Mailbag: How should we judge new signings?

0:00Vishal Bhattacharyya: Mom, I like to propose a dinner optimization plan for 2026. Soccer practice every week. Get back late and you're stressed out about making something fast but actually nutritious for dinner. When Ashley's mom picked me up, I noticed that she made Blue Apron. It came in like a little kit. By the time it was ready, I still had shin guards on. And it was real food. Fresh veggies. Protein. Actual flavor. Take her from the younger generation. Or innovators. Give me a couple Blue Apron meals around. Not the worst idea.

0:23Marcus Speller: Get$50 off your first two orders plus free shipping with code STIR50. Terms and conditions apply. Visit blueaprint.com slash terms for more.

0:30Vishal Bhattacharyya: Over 90 of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms trust Bill to simplify and secure Bill Pay. That's proven financial infrastructure built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. Visit bill.com slash proven for a special offer. When people talk about energy, recovery, and performance, they usually jump straight to training, protein, or supplements. But one of the most overlooked pieces is gut health. If your gut is not dialed, everything else struggles to work the way it should. That is where Momentus Fiber Plus comes in. When gut health is not dialed in, other supplements and training habits don't work as well.

1:08Vishal Bhattacharyya: You can be doing everything else right, but without a strong foundation, results fall short. Fiber is often the missing link. That's why Momentus believes in a relentless commitment to fundamentals and doing them differently than they have ever been done. Fiber Plus is built to support the entire gut health process, not just one piece of it. And if a product doesn't meet their standard, it never hits the shelves. Right now, Momentus is offering our listeners up to 35 % off your first order with promo code ACAST. Head to livemomentus.com and use promo code ACAST for up to 35 % off your first order.

1:44Vishal Bhattacharyya: That's livemomentus.com, promo code ACAST.

1:49Marcus Speller: Time is valuable. That's why Lowe's Blueprint Takeoffs turn blueprints into quotes faster. Bring us your plans, and we'll generate itemized material lists to make quoting easier so you can get back to building. Plus, at the Lowe's Pro Desk, you get access to thousands of building materials not sold in store. And when your order's ready, we'll deliver everything to the job site. Improving is easy at Lowe's.

2:17Vishal Bhattacharyya: Matching outfits, extravagant birthdays, many nicknames, a few classic moves of a dog-obsessed parent. Ollie is obsessed with how obsessed you are with your pup, so they strive to give your dog the best. From fresh human-grade food to in-app health check-ins to track your dog's well-being, you could say Ollie feeds the obsession. Visit ollie.com slash healthypup and use code healthypup to get 60 % off your welcome kit. Ollie, feed the obsession. Parles-tu français? Hablas espagnol? Parli italiano? If you've used Babbel, you would. Babbel's conversation-based technique teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world.

3:00Vishal Bhattacharyya: With lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers, Babbel is like having a private tutor in your pocket. Start speaking with Babbel today. Get up to 55 % off your Babbel subscription right now at babble.com slash acast. Spelled B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash acast. Rules and restrictions may apply. Can you get it together, please?

3:30Jim Campbell: Hello, everybody. What?

3:34Vishal Bhattacharyya: Chucking iPhones around like the fucking salt of Brunei. Let him go.

3:40Marcus Speller: Sorry.

3:45Jim Campbell: Right, are we ready? Do it! Hello everybody, welcome to the Football Ramble Mailbag! Players betting in, unayemurayan fairytale careers are the orders of the day. It's Tuesday 3rd of March, I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Tim Campbell. And I'm the new Shidahantaraja.

4:12Jim Campbell: Hello everybody, good to have you with us on the Mailbag. Remember, you decide what we talk about on the mailbag. It's all about your questions. Get in touch with us on xbluesky or Instagram at FootballRamble. Comment on YouTube. Email us, show at footballramble.com. And of course, friends of the Ramble. Get priority. Patreon.com forward slash FootballRamble. Or sign up on YouTube. Do it! Right then. Let's start with this from friend of the Ramble, Peter, on email. Maybe my recollection is off. Good start to an email, isn't it? But in the 2000s and the 2010s, it seemed more widely accepted that players signed to a Premier League club from other leagues would in all likelihood take at least half a season to bed in, with more time typically required for forwards.

4:59Jim Campbell: Now it feels like players who don't find their feet within the first season, brackets, Jokeres, Cesc, most Chelsea strikers come to mind, are considered looming or guaranteed failures, and clubs and fans talk about cutting losses quickly. In a way, this attitude makes sense, given the money spent and the pressure to succeed, but it also smacks of excessively short-term thinking for clubs who are supposed to think strategically. Has there been a change in how Premier League fans and clubs see these transfers, and should we be adjusting our expectations more in line with what they used to be? Or is my memory totally wrong?

5:33Vishal Bhattacharyya: I don't think your memory is totally wrong there, Peter. I think we are probably in a point now where there's so much more opinion just generally because of the constant kind of scroll of your various internet feeds and podcasts, exactly that sort of thing. And the kind of rolling news nature of content, like, you know, even the actual rolling news of Sky Sports News feels like quite tame now, doesn't it? And charming. and it's literally rolling news. There's just so much opinion kind of blasted into our consciousness all the time that I think the volume of it probably makes it feel like, yeah, players are under pressure a lot, lot faster because some people are going to quickly jump to conclusions and then you're going to see that opinion over and over again and it's going to get amplified because generally it's quite a big statement, isn't it, to say after two or three games that someone isn't up to it or whatnot.

