Probably the best day in Ramble history

0:00Jim Campbell: This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. This is Felix Salmon from Slate Money, and I'm here to tell you about Apple Card. Even as a seasoned traveler, things can still get stressful, which is why I use Apple Card on my international trips. And with 2 % daily cash back on every purchase with Apple Pay, I'm actually earning daily cash as I travel. Instead of coming home feeling like I've drained my bank account, I come back with cash back. I can put toward my next trip. Applying the wallet app on iPhone. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA, Salt Lake City branch, terms and more at apple.co slash applecardbenefits.

0:44Jim Campbell: I 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.

1:17Luke Moore: Home is where I want to be, but I guess I'm already there, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble! Arsenal have done it and Southampton have undone it! It's Wednesday, 20th of May. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Jim Campbell. And I'm a young football analyst looking for work.

1:42Luke Moore: Jimmy Cavill. Yes, come on. Easy. Easy. Easy, easy, easy, easy. An honorary easy for you, Jim. Absolutely. Out of respect from us to you. Absolutely. Nice for Jim to do an easy when it's off the back of winning something. Well, indeed. Yeah, absolutely. Going all the way.

2:04Jim Campbell: It's just nice to try it out, isn't it? A little practice run for the summer. Oi, oi. In which case, I will know it's all a dream. If it goes to that point, I'll be certain of it. I might respectfully request another easy at the start of the next section. Yeah. After the break, if that's okay. Just give you a heads up, get you ready for it. Yeah, I walked into the studio this morning and everyone clapped me like I was a detective who'd solved a murder in a TV show. It was beautiful stuff. Didn't happen. You finally skewered that Petrodollar State-run football club. Yeah. The brain and the heart saw it off.

2:36They'd have gone away with it if it wasn't for those pesky Arsenal kids. They would have done. What a great moment for you, Jim, and all your fellow Arsenal-supporting friends.

2:43Jim Campbell: Yeah, it was a beautiful evening. Unusual in that, obviously, it's not been one on the pitch. So there's still a part of me where it feels like it hasn't sunk in. and I don't think it will truly sink in until the trophy lift. Until you all go to Jamie Vardy's. Until you all go to Jamie Vardy's house, yeah, of course. So when are they going to do a trophy lift? Because the last game was at Palace, right? Yeah, I would presume it would be after that.

3:08Luke Moore: Wait for after the Champions League. Finally, you can do them both. A bit of a down, haven't you? Yeah. A little bit of a risk. Do you remember, though, Jim, in your jubilation, that you're the worst champions ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, get bothered by that. Be bothered by that. Triggered, triggered. rattled I am rattled but with joy I am duty bound by the way to give this man his dues thanks to friend of the Ramble Connor for giving us that intro line oh yeah 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 Jim may talk about what he actually got up to last night celebrating Arsenal's victory I might just do more on Southampton okay just head to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to get involved now it is very selfish of Arsenal to win the Premier League on the same day that Southampton news broke Jim

3:54Jim Campbell: It is a bumper day of... Absolutely. Possibly. And the people who care more about this than perhaps others might decide that this could be the best day in Ramble history. Yeah, I mean... I mean, two of us have got absolute seismic news to enjoy. Historic. In recording this show right now, if Marco Silva signs a new contract, it's definitely the best Ramble day ever.

4:18Luke Moore: I was going to say, if Tuchel releases the squad, oh yeah, exactly. Is that all it takes for you? Yeah. That's all I need. Yeah. That's all I need. I'll tell you, the only thing that could be better... Celtic have had a forfeit, have they? Yeah. Or, what, England got a fighting home draw against Ghana last night. Lovely stuff. That's all he needs. That's all I need. But, Jimmy, I mean, they have been the best team, haven't they? I mean, obviously, as Marcus said yesterday on the show, you know, the league table, particularly this season, doesn't lie. I said yesterday, Arsenal have been, you know, the best team in both penalty areas by quite a distance, really.

4:51they kind of huffed and puffed a wee bit last month or so but ultimately it is justice really for the best team in the league. It's been a funny season for lots of different reasons I don't think that takes anything away from what Arsenal have achieved and I also think Arteta is a bit of a figure of fun in some areas for some of the things he says and the way he behaves and everything we know all that but actually if you look at the journey he's had and he said didn't he the other day that, you know, maybe we should have had more trophies by now kind of thing. But in the environment he's competing in against the other teams in question, particularly Man City, Chelsea to an extent as well, different teams with different ways of funding themselves, and the fact that they've come short, come up just short repeatedly, to actually lift themselves and finally get over the line when Guardiola has still been around actually is an incredible achievement.

5:45He deserves a huge amount of credit for that.

5:47Jim Campbell: Yeah, and this version of Arsenal comes from everything that he and this squad of players has learned really in the last three seasons prior to this one. You know, that was a sort of really a significant phase when they got that first title challenge in. And obviously it's very, very hard to win a Premier League. And this is a weird way to win the league. To play half of a season like you are down to 10 men in added time of a cup final is a nerve shredding way to approach a league campaign. and I can tell you it's been incredibly stressful what's a good description of it where it's not where it's not been enjoyable at all obviously that's all that's all kind of flipped now and become really really worth it but I think that was the way that this Premier League title had to be won this season has been unusual in that there haven't been there was that stat going around earlier in the season where like there were very very few scorelines that had been plus four goals and that's maintained it's been a set of clubs who demand that you grind them down or that you you know resist a lot of pressure from them and he's built this team to compete in the context and the reality of what this actual season is and that comes from learning from the mistakes of the past few seasons now obviously they added a lot of squad depth in the summer for this exact reason and that's been absolutely massive now um there have been there have been so many players in this team who've been in and out um martin odegaard bakaya saka they've not been available and they've not been at their full fitness and they've not been at their best for most of the season huge huge players Mikel Marino has been a striker for a bit as is as is part of it part of his role there was a point where Declan Rice played at right back against Brighton now obviously there are of course clubs who've had worse injury problems but it's been very sort of makeshift on a lot of occasions and Arteta has had to really sort of use that squad in a quite creative way and it's not really been very coherent for a lot of time.

7:41Jim Campbell: And I go back to the day that Eberechi Eza signed, which was absolutely massive because, you know, he obviously, he scored a couple of winners in 1-0 victories. I mean, the goal against Newcastle is a moment of sheer quality. Absolutely. And he obviously gets the winner against Palace as well. Only Gioca has scored more than him in the league this season. Which is really something. And they've spread the goals around, haven't they? They have. But what I was going to say about Eza was that if they don't make that signing, which felt slightly against Arteta's instincts, because he felt he had enough cover in that position, then Arsenal probably don't win the league because of the amount of games that Martin Odegaard has missed.

