Mailbag: Do Crystal Palace regret not backing Oliver Glasner?

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4:10Pete Donaldson: Hello, everybody. It's a terrific Tuesday here at the Football Ramble. Oh, it's the mailbag. It's the mailbag where you people ask us some questions about the old footballs. You can message us on xbluesky or Instagram at footballramble. Comment on YouTube or email us at footballramble.com. And, of course, friends of the Ramble, you get priority. Patreon.com forward slash footballramble or click the Join button on YouTube is where you can become a friend of the Ramble. You're in group one at the airport, instead of group five or six. Do they go down? I usually am, yeah. Five or six? Yeah. Oh, Peter.

4:44Pete Donaldson: Your reputation once again.

4:47Marcus Speller: You're priority boarding, but actually, as soon as you get on, we'll take off. Leave the riff-raff there.

4:53Pete Donaldson: Exactly. Leave those riffy-raffies. On Mailbag's Eve, Marcus, do you come downstairs on the cover of darkness when your mum and dad are in bed? Do you squeeze the mailbag to see what questions are in there? Yes.

5:04Marcus Speller: Did you do that by feel? Yeah.

5:07Pete Donaldson: You get a feel of the questions. Yeah, this feels like Crystal Palace. You famously have all of your questions written in braille, don't you? You can tell through the Hessian sack of the mailbag. That's a clever way of doing it. I did cheat the system. That is clever.

5:21Marcus Speller: Well done. I was ordering a passport yesterday online and I said, do you want the extra... From what website? What do you mean? As in like, oh, not like a dark web kind of like... I'm now, you know, a resident of Costa Rica kind of passport. It's like kind of a proper, you know, gov.uk, good old British. Beautiful British passport. Steamed lettuce. Steamed greens. Would you like this one blue or more blue? More blue. You want some more mints in your passport?

5:48Pete Donaldson: Is nothing wrong with mints? I know, because you're Brexit Marcus. That's your palate. Same as mine. Stop now. You eat cheese sandwiches. You eat cheese sandwiches. I eat cheese sandwiches. Who doesn't eat cheese sandwiches? Yeah, but it's not what I only eat. It's true. I have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They asked me whether I wanted Braille. The shite you come out about me. They asked me I wanted... And that's the ones you get upset about. You don't like the other stuff. They asked me whether they wanted Braille in my passport. I was like, add an extra. Stick a bit of Braille in there.

6:17Marcus Speller: Who's that for? I suppose it's for any person...

6:19Pete Donaldson: Yeah. I just want to say that Mince is very versatile. It is very versatile, yeah. It is. Mince is brilliant. Mince is brilliant. On its own or with other things. If you learn nothing else on the Football Ramble today. I just feel, though, that if you say... Latt or beef? You had pork the other day. Pork, yeah. Yeah, it's pork.

6:39Marcus Speller: You can get, like, sweet pork and do a East Asian noodle thing. You can do all that.

6:45Pete Donaldson: I just want to say that just because I say I like certain things, it doesn't mean to say I voted for one of the most catastrophic things this country has ever done. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No one's saying that you voted for Brexit. I just think that's unfair. The food is Brexit. The food is the people who voted for Brexit. That's harsh on the food. It's not fair on the food. All right. There's only one man around this table that eats frigerators in view of everybody else. That's all I'm saying. Frigerators are good. They are good. And I once had a packet of them. And now I'm like frigerator man.

7:12Pete Donaldson: You're a frigerator man. It's a bit like that time. All you need to do is have sex with a goat once. And that's what everybody remembers. Exactly. Yeah.

7:19Marcus Speller: Have you ever put a pork pie, a mini pork pie, in the microwave? No, I've never done that. Would the aspic not melt? the gel not melt. Exactly. What? Into a hot stream of you've gone your hand on it. And then you do like a savoury ice gem, put sriracha sauce on the flat side of it. Yeah. And then you can do two bites, you can do it in one if you want, mini point pie. Delicious. Guess how much cream and horseradish sauce I ate yesterday? Half a jar. Well done you. Half a jar. Well done you. And the jar was like that big.

7:50Pete Donaldson: Oh aren't you Mr. Cosmopolitan? Well done you. No, it actually affected my ass quite badly today.

7:54Marcus Speller: You're horseradish, you're joking.

7:55Pete Donaldson: Can I just say, lovely little mention for an ice gem there. A savoury ice gem. Not even I like ice gems, but savoury ones. I like, I guess they've stopped calling them gems. Sorry, we'll get to your questions in a bit. I was about to say, yeah. This is one comment too many. I was a big fan of those. They're one of my favourite sweets, but they've changed the names of them, and they've also removed the licorice flavoured gems in question, the jelly sweets. Nobody cares, mate. I know, I know. Something called sports gems now or something, or fruity gems. Right, this is from Darren on email. Well, after Crystal Palace's terrible start to the season, do they need to get on the ice gems?

8:29Pete Donaldson: No, he says, how much do you feel they're regretting not backing Oliver Glasner when they were at the peak of their powers? Do they regret backing or not backing Oliver Glasner? Because, I mean, obviously, Eber Echeze was sold to Arsenal after they won the Community Shield. Then Mark Gay would go later on. Alise went before. Alise went before. Le Croix going this season. Alise was quite a bit before.