6:31Vishal Bhattacharyya: And I think actually, yeah, that has probably affected people's kind of patience, really. Not everybody, obviously, because everybody's saying such and such player doesn't look like they're up to it. You'll get plenty of people saying, we all need to calm down here, give them time, let them settle in, look at, you know, ex-player who took a little while. If you take the example of Victor Jokerez, you know, he is starting to sort of show a bit more now. And the example people always used at the start of the season was that, you know, Dennis Bergkamp took a while to get going. Now, I'm not suggesting he's a player of that level.

7:04Vishal Bhattacharyya: but this conversation does seem like just part and parcel of any player who doesn't immediately hit the ground running certainly if they're a high profile player and a striker someone you expect to make eye-catching contributions that is just part of the life cycle of them joining a club unless they start just banging them in straight away

7:21Jim Campbell: yeah I think that a lot of people and again we're in this as well but everyone's after the hot take of course and I think that one can try to be more extreme with opinions sometimes and therefore that's the narrative and that can kind of exist. So I do take that point that you made there. I think that there's... I think in Peter's email where he talks about the money involved in the game and so on and so forth, it's, you know, transfer fees are astronomically high. You know, the way inflation kind of works is, you know, it would sort of creep up and it would be incrementally sort of thing. it's now just gone mad.

8:03Jim Campbell: And you can pay, your club can pay, if you're one of the big boys, you can pay 60 or 70 million for a player who it's understandable if you've never seen that player play or you've never heard that much about them. You often buy the sort of potential as well. So if you're buying potential, then by definition they're not the finished article. So that's how football tactics have also informed this as well, the systems and pressing and so on and so forth. So there is a football-y side to it. Now, that's not the case for, say, on the specific one of, say, Jokeres. I would say more for Cesco, perhaps.

8:37Marcus Speller: Well, definitely Wurtz. Wurtz is one, yeah.

8:40Jim Campbell: So, again, because I thought the fee for Wurtz when I first saw it was astronomically high. And then you think, well, he's a really good player. And you kind of go, yep. And you end up going, well, that's just modern football for you, don't you? How many times do we hear ourselves say that, you know, or some pundits as well? So, again, there are football-y reasons for this, and mediary reasons. But I also think there are, if I'm going to sound ever so slightly profound, there are societal reasons as well. I think that the nature of all this stuff, and it all goes into the same pot, you know, the amount of money being spent, the content, blah, blah, blah, blah.

9:15Jim Campbell: You want the here and now. Come on, we're the consumers. We're paying our money. There's huge... That's a 60 million pound player. Yeah, exactly. All that kind of stuff. You immediately think, well, I don't give a damn if he, you know, if he's never played in this country with that set of players, with that manager, in that system. in that dynamic of going for a league title and so on and so forth, he should be able to hit the ground running. And I don't care if he's struggling to settle in the culture or whatever it may be. You're playing fantasy football, essentially, in your mind with real-life people.

9:45Jim Campbell: And I get why people do that. It's not a criticism. We all do it. It's all because of the way things are. And, of course, some players do hit the ground running. And you think, well, there you go.

9:55Vishal Bhattacharyya: So why can't this person or that person? I think that's probably quite an important part of the talent idea, isn't it? clubs do a lot of research on people's character and every element of their game. And I wonder actually if like plug-in and play is kind of something that's highly valued and possibly adds to transfer fees.

10:12Marcus Speller: Yeah, I mean, a great example of that would be what Man City have done with Marguerite and Anton Semenyo.

10:19Vishal Bhattacharyya: Yeah, they're good at that in general, actually.

10:21Marcus Speller: Yeah, yeah, they are. But this was, I suppose it's slightly different, isn't it? Because of the fact that this is a title run-in and they've looked to the Premier League for those kind of players.

10:34Jim Campbell: They've not often done that, though. Traditionally under Pett. Grealish. Yes, but I've used that example before. Grealish, basically, what was it, 100 million or there or thereabouts? Yeah. And for the first season, he was drip-fed into the team. Yeah, yeah. So in terms of the specific examples of Gane, so when you're going, right, we need you guys to help us get over the line, Bob, you're in. It wasn't the case because, again, it was a different version, if you like. It was a different vibe, feeling, whatever word you want to use, under Pep a few years ago with Grealish. So even that's, you know, Grealish again was a proven Premier League player.

11:12Jim Campbell: But if you're going to fit into that system, you have to wait. And of course, then he becomes part of the team that goes on and wins a treble.

11:17Marcus Speller: Yeah, we could throw stones in there as well. Yeah, another one, yeah.

11:21Jim Campbell: Took a while.

11:22Marcus Speller: Yeah, the thing I really do think, as Jim said when he was answering this question at the start, I think it really is a matter of discourse. I think the volume of it is such that you end up talking about it a lot and it feels like the criticism of a player snowballs, despite the fact people are just talking about the same thing from the same game, but four days after the event. Yeah, yeah. Like, for example, Sesco... Sorry, actually, Jocko is a better example of this. Like, they... The full-time whistle would go on an Arsenal game and maybe about 15, 20 minutes after that, there'd be a compilation of his worst touches.

