Dare to dream

0:00Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the Headline Hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's G-O-O dot G-L-E slash workspace with Gemini.

0:3398 of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms trust Bill to simplify and secure Bill Pay. That's proven financial infrastructure built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. Visit Bill.com slash proven for a special offer. Verizon has a whole lineup of products and services designed to simplify your daily life. Smashed phone screen? Covered with our protection plan. Spending for the family?

0:59Vish: Rewarded with our credit card. Staying close to your kids even when you're apart. Solved with our kids' smartwatch. Choose total protection for your eligible tech. Earn savings on everyday spending. And set smart family controls. All with Verizon. Pick what works for you today at verizon.com slash extras. Still waiting in line? Again? That's time you'll never get back. Save time and money with stamps.com. Over 4 million businesses have skipped the line with Stamps.com. Join them to save up to 90 % off carrier rates from your computer or phone right now. Print postage for certified mail, registered mail, and packages in seconds.

1:39Then schedule a pickup right from your home or office. For a limited time, go to Stamps.com and use code PODCAST for a free welcome gift. Taxes and fees apply. This ad is sponsored by ZocDoc. Hi, it's Danny Pellegrino from Everything Iconic. Have you been putting off that annual doctor's appointment because you don't want to make the call? Or maybe you've been meaning to find a new dentist, but you have no idea where to start. I find that's especially true when you move. It's hard to find your people. I've been there, which is why I use ZocDoc. Now, as a busy podcaster, parent, and someone who's always juggling a million things, I love anything that makes life easier.

2:12And ZocDoc lets you search and compare local in-network doctors with over 250 ,000 providers across more than 200 specialties. You can read reviews from real patients, find a provider who feels like the right fit, see actual appointment openings, and book instantly. I recently had a last-minute health issue pop up and needed to see someone fast. Instead of calling around or sitting on hold, I found a doctor on ZocDoc and booked an appointment in just a few minutes. It made the whole process so much less stressful. Now, taking care of your health just got easier. Download the ZocDoc app today. That's ZocDoc, Z-O-C-D-O-C, and book that appointment on your to-do list.

2:53Bombas knows cozy winter footwear inside and out. Inside, warm merino wool, soft sheepskin shoeing. Outside, fluffy sherpa and smooth suede. Inside, layers and layers of luxe cushioning. Outside, sturdy soles and grippy bottoms. Bombas slippers and shoes, a cozy way to stay in or step out. Visit bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash audio. When purchased equals when donated, always.

3:25Vish: I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble. Villa lost, but what a win for Michael Carrick. It's Wednesday, 4th of November. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Jim Campbell. And I'm Lucian Hunter Roger.

3:49Vish: Hello, everybody. It's the Football Ramble. What a wonderful Wednesday, Vish. It's a great Wednesday in the kingdom. You've earned this. I have, yeah. You've bloody earned this. I want to say thanks to Friend of the Ramble, Andrew, for giving us that intro line. If you want to submit an intro line for a future episode, please do. You can do that by becoming a Friend of the Ramble on our Patreon. You'll also get an extended edition of the Ramble today and every single Wednesday, which is called Ramble Uncut. We've not gone Unleashed just yet, but we're uncut in there, Jim. Click the link in the show notes to sign up now.

4:25Vish: Come on then Vish. Talk to me about Manchester United 3, Roma 2. What do you want to know? I think we've already found out how you're feeling. Yeah. Another famous European night at Old Trafford. Yeah, add it to the list. And it was so obvious the way the games start to unfold. 100%. Yeah. One red state who actually had a really good night. Yes, yeah, finally. picking up the slap for the US well done USA by the way we should say it was I mean some of the things I was saying to myself at half time to anyone nearby well I did enjoy when we were chatting post show would it have been a week or two ago when Manchester United were going to play Como later that day and I said to you oh what are you up to this evening sort of thing well obviously I'll sit down and watch the Como game and then after that I'll be like F that right what else am I doing with my night sort of thing.

5:19Vish: And you were absolutely right. Well, it was a 5.45 kickoff. It was, it was. Yeah, exactly. I asked Vish recently if he was free on a Sunday afternoon for a roast as we live quite near each other and he accused me of trying to trick him into watching Man United in public. I did. It was a very lovely offer but I'd already dismissed out of that. Oh no, not going to fall for that one. I've left my house too many times before, I know where this is going. Honestly, it was... I don't think it speaks of any like, you know, great fixing of any ales. We've seen this before. Yeah, 100%. But fundamentally, football should be enjoyable.

5:55Yes. And the second half of that, even just, you know, a large portion of the second half of that was very enjoyable and fun. Like I've always said this about Manchester United and the way they've, you know, flushed money down the drain. But to spend that much on players and to bring in some genuinely good players and still be boring is an absolute sin. And that, you know, those last 40, 35 minutes were pretty incredible. Right down to Cunha getting sent off after jumping into the crowd. Yeah, because that's like really, really silly, really avoidable. Obviously, the second yellow comes because he's so amped up.

6:31But you're right, that's part of the entertainment. And because you get the win, and Bumo hitting both posts is also just brilliant now. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was absurd. Everything about it was absurd, from the goals conceded to the retaken penalty, the Kunja jumping into the crowd. I think a lot of this, it was just a silly, silly game, which I think was probably quite cathartic for the players. And of course, Michael Carrick, again, I don't know if it speaks to any genuine improvement, but for one night, at least it was

6:58Vish: good. Well, do you know, I did think to myself, I thought, do you know, I was pleased for the Man United fans and all the players and stuff and thought they had a night off and then I went, they didn't really, did they? Cause they had the first night off. So even then, Although actually isn't it better to come from behind like that as a sort of catalyst for things to get better? Indeed, obviously it would be a bit silly. But you're right, obviously, the way the game started with that Sule goal and the defending. So much space. So much space. I understand towards the end of a football match if it gets a bit crazy and you throw men forward, sometimes space appears like that.

7:28Vish: But after 11 minutes, he's picked out with ease the simple cross field pass in the final third and has time to take a touch, steady himself, and then pick a spot. After 11 minutes, I couldn't believe... Well, I mean, I can believe it, but it was just... And then, of course, they then concede a penalty. I understand in this day and age that is a penalty. I always think it's a bit harsh on the defender, but it's given 2-0, and you're thinking to yourself, this could be Carrick's last game here. We have expected his sacking sooner rather than later. obviously the international break is coming maybe we'll talk about that a bit as well but 2-0 down you're thinking this is not great they're getting at half time even after the restart and then Belieber goes down injured doesn't he I was really gutted for him actually I was as well and it looks a nasty one I would imagine that's usually those types of injuries are about 6 or 7 weeks but even then I was like oh, the one player who showed a little bit of willing, bang, he's then struck down with injury.

