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Football Ramble

10 Apr 2026 · 56m · 19 chapters

Episode artwork

The Preview Show: 38,000 bananas

In short

This episode is a “Preview Show” focused on European nights and upcoming Premier League matches. They recap Aston Villa’s 3-1 Europa League win over Bologna, emphasizing Villa’s need to convert chances and calling out Jonathan Rowe’s lively threat and goal, plus Ollie Watkins’ composed finish and comments about being “lucky.” They note Bologna’s disallowed goal, Lewis Ferguson hitting the bar, and Villa’s fortune despite Bologna being “great value,” keeping the tie alive.

They also cover Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 Europa League draw at Porto, highlighting an extraordinary early own goal from a long back-pass/keeper slip, Forest’s patched-up squad, Chris Wood’s return, and Forest’s poor performance described as among their worst this season.

Key Premier League previews

Spurs vs Sunderland (Roberto De Zerbi’s first game; Vicario injured; possible Kinski/Brandon Austin; Sunderland’s home form dipped) and Chelsea vs Man City (Enzo Fernandez suspended; Chelsea turmoil; City favorites). They mention Arsenal vs Bournemouth, with Arsenal potentially going 12 points clear.

Guests

none. Hosts are Marcus Speller, Jim Campbell, and Pete Donaldson.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes.

Chapters

4:28

Friday Feeling and Match Preview

Explore the excitement of Friday and the anticipation for the weekend's matches.

“How about that Friday on the Football Ramble, Jim?”
5:57

Europa League and Aston Villa Discussion

Discuss Aston Villa's performance in the Europa League and key player highlights.

“Is there a Europa Conference League version of OnlyFans?”
7:49

Porto's Own Goal Controversy

Analyze the shocking own goal from Porto and its implications for the match.

“Lewis Ferguson hit the bar with an effort.”
10:22

Forest's Challenges and Performances

Examine Nottingham Forest's recent performances and player struggles.

“And the goal was a very slick goal, wasn't it?”
12:51

General Football Observations

Reflect on broader football themes and humorous observations from recent games.

“I did get there with the magic eye in the end, though, everybody.”
14:01

Discussion on Recent Football Matches and Players

The hosts analyze recent football matches, discussing player performances and team strategies.

“It was like two years of just constant magic eye, wasn't it?”
18:00

The Impact of Bananas on Local Communities

A humorous discussion about a supermarket's surplus of bananas and its implications for the community.

“I'm going to take all of those with a pinch of salt.”
28:50

Sandro Tonale and Tactical Changes

Discussion on Sandro Tonale and the upcoming match between Sunderland and Tottenham.

“Well, back to the football ramble, everybody.”
30:53

De Zerbi's Challenges at Spurs

Exploring Roberto De Zerbi's challenges and strategies for the Spurs team.

“But they've lost three times at home now.”
33:10

Managerial Critiques and Future Prospects

Analyzing criticisms of De Zerbi and the prospects for Spurs moving forward.

“I wonder if he goes with Richarlison up top.”
Show all 19 chapters
35:15

Current League Standing and Match Implications

Discussing the current league standings and implications for upcoming matches.

“Some of those players get a little bit of a rest.”
37:25

Chelsea's Managerial Situation

Overview of Chelsea's current managerial challenges and potential changes.

“but if West Ham win as you say Spurs are like bloody Nora I mean obviously you know the task is the same for Tottenham, whatever happens.”
42:00

Chelsea's Struggles and Management Challenges

Discussion on Chelsea's current challenges under their management, focusing on player performance and board decisions.

“And so now they're in a situation where they don't really have that many senior players.”
44:38

Arsenal's Title Run and Bournemouth's Toughness

Analysis of Arsenal's position in the league and the upcoming match against Bournemouth, including the implications of their performance.

“Yeah, maybe that's why Glasner was so pleased the other night.”
46:36

Injuries and Squad Depth for Arsenal

Overview of Arsenal's injury situation and the impact on their title aspirations, including key player assessments.

“with Zubmendi and Rice involved and this could be a cracker.”
51:09

FC United's Controversial Neutral Venue Decision

Examination of FC United of Manchester's situation regarding a change to a neutral venue for an important match and the fan's response.

“O-Pill is the first over-the-counter daily birth control pill available in the U.S.”
53:58

FIFA's Ticketing Controversy for the World Cup

Discussion on the issues surrounding FIFA's ticketing process for the World Cup, including fan frustrations and seating arrangements.

“It's obviously written in an emotional state, but it's like, it's just like, I'm banged to rights here, fuck off.”
56:01

FIFA's Ticketing Controversy

Explore the issues surrounding ticket sales for the World Cup and fans' frustrations.

“Because it's a luxury, isn't it, to be able to go to the World Cup?”
1:02:36

The Impact of Ticket Pricing on Fans

Discuss the economic pressures and implications of high ticket prices on fans.

“That little feeling is there again, if you see what I mean, with fans.”
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Transcript

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4:04Pete Donaldson: Bottles and cans, just clap your hands, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble Preview Show. Does Erby Spurs go to Sunderland and Chelsea host Man City? It's Friday 10th of April. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Jim Campbell. And I'm Pete Donaldson.

4:28Pete Donaldson: Hello Friday, you old dog. Yes! How about that Friday on the Football Ramble, Jim? Brilliant. It's where it's at. It's one of the best days It is It's a classic day It's a class day Peter It is a class day I feel free Doesn't it often finish It's a classy day With you around Certainly not with the way That you perform on the games Marcus Beller How dare you I very much enjoyed The start of this show You did a little Rory Stewart's city Manchester city Did I? It's a little bit transatlantic I don't think I did I think you did You're a liar And a cheat And you've ruined my Friday already And you can smell my feet Kick Alright how bloody dare you come in here and start saying that I'm sorry Marcus I've just got excited I've got the Friday feeling you've got your New York Cosmos top on I mean you can send as much tat as you like to influencers like your eyeshore speeds don't name them they're just going to give the clothes to their friends or they're just going to stick it on eBay or whatever I want that jacket back by the way if you give us a bit of tut we're going to be doing gardening in it 10 years hence.

5:34Yes. You know, we're going to still be wearing it in 15 years time. Exactly.

5:38Jim Campbell: Don't send your stuff to Bevo. Send it to us. Don't send it to troubled Bevo and his OnlyFans mam.

5:46Pete Donaldson: Send it to us and my OnlyFans mam. I don't know what's going on, but I'm happy to move on from it to talk about last night's Europa League action. And Europa Conference League. Don't forget that competition. Yes. All right. Is there a Europa Conference League version of OnlyFans? Who knows? Probably on the dark web, I imagine Yes Let's just leave that as a speculation Last night in Europe Pete Donaldson in the beautiful city of Bologna Oh Where, you know they I think the oldest university continuously going might be in Bologna in the world Right, okay Continuously going Well Aston Villa gave them a lesson though, didn't they?

6:25Pete Donaldson: They did, yes Oh, lecture Gotta put your chances away, boys Villa won 3-1 and about 25-30 minutes into the game Jim if you'd have said to the Aston Villa fans and they weighed don't worry lads you're going to win this 3-1 I don't think anyone would have believed you

6:40Jim Campbell: absolutely not you're right the story is about putting your chances away isn't it because Villa obviously scored at a great time late in the first half but they found it tough going in that first half Bologna had a goal disallowed rightly so marginally so but they were on the attack Jonathan Rowe has been talking about Thomas Tuchel and trying to get his attention and I mean that was a spectacular display all round from him and he was very lively in that first half. What's that sound, Marcus? There we go. It's a plane taking off.

