The Preview Show: A bottle of Aftershock

0:00Where the hell is my husband everybody? Welcome to the Football Ramble Preview Show. It's the Manchester Derby and a West London Derby this weekend. It's Friday, 16th of Jan. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Jim Campbell. I'm Pete Donaldson. And I'm David Carlin.

0:24And just like that, it was Friday again, everybody. I know, right? Hey, come on! It's fish and chips and Prosecco Day for Petey. I'm looking forward to it. You're not on harder stuff than Prosecco? No, a bottle of Prosecco will do me. It's still the morning, I suppose. Exactly. What do you build up to? Yeah, what do you have a love to, yeah. I mean, the Prosecco is the mixer, isn't it? For more Prosecco. Yeah. I'd imagine you liked Aftershock back in the day. Aftershock? Yeah, I did, actually. I cannot deny that. I'm a licorice eater. I found a bottle of that at home over Christmas. Yeah. Oh, do you live in a nightclub?

0:55Lovely. I thought you could say the time capsule. Yeah, yeah. Does it live in a botland? Not my home. I don't know, actually. I bet you could probably get it from some bizarre kind of specialist website. Listeners, that's your challenge. It's afternoon. Don't drink a hot bottle. Get yourself a bottle of aftershock and have a lovely ultrasound. Very stackable. Oh, deary me. I tell you what, it's lovely to have you all here. U2 DC. Thank you. In the house. Jump, jump for joy and all that. Manchester Derby. Yes. Come on. Amarim's gone, right? Amarim's gone. So what are we expecting? It's the first game of Michael Carrick's latest spell as interim head coach of Manchester United.

1:34You have to be very, very detailed with that sentence. Otherwise, the club may or may not sue us. But Michael Carrick, he's in charge. Apparently, Jason Wilcox was present to watch his first training session. Presumably. An unwelcome development. No, I'll tell you why. He's like, that's a fourth defender you've got there. Right, OK. Just bring him back a little bit. There's the back four. I see it. Great. Right, carry on. I think Carrick definitely should have took the piss and just put three defenders on. That would have been so funny. Ruben did it sore. That would have been so funny. If he starts with a back three, that would have been superb.

2:09A chance for a bit of banter. Is the Manchester derby the place where you should test your banter? Start your banter, yeah, I think so. Well, you want to get the fans on side, don't you? They'll be coming out of our traffic. We did lose, but it was funny. Attack. Oh, no, no, don't do that. What do we think? I mean, obviously Michael Carrick is in charge. we've squeezed all the info out of that time at Middlesbrough that we can about the man, Jim. But there was something there, obviously not towards the end, but do you have high hopes for Manchester United? As an Arsenal fan, presumably, this would do the world of good if Carrot could pull something out the bag.

2:45Well, yeah, absolutely it would. I think it's probably a little bit early to expect that because he's had so little time to prepare, City are in really good form. He's essentially, this is just going to be vibes, isn't it? All this has to be is reset yourself, do it simply, enjoy it, etc. But everything we've heard about Carrick and seen from his time in Middlesbrough suggests that actually they play exciting football. It is fairly straightforward compared to Amorim's 4D chess. I think actually there are only 17 games of the Carrick reign unless he impresses so much in that time he gets the job full time.

3:19Or is dreadful and gets sacked. But I do think it would have been the same under Solskjaer in a different sense. The MO here is come in and simplify it, right? Because you're not there to start a new era. You're not there to sort of completely rebuild the club and, you know, take them into the modern era. You're there to make it better, right? And essentially... Make it happier. Yeah, well, absolutely. It's about lifting the gloom of all the Jim said vibes. And Carrick's style is an interesting, exciting and attacking one. So I do think it will get better to answer your question directly. It can't be just on vibes.

3:52I take what you're saying. Because it would have been soldier. If it was just vibes, it was on. But I think, haven't they done those vibes before, though? Oh, I'm going. Yeah, so am I. I love those vibes. Because actually, he... 90s vibes, Jim. But he did a really good job to start with. But what went against him is the end of his tenure, I suppose. Isn't that always the case? Isn't that like... Yeah, it's like 99 % of jobs. And relationships. Well, just hurry up and retire, man. Well, he's in there. I mean, David, what do you think of Michael Carrick as interim head coach of Manchester United?

4:24I quite like it more than going for Solskjaer I think it's quite interesting that they've gone for Carrick I think they understand where they were with Solskjaer and it was very much vibes and I think they they bring in Carrick and they think we're going to get some vibes but we're also actually going to get a bit of tactical acumen we're going to get somebody who plays a certain way we know his style I think he gets I think he'll get across to the players quite well I genuinely think just lifting the gloom will actually get them some results it should and the tactics can obviously come and what have you but it's about creating a positive environment because Manning Knight have been so dull for so long now and Amorim's style was I thought it was ultra defensive very very defensive so just lifting the gloom and playing a more positive brand of football will go such a long way for him in terms of credit yeah he also brings along his holidaying buddy Johnny Evans he does yeah I mean speaking of the vibes that photo of them on holiday in Barbade what's wrong with them having a little bit of a holiday absolutely nothing if I was Carrick I'd put that on the dressing room raw There's a new sheriff in town, lads.

