Expected narrative

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3:30Jim Campbell: If you've got a match, then we've got the gas, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble. The Premier League's return is just two days away. It's Wednesday, 19th of August. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Jim Campbell. And I'm Adam Cleary.

3:54Jim Campbell: Hello, everybody. Welcome to a wonderful Wednesday here at the Football Ramble. Thanks to Friend of the Ramble, Hank, for giving us that intro line. Jim, any guesses where Hank's from? America! Yeah, I was going to say King of the Hill, actually. If you want to submit an intro line for a future episode and get an extended edition of today's show, then become a Friend of the Ramble on our Patreon. Click the link in the show notes to sign up. now Adam Cleary back for another pre-season friendly sorry I'm still laughing at any guesses where Hank's from there's not an ounce of fat on that joke is there it's perfectly put together there you go there you go we're just two days away until Arsenal and Coventry City so excited yes exactly just I mean have Arsenal had enough time to recover from the community shield that is my question because they were put through their paces by Manchester City weren't they is this an earnest question or do you want me to do something funny how well you know me do what you like okay I think that's fine for them I don't think they ran about very much from what I saw with the game I'm still recovering from the parade you are I didn't get as much coverage this time but it was big yes indeed Jim indeed well that's the answer I wish I'd done yeah I mean you see you boys have you had parades with your clubs in recent years yes you have you know still waiting for that one for Fulham but maybe hey one day well who knows possibly next season when you go up via the playoffs it's a great game to win you'll be there on a float I'm sure addressing your people I'll be floating around Jim you know me today's show I feel that we're in that funny little bit aren't we we've had the community shield we had all that juicy fun from that we've got the Premier League this weekend I'd like to kind of still look at the season and see some of the potential narratives that could develop as the Premier League story unfolds the XN as I call it yes exactly It's a little bit in of that, but it's actually quite good when you think about it.

5:52Jim Campbell: I was like, expected? Expected narrative, the XN. Yeah, so we'll be discussing the XN of this coming season, of course. There are changes, though, this season. And this is the fun bit, OK? We're going to put it at the top, OK? We're having dessert first here, if you will. We've been very naughty today. But there are, not one, not two, but there are three new changes happening in the Premier League this season that will offer enhanced referee and VAR communications. Yes! Come on. Come on. We've campaigned. They've listened. It's happening. So, communications. We are starting with this. You went way too hard on that.

6:27Jim Campbell: And now you've got to somehow read out these rules. I've Keith Jeggwind that, haven't I? Communications from Premier League Match Centre will now include direct quotes from the on-field officials and from VAR. After we've gotten over the World Cup, Adam, we've been trudging. I haven't gotten over it. Yeah, I haven't gotten over it. Well, don't worry. I've got a, I'm doing lessons on that after the show. Brilliant. Thank you very much. Are you particularly excited to know that direct quotes from the on-field? I can only hope that what I'm about to do here represents a fair chunk of the audience and they're going to be like, oh, thank God somebody else said this.

7:06I've read through these changes to the rules. I don't understand how they're different to the current rules. you do hear them talk to all these people. There's a bit in it where it's like, you will now hear the direct exchanges between the players and the refs. You do hear that. Every time they do ref cam, you hear that. I don't understand what the difference is. But do they write those quotes down? I don't. Maybe that's the difference. This is what it is. It's formalized. It's being recorded better now. Yeah, exactly.

7:31Jim Campbell: They could be used in a court of law, maybe. I don't know. My only hope is that most of the audience go, thank God he said that because I don't understand it either. How is that different? They've rebadged it, but have they even done that? Yeah, well, we all like a good rebadging, don't we, Jim? May I posit a theory here? The only good modern invention that football has done in, say, 10 years has been Ref Cam. That's great. That's so, so good. But Ref Cam's sort of accidentally brilliant, though, isn't it? Accidentally brilliant. So is this not them realising that we've somehow stumbled across one good thing we've added to the game recently?

8:04Yeah, maybe.

8:05Jim Campbell: Let's go way over the top with it to the point everybody gets sick of it. Well, I mean, yeah, if they really wanted to go the whole whole game, you could watch the whole game on RefCam. Do you remember all the Sky Sports options where you had like five different... PlayerCam, FanZone. PlayerCam was an odd one. I mean, for those a bit younger, believe it or not, that was an option where you could just hone in on a player. Yeah, and they would tell you halfway through the game, like, oh, PlayerCam's now switching to Andy Cole for the next 40 minutes and you wouldn't touch the ball. Yeah, exactly.

8:31Jim Campbell: He scored a goal and it's like, no, you should have... You want that before. And I don't know anybody who watched PlayerCam, but I'll tell you what, RefCam... You would feel seasick after about five minutes. I would watch so many games on an enormous... I'd sit one inch away from the screen. I mean, that's a second screen, isn't it? Watching two games at once, as all of us have had to do because of what we do for a living, is hard and confusing. I reckon RefCam on one screen of the game you're actually watching would be great. It would be so good up until the point where they forget to turn it off at half-time and you end up seeing them go to the bathroom.

9:04Yeah, that's something that we wouldn't want.

9:07Jim Campbell: I mean, after the World Cup, though, Jim, or even during the World Cup, were you not thinking, do you know what? The officiant in the Premier League is really good. Yeah. It's more consistent than I realised it was, actually. Yes. At the World Cup, I'm still baffled by what went on there. Yeah. It's different every time, wasn't it? Yeah, it was mad. But look, I think we're getting way too... I think fans with VR and so on, It just never stops. It's like we want it quicker than we want it explained. And it's all this stuff. It's going to be the same as it was. And if you want decisions made quicker that people often say, then decisions will be made quicker.

9:50Jim Campbell: And people will then start saying, yes, but if you had another look at it, as you've seen it from another angle. Oh, yeah, exactly. This will never, ever, this will never be satisfied. Is that a bad thing, though? Because when VAR came in, some people were worried it would take the drama out of it. We all enjoy drama. yeah so although people are happy we know there's always going to be drama right yeah it's like the original problem we're refereeing I mean certainly we are all of a certain age yeah I'm sure there was problems before that but like the thing I always remember people saying was there used to be this total argument between we want consistency consistency we also want common sense yeah and you can't have them both you can't because the example I used to give to people was okay somebody flies into a tackle in the first minute of a game it's a really exciting atmosphere common sense is don't give me a yellow card for that the game just kicked off like obviously everybody just use a bit of common sense have a word of them but the exact same tackle happens in the second half yeah well then what do you do because you can't be consistent sure but also you've used common sense do you remember the league cup final so there was a great point it was I think it was Manchester United versus Aston Villa and Manchester United won it 2-1 and Michael Owen scored that day and I think it was Gabby Agbon-Lahor forgive me if the detail's wrong here but it was a quick plan I think it was Agbon-Lahor and he runs through and go in the first minute after about 30 seconds and Vidic holds him down and Vidic holds him down and it is a straight red all day long and the referee gave, I can't remember if it was a free kick or a penalty, maybe it was a penalty and Villa scored early on.