8:14Jim Campbell: So he's one of the most significant signings in Arsenal's history really. And these players are Arsenal greats now. We all know from looking at them that they're some of the best players Arsenal have ever had. Saliba and Gabriel, Declan Rice, Bakayi Saka, David Rea, so many of these players. And they have this now. They have it cemented. They have that forever. They are Arsenal greats. They are among the best players we've ever had and they deserve that. They've earned it. And it means so much, so, so much to Arsenal fans. It feels like the culmination of the last four seasons. It's about more than that.

8:46Jim Campbell: Really, it goes back to the last league title and the journey that the club had been on back then. It goes back to the days when they were looking to move to a new stadium and that the idea of a new stadium would mean they were financially competitive with the other big clubs in the league. And then the Abramovich era starts, the timing of which is catastrophic for Arsenal because it moves the goalposts at a time where they can't keep up financially. and it goes on to other clubs getting Arsenal's best players and moving away from them, it's the 8-2 it's Emmanuel Aboué and Granit Xhaka getting booed, it's the latter day Wenger years and all the kind of schisms within the fan base, it's all of that stuff and it's been a long long journey and kind of really what it is, is this is about returning to a place that felt like it was gone it felt like it was lost, you were thinking for a long time as an Arsenal fan, it's like am I going to see a league title in my lifetime?

9:35Jim Campbell: Football is cyclical. Arsenal are a big club. They're always likely to be able to get themselves back in a position where that's possible, but it kept not happening. And the work that Arteta's done to get here and to put that process in place, he doesn't talk about trusting the process anymore, but this is the culmination of that. It's been very, very satisfying to see him pull it off, to see him actually manage it. And it's a little bit overdue, but it is way more satisfying for it. better later than never really nicely put Jim and I also quite like that Arteta's not been seen in those celebrations because there's plenty of managers out there who'd be right front and centre well he's preparing for Crystal Palace of course he is exactly and that's the professional thing to do he's at home with a couple of cans maybe didn't say what of but Mark this is monster no we're a Carabao family Carabao Carabao Sangria it was really nicely put and really really articulately said and I'm very very pleased for you personally and I'm pleased for Afterpals as well because they do put up in a lot of shit not least from me on this show.

10:35From ourselves. But I will not let you take the 8-2 from us.

10:40Jim Campbell: Well, I mean, I can't, mate. I'd love to. I still enjoy that from time to time now. If I had some men in black style device where I could do that, I would, but I can't. If you had one of those, there'd be a lot of stuff I'd be getting through.

10:51Luke Moore: Even Ferguson felt a bit sheepish after that game. But going back to all the stuff you were saying there, Jim, I mean, it is extraordinary. It's been 22 years. And it goes to show you, and Liverpool fans know this as well, just because you're one of the biggest clubs in the land, one of the biggest clubs in the world. Got no divine right. Absolutely right. And so I think when you said, will I ever see a title win again? I mean, the probability would suggest so. But probability is one thing, but actually seeing it happen. And as you say, there were a number of times where Arsenal come along, but Guardiola's managing Man City, can't do that.

11:23Luke Moore: Or Mourinho comes along and Chelsea have their time. And whatever it may be. And people might say, well, that's excuses. We're just saying factually, That's what happened. And it's a long, long time for a club the size of Arsenal. Everybody is aware of just how enormous that football club and fan base worldwide is. And I think that's one of the sticks that a lot of people have used to beat Arsenal with. Well, you're so massive, come on. And you could use that, as I say, for Liverpool over the years as well. But they've done it. And I think with regard to Arteta, specifically in charge of Arsenal, I'm delighted for him.

12:01Luke Moore: And he's got there because he was managing when Guardiola's at Man City. What did we say about Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool? Now, how many years was Klopp at Liverpool? He only won one league title. Now, I know they obviously slot won it last season and people credit Klopp. But Klopp's got one Premier League title. And he's rightly heralded as one of the best Premier League managers we've seen in recent seasons and on all the rest of it. But Arteta, they went toe-to-toe with Man City for those years. And they were swashbuckling. and they score a lot of goals, and they were great to watch Arsenal, and it didn't quite happen.

12:34Luke Moore: And it was always, oh, well, what about next season? Can they keep it going? Oh, actually, can they build? And Man City have, you know, a bit of a tough season last season, and you think, oh, well, now's the time. And then Liverpool and Salah have just this incredible season. Although, if Arsenal beat Palace next week, they'll finish a point with a point more than Liverpool got last season. Yeah, I was thinking that. It's roughly commensurate. No one's really said it about Liverpool. Yeah, Liverpool scored a fair few more goals, but Arsenal...

12:57Jim Campbell: It's a slightly different context as well, isn't it? It is. They were so far ahead that it was reasonable for them to ease off a bit.

13:02Luke Moore: Indeed, indeed. And it was always, but next season they'll be set up well. Well, they've done it. Without going over old ground, you look at Arsenal now, Premier League champions, they've got a Champions League final to look forward to. Which feels very different now, by the way. Well, it does. Absolutely it does. But also, might I just sound like we have done in a couple of previous seasons, Arsenal are very well set up for next season. I'd say better than all the other top clubs. They'll stay balled, They'll get confidence from this. They've got continuity. They might take a lot of confidence.

13:32I mean, they probably will take a lot of confidence from this into their Champions League final. Well, they will. I think if they had had a really difficult final day just about scraped there, or even, dare I say, missed out, I don't think there's any chance they win the Champions League final. And now they've done it, and they've got a bit of time between it and all the rest of it. I think sometimes there will be, sometimes there's a big exhalation after you win a title, particularly after the first time in such a long time, and it's all been building up to that. It takes a big effort to lift yourself again.

13:59But I think absolutely it definitely feels like a real weight off them to have done it. I also think it's interesting parallels with Klopp because obviously Klopp's bit was at Liverpool longer than Arteta's been at Arsenal so far. But if you chuck in there that, I mean it's a big eve of course, but if Arsenal win the Champions League this season as well, I mean, what's Arteta won? A league, an FA Cup, a Champions League? It's not that different to what Klopp. Klopp's won a few more cups, but ultimately it's not that different. And he's also been competing in all that time against Guardiola as well so it's quite interesting parallels I think this is a

14:30Jim Campbell: challenge now isn't it and this is something that Arsenal have you know kind of threatened to do but not necessarily managed to do in the past which is to go and be the dominant side which is always going to be difficult in this era when the Premier League is so competitive because you know Man City aren't going anywhere Liverpool will be stronger next season you know even Man United you know are probably going to strengthen and might be an outside bet next season which else will be interesting one as well. Chelsea another interesting one under Alonso but that's always the challenge isn't it? You're always fending off rivals and I guess this is it now.

