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0:00I tell myself, it's not about comparing. But then I start wondering, what can they lift? Are they adding more weight to their barbell than I am? And suddenly, I'm not training. Then I realize, my journey is not theirs. I've earned every step. So I smile. My smile is the shape resilience takes to keep me moving. To put more smiles out into the world, Colgate has supported female athletes for over 50 years with the Colgate Women's Games, the nation's longest-running indoor track and field series for girls and women. Colgate, your smile is your strength. Think of a toilet as just an everyday object.

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2:35Jim Campbell: Spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L dot com. Promo code BASEBALL. That's Nutrafol.com. Promo code BASEBALL. I'm Jake Stouck, co-founder and CEO of Serval. We built Serval to automate the IT work that slows companies down. Onboarding, password resets, access to applications, my laptop stopped working. While employees wait for help, their real work is put on hold. IT desperately wants to automate this work, and that's why they need Serval. You just tell Serval what you want to automate in plain English, and it's built. No drag-and-drop workflows, no expensive consultants. Employees get unblocked, and IT teams go from drowning in tickets to building what actually matters.

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3:49feels the same, electric. It's that moment when you read the play before the trend even starts, beat the clock on a campaign with a little help from AI, and connect with customers in real time, like you've trained for it your whole career. That's contentful. World-class digital experiences built fast, built beautifully. Create and launch personalized content in an instant, across every channel your customers are watching. No chaos, no limits, Just open field. Take your shot at contentful.com. Everybody's changing and I don't feel the same, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble. It's Wednesday the 3rd of June.

4:30I'm Luke Moore. I'm Jim Campbell. And I'm David Cartlidge.

4:48Yeah, a very warm welcome to the Football Ramble on this Wednesday, as I said, the 3rd of June, gearing up for the World Cup action, the hot World Cup action that's just around the corner now. No markers today. Can you guys hide your disappointment?

5:00Jim Campbell: Yeah, I'm worried about him, even though I know he's probably just doing extra World Cup prep, isn't he? He's at a Lily Phillips convention. I see. Yeah, so he can't work this week. But he will be back soon. So look forward to that. Marcus, if you're listening, which I know you are, have a lovely time. thanks to friend of the ramble nathan for giving us that intro line if you want to submit an intro line for a future episode and get an extended edition of today's show then become a friend of the ramble on our patreon now just head to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to get involved there's thousands of you on there there's loads of you on the discord we're very very grateful that you're uh you're involved uh we'd love to see more of you so do do that and you can submit an intro line every wednesday as i said right chaps i think it's a bit like when i worked at Asda putting all the promotional stuff on the shelves when I had that job today.

5:53It's a manager's special. It's a manager's special, guys. It's not two two litre bottles of dark Pepsi for two quid. It's Andoni Iriola. It's the amazingly named Pierre Sarge. It's Tom DeEckart doing a hostage type video. It's Craig Bellamy. There's loads of stuff. And when you get bored of the manager chat, don't worry. Just stick around because we're going to talk about rule changes. So everyone should be very excited. The first place to start though will be Andoni Iriola, who is reportedly set for Liverpool. Liverpool have reached an agreement in principle to appoint him as their new manager because apparently they want a manager who can deliver front foot aggressive football.

6:32Jim Campbell, set the scene for us.

6:35Jim Campbell: The first thought I had about this is that it seems like a really extreme way to get the best out of Mielskirkes. I wonder if Basing the entirety of the next couple of years around getting a bit more out of him is the right strategy. But I think there are probably some other benefits having Iriola as well. One of them being that he's obviously a very, very good front footed manager, as you've alluded to there. And I think actually, if you look at the way Liverpool have played when they've been at their best, they hit on the break a lot. They hit on the counter a lot. And with real kind of gusto, Bournemouth playing exactly the same way.

7:11Jim Campbell: So actually, I don't think it's like a huge kind of step up for Areola in terms of what his training methods are going to be and what his messaging is going to be. So I'd be pretty excited about this if I was a Liverpool fan. In terms of like salvaging what's left after the disaster that was Arnazlott's second season, the confusing disaster, I think this is actually probably the quickest way to get them back on track based on who was available, even including Alonso, to be honest. Yeah, I think this is tremendously exciting for Liverpool. I think it's a perfect appointment. I think they're lucky boys in the way that Irola is actually still on the market.

7:44I know he was in talks with Milan for a little bit over there. Yeah, so it looked like he was going to be gone. And then Liverpool were in that situation, like, oh, slot's still about. Or they might get rid of slot and then there's not much left because Alonso's gone, obviously. So they've done well to get him. I think he'll bring the football that the fans want to see. It's going to be interesting to see whether he gets the opportunity to play on the break that much at Liverpool. Because with Bournemouth, I think they can operate on the break. but our team's going to sit behind the ball against Liverpool or not.

8:11So it'll be interesting to see that. But I think he's a brilliant, well-rounded manager, so I'm sure he'll figure that out. And it's always good to see a manager who has done very well at a certain level now get a better calibre of players and he can work with them and take them forward. And who knows? I mean, they might do another little raid on Bournemouth. I know they really like doing that. So who knows? Maybe Alex Scott or somebody might join him. Well, the lads were saying that on Monday. I think I was one of those lads, wasn't I? I believe so. We talked about it. When we saw it might happen, and we started talking about that kind of stuff.

8:40Yeah, I mean, Alex Scott would be a great place to start. Wonderful footballer. Yeah, particularly given Liverpool's travails in that area of the pitch. Anyway, it looks like they're going after Areola. One of the kind of criticisms ahead of time has been that it's not necessarily easy to step up to a club that size and just hit the ground running. I mean, we mentioned on Monday the idea that they were winless in their first nine games under him at Bournemouth. What happens if that goes on at Liverpool? Who's going to blink? Are they going to stick with it? Are they going to fight off all the criticism that's going to come?