11:09Jim Campbell: Milner scored it, I think. Was there you go, right? That was a red card all day long. It was common sense. But common sense. Common sense, don't send them off. Don't ruin the game. Common sense, basically,

11:20Jim Campbell: trumped consistency there. Yeah. And I thought to myself, well, why didn't you give him a yellow card? That's a dog's-o, right? Surely dog's-o is sacred. Jim, it was the dictionary. Dog's-o wasn't invented then. No, but it was the dictionary definition of a red card, right? But again, I think it's because at the first minute he's going, well, I'll give the penalty. And I remember thinking, why not a yellow card there? And people I was watching were the problem is if you give a yellow card, you're basically going, yeah, I should be a red. And the whole thing was all over the place. The neutral was probably glad, or maybe not, that it wasn't given as red card.

11:46I don't think back then there was such a thing as a neutral in an Alex Ferguson Man United. Which is why I checked myself there, yeah.

11:53Jim Campbell: But, you know, anyway, just one example, plucked from the annals of time, which in my mind, whenever that game was, it was about two or three years ago when it was probably about 16 or 17 years ago. That's not a slight Manchester United fans, by the way. It was just that, I don't know if you remember, you used to win everything. So any team you were up against was seen as sort of a more fun option. If you were wondering if there was a slight, no, but then there was. But I'll do it now. Yeah, exactly. It's ruined my childhood. Indeed. But hey, look, you've won a trophy more recently than them at Newcastle United.

12:21Yes, yes. And me personally. You have, yeah. I'd like to bring up the FSAs whenever possible. Yeah, that's our one up there.

12:27Jim Campbell: I mean, getting older as the years go by. But we'll still have it there. I'm going to have to change a number on that. Well, look, Jim, these are the changes that we can all look forward to this season. But in terms of the actual football, which is what we're all really here to talk about, we gave our predictions on Tuesday. You and I, Jim, both fancy Arsenal for the title. We talked around that. Nothing has changed my mind in the slightest, by the way, I should say. I thought you both spoke very well on that, by the way. Oh, that's very kind of you. Luke went for Chelsea. I thought he spoke very well on that.

12:59Jim Campbell: Don't worry, he's not here. But I do, again, looking at this, and even re-watching some of the match against Manchester City in that Community Shield, and it is only one in the early days, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I did actually have more sympathy with Luke's view that Man City maybe have a lot more work to do than maybe I gave credit for. Although I think obviously they can come through. But Adam, looking at the title Contenders, I mean, is it Contenders, plural? or is it I mean or is it just Arsenal realistic I mean you have to say contenders of course you do I'm so glad you've asked this because on the award winning Adam Cleary Football Channel sometime tomorrow we'll be doing a full and frank preview over this which is whether or not this is a procession to a title yep not what's the word I want not redemption what's it called when you win it for the second time retention thank you so much redemption sounds a procession to a title retention for Arsenal or whether there's any credible challenge going to happen and the reality is it depends yes because you're going to have this there's this sort of pool of good teams potential title contenders below Arsenal but I think if you look at sort of where they are as a team and the talent they've got available I think there's a considerable gap between Arsenal and any other team that's going to challenge them agree right Arsenal got 85 points last season I don't think they're going to get 85 points this season is the problem because one thing we've done in this video is we looked at the minutes in the legs like if Declan Rice was a dog the RSPCA would have flown out to Mexico City and taken him off Thomas Tuchel in the summer Mikayo Saka I know he wants to go for another walk but you've got to save him from himself Saka I thought Saka contributed really well at the World Cup but he looked like he was running on one leg is that why Tuchel rested him in the semi-final sorry I don't want to go back there sorry sorry so he's still not over the World Cup the players that Arsenal really rely upon I think they've been incredibly fortunate to keep as fit as they have we still don't know what the state of Saliba's injury is and that's a major problem but obviously the counter argument is we'll also got this really deep squad full of great players in every position but the difference is changes enforced by disruptive things like injuries are very different to simply just rotating your players to keep them fresh because they're unpredictable they're unprepared and who each individual player is when they've got certain players around them changes all the time like the difference between having kai havert and victor yokarez up front changes how bakaya saka plays it changes how martin erdegaard plays and I think they will really really struggle to get 85 points again they'd have to be incredibly fortunate with injuries so you think a title winning tally will be quite low not quite low but I think Arsenal will inevitably have to go through a small regression now I will say right now what I said at the start about the difference in quality between them and the other teams they've got that buffer I think they could finish on 80-82 points and probably still win the league the question is can either of the teams below them sort of push together had up there.

15:56Now the point about Chelsea not having European football is a great one. Xavi Alonso, fantastic manager, but we just don't know how exciting they're going to be. They've added those elements to their squad, the personality elements we've always said they're lacking, the reason why they go on really great runs for a couple of weeks and then it all sort of falls apart. Maybe they've done enough there to maintain a credible title challenge. It is also Chelsea as well.

16:19Jim Campbell: It is also Chelsea, brother. And this is it, you know, there's obviously boardroom disruption. Now one could say, well, Xavi Alonso is not going to be bothered by that. Well, every other manager that's kind of gone before him and under this regime seems to have somehow been disrupted by that. It's affected the score. We don't know. Man United had a better points per game than Arsenal after Michael Carrick took charge. If he'd been in charge for the whole season and that had held the same as it did for the rest of it, which is obviously mathematical nonsense and not grounded in reality, but if it had...

16:46That's consistency, not common sense you're using there. Yes, Man United would have won the league with their points per game. So if Man United just simply carry that points per game from last season into this season they are a credible title challenge to Arsenal it's as simple as that Manchester United it's as simple as that Manchester United

17:01Jim Campbell: within your grasp as it is with every team before the we don't necessarily know whether Iriola's impact on Liverpool is going to make them way more expansive and aggressive going forward or whether it's going to leave massive holes that other teams can exploit so it's just I think I'll do this really neatly Arsenal are the best team in this league by a distance they should comfortably go and win the Premier League however I think they're going to have a disrupted season simply because of how much they've relied on certain players. So that could be the leveler then, if you want to. That could be the leveler.

