Mailbag: Has Eddie Howe taken Newcastle as far as he can?

0:00I don't know if it's the same in your London borough, but Dolly Parton gives us free children's books in Wandsworth. Ah, she's a babe She is, she's very good She's very good at a lot of things Very philanthropic Kind-hearted Hello everybody Welcome to the Football Rebel Mailbag Eddie Howe, influential strikers And former players of the orders of the day It's Tuesday 10th, the fair by Marcus Speller I'm Pete Donaldson And I'm the Dishan Hunter-Raja

0:39Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Mailbag. It's a pleasure to have you with us, and it's a pleasure to have your correspondence. Thank you so much for everybody who's got in touch. Of course, you can do that on xBlueSky or Instagram, at FootballRamble. Comment on YouTube or email us, at FootballRamble.com. And of course, Friends of the Ramble, you guys are special and get priority. Patreon.com forward slash FootballRamble or sign up on YouTube to get that priority. But you can ask us anything on the show As we've proved time and time again Get in touch Do it Right Let's start this show with an email from Phil Phil asks this Have Newcastle United gone as far as they can go Under Eddie Howe I'll just go and make a coffee I'll see you guys in a bit Pete, take it away I've kept very quiet up until now I've repeatedly said stuff about Newcastle United But now's your chance to do it again Do it Yes.

1:35We're threatening to take that button off me on Friday, and I think they're definitely going to take it off you today, Sunshine. Oh, deary me. It feels a bit like the ring from Lord of the Rings. I thought you just pressed a button, and I thought you were speaking on his little box. That's how confusing it is. Isn't that corrupting all men who come across it? It is. I kind of want to know. I want to be corrupted. Show some fucking respect. We've got that one. Come on, Peter. I think if Saudis still have any interest in that project, which I don't think they have, one would suggest I think there should be a there should be a reappraisal or appraisal of where Eddie Howe is I mean he's appraising himself he's saying that he can't get June out of his players and he's scared by his own admission he's struggling he's having a bad time when you said that the Piff Posse are bored with this project or they've had enough of this project I thought you meant the club right what do you mean as in like generally like being owners of the club they're a bit like we want a trophy no no no that's exactly what I mean that is the case more generally in their investment in sports.

2:34If you look at some of the moves they have stopped making, I suppose, across the board in various sports, they have ambitions to not just bring to Saudi Arabia, but improve Saudi Arabia's footprint across the world. If you look at the situation around Live Golf, I appreciate that's a bit more, slightly different, because I think it's been dictated mainly by the players who feel like they are those who defected to Live Golf, feel like they're very rich and irrelevant and that's not what they ultimately got into the sport for. But I think if you look at the way that they recently announced that they postponed the 2029 Asian Winter Games because essentially of a lack of belief in the overall projects that are associated with it so like developments and new settlements within Saudi Arabia and stuff like that you'd have seen about the line as well and like they've essentially stopped building that and that was their big project wasn't it I made the big line and I think there's can't we consolidate that and make it like a nice little place yeah like if you look at what they've done in boxing in particular they've been given room to manoeuvre themselves into boxing they made that initial move into golf and manoeuvred themselves quite well there but with football because of the guardrails of I suppose essentially PSI as it is right now they can only get so far I think when they originally got into the sport of football through Newcastle it was seeing Qatar's increased footprint through PSG and also with the World Cup.

4:05Yeah, yeah, yeah. And at the same time... A little bit of sponsorship at Barcelona. Yeah, but also like, you know, with the UAE specifically, like, you know, Abu Dhabi and Man City and seeing that and being like, let's have a piece of this. But obviously by the time they come in, because of what's happened with those other two teams, everything, you know, the wars have been brought up a little bit and enclosed a bit more. And I think there's just like less appetite to fight for that kind of stuff from them yeah massively I mean you look at Newcastle I mean the new stadium seems to be off by all indications I mean three directors of football in four years I mean it's a tricky situation that who's that little bugger that bought up that slither of land by the ground do you remember that yes which don't get me wrong I think he's I don't know the guy he could be he's having a good time but that is like quite funny behaviour yeah you know it's very frustrating for a lot of people I understand it But the great sort of promise to a lot of these footballers coming to Newcastle United was that we're going to be challenging for titles.

