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1:19And what I love about Aerie is that they have 59 different sizes in really soft fabrics and really good fits. Because at the end of the day, your bra should hold you in and not hold you back. Visit Aerie.com to find the right bra and your perfect fit. Hi, I'm Jack Ravici, Kramer host of The Best One Yet. At T-Boy, we're always talking about small decisions that can have an outsized impact. One of the simplest is staying hydrated. Whether I'm traveling, getting a workout in, or heading into a busy day, I keep Liquid IV on hand. It's clinically demonstrated to hydrate faster than water alone and contains three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, plus eight vitamins and nutrients.

1:55It's an easy addition to your daily routine and helps support hydration when you need it most. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV hydration that goes wherever life takes you. In 2023, a source sent me a tip. It tied baseball's biggest star to a vast, illegal sports betting operation.

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3:50This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Say your prayers, eat your vitamins, and bag yourself a Euro 2025. Welcome to the Football Ramble. It is Monday, the 28th of July. I'm Pete Donaldson. I'm Luke Moore.

4:07Jim Campbell: And I'm Jim Campbell. Yes!

4:23Ease! Ease! Ease! Ease! Ease! Ease! Ease! Yes, England have won the Euro 2025 final 3-1 on penalties. He's Lukey Moa. What a match. They didn't so much use their luck, or, yeah, ride their luck. I think they used their luck like a cudgel. Beat spin up with it. I feel like I've been, this is an onslaught from you. I'm like I'm in a wind tunnel here. The peak dial's a wind tunnel. Brilliant. What a brilliant result. What a brilliant tournament. I absolutely loved it. I love the fact that they're just mentality monsters. They are. It doesn't matter what you do. Bring them in how that penalty shootout went the last time they did a penalty shootout.

5:04Yeah. and to get through that psychologically

5:07Jim Campbell: they're like a hen do that just keeps finding another wind it just won't stop just relentless you think oh they're going to struggle here and then they just don't the first English team to win a tournament on foreign soil which kind of tells its own story it's amazing and also just the way that the final penalty was dispatched with aplomb it was something that I think a lot of people were just like just fucking hit it and good god she hit it and it stayed it it's about the hardest hit goal of the tournament apparently I believe so yeah apparently She said she reminded everyone that she doesn't miss penalties twice after she missed against Italy in the semi-final, though scored the rebound.

5:41Lucy Bronze played the entirety of the Women's European Championship tournament with a fractured tibia in her leg. No, no. It's a broken leg. Absolutely mad. Not a bad performance with a broken leg or not a broken leg. It's absolutely ideal for her because if anything goes wrong, which, I mean, to be fair, she was at fault for the Spain goal. She could just say, I've got a broken leg, though. I do have a broken leg. I can't jump. I do have a broken leg. I can't jump. I can run and turn, but I can't jump with this leg. It was weird because England were kind of in the ascendancy. They were certainly in control, about as in control as they were, when Spain scored the goal, and it really knocked the stuffing out of them.

6:16It made a couple of substitutions, and it all came good in the end. On Friday, Pete, we were talking about the fact that they can't afford to start slow. They started slow in key games, haven't they? And they didn't actually start slow. No, they didn't. They did okay. They looked like they were pretty confident, pretty happy, and obviously Spain did what Spain do. but I mean a great England scored a great header of their own I mean of our own it was it was a brilliant header from brilliant leap from Russo great head textbook header actually back across the keeper exactly what you want to be doing when you're at full stretch and although Spain had a lot of the ball I thought England I mean I'll probably say if I had to say I would say in the final England were probably second best but Spain they did a lot of good work in the centre didn't they but for a lot of possession they didn't really see that it wasn't like it wasn't like they were carving out chance after chance after chance, was it?

7:04Jim Campbell: It felt like they were carving the chance to make chances and then England would shepherd them away shepherd them away shepherd them I'm a vampire now apparently shepherd them away really, really well and actually in added time or, you know, extra time there were so many points where you're thinking surely, surely now Spain are going to find a way through because it became quite one side and obviously England decided to dig in but they just had enough they just had enough to see it through and they didn't really let Spain craft anything that you would consider a really clear-cut chance. No, I agree.

7:38And I think also we might kind of not fully realise or understand this because we're English and we're in it and we want England to win. But I feel like there was an element of it where the other team, no matter how good they are, will know, A, that England are reigning, or were and are reigning European champions. And B, the story they've had to get to the final is that, you know, if you don't put them away, they're going to come back. It's a bit like a slasher movie. You don't see them dead they're going to come back again and that'll play on their mind as well. Yeah, I mean I think and also the data overwhelmingly favouring the team has one extra day to prepare.

8:15Prep, exactly. Yeah, certainly and the data will continue in that particular setting. Well, it carries on. It carries on, it just carries on. We've got to spare our thought for absolute legend Chloe Kelly as well. I mean, obviously Kate was coming on in previous games and having an effect but had to come on earlier didn't she this time because of an injury and was just she's just unbelievable she's an unbelievable clutch player most cast iron confident she'll see yeah and her season hasn't been great in the domestic game as well so it's kind of she joined Arsenal and obviously had a better time but her career was

8:51Jim Campbell: at the start of her season certainly yeah she was genuinely considering just leaving football behind for a little while but the thing was in the last Euros final there's the iconic image of her scoring and swinging her shirt around. And that was the kind of image that was all over the place for the summer. And she's now had like another layer of legendary status onto it by scoring in the semi and then scoring the final penalty. And that calm down photo as well is a kind of equivalent of that. She gets it. She knows how to make those moments. And it was also pretty brave of Wigman to put Carter back in, who did really well, actually.