17:30Jim Campbell: I mean, Jim, presumably Man City are the team that you're most worried about stopping Arsenal. I didn't even mention Man City there. With that retention business. Sure. So I think it feels to me, if we're sort of looking at the season as a whole, that there's a lot of significant transfer business yet to be done that means that none of these teams are actually in their final form. You'd use the word significant. I think so. Well, I think it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Man City sign Ayubwadi and also Enzo Fernandes, regardless of who the actual... Completely different team if they do that.

18:05Jim Campbell: Exactly, right. And I think that Liverpool still have some business to do. Man United probably have some players to come in as well as talk of Carlos Belieber this morning, which I think is exactly the sort of profile of player they need. Well, I've always said there's been talk of it. I got a text. Who from, Adam? I'm sorry. Can we reveal that? I got a text from someone sending me a David Ornstein tweet. Not David Ornstein as text me. If Ornstein said it, then we're interested. It's a third-hand bomber, but we'll count it. So yeah, I think it's very difficult to call. I do agree that Arsenal were their favourites for a good reason.

18:42Jim Campbell: And I've often found it hard to believe that in the past, but now it's over the line and the squad looks as good as it does. I think that's completely reasonable. It's very interesting to me that you said that about injuries, Adam, because obviously from where I'm sat, I'm thinking sort of the opposite could also be true. If Arsenal have a better time of it than they did last season with injuries, because Kai Havertz missed half the season, Mikko Marino missed a big chunk, Martin Odegaard was in and out with injuries as well, but Kai Osaka was not at his best level because of injuries. There were injuries to key players, and obviously there are options in that midfield now to sort of rotate a lot better.

19:18Jim Campbell: there is a world where actually injuries are a bit kinder and hopefully if they're sensible about rotating Rice a bit more anything can happen anything can happen is the point it could actually be a bit of a boost because there were times where it was slings and arrows just constantly is how it felt last season certainly the playing style had a bit to do with that but all the same in terms of identifying a team who are going to be challengers I think Luke is right to suggest that Chelsea could be in there. And just looking at it in a very, very basic set of terms, they have a very good coach who has a lot of time to do some very good coaching because they're not going to be playing in midweek.

20:00I think the argument for Chelsea pretty much boils down to Alonso because I think, you know, you look at the players, Man City have lost the experience that has now left that club. Like they've brought, like Eli Hansen's a great, they've brought in some really exciting players. But it's John Stones, it's Silva. they've lost a guy called Rodri Rodri's also gone they've lost so much know-how and so much experience and they've got a coach who is you know I would say really talented but yet to prove he can mount a significant challenge at the top of any division outside the championship which is sort of the reality of his criteria I think a lot the squads I think below Arsenal are much of a muchness there are great players within them there are obvious weaknesses within them but I think the difference maker is that Iriola Maresca Carrick Xavi Alonso feels to me like a much more qualified manager than all of them at this stage of their careers

20:54Jim Campbell: you've got to say that because of what he did in Germany it was stunning what he did in Germany and in hindsight as well after he left Madrid I think there was a great appreciation for what he was doing with that team while he was there indeed which you highlighted on your channel as well to be fair to you thanks there you are you see scrub our back we'll scrub yours I think not today it's so muggy it is no I you are right to say that because again when I say about Chelsea well it's Chelsea you know again what's been going on the last few seasons really in a post-Abramovich era let's be frank about it the fans have been unhappy with what they've been seeing by and large they've not had the trophy laden success that they've been used to.

21:44Jim Campbell: Or I would say that the outlay they've made on transfers would demand. Yeah, it's been a bit of a mess. And again, I look at it and think, well, can Alonso really come in there? And considering what they did last season, it was pretty tepid. I understand Rosinha was there for a bit. Can he really come in and change it all around and mount a title race? Now, I don't know what the financial situation and all that kind of equivalent would be at board level at Bayer Leverkusen. but let's be honest you know when he came in there Bundesliga is different to the Premier League but when he came in there they were struggling yeah I don't think I don't think anyone would have predicted what he then did with them so you're looking at that that is you've got something to hang your hat on there with Alonso when you're comparing to the other managers at those sides so indeed I mean Chelsea oh by the way we should also say about Chelsea and this is ominous they have appointed George Mendes to resolve the Enzo Fernandes situation as they remain privately open I like how they set a deadline for that which is completely meaningless it was superb sorry lads there is a deadline for this you can't just say the transfer deadline day for Enzo Fernandez is two days ago sorry but the appointment of George Mendes that shows you what the situation needed but when you dance with George Mendes you do have to wait for the song to stop presumably that means Chelsea have appointed Mendes Is he just going to go and tell Enzo Fernandes off, which seems a waste of everyone's time, or sell him to Man City on their behalf?

23:20Jim Campbell: Mendes is involved now. It's gone to that level. It's gone to Defcon Mendes. Another thing that they've done, excuse me while my voice breaks and I enter puberty. Chelsea, yeah. They've signed Austin McPhee from Aston Villa, the notoriously well-renowned set-piece coach. so they've made a lot of smart moves like this behind the scenes. I thought you signed him, they haven't appointed him. He looks like, what was the drummer from Foo Fighters called? Taylor Hawkins. Is that his name? Austin McPhee? Austin McPhee, yeah. Hank.

23:54Jim Campbell: But I think part of the issue at Chelsea for a long time, and I think this is certainly the fan perspective of it, is that they've not really had an identity that is easy to understand and to get behind under Blue Co. And I think with the signing of a few players who are, for now, and a bit more sensible, stuff like getting Mendes involved to sort all this stuff out, getting McPhee in, getting a manager who is a real coup, someone where you're not going to go, oh, you're just the head coach for a bit, and if you don't perform, off you go. They will, I would assume, if things don't go well straight away, they're not going to be silly enough to go, get rid of him he's just a regular common or garden manager he's above that he's someone who has the potential to really be elite I think that actually they've got a bit of stability built in there and it makes them a really interesting prospect I know it's a brilliant appointment and obviously ex-Real Madrid coaches are all the rage in West London at the moment but he is the man yeah

24:58Jim Campbell: he is the man he is the reason why people are talking about Chelsea I know Morgan Rodgers is a good son. I know Jordan Henderson and Danny Wilberk provide experience, you know, where they have had a little before. But I'm being generous. But he's the man there, really, that you're looking at. And we've gone over that and so on and so forth. Speaking of new people coming in and could it make a difference, would the mere presence of Jeff Bezos propel Liverpool into a title challenge? Or is that utter box? Nobody knows what this is about. Yeah, so the consortium... 40%, isn't it? It's close to 40%.