5:04That's not happening anytime soon because of that PSI glass ceiling. And you imagine a lot of the buildings in that kind of world, they love a glass ceiling. They should enjoy it, I think. To enjoy the glass ceiling. It's a mirror ceiling. It's a mirror ceiling, no. But I mean, as a supporter, of which I count myself as I know about it, I think the takeover took all the romance out of the club for me. so if I'm being unromantic Eddie Howe's hit a wall he's finding it very difficult to get anything out of these players at this moment in time and he's been pound for pound the greatest manager Newcastle I've had in the last 30 years and I'll always love him in the same way that I've loved Isaac or you know Kieran Trippier and players like that but when you take that coin you lose the romance you lose that kind of lovely bit of irrational football love I think we were talking about VAR yesterday David Schwarz.

5:54And you lose that kind of blarney, you lose that kind of excitement about Bruno talking about how much he loves the area and stuff like that. And how went into this project with his eyes open? It's not like he was a Mike Ashley guy who was taken over. He knew what the project was, he knew what the pitfalls were, and he knew what that glass ceiling was going to be. And he's going to be exiting this side, I think, probably this summer with that same knowledge. I'd argue that he's done even worse this time around in the Champions League. it's the second time gone just simply because the format is completely different you see teams like Spurs qualifying automatically for the next round and Newcastle United can't get there it's a bit of a joke to be honest the amount £400 million spent net by Eddie Howe and he can't get through without having to go away to Carabag I mean it's an astonishing result So you think right now he's off in the summer what would he have to do within the realms of reality what has he got to do and I know he's going to win more matches but would it be a case of actually getting lucky against some English teams in the Champions League maybe once they get through Carabao obviously if they win the Champions League I don't think too many people are going to think that but Vish what do you think he would have to do to turn it around realistically would it be enough for them to say finish 5th because 5th is odds on for another that's what I was just looking at now they're 10 points off 5th and making that up between now and the end of the season that would be a remarkable turn of event and also So it would...

7:22Well, they're the same off relegation as they are Champions League currently. Yeah. I think the most damning thing right now is that they are 11 points behind Manchester United. Yeah. Giggling, Charlie. You're a Newcastle fan. Producer got a tickle out of that one. He did. But going back to it, so if Newcastle United, say, won the FA Cup, but they finish mid-table, do you see what I mean? It really is surely getting back into the Champions League. I know this sounds ridiculous because winning a cup I'm trying to get I'm trying to get into the mind of owners here That would still get him another season I think Do you think?

7:59But it's not going to happen at this moment in time They're there I mean away to Villa They cannot score a goal I think That is a problem I like I don't really I mean there's no point in me talking about it when Pete's here But you can see Fine I am about to talk about it Yeah exactly yeah It did feel like Newcastle's most reliable players weren't performing at the start of the season. Even someone like Botman, who's been better recently, I feel like, has kind of, you know, Joel Linton, Bruno Gimmaris, and Anthony Gordon, league-wise, hasn't been great. Champions League has been a bit different.

8:34And obviously, losing Isaac is such a big deal. But it feels like from the outside that Eddie Howe, who's tried to like, not even tried, but assumed it would work itself out with the same system. My brother made an interesting point about like, he feels like he's a Newcastle United fan sorry my brother who is a Newcastle United fan qualified to get a mention on this show absolutely yeah he's always been talking about how like they play two different ways when they when Valtomada's up front and when Vista's up front but they've got it the wrong way around it's like you've got to give Valtomada the ball more often than you need to give it to Vista because he can't be trusted with it as much as Valtomada and it feels like there is a bit of confusion on that front And I also think like, there's something Luke said last week or maybe a couple of weeks ago about how, because of where Newcastle United as an organisation and maybe a bit of a fan base as well, given the regularity of European football recently, there's a place of where they think they should be.

