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Football Ramble

21 Jul 2025 · 50m · 24 chapters

In short

Football Ramble discussion spanning Euro 2025 (England Lionesses’ penalty shootout win over Sweden; set up for Italy), Premier League transfers and pre-season plans (Arsenal signing Nani Maduweka; Liverpool/Eintracht Frankfurt links to Eketiké; Newcastle/Isak/Liverpool rumors; Man United loaning Marcus Rashford to Barcelona), plus a digression on Donald Trump and the Club World Cup trophy/replicas and a comedic “Shohei Ohtani betrayal” promo.

Guests

No episode guests named; hosts are Pete Donaldson, Luke Moore, and Jim Campbell (Marcus Speller absent).

Guest backgrounds

Not applicable (no guests).

Key claims

England’s penalties were “diabolical” except for some; Sweden’s physicality and refereeing were questioned. Arsenal fans are “fuming” at Maduweka’s £48.5m fee and perceived “consolation prize” vs Eze; Maduweka is seen as direct and potentially fixes breaking-down issues. Chelsea’s Nicholas Jackson valuation at £100m is criticized as inflated. Frankfurt’s model sells players profitably to the Premier League. Isak could be pressured by linking Liverpool to Eketiké; Rashford’s Barcelona move is debated.

Notable examples

Katrin Berger’s Germany-France save; Arsenal Asia tour vs AC Milan/Newcastle/Spurs; Newcastle’s whitewater rafting video with Fabian Schär; Maguire vs Antonio clip; Rashford loan terms (35m euro purchase option; 325k euros/week).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes.

Chapters

0:30

Lionesses' Euro Journey

Discussion on the Lionesses' semi-final match and performance.

“One second, you're enjoying your day off.”
3:12

Lionesses' Euro Journey

Discussion on the Lionesses' semi-final match and performance.

“I'm here in lieu of Marcus Speller, who's currently off as not on care on the hard shoulder of the M60.”
6:06

Arsenal's New Signing

Hosts analyze Arsenal's signing of Nani Maduweke and fan reactions.

“I just thought on the Sweden side, they played right on the very limit of what's physically acceptable.”
10:10

Discussion on Player Versatility

Exploration of player roles and Arsenal's system under Arteta.

“But I do think he improves the forward line, undoubtedly, because it is light, generally.”
14:01

Arsenal's Transfer Strategies

Discussion about Arsenal's transfer strategies and players involved.

“So I'm quite excited to see how he fits in.”
17:40

Chelsea's Transfer Market Value

Exploration of Chelsea's valuation of Nicholas Jackson and Market dynamics.

“We'll talk a bit about on the mailbag tomorrow, I think, about what position they're going to be in terms of the league.”
22:10

Trump and the World Cup Trophy

Discussion on Donald Trump's claims regarding the World Cup trophy.

“that they've given to Donald Trump slash the US, but not really, it's going to take, like, years to disassemble and reassemble to make sure that it's...”
23:27

Player Moments and Celebrity Encounters

A light-hearted look at players' celebrity interactions and anecdotes.

“but Donald Trump said for the sake of him just wanting to be a winner.”
27:40

Harry Maguire's Strength

A humorous recount of Harry Maguire's unexpected strength in a match.

“I don't even know how it happened, but the ball's come in.”
28:00

Converting Weights and Measurements

Learn how the hosts convert various weights and measurements humorously.

“I could do Celsius to Fahrenheit, no problem.”
Show all 24 chapters
28:55

Transfer Market Insights

Discussion about Arsenal and Liverpool's transfer activities.

“Arsenal, of course, haven't got their man up front quite yet, but Liverpool are trying to do a little business in the market.”
30:30

Eintracht Frankfurt's Success

Analyzing Eintracht Frankfurt's strategy in the transfer market.

“yeah Kolo Moani not to the Premier League but loads of money.”
33:06

Newcastle's Transfer Speculations

Speculating on Newcastle's transfer rumors and player performances.

“Dan Byrne looks really funny because he's so tall and he looks funny with a helmet on, right?”
35:12

Eddie Howe's Management Style

Exploring Eddie Howe's management and scouting strategies.

“Yeah, they wouldn't want to strengthen a side in the Premier League, I think that's fair to say.”
36:36

Eddie Howe's Nephew in the Scouting Network

Discussion about Eddie Howe's nephew and his role in scouting.

“who's obviously part of the scouting network at Newcastle United.”
37:30

Marcus Rashford's Future

Analyzing Marcus Rashford's potential move to Barcelona.

“Do you want to hear a headline I just found about him?”
39:38

Rashford's Previous Performance

Reflecting on Rashford's performance and career at Manchester United.

“I just think that's a strange thing to say.”
42:00

Rashford's Transfer Journey

Discussing Rashford's loan challenges due to Oasis's tour logistics.

“You can't be spending money on private jets.”
42:40

Oasis vs. Blur Rivalry

Exploring the rivalry between Oasis and Blur in the 90s music scene.

“You don't find Blair doing that because, I mean, as I keep saying, people need to be reminded, even if this tour isn't a reminder enough, that those other bands were nowhere near as big.”
45:50

Eric Ten Hag's Preseason Struggles

Analyzing Eric Ten Hag's early challenges with Bayer Leverkusen.

“Yeah, it's like you're telling yourself that.”
48:34

Snoop Dogg's Swansea City Stake

Discussing Snoop Dogg's investment in Swansea City and its implications.

“I don't think the person who wrote it even watched the game.”
51:16

Dudley's Sam Allardyce Mural

Debating the significance of a mural dedicated to Sam Allardyce in Dudley.

“It's like a jumper where only the holes are keeping it together.”
56:01

Wrap-Up of Football Ramble

The hosts discuss upcoming shows and reflect on the current episode.

“And of course, finally for now, I believe the town might even be named after the Sutton family, Baron Sutton of Dudley and all that stuff.”
57:56

Wrap-Up of Football Ramble

The hosts discuss upcoming shows and reflect on the current episode.

“accounting firms trust Bill to handle BillPay processes.”
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Transcript

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1:23Hello. Now, although every American found us during the World Cup, for the two that didn't, what can they expect? Found us and fell in love with us, Max. They can expect three episodes each week of occasionally insightful analysis covering the Premier League, Champions League, and beyond. Football Weekly is back. Watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, this is Kim and Penn Holderness from the Laugh Lines podcast. This episode is sponsored by Oli, your wellness partner for back to school and beyond. Back to school season is here. packed backpacks, packed lunches, and packed schedules are officially back.

1:57Ollie Kids Sleep helps little dreamers wind down with a gentle blend of melatonin, L-theanine, and botanicals for restful sleep. Translation, an easy way to put those school night negotiations to bed. And for the grown-ups, Ollie Sleep helps you fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed. Because as you know, the morning mayhem comes early. Visit Oli.com and stock up on back-to-school must-haves today. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. In 2023, a source sent me a tip.

2:36It tied baseball's biggest star to a vast, illegal sports betting operation. Shohei Otani! But then someone surprising confessed to me, his best friend.

2:50Jim Campbell: I'm Epey Mizuhara and you do have permission to record me. From 30 for 30 podcasts, this is The Betrayal of Shohei Otani. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

3:06Maybe I do really want to know how your garden glows. Sorry, did I get it wrong, Spellsy? Welcome to the Football Ramble. It's Monday, the 21st of July. I am Pete Donaldson. I'm Luke Moore. And I'm Jim Campbell. Ha!