12:02Marcus Speller: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, two minutes long, however long, of him being bad. And that is just the nature of online patter at the moment. I say at the moment as if it's going to change. I don't think it will. But because of that, you get this idea that, like, people are really either amazing, in which case fans are going to hate them because their own fans are pumping them up too much, or they're fucking terrible.

12:26Vishal Bhattacharyya: Yeah, not at the level, fraud, et cetera.

12:27Marcus Speller: And so that, because of that, it's hard to have an actual, like I generally find it quite hard to have an actual opinion on certain players I don't watch every week.

12:35Jim Campbell: But also, it's not a hot take if you go, yeah, Jokic wasn't great, but he's still applying his trade.

12:41Marcus Speller: I don't think it's necessarily the hot take thing. In this particular example here, because I still remember, one of the players who really sticks out to me is struggled first season, became a brilliant player from the era that Peter's talking about on the email is Perez. I remember Perez's first season. Thierry Henry could have been another one as well. But Perez's first season there was a bit like it was as kind of simple as don't think he fancies it. Really? And there were loads of other you know loads of things you can extrapolate from that but it was about like is he quick enough? Is he strong enough?

13:19Marcus Speller: Bit too fancy. Not willing to really put in a shift.

13:22Vishal Bhattacharyya: Yeah. Musketeer who runs like a duck. Is this ever going to work?

13:25Marcus Speller: Yeah, exactly. And I think there's a little bit of that. There was a little bit of that with Verts. In part because of the transfer fee, as you said. But yeah, I really do think now, I just can't tell you who's going to be a success anymore if I don't watch them every week. I could tell you that Sesko was always something there. But his minutes were limited. didn't quite feel like Ruben Amaro had a gaze on him but if you talk to someone else who didn't want Man United every week or rather weren't necessarily across his performances they'd be like you've overspent he's obviously shit him and Jokic Rez absolute you know busts what have you done I think it's just tricky in that regard

14:11Vishal Bhattacharyya: that's an interesting way of looking at it isn't it in terms of like holding judgement until you've seen a decent amount of a player because I mean how long do you feel like it takes you to have a true understanding of the qualities of a new signing in your own team. It's probably half a season or so, even if they're playing regularly, because you need to see them in lots of different scenarios and under lots of different kind of pressures. And, you know, how do they react if they're not having the best game? Are they consistent? There's a lot of factors. Yeah. Do they look like they're kind of mentally robust if things are going awry?

14:44Vishal Bhattacharyya: For defenders, how are they in an attacking sense? How are they as a pure defender? There are so many things that you need to see regularly before you can kind of make a call on it.

14:56Marcus Speller: Yeah. And at the same time, when your point about how much money is spent as well, there is definitely from a manager's side, and I can say this definitively as a Manchester United fan, that people spend a lot of money on one player and the management, the owners, demand results straight away. Otherwise, they get turfed out very quickly.

15:18Jim Campbell: Yeah, because why are you not playing him? Yeah. And that's why I mean, that's why I think the Grealish example is really quite special because it's Pep Guardiola and what he'd done at the club, you're thinking, well, we trust him. Yeah. In explicit trust. A little bit different because people knew what Grealish was about, but without staying on that example too long. I think, though, that, I think that so many things have to go right for a footballer to be successful. Again, without being unnecessarily general about this, but with a new signing, again, Jim, what you were saying there, there's so many factors.

15:48Jim Campbell: injuries even if a player who's teammates exactly you know you click with certain teammates a defensive partnership all that kind of stuff so much goes into it manager changes you know bloody bloody

15:58Marcus Speller: very quickly on that one of the things that emanated from City over the last month is how nice and easy to get with Semenyo and Mark Geyer and how seamlessly they fit in definitely and I think clubs

16:09Jim Campbell: massively take that into account these days yeah personality you know we've heard managers of course you've got to think about all that kind of stuff but I think though that when you talk about the top end of the league and, you know, again, Jokic is a very good example here. It is, with that specific one, it's, ah, that should be the missing piece for Arsenal. Yes. You know, that should be it. But of course, sometimes it doesn't work out. Like Andrei Shevchenko to Chelsea because he was like, oof, that's the missing piece for them to possibly win the Champions League. You know, that's what it was back then.

16:41Jim Campbell: Rarely that simple, isn't it? Well, of course, Jim. And there's that as well. Now, even Didier Drogba took a seat. in the first season of Drogba wasn't that convincing and goes on

16:50Marcus Speller: and he got a lot of heat he did they spent too much on him he dives about when he's that big yeah

16:56Jim Campbell: his goal scoring isn't that great but look at what that player means to that club still now his name will be on the terraces for generations to come and understandably so but of course as well personality types again how a manager can empower you because he doesn't walk into that dressing room from day one and go right I'm one of the main guys around here that comes through development and so on. Yes, different personalities is more likely to happen from one or the other. But again, there's so much. But I think the numbers as well is an important thing. Years ago, when we started doing this podcast, we used to do the Dean Wendass Hall of Fame and all that.

17:28Jim Campbell: You would talk about a goal scorer and their goal scoring record. If they had a one in two goal scoring record, that was tasty. That was tasty, right? Anything more than that, you go, bloody hell. Have you seen how Gerd Muller back in the 70s or whatever, all these players. Whereas Messi and Ronaldo, maybe not so much now because we've a few years on from their peak, but they definitely skewed it to the fact of, what, your striker's only scored 35 goals in all competitions this season. That's not bad. That's amazing. It is. You know what I mean? So I think from a striker's point of view, numbers are so important nowadays.