5:26If you do well enough, this will be your retirement. We win this game. Forget wings. We're going to Barbados. It certainly upset Roy Keane, didn't it? He was very upset. How dare they go from a holiday to the dugout? It's like they do it every year. And his previous beef with his wife, with Carrick's wife. Yeah. I thought that was really unsavoury, actually. What was the beef between him and his wife? I saw about 10 years ago, I saw Carrick's wife left a tweet, I think it was, just saying Keane's over the top and blah blah blah and Keane has remembered this held this for 10 years or so Donald Trump it's just incredible he didn't need to walk up to her on the high street and stutter on the thigh and whack up in the air I mean people talk about the kind of ex-players being a bit of an issue for Man United and what better example than this Michael Carrick comes in as an interim manager Roy Keane is immediately taking shots at his wife and then and then Button Scores are really copping it as well because they've said quite a few derogatory things as well I know they had a go at Lissandro and said like why I think they made some joke about Haaland carrying him like a toddler and Lissandro's actually done quite well against Haaland from memory I think in Manchester Derbies so the discourse around Manning does not help what's going on inside Manning there's a lot of ex-players in the woodwork yeah I think it's yeah if you compare them to say probably only got maybe Barcelona would be a comparison in terms of ex-players maybe coming back or coaching roles and so on and so forth.

6:53But on one hand, that should be a strength. You know, if you think about it, players who were successful, they could come back if they become coaches. This doesn't seem to be a strength at all. It does seem to be a bit of a hindrance. With Carrick, it does feel a little different than maybe, of course, the media attention, I totally agree with you, is the same. But I'm intrigued to see how he gets on. I hope he does well because as I've made the point when we were talking about Liam Rosina, despite being a Fulham fan, you know, I'd like to see him do something because English managers, I mean, it's the one area, really.

7:24I mean, we can argue there are areas, but it's the one glaring area of English football where we lack so much, so badly. It was always like technical players and so on. I think we could do better on those fronts, but really thanks to Pep Guardiola coming to England and other foreign influence as well and academies and whatnot. Obviously, you can point to some examples of English players with a bit more. There's still room to improve, but the manager situation is like so bad. So I hope in the name of that that Carrick does quite well. I mean, it has been reported that the Glazers are travelling over to the UK for talks with Sir Jim and Michael Carrick.

8:01So any good vibes might be quashed straight away by those killjoys. Why do I need to be involved in this? Yeah, you never turn up. Why now? I get the new one. I've got to do the boring stuff as well. They usually hold their talks in Monaco, apparently, but they didn't want to drag Carrick and Wilcox from there. I'd love to see that meeting room just a giant golden jacuzzi Eric Dyer what are you doing here? maybe they're trying to sign him I thought they might have done it in France actually because I think Ratcliffe's apparently trying to sell Nice but he has a place in Monaco which of course he does I'm sure he has a ball tall here and there potato potato is he trying to sell Nice to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back?

8:43bloody hellfire bloody hellfire well turning your attention to Manchester City their course won 10-1 in the FA Cup last weekend. Now, speaking of things like Aftershock, did you see that Exeter manager, Gary Caldwell, revealed that he gave Pep Guardiola a bottle of whiskey after the game? It would have been amazing if it was indeed a bottle of Aftershock. But Pep told Caldwell they didn't drink whiskey, to which Caldwell apparently replied, well, you might do if you start losing 10-1. If I was a journalist, I'd say, did you actually say that? Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm not having your esprit de scalier bullshit on this recording.

9:15And you'd never be allowed back in the press room. Did you actually speak to the finance minister? I'd love it if Pep come out and said he didn't say that. He didn't say that. I know. That's bullshit. I know. That's bullshit. He'd never said that in the room. He's more of an aftershock, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It wasn't whiskey at all. Sitting in aftershock. Contrarian. That colour doesn't exist, does it? What's going on with that? Well, Man City will be favourites for this game, of course, because they are a better side. That's because they are consistently losing. I've just couldn't insight there.

9:46Over ten years. Have you been listening to Roy Keane? But they've drawn their last three in the Premier League, David. So they're going to have to be at the races. I mean, I know they put 10 past, sorry, old Exeter. What Man United should do is, would the reverse be, you can have more of your share of the gates? And then it's the opposite. I don't know. Imagine if Pep turns up absolutely lashed. Turns out a love whiskey. He's discovered a new drink. Cornwell's an agent. He's an agent for Man United. you give him that whiskey so so happy I fucking love you or talk a bit drinky drinky drinky if Pep played a back three oh that would be so good that would be and someone will point it out well actually if you look at the phase in the 17th minute when they actually do have a back three yeah fine whatever fine we'll take it all sorts of formations are played on the field are played but yeah but Man City yes but David all joking aside they've drawn the last three in the Premier League so in terms of Premier League form they've all been great by their own standards yeah they need to pick up and look Manningite's got the new manager bounce so well they've got a new manager let's see if there is a bit of a bouncy bounce yeah they've got the bounce come on is the new manager bounce dead because West Ham fans have told me it is I think it is in the same way if a corpse falls out of a if one of those draws at the mall it depends when it falls on it's a new manager bounce it does depend when it falls on I think you're right there's been a few a new body bounce an old body I think you're right there's a few managers this season who have not got any bounce at all Amarim was one of them I don't think I think actually so yeah it'll be interesting to see I don't know did he provide a manager bounce did any of them I don't remember our manager's getting less bouncy perhaps yeah I just want to bring it back to the you know them drawing their last three games because they've also scored 12 goals in their last two games if you look at what's actually happened on the pitch they need to worry about that so much are you including is that Premier League games or are you including the Exeter City.

