The Preview Show: When a Crunchie comes your way

0:00I've got that Friday feeling everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble Preview Show. Wins for Forreston Villa and Spurso City on Sunday. It's Friday 30th of Jan. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Luke Moore. I'm Perfid Jonathan. And I'm the decent underage.

0:24Oh, Friday the 30th of Jan. How about that? We're nearly there. We're nearly at the end of the transfer window. We are nearly at the end of the transfer window. We are nearly at the green, green grass of February, of course. Is it green? Is it going to be green? I hope so. Yeah. I hope so. An early spring would be nice, but my goodness, it seems a way off. Now, if you're watching on YouTube, you'll no doubt be thinking about how dapper Vish, Peter and I look. Here we go. Luke's not joined in today. Those ill men look dapper, you'll say. Yeah. At least they're dressed well. Yeah. Who are these sick fellas?

1:01They need to go outside, but they've got clothes on that you could buy. Yeah. We look like stylish men smoking outside some hospital doors. Yeah. Yeah. Not bad. Not bad. Mum's gone home, brought us a new set of clothes from home, and we look great. I'm just vaping. Okay. I'm trying to think of the origin of that analogy. In hospital, you've gone out, your mum's gone home to pick up new clothes, you're smoking in the window in between. It's based on you, Vish. Have you never been to the hospital nightclub they all have? The origin of that meme is Pete's asthma. Pete's very serious asthma. The Darth Vader asthma.

1:38Well, fear not, fair listeners, because the Football Rambles' brand new line of merch is now available for everybody to buy. That's right, everybody. You've got a body, you can do it. Whether you're a diehard Luke Nation member, Peter, show the t-shirt. Like Peter's today. There we go. Show the merchandise. A member My biddy aunt enthusiast Of course Or simply A good old friend Of the Ramble Who likes to wear Vintage football kits Like Vish over there I mean that is a great kit It's magnificent It's a lovely piece Everybody has been saying That that is the football kit Of 2026 And beyond You wore it Playing football on Monday I did I wore it playing football On Tuesday And I'll be wearing it Playing football tomorrow Perfect I hope you've fared Better than me How did you get on In the football in your respective matches.

2:25Yeah, really well. It's a win. Say it's a win, Mark. It's a win. Say it's a win and do the fucking link. It's a win. Unbelievable amount of goals were scored. Yeah, not by you. Were they by me or not? I can't remember. It's a team game. We're there. So to celebrate this momentous day, we're offering free UK shipping on all orders from Friday to Sunday this weekend. So there's no better time to grab a piece of the finest merchandise in football podcasting. So head to footballramblestore.com to get yours now. That's footballramblestore.com. And on footballramblestore.com, which I'm on currently, there's a lovely photograph of Marcus and Peter wearing those Ramble football kits.

3:07Right. And Pete's been done dirty by the shop now button, which is over his eyes, which makes him look like one of those SAS guys from the 80s that can't be identified. Or Tony Blair that time. Or Tony Blair that time. New Pete, new Donnie, new Danger. Yeah. New Donnie, new danger Yeah, you look like you're being redacted Yeah, that has happened before on a red carpet one So go and look at that Oh really, footballramblestall.com to look at Pete being redacted for security reasons Yes, indeed I like the fact that the Jiffy bags have a little Football Ramble logo on them I don't know why That's a lovely touch, isn't it?

3:37It's a lovely touch, isn't it? Yeah, it's a lovely touch That's the only Jiffy product we've got, isn't it? I think so for now For now For now Yes, exactly We should do a mystery box and it's just stuff from your house. Speaking of bags, you can buy tote bags on there as well, by the way. I love a tote bag, me. Do you know you buy bear meat on Amazon? Okay. Marcus. Just saying. Maybe you'll find some bear meat in there. Some Russian bear meat. Not from Russia. A free chunk. It's on Amazon. It's on Amazon. A free chunk of bear meat with every purchase. Disclaimer, it could be chunks of meat from different bears.

4:15Exactly, yeah. Yeah. But they are free range bears. They are. by their very nature. I would have said so. Not like one of the ones Pete's got chained up in his back garden. No, I'll try to teach you how to wrestle. To dance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You call it boy George, don't you? Now, Ashton Villa 3, Red Bull Salzburg 2. Villa, they came back from 2-0 down to beat Red Bull Salzburg. The moment of the match for me happened in the opening minute. Salzburg keeper did a scorpion kick. Inadvertent. An inadvertent. Involuntary. He had a scorpion kick bestowed upon him. Yes. Okay. The spirit of René Higuita.

4:52It reminded me of, you know, when... So Melania Trump has got a movie out. Yes. And it's been obviously just panned. She also wrote a book, wrote a book, in inverted commas, a couple of years ago. And the literature reviewer of Variety magazine obviously completely eviscerated it and ended the review by saying, this is not a book. this is a book adjacent object. That was a scorpion kick adjacent move. Yes. He didn't know he was doing it. No. It didn't have any artistic value or merit whatsoever. It was very fortunate, wasn't it? So I don't want to piss all over your chips, Marcus. Well, it's not my chips.