7:08Pete Donaldson: Oh, where is that? Jonathan Rowe on it? It is Jonathan Rowe on that plane. Is he running after it? Thomas, take me with you.

7:16Jim Campbell: Wow, what a performance. Yeah, but I mean, you know, obviously Villa were better in the second half but still had to weather some pretty good stuff from Bologna. It's the third time they've met in three seasons as well. So, you know, they're quite well known to each other now.

7:32Pete Donaldson: Well, they are. Is that why Aston Villa's official X account tweeted an AI-generated video of a lion walking into the city of Bologna with a Villa bandana around its neck and ready to take on a knight, which is obviously a Bologna knight. Yeah, someone gave someone's dad access to the Instagram account. Is that what it was? And the chat GPT. Is it Fora? That's gone now.

7:56Jim Campbell: Sora. They closed it down. They closed it. Oh, yeah, no, Fora. that's where we work don't give away very little intelligence artificial or otherwise don't give away our location there are loads of them no one's going to find us you know that

8:10Pete Donaldson: we'll have an Iranian drone over at a minute we're in a bunker

8:13Jim Campbell: for a good reason

8:13Pete Donaldson: and you know that as well fine fine fine well Bologna yeah I mean they played some scintillating stuff in that first half they should have been a goal up at least and Ollie Watkins said who was brilliant obviously in the post match I think he used the word lucky three or four times describing his own team, of course. Because they were quite fortunate. Martinez made some saves. Lewis Ferguson hit the bar with an effort. Bologna were great. They were really, really good value, which is why this tie is not dead.

8:42Jim Campbell: Yes. Although, I mean, you can't really ask for more from a Villa perspective, right? Oh, no. Villa Park is very, very good on European nights. You're absolutely right to say that Bologna are a good team, but that last goal is a sickener from their point of view. What are they doing?

8:56Pete Donaldson: They're not. Yeah, well, I mean, Roe, obviously, as you mentioned, scored a lovely goal and it was what he deserved because he was a threat all night. Yeah. And yes, of course, you mentioned him on yesterday's show saying that he would love to play at the World Cup and that's what he's aiming for. And, you know, Luke sort of scoffed at that a little bit, understandably so. Yes, exactly. That was the... Are you here, Luke? But, you know, he put in a good show, scored the goal. And at 2-1, you think, oof, okay. You know, you saw the reaction of the home fans thinking, okay, we've got something. to leave Oli Watkins completely unmarked.

9:30Pete Donaldson: Yeah. I mean, from Watkins' point of view, wonderful first touch and basically, yeah, really good finish. Beautiful guy. I mean, was so composed. But what? I mean, how on earth? The guy's already scored. They've been watching Oli Watkins all season. But he's already scored though, Peter. I know, he's already scored. All right, fine. You know, and so... He's not going to do it again, they're saying themselves. He's not been playing well recently. Well, I'll tell you what, he said post-match other than saying lucky. He said, back end of the season, I'm raring to go. I could play another 90 minutes right now.

9:57Pete Donaldson: I'm excited for the last few games. Next week against these, I'm hungry.

10:00Jim Campbell: Yeah.

10:01Pete Donaldson: Who's he saying that to, Jim? Thomas Tuchel, who was there to see Jonathan Rowe. And there's the plane again. He said it to the plane. I think Watkins is a stowaway. I think he's... I think he's... Other rules on that. Yeah. I make them up as I go along, Jim. He's in there with the lithium batteries. Smashing them together. But look, it was a great win for Villa. Good performance from Watkins. Yes, they got a fortune. There's no doubt about that. but they're in a wonderful position but they can't be complacent of course against this Bologna side and Unai Emery knows all about the Europa League I believe he's won it a number of times before etc etc but well done Aston Villa and they play Forrest on Sunday and Forrest themselves of course are in the Europa League they drew one all with Porto last night Porto last night Porto we saw one of the most incredible own goals I think I've seen for years I mean Danny Baker's probably thinking do we get own goals and gas back together.

10:56Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Bring the goals and gas back together. I mean, Porto had just gone 1-0 up. Again, they were dominating the game. They were only 11 minutes old. They were playing some slick football. They should have scored before that. And the goal was a very slick goal,

11:07Jim Campbell: wasn't it? It was one of those where... That Rosario flick. Yeah. I watched the Villa game, but I can imagine from seeing the highlights and seeing how that wasn't their first attempt on goal, you're probably thinking as a Forest fan when they get that one in, like, oh, this might be a tough evening. Again, Jim, if you said to the away fans, you'll get out of this

11:23Pete Donaldson: with the waddles or

11:24Jim Campbell: bite your hands off for it. That own goal to happen from so far out. Ludicrous. If you missed it, a defender basically makes a very long back pass to his goalkeeper but he hits it so hard. I don't think he hits it that hard. I think the keeper sort of slips a little bit and doesn't anticipate he's not on his toes. He wasn't expecting it more importantly. He certainly hits it harder than he needs to hit it. Well, he's 40 yards out. And the goalkeeper is just not in a position to be able to get to it in time.

11:48Pete Donaldson: I think if you're Martin Fernandes, the guy who scored the own goal, who looked shell-shocked, after it went in. Not his fault. He went off injured about six minutes later. No. His bruised ego. Maybe beat her. But he... I think he's within his rights to think his goalkeeper should be a little bit more aware. If someone's shooting from 40, I know you're not expecting him, but if someone's kicking a ball at that pace, the goalkeeper should be able to get to where that ball goes in. It's an utterly extraordinary home goal. And my goodness, I mean, Forrest could not believe their lack. Oh, I mean, I know Forrest bought about 50 players a couple of seasons ago but they have got a patched up squad at this moment in time in this match you know you go into a side unbeaten in 13 you know Ortega was obviously busy and excellent in the match but to one all draw away from home it's great you absolutely take that before the game

12:39Jim Campbell: they're missing Elliot Anderson as well when you're carrying Morato who can't seem to judge the flight or bounce of a ball not as bad as the Porto goalkeeper no probably not probably not yeah Morato in this match which I just enjoyed the singular it's one of the worst performances I've seen in a forest shirt this season hang on hang on

13:01Pete Donaldson: one of the worst performances you've seen in a forest shirt this season do you remember Ange Bostokoglu's forest the girl there with a bottle drawer you know like when when they try and display four dimensional space in three dimensions I don't in a tesseract and you sort of go I mean you're telling me this is the case but I just can't my brain can't compute this a little bit like that when the ball bounces you're like I understand the ball on the floor but if it's up here I don't really know where it's coming from it's really good stuff, it's proper spot the ball stuff can you use older references for me can you say, remember Magic Eye the fourth dimension has been around for a long time Marcus

13:42Jim Campbell: it's like Inception it's like bloody Inception and obviously a key thing if you say that something's like Inception is that that thing is not like Inception. And I think this meets that threshold. Fine.

13:54Pete Donaldson: I did get there with the magic eye in the end, though, everybody. Now,

14:01Pete Donaldson: It's the fish again. What a Christmas that was. It was like two years of just constant magic eye, wasn't it? There's young people going, what are you going on about? I thought it was so exciting. I think my eyes were a bit funnier that I could only see them carved out. Everybody else can see them 3D. Mine was kind of curved out rather than... That was it, that was it. Was that it?

14:21Jim Campbell: It wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't. You were fine, you were fine. Don't worry about it. You could hide them in people's wallpaper, couldn't you, if you were sneaky enough?

