The Preview Show: Ramble wave

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4:41Pete Donaldson: These are the words I manifest, everybody. Welcome to the Football Apple Preview Show. Sunderland need a win, and could Man United get another? It's Friday, 6th of November. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Luke Moore. I'm Pete Donaldson. And I'm Vinicius Hantaraja. Spotless, that.

5:05Pete Donaldson: Yes, it's Friday! Woo! Party and party and yeah! Oh, it's Firework Friday. Yeah. Is that a day? That's not a day. Is that like when you... Guy Fawkes Night is a thing. That was last night. I know, but this is the Friday. So, Guy Fawkes Night. Yeah, a little bit of action last night. Bang! In the sky. Kaboom! But when it's close to the weekend. Look up your dogs. Lock up your veterans. Yeah. Can't do that. Can't lock them up. Unless they want to be locked up. They're the ones that suffer the most. The technology exists to have far quieter fireworks, but they don't get developed for some reason.

5:38Oh, what? Is that true? Yeah.

5:40Pete Donaldson: Oh, well there's chat that this could be the last noisy Guy Fawkes night. I hope so, because I think it's ridiculous. It is quite ridiculous. How are they going to police that? I love going to seek... How are they going to police that? Just let it happen. I love going to waste ground to buy fireworks off a man in a sea container. I love it. Why is it a sea container? I don't know. They're just always around the Essex area. It's always a bloke in a sea container.

6:04Marcus Speller: Sounds perfectly normal and legal. There's nothing wrong with these fireworks. Why are you sending them out the sea container? That's what I'll be saying. Why have you asked me if I was followed? Do I want to see the Chinese stuff? The real deal. Ironically, they're bigger than drones, so they don't need them anymore. No, they don't. A drone is a great display and wouldn't have the noise with it. I think a load of drones is probably quite loud as well. Sounds like a chopper for those veterans. Might take them right back to the war. Do the drone impression again. That's a drone, isn't it? Actually, one effective way of getting a drone out of the sky would be a firework.

6:40Marcus Speller: Good point, actually, yeah. Is it ground to air firework? Okay, so next Garvox night, a big battle between fireworks and drones. There can only be one winner. And then from then on we do that. And then the next year we commemorate the anniversary of that. And we'll just take it forward and see what happens.

6:57Pete Donaldson: Remembrance Sunday, of course, is this weekend. Poppies versus what? Scaffolders. Scaffolders. Poppies versus scaffolders versus drones. It's always scaffolding companies that have got poppies everywhere. I don't know why. A hell of a Jackson's on the Peter. Marcus, what were the last words Pete said before we started recording? The first half of this show is way too long. Correct. Way too long. Completely agree. Oh, I've got four stories about scaffolders. You brought in the scaffolders. I didn't mention them. Just little mentions. Little mentions. It's also England Friday. We'll get to that in due course.

7:30Pete Donaldson: But we've got some big news to start the show. We've got our annual nomination for the best football podcast at this year's FSA Awards in. Remarkably. How about that? I'm still here. I thought we had to hand it back. No, no, no. Keep that one. That bit of resin's got 24 on it. They don't need 2024 and the current one. What we'll do is, if we don't win the next one, we'll get a little piece of paper and put a six over the four. That's what we'll do. Yeah, we were delighted. Genuinely, we were delighted to win the award back in 2024. You fucked the trophy. I pretended to hump it. Let's get that clear.

8:01Pete Donaldson: There's no point of insertion on that trophy. Despite repeated requests, I believe. I found out much to my disappointment. But we want to get our hands on more silverware. And that's what that is. winning is like a drug we want more of it, a very good and healthy drug I should say

8:19Marcus Speller: we love drugs, give us some resin

8:22Pete Donaldson: but we need your help we need your help of course so stop what you're doing right now click the link in the show notes and go vote for us in the best podcast category at this year's FSA Awards look the main motivation surely to do this is it really genuinely annoys the Guardian if they lose. Because they win it every year. Exactly. It's a big badge of honour for them. It is. I'll give you my word. What camera am I? That one. I'll give you my word. If we win it this year, I will get it. I will lube it up and I'll shove it right up Peaks Derek. That's a shame, isn't it? We did see in... We agreed earlier we'd do that.

9:00Marcus Speller: And you said it had to be in the second half of the show. Every vote counts, Peter.

9:06Pete Donaldson: Look at the recent midterms in the United States of America. Every vote counts. Luke's a real James Talafrico. Let's have a green wave. Let's not have a blue wave. Let's have a green wave. Let's have a ramble wave. A ramble wave. There they are. Click the link in the show notes and do vote for us. Right, enough of all that bollocks. Let's talk about some actual football. Sunderland versus Chelsea is happening on Sunday at 2pm. One of those teams is in Europe. One of them isn't. One of them's in the relegation zone. Another one is not. Sunderland, of course, lost last night to Dinamo Zagreb at home in the Europa League.

9:41Pete Donaldson: Their first loss in the Europa League and the Europa League was a bit of a holiday for them, Vish, thus far because their form in the Premier League has been piss poor. The boos at half-time and at full-time. It's looking bad for Sunderland.

9:54Marcus Speller: Yeah, yesterday was an extension of why they've been so bad in the Premier League because it feels like after doing so well last season, they've gone away in the summer and just forgotten about each other and return have been like, were you here last season? I don't really remember. Were we mates? Did we get on? Yeah, they've lost all kind of camaraderie, it seemed. What made them great last season? Certainly intensively. Well, Dan Ballard, who's been injured as well. So that's obviously quite a big deal. But yeah, as you said, basically they're not doing any of the good things they did last season.

10:29Pete Donaldson: They don't seem to be working at all. They just seem to have a plan to, you know, the kid just lumps it up to Fafana, who is my height. Not the thing they're doing. I don't know whether it's the proposed takeover that might have distracted them, the ticketing debacle that's been really difficult for the fans. But, I mean, they were better second half last night, but they weren't any more industrious. They didn't seem to want to work any harder. They brought on some really slow fullbacks, and Xhaka was just losing the ball all the time. I just think he was trying to make too many things happen because nothing was happening.

11:01And they've kind of tossed away all of the good feelings that they had last season. They were good against Brentford. That's the only result I've seen recently. That was the league up, right? Yeah. But I just don't know why. They look completely unable to defend free kicks and they just can't score from more than players.

11:22Pete Donaldson: Yeah, I mean, it's such a far cry from last season. It's not like they've lost a lot of players. And, you know, like the key players who were in certain areas, you're going to have to kind of rip up the plan and start again. It was grounded on good, solid stuff last season. so you'd think that this season should be kind of more of the same but I don't know Luke I mean inertia I don't know I said on last week I said that the Coventry were all wrong for them like Coventry would exploit their weaknesses because they're not they've just not been very good in the fullback areas Coventry are really good through those areas and Coventry obviously won out fairly handy Do you feel like Coventry did to them what they were doing to other teams last season?

11:58I wanted to make this a personal point about me specifically I've got quite a lot of shit from some of them Don't interrupt him well done Luke Sorry Sorry, sorry, sorry. We are going to find room for things in the first half. We're definitely going to do that. Never interrupt your enemy when they're... Give it a big lick. And what happens sometimes in this job is that you say things that you observe to be, you know, what you've experienced and seen. And fans of that club, because they're unhappy about what's happening generally, they take it out on you. And that's basically what happens.