8:52Marcus Speller: you know that wasn't yeah but i'm saying but there was a point where they had all of them

8:56Pete Donaldson: there was but at least it never contributed to the fa cup um victory yeah i mean they brought presumably like glass is getting a little bit too much credit because obviously the the club brought those players in yes in the first place and it's you know they wanted to leave and a lot of them were angling for moves and financially they kind of had to it was always going to be

9:15Marcus Speller: a springboard situation wasn't it i think the thing with um glasner which he deserves a lot credit for is that when you have all these players coming in knowing that's the thing, it's really hard to pull them together and keep them together in the way they did. And also to play the football that they did. That Palace team, unbelievable. It's even after Elise left.

9:38Pete Donaldson: Yeah, totally. But the best Palace team, you could argue, of all time. Do you know what I mean? Because winning that FA Cup is the greatest achievement in their history. And I appreciate that. Yes, yeah. then you know there is a strong argument for that I mean you you don't necessarily have to word it like that because it's a little bit potentially I don't know argumentative we're not saying

9:59Marcus Speller: we're not saying it to well I mean you're not saying it and I'm I'm not agreeing with you purely to shit on what's been in the past yeah it's not like

10:07Pete Donaldson: oh Wilfred Zaha did nothing in a power show you're not saying that who's Mark Bright

10:11Marcus Speller: we're not doing any of that

10:12Pete Donaldson: no sure until now because what did no but I think you know you look at that

10:18Marcus Speller: I remember Aki Rihalati

10:19Pete Donaldson: No, you see. Tidy player. I don't. Yeah, I remember them all. But, you know, of that team that played in the final, obviously Eze leaves, you know, Gay leaves, Lacroix left this, you know, but I mean, Glasner was already going before Lacroix went. So should they have backed him is the question. I think it's difficult because, and the boring answer is, you have to balance the books. and that's a really really crappy answer but that is often the reality get some lawyers man lawyer up let's respect the process and say that maybe you don't have to balance the books you know that's obviously respecting it but I think with Palace that's the loads of books I think did they regret backing Oliver Glaser I can see not backing him I can see the frustration for Glaser obviously because he's thinking hang on a minute I've got a team that can go places here lest we forget they did win the Europa Conference League.

11:18Pete Donaldson: And because they're a Premier League team in that competition. You know, I said at the start, I'm saying it with Brighton this season, not because of my brilliance, but because of just how obvious it is that the Premier League side has so much more financial muscle. Yes, they were meant to be in the Europa League. I appreciate that.

11:33Marcus Speller: Do you think that potentially hamstrung them a little bit in terms of they'd have got more money from that? From the Europa League. They might be able to invest it a bit more. But possibly. I don't necessarily think it would have kept Glasner there. No. But they certainly might have been in a stronger position coming into this season. I don't... Yeah, I think... When your major attacking transfer is swapping Brennan Johnson for Dwight McNeil, which they did get the better of in that deal, to be fair, what do you do with that?

12:01Pete Donaldson: So I appreciate from Palace's point of view, I'm trying to remember at the time, you know, what we were saying, and you kind of want to do the old, let's dare to dream. the fact is they won the FA Cup they then won the Community Shield for what that's worth and then they win the Europa Conference League they're in the Europa League now they didn't know how it would go under Pierre Sarge and clearly he's under a lot of pressure now obviously they lost again on the weekend do they regret not back in Glasner? I think it's just very difficult when you are one of the so-called smaller sides in the Premier League the reality is for Crystal Palace to try and get to a level where, say, someone like Aston Villa have got.

12:42Pete Donaldson: It's incredibly difficult. You can see how, you know, how, say, take Villa. Villa are a bigger club than Palace. You know, you think about their history, the stadium, all the rest of it. They sit in a different position. And so when you're in a position of strength, like, say, you know, Spurs have done under Maurizio Pochettino, someone said, why didn't they back Pochettino and have an overhaul of the squad? Spurs are in that position. They're up a level, to say someone like Palace. If Palace go all in, then it is such a risk financially. You've got to be very, very careful. So I have a degree of sympathy with the owners there.

13:23And the boardroom was a bit of a mess at that time as well. I can't honestly remember. They were just squabbling over shares here and there. You know, some people trying to gain control over it. It was quite messy, wasn't it?

13:34Pete Donaldson: Yeah, you had... Yeah, but that was the reason why they weren't... Yeah, Parrish was the man, but... Texter. Texter. That's why they got knocked out of the Europa League, of course. Yeah, you're absolutely right, Peter. So, you know, hindsight is a wonderful thing. I think that they were... I think the way Glasner sort of quickly was like, right, I'm not having this. And it was obvious he was going to leave. I think that was a little bit disappointing, because had he maybe just waited, they win that, and then they're in the Europa League the following season, if Glasner then goes to a huge club in Germany where we all thought he was going to go or a bigger club, I can kind of go yeah, fine.