14:27Pete Donaldson: Right, could you? There's a lot of nude Jim Camels around bedrooms in the country. Vita Pereira was honoured pre-match for winning back-to-back titles with Porto between 2011 and 13. That's good for the ego, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Imagine that. Right, lads, you see what's going on out there? Right, now you listen to me, the champ. Nervous, are you, defenders? He made nine changes, though, as you were saying, Peter. injury hit side and so on. Chris Wood was in the squad for the first time in goodness knows how long. Since October it says here. He only managed a half but good to see him back.

14:58Jim Campbell: Yeah I mean he was a massive massive driving force in the season they had last season so perhaps we've underestimated what a big miss he's been for them this season because he just couldn't stop scoring at points and he's obviously a reference point for the whole team really. When a player of that age gets injured over months and months you do sort of go the right way is this going especially because he was so good last season

15:20Pete Donaldson: indeed but I mean Forrest last season it's just a totally different beast but you're right to say it though but Forrest they are playing Villa in a crucial game at both ends of the table on Sunday Villa could go third with a victory Man United obviously play Leeds on Monday night but Forrest though I mean it's it really is getting interesting down there in fact it's not getting interesting it is bloody interesting down there and with that victory against Spurs you know Forrest three points above the relegation zone. Right now, three points feels massive above the relegation zone, doesn't it? So yeah, if they could win, Forrest, they would push themselves up there.

15:58Pete Donaldson: I mean, it's going to be a tall order though, because Aston Villa, with that win in Bologna, a bit more spring in their step. Obviously, we haven't seen a Premier League game for quite a long time, it feels, with international break and FA Cup and so on and so forth. But Villa stopped the rot last time. They were on a three-match losing run in the Premier League because they won their last game. And with Ollie Watkins hungry Jim Campbell, then Nottingham Forest and Morata are going to have to be at the races.

16:24Jim Campbell: They are, yeah. This is an interesting match-up given that both teams played last night, which I think might actually suit them both because you're back in the rhythm of it. This kind of international break for the teams that aren't in Europe is a proper air gap, isn't it? It's a proper sort of like, all right, little rest and one last push over the top. Yes. for the rest of the season. But these teams are probably going to be a bit sharper, aren't they? So this is, obviously when you look at the positions in the table, Villa have to be favourites here. Yeah. But Nottingham Forest essentially have to win every game they go into.

17:01Jim Campbell: They have to go into games with that mentality. And we've seen that Vitor Pereira is quite good at getting teams, I say teams, I mean wolves, on a sort of winning run when it looked like it would be difficult. so it's an interesting match up this

17:17Pete Donaldson: I'm duty bound by Wolves fans to say it's not how it ended but of course he did keep them up so they could enjoy this season in the Premier League both sides though I mean Bologna and Porto lovely places great trips lovely ones today in Bologna highs of 22 23 degrees Porto highs of 25 get the flight back on Sunday morning straight to the East Midlands Airport

17:41Jim Campbell: watch this match on the telly yeah exactly the stadium in Bologna looks amazing doesn't it like you just nip down there and sunbathe in the day a roofless bowl doesn't know what a roof is no need for a roof can you imagine

17:52Pete Donaldson: living in a country where we go we don't need a roof to our stadium I honestly can't I can't but yeah huge game there Morgan Rodgers have you seen all the rumours you mentioned it yesterday apparently your beloved Arsenal gym are sniffing around I've not seen that rumour as are well according to reports right apparently we're interested

18:12Jim Campbell: in Kovicic of Ritzkali as well because of course we hypothetically are. I'm going to take all of those with a pinch of salt. Just enjoy them. It's Roberto Badger's shirt in the back of that car outside Leeser's end. There you go. Just enjoy it. Enjoy the fun.

18:25Pete Donaldson: They're still in for Luis Suarez and Jamie Vardy as well. Well, yeah, a lot of clubs are queuing up for... They're not going to queue up, are they? That's not how our football clubs work. Please, Chelsea, you do the first bit. They should do some...

18:37Jim Campbell: They should put it to auction on deadline day if you've not got it done by deadline day. Is that not how it kind of works? Yeah, but I think it should literally work like that. Right, okay. It's like those kind of YouTubers who have really unappealing young men and then a woman comes on and she says something and they go, pop their balloon to something. No, thank you. Right. Or yes, please. Isn't that a bit... Sexist? Misogynistic? Yeah, all of that. That's the internet though, isn't it? Yeah. I saw it. I didn't make it.

19:06Pete Donaldson: What does Peter Kay's mate, Paddy Thingamajig, what's the show he does? Yeah, it's all like that. Yeah, it's all like that.

19:11Jim Campbell: Take Me Out Is that still on? Incredibly Take Me Out was a lot more innocent and wholesome than that For what it was not a bad show It was so much fun Yeah Peter I could have seen you

19:21Pete Donaldson: as a contestant Take Me Out I don't think I'd score very well I think you would Five foot eight and I look like this

19:27Jim Campbell: Yeah but you look like everyone So Everyone Oh hang on I don't think

19:33Pete Donaldson: if people are heightest that's their problem You turn up there with your Cosmos coat on Yeah but Marcus in this situation

19:39Jim Campbell: it would very much be his problem though What would you do in the little personal interest bit? Where you do a little video of what you are about. You'd have to lie. Masonry. Yeah, you'd have to lie. I like masonry. Shipyards. Shipyards, scrap metal and masonry. Stripping copper at walls. I love it. Your accent has become more southern from where you were born. Interestingly.

20:06Pete Donaldson: You just end up going, there's nothing wrong with it. alright anyway back to the football Europa Conference League Crystal Palace beat Fiorentina 3-0 there they are there they are he's Glasner all over hey old misery guts Oliver loving it you can't be miserable when there's that much ticker tape floating around that was amazing

20:25Jim Campbell: looked really good didn't it

20:26Pete Donaldson: they ordered too much they ordered too much yeah that was wasn't it I was expecting the Palace fans to be throwing bog rolls as well it's like a supermarket that booked all that bananas you remember they got like 30 ,000 bananas to one test scores or something. They didn't know what to do with it. I really don't remember that. No, it's quite recent. Oh, okay. Fair enough. But yeah, great win for Palace against a proper side, Fiorentina. David de Gea in goal. They were a little bit cursed

20:52Jim Campbell: in the Conference League. Yeah.

20:54Pete Donaldson: Yeah, I mean, they've reached the final, they've reached the semis and looks like they may well go out in the quarterfinals this time. They weren't cursed, do you? Because I mean, has anyone had this many chances in a knockout group? Do you know what? Knockout position. Peter, you're right. If Palace had only won that 2-0. I mean, 4-0 the tie's dead, isn't it? I mean, I'm glad they got the third. Still a little bit there. They were very profligate in front of goal. If you're that profligate in the next one and they manage to kind of, you know, away from home, it might make for an edgy final 10 minutes, I think.

21:24Pete Donaldson: Yeah, I know what you mean. Terrible penalty from Mateta as well. He scored though, didn't he? He did score, but it was a terrible penalty. I know he gave the key to the eyes, but I mean...