18:05Jim Campbell: Think about assists and goal involvements. We weren't bothered by them back in the 2000s.

18:10Marcus Speller: Even things like, you know, over-forming XG, which is objectively a good thing but then to someone else it's a sign that you can't give it to him.

18:18Jim Campbell: Yeah, and I'm not saying we chuck out the assists and all that. I just use it as a tool but it's not always that because if you remember Dennis Burkham but Arsenal, Burkham is one of the finest players in terms of ability that the league's ever seen. But he, Wenger said that he started subbing him off in like the 70th minute or 75th minute of games and Burkham said, what's going on here? Well, actually your numbers show that your running drops off, your this, that's and the others and so on. And I think that kind of thing has seeped into football a lot more. Because back in the day, you can't take Bergkamp off.

18:45Jim Campbell: So it kind of goes both ways with this.

18:47Vishal Bhattacharyya: If you see what I mean by that. And we also have access to how many goals a certain player scored on our phones in a way that we didn't in the past. So we can very quickly look at those things. And I suppose the sight test has maybe been devalued by that, which is a big part of the fun of football. Really, the entirety of the fun of football is the sight test. You want to enjoy it while you're watching it. That's the most important thing. And I do wonder, going back to Pete's original point as well, is there is now, in a way that we've never seen before, the drama of the transfer market itself in the summer, which is obviously it's always been dramatic.

19:23Vishal Bhattacharyya: It's always been fueled by gossip and rumor and fantasy and daydream. But there's so much scrutiny on it now. You get talk of clubs like winning the transfer market, or transfer window rather. People said Spurs was what it was. Yeah, well, quite. So people are like, not that many people to be fair, but people are playing fantasy football in their own heads. They put a lot of pressure on those players and their own teams and their ambitions for the season from day one. And perhaps that's a bit more intense than it's been in the past as well.

19:55Jim Campbell: Squads are so much bigger now as well because of the amount of football. You need to be. So it's like, well, he's not working right next. Come on, who's off the conveyor belt? Whereas, of course, back in the day, your side.

20:05Marcus Speller: But it's not that anymore, is it? It's not even... I'm going slightly off tangent here. But it's not specifically like that, despite the size of the squads, because they'll just be like, we'll just go and buy another player.

20:18Jim Campbell: Yeah, sure.

20:19Marcus Speller: Because the guy on our bench is like, well, he's going to be on the bench, but he can't start, you know.

20:24Jim Campbell: Yeah. Yeah, I think there's a number of reasons for this, Peter. We do appreciate your email very much because it's got us talking. So I don't think your memory is totally wrong, Peter, to answer that bit of the question. Should we be adjusting our expectations more in line with what they used to be? I think there's definitely an argument for that. And I think Jacare is an argument for that. I think Jacare, again, I don't think you can judge him on this season. I think clearly you could make a good contribution, you could make a bad contribution. That's always going to be the case. And some players, you can see fairly early on, I don't think they're going to adapt to this league.

21:00Jim Campbell: I don't think their best, look at Juan Verón at Manchester United you know huge money he went to Chelsea he had moments but clearly the best football of his career came in Serie A it was a different pace it was a different thing he was a phenomenal player his time at England will never skew the fact for anybody who ever saw him play he was a great footballer some players take to the league you can see it early on sometimes you have to give him a chance there was an amazing

21:21Vishal Bhattacharyya: example of Verón in particular and the difference there I saw him play for Chelsea against Lazio who he used to play for in Serie A obviously and he was the best player on the pitch by a million miles. It was like, I remember thinking, wow, if he could play like this in every game, they've got an absolute world beater here. But he was just clearly suited to that style.

21:40Marcus Speller: He was very good in the Champions League for Manchester United. And I had that thing where when he went to Chelsea, I was like, at least he's still in the league. At least we get to, I still get to watch him.

21:51Vishal Bhattacharyya: So do you feel like he's been kind of done dirty reputationally, Baron?

21:56Marcus Speller: No. I mean, it's kind of like with this, like how you assess players and do you give people more rope for coming into the league and being new signings and you know don't judge them too quickly it's a choice isn't it yeah we talk like your point about it being a societal thing i think you are right but within that you can just choose not to do that of course you can you can choose to give a player a bit more time if you want to fit in with what other people are saying about certain players then fine do that if that's how you enjoy football great but it's kind of an individual thing isn't it like uh verts and jockers are really good examples um this season alone because they they play two very different ways the two very different footballers um they were brought in for two very different reasons verts was brought in as a way of like pushing liverpool to the next level uh in terms of like getting them more creative adding that extra kind of like bit of flair and Jokeres was brought in to make Arsenal that little bit more clinical for that final step to win the league

22:56Vishal Bhattacharyya: kind of blunt instrument

22:57Marcus Speller: yes yeah two very different players and who've sort of found their way and I don't you know they're going to be better next season you'd hope so wouldn't you for them you'd hope so I think so yeah but they're already they've already turned that conversation a little bit this season alone yeah

23:14Jim Campbell: yeah good question Peter he got us talking anyway coming up after this has Unai Emery taken Aston Villa as far as he can and who's had the most fairytale finish to their career

23:32Vishal Bhattacharyya: this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp it's March and that means International Women's Day I'd like to use that as an opportunity to celebrate my mum hello mum for allowing me to grow into the person I am saving the knowledge I've always had her support Women can play so many roles in the lives of those around them that the expectations placed on them can mean their own emotional well-being is easily overlooked. Therapy can help create balance, set healthy boundaries and support overall well-being for everyone.