14:12Pete Donaldson: The fact he's gone to Forest 100 % Well, it's the money though, isn't it? He had the resources there. He has a chairman who backs him and also allows him to buy his own players. But I think this is I think it's more on Glasner for kind of getting maybe too pissed off too early on whereas Adi have wanted

14:30Marcus Speller: For that reason then, is it not more on Steve Parrish? You think of with... When Palace had that team, one of the main jobs for any owner is not to get caught up reveling in the moment. Yes. That's for the manager. Sorry, that's for the fans, the players.

14:53Pete Donaldson: Yes.

14:54Marcus Speller: The manager's always got to be forward thinking and the owner definitely has to be forward thinking.

14:58Pete Donaldson: Yeah.

14:58Marcus Speller: and when they were in that situation where they just got rid of Elyse they knew people were sniffing around Eze as they were the season before when they had Eze and Elyse together like they were making so much noise in the Premier League that it'd be like look we know any right-minded owner who actually has the you know the best for the club at heart would have been thinking truthfully we're not going to keep them how do we get how do we get another version of this team basically. You put in the structure that allows you to compete and you end up, you basically try and emulate, with all your respect to Palace, you basically try and emulate Brighton and Brentford and Bournemouth to a point where you have this structure where actually you can take the pieces out and put pieces in and you know exactly what characteristics you need for every different role, whether it's your left back to your director of football manager.

15:52Marcus Speller: and it doesn't seem like they've done that because PSR by all accounts doesn't necessarily have the same managerial characteristics as as Glasner you know some of their even Sarr actually when they brought him in was slightly different but has that thrust up front, is a bit more direct, is more of a striker, second striker type thing, they obviously had that weird situation with Mateta but they've basically completely lost their way. The fact that Jefferson Lerma was playing was one of three centre-backs. Getting rid of Daniel Munoz was kind of crazy. Maybe it was a Glasner thing as well because he obviously goes and joins him at Forest, but he was a marauding wing-back.

16:36Marcus Speller: He had that long injury though, I suppose. Maybe they sort of wondered what he was doing. Okay, sure, maybe. But do you not think that?

16:41Pete Donaldson: I mean, Glasner, I felt like a lot of us said he was going to go at some point. You know, he kind of did all what he could at Palace. I just feel it was a bit...

16:48Marcus Speller: That's what I mean. Get the stuff around him sorted.

16:50Pete Donaldson: Yeah, getting the stuff around him.

16:52Marcus Speller: But I mean... Even like Deveni is an interesting one. They sold him to Stoke. He probably wants first-team football. He's, you know, getting to that stage where he's probably a bit too old to be constantly bumping his head against the first-team ceiling. But he's an excellent player. He's getting to this place too.

17:10Pete Donaldson: So what you're saying is that in terms of backing Glasner or not, you've got to be careful because of the financial stuff and the stuff you've just said there. What you need to do is make the club more airtight like the three B's

17:20Marcus Speller: yeah

17:22Pete Donaldson: and that's probably I mean that does take time and C's not far off B is it yeah no it's not that's that does take a bit of time that does take a bit of time though I do think it's a little bit David Moyes at West Ham there's a lot of rust in his specials about how they were performing in the league in Glasgow's last season he just didn't seem interested the players obviously a couple of players who wanted to move they didn't seem interested and it showed on the field the conference league they were squeaking through matches left right and centre And even the FA Cup, certainly the final, they were quite fortunate at times.

17:52Is that fair?

17:53Pete Donaldson: I think it's harsh on the final just because they're playing Man City. It's a bit David Moyes for me. Well, 12th again, who gives a, we won the FA Cup. So again, in the league, they weren't. But I think though, with what you were saying there, Vish, about just solidifying that Premier League status. And then if you do that, you know, you've always got the cup competition to potentially look forward to. This season, it's like, ooh, could we just slip back to being that palace of yesteryear, in fact not that long ago where you suddenly oh you're down in the championship again you're back up you know it's the same with someone like Fulham you know you don't want to become that yo-yo side so do they regret not backing him I think they regret perhaps not putting the systems in place that you spoke about there Vish to make sure that they're more as I say sort of airtight because at some point Glasner was going to go and I think throwing money at stuff might have been an unwise thing to do and realistically Palace know they're not going to challenge for silverware every other season.

18:49Pete Donaldson: They just won their first major trophy. And in fact, they've won two of them in quick succession. So that's amazing. That's fantastic. How then do you kind of solidify that solid Premier League status, if you like? And now this season is being challenged. How do you raise the floor, basically? How do you raise the floor? And now it's like, are we just going to slip back because it was just that manager and there's a few changes and whatnot? not yeah i i think the answer is not a black and white yes or no i think this is slightly more nuanced if i'm honest yeah yeah which may annoy you darren and i'm sorry sorry darren deal with

19:26Marcus Speller: it deal with darren pay us money a month and deal with it you are going to drive them away

19:33Pete Donaldson: but good question though darren

20:01We'll see you next time. Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, email, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the Headline Hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini.