9:22Carter was decent. I mean, Ingram were pretty solid there. With the slight kind of exception of Bronz basically sleeping on it for Spain's goal.

9:31Jim Campbell: With a broken leg. Yeah. You'd think her broken leg would keep her awake, if anything. Very focused. Did a lot of crying. I thought we were pretty good. I also think that, I'll tell you, had an absolutely brilliant tournament as well as Hannah Hampton. Yes. Especially given all the chat before, and she was so solid. Her distribution's brilliant. She didn't put her foot wrong. She literally put her foot wrong earlier in the tournament. But apart from that, she was absolutely fantastic. And then Michelle Adjeman, getting young players as well, having a massive effect. And the great thing I loved about her in the final was that because of her exploits in the previous games, it gives Spain something to think about.

10:08Even if you're not scoring, even if you're not doing anything necessarily, you're almost a decoy because they know what you're capable of. They know you've got ice in your veins and the penalty. The height as well. Really, any football of that height coming on, you just say, oh, fuck. Oh, bollocks.

10:22Jim Campbell: On Hampton, the second penalty save in particular was so, so good. The first one was a nice height for her, wasn't it? She's obviously done well to save it, but it's one where you probably favour the goalkeeper. But the second one is hit hard and a bit wider, and she's so, so good at getting down to that. I thought, to be fair to her, I thought Katakulta made two brilliant saves as well in the shootout. They were high. Yeah, that one-handed one was particularly good. Yeah, I loved it. I thought it was brilliant. Amazing, amazing experience. It's just an amazing holiday from watching the men's team.

10:53Well, it's an amazing holiday from the Club World Cup, I think. This is what tournament footballs must be like. Look at the situation before, though. England have got to final, and there's just a horrible crushing inevitability about it. There's a crushing inevitability about this, but the other way around. Of them getting through, yeah. Yeah, it's just amazing. And I think, you know, I think we're going to talk a bit about Serena Vigman in the mailbag tomorrow, but just incredible performance from her as well. What a coach. I mean, just what a coach. The whole thing was mad. I'll tell you what was a massive moment as well, was when the penalty shootout itself was a real rollercoaster, partly because, of course, England win the toss to take the first penalty, which in shootouts is massive.

11:35It's well over 60%, I think, of teams who take the first penalty tend to win. And then secondly, they win it to go in front of the England fans, right? Which is obviously massive. And then Beth Mead takes that pen. And as soon as she takes it, I don't know if you're anything like me. I was the old Alvarez. Being an absolute nerd, I was like, well, that's got to be retaken. Double movement. because it used to be that it didn't count. But now they've changed it. And that's such a retake. She retakes it and it gets saved. And you go, oh, for fuck's sake. It was full on. It was full on. Just tell her, don't let me retake it.

12:03I'm going to miss it. It's not fair. So what an achievement anyway. Oh, it was huge. I felt for the way that when Spain were kind of taking control of the game, I did sort of feel for Lauren James because she's obviously been an incredible servant of the game. And she's been on pretty much every advert this summer, hasn't she? She's very ubiquitous in the advertising game. And obviously the last game she had to come off due to an injury and she obviously got taken off for a similar situation. I'm just so glad for her that they managed to get through and win the thing. I mean, she started the tournament well.

12:34I mean, I guess against France, England were disappointed overall. But obviously she got a couple of goals against Netherlands. Had the run of the place really for an hour against Wales. And then she sort of slowly petered off. Didn't make a huge contribution in the last two games. But then she had carrying this injury and all the rest of it. I mean look it's the pressure isn't it the exposure she received going into the tournament I guess was probably equivalent to what Bellingham got going into the Euros for the men's you know Adidas advert you got this kind of thing and so the pressure that comes along with that is big she's a bit unlucky with injuries so I mean it doesn't really matter she made a contribution England won the thing so good on her In the words of Taylor Swift we can do it with a broken leg Is that literally Taylor Swift?

13:13That's literally yes Is that absolutely correct?

13:15Jim Campbell: If anything is wrong about that the Swifties will come for us I'll appear on YouTube They're talking about the fact I haven't got any sleeves In my shirt Yeah I was going to say You find yourself a man Who can turn up to work Wearing a taking back Sunday Sleeveless vest top And quote Taylor Swift Is it denim Or does it just look like that Because of the acid wash effect Yeah they've acid washed it Pre-distressed Aren't we all We all on the football ramble So for more reaction From the Euros You can listen to Upfront's Full review of the final Right now Chloe and Rachel have been Covering England every step of the way And Rachel was in the stadium for that historic win, a sellout final as well.

13:50They recorded their full reaction this morning. And here's a clip. England are European champions. Again, making history. What a night. What a team. Let's fucking get into it. It's come home again. I have no voice. You have no mind left. Still turned out to work, though. Oh, dear. There's a lesson in that. Still turned out to work. God damn it. Good on them. It's a broken neck. I've been following all the way through the tournament. It's been brilliant. It's been great coverage. You guys should definitely go and check out their reaction to England's historic win. Yeah. The fact that England have defended the European Championship, it's just amazing.