3:29That's right. I'm here in lieu of Marcus Speller, who's currently off as not on care on the hard shoulder of the M60. Oh, my sis. Dressed in fisherman's clothes and, you know, is ulcerated, mouth, cotton wool dry, mouth and words from heathen chemistry, something like that. Was he eating too many crisps? Was he eating too many crisps? Every single person listening to this now, and I include myself in this, has got the same amount of excitement that you have when you turn up on a Monday and it's a substitute teacher. Yes, very much so. Who doesn't like Britpop's third best band? The one with no authority.

4:02Who we've got no respect for, yeah. He'll be at other schools sometime soon. And the sound of the TV on wheels being wheeled up the corner outside the classroom. Who wants to watch the entire series of Ulysses I've got on VHS? Yes, me. Who wants to watch the documentary Supersonic about the Gallagher Brothers? Third best band of Britpop. Third best band of Britpop. Supergrass. Beta band. Swid. Oasis. Not Pulp or Blur, Jim. Yeah, I noticed. Get out. The worst thing Jim has ever said to me once is he said to me in, I think, quite a vicious way that he knows what I'm going to say as well. He said I'm a gene man.

4:37No, he said that Luke doesn't really hate Blair or Pulp. He just says it to get attention. I agree. Completely agree on that one. Well, there you go. I'm not numbered.

4:45Jim Campbell: Give me Marcus back. I think you exaggerate the hatred. I do. I exaggerate everything. But for comic effect, which is fair enough. Thanks very much, Jim. Don't believe the truth, people. Don't believe the truth. Don't do Oasis puns the whole show. I don't know any. You have some pulp ones if you want. Yes, since our last recording, the Lionesses, of course, made it to the semi-finals of the Euros after an astonishing penalty shootout. they're going to be playing Italy tomorrow night a match that cannot come soon enough in my opinion what an emotional penalty shootout that was it was bad it was a bad penalty shootout and we all know when we see them with the exception of obviously Alessio Russo Chloe Kelly and Lucy Bronze all the penalties were diabolical come on taping your leg up and then absolutely hammering one into the roof of the net come on I don't know why more of the more England players didn't do that I mean, they seem to have been wanting to place it.

5:39And every single time, the Swedish goalkeeper's looking at a water bottle. Just smash it. Just smash it. If you smash it, vaguely on target. You know what I feel about penalties, guys. Don't complicate it. But I thought England did brilliantly well to dig in, to get through a super physical game. I thought Sweden played right on the limit. They were so physical. Sweden made some funny substitutions that kind of played in England's hands a little bit. And people were crying out for, you know, for Wigman to make substitutions earlier as well. But luckily, I mean, they came through. Tuckett-esque.

6:06It was a bit, wasn't it?

6:08Jim Campbell: I mean, they are tough, aren't they? They're very, very difficult to beat. Or they hammer someone, which is ideal. It's a great combination. I just thought on the Sweden side, they played right on the very limit of what's physically acceptable. I thought the referee struggled a bit to keep them under control. The fact that Sweden, I think, only got one booking, I think, is just wild. But look, they dug in. They're 2-0 down. I was saying to my mum and dad, I watched it with them at half time I said the next goal is absolutely massive if they concede another one that's it right but they managed to bounce back they dug in so well it was brilliant I'm looking forward to the semi yeah well for more on Euro 2025 head over to our excellent show up front where Chloe and Rachel are doing some amazing work covering all the twists and turns of this tournament including the Germany-France game on Saturday the save that sent Germany into the semis and Katrin Berger my god it was amazing unbelievable there's only one save that I can remember being approaching that was Shaq Hislop in one of his first games for Newcastle United where he had to sort of switch position lean back and just but he's a full foot taller than Berger it was one of those saves that when the ball's fully behind the keeper like Seaman in the against Sheffield United in the FA Cup Paul Pesciolito Marcus Speller that's when Marcus Speller gave up playing football and attempted to do the round ball but I thought that game that Germany-France game was one of the worst games I've seen since the Europa League final.

7:35It was a poor game. Germany did well to go through that because they were down to 10 minutes.

7:39Jim Campbell: Yes, and the sending off in that game was just absolutely ridiculous. Just proper hair pull. I appreciate Jal Neves doing that on Gucurella. There's two minutes left. It's like, I'll never get this chance again. Get it down. Yeah, exactly. But like 10 minutes in or whatever it was. It was 13 minutes in. Absolutely madness. Yeah. Yeah. So, well, do check out... England are in the business end. England are in the business end. You can't say fairer than that, to be quite frank. No, you can't. In the Premier League, Jim, I'm looking at you. Arsenal are getting busy confirming the£48.5 million slash dollar slash pound, definitely pound, signing of Chelsea's Nani Maduweka last week.

8:15There's a lot of talk of where he's going to play. He's got a bit of experience on the left, certainly the back end of the season. He's a really sort of inventive player, but his consistency always in doubt. I know you don't always do this, because Marcus normally does it. You want to start with asking Jim to justify personally why some Arsenal fans have been pissed off after they're signing Nani Maduweka. You don't do it, I'm going to wait on him. Okay, okay, okay. His consistency is in doubt, Jim Campbell. Why do you think the Arsenal... Fans are fuming. Why the fans fuming? There we go. Why the fans fuming?

8:43At 23, could Arteta get something out of him? Sorry, Pete. Why you fuming?

8:48Jim Campbell: Well, I'm on the light side of fuming. Right. Okay. A bristle. Is it a bristle? I wouldn't even say I'm bristling. So long-term listeners of the show will know that whenever Nani Madowicki comes up, I'm full of praise for him. I really like him as a player. and he's an interesting addition because there's been a massive issue with depth on the right-hand side when Bikai Osaka's not available. Even when Yeri did it. Noticable last year, wasn't it? Yeah, very much so. When Yeri did a really good job there but he's kind of earmarked for a more central role in the future so I think they're trying to kind of take that away.

9:17Jim Campbell: So Madiwaki solves that problem pretty profoundly really. I think he's a fantastic player off the left, sorry, off the right. The slight concern I have is that it feels like Arsenal need an upgrade on the left and Maduweke's numbers, admittedly from a small sample size, are very different on the left to what they are on the right. And I don't know if it moves the needle on Martinelli or Trossard. Both got more goals and more assists than Maduweke last season. And obviously he's playing in his natural position or his favoured position for most of those numbers. So it's an interesting one, but I think there might be another addition that can also feature on the left.

9:57Jim Campbell: There's a lot of talk of Eberachieza, there's talk of Xavi Simmonds now, which I think is probably a little bit fanciful, but who knows? So it might be that actually it is a depth signing on either side, possibly one of Trossard and Martinelli moves on as well. So it's kind of difficult to know exactly how I feel about it until the squad has taken shape. But I do think he improves the forward line, undoubtedly, because it is light, generally. He's got a lot of potential. He's not been available as well, Foxy's matchup. He didn't have a great injury record when he was at PSV, but obviously that's a little while ago now, so hopefully he's moved on from that.

