The Moyes Testament

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3:54Luke Moore: Hello, everybody. It's a wonderful Wednesday at the Football Ramble. And thanks to friend of the Ramble, TX Terp, for giving us that intro line. It was a bit of pitbull. He's gone early, but I don't mind. If you want to submit an intro line for a future episode, then become a friend of the Ramble. And for this week only, we're offering you a seven-day free trial of the Football Ramble Patreon. That means you'll get to listen to this week's Ramble Uncut absolutely free. Plus, you can explore our entire back catalogue of bonus content. What more could you want? And if you're loving the extra content, you can still take advantage of our 15 % annual subscription discount.

4:28Luke Moore: All you need to do is switch that free trial to an annual subscription before your trial period ends. Don't miss out. Just head to patreon.com forward slash football ramble to get involved. Is my free trial period ending soon as well, by the way? Well, this episode will determine that. Okay, good. Put me under pressure. He's on trial. Also, what we are hoping is that you just forget that you're on this free trial. Oh, don't say that. That's how everyone gets you. Software as a service. They're idiots. They won't remember. They won't remember. That's true. You calling someone else an idiot. That is rich.

5:00Luke Moore: Very rich. Luke, it's lovely to have you back on the pod. It's great to be back here. Thank you very much. Yeah, first time recording in the new studio. Yeah, exciting. Very excited. Yes, you looked at it. You can tell by my face. And your erection. First one for mumps. Yes. Actually, hurry up. He wants to use it, everybody. Now, I want to start. It's a poor start. It's a really, really poor start. And I blame Marcus for it. On hump day as well. Yeah. On which day? Hump day. Wednesday. Oh. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking of Fergie from Black Eyed Peas, My Humps, My Humps, aren't you?

5:35Luke Moore: I am now. Yeah. Was that exclusively Fergie, or was that just the Black Eyed Peas? I think it was Fergie, mate. No, I think it was Black Eyed Peas. London Bridge was Fergie. It was. I wasn't around. I'm ashamed to say. You met her once. At Polydor Records, I actually worked on that release. Well, let's talk about that on Uncut, shall we? Yeah, okay, I'm up for that. You worked on the London Bridge release? Yeah. Yeah, I think it's the best, worst song of all time. I'm open to hearing that. I wouldn't be against that. Yeah, right. As I said, on Uncap. Yeah. Right. You started this. And I'm trying to finish it.

6:04This is how we're rectifying his erection. Yes. Yeah, I said to Marcus before we came on air, I've got an erection, please don't tell anyone. I'm not afraid to use it.

6:14Luke Moore: Well, here we are, everybody. I want you to channel all that all that energy and blood flow into talking about blood flow you were going to say spunk there weren't you no I wasn't no that comes later that's later I was thinking while I was away as a listener you two have been really good and now I'm thinking is it me? it's your fault well I want to talk I want to start talking about Leeds United obviously won on Monday night they've got their Premier League campaign off to a winning start Yet another promoted side has three points on the board. Yes, another one. Yet another. They're coming around like Formula One cars going past.

6:56Luke Moore: Well, it's the first time since 21-22 and only the third time ever that two promoted teams have won their opening match. So I think that's noteworthy, Vish. Yeah, without a doubt. Without a doubt. It's definitely particularly noteworthy given that we spent quite a large portion of the second half of last season on the mailbag particularly talking about this trend that we're thinking might have happened where promoter teams are going to find it really hard to deliver and I think it's October last year was the first time any promoter inside one of the Premier League so it's a massive difference but the curse is lifted well we'll see what I would say to those promoter teams is relax now yep you cracked it not you Burnley but it was it was a good start It was good to see Ellen Road rocking.

7:44Luke Moore: Was it not Vish or are you of the Manchester United, Gary Neville school of thought, in that it is a fan base, the fan base that you wouldn't want to get anywhere near? Can it be both? Yeah. And also... I think it can. If you need a measure of how boring Gary Neville is, if I said to you, guys, Gary Neville got caught on a hot mic, you'd be hoping for more than that, wouldn't you? I don't know. No, not by Sky's previous standards. I think they're happy with that. I'll have to explain. Okay. Because not everybody has Sky. Not everybody lives in this country. True. Not everybody's hooky feed might have been working that well.

8:15Luke Moore: So, yes, Gary Neville was caught in a hot mic where as they came back from the break, he said, oh, it's the one group of supporters that I wouldn't want to get anywhere near. Yeah. And then he went, oh, and he made a bit of a joke of it. And let's be honest, we all knew that anyway, really, didn't we? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's not exactly the most controversial thing for a lifelong Man United player to say. He's got to go to Ellen Road this season. Yeah, that's true. Feign a bit of illness. Wait, what are you thinking? Pay-per-view? I'll pay. Yeah. There was a comment under someone's video of this that was doing the rounds.

8:45The video doing the rounds and the comment under the one I saw was, I've always thought he was a cunt from a Leeds United fan. And it was like, this is the thing that did it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought he handled it quite well. That's pushed me over the edge of that. Yeah, I mean, it is, as Luke said, it is to be expected of someone who played his entire career for Manchester United and is a Manchester United fan.

9:05Luke Moore: Yes. I mean, it's very, very poor discipline in from a serious seasoned broadcaster. Sure. That's the reason let that pass. But if you think of like, you know, you would think of it the other way. Like you wouldn't get like a, you know, a famous Leeds United player. I don't know whether it was like Cantona, Rio Ferdinand, Alan Smith. You wouldn't get any of them, you know, coming over to Manchester United. So it's fine. You also wouldn't get anyone who's employed by Sky Sports saying anything they shouldn't do in a Sky Sports studio when they thought they weren't on air. Especially when they've got rid of all the dark forces.

9:34Maybe Gary Neville

9:35Luke Moore: was just trying to relax Jamie Carragher. There's the erection again. But one thing Aaron Neville did say that he very much felt that Leeds United deserved to be awarded that penalty. Which was a really strange take. Yeah, and this has been I think refereeing decisions already in the Premier League there was a handful of them on the opening weekend have been kind of scrutinised. I felt that Fulham should have been given a penalty over time with VAR. Bournemouth Bournemouth Handball which is perhaps I should have opened with that you know there was a few and this one this one caused a lot of division obviously the free kick Eze at Chelsea as well we're already inundated with almost like the laws of the game don't really work as advertised yeah I suppose the Eze one with the free kick is different because it was an application of a law that doesn't exist of a Victorian bylaw exactly it's like killing a Welshman with a crossbow or something outside of church.