14:27It's amazing. It really is. It's lovely to see. Yes, search up front wherever you get your podcasts to listen now. So, in the men's game and the domestic environs, I mean, it's in black and white in front of me in the running order. Arsenal finally signed Victor Giocares. We've done this, haven't we? We've done this four or five times. I don't believe this. Do you know what this is like to me? this is like a book that you hate but you think I'm finishing this I'm finished I'm absolutely seeing this off I'm absolutely seeing this off I've done with this Gokker story I've got to the end I've looked at the epilogue and I've gone I'm not doing the epilogue I'm not having that I've finished the story that's it this is David Foster Wallace's infinite jest this is what this is an absolute infinite jest of a transfer yes Arsenal have finally signed the 27 year old striker from Sporting in a deal worth up to 64 million Arsenal apparently had a hard limit of 65 million for a striker signing this summer.

15:16So they've come in with what they're going to spend the million on. Big Berta.

15:20Jim Campbell: Yeah, I don't know. Hopefully. Maybe they'll just put it in a briefcase and leave it in the local area. Some lucky person will find it. Yeah, a little arsehole. Well, that's us. Yeah, exactly. Because as we know, modern football fans think that the transfer kitty is theirs, isn't it? They get upset when it's not spent correctly. I've got some stuff on the mailbag tomorrow about that. Sometimes I say stuff and I don't realise it's having such an impact. I get this vitriol back and I go, what have I done? Oh, I've done that. because of players like I don't know Bruno and obviously Cristiano Ronaldo we get very excited about players coming from Portugal he's 97 goals in 102 matches in two seasons I mean that's about as good as you're going to get out of a footballer 28 assists in that as well but it's worth reminding people that it's not always a massive success yeah because true but you're right in what you said there Pete what more can you expect of him he can only do what he can do and also no one else is doing that I think he had over double the nearest competitor in terms of goals.

16:17Jim Campbell: But he's fast, he's quick, he's strong, he's intelligent. He hits it really hard. He hits it hard with both feet. And you can say most of those things about Darwin Nunes as well. He also scored a lot of goals in Portugal. So we can't know until we do with this sort of signing. I don't get the same chaotic energy vibes from him. No, well, he's very focused, isn't he? He looks kind of icy and very, very sort of one-track mind. Yeah, absolutely. That one is as you're a Guyan. So there was a... It's a very different culture here. Very different. For better or worse. The temperature in the blood. So, yeah, Arsenal put out a video this morning of Martin Odegaard sending him like a welcome letter, which is part of the kind of social media stuff they do with a lot of new signings.

17:02Jim Campbell: And Jokka Rezi's reading through it and Odegaard says something like, if there's anything I can do, let me know. And he's literally just sitting there going, assists. like just give me assists he's only thinking about scoring all the time looks like a bit of a psychopath when it comes to that sort of thing and I think that is something that Arsenal would badly badly need they can be quite sort of timid in front of goal in terms of somebody being the guy who is only about that I think that's why it's exciting I think that specific reason there you've just given is why it's exciting from the outside looking in I don't care if Arsenal do well or badly if I had to choose I would choose very badly because it's funny but I don't care and I think you absolutely hit a nail on the head with that.

17:42When you watch Giorca Rez and a kind of, you've got to be careful watching highlight reels and gold collections and stuff, but when you watch him.

17:49Jim Campbell: Because you'll hear some of the worst music ever made. Always. First thing I do, mute. First thing, always. It's always, it's normally David Guetta. Yeah, that sort of thing. Or Evanescence, let's make it clear. Or Evanescence, yeah. It's always a variation of the song that Curtin listens to when he gets accepted into the MVQ in this country with the vicar. It's always that kind of music. Yeah. Scooter type music. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I think you're right to say that he is someone who will grab it by the scruff of the neck and you can just see him, if it goes well, you can see him over and over again just going, the football equipment, just give it here and I'll do it.

18:25Yeah. And he's super positive of his runs. He looks almost machine-like with his right foot. His right foot's a fucking weapon and he can finish with his left as well, Jim, as you've said. So it's an exciting addition. What will happen, though, is it'll come of its own pressure. You know, when you've got a club of that size that have been after a striker for so long, with due respect to Havertz and Marino, who's deputised there, it's going to come with pressure. And I think it's one of those ones where he'll open down his season, he'll score a couple, and that'll be that. Or is it going to rumble on?

18:53Is it going to get into September without a goal? And then people start talking about it.

18:57Jim Campbell: You've always got Mikel Marino. Well, indeed. There's an interesting kind of element to his style as well, and how that's going to fit with Arsenal's style. I don't think he scored a single header last season. Obviously, Arsenal put a lot of crosses in and they kind of... A dead ball game is on point. Absolutely. And they kind of, they use the air as a weapon, essentially. And this hints to me that they're going to try and sort of just play on the break a little bit more, be a little bit more aggressive on the transition, which they badly, badly need. And that's quite an exciting thing. I think if you look at the profile of a lot of the players and how they are, that have come in and how they're all, even Christian Mosquera likes to run the ball out of defence they are all very very positive and all about getting the ball up there quickly even Norgaard and Supermendi as I've mentioned before with a kind of forward passing I think Arsenal might play in quite a different style next season which has the potential to be very exciting there's also an interesting thing within this which is that he's on 138 ,000 a week which is obviously lovely work if you can find it we'd all say yes to that but that means he is nowhere near Arsenal's highest paid player like nowhere near So you reckon he's incentivised?

