The performance still wasn't great, but they needed to be a reaction from the weekend. And I'm really glad that it wasn't. I mean, also, I know it's an obvious thing to point to, but the added intensity of the Champions League schedule is massive, isn't it?

13:45Yes. And obviously that's kind of going to take a toll. Lots of injuries now as well. Well, yeah, exactly. You get the injury cycle from that as well. And then I think that can go some way to explaining slightly fatigued performances in other competitions. But yeah, I think Bruno Gimaraes is an incredible player. But it's very interesting to me to hear you say that because obviously you watch every minute of him in a way that I don't. Yeah, I'm surprised to hear that. But it is just one person's opinion. everyone's coming at me that's absolutely fine we've been doing this show for a long time and it won't be the first stupid or last stupid thing I say I'm not coming at you I'm just telling people where you live now the Fulham team bus appeared to crash after dropping the players off at the stadium yeah it was Adama Traore's turn to drive wasn't it so he ran into the thing some say crash I'm saying ambush by the locals right is it a write off is it a cat D and they're going to have to sell it on?

14:38I think they've got home okay. Is this going to become one of those rivalries like Palace and Brighton or Chelsea and Leeds? I don't think so. Just pay each other for that one. Yeah, I think Newcastle United have got more spicier fish to fry. And I don't think Fulham are capable of hating anybody really. Although, I mean, obviously there's rivalry down in West London, but it's not exactly the fiercest. Well, look, you mentioned Dan Byrne there. Well, yesterday we discussed his punctured lung from his... He obviously got those injuries during the derby with Sunderland. Well, Jake Johnson messaged us on YouTube saying, I cracked three ribs and punctured my lung playing college football.

15:22Brackets collided with the goalie on a corner. And yeah, it was the single most painful experience in my life by about 40 to 50%. I'd love to know, Jake, what else has gone on in your life? What was the sort of the other stuff that was 40 % less than that? That would be quite interesting. But clearly this was the worst thing that happened to him. Jack Anika on YouTube also had a take. He said, I had a punctured lung. It wasn't painful until I went to the hospital and they stuck a large needle between my ribs and ran a pipe through my hole. I should say the hole that was in the lungs. I mean, it was his hole, ultimately.

16:04Yeah, the lung. It was a new hole. A new hole created by... On a pipe. He'd create an internal hole, and also the doctors, the surgeons, had created a new hole for the pine. I mean, that is... A needle between your lungs sounds just horrendous, doesn't it? Like, Byrne looked like he was struggling to breathe when the initial collision happened. Obviously, I saw the highlights knowing what happened to him. It just sounds awful. It really does. I've bruised slash cracked a rib before. often it's hard when you fell in the canal not that different it was when I fell in the canal what were you doing near a canal?

16:40I was on a boat obviously and I just missed when I was stepping off of it and I was wedged between canal boat and canal sides my friend pulled me out and I think that might have been what did my ribs but I'm essentially yeah absolutely completely completely ludicrous way to get any sort of injury was this in London? it was yeah it was in Regent's Canal Regent's Canal oh okay fine So how did your feet touch the floor? Presumably they did. Well, they must have done. And I was really lucky there because you don't know what kind of nonsense is on the canal bed. So that could have been a lot worse.

17:14But the point is that a bruised slash cracked rib is, you can't do anything. It really reduces your mobility. Everything, every type of movement hurts. So it's a painful one with a punctured lung in there as well. Do you remember when years and years ago, before they broke up, Oasis were on stage, and a fan got on stage? It was at a festival, and he gave Noel Gallagher a punch to the stomach, and it looked sort of fairly innocuous. He cracked one of his ribs, apparently. Do you remember that? And that's full of adrenaline. The funny thing was, as the security were dragging this man away, goodness knows how they got to him, but anyway, as they were dragging him away, old Liam ran up and gave him a little dig to the ribs, where the guys got about five security guards.

17:59That's a safe one.

