Red Nose Day

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4:00Pete Donaldson: Out of touch, out of luck, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble. Spurs got a famous win and Bournemouth batted Manchester United. It's Monday, 26th of October. I'm Marcus Speller.

4:09Marcus Speller: I'm Pete Donaldson. And I'm the Dushan Ardharaja.

4:24Pete Donaldson: Welcome one and all to the Football Ramble. Pleasure to have you here on this Monday morning. We're talking about the Premier League. Oh, what another weekend of action in the Premier League it was. Oh, I've brought two friends along to talk about it. There's Pete Donaldson. Friends is a bit strong. and there's Virtusian Antharaja

4:40Marcus Speller: I'm going to echo his sentiments

4:42Pete Donaldson: depending what we

4:43Marcus Speller: talk about who knows the Luxembourg lads and me you could join the Triforce the European Triforce that is Pete and Vish Enterprises I'd love that I'd absolutely love that we call it Pavsk Pete and Vish Drinking Club yeah maybe run that by me first before I use my name live on YouTube for such endeavours when you fell asleep I used your hand to sign the contract

5:06Pete Donaldson: what else did you use his hand for? Well, who can say? Oh, who can say? There was somebody who thought, yeah, better not. I've never seen Pete check himself before. Don't worry, very enjoyable. Don't worry, mate, I'll warm up.

5:20Marcus Speller: You were thinking about the algorithm. I was thinking about the algorithm.

5:24Pete Donaldson: Can't help thinking about the algorithm. That's what we have these days. We've got the algo, but we also have each other, everybody. And that's where we begin, because Vish is going to need us when we talk about Manchester United, zero, Bournemouth, three. I mean, there were some standout results in the Premier League this weekend. I think we can all agree on that. You know, it's obviously Spurs beating Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge as they did, being another one. But we have to start at Old Trafford where the rain came down and the goals rained in, but none of them went to Manchester United.

5:52Pete Donaldson: It's their eighth game without a win and this feels like it's irredeemable for Michael Carrick at this moment. He's taken on Bruno Fernandes. He put him down as a sub. He didn't bring him on. If he really wanted to ram home the point to Bruno Fernandes, he would have brought him on in injury time in the second half. But Carrick thought, no, I can't do that.

6:15Marcus Speller: Yeah, that's a good point. I did wonder about that, because I thought there was a point where he should have brought him on at halftime. And then when he didn't, there was still, let's say, a 10-15 minute window into the second half where he could have brought him on. And then I thought, okay, well, that's wasted. Fine, another game down the drain. This is how it ends. and I thought actually he probably did him a kindness by not bringing him on because at the point that he brought on Shea Lacey for example in that third in their last substitution window he would have got booed I reckon Bruno Fernandes would have got booed and he thought you know what for someone who's done Bruno's done a lot of brilliant things for the club in the last week he's taken on Michael Carrick and Carrick to be fair thought you know what we're going to have another bit of mess on the field and you're going to have to sit in the cup chair and just watch it happen that's essentially what he did Yeah, I think with Bruno, was he kind of relying on kind of, because he made him warm up a couple of times, didn't he?

7:09Marcus Speller: I think that's genuine, to be fair, in that weather, I think, you know, you're a man to go and run and warm yourself up. Yeah, I suppose so, yeah. I mean, you sort of think, was he kind of relying on a Ronaldo flounce? I don't know. I don't know, but the... Do you think Portuguese and that? They're all the same. I think I've never seen anything like that before and I've seen a lot of this storyline play out with Manchester United over the last 15 years I thought we took a season off last season I thought well it's nice to be back doing the same thing when you say you've never seen it

7:45Pete Donaldson: before as in a manager take on a player like that

7:47Marcus Speller: no no no no the whole thing on Sunday I've never seen anything like that I've never seen at no point has a Manchester United manager taken on the best player? At no point has he dropped onto the bench and essentially forced him to watch? I'm talking post-Ferguson, obviously. Yeah, of course. At no point have I seen a Manchester United team really kind of mail in a performance like that. It was shocking.

8:15Pete Donaldson: I mean, Bournemouth could have been five or six.

8:17Marcus Speller: Yeah, and they should have been three. Well, they should have been three and a half at halftime. Bournemouth missed loads of good chances. If Ryan calls to Evan Nielsen to leave it in the first 20 seconds of the second half, they're 3-0 up within a minute. Yeah, so I haven't seen... Yeah, the team mailing it in, which includes an 11... Largely on Carrick's side, including the three midfielders he brought in, which speaks to a basic distrust in the instructions and the tactics that have been given by Carrick. And I've also never seen a situation where a manager, who pretty much knows his last game, doing a lap of honour in tears as they sing his name, and as soon as he disappears down the tunnel, they just turn immediately on the players.

9:04Oh, I mean, it's just an incredible bit of kind of like, wait, wait, wait, keep singing the song, keep singing the song, bang, right into booing the players. The timing was incredible. The timing was impeccable. Well done. You couldn't have choreographed that well. Well done, Old Trafford.

9:17Pete Donaldson: Yeah, I mean, obviously you've pretty much described it there, but if you didn't see that, you know, Carrick does that lap of honour and as soon as he goes down the tunnel boom, they flip and the flipping is as you say, Pete quite something to behold impeccable like we again I've certainly not seen that at a football match at the top level do you think the footballers were going oh, we got away with that Carrick is our big umbrella they're singing his name we'll give him a little bit of distance ah, we should have been right behind him should have been closer than him should have been, yeah I mean they just watched the team they've been really quite mid to poor this season.

9:51They got hosed by Chelsea. What was it? 4-1, 5-1, something like that. They just played, you know, and excelled in Europe three days ago. That's going to take a lot out of the players. They're playing away from home and it shouldn't have been so comprehensive, but it was. And like you said, Bournemouth missed chances. Well, Bournemouth have improved

10:07Pete Donaldson: the last few games, but you're right. I mean, they've not been good this season in the league. Yeah. No, but you're right. But the fact is, Peter, Bournemouth, they made them look like Guardiola's Barcelona. at times. Do you know what I mean?

10:21Marcus Speller: I think they've got another couple of levels to access.

10:24Pete Donaldson: Oh, they do. I think, yeah, Bournemouth, we'll get to that in a moment, which seems harsh because they've just had a brilliant performance where they've won 3-0, should have won about 5 or 6. But, you know, the big story you could argue here is obviously Carrick and Manchester United. And my goodness, it was just so bad, so painfully bad. I mean, it was worse than Como.

10:50Marcus Speller: Oh, without a doubt.

10:51Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Because Como was really bad. Because Como... It's at home. Yeah. Well, you could say... I mean, I don't think there are... It's relative, isn't it? That's in the Champions League. Champions League against the side. Tales are up.

11:02Marcus Speller: One of the most exciting young teams in Europe. Bournemouth, I would actually say, are in that bracket. Not as high as Como, but there's certainly a team that are in Europe, are exciting, are a new force. Certainly a new emerging force. but it generally is the way that it was the perfect storm because it was about players not being good enough it was about them seemingly not putting the effort in but also you look at that start at XI I mean, did it look like it was going to get a result regardless of whether Carrick was, you know, things were going well for Man City Knight and Carrick But that start at XI though

11:45Pete Donaldson: it has to be competitive at home to Bournemouth it has to be

11:49Marcus Speller: but if you look at the way they've been playing if you look at the style of play if you look at the Valadalos at left back and Mounts at left wing Bruno not being in the team for football reasons apparently which is obviously absolute bollocks

12:02Pete Donaldson: that's what Carrick said it was a football decision

12:04Marcus Speller: and it wasn't yeah but I asked the football

12:09Pete Donaldson: he kicked me too hard

12:11Marcus Speller: don't get him on

12:11Pete Donaldson: it was a magic eight ball decision

12:14Marcus Speller: Will it be a good idea if I drop Bruno? Not in your lifetime, what? Outlook cloudy, ask again. What is the Joshua Zerksy situation? Because he played a lot in pre-season. He obviously scored in midweek and was all care in a team of terrible players. Why doesn't he like playing them, Carrick? This is great because it's like you've been planted in question time

12:36Pete Donaldson: to ask a distracting question. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Nobody's talking about Joshua Zerksy today. but old Petey's gonna ask the questions that nobody's thinking of.