21:33Jim Campbell: It was a good height and it was fairly central, wasn't it? I know what you're saying. I think he waited for him to go Did you say Did you say Post-match The reporter Olivia Bizarro Was Was Interviewing Mateta And Mateta just had his arm Rounded over the whole thing

21:49Pete Donaldson: It was really weird It was like Alright mate Do you think he was Pause off While we're getting Interview please He hasn't played for a while He was exhausted He was absolutely He was keeping him propped up He looked miles off the base In this match It was good for him to score though I mean I think there was a lot of love For Jean-Franco

22:05Jim Campbell: Yeah well Sam Matterface kept calling him JP Mateta yeah it's a new thing JP Morgan but is he trying to give himself a nickname possibly yeah I think that counts as a nickname even though it's the initials of his part of his name yeah I wasn't having it you can't rebrand yourself like that surely not amongst people you already know if you've moved to a new school which he nearly did yeah which he nearly did then maybe but not at the existing school true maybe he'd already

22:30Pete Donaldson: had the t-shirts printed I don't know maybe didn't want to waste them but yeah a good palace very dominant I think so they needed that it was again like this is such an opportunity to win this competition and if they did you know this whole season boom it's you're there you're in the Europa League finally the second bite of the cherry and you know but anyway don't want to get ahead of Palace's selves because their fans won't appreciate that but brilliant win and they have talking of glamorous places to go and play football Florence and another roofless bowl so they've got that to look forward to it was a supermarket in Orkney producer Tom has informed me that we're giving away bananas after accidentally ordering an estimated 38 ,000 of them so presumably everybody in Orkney got what about 10 bananas each or something like that I mean if you did it in the central and Sainsbury's fine you're going to shift those but Orkney it's almost double the entire population

23:30Jim Campbell: so everybody gets two bananas that's alright that's a healthy amount We all know if you have five bananas in a day, you die. So, yeah. That was the promise of the monkey mayor in Hartlepool. He said, free bananas for school. Hanges, was it? Hanges the monkey. And then he became mayor and did not follow through. And that's why I don't vote. That's my Russell Brand from 10 years ago. I see. Don't vote. Actually, you vote for Corbyn. Actually, I might go to America and be even more problematic.

23:58Pete Donaldson: Oh, Jesus now. Oh, Jesus now. Going all the way back, if I may. No, not to the football, everybody. to hang us he got in Jim he did get in he got in he got in it's great

24:10Jim Campbell: it's great which makes it all the more outrageous that he didn't follow through with his one promise I know what are you doing literally what are you doing go walk me show me your diary what have you been doing man he became mayor and he's caught in a gentleman's club a Hartlepool gentleman don't go to Hartlepool gentleman club go to Middlesbrough Newcastle or go somewhere else or wear your suit No one knows who you are. Or just sort the banana thing out. Yeah. Was he still wearing the monkey? Don't get your bananas out in a gentleman's club.

24:39Pete Donaldson: That is against the rules. Why is it called a gentleman's club? Euphemistic at best. He's not a gentleman. We don't have time to answer that. Those PG Tips chimpanzees were gentlemen. Are you going to Settlers Park on Sunday? They're playing your beloved Newcastle United. I'm not because of childcare issues. Issues. Issues, yeah. Okay, okay. Child care issues? I have a child. Yes, you do. And my partner works. Right. There we go. All right. Coming up after this, Roberto de Terbi is back in the Premier League.

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26:27If you felt stuck trying to lose weight, you're not alone. Enter Weight Loss by HERS. It's designed to support you in reaching your goals. And HERS now offers access to an affordable range of FDA-approved GLP-1 medications, including the WeGovi pill and the WeGovi pen. Even better, with a range of affordable GLP-1 options, HERS makes it simple to find an approach that fits your needs and your budget, if eligible. You'll get a treatment plan personalized to you and unlimited dosage changes as needed. It's weight loss designed to work with your life. Ready to reach your goals? Visit ForHers.com slash eligible to get personalized, affordable care that gets you.

27:04That's F-O-R-H-E-R-S dot com slash eligible. ForHers.com slash eligible. Weight loss by HERS is not available in all 50 states. Wegovi is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk AS. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, Wegovi clinical study information, and restrictions, visit ForHers.com. This is Hannah Berner from Giggly Squad. O-Pill is the first over-the-counter daily birth control pill available in the U.S. Let's be real. Getting a birth control prescription is not always easy, and it's so much admin. In fact, about a third of women face barriers to access prescription birth control.

27:43Between scheduling appointments, missing work, class, or just trying to exist, it's a lot. but now Opill is putting birth control in our control. Opill is a daily birth control that's FDA approved, full prescription strength and estrogen free and 98 % effective when used as directed. Grab it online or at most major retailers, no prescription or doctor's appointment needed. So if you're thinking about birth control, check out Opill to see if it's right for you. Use code Giggly for 25 % off your first month of Opill at O-P-I-L-L.com. That's code Giggly at O-P-I-L-L.com. birth control in your control.

28:18We love to see it.

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28:57Sandro Tonale. Sandro Tonale. Eat spaghetti. Love more. Eat fucker Sandero.

29:08Pete Donaldson: Well, back to the football ramble, everybody. That was Pink Donaldson on stage. And he's off. Yeah. Who was that? Was that Bruno Guimara? It was, yeah. Well done him. Sunderland, the team that Sandra Tadale apparently hates, will be hosting Tottenham Hottesburg on Sunday at 2pm. It'll be Roberto De Zerbi's first game in charge. What's he going to offer, Jim?

29:30Jim Campbell: Yeah, well, we'll see, won't we? He's had about a week with the players, which is not nothing, but also probably not enough. A massive factor here as well is that Guilherme Vicario had hernia surgery recently, so he's not available for this game which might mean Antonin Kinski or Brandon Austin possibly Brandon Austin after what happened last time but De Zerbe's immediately got a big decision to make on whether he restores Kinski and attempts to you know give him a chance to erase the kind of indignity of what happened in the Champions League and what you know the bust that Igor Tudor threw him under so that's not ideal straight away is it they've still got some some big sort of injury problems and it'll be very interesting to see how they set up because as we mentioned when De Zerbi came in, he's got a very specific style that he likes to implement that takes a while.

30:21Jim Campbell: Luke pointed out his record when he takes over teams has historically not been particularly good. This is a very different set of circumstances than he's used to coming into at clubs. So you would assume there's going to be some element of pragmatism that comes into play and it's just about doing the basic stuff well and using the quality that the individual players have. And even with the injuries, they've still got some good players in there. so yeah it's actually maybe a tricky one for Sunderland right because you don't really know how they're going to set up well I mean

30:50Pete Donaldson: yeah you don't know how Spurs are going to set up but we probably know how Sunderland are going to set up I don't think they'll change it too much I mean we know that they they like a clean sheet they don't score that many goals but they don't concede that many so I think you're right it's a good fixture for Spurs though to start you would say the way that Sunderland have been playing

31:05Jim Campbell: yeah their home form has fallen away a bit hasn't it they're unbeaten for a long time I think they've lost three times at home now there's very few But that's what I mean.

31:12Pete Donaldson: But they've lost three times at home now. I mean, again, a newly promoted side in 11th. I take what you're saying. You are right. It's not as formidable. They already don't feel like a newly promoted side. No, no, no, totally. So I, do you know what, Pete? I don't know what would be an ideal fixture for Spurs. I think this is as close as you're going to get to it, to be honest. What is it? It's not a side who's going for the title. It's not a side of a battling relegation. So you're thinking, oh, what the mind game is this? They are in mid-table. They know what, you know, they're going to finish there or there are battles.

31:42And they're a little bit short on form at this moment in time. Well, they won two of the last three in the league. Does that... Well, I was against a poor Newcastle side. Not having it. Just want a Derby game. Just want the Derby. That one did... Did you want that game? It doesn't count. I love it. I love it. Outrageous. It did count. It's a fake game made of glass and plastic. You wonder why you get pelters online. What, for Sutherland fans? They're going to give you it anyway. No, from your own lot. Awful. They've been awful all season. but De Zerbe basically said that there's not enough time to give them any kind of instruction apart from an arm around the shoulder and just to give them a little bit of confidence which I think is really good Is he the man to do that?