5:30Whose chips are they? Well, this is the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper's chips. Schlager. Schlager's chips. Chip, Dousin, Schlager, Schlager, Schlager. Anyone who saw that would agree. Fine, but unlike the book, it was very effective. Yeah, okay, that's fair. It saved a goal. I mean, they ultimately lost, of course, but it saved them going behind. It did save a goal. in an embarrassing fashion in the opening minute. But of course, Salzburg themselves went 2-0 up and then Villa came roaring back. But of course, the story of that second half really is 19-year-old Jamaldine Jimo Aloba coming off the bench in his first European appearance for Villa and got the goal to win them the game.

6:02And I love that because Villa were obviously assured of a place in the last 16. That victory made them finish second in the table, of course. But you want a little bit more something. So a comeback's always good, but to have a teenager come on and score... It was a lovely finish. Yeah, it was glory. Beautiful. Lovely, calm finish from a lovely boy. Yeah. It was a lovely finito. It was a lovely Danny DeVito. Yeah, a lovely small little round finish. Comedy finish. Pete, do you want to do this down a little bit more as well? No, it was a good goal. It was a good goal. We were just having fun with it.

6:32Okay. He did the knee slide as well. He did. Do you know what? I like the knee slide because he did the knee slide and it perhaps wasn't as long a knee slide as maybe one would envisage. But he recognised that and he thought, right, I've done my knee slide. I'm pulling up now and he was fine he didn't do it so then he fell over and everyone if knee slides were subway sandwiches it was a six inch yeah exactly but he rode it well and it was almost enough to make me momentarily forget that Martin Keown was on the co-coms again but not quite poor Martin they would have been annoyed that they had to bring like Morgan Rogers off the bench to sort of shore it up a little bit he scored an all business goal didn't he so I'll get this done right let's go yeah alright it's a world cup year at one point the aforementioned Schlager made a save from range and Martin Keown was invited as part of his role to you know spouse a view on it the goal role he didn't say encouraged he just went well it's great from the goalkeeper he's been very patient there so what does that mean?

7:27he didn't dive too early what does that mean? the goal it was shot from about 30 yards out and he just parried it so if the keeper had dived and it ended up going in the opposite corner if he went early he'd said that was impatient goalkeeper yeah the keeper dived as he struck the ball like a slower ball it would have been fair enough to say it was impatient. Was Tyrone Mings too patient when he was doing that? He was all about it. Tyrone Mings was very much the main character of this game. Yeah, he was. Was Ollie Watkins hamstringing too patient? Let him get away with too much? Maybe. Oh, blimey.

7:55I'll tell you what villain he is. Now he's an outpatient. Yeah, there you go. Like Peter. He's asthma. And what card game is he playing? Cribbage. Some people call solitaire patience. They do. Yeah, they do. It's very old-fashioned English, that. It is, yeah. I've never heard that. Yeah, they do. They do. My granddad used to call it that. I love that. I thought Luke may be the only person who might back this up other than Wikipedia. But look, yeah, well, okay, on the Watkins injury, it's a signal for Villa because they've had some big ones, obviously. But they just brought in Tammy Abraham. Well, they have quite fortuitously and he knows the club.

8:26Tammy Abraham will probably start, will he? Yeah. On the weekend. He'll probably go straight in there, you might imagine. There's talk of Evan Gessam moving on, isn't there, as well? Yeah. I think there's Palace as well. Obviously, they lost Marlon too. I saw that Tammy Abraham has taken a wage cut to join the Premier League he's doing this the wrong way around Tammy this is not how it's supposed to work or how much were you earning? it could also be that as well is that tax related? maybe maybe I mean Villa have been giving the wages out quite a bit over the years haven't they? they're very generous even they've thought we have to scale back a bit here but look they've got some bad injuries obviously Bubikar Kamara out for the season that's the shot there.

9:08That's a massive blow for them. It's a huge blow, yeah. Eurotie Elements, we don't know, but it's going to be, he's going to be out for a fair bit as well. John McGinn, you know, So he's starting three in the middle, isn't he? Indeed, indeed. That's why I like the Guess I movie is a bit weird because he's involved, he wants to get involved in like goals and assists and they're just deciding to sort of farm him out to Palace. I just think he could do a job. Well, maybe. Personally. Yeah, well, Harvey Elliott started, Peter. I mean, that's how, he's not played that much. It was unusual, wasn't it?

9:36Everyone's talking about bloody Harvey Elliott. He's going to have to play a bit more. I mean, to the point of Ross Barkley, who he himself is currently out injured. I think it was Sheffield United who were interested in taking him on loan and Villa now have gone, actually, no. Yeah, Barkley's back soon, I think. Yeah, he's being assessed. Yes, we've got our Barkley's back. He's spending a lot of time online, isn't he? Yeah, would you see when Harvey Elliott started and he posted an Instagram post on his team, posted an Instagram post of him with the shirt on the pitch saying something like, you know, great to play or whatever.