10:37Yeah, well, that kind of stuff. Yeah, one of those unknown laws. But the thing is, that's the problem, isn't it? I think, you know, sometimes with the application of a law that does exist, the criticism from other fan bases is, you didn't do this last week. You didn't do this the week before. And that's not actually necessarily an issue with the law itself.

10:56Luke Moore: I know what you mean. That's a different type of complaint to, say, the Tarkowski thing. But before we get onto the Tarkowski thing, I think it's important to say, that Leeds were pretty good. Yes. Like for the first half particularly, it was like watching championship Leeds. Well, even Moyes said they were the better side. Well, they were. And the only thing that was missing really was a kind of constant creation of high quality chances because Pickford, it was one of those situations that you see in football a lot where a team are dominant, but they don't create that many clear cut chances. And I think coming away from the game, which leads us onto this penalty decision, you feel a bit like Leeds have got out of jail there because they've got a generous decision.

11:38And it probably would have gone nil-nil had that not been the case. Because like I say, Leeds weren't carving anything out. And Everton, they look a little bit off it still. I thought they were quite defensively well-organized. And I thought they set up in a way that you'd expect from a Moyes team away from home. But they weren't really in it. And so this decision takes on a far more seismic feel because it was so important in the context of the game and the result. Yeah, and I think Gary Neville's comment about Leeds deserving the decision was more that Leeds deserved a goal. Yeah, that's not how it works.

12:13No, I know, yeah. You've played really well, but you haven't scored. It's a penalty. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But that is the, also to riff on something you said before about, you know, fans saying that it's about the decisions that you didn't give last week, the week before. I think it's taken on a completely different slant now in that fans' complaints are that they know, like we know you're not going to give that decision next week and the week after because of that interpretation as you say that varies but i'm talking about the sa goal there not the not the handball sure but but but i think that comes into it a bit because i i've been back and forth with it in my mind at the time i thought i can i would give that as a penalty and then a couple of days later i was rather on tuesday i re-watched it and i was like well if you can't move towards the ball with his arm by his side, then do you just have to be set in that position?

13:02That's the key point. I think, sorry, Max, I know you're going to come in. That's a really key point and one that hasn't been said enough and it's really important that you raise it because what they've, in my view, what they've clearly done there is they've interpreted it saying you're moving towards the ball, therefore you're intending to handball it, which obviously isn't the case. And as you say, you can't be in a situation where in the sport of football, you're going to start to tell players that in their own penalty they can't move towards the ball. I mean, it'd be a ridiculous sport if you did that.

13:31And I think the other thing that hasn't been mentioned, by the way, by anyone that I've seen is no one's talked about the t-shirt law either. We've got a t-shirt rule in handball now. It came in a few years ago where if it's the t-shirt line or above, it's not handball anyway. Where does that work though? Because you and I have both rolled up our sleeves. Exactly. You mean the kit, not t-shirt? They call it the t-shirt.

13:52Luke Moore: Oh, do they? So basically, if you think of the silhouette of a t-shirt, if it hits above the sleeve line it's not handball anyway they have to say t-shirt don't they because if it was the kit then long sleeves or a vest get a vest out on the Cameroon side that time but I don't know I can't physically remember whether the ball hit below the t-shirt line anyway but it was pretty close and then David Moyes what David Moyes said was absolutely true you know what do you want me to do what do you want him to do like he's not got his arms out by his side but I I understand why it was given as a pen and obviously but why do you though because this is where I think that you have these, we want to make the laws of the game.

14:32Luke Moore: If you do that, it's about, you know, we want to make it all kind of standardized. And quite clearly in the general, that is the case, but it's in the specific case by case. And defenders, and I wonder if Tarkovsky was doing this, does he think, well, if I put my arms by my side, like he did, then I can now make my body a bit bigger. I don't think he's thinking that. But you could do that. Which is what I thought at the time. And if you look at it, he has time, I think, to kind of think through that. No, because he's deflected. True, but it's almost a bit like it's a defender trying to gain an advantage.

15:09Luke Moore: I disagree. In spirit, it's a bit like when we had that phase of strikers leaving a leg in, which they don't do so much now. We had to stamp that out. Especially with the goalkeeper. I know what you mean. 50-50 with the goalkeeper. and you just think, I'll just knock the ball past him. And I kind of boot it out of play, but leave my leg there, yeah. Exactly. And it's in spirit, in feeling, it's kind of similar to that. A defender thinks, well, if I've got my hands behind my back, I can just bring the arms out a little bit. They're in a natural position and I can fall into it and it makes me a bit bigger.

15:38Luke Moore: If that is the case, then it's a penalty. But I think the reason I don't agree is because I don't think Tarkovsky has any time to think. Because if he does have time to think, he knows it's the kind of shot that Pickford saves a million times in the run. So therefore, it has to be taken on a case-by-case basis. So this idea, I get the arguments that his arms are down by his side, what do you want him to do, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Fine, but that still can be, if abused is the right word, or taken advantage of by a defender, because they could lean into it with the arms down by the side and make sure, oh, well, my arm will get that if my body doesn't.

16:12Luke Moore: So I think we all want to kind of go, right, well, there's the rule. Now we know how to apply it. Boom. It's just not how so many of the laws and so many intricacies of football work. Yeah, I do agree with you and I do feel a lot for fans who, not a specific set of fans, but just fandom in general where you can choose, certainly I choose as a football fan to just kind of get on with refereeing decisions and kind of be annoyed in the moment, maybe 24 hours afterwards. Talk about it on here, whatever, and then kind of get on with my life. Us mid-table Premier League fans don't really have to worry about.

16:47Luke Moore: Yeah. I'd shake your hand on that.

16:52But more and more, it kind of just creeps into how we view football full stop, like all of us. And the idea that suddenly refereeing decisions or moments like that become snowflake decisions. Everyone is slightly different and needs its own interpretation, which is not really the point of laws in sport. I just think what underpins it, Vish, is actually that what we're living through in real time is just an incredible act of self-harm in undermining the game. Yeah. I thought you were going

17:23Luke Moore: back to Brexit there. Well, that is also the case. David Moyes' David Moyes' direct quote was unless you cut the boy's hand off I don't know where he goes. Well, first of all if you cut his hand off it's still handballed You don't want to go back to that era. It's still handballed I hit him in the arm and now he's got no hand. If your hand is causing you to sin or break the rules of the law then you're better off cutting it off. There you go. So Moyes is on to something there. You're as medieval as he is. well as Christian as he is well anyway lovely bit of Old Testament Moyes there that's my favourite kind of Moyes absolutely there's a lot of Old Testament about how he plays how he sets his team up post-match though yeah it's post-match that was a vintage kind of grumbly Moyes I thought to myself well this is going to be good under Moyes but I think sorry Michael I was just going to say on that though we're going to move on from Nick because I do think there's a big part of our listenership and rightly so who don't want to hear us bore on for 10 minutes about a decision that happened two days ago.