25:35Jim Campbell: They were talking about 30%. Yeah, 30 % originally. By the end of the week, it was probably about 99%. The thing is... Should they have waited to Black Friday? Got a bit cheaper. Maybe. Oh, yes. Why have I not seen that joke yet? Surely. I mean, there is an option for them to buy a controlling stake in Liverpool as per terms of their agreement with FSG in the next 12 months. It's very... So that will happen. It's very weird. I presume there'll be some Liverpool fans on the ground who've got a better idea of this, but it's just such, it's an odd one because Liverpool can't spend any more money.

26:08Like, you know, clubs below the traditional big six, we lament the problems with PSR, but it doesn't matter if Liverpool or Man City or Chelsea or Arsenal, if they get a, if the richest person in the world suddenly takes them over, they can't spend four billion pounds a year on transfers. Not like it used to be. They probably still spend to their maximum amount the same as everybody else does, is that that maximum amount happens to be a lot more. So there can't be a massive injection of playing talent if this comes in. They've just expanded the stadium to realistically as big as Anfield can get without knocking it down and putting it on a brownfield site somewhere outside the city.

26:44There's not really any talk of they want a 100 ,000-seater Scouse Super Bowl or anything like that. They've just done the stadium expansion. They're one of the most visible clubs in terms of global stature. They're up there. The potential for growth for them as a business exists, certainly, but I don't know if it exists for something like Amazon. You know what I mean? The power a company like that should then have to take a football team bigger on the global stage. Did Liverpool have that potential for growth? I don't mean that in the sense of like, oh, they're not big enough. I just mean like, are they not where you would want them to be anyway?

27:25Jim Campbell: But their popularity across the globe is huge. And also as well. They're a huge club already. You know what with someone like Bezos, I know that there are other people involved and he's actually not the leader of this consortium. We know that. But for somebody like him, we've often talked about it as many others, the valuation of Premier League clubs was incredibly low for years. And that's why so many American or people whose money is in America are coming over thinking, my goodness, this is a steal. I can't believe this. They've seen the NFL clubs, they've seen NBA, not clubs of course, but teams, NBA sides, and all the rest of it, the Premier League have got way more global appeal.

28:02So this is my worry about this stuff, right? Is that Premier League clubs don't make money. Like football in general is an enormous loss-making endeavor for anybody who's daft enough to want to get involved with it. The money that players cost, the money that infrastructure costs. Yes, we all get absolutely shaken down for every single penny for tickets and training kits and anthem jackets and anything else they can think to sell us. But right now, by and large, it's an enormous loss making endeavour the direct running of a football club

28:30Jim Campbell: but when FFG buy Liverpool for 300 million and then selling off the 30 to 40 % stake for 1.5 billion yeah there you go but that's the point that's the only way you can make money currently is by this nebulous idea that these clubs are worth this much money and then selling parts of it off now nobody wants a football club to constantly be being bought and sold so there's got to be a long term plan the reason you bring up all this American investment is because nobody has monetized sport better than the US of A over the years. And they've just had a massive kind of sales fair in the form of the World Cup, right?

29:03So they know how to make sports profitable. And the way you make sports profitable is that tickets cost$10 ,000 a seat. Like I got to New York right in the middle of the NBA playoffs. And I said to my friends, I was wondering if there's any chance I might get a ticket for the Garden for the NBA game. And they went, yeah, have you got 20 ,000 bucks? And I was, oh, no, I don't have that. well then you won't be going to see that match and my worry is that the long term plan is simply that Premier League tickets will cost what World Cup tickets cost because unless they do that

29:33Jim Campbell: this is sort of I don't get why they buy all these clubs sure but ticket prices have been a constant concern since I would say the 90s do you know what I mean like when football really started there's levels to concern indeed there is indeed there is but I'm saying it's a constant concern but you're absolutely right and it's been a sort of a drip over time but now as you say this is threatening to go higher. But I tell you what, he's got the Liverpool faithful to contend with and they have pushed back on certain things that FSG brought in, you know, with things like food in the ground and all that kind of stuff, you know.

30:04So I think of all the clubs

30:07Jim Campbell: that he could have gone in with, with Bezos and his cronies, I think he's going to find some fierce and very, very worthy backlash if indeed they start doing this. but the football faithful has to stay firm the Liverpool faithful might be all that stands between us and the hankification of the Premier League indeed indeed je suis sker if that's the case alright let's have a quick break and then we'll talk more Premier League expected narrative

30:50Marcus Bean: In 2023, a source sent me a tip. It tied baseball's biggest star to a vast, illegal sports betting operation. Shohei Otani! But then someone surprising confessed to me. His best friend.

31:07Jim Campbell: I'm Epey Mizuhara, and you do have permission to record me.

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33:19Jim Campbell: Music plays a big part in our extended sports. The Inverness Cali Thistle manager, Duncan Ferguson, is in charge of that this evening. Here is his first choice.

33:31Marcus Bean: Hi, it's Duncan Ferguson here. My first choice is by Johnny Cash, which is Folsom Prison Blues. In the song, the guy shot a man in Reno, I just happened to bump into a guy in Ibrox so this song always reminds me of that time I spent away well back to the football animal amazing was that in the running audit? should I have known that was coming? I didn't know that was coming me neither what a treat how about that? what a treat how about that? summer holidays are never ending for me

34:01Jim Campbell: I'm sorry that is brilliant beautiful let's talk about some teams who won't be challenging for the Titans I don't think but they will potentially be challenging for the Champions League places. Aston Villa. Dare I suggest Newcastle United? We simply don't know yet. Or dare I even suggest Tottenham Hotspur. I'll tell you this right now. Newcastle United, and I say this as a fan, will certainly be challenging this season. It will be. More so just to watch, I think. Amar Dedic has joined them from Benfica. Look, another fullback. Do you want me to get started on this? Do you want me to just get this off my chest now?

34:34Come on, then. Hurry up. Go on. It's simultaneously one of the most exciting summers I've ever had as a Newcastle fan. why is that well but let me finish a sentence let me finish a statement you want to clip this or what sorry I didn't know you could do that to him yeah it's simultaneously one of the most exciting summers I've ever had as a Newcastle fan but also if this was the summer that made you give up on football entirely I'd understand why is that because this is what good player trading looks like you've sold on three players you didn't want to be there at the absolute peak of their value like Anthony Gordon got you know Liverpool won him a couple of seasons got the same price so his value's held firm you should never have got 100 million for Tenali in a million years.

35:11That's just what it costs to get an experienced Premier League central midfielder now. Fine. And Bruno, that's the best money anyone's ever got for a player of his age. It's obviously probably worth more to us than what we've let him go for, but market value is brilliant. And we've replaced him, we've replaced all three of those players with Torre, Bamba, Sean Sturr. If you're playing football manager, that's exactly how you do it. Three of the most exciting young players in Europe all just going to drop into the first team. Dedic, another one. 23, coming up 20, was it 20, it was his birthday, wasn't it 24?