20:05Jim Campbell: I think so and I wonder if actually there's a little bit of protection in there for the club like if it doesn't work out and he can't translate that form it won't be that hard to move him on presumably on that sort of wage Yeah I mean I know it's like you know it's not jump change is it It'll be harder to move him on if he doesn't score any goals Sure but you know it makes it it doesn't make it impossible Does the agent get his little does he get a little goal bonus? Well he waived his feet He set fire to his I'll tell you one thing you haven't factored in here Jim which is probably the most crucial part of this entire transfer Old Trafford on the opening day that's nice ease yourself in put all that to bed just do what you want lads do what you want today enjoy yourself treat it as an extended pre-season yeah welcome to the Premier League you can go all wear sashes like a hen do oh that'd be nice I was thinking about something a bit sectarian there when you said that well fair someone else do in the studio I mean but you're just thinking about the fact that they can just treat it as a little kind of weekend city break yeah like a little weekend away like you did this weekend in Latvia I just want to be on the record saying that I hope they don't do that they're not listening did you go and see any sconto Riga action when you're in Latvia what's sconto Riga they're the big team in Riga oh right okay no I'm unfamiliar with Latvia football completely but just indie clubs and sauerkraut juice was it I drank a big bottle of half a big bottle of sauerkraut juice.

21:31How's that even a product? It's weird. I don't know why. I think it's sort of set up like some kind of health tincture, but it's... This is what frustrates me because what was at the start of the week last week? Oh, I'm not sure I'm coming. I've got food poisoning.

21:43Jim Campbell: Yeah, right. And now you're having Latvian sauerkraut tincture. No, that makes it... But you simply have to remember that I did come in. Like you live in the fucking Witcher. Just collecting portions. From far off. Locking in that eastern Europe and collecting tinctures. Latvian tinctures. Kicking gnomes so they drop the tinctures so I can drink them. Fighting isolated castle guards. And they try to steal dragon's eggs without them noticing. I feel like doing. Anyway. What's Skontoriga? Massive club, mate. I was unfamiliar with Skontoriga. I presume that's the Regan Football Club. I was unfamiliar with it.

22:18Right. Well, they've just not been bothering the Champions League all that recently. If they have, I'm sorry. Apparently they've been renamed to Skonto FC. See? Yeah.

22:25Jim Campbell: See? Newcastle get in the Champions League and that's all he's interested in. I know, I know. Well, coming up after this, Morgan Gibbs-White tries to convince everyone he's happy to stay at Forest. We're not believing him.

22:43In 2023, a source sent me a tip. It tied baseball's biggest star to a vast, illegal sports betting operation. Shohei Otani! But then someone surprising confessed to me, his best friend. I'm Epey Mizuhara, and you do have permission to record me. From 30 for 30 Podcasts, this is The Betrayal of Shohei Otani. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and being thrown for loops, like when someone brings donuts into the office, or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's Noom. They combine GLP-1s to quiet the food noise with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds.

23:34Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. Noom. Lose for keeps. Get started at Noom.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications. Individual results may vary. This episode is sponsored by Aerie. If you know me, you know that my philosophy is all about looking good and feeling good every single day. And that honestly comes down to the first layer. I'm talking about bras. If your bra is digging into your shoulder or maybe it's riding up in the back or you are dying to take it off at the end of the day, then that bra is not the right fit.

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24:49Whether you're traveling, exercising, or podcasting, the best business news ever. liquid iv makes it easy to stay hydrated wherever life takes you so shop now at liquidiv.com liquid iv hydration that goes wherever life takes you

25:06but to actually have a support system around him having not been an addict okay in you know am i an addiction for life you know that's probably the safest one key on is that key on That's Keon. It's the way that he delivered that. He's like, I'm probably saying something terrible here, aren't I? Do you remember when he was on TV once, I can't remember which channel it was, where I think it might have been Jake Humphrey. Before I tell this story, by the way, I should say that apparently there's a lot of confusing stuff around Skontariga. Skontariga FC are a different club. Just checked in the break.

25:38There's Riga FC as well. A lot of confusing stuff around Skontariga. Yeah. Well, at least I knew they basically had... You throw it out there and throw up. You've got Ladvina. and throw a pod down yourself. If there's any Latvian football experts out there, get in touch. Just tell us what exactly the fuck is going on over there. Anyway. Sort yourselves out. Martin Keown. You're drinking sauerkraut juice, you mess. Martin Keown was on a TV broadcast with, I think, Jake Humphrey. And Jake Humphrey couldn't resist having a dig at Martin Keown. Oh, and he fell very flat. He was being late for the recording.

26:06Yeah, because Martin Keown threw it straight back at him and said, well, it's not my fault someone threw themselves under a train. On live telly. We should get that clip for later in the week. Beautiful. It's absolutely horrific. Well, thank you very much. It's like Partridge and Psychic Simon. Completely agree. Thank you very much to your friend, The Ramble. Tom, sending us that clip on the Discord, you can become a friend of The Ramble too. For just$5 a month, you'll get all of our football shows completely ad-free and access to the Football Ramble Discord where you can chat with us and other Ramble listeners.

26:33Search pitcher.com forward slash Football Ramble to get involved. Now, we mentioned on the mailbag last week about embarrassing club losses. Listener Mitchell Jordan has updated us with news from MLS. Do you want to take this one, Luke? Yeah, I'll take it. Why not? He says, in response to your answers on the mailbag this week about embarrassing club performances, I would like to point you to my beloved LA Galaxy this season. As defending champions, the LA Galaxy had a record-setting winless run to start the season of four draws and 12 defeats. One of these losses included being the first ever MLS team to lose a game where the opposing team had no shot.