9:16Are the natives going to get restless? I mean, it's a different challenge, isn't it?

9:20Jim Campbell: Yeah, but I think given the situation they're in in terms of the kind of transitional nature of this generation of players with Andy Robertson, Mo Salah and now Ibrahim Mekunate all leaving and with young players like Jeremy Jacquet coming in and Giovanni Leone coming back from injury, even if they'd kept slot around, there is a sense that actually they're very unlikely to become the finished article straight away. So I think that will go in Areola's favour because this summer is going to be really, really interesting for Liverpool because we thought they'd built this kind of invincible super squad last summer.

9:56Jim Campbell: That clearly didn't turn out to be the case. Did we think that? Did I say that? I didn't say that, did I? I don't think you used the word invincible super squad. I wish I had that. We looked at that squad and just thought, wow, this has got everything. And they sprinkled some stardust on top of it. And it didn't quite work out in that way. I think there's just going to need to be patience, right? Because Salah in particular going is a bit of a blessing for Iriola because he's not someone who's going to play the pressing style that he needs. But they are going to have to replace the goals that he's previously brought to them.

10:24Jim Campbell: They're going to probably have to get someone with a bit more steel in midfield, you would think, perhaps, where Alex Scott comes into it. They're going to have to do quite a bit of major surgery. and only Iriola's first team is going to look wildly different from even Arnazolot's last team and I think in a situation like that with a new manager coming in it would be madness for them to not be patient I just think that Salah was a huge distraction last year completely agree and so it's a blessing it's also a blessing that Canate's gone because he's been diabolical last year in my view I should say at this point he's close to agreeing a deal with Real Madrid which as Jim said to me last night it's great news for Barcelona so I mean obviously they're not put off by it I mean Canarte playing under Jose Mourinho is quite an interesting proposition but David do you think Liverpool need that much work do you actually I mean is it just a case that they underachieved last season for various different reasons and that actually if they can return to anything approaching business as usual it might be alright I think there's about five or six players there whose level dramatically dropped last season name them name and shame McAllister's a great example Alexis McAllister Canarte who else Salah Yeah.

11:31Who else? Gakpo. Gakpo, Gravenberch as well. Van Dijk as well. I think quite a few of them. But if you look at somebody like McAllister, he's somebody who plays exactly into Irola's style. He can be that pressing midfielder if they can recapture his level. That's what he did at Brighton absolutely brilliantly. So Irola's got to do that. And I think, great point about Salah being a distraction. With him gone, with Robertson gone, Irola can come in straight away and say, I can make this my team. There's no remnants of the past, as it were, there. I can now make things fresh here. So I think, honestly, I think it's a great appointment and I think it's a great job for Erola as well.

12:06And do you think that when Bournemouth struggled early on under him, it was because it was such a culture change for the manager before? Or do you think, and do you think that actually it might not take Liverpool's players as long to get on board with what he wants to do? I think it was the transitional coming from Spain to England. I think that's where it was. I don't think it was anything to do with Bournemouth or anything. I think it was purely just the style and Erola was kind of getting up to speed with it. And I think he hinted at it a few times himself as well and just said those first few games he was figuring things out.

12:35And Bournemouth's a club where they won't pull the trigger on a manager, so they allowed him to get time there. And look what's happened then. A men's success since then. Historic finishes. So, yeah, I don't see that happening at Liverpool. First nine, ten games. Speaking of taking on board managers' ideas, did you guys see that Kyle Walker stuff last night? That was amazing. Kyle Walker was on, I think it was Talk Sport, but he was definitely on some kind of outlet last night or yesterday. and he talked about what it was like trying to take on board Pep Guardiola's ideas at Manchester City and he said he and Pep Guardiola basically both agreed that it took Walker two years to understand what was actually happening.

13:13Wow. And he said the only reason I kept getting picked is because of my physicality and my pace and my just raw ability. But he said that I would be in training sessions for almost two years not really knowing what was happening.

13:24Jim Campbell: Wow. Which is like crazy to think of, isn't it? and he was talking to Darren Bent about it and Darren Bent was like, what? Two years? What are you talking about? Anyway, crazy situation to think about. So look, it will be interesting to see if Arreola goes there. I think it's a good appointment. I personally would happily put my cards on the table and say I think it's a really good get. I think, you know, there's been some Liverpool-based analysis that says that, you know, oh, you know, is it actually going to work because Bournemouth isn't Liverpool and it's okay to do it in front of 11 ,000 fans at Bournemouth and, you know, if you lose a couple of games, no one really knows it is.

13:55All of which I accept. But I do think we can't really operate in a situation where no one who's ever played or managed for a small club can then go on to do it at a bigger club. I don't think, realistically speaking, any football club of a certain size is only just going to bring in super managers from all over Europe. It doesn't really necessarily work like that. I think you have to say Iriola's 100 % earned the right to have a go at the job. And so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. before we move on from Liverpool just a quick note to say that sadly the news broke yesterday that Sir Kenny Dalglish is undergoing treatment for cancer which is really sad to see so all the best to him we wish him and his family well alright moving down to South London after missing out on Andoni Arreola it looks like Crystal Palace are in talks with the exceptionally named Pierre Sarge he's expected to hold talks with Crystal Palace this week he's currently the manager of Lons he's open to joining Crystal Palace apparently the list of managers that Crystal Palace were apparently considering Frank Lampard Kieran McKenna Thomas Frank Sean Dyche and former Eintracht Frankfurt manager Dino Topmoller with a number of those already apparently holding talks with Crystal Palace can that be true David?