12:28Pete Donaldson: Is this why you've had an agenda against Spurs for the last few seasons? I mean, I go to Spurs as a tourist. As someone to... As a grief tourist. Going on Safari, basically. I've gone on Safari. Look at the way they're acting. Oh, they're so like us. They pick up their own crap. Am I going to see the big five? Am I going to see... James Madison, no. Sunderland fans don't pick up their own crap. But the interesting thing is, joking aside, it's not all about me, but if you want to tell what you think about me, just put it in the comments. The fans do seem to have turned on what's happening. It was vocal last night, wasn't it?

13:03As you mentioned, I was browsing a couple of Sunderland fan forums as well and there's a minority of fans who appear to be saying look, give him a chance to turn it around, he's earned the right, you know, the fact that we're in the Europa League, we're still in the Premier League, it's basically down to Le Brice, we should at least give him to the derby. And then other people are saying, you're crazy saying that, I mean, because they don't play in the derby for a good while yet and that's a long old time to give him a chance given there's so many fixtures that have already gone by without us picking up enough points.

13:31I mean, because if you look at, I've got it in front of me here, they play Newcastle at St. James' Park on the 6th of December. So quite a decent way away still.

13:39Pete Donaldson: You've got an international window, obviously. True. It doesn't look great for them. It doesn't. And I think, you know, a game against Chelsea is going to be tough as well. Just chiefly because some of the things Pete said, although, by the way, Pete, on the record, you said you thought something would be coming to you. So I'll put that in there as well. That's all right. That's fine. Fine. We also love stuff. Yeah, it's true. I mean, we could get AI to just sort of, you know, tally it all up. So I'm pretty confident. That's a very bad thing. I mean, you got the result of a football match wrong.

14:03Pete Donaldson: Have a look at yourself. Exactly. Yeah, a lot of those players went on the pitch knowing exactly what was going to happen as well. That's the worst thing. The tricky thing for Sunderland now is, with that international break coming, thank goodness, it's the classic time to change managers. You give them a bit of time, and we know all that. But right now, they're still well placed in Europe. They've done okay. Even in the Premier League. If they win, they almost certainly get out of the relegation spot. Yeah, exactly. Certainly bottom of the league anyway. So that is the point. But they're not going to.

14:36That is the tricky thing.

14:38Pete Donaldson: Do you give him time to get this situation turned around? Because right now, it's okay, because it's still very early days and all those other cliches. But the problem is you get into the Christmas period and if not much has changed, then it's like, oh, crap. And you think about the January transfer window coming and all that. So I think the owners will be having a good long, hard think about this because right now it really is quite bad at Sunderland.

15:06Marcus Speller: Yeah, he's also going to be a victim of circumstance, really, because both the timing of this international break ahead of the winter run of games, which will come thick and fast, and so it really feels like this is the most sensible time to make a change, even if you're unsure. and at the same time it's a little bit different to say the Manchester United Michael Carrick situation in that there are far more people who would be capable qualified for that Sunderland job to get them out of the bottom three for example than say replacing Carrick at Manchester United and that's what LaBris is going to have to deal with

15:45Pete Donaldson: Yeah and it's a great shame that we have to talk like this but this is the modern era in the Premier League It's also about what your anxiety is

15:51Marcus Speller: and if you're a Sunderland fan are you worried about you know your status in Europe or your status in the Premier League. It's the Premier League every day of the week, especially...

16:00Pete Donaldson: And that's the sad reality of it. But it's been like this for years, it's nothing new.

16:03Marcus Speller: And especially in the league season where the annoying thing, and I can say this as a team, you know, supporting a team who are 17th in the table, all the perverted teams have been too good. Yeah, that has been annoying. What happened to this chat? I heard a lot about a chain last week. Where is it? Where are the links gone? And the gap between, the gap between getting bigger every season. Yeah. The gap between the Champions and the Premier League gets bigger every season. He also just looks, I mean, I just think Lebris also, from what I saw around the Coventry game, and then again last night, he just cuts quite a beleaguered figure now.

16:32He looks like he's a bit kind of bleh.

16:34Pete Donaldson: But that first half last night, the way they were, do you know what, it felt like a bit of a throwback to back in the day when a side turn up, particularly from that region. And you know nothing about them. And you know nothing about them. And suddenly the first goal flies in absolute beauty. And the second goal, the set up and the finish, and you're like, oh my goodness, who are these? And you get to know some of their players at the big tournament. Hungary England at Wembley in the 50s. What, England were beating 6-3 by Hungary, so I'm actually... Yeah, I've still got nightmares about that.

17:01Marcus Speller: Even though I wasn't alive. Wheeled off the score, just off the top of the...

17:04Pete Donaldson: Do you know what the funny thing about that was? It's like, we weren't ready, we'll replay you. And nobody knows about the match they then played sort of fairly soon after, when Hungary won 7-1. So a poor score on Aguirre. You think, basically, it's going to be... That's going to be that for Le Brice, is that what you're saying? It's going to be tough for them to get a result against Chelsea, and then it does really become about timing, doesn't it? I mean, I just... The purist in me sort of thinks, come on, surely he can turn this around just because of what he did last season, you know? But unfortunately, that's not the way it is.

17:37Pete Donaldson: But look, they've got Chelsea on the weekend and it's a tall order, especially with Esteval, if he's going to be playing like that. Chelsea, hopeful that he's going to be signing the contract extension soon. We're full of praise for him, for his performance against Manchester United. and I'll tell you what, if he's unleashed against Sunderland, surely he'll have a lovely old time.

17:54Marcus Speller: The thing about Esteval that I think he showed, of all people, Xabi Alonso against Manchester United, was you can still try and push for control and push for more solidity, even though they were torn apart a little bit in that first half against Manchester United. But having someone who A, works hard, and B, can do things off the cuff is always a good thing.

18:18Pete Donaldson: Yeah, no, I just wonder if he starts him, because there was chat about should he have started well back up top with Palmer and Rodgers. What will he do with that sort of combination?

18:27Marcus Speller: I feel like especially with Sunderland in this kind of headspace, you would want to, wouldn't you? Especially if you can get them pushed further back. And I suppose with the absence of Ballard, but also with their fragility in defence, then playing well back to expose that is probably the easiest route to getting away. We'd hope that Estevelle would start. I feel like Luke spoke really well about him after the United game and yourself about just how exciting he is and how much fun he brings to any game of football, but also his value to the people around him as well. So, I mean, I imagine. I hope he would start.

19:08He's also a percussionist like you, Vish.

19:10Marcus Speller: Yeah, he's a drummer. He is, yeah. Is he? Yeah, good. That's a chance to get a bit of a tie-in, a bit of a YouTube tie-in. You and Estevelle. I reckon you're decent on the pots, Luke. I used to play drums at school. Oh, did you? I'm quite musical generally. You are? Yeah, yeah. I could turn my hand to it, I imagine, if I tried. Anyway, it's not about me. It's not about me. It's not about me.