11:46Of course, yeah, yeah. The last two actual games they've played, they've scored 12 goals. Ten of them were against Exeter City. Yes, I know. Banter. Well, what do we think? Do we think Antoine Semenya is going to start? Absolutely, we'd start him. He's scored in both those games, hasn't he? He's in red-hot form. Absolutely, it'd be crazy not to stop him. He'll have a lovely time there. New back line for Man United. Especially as they were in for him as well, weren't they, in theory? So City will want to show that off, I would think. I like what you could have had. I like how you put in theory.

12:14It is what you would have had in the 90s. 10-1 at the Swamp. Who could discount it? Oh, bloody hellfire. Well, I think that it is an intriguing game. And obviously with Carrick in there as manager. I mean, what do you think he will do, David? I mean, they say that at Middlesbrough, can we keep talking about Middlesbrough because that's obviously the biggest sample size we have of Carrick, more of a 4-2-3-1. I wonder if he'll go particularly defensive in this game because obviously Man City's second in the league far better than Manchester United and have been for many years now but particularly not particularly but definitely this season or does he try and express himself a bit more?

12:55I think he tries and expresses himself straight away like I said I think there's a need, a desire instantly to offer something completely different to how the atmosphere was under Amarim and don't get me wrong if Amarim was good at something it was against the big teams Manningite had always put in performance in the big games it was against the smaller sides that they lost their way but I think Carrick has instantly got to do that and transmit to the players straight away we're playing a different brand of football we're going to be more front front and look I know it's a bit cringe and everything we're going to be more Manningite how it's seen as traditionally so yeah I think it'll be positive there Another factor is they've got Amadiello and Brian Mbumo back as well so that's very useful I believe so and Cesc was looking better as well so in terms of from an attacking point of view it's a lot more encouraging than it once was I really want Cesco to do well because Tim Sherwood wrote him off yeah that would be good he did write him off and then he scored two goals I understand it's just one game but then Sherwood insisted that he was still rubbish presumably Sherwood would be friends with Wilcox as well because they played on the same side maybe or that might mean their enemies Sherwood didn't see him play once before he signed for Man United I would have put a lot of money on that but his point was that he's not good enough to play for Man United of course what he means is Man United back in the day.

14:07Again, we often get confused with those things. I mean, do you think Sesko can pick it up? Because presumably you saw a bit more than your average, David, being the Euro football man that you are. Yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot of things I do like about him. There's a lot of things I dislike about him, but he's a young lad and it's a big, big step up going from, you know, a Bundesliga side where you've got minimal pressure to Manning United where the microscope is constantly on you and everybody's analysing every single thing you do and there's a fail comp on X straight away as soon as the game's finished.

14:36I mean, yeah, the Jason Wilcox thing this week is a great example of the spotlight Man United are under. Like, he's gone to, you know, watch training and, like, he's the sporting director. To me, that story is employee goes to work. And yet, everyone's looking at that like, ooh, he's watching Man. Man United crisis sells, though. You speak to anyone in the journalism industry and the thing that gets the most clicks and the most hits is Man United being bad more than any other team. Arsenal could be bad, City could be bad, doesn't matter. If Man United are bad, that's the thing there's your YouTube artwork guys there we are what do we need we need a picture of Woodgate with a bloodied head from his the crack man united badge crack man united badge yeah Eric Cantona doing his shit just everything Michael Carrick's wife fighting Roy Keane yeah get it all on there we should be grand a fat red devil on the badge and a bloke with all the hair who still hasn't had it cut oh yes I forgot I forgot about him yeah Yeah, well, I mean, Michael Carrick, get that man a haircut, I think is what a lot of Man United fans are feeling.

15:41Mataz Kunja's not quite done it so far this season. Yeah, I don't think it's helped the system. Like I said, I think Amarim's football was very regressive. And it didn't allow Kunja to really express himself. At Wolves, he was kind of like just the maverick sort of thing. He could kind of do where he went in that team. He's had a bit more responsibility here. I don't think Mbwemo's been the same as well. There's a few of them haven't been the same because the system hasn't really allowed them to enhance their football. Well, I mean, in Bremble where he plays for Brentford, so what would Frank play?

16:07The 4-2-3-1 probably? Mainly he's used to having a fullback behind him, more options maybe on inside. So the formation could benefit him. I just wonder, I mean, is Bruno Fernandes still going to play in that slightly deeper, more of an eight maybe, sort of deeper role with, and you could have, see, Cunha to me in that sort of 10 role, that's where I would sort of put him. And I know people might say, well, Amber and Plum, look, it clearly didn't happen. I think Carrick's really going to try and shoehorn Maino in. I think we're going to see a big effort for him to try and get Maino in the team and play on them together.

16:39So we might see Bruno in that reduced role and Maino playing more advanced potentially or the other way around. I like you calling Maino, not Maino. Oh, yeah. I don't know why I did that. I just did. Copy Maino. Well, look, if indeed he did, then his half-brother would have to take off that T-shirt, of course. Exactly, yeah. In a kind of, my work here is done. Yeah. And throw it back into the crowd. I mean, you've been lamenting the lack of streakers. What a way to bring that back. Male streakers. His brother comes on straight away. And then the man with the hair wraps it around his head. Exactly.