10:30Jim Campbell: The fee's been a kind of sticking point for a lot of people, but it does seem to be the market rate when you look at Alanga and Kudus as well. Why do fans care about the fee? It's funny, isn't it? It's like we think it's our own money. They don't care. They don't have the detail on it. And Arsenal aren't close to PSR issues, are they? I don't believe so. Although I suspect they're going quite hard this summer. And I think I reckon part of the reason that there's kind of all this haggling over the Yokeres add-ons might be because they're kind of looking at getting close to that if they bring someone else in.

10:59The issue I feel like is that it's one of timing and a little bit of an overarching feeling from Arsenal fans about where Arsenal are. And what I mean by that is the timing is that it kind of came about the same time that everyone started talking about Eze, which is a super exciting player that everyone wants. It feels like through no fault of his own and through no comment on how good he is as a player, in that context, Maduweke feels like a consolation prize. secondly and you can tell me if I'm wrong here Jim because obviously I'm not an Arsenal fan but I get the impression having been to Arsenal a few times last season and obviously being around some of their fans that they get annoyed when Arsenal make a signing which is a bit of a kind of he's a one size fits all he can kind of play across the forward line and he might give you back up and he might play on the right and what they actually want really is someone who knows their position they want they want they want Gokras over the line they want they want They want to clearly be able to have a satisfaction or a satisfactory conclusion to a perceived and identified weakness in a position.

12:03Jim Campbell: Yeah, I think so. And I think actually that's half true in the, I mean, I can only speak for myself personally, but I think actually Arteta values versatility a lot. So people do want to see that. So it makes you unpredictable. But how often do we hear about players where they can play on the right or they can play on the left? But the reality is that they are much better on one side. and the frustration is that that's happening when it's fixing a problem on one side while exacerbating one on the other. And Maduweke is a left-footed, right-sided player, basically. Now, we don't know how good Arteta can get out of him on the left, if he feels he can be coached.

12:38He's still a relatively young player. I think I've seen enough of him to think he could be really good. He's still only 23. Yeah, right. But if it's any impression it's going to be like a square peg in a round hole, I'm sorry to say it, you know, Arsenal fans will just fucking moan about it.

12:53Jim Campbell: That's how it is. Well, it depends how it goes, doesn't it? I think one of the things about the signing that I really like, and it's consistent with the other signings, is that he's really, really direct. He loves just getting straight into the box, looking for a cross, looking for a shot. He takes a lot of shots. He's quick. He's just quick as well. Maybe the point is having a left footer on the left side and they're trying to do something different. Maybe they'll mix it up within games. I've seen PSG do that a lot, and a lot of top managers are magpies with those things, you know. So maybe we'll see other teams doing that more.

13:19A lot of criticism when he's played for Chelsea as just his final sort of decision-making. Would that be improved by the fact that Arsenal are a bit more holistically put together side? They just seem to be more together and less kind of... It's less confusing to watch Arsenal compared to Chelsea.

13:33Jim Campbell: Maybe, yeah. I think because Arteta's heavy on coaching particular things, isn't it? It's like if you're in X position, make Y pass or look for X player. So possibly it absolutely feels like a coaching issue. But obviously, you know, Madureki has that quality. it said about Jokeres that he's just he's an absolute fiend for the goalers and he's always looking to get in behind, he's always looking to go directly to the goal. Even Martin Zubomendi and even Christian Norgard are both very progressive passers and Arsenal have been quite ponderous in build-up and they let teams settle behind them and then you have the low block situation that they struggle to break down quite often and it feels to me like all of these players are about fixing that and I think Maduweke fits in with that.

14:13Jim Campbell: So I'm quite excited to see how he fits in. I understand why people are frustrated by signing yet another player from Chelsea, for example. Kukurea within three years, I'm telling you. Yeah, that's definite. Can I ask a quick question before we move on about the fact that is it frustrating that Arteta only seems to want to sign kind of good little system boys who only play in the system and there's no kind of flexibility. One-off man mentals. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Nice. I should have said that. I think actually he's trying to fix that with whoever the possible final signing of the window is, be that Ezra Simmons or someone in that profile.

14:47Jim Campbell: Because, yeah, that was a massive problem for times last year where there was just no answer to, you know, I'm picking a lock. Yeah. Pete likes the lock-picking lawyer on YouTube. I do, yeah. I've not watched his updated ones, to be honest. Who is that? He's a lawyer who just picks locks on YouTube. Oh, it's exactly what it sounds like. Including the name. Basically, any lock you've ever seen is pickable. Something very, very easy. So he needs to go and give a talk to the players. To unpick stuff, yeah. And if he opened with that, guys, sit down, take your headphones off. No, we haven't got the striker yet.

15:20But every lock is unpickable. Yeah, the lock between your heart and your head. I think Arteta would go for that. You tell him you're going to see Arteta doing that. Well, he'd lock himself or lock someone. He'd lock Giocarez in some room in the Arsenal Stadium. It would be the new Arsenal Stadium mystery. And the lock-picking lawyer and the rest of the Arsenal squad have to find him. They are going to be heading out to Asia. Arsenal are set to face AC Milan and Newcastle in Singapore. Then Spurs in Hong Kong. Giocares is not going to be there for that leg of their pre-season preparations. He said, I'll do it all, but I'm not playing Spurs.

15:54I'm not going to Singapore. I'm not going to play Spurs in Hong Kong. So the earliest he's going to be over the line is August the 6th, when they are going to be hosting Villarreal in their first pre-season game. Back from Asia. Apparently, Giocares is not over the line quite yet. His father has been presumably trying to grease the wheels with his own tears. Yeah, I think that's what's funny. He's been crying a lot. He's consoling his dad. Can I read the headline for you, Jim? Sure. The headline in the Daily Mail. This will please all of those who are Andy Brassel as well. Victor Giocares' father left in tears as Arsenal transfer Sargal rumbles on with Sporting Lisbon's star.

16:31Dream move in danger of collapse.

16:33Jim Campbell: Well done. Dad's crying. Unbelievable. Cheers. Dad's crying. Weird tactic from the Giocares family, that. Most annoying Arsenal dad since Aaron Ramsdale. But he's trying to be, isn't he? Do a podcast, Victor's dad. These big ticket items take a very, very long time to get going. Do an Arsenal involved. Do an Arsenal involved. I think the add-ons that I've seen spoken about, one of them will be active when he's made 20 appearances, one will be active when he's made 40, and the last one will be active with Champions League qualifications. That seems pretty standard, though, doesn't it? And his dad wants dire straits tickets.

17:06a limited edition copy of Dark Side of the Moon every band that plays Arsenal

17:10Jim Campbell: and Aston Martin and a new shed yeah but is this an issue for Arsenal is this overshadowing what should be a lovely pre-season for them I wish I had insight on why the hold up is there but I think you know there's a long time left of the window open and as you say these big ticket deals are complicated aren't they so I'm not particularly stressed about it I think you were probably hoping that the Noni Maduaki thing was a good day to bury bad news, but that's not kind of what happened. But they, I mean, I find Arsenal's position interesting. We'll talk a bit about on the mailbag tomorrow, I think, about what position they're going to be in terms of the league.

17:47But can I just make a point very, very quickly that it's very, it's kind of unsustainable that top clubs and top players are going to be doing the Rodri-style boo-hoos about the amount of football they've got to play and they're fucking off to Asia to do all these miles, all this travel, play against essentially a bunch of meaningless games which aren't even really played in the intensity of a league game or even a pre-season friendly where you're working stuff out because they're essentially just commercial trips to shore up the fan base in that part of the world. Not denigrating those fans because obviously they support Arsenal.