19:30Pete Donaldson: Little insight into the soul there. Yeah. Sorry I brought up Vish being good at drums. No, Vish, do we see video footage of Vish? Or was it just a photo? I can't remember. He's the Keith Moon of the Ramble. The Keith Moon of the Ramble. Although that would probably be you, actually, Pete. Yeah.

19:44Marcus Speller: I was about to ask if he was a head case, and then you just said that. the Estabelle point I think is that he has probably made it impossible for him to be left out particularly given that João Pedro is unavailable your Welbeck point I'd take but I don't agree with because I think if you're Kevin Danzo and Michele at centre back for Sunderland you want to play Danny Welbeck because he's an authentic you know common or garden striker you know what you're going to get with him Estabelle's nightmarish to play against for so many different reasons

20:16Pete Donaldson: Well, it wasn't, yeah, I suppose you could say Welbeck or Esteval, but I'm saying would he put Rodgers? No, he would play Palmer or Rodgers in the middle of the three. Rodgers, probably. Yeah, and then obviously Esteval off the right, I suppose. But the point is that Esteval made himself impossible to ignore, and if it wasn't for the fact that he had an injury at a really opportune moment, he probably would have improved Brazil at the World Cup as well, which means he would have been, his stock would be even higher. He's, in terms of ability, I know he's raw, but with rawness comes a bit of unpredictability, which can be very helpful anyway.

20:50But in terms of ability, he's right up there. He's right up there. I don't see a world in which he is ignored for much longer, particularly in the environment where they want him to sign a contract. He's got to play.

21:02Pete Donaldson: Because if not, another side will come in. Of course. So I think he starts the game and I think he has an effect on it again. You know, he was very unlucky not to score or assist in... Did he assist? He didn't assist, did he? No, he was very lucky not to score or assist against Man Utd. He basically did everything but, didn't he? And I think he could have an absolute field day, as you guys have mentioned, at Sunderland, who look bereft of ideas. LeBris looks like he's really struggling to kind of reinvigorate that team and reinvigorate himself based on the kind of figure he cuts on the touchline.

21:33So it could be the nail in the coffin for LeBris' job this weekend. I think this is a nightmarish fixture for the reasons we've talked about. Chelsea can be got at, but some aren't really in a position to do that anyway. So it should go that way, I think.

21:47Pete Donaldson: Yeah. If we can stay in the North East for a little bit longer, chaps, did you see this story the other day? Newcastle United fullback Amar Dedic was spotted out and about as footballers, other people, but he was carrying a bow and arrow at Northumberland beauty spots. This is Sickenham or Gap all over again. Well, I did wonder. Is that in Northumberland, Pete? He's up that way. He's up that way. So yeah, he's just knocking around with a mate of his with a bow and arrow and members of the public started to spot this guy. Not too sure about this. There's an Austrian man. There's an Austrian Robin Hood running around.

22:26Pete Donaldson: Fast forward a little bit of time. Six patrol cars turned up. But quite wonderfully, so did Newcastle goalkeeper Mark Gillespie and former defender Paul Dummett arriving on the scene. Well, I don't know why Paul Dummett's there because he's lawns manager because he took Sean Amiobi's job he moved into a corporate affairs role lovely I think he's working with Peter Ramage as Lord Manager I love that I just hang around Newcastle United players you can watch your in Mark Gillespie he's not played a Premier League match ever in his Newcastle career he's been there for like seven years Gazza turn up with a chicken wild I just love that they just sort of roam around football is a crazy industry because you can pay 30 million actual pounds for a football player and he's going to possibly arrested, I don't know if he got arrested or not, but he's going to be subject of a news story for carrying a bow and arrow around a small Northumberland village.

23:17Yeah. £30 million asset. And they say Newcastle can't, you know, attract players because there's nothing to do up there for them. No, there is. Bow and arrows. There is.

23:26Pete Donaldson: I love the little passage in the article that said, it is understood that Dedich and his friend had fired some arrows while in the countryside, although it remains unclear what they were aiming at. At an apple or someone's head, obviously. They also said we understand the bow and arrow is for recreational use and there is no threat to the public. Just randomly fire arrows. But you're allowed to bow and arrow, aren't you? You've got to make sure you bring one of those kind of like straw targets with you as well, otherwise it just looks like you've gone mad. Yeah, in like the 1300s that would have been fine.

24:00Pete Donaldson: Maybe, yeah. I'm not sure. Dead it's the elf. It is illegal. So apparently, I looked this up and according to the Offensive Weapons Act of 2019... So, that recent? Yeah, 2019. Carrying or possessing a weapon is strictly regulated. Self-defense is not a legal reason to carry an offensive weapon. So I guess it's whether you decide that's an offensive weapon or not. But I remember when I worked at the sports shop back in the day, on a Saturday, and you weren't allowed to sell baseball bats unless the person bought a baseball as well. Brilliant. Oh yeah, that's a foolproof measure. Yeah, it absolutely is.

24:29Well, I get that ball as well, yeah. It was like that. I thought they would have stuffed this in their mouth, couldn't they? Because baseball was like a fiver.

24:36Pete Donaldson: There was a story up in, I'm going to say Glasgow, because I think it was when I was living in Scotland, it was like some bloke, there was a dog, I think a stray dog attacked a child, it was obviously quite a bad situation, and this bloke who was just walking along managed to get the dog off, the kid basically saved the child, he was whacking it with a baseball bat sort of thing, and he'd get off, get off. And he was seen as a local hero, and somebody just went, what was he doing walking around with a baseball at least he used it absolutely flourishing baseball league in the city last ago just played a game wasn't it just wanted to hit some balls

25:12Marcus Speller: pulled out a ball from his pocket oh carry on

25:15Pete Donaldson: that's fine that's absolutely fine oh he's bought he's purchased it legally yes indeed speaking of violence we must go to Brazil very quickly before we go for a break did you see recently a record breaking 53 red cards were handed out in a game in Brazil this week It was during an under-20s state championship game. The trouble started early in the second half when one of the sides, Uberlandia, their officials invaded the pitch after one of their players was sent off. The game had to be halted for 40 minutes. And then the other side, Mamore, is how the Italians would pronounce that, went on to win the game 3-1.

25:50Pete Donaldson: But it all kicked off when one of their players, Davi, taunted opposition players while celebrating. And we see that a lot in football. but sparking a brawl that led to 43 players and 8 members of coaching staff then being sent off as well as 2 members of the Uberlandia board is quite extreme I think we can all agree a bit of board member getting sent off is amazing that's incredible work but you know what though what togetherness oi if one goes we all go yeah yeah yeah true or is he like constantly doing it like 1, 2, 3, 4 or is he just do one big one so that everybody gets out it seems like it happened afterwards I like to think they all knew and they all walked before he did the red card have you seen the footage yes there's no fans there no which is mad But the foot I've been sent off I've got a few I've got a few comments around the footage Oh, but it's available people to watch online obviously is what one point is a bloke using a stretcher as a weapon Yeah, carry a massive unwieldy stretch Yeah, wave it around the first time I've seen that yeah innovation second is the at one point the dugout roof You see that from the footage the camera shots behind that I got was bouncing like literally two people shagging it The whole time no one's going on in there said off that you can't do that Yeah, the third point is I'm definitely if I'm the club but one of the clubs, I'm appealing a load of those reds.