10:05Tyrone Mings posted the Ian Wright old teacher meme. Oh no. That is quite good. I was pleased for Mings when he got the goal. That was a bad mistake. Because that was the kind of indecision you rarely see at Premier League level. It wasn't like he didn't know the player was there. He literally changed his mind in the middle of an action. That's what the Europa League do to him. Although what was funny was when he messed up and obviously the forward came in, he's thinking, thank goodness Victor Lindelof is going to hook that off the luck. What are you doing? He's basically jumped on a grenade for him there.

10:38Yeah, this is not Amarim's Man United. How good is Victor Lindelof said no one ever? Yeah, I know, yeah. Unless it may be an opposition striker. That was a very harsh comment. I think you've seen enough of him. I like him. We're good now. No, but I like him. Just everyone else hates him. But he's just a very, yeah, meh. He might be the most meh defender that United have signed. And they've signed some fucking terrible defenders. But you're not saying he's terrible, are you? You're saying he's meh. same thing exactly and Bish is now developing quite an arrogant street now maybe like the start of winning game yeah that's why the con is up one of the features of the show there you go you can do the Phil Eric Bantanar love it well look Villa host Brentford Eric Bantanar there you go Aston Villa host Brentford on Sunday at 2pm it's quite boring innit be honest are you talking about a team that are in a title race not a super summer Brentford aren't going to do that I think that sums up the league in terms of I think maybe what a lot of neutrals are feeling towards it in a game between third and eighth usually quite a big deal has an immediate sense of oh really?

11:43I don't understand I'm really enjoying this Premier League season thus far because it's a genuine title race and there's no teams I enjoy that part of it yes I think broadly the style of the Premier League has left me wanting a bit more I don't think in any I don't think in any situation I was going to say you got some damn cheeky it was upside down When you say that About a league Like the Premier League When you're watching cricket Anything to distract All I was looking for Is a distraction Yeah Yeah but do you not Think stylistically The Premier League It's a lot more functional And I think that's Reflected in the fact That they Premier League teams Are steamrolling teams In Europe Yeah They are But I think in terms Of like an actual We talked about this Yesterday a bit Yeah I think in terms of An actual watchable product I think it's And I suppose it's From what people want But I think it's Been lacking a bit But the watchable product side of it, without getting too distracted, is totally subjective, Vish, right?

12:37Yeah, yeah. And I think what happens is, and I'm not saying you're doing this, but what happens sometimes is people say, oh, the way that teams are going about things now, the style of play, the set piece thing, that isn't as good as, you know, when Thierry on, when it was Arsenal, whatever, right? But it doesn't mean there's not entertainment to be found in that, and drama to be found in that. The drama in the Arsenal May Night game last weekend was absolutely incredible. Yeah. It was a very attritional, physically demanding kind of game but the drama was still there I don't think the drama drops off because of that and when I said that Villa-Brentford is a bit of a boring game it's because to me and I could be wrong I've been wrong before it's just a routine Aston Villa win right and so Brentford aren't great away from home if you look at the profile teams they've beaten away from home this season it is very much lower league teams in the cup and absolutely diabolical Premier League teams with the exception of I think Everton that they beat Hill Dickinson that's it really so I think Villa will win the game the talk of the title race as well you know it would be an incredible achievement for Aston Villa to stay in this race for longer given the injuries you just talked about Emery said they're prioritising the league nice which I really liked I liked that he came out and said that he said that we're going on all fronts which they are because he's thinking to himself Europa League don't worry lads that's in the bag that's safe I bet this conversation he did the week before as well where he went a bit mad yeah I'm enjoying Emery this season I very much am but Peter he did say he's like well obviously the league is our priority and I bloody love that because there is albeit a small chance but with Man City and Arsenal not being as trustworthy as other would-be champions have or other teams that go on to win the league yes I understand their squads are deeper and have a bit more quality but you've it's late January you're still in a title race come on do you know I think Arsenal I like a pre Manchester City winning the league every season kind of proposition.

14:31Possibly. Man City just put their foot on their scales for about three or four seasons that messed everything up, didn't they? Yeah, and now they're paying. Now they're paying. The fact that you've got 15 games left and you're four points off the top, I mean, you have to go for it. You really do. It's never going to get better than it is right now unless they close the gap. Yes. Sorry, Vish, it could be a massive weekend for them as well because it's a routine home game. I'm not predicting they're going to win it. I think they probably will. But they have to win it if they want to be taken seriously.

15:04Arsenal go to Leeds, which will be intense. And Arsenal, obviously Man Utd are a better team than Leeds. But Leeds have been pretty good at home when I've seen them recently. And they're kind of quick and all action. I think it's reasonable to say that's a tougher assignment than what Villa have got. Absolutely. And Man City are playing a bogey team, basically. I mean, Spurs are absolutely shit. But their record against Man City is really good. Do you know what they're going to do at Spurs this weekend. Champions League theme music as the players come out. Stick the away for Sardines out. And I'll host the corporate area.

15:37The only thing I'd counter to that is to say that Arsenal going to Leeds is probably a good match-up for them in terms of they're very strong physically and they know the kind of game they're going to get against Leeds. I reckon if they're going away to somewhere like Bournemouth that's when they probably shit themselves a lot more when the game would be a lot more open. But I feel like they can control it a bit more. I don't know if they are strong physically all over the pitch. I think that's a myth in a way. I think the chat all season about Arsenal being physically strong comes from the first few months of the season, which is fair enough, and comes from the absolute domination physically of Saliba, Gabriel, and to an extent, Declan Rice.