8:37Vish: But, I mean, people were saying, or one or two people thought, you know, did Carrick go in there and give some sort of, you know, stirring speech or whatever? I wonder, I don't know, because even the so-called fightback, it was seeped in fortuitous circumstances. And they did look a bit better after the restart, straight away. I think there's too much doubt about that. but Roma were happy to kind of sit off and then they get a penalty which again, to use that word, was a bit fortuitous. I mean, did you think it was a penalty or a bit soft? Yeah, I thought it was soft. I suppose soft can still mean penalty.

9:14And also, you know, they get given sometimes and you ride your luck in those moments but yeah, I thought Kuna sort of ran into himself as much as anything.

9:22Vish: Yeah, and when Bruno Fernandes steps up to take the penalty... He doesn't look like he's going to score. Doesn't look like he's going to score. Not at all, yeah. It didn't, not that surprising. Look, he hit it on target the keeper makes a good save. But that little foot by, was it Brian Cristante? Yeah. Into the box. People saying, is that the turning point? Is that... It was certainly the turning point on the evening, Vish. Because when Bruno gets the penalty the second time round, his body language didn't change a huge amount. But he would have been mightily relieved. And I don't think he was going to miss the second one.

9:54Yeah, well, the first penalty means the goalkeeper doesn't die the same way.

9:56Vish: Yeah. And he ends up hitting it to the same side. With more power and actually less precision. But just, I think that's it. More intensity. Yeah. And that is the word. The intensity then ramps up. Yeah, I'm not sure if you can measure relief by this, but the fact that after that goal, after Bruno converts that penalty, and then the Cunha equaliser, both of them chose to celebrate by booting another separate ball into the crowd. Yes, definitely. Yeah. Rafinha did that as well. Yes, he did. A lot of that going around last night. But there was, yeah, Yeah, it was clearly like a moment of relief. Because I think one of the things about this particularly bad start to the season for Manchester United has been, you really get the impression the players are not only feeling sorry for themselves, but feeling quite down on their luck.

10:43Vish: Yep. Oh, you know, obviously, you know, the better you are, the lucky you are, you know. Yeah. But there have been moments in games, and I saw it a lot last night, where it looked like they feel like the universe is against them again. It was similar to Chelsea when, you know, the way they concede that opening goal. And what a draining feeling that is as well. 100 % yeah, yeah. Because even if they don't like the manager, if they're unhappy and they're angling for a move or whatever, a footballer goes out on the football pitch, you know, at the very least some part of them will want to win. You know, nobody wants to...

11:15Vish: Do you know what I mean? You mentioned this, I think you and Luke talked about... Call me naive, but... Yeah, you and Luke talked about this maybe on Monday actually or Friday, but about, yeah, like, not being able to comprehend the basic just the want to be good at your job at your dream job totally and again i understand that you know that that you can't sort of take that as a blanket sort of thing because clearly some players do down tools they they get their own heads or that's a different issue but they can just not fancy it after they go a goal or two down or whatever it is so so i understand that but again the relief shows you not necessarily that this is going to turn round or all in it together or whatever.

11:52Vish: And we'll get to what Bruno Fernandes said in a moment. But there's no doubt about it that the crowd certainly played their part, as they often do. And you've got to give the crowd a bit of credit because, you know, I know there's been some boos and all that, some booing, I should say. They weren't drinking on the terraces. That's illegal. But as soon as they sort of sniffed something, they were like, right, come on, lads. And that's so infectious in a place like Old Trafford. And Matthias Cunha certainly caught hold of that wave. We know he's a surfer. It took it way too far. But in a fun way...

12:28He's thinking I haven't had this for ages. I've got to grab this. Yeah, exactly. Well, they... So I feel like it was spurred on by the crowd, as most turnarounds are, when they get a sniff of something and they really build up. But it felt like Manchester United were riding the crest of that wave, to the point that they were playing the ball faster than I've seen them knocking about this season. And it was a real, I don't know. Like, you know, we talked about the, this is going to come across as a bit too, like this is Manchester United we're talking about. But you know, when we were talking about Milan maybe about a month ago, and like, it doesn't matter if, with all due respect, Omari Hutchinson is playing for Milan.

13:06The shirt still carries something. And it was a little bit yesterday where if you squint and ignore Gallo and a few other players, you're like, yeah, that looks a bit Manchester United-y. All the things they talk about, all the nebulous concept things and like, yeah, that felt like it was quite fitting that turnaround, even though, I know we don't necessarily need to dwell on it because it's featured a lot this season, but as you said about those opening goals, the defending was awful. It was so bad.

13:33Vish: But when you say you squint your eyes, the people in the crowd, most of them have seen great European eyes. Yeah. So they know what to do when it happens. And what else? Bruno Fernandes is an excellent player. Mateus Kunin, you said that they signed these players. One of the things I mentioned when they signed him is, do you know what he's good for? He's good for a great goal from range, or pulling something out of nothing. And again, when he fancies it, when he catches that wave of emotion and support from the crowd, he pulls out a superb winning goal. Yeah, a winning goal where when he took the touch, I was like, don't hit this.

14:06It was quite fast, but shit. If Mateusz Kunia won, give it the circumstances. But I said it in a way that like, oh don't put your finger in the socket. I know it's really tempting, but it's not chocolate, it's wax, that kind of stuff. But yeah, such a good hit. Yeah, really, I was reminded that he once played for Atletico Madrid with a venom with which he hit that. It had that feeling over it, didn't it? And also like sort of circling back to the crowd a little bit. I think when the crowd gets up like that, if your opponent aren't the mentally strongest, they will make mistakes. And that's exactly what Roma did.

14:43Roma absolutely just lost their minds after Fernandes got the retake penalty.

14:49Vish: But again, with those Roma players, you're in that atmosphere at Old Trafford. They're looking around going, oh blimey, it's Manchester United. Obviously they could do that against a smaller club or whatever, but that kind of plays into it as well. But you know, then And Cunha gets sent off, of course, which is a bit of a shame for him. And then, after the final whistle, he comes immediately straight back out the tunnel, because he obviously wants to enjoy the moment. He was obviously watching from the tunnel. Yeah, and that's more than understandable. He wants to go out and soak up in, you know, which was a first win in ten games at least, where he's been absolutely crucial in that.

15:25Vish: There seemed to be some sort of, I don't know, altercation is maybe too strong a word, but there was some sort of chat between him and Carrick that someone caught on their, you know, while filming on their phone in the crowd or whatever. Well, it was on the end point of it was caught, well, I mean, it was broadcast, wasn't it? Oh, there was a little bit of broadcast, and then you see footage from people's phones in the crowd. And they have a word with each other, and it seems to be Carrick saying to them, no, you go back into the dressing room or go down the tunnel. Because I think you have to, don't you?

15:55If you've been sent off, do you remember, like, there have been certain situations where, say, a manager's been sent off, which means you can't do the post-match interview. It might well have been that. I thought I wondered if it was a bit of like, you know. Don't make this worse. Yeah, it was a bit of admin.