26:56There's no way the referee's keeping up of all that. There's no way the referee, at some point he has to be guessing what's happening. He can't be seeing 53 separate offences. He can't be on his own.

27:06Pete Donaldson: I think you might make it worse if you appeal. Maybe. It's an absolute disgrace. Frivolous appeal so they get a longer back. You're telling me then. They don't have irrefutable evidence. Was it 53 or 51? We're at 53. Okay, so here's then. So 53, you telling me then, the referee, who's going to have to write up report by the way. Yeah, it's going to be able to do individual reports. He did it in the 40 minutes. He started it when they were still going. You've written Ratch reports. That's a bit of a bugger right at the end, isn't it?

27:33Marcus Speller: No, actually, because you could do with the free time. So the 40 minutes of the game stopping is brilliant. But there's no chance he's going to be able to do a detailed, accurate thing into every single one of the 53 red cards. The point I'm making. So if you sat around and you got astray just by sitting there or whatever, maybe he did a light bit of win-winning. True. You know, you could probably appeal it and be successful. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Maybe he just got a test for it. He just kept going.

27:56Pete Donaldson: That's my mother. If I was... Powerpoint presentation, right? That one's harsh. That one's harsh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I was Saul Goodwin, I'm definitely taking the case, is all I'm saying.

28:03Marcus Speller: I kind of lost my way when I read this story because when I saw that the previous record was 36, I thought, he didn't need to go that far above it. No, he didn't. And that's the record. Yeah. Carry on. The Duplantis, the Swedish... Mondo. Polvo. Yeah, yeah, the Polvo, yeah. Because you get a bonus so he just does it by an inch or centimetre every time. Just do that. You can get 37, then get 38 the next game in the second leg. You've got to write them up. You've got to write them all up. You don't want me doing that.

28:33Pete Donaldson: If anyone was wondering, the previous record of 36 was indeed during a fifth division game in Argentina. Please, I'm sitting down for that one.

28:45Pete Donaldson: You've got to love South America. Right, coming up after this, it's Goodbye Portugal for Cristiano Ronaldo.

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30:06Pete Donaldson: That's BetterHelp.com slash ramble.

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32:18Are you excited to get started? Don't push me. Doesn't look good. Doesn't look good being man-habbled by security, Eric. Man United, a big club.

32:29Pete Donaldson: Welcome back to the football ramble, everybody. That was, of course, Gary Cottrell being pushed by Eric Ten Hag's security when he was Manchester United manager. And yet, who's still working in English football? There we are. Who had the last laugh? That's what I want to know. Old GC. Before we get to Manchester United, Aston Villa, a quick heads up that we will be broadcasting Monday's Ramble Live on YouTube. Join us on the Football Ramble YouTube channel at 9.30am on Monday morning. It'll be a lovely old time. All right, everybody. Manchester United play Aston Villa on Sunday at 4.30. It's the big Super Sunday game.

33:04Pete Donaldson: Manchester United, can they build on that comeback against Roma at the very same stadium? That is the question on everyone's lips, Fish.

33:12Marcus Speller: Yeah, I mean, I don't think so. I said so after the Roma game, didn't I? I didn't necessarily see anything that suggested the start of a turnaround.

33:24Pete Donaldson: Not even the spirit. I mean, I get your point. In terms of purely on the pitch.

33:28Marcus Speller: The spirit, the thing that will carry through the spirit is the crowd and the fact that this is also at Old Trafford. and there must be some residual, much in the same way that the leaks are still there, there's a bit of residual atmosphere that can carry over and go well. But yeah, I don't know. I'm really intrigued to see what Carrick and the team, well, certainly how they approach this because there could have only been good vibes relative to how things are going on, say, on Wednesday morning after the game. and if they'd already if they've already lost that by Sunday then that's quite telling especially given you know what I said about Le Brice and and the timing of this international break and the fact that change is going to happen it's going to happen now I don't necessarily think the Roma game in isolation is going to give Ineos Barada Wilcox the impression that oh okay they're starting to vibe with him again this Villa game might but I just don't necessarily believe it will also the circle I mean you guys covered it I wasn't on the show, and I totally took your point about the fact that football, you know, we should enjoy the fun nature of what it was.

34:38Because I watched the game and I thought it was, you know, fantastic evenings entertainment, right? But in many ways, you know, that's not really the point. The kind of circumstances around the comeback were incredibly fortuitous. Oh, yeah. I mean, we spoke about that. Yeah, you did. Yeah, hence me saying.

34:55Pete Donaldson: Because it clearly happened. Anybody could see it. And it's very unlikely they're going to be on the... You know, look, it's very unlikely. it's not unlikely they're going to go 2-0 down to Aston Villa, but it's very unlikely those circumstances are going to present themselves again.

35:10Marcus Speller: It's as likely that Dallot won't track his marker. Of course. It's more likely that he won't track his marker than United.

35:16Pete Donaldson: But I mean, just to maybe be incredibly silly and naive here, again, we said after the game against Roma, that of course, you can say, well, it was fortunate. Absolutely. And I suspect it won't have much of an effect at all, much like Vitor's already said. However, for them to kind of try and turn it round, it is unlikely they're going to pluck out a performance out of nowhere and play it really, really well. It is, Peter, getting these moments, making the most of them and getting everybody G'd up again. Yeah. They've got to play Mateus Cunha. A little bit of head loss for the Premier League at the weekend.

35:51No, I think their record at Old Trafford is... Manchester United. Well, yeah, it's a true. Both teams playing at Manchester United are a true in Old Trafford, But since like 2010, Villa have won one and drawn one. So, I mean, history's against them in this. So maybe they can use that as some kind of springboard. Is that what character is? That's character's team talk.

36:12Pete Donaldson: Don't worry, boys. History's going to be smiling at us again.

36:15Marcus Speller: Emery's not got a great record against Manchester United as well, but as we found out with the Manchester United team, records are there to be broken. I also just think the profile of Aston Villa under Emery, they were humbled in the Nou Camp, right? Yeah. I mean, Emery prides himself, you know, in many ways, rightly so, on the fact that he's good in Europe. And, you know, he's a very, very kind of, you know, well-schooled kind of coach in European games. And obviously being Spanish himself, he would have wanted to have made a statement against Barcelona. And would have thought, you know, I know they're a really good side, but, you know, they were basically humbled by them.

36:49They didn't really get near them, didn't lay a glove on them.

36:50Pete Donaldson: In the first half, but ultimately as the game pans out, yes. The reaction, what I'm trying to get at is the reaction should be pretty strong from them. they're a good side under Emery we know that and May and I are not a good side and what happened against Roma does not change that and you mentioned Dallow there I've been fairly generous in plays for Dallow I reckon and I think he's not been one of the players outfield players who deserves the most stick for this period of May United but I mean the reality is against Roma he was obviously poor and then but do you know what would frustrate me if I was a May United fan he just plays he just fucking plays every single time yeah I mean Shaw's obviously either injured or Goose is cooked.

37:29He is injured at the moment, but he's not an improving player anyway. There's just no one is there. Who else could possibly play there that would be able to hit the level they need at United? And that's been a conversation for such a long time.