15:04Jim Campbell: A lot of the narratives around Arsenal and around Mikel Arteta and some of these players are put to bed by this title win. So what they do with it next is a massive opportunity and will feel like an opportunity. That's another big legacy of it is that now people including us are going to have to think of another way to talk about Arsenal to talk about Arteta because ultimately that's what's underpinned everything. Everything you talk about after with it, it's through the lens of, they never just, they just never quite do it. Well, now they have done it. Yes. So how that affects them will be fascinating.

15:37It'd be really interesting, but ultimately congratulations to them, right? I mean, it's their, it's their night, it's their week. It's been their season. And it's been a funny old season.

15:45Luke Moore: It has been. As you said, and I look at this, obviously there's still a game to go and there are still, obviously we'll talk about relegation battle in a bit and so on, but I've said many times this season, I've actually really enjoyed it and people have bemoaned the fact that oh well we don't have a swashbuckling side who's just blasting everybody out the way what? so you miss Man City Steamroller and teams 4 and 5-0 I don't miss that they beat Fulham 3-0 and Arsenal beat Fulham 3-0 but other than that I don't miss that and so therefore on Monday night I was sorry Tuesday rather talking about the Monday night game against Burnley I was kind of bemoaning the fact oh come on Arsenal and you kind of summed it up well yourself Jim when you said they've been playing like they're down to 10 men in the second half of extra time in the cup final for a lot of the season and i've been a bit like come on i just want a bit more but also at the same time i'm saying but it's effective and it is about getting over the line and and what we're saying about next season and projecting into the future now the monkey's off the back yeah and and i don't know what style of play they're going to play we know they've got it in them to do various things but ultimately they are premier league champions no matter what anybody says about the style and this, that and the other and blah, blah, blah.

16:53Luke Moore: Bollocks. They've done it. Absolutely. And the scenes of celebration outside the ground last night, which you were involved with, Jim. I was, yeah. And Gunnasaurus was there. Gunnasaurus was there. Did you manage to see him? Did you give him a hug? I did.

17:02Jim Campbell: I was very close to Gunnasaurus. Didn't get to hug him. He was busy. Ian Wright was there. Didn't see Ian Wright. Robert Peston. We saw Pesto out there. Go on, Pest. Which was funny. The Pest. Jeremy Corbyn. Sorry, Pest. Corbyn. I'm not sure if it was actually him or not. Jeremy Corbyn. It's his constituency. Yeah, exactly. did he do his shirt up put on his tie and sing the national anthem was Starmer there not that I saw no Keir Starmer was not in the street last night Starmer would have absolutely sucked the energy out of it oh come on he suffered enough leave off let him have his day as well he's a genuine asshole fan isn't he he is yeah but the scenes were absolutely incredible because you don't really know what to do in a situation like that now I've been lucky enough to go to a carnival in Brazil and Brazilian carnivals are weird because it's like, even having been to one, I don't really know what it is.

17:50Jim Campbell: And it sort of felt like that last night as well because there are so many people out on the street. There's no, you're not heading towards anything in particular. You're just milling about enjoying the feeling. You'd look so English at a Brazilian car. And I did. To the point where a Brazilian man basically came over to me and went, you are so clearly a gringo. Please be careful. You are such a target. And I did get my sunglasses stolen by a man who stabbed my tote bag and pulled them out. prescription though so no good to him anyway that was an unnecessary diversion more of that on uncut yeah but I had a lovely time all the same but yesterday had similar vibes to that and actually as it got later and later it felt like when there's that many people around you're like oh you know this could get like a bit like feral later and it just didn't it was just joyous yeah because of the joy look I would say as a non-Arsenal fan I did listen to the thing about Arsenal this morning which is the Arsenal show that you do and I enjoyed it an incredible amount just because I was sharing in yours and Luke Kempner's joy and if you are an Arsenal fan you're listening to this and you haven't yet listened to the thing about Arsenal it's a very very good time to hit subscribe on your podcast player or on the YouTube channel to listen because the joy I'm going to say mostly through drunkenness from Luke Kempner but you were very professionally sober Jim and you can hear the crowd in the background you can hear it all going on it's a very very immersive experience so definitely listen to it I enjoyed it as a non-Arsenal fan so Arsenal fans are real we'd love it

19:17Luke Moore: indeed but great overall though congratulations to Arsenal you have to say that I've taken great joy in digging them out through all the season taking the piss all that kind of stuff you've got to hand it to them when they get it done so good on them and as Arsene Wenger said now go on and enjoy every moment yeah exactly before we move on can we talk about

19:33Jim Campbell: the biggest prat in the country wow yeah it's a fair few the man who made an unoriginal joke about a bottle his entire personality oh yeah and by his logic Man City have bottled that, haven't they? And he's the face of it. That is now what he's known for forever. And if you're going to do that dance... I don't think forever, Jim. It's going to be forgotten about in a couple of years. I don't think so. I think Jim's right. Probably not by him. He's been a hugely motivating factor for people. Yep. And the delight in his downfall and his pain... He's going to be a guest on your Arsenal show next week.

20:07Jim Campbell: If we can get him. Yeah. But it's true, isn't it? I mean, it's a really interesting point to bring in because if you look at it, they've won the league in exactly this kind of way you'd expect given the way this season's gone both from the Arsenal side and the Man City side right and if it had been the other way around 100 % every non-Arsenal fan in the country would be saying that of course they would but Man City did exactly what to be fair to you Marcus you've kind of talked about them doing for quite a long time they're just not the same there's no way three years ago that's even a question no matter how good Bournemouth are Man City win that game Well, at this stage of the season, so obviously not last season,

20:47Luke Moore: season before last, they've got a lot more than 78 points. They haven't lost five games.