17:10Oh, just four more games to go. If he starts wearing massive hats, that'll be even more damage. You can join with the seat guys. Remember in the front? Yeah, yeah, yeah. By the dugout. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. So if all that happened, then we would take the club more seriously. but one man who's known for his strictness with players welfare of course is Pep Guardiola you remember him there was a chat about weighing players when they came back from Christmas and all that kind of stuff well I think that's small fry compared to what Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira has been doing at Palmeiras he's been at Palmeiras for a number of years now he's done pretty well there he monitors players sleep in real time that doesn't mean to say he watches over them while they sleep like a sleeper I've seen if someone hasn't slept well he calls them in for a personal chat to understand what happened and why I was at Club Aqua yeah but that's always your excuse I built a deck back there that is mad isn't it why have you not there's a big spike in heart rate around 11 o 'clock what were you doing none of your business is what I was doing I can't think of like anything more like the F up your sleep is like thinking the manager's watching your sleep my god I know since we've been doing this I've discovered you're all terrible sleep as well actually but I mean sleep is probably one of the most important things for poor production at work or wherever he's up there with eating with importance Peter which is what I said at 3.30am to my dog what are you doing up why are we taking a poo now why are we sharing this kebab because you've got it out of the bin right coming up after this Liam Rosinia takes to the Premier League this weekend

19:01In English, manage. If you split the two words, it's man, age. You're aging men. Welcome back to the football animal, everybody. We're going to have some fun with Liam Rossini, aren't we? I think so, yeah. Man, age, Jim. Yeah. You can't argue with that, really. I think you can argue with that. I'm just worried that Arteta's going to hear that and just be like, hold my heel. they're going to start competing on this sort of stuff it's a very sort of it's a very sort of LinkedIn type chat obviously and you see this type of Jake Humphrey style person thinks that any sort of wordplay is immediately deep and kind of you know that there's wisdom to mine in this bad wordplay and it just it just isn't really there is it certainly not in this case a lot of footballers do listen to those kind of podcasts yeah they do so I mean it might work well Eddie Howe's that but lighter isn't he yeah I suppose so but surely they get that from a podcast you don't want that from your manager.

19:54Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. You know what I'm saying? You don't want to listen to your two-hour podcast and then come in and Diary of Rosinia's spouting off there in the changing rooms, you know? Yeah. Yeah, well, Chelsea are hosting Brentford on Saturday at 3pm. As I say, Liam Rosinia's first Premier League game in charge of Chelsea. There's reportedly a virus in the Chelsea squad. A virus? Yes, in terms of illness, there's not some sort of... Oh, it's not deleting data. Yeah, the Millennium Bug's not coming back. I've lost all my PowerPoints. Oh, no. Liam says. Oh, we've lost all these files. Oh, damn!

20:24Oh, I saw from the Abramovich. Oh, God! To be fair, though, if it was a case of losing Liam Razine's PowerPoints, that's happened by design. Yeah, sure. And to be fair, I mean, they've self-reported all the stuff that they were doing wrong in the Abramovich era anyway. Yeah, well, yeah, they have. They have, haven't they? I'll stop there in case we get investigated. Look, Chelsea at home to Brentford, they obviously beat Cheltenham under Liam Rossini. That was a bit of a gimme. They lost to Arsenal. Got away. I mean, we were talking, weren't we, David, on Reacts? They kind of got away with a 3-2 loss.

20:59Could have been more. They took their chances very well, though. And they had moments in the game. And also, they were missing a lot of players and by all accounts had the shit. So, yes, there are positives to take. Take a 3-2 loss when you got that second leg. It's all a mule. Yeah, too much mule. That's what it is. But something that's quite interesting coming out of the Chelsea camp at the moment, it's been reported that Enzo Fernandes is considering his Chelsea future after apparently being hurt by Enzo Maresca's exit. I didn't mean to say he chinned him on the way out, but he was obviously a fan of the man.

21:28Named after him. Yeah, exactly, yeah. Liam Fernandes, reporting for duty, sir. Liam Huell Fernandes. I'm ready for work. He did excel under Maresca, one might say Fernandes. PSG are interested, of course they are. But at the moment, he's still a Chelsea player but I mean that would be an extraordinary one Jim because he is such an important player for them I think he's quite an emotionally led guy though isn't it you see that in the way he plays and the way he kind of speaks in post matches sometimes so I think that it might be something that passes it is also something I suppose that Blueco are going to have to think about a bit more long term with the amount of churn that they have with players in particular I think probably unsettles the squad really really regularly I mean they've got pre-agreements for five signings already for the summer and obviously some of those are youth players and they'll be loaned out and sold on and all that stuff but I think you've got these kind of these big marquee players in the Chelsea team we talk about it quite a lot like Caissado and Fernandes and Palmer and a few others but if they feel that the ambition of the club isn't necessarily gonna lead them to challenge for a title anytime soon because they seem to be kind of more interested in this all this other kind of stuff in terms of how they play the transfer market maybe you might might start thinking if I've got a chance to go to PSG now and start winning things and have a proper crack at the Champions League maybe this is a good time to do it so it's I mean this is probably around the time in the cycle of their ownership that's going to start to be an issue so they're going to have to do some work to dispel that feeling but that's the worry for a lot of Chelsea fans is this is not a destination anymore it's a stepping stone really signing younger players and then selling them off Marescu one of his frustrations was not buying players who were ready to challenge for titles so look, this is only just a rumour at the moment, obviously the January transfer window just popped open but there it is but this is a concern for a lot of Chelsea fans, David, that they're not signing oven-ready Premier League winners or those who are known to have won league titles or definitely can contribute, it's all potential, potential, potential Yeah, it doesn't feel you look around the Premier League, right Every team you can name three or four cornerstone players or they absolutely wouldn't sell them.