37:42Pete Donaldson: But this is the thing, though, to just hone in on one player. I understand why we do it and I don't think that's unnecessary. Well, I just picked him because he was mentioned. But you could do that with so many of them. But they have a chance against Villa to show that that performance and result against Roma did count for something. Although, according to Avram Glazer, it doesn't matter. Good to have Avram in there. Yeah, it is. It's been a while.

38:08Pete Donaldson: Football needs more Avrams.

38:12Marcus Speller: They said that about that knocking shop, didn't they?

38:14Pete Donaldson: I was about to say, the two Avrams we've had have not covered themselves in good. There's an Avram crisis. Maybe there is. Well, Aram Glazer has said that Manchester United do not need sporting success to be commercially powerful. Firstly, we know this. And secondly, definitely what the fans want to hear. It's definitely what they want to hear.

38:36Marcus Speller: I know you're upset. I know you're spending a lot of money and you're just seeing underperformance after underperformance. But just to reassure you, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's not a priority for us whether you enjoy the game, the win, draw, defeat. anyway because of commercials because to be honest I'm speaking at the Deutsche Bank Sport Investment Conference in September so that's my priority at the moment I'm sorry for calling it a big money tube

39:02Pete Donaldson: speaking of you're not getting frustrated with those numbers that you're looking at I'm not getting frustrated with my numbers now of course yes as Luke said he was speaking at that conference back in September but the story is only just being reported now but Avram Glazer yes Avram Glazer said that he argued that the club's value does not rely on on-field success he compared Manchester United to the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys who are still global brands despite a lack of sporting success. And look... Cowboys is a great example because Cowboy fans hate their team.

39:33Marcus Speller: Constantly.

39:34Pete Donaldson: In sheer, you know, cynical terms, he's right. And then when you think, well, the Yankees haven't won the World Series since 2009, it says here, I didn't know that. And the Cowboys have not won the Super Bowl since 1995. They're allowed to curry baseball bats. Yeah, they are. They are. They are. They should use them though. But when you hear him say that and you look at those two sides, again, I take his crappy evil point, but... What do you expect though? No one ever, as far as I remember, from the very moment the Glazers came in, no one was like, oh, they're big football fans. Yeah, exactly.

40:11That wasn't the point. The point was, at the time, waved through by Sir Alex Ferguson, by the way, endorsed fully by Sir Alex Ferguson, I believe in match day programs and telling fans to get behind the project, even though there was a lot of doubt about it. You know, no one was saying that we want it because they're big football fans. Most of the fans were saying they didn't want it. And you know, the argument, the kind of the sales pitch, I suppose, was that, oh yeah, now we can financially compete more. It was fucking bollocks. So it's not a surprise. And this guy's living in a completely different stratosphere to anyone, any normal person.

40:44And they all are. The billionaire class don't live in the same world as us. So why would they give a shit?

40:47Pete Donaldson: The really frustrating thing is you either have to have someone like Sir Jim Ratcliffe come along or a state-backed, you know, Qataris or whatever. Or you think, well, I hope it gets so bad that we actually start, the club starts shrinking and doesn't make them so much money. They're in a really difficult position, because that's... But the thing is, like, you know, the Maynard fans are in a really difficult position because they have protested and there's the green and gold thing and there's the Love United Hate Glazer stuff, right? but the problem with that for genuine Man United fans I feel like is that they can't really even just stay away because if they stay away a lot of tourists will come up and just fill those seats anyway it's also

41:26Marcus Speller: I have a it's become quite a conflict within the Man United fan base because there are a lot of people who are saying oh actually why don't you just like boy could it not go and a lot of those voices are online who don't go who don't have it as necessarily part of their habits part of their There is a culture as well of being a Manchester United fan. And I say that as someone who doesn't have that as part of my culture of being a Manchester fan because I don't live in Manchester. But it's really, yeah, I mean just to reiterate what Luke was saying about such a difficult position. If you're a Manchester United fan who goes to games, your best...

42:03Marcus Speller: Well, I think the best way of protesting is by going to games and protesting. And doing what they did against Bournemouth, doing what they did during that Roma game, what they will do for the Villa game on the weekend. Yeah, it's a very strange time. I joke about it a lot, about like, God, I wish they'd fold Manchester United. But the reality is, if United are in a situation where the Glazers think it's not making enough money, you can't just sell an asset like that, you strip it down. People lose their jobs, they're going to be more cut. The collateral is bleak.

42:43Pete Donaldson: Very bleak situation. I mean, it's somewhat, somewhat very different clubs and size, somewhat similar to Newcastle United under Mike Ashley. And you just have to wait. Now obviously, the value of that club wasn't as bad. So it was always much more realistic for somebody to come along and buy it. Of course, those people, controversial sale, of course, to the Saudis. I just think Man United, they have protests so much. You remember when they all burst into Old Trafford that time? You just think...

43:09Marcus Speller: It was during COVID, wasn't it? I can't remember the actual date, but yeah,

43:14Pete Donaldson: it's such a terrible situation for them, and I do feel for them. Aston Villa, though, to contrast it with them on Wednesday... Will quite simply threaten to sue anyone that criticises them. A different flavour of angles. When we say all this stuff, you know, I mean, are Aston Villa, are they indeed a bigger club? They're certainly a better club in terms of the sporting merits at the moment. But they said on Wednesday that Unai Emery and club chairman Nasef Awiris reached a commitment to the next phase of the Aston Villa project. The statement said the objective is clear, to build an ambitious competitive Aston Villa, capable of taking on the biggest challenges and achievements.

43:54Pete Donaldson: Now let's hope that Jamie Carragher doesn't get in the way of it. Super villain Jamie Carragher. We'd have got away with it, wasn't for that pesky Jamie Carragher. Everywhere you turn in modern life, there's a billionaire doing something weird. There is. Everywhere. There's nothing you can do about it. They've got too much downtime, haven't they? Yeah, I think they have.

44:13Marcus Speller: Just a Carragher update. His column in the Telegraph today, Friday. I am happy Emery is staying at Villa, but Manchester United will always be a bigger club. Don't back down. Double down. There we go. I actually respect that. I do. I didn't like that he apologised.

44:29Pete Donaldson: I didn't like it. Oh, but it was a double bluff. It sounds like it, yeah. It is. Is it a double bluff that former Manchester United man, Cristiano Ronaldo, has retired from international duty? Is he biding his time until George Jesus buggers off and then he's like, ha-ha, I'm back for the World Cup. He can't do another kind of comeback, can he? I mean, Messi retired a couple of times. Ronaldo, he hasn't done it. Messi wasn't like 43 years old when he did it. How old is Ronaldo? 41. 41, okay. He can't do another Mike Myers and Halloween H20, whatever it is. He's moving that Mike Myers now, isn't he?

45:03Yeah, exactly. Except he's not catching up with anyone. I'm quite sympathetic of the idea of him coming and being named as like a last-minute squad edition to like the 2048 World Cup or something. That would be funny. But in the next World Cup. But listen, the most you can say about Cristiano Ronaldo is that he's pissed all over his own legacy to such an point that everyone's just like, great, about fucking time. But this is the thing, Luke. Off you go.