24:00Jim Campbell: With over 30 ,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform.

24:05Vishal Bhattacharyya: Their therapists work according to a strict code of conduct, are fully licensed in the US, and with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews, it works. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences, and their 12-plus years of experience and industry-leading match-fulfillment rate means they typically match you with the right therapist first time. Your emotional well-being matters. Find support and feel lighter in therapy. Sign up and get 10 % off at betterhelp.com slash ramble. That's betterhelp.com slash ramble.

25:01Marcus Speller: Maybe you check it out or whatever. Blue Apron. Get$50 off your first two orders plus free shipping with code STIR50. Terms and conditions apply. Visit blueapron.com slash terms for more. You know what's faster than your paycheck? Literally everything.

25:14Vishal Bhattacharyya: It's time to get your pay up to speed. With Earn In, you can access your pay as you work instead of waiting days and weeks for a paycheck. Get up to$150 a day with a max of$750 between paydays. No interest, no credit checks, and no mandatory fees. Because, hey, it's your money. Download the Earn In app now to get it and join millions of people making any day payday. That's E-A-R-N-I-N. Earn In is not a bank. Access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors. Available in select states. Expedited transfers available for a fee. Terms and restrictions apply. Visit earnin.com for full details.

25:41Vishal Bhattacharyya: Blood donation is now more inclusive. More people are able to donate blood with the American Red Cross through FDA guidelines that eliminate eligibility questions based on sexual orientation. The Red Cross celebrates this historic change and welcomes those who may be newly eligible to donate blood. There's a place for everyone in the mission of the Red Cross. The Red Cross is committed to achieving an inclusive blood donation process that treats all potential donors with equality and respect while maintaining the safety of the blood supply. Join us and help save lives. To learn more and make your appointment to donate blood, visit redcrossblood.org slash LGBTQ.

26:20Vishal Bhattacharyya: That's redcrossblood.org slash LGBTQ.

26:31Vishal Bhattacharyya: Andy's been in touch on the Discord and asks, are Aston Villa in real danger of dropping out of the top five altogether? And if so, what does it mean for Unai Emery moving forward?

26:42Jim Campbell: They are in danger of dropping out of the top five, but the good news for them is that the teams below them are probably as inconsistent as they are at the moment. I mean, Villa are not on a good, they're not in a good moment.

26:55Vishal Bhattacharyya: No, they're 13th in the form table. Yes. there and they look like it as well they've not been playing to their usual standard

27:02Jim Campbell: no I mean that loss against Wolves was a bad one

27:05Vishal Bhattacharyya: who knew Emery's got a terrible record against Wolves oddly yeah but I think this is more than that good record against Arsenal but a poor record

27:10Jim Campbell: against Wolves strange it is strange yeah I but they're still you know they're still fourth incredible that Manchester United are third in the table but there we are you know that's what six or seven wins can do for you

27:24Vishal Bhattacharyya: yeah we've not been hearing about it in the mainstream media lately have we but they are third

27:28Marcus Speller: and I'm all for that whenever Manchester United are in the mainstream media now

27:32Jim Campbell: it's not for good reasons that's true I think with Villa yeah I'd be concerned because I think if they didn't get Champions League football this season that would feel a bit like there's a glass ceiling there yeah I feel like

27:48Vishal Bhattacharyya: you know Aston Villa's owners have been really ambitious in a way that you'd probably be quite pleased with because they have kind of essentially tried to maximise everything they can to really make a push into becoming a team who are regularly in the Champions League. And if you can achieve that and you can maintain it, then that sets you up for a long time to be good and to have a big advantage over your opponents. The trouble they're having is obviously they didn't manage to do that last season. And if they don't manage to do it again, they're really up against it in terms of PSR. They'll have to make sales, I would think, to balance the books.

28:22Vishal Bhattacharyya: It might be a Morgan Rodgers or an Esri Kahn so someone really important to them. And I suppose that's the risk, isn't it? Now, they're not doing a lead. It's very much not that. But there is an element that they really, they have to qualify for the Champions League to be able to fulfil the ambitions of this project. And I think actually that's to be commended. It's to be lauded. Why wouldn't you be ambitious? And I do think that puts Emery in an interesting position either way. If they qualify for the Champions League, absolutely, you stick with him. Of course you do. but if they don't given how well he's done getting them in that conversation at all might the grass be greener if you're looking elsewhere he's achieved a lot there and I understand this run of games isn't great and he had a little bit of that in one season at Arsenal actually where they had a simple run of games not a simple run of games but there were a group of games where you think I think they needed like one win or four points out of four or five games where they'd have been the favourites in every one and then they didn't get it.