23:49I look at Chelsea and I think, who would they not really sell? Who is absolutely nailed on in that club as their spine? You'd probably say Rhys James, right? Parma, maybe Cucurea. I think they'd take off as a parma. I was about to say that. And look, he hasn't performed well for quite a while in any of the systems that they're playing. It's going to be very key for Rossini to get the best out of him. I'd definitely see him being on the block in the summer if they got a decent offer. Isn't that more to do with his injuries though? Because he's had this kind of repetitive groin strain that they're not quite sure how to manage.

24:18I think his injuries, and then I think the system that he was playing with Mareska didn't really get the best out of a number 10. I think it played, and I can't really see Resenius being like the same, like different, sorry, where it gets the best out of them. So it would be interesting to see. I'm not too sure. But it's a hard one with Chelsea. And like I say, the turnover of players is astonishing. And when do they get settled? I don't know. and you can see why the fans are unhappy. And there's another protest this weekend as well. Exactly this, exactly the ownership, exactly this model. Strasbourg, the other Bluecore club, they've got a protest this weekend as well.

24:51So Bluecore is going to really cop this weekend. Well, they're very unpopular. I mean, you can hear it from the away end whenever Chelsea travel, obviously the home fans as well when they're at the bridge. They are singing anti-Bluecore stuff the whole time, the whole bloody time. So it's a bit of a mess there. They're reportedly prepared to sign a defender in January though, Peter, with that defence, you would hope for their sakes that they would. Yeah, I mean, but who are they going to go for? Well, the Michael, the Michael, the Michael, the Michael, the Michael, the Michael, who did he used to play for again?

25:23Oh, yes, he was on Chelsea books as well at one point. I mean, they really do miss Colwell as well. You forget that he's a long-term injury, but yeah, I mean, who do they sign? All eyes will be on Mark Gay. Or maybe they'll bring Axel Dezazi out of the bomb squad. Well, would he go? What do you go? I mean, this is a big move for him, isn't it? What, from the bomb squad to the Chelsea first team? No, I don't. I mean, Mark Gay. Yeah, but that would be more unlikely, I think, that Mark Gay would go there. The situation with Gay at Palace, though, if they sell him in January, they'll get a fee. They won't do it come the summer.

25:53So I think everyone knows that they can tempt Gay away, although Glasner may well stand in the way of that. I know that much was made about the summer when Glasner said, if you sell him, then I'm off. Glasner's kind of denied that. Yeah, he also said as well, essentially, if the price is right, they'll have no choice but to consider it. So, you know, that suggests that he's available, doesn't it? It would be a sickness, especially when Newcastle wafted, what, 65 million or something like that? Previously. Did part of his medical for Liverpool as well. Maybe he's just a tease. A medical tease. Maybe that's what he just loves.

26:28I don't know. For the player, you imagine if you're going to make a move, you may as well do it in the summer because you get more money, don't you? Yeah. Quite possibly. yes quite possibly well Chelsea yeah they may well look at him but they may not they may say sign not really the profile exactly yeah I was going to say there's probably a 21 year old centre back in Portugal or somewhere like that who they can bring in yeah because I think if Gay signed for them they wouldn't loan him out and they bloody love a loan out don't they Jamal LaSalle's free there you go season Premier League pro well Liam Rossini plans to hold talks with the Chelsea Bomb Squad members including Axel de Sassi who he said he really likes but again you know I don't think he's going to go is that a loser all of these all of these kind of bomb squad guys would be a statement to bring them back wouldn't it which I like the anger that the Chelsea fans have displayed online and in the forums and stuff makes me want this to work for Liam for young Liam but I'm fearful that because of the way that they acquire footballers it's not going to work for them Raheem Sterling's also in the Bombscourt lest we forget he's just been taken from our conscience he'll be back when he buys a house to be fair from what I've read about this and obviously you take certain things with a pinch of salt he did have offers from London clubs for loans in the summer but he wanted a permanent move and I think it got to the point where there were so many transfers happening he just essentially slipped down the list of priorities and didn't manage to get done which is surprising because he's on a huge amount of money there 300 grand a week which is so much to just be parking essentially isn't it so he's obviously being quite particular about where he wants to go which is completely understandable given that it's his career and his life but yeah surely you would think something could get done this month well Fulham were interested in for a while that'd be a great move for him well you would think yeah but now like I think last summer after not an underwhelming loan spell at Arsenal yeah to say the least but he'd been playing football not a huge amount but still yeah but not nothing more than this Yeah, who's going to take a chance on Raheem Sterling other than, you know, Wrexham?

28:35Do you know what I mean? You know, that would be great for the documentary. It would actually, wouldn't it? But, you know, he's a Premier League player still, despite having not played for a while. I mean, I think, was it Napoli and maybe even like, I want to say Bayern or something. It was a big German club that were interested. Clearly, as you say, he wanted to stay in London. So, it's just so sad to see a player who's produced so much over the years just be doing nothing. It's bad enough. He played a lot of football very early. Exactly, yeah. He was playing regularly from 16. He's had his rest.

29:06He's ready to go. He's had a little siesta. That's how his agent will be saying it. He's well rested. This fixture, Chelsea v Brentford, is actually a really fascinating one because Brentford are top of the form table. Chelsea are 16th in that. Brentford are fifth. Yeah, and obviously, you know, that is potentially a little bit of a false position because of how tight the middle of the league is on points. But obviously, they currently sit fifth on merit. So I'm really intrigued to see how this one goes, particularly because obviously they've got that absolute weapon in Michael Keogh's long throw.