12:44Marcus Speller: But no, Xerxe is actually quite... He's quite an interesting bellwether in all this, because they tried to get rid of him very hard before the window shut. He comes on before Bruno. Yeah.

12:56Pete Donaldson: But you know though that Joshua Xerxe and some of the other players, if he goes on loan in Serie A or league or whatever, he'll have a lovely old time.

13:04Marcus Speller: I'll be honest, I quite like Xerxe. Yeah. No, but he will. This is the problem. He is a team Uberbatov. There's a lot to like about that. Can he draw like him though? Bobatoff used to do lovely drawings. Did he? He did, yeah, on his Facebook page. Bobatoff had a Facebook page where he put all of his lovely pencil drawings that he put up, and he's quite good.

13:22Pete Donaldson: Oh, right. You need to send some screenshots of that. I will. Because I can't be bothered looking myself. I mean, yeah, Xerxes, a number of these players, they'll go on loan or they'll be sold, and they'll do much, much better. Having a good time, yeah. The difficulty is, of course, if you're at one of the biggest clubs in the world, well, you know, you're playing in front of that many people, you're getting paid that amount of money. At some point you may well think, that may become good or there's a lot of money. It's difficult to then go somewhere else, but so many of them need to leave. But I mean, the thing is...

13:54Pete Donaldson: You know what, I'm falling for the whole thing as well. I'm saying, well, they need to clear up, they need a new man. No, the whole club needs to fold and start again. Do you know what I mean?

14:05Marcus Speller: I've been saying this for ages. My hope is that Man City United will get relegated before Man City. They can get, you know, a decent bit of preparation time in League Two. But in all seriousness, it's beyond the players.

14:22Pete Donaldson: This is slightly cheeky, but it's also, because of the way this season's going, somewhat relevant. Is there a chance?

14:31Marcus Speller: No, no.

14:32Pete Donaldson: No. It's a chance what? That they get relegated. But like you were saying on Friday, there's two Man Uniteds. There's the noodle deal, you know, global brand Red Devils. And the Europa Conference League sort of challenging team playing in a crumbling stadium, isn't there? For every pound of like cement, flesh, turf, it's only good for one thing and that's servicing the massive amount of debt that they've got. If they stop pretending for a minute that they're, you know, not a global brand and a team that challenges for Champions League titles and stuff, banks will stop lending the money. And that's their whole business model.

15:06So they're in a bit of trouble. They can't get relegated because that brand starts to lose a little bit of its luster. And, you know, the debt starts to become a bigger situation. So they can't even take a nice year out and finish a championship.

15:20Pete Donaldson: It all goes on the owners then with this debt. Yeah, massively. I mean, they've just got to stop pretending they're a big global brand and operate like a mid-table brand that they are. But that's the frustrating thing, though, Peter, is they are an enormous global brand. It is what the owners have done to that club. that has basically put them in this situation where they are. But they have to be because of the debt, haven't they? And I think... But the owners saddled them with the debt.

15:41Marcus Speller: Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean. Sort of through Ferguson as well.

15:45Pete Donaldson: Well, I mean, Ferguson, you know, Luke has said this a number of times that Ferguson's legacy for some people is somewhat tainted in the fact that he defended the Glazers. And still, I mean, he'll never speak out.

15:56Marcus Speller: The Glazers came into the club because of Sir Alex Ferguson's dispute over a horse.

16:01Pete Donaldson: Right. So there you go. Yeah. Yeah, and he was part of the board for a long time, wasn't he? He was very involved as much as a man of advancing guys can be. But I mean, I think on the field or around the field, you do sort of think that Carrick has every right to be annoyed about the lack of investment in his side. But I think the squad obviously needs reinforcements, but the way that some of the players are talking about the team needing reinforcements, in my opinion, is less about that and more about that I think they went on a pretty good run, got themselves in the Champions League and a lot of those players thought they were going to get better terms on their contracts or at least would get a decent move.

16:38None of those things have happened. So therefore, they're sort of angling, talking down the club, in my opinion, and looking to sort of get frozen out and then the club will accept a knockdown deal. Like Bruno's like released clauses like quite low. Why aren't the top clubs in for him? Because they feel like then he's clearly not good enough for the largest, the biggest sides.

16:58Pete Donaldson: Well, I've often wondered... Saudi, they're the only people who are in for them. Yeah, I mean, I think with Bruno Fernandes, I said it before on the pod, I wonder if he likes being the big fish in a, I wouldn't say small pond at Manchester United, but perhaps a less talented pond at Manchester United. But that aside, going back to the game and the way it all played out, I mean, it was just... I wonder what the owners do here. Because if they sack Carrick, which I suspect they will, again, for the fans, it just doesn't change anything. And I'll give the Man United fans a lot of credit. They're generally speaking quite positive and encouraging of whoever the manager is.

17:36Pete Donaldson: They are football fans at the end of the day, so they're going to get annoyed, rightly so. But the way some of those season ticket holders have been treated in recent years is genuinely a disgrace. And other fans of other clubs may sort of go, Oh, well, you had your fun, or you had your, you know, blah, blah, blah. It's not about that. You can't do that.

17:51Marcus Speller: It should be harder to support your club. Yeah, exactly.

17:54Pete Donaldson: You did well in the 90s and 2000s. I don't mind if a club falls on hard times in a playing sense and they're not doing very well. You're always going to have those rivalries, of course. That's part of football.

18:05Marcus Speller: That's also what's great about the game. Exactly. The fact that there is a meritocracy to even performing. Totally. And being good. And the fact that it comes in waves and cycles. And that's why it's interesting. Yeah. Otherwise, we'd have tuned off a long time ago. Totally.

18:17Pete Donaldson: In a very, very different way. I'm not likening the two situations of the Manchester clubs. But in a very, very different way. I take no pleasure in seeing Man City fans, you know, if indeed they do end up out of the league or whatever happens to them. It's on the owners. You know, you have that solidarity with fellow football fans. You know, yes, some of the behaviour in defending the owners, you know, we can talk about that and we have. But with Manchester United, the way the fans have been treated, it's just, but it's so interesting that they sung Carrick's name because they know. If Carrick, you can have a manager come into a football club and come up short.

18:50Pete Donaldson: You can have that. Of course you can. You get rid of him and then you get someone else in and that is just the way it goes. Most managers, probably the majority of managers get sacked at some point in a club. It's very rare that they leave on their terms. That is how it goes. And Mani are very slow at sacking managers when they need a good sacking. Possibly, yeah. But lest we forget, Carrick came in and did them all a solid last season. And he did the owners a solid, getting them back into the Champions League. And he'll always be a club legend for that. As he will. And that's why they sung his name and I give them all the credit in the world for that.

19:20Pete Donaldson: But I mean, I don't think that he's up to the task. I don't think anybody is. That's the problem. I don't know how good a manager Carrick is. I hope that he goes on and finds another club where he can actually, you know, mould a team into what he wants to do and so on. But this is just,

19:37Marcus Speller: such a mess. I think the, um, a lot of the, to my mind anyway, a lot of the issues that he's had with the players this term that he didn't have last term is kind of what Pete said before. I think the players were happy to work with him and get back into the Champions League. Yes. And as part of the reinforcing at the club, that would include a new manager. Yeah. That would include a new high profile manager.

20:00Pete Donaldson: Yeah, he gives them the bounce. It's the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer routine, almost like, yeah, this guy's, he's only here for a bit. We've seen it before. You don't have to do it. Totally, totally.

20:05Marcus Speller: And it's totally not beneath character, come in and do that job and then move on.