35:39dead exciting but like is that as exciting as it's allowed to get like you've got to be excited about losing your best players and you've got to be excited about replacing them with total unknowns at this level in this country in this division with a new manager as well with a new manager all at the same time who is again an exciting forward-thinking new manager could do a lot really good stuff with this team like bad player trading was hanging on to anthony gordon when liverpool came in for him and instead getting rid of elliot anderson and mintus who didn't violate PSR were kept the experienced player the important member of the first team and were moved on two lads who to be fair to them had never scored a competitive goal for Newcastle one of who had never even played for them but now what's Minter worth?

36:20What did Anderson just go for? Better player trading was keep them and get rid of Gordon better player trading was maybe try and get 100 million for Bruno two years ago when Man City was sniffing around him but if they'd done better player trading I would never have had the single greatest afternoon I'm ever going to get as a football fan like that was bad player trading that allowed us to be that strong and get into the Champions League that season and win the Carabao Cup that was bad player trading because now two years later that's all the chickens have come home to roost or in this case literally left the roost all at once so this is as excited as you're allowed to get when you're sort of in that next group of teams we're about

36:55Jim Campbell: to talk about I think that's fair there's nothing I can push back on there obviously so you're saying in terms of if Newcastle United finish the season say say 5th maybe even 6th snap your hand off. I thought you'd say that. So, I mean, in terms of European places, you know, I think, I think North Newcastle fans will probably take a Europa League place come the end of the season. But I mean, Is this putting a lot of pressure on Geisler though? Presumably, you'll get a bit more grace than that, right? I mean, is there an expectation, do you think, of him to be pushing for Europe or is this about just resettling?

37:30I would absolutely snap your hand off for this because certainly from the limited number of WhatsApp groups I've got, My scope of the Newcastle United fan base is a lot of people are like, so long as we don't get relegated. Well, this is it. Then we've sort of got away with the amount of sales and the amount of transfers we make. I think that's way too far away.

37:49Jim Campbell: But Newcastle, I've had a funny few years because, as you say, there's the Carabao Cup win. Okay. They were in the Champions League, then they weren't in the Champions League, then they were back in the Champions League. So it has been an interesting time. And there's a neutral watching on. Sure has. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I'm a bit like okay they're up and then they're not quite and so on and so forth I think that if indeed they have a season where say it's mid-table I don't think that many people would be surprised maybe even some would settle for that but that would maybe not mid-table there's so many but it would be infitting with the last few years of the club unless we forget Eddie Howe when he took over they were battling relegation we were 19th and hadn't won a game exactly now I know that seems a long time ago which in football years it sort of you could argue it was or it certainly feels like that but it wasn't that far away.

38:38Jim Campbell: And so, as I say, getting into the Champions League and they're not and so on and so forth, to me, this, in a weird way, it kind of feels the business as usual almost with Newcastle in a sort of strange way. I don't expect an enormous amount for them. I think it's going to be very interesting. But like I said, if they were to finish 10th, I don't think anybody would complain too much. I think a lot of it sort of comes down to, like, because you can finish 10th and play well and you finish 10th and play badly but nobody wants to see bad football unless of course you're winning games and it's sort of I think look there's just so many unknowns with it like I think one or two of those young players who are coming in will hit the ground running and it'll be really good but maybe one or two of them take a year to get settled of course like Bamba looks like a fantastic player he's played something like 17 professional games already injured yeah like it's there's so many unknowns as well but Alanga was an exciting sign and was a Premier League proven player and may still look environment is everything for players you simply don't know all four of the major signings last year Alanga Valtomar Vissa and Ramsey I would say you'd score them quite low in terms of the contribution they made in their first season but environment is everything a new manager comes in the team starts playing a different way they've got different teammates around them they're settled as well in a way they weren't yeah exactly you've got no like any of them could really step up this year and all of a sudden actually probably actually turned out to be quite a good buy they're a better fit for this manager the way we're going to play suits them a lot better you just don't know at this stage and given that like again you know he's got no Premier League experience which does count for something as much of a cliche as it is just simply not regressing massively not to be sitting there in sort of January or February going ee my god have we missed Bruno and Gordon and Tanoi we wouldn't be here if we'd kept at least one of those just I don't know just enjoy it like have it football's about moments and I think if that team can give them enough moments where it's like you can see something, you can see the progression or you can see the development or you can see the potential even, that would be enough for me personally.

40:41I can't speak for anybody else.

40:42Jim Campbell: I think with most fans, with a reasonable disposition, I think they could stomach that. But of course as well, there are sides above them who have spent a lot more money. There are sides above them with better squads. Newcastle don't have any European football though, so maybe that will go in their favour I don't know it does help it does yeah the reality is they won't be stretched in a way perhaps where they had been previously but will Aston Villa be stretched Jim because they've sold a few players lest we forget they've also lost Amadou Anana to a season long injury which is a disaster it is a disaster but obviously Morgan Rodgers is going to be at loss you know Tiel Evans even Luka Dean they have been gutted haven't they but they have been but this is Martinez gone or he's just done his thing he does every year where he goes and then is still there.

41:32Yeah, we're in the process of that.

41:33Jim Campbell: So Martinez is still there but they have, as of this morning, officially signed Zion Suzuki. So who knows where that will go. But that's a really good signing, I think. He looks like a very sort of fresh, exciting keeper. But there's chat as well this morning with Aston Villa that Ollie Watkins is being linked to a move to Saudi. Yeah, I can't see him wanting to do that. I think, honestly, it's weird. There was a small amount of sort of weird beef between Newcastle and Aston Villa because they relegated us and someone took a quite unnecessarily harsh sign to the ground. And then we had them in the championship and it was a lot of weird.

42:10I think the last couple of years there's been this weird like sort of bonding between Newcastle and Aston Villa. That's nice. We keep taking turns in doing really well, getting into the Champions League and then not being allowed to do anything with the fact where we've like overtaken more established clubs on the basis of the league position that season. And we can't consolidate it at all. And we end up then regressing and having to go back. And I think there's a camaraderie now starting to develop. I can see that, yeah. And I can see that sort of growing to include other clubs. Like Bournemouth are in Europe this year.

42:43And again, they haven't exactly been able to establish themselves. Could we see Sunderland join that group? Potentially, potentially. That would be nice. We could, we could. Olive branches everywhere. We're going to talk about Ipswich later on. and I was incredibly complimentary about Sunderland towards the end. I did a whole video on them saying how good they'd been and why they'd been that good. Any club that, but I think the differences with Sunderland, certainly their stated ambition at the start of last season was not to upset the established order. It was to survive in the Premier League.