27:06Enjoy the good times while they last, I guess. You've got to be very careful there, Mitchell, because if you keep that up, Harry Raddham will be sniffing around. Two points from eight games. Well, that'll be four points from 16 games, which is kind of roughly the same. Yeah. Well, in the transfer window, things are happening. Things are usually happening that involve putting a bit of money into Liverpool's pockets. Luis Diaz is reportedly off to Bayern Munich for£65.5 million. He was left out of a friendly in Hong Kong after speculation about his move, which is something obviously Newcastle experienced at the moment.

27:37They're doing a good bit of business here, aren't they?

27:39Jim Campbell: Which is actually going under the radar a little bit, isn't it? because before the Diaz transfer goes through, they've already made, I think it's about£60 million from outgoing. So obviously they've got a little bit of money for Trent Alexander-Arnold in the end. They've sold Kelleher as well and one or two others to make that up. We spoke on Friday about how they, you know, have quite a lot of PSR headroom, but actually, you know, they're making some big sales in this window as well. So people are kind of going, how the hell can they afford that? And they, well, they just easily, clearly, easily, demonstrably can.

28:08Particularly if they move on Chiesa and Nunez as well. Possibly Harvey Elliott

28:13Jim Campbell: although you wonder if he might play a bigger role if Diaz is going. It's like a proper full striker transfusion. It really is, yeah. But Luis Diaz, I mean, what's his kind of legacy at Liverpool? He showed a lot of promise. He gave him a bit of times when he was out on the wings but he didn't quite get there for them in the Premier League did they? I don't know. I think he was a key contributor last season and he's got a relentlessness about him that I think is really, really key to the way they play. So to be honest, I'm sort of surprised by this transfer. Apparently Diaz really wanted it. Perhaps it's because he's 28.

28:46Jim Campbell: He wants to go and try a different experience in a different league. Yeah, exactly. Some sauerkraut juice. I've tasted the juice. I want the sauerkraut. I want to be geographically closer to Riga. Exactly. For the sauerkraut. Do you want to double check that? You're all over the place. I'm all over the place, yeah. I don't even know where Riga is. My geography's appalling. It is appalling. I'm fairly certain Germany's a lot closer. It's got to be. You would have flown over it when you came back yesterday. I did, yeah. You probably did. But yeah, I think, you know, clearly Slott's, what we forget, I think, is that Slott has only been at the club for a year, right?

29:20He's going to have a lot of his own ideas about the players he wants, how he wants to do things. And if Diaz wants to leave, and I didn't read that, but if Jim read it, I'm sure it's true, then perhaps Slott's like, well, I've got new players coming in. I want people who want to stay here, blah, blah, blah. So he has made a contribution for sure. He's obviously, you know, he's won things with Liverpool, including the Premier League last season. played in the Champions League final and all the rest of it. So Liverpool are in a weird situation because they're champions easily and they're in a bit of transition.

29:49You don't see that happening at the same time very often. And usually the cupboards bare when it comes to finances at that point. If you've won the league season it's because you've given everything financially to get there. And they've got bags of cash. Their income has now gone to over 120 million euros this summer. And they also had a lot of money in reserve as well. could this clear the path for Alexander Izak well you hope not I saw Andy Howe throwing everyone under the bus yesterday what was he saying enough to do with me I'm the head coach I'll have a say but it's dark to me

30:19Jim Campbell: I'll see off a sporting director but I'll see off two sporting directors and want to run the club like my faith with me and my nephew but I'm only the coach it's not my fault I'm the coach it's almost Trumpian isn't it I haven't seen the list that's hard I haven't seen it well that would be a very very surprising populist dystopian future if Eddie Howe emerges as the sort of UK equivalent of Donald Trump. Both successful men, apparently. Great, great successful men. But yes, Eddie Howe said that no contract talks have been taken a place between Isaac and the club. Maybe get on it. Because he literally says he won't.

30:53No, because Alexander Rogers said, I do not want to talk about it. Stop sending me contracts. What you want to do, my Gmail's full. A new contract is the opposite of what I want. No, thank you.

31:03Jim Campbell: Get an autograph, Hunter, in. Get Isaac to put his signature on a piece of paper and then write the contract around that. You've done much contract law on your time, do you? I don't think that's applicable. I think E-Zach's obviously going to be off, isn't he? All this points towards the fact that he's going to be going. I thought... Going this summer, I mean, these deals do take a... For big ticket items, as we said on the show before, this sort of thing does take a long time to get through. Always. And also, when a player starts agitating for the move, the club or the reluctantly selling club quite often do just accept that this is possibly the best thing for everyone.

31:37Jim Campbell: We do see it happen. Wayne Rooney used to agitate for a move to Man City every other summer, didn't he? And then he ended up staying and it was fine. So I guess it's not impossible that Izak stays. But I think the concern would surely be that actually... Can't get anyone in. Well, you can't get anyone in, which I think won't be an issue if you do manage to move him on or if he does go. Why though? It's a less attractive club though, isn't it? If we can't sign it... We've been trying to... Newcastle have been trying to sign strikers and forward players this window they've been unable to do so because for whatever reason whether it's a boardroom consideration or just Is it because people don't want to go there?