18:23Good on them. It's up to them. They never visited Rwanda in the end. They didn't do a shore there, did they? Why can't you just go into the West Country with Warnock? same place every year

18:33Jim Campbell: I used to go to Austria loving it a lot of season in Austria Jim didn't Capello take England to Austria for the Alps to knacker them out before the 2010 World Cup take away their ketchup well we spoke about Chelsea on Chelsea's side of things it seems that Chelsea's valuation of Nicholas Jackson is way higher than everyone else's Man United were sniffing around but Chelsea won 100 million is a one in three striker worth 100 million these days Jim I think they probably are aren't they honestly it's really hard to know isn't it because it feels like every window, everything inflates massively. I think Chelsea would tip out.

19:05Jim Campbell: If anyone pays £100 million for Nicholas Jackson, I think the fan base might be a bit angry. It's their money, isn't it? It's hard to know what his actual value is, right? It's a very, I mean, the situation I find absolutely baffling on this is that with a straight face, I mean, I understand that May and I might be involved, so that could move the Darls somewhat. But like, he signs for Chelsea on an eight-year deal, fine, so there's wages and all that kind of stuff involved. But they signed for 32 million and they're basically essentially saying, we don't think he's good enough. We're not happy with him.

19:37100 million. He's like, no. He's like, if I sell you my car because it doesn't fucking run properly and I paid 100 quid for it, I ain't getting 500 quid of it from you, am I? You're going to go, you want rid of it.

19:49Jim Campbell: People seem to pay it though. I think, you know, maybe the guy left at Chelsea. I've already mentioned him. I've got like a hypnotist in these meetings. 10 goals in the Premier League. Yeah, actually that seems reasonable. 10 goals in the Premier League, that's 100 million dollars. It just is. But would you think Man Utd fans would be happy, for example, with finally solving the Marcus Rashford problem and the solution, part of the solution. For a bit. Yeah, for a bit. And part of the solution is a Nicholas Jackson for 100 million. Yeah. Maybe they need someone to kick the can up the road on the Rashford situation.

20:20Jim Campbell: I think Jackson's genuinely a really interesting market opportunity for someone at the right price, though. Yeah, that's not the right price. No, absolutely it's not. They're never going to get that. Oh, you say it like that. he sounds like a car salesman this is not a car this is a really interesting market opportunity even before Jackson potentially leaving Chelsea on the outgoings Chelsea have had a phenomenal transfer window but they've not been able to keep hold of the actual Club World Cup in an interview with Duzorn Donald Trump claimed that Chelsea were given a replica while he's been gifted the real one for the Oval Office so he's got the original he's got the true artefact to sit in the Oval Office it's amazing how how difficult it is to work out exactly where Gianni and Fantino's bread is buttered, isn't it?

21:02So this tournament I've made you all do, I'll give you a lot of money and stuff, but you can't have the trophy. Listen, not enough's been made of this. No one has ever organised a tournament before, certainly at this level, and then told the winners, you can't have the trophy. It doesn't happen. Remember that picture, that famous footage of Pelé on people's shoulders holding up the Jules Rimet trophy? Imagine if the gaffer just went, you can't have it. I'm giving it to, who would it have been? I'm giving it to Eisenhower.

21:33Jim Campbell: Yeah, I mean, it feels like Donald Trump thinks that because America hosts things, that they then, like, own them. No, because he hosts it. It's nothing to do with America. Exactly, that's it. It's him hosting his mind. And also, he's like a dragon, isn't he? He loves gold things. I don't know if you've seen how gaudy the Oval Office is now. He's very much like Smaug. So I think, like, is he going to think he can keep the World Cup? I guess so, yeah. Because that's going to be a real test for Gianni Infantino, isn't it? Surely he'll go, oh, I can't give him the World Cup. Bring around the replica.

22:04I don't think it's a test he's going to pass you. I don't think he'll think much of it at all. I think he'll just go, yeah, right. Well, do you know how they sort of say that that Qatari plan that they've given to Donald Trump slash the US, but not really, it's going to take, like, years to disassemble and reassemble to make sure that it's... No, it's coming into use, I think, roughly about a month after Trump leaves office. Good, good. So he's going to keep that. And so I made the point that actually, for security reasons, you are effectively going to have to build... Yeah, disassemble it and reassemble it.

22:31But I'm just saying, do the Secret Service go to town on whatever magpie shit he's stolen?

22:36Jim Campbell: Imagine that if there's like a spy device inside the Club World Cup. There's two keys. Get the lockpicking lawyer on it. Get the lockpicking lawyer on it. Who's that bloke in the background? He loves a lawyer. He loves freebies. What a complicated combination of professions. Saul Goodman, that. So the replicas are dished out, aren't they? Replicas are dished out. But to me, the point I'm making is that the symbolic nature of the actual trophy is supposed to be presented to the team. I understand afterwards, once they lift it, it goes where it needs to go. Reports are suggesting that most of them go back to the FIFA Museum, and that's fine.

23:14The fact that Trump's got stuck into it is, again, another example of the grift. It's probably just a situation where... He stuck a medal in his pocket on camera. He did. He's a little magpie. But he would... You sort of get this feeling that it was a replica, but Donald Trump said for the sake of him just wanting to be a winner. He probably just said, yeah, this is the original. The replica actually went to Chelsea.

23:36Jim Campbell: It's because it's gold. It's the only thing he can fully concentrate on. I know. Well, Cole Palmer was given the play of the toner, of course, by Donald Trump. And he's revealed what was said at the time. He said, when he gave me the award, he said his son is my biggest fan I can't remember what I said I think I said thank you or something normal parlance isn't it which is my question because a couple of them are off their tits my son he loves that ice stuff do you mean crystal meth? yes yes I do do you think also Kyle Palmer given his reputation do you think that he just thought Donald Trump had decided that Donald Trump thought he was the best player at the tournament that's not the same weight I don't think I mean this is obviously a really ridiculous situation but it has given us that absolutely iconic Carl Palmer moment of the side eye while it was all happening, which is just fantastic.

24:23Good on him. He's been having a lovely week in St. Kitts, where his granddad's from. I tell you that. Weeburns and the little celebrations and stuff. Which is annoying.

24:32Jim Campbell: And then Carl Palmer. We've been spoiled with personality players. I mean, if your granddad's from St. Kitts, that's great. I mean, my grandparents are from Aberdeen. Not quite the same place to visit, I don't think. New Tredega. We've got a New Tredega. my granddad said about Aberdeen. It's not quite the end of the world, but you can see it from there. You can see it from there. Lovely stuff. I won't stole that and said that to Biffy Claro and they enjoyed it. Oh, fucking hell. I love Biffy Claro as well. From Aberdeen. Did you credit me? Did you credit me? No, did I fuck? Fucking Jim. Speaking of magpies, he's worse than me.

25:01Coming up after this, on the Football Ramble, there's drama in Newcastle and I'm not just talking about Fabian Scher's nip-nips. Oh, no. That's the sound. What a Freudian slip. A physical Freudian slip. Subject, subject, teacher. That's the sound of the nip-nip. Oh, you've lost the classroom now, boss. Oh, dear.

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26:10But then someone surprising confessed to me, his best friend.