16:10Vish: Yeah, well, perhaps. You would think so, because you would think it would be incredibly harsh on Carrick to say to a player who's kind of dug him out and the team out of a bit of a hole there. He's going, well, no, no, no, you've got to set off. You've got to do your time. I mean, certainly during the game, you've got to be in the dressing room or the tunnel or whatever. What he could have done, though, and I always like to remind everybody this, was done the old Arsene Wenger, stood up in the crowd. Yeah. You know, that is it. You've always got that option at Old Trafford, of course, haven't you?

16:38Although now, it would probably cave in, wouldn't it? That's true.

16:40Vish: Is that under the waterfall, maybe? Yeah, maybe. They use it for like a Peter Andre video. It's like the plinth they had in Trafalgar Square. Yes. Rent it out. Maybe that's what it is. So anyway, I have a brilliant win. Yuri Tielamun's said with regards to Michael Carrick, there's been a lot of pressure on him and that's how we repay him with a comeback like this. Big character, a big fight. It's a little bit like we need to find the people responsible for this. It is a little bit. It is a little bit. But Bruno Fernandes, though, was very specific to be fair to him in his post-match interview because, again, when Tielemann says that, you know, I'm not doubting his sincerity but it is easy to say something like that.

17:21Vish: You know, it's easy to kind of say, oh, no, of course we don't doubt the manager because they're not the ones who are going to sack him. They're the ones who've got to work with him until he leaves the club whenever that may be. But Bruno Fernandes was asked and he said there's been a lot of speculation in the media, a lot of lies around many things that have happened in this club. Snakes everywhere, hon. Between me and the manager that we had to clear the air, nothing like that happened. The manager took a decision of putting myself on the bench because I wasn't performing at that level. Everyone felt it was a punishment for the words that I had said.

17:50Vish: If it was, it was right. The manager is the one who makes the decisions. I have to accept them. I have to go forward with that. It doesn't change the belief I have in the manager, in the staff and every player that is in this club. Now, he's often accused of throwing his arms up and maybe not acting like a captain or whatnot, but Jim, I mean, he's... People might say, well, it's just words, but he's very specific and explicit there. Yeah, he's popped on his hair shirt, and I think it's actually the smartest way to kind of just stop this as soon as possible, because that's... This is a sort of sideshow, isn't it?

18:21It's really unhelpful, kind of... slightly soap opera-ish kind of narrative running alongside the other narrative, which is that they need to start winning more games. and actually I think it's like for Fernandes to wear that is actual like proper captain stuff in how he's sort of showing humility to just kill it.

18:41Vish: Because I mean he even said if he has dropped me for what I said it was right. It's not Roy Keane captain stuff but it's sort of more modern equivalent to just get everyone to shut up. That'd be great if at the end of that interview Bruno Fernandes just had a swipe at Sir Alex Ferguson. All for a horse. All because of a horse. Yeah. Why is no one talking about the horse? Could have done. But in terms of bigger picture for Manchester United, a number of the reports included things like, well, this happened with Jose Mourinho when they were 2-0 down to Newcastle United when he was Man United manager.

19:15Vish: They came back and won 3-2. You know, is it a forced dawn? Is it a turning round? I mean, Vish, for me, again, it's slightly fortuitous penalty, but whatever you may think, they've either been handed that by the referee or the Roma defender. So they've got a penalty. The encroachment then retakes it. The second goal is a big error from the defender. It's a very Manchester United mistake from Roma. Yeah, it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they've got back in the game and then fair enough, they've won the game. So you give them credit. Glad they've enjoyed it. But to me, it doesn't smack me hugely as, oh, this is the turning point.

19:52Vish: This is, you know. Yes, it is something to build on in terms of feeling at the club. I still fear for Carrick. I think this has probably given the owners a bit of a headache, because it makes it slightly more difficult. I don't know that it has. No, because they've backed him, right? Well, they've backed him until this international window. Which is... One of the... One of the... You know, Bruno's lies aside in the media, one of the main reports... But one of the main reports that emanated a couple of weeks ago, which I think has been widely reported, has been that when they agreed not to sack him, it was with a view of basically seeing what happens up to next week.

20:29Yeah, maybe. Obviously, conversations seem to have started with other parties as well.

20:34Vish: Conte started those conversations a while ago. He did, yeah. Eventually, they've opened the door after he was banging it down. Should we join in with his conversation about that? He's just talking to himself again. He won't leave. So, obviously, Villa's huge on the weekend. Every game's huge. We don't need to go into that. But the gap and the fact that Manchester United restart after the international break against Liverpool, I mean, everything's marrying up there for something to happen. I suppose we'll find out what when it comes to pass. Yeah. What did you think, Jim? I mean, it's obviously, again, it's always good to win a football match and it's in the manner of which they did it.

21:07Vish: But I mean, looking at the game has much changed for you and how you feel about it all. Well, it's very interesting to see. I mean, I couldn't believe they turned it around. And as I said earlier, I think actually when you need a catalyst, sometimes it is a moment like this. Sometimes it's not just picking up a routine win. It's not sort of stopping any kind of silly behaviour. showing some character. And I appreciate, just to jump in, I appreciate that they're not going to suddenly, with the way they've been playing, it's unlikely they're going to suddenly produce the perfect performance. Absolutely.

21:33And I think ultimately Carrick probably will still be, you know, out of the door by the end of the season at the very least. But I mean, if he is going to turn it around, this is the opportunity to use this moment as the blueprint for what they do next. It's just, you know, they ran harder and they worked harder and they cared. They showed passion. All the basic stuff that people have been tearing their hair out because they're not doing. Perhaps it was just one humiliation too far. Who knows what Carrick said at half-time? But, you know, they give themselves a bit more of a chance if they just recognise the situation they're in.

22:06I said the other day, Carrick's job at the moment is to sell these Man United players reality. You know, the whole it's Manchester United thing does seem to sort of permeate and does seem to sort of weigh down on players when things don't start going well. And there's a kind of... It feels like there's a sulking culture. We hear about the cliques in the dressing room and the infighting, but they're already fighting for this season to not be a write-off. And the way they're going to do that is to work hard. So I think actually it's better for them to win this game like this than it is for them to have just been comfortable and kind of pragmatic and to have just kind of bored their way to a 1-0 or 2-0 win.

22:46Vish: It was nice to see Carrick just have a little smile as well in the post-match. Eric Ten Hag has warned Manchester United that they could get relegated. Does that help? I don't think it's particularly helpful. He also said that he really wanted to sign Declan Rice and Harry Kane. And I've been saying to you, Vish, that you should just sign Lamin, Yumaan, Kylian Mbappe. So I'm glad that he's on my page there. Erling Haaland? I mean, he may well be. Well, exactly, yeah. Why not? Put a bid in. Much like Manchester United fans this morning, dare to dream. Dare to dream. I mean, Eric Ten Hag is a warning to Michael Carrick in a sense as well, because Michael Carrick's got an incredible head of hair.

23:24and taking the Man United job when you're in that situation is risky. True, but Mourinho's... He's already aged quite a lot, though. Mourinho's still got his hair. Yeah, but Mourinho's kind of, you know... Solskjaer's still got his hair. I'm not sure Mourinho's like the rest of us.