29:28Vishal Bhattacharyya: And Emery has had periods like that throughout his career. Obviously, his time at Villa is very different from his time at Arsenal. But, you know, this is a frustrating run of results. Injuries are a massive, massive part of it. But even with that taken into account, I wonder, like, he's a very, very good manager. He's not quite at the elite, but he's certainly in the bracket underneath it. And might he be better off just essentially saying, okay, you know what the remit is. It's the same as it was before. Try and get us into the Champions League. Off you go. I think it's, yeah, if they get Champions League,

30:01Jim Campbell: I agree with you. I mean, they could win the Europa League, of course. That is eminently possible. I think with Villa, I think with the financial stuff you've spoken about, I think the idea that they go and get a bigger name is not going to happen. There's not that many bigger names. you go for someone with potential, say. It's classic kind of, oh, this guy's been doing pretty well with this mid-table side in the Bundesliga.

30:28Vishal Bhattacharyya: But that's not the profile of manager that can improve on what he's done, is it?

30:31Jim Campbell: Well, I wouldn't have thought so. You would have to get someone who's particularly special. I mean, yes, you could cherry pick from another Premier League side. You know, they could probably go, I would imagine Andoni Iriola, for example, or Marco Silva, you know, might be interested in Aston Villa, say. are those two managers of the profile of Emery? No, I think it's a question of if they are if the team and maybe the fan base maybe the owners whoever I think if they're a bit sick of Emery and Emery's a bit sick of them I think it would be more of a personal thing.

31:05Vishal Bhattacharyya: There's no suggestion of that though is there? There's no suggestion that they're kind of thinking about getting rid of them?

31:08Jim Campbell: Not from where I'm seeing it. I mean there might be Villa fans who maybe disagree with that but from again the few I chat to and whatnot that doesn't seem to be the case. So for me if there's not a kind of an inertia situation there, if you see what I mean, I would say they would probably stick with him. You've got Liverpool and Chelsea below them in the league. I don't think that Brentford, then you're down to Everton, Fulham are going to finish above Villa. I think the worst realistically Villa will finish this season would be sixth. And I understand that would be a little bit disappointing.

31:40Jim Campbell: Obviously, barring that they don't win the Europa League. But I still think Emery will be there next season no matter what happens. The financial thing is definitely a huge consideration but getting in the Champions League would be huge you remember the celebrations that they had when they managed to do it a few years ago they've got to get back in there because it would be massive and again to remind ourselves it almost certainly will be that fifth place goes to a Premier League side we've not got confirmation of that yet so yeah a long-winded way of saying I think he'll be there next season I think they should stick with him from where I'm sitting

32:13Marcus Speller: I mean without a doubt like if you you can attribute whatever inertia there is at Aston Villa to the injuries, the fact that they've been hamstrung in the transfer market as well and just more broadly you know it's hard to say what the entire Aston Villa fan base is thinking as you say but like it feels like a lot of them anyway are appreciative of Emery not least because a lot of the players in that squad still are from the dean smith era yeah which two managers ago well yeah yeah so what he's done in raising those raising those players and obviously they had like the right profile at the time they're young they're hungry talented um and and have stepped up to every level the villa have gone to since but he's done a brilliant job there and he clearly gets the club and i think certainly from the you know the couple of Villa fans I know there is that understanding of this but I suppose the the the frustration will more likely rear its head to week to week isn't it where they lose they lose to the worst team in the league uh they end up in a situation where you know obviously they've sold Jacob Ramsey to sell Jacob Ramsey but they're suddenly in this position they are now that they're just living in that environment in this world at the moment where it doesn't feel like, you know, they've done the hard work to get where they are, but they're not getting any of the benefits of being a top four club or a top six Champions League club, as it were.

33:49Marcus Speller: Game against Chelsea is fascinating, really, because it's the, not least because Chelsea are sixth and Villa are fourth and there's six points separating them, but also just like what they both represent in that, if you just like consider relative to the rest of the league like what what it is to break in and try and be a champions league team it's like chelsea behaving like a champions league team without any of the responsibility of being a champions league team and villa just wanting to do that be there and not necessarily do it right but you know do it in a way that um that they feel like they can that they can manage um it got a feel for them i know we've we've sort of had this conversation a little bit with newcastle but you know it's almost like their frustrations fan frustrations as well on those lines are totally understandable.

34:36Marcus Speller: It just feels like I don't really know what happens to Villa beyond someone taking them over and pumping them full of money.

34:44Vishal Bhattacharyya: It's a sad reality. Even then, it's to do with the financial rules. They couldn't spend any more than they already have. Chelsea next to the Man United after that. They're in a really interesting period.

34:58Jim Campbell: We're Emery in guys, aren't we?

35:00Marcus Speller: I think so. we've got feelings I've got an email from John as well what footballer would you say has had the most satisfying slash fairytale career for me I think Santi Cazorla deserves a mention, this is John speaking for going back to Oviedo at the end of his career and then getting him promoted into La Liga

35:23Jim Campbell: that's nice, so he's focusing very much on the end of yeah he's playing for Arsenal, who hasn't done that indeed

35:33Vishal Bhattacharyya: I think there's a good shout for certainly on these shores Andy King who won League One the Championship and the Premier League with Leicester he's also in the Wales squad in they got to the semis in Euro 2016 and he's now a coach at Leicester so that's that's pretty amazing because you know back down to League One yeah when you're playing in that League One team the idea of ever winning the Premier League you might daydream about it but it would very much be a daydream but he actually achieved that and that's incredible