26:18From 30 for 30 podcasts, this is The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

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27:01Jim Campbell: Summer is here, which means it's officially travel season. And when you're out there making plans, you need somewhere reliable to stay. That's why Best Western is such a solid option. This summer, get 1 ,000 bonus points and a chance to win 250 ,000 bonus points. So wherever you're headed, make it count with this limited time offer. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at BestWestern.com. No additional purchase necessary for sweeps. See bonus points, T's and C's and sweeps rules for details and visit BestWestern.com for complete terms and conditions.

27:35I'm a heavy man, bro. 94 kg. Harry Maguire, somehow, I don't even know how it happened, but the ball's come in. I've jumped to chest it. And he's... That held me like a child. Like a baby. Yeah. Held me like a child and kind of just like threw me. Mikel Antonio there and being marked by Harry Maguire. I love the idea of Harry Maguire's that strong. It's very dirty dancing, isn't it? 94 kg is a hefty weight. Amazing. I need it in pounds. I'm a wrestling guy. I'll give you if you want. Go on then. It's probably about 200 and... I need probably about... 205? I can do kilometres to miles per hour.

28:14Jim, test me. All right, so 23 kilometres. Don't do the... I just need it in tens. Shut up. Anyway, welcome back to the football. 207.2 pounds. Whoa. That's good, that. I could do Celsius to Fahrenheit, no problem. Yeah. Go on. Hit me. 33 Celsius. 92. Ooh. Nice. No way checking that. Welcome to Football Ramble. Thank you to Friend of the Ramble, Tom, sending us that clip of Harry Maguire versus Mikel Antonio. You can become a Friend of the Ramble, too, for just$5 a month. You'll get all of our football shows completely ad-free, including Front of Course, and access to the Football Ramble Discord, where you can chat with us and other Ramble listeners.

28:52Search patreon.com forward slash football ramble to get involved. More number nines on the move. Arsenal, of course, haven't got their man up front quite yet, but Liverpool are trying to do a little business in the market. There are continuing talks with Frankfurt for Eketika, who's thought to be keen on moving to Liverpool, as it seems everybody else is. It looks like Newcastle have ceased their interest. And I mean, they've got their transfer chest bulging at the Sean Longstaff money. So they're probably looking to spend that somewhere. 15 million from Leeds. Until we started talking about the lockpicking law, I had no idea how many metaphors involved a lock.

29:25A lock, yeah. There's another one there. Right, OK. Treasure chest. You get lockpicking on that as well. Treasure chest. Can I just make a point about Eintracht Frankfurt? that they seem to be absolutely brilliant at selling on players to Premier League teams for lots of money. But I mean, if Ekotiki goes for a lot of money, that's like the late, that's like four, because if you go back to Sebastian Allaire, he was Frankfurt. Omar Mamouche was Eintracht Frankfurt. Ekotiki, there's probably another one as well. I think there is another one. I can't remember who it is. And at the same time, they've managed to maintain a good performance in the Bundesliga as well.

29:59So like whatever they're doing, this is an amazing kind of almost like, kind of like a weird kind of supplementary market for teams outside of England just essentially as part of their business model just buying players in and knowing even when they're doing it knowing they're going to sell them to Premier League the more Frankfurt seem to sell the higher they go up in the league as well which is really weird they were like 11th about five seasons ago and now they're sort of Champions League botherers they've stolen the Brighton model and sold it back to us

30:30Jim Campbell: yeah Kolo Moani not to the Premier League but loads of money. Luka Jovic, another one. There's so many of them. Well, I mean, Liverpool seem to, by even conservative estimates, have up to 500 million they could realistically be selling. That's amazing. Sorry, buying, I mean. And I would just like to say at this point, and, you know, you never know. And of course, you expect Man City to be improved next season. And there'll be time in the coming weeks to talk about how we think next season's going to go. But I think as someone who's not a fan of a Premier League club and just looking at this, you know, especially now Sir Hampton are out of it looking at totally objectively it's going to be very very difficult to keep up with Liverpool based on what they're doing I mean the full backs they've signed look great Florian Wurtz is literally one of the world's best players and they've brought him in with minimum fuss if you look at how Arsenal are doing business compared to Liverpool I'm not criticising Arsenal here but I know different things happen in different ways but they just got Wurtz done bang done and if they get a really top striker as well you wonder given how much they won the lead by last season.

31:33Is it realistic that people are going to be able to overhaul that? I just think they're going to be really, really strong.

31:37Jim Campbell: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, there was talk for a little while, wasn't there, which died down pretty quickly. I'm sure you're thrilled about Pete, that they were going after Izak, weren't they? And I thought if they get Izak, we're all toast. We're all done. I think there may be more to that than, I think that might still happen personally. I think it's, I mean, obviously Eddie Howe took him out of the pre-season friendly against Sully because of speculation over his future. No, that was because it was a very, very, very poor performance in the Whitewater Raft. yeah they went white water rafting they did go white water rafting and Ezek was fucking bad at it apparently yeah he wouldn't use the oar the right way around the paddle he was doing it upside down Pete well I mean and he was trying to let off someone's inflatable life jacket yeah he had a little pen knife that he'd bought from a joke shop and he was sticking it in he was sticking it in other people's rafts yeah he's I mean I mean we'll come back to the scouting and the acquisition from Newcastle I heard he smashed Anthony Gordon's head off a rock I did have a bit of that yeah like in the Revenant well he was he just didn't look as good as Fabian Scher in the wetsuit.

32:31Who does? I mean, my God. There was a shot that the Newcastle United admin posted on X for obvious reasons. It's an absolute... I mean, it's all grot on X now and very much... Grot and grok and very much the image of Fabian Scher with his wetsuit undone to the navel. Can I tell you my favourite observation of that whole video? So Newcastle United's YouTube channel posted a video. It's about 10 minutes long of whitewater rafting. Bit of team bonding. They were doing it in Austria. Never mentioned for Austria there. and the opening of the video is all the players coming out in their wetsuits ready to get on the rafts, right?

33:06And, you know, it's funny. Dan Byrne looks really funny because he's so tall and he looks funny with a helmet on, right? Lol, that's good. Jason Tindall comes out in the wetsuit, right? And he's loving it. Easy would be. And then behind him, and Tindall, it's important to point out at this stage that Tindall's wetsuit's done up all the way to the top. Yeah. Then behind him, Fabian Scher comes out. Yeah. And he looks a billion dollars. He looks amazing. He just looks so good. And he's got his wetsuit undone to the navel. And he knows what he's doing, right? Next shot of Tindall in the background, he's undone as well.

33:41It's lovely stuff. It's too hot. It's lovely stuff. It's too hot in Austria. It was like, it was the whitewater rafting equivalent of an uncle seeing the teenage lads dancing at a wedding and thinking, I'm getting my tie off. I need a bit of that, yeah. I can still do it. Back in my day, he's chucking the talcum powder down, doing the Northern Soul dancing. That's what he's doing. I'm still down with the kids. It was amazing. Great video. Probably the best pre-season video I've seen so far. You reckon? Yeah, I haven't seen many of them to be fair. But yeah, all of this happening in a maelstrom of interest in Alexander Izak.