9:37And it feels like Howe's become emblematic of stuck in a slightly old version of themselves, even if that version was a successful version. Well, he took over when they were in a relegation scrap. Yeah, sure. But then also, you know, got them into the Champions League. good. And so, yeah, but a top manager, I don't think he's probably, yes, he's probably not, even, may not be, I know Ancelotti went to Everton, but that was a bit of a weird one. Yeah, even without knowing that the upside might be coming with the investors, yeah, sure. You want to be the next guy after him kind of thing. Sure, yeah, and it might be that the next guy after him is a high profile manager who currently is at an international team and won't be at the end of the, end of the World Cup.

10:13You can say his name. But which one though? It could be, is it Ancelotti? Is it Pochettino? Is it Thomas Tuchel? well Tuchel I thought you were getting at yeah but like what I'm saying is there are other options of higher profile managers right who are available in the summer which is why I mean I don't know what you think about this sure I don't know what you think about this Pete but I feel like it would be foolish for the owners to get rid of him before the end of the summer no I completely agree and his I think he's safe to summer and his yeah definitely just because we're still in competitions totally yeah and his great skill was getting like 9 out of 10 performances from like 7 out of 10 footballers but at this moment in time, he's been given eight out of ten footballers and he just can't seem to work with them.

10:53So you almost feel like this is kind of above his level. Like a few months ago, on this very show, there were people sort of emailing in as questions, is like Sandro Tonali, the best midfielder Newcastle have ever had, look at how much he's dropped off this season. He's been quite poor. Nick, the ball, Nick Voltemada, the ball just sort of bounces off him at this moment in time. They're really, really low on confidence and you kind of feel like he's moved away from this kind of all-action pressing side because of the extra European matches. But kind of what's left is this kind of like 400 million quid kind of mousy, sideways passy kind of team that can't break down a low block.

11:32You know, as I said on the show yesterday, Kieran Trippier feels like he can't advance over the halfway line because he's getting rinsed for pace going backwards. We've got a lot of injuries in the back and they've just refused to spend any money this January to fortify that. He can't... Our next step, on Newcastle United's next step, is going from that 150k a week football, 200k footballer we've got at this moment in time, to the ones that were signing for Manchester United and Liverpool, the Eketikas and stuff. But Newcastle were in for them. Yeah, because they've got that level where they can't break that bridge structure.

12:08They just can't. They can't afford them. And it does seem to be the wages because Newcastle... Look at how poor he's kind of fared with players like Alanga. He started, first couple of matches, he's quite good. He's really fallen off. A few Newcastle fans have pointed this out to me, since all this kind of chat is really bubbling up now, is that they tried to sign so many players. Do you remember? Yeah. It was quite, you know, it reminded me of asking girls to dance with me back in the day. You know, it was just rejection after rejection, you know. And it was for those reasons, as you say, because Newcastle were trying to strengthen from a position of strength.

12:44You'd seen the Cup win. They were in the Champions League. There was a great vibe about the place. And I know, but I'd rather go at Man United. Hang on about. It's the wages, aren't it? It's wages. There's also a bit of history in there, but I think it is the wages, Peter. And that is a problem. Mainly wages. Fine, fine. It's a reason you end up having to, you end up realising that you need a progressive midfielder and signing Jacob Ramsey, who is a good player, but you sign him because of the wages. So it's all on Bruno, isn't it? So therefore, then, the question is, has Eddie Howe gone as far as he can from Phil?

13:21You might suggest he has, because if that's realistically the level of player they've got because of financial regulation and all the rest of it. And he can't even play with those players. Right. And he can't even get a tune out of Jacob Ramsey. If, and there's that word again, inertia set in a bit and if Howe's like well this is what we've got and all the players kind of think I think this is as far as we go then if you are the big wigs at the club you have to go well I think he probably has taken us as far as we've got because if he can't get those players in due to whatever reason and I don't think that's necessary you can't blame Howe for that but you can blame him for being able to work with the director of football you can blame him for that kind of stuff and there's been some odd chat about that in the past then do they turn to I mean, at the moment, the odds are Iroyola is up there in the betting odds.