32:21Well because De Zerbe like you say he likes to give him a sort of complete change and try and you know instill a new system in his team he's not going to do it this time he will do it next season and he's just working to improve a little bit of player confidence that's why I think he'd probably go for Kinski in this situation arm around the shoulder come on I mean, let's be clear. I don't think Kinski's performance was anywhere near where the headlines had him in the Focopery. Yeah, but let's be clear.

32:48Pete Donaldson: Whatever happens, it can't be worse than what happened in their previous program. Absolutely. Against Forrest. I mean, ridiculous. I mean, yes, they have Célevis. They have the biggest injury list of any team in the Premier League right now. There are some players who are fighting to be fit for the game. Matthias Tell and Papé Sarr, for example. And that could change his approach as to what he's going to do. I wonder if he goes with Richarlison up top. He called him a clean guy, which I very much enjoyed. He called Richarlison a clean guy. He called him a clean guy because he can play in different positions.

33:22I don't know why that makes you clean.

33:26Pete Donaldson: Yeah, interesting. Well, we look forward to seeing a clean performance from Richarlison. Former Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Heuberg, who was coached by De Zerbi at Marseille, has said that he would put De Zerbe in the same category as Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Now, of course, two of those three have managed Spurs. I don't know whether that bodes well or not.

33:48Jim Campbell: It's a huge praise. But I do think that there has been some criticism of De Zerbe going into Spurs. And I just don't know what better managers out there they could possibly have got. Yeah. I mean, obviously, as long as they weather this storm, it's a good appointment.

34:04Pete Donaldson: Yeah. Obviously, I totally understand the criticism of how does Herbie manage Mason Greenland, that whole situation. But I take your point about the football side of things.

34:19Pete Donaldson: Yeah, clearly I think when I'm saying they should go for Harry Redknapp, you know, I mean... 79. Yeah, like as I said, I recognised it was an utterly ludicrous thing to say, but they're in such a ridiculous position. Sean Dyche, who was also being touted for it, again I sort of understand that but if Dice is saying I want an 18 month contract then you can't really do that so they're in between a rock and a hard place they're also terrible at making decisions let's not forget that so I know what you mean with De Zerbi as I say there's that there's the Greenwood stuff which I totally understand has pissed a lot of people off the boards say that they took that into account well they did and then obviously didn't think it was it was a big enough thing but in terms of the manager the name and what he's done I don't think it's a dreadful appointment but it's a case of can he get them out of this predicament I mean much has been made about his start as Brighton manager whether that's indicative or not we shall see

35:15Jim Campbell: but he's got the experience of that to draw from right as well and I think regardless of who Spurs are playing and Sunder in a way is a tricky opponent even though they have lost at home and producer Tom has reliably informed us that they actually lost three times in a row at home once they lost that record The break can only have been a good thing for Spurs in a psychological sense. Time out of the spotlight. Some of those players get a little bit of a rest. They get a reset, a refresh. People aren't taking the piss out of them constantly. It can only have been a positive thing. That said, if West Ham win tonight, Spurs start the weekend in the relegation zone for the first time this season.

35:53Jim Campbell: So that's obviously a massive factor as well, psychologically.

35:56Pete Donaldson: It's an important point to make because they're obviously playing Wolves at home. And, you know, Maybe that gives them something to aim for. Do you know what I mean? Like a little bit of like, right, now we're really in it. Let's get out of it. Yeah, possibly. Whatever happens. Possibly, although I think that loss and the manner of it against Nottingham Forest, I mean, if that doesn't make you realise what bloody situation you're in, then nothing will. But Deserby said that, they said the team need to regain the confidence of the fans. And I think the way that Deserby behaved in previous roles with stuff like the Mason Greenwood stuff, he has to also do that with some amount of the supporters as well.

36:34Pete Donaldson: I think an away fixture is probably ideal, as you're saying, because Spurs fans, we said at the time, they tried with every fibre of their being to help the team against Forest. They put everything into it and look what happened. So an away fixture after the break, yeah, I think going back to your earlier point, Peter, it probably is the ideal fixture for them, whether they can do it or not. Spurs are probably top of the aware league. I don't think that happened for a while Do you reckon? No, I don't think I think that that away form has subsided somewhat What a mad season since the heady days of Thomas Frank's first few months in charge but look tonight's game is really gonna you know set the tone isn't it because if Wolves can get something at West Ham those sides will be like hang on a minute here they will get a lot of wind in their cells but if West Ham win as you say

37:27Jim Campbell: Spurs are like bloody Nora I mean obviously you know the task is the same for Tottenham, whatever happens. And if they can get something, I think even a point is a good result, even in the context, then it feels like the beginning of something new, doesn't it? And you can sort of not entirely disregard what's come before, but focus on it as a sort of isolated chunk in which there is this mission that De Zerbi needs to get his players through. Well, I think that's it. Any good result. It has to feel like something new

37:53Pete Donaldson: because Tudor didn't feel like something new. Because he was an interim, right? Yeah. But as you said, there has to be some sort of freshness. There's more accountability if you're not an interim. Indeed, indeed. Sunderland themselves are currently a point above Newcastle United. But if Sunderland were to win, European spots are up for grabs. You'd like to see it. They really are. You would like to see it. Look, again, my team Fulham are in ninth and they're a point above Sunderland and they're just four points off Chelsea. I don't think for a moment that Fulham are going to finish above Chelsea in the league.

38:27Pete Donaldson: Again, teams are mid-table teams for a reason. it's because of that inconsistency, right? And I know Liverpool and Chelsea have been poor, but you would think that they've got more in their lockers than Brentford, Everton, Fulham and Brighton, despite how poorly they've been playing. But European sports are up for grabs. And let's go to Chelsea versus Manchester City. Super Sunday, 4.30pm kick-off, of course. I mean, it is pretty doomy and gloomy, that Stamford Bridge at the moment. We've talked about the fans having a terrible time of late. More reports have emerged this week that Liam Rossini is a dead man walking at Stamford Bridge.

39:04Pete Donaldson: They're reportedly interested in Lewis Enrico. I'm sure they are. Yeah. I'm sure they are. Same. Yeah. We'd love him on this show.

39:12Jim Campbell: Lewis, you old dog. No. What are you doing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays?

39:19Pete Donaldson: I'm starting. Peter. What? There's little teensy whispers about bringing Frankie Lampard back for a third dance. Right, okay.

39:28Jim Campbell: The oscillation between those two names. I think this is probably a little bit of cheeky tabloid speculation.

39:34Pete Donaldson: Lewis Henry and Frank Lampard. It sounds like it.

39:37Jim Campbell: I've seen Xabi Alonso's name linked as well. That's more realistic, though.

39:43Pete Donaldson: Well, not than Frank Lampard, okay, but Lewis Henry. Alonso wouldn't take that role, though, would they? Probably not. No, Alonso wouldn't go out. Just having a very young, untested squad. What I find incredible about football at the moment is everybody hates a back three. absolutely hates it. Is that Ruben Amarim's fault, do you think? Maybe. Yeah, maybe he's been proved to not be the optimal way of playing football. Yeah, because clearly what Alonso did at Barlow was very, very impressive. Real Madrid didn't happen, but I mean, again, that's, who knows?

40:17Pete Donaldson: Surely he'd be up for managing Liverpool right now. And everyone's like, oh, that's an obvious link. Apparently the board are like, back three, no chance. No, not for us.

40:24Jim Campbell: Yeah, exactly. Interesting. Although, you know, We'll see. We'll see how that pans out.