20:56Luke Moore: I mean, the funny thing is it's been an underwhelming season for Man City. They've still won a double. Yeah, absolutely. So credit there. So you have to remember that. But you're right. All throughout the season, I said it early on, when Arsenal win ugly and they win 1-0, it's, oh, don't trust them. whereas Man City do it oh the sign of champions I mean my surprise really at the chat about Man City this season is the fact that we had last season to reference I think if you took away last season you tagged this one on if you like and you squished it with a title winning season for Man City everyone would be like ah hang on but it's a bit of a wobble but they'll come good no no but we had last season to reference as well so look they've been in the title race up until the penultimate game of the season so again and won two cups and won two cups indeed but look at the squad they've got look at the managers they've got don't be surprised

21:44Jim Campbell: and they also signed two of the best players in the league in January right and that is kind of what you're up against look at what they might have been up to yeah as we have to say in every conversation

21:53Luke Moore: indeed we do but you know again don't be surprised a side who's got Guardiola as a manager and Erling Haaland up top and all the rest of it win a few football matches but they've not been good enough and as you say it's been Arsenal's consistency that has won them the league and people oh but it's not as a bit of you win the league you're in you're not challenging for the league three years ago you win the league in the season that you are playing and if you do enough to win that league title you are the champions it's as simple as that it's good to get clarification on that because I was a bit confused about it and you often say to me that I look at the league table too early you do well you do hey I'm looking at it now that's fine but it's fine to look at it now because at the top of the table it's been settled it won't change yeah

22:38Jim Campbell: didn't feel like that for me for a long time Actually, you know, you've got to get the rub of the green in the season as well. And that has happened for Arsenal sometimes. Obviously, Kai Havert should have been sent off the other night. Gabriel was lucky not to be sent off. There are some moments like that. They got a very good, cheap penalty at Motherwell. Yeah, exactly. Actually, there have been a couple of games where PGMOL have said, actually, Everton and Brighton should have had penalties against Arsenal. Use their proper penalties. And they were both Pugmol. Thank you. They are the Pug Posse.

23:02Jim Campbell: They are, you know, they are both games that all won 1-0. So, you know, we obviously don't know how they would have turned out. Be honest with me, Jim.

23:09Luke Moore: Do you care? I shouldn't care. No! Can we have a... We've done a lot on our stuff. Can we have a little word for Bournemouth?

23:16Jim Campbell: I think we should. Yeah, they were superb. Oh, yeah. In among all this. They've not played nearly as many games as Man City have they, and that was really evident last night. They look so, so fresh and so, so thick. Bournemouth are a brilliant side.

23:27Luke Moore: I do think to myself... David Brooks? Yeah, well, I was going to come up to it. I was going to say about Andoni Iriolo. It was nice to him. You know, he got them... He's delivered them European football. it's a little bit of a shame that Haaland got that goal late on because they would really be in with a shout for Champions League a few things have got to happen Villa have got to finish fifth and win the Europa League I'd fancy them to win the Europa League I suppose they've got Man City away on the last day and Man City will want to put on a show for Guardiola's last game in charge of the club so Bournemouth still have a chance but anyway all that aside you've got to rely on Liverpool though haven't you yeah and there lies the problem what have we learned this season what have we learned that you cannot do that but Bournemouth qualifying for European football for the first time in their history you have to I'm sorry if I'm telling people things they already know but I'm sure there are several people listening and watching here that won't actually fully appreciate the journey Bournemouth have been on they've been something like a game away from burnout the football league entirely not that long ago in the grand scheme of things you know under Eddie Howe the job he did there for them to have if you if you had if you had said to them then this would be happening it would be laughable I remember when I was at school my English teacher in my final year at school was a Bournemouth fan and he wrote in my Leavers book as a joke you can follow Bournemouth in European football Luke in the 2010 2011 season or something this is like back in the late 90s and he got it wrong because he knew I was a Portsmouth fan and I want to say to him where is which camera Mr Dunstan you were fucking wrong it took you 15 years longer than that embarrassment pathetic loser yeah exactly but anyway genuinely it's an incredible story and I don't want it to be lost because of the Arsenal chat, because of what Man City's had, because of what Samson have got up to.

25:07You know, Bournemouth have achieved immeasurably compared to where they've come from. Sometimes you get a reminder by looking at their stadium, it's about 9 ,000 people. They are historically a very, very small club, a boutique club, if you like. And for them to be playing European football is huge, it is huge.

25:23Luke Moore: And as well, if any Bournemouth fan, I don't think they will be, but if, say, if they were a touch disappointed that there's less chance of getting a Champions League, they could really do something in the Europa League next season, presuming they do that. Marco Rosa doing his bit at the helm. Do you reckon there's a bit of regret from Erolo? He must have known it was a possibility. He didn't look regretful. But I do wonder that because he's going to have to go somewhere quite special. But was it the look of a man who's already got a job lined up and he knows about?

25:47Jim Campbell: Yeah, it could have been that. You wonder where that landing spot is though because all of the kind of obvious ones that we thought he was leaving for have been filled. And obviously Marco Rosa being lined up makes it really complicated for him to stay. He couldn't try. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That would just refuse to leave the office. What about this for further context then? On New Year's Eve 2008, just not long after this show first started, Bournemouth were 91st in the Football League and facing liquidation. Wow.

26:13Luke Moore: I like how you put 91st in the Football League because it was one big table. Yeah, well, it kind of is. That's what they do when the FA Cup's around, don't they? Or in the Champions League. Apparently, you don't want to look at the tables now. Well, that is too late in the season. Yeah, but that's not actually a table. But if you love a table, wouldn't you like a giant, massive table? Yeah, I did say at the start, I like how they put it like that. Yeah, good. Okay, great. My tone perhaps betrayed me. 91st in the Football League for that. I mean, in the lifetime of the show, it's crazy. It is quite remarkable.

26:38It's a day of first because it's the first time I've still won the league since we've been doing this as well. Incredible.

26:42Luke Moore: It's the first time for what would it be, five years or four years since one of us has celebrated a league title win. It is. Absolutely right. Well, Pete Donaldson celebrated Newcastle United. Exactly. Championship title win. Luke Moore. Hope he celebrated the FA Cup. Keep up, Jim. Yeah. Just perennial underachievers. when you put it like that. Yeah, well, indeed. Mention for Junior Kruppi. He's got a Junior Kruppi who scored the goal. Why have I not done that all season? You should have. Better late than never. Broke the most goals scored in debut season by a teenager

27:11Jim Campbell: in the Prem. And probably his best goal of the season. And there were some contenders in there. Because that was a beautiful finish. Most important goal of the season. What I loved about the goal from where I'm sat, yeah. What I loved about the goal was that he didn't... You see that type of goal being scored quite a lot the way that wide forwards play now. But he didn't have that much time. He was actually closed down. Lovely. and he's still found the gap. It's a beauty. It's a great goal.

27:31Luke Moore: Can old Brooks have learned from that in the last few minutes? Probably could have, yeah. I'll tell you what, there was a moment, wasn't there, where he has that first chance, then he runs through and hits the post and Man City equalise and you're thinking, if they manage to push this to the last day, Arsenal fans will be looking at him thinking, what were you playing at, pal? What a week you'd have had, Juninho, for the last day. So you'd be shitting your pants between now and Sunday, constantly.