23:39Vish: As I'm going through the names... Yeah, I take your point. All right, coming up after this, Barcelona score a hat-trick of goals on Unai Emery's birthday.

23:54This episode of the Football Ramble is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you could permanently delete one worry from your brain, what would it be? Maybe you made a flippant joke in the wrong moment and six years later it still keeps you up at night. Maybe a minor work issue somehow dominates your thoughts. Maybe you've left something unresolved and just can't move on. While we can't delete our worries, we can address them with therapy. BetterHelp has a wide range of licensed professional therapists who specialise in counselling, marriage therapy, family therapy and social work all with the required education, training, exams and practice and with at least 3 years and 1 ,000 hours of hands-on experience.

24:30Whatever you need help with, BetterHelp can help you find the right person to address it. Insurance options may now be available nationwide with BetterHelp. With insurance, many members pay$15 or less. Some pay nothing. BetterHelp is now in network with more than 125 health plans and with many co-pays as low as$15 for eligible members. If you don't have eligible insurance or live outside the US, you can still get 20 % off your first month. Sign up and get 20 % off at BetterHelp.com slash ramble. That's BetterHelp.com slash ramble.

25:21and sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at go.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's go.gle slash workspace with Gemini. I've got big news. I switched to Verizon and got the new iPhone 18 Pro. I can keep my old phone. Can I also get the latest iPhone every year? Shh, anything else? Verizon let me choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on them. Everybody listen up. Shh. Switch to Verizon and get the new iPhone 18 Pro now.

25:58No trade-in needed. And the latest iPhone every year with Simplicity Plan. Plus, choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on us. Simplicity Plan with Simplicity Pro required. Plan and device payment. Purchase or separate agreements with separate terms. Service plan for watch or iPad required. Additional terms apply for all offers. Are you sure we don't want to do gifts this year? Yeah, don't worry about me. Bombas. Sorry, did you just say Bombas? No. Oh, Bombas cozy socks. Totally. Bombas slippers, size 8. Wow, so you're just... Pilates socks. Underwear. Okey-doke. Got it. Bombas, the perfect gift for when you're not doing gifts.

26:31Visit bombas.com slash audio and use code audio for 20 % off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash audio. One purchased equals one donated. Always.

26:46Vish: the Why are we trying to blame everybody else is disgusting. They want to find me good. They want to ban me good do it Have a look at yourselves every single goddamn one of you It's absolutely disgusting and whether I get another game or not. I don't really care anymore Well, everybody that was the spokesperson for the Republican Party of course. Do it! Barcelona 3, Aston Villa 0. Aston Villa's perfect start to the Champions League was ended at the Nou Camp gym. What a shame. Yes. If you do give them a goal start, though. Yeah, I mean, and actually, I think the first half was pretty good from Aston Villa because Barcelona play that almost surrealist high line that makes them a quite unique watch because, like, essentially, Joanne Garcia seems to sweep it up on his own.

27:40A lot of the game is just sort of all around the halfway line, isn't it? Where they're sort of daring you to try and go over the top of them. And they are so good at sweeping that up. I do think Villa had some chances in the first half. They'll really, really be ruined today. They had a couple where, you know, on another day, they might score. Manzambi mishit a chance. He was very good, I thought, in the first half in particular. But they are... You're in a washing machine, aren't you, against Barcelona sometimes. When they put that sort of passing game together and just, you know, kind of stop you playing.

28:10Vish: Yeah, the 3-0 result, it's not quite indicative of what happened. Although as the game pans out and they are 3-0 up, it could have been 4, it could have been 5 sort of thing. So I took the table, with Barcelona, if I may sort of jump ahead a little bit, as you know I like to do, with Barcelona, with the way they play, do you see them challenging for the Champions League? They're such an interesting proposition, aren't they? That was Rafinha's 19th goal of the season. Yeah. You know they've got the firepower. Yeah. And as you say, they play this great football. I know over the years we've seen Barcelona sides, but this one, as you say, there's a specific quirk about them with the high line.

28:54Vish: But I always think about them. Surely, if you... And I know that they know how to play different tactics, and crying out loud, I get all that. But I just... Are they too swashbuckling? Well, it feels like they should be, doesn't it? But then you look at the evidence in front of you, apart from obviously Jose Mourinho's Madrid getting a win over them recently. They've played 11 games in La Liga. It's called 34 goals. As I mentioned, that was Rafinha's 19th goal of the season in all competitions. Laminya-Miles scoring a lot of goals. I think, so he got 24 last season. I think he's about to do messy numbers.

29:29I think this is going to be the season where he really, really explodes and will be a proper Ballon d 'Or contender. not that he wasn't before, but I think he's going to be right, right up there. Just the way he's playing, the consistency of it, he almost plays like you imagine James Brown would. Do you know what I mean? There's such a sort of like, there's so much fun and flair and freedom to it. It's incredible stuff. It's got the Jerry curls as well. A very early James Brown. Yeah. So I know what you're saying, but it's working, isn't it?

29:57Vish: It's working for them. Well, you have to say, I mean, they were knocked out of the quarterfinal stage by Atletico Madrid last time around. and Atleti did an Atleti number on them. So I would be very intrigued if they were to come up against well even Arsenal but Bayern or PSG in the knockout round. Yeah, those two in particular I think they'd struggle against. I'm not sure how... In the knockout round specifically because in the group stage when we saw them against PSG the other week of course but in the two-legged knockout affair I'd be just intrigued to see how they sort of go about it against a side who they're going to have to be aware of.

30:32Vish: It would be end-to-end. They'd be end-to-end, and I think they'd lose, because... Well, kind of what they did against PSG, then, in Paris, I suppose. But when does this leave Aston Villa-Vish? Obviously, again, we can talk about they had a few chances. They were beaten by a better side, there's no doubt about that. Yeah. But they did that thing which I was bemoaning on Monday. Not that I'm, you know, again, if you say one thing, it doesn't mean to say you're saying another. I'm not saying Aston Villa need to just play long ball now. But that opening goal, and they nearly made another error where Gordon hit and Suzuki save.

31:02Vish: where I'm just like, and Suzuki's great, and I love him because he handed Fulham a point as well on the weekend. But he's a brilliant goalkeeper, we know that. And obviously passing is all a part of his game, we love all that, but there are times where you can't just knock it into that area where you have loads of traps in Barcelona shirts waiting to pounce on that. But you can't just give them back the ball? No, you can't, but just seven minutes into the game. Yeah, I mean, I think that is obviously the risk when you play like that, and they were stung quite harshly. But it would have been worse for them if they just abandoned that after that first mistake.

31:44Fine. If your entire strategy going into that game, if how you've played... Because they do, Villa do play long balls as well.