43:14Now they've got European football. If that doesn't hurt them and they don't then have this massive regression from the fixture pileup where they're just fighting for survival again, if they can stay roughly where they were in the league. Oh my goodness. Then yes, that may be their stated ambition next year and if they can improve on that, they'll find themselves coming up against the same problems of, well, we're finished above your Tottenham's or your Chelsea's or whoever it is drops down, but we can't, we can't do anything about that. We can't then take advantage of the fact we've performed better than them in a sporting capacity.

43:44Yeah. And I think, I think you'll see that, that cadre of clubs disillusioned with the, the glass ceiling in the Premier League start to grow. Yes. Interesting, yeah.

43:52Jim Campbell: No, I, I do take your point. on Villa I think this is probably an unlikely outside bet but a lot's been made of the stability Arsenal have and how that makes them a known quantity and how that's a massive advantage there is an element of that for Villa as well they've got the only manager in the league who's been there longer than six months Emery's very flexible as a manager isn't he and he certainly showed that at Villa that he can overcome a lot of challenges they're an amazing team at home as well they so rarely lose at home and you'd expect them to carry that on. They know exactly who they are.

44:24Jim Campbell: Exactly, yeah. So if he can make these changes kind of bed in quickly, this could be a season where so many other teams are in transition that they could be a bit of an outside bet. But with Rodgers and Tielemans not there and Unana because of injury, if Watkins was to go, I mean, is Esri Konza still being linked away? He is, yes. It's a lot of change, isn't it? A lot of change there. Now, Emery, you would think, is a man who could, who could do something there. But in Joao Gomez, I think that's a decent signing. Yuan Manzambi, okay, fair enough. Alejandro Garnaccio, I still don't quite get that.

45:01Jim Campbell: But Emery's good at rehabilitating these players though, right? Yeah, someone's got to get a tune out of Garnaccio sooner or later. He's incredibly limited footballer, but the limited skill set he has, he is very good at. What about that overhead kick? What about that overhead kick, lads? What about running in those straight lines and not knowing what to do with the ball? You see, the first bit of that has got him a couple of moves, I think, hasn't it? Oh, definitely. that one definitely but yeah I mean again we saw them in the Super Cup final against PSG Brian Maggio impressed everybody do you think Oli Watkins looked at that and went yeah I think it's time I cashed in and settled in yeah I think actually another thing as well is if I can keep Bubakar Kamara fit then he makes a massive match for them

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47:55Jim Campbell: And what about Tottenham Hotspur then? What are we expecting from Spurs this season? Jeez, God, I mean, who knows? They've spent over£250 million this summer. They're still being linked with a move for Cody Cacopo. They're reportedly negotiating to buy Savinho from Man City for€100 million, which is a fair... To be fair to Spurs, I don't think that's their starting point, is it? surely going to be whittling that down well yeah surely in the name of common sense yes item one come on

48:27Marcus Bean: come on now

48:28Jim Campbell: it does feel like that but with Spurs obviously De Zerbe totally different manager to what they had previously they are to me it's a difficult one to call because of their unwanted consistency in the last two seasons Zerbi obviously is there he kept them up which is still a mad sentence to utter but again it is what happened they've made some huge transfers but I'm looking at them and I go yeah it could well be mid-table it could be underwhelming it could be the hardest team to predict I think that's a great engine room they've got in Tonali and Fernandes as a seasoned Sandro Tonali watcher someone who I think probably I probably watched every Premier League game he played there are games where Tenali plays where you would watch him and you'd think my god how have we got a player of this quality who understands football this well who is always in the right place at the right time who drags you through games who makes you compete at a level even if the rest of the team aren't doing that but there are other games where you would watch him and you would think what are you doing?

49:37Jim Campbell: But that midfield was obviously quite well celebrated and quite well bemoaned especially by Arsenal fans you know when you had Tonali Bruno and Joel Linton there was a toughness there was a steal there but also a little bit of creativity of course with Guillermo with Tonali how do you see this midfield because there's one thing Spurs are so soft in midfield like ridiculously overrun and to have an engine room a bit of steal and a bit of nous and something I mean that's why they've spent that much on him surely so Tonali was I will quite happily say for the rest of my life part of the hardest midfield I've ever seen in a Premier League.

50:15There you go. Bruno and Joel Linton also being part of that. Tonali was certainly not the hard part of that midfield. He did, he added a lot of, because you can't just, you're not going to get anywhere in the Premier League just with three lads running around, getting carried away with stuff. Tonali was very much, he was very much the brain as part of that. But his, Tonali's got this need to impact a game, which sounds so weird to have as a negative. but occasionally and I can't stress enough I cannot stress enough but breaks ranks too much most games he would play he was fantastic but every now and then he would create a bit of a problem that Joe Linton or Bruno would have to solve and it would be okay we're not competing well in this part of the pitch or we're not retaining the ball well enough in this part of the pitch and he would go there and try to fix it and you would occasionally be like that's not your job you have to you have to be where you are needed to be not where other players are sort of letting you down and again this is I will keep saying this this is such a small part of his game he's a fantastic footballer but you look at the plays he's going to be around at Tottenham and the fact that he's not going to be in a midfield with players like Bruno and Joe Linton and you think how many problems are you going to see in a game how many issues are you going to want to solve but that's something

51:28Jim Campbell: Deserbe is going to have to solve and Deserbe is not going to be backwards and coming forwards and telling to Donnie what he wants it's the right coach to put him with for that problem yeah Howard had his system and obviously it was pretty decent as you say he created that midfield but yeah I think again with Spurs it is a deserving factor obviously the big signings as well what can he do it's absolutely fascinating if we can before we get to the to the relegation candidates and maybe there's one or two in here that might get a mention that people might put in for relegation you have just spoken about a team who finished 16th and 17th yes so I can't yeah hardest team to predict man hardest team to predict hardest team to predict surely surely not again surely they're the hardest team to predict but you cannot move on from the fact that simply finishing where you finished last season is never beyond the realms of possibility for any team well indeed it is the Premier League but what about there's a group of sides you know we talked about our potential you know our overachievers if you like with our predictions on Tuesday there is a group of teams and it's the same group of teams as last season that can they nick a Europa League spot or even a conference league spot you know Sunderland did it you know What about Brentford?