18:03Only fair. Look, if you're getting up on stage and that fella who tried to jump Ariana Grande, that guy who professionally gets up on stage and basically assaults or tries to get hold of people on stage, I think all bets are off there. I think the whole band should, you know, drumsticks, everything, whack, whack, whack. And I mean, there's nothing to stop the other guy bringing his own security team, which I imagine is what Ian Gallagher's philosophy was. Exactly. Bring your own security team. We'll have a war. Right, well, I think we should move on from this before we start having a war of our own.

18:34Coming up after this, Manchester City win, and oh dear, Wilfried Nancy.

18:49You did tweet yesterday. I just wondered what the point was you were trying to make exactly. My wife was not happy, and to be honest, believe me or not, the profile was about Columbus. So my ex-picture was about Columbus, me being in the local room of Columbus. So I just wanted to change what I have on my WhatsApp. Simple as that. So it was not a message or something. I don't want to create a battle. So simple as that. So I was, me, I did it because my picture was about looking upstairs in the local room of Columbus. So I just wanted to change what I have in my WhatsApp. Simple as that.

19:56So instead of going on his WhatsApp, he went on Twitter and tweeted it. Yeah, so it was hashtag new. And then his wife got it. Yeah, for some reason. So it was hashtag new profile pic that he tweeted. And as you say, Venn diagram, you've got the two circles that one on the left says things that matter. And the other one on the right says things you can control. And where they overlap, it's been scribbled in black and an arrow pointing up to that, which says what you should focus on. So that's... Two things you can control are both WhatsApp and Twitter. And he's failed on both counts there. That's right.

20:34Celtic lost 2-1 last night to Dundee United. Four losses in a row for Paul Wilfried. I was sort of saying that in kind of comparison to what went on with Martin O 'Neill, it doesn't look great. But this just doesn't look great, does it? No, it doesn't. They want O 'Neill back for Charlie for it. Did you see Dundee United posted on their official Twitter account or X account a picture of the players celebrating full time? And then they've got a little circle on the left with the letter W in, obviously for win, a little circle on the right with an L for loss. And as it overlaps, it's got the score 2-1 in the middle of that Venn diagram, naughty little sausages.

21:15I'll tell you what, I can't believe my luck. When Brendan Rodgers was sacked and Hart started getting a few, I'd say sloppy results, but I mean, you know, in the context of trying to win a title, you know, they dropped points here and there. And then Rodgers left. And I remember thinking, ah, the title talk's gone now, isn't it? Because then Martin O 'Neill comes in, as you mentioned. And it just seems very easily just started to win games. and just suddenly they were massively back on track. Never have I seen a club look like, you know, the train has fallen off the track and it's trying to kind of get going on non-track surface and it's just not happening.

22:00And O 'Neill just very much putting it firmly back on that. And they were away eating into Hartz's, what was it, six-point lead or whatever they had. Well, now while Wilfried's at the club, I'm thinking, oh, their title's back on. Their title is bloody back on. it's incredible motivation for Hearts as well because it's like they're going to keep messing this up so we've just got to stay the course to sum it they're practically on our side to sum it all up Rangers are now three points behind Celtic how bad have Rangers been this season they're a win away it's just unbelievable I can't believe it's mad what's going on there and the thing is right do you sack this guy if he loses like the next one and the next one like probably how ridiculous does it look that if they sack him after like six games or something that what what Hearts fans what everyone should want is for him to like win his next game or not lose because you because if he oh to keep him in to keep the rock going right to keep the Japanese not weeds growing exactly win three of your next six something like that because if he loses the next three or four he's gone also but it's but like Martin is going to be turned up with a blank piece of paper going, right, I'm going to write a number on this.

23:21My retirement is retiring and I'm going to need 50 million pounds. In most leagues in the world, in a situation like this, you might go, okay, we're giving a bit of time. Maybe things aren't going to go our way this year. We just have to accept it as a sort of transitional season, as, you know, all the excuses you can make for that. Celtic cannot do that here. They just can't. They'll have to act sooner rather than later if this carries on. Well, they will. Which is pretty unique. Yeah, it's extraordinary. And was it the chairman or something? I forget his name now. Who'd been at the club for so long, has been taking absolutely horrendous abuse from the fans.