31:50Vish: No, of course they do. And because they've got Suzuki. And when you say long ball, it's not a hint of hope. No, no, no. Long pass, as you would prefer to say. I mean, actually, that suits Nicholas Jackson down to the ground as well. He's better with someone, you know, something to run on to. Yeah. But just for me, if I'm, you know, obviously, I support the English side, so I'm not a Villa fan, but I'm seeing that, and after such an era, you're like, ah, just that again, sort of thing. To me, it's just like after seven minutes, like, you know, what was Prince William saying? You know, you take his son as well.

32:19Vish: Yeah, good point. You know. Not in front of George, is that his name? I think so. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Little Georgie, dressed like an adult. You can't imagine a world dressed like a kid ever. No, that's true actually. But the, yeah, I suppose to answer your original question, like where does it leave them? I think it leaves them exactly where they are. Like as Jim articulated, they lost to one of the best sides in Europe. Happens. And in terms of the style of play as well, there were times where they actually had decent overloads and they didn't make much of them because they, you know, they weren't necessarily breaking Barcelona's high line, but going over the top.

32:54they were breaking by going through them with the ball. They just, you know, a couple of right decisions, then they create more opportunities. Van Zambi's miss, obviously quite a big one. But yeah, I think they, you know, I thought they gave a decent account themselves. Obviously 3-0 looks like a bit of a shellacking and it kind of was in many ways, but also they did end up having to go toe-to-toe with Barcelona.

33:16Vish: I mean, perhaps my question, where does it leave them? I mean, they're third in the table. I might have worded that differently, but yeah, you're right. they're still very much on track. Hopefully crestfallen ahead of the weekend. But you never know. Do you remember the famous Ronaldo Nazario goal that he scored against Compostela? Oh, of course. So Nike put that in an advert and seven of the Compostela players got together to try and sue them for reputational damage. Just saying. Yeah, it does happen. Can I have a word for Firmin Lopez? Who I think is an absolutely brilliant player that people don't really talk about enough.

33:51It seems weird to say that a young playmaker who is Spanish and starting for Barcelona is a little bit kind of under the radar almost. Is it because his name sounds like vermin? Suppose it could be that. But I think he's been quite unlucky because he was injured before the last World Cup so he didn't make the squad and he was in the squad for the Euros but he barely kicked the ball if he got on at all. I'm not sure. But every time I see him he really, really catches my eye. I do have the theory that it's because I look at him and think that's what Emil Smith-Rowe should have been. but he plays in a similar sort of situation got the big calves but he's really really tireless he scores goals he's a good playmaker he gets stuck in as well I just think he's an absolutely brilliant player and I thought he was really good again last night

34:38Vish: yeah I mean he's scoring record for 6-14 in all comes this season already you're absolutely right what about Anthony Gordon? Antonio Gordon playing for Barsone now he's not surrounded by absolute morons who don't appreciate what a genius he is He's really flying, isn't he? Don't have a go at Anthony. I just think it's funny how much that annoyed Pete. Like it really, really got under his skin. It did. This is Pete as well, who last week was having a go at you for his eating habits. Sorry, for your eating habits, just like totally offhand. Oh yeah, because I said I'd cook some mints. Yeah. He accused it of being a Brexit.

35:14Vish: And oddly I found myself like dying on a hill about mints. You were defending mints. You were defending all mints. Absolutely, yeah. Totally. Don't have a go at mince. But then Anthony Gordon inadvertently shitting on Pete's team. You're not class enough to pass the ball. You were like Pedri, I've got new friends now. He was really good. What did you think of Anthony Gordon saying that play for Barcelona is more fun than Newcastle or Everton? Do you think that's gonna... I mean, obviously. It's not a controversial thing today, is it? Every time I watch Barcelona, I just feel like playing for them must be the best life.

35:51I presume after the game you go straight out for dinner. Yeah. In some lovely tiled square. Till five in the morning. The beach is nearby. Oh, it just looks great. Oh no, we got 3pm kickoff. No, it's nap time. Yeah, exactly. Sorry, we can't do that.

36:06Vish: What he actually said was, you know, Everton, I was fighting relegation for two or three years, which was tough. At Newcastle we were fighting for maybe the Champions League and push up the table. Now I'm fighting with Barca for every trophy. How dare you? Yeah. How bloody dare you? It's not very British to enjoy your life. No, it is. Come on, Anthony. Yeah. But let's hope he's fighting for the Nations League, which he will be in not that long. Of course, scored announcement on Friday. Up yours, everybody. Now, the game was played on Unai Emery's 55th birthday. Yeah, no, disrespectful of Barcelona to not mark that, you know, or to mark it with a 3-0 victory.

36:42Vish: But there we are. He can still be proud of his plays, though. Unai Emery. And if he wants to have a real birthday present then, or a belated birthday present, he can wait until Michael Carrick's sacked and then go to a much, much bigger club. Yes. There's a chain. Before we talk more Champions League, both sets of players, of course, wore black armbands in tribute to the victims of the recent train crash in Spain. And of course, Tenerife player, Jesus de Miguel, who died tragically on Monday. And it's awful. Just absolutely awful. I think when everyone says there are just no words for this. Yeah.

37:17Vish: That's it. It's just a freak incident. Just so tragic. So, so sad. Yeah. Yeah, indeed. Elsewhere in the Champions League, PSG beat Unai Emera's former side of Villarreal 6-0. They scored four in the first 17 minutes. Yeah. So, Michael Carrick come back there. No, I was watching Barcelona Villa on the TV and Man United Roma on the laptop and just seeing those PSG goals rack up so early felt really ominous. Yeah. For the Champions League in general. Totally. I mean, normally they take it easy in the group stage. Yeah, Villarreal kind of didn't let them. Yeah. Another goal, sir? It was absolutely absurd.

37:59I mean, we talked about Suzuki playing out in circumstances where it's particularly risky, more so than usual. We're going to get this right.

38:07Vish: My goodness. Yeah. It was just... PSG couldn't believe it. They almost looked embarrassed at times. Jim, Jim, by now, it's the last thing they'll expect we're going to do. No, they seem to have wrapped that up. There's some very enjoyable football facts that fly around social media, particularly at the moment, where people have been asking for this. And one of them I saw was that Unai Emery has won the Europa League with three different sides, and every one of them has got the word Villa in the title of the team. Very, very enjoyable. Sevilla, not Seville, remember, before you tweet me. So there we are.