18:17I get it. So just on the Everton Moyes thing, I think one of the things that we have to mention is that, you know, it's the opening weekend of the season and what that actually means is, you know, it's a bit of a crapshoot actually. If you watch the Premier League opening weekend over the years, you don't read too much into these opening days.

18:35Luke Moore: Is that what Howard Webber and the referees are going to say? I don't mean the references. I don't mean the references. Oh, chill out. The referees should be good. We've got 37 more of these. It's early days. It's early days. we've got to do this until May I don't mean the referees you'll forget about this I'll do another one I mean the teams I mean the teams so the fact that the promoted teams done well and Everton didn't look like they did much you don't know where they've been in terms of their pre-season you don't know what their plans are to bring another player or two and you don't really things haven't settled down yet it's one of the effects of the transfer window still being open way after the season starts there's a lot of residual annoyance you can imagine even Howard Webb watching Monday Monday's incident going going to Pogma go and get Michael Owen yeah we need him yeah well they'll be in the studio a lot those two first time anyone's ever said we need Michael Owen that's not true off the pitch okay yeah that is true Jack Grealish made his debut for Everton kind of I did think to myself oh come on Moist start him no he's never going to do that away from home I know and that's why I wanted Leeds to win I can imagine David Moist sitting down with Jack Grealish saying that we brought you in but you are the type of player that I instinctively mistrust so don't expect to start tomorrow we'll see how we go walks into the training we'll pull those up for a start yeah right well Greenish though he looked like he it was only a short cameo of course and I mean the game as you say was kind of it wasn't much in it for him but I think it was just early signs there a bit between his teeth and he thought right I'm having this there was a bit there was also a little moment where he does really well they're on the break and the ball gets played behind him and he kind of turns to pick it up and then shimmies with his back to whoever was trying to mark him and gets past him gets past someone else and there was a moment he looked up and he went oh yeah Harland's not here is he where are the other blokes oh no okay there's no Erling I think it could be a really important signing for Everton not just because of the not because of the way you think though I don't think I don't think look it's possible that he goes in and he picks up huge amounts of assists and weighs in with goals and he shows his class and he finds his form and I think everyone would like to see that but I actually think there's a good chance that the reason he may turn out to be an important sign-in for Everton is a couple of other reasons.

20:54Mention the name

20:54Luke Moore: the new stadium. Oh, Bramley-Mordock. That's what we've always got to do with Everton this season. Yeah, okay, right. They're in a new stadium. They've got a new stadium. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so thanks. It's important to remember that. No, but I think the way they play he is a player who can move them up the pitch and carry the ball he can relieve pressure off them and that won't necessarily be shown in the numbers that everyone likes to get excited about when it comes to attacking players. And the second thing is just, you know, he's won loads of stuff and he's a glamorous player that younger players will look up to and he's, by all accounts, a really good lad as well and I think that'll help out as well because I think, you know, players will look up to him and they'll be inspired by him if he's engaged and he wants to do it.

21:32I do think we'll see him start games, particularly at home. I just think, you know, like I say, you can't read an awful lot into the opening weekend of the season on this kind of stuff.

21:39Luke Moore: No. now let's turn our attention to another team in blue they played last night and they were battered by a club brugge uh rangers beaten 3-1 by the belgian side in the champions league playoff round russell martin's having a stinker i couldn't be enjoying this more i'll be honest with you i i i i know i have to be honest i have to be honest to our listeners he's had a holiday What camera am I on that one? I've got to be honest to you, right? When are you not honest? He's taken the dirty Sarampton coin. He's forever tainted. I never want to see him do well. It's funny how bad they were. Chris Boyd on the Sky Sports News comms was said it's the worst 45 minutes he's ever seen at Ibrox.

22:27Luke Moore: Come on, it's funny. Does he not remember when they got battered by Liverpool? Take it up with him. Don't shoot the messenger. Take it up with him. Okay. I think Russell Martin was a really exciting, like, his philosophy was really interesting because he was implementing this possession-based style in the lower leagues and doing it quite well. Places like MK, and then earning his move up to Southampton and then coming to the Premier League. But the moment you go to Southampton, don't expect anything from me. It's very similar to the... I hope it gets worse. Vish? Well, it's very similar to the Ruben Amarun stuff last season, isn't it?

23:04It's like, great. Love that you've got a philosophy. Really good. It's not only endearing, but it's nice to see that you're trying to spread this way of playing. Endearing. You have to work with your squad, though. Yeah. You have to work with the players at your disposal. I mean, he's essentially, at the moment, from what I've seen, he's operating in a world as he wants it to be rather than how it is. And whatever style you want to play, Vish, however your philosophy informs how you coach, I don't want to sound like Graham Souness but he makes this point and I think it's a good point he makes if you don't do the basics right you don't snap into every tackle in European football particularly against a team who've got Champions League experience and you defend like that it doesn't matter how you play the fact that that goal their first goal they conceded that's nothing to do with playing a possession based style

23:52Luke Moore: well it's quite the opposite no one wanted the ball exactly I know what you mean and I think I mean look Rangers fans aren't going to be aren't going to thank me for mentioning Ange Postacoglu's name. But even Spurs changed their style a bit last season in European competition. Do you know what I mean? I think that's the thing. With Rangers at the moment, they've started the season poorly. I mean, they drew their first two league games and they conceded two against Scottish League one side, Alloa Athletic in the League Cup. Was it on the weekend? and Aloua were getting praised for how well they played.

24:32Luke Moore: So suddenly, you know, Ibrox is not a fortress anymore, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But in European competition, you know, in the previous round, they got through and fair play. But in that second leg away, was it in the Czech Republic? They were poor and they were hanging on. And a lot of people were saying, all right, fair enough. You got through the tie. You're against Club Brugge now or Bruges, as we affectionately call them. that's a proper team who know their way around European football a bit more what are you going to do? and as Luke's saying it doesn't seem to be a hint of pragmatism about Russell Martin and people again they often think oh pragmatism is just long ball or it's disappointing tactics bollocks it doesn't have to be that it's not as binary as that no completely people get mixed up about that particularly I find it all the time when they talk about Pep Guardiola and how he likes to play but they think oh that means that no player is ever allowed to put the ball out for a throw-in or a corner it doesn't mean that it doesn't mean that and I think there's an element to this I think early signs we're not going to try and tar him with the pool of Gwen Bruss just yet he's only been there for like six or seven months or something and it was a bit of a disaster but the thing you have to guard against if you're a manager who's managing the Premier League and listen Russell might have managed in the Premier League for a very short amount of time and wasn't very good at doing it but he has been a Premier League manager.