27:52Jim Campbell: I mean, there's definitely a sliding doors element with the timeline where Eberhechi has assigned for Spurs and how different the season could be but I also feel like there's a sliding doors moment of how I'm going to feel on Sunday now compared to how I would have done otherwise it would have been another real draining test of mental strength that I would have repeatedly failed every two minutes there's not many people as happy as I am at the moment but Everidge says he must be one of them he must be looking he must have just glanced during his celebration at the training ground last night it's possible he could have just glanced at the Spurs game and gone fucking hell turn that off fucking like a World War I veteran hiding under the bed and then getting home from the Western Front.

28:33Get that away from me. I could have gone there. I could have defected.

28:38Luke Moore: Well, anyway, Jim. So yes, the only thing you've got to worry about on Sunday is Spurs. Right, coming up after this, the funniest thing in English football history, according to Luke Moore.

28:57Jim Campbell: This message is a paid partnership with AppleCard. This is Felix Salmon from Slate Money, and I'm here to tell you about AppleCard. Even as a seasoned traveler, things can still get stressful, which is why I use AppleCard on my international trips. And with 2 % daily cash back on every purchase with Apple Pay, I'm actually earning daily cash as I travel. Instead of coming home feeling like I've drained my bank account, I come back with cash back I can put toward my next trip. Applying the wallet app on iPhone. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA, Salt Lake City branch.

29:36Jim Campbell: Terms and more at apple.co slash applecardbenefits.

29:55specials. We were trying to get a couple of players in at the top of my shopping list, but they were both free transfers. You've made your name as a wheeler and dealer. There's not been much wheeling and dealing here, has it? Fuck off. It didn't mean like that. I'm not saying my name is a fucking dealer. Don't say that. I'm a fucking football man.

30:11Luke Moore: Well, back to the Football Ramble, everybody. You know, the fourth top story on the BBC News homepage today wasn't any of the conflicts and wars or any of that stuff. Harry Redknapp's reaction to Southampton getting expelled from the playoffs.

30:28Luke Moore: he probably might actually leak himself to the job did he fifth was Luke's reaction to it so it's happened it's happened it's unbelievable this level of story we would be opening with this all day long because my goodness this I genuinely can't believe this has happened as I'm saying it I still don't believe it that Southampton have been expelled like a naughty little school kid from the playoffs. Marcus,

30:56Jim Campbell: he's had more messages than I have. Last couple of days. It has. significantly. Do you want to set me over the edge? First thing this morning. Points deduction? A little bit of seasoning. Oh, by the way, on your way out. Don't adore it on your way out. On your way out.

31:14Luke Moore: Put four of your points to one side.

31:16Jim Campbell: But you know that will mean they end up in the playoffs next season. It will have some tangible effect. I like to think of them as a naughty schoolboy saying to the beak who's given them the punishment. Well, I don't think that's fair. A point deduction. Well, it's not two points deduction. Three, four. Give me back my player final spot. Fight goes, fight goes. Exactly, exactly. But the thing that sent me over there is I have a lot of back and forth. I was saying to the lads earlier. He's happier than you, Jim. Mate, he is. I refuse to accept that Jim can be happier than me now. It's not possible.

31:46And I will fight that point. I will defend myself on that. I'll die on that hill. Right? But I got a lot of back and forth. I got a few friends. The area I grew up in, A bit further out, there are some Sarampton fans who I've played football with over the years or have been friends with. I've got quite a few knocking about in the friendship group.

32:02Luke Moore: Reconnected with them recently. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got back in touch with quite a few of them yesterday. Sat in the McDonald's drive-thru. But anyway, this morning, right, I've got a Sarampton-supported friend called Carl. He's a great lad. Really good friend of mine. My friend's been 20 years. And he's the only Sarampton fan, this big group of friends are all Pompey fans. So he gets a lot of stick. but this morning I woke up to a message from him and I just clicked on it and all it said was I feel like I've been given the death penalty for stealing sweets

32:35it's just an incredible situation and I did say that you know when you see the inevitability of a team in the championship going on a run like that and it's your fiercest rivals and the writing's on the wall and I remember I remember thinking to myself all I can concentrate on is just Portsmouth staying up. If they can stay up, I'll be fine. I'll just take it on the chin, whatever happens to Hampton. And you're praying for like a force majeure event, like something massive to happen, a massive bout of food poisoning or some kind of big scandal. And it actually happened. And I didn't even dare to hope.

33:08When I was asked to comment on it like a week ago, I said on this show, look, it probably looks like a fine and maybe, you know, that's going to be it kind of thing. When I saw the news come through, my goodness me. I got 256 Instagram direct messages. That's incredible.

33:23Jim Campbell: They've really made an example of them there. It's great! Isn't it great though? Can I say by the way? Isn't it just... No, you can't say... No, actually, we're going to take a second. You can't just say anything. Let's just have a few seconds. There's too much chat on this show. I've always said it. A few seconds just to enjoy what's happened.

33:40Luke Moore: You know, obviously when something bad happens, a minute's silence. You want a minute's laughter? Yeah, I'll be great. I want to... Eeeeeease! Eeeeeease! Eeeeeease! Eeeeeease! Eeeeeease! Ease it! Do it! Do it! Do you know what I need? Chuck him out of playoffs! What are you saying to Southampton? Show some fucking respect. And you'd think... All the hits. The thing is, you'd think, though. And I have to say, the Southampton fans... By the way, set yourself in. I was about to say. You've had your say, too. Yeah. A lot of the Southampton fans I know personally have actually been very kind of magnanimous about it.

34:18But, you know, this is fucking annoying.

34:19Luke Moore: And how have you responded to them? Laughed. I'll give people an example, shall I? If I may jump in before you go and the rest of your rant. A friend of yours, who I also know as well, messaged you, what a bunch of stupid effing cunnies. He's a Southampton fan. He's a Southampton fan. A bunch of effing Cs. I'll soften it for everybody there. And he's unhappy about that. Presumably reaching out for a bit of South Coast solidarity. Luke replied, mate, I'm going to be honest, it's a massive lol. Next message, probably one of the biggest lols ever. What did he expect? Why is he reaching out to you?

34:50But if I may show a bit of clarity, perhaps. Look, you'd expect Southampton as a club to be embarrassed by the way they've behaved. They've clearly broken the rules. They've admitted to several breaches. You'd expect, I mean, this is just my personal view, it seems like if they've done a couple, they've probably done a few more. But my honest take is, a joke on the side, the manager's brought the club into disrepute. He needs to be fired. I mean, you can't get away with it.