52:40Jim Campbell: Nobody saw that coming last season. Brighton, Bournemouth, Palace, dare I suggest, Fulham and Forest as well. Some people may have one or two of those teams down as relegation candidates as well. Much has been made about Fulham, for example. People, I mean, even looking at Fulham fan sites and so on and so forth, people just don't know. You say Spurs are the hardest team to predict what it's going to be this season. So is every other team in the Premier League. I think Fulham really, like some people say, oh, well, they're in real trouble because they've had such stability under Marco Silva. And yet they're still low.

53:15Jim Campbell: And this is the naive air of excitement because a ball has not been kicked yet, thinking, well, actually under Marco Silva, there was that consistency. And you think, well, it's not a gamble because they didn't sack Silva. Silva wanted to go and off he went. So the hand was forced and they wanted Silva to stay. But it is a twist ultimately. and so I think there was just an air of excitement creeping into Fulham fans hearts and minds thinking what if do we dare to dream I said this it doesn't matter what happens in the summer it doesn't matter how bad you think the club have handled the transfer window it doesn't matter the instability if you cannot find a way to get yourself excited about your football club in the middle of August you should this is not the sport for you when you've got ex-Real Madrid men in there as well come on you go through everyone's in a bubble for their own club right and everybody thinks we've not done it we need two or three more we need this blah blah blah you go through every single team in this division right now and honestly ask yourself do you think they're happy yeah like you know I've spoke to some Arsenal fans who were like well it's a big failure not getting Vinicius Junior or somebody like that and we've done alright but we still haven't addressed one or two of the major problems it seems ridiculous for fans of any other club to be like how can Arsenal not want another player Man United had a great end of the season and they've got Tielemans and they've got Andre Santos that's the problem area they had to develop Man United fans are going berserk because they've not gone and got a left back and they've not actually spent that much money or a striker nobody's happy right now but you still have to be excited about it because you don't know what's going to happen well you're absolutely right I mean obviously you do excellent tactical videos and so on is there anything about Arba Lowa because I'm coming to you as the tactical guru because Fulham fans are like there's such small sample size it's a real small sample size I don't suspect that you were at Craven Cottage to see Fulham beat Stuttgart 1-0?

55:02Jim Campbell: I wasn't. No, I didn't think you were. I wasn't. I've got my bridge club that night. You do. Yeah, you have other priorities. Endless priorities. Actually, that's a lie. I was playing Warhammer 40 ,000 because I am birds and pubs who commented yesterday. There we go. Good old birds and pubs. Only half of that is true, by the way. Yeah. I'll let you work out. Birds or pubs. Which one is it? Don't answer that. With Fulham, though, again from maybe remembering Gonzalo Garcia from the Club World Cup see I'm excited about the prospect of Gonzalo Garcia possibly because he scored quite an eye-catching hat-trick for Real Madrid and didn't really do a great deal else in that season but that will do that's enough to get me excited on your behalf thank you my man I appreciate that Palacios though again another player very young lovely feet though again there's because as I say Spain are the world champions are the European champions Spanish coach in 2026 you've got to remember why Garcia was getting minutes at Real Madrid because he was the only one who would do anything off the ball.

56:03He's now come over to His Majesty King Charles' off the ball Premier League. So he should be the exact kind of player

56:10Jim Campbell: who does quite well over here. Well, that is something again, and it's a different dimension to Fulham as well. I mean, if they do start Rodrigo Manez up front, then it's kind of similar, you know, pattern to say Raul Jimenez or Alexandre Mitrovic, you go back. But if, you know, with Garcia, there's a genuine alternative there. And I think that makes Fulham quite an exciting prospect personally. But what about some of the other sides then as well? Because again, the managerial changes I think is something that you see at Crystal Palace, obviously Nottingham Forest as well, it's going to be Bournemouth.

56:42Jim Campbell: It is utterly fascinating. Jim, you and I both don't see any of these sides, whether it be Fulham, Forest, Bournemouth, Palace, whoever, take your pick. We don't see any of them getting dragged into a relegation battle. We don't, and we're almost certainly wrong about that. And I hate myself for saying this. Same, yeah. But we just don't know. It looks to me like there are 17 teams who will finish in the Europa Conference League places this season. Are you saying Fulham are finishing 18th? They just can't get back into Europe. They just can't do it. I really... Even as I went home from doing the predictions thing, I was like, surely I could have made an argument for Frank Lampard's commentary.

57:21Allow me to bail you all out. Come on then. I agree with you, and I think there will probably be 17 teams at a fair decent chunk through this season thinking, we've got a decent show for Europe here. But I think there'll be almost the same number of teams who'll be like, we better watch what's going on over our shoulder. Absolutely. I think if you saw the mire, the bog that was Premier League mid-table last year. And this is not to take away from the teams that did finish in those European spots, right? Because given where I'm from, I will be accused of doing that. This is not a takeaway from them.

57:53But it was musical chairs. It wasn't that the teams in 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th were well clear of 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th. It was just that when the music stopped, those were the teams that happened to be two or three points ahead. And every week that was changing.

58:08Jim Campbell: When you say when the music stopped, we should be clear when the season finished. When the 38-game season finished. When everyone had played everyone twice. Take Everton, for example. It's a well-trodden part. But Everton were at half-time in one of their last games. still in with a shout of Champions League I think am I right in saying that? I can't believe there was a lot going on in the last day and they didn't finish up in Europe at all like they ended up I think it was the last three games or something they chucked it and they fell right down the division yeah they did well I mean even Fulham I think Fulham played was it Wolves away and they buggered it up yeah and they were on for it they had a real chance Newcastle were we were like oh we'll get we might end up being no it'll probably be Europa League oh it might be and then we finished 12th but the point I'm trying to make is what that tells you is in terms of a 38 game season there wasn't that much really between most of the teams outside of like the the ones who were finishing in the Champions League and the ones who finished in the bottom two positions unless we forget Spurs finished as low as they did exactly so you wouldn't expect that which is why I think we're going to revert to the three coming up it's just we were worried it was going to be a closed shop a few a couple of seasons ago and that's not been the case and we you know it's not been the case for one season well and God bless Sunderland for doing what they did and obviously Leeds United as well you have to give them credit but Leeds are a funny one as well because apparently a lot of Leeds fans are very very optimistic going into the season and I'm glad I think James Trapp is a great signing I think Harry Wilson Harry Wilson is a great signing they've improved and they are better than Ipswich Hull and Coventry I think it's going to be very difficult but looking at Hull on the side I think people have got them down as the whipping boys Hull are going to be so much fun because just have a swing I know I know that this is not what football is about but there has never been a team as statistically bad in the championship got promoted to the Premier League.