36:03Jim Campbell: well Vardy from the same side of course absolutely very obvious

36:06Vishal Bhattacharyya: yeah I mean Vardy and Ian Wright I think we've spoken about those stories and could do so until the cows come home so let's let the cows have their fun and stay out

36:14Jim Campbell: Vardy obviously Leicester get relegated but he managed to get his 200th goal for Leicester you know Premier League golden boot when does the FA come as well he's playing in the Champions League now in Serie A he won player of the month in Serie A now for Cremendese you know everything's relative you're not expected to win medals at Cremendays but realistically Player of the Month that was the only one that yeah I think that was he is indefatigable let's see if he can keep them up Luca Toney leapt a mind ooh nice because he really went round the houses didn't he when he was younger he wasn't sure if he was going to make it as a footballer he was playing lower leagues and then ends up winning the World Cup

36:52Vishal Bhattacharyya: and he also had like the majority of his career was an Indian Summit really or the majority of the success around 30 I think he was wasn't he when he started to be really noticed and he had real longevity played for Bayern Munich as well he did win the league there

37:09Jim Campbell: post World Cup I mean he's one of the he's in the top 5 highest scoring Italians in all competitions

37:15Vishal Bhattacharyya: that's amazing

37:16Jim Campbell: which is remarkable he's the 4th highest scoring Italian player of all time wow in the post World War 2 era I should say which I don't think takes anything away from it but again bearing in mind you know if you look at the clubs that he played for okay we've all heard of Empoli but that was earlier but really he doesn't get going until like 2001 Brescia you know and he's he's not in football years he's not a young man then but he carries on he was playing for Verona until 2016 I mean you're talking the twilight of the twilight here wins the golden boot

37:50Vishal Bhattacharyya: in Serie A as well that's yeah that's beautiful I would staying with Italian football sort of so George Weyer as well from a very, very poor background in Liberia, ends up as president of the country.

38:05Marcus Speller: Yeah, fine. Absolutely incredible.

38:08Vishal Bhattacharyya: He was from a place called Clara Town, which was a really, really poor area. And the team he played for there were called Young Survivors. And like kind of into his career in African football, he was working as a switchboard operator as well. And he's the only African player to win the Ballon d 'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year Award. It's quite the story.

38:26Jim Campbell: yes

38:27Vishal Bhattacharyya: yeah I mean that is

38:29Jim Campbell: to the nth degree you might say anyone wish that leaps the moment Gary Neville one club man

38:35Marcus Speller: yeah yeah Ryan Giggs what a lovely life there's no need for that is there I mean really no well you got me on you got me sidetracked sorry yeah my fault sorry

38:50Marcus Speller: the one that came to mind a bit of recency bias here Hosalu okay yeah If you think of the fairytale aspect of it, in that he came through at Real Madrid and it was made very clear to them that you will never play for Real Madrid. You are not a Real Madrid player. And the fact that he ends up back there on loan, having gone to the 2022 Champions League final with his old man as a Real Madrid fan and then comes off the bench. having got them you know through that game against Bayern as well in 24 I think yeah that's pretty cool especially because he had a proper journeyman career yeah I mean any place that takes you to Stoke and Newcastle

39:41Jim Campbell: I think though there is something about the way a player ends their career yeah if it's on a great note if they

39:47Marcus Speller: I think the fairytale is the happily you know happy ever after type thing at the end I think that's why with Santa Cazor

39:52Jim Campbell: is quite a good example as well the way do you know what I was going to say actually though you could say in terms of the way it ended say maybe Henrik Larsson in that Celtic legend a huge club like that their best ever player one of the best players that the Scottish top flyers ever had but of course being in the Scottish League maybe some people didn't appreciate that as much as they should have especially south of the border maybe other parts of Europe but then goes to Barcelona and mixes it with that brilliant team under Frank Reichard plays a big part in them winning the Champions League and then even has a little time at Manchester United, quite possibly.

40:29Or maybe another player who played for Manchester United.

40:34Jim Campbell: He'd fought hard his whole career, never won a league title and ended up winning them at Manchester United. Robert Van Persie. Gentlemen, let's finish with this from patron subscriber João on email. Neil Warnock is back again. what other manager would you like to make a very random comeback

40:56Marcus Speller: Brian Clough I thought about

41:00Jim Campbell: going down that route I thought no it's too soon but yeah I think you got it right

41:05Marcus Speller: we've got everything there we've got the we can use the green jumper yeah all the Dicheners to get him back

41:11Vishal Bhattacharyya: there's a lot of footage of him you could probably make an AI

41:14Marcus Speller: yes yeah Clough GPT do that exactly thump him oh brilliant surely this doesn't really translate now actually

41:26Jim Campbell: well up until Carrick went there shortly we were thinking Sir Alex is going to have a cry out loud to find half a season yeah there is you know Carrick's ruined our fun you can't help but

41:35Vishal Bhattacharyya: slightly entertain that idea as a kind of hypothetical idea yeah but I just hope for his sake that that never becomes reality

41:44Jim Campbell: yeah Roy Hodgson at some point

41:48Marcus Speller: but he'll always be back

41:49Jim Campbell: I think that's I think people but who would be I mean Redknapp is is there just because whether you like him or not like it would get your attention I still have for the wrong or right reasons

42:03Marcus Speller: yeah I still there's still a bit of me that thinks he could do a job

42:08Jim Campbell: yeah because he would give everyone because of the type of personality he is yeah he would give get everyone that's why when Spurs fans wouldn't be crazy if he was back at Spurs but it wouldn't be

42:18Marcus Speller: yeah

42:19Jim Campbell: You saw what Tudor was saying after the Fulham game. He might not last a week. He might not be arsed anymore. He might just walk. Do you know what I mean? It's getting to the point, I suppose, where you just need someone to go in there and go, right, lads, keep it simple. You, defender, you win every header. The fullback, don't let the winger cross the ball or cut inside. Literally that kind of level of instruction and then a bit of a, come on, lads, let's get up for it kind of thing.