32:14People just well it's not a location thing I would say but it's just generally they're a Champions League club they're a Champions League squad but they just don't have everything else around it that obviously under the Mike Ashley years weren't really put in place so it's going to take a long time

32:27Jim Campbell: when you look at the calibre of player they're looking for they can obviously command attention from all sorts of places and Newcastle are sort of a little bit hamstrung in terms of what they can pay. I wonder how much Newcastle will end up getting for Isaac if he does go to Liverpool because when you know that the player wants to go and the player's agitating to move, if you're saying like we want 130 million or whatever, often those numbers end up dwindling down. There's only a couple of clubs that can afford him and obviously one of those is probably a less attractive proposition in the shape of a Saudi club.

32:56He's not going to go there. The reality is he's going to go to Liverpool. That's it. And what's interesting about how Newcastle play this tactically is you've alluded to it there, Pete, they might as well, I know this is like a bitter pill to swallow, but if the situation is as we expect it to be, they're better off just getting it done. Because otherwise, they're going to be so short otherwise, so short for forward players. They're going to have to really, well, they're just going to really struggle to score goals. So the players that they've been linked with, of course, are Visser, Watkins and Jackson.

33:30Chelsea's Nicholas Jackson. If you're looking at, I mean, Watkins doesn't fit the edge profile he's 29 now he's older for sure he's been around for a while I can't remember exactly how old he is but he's older but that doesn't matter needs must right yeah well you need to get someone in because the entirety of the goal scoring is down to Ossola who I think has got a lot of raw material but he's shown he's not really had the minutes to be honest Benjamin Sesko is obviously an option as well but I would say he's more of a gamble given his age and his relative experience so look it's annoying I have a lot of sympathy for Newcastle United fans because he's probably the best available number nine in the world, right?

34:08And it's really tricky to see a player like that move on or say he wants to move on or whatever. So I do feel sympathy for him. And it's not just all pure profit. He costs 60 million. It's an amount of money that you really need to spend a lot of time making the most of what you get. I can't believe he's waited this long.

34:24Jim Campbell: It's proper like real housewives of Tyneside kind of behaviour, isn't it? Ha ha ha! I'm going to create some drama. But if he said that, that's out of order. It is out of order. If he went into Eddie Howe and knocked on the door... He went, ha-ha! With a cloak and a top hat and a little moustache. How can I help you today? Ha-ha-ha-ha! That would be disrespectful to a crowd club, wouldn't it? Well, one person who will not be on the move is Martin Gibbs-White. He's going to be staying at Nottingham Forest. He's signed a new three-year deal, potentially at gunpoint. He says he wants to be part of something special, presumably meaning next season's Europa League.

35:05He was interviewed for the club social media. Was it on the pitch? He was on the pitch, wasn't he? I was on some kind of training ground. It was on a pitch. It was on a pitch with Maranakis lurking next to him. It looked kind of tense. I like that Evangelos Maranakis breaks every rule in the book that is the accepted wisdom of how an owner should act. He ran on the pitch and started remonstrating with Nuno last season. In the same outfit, I think, that he was wearing standing next to Morgan Guse-White.

35:31Jim Campbell: Like a classic Bond villain, there's only one outfit. Yeah, but there's absolutely no need for Maranacas to be there. You know the rumour that goes around that when Dez Kelly at TNT, I guess he's not at TNT, when he was at BT Sport, Dez Kelly would always insist on being in shot for the interview, right? Yeah. Because he loves himself, right? There's no need for it. People haven't come to see Dez Kelly, right? They've come to see... Richard Keyes. No, they've come... Yeah, yeah. Dez Kelly did interview Richard Keyes, but don't complicate it. in a post-match interview someone scored a hat-trick they don't necessarily want to see Dez Kelly in the shot no there's absolutely no need for Evangelos Maranacas to be in that shot either we know you're the owner we know you've got involved in the deal we know that's what happens we want to hear why Warden Giswight stand at Forest and if you're there it looks like that film of John McCain when he got kidnapped and captured as a POW in the Vietnam War and was blinking torture down the lens yeah in Morse Code that's what it looked like so I mean it's quite funny on one level because it's really annoyed Spurs fans because there was even as soon as you start talking as soon as you start upsetting fan base like Spurs fans easily done it's a lot of fun but as soon as you say the word medical football fans everywhere go right it's done yeah medical why would they even why would they healthcare's expensive why would they book the surgery people were saying it was going to be medical this month for Morgan Gibbs-White so there we go I saw it described as a record deal which threw me at first I was like give him Morgan gives a record deal.

36:59That's why he's a one-off Paul McGregor. He'll give you a record deal. He's doing Real Surreal versus the Mad Stumpman in his first single, Pete, with you. In my mind, Marinakis always looks like he could really rock. You know, like this sort of shirt, like white, crisp linen shirts that Meatloaf used to wear in music videos. I don't know why. I just thought, I wish he'd put one of them on. He's a very, I mean, I'm shaking around myself here. Right. But he's a very interesting man to look at. Always looks like he's stifling a burp. Always looks like he's just woken up. Yes, it's good stuff. He's minted as well.

37:34Slightly grumpy about something. Yeah. He said, I promised our fans we would not only compete, but grow stronger and stronger every season. Today is another big step in that journey.