35:19Luke Moore: There's no argument. against that. Yeah, and you think they'd be embarrassed, but they don't seem to be that embarrassed. Well, they're appealing it, aren't they? Because they're appealing the punishment, right? They're basically saying, we said we were guilty, we've come forward with evidence that we were guilty of this. Can you be a bit more lenient? Hell of a tactic, that. I suppose it weren't for Chelsea. I thought to myself, I was kind of going over this in bed last night thinking, why are they not embarrassed about this? Why are they not more embarrassed? And then I realised they've had Rupert Lowe, who has been described as the most extreme MP in Britain by hope not hate.

35:54Rishi Sunak, Matt Otisian, Ricky Lambert come through the club and I don't seem that embarrassed about them either. Your boys took one hell of a charging. Their threshold for embarrassment is obviously quite a lot higher than the rest of us.

36:05Jim Campbell: Maybe they themselves don't believe they did it. We mentioned the FNC with the bottle earlier related to Arsenal. What about those fans that turned up to the Middlesbrough game dressed as like hedges and binoculars and stuff like that? Was it Taylor Harwood-Bellis

36:20Luke Moore: who celebrated one of Southampton's goals going up the middle of the road and doing the binoculars? Oh, dear. Oh, dear. When will you accept how embarrassing... You think it's just me saying it. Like, how much evidence do you need of how embarrassing they are as a club? We've given them an easy mate. I was about to say, are you getting any pushback? I need a Jason Cundey-esque mask of Matt Atissi. Or the little fella with a phone by a tree.

36:44Jim Campbell: Yeah, exactly. Have you seen the badge doing the rounds with him added to it by the tree? It's great. I am so fascinated by what his instructions were. Yeah, I know what you mean. Because how much information can you glean? Now, I've heard that in some cases it was penalty takers for the minister. The minister was thinking specifically, the chat was back. But still, just get down their training ground, hang around as inconspicuously as possible, get your phone out and see what you can get. Have they even benefited from it? The Oxford game they lost, the Ipswich game they drew. so I mean these are the ones

37:17Luke Moore: that they came forward and admitted yeah the only thing that could make me happier would be if there's been some footage of them trying to do it at Portsmouth's training ground because that would be they didn't beat Portsmouth either this season but I agree with you Jim again what can you learn okay well they set up like that they're probably going to play him again it does give you some kind of advantage but really like in the modern era with all the footage that you have and so on you can see how a side plays and get a bit of a general feel. But I think it is absolutely remarkable how, as you say, for possibly just some sort of slight marginal gain, they have been severely punished.

37:56The manager has to lose his job. And their whole season, let's be honest,

37:59Luke Moore: because of what they've done, now some people say, well, they've cheated and they've had a leg up because of that. Fine, I mean, there's evidence to suggest that. But, you know, an FA Cup semi-final and a marvellous run beating Premier League sides and only just being beaten by Man City. Beating the Premier League champions, lest we forget. Indeed, indeed. Good mention. Yeah, lovely mention. And obviously getting into a playoff final. Now, as you say, this will be the lowest point, one of the lowest points in their recent history. Because of the level of embarrassment. I refer you to Rupert Lowe.

38:32Rishi Sunak turning up every week. Anything Matt Letizia said, anything Ricky Lambert said, it's in there. They've got the five now. It's all five of them. The fab five. But I do think, as a semi-serious point, you know, what kind of message, if you are the figurehead of a club in terms of Tonda Eka, who's the manager of the first team, you know, he's doing his job and he is the focal point. Everyone looks to him. There's all the press conferences, all the interviews. He's the kind of totem. What kind of professional standards is Ian persisting upon at that club? That's another reason why you can't continue to do your job when you have been ultimately responsible for this punishment, which we know may well be appealed, as we say.

39:09I think it's probably unlikely, but there could be some kind of appeal that softens it somewhat. But ultimately, they're still banged to rights. They've admitted as a club they've done it. There's no feasible argument that he stays in his job.

39:19Jim Campbell: It's a conscious decision to break a very specific rule. And it's a new rule as well. So you surely, surely know that that is just not allowed. It's such a risk. It almost feels to me like it wasn't worth it. It might not be on balance of probabilities. I know we've got to move on but I really want to take this opportunity I believe we've got a Chelsea Spurs to make an impassioned appeal to every single Portsmouth fan listening to or watching this show to when Portsmouth plays the run to next season at front of the park everyone has to take binoculars along everyone there has to be 20 ,000 pairs of binoculars in that stadium oh don't worry about that it's got to be done has to be done

40:04Luke Moore: don't throw them on the pitch though no don't do that binoculars are quite expensive you don't want to be getting rid of them that's true or you could I suppose if you made them out of toilet rolls anyway don't bother I just want you to know as well for the next part of the show for the rest of the show my focus is probably going to be quite poor so I apologise in advance fair right there was a small matter of Chelsea 2 Spurs 1 last night the relegation fight goes into the final day a lifeline for West Ham United this does suddenly you know you thought well Spurs they've got two games they've just a point you know because of the goal difference that'll do it and they lose and you saw how dejected they were after the game They're playing Everton, of course, on the last day.

40:41Luke Moore: The good news for Spurs is that Everton now, because of that sloppy result against Sunderland, they can't realistically achieve... That's a frustration for that. European football.

40:52Jim Campbell: David Moyes could come to West Ham's aid again, though. Oh, he could. Sort of a third coming of sorts. Imagine if he came out the tunnel against Spurs in a cape,

41:00Luke Moore: a West Ham cape, and a claret and blue eye mask. It'd be very uncharacteristic, but I would welcome it very much so. but yeah Spurs I mean more frustration from them I mean that part looked okay and then Enzo Fernandes obviously scores a lovely goal beautiful goal well you know what a player he is we know he can do that and then as the game goes you just see where it's going and Andre Santos scores but even you know even then they managed to get themselves back in the game Spurs and then there's that moment where they were denied a penalty because Kukurea when he dragged down Micky Van Der Venet it was adjudged that the ball was not yet in play so the margins of that are so tight they are the laws of the game no no they are I'm just saying that Cucure has not thought the ball hasn't been kicked yet I'll drag him down no probably not you know if the corner was and I'm not blaming the corner taker you should have taken that quicker you'll get a penalty but I'm just saying if that is just a second out then maybe they get a penalty James Madison he came on and made a difference and when he had that chance he just takes an extra step it was brilliant defending it was magnificent defending but Madison gave the chance again easier said than done He's been out a long time.