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22:08Pete Donaldson: This is from Steve on Instagram. What do you make of Forest Green Rovers' new managerless stance? Could it work in the Premier League? Now, Dale Vince, the very eco-friendly man, he's obviously Forest Green's owner. He's currently trying an approach where there is no single manager or head coach at the club. We know he's a bit quirky and a bit kooky, but this is what he's doing. this is perhaps because Robbie Savage was the previous manager and he thinks you know what we can't let's just let the air let's let the air purify before that he sort of said the teams are always led by big ego managers and I'm not sure they always make the best decisions that's what he said it's like you just had Duncan Ferguson and Robbie Savage they basically say we'd rather have no manager than Hannah Dingley who we had in the role for a little while it just seems that's better than that idea give it Dingley give it Dingley

23:01Marcus Speller: Also, I like that, you know, football teams always led by, you know, ego managers. So I've decided to do something no one's ever done before. And I think it'll work out. Aren't I clever? I'm not against it, but it is a bit like, you know, the worst man, you know, also makes a good point. You know what I mean? Like, try something interesting. Did you enjoy it? You recently disbanded the women's team to get them back in the league. So you're like, well, what's the point?

23:28Pete Donaldson: Did you enjoy his Ding Dong with Simon Jordan on the radio recently? That's right, yes. Jordan referred to him as a soap dodger. Yeah.

23:36Marcus Speller: He had a bit of like, early Morrison, sorry, early Morrison, early Morrissey energy. Yes. Right. Yeah, he did. And it was just like two smug people on different sides of the political spectrum. Oh, it's too bald he's fighting over a cunt. Yeah, but I think like Luke posted the clip and like, I remember watching it being like, if I could go through the rest of my life having nothing to do with either of them, I'd be all right.

24:03Pete Donaldson: But you could watch them from afar.

24:04Marcus Speller: Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. You know that little thing where, like, you might be out in a public place, like, say, if you're at the pub or something, and it's just like, oh, those two are scrapping, and then you kind of, like, listen to them for a bit, and it's like, sounds awful. And you just start going back to your own life. There's absolutely no interest in that.

24:19Pete Donaldson: I thoroughly enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. But, yeah, I think with this, I mean, a managerless football club in the Premier League. No, I don't think it could work.

24:27Marcus Speller: But is this just purely not a cost-cutting measure dressed up as something intellectually progressive? Perhaps.

24:33Pete Donaldson: Perhaps. It could be that. I mean, there's just no way. You need such a boring basic point. You need leadership. And you need that one voice in a room full of men in the Premier League.

24:47Marcus Speller: 100%.

24:47Pete Donaldson: It's just such a basic point. In fact, not any league. I mean, the only thing... You know what it's like when you play for your grassroots football team and the manager's not... Right, who's in charge? Who's bringing the kit at least? Right, well, somebody needs to pick the team. Now, I understand...

25:03Marcus Speller: And whoever brings a kit, if that person is relied upon to do that, and you're happy that they're taking on that responsibility, even at Sunday League amateur level, you then have a respect for them that would, say, allow them to sort the team.

25:18Pete Donaldson: So I understand with Dalvin's, he's not literally going, and right, you will get in the room and somebody will figure it out. Clearly there will be somebody, whether it's like some weird rotation of one of the coaches or something. It'll probably be fucking AI, won't it? Yeah, probably. There will be some sort of leadership.

25:33Marcus Speller: So AI Lex Ferguson.

25:34Pete Donaldson: Yeah, right, fine. So, you know, something like that will happen. I'm not drinking all the water.

25:43Marcus Speller: His nose wouldn't be so red, would it?

25:45Pete Donaldson: No, that's true. I want to bet on that horse.

25:49Marcus Speller: It's come from Evian.

25:52Pete Donaldson: So, yeah, I think it's a ridiculous situation, and I hope it fails.

25:58Marcus Speller: I mean, it will fail, wouldn't it? Without going on Lord of the Rings, they do need one ego to rule them all, don't they? The guy runs on Netflix, doesn't he? He just sniffs his own farts too much, doesn't he? I don't know why smellsy on farts is less worse than sniffs, but it felt worse. Sorry.

26:13Pete Donaldson: Yeah, you should be apologetic. Sniffs a bit like... There we go. What's that over there? Oh dear. Anyway, there you go, Steve. What about this from Will on Blue Sky? Nice to see you back. It's an avenue you can use. It's an avenue you can use. Absolutely right. Newcastle United have had several players who were middling performers who have gone on to have better careers at a much higher level. Hosselu at Real Madrid. Marino at Arsenal. Do you have any favourites? Not in his usual role, I'd say. I would say. Yeah. He hasn't won the Premier League or the World Cup, has he, Peter? Do you have a favourite example of this phenomenon?

26:52Pete Donaldson: If indeed it is a phenomenon, Will.

26:55Marcus Speller: What was your... Have you got an immediate one that springs to mind for this?

26:58Pete Donaldson: Ivan Toni. What do you mean to say? Oh, right. I thought... It was very early. Did we have an Elka for a while? No. Did we have an Elka? No, you had Louis Sahar. You had everybody else. Louis Sahar. So did Fulham.