45:22Pete Donaldson: We've started talking about one of the greatest players of all time. a lot of people would very, very happily argue with this. 146 international goals. 234 international cups. 138 international goals against Luxembourg. There you go. That's what I mean. We're taking the piss because of him pissing on his own legacy. He's won the Euros and the Nations League. Right? I think you've taken the piss saying that. He's won two Nations Leagues. You always want to retire when people say why rather than why not. And he's been why not for years. But why not would be way better than this. He's gone way beyond why not.

46:01That's what I mean. He's gone to fuck off. He's in John Cleese territory, isn't he? Absolutely. He's kind of like, don't want to see you anymore, mate. The only thing he misses is a divorce and a new really young wife. Oh, he needs a great big divorce. Yeah, he does. He's a divorced footballer.

46:15Marcus Speller: Every time you see Ronaldo trending or there's a story about him, your impulse is what now? Yeah, exactly. But he released a video on social media where he's reading it. But it's lovely. But that's what it should have been before. It's really nice. And he talks about handing back the number seven shirt. And I thought two things about that immediately. One, is that a dig at Messi and retiring the Argentina number 10 shirt? Two, is it your shirt? And actually, the second point probably should be. I'm not saying they should retire his shirt but like that's the status of the player and I don't want to just go over what you said as well about he's almost driven us to take the piss out of them

47:01Pete Donaldson: but that's the problem because we should be sat here I said this before and I'll say it again we should be sat here going oh my goodness what about that goal he scored or what about the moments when he dragged Portugal through a lot of the Euro 2016 campaign and obviously got injured early on in the final but they went on and won it all this stuff that he's achieved I mean, when we first started doing the podcast, we used to do the Dean Windass Hall of Fame. We used to talk about great players from the past. We would talk about guys with goal-scoring records like Gerd Müller or Eusebio. And we were like, oh my God, how many goals did they score?

47:29Pete Donaldson: What amazing players. And we're going on reputation in the small bits of video that we saw. Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, of course. But Ronaldo blew all that to bits. And that's what we should say. Maybe in time we will, though. Well, I hope...

47:45Marcus Speller: But it's because of him that there probably is going to be this period where...

47:49Pete Donaldson: If he gets fat like Ronaldo Nazario and just absolutely loves it and turns up next to Madonna in a shell suit for the next World Cup, I'm all in. I'm back in. Do you know what I mean? Yeah? I think what's good in the future is a very, very ill-fated managerial stint. Oh, he's not going to be a manager. No way. He'll not be able to leave it alone, surely. He's got like ambassador kind of, you know, he'll do a Beckham. He'll do a Beckham soon. What do you think he'll do next, Peter? Crypto, basically. No, he'll do it like a Beckham, won't he? No, he'll most definitely want to get in the dugout. Most definitely.

48:24I can't see that. Portugal manager nailed on. I can't see that. Ego central, isn't it? It's ego central. I don't know. You're right, you're right.

48:31Pete Donaldson: It will be genuinely intriguing what he does after football. I know he's obviously still playing. You're right. You're right to say that, you know, it's become impossible. he's made it as hard as possible for regular football fans who aren't terminally online virgins to appreciate Ronaldo for the player he was. He has made that impossible for us. We've not turned against him for any other reason. General football fans, particularly in this country, who basically universally think he's a prat, that's down to him. And that has essentially undercut his legacy as a player because people when they think of him they don't think of that they think of his behaviour and that might dissipate over time as Vicious said over the next 10 years or so may start to fully appreciate it again much like a kind of like a Prime Minister kind of thing you know people rail against him when they're doing what they're doing 10 years later unless they're Liz Truss they're kind of at least basically respected you know so Boris Johnson as well I actually think you don't have to know it's 50-50

49:36Marcus Speller: Also, I've got to say, my relationship with the Real Island is very different because he played for my football club. And even then, I think more about the first stint than the second stint. Yeah, of course. I could see him being like a Glenn Hoddle kind of manager, just constantly trying to... The England's got to come through, Marcus. Sorry, I'm just... I just saw you do a little fist bump there. A tepid little fist bump. Come on, I love that.

50:01Pete Donaldson: Get this chapter out of the way. Hurry up. I can see him being a Glenn Hoddle manager who just gets frustrated that nobody can do what he thinks he can still do. He's not listening. Not listening. He's shut down. Right, are you finished? Hang on, is Chris? No, no, no. The England's gone. Should we take a break? We've got a little break, everybody. Anyway, come on. Coming up after this, we're reacting to Josh King's first call-up for England.

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52:21Have they got any England players? Oh dear. They're playing Kew Gardens, is it? Finally junk the shark. Absolutely junk the shark. Pathetic stuff.

52:29Pete Donaldson: I can't believe I've done this. Brighton and Hove Albion versus Brentford. They're starting right back with their full names. Hove do nothing towards this, do they? Yeah. Is it a bit like Wales with cricket? Yeah, a bit like that. Because it's England and Wales, isn't it?

52:44Marcus Speller: Oh, Hove, yeah, but... I say that and then he gets the Hove point. I've been to Hove more than I've been to Brighton. Yeah, but that's irrelevant. It's not about you. It's about me. Hang on. Let me check the logic on that one. What train station did you come in on? Hove train station, or I go to Brighton and take a bus. Well, there you go. You're going to Brighton then. No, but I've gone to Hove. It's a destination. Is there an avocado bar in Hove? They're called Brighton. They train in Lansing. Yeah. Their stadium's in Falmer. What are Hove doing? Why are Hove getting the name mentioned? That's true.

53:13It's Brighton and Falmer, or Brighton and Lansing. That's what it should be. That should be. Or I would like to see them change their name to Brightford.

53:20Marcus Speller: Yeah. Once the take-over's complete. Brenton versus Brightford. Brenton versus Brightford. What's going to happen during this game is they're going to run at each... They're going to push each other so much they just merge. Yeah. Please vote for us in the Football Support Association Awards. What's it like? The host hates club football so much, he can't name the Premier League teams, and all he wants to talk about is England. The host got so excited that the Eagles squad dropped during the show that he immediately went to a break and then came out of a break.

53:52Pete Donaldson: Hey, you've got the run in front of you. That's poor. I have irrefutable evidence that that was the case. Right, so I apologise to the bees and to the seagulls right now. Yeah, I apologise to the birds and the bees. I apologise to Brighton. It's like a cat with a fucking set of keys, isn't it? Come on. So yeah, it's the battle of the bees, as you called it, Vish. Why don't you unpack that? You could have said the birds and the bees.

54:13Marcus Speller: He really could have done. To be fair, I didn't know we could refer to them both with just one name. Super efficient.

54:20Pete Donaldson: How about this for a stat? Brighton have scored ten more goals than Arsenal so far in the league this season. And only conceded two more. That's good. There we are, you see.

54:29Marcus Speller: Is this the best iteration of Brighton?

54:31Pete Donaldson: Possibly. It's gotta be, isn't it? I mean, right now, they are absolutely burying on that south coast of theirs. They are, honestly...

54:39Marcus Speller: He's dancing on the streets of Hove, I can tell you that much.