25:54I feel like, and I think some Scottish football fans feel like this as well, there's this idea that you can quote unquote settle back into Rangers or Celtic and all you've got to do is worry about them not down the road and everything else to take care of itself. That's not the case and it never really has been the case and Martin needs to come up to speed quickly because it's going to get harder and harder.

26:13Luke Moore: Do you know what could be worse? There's a little rumour going around that Jamie Vardy might want a reunion with Brendan Rodgers. Is that the last thing the old firm Tinderbox needs. You mean just Glasgow as a city? Yeah. Exactly, yeah. Vardy. Alright, yeah. How do I wind up the fans? Alright, okay. You've been watching YouTube videos of Paul Gascon again. Oh, bloody hell. You started it! He does this all the time. It was the other way around, but the example still stands. I'm sure he can think of a way of interpreting it himself. Instead of Skittles and Red Bull, it'll be Skittles and Buckfast.

26:47It's the Marcus way. He takes you to the precipice, right? Then he tells you offer going over the precipice and then he hits a break. That's right. Never forgets about it and he's the good guy again. Pathetic.

26:56Luke Moore: Coming up after this, Ezek speaks out and Sir Gareth Southgate wins a big award. Up yours, everybody.

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27:56Luke Moore: If you're considering therapy, the feedback from people who have actually used the service speaks for itself. See the reviews, see what stands out and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com forward slash ramble. That's betterhelp.com slash ramble. Hello, I'm Monica Reinagle, host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. Summer is here and with it, the hot and sticky weather. A morning working in the garden or maybe on the golf course can leave you more depleted than you realize. And plain water isn't always the most efficient way to restore the balance. That's where Liquid IV comes in.

28:29Its science-backed formula is clinically proven to hydrate faster than water alone. Whether you're exercising, playing outside, or simply surviving a summer heat wave, it's an easy way to stay hydrated. Shop now at liquidiv.com. Liquid IV, hydration that goes wherever life takes you. Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and being thrown for loops, like when someone brings donuts into the office, or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's Noom. They combine GLP-1s to quiet the food noise with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds.

29:06Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. Noom. Lose for keeps. Get started at Noom.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications. Individual results may vary. Hi, this is Paige from Giggly Squad, and today's episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Honestly, Caesar sauce and a Diet Coke at McDonald's might be the perfect girl dinner. And McCrispie strips dipped in Caesar sauce? No notes. Right now at participating McDonald's, the$2.99 Caesar snack wrap is making me rethink my entire go-to order.

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30:17Luke Moore: The PFA Awards happened last night. Mo Salah one player of the year. No surprises there. Morgan Rogers, one young player of the year. Go on, Rog. Good old, good old Roggie. Happy about that. And former England boss, Zagaro Southgate, won the PFA Merit Award. What's that? What does that even mean? What is it? You've got to win it on merit. Yeah. Whereas the other one is just handed to you. Do you know what it means? Yeah. Yeah. Do we share that or is that for Uncut as well? Don't you know. Before we move on, talk about the obvious story we're going to talk about. It's nice to see Sir Gareth. It's lovely to see Sir Gareth, obviously.

30:55He's still at every game. He was at the cricket. Was he? He loves the cricket. I know. He's enjoying his life.

31:01Luke Moore: Yeah. He's not working at the moment. He might have got a little job with, was it your wife or something? The Ramble social team should 100 % do that meme this week for Marcus where they go, thank you for changing my life. And it says, I'm literally just Sir Gareth Southgate to Marcus. That would do well. Anyway, you're going to say something. I was going to say that. What was I going to say? Oh, yeah. It's absolutely bonkers that these awards are happening now. I did think that. Basically, the day after the first weekend of the Premier League season, we've all moved on. It's squeezed by the schedule, isn't it?

31:33Because football is so stupid that teams are going away on post-season tours and then you kind of want to give them the summer. They also voted on it, as they always do, two months before the end of the season. The reason for that, apparently, is because they couldn't get the players to do it at the end of the season because they all go off on holiday. Just do an online poll. It's a pointless thing. If you're going to do it, do it properly. Yeah, I'd say so.

31:54Luke Moore: Well, the big news of the night was, of course... The second biggest news of the night. Gareth Southgate was the big news of the night. Correct, sorry. You're absolutely right to correct me there. Of course, surrounding Alexander Isak. He was named in the PFA team of the season, but he didn't attend the ceremony. He then explained his absence on Instagram. I'm sure a lot of you have seen this, but if you haven't, the statement said this. I'm proud to be recognised by my fellow professionals with a place in the PFA Premier League team of the season for 2024-2025. First and foremost, I want to thank my teammates and everyone at Newcastle United who has supported me along the way.

32:26Luke Moore: I'm not at the ceremony tonight. With everything that's going on, it didn't feel right to be there. I've kept quiet for a long time. Ooh! Channeling! Using their own flow, bar for bar. What's the word? While others have spoken, that silence has allowed people to push their own version of events, even though they know it doesn't reflect what was really said and agreed behind closed doors. The reality is that promises were made in the club has known my position for a long time. To now act as if these issues are only emerging is misleading. When promises are broken and trust is lost, the relationship can't continue.

32:57Luke Moore: Is that ABBA? Sounds a bit like it. Or Taylor Swift. That's where things are for me right now and why change is in the best interests of everyone, not just myself. Let's be fair though, mostly yourself. So, I mean, there was chat, wasn't there, with the C-Sec stuff, that all these ideas, there were promises made and so on and so forth, which people then interpret to be that if a big, or specifically Liverpool, come in for you, then you're free to go. Or there was talk about being offered a bigger contract last summer, wasn't there, that Amanda Stavely apparently had suggested that, that of course she leaves and other people come in.

33:34Yeah, there are various different clauses that have, you know, in similar situations have been either club, literally club specific or competition specific. so there's a lot of speculating about what these promises might be.

33:49Luke Moore: Indeed and unless you're there for the chats and you've seen all this sort of stuff it's very very difficult to kind of say one way or the other and indeed even if you were privy to all this information it may not be a case of it's 100 % this person's fault or 100 % you know how it works but I don't think anybody can deny that Isak hasn't particularly handled himself very well. I hate a transfer saga unless someone's going to be a hot mess in the middle of it and this is early signs of Alex Izak being a hot mess and I think it's only going to intensify as the transfer window closing gets closer and closer and I can't wait to see what happens next because Izak put this he put it on Instagram and then Newcastle responded with an official statement they did which I'm sure you're going to come on to but on the Izak thing you say oh he's not hounding himself very well I think it depends how you look at it I think you know if you are a player who strongly feels, or your interpretation of the situation is one way, and I'm not saying he does or he doesn't, but he honestly feels that's how it should be and he feels like they've gone back on that, it's kind of difficult to see how else he could respond.