14:09Glasner as well. Do you get him one of those managers? Dare I even suggest Marco Silva, who's also in the odds to become their next manager. Well, you kind of get the sense that they're probably more, probably more got the capabilities to deal with those slightly more expensive footballers. I mean, Howell will be fine. He's got loads of friends in the media. He won't be out of work for long, but he will have to learn. I worry about Tyndall. I dare say they'll come as a pack. Yeah. Like a double blister pack that you get for a tenner. Or is there a news series of Love Island? Maybe, maybe. But yeah, I don't know what he's going to do to sort of rescue this season or certainly rescue his Newcastle United career because it's a shame because he's given me a lovely afternoon at Wembley and a lovely hangover for two days after that.

14:53But it's just a real shame. You did that yourself? Yeah. He was throwing round pints like nobody's business. He had them lined up at the bar. I think hell's complicit in it. Yeah. He is, yeah. You did this. He knows what he's done. Yeah, the previous finals, you can't blame him. When he's out of his own, calm down, he's actually placing paints on the bar. That was the sign he was doing. I see. And then his work there was done. Well, okay, interesting. We'll see how it pans out there. Coming up after this, some of the most influential strikers in football history.

15:35we got a message from Titch Lid great name would like more answers on that one Titch Lid asked on Instagram which Premier League team are having their worst season by their own standards we're not talking about Newcastle again are we I don't think we are yeah I think they brought in some new standards didn't they that's true actually To me there's two teams here And is one of them Brighton? No No he's not Brighton Brighton they're three points off 10th Brighton are a mid-table Premier League side They're 14th yeah So how is that by their own standards By the standards that they've set Over the last five seasons I say that yeah they are They finished 9th in 21-22 6th in 22-23 11th in 23-24 And then 8th in 24-25 Right, so it's not that bad, is it?

16:27If Brighton finish 14th, no one's batting an eyelid, are they? Other than a few Brighton fans getting a bit pissed off. But you've touched on it there. There used to be a team that people would pay attention to, would want to watch. No, I'm not... I say this as a Fulham fan. No one cares where Fulham finishes, really. Yeah, but... They're in the mid-team. Brighton are a completely different team to Fulham. Brighton consistently have players that everyone else wants. And because of that They've been so watchable Even if you look at their team Right now Bayern Munich Wanted to help a lane you Yeah fine A really decent And look at him now Yeah And which leads me On to my point Spurs are 15th Yeah Spurs are having a stink Of a Premier League season Yeah but Your only argument Your only argument They don't have any standards Your only argument Is where they finished Last season They are in the Champions League By the standards Of their nice stadium By their standards The two answers to this question are Liverpool and Spurs Spurs what are Spurs standards exactly not 15th if Brighton their stadium does not buy getting a nice stadium does not buy you anything higher than 10th clearly that's how it works clearly have you seen that Vietnam stadium they're building by the way no I'll tell you what if it does they'll be winning the World Cup soon right they're building a nice stadium I couldn't work out whether it was fake or not I think it was but yeah they're building this mega stadium in Vietnam 39th game is all I'm saying All the games there Anyway, back to the bollocks Spurs finishing 15th Is a far bigger story And a bigger stain on their club Than Brighton finishing 14th If it all finished now Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with that I'm not saying that Brighton was my unequivocal answer But you saying that Brighton being 14th Isn't a bad season by their standards No, no, it's not a good season But it's a bit like, yeah, they probably want to do better If Marcus had a tie just then he would have went like that.

18:23Yeah, exactly. I would have done it. I also think they're so boring now. They're such a... They are like... They used to be an enjoyable team to watch. Quite fun, you know, functional, exciting. And they're just dull. Someone made a good point yesterday. Who's this? Spurs or Brighton? Brighton. Right. Spurs are not dull. Very funny. Yeah. Very funny. Haha. Someone made the point that, obviously, Brighton Palace, that derby was the 2pm Super Sunday game and someone made the point to actually just chuck it back into the 3pm Saturday games because it's you know, the way those two teams are playing at the moment are just a bit mere and I think Brighton should be, and it might actually be because of where they the talent and rather the pool that they usually pick from it's not as deep anymore because they have to look for value and this, that and the other and they don't, maybe in that particular segment of the transfer ecosystem, there aren't as many players there, there aren't as much value there.