38:42Vish: Good news, though, for Jamie Carragher. We talked about him and the legal case that Aston Villa were threatening him with. They have officially dropped the legal case against Jamie Carragher. Good news. Which is the right thing to do, Jim. Yeah, and almost certainly, you know, was there ever actually a legal case? No. Are they just saying? There was no legal case. I'm not a lawyer, I'm not an expert on this. Telling a group of fans to shut the F up and say, man United are a bigger club than you. There's no legal case there. it's quite a small club mentality to drop a case though isn't it just follow through just do it you're not a Ford lawyer please don't what do you think Prince William said would he have been up for this he'd have been embarrassed wouldn't he I mean all of every human Villa fan I've spoken to is really embarrassed by it yeah true enough there are people on the internet who haven't taken it very well but you know you'd think a member of the royal family would be maxed out for shame wouldn't you I was about to say I think princes and legal cases of you know try and distance yourself from that so well done to him and well done to Aston Villa Imagine if Carragher just did an interview with Emily Maitlis I think that went well I don't think he was sweating over this though No Alright coming up after this the pressure is mounting on Matthias Yaisler at Newcastle United

40:14this episode is sponsored by ZocDoc have you been putting off a doctor's appointment or need a dentist and you don't know where to start we've definitely been there and that's why we use ZocDoc actually over the holidays Michael had a dental emergency and seemingly every office was closed but we hopped onto ZocDoc found an in-network dentist had great reviews saw real time appointments available, which was key. It was on New Year's Day and booked an appointment in just minutes. It took so much of the stress out of the already stressful situation. ZocDoc makes it easy to search and compare over 250 ,000 local in-network providers across more than 200 specialties.

40:58So you can find the right doctor or dentist and book instantly. Taking care of your health just got easier, download the ZocDoc app today and book that appointment on your to-do list. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C, ZocDoc. Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the headline hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about.

41:36Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at go.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's go.gle slash workspace with Gemini.

41:46Vish: Hey, I'm Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out, and I have chased down a lot of strange stories, but nothing quite like what's inside a McDonald's quarter pounder with cheese. 100 % fresh beef cooked right when you order it. Hand-topped onions plus cheese and pickles in every bite. And right now, you can get one with medium fries and a drink for just$8. Only at McDonald's. For a limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska, and California. And for delivery, fresh beef not available in Alaska and Hawaii. Offer not valid for delivery.

42:29Vish: Welcome back to the Football Ramble, everybody. Yes, there was some Premier League football this working week. It happened on Monday, of course. Newcastle United lost 1-0 at home to Everton. There were boos ringing around St James' Park at full time. Newcastle United have now lost five of their last seven matches. How about that, Vish? Yeah, it was awful, wasn't it? A genuinely bad game. It almost felt like a waste of a Monday night. The Newcastle thing is wild to me because obviously they've sold a lot of players and had to start from scratch and the rebuild looked like it was going okay at the start of that game.

43:10But the thing that was really clear on Monday was it feels like none of the players are on the same page at all. It was like the football equivalent at the silent disco. Everyone's tuned into different things, doing different things.

43:22Vish: And you're desperately trying to find someone who's tuned into the same thing as you. And it's joyous when you find that. Yeah, exactly. And earlier on in the season, Gonzalez and Dedic seemed to be on the same frequency. But that seemed a long time ago. Yeah, it really does. It feels like this is the life cycle of, I suppose, Geisler, and his reputation has already, we've done it in fast forward, really. People are already asking questions about him, whether he should go, a lot of calls to sack him. But they were really, really bad. Well, he said after the game, didn't he, that the team didn't follow his plan.

43:52And there's been a lot of frustration with the long ball tactics that they're employing, which really don't seem to suit the profile of the players they have. So there's obviously some sort of disconnect somewhere if they're not listening to him. They don't get caught playing it out from the back. There's that, I suppose.

44:06Vish: No, I totally take it. I think that it does look a bit joint. I mean, earlier on in the season, again, I suppose you can have a bit of beginner's luck. And again, at the start of the season, everybody is starting from scratch. Not everybody, but you know what I mean? And it did seem the sort of the... I know Dedic was out of the side. He was injured and what have you. But the tactics seemed to sort of produce something. You thought, okay, that's interesting. It surprised quite a lot of Newcastle fans that they'd start the season reasonably well. And here we are. This is the season I think they all thought they were going to have.

44:42Vish: And it's now happening. And you would say for an inexperienced manager when it comes to the Premier League on this bad run of form. I don't think he's going to get sacked before the international break-up or something. But, you know, we're a post-Eddie Howe, Newcastle United era, and it's always going to be a tough act to follow. So I do... It's definitely one to watch, isn't it, at the moment? Yeah, I mean, we see this happen a lot, don't we? Like, Andoni Arreola is an obvious example of a player who took a little bit of time to get his style to work. But I think the problem is that, you know, he's saying the team aren't following his style and everybody watching it can see that the style doesn't suit the players that they have.

45:22Got to fix that. They've got to fix the actual kind of purpose of what it is they're doing.

45:29Vish: Well, you know, I mean, he could do worse than, I can't believe I'm saying this, but looking at what Alvaro Albalo has been doing at Fulham, because again, don't want to go on about Fulham, we're talking about Newcastle and Everton here, but the way they start the season to the way they're playing now, it's quite different and he seems to have learned that now we'll see of course Fulham are not scoring too many goals and it's going to be one almighty battle with regard to relegation this season but he's certainly gone right yeah I need to play that player in that position and I can't be too idealistic or whatever and he's you know the Yaisler's a more experienced manager than say Arbeloa but with Yaisler Arbeloa managed Real Madrid actually did you know that?

46:09Vish: well I did but with Yaisler Yeah, I do wonder. And again, you know, and it's similar, you know, post-Silver at Fulham with Arbelar, post-Hau at Newcastle United. And it's going to be really tricky for him. You know, the owners did put a lot of faith in Eddie Howe. Now, obviously, towards the end, you know, there were some wranglings and some, a little bit of upset there, of course. With the Isla, yeah, you have to say you're concerned. But what a win for David Moyes. Massively, yeah. second win in two games over them I think Gianna Barry missed a big chance didn't he but ends up getting the winner because of Tyreek George's work although again I think that's frustrating from Newcastle isn't it because George had so much space we were talking about the Roma player earlier I'm pleased for George because he's very highly rated and obviously at Chelsea he was not going to get the time I know Fulham were interested in quite a few clubs were he goes to Everton you think well okay what are you going to do and we're just seeing a bit of it now because he's got talent there's no doubt about that also Jack Greenish has given him an opportunity, really, isn't he?

47:12Vish: Yeah, that's sad, isn't it? Grealish wasn't in the squad again. I mean, they released a statement saying that he's not match fit and therefore not part of tonight's squad. I mean, if you do miss training, then you are going to, you know, go down on your fitness. I know he was ill before that, but you just look at this and you're like, well, again, don't want to speculate what's going on because you have no idea and it would be crass to do so. But you kind of, I just want to see Grealish playing football. Yeah, I mean, I'm not you know obviously we don't know necessarily know exactly what's happened behind the scenes but I'm not that surprised with the fall off if you consider how high he got when Man City won the treble and how involved he was with that and his age now and I suppose it has been a fall off really but it feels like I don't know I would empathise with someone losing that enthusiasm or kind of having lost that love of the game from such great heights.

48:12Vish: Do you feel it's like old school Brazilian comes over to play in Europe, cleans up, wins Champions League and all the rest of it and goes, yeah, I'll just take it easy now. And I've always got the fallback option of going back to Brazil. Yeah, maybe, maybe a little bit. He's really thinking that about Aston Villa, but oh no, they're a Champions League. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if it's a bit of that. It's a strange, I thought it was a strange move going back to Everton. I think Moises... Did you think it was strange? Yeah. He was not going to play at Man City though. Yeah, but he was never going to get the...