20:09Pete Donaldson: Yeah. And you almost want character to do that, but at the same time, of course he can't do that. that because that would basically be him going oh well i've not got the ambition to do no no no

20:18Marcus Speller: but yeah so so the issue was then when he was offered the job full-time yeah and then on a two-year deal like don't do that if you think someone's good enough to take on that job and take it further it's more than a two-year deal and it's not michael carrick is it um and that's not throwing any shade towards him and the thing about the fan reaction less about last season more about a his playing career and b genuinely that's the first time I mean this sincerely, that is the first time whether it's been under Amorim, Ten Hag, Solskjaer, Vanhoef, and even Ranić, Mourinho. Moise. Moise probably maybe actually the only one that I'm unsure about because of the amount of noise that came out during the end of his time, certainly from people like Rio Ferdinand and stuff like that.

21:07Marcus Speller: Moise noise. Moise noise, yeah. But that's the first time, you know, even me as a Manchester United fan, a bit more removed than in London, that I was a bit like, wow, you've done him dirty there. Really? You've really, you know, just over the course of, and not just the Bournemouth game, but over the course of the last month. That's the first time I've been like, oh, wow. You've really shit on him. The players? Yeah.

21:31Pete Donaldson: And I think the players have escaped a lot of criticism, but I'll tell you something. From a neutral point of view, I'm thinking, all right, you've done that to a fine club legend. Get Antonio Conte in. Do you know what I mean? Is that what you want, lads?

21:42Marcus Speller: This is 100 % because remember like a week ago, two weeks ago, I was like, Conte is just gonna proliferate the cycle. And I think Conte will end badly. So there's three... That's safe. That's in the back.

21:57Pete Donaldson: I think Conte will end badly.

21:58Marcus Speller: But you know, at the time of recording, Carrick's still there, but there are three muted replacements and it's Eddie Howe, Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte. and I think you know Conte will be bad because he's Conte we've seen what he's like we saw what he's like with Spurs especially with rigid owners any of us on the football side or the Glazers in terms of releasing funds to be pumped into the football side for transfers and stuff like that I think it'll be a bad idea it's going to end in tears and part of me also thinks much like you said screw it bring him in and let them beast them for a year because if it goes well good and if they hate them and hate themselves by the end of it also good but this is how Graham Soonest used to get jobs.

22:39Marcus Speller: Do you know what I mean? He'd come in, work for like six months, he'd upset everyone and then he'd leave with a big old... Maybe he's Conte the man to chase the owners out of the club. Could it really go that way?

22:49Pete Donaldson: I'll tell you what, I couldn't see Nagelsmann in his baggy T-shirt turning up. Well, also, you sort of think because of, I don't know, Ratcliffe's political leanings, you sort of think maybe he'll go British without him. He loves a big beefy, you know, all-day breakfast.

23:02Marcus Speller: Maybe he'll look at the way the Nagelsmann dresses and be like, oh, are you from the Manosphere? I've heard about this.

23:10Pete Donaldson: What's the weather like over there? Yeah, maybe. I mean, you sort of think, like, out of those three options, who would, I don't know, inject anything into the club? And I do kind of, as a, you know, Newcastle support, I do kind of think, Eddie Howe, he can work. He's a yes man, so they'll love him upstairs. He genuinely improves shite players. He will up the intensity because he's only got one way of playing. And I think that he's worked under that ceiling. So I have a little bit of sympathy with that view because I think... Harry Maguire, Dan Byrne, it's the same thing. There you are. I think that how...

23:45Pete Donaldson: When you sort of break it down, I think, oh yeah, I could go in there and do something. If I was a Man United fan, I might think, okay, can he do that? But this Manchester United, I agree with Luke. I think it's unmanageable at the moment. Because of their recent, I suppose, failings, Manchester United and Spurs have often been talked about in the same breath. and you see what Deserby's doing with Spurs and we'll get into Spurs in just a moment the way, like Spurs it felt like a sort of a cultural shift needs to happen and a mentality shift they've only got the stadium for one well indeed

24:17Marcus Speller: and that shift has happened twice for Spurs in the time where it's not happened at all

24:24Pete Donaldson: exactly and I think with Howe you see what Deserby's doing I think Howe could, if it was say the Spurs job was available I think you could see how going in and doing all that. And I just think, it's so damning. It's so damning what's going on there. And it really is piss-ball. Standards. Well, the banner during the game that came out with the word standards on it featuring, was it the faces of Brian Robson, Roy Keane and Eric Cantona? Brian buying a sports car for his mistress, Robson. Brian is his wife. There we go. His wife attacking his mistress who's hiding under the bed with a stick. Not checking yourself anymore, are you, Peter?

25:04Pete Donaldson: You did warn us that you were warming up. It's all out there. It's all out there. It's fine. Eric Cantona, the one who karate kicked that man, Standen. Yeah, that's class. Roy Keane, everything he's done in his life.

25:16Marcus Speller: Fine. It's good on the overlap though, isn't it? It is good.

25:20Pete Donaldson: It is good.

25:21Marcus Speller: So I think, part of it, I think one of the other...

25:23Pete Donaldson: Rocky's my favourite film. I don't know much about it. One of the other things though, I mean, I don't know, I wouldn't put this so much on the Man United fans, because if you have a glorious past now, And you have to say it's passed, obviously. You have a glorious past.

25:34Marcus Speller: I mean, even the Bournemouth games are passed. True enough, yeah.

25:37Pete Donaldson: Okay, fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're all good this morning.

25:39Marcus Speller: It's a clean slate. Everyone's fine. Quite a look forward. Yeah, are we refreshing the BBC site? Apparently, Wilcox and Carrick have arrived at the training ground this morning. Not together, though. Not together. Not together.

25:49Pete Donaldson: Different helicopters. Yeah. I love that.

25:52Marcus Speller: That's news. People told them to work on a Monday.

25:57Pete Donaldson: We weren't sure if one of them would, Bish. So it is news. When you have that sort of glorious place, you want to kind of build on it, but also are you hamstrung by it? You know, because those players and so on. But I don't think that's what it is actually.

26:09Marcus Speller: But I think that will be a motivating factor for whoever Michael Carrick's replacement might be. Because I think Sunday's atmosphere was so bad and...

26:19Pete Donaldson: In fact, we're leaving the stadium after the second Bournemouth goal. Yeah, yeah.

26:22Marcus Speller: And they went round the houses with, you know, laying into the Glazers, Ineos, Burrata, Wilcox, Jim Ratcliffe, that I am, I'm a bit wary that they feel like they'll almost, you know, quite literally in some respects have to buy back some favour with Manchester United fans, and thus will plump for a big managerial name.

26:47Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Ian Conte. It's got to be Conte, isn't it? Yeah. Oi. Fine. But you're talking to me now. put your football handball hat on it's got to be Conte isn't it oh

26:58Marcus Speller: without a doubt

26:59Pete Donaldson: right

27:00Marcus Speller: one of my genuinely one of my Spurs supporting mates yesterday being like how are you worse than us I don't know and then he replied to me saying Conte's probably already moved into Carrick's office and I was like it can't be Conte it would be the same and he's like it's not about you

27:16Pete Donaldson: and that's exactly right spot on spot blooming on but I also

27:20Marcus Speller: say very quickly about yeah Evan Nielsen yeah He's like a 64-bit Ronaldo Nazario. I love that. Because he has everything. Yeah. But he doesn't realise it.

27:35Pete Donaldson: I know what you mean. I tell you what, he realised it with that. Although, I mean, it's a beautiful finish. Although, had he missed it, we would have said it was a sitter though, wouldn't we?

27:42Marcus Speller: Well, no, because I was a bit like, what are you doing? Because that is a... You have to be decisive whatever you do.

27:47Pete Donaldson: Yes.

27:48Marcus Speller: As soon as you take that touch, as soon as he takes that touch past Lamont. You've got to hit it. He's got to hit it. And you're going to hit it well. Yeah. Or he's got to like properly drive in and lay it off to someone. Yeah. Because you think you can try and get close to the goal, but you'll narrow your angle. You'll get shut down by a defender and you'll have to have someone backing you up. And he nails the hardest option. Yeah.