40:29Pete Donaldson: Well, Chelsea, yeah. Apparently Liam Rosina. It would be a surprise to nobody if Chelsea changed a manager in the summer. Whether it was Liam Rosina or somebody else. But one thing we do know in the short term is that Enzo Fernandes will serve the second game of his two-match ban, which was imposed by Chelsea. Yeah, but do we know that?

40:48Jim Campbell: Do you think there's a bit of mind games going on? It's Man City coming to town when you're chasing the Champions League spots. Surely you play one of your best bestfielders. He said he liked the city of Madrid gym. He did, and I've been there, and I also liked it. I don't think that makes me disloyal. In another world, though, the Chelsea fans, who have never wanted Liam Rossini or never respected, even when they were winning, what was that match against Napoli, they played really well in, and they win their first set of matches. He started pretty well. He started really well. And you just get the sort of feeling that in any of the circumstances, is they would be backing this decision to sort of say, fuck you, you know, you can go and live in Madrid, but you're taking two matches off before that takes place.

41:31I liked that decision. I think that shows a really strong... But the problem is the knives are out for Liam in the press.

41:38Jim Campbell: I think it's a battle that's really difficult for him to win. And in theory, I agree with you, right? Trying to instill certain standards and discipline in the squad is a laudable thing. but it seemed I mean all the noise is coming out of Chilis he suggests that the players aren't necessarily having him and if you make a decision like that in that environment then it becomes really difficult for you and I think he's in a really difficult position whatever he does he's got a very limited amount of players who've got that much experience I would say even the ones who have got really high ceilings like Cole Palmer aren't playing well for him so it's kind of really difficult for him he's on a hard and nothing that's a rescue left because he Well, because he got upset because they wouldn't give him a central defender that was any good.

42:27And so now they're in a situation where they don't really have that many senior players. Senior players. And even if they did have quite senior money players, I don't think Liam would get a tune out of them because they wouldn't respect him. So I feel sorry for him now. I didn't really do. Even though he's a LinkedIn idiot, I feel sorry for him.

42:47Pete Donaldson: No, I agree with you. But I mean, again, he was on a hiding to nothing going to Chelsea. it had to just suddenly work incredibly well and again they had a good start but it was just never going to happen because the Chelsea board are incompetent

42:57Jim Campbell: and the Chelsea fans are hip it wasn't in a particularly kind of steady position when he took over so the point is you've got to come in steady the ship start doing as well as Maresca had been and then improve on that it's an impossible task

43:12Pete Donaldson: I wonder if the decision to leave Enzo Fernandes out for this game will backfire because if they get hammered then people will look to that

43:20Jim Campbell: whatever happens they will all he has to do is say he's responded really well in training whether he has or not and just play him well he's one of your best players play him all they have to do is please Liam think of me play him

43:33Pete Donaldson: all they have to do is look at the fixtures and go Port Vale at home in the FA Cup yeah you're banned for that one you're back for Man City exactly that's all they've got to do stick a friendly in there stick a friendly in there maybe they have maybe they have and we're all going on about the Man City game and go, did you not see that behind closed doors friendly against Kairat?

43:50Jim Campbell: They lost 7-0 and we were knackered from that friendly yesterday. It goes to a different school, the banning.

43:55Pete Donaldson: Oh dear, I don't know. I don't know. But yeah, disarray, relatively speaking at Chelsea,

44:01Jim Campbell: you would have to say. So you put Man City as heavy favourites for this game, right? They look like they've sort of... I know we've been talking about this all season and the suggestion that they're not the city of old, etc. and maybe they don't click into gear in the way that they have, but they might not have to be. look like they have clicked into gear now. Well, yeah. I expect them to be at their best for the rest of the season. Yeah.

44:21Pete Donaldson: They, you know, yeah, I do put them down as favourites for this game. I like the fact that Mark Gay visited Crystal Palace on his day off this weekend and Oliver Glasner said they had a nice chat and had lunch together. Lovely. So, you know, making use of his time off. Yeah, maybe that's why Glasner was so pleased the other night. He was like, oh, he still likes me. I don't know. But look, it is. We are now, Now, this is the business end of the season, Jim. Yes. The international break is over. It's all Premier League right up until the end. And Arsenal host Bournemouth tomorrow. Nine points clear at the top of the table.

45:00Pete Donaldson: Pete Donaldson, I put it to you, that if Arsenal win that game, there'll be 12 points clear at the top of the table. What do you need? What do you need from me, Marcus? Do you want a well done and a pat on the back? Is that what you want, Marcus? I want you to explain to Jim how, even if you have a 12 point lead at the top of the Premier League table it can slip not that I mean you know six games is cutting it fine if you're going to throw it away if you're going to throw it away like you should do to bring some honesty and respect to this league to give us something to pull up that thread yeah you are leaving it a bit lit

45:35Jim Campbell: yeah I mean they've done it before Pete they've done it before they've done it before it will it will never feel particularly secure until it's done. And if it does all go wrong, you go, yeah, I thought this would happen. So it's a particularly stressful position to find ourselves in, having the last three seasons been as they are. And Bournemouth have not played for a while. And they're a tricky opponent as well. They've drawn, I think, five games in a row, something like that in the league. Oh, Bournemouth love a draw. Yeah.

46:04Pete Donaldson: Again, they're a mid-table side, but Bournemouth have only lost seven games this season in the league. Only Arsenal, Man City and Manchester United have lost fewer games than them in the league. But they've drawn 15 by far and away the most. So they are a tough side to beat.

46:19Jim Campbell: Yeah, I mean, I wonder if there's an argument that not having played for a while means they're not as fresh as they could, or certainly not fresh, but certainly not as kind of in the groove as you might hope. So I'm hoping Arsenal's rhythm will be a bit better, but they attack through the middle a lot. So I think this would be a very interesting game with Zubmendi and Rice involved and this could be a cracker. three players

46:41Pete Donaldson: Arsenal have who are currently being assessed injury wise Eberetriez Eberkai Saka and Durian Timber Ezer trained yesterday the other two didn't he did yeah big names to come back I mean Timber they really could do with I think it's fair it's fair to say but I mean the thought of Arsenal winning this game and going 12 points yes Man City will have two games in hand and yes they've still got that game against Arsenal the Etihad but they're not givens to be able to sit at the top of the league with 12 points would be something it's such a thing to aim for

47:12Jim Campbell: especially with City having to go to Stamford Bridge because it puts a lot more pressure on them and obviously we've just discussed that game but Chelsea is still a tough opponent so yeah that has to be the aim kind of anything other than that is just you can't even consider it as a possibility really Arsenal's record in April under Arteta is astonishing the drop off compared to the other months and that can't happen again they need to buck that trend and that's not an easy thing to do is it so you know this has to be they have to approach this kind of business end of the season in a different way from what they've done before because whatever they've done before hasn't worked so yeah we'll see the trend is get out of your own way the trend needs to submit a come and buck me request effectively so please please come and buck me the trend is demanding to be bucked okay will you not buck this trend what forms do I need just give me the forms and I'll you know me I'll sign anything buck off

48:07Pete Donaldson: now Now, former Arsenal and Manchester City man, Samir Nasri, is apparently under investigation by French tax authorities because of his Deliveroo orders. Wow. Despite being an official resident in Dubai, Nasri is suspected, I love this, is suspected of living in Paris when 212 Deliveroo orders were made to his residence in 2022. He could be forced to pay back nearly£5 million. I mean, what are these orders? I mean, did you see him in that charity match last year?