15:05I mean there's so many different types of manager in there it would worry me if I was a Crystal Palace fan yeah it's an interesting scattergun sort of one I thought Topmoller was kind of the one I was like that makes sense after Glasner really? yeah I really do he's mental though isn't he? he's mad yeah yeah yeah I just thought that might work. But now they've gone for PSRs, this makes even more sense. He's Glasner with a baguette instead of a Bradford. He's a brilliant like-for-like sort of replacement for him. You should only be able to hire Championship League One, League Two, English, and at a push, Scottish managers in a World Cup year.

15:40You can't be bringing more French or Germans into the country in a World Cup year. Jim, agree?

15:44Jim Campbell: No, no. I think... You did know Tocmone was the guy you were obsessed with for a while. Yes, crazy. Eintracht Frankfurt were just an absolute basket case. They scored 61 goals and conceded 65 goals last season. And that sort of calmed down after they sacked him a bit. It was just nonsense. Every time I watched a fair bit of the Bundesliga highlights, just because they do a really smart thing, where they do a half an hour package of every game. So it's really easily digestible. So you can actually kind of keep track of what's going on in the league in a fairly top line way. but an entertaining one all the same.

16:18Jim Campbell: And Frankfurt were the box office attraction every single time. It wasn't that you didn't know what was going to happen. You knew what was going to happen and it was going to be goals and some of them were going to be absolutely ludicrous from their perspective. So I think if that's Totmuller's fault, then I'm all for him coming to the Premier League, particularly with a team I deeply dislike. Which, to be fair, to be clear, is not Crystal Palace. No, right. So if you had to bestow... Okay, fine, great. David, what about Pierre Sarge though? Because he steered Lens to second place. He's done incredibly.

16:52Yeah. And that's out of the ordinary. I'm not an expert on French football, but that is out of the ordinary for them, right? Absolutely ridiculous. One of the best stories going. Six points off of PSG in first place. Just not expected at all. Yeah. He's worked on the shoestring consistently as well. Good players have left. You can see why Palace are hiring him here and with all that, taking that into account. Interestingly, he had a spell at Lyon and Texter, who was obviously at Palace a bit, actually let him go really early and they really regretted that decision and they went downhill. That's unlike him, isn't it?

17:20Making a shit decision? Yeah, it's strange. He's such an astute guy. So what do we expect from him? If it happens, what do we expect from him? I think, honestly, a really nice continuation from Glasner. I don't think there'll be anything too radical away from what he did. So I think the players who do stay at Palace, I know obviously are likely a few to go. Mateta's probably going to go, isn't he? I think there might be a few others. Wharton's future is still up in the air as well. so yeah I think the players will like it from that sense he's a very very good you know man manager as well as well as being a tactician I honestly think he's a really perfect fit for Palace I feel like we're going into a bit of an era now where we have managers who kind of specialise in this type of club and behaviour because Sarge also won the Coupe de France for the first time in Lens' history and it's almost like we've now got a style of manager who can go into a good-sized club at the top level, but not a top club, and be really adaptable, can deal with players leaving all the time, can deal with certain budgetary restraints, can handle those kind of choppy waters when they need to.

18:24And he would be someone who's clearly done that in his career as well because he's not managed right at the very top level. It's going to be really interesting if he comes in to see him alongside someone like a Marco Rosa in the league and see how those guys get on.

18:37Jim Campbell: Yeah, absolutely. and I think it's actually a really good show of ambition from Palace because it's an opportunity, isn't it, to get one of those guys who is at this level who are not quite at the top yet but strongly suggest that they might get there one day. I also think it's very interesting if you take this back to the conversation we had about Antonio Iriola and this idea that it's very, very rare. Well, it's not really an idea. It's really just the fact that players that manage the kind of mid-table, kind of lower clubs in the Premier League and do really well there, when they then graduate to one of the big boys, they often struggle.

19:07Jim Campbell: I think Oliver Glasner is a really, really interesting example there because he's won two trophies with Palace there and showing that you can win a trophy with one of those clubs is surely of really, really high value. And I really wonder if he actually might be someone who can go on to buck that trend and be successful at a bigger club because he clearly knows how to do that. He was linked with Milan last night as well. Interesting. They're linked with their re-management one, but yeah, he was suggested. I mean, despite what we said about Areola earlier, Iriola earlier is a really difficult thing to say Palace were in for him as well Palace had an ambitious tilt at Iriola as well but despite what we said about him there is a kind of element I think Glasner is a great example of this where you know you are kind of backs against the ball no one expects you to win I suppose with the exception of perhaps the conference league I don't really think that anyone expected Palace to win a couple of trophies under Glasner and then the expectation is different when you go up to wherever you go up to.

20:08So I think the challenge is different. I think you've got to make an assessment about whether you think they're able to adjust in what's expected of them, I guess. And I'd never really heard of Pierre Sardin. I don't really watch French football, but his story is really interesting. So it'll be great to see if he does come to the Premier League. Before we go for a break, so very briefly, I should do this while Marcus isn't here to break down in tears. Marco Silva has now confirmed he will leave Fulham in the summer. He's expected to go to Benfica, which of course is a massive pull for a guy of his background.

20:39He's been at Fulham for five years. It did feel like it was coming towards the end of the line with him. His contract expired this month anyway, but they had offered him a three-year deal to keep him. Any reflection on Silva as he's on his way out the door?

20:53Jim Campbell: I think he's been really good for Fulham. He's left them in a much, much better place than when he took over. they are in a situation now where they can be looking up the table and trying to be one of these clubs that we're talking about they're in an interesting position aren't they you would think they should be looking around at you know the B clubs the Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford lot and looking at the way they do business and the way they attract players that others seem to have missed this news has obviously hit Marcus very hard that's why he's currently standing in that queue that you mentioned earlier I didn't say that I said a convention I didn't say a queue I think it's a fascinating yeah we can't fast forward past the World Cup and overlook that of course but if you do just very briefly look at what's happening in the Premier League next season you look at say Manchester City Liverpool Fulham Chelsea Crystal Palace and Bournemouth that's six clubs already with a managerial change of some form or another going into the new season and some big big clubs in there it's going to be fascinating to see what happens but I think Marcus Silva's done a pretty good job I mean he's turned Fulham into a kind of solid part of the Premier League conversation, really.