28:09Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Perfectly. And you love the idea that he's got David Moyes' eyes. I think he might have David Moyes' eyes. He's a very smiley footballer. He's a very smiley footballer. I see what you mean. I would love a team full of smiley guys.

28:20Marcus Speller: Yeah. Yeah. that's kind of Bournemouth you've got one Smiley guys and Louis Smiley I was about to say

28:25Pete Donaldson: and his brother there you go it's a start I think Evan Nilsson he's a really good player of course he's very good for an assist and his goal scoring hasn't been terrible but if that can follow my goodness yeah you know I mean he's already a very good player Bournemouth did really well scouting him and getting him and you see him he's just he's busy he's always he's often contributing something yeah and I really

28:49Marcus Speller: he's a proper number nine isn't he

28:50Pete Donaldson: yeah But he needs to add those goals, which he is adding to be fair. He's 27 though, he's not as sad doing it now, is he? Isn't he? I don't know. Bit of confidence. Sit him down and go, see that box? Kick the ball in it. You're 27, you're over the hill. You're over the hill, Evan Nielsen. Yeah, I mean, this is probably his last season, right? He's retired. Usually is.

29:10Marcus Speller: Have you thought about doing careers fairs at second year schools?

29:13Pete Donaldson: What about Marcus Tavenir though? He's on a lovely run of form at the moment.

29:16Marcus Speller: Yeah, I think we've sung his praises before.

29:19Pete Donaldson: Can we turn him into a right back and have him for England?

29:22Marcus Speller: But like, he's played so many different positions for Bournemouth. He's played centre midfield, he's played out on the left, he's played further forward on the left, he's played on the right. Incredible from set pieces. One of the best left foots in the league.

29:33Pete Donaldson: If Tavenir comes along in the Roy Hodgson England era, he's getting some caps, isn't he?

29:39Marcus Speller: Where is he getting those caps? Left wing?

29:41Pete Donaldson: For England.

29:42Marcus Speller: Yeah, yeah.

29:43Pete Donaldson: No, but do you know what I mean?

29:44Marcus Speller: No, but do you mean on the left wing?

29:45Pete Donaldson: Well, wherever he's been, you know, possibly, but as that utility man or whatever the performances he's putting in. But unfortunately, the standards are like very high, obviously, at the moment with the England team that someone like him is never really going to get a look in, which is a shame because he's playing really well.

29:59Marcus Speller: Yeah, he's almost like, you know, you know, in the way that England thought they might be able to use James Ward-Prowse, for example. Yes. He's, to my mind, James Tavoni is better than Ward-Prowse. Yeah, do you know what I mean? But he could fill that role, couldn't he? Yes. Almost like that lad who used to take penalty corners in field hockey for GB. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. They would bring him on. Yeah, I forget his name.

30:23Pete Donaldson: We don't need to know his name. We all know what we're talking about there. So a great win for Bournemouth. Well done them. And another damning result and performance for Manchester United.

30:34Marcus Speller: Just similar to the Evan Nielsen chat. How good do we think Ryan is?

30:37Pete Donaldson: Another one, yeah. Yeah, I mean, the way he took his goal. Yes, he was given the freedom of the pitch to do so. But they've got some lovely players. That's why with Bournemouth, it was always like, when is this going to start clicking? They've won the last four games in all competitions. You see what they're doing in European competitions as well. They're having a lovely old time. It is bad news for the rest of the teams down the bottom of the Premier League. They're relying on Pope Fonz at the start of the season. Exactly. Oh, maybe they'll go down the season. Totally. But I never worried about Bournemouth, even though obviously the managerial change is big.

31:06Europe, though.

31:07Pete Donaldson: Europe. The European places. But I tell you what, the relegation battle is going to be absolutely fascinating. However, though, I don't think that Manchester United are going to get relegated, despite my cheeky question earlier. I also mentioned about how if Xerxes and one or two others left Manchester United, they'd have a lovely old time. Well, someone, a former Manchester United man, is having a lovely old time in Spain. Specifically, Catalonia last night. Real Madrid won the classic 2-1. And we saw the Jose Mourinho knee-slide celebration again, this time with his tongue ever so subtly out of his mouth.

31:45Like when a dog loses all his teeth and it falls outside. Or homerunson when he thinks about a pork chop.

31:50Pete Donaldson: It wasn't at the side of his mouth. I don't want you to do Mourinho dirty. Well, he was... No, this was very much tongue just out the mouth. He was doing that kind of like, not even pasag, just ag-ag, just staring, standing and staring into the Barcelona dugout at one point, which he's a good old shithead, isn't he?

32:07Marcus Speller: That was a Mourinho classical performance from his first time at Real Madrid. Yes. They really did a number on... I mean, to be fair, Barca missed quite a few chances. Jamal missed... And Diamande missed a great chance. Yes, he did actually, yeah.

32:22Pete Donaldson: But you're right though, it could have gone either way. Yeah. But it went Mourinho's way.

32:26Marcus Speller: Sorry, did we see Bellingham's skill for the second goal? Oh, come on!

32:30Pete Donaldson: Come on. Could he play right back for England? I wouldn't want him to.

32:34Marcus Speller: To all of Europe, what would you do without us? It's not Gordon for one, it's Bellium for the other Yeah, yeah, easy peasy

32:43Pete Donaldson: Please let us back in

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36:18Pete Donaldson: Well, let's talk about two teams that Jose Mourinho used to manage that played a game in West London on the weekend. It was Chelsea 0, Spurs 2! Yeah. How about that? We wrote them off on the preview show, Spurs. I tried to argue that maybe they're not as bad as they have been, but then even I succumbed to the fact that, oh, but they're going to Stamford Bridge, they never win there. They blooming well did win there. They could go three for three against Palace on Halloween. On Halloween. But the big story is it was their first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018, their second win in the league at Stamford Bridge since 1990.

36:49Marcus Speller: Bad, that.

36:49Pete Donaldson: So that's why we were kind of thinking they probably won't win at Stamford Bridge. This Chelsea side...

36:53Marcus Speller: Did you see the number of people? Sorry, the number of people were like, good prediction, that. I was like, yeah, because you were so confident on Friday.

37:02Pete Donaldson: Yeah, I mean look, you've got to hand it to Spurs. And Mike Penders did in a way, of course. But look, they're definitely better than they were. It's pre-international break, post-international break, this Spurs side.

37:16Marcus Speller: Marbella!

37:17Pete Donaldson: Marbella!

37:17Marcus Speller: In three months' time, someone will pull out the stats of pre and post Marbella. Yeah. And they'll be chalk and cheese.

37:24Pete Donaldson: But the performances as well. again, going on with that point at Old Trafford, which definitely does feel like two points dropped now. No, the performance though, and again the sending off, De Zerbi saw something and he was pleased.

37:35Marcus Speller: To be fair, it was two points dropped at the time, I thought.

37:38Pete Donaldson: Fine, but the fact is though that the performance, there was something to hang their hats on. Then they go and beat Coventry, and then this. This! It's an enormous victory for Tottenham Hotspur. As I say, a place that they never win, the stats speak or the facts speak for themselves. Chelsea have done all right, Peter, this season. They're a bit of a funny side, of course. They didn't get their early goal. They didn't get any goals, of course. And Spurs got a couple at the end. They did. And obviously it was all about... They're quite spicy at this moment in time, aren't they? Not even at this moment in time.

38:09Oh, this game was spicy. I mean, this game was spicy. Chelsea just in a really bad mood lately. I don't know, they need to get out of this funk because they just kept getting... Their disciplinary record will suffer, let's say.

38:19Pete Donaldson: Well, I mean, was it last season? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, they were particularly bad, weren't they? And even Maresca, yeah, when when he was manager. It was, it was, I mean, Cole Palmer, people said he could have been sent off for when he just barged in. He could have been like, he should have been. He could have been in Schrader. He should have gone for the first yellow. Terrible. And then, and then was the stamp a straight red or was that a second yellow? I think it was, I think that second yellow would probably, I think. It was,

38:41Marcus Speller: you know, if Jim was here, it'd be two orange cards.