48:39Jim Campbell: He's stuffing that crust. He doesn't owe Deliveroo five million pounds. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He owes the tax man five million pounds. He does, yeah, yeah. He's tipping hard every time. Sorry, the tax monsieur. Do you not think that it's kind of like, it's like when people give away locations for secret bases with Strava runs and stuff. It's really interesting he's been caught with Deliveroo. How do we... 212, Peter. But can you prove that it was definitely him kind of ordering the deliveries? Do you have to check his bloodstream? Can you check it for... That's what they're doing. It's an investigation.

49:14Jim Campbell: The authorities in France are very thorough. Yeah. Certainly they'll ban a chocolat. There'll be a bastard's lips. Between Nazarene and his people. He's been working as a pundit, hasn't he? So he's been in France a lot. Right. So that probably isn't a great look. We definitely know you there because you're on the telly. Naughty, naughty. Right. you've got to these Dubai men you've got to you've got to have somebody to look after how many days you're allowed to spend in different places you can't just sort of swan around

49:41Pete Donaldson: doing this and that do you need to get a work visa if you're a resident in Dubai do you have to come back and get if you're a French national probably one for Google I don't piss in no coming home after this let's turn our attention to an organisation that do have their business in order FIFA look out for the fans once again

50:09If you felt stuck trying to lose weight, you're not alone. Enter Weight Loss by HERS. It's designed to support you in reaching your goals. And HERS now offers access to an affordable range of FDA-approved GLP-1 medications, including the WeGovi pill and the WeGovi pen. Even better, with a range of affordable GLP-1 options, HERS makes it simple to find an approach that fits your needs and your budget. If eligible, you'll get a treatment plan personalized to you and unlimited dosage changes as needed. It's weight loss designed to work with your life. Ready to reach your goals? Visit ForHERS.com slash eligible to get personalized, affordable care that gets you.

50:47That's F-O-R-H-E-R-S dot com slash eligible. ForHERS.com slash eligible. Weight loss by HERS is not available in all 50 states. We Go V is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk AS. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, We Go V clinical study information, and restrictions, visit ForHers.com. This is Hannah Berner from Giggly Squad. O-Pill is the first over-the-counter daily birth control pill available in the U.S. Let's be real. Getting a birth control prescription is not always easy, and it's so much admin. In fact, about a third of women face barriers to access prescription birth control.

51:26Between scheduling appointments, missing work, class, or just trying to exist, it's a lot. But now Opill is putting birth control in our control. Opill is a daily birth control that's FDA approved, full prescription strength, and estrogen free, and 98 % effective when used as directed. Grab it online or at most major retailers, no prescription or doctor's appointment needed. So if you're thinking about birth control, check out Opill to see if it's right for you. Use code Giggly for 25 % off your first month of OPILL at O-P-I-L-L dot com. That's code Giggly at O-P-I-L-L dot com. Birth control in your control.

52:01We love to see it. Hi, this is Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman. Spring means literally to burst forth, to grow, and that's what we're talking about both in our kitchens and at Whole Foods Market. Freshness and seasonality is what's happening at Whole Foods Market right now. With the season's first new potatoes, spring onions, artichokes, favas, snap peas, radishes, spinach and other spring greens and more. Enjoy the fresh flavours of spring and save at Whole Foods Market.

52:39Pete Donaldson: Welcome back to the Football Ramble, everybody. Before we get stuck into FIFA, this was brought to our attention quite wonderfully in non-league. Now, FC United of Manchester have an upcoming game against Stockton Town, and it was moved to a neutral venue by the Northern Premier League because of fixture disputes and repeated postponements. That's what it was. So obviously the league got fed up with what was going on there, like, right, you know, not having any of this. This is being played at a neutral venue, and we're going to get this done. And an FC United fan sent an angry email to the Northern Premier League, and the email said this, The decision taken by yourselves to move what will be our final game to a neutral venue is diabolical.

53:20Pete Donaldson: There is also a chance we could win the league at this fixture as well. And to take this away from our supporters being on our own ground shows the incompetence and lack of governance present at the NPL. You clearly have an issue with us. Maybe it's because we know how to do things properly. You were also making a laughingstock out of the integrity of this competition. You are now disadvantaging the other competing teams for the playoffs by providing an advantage to Stockton. you should be ashamed of yourselves and you best believe you created a fire for us FC United supporters that, as you are well aware will not be put out the quicker you stand down from the board and proper governance is put in place the better for the integrity of the competition the Northern Premier League chairman Mark Harris replied, thank you for your lovely email now go fuck yourself, Mark Harris I think Harris might be the one about to get fucked he's now being investigated by the FA he's just not thought about that has he I just think he's going oh you know what I think some men think that the internet is like you know it's just Twitter do you know what I mean you can write that on Twitter and get away with it go fuck yourself thank you for your lovely email no go fuck yourself the thing is that's lovely though has he been listening to the Ramble maybe possibly that was a catchphrase for a long time from the Ramble it was yeah

54:33Jim Campbell: as you suggested in the Tony which you read that email Marcus a lot like a sort of wrestler kind of promo it's obviously he's He's fired up, and there's a couple of bits in there, you know, talking about incompetence and this, that, and the other, that are quite aggressive. They're slightly specific, aren't they? But all of it is fair enough. All of it is completely fair. It's obviously written in an emotional state, but it's like, it's just like, I'm banged to rights here, fuck off. It's never worth it. Unbelievable reply. Go fuck yourself. Not worth it. Not worth getting fired for it. Not worth getting fired for it.

55:07There's an investigation. There's an investigation, and he will be fined. be found

55:12Pete Donaldson: I just sort of think to myself why is there an investigation you can see what was said yeah the investigation concluded three minutes after it began there we are right let's talk about FIFA there's a lot of nonsense and incompetence in football let's talk about the people who are at the top of the tree this is going to be another win for football is it well I assume so it's been all net with FIFA ever since they began oh hang on Fans are angry and they felt misled by FIFA after fans began receiving their allocated World Cup tickets. This is intriguing because so many people, particularly in the United States of America, have been very proud of the fact that they're the most expensive tickets by far and away on record for World Cups and so on and so forth.

56:01Pete Donaldson: Because it's a luxury, isn't it, to be able to go to the World Cup? So therefore you should be able to charge what you want. That's what some people think, maybe not my opinion. Anyway, a little bit of context for the anger that fans have been feeling here. World Cup tickets have been sold via different categories. We've seen this before. Usually it's category one, two, three and four. And the prices go along with that. So fans haven't been able to choose a specific seat, though. Often if you are buying a ticket on football websites and whatnot, you can see your seat, can't you? You can pick it out and you go, right, I'll have that one for me.

56:38Pete Donaldson: But they've been sold via categories. Again, usually you're going to be in that tier, you're going to be in that stand, you're all that part of it, blah, blah, blah. So FIFA has sold over 3 million tickets for the World Cup. Big business. Only now have they assigned specific seats for ticket holders. But they've also altered the seating maps at the stadiums. Incredible stuff. Many fans got worse seats than they anticipated. So when you were buying a ticket, you'd go on there and it would say you'll be in this sort of area. Now, when I say the area, it's not like, oh anywhere along the touchline it'll be more specific than that and FIFA basically just ripped up that map and gone yeah no I think we're going to create a new map here

57:17Jim Campbell: but essentially though fans have paid high prices expecting a high quality seat and because they've changed these maps or however they're wording it that isn't necessarily the case yeah

57:31Pete Donaldson: yesterday FIFA started selling tickets in the first several rows of these highly coveted sections I mean not that I wouldn't want to sit in the first few rows generally at football but a lot of people do it would be the case and these seats that people thought they'd bought when they'd already paid really high prices FIFA have gone ah no no no we were just saving the first few rows essentially hospitality it seems yes but those tickets people thought they were buying for the first few rows were often double the price of a standard category one ticket and FIFA have just gone ah no no no we were never going to do that sorry lads yeah they're going to go to hospitality yeah

58:04Jim Campbell: and the argument has been that a lot of fans feel FIFA deliberately misled them with the implication that these front row tickets, so to speak, would be available. And they never were. Well, they were completely misled.