54:41Pete Donaldson: Which is damn cheeky for you, last week. But, a bit like that Man United fan running through a marketplace in sub-Saharan Africa somewhere, just going, Man United are back! Clearly some sort of influence, but let him have his moment. Yes, Brighton. I mean, as they have done in previous seasons, of course, because this is their second stint, if you like, in European football. Obviously, they won 1-0 last night against Catafé. But like, you know, Herzl has said, with regard to that, he was like, well, let's let the fans dream. We're going to try and make their dreams come true while winning that trophy.

55:14Pete Donaldson: I mean, they are favourites for the Europa Conference League. They should be. Which, again, we've talked about England teams always favourites for that competition. But I mean, but in the league, Brighton, the way they're playing, I mean, I see, you know, you remember, was it last season where Aston Villa were kind of in the title race and obviously kind of, you know, eventually fell away. I mean, Brighton, the way they're playing, it's quite fanciful. But with perhaps something might kibosh Man City season, is there anyone else who could push Arsenal? I mean, maybe if Liverpool kind of got their act together, but I think that's probably a bit of a stretch.

55:47Marcus Speller: The thing with Brighton, it feels like they're not just in good form, but there is a deep reason why they are as good as they are consistently. So even when they lose to Liverpool, they follow that up by beating Man City. And they were actually very lucky against Man City. And they were very unlucky against Liverpool. But there's obviously a degree of belief there that they're able to shake that off and then go into a game against City and ultimately hold their own and come out and win that game. Everyone knows what they're doing. the only thing that feels unsustainable is Verbruggen's form and just how many saves he has to make.

56:35Marcus Speller: And Europe as well. You just sort of think if they weren't in Europe, it would just be a little easier for them. Yeah.

56:43Pete Donaldson: They could play that sort of high pressing game more maybe. But the squad rotation, that's something that you have to say. The squad looks a bit deeper. And again, if they were in the Europa League, that is a bit of a step up, obviously, from the Conference League. I think with the Conference League, they should really cruise through these earlier rounds. It's an admin exercise. It's just inconvenient with all the travel and all the disruption to schedules, really. There's no, I mean, with the greatest respect to the teams they're playing, Getafe are a known side, I guess, but some of the teams they're playing against, I mean, it's actually quite difficult to tell you what country they're from.

57:18This is a very, very low standard of competition at this stage, which is why Brighton are overwhelming favourites to do it. But it is about the routine. It's about the fact that if you think about how they're not probably able to work on an awful lot of stuff because they're always travelling, they're always coming to and from places, they're always playing other games. They have to be set in the way they want to play, I suppose, because they can't really implement any new stuff. But you talk about them being fairly lucky against Man City, I agree with that. But there have been games this season where they've just blown teams away.

57:51I mean, Arsenal. The only time team they did was Arsenal. They blew Arsenal to bits. They smashed... I don't know Crystal Palace are poor, but it's a derby game. They smashed them. There was only one team ever in it. They beat Coventry really heavily as well. At Coventry, fine, a promoted side. But they are knocking teams over here and there. So I said the other day, you've got to be looking at top four. They have to be. Oh, yeah. They have to be. For the reason you said... I don't know who's going to win the league this season because we've still got a big asterisk hanging over Man City. Arsenal, if you go in for all that expected point stuff, Arsenal are massively overperforming and don't necessarily pass the eye test the same way they did do last season so far.

58:29Pete Donaldson: And they know how to get it done now. Liverpool got a brand new manager. Well, that's true. Liverpool got a brand new manager. There's other teams that have got all sorts of problems going. Chelsea can't stop conceding. They've got a new manager. You know, Man United and Man United, blah, blah, blah. Very generous to mention them. Yeah. But what I'm saying is traditionally... In terms of the lie of the land, right. Way out did come third last season, didn't they? Fine, I thought you were talking about a title race contender, but they're like the land. But there's just not an awful lot, there's a gap for them.

58:53The same way that, I'm not saying they're going to win the league this season, Brighton, but when Leicester won it, it was, a lot of it was timing.

59:00Pete Donaldson: It opened up. It did. It opened up for them, and they went there and they seized it. So I'm not saying it could happen this season, but it does seem to be a bit more wide open than you think. If Man City get a punishment this season, it makes a massive difference. So they've got to do it against Brentford. Brentford have been decent overall. Brentford have been very good, yeah. I think he found he deserves a lot of credit he was he was hammered you know told he could never do the job that's just by Martin O 'Neill and and and he's kind of come from nowhere and he's do you feel he's answered that?

59:28I think he has and you know what what's the biggest compliment you could pay Brentford is you know they get up into sixth in the league after nine games and no one really notices everyone's like oh yeah they're a good team

59:36Pete Donaldson: because you keep telling them not to look at the league table exactly they can't be looking at it at this point they're allowed to look at it once a week aren't they oh that's right that's right but you're right to say that because you know compare them to say Sunderland or what they did last season and what Brentford did well Brentford it's just carried on which again shows you what they're doing at that club

59:52Marcus Speller: also they're you know Brighton and Brentford are doing two very similar things in terms of their approach with Tony Bloom and then Matthew Benham at Brentford

1:00:01Pete Donaldson: well we'll find out on Sunday who's doing it better

1:00:04Marcus Speller: for a bit yeah

1:00:05Pete Donaldson: in a one off game in a one off game until they play each other again in the league right gentlemen you've had your fun well okay Harry Kane we've got to mention that he signed a new contract were you about to

1:00:18Marcus Speller: ask us to leave the room

1:00:21Pete Donaldson: you've had your fun you've had your fun I'm doing a Mark Goldberg now down the barrel and that's what people want we've heard your comments and you're pleased quite frankly yeah Harry Kane signed a new contract with Bayern his weekly wage is going to be about 400 grand a week what's he done to deserve a new contract in the last couple of weeks I do find it funny because they've not really taken his age into account

1:00:43Marcus Speller: Presumably they haven't taken his agent into account.

1:00:45Pete Donaldson: There is that as well. Do you remember when Francesco Totti signed an eight year deal when he was 35? It was to be like an ambassador and that kind of shit, so maybe he could do something like that. Well, maybe. No, I'm pleased for him though. I'm very pleased for him. He's going to be the highest paid player in Europe.

1:00:59Marcus Speller: Alan Shearer breathing a sigh of relief with that news, you reckon? Do you think that ends any potential of Kane coming back to the Premier League?

1:01:06Pete Donaldson: I'd imagine so, but I'm really glad that Kane's just a bit like, I'm not really bothered by that. I mean, I'm sure he would like it if it was, but he's like, no, I'm having a great time. He's obviously decided that record specifically is not that important. No, clearly not. Ballon d 'Or, a team who are going to be, you know, going for the Champions League, get a winter break. I know we... Sausages are good.

1:01:27Marcus Speller: I know it's part of the reason we love, you know, English and Welsh and Ho football. Because there's so much discourse. Where's Michael Sheen? Get Michael Sheen in there. Boys back! Boys back!

1:01:41Pete Donaldson: Down the old lovely. It's like a red mist, boys. Yeah. That's a dual threat, that is.

1:01:49Marcus Speller: I'll tell you what.

1:01:50Pete Donaldson: Oh, dear.

1:01:52Marcus Speller: But, you know, like, obviously a lot of the discourse when Kane was over here was like, is he really that good? Will he achieve all that much? Every week he plays for Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga account or ESPN or all the other broadcasters, there is always one viral clip, and it's more often than not Kane in that team doing something amazing.