38:43Pete Donaldson: No, it's Chelsea. So Jim would say it was two red cards. Well, well, Cole Palmer's kind of the sort of player who does get away with a lot. I mean, it's his first red, isn't it? And like, he leaves the foot in quite a lot. Do you think? Yeah, because he basically looks like, you don't want to give him a card because he looks all innocent, doesn't he? He looks like, remember, it was a Bugsy Malone when Doodle gets shot because he drops the gun. He drops the splurge gun. You're saying Cole Palmer could have been anything he wanted to be? Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, he could have been a bad guy. But Dandy Dan is annoyed at him for dropping the splurge gun in the middle of a robbery.

39:17You would be annoyed at that. And he gets shot by all of the other guys.

39:23Marcus Speller: Just everyone watching live on YouTube, that's 1976.

39:28Pete Donaldson: That's a classic! Even if you said that in the 90s, people would have said that's an old reference.

39:33Marcus Speller: Turned 50 this year.

39:37Pete Donaldson: Martin Cohen said Keystone Cops defending. Imagine that. Very enjoyable.

39:41Marcus Speller: But Morgan Rogers should have gone as well. Actually, Bugsy Malone is basically Chelsea's transfer strategy, isn't it? Is that what it is?

39:48Pete Donaldson: Kids with real guns. Kids with Spurge guns. Rodgers did put a nice bit. So there was a bit of spice in there. Rodgers has had a couple of those already. Yeah, he has. He went for like the really meaty part of the leg, which probably wouldn't break on his leg, but oh, it would hurt.

40:04Marcus Speller: You have to think as well. Spurs did such a good number on Chelsea. Yes. That Rodgers and Palmer, who are usually on the receiving ends of those types of challenges where they're being, you know, people are looking to take them down before they get away. To be put in that mood, I mean it speaks to a degree of immaturity really, but also just how off it Chelsea went, how much better Spurs were. Yeah, they were. I think the thing that I was really impressed with Spurs is the fact that they were really decisive in really tight spaces and it was more congested in the middle because Chelsea weren't playing with the striker, even though Rodgers was a little bit further removed.

40:39Pete Donaldson: Well, he should have gone for Danny Welbeck. 100 % why is he like... Yeah, I don't know why he's doing that. Quendo like fine, good player, but do you think Alonso was trying to be a bit too smart there? Is it because Jordan Henderson was on the pitch? Like you can't have two old boys on the pitch.

40:50Marcus Speller: Oh, I don't worry, Jay's going through the roof.

40:51Pete Donaldson: Yeah, Jordan Henderson started games for Chelsea against Spurs. I'm into it.

40:56Marcus Speller: Yeah, yeah, I mean...

40:58Pete Donaldson: It's a proper Indian summer.

40:59Marcus Speller: He ended up not doing much. No, well... There was a point where he was...

41:02Pete Donaldson: He can't do it every week.

41:03Marcus Speller: He looked so ragged that I felt like the polite thing for Fernandes to do would be to offer him a seat. It was a bit I thought it was a bit much But also Fernandes and Tonali were outstanding

41:14Pete Donaldson: Well there seems to be something going on there In that midfield We talked about Spurs being brittle That's not what I was saying Peter Okay right Unless it turns sour It was good for No Doubt 90s reference Yeah but they broke up before they got big didn't they But that was their best song Yeah but Don't Speak that song was originally a song about how much she loved him. That's what I mean. And then they changed the lyrics to make it sad. That they'd broken up. Oh, right. And so the emotional heft of the No Doubt song, Don't Speak, was all because of the breakup, rather than because they loved each other.

41:50Pete Donaldson: So Jordan Henderson and Cole Palmer need to stop kind of, you know, having this, oh, you take the free kick, no you. Yeah. And then when they say, I'm having it, I'm having it. That's when they really kind of... Get your hands off that simple boy.

42:00Marcus Speller: You actually heard two different versions. I did. I did hear two different versions. Interesting, interesting. Who were the bad in the 80s who'd always write songs about each other? The quite famous... Oh, what was the girl song and the boy song? Fleetwood Mac, that's it.

42:11Pete Donaldson: Yeah, I mean that was... I don't even want to unpack that. On the football ramble. Get a room, lads. Yeah, yeah. Too sordid. You can't take cocaine in the Premier League. I thought you were going to say the Premier Inn. You can definitely do it there. You can't. It's illegal! Half the... You can say half the damaged patina on the wood.

42:33Marcus Speller: Poor Lenny Henry. Lenny Henry going. No, not having that. I suppose that would be a red nose day, wouldn't it?

42:41Big bed to toss and turn in.

42:44Marcus Speller: Anyway. Anyway. We are endorsing it.

42:49Pete Donaldson: No, but we should say, other drugs are available. That's a good point, Ashley. Maybe Brian Robson's wife wouldn't have found his lover if the bed had been as big as Lenny Henry's. Sadly, Peter, other illegal substances are available.

43:03Marcus Speller: There are.

43:04Pete Donaldson: It's a great shame. It's a great stain on our society.

43:06Marcus Speller: Is this our last live show?

43:09Pete Donaldson: It's not. Okay, cool. Excellent. It might be. What were we saying? Jordan Henderson.

43:13Marcus Speller: Yeah, but... And we move on from him. As much as Fernandes did. He's probably still in bed. The quickness of how they played in that midfield... Yes. Would have been... Well, to me, felt so much braver. Because the conditions as well. Conditions helped. It was raining like mad. And they really showed all the deserving things that I didn't necessarily think were transplantable into Spurs. Even though they spent a lot of money and they bought good footballers, as you'd hope for that money, but always a guarantee, as my club can attest to. But the way he's got them all on the same page, and the way it's such an underrated thing in a system football environment.

43:59Marcus Speller: but they look like they're having a whale of a time.

44:01Pete Donaldson: Well, I think he's got them now.

44:02Marcus Speller: Yeah.

44:03Pete Donaldson: I think Spurs are now looking at the table. And that is based on three performances. They have to. I guess if you're further down the table, you kind of have to, don't you? Well, they're not bottom anymore. Right. You know, but that's the thing. I think with Spurs, some of the Spurs fans were saying this pre-Malbair and were saying, oh, but actually there was a good sort of little period here. And I was thinking, yeah, I'm not convinced. After Marbair. Yeah. That's where it seems to have happened. Could this be a Leicester City-Thailand trip kind of post thing? Quite possibly. Hopefully not a Leicester City-Marbella trip, if you remember that.

44:38Pete Donaldson: I think we're beginning to see things. We're not going to unpack that. I think that's when I was like, I've got confused about the trips. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's clicking in the Spurs side, I think you can see. And it's a fabulous victory. And Matthias Tell, scoring. It reminded me of Lothar Matthias driving forward for West Germany in 1990, skipping past play and rifling in the bottom corner. I think the goal he scored against maybe Yugoslavia in that tournament. But it was a beauty. And Tell himself, in terms of numbers, hasn't provided or produced that much. For him to get a goal like that is a lovely old job.

45:16Pete Donaldson: But not the team out though, are they really? Well, I mean, I think that's fair to say.

45:18Marcus Speller: He's not really done it in his career. I remember when he left Bayern to join Spurs, the Bundesliga put out a video of his, I think he was like 40 goals or something like that. Maybe I'm over clubbed that. But when you watch through them, not many were decisive goals. It was like scoring the fourth in a 4-0 win or stuff like that. Harry Kane, San Marino kind of vibes. Yeah, exactly. Why are you in Harry Kane into this? I'm not looking at him. All the good work he's doing. But I always felt like maybe his problem with Spurs is he was expected to do too much. I remember there was a stage where it was him and Kola Mokwani and Spurs were so reliant on those two creating stuff out of nothing.

46:00Pete Donaldson: And I was like, it's a tough ask for anyone,

46:02Marcus Speller: but these two aren't really up to it.

46:04Pete Donaldson: He created that goal out of nothing.