23:59And he sort of had to step down. I mean, I do find it quite something that the success that they've had at Celtic. Now, one might say, oh, of course they're going to have that success. But I know this is ridiculously bad at the moment, although they are still in second place. But it just shows you what an absolute shit show it is there. Mind you, like you've mentioned, just get Martin O 'Neill back and they'll probably win the league. It's extraordinary. Absolutely extraordinary. Anyway, the Scottish Premiership, you can't take your eyes off it. Certainly not this season. Right, back to the League Cup.

24:32Manchester City 2, Brentford 0. Who saw this coming? Probably a lot of Brentford fans. Brentford goalkeeper. Well, he did see him coming, I guess. Brian Shirky is an enjoyable player to watch. Lovely opening goal. Such a brilliant goal. It was a peach. The skill and the execution. He is such a good player. He's a delightful player. And he's getting better and better every week. And I think that's kind of like, it's what you want to see, I suppose. I think a lot of Manchester City fans were really into him being the next big star for Manchester City, of which they've got lots of, I'm sure. But he just gets better and better every week.

25:08I thought Pep Guardiola's comments on him were interesting because he said he played well until he scored the goal and after that he didn't and then he did go on and say you know he's a really good player what he does reminds me sometimes of like Kevin De Bruyne and stuff I think Guardiola is aware that he's got he's obviously got a proper player there why else would they have signed him and you can see what he's got I mean I know that Rabona cross Guardiola wasn't best pleased with it but again it shows you what he's got right he executes that to perfection and gets an assist with it so I think with Guardiola he's trying to keep Shirky on his toes a little bit because I think Shirky again like it's odd for Guardiola to make those little comments normally he's like really effusive with praise for players isn't he especially for players like made a mistake or something and he'll come straight to his defence so I find it interesting that a couple of little comments from old Pepe G just saying you're a good player but just you know remember the system is king.

26:10The system is king. Enjoy your talent, but enjoy it by being disciplined. That's essentially what he's saying. Well, he loves Neil Warnock. And he loves Warnock, yeah. Maybe he's learnt that from old Neil. But Scherke got the first and obviously Savinho added a second later on. So, yeah, easy peasy. I mean, I know the Savinho goal takes a big deflection, but it came from a really good moment and it shows you the form City are in, doesn't it? because Brentford are a hard team to break down and it took two pretty... I mean, the first one's spectacular, the second one is a good goal, but it took two decent goals for City to break them down and they just have it in the locker, don't they?

26:50And they are in one of these terrifying runs, especially from where I'm sat, where they are getting that air of invincibility back a little bit and it looks kind of easy for them. And you can see that they are the better team in most of the games they play, whereas they've had a couple of results earlier in the season where it's like, huh, this doesn't feel like Man City, but a big part of the feeling around them is this relentless kind of sense of just like a train that just keeps going and keeps winning and absolutely in that vibe at the moment. Even with a patched up team playing another Premier League side, it was a really, really strong and in terrible conditions as well.

27:24They played some, they spent a lot of time, it wasn't expansive stuff, was it? It was quite sort of, it was quite work-win at times and really small changes of passes the sort of thing you'd see from Man City like maybe two or three seasons ago. I think they're back. I think they're back, Jim, and I agree with you. Okay. Well, I am still standing. Oh, come on. You weren't at Craven Cottage that night. Yeah, that's true. That's true. There is something about Man City. They are. They look very good. So I suppose, to reiterate my point and maybe just slightly doctorate. No, I think, again, the idea of them being the team that they were a couple of seasons ago and being absolutely perfect.

28:06I think that's gone. But they don't need to be that. But that's the difference though, Jim. They may not need to be this season. So whatever happens, I will show my working and I'll prove to be correct. No, yeah, exactly. So look, they're in the semi-final of the League Cup. They're still on. By the way, before we, I've nearly forgot it, Kuzinov should have been sent off. Yes. Yeah. I can't believe. That was surprising. I mean, yeah, Yeah, I assume that why he wasn't sent off because there was another covering defender, but he was behind him. So that doesn't make it any less of a goal-scoring opportunity.