34:57I mean, I'm not defending necessarily all the behavior, but if you're in any kind of situation like that and you feel like something's been promised to you and it's been taken away, I don't think you're necessarily, I feel like it's reasonable to be like, what the fuck's going on here?

35:12Luke Moore: Yeah, but I think there's ways of doing that, though. Well, how's that? What are they? Well, not buggering off and then saying, right, I'm not a part of this CLA to buy, because I don't think that's going to do him any good. And I think that's, I think for the player himself... But the club, sorry to cut in, but the club then would just be like, well, if he's going to crack on anyway, we'll just wait till the end of the month. Then he has to stay. Indeed. Just wait it out. I think for ESEC that this kind of stuff will happen quite a lot in football that you're not privy to. and I think that the way he's handling himself the fans have now turned against him and he will feel like the whole football world is against him because he's essentially isolated himself and I understand he's done that because he wants the promises to be actioned upon or he wants his move whatever it is and I just don't think even if again I was privy to the conversations and I thought actually I think I'm siding with Isak here I don't think this kind of behaviour although understandable is particularly wise.

36:10To me, it feels, I don't know what you feel about it, Vish, but I talked about it a few weeks ago when I was mentioning the Man United players who clearly feel like they're surplus to requirements, Gunnaccio and one or two others. And I was confused as to why, and I think this applies to the EZAC situation as well, I am confused as to why. And I think it's probably because they're so in hock to their agent. They let their agent do so much for them instead. They don't take the ball by the horns maybe. But to me, it feels at least partly straightforward enough for Ezek to have a meeting with the team at Newcastle and sit down with them and say definitively I will never play for you again I'm never going back on that I'm never ever going to play for you again so with that in mind can we please work together to see how this resolves itself which is what take a bit of power back that way and then Newcastle are much more up against it in terms of having to do something but it's a

37:04Luke Moore: game of cards then Luke because I understand it's a game of cards anyway yeah it is but that is particularly extreme. Maybe he has said that. Well, perhaps. But I mean, he pretty much is. That is what he's saying. But like there's... He's under no illusions that if they are going to keep Isaac by the end of the month, they have to do it by force. And he's under no illusions that if he wants to leave, he has to do it by force. Yeah. And I thought actually him not attending the PFA Awards, which was flagged, I think maybe 24 hours before the actual event. Yeah. I thought, you know what? That's quite smart.

37:36Lay low. there's no need for you to go on the red carpet with your Liverpool shirt on. Oh yeah, I don't give a demo. Little red pocket square. There's no reason to go on the red carpet and give even like a two minute quote that's going to skew you further. And then he releases that statement. It's like, oh, what have you done? No one is asking for a comment from someone who's made team of the year. And he's just seen it as an opportunity to put his in what he feels sincerely and we'll take it at face value and we might be meeting him more than halfway in that but he feels sincerely that he hasn't been heard that his side has not been put across I mean it clearly has that's how briefings work I think his issue comes from the fact that the club have been doing similar and have ready access to journalists and they're basically just putting their side across and that side is being reported but obviously we kind of understand well we fully understand where both parties are at at this juncture and he, as Luke referred to him earlier, as a hot mess, we are getting into that hot mess phase of, he's already thrown the toys out of the pram.

38:43He might just flip the pram now. But I think the reason he's come out with it, because you alluded to it there, but he didn't expressly state it, is because a lot of the media has been under the impression that he suddenly decided he wanted to go. And he's saying, no, no, no. I said this before. Because on the show a few weeks ago, I think it was Jim saying...

38:59Luke Moore: Saying he's left it late. Yeah, why has he left it so late? So he wants to put that record straight and say, actually, I've been saying this for a while and I've been respectful. I've not come out and said it publicly, but we all know that I wanted to move. And then Liverpool's sitting there rubbing their hands because they've already put a bid in for him. It's been rejected. There's reports that they may up that by 10 million and Newcastle, what, 150 million? But they're probably not going to feel like they have to up it too much because it's an absolute dumpster fire. Well, it is. Someone's got to give and it doesn't have to be us.

39:25Well, the Newcastle's statement,

39:27Luke Moore: which I'll kind of just go through quickly here. They said, you know, Alex remains under contract. no commitment has ever been made by a club official that he can leave Newcastle United this summer. We want to keep our best players, obviously, and as explained to Alex and his representatives, must always take into account the consideration of the best interests of Newcastle United. The team and the supporters in all decisions, and we've been clear that conditions of a sale this summer have not transpired. We do not foresee those conditions being met. This is a proud football club with proud traditions.

39:54Luke Moore: We strive to retain our family feel. Alex remains part of our family and will be welcomed back when he is ready to rejoin his teammates. Now, it's easy for the club in one sense to kind of say that, but the club are aware obviously of this situation. Newcastle United fans will see that. And once again, all the ill feeling and all the negativity is then shoved on to the player. And that's why, whatever you may believe, Isak to me has made himself a bit of an outcast now and has attracted an enormous amount of, let's say, unwanted attention. He will have his reasons for that. And again, I understand it, but I just don't think that is good for an individual to have all this.

40:33Luke Moore: The problem is, is if indeed the window shuts, what is he going to do? I'm not going to play football. Well, that doesn't serve him well either. He's not going to play until January, I guess. And also, I mean, as it is at the moment, it's a little factor in that, even if he does go, because he's not going to be much fit at the moment, because he's not been playing for him. Well, and that's what I mean. So to me, this is just all incredibly unfortunate and regrettable stuff. I bloody love it I'm telling you I'm really enjoying it it's good for the ramble etc etc yeah exactly you know so more of this I'm going to have a fist fight with it no I don't I'm against transfer sagas when they're boring and I'm for it well this has been ramped up but look I mean again there are different ways of doing this now I understand every situation and every player should be taken on a case by case basis but I always go back to Joao Pelinho when he played for Fulham and he went to Munich he held up the Bayern Munich jersey he was pictured in it and the conditions were if we can find a replacement for you then fine you can go and there he was holding up the jersey photos taken all the rest of it and then the club said really sorry but we haven't found a replacement so back you come big boy and what did he do he came back he put in a hell of a shift and he got his move to Spurs he got a loan move to Spurs B1 E1 exactly yeah exactly you know so yeah Oswald ends well yes indeed indeed well have you seen moving on from from one striker to another Johan Wisser's done a little bit of a de-sack hasn't he?