27:12Marcus Speller: They had him first. I think you had him on the line for the Mets. Oh, you might have. Yeah, bugger me.

27:18Pete Donaldson: The player, I'm... This would be... Motherwell fans will probably take issue here, as they often do with what I say. There we go. Yeah. I just... Paul Lambert leapt to mind. Now, most people may just, in England, just may remember him for being manager of Villa and some other big clubs like Norwich and Blackburn. But he was a very good player back in the day. But he was at Motherwell. So to call him a middling player at Motherwell, I think it's probably a bit harsh. Hence, he got his move to Borussia Dortmund. But much higher level is the thing, isn't it? But it's a different stratosphere he was catapulted in.

27:57Pete Donaldson: And he wasn't at Dortmund very long at all. He was at Motherwell for a few years. And he goes to Borussia Dortmund for one and a half seasons, kind of. And in that time, he wins the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, beating that Juventus team in the final with Del Piero's got a lovely little flick, I think. Zidane was there. And I think Paul Lambert basically did a number on Zinedine Zidane in the final, was voted man of the match. And again, it was just like, is that Paul Lambert? Is this actually happening? And everyone in Scotland was just like, isn't this incredible? You never knew he kind of had that in him because how on earth would you have done?

28:38Pete Donaldson: If he was playing for one of the old firms, which of course he went on to do, you could maybe say, He's had a bit of European experience at the top level. He's used to that winning environment, whatever. Even that would still be a leap. But going from Motherwell to winning the Champions League with Dortmund and only staying there quite a small period of time, really. And then he goes to Celtic. And fair enough, at Celtic, he wins league titles, as you would do at Celtic, though. So that sort of jump, that leap into stardom and, you know, as close as you can get, really, sort of immortality, you know, in some level, Lambert does that.

29:14Pete Donaldson: Some people might say he's undermined all that with his managerial career. But, it just, and he's only, I say only, he's got 40 Scotland caps. For a player who starred in a Champions League final who's Scottish, you'd think he'd least have about 80. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, I hope that answer, that satisfies your criteria there. I love this kind of like chat about how he got that move to the continent. To Dortmund? Yeah, Yeah, because he was just kind of like floating around and his agent just found him a move and it's just like, he was like, I never thought I'd ever be playing. And then suddenly he's just absolute goal scoring.

29:50Incredible. Yeah.

29:52Marcus Speller: I keep, I've got a little bit stuck with this one because I end up basically just thinking of players that...

30:03Pete Donaldson: He was crap there, but then he was good there. Yeah. And it's not quite...

30:06Marcus Speller: Which is not quite the...

30:06Pete Donaldson: Because it's a middling player. It's someone who's quite unremarkable, but they're all right. And then they get a move to a big side and you kind of go, oh my goodness, and they elevate there.

30:16Marcus Speller: Carlos Tevez. There are certain examples like Eric Chupamotin.

30:23Pete Donaldson: Right. Yeah, good example.

30:25Marcus Speller: Or even, like, he didn't actually do that well. And the way Barcelona in this instance got him was quite nefarious, but like Martin Brathwaite. like people who inexplicably got a big move and that's kind of in a Hossley way. Hossley is a great story by the way because he started out Real Madrid because he was a Real Madrid fan who actually went to the previous final of the Real Madrid in that he played in. He went there as a fan with his son because he's a Real Madrid fan. Love that. But yeah like Tuba Moting maybe. But to go from Stoke where people being like, you're alright, but like, geez, what a waste of time to then play for PSG and buy it.

31:08Pete Donaldson: Yeah. I mean, I don't know how he's seen at those clubs though. Was he just a sort of - Well, it's cut.

31:12Marcus Speller: Yeah. But I mean, he did a decent job, didn't he?

31:16Pete Donaldson: Yeah. I know what you mean. Because apparently we thought, what about someone like Bradley Wright Phillips, but then it's not -

31:20Marcus Speller: That's kind of - MLS is a different one. But it's not gone to a higher level though, has it? If you see what I mean. But Hart had a left wing called Andrew Driver. Right. Who moved to MLS quite early. But everyone was like, oh, this guy's really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then he moved to MLS and he's done nothing. And the idea of like, that felt cheating. Right. They were like, oh, you know, of course it's going to be good there.

31:41Pete Donaldson: Well, Petey, I mean, Newcastle were mentioned in the question. You must have an example or two. James Milner, Gini Rinaldo, Andy Cole.

31:49Marcus Speller: They were all very good at Newcastle. Yeah. Florian Tovan, he won the World Cup. Tovan, yeah.

31:53Pete Donaldson: Tovan's a bit more like it. You can't say Andy Goals got 40 goals in a season. Yeah, he did. Middling. Middling.

32:01Marcus Speller: Van Alam excellent in his one season. James Milner excellent. We get one season, that's all you get.

32:07Pete Donaldson: That's all you get. It wasn't a surprise they got big moves. Right. Chancellor Mbemba got a Portuguese title. Fine. You didn't have that?

32:15Marcus Speller: Was it Chancellor Mbemba and Tovan who rocked up to trading in tuxedos? Yes. And Adam Chiris said if he was still at the club he'd punch them. That's why he's not the bloody man. I didn't lay out someone in a tuxedo at like 10 in the morning.