28:42Yeah, I couldn't believe he wasn't sent off. And that's where those who dislike VAR may kind of have to admit that VAR would have got that decision correct. It would have been... The women's game is screaming for VAR at the moment. Well, I... It's a handy reminder of what he used to be like. Yeah, well, I find it mad that people say that, well, in the League Cup maybe, you know, in some of the Cups, not every ground can have VAR because of... Yeah, yeah. So I do... I don't know why there can't be just VAR light. You've got cameras at the game. You can watch the footage. Yeah, I... Anyway, look, we want more VAR is what we're saying.

29:20Get some YTS VAR guy. We need some VAR trainees. There's just not enough qualified VARs. Is that what we want, a VAR temp? That goes out well. Exactly, we need VAR temp. We need office angels getting us into temp positions. Temp VAR positions. Just need a League Cup VAR. That's all I do. Yeah, so he should have gone. Brentford were rightly agreed with that. Brentford rested a couple of players, Jordan Henderson included. Maybe they regret that now. Maybe they don't. I don't know. They can concentrate on the league. But Manchester City, they've won every game in December. It is looking a bit ominous.

29:53It's the first time they've reached the League Cup semi-final since they won the competition four seasons in a row. They used to love winning this competition. Maybe they've got their love back for it, Peter. It was like their dojo, wasn't it? It was a little bit. When, of course, they do have Newcastle United in the next round. See, I pronounced it like a local there. What do you think of that, PTD? That'd be a bit of fun. They always do a game against Man City, and obviously they've already beaten them this season. So let's have it. Let's have all of that. Two legs against any one of those sides is horrible, isn't it?

30:24I know we have this conversation every time we get to this point of competition, but it's one of those ones where I don't think anybody particularly likes it. No, I never felt as passionately as I did until Fulham reached the semi-final and had to play Liverpool over two days. Then suddenly it became a pressing concern. I understand this. But Chelsea, of course, will face the winner of Arsenal versus Crystal Palace, who play next Tuesday. Is that why they keep it Marcus, though? they're almost guaranteed an all Premier League final probably is that and that's more valuable than say something else I don't know why they keep it to be honest with you maybe maybe because the prize money is so generous they want to get their bang out of their butt so juicy yeah exactly yeah money's worth sell a lot of carabans they probably are looking at that thinking we can't have Fulham winning this we simply cannot have that Fulham could have really done with the 25 grand that you get winning that quarter final so That wouldn't even fill up your fucking hot tub, would it?

31:25Yeah. You'd find that down the back of the seats at the end of every game, wouldn't you? Deary me. Right. Speaking of money, coming up after this, PSG win another trophy.

31:46Welcome back to the Football Ramble, everybody. Yeah. Let's talk about Paris Saint-Germain. they drew with Flamingo 1-0 in Qatar which was of course the FIFA Intercontinental Cup I missed that Intercontinental Cup they used to pop up every now and then I forget about it every year I remember many moons ago an AC Milan side going to they used to be played in Japan and I mean talking like the sort of the genesis of all this sort of stuff and they would play a Brazilian side or maybe it was in Argentina maybe it was Vela Sarsfield if I remember correctly anyway and it was Oh, that's very exotic and exciting.

32:22This was a bit like, oh, did that happen? Did it? Oh, right. Okay. Yeah, obviously it was played in Qatar. Yeah, another game. Fine. PSG won it. That's six trophies that they've won this year. Didn't win the Club World Cup, did you? Ah, that's all we have. What did you make of it all, Jimmy? You got your penalty shoot out there. Yeah. I mean, and it was kind of calamitous as well, which is actually what you want, isn't it? You would think that two very highly technically accomplished sets of players would be better at penalties, but no, there were not. Matvi Sovinov in the goal for PSG, PSG rather.