19:27Maybe more people are looking there, but I just think, that's why I put Brighton. Fine. I would say an honourable mensch, or dishonourable mensch, but which Premier League team are having their worst season by their own standards? West Ham would be, I would say, above Brighton in this. I don't know. No, but they are, because... Flewton were relegation, last season under Moyes was terrible. Under Moyes? Yeah. No. Terrible. You're talking, you're going back to no not under Moyes Moyes left and then Lopetegui came in and that's when they were bad under Moyes as well no they weren't but last season domestically it wasn't too inspiring but there was no relegation chat under Moyes though Moyes won them the Europa Conference League are you familiar and all of the fans and all of the pundits who talk about West Ham are familiar with that Europa League win Europa Conference League but the Europa League they also had a good they had a good stint in I think West Ham standards you could argue yes, this has been coming.

20:21So maybe it's not a brilliant answer to the question, but I think their standards are, we are a Premier League side and we should be kind of mid-table. Show me in the relegation. And the fact is, exactly, yeah. Whereas, I think the reason, well, I think Spurs, and I'd be amazed if any Spurs fans, the reason why Spurs fans are all kicking off is because of how crap they've been in the league. Liverpool, the reason why I put them in is because they are the Premier League champions, lest we forget. Liverpool's probably the right answer. Yeah, but they are the Premier League champions. And even in Klopp's last season, they were in a title race.

20:52No, no, Chelsea, that's about... If Chelsea finished fifth this season, I would say people would be like, yeah, it's probably about right. Not for the people who remember. But again, where do you kind of draw the line? I mean, if Man City hadn't had a stinker last season, would this one be regarded as being, you know... No, because they're still in the title race. If we're having this conversation at the end of the season, then we've got the full picture. But right now, they are in a title race. so yes if this was off the back of if this was say last season but I still think with but you'd still expect oh but Mancini they can turn it on and they can go Liverpool are not in the title race and have not been in the title race for quite some time and for a club who won the league last season at a canter at best it's a bit of a drop off and it's not a particularly brilliant top two or three this season in the Premier League so Liverpool therefore have dropped it even further down especially with all the investment exactly indeed so I think I think probably Liverpool you would say because even that final season with Klopp until about I can't remember what was a handful of games left they were in a title race seemed a little bit unlikely but they were still there and again not every season under Klopp but they always had you know they're not guaranteed Champions League football this season and if they were to finish outside the top five then that would be quite damning and they could do so that would be my answer Peter did you did you have a definitive answer?

22:14Now that the evidence has been presented to you. Don't say Brighton. Yeah, I think Newcastle's last three seasons were pretty decent under the new regime. And then that standard has massively slipped this season. In every competition. I think that's a fair answer as well. Fairer than some. Yes. I've got an email from Charlie Reid. I was having a discussion with some mates and we were wondering who the most influential strikers were to particular teams in specific seasons, i.e. players who made the season a success. Someone said Van Persie at Manchester United. Yeah, good one. Erling Haaland at Manchester City.

22:56I personally think that Jamie Vardy at Leicester City is the standout. Yeah. What do you all reckon? Well, this is why I said on yesterday's pod that Robin Van Persie will get a mention because there it is. But I would choose another Manchester United striker as well, Eric Cantona. Yeah. you have to choose is this specific seasons or because I'm willing to kind of expand it out well I mean in the question it does say you can do I think you're at liberty to do that I don't think Charlie Reid will get angry and if he does well Charlie email it with your with your absolute disdain and you're all welcome to do that but please you know there's only a certain amount of internet capacity that we have but the most important is it particularly seems to be specific seasons is what he said so that's why Van Persie gets the mention at Manchester United I think Cantona I mean you could say generally at Manchester United, but definitely specifically with that season, would it have been 95-96 with him coming into the, you know, after the ban, whenever that was.