58:19Pete Donaldson: Some Ramble listeners messaged us to say that they felt mugged off by FIFA. One listener, Christian, said, I bought category three tickets while my friends bought category one tickets for an England game, only to find out they're about ten rows apart. Absolute con. Kev said he'll be at England versus Panama, but his category two tickets are actually in the third level of the MetLife Stadium. Come on now, that's naughty, innit? That feels like a step too far. It's bloody naughty. Buy it on a credit card, charge that fucker back. If you take no more lessons than just get it on a credit card, charge it back.

58:53Pete Donaldson: You know that if you buy that... Sell them on. If you buy a package that I'm sure other countries can as well, but certainly with England fans, I know that you can buy all the way to the final should England get there. and it's four times the price of what it was in Qatar. But if England go out and say, I don't know, you've got three or four games that England are not going to compete in, you then get your money back. Minus 10%. Of course. Of course. That 10 %'s got to go to the good causes. Everybody gets a taste. Yeah, everybody gets a taste. What we should do is apply for press passes, get the press passes and not turn up.

59:27Jim Campbell: Yeah. Yeah, we'd probably be charged for not turning up, don't we? Somehow. We'd be charged for a press pass. 10 % of a press pass. Mate, FIFA can do anything. There's an article in The Athletic about this. There is a particular paragraph that I just thought was astonishing. I'm going to read to you now. FIFA told The Athletic that its indicative category maps were to help fans understand where their seats could be located within a stadium. These maps were designed to provide guidance rather than the exact seat layout and reflect the general extent of each ticket category within the stadium. Imagine reading that in your second language, right?

1:00:05Jim Campbell: You're probably thinking, I thought I was fluent in English, but I can't understand a word of that. That doesn't seem to mean anything. The word could is amazing as well. And this will set a FIFA precedent where in future, you'll buy a ticket for a game at the World Cup and it will be more like a raffle ticket. It'll be like, this could get you entry to the game. Yeah. That's what they're doing anyway. It's a collector's edition ticket and it might also get you into the match I like Man United sort of giving people the opportunity to buy tickets in their news if you spend like three grand or something if you spend like three grand to become part of the Emery it's some nonsense

1:00:44Pete Donaldson: it is nonsense but I don't think Man United are worthy of a mention

1:00:46Jim Campbell: that sounds like a Patreon I mean I get the sense that kind of like this is kind of how American stadium ticketing works anyway and I think we're us as soccer fans are just having our first taste of this and sort of going, yeah, this is fucking bullshit. I think they're trying to combine the sort of ticketing cultures of America and kind of previous World Cups in a way that is just a bit, well, a bit,

1:01:11Pete Donaldson: extremely confusing. So what was it, and also it's in Canada or Mexico as well, so I don't know if it's like that. What was the ticketing culture in Qatar? You don't know. What was the ticketing culture in Russia? You don't know. Brazil? You don't know. We don't know because there's a general thing, they do it, and there's prices and all that. FIFA have utterly disgraced themselves on a different level this time with regard to tickets. This is insane. Yeah, it's ludicrous. It's utterly ludicrous.

1:01:35Jim Campbell: I mean, this is a separate issue from the price gouging as well, which is horrendous.

1:01:41Pete Donaldson: And I know people, they are looking at the American government when often this chat is happening, and I don't think that's necessarily unfair. But it may or may not have anything to do with them. But like I say, Canada and Mexico are also hosts as well. I understand America are, if you like, in terms of venues, the main hosts. But what on earth is Infantino and co. doing? I do not know. They should have to pay a very, very heavy price for this. I don't know what that price is. I don't know how to enact it. But I just feel I would almost want to dissuade people from going to this. I mean, you remember in Qatar, for very different reasons and worse reasons, it was a disgrace, right?

1:02:22Pete Donaldson: And a lot of people said, you know, I feel almost a bit not sure whether I should actually bloody watch it on TV. Now, of course, that's the thing about football. They know you're going to watch it. And fans did go. This, as I say, in a very different way, I can't stress it's a very different way. That little feeling is there again, if you see what I mean, with fans. I know a number of England fans in the England supporters group, and it's a very competitive group to be in in terms of getting hold of tickets for tournaments. a lot of them are going I have to go because otherwise I don't get my caps or whatnot I'm going through my savings in a way that it's just

1:02:57Jim Campbell: it's not been there before well they're all just essentially every individual fan at this tournament has been treated like a sort of a unit of capital to squeeze as hard as you can to get the most money out of us in a way that we've never seen before I can't stress and the owners of the stadiums have a part of playing this as well they do have limited controls on how much they charge for different seats, whether FIFA are involved or not. In the case of an NFL stadium, the primary tenant of the NFL franchise has direct control of how much you're spending because you have a contract with that. But this will be a third-party relationship with FIFA, so they do have more controls, much the same as they would have the same controls if it was like a Taylor Swift concert.

1:03:41So the people who own these stadiums, I don't know which stadiums are owned by which people, but I imagine some of them also own Premier League sides. maybe put a bit of pressure on them as well the cronkeys of this world etc do you know what I mean it's like I don't know

1:03:53Pete Donaldson: the good news is though that America has a good infrastructure to getting to and from games and although there are plans to close New York's Penn Station during World Cup matches to anyone who doesn't have a ticket for games at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey some matches will kick off during the evening commuting hours apparently but train tickets to the stadium in Boston for example usually about 15 pounds we're well versed in expensive train tickets in this country they will be£60 on match days England and Scotland both play games there it feels like in the Simpsons that radioactive man when he turns up and they just fleece them it feels like that's what's happening but the film guys are supporters of football and America are Mayor Quimby

1:04:41Jim Campbell: the Penn Station thing is incredible as well because it's like, it's during the evening commute. And in New York, in New York, that is, I mean, they're walking there. That is going to be absolute chaos. It's as if they are trying to make the World Cup so complicated and convoluted and essentially just put as much pressure on their own infrastructure as possible that they're sort of using it as a war game to prepare for an invading force of what might happen if it all falls apart. while also making an absolute killing. And that's the name of the game, baby.

1:05:20Pete Donaldson: Oh, dear. Right, some good news. Jack's Encyclopedia is happening this afternoon. It's me versus Jim. It'll be available to listen to later today. Make sure to subscribe to the Football Ramble in your podcast app so that you do not miss it. There we are, everybody. Thank you very much for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the Acast Creator Network. We will be back in just a jiffy to play Jack's Encyclopedia. Until then, thanks, Jim. Thank you. Thank you, PT. Goodbye, everyone. And go fuck yourselves, FIFA.

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From the publisher

The Premier League's back, baby! And the football gods have served up a whole platter of top flight goodness for us this weekend. It's a big one for Spurs as they head to Sunderland in Bobby De Zerbi's first game in charge. Is it possible for Spurs to sink any deeper? Yes, the answer is yes.


Marcus, Jim & Pete look ahead to this weekend's action and look back on a big night of European football for the English teams. Elsewhere, Samir Nasri is under investigation for his Deliveroo orders and FIFA are back at their old tricks again.


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