32:55PSG certainly went there. It was brilliant. Yeah. Koviccia Kovackelia got a lovely kind of instinctive finish to open the scoring for PSG and lovely to see Jorginho step in his dinky little penalty away as well, still doing it with a little hop. So that was good. But these games are always a little bit of a kind of curio really, aren't they? I mean, I'm sure it's brilliant to be in the position to win it in the first place and we'd all love that. And you could see how much it meant to PSG, actually. That's the sort of award that they really like. I mean, they arrested players for their match against Mets at the weekend, apparently, and obviously this was a much more full-strength side.

33:33So they really wanted this, but they are the kind of side who really want to win this sort of stuff. They want global titles that they can put on their website. And it's especially, it's all about the website, really, isn't it? It's all about getting those little extra badges on there. It's all about the SEO, yeah. But you would think, actually, after having got battered by Chelsea in the Club World Cup final, another game like this would be something they'd be keen to banish that in. I mean, you skirted over Matt V. Sovanov, Jim, who was the hero of the shootout. He saved four penalties and became the first player to save four consecutive penalties during a penalty shootout at a FIFA-organised tournament.

34:11So that time you did it, BT, doesn't count because it wasn't FIFA-organised. He was the hero. He was. I like his little ponytail. Well done him. Usmana Dembele, he actually skied his penalty over the bar, but he was voted the best player in the world at FIFA's The Best Awards. He's had a good year. He's had a good year. He has. They've been winning. Do you remember when, this feels very differently to Guardiola's Barcelona, in his first season there when they won every trophy possible, available. available. It was six then. I think it was six, yeah. This PSG side, there's, as brilliant as they are, and they have been, I suppose due to the way football is and so on and so forth, I don't really hear anybody, certainly not outside of Paris, going oh, but isn't it nice to see a team do this who have never done it before?

35:03There's always that thing, isn't there, about the ownership and the money and so on and so forth. Now people might, some people may say, oh, come on, but like everybody's at it and blah blah blah blah but when Guardiola's Barcelona won it in his first season the landscape was different it was a bit different yeah it was but they they were like the darlings of football I remember going on holiday to you know I remember going to the Middle East on holiday like not long after that to Jordan and like any football top you saw was Barcelona like absolutely anything and everywhere you went in the world it was just oh Barcelona with the team they were they were so loved the way they played everything and PSG, yeah, you're right, Jim.

35:43I mean, as you say, that was what, 2008, 2009 and the world is a different place. You know, look at online and how everything's changed. So yeah, don't want to be too silly, but it's so funny how despite the football they've played, the personal stories of Luis Enrique, you know, they've done this with young players as well, et cetera, et cetera. And they, yeah, obviously. And Dembele's stories are quite a field of one as well. There's still that thing, isn't there, of, yeah, but we're not having it though. I do think this is the most respected that PSG have been since the Qatari take-off. Oh, but they've demanded it.

36:17You have to. That's the difference. It's not a case of... But there is still a sense that you can't really take away the impact that has had on Ligue 1, which is really struggling in a lot of regards now. Possibly because it's so uncompetitive now as a result of that. So, yeah, I mean, it isn't the same as Barcelona's story, is it? I know Barcelona and Real Madrid have that ridiculous situation where they hoover up the majority of the TV money in Spain. So, you know, it's not exactly like a level playing field there. And it wasn't the case with Pep Guardiola's first Barcelona team ever. But this is still slightly different.