29:36Chelsea have conceded four goals from long throws this season, which is a lot. And obviously something Rosini is going to have to fix. And this is a massive test of that straight away. But, I mean, you know, Brentford were being tipped as relegation candidates before the season started. And they've just thrived. They've been so, so good. Well, you've earned Thiago up front. Yeah. And Kevin Sharder as well. Yeah, they are. But Brentford, if you said to anybody, after 21 games, Brentford will be fifth in the table, they'll have, I think, the fifth best goal difference in the league. They're one of the highest scoring teams in the league.

30:09No one would have believed you. Immune to penalties. Yeah, exactly. No one would have believed you, David, would they? No, absolutely not. Remarkably good season. When everybody was saying, oh, who are outside of the promoter clubs go down, Brentford were a lot of people's picks, along with Wolves, I think. But yeah, they've been fantastic. And I tell you what, I found Thiago, watching that Arsenal-Chelsea game midweek and looking how Chelsea's centre-backs were, I'm licking my lips and saying I can absolutely batter these and have a real go at them. Especially if they've got flu, which apparently I have.

30:35Absolutely. I'm saying it's flu. Let's go with that. And what about your ex-Sunderland man, Jordan Henderson? Yeah. Back to the league. He's done all right. He has. He's done all right. Yeah, but I mean, the game that they play really suits him. It doesn't aggressively ask too much from him. he just gets to sit dictate play stroke it about keep it simple keep it tidy it's ideal for him on this sort of form he might get himself into the World Cup squad so he can go out and fix the political situation in the US there you go and I'd back him to do it oh Jordan he had his chance to go back didn't he I mean he had his chance and he wanted to go to one that would a team that he thought would get him back in the squad as long as they're playing Red and White Stripes yeah good point you see it's an excellent point it's an excellent point thank you very much that's alright now before we go for a break I want a little update on Jamie Vardy how he's getting on in Italy we remember that he won I think it was the November player of the month in Serie A he scored a handful of goals there he's doing pretty well well one of his teammates Romano Floriano Mussolini has been talking about playing with Jamie Vardy at Cremonese don't worry everybody this doesn't involve political opinions and young Romano said of Vardy, Jamie Vardy, he drinks a fair amount of Red Bull.

31:58We have a fridge the height of a person that's full of Red Bull. I think he drinks it every day but he manages brilliantly. When he trains, it seems like he's much younger. It's good to see that whatever situation, wherever you put Vardy, he's Jamie Vardy. You can always get a Red Bull wherever you are. I love that he specified the size of a person because that makes it sound like it's the shape of a person. Like the Pammy bottle. used to get with the virgin caller back in the 90s. Or one of those medieval torture devices with the spikes in it, but it's just full of Red Bull. There used to be a Roman sort of energy drink slash drink that peasants would drink.

32:36What, in ancient Rome? Yeah, it removed scurvy, which is vinegar and water. I can imagine Vardy getting water. Vinegar and water. Bringing back Posca. Straight to the gladiatorial arena, which is where Cremendays play the home games, presumably. but he's great though at the age was he 39 yeah it's remarkable let's talk of he's having a great time out there let's talk of like a year extension maybe yes please I'd love that though because like you think about him could it presumably he would have had offers from like Saudi or somewhere like that you go to what is a you know a smallish Serie A sign they love him there come on bloody love it on the plane right coming up after this Big Dunk has been playing with fire

33:34We'll be right back.

33:51Harder on both clubs. Flies. Yeah. Locusts. Just everything that can go wrong will go wrong in this match. We should say at the time of recording, Spurs are 13 points above West Ham in the league. So Spurs will be favourites for this game. They will be favourites. Would you trust them to put West Ham away? On this form, yes. I'm sad to say yes. On West Ham's form, yes. That's the crucial bit here. I mean, it would probably do for Frank if West Ham could win this, right? Well, I did one of them. Which is massive motivation for West Ham. It is. I did wonder that, Jim. But the club look as... No one's ever safe, but to do it at the start of January to then try and get some...

34:29Because they may not have a replacement. Yeah, I suppose there's various complications involved with that. I can't believe this one's not on TV. I mean, it's so sort of riddled with tension and anxiety. It'll be like watching an episode of Squid Game. And we're not going to get to see that. Yeah, this is an absolutely fascinating encounter. It's more about... You feel like when teams are in the form that these two are in, you're frightened of losing more than you are, you know, kind of addressing winning. Spurs can't take that. Well, we've been saying this all season, that their approach at home, David, has been too cautious.

35:04So you're going to play on the front foot. Surely this game, I mean, it's there for the taking for them. Yeah, it is. I know they've been crap, but West Ham have been a lot crapper. Of course. But like at home, anything can happen with them. that's the issue and look I don't think Frank is suddenly going to change now he's got his principles rightly or wrongly a lot of people on this podcast think wrongly that's fair he's going to stick to them I think 20 minutes in if they're not winning the crowd's going to get on their back aren't they set pace as a bust as usual pretty much well Luke's made that point he likes to secretly go and watch Spurs every now and then and he said that they're ready to go always the Spurs crowd this is going to be the epitome of it because this is a North London derby is always a spicy affair they don't want to lose it blah blah blah but any Spurs fan would admit Arsenal are a lot better than Spurs right now as they have been so often throughout recent history indeed this game is totally different yeah I think if you're Tottenham from kick-off you pass it back to Mickey van der Ven you give him the opportunity to run through the entire West Ham team just to shit them up you've got to block them off yeah exactly and he'll probably get some joy and then you just let their anxiety take care of the rest and then he'll do his hamstring.