22:01Tough to be. They're tough to be, tough to break down. I think he did a magnificent job there. I think it's going to be quite difficult to replace him. And Fulham aren't exactly generous with spending money and such. So it's going to be interesting to see where they go. I know they've been linked with Kieran McKenna, but apparently he's got an 8 million release clause fee. I cannot see for the life of me Fulham paying that. No, but it's a lovely place to work. It's a lovely spot to go. If you're listening to this or you're watching this and you're not familiar with London, that part of London is a beautiful spot to work every Saturday I know they've got to go to Motspur Park to train but generally speaking getting down by the river particularly as the season starts in August through to September beautiful part of the world that's going to be a big pull maybe Kieran McKenna will decide that's worth 8 million and the English will let him go probably not let's see what happens alright coming up after this Tonda Eckert gets even more weird

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26:02Jim Campbell: I mean, if you're asking me whether Harry the Horner, who I presume is the mascot, should dive in that way, I think it's disgraceful. Welcome back to the football round. Well, I've never heard that before. Yeah, we play it quite regularly. Roy Hodgson just confused why a giant hornet's in the stadium, but he's presuming for now he's a mascot. As I mentioned before the break, Tonda Eckert's become even more weird. I need some help on this, guys, because I understand, I recognise my own inbuilt bias. I'm checking my own privilege on this. I've got a huge amount of privilege being a Portsmouth fan in this situation, so I need to be honest about that.

26:39I find it very difficult to assess what's actually going on at Slams at the moment. What I'll do is I'll lay it out to you guys, then you can pick up the baton and run with it. And the motivation for talking about this today is because Tonda Eckert released a video on Tuesday morning, which ran to almost eight and a half minutes on his role in this whole Spygate thing. Now, in the running order here, it says he's apologizing for his role in it. I don't know if I actually agree with that. I think he's probably making quite a lot of excuses. I've watched it. He does that kind of non-apology, apology type thing, saying that, you know, oh, well, in Germany this happened, and in Italy that happened, and all we did was this, and it wasn't really that bad.

27:22And at one point, he actually names Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich. He's trying to intimate that this is pretty normal behaviour from the top managers in the game, despite the fact that he, the owner, and the club have admitted the behaviour they've been found guilty of. My take is that I find it just baffling he's still in a job, let alone the fact that the club have agreed to let him release that video on all their official channels, essentially just making excuses for what they've done. and at no point does he really take any time to properly apologise to Middlesbrough, to Ipswich, to Oxford.

27:57He spends a bit of time talking about how upset he is on behalf of the fans. But to me, this is one of the weirdest situations I can think of at a top club in recent years.

28:08Jim Campbell: Absolutely. Have you seen the video? I haven't actually seen the whole thing. I've seen bits and pieces of it here and there. It's boring and weird. Yeah, that was the impression I got. He and really they, by extension, are going to be the pantomime villains of the championship season next year. It's going to be really quite... They always were for me, boy. Sure, but I think that's going to be league-wide now, isn't it? And, you know, certain teams are going to be particularly sort of vocal about that. It's very, very weird. But yeah, the whole thing is... I am very surprised that they haven't sacked him.

28:36Jim Campbell: Clearly, the owner thinks, well, look, he's a good manager. We've got a good chance of... If we can just wear this for a bit, we've got a good chance of getting promoted again. And actually, perhaps the thinking is that there's going to be a siege mentality there, which would sort of have to be anyway. because they are going to be kind of viewed as the bad guys next season, whatever happens. David, it is funny. This is unquestionably funny, particularly for someone in my position and for all my fellow Portsmouth fans. But before I bring you in, I do want to kind of make it clear that actually, the fact that they've admitted to what they've done, the fact that Eckhart has kind of coughed to it, is one reason why I think he should lose his job.

29:12And I actually think he probably, but at this point he should have resigned. That's my take. You think he should have resigned? I think he should have done. And the reason I think he should have resigned is because in the discovery when it came to the case and all the information that came out, there was an independent disciplinary commission where junior members of staff, people who aren't in positions of power, who are essentially trying hard to get on in life, to have a career, to keep their job, were placed, quote, under extreme pressure to carry out the spying, which they were, quote, clearly uncomfortable with and felt was morally wrong.

29:44A junior analyst sent to observe Oxford sent a message to his colleagues saying, I didn't really have an option. I wasn't provided with an opportunity to say no. I was an intern and I had to do what I was told. And another analyst at the club sent a message to his colleague after being caught saying, I said all along I was never happy about all this and it wasn't right but no one listened to me. Right? This is a workplace. It's really poor. You have to understand there are kind of duties of care involved in this and you have to behave in a certain way which is commensurate to running a workplace.

30:14And if you are getting people to do stuff which is essentially against the rules, forcing them to do it, putting pressure on them to do it, and then you get caught doing it, you need to resign. And if you don't resign, the owner, Dragon Solak, who's come out and said that he doesn't believe that he needs to sack him because of, quote, double jeopardy, which is a completely misunderstanding what double jeopardy actually is, is, I just think it's absolutely scandalous, actually. I get your point about him resigning, absolutely. But I do completely understand why Southampton haven't sacked him. Why?

30:46What's the reason you understand that? that they don't want to fall on their sword twice. They've already been punished. They were denied that playoff final position. They denied promotion. Got the points deduction as well. They've looked at it and thought, Eckhart, we've got a good coach here. We don't want to spend... But have they though? Have they actually got a good coach there? I think they have though. I think they're a good coach. But the sample size comes from him cheating. Oh, I don't think so.