36:51Yeah. Well, as I say, Dembele won a lot of team awards and a lot of individual awards. But Thomas Tuchel didn't vote for him at the top of his list. He voted for Harry Kane and Cole Palmer ahead of him. Go on, Tommy. Damn right. Go on, Tommy. You can be bought. Sing that anthem. Sing that anthem. him you've earned it England contract Scott McTominay wasn't nominated so to me the whole thing is a shambles it's just so apparently Steve Clark voted for Guzman of Dembele instead hey was your British solidarity there Steve a good a good bridesmaid how was McTominay not even nominated like all joking aside that is that is genuinely ridiculous is it the timings is it a calendar year how does it work I don't give a damn what if it's he's the best player in Serie A as was proved he genuinely should be nominated he scored the highest overhead kick ever ever I mean that is that is some you should get a trophy for that actually I know it's like you know we talk about individual individual awards in sport you know being a bit over the top sometimes but the the highest overhead kick that is that's a game within a game that should yeah that should be yeah if you if they introduce that you get an award for that like Andy Cole and Dwight York are going oh if only we were still have um have you guys seen speaking of fifa um the there's a new fifa video game coming out on netflix exclusively on netflix yeah i don't know much more about it other than that that is happening do you have any detail on that um well they've obviously signed the deal i don't know when it's coming out but it'll be i imagine it will be some kind of streamed experience yeah um and for a game that requires quite a lot of like a lack of latency between controller and screen i think your control inputs going up to the cloud and then back down again on people's sometimes patchy infrastructure certainly in the uk um it might make for a slightly difficult experience and yeah and and fifa aren't known for their quality decisions lately so we'll see how it goes i don't know who's making it but uh it's uh it's interesting that it's finally coming back after two or three years just gonna be loot box after loot box after loot exactly they're gonna to be absolutely picking everyone's pockets.

39:02Yeah. Stealing your data and selling it on for non-profit because they're a non-profit organisation remember. Yeah. Right then. Tonight Crystal Palace are back in Europa Conference League group stage action. Oh it gets you going doesn't it? They're playing Cups. K-U-P-S. Cups. The Finnish side of course. They're playing Cups. I think it's it's short for and I'm going to try and pronounce this correctly because I did Google it and look for a phonetic explanation. Kuopion Palassoira. I believe that's how you say that. So I think we can all thank them for just calling themselves Cups. Are they ups for the Cups?

39:39That's the big question. You'd hope so. It is a Coup, I guess, isn't it? Eventually. Yeah. Well, indeed. Palace, you know, joking aside, they really could do with a victory here. They need it. Because they've had some sloppy results in the Europa Conference League. They're currently ninth just outside. automatic qualification, of course. I mean, that would be ridiculous. Well, it would be, Jim. Give yourself a qualification round. Yeah, it would be like, again, it really is important to finish in that top eight because the last thing you want is going away somewhere for an extra couple of games.

40:18But he knew when these matches were going to be taking place. He kind of knew roughly where his resources would have to be. And they've got leads in 48 hours after this match. So there's going to be a lot of very difficult decisions. Apparently there's a lot of very, very young players coming in. But I would probably put them in the Leeds game rather than this one because they need the points. They do need the points. Yeah, it's a really busy period for them, isn't it? As it always is this time of year. But yeah, so Palace could do with a victory. Of course, last time around, they travelled to Shelbourne and won that pretty easily, we have to say.

40:51Did you see that during that match, there was a visually impaired Crystal Palace fan who was given a headset with technology that apparently allowed him to see the game in unprecedented detail. And it was given to him for free. This was amazing. Do you see that? Brilliant. Pete Donaldson right up your alley. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how the tech works because a lot of football-based stories, they just sort of say a headset with technology. I'm like, well, I'd very much like to know how that all sort of gets put in. I mean, I guess, is it some kind of like VR headset that they've kind of put together?

41:25I mean, I really don't know. until I have a peek, you know. No, I want a peek in the thing. I mean, it looks like he's enjoying himself. You can't really, though, if you're sat near him, go, Oi, give us them for a few minutes, can you?

41:40Look, there's a player down for an injury. Everyone's passing him around. I want some unprecedented detail too. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, well, I don't know if that fan will be there, but it's a home game of course against Cups in the Europa Conference League kicking off tonight at 8pm so oh we are relishing that one but Palace have to win it come on Palace we don't have to win it but it really would be a good idea because winning football matches is always a good idea and that's the big takeaway from today's Football Ramble thank you very much for listening part of the ACAST Creator Network this whole Football Ramble Jamboreas we'll be back tomorrow for the preview show until then lots of love and stay very very safe

42:36the football ramble is a stack production and part of the a-cast creator network