23:54I might be mixing up my seasons there, but certainly that season, you know, with the goals he scored, particularly, I'm sorry to mention it, Peter, but that goal, the winning goal at St. James' Park in a 1-0 victory. Cantona was, there's the V sign, Cantona was, it was his season. It was his year in the top flight. that would have been the same season wouldn't it when they won the FA Cup as well only saw the winner he got the only goal of the game volley from where the smart money was there was not going to be a goal so Cantona that season I would say we could broaden this to abroad and if you're talking more generally then let's all go Misty Arden remember Gabriel Batistuta if you're on team yeah I mean there's not a specific season in there but you know up yours Charlie Reid you've got a problem email is tough guy but I think yeah batter Stuta at Fiorentina I mean does it have to be like a success or just like saving you from relegation because I'd like to put Joe Willock at Newcastle not a striker well not a striker not a striker Eddie Al playing him up there every fucking week recently if you want to tell Eddie he used it he used it to give an answer so he could have another dig at Newcastle this season alright Marcus Kevin Phillips at Sunderland when they finished 8th like that lovely 7th would that have been Stuart Fritsch Stuart Fripch Would Noel Quinn Our mate in the pub Been up front with Phillips that season Might have been yeah Yeah Kevin Phillips was just an astonishing footballer I mean Didn't he won the European Golden Boot that year He's got 30 goals I'm pretty sure he won the European Golden Boot as well That was the era where just Mario Jardel was winning it in Portugal Yeah Jardel maybe had a season off or something Yeah they finished 7th 8th got Europe Because Leicester City won the League Cup It's like Oh it's a shame isn't it Yeah Well I would say as well In the promotion winning the championship when Fulham went up Alexander Mitrovic broke the scoring record yeah also he's transformed with Fignacastle as well I guess Mitrovic I want to say that's generous but I also don't want to say that as well yeah skewers your own point I really enjoyed I really enjoyed how good John Stead was for Blackburn Rovers that's a lovely shout not Alan Shearer for Blackburn Rovers no In terms of like We're thinking of Yeah S.A.S.

26:10Yeah John Stead But we're thinking of Like Stryker specifically That like Pop to mind As being like really Like keeping someone up Is huge No no you're right You are right Ivan Toney for the Saudi Pro League's Al Hillel Kevin Campbell at Everton Kevin Campbell at Everton Was like a real nice moment Totally brushed over that It was actually Al Ali as well I got it wrong Kevin Campbell at Everton Like hugely Influential And actually like passed down to players like Wayne Rooney and stuff like that, like really did incredible things at Everton. My answer is Henri at Arsenal. I think if you look at the style that he helped establish on and off the field, I feel like he was a key part of their pace.

26:54They're a quick side. He was the quickest player in the league. He would stretch teams. He would occupy at times at least three defenders in a back four and then influenced midfield when he always pulled out left um created as well but also i feel like a lot of their modern day swagger and panache and the reason you know we joke about it but the reason they have so many lines of different kind of clothings clothing ranges is because they're associated with being a quite cool a very slick off-field operation you can say if you want but I think a lot but a lot of that was pinned on one bloke who was just very charismatic very handsome I think I think Ian Wright there's an element of that no not in St.

27:44Rizomri and I think one chicken one chicken tonight because also because also without without getting too kind of you know societal about what it was to be a black player in the mid 90s I think a lot of what was put on Ian Wright was a bit thuggish and I think Henri came at a time where people were revising how essentially what it was to be black and British and here was a suave, you know, Frenchman of colour being like, yeah, you look sick. I think more general mainstream, I suppose, is what I'm talking about. Right, okay, okay. Rather than like, you know, you and I enjoying him. But you're talking about Henri's dance.

28:26Yeah, I feel like the Henri thing was, you know, the Nike advert where he's just in like, trackies kicking a ball around his house with his dog it's like oh yeah that's cool as well yeah regardless of whether he you know you've spoken about it whether he seems a bit naff at the moment i feel like definitely at that time he helped the brand of arsenal's you know as well as like you know the two titles and two fa cups well just to clarify on the naff thing is when you put in that show particularly yeah yeah when when michael richards is is sort of kind of naturally you know dialing it up jamie carrick is desperately trying to keep pace with him Henri then has to go well someone's got to have a bit of balance here but then he kind of reverts almost like to it's all sort of caricatures of one stuff he's got a lot further to fall one would suggest he's got so many reserves I think anyone who thinks that Henri isn't the coolest guy ever hasn't been in a room with him for a little while if he walked in this room I'd wet myself would you?