46:05Marcus Speller: Well, he did, but I wonder if it's just because his role was a bit more precise because he didn't have, you know, he was showing a lot of willing, but he didn't have the best game up until, you know, Neville even said on commentary, didn't he? It was like, he's been so bad in the final third. Everything leading up to him getting near the box has been great. And then he wins that deep in his own half off Rogers, basically leaving for dust. The way he gets past Lacroix. Was outstanding. Lacroix is a brilliant defender. But his touch just after he gets past him sets out a perfect shot and he nails it.

46:39Pete Donaldson: Yeah, totally. And as well, the defensive performance from Spurs to keep that clean sheet and to be reasonably comfortable. That brittleness that we've known from Spurs in this season. You don't even have to go back to last season to say pre-Malbate as we're now saying. They look so much more solid and, you know, yeah, I think they're all largely on the same page. And it was also nice to see that Dele was sat in the stands next to John Terry and he was filming it giggling away and John Terry seemed a bit annoyed as one would be. He left, didn't he?

47:12Marcus Speller: Yeah, after everything that Dele Alli's been through, why would he choose to sit next to John Gerrard? That's a good point, actually, yeah. I like that the old guard, the old presser kind of upset Dele Alli for having the temerity to stream. As a man who hasn't got a club at this moment in time. Like, when Aguero streams, like, you know, those people stream.

47:30Pete Donaldson: I mean, yeah, I can understand if he was like a current Spurs player. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, as you say, he's not working at the moment. He's free to do what he wants.

47:38Marcus Speller: Why is this guy who's constantly talked about the mental toil of being a footballer and how he couldn't cope with it, why is he not playing football? Yeah.

47:45Pete Donaldson: Weird, isn't it? He's watching football. He's having a nice time. Nah, we're not having that.

47:48Marcus Speller: Why is he smiling and looking happy? Yeah, I don't like it.

47:51Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Speaking of smiling and looking happy, Aston Villa 2, Manchester City 1, Nicholas Jackson, when he scored the goals, his celebration, quite aggressive, wasn't it? He does the old thumb up, thumb down and then across the throat.

48:03Marcus Speller: The gladiator thing, yeah.

48:04Pete Donaldson: Yeah, and I was like, ooh. It's funny because Nicholas Jackson, he didn't smile when he scored the goals. And then when he does the interview post-match, he looked like the happiest man on the planet. I was like, oh, he's got the game focus on. And that's what Villa need. With his goal, what is happening with Guy this season? Well. Like, two weeks before international break. Now you see, looking at the big picture, like where your head's at, Peter. Yeah, but it's a worry, though, isn't it? That said, Dan Byrne did upgrade this weekend. Not with, did big Dan Byrne's coming back? Dan Byrne's got lovely long hair now.

48:32Pete Donaldson: Yeah. He's looking good. No, but it is. I mean, Maresca said he's not worried about Gaties' form, but clearly... But I'm worried about the keeper. Yeah, maybe.

48:40Marcus Speller: There's a lot of Donnarumma in that net, isn't there? Bloody hell. I'm not worried about Gaties' form. Have you seen some of the stuff we've got to deal with?

48:46Pete Donaldson: Yeah.

48:47Marcus Speller: It's way low down the list.

48:49Pete Donaldson: Now we see why PSG sold him to us.

48:52Marcus Speller: There's irrefutable evidence that Mark Gaties is a good player.

48:54Pete Donaldson: There is, absolutely. But Gaties' form, yeah, we've been saying this. I mean, obviously, you mentioned England there, well, obviously against Spain, you know, their first goal. But yeah, I don't know. Is he such a good, honest Christian man that all the stuff that's going on, he's like, I can't... I can't handle this. I can't do this. Right, okay, fine. We've appealed... In good faith, I cannot be a part of this. He's just buckling under what's going on. I don't know.

49:21Marcus Speller: It's strange, isn't it? Because he has been a bit shaky even throughout this run. This is City's first defeat of the Premier League season.

49:30Pete Donaldson: I mean, yeah, exactly. It's worth pointing out.

49:31Marcus Speller: First defeat since the Community Shield against Arsenal. So he's been iffy while...

49:38Pete Donaldson: Domestically, yeah.

49:38Marcus Speller: Domestically, yeah. Yeah, sorry, of course. But he's been iffy alongside Ruben Diaz. He's been solid. Diaz has had a fantastic side to the season.

49:47Pete Donaldson: He has. I mean, look, but it took Aston Villa to finally beat them in the Premier League. And Villa, that's their fourth season in a row where they've beaten Manchester City at Villa Park. Love that. What? David said this on Friday, didn't he? We're like, oh, Villa will win. Yeah. They showed such intensity from the off. It was such a great performance for them. And Man City really tried to turn the screw, but they couldn't. They cannot get past his eye on Suzuki. No, they couldn't. He's like such a... I'm really enjoying Suzuki in the Premier League. I know Martinez is regarded as being a very good goalkeeper.

50:19The authority Suzuki has in every aspect of his play, and he's 24.

50:23Pete Donaldson: Like, brilliant. He's been a great addition to Aston Villa because I remember thinking... I know Amy Martinez is, you know, he was making kissy faces at Man United for a while. Thank goodness for him that didn't happen.

50:36Marcus Speller: Imagine the kind of things that he'd say at Old Trafford.

50:38Pete Donaldson: I hate to think. I hate to think. But, you know, we thought he would move from Villa at some point. And from him, from Martinez, you know, he obviously fancied moving to a bigger club. Now, you could say that he's done that with Chelsea, so fair play to him. But it's really because Suzuki's come in there and pushed him out the door. or certainly sped up that, you know, the decision to go there. But I think Suzuki's been great. He's very much enjoying him.

51:04Marcus Speller: It's crazy to think that they, because of the squad cost ratio and the PSR effects before it, that they basically had to sell Watkins. They, I mean, they've got great money for Rodgers. Probably sold him anyway, but, you know, that helps. And then Martinez. and they're getting Suzuki, Manzambi, Jackson. And I know like maybe as individual side by side, you wouldn't necessarily immediately go, right, you've upgraded every position. But I mean, they've refreshed so well. Yeah, and Jackson's only going to get better, I think.

51:38Pete Donaldson: Totally, yeah. Also, Kamara putting in performances like that.

51:41Marcus Speller: Yeah, I mean, Kamara's just an excellent player. Yeah, exactly. Kind of underrated because Inanna started as well as he did. What the hell is Emery doing getting a tune out of Ross Barkley in 2027? Absolutely love it. It's a cut and shut, isn't it? What are you doing? Well, I just put some turbos in that, you know, Vauxhall Allegro. Champions League. Goals.

52:02Pete Donaldson: I think he's doing England a solid. I was waiting for this.

52:07Marcus Speller: And it's not that mad, is it?

52:09Pete Donaldson: I mean, come on. Maybe it is that mad. Well, do you know what though? You've been scoring goals in the Champions League.

52:14Marcus Speller: Maggio coming back as well.

52:16Pete Donaldson: Maggio came up. Did he get booked? I think he was on the pitch for about eight minutes ago. He did, yeah. I think that was a bit like,

52:22Marcus Speller: we're not going to do a lot of defensive work here. Just let people know I'm here. Just read my name out again. Did you see Harland's goal was quite interesting? He didn't move from the spot he'd taken up for the free kick. He just sort of like stood there, sort of went like that and people moved away from him and just put it away.

52:37Pete Donaldson: It was really interesting. Yeah, well that's the Harland's movement is rather impressive. In this place. Yeah, he hoodwinked everybody there. But Villa, you know, again, they didn't start the season that well. We've seen this with Emery's Villa. Obviously, what does he... The game marked the four-year anniversary of Emery's arrival at Aston Villa. It feels like he's been there longer. And yet, here they are again, just beating Manchester City 2-1. They're winning games in the Champions League as well. Villa are coming good again. And it feels like, you know, as you've mapped it out there, They needed sort of to rethink, right, we don't have Rodgers, we don't have Watkins, we don't have, you know, a few of these players.