42:43Marcus Speller: You're left-footed. You go on the fucking left, though.

42:45Jim Campbell: Yeah. Honestly, it's got to the point where I don't think it's that ridiculous.

42:51Vishal Bhattacharyya: And some Spurs fans. He seemed to be semi-seriously pitching for it, didn't he?

42:56Jim Campbell: Yeah, but that's the funny thing. Only semi-seriously. That's where he is. He's like, oh, that lot.

43:00Vishal Bhattacharyya: Yeah, I'm too old for this shit.

43:02Marcus Speller: What are the managers in? What are we saying? Pardew.

43:05Vishal Bhattacharyya: Pardew. Pardew's lovely. Yeah, is it lovely? No, it would. Well, it'd be funny, wouldn't it? Let's be honest. Yeah, it'd be good for us. Yeah, but where though? Saldy? Don't mind. just a Premier League it'd be a desperate Premier League club wouldn't it I would love to who's just sacked a manager or two

43:20Marcus Speller: I think it'd have to be a championship club and he gets promoted with them and can you imagine the swagger as he walks through into the first Premier League press conference after so long the smell of links in the end

43:33Vishal Bhattacharyya: the question is what other manager would you like to make a very random comeback can I entertain the idea of Raymond Domenech in the Premier League yes you can

43:41Jim Campbell: no France national team Jim

43:44Vishal Bhattacharyya: remember do you remember how that ended yes that's why I wanted to manage them if anyone doesn't remember how that ended they got knocked out of Euro 2008 and he was being interviewed by his then girlfriend who was a TV reporter after it and he proposed to her and she said no it was amazing

44:01Jim Campbell: was it in that moment absolutely amazing it was after they

44:04Vishal Bhattacharyya: got knocked out it was incredible I need to pick me up they called it a moment of miscommunication well I didn't like you

44:11Marcus Speller: because you're Capricorn anyway so oh yeah He was big into star signs

44:14Jim Campbell: Apparently he was

44:16Marcus Speller: Always whenever It's a manager Come back Bielsa Yeah Getting back in the league

44:21Vishal Bhattacharyya: That I think we can all get behind And Bielsa can obviously Bring his translator back We love that guy right We love that And his bucket Yeah and his bucket

44:27Jim Campbell: Yeah Yeah We never found out What was in the bucket Tactics Tactical chicken You ever had a Tactical chicken Jim?

44:35Vishal Bhattacharyya: Yeah Yeah Absolutely I've had a lot of tactical food Yeah I'm completely honest Same Excellent

44:40Jim Campbell: Thanks for listening to the Football Ramble part of the Acast Creator Network. Please do send us your responses, opinions and questions for next week's mailbag. Do it! And become a friend of the Ramble to join the conversation on our Discord. Do it! See you next time.

45:01Jim Campbell: Gentlemen, let's finish with this from patron subscriber João on email. Neil Warcock.

45:08Vishal Bhattacharyya: Neil Warcock. What an amazing Freudian slip that is.

45:20Jim Campbell: Charge!

45:24Jim Campbell: Terrifying. Shoot it.

45:30Vishal Bhattacharyya: The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

45:41Vishal Bhattacharyya: You know what's faster than your paycheck? Literally everything. It's time to get your pay up to speed. With Earning, you can access your pay as you work. Instead of waiting days and weeks for a paycheck, get up to$150 a day with a max of$750 between paydays. No interest, no credit checks, and no mandatory fees. Because, I mean, hey, it's your money. Download the Earning app now to get it and join millions of people making any day payday. That's E-A-R-N-I-N. Earning is not a bank access limit or based on your earnings and risk factors available in select states. Exhibited transfers available for fee.

46:10Vishal Bhattacharyya: Terms and restrictions apply. Visit Earning.com for full details. Over 90 of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms trust Bill to handle bill pay processes. Why? Because our tools are built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. We're not just moving money. We're powering financial workflows for half a million customers. That's a level of expertise you just can't fake. Ready to talk with an expert? Visit Bill.com slash proven to get started and grab a$250 gift card as a thank you. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details. Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things.

46:48Vishal Bhattacharyya: So why waste time sending important documents the old fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want with stamps.com. Print postage on demand 24 seven and schedule pickups from your office or home. Save up to 90 % with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust stamps.com go to stamps.com and use code podcast to try stamps.com risk-free for 60 days if you work in university maintenance granger considers you an mvp because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip-off and granger is your trusted partner offering the products you need all in one place from hvac and plumbing supplies to lighting and more and all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock so your team always gets the win call 1-800-GRANGER visit grainger.com or just stop by grainger for the ones who get it done