29:19yeah just to show him his boss this is what I'll do on camera Thierry hey up the ante I was about to ask would Mika do this? and there it is unequivocally Carragut would yeah there's no doubt what I've done is disgusting why have you brought that up coming up after this Pete's not cutting his hair for 500 days

29:50got one from the discord here from Ruckus Patrick with Villa going back to the future with their January transfers obviously signing Douglas Louise and Tammy Abraham who used to play for the club which other former players would you like to see rejoin a current Premier League team so presumably they're all active we can you know to current players still playing to rejoin their Premier League teams I know who you're going to say immediately Mitrovic to Fulham yeah and you're going to say Mitrovic to Newcastle correct brilliant where does that leave me completely agree you've been untested Manchester United aren't they Cristiano Ronaldo yeah lovely Probably.

30:28Come back to base. We thought long and hard about that question. Get Trent back. And there's our answers. Get Trent back. Let's have Trent back in the league. I would like to see Trent back at Liverpool. It's not happening at Real Madrid. I mean injuries and so on. Well, Trent back at Liverpool. Sopasai then like commanding you know, placing. Not that he's not playing in midfield. It turns out the Liverpool fans were right. Trent shouldn't have gone. Yeah. And that was the point they made, yeah. Either way, do not. It was a warning. It was a warning. It was a warning. Jude Bellingham back at Birmingham City Yeah You'll probably afford him in a couple of years That's a good one yeah I'd like to see Anthony Alanga back at Forest Yeah Do you think that would be Do you think it would solve anything?

31:12I know it's Dyche isn't it It's Dyche's Forest He's like what are you? I don't know what you are Yeah that is a point I've just seen some of your videos Where are you running to? The other goal Are you mad? What's an offside trap? Come on, Manchester United, who would you like? Andre and Anna, just for the lols.

31:36Genuinely, Di Maria. At this age? Yeah. I think he's class. Sunderland. I think he's one of the... He's got to be returning where he's already played. He's just chucking Sunderland. No, it just says you rejoin a current Premier League team. Oh, okay, fine. Someone who used to play for your club Going to somewhere else I'd be happy that he's in the league again So you could face off against him You know, he He's just a brilliant footballer I would I would take him Similarly Probably also not now I was quite sad when Ander Herrera left Were you? Yeah So I think of those kind of players In terms of recent times Who are still active I'd like to get back Yankoubi Minta and also Elliot Anderson Elliot Anderson I mean that's that is but that makes much more sense than a 36 year old and a Herrera who's currently at Boca Juniors is he that's class Boca Juniors yeah really wow yeah what number is he it's not an embarrassing number is it bring back a little Pete he's had a bit of transformation shut up Pete 36 year old and Herrera so you get back Chikorito sorry that's really I should know that I literally went and watched one matter played a Melbourne victory.

32:56Yeah. Yeah. So you'd want... Fuck, he looks good in that. I could look like that in a bit. In a bit. It's a good shirt though, isn't it? It's a classic shirt, I think. So I think that... That Elliot Anderson, I think that's a brilliant answer because I actually think that... Probably would fancy it a bit. There is a remedy to a problem there. I'd also... I also would like to see Alexandre Reza back at Newcastle United. I think I'd like to see that. I would really like to see that. And I would also like to see, well, even though we're all enjoying how good Igor Thiago is having at Brentford, Ivan Toney back at Brentford.

33:33Spot on, yeah. He's 19 and 19. Yeah, well. Ali slash Al Hilal. All right, I'll revise my answer. It's a World Cup year, Tony, you dick. What are you doing? He's beating Ronaldo's record. Come on. Come on. That is, that is, yeah, that's the, maybe not quite the same, but like, John Duran at Villa. John Duran, yeah, Yeah, indeed. I think we've mentioned that a lot. Where's John Duran? Travelers, Chelsea. Bring him back to Chelsea. Wasn't John Duran, wasn't he trying to get out of Fenerbahce or wherever the hell he is? Where is he? No, no, he was trying to get out of Saudi. I think he only went there, didn't he?