31:05Jim Campbell: As far as we know, it's only three matches and they didn't do particularly well in any of the day. Yeah, exactly. Come on, Jim. Yeah, I mean, I'm just saying as far as we know. I'm just not ready for... Jim, if you believe that, you'll believe that I'm just not ready Don't be naive, Jim. And look, this is me potentially believing what's going on there between the intern and Eckhart. And if you look at the discussion on the Oxford situation, it seems like the footage and the detail that was sent over wasn't even used and wasn't good enough anyway. So they just kind of discarded it. Because it's just a bloke in a bush with a phone.

31:36The whole thing's ridiculous. Hence why you sent to Middlesbrough. It was kind of like, right, you go to Middlesbrough, do better this time. Getting your flights and you're putting your up, you need to do a better job. He obviously still felt... What would your legend do? I think I'm right in saying and producer Tom here is the Championship X but they lost that game didn't they against Oxford they lost 2-1 didn't they they lost anyway so the footage wasn't good enough they couldn't use it and then they lost they didn't win any of the games that they spied on Drew or lost so you would I mean just for the avoidance of doubt here because I think our listeners and our viewers deserve to know you will back Eckhart generally as being a good coach who's someone they should stick with because it's worth doing so despite all the baggage it comes up despite the fact that actually we're taking for granted the idea that he'll be able to overcome all this anyway.

32:18He's going to get pelters every single game next season. He's going to get an incredible amount of scrutiny. He's going to be... I mean, there are kids in Southampton playing football in the club shirt that are having cheat shouted at them over and over again. Now, stop trying to make... Stop trying to... He's trying to stop himself laughing at that. Children.

32:34Jim Campbell: I'm openly laughing. That's what they're getting, which I don't agree with. Yeah, that's character building. So he's helping them by proxy. He's helping them. You honestly think he can overcome all this? Oh, that's the thing. I'm just saying, I can see why the Southampton owners have said we're sticking with them. We don't want to set ourselves back further. After everything they've gone through with this playoff final, to then go back to the drawing board and go, right, we need to start everything again without Eckhart. No, I think they've looked at it and said, look, the guy's a good coach. We're going to try and overcome this.

33:01But I agree, it might become too much at some point.

33:05Jim Campbell: Also, this is more extreme. How trustworthy is he? But Leeds didn't sack Bielsa, right? And that worked out for them. And it's a very, very different kind of level of attention on this one for some reason. I suppose because it's related to the playoffs. But it did work out then and things blow over in football really quickly, right? So, I mean, like who even won the Champions League? Who can even remember that? Do you know what I mean? It just moves on so fast. Okay, look, we'll agree to disagree. I think it's, to me, it feels like, like I said to you at the start of this, it's hard for me to be objective about it, right?

33:36Because I know they're a club of absolute wrongs and I've known it for years, right? Yeah, how much more evidence do you need? It is, it's tough for you. You've grown up under their shadow. you're not there in time alone. I totally agree. Yeah. But I just think the evidence just mounts and mounts and mounts. You know, it starts with, you know, Rupert Lowe. It goes through to Rishi Sunak, to Ricky Lambert, to Matt Tissi, and now Tonda Rekker. It's an absolute Mount Rushmore of wrong-uns. And, you know, I think if we had anything about us at all, there's a club, Portsmouth. There's a big hill called Portsdown Hill, big chalk cliff over the Portsmouth Harbour.

34:07They should carve that into that just to remind Surampton people whenever they go through. that this is what they're all about. I just honestly, joking aside though, if it were me owning that business, I wouldn't want someone who's in such an important position with absolutely no integrity. I just don't see how you can preach certain values like all clubs do, being big in the community, doing the things they do and have that as an example. To me, it just doesn't work and there are other coaches out there.

34:35Jim Campbell: Yeah, and Dragon Solak has made a big noise about how they need to look at certain things in their internal kind of runnings and day-to-day operations. And he also compared the incident to players diving. So does he get it or not? It's bonkers. I want Tonda to pop up at the World Cup in some way, like scouting a player. Yeah, fake moustache. Yeah, there'd be a lot of scrutiny on him. Another amazing thing Dragan Solak said was, I'm amazed that Tonda is willing to come back in this hostile environment after the witch hunt he had in the media. and I love the use of the phrase witch hunt there. It's like, because he did do the thing that he was accused of.

35:16Jim Campbell: And you know that it's like, if there is a local woman flying around on a broomstick, turning village folks into pigs, a witch hunt is a completely reasonable thing. And that's exactly what's happening here. And in this case, it's not, I completely agree with you, but in this case, let's go on a witch hunt. I'm a witch. There she is. That's it. That's it. It's over. It's the shortest witch hunt in the world. The witch is a witter to be the witch. Anyway, have you got any more to say on that, David? No, no, I'm good. No, I'm good. I think that's a bad take by you. You had a bad take on the Champions League final on WhatsApp as well.

35:48That was a good take. Jim, do you want me just to drag that up real quick? You thought that Arsenal were appalling, terrible, and should have played much better against PSG in the final. Absolutely. I thought they were shite. They were. But what could they have done different? In what world does anybody think they played really well in the final? What should they have done different in terms of their approach, though? I didn't think they needed to retreat as much as they did after PSG scored. I think there was a game there still to be won.

36:14Jim Campbell: Jim? I don't think I'd go as far as shite. I understand why they played the way they did, but another chance would have been nice. It's me in the middle. Listen, what we want is big, bold, robust opinions on this show, and I like it. Speaking of which, Craig Bellamy, speaking of robust, big opinions, Craig Bellamy has committed his future to Wales, rejecting job offers from club sides in the process. This comes off the back of the draw Wales had with Ghana, one all. He had been identified as a contender to replace Scott Parker at Burnley because, of course, Bellamy worked as assistant manager under Vincent Company at Burnley, and he'd also been linked to one of his former clubs, Celtic.