36:20And then he'll go in a scrap with fans as Spurs players do. Much has been made of Connor Gallagher's move to Spurs and it has been confirmed he's never missed a game through injury. That's amazing. This is really going to test that, isn't it? This will test him. He's got through training with Simeone to get on the Spurs torture rack. Yeah, right. Do you think he'll start? It would be a good sideshow to distract everyone from all of the other stories. Or maybe at least feature. Yeah, feature. I think they'll ease him in. He's not used to starting. Letty didn't start that much. He was a little bit here and there.

36:54Yeah, I was going to say, I think they'll ease him in. But I don't really get the signing personally. Do you not think he... In terms of why did Gallagher choose to go there or in terms of how Spurs play and all that kind of stuff? All of those things. Right. But how they play could change because people aren't saying Frank's going to be in the job long. I think a lot of them would like it to change. But go on, David, I asked you a question. He's just another player who doesn't progress the ball. He just runs around. They need people who can progress the ball. Yeah, but the running around does help.

37:26I know, but it's without coordination with Conor Gallagher. It's just running around for the sake of running around. Is that a touch harsh? I mean, I think he's a better player than that, isn't he? I don't think he's that good. Really? I really don't think he's that good, yeah. How do you feel he did at Atletico? They didn't rate him at all. The pit bull, they called him? Yeah. heart away. And it was Pitbull's birthday yesterday. He's more like a Labrador, isn't he? I love how they feed these little stories to us and we eat them and go, oh yeah, race player abroad. Yeah. They've really seen how good our running team can be.

37:54Did you hear that as well? Did you hear that? Pitbull's birthday today. He snuck that one in yesterday. No, I was going to do a big thing at the end but, you know, I've let the cat out the back. Clearly, he wasn't a starter that much. He always came on. Simeone had value in, you know, he obviously the player had value to Simeone. He was legs. Yeah. That's why he came on. He was legs. He was a bit energy later on. He's got legs. He knows how to use them. He's got lovely legs. Lovely legs. Yeah, look, I know you're trying to get him on the plane and everything, but yeah, I just don't think. Big plane.

38:27Big plane these days. A lovely plane. Lovely big plane. You can load the baggage onto the plane if you want. I'd allow that. Sneak myself in one of the bags. Well, okay. We may well see Conor Gallagher feature in this game. We may not. well Tottenham have made some staff changes although Thomas Frank at the time of recording is still there that's the big one but he's appointed John Heitinger Arna Slott's former number two at Liverpool as his new assistant so he's a glutton for punishment clearly I mean I know that West Ham have added to Nuno's coaching staff as well they've appointed Paco Hemmes as their new first team coach David you're a fan of Olpaco big fan absolute character go on tell us about him he's just very strong on his principles he likes his gung-ho football always unbelievable value in press conferences with the Spanish media as well so I'm not too sure how his English is or whether he'll even get a chance to speak to the media but if West Ham are in the situation that they are right now he will be a brilliant character to have on the training ground interesting so I think that'll be a lift for everyone because he'll just come out with some mad stuff and the footballer he likes and just the intensity that he brings I think it'll go down really well at West Ham but he's been a number one before hasn't he for a long time He's been a number one nearly all of his career.

39:40Yeah, over 500 matches he's managed. So how come now he wants to be a number one? Sorry, number two or whatever in the coaching staff. I'm honestly not too sure. I haven't heard about him much in the past few years, but he became famous with Rayo Vallecano in just a very small club with limited resources, and he just had them playing this unbelievable swashbuckling football, no matter who they played or no matter where they went. I'm not saying West Ham are going to suddenly start playing that, but it's more about... for the big job? Could be. Yeah, maybe. Just hovering around. Be interesting.

40:12I know in Italy and Spain, David, managers are often known as the mister. Is there an equivalent of that for the number two? The missus. No, I can't really think of a term like now for an assistant. Fair enough. Yeah, fair enough, eh? Well, he's bald and with beard, just like Nuno. So that'll be nice to see. The guess who luck. It's the modern guess who luck of the modern football manager. Yeah, it is a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fair enough. Right then, let's return our attention to Aston Villa versus Everton Sunday at 4.30 Jack Grealish returns to Villa Park he is available again after serving a one match suspension for being sent off against Wolves he was sent off for a second yellow gym for applauding sarcastically at the referee I saw it I enjoyed it referees don't like sarcasm they don't do they well they've got a very serious job to do they need their authority next to automated offsides yeah this is a horrendous time to play Villa just because it's at home and that's always horrendous their form is such that I think this might be a rough afternoon for Jack Grealish Everton have been very sort of patchy lately haven't they well Villa's form is I mean obviously they go well but you could say they've won four of the last six or you could say they've only won one of the last three but I mean at home they've been very very good at home yes I've seen they're in for a Tammy Abraham Marcus that's an interesting one Villa are they really?

41:26yeah I saw this too they're quite keen on them coming back he's great for them exactly yeah I think that's 2018 yeah except that's we were all good back then I mean maybe the idea is he'll come in and he'll be an understudy to Watkins in a way that won't make Watkins completely lose his mind. Which has been a problem for them in the past. Kind of a John Durant series. That was bizarre. Very strange. Well, I mean, I suppose if he's there for the getting, I mean, he's at Besiktas on loan from Roma at the moment. He's scored a few goals. I mean, well, he knows the club. It's the Turkish league, Marcus.