37:43Jim Campbell: It is kind of refreshing though, isn't it? I think, you know, we were all assuming that Gibbs White was going to go to Spurs. Gibbs White included by the sounds of it. But it is nice that they have managed to hold on to him and get him to sign a new contract as well. And he got a refund on the train ticket as well. I really want to stay here. I love Nottingham Forest. What do you mean the hooters is closing? Down in the Championship, Wrexham have made an approach to former Man United midfielder Christian Eriksen. He was reportedly impressed in big old parentheses by the offer, but still wants to play top flight football.

38:21I mean, they could get there next season, knowing how crazy and strange the championship is I think it'll be tough it will be a tough one Christian Eriksen's a massive flex though isn't it? Yeah that'd be great I don't know I mean how old is he now? He's like 31? Yeah I mean it's a very interesting approach Well I mean that that is the the age bracket to consider a student in the championship and you don't have that much time off I'm speaking as someone who supports the team in the division same division as them and if you're facing off against Christian Eriksen I have absolutely no right to have to consider Luke playing against Christian Eriksen in a league game.

38:53Look, he just had a season at Manchester United. True, actually. That is true. He's had a deal with that. All right. Coming up after this, pre-season tours and more weird magicians. This episode is sponsored by Aerie. If you know me, you know that my philosophy is all about looking good and feeling good every single day. And that honestly comes down to the first layer. I'm talking about bras. If your bra is digging into your shoulder or maybe it's riding up in the back or you are dying to take it off at the end of the day, then that bra is not the right fit. And what I love about Aerie is that they have 59 different sizes in really soft fabrics and really good fits.

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40:53We're back with the Football Ramble now. The pre-season tours are underway. Always a lot of fun, especially if you are in Man United's situation and on their books. There's always just something funny happening. But Bruno Fernandes scored both goals in Man United. 2-1 win over West Ham in the opening day of the Premier League Summer Series in America. Because of course he did. Because of course he did.

41:13Jim Campbell: He booked all the flights as well, booked all the hotels, because he has to do everything around him. His celebration was a headcount. he's a utility man looking at his watch can we wrap this up he's walking around with a big yellow flag on his back yes did you see both goals were very much sponsored by Alphonse Areola Alphonse Areola I mean I love his look at the moment it's great it's a bit Lionel Perez and the way he's playing is Lionel Perez very chaotic very confused about what his job is on the field but yeah he he spilled across fouled in with Fernandes scoring the resulting penalty. Then he passed it straight to Kobi Murnus up the second.

41:55Yeah, it was a beautiful goal. It didn't need to be the way he was playing though, Ariel. And the game was followed by what has become very much a West Ham tradition, which was Graham Potter's taken four or five minutes to explain his very existence. Every time I see a post-management if you're involved in West Ham, it's Graham Potter explaining something that people need to understand. that everything will eventually be all right in the end, but not yet. It's a big season. Do you see him getting it right in the first few weeks? I've said over and over again that you can't judge Potter. You obviously can't judge him on the Premier League Summer Series, but you can't judge him without having a full pre-season.

42:35That said, if he's planning on playing Alphonse Areola for the season, which I suspect he probably isn't, then it may not turn out that way. Can I just say also, the foul that Alphonse Areola did on Aidan Heaven was almost exactly the same as the one Peter Shilton did on the Italian player, was it Scalacci? Right. In the third place player from World Cup 90. Okay. That's just as important. Go and double check that. You can. He knows his history. Every bit is important. Yeah, I think so. It's basically you lose track of the ball and you go to grab the ball. And you've not grabbed the ball. You've grabbed the player's legs.

43:16And they just fall off. Ball! Ball! I'm going to take this goal kick. What are you doing? Oh no, it's the ball of a player's foot. It's the ball of a player's foot. Well, I think America's potentially all footballed out at the moment because the 82 ,000-seater stadium in New Jersey was barely half full. But we did see... Yeah, so is that to do with... Soccer exhaustion, shoot. I think it's probably more to do with the fact how shit May United are now. Oh, do you think so? Well, because you'd think that they'd be crying. I mean, the reason they branded up the Premier League Summer Series is because clearly the powers that be in the Premier League have said, we can't get away with having a league game in the United States, right?

43:50I'm sure they'd love to, but they can't. So we'll brand up a pre-season tournament and we'll have all these big teams come. Man Utd, around the world, as big as it gets, yet they've been terrible, right? And so there's also the element that maybe they thought that, because Amarim made a lot of changes as well halfway through the game, I think.

44:06Jim Campbell: That's fairly common in pre-season games, isn't it? It is, but Jim, it's not that long ago, if Man Utd went to a big stadium in the US, particularly in a big conurbation like New Jersey, you'd think it'd sell out yeah there's got to be a reason it can't just be the fact because no one went to the Club World Cup either no so 41 ,000 you'd probably say I mean it's barely half full so probably less than that but 41 is pretty acceptable isn't it for a pre-season friendly involving I don't know how far like Man United have kind of fallen I don't know which club would fill that stadium but the whole point of these tournaments pre-season are that these teams are a big draw yeah they're a big draw did we not see Man United go to the Far East at the end of the season and get booed and stuff It was a little Malaysian trip, wasn't it?

44:45Yeah. Also, why does Amarim keep talking about how much these players need to suffer? Well, they suffered last season because of the things they did. Is he making a death metal album? He said, we're going to suffer, but the feeling of bonding is important. It's like a grindcore lyric. Well, I mean, it's like a horse's bones gets turned into glue, isn't it? You've just got to grind the bones down until they're stuck together. I'll tell you what, if I said to you, we could do a fucking game here, we'll do Ruben Amarim quote or grindcore band lyric. We are going to suffer, but the feeling of bonding is important.