32:27Pete Donaldson: Oh, I'll tell you one. Luke de Jong. Luke de Jong.

32:31Marcus Speller: That's not bad. He played for Barca, didn't he? What a disgrace.

32:34Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Here's one I just actually thought of. Kind of more of a sub-goalkeeper goes to Chelsea, Eduard Mendy. Right, yeah.

32:45Marcus Speller: Yeah. Really tidy for his stint, though, wasn't he? Well, indeed. There's only one position to fill the goalkeeper. But if you look at... He was in the Champions League final, wasn't he? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yes.

32:54Pete Donaldson: If you look at what Eduardo Mendy did before he joined Chelsea, he's played, I mean, looking at his stats, let's say you could make the argument he's been involved in 10 seasons at various clubs, including like Marseille's second side or Ream's second side as well. so he's been involved in 10 seasons of football before he joins Chelsea two of them when he was at Riem which is in Ligue 2 and then they were in Ligue 1 that were full seasons he played then you've got after that you've got at Rennes he plays kind of like a full season he plays 33 games in all competitions 24 games in Ligue 1 at Rennes at Rennes, sorry so he goes to Chelsea really as more of a sub-goalkeeper as a number two.

33:44Pete Donaldson: He's played a bit as a number one, but that is not a goalkeeper you think. Oh, he's going to keep a clean sheet in the Champions League final.

33:52Marcus Speller: He replaced Kepa, didn't he?

33:53Pete Donaldson: Yeah, it was around that time where Chelsea were not really that, you know, they were struggling really in the goalkeeper department. I mean, he's got 60 caps for Senegal. The first of those caps comes in 2018, two years before he joins Chelsea. Yeah. So he goes on to become his country's established goalkeeper, wins the Africa Cup of Nations, wins the Champions League with Chelsea as he's the number one. I think that's... I think Eduardo Mendy fits that criteria very well, if I may say for them.

34:24Marcus Speller: Yeah, that's not a bad shout. There's a problem with supporting Manchester United because people come good and end up shit.

34:30Pete Donaldson: You've got the opposite, haven't you? Yeah.

34:33Marcus Speller: Well, actually, genuinely McTominay. Yes. I didn't know...

34:38Pete Donaldson: It was right in front of our... under our noses. Scott McTominay is a good option.

34:42Marcus Speller: Yeah, he came through when he was at the academy, he played further forward. He fashioned himself into a defensive midfielder and then refused to play passes forward. Yeah. Very annoying. He was really bad at finding space to be accessible. And yet... Goes to Napoli. Yeah. But then you saw flashes of it when he played further forward. It's like, this guy's like... But I think you could call him a middling performer

35:06Pete Donaldson: because he wasn't always a starter. And when he went to Napoli, everyone was like... He was the run of Naples. Totally. Yeah, it's a freedom of the city. When he went to Naples.

35:12Marcus Speller: They chant his name in the stadium named after Diego Maradona.

35:19Pete Donaldson: No further questions. I think Tomlin is the answer. He's taking up smoking. What a life. What a life.

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37:59Pete Donaldson: This from Trucker on Instagram. After Cesc Fabregas' success last week, which managers currently managing on the continent would you like to see come or return to the Premier League? Antonio Conte! The Manchester United.

38:15Marcus Speller: So I put a lot into this question because I was fascinated, because initially I misread the question. Hear me out. Because I assumed it would be like young talent. Which young talented manager like Fabregas would you like to see come in? And I was actually like, to be honest, the Premier League and also broadly English football are quite good at attracting young overseas managers. If you think of people who've come over in the last few years.

38:43Pete Donaldson: Herzler, Iriola, Arbeloa.

38:46Marcus Speller: Hear me out. Ruben Amorim. There was definitely a point where he was... He was highly rated. And even Will Still.

38:53Pete Donaldson: Yes.

38:54Marcus Speller: People that were like, there's this guy doing crazy things in France and he speaks English and French. What a madman. But he's from England. What? Or Belgium, really. It's true. Yeah, sorry. But then I was like, actually, the managers that I'd love to see in the Premier League, one name immediately came to mind. Spalletti.

39:14Pete Donaldson: Oh, my goodness.

39:16Marcus Speller: How good was Spalletti V? Just to have the Spalletti experience.

39:19Pete Donaldson: I don't think it would last long. I think... Give us the English version of it.

39:23Marcus Speller: The biggest itch that we scratched, I think, from an overseas manager, with a point of difference and a real unique style, Bielsa. Yeah. And he was good. Yeah, he was great. Bielsa was great for the league. Yeah, for a bit. No, no, no, he was. I always had to end sometime, didn't it?