42:07Luke Moore: He's been out a long time, but it was there to be hit and as the defender blocked up, oh my goodness. But it's just, but it's just, and this game here is a classic example of, in microcosm, the story of Spurs domestically in the last two years. But it's a day late, it's a dollar short. They put together 20 minutes here and there. I mean, they even put together, from what I remember, and I was at the game, 20 minutes against Arsenal. It was passable stuff, you know, because of the build-up and because how excited everyone was for the game. and then it just went and could pitch. It's as sure as the sun that every single time you see Spurs play in the Premier League this season, by a few exceptions, a few notable exceptions, but they finally get their act together.

42:48As a general rule, this is who they are. Their record at Stamford Bridge is appalling. And I couldn't get away from that. When we were talking about it yesterday, and we talked about it a bit on Monday as well, you couldn't get away from the fact that this is going to be the... They've had three or four, this is the biggest game of our season. and they've fucked it up every time. They are nowhere near good enough. The only thing that may save them is that West Ham have been marginally worse. They are a terrible, terrible team. They're honestly so, so poor. Well, they've been fortunate

43:20Luke Moore: because West Ham have lost their last three. And that's what has brought Spurs.

43:23Jim Campbell: And that's what saves them, basically. West Ham oscillate between actually being pretty good and then just not really turning up. And you mentioned Spurs' record at Stamford Bridge in particular, which is very, very bad. but Chelsea last won a league game on the 4th of March. Well, I was about to say. This is a really good opportunity to put that right. That shows you how bad... Look, I don't actually think Chelsea had to be that good last night. No. And Chelsea, actually, it's weird because the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Chelsea win it. It's one of the worst performances I've ever seen from a team at the top level from Spurs.

43:52And Chelsea, like, they were walking around. And Chelsea are a team who've been outrun by every team they've played against this season. And they were walking around and they still won. And Spurs generated at about 0.05XG. This is who they are, right? As I said to you before, a big power of Spurs fan and friend of mine and friend of the show said, he's been watching Spurs for 30 years. They don't need a fucking new manager. They need an exorcism. They need to shed the identity of who they are. And what's really, really galling if you're a Spurs fan, I suspect, is that you win the Europa League and nothing changes.

44:28Fine, they're now no longer the team that never win anything, but they play exactly the same way as they were. Last season they finished 17. What do you expect? What do you expect from them?

44:35Luke Moore: I just can't believe we're in this situation. I mean, obviously I can because it's been coming for the last however many months. But yeah, when you compare it to that, it's just like, what on earth is going on here?

44:44Jim Campbell: I mean, Roberto De Serbi said recently, didn't he, that they're trying to use the fuel of everybody wanting them to go down and stuff. And actually, they were four games unbeaten before this. It looked like they'd turned a corner to the point where you're thinking, ah, this is gutting for West Ham because they're probably safe now. this is really bad, really bad to lose this game and bring that kind of doom, kind of laden feeling back before it all goes down to the wire on the last day. But, I mean, forgive me for repeating, but, you know, if you interrogate the last four games before this Chelsea game that Spurs have played in, it ain't that great.

45:21It's fine. But it was better than they were doing.

45:23Luke Moore: Well, I was going to say, talk of turning corners might be a bit strong, but it is a little bit better. The thing is, as Vish and I talked about after the game when they drew it home to Leeds. They're 1-0 up. They're actually doing okay. And then an overhead kick to the face. They give away a silly penalty like that. And then suddenly there's the chaos and they nearly lose the game. The fact though, they just need to avoid defeat against Everton and West Ham need to win. And I think it's the West Ham needing to win. That's what will save them. That might save them. Because if you look, talking about specific...

45:58Because Leeds are on a good run.

45:59Luke Moore: Leeds are enjoying it, aren't they? They're tough to beat. But you look at the specificity of events in these games we're talking about. It's a really good example using the Leeds game there. The game last night, how many times do you see a really boneheaded decision from a Spurs player? Whether it's Pelina giving away a stupid foul in a stupid area he doesn't need to. It's Matthias Tell or Richarlison or Colin Moani just blazing fucking balls miles over the bar or crossing 20 yards past where the fucking striker is. just really really boneheaded stuff from top level players it happens it's been happening all season all season and my prediction will be they'll get saved by just West Ham being marginally more incompetent than them they'll have a full preseason with Deserby they'll start off fairly well there'll be some kind of flashpoint because Deserby is a combustible character or they'll fuck up some kind of stupid admin decision something bad will happen they'll get in a rut they won't be able to get out of it.

46:54De Zerbe will eventually leave and the whole thing will continue. The whole thing will continue. They'll either be out of the Premier League or they won't, but whatever happens next season, it'll be more of the same.

47:02Luke Moore: Doom and gloom at Spurs. Right, before we go for a break, something positive. We here at the Football Ramble will be reacting live on YouTube to England's World Cup squad announcement at 11am on Friday morning. If you're not already, make sure to subscribe and turn on your notifications so you do not miss it. We're ahead of everyone with a World Cup fever. and sooner or later everyone's going to fall into line behind us and we're going to welcome them with open arms and a great place to start would be our YouTube channel 11am Friday totally get your thermometers out absolutely yeah we could do that actually bring some and we'll see who's got the highest fever you're going to do your chilli thing what's that the hottest chilli what's your fever oh yeah the doogler and all that what was it the four pot doogler and the Carolina Reaper yeah I mean to be fair as a feature that was fairly poorly received which disappointed me Well, let's get it back.

47:53Luke Moore: Yeah, okay. What kind of chilly are you? People didn't like it, so let's not do it again, is what I'm saying. All right. It's not very punk, is it? No, it isn't very punk, Jim. You're absolutely right. Coming up after this, it's the business end of the Europa League.

48:15Jim Campbell: This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. This is Felix Salmon from Slate Money. and I'm here to tell you about Apple Card. Even as a seasoned traveler, things can still get stressful, which is why I use Apple Card on my international trips. And with 2 % daily cash back on every purchase with Apple Pay, I'm actually earning daily cash as I travel. Instead of coming home feeling like I've drained my bank account, I come back with cash back I can put toward my next trip. Apply in the wallet app on iPhone. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA, Salt Lake City branch, terms and more at apple.co slash applecardbenefits.

49:06Luke Moore: Welcome back, everybody. Now, tonight, it's the Europa League final. Freiburg versus Aston Villa. It's in Istanbul. I can't believe we've got another final tonight. It's great.