41:59Luke Moore: He was left out of Brentford's matchday score at the weekend and he's unfollowed Brentford on Instagram he's changed his profile picture to black and removed all club photos from his account. It'd be really funny if he's just been hacked This is like proper teenage stuff Vish, what do you reckon? No longer in a relationship with... It's complicated I love it Yeah, I do, because obviously one of the things that players are very aware of is basically the current or the ever changing state of fandom and whether it's tracking flights or tracking who follows who or who likes what on social media. He was done this in a very, you know, very, not even that really calculating, but he's done it for a reason.

42:45And it serves a purpose of alerting everyone to the idea that look, almost without having to put out the EZAC statement. Yes. You know, there were promises made to me as well. And everyone's like, well, chill out, mate. Let's, what we'll do with one at a time. Yeah. But I think it's partly because this, this come up because Visser believed that as soon as Brentford signed Dango Watara, he'd be able to go. And they have signed Dango Watara now. Yeah. I mean, that was fairly recent, wasn't it? But as in like, really in the last 48 hours, but. Good business from Brentford. Yeah, no, it is. This is all just about price, though, surely.

43:14Yeah. I also think Visser would be a really neat fit for Newcastle.

43:18Luke Moore: Yeah. But there's... Some are suggesting, though. It's nice to get... You know, we don't want any individuals who don't want to be here, who don't know the value of loyalty, who are disrespectful to a club's ethos. Yeah. Someone said, though... Come on in. You're an Wisa. Someone said Wisa's the replacement for Wilson. Right. Yeah, that kind of makes sense as well. But I can't... You could play both. You could... Both, as in, you could play whoever they would pick as their first choice, number nine, and Wisa in the same team, I believe. Oh, but yeah. yeah yeah I think that's probably fair yeah he's that good I mean it's sick enough if he went there and Isaac went alright I'm staying well Isaac's doing his nuts seeing Eka TK score every week as well yeah you know so it's all it's all linked isn't it he's not even an out and out front man yeah not even a permanent member of the front line good win but if you want goals you should have come to me yeah should have done should have done well we'll see what happens I mean Brentford I haven't had a chance maybe it's just me not having a chance to talk about it but I mean that is an absolute last chopper out of Saigon on stuff from Visser as well.

44:16Have you seen the play? Like, if Visser leaves, which we expect him to, they'd have lost, Brentford in this summer would have lost their captain, 44 of the 66 Premier League goals they scored last season. Yeah. And their first choice goalkeeper. And signed Jordan Henderson. Yeah. Well, you're making a set-piece coach, manager. Right. Don't worry, though, because the manager's never managed the first team job before.

44:41Luke Moore: And he looks a bit like the late Dustin Diamond. He looks great, Keith Andrews. he's a very very handsome fella a little bit of Screech saved by the bell yeah he is but I think if Screech was saved by the bell God rest him had been put through a handsome filter yeah it's Keith Andrews and also Keith Andrews accent makes him more attractive yeah I think so I think we can all agree but they're getting relegated he'd be the most handsome manager in the championship no he wouldn't Rob Edwards at Middlesbrough true and also I mean Keith Andrews will be long gone by his home run to get to the championship let's be absolutely fair they're just like they stick with him with a rock bottom of the table all season he'll have moved on I just wanted to make sure we were talking about Dustin Diamond there.

45:18Luke Moore: When you say he's long gone, he'd be... Yeah, that's really important. It's good for younger listeners to then go on the internet, Google Dustin Diamond, and be shocked by the way he completely fell off after Saved by the Bell. The only thing that he was famous for, which finished in the early, late 90s. Do you know why? Because Thomas Frank was the producer of Saved by the Bell. Do you think the new visual setup will really help us on YouTube? Not really, because the host just talks about fucking Saved by the Bell. I don't know what algorithm that's serving mine yeah your own so we put this through a filter and we have the you know the black and white and the fuzz on the side it just goes from scene to scene yeah it's like Pathé yeah Marcus goes on a trip down memory lane again it's a good idea yeah Newcastle though are also looking at Wolves Stryker Jorgen Strand-Larsen and I thought he literally just signed for them yeah I know I found that hilarious permanent deal about three weeks ago Wolves are thinking oh you know we've lost a few players but at least Strand-Larsen putting a shift and score what?

46:16Luke Moore: No, don't, no. As you say, literally decided, imagine that, talking about the cherry picking of bigger sides and so on. I don't know. I mean, clearly that's one of the problems for Newcastle is that not getting so many players in, they thought, well, we can't sell ESAC because we're just simply not going to find a replacement. You saw how blunt they were at one. Well, they were a bit blunt against Aston Villa. I mean, they created some chances but didn't score. Yeah, which is why I think your Palina comparison makes total sense. Actually, Newcastle, in some ways have shown willing by trying to get other strikers through the door.

46:45Luke Moore: Yeah. Which would leave the door open for Isaac to walk through. But that is a big part of it, I think, as well. Yeah, definitely. They have signed someone, though. Someone else, we should say, because they have made some signings, obviously, Alanga being the obvious one. But they've completed the signing of Jacob Ramsey from Aston Villa for an initial£39 million plus a further£4 million in add-ons, as we have to say these days. I mean, you have to say it's... Because a part of me was like, oh, why has Ramsey gone there? There is a bit of a sidestep, but no, it's a clearly step up because he'll be playing Champions League football again.

47:16Luke Moore: Yeah. Because he played that for Aston Villa last time round. So a decent signing for Newcastle. It's nice to see that somebody wants to go and join the Magpies. Yes, yeah. Reassuring for... I don't know if you saw, but a lot of the, not just the statement that he put out, but a lot of the reaction from Villa fans and Villa players past and present was clearly, that's probably the one encouragement new well I think he's an excellent player I think he does a lot of very good things through the middle I think he will improve them as well but just seeing all the reaction to people talking about how good a teammate he is and how nice he is it's like oh we're getting a good egg as well yes you know never a guarantee in football but that is also an encouraging thing yeah especially in light of what's been going on there with these yeah well like to a point yeah to a point then we've got to talk about that point it's a very modern transfer isn't it I know we're going to talk about it and the PSR connotations of it tomorrow, but it's a very modern transfer.

48:13Yes, it is. Do you know what I mean by that? Oh, I do. Just, you know, homegrown this and... A lot of money. Money for that, yeah, exactly, yeah.