39:38Pete Donaldson: No, no, you're right. Do you know who I would like to see come back? To see what he... It'd be interesting if Vincent Kompany came back. Mm. Yeah. After what... Because Burnley to Bayern is a mad old route. and I just but like Bayern are playing well so I just where does he go from there well I mean if Chelsea well could he be part of well we need to respect the process I'll leave that there Manchester United that would be yeah

40:09Marcus Speller: he would do that wouldn't he

40:10Pete Donaldson: that would be funny wouldn't it no I think company at some point will surely manage in the Premier League yeah I think because he's young enough to be at Bayern for a bit and then maybe he goes to, I mean, you know, the way they churn through managers, Real Madrid at some point would probably come knocking for him, wouldn't they? I don't know whether that would be a good fit or not, but who is it a good fit for? Do you think Rudy Garcia

40:34Marcus Speller: would be a good fit in England? I don't know about that.

40:37Pete Donaldson: Would you like to see... Too old, maybe? Do you know what? I'm about to sound like, what's his name, from a Parks and Recs with his ex-wife. Is it Swanson? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ron Swanson. I'm about to sound like Ron Swanson here, but would we like to see Mourinho back?

40:55Tommy number two. Do you know what I mean? Hey, I'll tell you one person we've not mentioned. Go on. A young Bok, a young Turk managing in the Polish First Division. John Carver. Now we're in talking.

41:09Pete Donaldson: Get him back. I'd like to see Carver back, definitely.

41:12Marcus Speller: You know, hand on heart, I'd love to see Ange back at a normal club. Yeah. Normal-ish club. Normal-ish club, yeah.

41:18Pete Donaldson: Yeah, I know what you mean.

41:19Marcus Speller: Forrest was an absolute mess. And I think that's ruined him. I mean, I get why. He was so much fun at Spurs. I know people got sick of the shtick, but.

41:28Pete Donaldson: But I mean, it's Spurs. You can always sort of say, oh yeah, but it's Spurs. It's Spurs, guys. You know, like. There's a few clubs that don't sort of tarnish your CV anymore. But his argument was, he had Spurs playing. He was the last manager who had Spurs playing. And, you know, nearly qualified for the Champions League, of course. That season, they just missed out. and then I mean they did win a trophy as he always does in his third season which is one of the great quotes because they did it and you can say in the second season sorry yes of course so it's one of the the great quotes which I just misquoted he almost so good I forgot it

42:04Marcus Speller: he got Spurs so much he understood what the club was about so well that he knew he had to do a deal with the devil and be like look we are going to tank in the league make a mess of us on a Saturday or Sunday Friday, Monday whatever you want on a Thursday that I have in our bit

42:21Pete Donaldson: yeah and you want this trophy I want this trophy I'm going to give you a memory that you won't forget even though it was a dreadful final blah blah blah they got over the line so yeah I'd like to see Ange back as you know I'd like to see brother Brendi back because I still think he's got a lot to offer and I don't expect anybody to agree with me there

42:40Marcus Speller: no I think that's fine I think that that's fine isn't it it's fine look at what he did with that Leicester City team Yeah. I know, you know, how that Leicester City team would put together ended up being called into question.

42:53Pete Donaldson: Hey, don't taint him. Yeah, sorry. Don't taint him. Not his fault. All right, well, there's a few names for you there. Yeah, envelopes.

42:59Marcus Speller: That's part of the problem, sorry.

43:00Pete Donaldson: Yeah. And whose name was in the envelope. It's true. Turned out nobody's was, you see. Just in case anybody's confused by that. Last question from Charlie on X. If you were casting the new James Bond film with people from football, Who would you pick for MQ Moneypenny and Bond himself? We have received a similar question before, a couple of years ago, and suggested... I forgot we said this. It doesn't sound like us. We suggested Andy Gray as James Bond with Richard Keys as Moneypenny. You know, sassy little devil old Keys is. So I'll open the bidding. Who do we... The problem is I'm not that big a James Bond guy, so I don't know who I'm going to be.

43:46Pete Donaldson: He's actually a bit cooler than James Bond. I don't know who M is. Yeah, it's that James Bond. There he is. M is the character Judi Dench played, right? Who's Q there? Is Q the gadgets guy? Right, okay, I see. Beelzer could be Q.

44:04Marcus Speller: Like it?

44:06Pete Donaldson: Oh yeah, he'd overspend the budget.

44:08Marcus Speller: He'd also use all the tools on himself, wouldn't he? Ooh, this one twists your nipples. And Q's very likeable as well.

44:14Pete Donaldson: Despite being a mad genius, Q was always very approachable and likable.

44:18Marcus Speller: I mean, Pep Guardiola's a bad guy, seven days of the week, you know?

44:20Pete Donaldson: Yeah.

44:21Marcus Speller: He's Christoph Waltz times infinity.

44:23Pete Donaldson: But it has to be someone who... Daniel Farker.

44:27Marcus Speller: As Bond?

44:28Pete Donaldson: No, as Q. Ah. No, as Moneypenny. Again, bad guy. Moneypenny. Bit of eye candy. Either way, Jess and Tyndall has to be Moneypenny. Tyndall's Moneypenny. Has to be Moneypenny. Tyndall's Moneypenny.

44:39Marcus Speller: Tyndall as Bond, but the... No! Yeah, but the quirk with Tindall's Bond is like, there is a very clear travel ban. And he has to circumvent that. No, I like Tindall's Moneypenny. But Tindall's Bond, but Eddie Howe is also Bond, and each person thinks they're Bond, but they're not, if that makes sense.