36:51But he wants to lead Wales at the UK and Honours Euro 2028. Now, I'm not surprised to hear this. The reason we're talking about this is because, as I said, it's a bit of a manager's special today. But I'm not surprised that Bellamy wants to stay. He feels like he really identifies with that Welsh job, right? and I think he feels like given their lack of qualification under him there's some unfinished business there. I mean, no offence to Craig Bellamy or anything like that but I don't really care unless it's beef with Jesse Marsh. We would deny that. I really, really gutted.

37:22Jim Campbell: Well, they need to ask him about Jesse Marsh at every possible opportunity and vice versa because the beef can continue, right? They just need to talk about each other. The beef should continue. But yeah, I mean, Bellamy would be crazy to leave this job now, right? Especially with the Euros coming up. and the job he's done easier to qualify for the Euros as well I would say I mean I think the expanded European competition has been good for countries for that size so it kind of makes sense also I think there's an element with Bellamy that because he identifies with the job so much and he's a very proud Welshman and he says all the right things and he looks quite impressive in his press conferences in a way that I didn't properly expect actually he's matured a lot it seems like he's very good at handling the media I don't think there's any reasonable way his stock can fall low enough to not get a job because Wales are only expected to do what Wales do.

38:07There's a good chance they'll qualify for Euro 2020. Off the back of that, his stock will be quite high. He's still quite young. To me, it makes perfect sense. He wouldn't jump ship now, I don't think. It's quite like O 'Neill with Northern Ireland as well. He's in a similar situation. But he did take a job. Yeah, he got the Blackburn job at the same time. So I think, you know what, Bellamy will probably, I can see him getting Wales to a tournament, taking them at that tournament, and then he's probably got to look at club football because there's going to be some good jobs there available. but he's already been linked with Celtic, you know, and he'd probably look at that Celtic job and go, it's a pretty good chance.

38:37I think that's a big job for some of his experience. It's a big job. Don't you think? I think it's too big for him at the moment. No? I mean, I don't think anything's got to be too big. I know, but like, you could put us in charge there, you know what I mean? We do a decent job. No, it's all good. All right, coming up after this, we're going to talk about law changes. It might not be as shit as it sounds.

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41:11Now despite my jokes before the break about how boring this section might be, I don't actually think it's going to be boring. I think this is a really important bit of admin, a bit of scene setting for what we can expect in a key part of the football when it comes to the World Cup because IFAB, IFAB doesn't work does it? Pugmol works. IFAB's already IFAB. We're not saying the IFAB, we're saying IFAB already. They've made changes in how the game is going to be refereed at this summer's World Cup. Before I get into it, does it seem bonkers to anyone else that they're doing it in the World Cup? To me it feels like they should try it somewhere else.

41:49No, no, this is perfect for that lot because they like to make at all about them so where else than the biggest tournament they used to do it in the Confederations Cup didn't they they used to roll stuff out in the Confederations Cup

41:59Jim Campbell: well they sometimes do it in like lower divisions in Canada and things like that that's how you know you're not respected yeah quite everywhere's their sandbox now yeah it is but it's like the surefire way to know that the rule makers of the game don't respect you is when you get some kind of lab test in your league like we're gonna now we're gonna use a square ball they did blue card didn't they a couple of weeks like for sim bins and stuff, didn't they? Anyway, let me give you the proposed law changes. Well, not proposed. They're actually happening for the World Cup. And I'll run for them very quickly and you guys can kind of zero in on the ones you're most interested in, I suppose.

42:32So they include a red card for covering the mouth in a confrontational situation, a red card for leaving the field of play and protest at a match official's decision. Looking at you, AFCON final. VAR can now overturn incorrectly awarded corners. And there are also some changes to on-field treatment rules, such as players who require on-field treatment from medical staff will have to leave the field of play for one minute. But there's no new rule in place to tackle the trend of goalkeepers going down to receive treatment. Coaches and players will also receive updated guidance on what constitutes handball with video clips being made to cover quote, all possible scenarios.

43:10Before I get into it, I should also say off the back of the new rule changes, we've now seen the consequences of it for the first time because in a warm-up game between Japan and Iceland recently, Isen's substitute did not leave the field at the nearest point within 10 seconds. So Isen had to play the next minute with a man down and Japan scored the winner with that man advantage. So meaningful repercussions to these law changes, guys. What's taken your fancy out of all those ones?

43:36Jim Campbell: I think probably the most sensible one here is that VAR can now intervene for incorrect second yellow cards, which might only happen once over the tournament. it might not happen at all but an incorrect second yellow is game changing especially at a World Cup you know in a knockout stage I think if you've got the technology there and you're using it there's something as big as that I've never really understood why that was off the table I understand that you can't use it for absolutely everything but that is a seismic thing in a game and I think that's really good oddly from what I remember VAR always seems to be a lot quicker at tournaments they just seem to be a lot sharper with it so hopefully that will be a continuation of this the incorrectly awarded corners thing sounds like it's going to be the opposite of that doesn't it?

44:22Jim Campbell: But apparently they're only going to do it if they can correct it immediately without delaying anything. Yeah, there's a limit apparently Cheeky short corners ahoy But didn't Kalina say they can't overturn it if it's like an incorrect goal kick or something like that? I think he like explicitly stated there was a certain little caveat Well he's also said that the yellow card one Jim is a good one to say because I missed that one but he also said, Kalina's also said that there is an unofficial directive given to referees that if a goalkeeper does go down, players from both teams will not be allowed to go to the bench.