16:20If you look at the team that played against Man United last weekend and the physical profile of them and how they performed in a game they lost, I wouldn't say there's anything physically impressive about Odegaard, Zubomendy, Saka, Jesus or Trossard. But it's going to be a more physical game in terms of it's going to rely a lot more on the running. Essentially, Arsenal can do what they did in the first 20 minutes against Manchester United for longer because they're going to have less of a, I suppose, technical threat from the league. That was really interesting. It was really interesting last time because United just rode that storm out as long as they could.

16:53and then it just kind of blew itself out, basically. Well, talking about the physical fitness and injuries and, well, more the strength and so on, Villa will need probably one or two more signings then, you would think, before the window closes and it's closing pretty soon because, again, if they are prioritising the league with those injuries we just talked about, they may well get in a couple of others. Let's turn our attention to Nottingham Forest who beat Ferenc Varos 4-0. Robbie Keane's Ferenc Varos. Robbie Keane's. It's great to see him do the interviews. Yeah, I know. He's such a good talker.

17:24I know. Celtic next for them, potentially as well. I mean, he's just signed a new contract at the home of the Hungarians. That's unbelievable, that is. It's disrespectful to Hungarian football people. You've got a track record of this. He's having a nice time in Budapest. No, suddenly they're going to play Celtic next. Oh, sorry. I thought you meant it was going to Celtic next. Oh, that's right. That's being disrespectful, not you. Right, you got your 4-0 loss. Now off you. Yeah, off you pop. Yeah. No, it was a good win for Forrest. And we've been talking about Forrest saying that really really good well it was Pete especially after last week we've been down on Daesh down on Daesh down on the causes of Daesh I mean the reason why we've been down on Daesh is because of the results and performances it's because of our eyes and our optic nerve isn't it we're just responding to what's been happening but a lot of talk about not being able to get some of the juice out of those attacking players it's just one game it's against a Hungarian side and Hungarian league isn't the strongest just hold my beer lads I'll give you an own goal and I'll give away a ridiculous penalty and you'll be on your way.

18:19I mean, that was nice. But Igor Jesus, we know he's a quality player. He is. He's not the best finisher in the world, you'd say. Oh, but that second goal was satisfying. That second goal, shrugging off the defender, just smashing him. Beautiful. Yeah, more of that, please. More of that, please. Yeah, exactly. More of that in the league, if possible. I was surprised here he's got 10 goals in all comps. Yeah. Maybe 11. Oh, maybe it's 11. They have played a fair few years. Oh, he scored two last night, didn't he? So it could be 11. Yeah, look, he's a good player and they need to get more of a tune out of him quite frankly James McAtee is another one who when he signed for Forrest there was a lot of hype after the Euro Under 21 campaign that he played within England obviously successful there but he impressed nice to see him scoring a penalty Vish you're nodding your head you're a fan of the former Man City man are you?

18:59Yeah clearly a tidy player clearly thought he'd be playing in a different kind of team he's also playing less now than he was at Man City yeah but you probably assumed when he made the move he was like playing quite nice free form football Nuno looks like he's got his hat on the tiller there that's all good what is going on now this is too free flowing this is not enough free flowing it's almost impossible to judge McAtee positively or negatively this season given that it's not just the way of football they play it's just that what we kind of overlook is people who just like watching football is every time a new manager comes in you're basically a clean slate you've got to start again and if you sign for a manager that's now not there two months later.

19:39Everyone starts back at the start again and he's had three managers. Yeah. So I mean, and he's also not that old. He's only just 23 or whatever. So to me, it feels like he gets a pass this season. Clearly a talented player. It was mad to think that that goal last night was his first goal. Yeah. But then he's only started one Premier League game. Well, this is it. I wonder, because of the madness, you've got new managers coming in, of course, and now Dyche is there. They're in a relegation scrap. They're thinking, this lad's new. You know what? I don't want to be too harsh on Dyche but he's thinking I need a bit more industry maybe I don't quite trust myself to get the best out of him maybe I don't trust I don't know but Dyche did say himself that this game was a chance for people to go in there against Ferenc Farros and say right go on give me a selection dilemma and so on and McAtee's done that I don't think there's any two ways about that well the formation sort of played in his hands a little bit just gave him a bit more space and a bit more kind of a free roll to well apparently it's Ferenc Farros who aren't that good as well exactly yeah so I mean and they I mean they came into that much unbeaten as well but it's yeah we've been a little bit harsh on on Ferens Varos maybe I mean they did finish 12th you know they were going for automatic qualification in top 8 but in terms of the Premier League you look at Forest they're not scoring many goals I mean is it just Wolves I think who have scored fewer goals in the league than them and you're thinking well Daesh is obviously going to prioritise a certain style of play but well you've got to score goals to stay up at some point I know clean sheets are important and you wonder if a player with McAtee's talent and so on I mean there are other players in there I know but it goes back can't Dyche get the best out of him but that's a good audition if you like that McAtee's I love Forrest as a club but I really hate Sean Dyche so I don't really want to get ready because I'm in a great club but I would just say if you're going to talk about McAtee as well like if you look at the way that Forrest play with three behind a one you'd say that McAtee's going to play in one of those positions well you'd think so but the players that play there and Doy, Gibbs, White, Hudson and Doy all gone for massive money.