42:00What's wrong with that? I'll just say it's the Turkish league. Andy Brassel's come looking for you after this podcast. It's literally weird. We have angered Brasel. It's the Turkish Super League. Super League. It's that bad. It wouldn't have that title, would it? Think about it. Think about it. But you're right, Jim. Everton have not been on a good run of form. They've only been on one of the last six Premier League matches. All that kind of excitement at the start of the season with Everton and some of their new shiny signings and whatnot, it's kind of plateaued off a little bit of late. Yeah, very much so.

42:27They're finding goals harder to come by, aren't they? They've had a couple of shellackings at home as well. So I think David Moyes needs to kind of maybe go back to basics again. And let's be honest, he's very, very good at that. He needs to act as if he's been sacked and then rehired, but at the same club and then just give himself a little new manager bounce. They are struggling with goals, David. They've only scored one goal more than Burnley and West Ham, not put together. They've scored 23 goals so far in the league this season. Yeah, Beto and Barry are a tough watch. Barry's got a bit better, hasn't he?

43:00but it's not by a huge amount. They're both really struggling, very laboured. They were linked with Yusuf and Naziri. Oh yeah, yeah. That would be a solid. Moroccan striker, 20 million. And you know what I mean? I wouldn't say his career has been particularly prolific but he's got a bit more about them than those two I think. And actually I think would be a good sign and you can score a few goals for them. That would be good. Yeah. Well, one of their former strikers, Duncan Ferguson, has been the subject of some chat that Pat Nevin was having recently. And he revealed that he once stopped Big Dunk setting a hotel on fire.

43:35While on Scotland duty, Nevin found Big Dunk standing outside a hotel room preparing to light an enormous wooden cabinet with a match. Ali McCoy and Ian Durand were inside the room. When asked what he was doing, Big Dunk said, I'm going to smoke them out. They're taking the piss out of me. I thought you were going to say they're inside the cabinet. I agree with the logic there because I think they do deserve everything they get there because, I mean, they clearly need a lesson about how to deal with Duncan Ferguson. Well, not like that. Yeah, Nevin's retort within that was, but what if they don't get out, Duncan?

44:10He hadn't thought far ahead enough to the bit where he might kill them. What if there are records in the cabinet, Duncan? Yeah, another quote he said, because I read the same article, Nevin, was, I'm a big student of extreme personalities and Big Dunk was definitely an interesting study. I'm going to ask you for a prediction, David. What do you think? Aston Villa versus Everton. Aston Villa, 3-1, 3-0. Love it that you gave me that. He scores as well. I like that. Not just an Ackerbuster. Just doing the proper ones. Peter, let's build from this. Who's going to score the Aston Villa goals? Who's going to score the Aston Villa goals?

44:43I think it's going to be... Yep. Morgan Rodgers. Morgan Rodgers. Ollie. Ollie. Dwight York. Yeah, Dwight York. It's going to be Dwight York. And Jim, how are the goals going to go in? Steve Storms from the header from a corner Juan Pablo Angel screamer from range and a Gareth Barry penalty lovely love that and I'll and Big Dunk nods in a consolation goal gentlemen before we go I want to turn our attention briefly to some World Cup happenings of course this summer this is bad news for Scotland fans bad news it's not to do with the list of countries that are currently banned from entering or the people from those countries banned from entering to the US because Haiti is one of them so the atmosphere could be pretty piss poor I mean Scotland fans will drum up a good atmosphere but they'd rather some opposition fans to sort of sing along with and all that kind of stuff but the bad news for Scotland fans really is that America has banned Buckfast oh this is outrageous I mean apparently it's because of the caffeine content apparently there's loads of caffeine in Buckfast which I didn't know that's why people go absolutely loopy with it yeah that's probably it isn't it it's amazing because the US has known as well for being so healthy with their foods and drinks as well You can buy Kratom at the gas station.

45:59Peter, you can buy guns. You can buy guns. Yeah, but you still need to fill in a form. But you can literally buy pet pills. Sorry, I forgot about the form. I forgot about that impenetrable red tape. Last time I was in Texas, I did go to gun range. And I had a magnum in my hand after handing over my provisional driving licence. I mean, it's just good stuff. It wasn't the chocolatey villainous treat that you wanted, was it? No, it wasn't, no. Bastards. well have they banned Buck Fizz though that's the big question that would be more refreshing wouldn't it in that heat yeah sugar and orange juice you wanted to push back on that I do because it's because it's bubbly right and that's quite that's always quite headachy I think I'd would I rather drink Buck's Fizz or Buckfast in the sun I'll get back to your mission we'll save this one for uncut I'll do some I'll do some experiments this week if we can get a sponsor and send you out there that is an investigation worth having Jim will drink it coming soon a sequel to the other oh no better not right Jack's Encyclopedia is happening Jack's is back everybody Marcus vs Jim vs David this will be available to you later today make sure to subscribe in the Football Ramble in your podcast app so you do not miss it Jack's Encyclopedia where we're going to play our lovely old game of categories and then after that the weekend will officially open and we can say happy birthday to Pitbull belated birthday for yesterday Until then Thanks for listening to The Football Ramble Part of the Acast Creator Network Thank you very much Jim Campbell Thank you Thank you Peter Donaldson Oh Anthony Gordon's Lost his ponytail By the way Thank you David Cartridge Thank you And thank you Bucks Fizz The band Not the drink

47:45The Football Ramble Is a Stack production And part of the ACAST Creator Network.