53:19Pete Donaldson: And Emery just takes a few weeks, first, you know, handful of rounds of games, right, we've got to figure this out. All right, here we go. We've got it all together now. Boom. And they look like they're away.

53:27Marcus Speller: It says a lot about his character as a person as well, that he is able to almost kind of switch his squads up with players who are already at the club and bring them back in without necessarily having burned that bridge. So do you remember he did it with Bailey, Leon Bailey, a while ago when he went on loan? He did it similarly with Donial Marlon, I think, after that.

53:49Pete Donaldson: He was having a great time at Roma. Yeah, yeah.

53:51Marcus Speller: And that's because, you know, he wants to move on and play regular football. But I think maybe after like a certain loan, he came back in and did well for Villa. He's doing it with Barkley. He works with players who are there. And I feel like he gives everyone the same amount of time. It doesn't matter if you're John McGinn or Barclay, for example. He puts so much and invests so much into you. I was really down on Lindelof as a player. And you speak to Villa fans, and I've been corrected by Villa fans a few times on this. But he's been very consistent, very good, reliable.

54:25Pete Donaldson: He's not a Manchester United anymore.

54:27Marcus Speller: Yeah, yeah. Honestly, if you're a Man United player, go to Aston Villa.

54:31Pete Donaldson: It will feel like a holiday. You'll be rejuvenated. Shedding some rotten skin, innit? You'll be enjoying your football again. but like Emery

54:38Marcus Speller: like genuinely what a story and what a manager

54:40Pete Donaldson: I know just whatever you give him he'll turn it into lemonade it's the purity of that story that I enjoy in a world in a very cynical world in a very cynical world I'm contributing I was about to say you are one of the greatest cynics of the world I think we're all part of this

54:56Marcus Speller: dirty shambler we are indeed

54:58Pete Donaldson: we are indeed

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56:34Pete Donaldson: Fellow Spanish manager operating in the Premier League is Andoni Iriola. His Liverpool side beat Brighton 2-0. Liverpool made it back-to-back wins against a very informed Brighton, Peter. Did this surprise you? It shouldn't do, though, should it, really? I know what you mean. It's kind of like, in any given season, this should be a pretty routine at Anfield. Yes. So, yeah, that's where I'm going to settle, on that side of the ledger. It was their first Premier League win at Anfield this season. I know, in the Premier League, yeah. Incredible.

57:04Marcus Speller: Ever. Yeah, ever. No, it was the first Premier League win at Anfield this season, which does seem a bit crazy.

57:12Pete Donaldson: Brighton... What I find interesting is how Liverpool went about this. See, Ayari misses a great chance to put Brighton 1-0 up, but you know, people miss chances. Brighton had 64 % possession. They were brilliant. Not that many sides will go to Anfield and do that. But I wonder with Iriola, because of where he's come from and where he is currently in his Liverpool career, obviously he's not been there very long, is he thinking to himself, okay, if we try and go, if you like, toe-to-toe with Brighton with some measures, they're more settled in what they're trying to do than we are. So we have to be a little bit pragmatic here and accept that they're going to come to Anfield and they're going to have more of the ball.

57:57Pete Donaldson: and Iriola, as I say, coming from where he's come from is probably more okay with the idea of being the home side with less of the ball. Whereas if you've got more...

58:06Marcus Speller: Are you saying that's more of a Spanish way of looking at it?

58:10Pete Donaldson: No, not necessarily Spanish. I think it's more of him saying we have to respect in terms of the size of the club and whatnot an inferior opponent coming here to the great Anfield Stadium and they're going to have more of the ball of us. Whereas maybe some other manager, the temptation would be... Yeah, just control the game. Yeah, we're going to go after them and we're going to do this, that and the other. Because at the end of the day, fundamentally, they've scored three more goals than Man City in the league, right? Yeah, exactly. They are free scoring. If you cut off the supply lines, you might get a chance at the rent.

58:41Yeah, exactly. With the hugely expensive forward line that you've assembled.

58:46Pete Donaldson: Exactly. Because if you've got those players, and again, you're at Anfield, you're at Liverpool, you're thinking, we don't give a damn what the opposition are going to do. We're going to play our game. well that would have probably played into Brighton's hands but Liverpool don't quite have their game yet under Iriola so he's got to kind of go be a bit more reactive yeah and be I don't know if modest is the right word but be a bit more realistic and I think that played very well for Liverpool because okay fine they're going to have more of the ball but we're going to win the game and they took their chance okay well the first one's an own goal so a little bit fortuitous but Liverpool they were there ready to pounce you know look at the exact goal It's a bit of an error, isn't it?

59:22Marcus Speller: It's a lovely finish, but Barker presses the defender, gets on the end of it, puts the ball in immediately. Exactly.

59:27Pete Donaldson: And you're going to have that. And so I thought to myself, fair play to Liverpool, actually, because it was a decent performance from them against the Brighton side. Yeah, OK, it might be little old Brighton from the South Coast, but Brighton have been superb this season.

59:39Marcus Speller: But Brighton haven't been that little old Brighton for a while, have they?

59:42Pete Donaldson: But they're not one of the huge names in the Premier League.

59:44Marcus Speller: No, and they're also, you know, the way they played at Anfield, they were, like, great. They probably, like, if they had finished 3-3, I'd have been like, that's...

59:55Pete Donaldson: Exactly.

59:55Marcus Speller: That feels about fair.

59:56Pete Donaldson: Yes. Given the... But Liverpool had to be canny, though.

59:59Marcus Speller: 100%, yeah. At the same time, I think Liverpool... It's the typical thing to say about Brighton. But Liverpool become a better team by picking off some of Brighton's players. If Liverpool had Chimo Andres in their team right now, you know, at the base of midfield, they would probably challenge for the title. Do you think that? Because they've got like, because he's, you know, the people talk to him as the new Busquets and we've already seen a decent amount of that from Brighton. He was, I mean, it's mad that they got him from Stuttgart. It's not like they plucked him out of the miller nowhere.

1:00:35Marcus Speller: But he's the kind of player who, he feels like he is the missing piece for Liverpool, just someone like deep in that midfield three yeah yeah

1:00:44Pete Donaldson: Isaac scored his sixth goal in the Premier League this season six and seven he's going about his business Peter you've got to say yeah my mate Sean actually messaged me with some some stats on Isaac and he's also a rat still a rat is he Sean's not a rat because he's picked up some marzipan for you he's going to send it to the office oh I was talking about Isaac but yeah Sean where am I Sean come on in climb aboard he's a proud disc He's a proud Ramble What are they called? Friend of the Ramble Friend of the Ramble Yeah That was Isaac's 10th goal 17 years on the show That's it I haven't had the patron all that time We didn't have patron for a long time Probably about 7 years It's confusing to go I've got another patron And we call him Pat Patrons Which doesn't make any sense Either way That's my feet content That's Isaac's 10th goal So far he's cost 12.5 million per goal But He's only made 21 appearances So that's actually a goal every nearly two and a half games.

1:01:41So it's... Okay.

1:01:42Pete Donaldson: It's the old ratio. It's kind of like the ratio kind of works. The pre-Ronaldo-Messi ratio. I'm fairly certain I predicted Ezek to be top scorer this season in the Premier League. Fairly certain. I also predicted Man United to win it. So, you know, I know one of those has gone. Yeah. If I was to offer one of them to you... Yeah. I might check the BBC website, actually. Yeah. Oh, Carrick's gone. Oh, he's gone. Has he? To the training ground to train the players for their important Premier League match they've got this weekend. Naulti.

1:02:09Marcus Speller: Against Chelsea.

1:02:10Pete Donaldson: Well done. Well done you. Yeah, Ezek, he's doing well. He's getting back up to speed. And he's a very, very, very, very, very good Premier League striker. Lest we forget. Yeah.

1:02:21Marcus Speller: Most people get their stats from Opta, but your mate John. Yeah, sorry. Was it Sean or John? Sean. Marzipan. Sean John.

1:02:29Pete Donaldson: Sean John is P Diddy's name, isn't he?