21:44So, you know, it's not like he's... Because what it kind of feels like is instinctively when you see a player who's really talented and really good but isn't really getting the look that he needs for his development at Man City and he goes to someone like Forrest you just automatically go well, that's a step down. He'll play every week. But actually, this version of Forrest spend loads and loads of money on quite big names so it's difficult for him to break in particularly with all the other stuff around the managers and all that kind of thing going on so who knows especially when in a match like this Sangare played really well he just dropped in and covered so many times he was really really solid from him well it all bodes well for Forrest who hosts Crystal Palace at 2pm on Sunday dare I try and say that's an intriguing tie because Palace themselves I mean if you know it's a big game down there if Palace were to lose that game and okay it seems unlikely that West Ham would would go to Chelsea and win but But it's within the realms of possibility that Palace suddenly go, crap, we're only five points off the relegation zone.

22:39Again, they're in free fall. It seems unlikely. There's not a single positive story coming out of the club, which is why I said yesterday you should try and go and sign someone to really arrest that. And Jürgen Stran Larsson seems to be the man. Hooray! If that's the answer, I don't know what the question is. Well, the question is who's going to replace Jean-Philippe Mateta when he goes to Forest, oddly. I mean, that's a strange situation, isn't it? Jean-Philippe Mateta apparently was in talks with Juventus and you think, well, even Salna, they're not one of the top sides in, you know, not going for the Serie A title this season, but still a huge club.

23:10And, you know, I can understand that. And you hear Forrester in front of him, and you think, well, it must be a wages thing. I don't know. But anyway, a little bit of movement will perhaps still happen there. But I think... It's got to be a wage structure, hasn't it? Well, perhaps. I think Stran Larsson, though, I think he would be a good signing if Mateta was to move on. They've agreed a£50 million deal in principle, apparently. so Fish what do you think of Jorgen Strand Larsson I like him I think he I agree I think he's a good player I think he's a very hard worker I think he's got a surprisingly good touch I don't think he's particularly quick but he always seems to he's he's experienced enough to be able to use his body I suppose including what pace he has effectively I think he's also as he's shown you know certainly last season with Wolves that he has the capacity to bring loads of other players in and I think one of the things that Palace have missed is a bit more consistency up front.

24:04I think Mateta has, you know, I know he's got some goals this season. I think he's missed some absolute stinkers. He's very patchy, isn't he? Yeah. I would love to see, I probably should have looked it up, but I'd love to see his XG. That's the modern striker in the Premier League, though, isn't it? I don't think so, because he's missed some proper one-on-ones. Right. So you're getting the opportunities there. He exactly used to do that quite a lot. Oh, the start of his Nick. I suppose. Kept that far from Liverpool, didn't he? Can't be a one-on-one if you're injured. Yeah, his knees, I wouldn't look there.

24:31It's like the reverse of my short reel. All 20, 2012 interviews that I've done. And Strand Larson, he would have more than 24 international caps if that Ruddy Erling Haaland wasn't keeping him up the team. But the reason I ask is because he scored one goal this season in the Premier League and he's miles off Wolves' top scorer, which is of course, Wang Pichan with two. 50 % off him. But do you not think that is indicative of what the Premier League is like this season? No, it's a good idea what fucking Wolves are like this season. Not against Wolves, Peter. And they're not creating chances. if you don't like the Premier League at their worst Wolves a lot of forward players are finding it very difficult to get a ball in the net this season are they?

25:05I think so proper out and out strikers are I think actually what's Erling Haaland's not him no no but his drought at the moment I think is like five games in it well we're going to talk about that after this because coming up after this can Manchester City get over their Spurs hoodoo

25:32So yesterday in the press conference, I asked you a question saying that you have never lost a qualification game in your career and you asked me those matches. I forgot Tottenham. Welcome back to the Rumble, everybody. Spurs versus Manchester City, Sunday at 4.30. It's a super Sunday. Tottenham have won three of the last four meetings between the two teams. how much longer are Spurs going to be the banter club on the banter club carousel because it feels like they've been in it for ages West Ham had a really good chance to try at it but it wasn't as convincing it's more sad with them though yeah like a dead poppy Spurs have been in that slot for absolutely ages now it's been a long time yeah because I mean Man United have got out of it yeah even under Amarim they've kind of got a bit out of it you know we had Grimsby Town and we're grateful yeah we're grateful for that but ultimately still you know a little bit further up but yeah but look chance for Spurs to get three points on the ball because it is just Manchester City.

26:26Every game is technically a chance for them to get three points on the ball. I bet this one in particular. It's a really weird phenomenon. It's superb. I absolutely love it. And especially, so obviously you've got to factor in the idea that Spurs are dreadful. But then Man City, even though they're second, I mean, and they obviously won last time out because they used some kind of voucher. Who was it? Was it Wolves again? Yeah, it was Wolves. Three games before, four games before that they didn't win. Yeah. A really crucial point in the season. And it's really hard to see how this one goes because if you would say that Spurs are okay like they kind of usually are and Man City are brilliant you think Spurs might do it because Spurs always kind of do it against Man City but this time it's really hard to say because Spurs are just so comically bad that it could go really badly for them.