48:39It's not quite the right team for him. But he did enjoy it though. He had a great few months before he got that injury. He didn't really do much, and obviously got injured. But if you look at what you have to do in a David Moyse side, the peak of what Grealish could achieve is what Illiman Ndi did, where he was such a creative force, but he works, in Di, he works so hard. And he's still doing that with the move to Man City now. But you see the chances he gets at Bad City. And like, someone like Tiana Barry, I love Tiana Barry, I think he's rubbish. I know what you mean. I think he might be the least technically proficient footballer in the league.

49:19And I say that as a Manchester United fan. He's one of the best shit players in the league. Yeah. It's weird. But he keeps going and he tries so hard. And obviously he's getting a lot of exposure to minutes because they don't have another striker. Because if they did, he wouldn't be starting. But there's so much willing there. And I think that's always going to be the problem with Grealish. You're always questioning how much willing there is for him to still be at this level. I really want Grealish to have a sort of Indian summer where he just kind of enjoys his football. And I think it's going to take a team that make that space for him, isn't it?

49:52that has a full-back behind him doing a lot of work, and someone sort of popping in to cover the space he might not be getting into himself. But he doesn't have the rep, does he? Well, he's got to earn it again, and Everton are so thin in terms of squad numbers that they can't really commit to that, can they? Yeah. One thing we can all agree about, Grish, for very obvious reasons, he's never going to go to Saudi Arabia. He could live in Bahrain.

50:18Vish: Yeah. Okay. If we can pull it back to Newcastle very briefly. There was a moment that really summed it up for me, which was where I thought they'd scored because the net rippled, but it was just because Anthony Alanga had fallen into it. Yes, yeah. They are, yeah. I was talking to Pete during the game and my brother because I was like, if I can't, you know, Man City United, Roma aside, it's just been misery, but I can enjoy other people's misery as well. That's kind of why we're here, isn't it? Yeah, pretty much. but it was it was really clear to me that they just players just had no idea and they don't they don't know where each other are going to be like the number of just really bad touches as well it felt like the crowd were willing to get behind them but they just kept fucking up it was like it was almost like the effects mic was stuttering yes and then it was it was just moaning and I think similar to what I said about Man City Night at the start if you get a crowd at St.

51:14James' Park that are sighing and fed up then you've really, really lost that.

51:19Vish: Yeah, he harks back to Mike Ashley all those years ago. The crucial thing is, if Jaesler is to lose his job at some point, it has to be around the same time that Jose Mourinho loses his Real Madrid position. Because we said, didn't we, when the Saudis came in, at some point, Mourinho is definitely going to manage that club on their watch. So, again, watch this space. Right, speaking of managerial sackings and appointments, there has been a sacking in the Championship and an appointment as well. Nuno Espirito Santo has been sacked by West Ham and this morning they appointed Scott Parker. Come on.

51:56Vish: Scotty P on a two and a half year deal. Nuno's last game in charge was a 3-1 home defeat to West Brom. He was sacked via a phone call apparently and was told not to come into the training ground. Which actually seems like a sort of fitting end to his time there given how much he seemed to put everybody's nose out of joint at every turn. It's funny because they did back him in the summer. He spent 22 million quid on Arna Engels from Celtic which is a championship record. So they kind of threw everything behind him again and still just seemed to upset everyone. Still here we are, yeah. They've won, what, six games this season in the championship?

52:30Vish: I mean, they're currently eighth in the table. Which is a playoff place now. Yes. What are you worried about? There's six points off the top at this early stage, but it's not been good from Nuno at West Ham at the moment. number of West Ham fans say he just doesn't know how to set up a team, which I find fascinating for such an experienced manager. I don't know what it is with Nuno. When he took the job, we all thought, okay, yeah, fair enough. Did he need some time out after that bruising experience at Forest? Because he went from Forest to West Ham pretty quickly. And West Ham... Well, he was unexpectedly unemployed, wasn't he?

53:06After being... The way he was sacked at Forest, despite things going so well the season before.

53:10Vish: Was this a rebound? Yeah, maybe. Manageryal appointment, which is what I'm saying. You know, when he took over at West Ham, it was so bad for what the first few months, whatever. And then it picked up. But ultimately, they were relegated. And that goes back to that period where it was so bad at the start. You know, you can't just discount that. That happened on his watch. And they went down as a result. His reputation saved him, right? Yeah. They're probably looking at that thinking, this is a big name for the championship. Let's kind of, you know, weather this and kind of swallow it a little bit.

53:43and hopefully that will see us through, but it's just not a good fit, is it?

53:48Vish: It evidently isn't. And West Ham need to get out of this league very quickly. Very quickly indeed. And right now, after 13 games, it's looking like, okay, maybe there's a player. It's not looking great. People might think that's a bit harsh, but look at what Middlesbrough and Birmingham are doing. Yes, Birmingham are only four points above West Ham at this early stage in the championship, but you know what it's like with the championship there's usually what two or three clubs who've got the bit between their teeth and they're going right we are going to be challenging here and I think at West Ham that does not seem to be the case with the players they have with the size of the club, blahdy blahdy blahdy, so he's gone and I don't think there will be any West Ham fans that will be sad to see him go I think there'll be quite a few will be happy to see Scott Parker turn up It doesn't look like it's been sort of universally popular No, but Parker one thing you have to say about the man is he knows how to get a team out of the championship.

54:43He's done it with Burnley, Fulham and Bournemouth. All in kind of similar scenarios really where they would be among the favourites to go up in those seasons. Yeah,

54:52Vish: and with Fulham, when he took Fulham up, I remember people saying like, should they have got automatically promoted? Fine, but you have to give him credit because they got up. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like, when all said and done, they were promoted. That was job done. Now, he's not won the championship. He was runner up with Burnley and Bournemouth, but still, you know, promotion is the name of the game. And I think with what Parker will still mean to a lot of West Ham fans, and the fact is he's clearly shown that in the Championship he's got the nails to get out of that league. I think it makes a lot of sense.

55:23Vish: It's a good squad for the Championship. It is a good squad for the Championship. And I think as well, Vish, I understand that some fans will be thinking, yeah, but in the Premier League it's like, you've got to get there first. And that's the job. That's the job right now at West Ham. It's get to the Premier League. and yes, Parker is, you know, a bit like Daniel Farker was in a sense, you know, he gets into the Premier League and he's just not quite there and he's left those positions, you know, they've been relegated under his watch. I don't think, I think any chat of, oh, well, you've given him a two and a half year deal, you know, there'll be clauses in that and whatnot but any kind of chat of, I don't know, but when we're back in the Premier League, he might not cut the mustard, it's like, you've just got to get back there.