34:16I mean, never trust an Eddie Howe Presser. He just lies and lies and lies constantly throughout the season and it's certainly no change here. But it seems clear that Izak and certainly Izak's team fancies the Liverpool... Right, so they're going to try and force it. If the money's right. His agent spoke to a Saudi paper yesterday. They said that they may be close to finalising the next step in his career. Negotiations with Izak himself have opened with Al-Halal. What? That's surely just to sort of put pressure on. You just don't know. You just don't know. Maybe, this is a wicked whisper from me, I've got no insight into this, as people who listen to this show regularly will know, maybe there's a bit of chess going on.

34:56Liverpool are trying to publicly link themselves with Eketike to force Alexander Isak to try and make something happen get the wheels turning in the meantime Al Halal involved dangle that little carrot possible drownings yes yes I wonder whether because Isak must be on good money he's got three years left on this deal

35:16Jim Campbell: yeah and he's not signing another one I think he wants more money doesn't he there's sort of been some paper talk about that as well which is difficult for the wage structure at Newcastle so basically maybe Newcastle is saying to Isak okay, if you want to go, you can go, but we're only dealing with Al Halal. Yeah, they wouldn't want to strengthen a side in the Premier League, I think that's fair to say. I think the only reason why he won't become a Liverpool player in particular is because he's north of like 100 million, I mean, it's 130, like, amount of money. The 120 that we're talking about, weren't they?

35:42I mean, these things take seasons to put together these big ticket items, don't they? They take a very, very long time. But I mean, you are buying the wheels without the bike, in my opinion. You need Murphy. What does that mean? Murphy for Salah Swapdale, that's what I'm saying. What does buying the wheels without the bike mean? Well, without the frame. I've never heard it before. It's not really, well, it's not in common parlance. You invented it. I invented it. You're buying the wheels without the bike. Presumably you've picked some sort of... He zacks the wheels. And Murphy is the frame of the bike.

36:11And the handlebars. And the seat. Who's the seat? Everyone's... No, Murphy's the seat. The rest of the players are the seat.

36:17Jim Campbell: Is Fabian Cher the seat? Do you want to sit on Fabian Cher? Who's the brakes? But it's... Who is the brakes? Joe Linton, surely. Joe Linton, yeah. He's very breaky. He's very blocky, that man. But I mean, there's a lot of... It's going to be an interesting season for the manager because there's a lot of mentions happening of his nephew in the press who's obviously part of the scouting network at Newcastle United. And he's had some success in his role, bringing in some Bruno, for example. Andy Howe. Andy Howe. I just looked him up. He's called Andy Howe. Eddie Howe wants to kind of be this manage everything kind of manager and when you look at Champions League clubs you kind of just have to be a coach and a coach alone but I mean seeing off two Spartan directors it's going to be an interesting if they don't get any targets through or many targets through this season it's going to be an interesting one they've missed out on a few already haven't they and Buma was obviously a big big target that's not happened yet yeah but that's pretty much sealed isn't it by all accounts and Newcastle it didn't seem like they were really in the running for it despite him being a major target for them so I think Pete's right though it does that puts extra pressure on how Second Champions League season for Howe as well.

37:26Have you ever heard of Eddie Howe's nephew Andy Howe? I don't believe so. I hadn't either. Do you want to hear a headline I just found about him? Yes, please. Eddie Howe's nephew Andy preparing for New Forest half marathon? Well, when I said the Nives are out for him. That's talking to Google News results. So he's obviously moving the shaker. To paraphrase another famous comment someone made. Man exercises.

37:46Jim Campbell: What a slow news day. I think it was about the Murdoch family. What are the chances that the best scout for that job happens to be Eddie Howe's nephew? Yeah. Like someone said about Rupert Murdoch's son. What are the chances that the best person to run this massive media multinational organisation happens to be his son? He's already in the family. He's learning the job. Good luck to him. Yeah, good luck to him. Everyone's got to pay the bills. And good luck to Marcus Rashford, who will surely be able to pay his bills. He will at least be leaving Manchester United on loan because a deal in principle has been agreed between Manchester United and Barcelona.

38:16Arriving on loan, 35 million euro purchase deal which is a button that never gets pressed for Man United let's make that very clear free tapas for school kids everywhere the fucking Barcelona kids are loving it they're going to be fucking patatas bravas all up the place

38:30Jim Campbell: it's going to be brilliant yeah Teddy Sheridan was needlessly horrible about Marcus Freshford wasn't he yeah what was that about I don't really know where that kind of sentiment has come from you can't mention Teddy Sheridan around Pete because he had a run-in with him did you yeah I heard about he had a big run-in with Teddy Sheridan a young lady You had a run-in with Teddy Sheringham at the weekend. Oh, really? And I told her my Terry Sheringham story. Yeah. So there you go. Terry Sheringham. Yeah. Terry Sheringham. He did an event with Teddy Sheringham. Oh, of course. Yes, that's it. And he publicly kept calling him Terry, and Teddy got quite pissed off, didn't he?

38:58He's Teddy, but he's got an option to be called Terry. Did he openly get pissed off with you? He did openly get pissed off. What did he say? He said, I know. I said, I keep calling you Terry, Teddy. And he went, I know you do. And he looked action-faced. Yeah. What did he say about Rashid then?

39:09Jim Campbell: He essentially said that he was talking about how he found it very... I think he used the term soul-destroying. He said he found it very soul-destroying that Rashford wants to leave because Man United should be viewed as the pinnacle of football and you should be grateful to play at a club like that, etc. He's not watching for a while. He's not watching for a while. He's not watching for a while. He's not watching for a while. Which I think is all fair enough. They're a huge club. And especially for someone who's come through the Iquadamia as Rashford has. But he also said he doesn't think he deserves to get a move to Barcelona.

39:38Jim Campbell: I just think that's a strange thing to say. Can I perhaps give some more power to Terry Sheddingham's elbow by supporting at least part of what he said there. Now, possibly it's needless and it's a bit unkind and we don't quite know the full extent of what's happened to Marcus Rashford behind the scenes. So, you know, all that stuff we have to be mindful of. But I think there's a reasonable point in there somewhere that says, for example when we were all sitting here a couple of months ago and Rashford was clearly seeding out through friendly journalists that he wanted to play for Barcelona and that was basically it we were a bit like well you don't get to choose that shit and I think one of the things that was leaked out was that he really wants to play with Laminio Mello I was like well you're not really showing that you do and so a move I would have got one of his parties if you were come on what?

40:32not now what do you mean? you know you can't say that why? you're allowed to go to the parties aren't you?

40:36Jim Campbell: You've lost the classroom again. Yeah, exactly. Sir, are you a virgin? Yeah.

40:43Jim Campbell: Jury's out. I just think that if you're going to be generous to Man United, you'd say even to Barcelona, what, it's a sideways move, is it? Is that a sideways move? No. Well, it's a bigger move. It's a massive move. So he's done a bigger move. Yeah, he's done a bigger move. Huge move. He's shown what he's shown at Man United over the last couple of years. Fair enough, you've got that Aston Villa loan period in there. He's shown what he's shown at United, and you're now admitting that he's getting a massive move to Barcelona. Has he deserved it? There's probably not much in it to say that he has deserved it.

41:11Jim Campbell: But I think if Barcelona wants him, right, then deserve doesn't come into it. That's the reality of it. 325 ,000 euros a week. I don't think... Yeah, it's a lot of money. I don't think... Obviously, I'm not suggesting they're showing him charity. Sure. Clearly, he thinks... He thinks he should turn it down. You know what? I've been shit. I don't deserve this. You're patronising me with offering me that. I don't deserve it. Yeah. I think that... I just feel that clearly every top manager thinks they can get a tune out of a player that they've, in their mind, have seen at the very top of his game.