27:09It's a fair point. Man City have had a few injuries particularly at the back this season that maybe people haven't mentioned so much. I mean John Stones is poor old John he's often injured even though he's been a huge player for them over the years but not having Guardiola as well and Azvel and Ruben Diaz. It's why they've got Mark Gay in really, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, it was no surprise that as soon as they signed him, he was like, right, you really need to get to training now because you are playing on the weekend. But don't worry, it's Wolves. Yeah. It's a lovely introduction. Are you available?

27:42Sorry, what were we saying? Hurry up. Hurry the fuck up. It's a great replacement to have. It is. And Semenya is great. It's a lovely induction for him. It's a proper induction week of a debut that it is you know what I mean I'm used to playing at a back three don't worry it's a drinks after work oh big time it's a kind of come in just after we've all got set on at about 10 o 'clock we'll provide you lunch today yeah it's a mild evening by the Thames yeah you can nip off at four and it'll be a clean sheet but it's important that he hits the ground running for sure because of those injuries you're talking about absolutely yeah I mean Jeremy Doku is out as well that's a blow yeah but again Semenyo comes in so I mean you can see what they're doing here obviously they've done that for many seasons, but in particular this season, I think there's a real kind of, right, just plug the gap and we'll talk about the tactics in a bit.

28:31Well, since the start of last January, they have bought an entire new 11, front to back, in exactly the same formation that they play in the Premier League, at least. So, you know, we talked about midway during last season the rebuild, and it was like Marmuchin and Gonzalez as their main January signings, as like a leaning towards a refresh as it were. Gonzalez because Rodri was injured. Yeah, yeah. That refresh is pretty much complete now. Yeah. And so, you know, while you make the right point about Gay almost being, they're hand being forced with Gay a little bit to act now because of the injuries.

29:11They have now the best squad in the Premier League. It just so happens that they don't necessarily know who their starters are in the way they say like an Arsenal would, for example. but there cannot be a better time to get the likes of Semenyo and Gaye in where they're not involved in the Champions League they also have that incredible feeling for domestic players going into a Man City team and thinking like everyone's really happy to see us here we are really it's reinforcements yeah we are lifting the mood simply by being ourselves here this is as Luke was alluding to this is as easy a gig as it's going to get for coming into a club of Man City stature So, I mean, they are the momentum drivers of what have City achieved at the end of the season.

29:54Totally. I don't think there'll be any questions of, but can they play this way or that way? I mean, in a little way, almost like when Donnarumma came in, people say, well, can he play with his feet? And the defenders are going, yeah, but look at him. You know, I'm very happy to see him. I mean, it's funny, isn't it? When you think about when, I mean, I might, this may be me just sort of cherry picking Jack Grealish here, but if you think about when Grealish signed for, you know, an absolute king's ransom, really, they had the luxury back then of a whole season, right? This is how we play. This is how we do it.

30:21We're just going to sort of drip feed you in. And then that treble winning season he was amazing. Boom, there you go. Whereas now it's kind of like, right, are you fit? Right, get in there because we're signing you for here and now. But also with Gay, I mean, obviously, I think it's John Stone's contract up in the summer, there's chat that he may move on. We'll see what happens. Well, you'd have to think that Gay long term is a replacement. I mean, it's a good signing for crying out loud. There's no doubt about that. Very covetous. For club and country. Yeah, absolutely. Now you're talking You can't sign players But famously They can pick them Weird because The cricket team Do it all the time I was going to say Didn't Sam Allardyce Nearly sign Steven and Zonzi Yeah That's right Sometimes they can't Be negotiations They were also England We were in for Jamal Musiala For a bit as well Well yeah He was a youth team Player for England I know The FA were also Sniffing around Michael Arteta Back in the day They were Yeah As a player yeah Because he didn't Play for Spain did he He didn't As far as I can Remember But anyway Back to Spurs versus Manchester City, yes.

31:17I mean, Tottenham could be 16th behind Palace and Leeds by the time this game kicks off. There's your permutations, everybody. I mean, their situation is absolutely dire. I mean, it's diabolically bad. You know, I mean, if you look at the, not just the bench they had to field against Eintracht Frankfurt, you know, but the stories coming out of the club over and over again about players that are going to be leaving and players they're trying to sign. I mean, it's really, really hard to make any kind of justification whatsoever of what the hierarchy are doing. It's wild what's going on. So it's getting to the point now where you think that like the incompetence runs from top to bottom and Frank isn't up to it and has not been good enough.

32:01But you can't, at this point, with all the stuff that's coming out of that club, you can't just blame Frank. Because so much stuff is like, it's so, so poor. And they do need to, I mean, this is the start of, as we mentioned, I think, maybe at the start of the week, this is the start of a really, really important month for Spurs. I mean, because they're not going to be relegated, but it could get embarrassingly bad for them when you take into account they're playing Man City, as you said, and they go to Old Trafford after that. They've got Newcastle and they've got the North London derby. And, you know, those are four massive Premier League games that off the back of what you're talking about, they could find themselves flirting seriously with the bottom four or five teams, which you maybe argue they already are.