1:02:13Pete Donaldson: I'm just so glad that he's, I know we spoke about this at the Ballon d 'Or, but just so glad that he's gone to one of the biggest clubs in the world. Well he's adored. And he is absolutely adored and the football he's playing and so on is marvellous. He could do half of that and still be adored. Yeah, yeah, 100%.

1:02:27Marcus Speller: Stop making slide tackles in front of your own box. But I tell you what though, taking goal kicks.

1:02:31Pete Donaldson: He's got to start putting penalties away again for England. Right. He missed one in the last international break, but he'll probably have a chance as we all seem to get a penalty with Kane. And he is in the squad. Can you believe? So, I mean, Cole Palmer's missed out. That's a weird one. I think Tuchel was pretty... Pissed off with him. Pissed off with him last time. He said some comments. He has. Tuchel, hasn't he? Send this one out. Because I don't really know what to believe on that front specifically because Tuchel will say, oh, he said something like, we want people who are desperate to play for us and they want to be a part of it.

1:03:06And Cole Palmer's not been a part of enough camps. That was what he said, wasn't it?

1:03:10Pete Donaldson: Well, he's pulled out of a few and he's not turned up. But we're led to believe, Chelsea was obviously briefed, that he's carrying a chronic injury. Yeah, so they've said that. But I suppose with Tuchel, he wanted to carry on the feeling that Southgate had provided. And players who were a bit crocked would sometimes just turn up because they wanted to be a part of it. And Tuchel, you know, he's been quite clear. He wants to create that sort of band of brothers and whatnot. And with Cole Palmer, I have sympathy with Cole Palmer. If you're injured, you're injured. And if you're saying, well, look, I need to work on my rehabilitation rather than going along, for whatever reason.

1:03:43Pete Donaldson: And in England, physio does need to, if you like, ratify the injury. Tuchel is clearly maybe slightly annoyed with Palmer, or he thinks to himself, do you know what, I'm going to need to see more from him, or he's going to have to earn it, because there's fierce competition for those places. Morgan Gibbs-White is in. Unless you're Jed Spence. Unless you're Jed Spence. Who's back in the squad. Oh, there he is. But Morgan Gibbs-White, for example, and James Garner are both in. Both of them had landed in their holiday destinations, you know, got the news, walked straight out and back on a plane. They're going to send them home a day into it.

1:04:21Pete Donaldson: It may be. But if you're a manager, Peter, you see that and you think, well, bloody hell, now some people might go, come on, that shouldn't be a question when it comes to ability. No, but if there's competition of places and someone does that, I don't know. But Pete, you've never wanted anything professionally in your life that much. No, I've never wanted to. It's going to drift through stuff. I don't understand it really. Pete will turn up everywhere and they'll generally be on time. But I wouldn't say you're in buyable ambition.

1:04:47Marcus Speller: You don't have to agree with this. I was going to say. The fact that he does agree means I'm right. Not necessarily. I find competitiveness toxic. Exactly. You know, some people watch this and are like, what are these lads going? They've never played the game, blah, blah, blah. but the expertise you went to, you've never wanted anything you like. And someone watching you, they're like, it's true, actually, let's hear from him. What does he reckon? What's his take on this? Let's get inside Christiane Randall's head. Yeah. It's been a pressure for over 30 years.

1:05:15Pete Donaldson: Oh dear. Well, Jed Spence is back in there. Ben White is in there as well. We'll just do the two big stories so we can move on with our lives. Jude Bellingham and his father Mark Bellingham have played a blinder. They have gone to the negotiation table because Joe Bellingham's in. Joe Bellingham called up. Joe Bellingham. That's an interesting one, isn't it? I mean, look, to be fair, he plays for Borussia Dortmund. And he's very good against Bayern Munich. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So obviously I'm being a bit silly there. And he's apparently had a good season. I don't watch that much German football, but apparently he's had a very good season.

1:05:42Well, another Bellingham in the squad. Yeah, it's the closest that two could come to picking a German.

1:05:46Pete Donaldson: Yeah. She's like, I'm only one of them. Is that what it is? Is that what it is? Josh King's in a big one. Yeah. Well, I was about to say, we're not a republic, we're a kingdom. We've got a king in there. Josh King, come on. Come on! I think the Josh King thing... What are they? He's going to get wiped out by Joel Linton at the weekend. And that's going to really test me. Because when I'm thinking, we need King on the pitch to make a difference and try and get us back in this game. However, Joel Linton is sniffing around him. Josh King's England career is going to be called up to a squad. Take him off!

1:06:17Have his kneecap rearranged by Joel Linton. Drop out the squad. Thomas Succo, a pop at him, not being available for enough scores. And never played for England at all. Never going to go. You are cursed on King this weekend. Oh, no.

1:06:28Pete Donaldson: You guys will need the points. Not King specifically. You can't cut him out of it. King specifically. Oh, dear. He's a lovely boy. Honestly, but that is great for Josh. Because he's been brilliant this season. And it's a great little reward for him. Nice character to dangle in front of him. Not sure how much he'll feature. But maybe he will. But the fact is, for him to see that the path is available for him. Yeah. If he shows a kind of, you know, a Pete Donaldson type ambition. And he's burning to get in there. Yeah. he could really make a name for himself. He really could. And do you know what?

1:06:53I saw them against Palace in the League Cup last week. Oh, yeah. And do you know what? I know he's had a really good start to the season anyway, Josh King, but to see it in person when he came off the bench, I mean, given the age profile he is, it made such a difference. He lifted the whole fucking stadium.

1:07:09Pete Donaldson: Even though Poole lost that game. He lost the game. But they were a different team when he came on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he's a lovely 360-degree player as well. The way he spins and turns as well, he finds those pockets of space. Low centre gravity. quick. Totally, yeah. But the way he can spin players, you know, because it's just such a handy weapon to have when you're there. I know that there's a lot of players, you know. If Palmer was in the squad, he could do it. Obviously Bellingham, Gibbs White, Morgan Rodgers, the fierce competition. I think Gibbs White's been treated quite harshly overall.

1:07:36In fact, he's back in there now. I don't know...

1:07:39Pete Donaldson: Back in again, because he did... Yeah, I know that Forrest have had a tough start, but there was a period of time when Gibbs White was just setting fire to the Premier League and he wasn't getting in, and I thought it was a bit of we never look really. Yeah, well he's back in there. We've got loads of England action to look forward to, Mark. We do indeed, we do indeed. And we've also got Jackson Suclopides action to look forward to this afternoon. So remember to join us for that later. I must say thank you very much to everybody for listening to The Football Ramble, part of the Acast Creator Network.

1:08:06Pete Donaldson: If you are sitting off fireworks later, do it responsibly and carefully. Only use fireworks to shoot down drones. Yes, absolutely right. And of course, we'll be back on Monday going live on YouTube. at 9.30 to review the weekend's action. So there we are. Luke Moore, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Peter Donaldson, thank you. Goodbye, winners. Thank you. Thank you. Josh King, thank you.

1:08:39Snap. You are cast, snap. When you won Jack Humphrey's high performance, is that what you do? I've gone so uncompetitive, I've become past infinity. Toxically unprofessional. The Football Ramble is a Stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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