49:14Jim Campbell: It's great. I'm thrilled by this. I'm really looking forward to this game. And you know what, I think Villa having guaranteed Champions League football already means they can go into this in a really different mindset. And obviously they're going to be the heavy favourites anyway. But I think that is a massive, massive factor. It just removes some jeopardy if it all goes wrong. And I think it's been really impressive the season Villa have managed to have. When you look at them narrowly missing out on getting consistent Champions League qualifications last season, what that meant for their budget and what it meant for certain things about the club, and then the quite poor start that they had.

49:46Jim Campbell: for them to turn this around and sort of look like the Villa of the last few seasons and again guarantee Champions League football while really being the heavy favourites to win a European trophy. It's massive and it's really impressive. It is.

50:00Luke Moore: They've also got the Unai Emery factor on their side as well. He's eyeing up a fifth Europa League win of his career. He loves that trophy. And I think actually the era that Aston Villa

50:09Jim Campbell: have had under him

50:10Luke Moore: deserves a trophy. He also won it three years in a row, it's a Ville. Which is incredible. I don't know whether that's him or Sevilla. You know, a bit of both. But you know, it's funny, you mentioned their poor start to the season and it's well worth mentioning because there was talk at the time from us as well that this is getting on to be the longest time he's spent at a club as a manager. I know he spent pretty much exactly four years at Valencia, but generally speaking, he was coming up to playing or managing, I suppose, the kind of amount of games, which seems to be his top limit at a club.

50:42And maybe this is coming to the end of it are these kind of ideas of going a bit stale or he needs a refresh or whatever. And then they just turned it around. They had another little wobble after that but they turned it around and for him to...

50:53Luke Moore: They were in the title race for a short period of time. They were for a very... I mean, for people who look at the league table very early, they're very much in the title race. You were about that. We were very excited. But the point being that if he wins it again tonight, you're going to have to get into naming it after him. I mean, I can't think... Surely there's not someone who's won an individual trophy. That's a single trophy more than he has and not had it named after. Maybe the trophy

51:16Jim Campbell: should just be a bust of him. Do you want to do the Guardiola League Cup? All I'm saying is Vince Lombardi only won two Super Bowls and the trophy's named after him. The campaign starts here. Is that right? Yeah. The campaign starts. Jules Romain never won the World Cup. Yeah, he was an administrator. Surprised him at FIFA, didn't he? Name it after an administrator. Yeah, that'll get a long going.

51:35Luke Moore: Yeah. Do you remember that Giza? Don't put ideas in their heads. Do you remember that FIFA Giza, the South American one? I forget what his name was. Grandona. No, no, no, not him. Someone else. Leon was it? Yeah it might have been Leon he wanted the FA Cup named after he thought it was Grandona it might have been but anyway someone wanted the FA Cup named after them to support England's 2018 World Cup bid and then voted for someone else anyway I mean come on proves the system doesn't work anyway back to Aston Villa they'll be big favourites listen I will go further than that I would say given the relative budget size the relative quality in the two squads from what I can see it's a massive error if Villa don't win it tonight the pressure should be on them as big big favourites They've also got Jadon Sancho among their ranks, who's playing in his third straight European final for three different clubs in all the different competitions.

52:19Luke Moore: That's remarkable.

52:20Jim Campbell: That is proper, like, cursed monkey paw stuff, isn't it? Because that sounds like he's had a brilliant three years.

52:26Luke Moore: I know what you mean. He's genuinely not that good at this point. Well, he was in the Champions League final for Dortmund, of course. They lost against Real Madrid. He won the Conference League with Chelsea against Real Betis. Now a chance to win the Europa League and get another gold medal.

52:39Jim Campbell: Freiburg have a couple of interesting players in their squad. There's a fella called Vincenzo Grifo, who's like their main man. He's like a legend there. He's their sort of creative hub. And a fella called Igor Matanovic, who's quite handy in front of goal as well. But as you know, we've established, Villa really are going to be heavy favourites here. And I'd expect them to win. I'd expect them all to have an incredible time in Istanbul tonight as well. Oh, man.

53:01Luke Moore: If they win it, which we expect they will, Emi Martinez giving it to another trophy. he said recently that he was really proud to have stayed at Aston Villa after his move to Manchester United failed to materialise and he said he made the right choice yeah well done Emi you made the right choice of not answering the phone that simply didn't ring so well done he could have picked it up but it just would have been a dooo

53:23Jim Campbell: made the right and only choice exactly he's proud of himself I don't know why I'm assuming it's a landline I'm picturing him sat in the corner on a chair very sad with an old fashioned one of those ones he dialed a number like that phone in the corner that just never rang.

53:38Luke Moore: But look, he's in another final. He is. And if it goes to penalties, Villa will definitely have the edge. They sure will. I think you have to back Villa to win pretty handsomely tonight, I think. Yeah, I mean, handsomely, I think that might be... Yeah, because obviously

53:52Jim Campbell: Freiburg are there for a reason.

53:54Luke Moore: It's always a case. And it's a final and a lot of those Villa players probably aren't used to playing in that many finals. So there could be nerves and whatnot. Freiburg aren't even really in that good form. Yeah, they're seventh in the Bundesliga. Well, whatever happens, I'm looking forward to it. I will be supporting the villains. Oh, and Eitracht Frankfurt beat Rangers, didn't they? They did, you know, pens. And Celtic got a pen, didn't they? In that game. I mean, they got their wish. Yeah. I was giving the penalty against us. To Celtic. Aaron Ramsey missing it. Yeah, it was, wasn't it? Yeah, it was.

54:25Absolutely. How about that? Well, good luck to Aston Villa, though.

54:28Luke Moore: Good luck to Villa. It's going to be a great game there. Right, thank you very much for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the A. Carl's Creator Network. Friends of the Ramble, don't go anywhere. Keep listening for Ramble Uncut. And if you're not a friend of the Ramble, head over to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to sign up now and also get tickets to our World Cup party right now. Oh yeah. I keep saying this. The first one sold out. It's going to be three. One for each England group game. The first one's gone. You can't come to that now. But, you're going to get the World Cup fever at some point.

54:56Don't leave it late.

54:57Luke Moore: I know, I know. Because we all get the fever. As soon as the season finishes, you're going to be like, right bang what's happening in the World Cup I'm excited for it you're going to get your wall chart out you're going to get your World Cup 4-4-2 guard whatever it is out and you're going to not be able to get a ticket to come to a great World Cup watch party so don't delay get your tickets today lovely Jim champions what I'm going to be doing is I'm going to be going and spying on all the other World Cup parties to see how they do it to make our World Cup party better and that's my guarantee yeah there you go there we go I like that right there we are thank you very much Luke thank you thank you Jim thank you and thank you Arsenal and the Football League administrators

55:48Jim Campbell: the Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network