48:19Luke Moore: Yeah, well, as Luke says, talk more about those. But a good Premier League operator, though, by the way. Very much. But we'll talk more about the PSR implications and fair reaction to this news on tomorrow's pod. You're going to get a Thursday thrill at the Football Ramble. Yes, absolutely. A Thursday thrum. Well, coming up after this... A Thursday thrust? Yes. Yeah. I knew you'd be on board with that. Yeah, I just want you to be a bit more explicit. Coming up after this. Thursday, thumb up the bum. Not that explicit. There's a happy medium. Coming up after this. I'm going to get to the end of this because we hear more about the Lampton Worm.

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50:49Luke Moore: Right, everybody. After Sunderland beat West Ham United 3-0 on the weekend, we spoke about it, and we spoke about Sunderland in glowing terms, of course, on Monday's podcast. I just love that Pete getting called. Pete getting slagged off as a quote, Mackham, on the YouTube comments. Couldn't give it away. Vish and I were unaware of what the TIFO at the stadium were like actually was. I was as well. It was great to get the explanation. But Pete explained to us that it is... Did we get the explanation? Not really. Well. Yeah, I still feel... An explanation. Yeah. I still feel I'm unaware of what it actually is.

51:25Luke Moore: Pete then sort of chimed in and he called me, he disrespected the county that I'm from, called me a bastard, disrespected my parents who were married at the time I was born. And he said that the lantern worm was this tale from the northeast. A folk tale. Exactly where. He said it was a folk tale about a salamander. Yeah, a salamander. And then he talked about a worm. And he may have mentioned the word snake. I can't remember. But basically, what was it? A chap. There was the lantern worm. The way Pete told the story, there was a bloke who went fishing in the weir. That's right. He caught a salamander, not a worm, brought it back, put it in a well, went off to fight the Crusades, came back, it had taken over his manor.

52:10Luke Moore: That's right. He saw a witch who said that you've got to kill the worm, but once you kill the worm, you've got to kill the next thing you see. He told his dad to release the dog so that after he killed the worm, salamander, he'd kill the dog. Yes. And then when he killed the worm, salamander, his dad ran up saying brilliant yeah nice one and in Pete's story straight to the pub and in Pete's story he said oh no so he killed his dad yeah didn't happen did it yeah no so that well none of it happened totally missed the point of the tale and I was listening knowing Pete as I do thinking he's researched this as well yeah exactly he really took the to the salamander by the horns there yeah we've had a lot of follow up yeah and that really does warm the heart because I'll tell you what we can do 10-15 minutes yep and on what I think is a really well-researched, thoughtful bit on, you know, on a Champions League game.

52:59Luke Moore: The James Tarkovsky penalty decision. Yeah, yeah, that kind of stuff. Everyone's like, yeah, fine. Nothing. It's dead. It's absolutely dead. You mention the Lambton worm and you get the story wrong. Inundated. Can I kick off the clarifications with this, which came immediately after we released the episode, and it was a comment from Nicholas Wilson on X, who said, he called him some little lad. It was Lord Lambton.

53:22Little lad.

53:24Luke Moore: So yeah, after Pete's story, a lot of people, Stipsart on YouTube got in touch to tell us that Pete got the story wrong. The boy didn't kill his dad. He killed the dog and the family got 10 years of bad luck. Yeah. So he did kill the dog, apparently. Yeah, but he saw his dad first, which is why, having not... He couldn't go through with killing his dad. That's the point. Indeed, which is a massive point. The whole point is the bad luck. But what is the point of any of it? Because that's the one thing I'm not sure about. Folk tales have normally got some kind of moral to the story. Don't go fishing in the River Weir.

53:57That's what it is. Don't get your lantern caught.

54:03Yeah. Do you understand what I mean, though? There's normally a moral to the story. Yeah. You know? And there's not a moral to this. The moral is amazing. It's weird that in the retelling of his story, Pete left out the morals.

54:16Luke Moore: Yeah. Yeah, he did. By staying loyal to your family, you're going to get bad luck. That's the moral. Well, Solomon on YouTube, incredibly, said, Pete missed the part about the worm wrapping itself around the hill in Penshaw. That's why the hill has those distinct grooves. A detail, perhaps, that wasn't necessary in the story, but good to know that, Solomon. It's good to know the number of things that Pete missed out on. Yes. Vinyl Horror on YouTube replied, I prefer the way it was told in the episode. The dad definitely had it coming. My favourite was, we got a listener called Mimi on X, drew her own comic strip of Pete's version of the Lambton Worm story.

54:56This is what I'm saying. People really go the extra mile when it comes to this type of stuff. They're not interested in the football stuff. And that's why we'll never get anywhere. But the comic strip appears to display, well, I say it's like an interpretation of Pete's, but it's basically a sequel, an imagined sequel to Pete's Lambton Worm story. So it's got Marcus in it, but he was originally called in the story because she's screenshot of the pencil drawings. I like the fact that she's got Marcus in it, but she labelled him initially as Little Marcus and then scrubbed out the little. Because you were a boy.

55:27Yeah. In the story, Pete's the worm, which is great. That's a big twist. And Marcus watches Pete the worm go into the well. I thought I'm not having that. The well then transforms into like a fully operational castle. Well, because he takes over, because in the real story and the Pete story, he takes over the manor. You know, by the way,

55:47Luke Moore: that all these details that we're stumbling upon now, there will be some people listening to this going ah you're getting it right you fucked it again I don't mind that yeah we'll get in touch that's more content for next week then like a witch appears with a poster in her hand that says kill Pete on it not the first time that's happened no I don't think so and then the witch also says to Marcus you must kill what you see first after slaying Pete Marcus you then in the story yes think about killing Vish who for some reason is a small dog in the comic right yeah based on Mimi's chihuahua which is a rescue she's a photo of the chihuahua okay so the short kings are dominating this Marcus then slays easy to draw Marcus then kills Pete which I've actually seen him closer to in the past then Jim pops up out of nowhere which then means that Marcus has to kill Jim you'll do but the final square of the cartoon is just a fish as a dog eating popcorn with a crown yeah you're the king you're the king the short king the dog king yeah oh dear so there we are I think that tidies all that up and staying with this with some correspondence How about this from Ben on email?