45:00Pete Donaldson: You should have just left it as Tindall with Moneypenny. Yeah, because he'll go to some -

45:05Marcus Speller: We're not casting a film.

45:06Pete Donaldson: We've been asked to. All right, fine.

45:07Marcus Speller: He'll go to some dingy underground bar in Tangier and be quite out of the way. Tinder will be on the dance floor. Exactly, yeah. Requesting Barbie Girl. Show some decorum. Where's it at? Money Penny never leaves the office, does she? No, she floats around sometimes. Did I see her on a motorbike once? Handing out, I don't know, quests?

45:29Pete Donaldson: I'm not a much fun, to be honest. Yeah, no, you haven't. I'd certainly say at some point she hands out a quest on a motorbike. A quest! She might well have done it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep reading. Do this, Bond.

45:41Marcus Speller: Mr Bond, in front of you are two doors.

45:44Pete Donaldson: Who's M? Who's in charge?

45:47Marcus Speller: Ancelotti? Jason Wilcox? Does it have to be manager or is it the people from the world of football? He doesn't have to be manager.

45:52Pete Donaldson: Tindall's not manager, is he? You know who I actually think would make a good Bond?

45:58Marcus Speller: Eliso. Totally unboggled. No, no. No charisma. Exactly. The whole thing. Bond doesn't have any charisma, does he? He does. Again, you haven't watched Bond. Bond doesn't have charisma. You should see some of the wenches he beds during his quest. Wenches? During the quest. During his quest. He's got a hardy timey. He's got a fantasy lord.

46:21Pete Donaldson: So if you want to go down that road, who's going to... We've got to cast the entirety of Lord of the Rings. He comes back to Tyndall. Tyndall as Legolas. Who's the Orc? Do you think Harry Kane could be a good Bond? He's got the temperament, hasn't he? Well, he's got the quality Even if he was in the frame Somehow He's got the numbers Somehow his brother would fumble the appointment No, the brother would be a baddie He'd get to kill him at the end of something No, he'd be his agent and he'd fuck it up He'd be his handler and he'd fuck it up And he would kill him So Harry Kane is Bond M would be M would be What's his brother's called?

47:02Charlie Cairn. Charlie Cairn.

47:04Marcus Speller: Charlie, just a quick one here. When I asked you to send me the travel details, you've accidentally included the enemy.

47:12Pete Donaldson: You CC'd in. And we'll have Spalletti as Q. I was trying to think of a baddie. I was like, oh, my head is a barstool. He's not a baddie, is he? No. Spalletti now, bearing in mind, his steering wheel was stolen from his car. Yeah. I'm going to presume this. That's a feature rather than a bug in a James Bond car. Exactly. He got that car moving somehow, didn't he? Good point. Genius. Genius. So if he can drive a car without a steering wheel, I think that kind of, yeah. So there we go. There we go. Richard Keys was Q, by the way. Who's odd job? Who wears a hat? Who's the big tar block with teeth?

47:49Jaws. Jaws.

47:51Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Yeah, that would be... Mike Penders.

47:55Marcus Speller: Mike Penders. Mike Penders. Mike Penders.

48:00Pete Donaldson: There you go. Alright, and who's Baron Samadhi? Who can't we kill? Who the hell is Baron Samadhi? What kind of name is that? Honestly, people. I hear these terms and I'm like, I never really sort of, oh, it's J.J. Bonty. Baron Samadhi. You Google everything. Why didn't you just Google that? Bloody hellfire. What a strange accusation. You Google everything. I'll tell you who's... Oh yeah, the first facts that are just nebulous dreams. Someone you can't kill. Gianni Infantino. Yeah, Infantino's got to be in there, hasn't he?

48:28Marcus Speller: Is there a bit of charm to Baron Samadie, though? No, he's a terrible piece of work. Maybe it's just the actor who plays Baron Samadie.

48:33Pete Donaldson: He's into the voodoo and all that. Oh, the actor!

48:35Marcus Speller: He does it brilliantly! Yeah.

48:37Pete Donaldson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's good. And he always sits at the front of a train.

48:40Marcus Speller: Oh, um... You just said voodoo when I thought of French manager. Ramon Domenech? Yeah. That's harsh.

48:49Pete Donaldson: Star signs. I suppose star signs are voodoo adjacent. Baron Samadie is not an exclusively James Bond concern. It's an old, this Haitian voodoo character that actually existed outside James Bond, so I don't think they should be calling him Baron Sambody. Take it up with the... I'm glad I Googled it, actually. Thank you. Good point. Stop getting Haitians wrong. Thanks for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the 8th House Creator Network. I'll be back with Luke and David tomorrow.

49:14Marcus Speller: Don't say that with someone's joy that you'll never see us again. What a lovely few hours.

49:18Pete Donaldson: I cannot believe my luck that I'll be back with Luke and David tomorrow. Outrageous. There we are. Thanks, Vish. Cheers. I think Haysha's alright actually and thanks Baron Samadhi

49:36The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network

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