34:05No, I think he's trying to get out of his Turkish move as well. Oh, dear. He's moved again, hasn't he? I think he moved again, yeah. I've just been reliably informed that Edison Cavani is also at Boca Juniors. You love to see it. I did know that, yeah, yeah. Get him back at Man United. Oh, yeah, so John Duran is moved to St. Petersburg, I think. Oh yes, he moved to Russia, yeah. Strange move. I'm going to say, even worse, money. A money move. He was close to signing for them as of three days ago. And he's still 18. Right, I think we've given you enough answers there, Ruckus Patrick. Shove that in your pipe.

34:41And puff it. Right, let's finish with this from Ben Pomeroy, who asked this on Instagram. Has any of the team thought about doing a challenge similar to the Man United fan with his hair? Pete? Question mark? I'm going to get a pint of blood replaced every time Newcastle win a match this season. You've gone way too generous. You shouldn't replace. I mean you literally won't be alive for the second game. Yeah exactly. No no no no. You could have said like a knockout game in the Champions League. No but if I lose a pint you've got time in between. I lose a pint and I gain a pint. So I guess I have to donate a pint to myself before we started.

35:17What's the point of this? For a laugh. Hold on. What's the point of the hair guy? Well he's got a bit of love on social media so you want to take a pint out and then put it straight back in yeah a little pint keep it in the fridge right suck it up like a Capri Sun this is like altitude training is this what you're doing you're going to get the blood you're going to go up a mountain just remove remove a pint take a pint remove a pint take a pint yeah I think you're not a professional athlete so there aren't rules against this no there's the new enhanced games we've seen that's happening pretty soon where everyone just gets on it and then swims as fast as they can They're not doing lines of coke and then fucking...

35:54You could do it. You wanted. They're doing... It's performance enhancing... They're doing lines of Nandrolon. Fine. Big, fat, hoofy lines of Nandrolon. They're all having a big toke on Nandrolon. Could you smoke Salbutamol? You can't. Really can't. Loads of meth. People have tried. So hold on. Let's say what you've posited there. Let's apply it strictly to the league only. 13 games left in the season. from what you're saying this weird honour system you have with yourself where you pay it forward from yourself in blood are you then taking 13 games left are you taking 13 litres out of your body to then replace oh no no no that's if they're not they're not going to lose all 13 either way I'm getting it back but you've just got to do it really quickly are you then adding it back to yourself because you obviously do regenerate you would be dead if you lost 13 litres of blood you're asking too many questions how little blood can you survive on can you survive on we could have moved on from this but you decided to go in deeper.

36:52I'm just... You can lose 14 % of the blood in your body without passing out. You can survive around about 40 % of total blood volume. Don't try any of this. I'm really disturbed that you now know that information. Now let's have a look at the win. You don't need to test it. Let's have a look at Newcastle. I'm playing Newcastle pictures. Right. Okay. Tottenham, Newcastle. They're quite toxic at home. I could probably... I don't think you're going to lose. All right. So say I gain a pint for every win, lose a pint for every loss so I gain a pint against Newcastle yeah yeah yeah let's say that's a good idea it's a great idea League only Man City I'm back to where I started really beat them Everton I fancy I'm running with an extra pint there I think also you might generally get to a point where you can't take on more blood true yeah you'll be spitting blood Man United I think will probably lose that one at home it's literally like something out of the Saw films Chelsea lose that one Sunderland that's nailed on I'm two pints down two pints down there Crystal Palace away you'll be fine there yeah okay I'm back to minus one Bournemouth at home that's a bit of a banana skin I would say and then so yeah I think I'll be alright actually you know what lads you think you'll you'll kind of like level out I think I'll level out eventually yeah what will we worry about keep going yeah well Ben thank you for asking that question you fool but then we are the ones that put it in the running order and asked it so maybe we are the fools last game of the season against Fulham just bursting with all the blood I've got oh I see Nick Voltemada six wins in a row scored six goals on the trunk Nick you'll obviously know about Pete who's taking out one pint of blood for every loss and taking on a pint of blood I've killed a kid about the blood man everyone keeps asking me about the blood man you missed that pill you've killed him anyhow I know you're still reading up about the owners you must have seen

38:39I'm not going to make that point thank you very much for listening to the football I'm a part of the ACR spread I've never seen this

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