32:44Well, I mean, again, it goes back to the unlikely event of West Ham beating Chelsea. They do that, Spurs lose. They themselves are suddenly five points above the drop zone. And it's not like it is last season. You know, last season, they were never going to get ready. It was the most cushy 17th finish anybody could have wished for. And obviously they prioritised the Europa League. And they just, the thing about it is as well, not only are they terrible at finding players to sign, they're terrible at treating the players they do sign, either physically or I would say mentally. If you look at, say, what Rando Calamwani wants to do, Matias Tell has been treated terribly because he was binned at the Champions League squad last minute for Solanke, who, to be fair, scored.

33:20But Tell was brief and straight away of his team. Well, that's me then. I want to go. But when you say, Luke... But then the physical side of it, Marcus... No, indeed. It's embarrassing. But when you say that they're terrible at signing players, but during the summer, everyone said they had the best summer... They had the best transfer window, didn't they? Like, that was a... Everyone said Spurs had a good transfer window. Okay, so when I say they're terrible at signing players, it's what they do when they're right. Yeah, they're terrible at not damaging them. But that's Luke's point, isn't it?

33:42Yeah. It's about what they do when they sign them. It's all about getting them through the door. It's what happens when they're inside. Great, great at getting them through the door. Yeah. Maybe the door's quite damaged, so they keep hurting their legs. Maybe it's a cursed door. Maybe it's a cursed door. Maybe if they were carried over the threshold. We spoke about Mourinho the other day. Maybe he's still got a tripwire at Spurs or something. I don't know. But you have situations with like the Bergpahl thing which I mentioned last week which is just ridiculous. I mean look it's crazy Arsenal had this for a while if you remember I don't know if it's a North London thing or not maybe they swapped the training pitches around but it just seems that it's sooner or later and the acid test is Connor Gallagher going there what is going on?

34:23Well do you remember they're already looking into like whether they need to relay training pitches whether they need to remove training pitches also relocate like they're looking at like soil composition and stuff like that and how it's affecting people's joints but there was chat wasn't there about Arsenal's training pitch which is also what they did yeah they said you know I think it was Jermaine Genis of all people who said that he trained on Arsenal's training pitch and said it's actually a very heavy pitch and when he came off it he was feeling it a bit now I mean that is perennially injured Jermaine Genis they've also got various different types of injuries though yeah which is really difficult to explain it feels to me based on that Lucas Bergwald story I mean I don't know anything I've got no medical qualifications whatsoever so don't bother listening to what I say but the way they handled Lucas Bergvau was scandalous really it was absolutely scandalous there's no excuse for it they've still got a chance against Manchester City they've always got a chance that's the beauty of the game it's the beauty of the game what was nice in midweek Pep Guardiola was talking about Jose Mourinho but in much more favourable terms this time because of course Benfica beat Real Madrid which guaranteed Manchester City's place in the Champions League last 16 and Pep said he will be thanking Jose Mourinho for beating Real Madrid reflecting on the game he said we were all in the dressing room and we didn't know Benfica needed another goal to qualify so when their goalkeeper went up we said why are you going but it was a good strategy for Jose isn't that lovely yeah it's very much a comment on a manager who's no longer in the same league as him yeah I think it's quite backhanded because strategy desperation for Jose for Jose it's a good strategy for Jose desperation for a poor manager it's like very much when you lived with someone at unit that he didn't like that much and eventually you'd separate and then you'd see them in the pub weeks later.

36:05Oh, he wasn't that bad. Yeah. Yeah, because you don't see him anymore. You forget that he'd never tidied up. Yeah, you don't have to worry about it. You don't have to worry about him cutting his toenails in the living room because he's not living with you anymore. You have that with me in the studio. Exactly. In DJ. You bite them though. You don't cut them. I do bite them. Now, my beloved... Oh, hold on. You bite your toenails? No, he's a Paul's goal. If I didn't get one started and I don't have a scissors, I would. Get it started. He bites other people's toenails. Well, I bit my daughter. That's weirdly better.

36:31I'm just impressed that you can get your feet in your mouth. I know. And we will leave that there. Let's see it. We will leave that there. And as a Fulham fan, I'm a little bit worried about Fulham's trip to Old Trafford on the weekend. So he should be. It's come at the wrong time. You've got the wrong time. It's come at the wrong bloody time. I think it's a very good test of Man Utd under Carrick because it's the first game where he's got... No, no, but he's got to do something. You can't be reactive. You've got to push the table like that. It was definitely a free hit element given what come before in the Man City in the Arsenal away games.