56:49Luke Moore: Now, he's responding to this idea that Mexico is now behind Sunderland. If you remember that, there was an official Twitter account on X. Yeah, I was suddenly going, it's not on Twitter, is it? And saying that Mexico is all behind Sunderland in the Premier League this year. And Ben says, having travelled around Mexico this year, I ended up following the closing stages of their league and becoming particularly fond of mid-table side Chivas, the goats I even got to watch the Guadalajara Derby between Chivas and Atlas whilst in the city they play in red and white stripes and I decided to buy a shirt to remember my time out there when I returned to the UK I moved to Newcastle for work and one day went for a run around the beautiful Jesmond Dean in my new kit we passed a group of about 30 local teenagers smoking the old wacky backy the devil's lettuce eh and drinking illegally partaking of the herbaceous clippings were they Marcus according to Ben drinking illegally though important to point that out in Newcastle who'd have thought it anywhere in the UK as soon as they saw us one lad shouted you're just a sad mac and bastard I did my best to inform them that I was actually quite happy and have no affinity with the team or city of Sunderland it's safe to say I will not be wearing that shirt around the toon anytime soon and I hope this story acts as a deterrent for any Chivas fans visiting the city to basically cut quite a long story short Ben with respect you've run around Newcastle with a red and white stroke shirt on and been quite annoyed you've got a lot of stick.

58:17Luke Moore: Yeah. Well, I would say a little amount of stick from some hoodlums. Yeah. So you should never listen. You should be a bit more chilled out for teenagers. Never listen to the hoodlums. You know. They're on the old devil's letters. They should be more chilled. Yeah. Or street urchins as I believe Vish calls them. Street urchins? Yeah. Someone said that once and I thought that's incredibly snobby but quite creative at the same time. Elsewhere in Mexico, Pete mentioned on Tuesday's Mailbag that Alan Sam Maximan has joined Mexican Side Club America. He's been given special dispensation by Liga MX to wear the number 97 as he isn't considered a basic force player.

58:53I assume this is some kind of translation?

58:56Luke Moore: Must be. Basic force players are only allowed to wear numbers 1 to 40. Okay. Why are they called basic force players? Is that why ice agents have their numbers above 40? Must be. Sergio Ramos was also given special permission to wear the number 93. Yeah, I think that's what he wants, really. Evidently. The Alan Sandman career arc is quite a curious one. because he was very, very popular at Newcastle, right? And I might have remembered this wrong, but he moved to the Middle East presumably because he wanted loads of money. And you'd have thought that once he got bored of that, which he did about a year later, he'd go somewhere, with respect to Club America, he'd go somewhere in a major league and...

59:35Because he only, what, was he 27 years old, something like that? 28. 28, yeah. And he went to Fianabaccio on loan for a bit. Yeah. And now he's ended up in Mexico. I'm sure the Mexican league Is of a good start I'll never watch it There's a bit of money

59:47Luke Moore: In the Mexican league as well Yeah 12 million dollars He went there for Apparently the fee So I just think It's a weird career arc I think it's a lovely old time You start at San Etienne You have a couple of years In Monaco You spend a few years At Nice You be adored You go to Newcastle fans Treat like a god basically Yeah And adored And then Now you're in Mexico Now you're in Mexico Yeah I mean maybe he enjoyed Maybe he's all about The cuisine in Turkey He's thinking Oh this is pretty good Where else do I go now And he's thinking I wonder which side of the bridge he hung out on yeah he's like nah it's a really good point actually because a Mexican food would be sensational yeah because I mean the Lebanese league it's not that really happening Brazilian league I mean you could get your Khadijun you know but he's thinking you know what Mexico you've been to Mexico I always imagined Mexico would be quite a mix of different cultures because of the different you know the different offshoots of like fusion cuisine that have Mexican food as a staple you can't get a fry up there mate if you're asking we're getting a bit close to talking about the new series of the bear again here aren't we No, but like But I'm saying though Like he would be Eating and drinking Brilliantly, wouldn't he?

1:00:47It is fabulous Yeah There you go What would Anthony Bourdain say? Where would he eat? He's dead I know he is Yeah, exactly Listen Just fucking watch Ratatouille And go for a walk You boring food cunts Why are you talking Not you, I mean people Right People

1:01:01Luke Moore: Yeah, people Yeah And why do cornflakes Often taste different abroad? Sort it out Mexican Coke Mexican Coke Made with the purest Of cane sugar Fine, I'm not into co-cola so yeah what no come on really I just don't bother get on to the Tom Brady bit let's move on yeah it's all about Fanta as you well know now after let's finish with this after Grok told us that Tom Brady would win in a fight against Wayne Rooney which I'm not having by the way I think we needed a second opinion and Paul on Spotify got in touch to deliver chat GPT's verdict and here it is in a straight up physical scrap Rooney probably has the edge probably yeah has the edge in raw toughness stamina and actual experience with real confrontations.

1:01:45Luke Moore: That last bit is brilliant and you know it's true. Brady would have a size advantage but less of a fighter's background. So there we go. I think that's a good summation and it means that Rooney would do him. And I hope he does after those comments. I absolutely love this matchup. I was so gutted to not be on the show when this matchup came along because it is like a proper... You know how much I love a boxing analogy? It is like a proper clash of styles. you've got the kind of really well drilled probably three four hundred fights in the amateurs great jab Tom Brady who would you great footwork and you've got the absolute street brawler of Wayne Rooney Rooney would fuse Mike Tyson and Butterbean yeah I like that do you know what I mean I like that with Brady I was struggling to think I to me it's like the Gatti Ward trilogy Gatti yeah yeah it's like the Gatti Ward trilogy but I like Wayne Rooney to take this down to the trenches early on in the early rounds and really get right under Tom Brady's chin.

1:02:48And if he can bypass Brady's jab and get on his chest and take it into deep water, I think Rooney knocks him out late. You don't need chat GPT. I've thought about this. You don't need some computer. Rooney will knock Brady out late. I'm telling you. And Brady won't fancy it.

1:03:04Luke Moore: But as someone, as maybe it was Vish or Pete said, that there is potential evidence of Rooney having a glass jaw with the whole Phil Barsley thing. But they don't underrate Barsley's punch power. True enough. Also, as well, it was... Also, to be fair, Wayne Rooney was pissed. Wayne Rooney's done a three-month... What makes you think that? Rooney's done a three-month training cap for this. This isn't a big prize fight. He's preparing properly for this. HBO 24-7 shit. Rooney gets on Brady's chest and he knocks him out late. That's all you need to know. Or Brady knocks him down and in the event of that, Rooney just chews out his Achilles heel.

1:03:38yeah yeah yeah yeah absolutely

1:03:41Luke Moore: that'd be lovely and Rooney's having tabs in between each round yeah thanks for listening to the Football Ramble part of the Acast Creator Network Patreon subscribers don't go anywhere keep listening for Ramble Uncut and remember we're offering a completely free seven day trial to the Football Ramble Patreon right now so make sure you head over to patreon.com forward slash football ramble now to sign up it's going to be a good one thank you very much Vish thank you thank you Luke thank you and thank you Wayne Rooney

1:04:14The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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