45:14Jim Campbell: Do we have any listeners in grindcore bands? If so, knock up a song we've just made of Amrim quotes. You'd hope so. Yeah, you'd hope so. We have had more correspondence about club magicians after they were mentioned on the show last week. Ryan Smith sent us a message, Jim. Yes, Ryan says, further to the football club magicians' chat, I had a run-in, interesting, with one of Liverpool's resident magicians back in 2014. What the fuck is it? One of Liverpool's resident magicians. They're so flush with money. 11 years ago as well. I was thinking he'll be stand-up comedians in Liverpool. Me and my dad were in hospitality for the Champions League group game against Bulgarian giants Ludigorets.

45:52Jim Campbell: Before the game, one of the club's magicians came over and asked me to hold out my hand and make a fist. He showed me a coin and said he was going to miraculously transfer it into my hand. After a bit of theatrical arm-waving and a slap on either side of my fist, the trick was complete. But when I opened my hand, instead of a coin, there was a big pink foam willy. I'm back on board. I'm back on board. he's a comedian as well dirty comedian I was 14 maybe Luke's onto something with a magician's a pervert theory yeah you simply can't there's nothing vicious in that is there I'm 14 though it's a pink phone in the same way I went to Lafayette with a mate from Aberdeen who Rod Hull Biffy Clara yeah Aberdeen's finest Biffy Clara Rod Hull on a roadshow flipped him upside down and grabbed his willy and said emu's hungry for sausages but you know what was this year wow No, Rod Hall's long dead, but that's apparently what he got up to.

46:46And he's live short. So, you know, bit of blue for the dance. I mean, that's more problematic, yes. I don't think you could grab a Charles Willie whether you've got a fake beak in your hand or not. However much you might pretend it's a sausage. No, exactly. And in the court, you would have to check how much, how yielding the fabric in Emu's mouth was. Yeah. Also, Emu would be after a worm, not a sausage. Surely he's a bird. Maybe it was worms, actually, yeah. Yeah. you've added a layer of sausage

47:15Jim Campbell: he's not here to defend himself when you're saying things like that no I do have sympathy for Ryan who said when you're 14 you're pretty sensitive to being embarrassed and all that kind of stuff it probably wasn't ideal was it I just don't think there needs to be magicians in there where do you get these pink form willies I still want to know more so if you know anything more about why all clubs apparently have loads of magicians on retainer please keep letting us know we have to get to the bottom of it enjoy the magicians on the pitch Liverpool won that game 2-1 apparently late Steven Gerrard penalty there you go there's your magician there's your magician he can have that over in India the All India Football Federation has admitted that applications for Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez to manage the team turned out to be hawkses I mean apparently India's general director Subrata Paul said that Xavi was interested but it turns out the email applications were not genuine they advertised the vacant position didn't Robbie Fowler wasn't he in the frame for it as well and Harry Kuhl possibly it might have been fake we've got an email here from javimanager at gmail.com.

48:13170 applications. I wonder which names are in there apart from those two. How many are real? Sam. I bet he loves a curry. Big Sam. Oh, Big Sam. He'd love that, wouldn't he? I could see... I mean, it's not that difficult to distinguish that Pep Guardiola, who's currently the manager of Manchester City, is probably not going to want to manage India. Put it in the maybe, just in case. But having said that, I saw a photo of Pep Guardiola this morning sporting a lovely grey moustache. Really? Okay. Now, I don't know if it's real or not. Right. I mean, you never know what's real on the internet these days, but it looked interesting.

48:50I'm going to try and show you a picture now. Yeah. Let's see if I can find it here. Yeah, here we go. Here we go. Look at that. Look at that. I can see him. Yeah, okay. I can see him rocking that in Kerala. He looks a bit like someone in Alo Alo. Yes. Or like an 80s pilot. Yes. Don't mind me. He's gone a bit sully, hasn't he? Yes, he has gone a bit sully. Sully and sullen. Maybe, I mean, we know that Pep is roughly on nodding terms with going a bit crazy, losing his mind. Right. Occasionally when things get tough. So maybe he would fancy it. He's also got a gap year bloke, isn't he? Yeah, I could see him.

49:27Jim Campbell: He did do his sabbatical, didn't he, in New York that time? Yeah. Fantastic. Maybe he would like to go to India, but it turns out apparently not. Imagine if it was a Pep guard out of Xavi Hernandez job share and they were like, yeah, we'll take him. We'll take them both. Well, I think Pep's got that kind of, I think with his moustache now, he would look like a Bollywood film star, like an older Bollywood film star. Yeah. Very enjoyable. Do you think, yes or no, Pep is going to rock up on the first day of the season with the moustache? Yes. Yeah. I mean... He will, okay. Yeah. All right then, let's get out of here.

49:57Thank you for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the Aircast Creative Network. We are back tomorrow for a brand new Mailbag show. In the meantime, you can follow us on X, TikTok, Blue Sky, Instagram, and YouTube by searching Football Ramble. Say goodbye, Jim. Goodbye. Say goodbye, Luke. Goodbye. And it's goodbye from me. Have a lovely Monday.

50:21The Football Ramble is a Stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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52:33Thank you.