41:40He may well be brilliant. I hope he is. He's in a World Cup year now, so he doesn't need any further motivation to kind of get there and do his thing in the World Cup for England. That's what he wants to look at as well. In my view, he's very fortunate.

41:54Jim Campbell: I think he looked very motivated at Villa. I thought he was really good for them. Perhaps a little bit overrated. but I also thought they were willing into an existence definitely in terms of the actual goals he scored we had that great partnership with Asensio he looked really really lively was fantastic in that game against PSG and I think he needs the environment where he needs to hit the ground running right and needs to really be fighting for a place and obviously at Barcelona that goes without saying so I hope for him and for England of course that it works out Rashford's loan was almost stopped by Oasis because the band had bought all of Manchester Airport's private jet space for their tour that's great All of Manchester Airport's private jet space.

42:32How very decadent. You can't be spending money on private jets. You don't get Blair doing that. No, you really don't. Rashford was forced to drive 80 miles to East Midlands Airport instead to get the hell out of there. You don't find Blair doing that. Blair? Blair. You don't find Blair doing that because, I mean, as I keep saying, people need to be reminded, even if this tour isn't a reminder enough, that those other bands were nowhere near as big. No. There was one summer where there was two singles. One by Oasis rolled it, one by Blur, Country House, and it became a rivalry because then NME invented it for one summer.

43:06To suggest that Oasis weren't bigger than Blur, Pulp, all those other ones put together is wrong. It's just wrong.

43:13Jim Campbell: No one's saying that those bands are bigger than Oasis, though, right? Blur are not buying up all the private jet space. No, but I don't think anyone's saying that. But it was more of an event. They got together. When they got back together, it was quite a big deal, wasn't it? It was, but not on this scale. No one really noticed outside of the weird beta male virgins that loved them back in the 90s. I'm looking at both you two. I was also a virgin back in the 90s, but I wasn't a beta male. One would suggest that Oasis probably wouldn't be on stage at Coachella remonstrating with the crowd because they're not dancing.

43:44I don't know what you like about Liam Gallagher, but he doesn't try and bore everyone for interviews every six months talking about how he's now really into world music.

43:50Jim Campbell: And also him talking to the crowd kind of is him remonstrating with the crowd. It's true. That's how he communicates, isn't it? Yeah. Well, can we go after this? Speaking of Coachella and recording, Snoop Dogg is off to Swansea. Oh, no. There you go. Take this as your sign to go. Just get out there and go. This summer at Best Western, get 1 ,000 bonus points and a chance to win 250 ,000 bonus points. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at bestwestern.com. No additional purchase necessary for sweeps. See bonus points, TNCs, and sweeps rules for details. In a world where AI is changing every role in every industry, knowing who actually has deep expertise matters more than ever.

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45:11It's free to sign up and posting a job is easy. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That is Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's U-P-W-O-R-K dot com. Upwork dot com. Hi Pod fans, Max Rushton here from the chart topping Guardian Football Weekly Podcast. Don't like to crow. If you enjoyed the World Cup with us, you'll be glad to know we're back for the new Premier League season. Expect three episodes a week, questionable predictions and the biggest stories in soccer from the Premier League to the Champions League and beyond. Watch now on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

45:49That's it. That's your break ID too. Yeah, it's like you're telling yourself that. Drink it in. I always have Radio DJ anxiety dreams where I can't run the system. And I had one last night. Did you? And it's become true. It's become absolutely true. I will never forgive you. Preseason four, former Man United manager Eric Ten Hag didn't get off to the finest of starts. He's currently a beer, Leverkusen, of course, and they lost 5-1 to Flamengo's under-20s. Ten Hag's reaction was, I don't really give a shit. which is very enjoyable. He's been permanently broken by his Manchester United experience.

46:26Jim Campbell: Generally, pre-season friendlies are pretty meaningless, aren't they? They are, yeah. But they can still be very, very embarrassing if you get this wrong. I think you've got to react to them correctly and saying, I really don't give a shit, isn't really indicative of confidence going into a new season. No. As a fairly new manager. Mark suggests there's work to do, doesn't it? Mark Flecken played. Remember that he went there? Yeah. That's kind of something that everyone overlooked, isn't it? Yeah. Rob Andricks said, one of the most experienced players of course said it was a small catastrophe. Yeah.

46:54It was a small shit, everyone. It was a small shit. I think if it's not the under-20s, because they're in South America at the moment, we should make this absolutely clear. Labour Kuzná touring pre-season in South America. So if it wasn't the under-20s, I don't think it would be as embarrassing. I mean, under-20s, are you allowed all the players like you can in certain situations? I'll be honest with you, I've only looked into it slightly because I've read that Ten Hag said I don't really give a shit, which is interesting and funny to me. And I also was interested to see Granit Xhaka play because apparently Sunderland are trying to sign him.

47:27That's a definition of a lovely old job, isn't it? Yeah, I think so.

47:29Jim Campbell: Did they get Simon Odinger over the line as well? That's a brilliant signing if they did. They need resources. I love the Xhaka potential move because it smacks of absolutely brilliant keeping Sunderland in the Premier League or he's sent off three times in his first four appearances. Yeah, reverts. And leaves. Mutual consent. And screamer against Arsenal, guaranteed as well. Some kind of breaking of Bakaya Saka's foot as well at some point. Putting Saka out three months before the World Cup. Genuine accident as well. Not even on the pitch, just in the tunnel. I could definitely see him putting a couple of England players out of action for the World Cup if he comes back to the Premier League for sure.

48:07I think these headlines, these headlines about this Eric Ten Hag thing, they're essentially specifically designed to undermine Eric Ten Hag by publications like the Daily Mail, aren't they? because people will remember Ten Hag. He was a bit of a laughing stock. He's got a bit of a funny pointy head. Let's go to town on this and do 500 words on this.

48:26Jim Campbell: It's extended Man United banter, isn't it? There's a whole separate ecosystem from it. Man United echoes, isn't it? Yes, very much so. If you read the Daily Mail right up, there's not really any... I don't think the person who wrote it even watched the game. They just listed a load of players that featured, said the quote was funny. Job done, that's all you need. That's all we need. Finally stuck the boot in by saying at the end something like Eric Ten Hag has replaced Xavi Alonso in the job to undermine him even more to imply that he's got no hope of doing anything you're a big club now Eric unbelievable oh yeah well we haven't seen much of Gary Cottrell for a while no where's GC well Andy's we talked about Andy leaving the ramble he's very sad about it we didn't want to cloudy his his you know his flowers he got his flowers last week I don't really give a shit he's been a great we didn't want to cloudy his flowers we didn't want to cloudy his flowers that's a Donald Donaldson, that.

49:16You've done a Donaldson. Do you know what I mean by that? Cloudy as flowers. Give someone their flowers, but when you're putting them in water... That's cloudy. ...because you put the little plant food in them.