44:53But that's the referee's description. It's not an official law change. So I think there's, as ever with this type of stuff, there is still some grey areas there. But I agree with Jim on the yellow card thing, by the way. I think actually, I think the whole thing is a load of nonsense anyway. But if you are going to do it, it just feels like picking and choosing on something of that importance. It's really stupid. It's really needless.

45:13Jim Campbell: Completely. That's always been the one thing that's kind of stuck out to me as being an unusual kind of non-use of the technology. But I do think we have an issue in this country with how quickly it's officiated, I mean, compared to other places. And I do think you're right. I feel like in the Champions League and in the World Cup, it does feel like it's quicker. I don't know why that is. Do you know why that is? Yeah, I'm not too sure. There's been some, yeah, there's been some very, very heavy delays, I think, which, you know, aggravate people. I'm just quite surprised about the goalkeeper one so that's really interesting that they haven't kind of like attacked that seems to be the one where incenses everybody is it one where there's no obvious answer to it though because if a goalkeeper is actually injured then and you can't really you can't really determine whether someone's really got cramp or not or whether they're actually injured or not I just don't know if they know how to change it would you be interested in the Pierre Luigi Colina direct quote about the issue absolutely he says I'm afraid we didn't get a solution agreed by everybody we told them that referees will be proactive and will not allow the two teams to go to the bench when a goalkeeper is lying down injured.

46:17The goalkeeper has a right to be injured but the players do not have the right to have a timeout. Certainly something will be done in the future. Shoot, there's going to be ways of getting around to that. You can see Emi Martin is just going down, can't you? It's like super wealthy people with the tax laws though. They're always a step ahead.

46:32Jim Campbell: There'll always be something. Yeah, absolutely. A smart team is already figuring out ways around this right now. Absolutely. And I would advise them to. 100%. And the eight second rule is also being applied to goal kicks and throw-ins now as well. There's a lot of admin for the referee. There is a lot of admin for the referee. I actually think the... But they're nerds, aren't they? They are. They're boffins for it. They love it. The eight-second rule thing with the goalkeepers, I thought it's worked quite well. It's actually... It does feel like it's noticed to be sped it up a bit. Yeah, and I can think of maybe one incident where a team conceded a corner from it in the Premier League this season.

47:03Jim Campbell: I can't remember who it was. I remember it. I remember it as well, but I can't remember the team. So it's worked as a deterrent, clearly. But the issue, I think, is, and this happens, I always really notice this in big tournaments, is that it takes so long for things to happen. I remember driving myself to distraction. I think it might have been the Qatar World Cup or maybe the one before that, where it was taking so long to do stuff. And I don't mean like VAR interventions, which I think have been quite quick. But it feels to me that because the referees are from lots of different confederations and they're used to refereeing the game, slightly differently.

47:40And because the teams are from different cultures a lot of the time, it takes ages to sort anything out. It was like taking 90 seconds to take free kicks and stuff. And that to me is a massive problem for the game generally. I find that with the Premier League. You know, the chat about the Premier League last season was like the type of football being played was a little bit shit compared to what we've seen in the past. I don't actually mind that. I can find plenty to enjoy in like a physical game which is set piece based and the tactics around it and stuff. But the problem is it's unforgivable in my view is how slow everything is to get going again.

48:13And I know that there's certain teams that want to do that in certain situations because it's an advantage to them. But the Premier League has to be very, very careful because the biggest selling point of it as a successful league and the most successful league in the world is the fucking entertainment of it, the pace of it. It's the tempo. Yeah, the tempo. Every single foreign player that comes over goes, oh, it's so quick. It's so quick. It's the tempo. Surely they must look at it now and just go, wow, it actually is almost getting on par with those other leagues. and such. So yeah. You can really notice if you flicked like an Italian like a Serie A game after watching a day of Premier League it's so noticeable.

48:47Yeah.

48:47Jim Campbell: It's incredible. But it's not as noticeable now based on what we've seen this season. Anyway look it'll be interesting to see what happens with these rule changes like what's probably going to happen is England are going to get on the end of a fucking terrible one I expect and then we'll all be upset about it. In other World Cup news the plane used by the Brazil national team at this year's World Cup has been baptised ahead of flying out to North America. Two fire engines formed an arc of water to smother the plane and clean it and baptise it. This tradition apparently is often used in aviation before an important flight.

49:16I'm not sure if that's just in Brazil, but generally speaking, I've never seen it happen before. David, you're a man of the cloth. What do you make of this? Yeah, I mean, look at... Every little helps? Yeah, yeah. They need it. They won one for 25 years. Very important in Brazilian culture, so I completely get that. I just thought they might have had maybe Kaká doing it in his little t-shirt, you know, his famous t-shirt. Jim, I would quite like to smother you with two arcs of water before the first Ramble episode of the World Cup. You strip down to just your pants, me and Pete on each side, and we'll spray you with water and baptise you so you have a good World Cup.

49:52Jim Campbell: I haven't been baptised, so I'm fair game on that. Yeah, so would it help you get into heaven to know that me and Pete would do it? You'd have to ask the big man upstairs, I suppose. I wouldn't presume to speak on his behalf. Speller and I will have a word. Yeah, good idea. But do you know what? The news that I loved this week about the World Cup is that Guillermo Ojoa has been named in the Mexican squad. Incredible stuff. I mean, this is magnificent. He's fuck, into fatigable. It's going to be his... He is a thousand years old. It's his sixth World Cup. He respawns every World Cup. He does. He doesn't play for a club in those four years.

50:25He just literally respawns for World Cups. He looks great. He looks great. He's 40. I think he'll turn 41 if Mexico get through right to the business end, which I hope they do. I mean, it'd be great if they did. You know, just know he's going to have a mad game as well where he blocks absolutely everything. Yeah. He's playing the Cyprus at the moment. Oh, right. There we go. A league that doesn't exist where he just respawns. He's kind of like, who's the Swiss lad? Brie Lambolo. Yeah, he is. Doesn't play anywhere. He just respawns tournaments. Michael Owen. Yeah. I just thought that was great.