56:01It would be a low hum of anxiety, that wouldn't it? I think for all of us if we were West Ham fans as well, but you're right, the priority is getting back there. Also, I think part of the kind of positivity of this appointment is that he is actually well-rested, right? It's sort of the opposite of the Nuno situation. He's had a bit of time out of the game. I think he'll get a little bit of a grace period because he played for West Ham for a long time and was very, very popular there. And I think it's a good fit in a cultural sense. I mean, he always looks like he's just come from or is about to go to a gangland funeral, which is ideal.

56:32Vish: Speaking of which, producer George, West Ham fan, does look like that as well. It's true. George, are you giving Parker the thumbs up or the thumbs down or the thumb you're not sure? He's giving thumbs up. Thumbs up. And he's waving his flat cap. Yeah, he's literally waving a flat cap around. He would have shouted something but he's got a big jelly deal in his gob. Yeah. And other such wonderful stereotypes. Yes. But look, I'm pleased Parker's there. And I would love it if he could get West Ham back in the Premier League and he could indeed cut the mustard. I mean, I think he will. I think he will get them promoted.

57:02I think this is really basically the perfect appointment for this set of circumstances. And the timing as well. But I'd be surprised he doesn't, yeah. There's still so much road to run with this.

57:10Vish: And they're still very competitive with the points tally, despite what we just said. Yeah, and it's bad because obviously the results haven't been great. They've won two games 6-0 this season already. Yeah. But you only get three points from... Good point. Wasted goals. Yeah, once you get the 3-0 up, just stop scoring. Yeah, you know what, that is a Scott Parker way, isn't it? Very functional, very dull. It's an involuntary way. Yeah. But yeah, we shall have to wait and see what he can come up with. Right, Jim, tonight, Arsenal. They're playing Slavia Prague. Should be a victory for those gunners.

57:43Should it not? Beat the little slugs last season. Yeah. Beat them 7-0 many, many years ago while he was there. It was nice. 7-0.

57:51Vish: Arsenal currently ninth, though, out of the automatic spots. Jim's nervous. Yeah, exactly. It's a big game, this, Jim. Yeah. It's a big game. Yeah, it is. But genuinely though, you have to go and win this game. Obviously, the Bayern result was good, but it was ultimately a draw. Still Real Madrid at home, still got to play Borussia Dortmund. Arsenal got some tricky games in the Champions League, so underestimating. You'd expect that in the Champions League. You would expect it in the Champions League, but it's important not to underestimate the games like this though. You're absolutely right. And also, to finish as hard as you can, I mean, it somewhat helps you in the knockout.

58:27Vish: Which it massively did last season. Indeed it did. Indeed it did. although again if you're PSG as long as you're playing a Premier League side at some point you use your Champions League team and you're alright there we go couldn't beat Arsenal though could they they couldn't apart from how they did other than winning in a lottery we kind of didn't talk about it when we spoke briefly about PSG earlier but the reason they end up smashing that many goals in is because those players haven't started in a week yeah they're like oh I want a goal as well again more wasted goals yeah Frivolous. Very frivolous.

59:01Vish: With Arsenal, though, obviously against Slavik Procter, as I said, it's been revealed that their manager, Mikel Arteta, convinced the Arsenal players he could read their minds before a game against Tottenham Hotspur, apparently in 2022. Is this true? I feel like you could just make up mad shit about Arteta now and it just sounds about right. That's what we're going with. Arteta told them to secretly hide a small object inside a shoe. He then left the room while they hid the object. When he came back, he said he could guess which player did it just from their body language. He successfully guessed that it was Gabrielle who had hidden the object.

59:31Vish: I mean, I think we would have all guessed Gabrielle, let's be honest. But we were asked a question on the mailbag quite recently, who would, which managers would make, who would you have as faithfuls and traitors in the game? Traitors, of course, I'm sure everybody's familiar with that. Wow, Teta, I mean, if you can read people's minds, he'd be very handy in that. Yeah, he would be, wouldn't he? Although the twist is that he was watching the whole thing on CCTV. So it's not quite Derren Brown, is it? Well, maybe it is Derren Brown. I want to make it clear I know that Derren Brown is not magic.

59:58Vish: Yeah. Claudia Riggleman would make a good tracer, wouldn't she? Because she's always in the territory. She knows. She absolutely knows. Gabriel would very much make a good tracer. What did he hide in the shoe? That's unclear, actually, isn't it? It is unclear. It is very unclear. A bit voyeuristic as well, just watching it from a different room. Yeah, indeed. Elsewhere. Weirdo. In the Champions League, Manchester City travel to RB Leipzig and Liverpool are off to Fenerbahce. That's a nice tie. That sounds very Champions League-y, doesn't it? I mean RB Leipzig does now, but... No, no, I meant Fenerbahce, yeah.

1:00:33Vish: No, but for the purists among us, I think. Fenerbahce. Have you been to Leipzig? Never been to Leipzig. Weird place. Is it real? Is it? Is everyone glugging Red Bull? No, no. So that is weird? That is weird, yeah. Just everyone driving those Red Bull cars. No, they're in those... You remember the Red Bull car? Those soapbox things. The Red Bull soapbox thing! They're all knocking around on them. Is that what every Red Bull city becomes? It's like Canada in South Park. Just mad. I covered Spurs, yeah, first leg there, and... Or, no, second leg, I can't remember. But left after the game, and just completely empty, apart from one train that runs through the middle.

1:01:09Very odd.

1:01:11Vish: I would be quite intrigued, because it was a part of the former East Germany as well. So we're quite interested in the history and stuff. Quite a fun team, Leipzig. Antonio Neuss is having a very good season. Yeah, you're linked with him, I think, aren't you? I mean, loads of people are. Hang on, Jim's in a happy relationship. Yeah, I would not be leaving my partner for Antonio Nussi just to nip that in the bath. Want away camp. To be fair, Jim, it's about time we heard your response to the other. There have been a lot of lies in the media. There have, and I'm sort of sick of it, actually. So yeah, this is my right of reply.

1:01:41Are you gonna sue over this?

1:01:44Vish: Let's not get into that. Thanks for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the ACOS Creator Network. Friends of the Ramble don't go anywhere. Keep listening for Ramble Uncut. And if you're not a friend of the Ramble, sign up now. Now, patreon.com forward slash football ramble is where the fun can be had and will be had. Thank you, Vish. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. I'll see you in court. And thank you, Michael Caron.

1:02:23Hey, we're Nick and Jack hosts of the best one yet behind every episode. There's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google doc, the headline hammer with Google workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools. We already use like Gmail docs and sheets, no new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google workspace with Gemini at go. That's goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini.

1:03:20The Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal, now$8. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. Grainger knows if you're a procurement manager at an industrial manufacturing facility, you're balancing inventory and budget while sourcing critical supplies across the operation. Too much inventory? Costs climb. Too little? Production slows. Grainger's$2 billion in odd-hand inventory helps you get what you need when you need it, so you can help keep budgets balanced and lines moving. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. 98 of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms trust Bill to simplify and secure Bill Pay.

1:04:02That's proven financial infrastructure built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. Visit bill.com slash proven for a special offer.