1:02:31Marcus Speller: It is, yeah.

1:02:32Pete Donaldson: Oh dear. Well, well done Liverpool.

1:02:35Marcus Speller: Are you getting your stats from P Diddy? I am, yeah very can't get hold of them slippy

1:02:41Pete Donaldson: right? we're nearly at the end of the show there's so much stuff I didn't say during the show well done well done you you're a legend yeah yeah excellent I had loads of stuff on irrefutable comments irrefutable comments gentlemen the Ballon d 'Or is tonight it is it's in London it's at the Palladium London Ballon d 'Or it's at the Palladium a place where I have dressed up as Pitbull and danced around exactly Peter took all his clothes off other than underwear and danced around as Richard Keyes did ya and you did and tonight we're going to see according to the voters the finest footballer on the planet take to that very same stage to contribute to the Palladium story I will say that Taron Rhee is going to be obviously backstage because he's hosting he is the things you and I did backstage well dressed as what we were enjoy your you know pre-match poop Thierry Henry, because I've done the same thing, all right?

1:03:39Enjoy.

1:03:39Marcus Speller: We are toilet brothers. I don't envisage Thierry Henry losing the Ballon d 'Or's security deposit. No, it's a good point, actually. Is Thierry Henry going to have to pay 400 quid for a broken painter's table? Did that happen? They tried to charge us 400 quid because I rolled over a table and broke it. Right. They tried. They tried. Yeah. You'll never guess.

1:03:59Pete Donaldson: You'll never guess. Our defence is as robust as Spurs as was at Stamford Bridge. Well, it is the 70th anniversary of the Ballon d 'Or. It's at London Palladium. Why is it happening outside of France? You may cry. Have you turned on the news? Quite, actually, yeah. Honestly. It's like the Crown Jewels thing up there in Riyadh. You're like, don't do it now. Don't do it now. It isn't officially because of that, Vish. It is to pay tribute to the inaugural winner of the Ballon d 'Or, So Stanley Matthews who won it in 1956. Eeee-zeeee-ay! We haven't had a winner for ages, not since Michael Owen. Yeah.

1:04:37Pete Donaldson: Oh really? Yeah, well surely tonight, Harry Kane. Surely. If there's any justice in the world, surely it's gotta be Harry Kane. The fact it's in London. If they don't give it, if they give it to that little sausage of Le Mignon Malt. Good luck getting out.

1:04:49Marcus Speller: You thought Paris was bad? Get this to someone else. We could have a big ring of steel around Soho. You know those Eminem men at Eminem World? They come to life when he pisses off. That Mr. Bean statue. Yeah. He turns up and runs you off with a line bike.

1:05:09Pete Donaldson: Yeah, so the favourites are obviously Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lamin-Yemal. Do you think Messi should be in there for what he did at the World Cup?

1:05:16Marcus Speller: I mean, I think... He's in the Legends bit, doesn't he?

1:05:20Pete Donaldson: Do you think he's had his time? He's in the Legends bit, doesn't he?

1:05:23Marcus Speller: I think PR-wise... I'm surprised. Let's be honest, this is all a PR exercise from the people involved to the people who pitched to win it. I mean, if the Ballon d 'Or are really kind of that way inclined, it's the last chance they're going to have to give it to him.

1:05:39Pete Donaldson: Yeah.

1:05:40Marcus Speller: But it is a vote, isn't it? It's not just a... It is a vote. Yeah.

1:05:43Pete Donaldson: Just like the Brazilian election.

1:05:45Marcus Speller: Yeah. At the time of recording. At the time of recording, the Brazilian election is done on a democratic process. Well, it's not out yet.

1:05:53Pete Donaldson: Is Harry Cohn going to refuse if he doesn't win it? No, no, no, I'm not having that. I'm going to stay... Get up on stage, claim the award. Look, I think Kane should win it. I genuinely do believe that. Hence I said it, Peter. Who do you fancy? No, I fancy Kane, but I do think Kane should win it. I think it's... He's just too unfashionable, isn't he, I suppose? Lars Sivinson was saying this, that actually Kane doesn't do all the sort of off-field stuff that some of the other players do. Politicking, isn't it? Maybe that goes against him. I don't know, he's quite charming.

1:06:24Marcus Speller: He goes to Oktoberfest. He didn't say it like charm. He wears a dirndl, what do we call it?

1:06:30Pete Donaldson: He needs to document it more. This year, fans are also being asked to vote for their Ballon d 'Or of All Time, or boat, as it's being called.

1:06:39Marcus Speller: So they can get Ronaldo on the ticket as well.

1:06:41Pete Donaldson: So those who pay the one euro fee to cast their vote will earn a chance. Fuck it, Mel. A one euro fee when it's in London? This is, oh no, this is, you know, sort of traffic charges in London, you know. Oh, you can't go down that line. This is money for old rope for you, Afer. Right, okay, yeah. How much do they need the cash?

1:07:01Marcus Speller: This is having a piss at Liverpool Street.

1:07:03Pete Donaldson: Exactly. This is like, oh, when is the bus lane not a bus lane? When can you go in the bus lane? Oh, no, you've messed it up and you won't. Do you have to pay a Liverpool Street? Sorry, I do value accuracy over everything else, Vish, and I'm fairly certain you don't. Might be Waterloo. Yeah. I don't know. It's definitely Victoria. Someone took my money. They did. But you had a damn good piss. Did they cup their hands for you to do it? I don't know. It could be a very tailored service. And you were worried about him. Pissing in someone's hands is the least of our worries on this show. The ten nominees for the boat are...

1:07:38Pete Donaldson: It should be Badot, shouldn't it? Maybe. Lionel Messi...

1:07:41Marcus Speller: Badot. Badot.

1:07:43Pete Donaldson: Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo the great Ronaldo phenomenon Marco Van Basten Michel Platini disgraced former FIFA man Karl Hines Rummenigga

1:07:54Marcus Speller: no chance

1:07:56Pete Donaldson: Franz Beckenbauer yeah Johan Cruyff Alfredo Di Stefano and our very own Kevin Keegan yeah come on give it keggy who are you heart is obviously keggy yeah head what's your head saying uh keggy as well where's gonna be I mean, we can't... We're sort of bored of the whole Messi and Ronaldo stuff. It kind of taints Messi a little bit. So you've got eight other names there. Well, I'll just say Messi then. Are you still going for it? You have to. Why not? You have to, otherwise it's just silly, isn't it? Go rogue and say, you know, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Alright, I'm going to say Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, fine.

1:08:30I'll say that.

1:08:31Marcus Speller: I think that... Joran Cruyff because he loved the tab. Good point, actually, yeah. Yeah. I think Messi will win it. To be fair, I'm sure Platini and Van Bassen and Rummenigge and Beckenbauer... Did Maradona never win it then?

1:08:44Pete Donaldson: Is that why he's not in there? I don't know. Who cares? Who gives a damn? Sodom. You should always ask that question when you ask them. Who gives a damn about the right back situation in England? Before we talk about Manchester United versus Bournemouth, who really cares? Who gives a damn? It's called Scientist class. That would help me out a lot, actually, if we start the show like that. Maradona never won it. Maradona never won it, apparently. Oh because European players Were the only ones eligible Back in the day For it Give him the boat Give him the boat for crying out loud And he'll hoover it up

1:09:18Marcus Speller: Don't have to pay a tax on a boat It's already down there furious isn't it Oh dear

1:09:24Pete Donaldson: But we do know that Bruce Forsyth's ashes Are there Good game good game Is it higher than a That's how they should do the vote shouldn't they yeah I should say Harry Kane got this amount of votes and then do the Brucie anyway we should probably end the show right now there we are thanks for listening to the Football Ramble part of the Acast Creator Network it's been an absolute pleasure and of course you know we'll be back tomorrow with the mailbag but yeah you've been listening to the Football Ramble part of the Acast Creator Network thank you very much Vish cheers thank you very much Pete see you later and thank you Sir Stanley Matthews see you tomorrow

1:10:07The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the ACAST Creator Network.

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