50:55I hope he plays. I hope Mexico go deep because as Jim always says, they're the most World Cup team. Absolutely. They're the most World Cup country, aren't they, Mexico? Easily. Who else would make up your top three? Colombia.

51:04Jim Campbell: Colombia? Yeah. Yeah, Columbia just feel very, very World Cup to me. You want some dancing, don't you? Whenever there's a clip of a Columbia scorer, I always remember when James Rodriguez scored that absolute worldy volley. And they were dancing, I thought, oh. James Rodriguez, he had such an amazing World Cup. Really, with that big grasshopper on him, all that stuff. Yeah, that was amazing. Can I say that? I think Nigeria are going to be up there. That's a great shout, yeah. Nigeria or Cameroon, I would say. Cameroon, yeah. And would you have Argentina, sadly, probably a World Cup-y up there?

51:31Jim Campbell: Yeah, Argentina and the Netherlands as well. Netherlands. if they play each other that's the most World Cup game you can get it was my favourite moment at the last World Cup which is probably not a surprise but when that ball just got absolutely launched at the dugout oh my god yeah great Netherlands-Argentina is such a great fixture it's always tempestuous as well isn't it spicy because Netherlands love to think of themselves as playing I mean traditionally obviously it's not always been the case but traditionally Netherlands always think of themselves as playing football the right way Argentina do it but with a real edge as well Argentina are probably the only nation that have ticked both boxes have been absolute shithouses, but also full of flair as well.

52:06You don't often see that. It's very true. They're very good at that. So that makes for a heady dream. The collection of Argentina boot boys are all Leopold and De Paul as well. So there's potential, you know, we could have a replay of that. I mean,

52:16Jim Campbell: De Paul was known as Messi's bouncer for a while, wasn't he? He's always beside, watch any tunnel walk, De Paul's always beside. I love that role. Like a proper henchman for the best player to ever play the game. That's fantastic. Do you think, because Argentina are in a group with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, I think they'll walk that. and Neville's got quite an interesting one with Japan, Sweden I don't know it's hard to work out what the paths would be because of the third place qualifiers Marcus would know he probably would Marcus would know off the top of his head on his shift he definitely would know but we'd love to see him play each other in a knockout anyway before we go let's do a little bit on Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho and Florentino Perez David we haven't had your take on that yet our take on Monday was that this is bananas it's absolutely bananas that Real Madrid want Jose Mourinho and we'll find out on the 7th of June if that's actually happening or not.

53:04Is there any context that we should know about as to why this is actually happening? Florentino Perez feels there's a lack of authority and discipline in the dressing room. And yes, I know people are thinking, so why throw that madman in? But look, Mourinho will instill that. Players do look up to him and respect him. So Florentino's looking out and going, right, I haven't got Kroos, I haven't got Modric, I haven't got Sergio Ramos, to these senior figures in the dressing room anymore. How do we instill that sort of feeling in the dressing room again? Hello Jose, welcome back. Welcome back Jose.

53:38The thing I liked about this whole campaign that Perez is embarking upon is he's put a load of campaign posters out and he's tried to show how synonymous he's been with Real Madrid. So the poster includes all the Real Madrid stars from his presidency, including Xavi Alonso, who he just sacked. It's amazing.

53:59Jim Campbell: There's so much more to this as well. The more you sort of dive into it, to the point where I'm slightly gutted that we don't have this type of drama in England, just because it would be completely mad if it was happening to not your club. The president, you don't really get presidents in that way, do you? So, I mean, Florentino Perez has run unelected pretty much every election for a long time. And there's a new challenger has arrived in the shape of Enrique Raquelme, which Perez wasn't really expecting. And sort of while he's been talking about this, he's been saying about Raquel May he's trying to take over it's an election that's the entire premise of the endeavour of course he's trying to take over but the really interesting thing about this is that Raquel May says that he's lined up a manager who he's made it clear is not Mourinho that he's lined up a sporting director and he's got agreements with two big stars ready to go if he wins that election so this is also going to cost Madrid money if Perez wins because we all heard about Benfica having that release clause for Jose Mourinho if it was all agreed by a certain time.

55:04Jim Campbell: They didn't activate it. So it was going to cost them£5 million if they activated that release clause, but they didn't. So it could end up costing them around£13 million. And essentially, what this really means is that this election could really end up as a referendum on Jose Mourinho. Which is just an incredible set of circumstances. Absolutely bizarre. I love how Raquel Mest said, oh by the way I'll bring Raul back oh is he really it's the one it's the banker the one can never fail if you just need to appease people just say bring Raul back get him back in what capacity ambassador sporting director yeah yeah give him the keys for those of us of our generation Raul is just untouchable just absolutely unimpeachable listen it'll be interesting to see what happens we'll find out I think over the weekend maybe the start of next week so we'll watch with interest alright that's it from us for today thanks for listening to the Football Ramble part of the ACOS Creator to network.

55:57Friends of the Ramble, do not go anywhere. Keep listening for Ramble Uncut, which comes next. And if you're not yet a friend of the Ramble, head over to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to sign up now. And you can also get tickets to our World Cup parties right now as well. The first one sold out, second and third one are selling fast. My prediction is people are going to see the content, the social media stuff of the first game and how great it's going to be and they're going to clamor for tickets for the second or third game. So don't delay. get your tickets today you can find a link to that in the show notes and on our social media stuff it's limited I think to 400 places per World Cup party the first one is done it's gone it's not available to you anymore the second and the third one still are for now so go and get your tickets to that right now alright thanks for that Jim thank you thanks for that David thank you Luke I'll see you again soon

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

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