49:24Jim Campbell: Oh, I see. I thought you meant like the kind of clouds in the sky. I was like, hang on a minute. I'm trying to picture this. Oh, black flowers that grow in the sky. Manic Street Preachers, better than blur. I was making it up as I go along. Manic Street Preachers is probably the worst brown in the 90s. Get fucked. You like Guns N' Roses. You should be loving Generation Terrorists. I was listening to it at the weekend. That's not bad, to be fair. it's the best album G &R didn't write I'll go up to and include the Holy Bible I'm not going yeah no I agree Design for Life it's a wonderful song can I just make the point go on I fucked up with the Cloudy and the Flowers bit what I meant to say was like rain on the parade kind of thing so what I wanted to say to be fair though what were we talking about God knows what were we actually talking about I track Frankfurt no we weren't talking I track Frankfurt that was the first half Andy Andy Andy Andy got his send off and he deserved his send off five years we didn't want to make an announcement around it because he deserved to be recognised for the contribution he's made.

50:15But I can exclusively reveal today that part of the reason he's left the Ramble is to start a new football podcast with Gary Cotterall. Completely agree. It's going to be called May United are a Big Club. It's going to involve Andy continuing... Sighing a lot. Yeah, and correcting Gary Cotterall and his pronunciation of foreign teams and players. Download it whenever you get your podcast. Very nice. I'll tell you what else is nice. Speaking of cloudy flowers, a flower you can smoke, weed, that makes clouds legalise it. Snoop Dogg! Snoop Dogg! Snoop Dogg! The cult show! Snoop Dogg has taken a minority stake in Swansea City.

50:54They launched their new home kit just over a week ago, and they modelled the shirt. He said on the club's website, I don't think you wrote this, the story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me. This is a proud working class city and club, an underdog that bites back, just like me. so Snoop Dogg is in in with Swansea City

51:12Jim Campbell: he is he's been Snoop Lion in the past as well so I wonder if we're now going to get Snoop Swan yeah so you break your arm he breaks everyone's arm he breaks everyone's arms this is really interesting I think Wrexham might have got in Swansea's heads a bit because they've got Snoop Dogg and Luka Modric in while Luka Modric just plays for another club reminds me a bit of there's a there's a storyline in 30 Rock give us a Swan song nice yes sure that wasn't worth interrupting It fucking was. Have you heard the rest of this show? Go on, Jim. Fair enough. It mostly is interruptions, isn't it? Hang on a minute, Pete.

51:43Jim Campbell: It's like a jumper where only the holes are keeping it together. I think it might be about to get worse. Go on, Jim. So one of the cast members of the fake show in 30 Rock gets annoyed about her status on the show, so she starts hanging out with a new entourage, which is Charlie from Charlie Bit My Finger and the wrestler Mankind. And it genuinely is them. And I think they're kind of doing this in response to Wreck-Term a little bit. They're just hanging out with some oddities. and Cardiff going to get like Chesney Hawks and Mr. Motivator and go look yeah we've got some as well and did Mr. Motivator die recently?

52:13did he? let me look that up he'll be motivating forever that guy let me just have a look no I don't think he did I think we've had this conversation no he's around he's around 72 still doing well good on him because he motivated as a young man so Andy he motivated himself to stay alive forever exactly yeah Andy brought to our attention this Snoop Dogg Swansea partnership thing because Fabrizio Romano tweeted about it and Andy said on the WhatsApp group which he's still a part of not right to reply on the shiny marks this is a new low for any form of media because Fabrizio Romano announced this this partnership but then ended the tweet Romano by saying dog is not expected on the pitch anytime soon but will attain his eternal status as a player yeah I mean player is bad but the dog bit dog is not expected who writes like that he's writing it like he's a player isn't he dog yes dog yeah s dog s dog I mean, I know this is the era of cringe, but I mean, no cap, that's bad.

53:10No cap for real. Yeah, for real. We are in the cringe era, aren't we? We are in the cringe era. Which finally round, it's time to shine. Yeah, exactly. We're vintage cringe at this point. We have no shame, and neither does anybody else, and we're absolutely fitting like a hand in a glove. Sponsor the show. Yeah. Last Wednesday, a 10-foot mural of cringed granddad Sam Allardyce appeared in Dudley. An image just appeared on a wall in Dudley of Sam Allardyce eating a plate of orange chips was apparently a black country classic. I've never heard of this. I've never heard of it either.

53:40Jim Campbell: They look great. I think it's seasoned batter, the fried in batter seasoned with paprika and something else. I'm not sure exactly what else, but that's what gives it the orange tinge. Initially, it looks like he's just eating a big bag of giant Watsits. But either way, it's welcome. I think the country needs more of these sort of murals just popping up. Well, no one saw who erected it or slash painted it or however they got it on the wall. Nobody saw it going up. Allardyce, of course, grew up in Dudley and a lot of people who live in the town would just like, perhaps this is Dudley's answer to Banksy.

54:10Another person said, local lad eating orange chips, what more do you want? Finally for now though, I don't know which local this was, but I'd like to hear more from them. Who is it? It's just weird. It doesn't make sense and it needs to go. Problem identified, problem explained, and then the solution. Very enjoyable. Can I make a point where I actually think it's quite nice? Because he's one of Dudley's most famous sons. I looked up people from Dudley and I found it very hard with the exception of Jazzman from Babylon Zoo to find people from Dudley. There was one half of Hail and Pace. Oh, okay.

54:50Was it the man's mustache? No, the other one. If you are looking to put together maybe an extended mural on that piece of wall of all the famous people from Dudley, I think you've got Norman Pace in there from Hayland Page. You've got Jazzman, right? You've got John Bonham's son who drummed for them in that comeback show and has done some other stuff. Other than that, it's actually quite difficult to find big hitters from the proud town of Dudley. You'd probably have Lenny Henry in there. Absolutely, you've got to have

55:20Jim Campbell: Lenny Henry in there. But I think that Allardyce is well worth it. You take John Bonham's son out, you put Henry in, and then you've got a pretty decent Mount Rushmore there. stick that on a roundabout or something I was going through it last night and I was just finding players who played a bit in midfield for like kiddermint stuff people don't appreciate the work we put into the show I don't think they do I don't think they do we don't know the current situation at Eketike but we do know who came from Dudley Sam Allardyce is worth his spot on there I've met Sam Allardyce I told you before the only thing I've ever heard him say in real life was where's me cab where's me cab Sue Lawley oh that's a good one she probably get her eating chips I'm not sure I know who that is she's a TV presenter I want you to newsread it for a while, yeah.

56:03And of course, finally for now, I believe the town might even be named after the Sutton family, Baron Sutton of Dudley and all that stuff. But that's as far as I could get, I'm afraid. Well, more Dudley news on the next show, no doubt. Thank you very much for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the Aircast Creator Network. We are back tomorrow for a brand new mailbag show and remember to catch last week's Best of the Football Ramble for our favourite moments from the past season. It's a short show, that. It's a fucking five minutes. Luke Moore, may every day be a wonderful secret. And Jim Campbell, a pal is a wonderful thing.

56:38Is that a wasted?

56:49The Football Ramble is a Stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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From the publisher

This is a really interesting market opportunity. Does he score lots of goals? Not really. Will he quite frequently get sent off? Maybe. But yeah, £100m please.


Mr Donaldson takes class today with Luke and Jim for a lesson in the economics of Nicolas Jackson, sexy white water rafting with Fabian Schär, and Dudley's finest celebrities.


The lads also discuss if Noni Madueke will improve Arsenal and whether Terry Sheddingham is right: does Marcus Rashford 'deserve' to move to Barcelona?


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