59:54On the raw numbers, they should have been relegated to League One. And yet they got promotion. Now, that's not me saying they're a League One. That's not how football works. They were tremendously well to do what they did. But you do have to look at... Hull will be looking at those numbers. Hull will be aware of them and knowing that's a bit of a problem. The fact that... I'm not even talking about XG here. I'm talking about just chances created and chances conceded. No team has ever been as imbalanced as that and managed to get promotion. So they've got nothing to lose. And their signings as well.

1:00:29Jim Campbell: They've got Jack Butland from Rangers. You compare them to what Coventry have done and what Ipswich have done as well. I mean, Ipswich have really gone for this. Ipswich are very interesting. Ipswich are doing what I think should now be regarded as the Sunderland model. The reason it worked for Sunderland last year was they had a defined style of playing in the championship that, to really oversimplify it, was about ball carrying. It was about players who ran the ball up the pitch. Joe Bellingham being a great example of that, but others as well. That was their style of play. But they were very slight, very physically designed to carry the ball as opposed to contest it.

1:01:05And they got promoted, and they had a look at the squad, and there was no preciousness or pride about their style of play and our identity. And they went, oh yeah, these lads will get run over in this division. So they spent a fortune and had a huge turnover of players of buying lads who were physically going to be equipped to compete in the division. Put aside the style of play, just get players who aren't going to get bullied. Get players who... Jackers in there,

1:01:28Jim Campbell: Brobby's in there. Exactly. You know, those kind of guys. And it worked. And that is sort of, there has to be an acknowledgement now from championship teams of it does not matter how good you are at football in that division. You are going into practically a different sport. You're going into a fight. But you're right, I've said this point so many times that with... Do I quite like Ipswich's signings? What I do is... I think Diop and Lukic, the boys from Fulham, they will let them compete. I think they're two great signers. But we've said this so many times before, that even with Fulham, I see them get promoted.

1:01:56Jim Campbell: And under Slavica Ikanovic, the football they play in the Champions League was glorious. It was fantastic to watch. But it's not going to translate to the Premier League. So how do you do it? There used to be quite a damning statistic, if you like, or thing that when newly promoted sides to the Premier League, those who were more direct and basically played long ball, they were the ones more likely to survive. Now, that's no longer the case. That's kind of been replaced by good old traditional English football values, by what you're saying here, by the get the physical lads in and get into a bit of a fight.

1:02:32Jim Campbell: I think it's more of a modern equivalent of that sort of long ball stuff. Ironically, I think it's Ipswich who have sort of created this narrative because the Kieran McKenna Ipswich that came up a few years ago, I did a video on them. They were so good to watch in the championship. The positional rotations they had, like they were one of the best footballing sides I've ever seen at that level. Similar to companies Burnley as well. So good to watch. And they came up and they gave it a real good go. Like, look how good, look, this is our identity. This is what we know. This is what our players are good at.

1:03:02And they got absolutely chucked out the window.

1:03:05Jim Campbell: Not only did they have a lot of championship players, you could argue they had a few League One players as well. so they've thrown a lot of money at this you have to and good luck at them those are your options but even getting in Dyson Maeda from Celtic yeah could be really canning that yeah exactly bringing Chubba Akpom home as well from Ajax so my temptation actually was to say we're looking at Frank Lampard's Coventry City but Frank Lampard's Coventry City are a very good footballing side really good quite direct open stuff but because of the manager stability that's why I think they would have had more chance than Ipswich but looking at those Ipswich signings I want to be wrong about these predictions I do as well oh god I want Coventry depends if it's at the expense of Fulham but yes I want Coventry to play the way they play I want them to sweep through teams score really nice goals be hard to get at I want them to do that it's just that historical precedent which is what the only thing you ever have to go off at the moment in Premier League football tells us you get taught quite a painful lesson about that very quickly whereas if you chuck your Or chuck your beliefs out the window, chuck your philosophy out the window and play Premier League football instead, which is very expensive to do and it's a huge risk.

1:04:15But if you do that, you are likely to at least give yourself a better chance in the division than not. I don't like that that's true. I would like Coventry to do way better than Ipswich. But I think Ipswich will do better than Coventry. Currently, as we say, lots of business still to be attended to in the market.

1:04:31Jim Campbell: Maybe the man who will surely go on to win England a trophy, Frank Lampard could change this narrative with Coventry City is that a is that a is that a because I can't read your face when you say that I don't know Adam you heard what I said okay no there's no pushback on that I'm just I'm just I've never heard someone say that out loud before I fancy Frank Lampard to be England manager at some point I fancy Frank Lampard to be England manager at some point but that's not what you said it's not what I said hey I also fancied him to be England under 21's manager a few years ago so good old Frank it's not come to that And he's there.

1:05:06Jim Campbell: He's back in the Premier League. I should say, I'm duty bound to say, we mentioned Leeds United earlier. They won their final pre-season friendly 4-0 over Augsburg. Good victory for them. After the game, Daniel Farker did call Joe Rodden, Joe Salah. Talking up his name. So, lads can just do nicknames like that. I can't. I don't know whether that's good or bad. There we are, everybody. We've come to the end of the show. And thank you very much for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the ACAR Screator Network. Hey, look, we're just two games. Two games. we're two days away two days away for the opening game which does feature as we will call them throughout the season Frank Lampard Coppard City and Mikel Arteta's Arsenal Adam a pleasure I'm so glad that somebody finally has done a football ramble with a Greg's chuck away cup in front of them it was was that in shot by a chance it had to be a man from Newcastle who's going to do it thank you very much God bless you for that but pleasure having you on thank you very much and I implore everybody as I always do to check out your videos throughout the season to find out what these...

1:06:06Jim Campbell: How this game actually works. Yeah, exactly. I look forward to your first video about Fulham, which may well be in about two months. I'm saying, and this is why Abel has lost his job. Do you know what it is? I get pressured to do Fulham videos. By who? Well, I was previously at 442, and the editor there's a lovely chap called James Andrew, who, for his sins, does, for some reason, enjoy my work, and is always like, when is the Fulham video? But now I've got two people asking. No, I'm not putting pressure on you. It wouldn't be very Fulham-ish for me. It does feel like you're putting pressure on me.

1:06:34Jim Campbell: No, not at all. Hey, look, who knows? Who knows? You satisfy me with a lot of England videos, so don't worry. You'll never be in my bad books. Are you looking forward to the Nations League as much as I am? Yes. Of course you are. I can answer that truthfully. Yes, I am looking forward to it as much as you are. I knew you'd be on side with that. Up yours, Jim. And up yours. That's what it's like hearing his bad books. There we are. Thank you very much, Jim. Thank you. Thank you, Adam. You are so welcome. And thank you, Frank. Thank you, Frank. Thank you, Jim.

1:07:08The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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