37:06So where the romance are odd. And you can be reactive in those games as well. This game, you've got to take the game to the opposition. And you see that managers, some managers do struggle with that. Well, it's at Old Trafford. It is at Old Trafford. It's as much easier to follow a dance and lead it. That's true. Yeah, you've watched Strictly. Yeah, I haven't. Not since he passed, of course. No. the great Brucey he's talking about yeah he's a crucial game in the battle for Champions League places of course in the Premier League this season now less of a battle more of a do you want it yeah fine I'll have it thanks oh is that right yeah okay nobody really wants it no you go and talk to her okay see where Newcastle are on the table below both of them they better do it now we say we don't want it let me enjoy it let me enjoy it while it's happening barely got through if Fulham are going to do it It's the only way they're going to convince Harry Wilson to stay at the club.

37:58So you've got to hope they do. Yeah, I thought he was going to leave. I've thought this for some time, to be honest. But if Fulham, I mean, it's looking likely they're going to get Oscar Bob in. I mean, it's not too shabby business. That's a big upgrade on Adama Traore, in my view. Oh, poor old Adama. Did you see his little intro video at West Ham? Yeah. I have a idea. He said his favourite music was 50 Cent and Tupac. Right. We're on the back. That's all right, isn't it? Is this a 50-year-old man we're talking to here? I reckon a lot of that is just their favourite music is hype music pre-game and that would rarely change wouldn't it you say that but like there's a lot of modern artists that do hype music these days I know but if you're how old I was probably we'd be in his 20s right yeah we'd be in his late 20s yeah I mean I don't think it's that terrible is it it's just quite surprising I had him down as a jar rule man did you now you're talking I'm really enjoying the new album from Geese actually oh yeah imagine if he said that it's surprising yeah or he was really into pulp reunited for their show.

38:55Surely he'd been to P. Diddy because of all that baby oil in his arms. You would think. Oh, come on. I was so close to going with that. Go with it. It's fine. Go with it. It's fine. It's actually piss. Apparently he's 30 years old. It's he. Right, okay. So that's fair. There we go. All's forgiven. An elder millennial if ever I saw one. So basically Tupac was dead when Adam Atreus was born is what I'm saying. Yeah. Oh yeah. So he can't be liable for any murder. So he definitely isn't a suspect. He definitely isn't a suspect. Yeah. So he's a real fake if he says he's a fan of Nirvana as well. Yeah.

39:27Which seems unlikely at this stage. All right, coming up after this, the next instalment of a classic Premier League fixture.

39:45Hello, everybody. Liverpool versus Newcastle United on Saturday at 8pm. Six versus ninth. Doesn't have the same ring as fourth versus seventh, but six versus nice is still worthwhile Newcastle will jump above Liverpool with a victory Peter yeah a victory that they've not had at Anfield since 1994 do I think this team's going to do it no I don't do you not no have you not done it since 1994 Marcus after a near win in Paris when everybody died Pete talk us through the I'm sorry what something happened in the way they worked so hard they worked so hard Lewis Miles got PTSD good god it was awful you talk us through what you were doing in 1994 What was the 12, 13 year old Pete Dawson?

40:26I think that's safe enough I think if you said what we do in a 90 year I'd be like no no I was an early adopter At the very least He wouldn't have discovered weaponry And he wouldn't be on the internet Was that not the era where you were sitting on the stairs Hiding for your dad trying to speak to girls on the landline? No that would have been a bit later It's about 19 now Would you just have to call girls' dads up and ask them to put the girls on the phone. Requiem. Requiem. Requiem. Did you do that in like a prison yard kind of way? If I can beat the dad up, surely they'll go out with you. This is a Carl from the Hartlepool Penitentiary.

41:06I'll meet you outside the Best Buy. Steve's in the house, I'm the daddy now. You go around your potential girlfriend's dad's house with a snooker ball and a sock. Is that what was happening? When you were 13? Problem shot. Okay, was that the year, for example, was that the year the coal van went through your living room window probably more likely yeah you were sitting there watching TV 13 probably watching Gladiators the sea coal van plows through your living room wall that was that old advert with the bloke cut my tango would be lovely do you remember that no I don't but you always you love a 90s advert don't you we all do it's a tango advert but you're a chocolate advert man you're obsessed with chocolate adverts I'm obsessed there's a bit strong I just happen to remember I get that Friday feeling Yeah, when a crunchy comes your way.

41:51There we go. Thank you. Very relevant for today, of course. Mars bar. Yeah. We all remember that. Pleasure can't measure. That was a later one, but a Mars a day helps you work rest and flow. Cadbury's Flake. The crumbliest milk chocolate in the world. What is Flake? Twix. It's astonishing. It is astonishing. It was the song, wasn't it? Whenever there's a snack gap, Twix fits. That was it. Oh, okay. I didn't remember that. I was thinking the... I'm so excited was the music. used on the advert. That wasn't Twix, was it? I think it was, yeah. No, that was Crunchy. Crunchy was a rollercoaster. Oh, okay.

42:25Finger of Fudge. Finger of Fudge is just enough. Come on, but these are always just enough to give your kids a treat. Yeah, but you remember these as well. I do remember these, but you unlock something in my brain that is long forgotten. You're very welcome. Can you unlock a good broadcaster? Can you unlock my lungs, please? Yeah. If I could do me, I'd do you as well. But back to Liverpool versus Newcastle. Alexander Ezek will miss the reunion with his former club. because he's simply not playing football anymore. He's fed up of it. It's too much money. He should never have done it. I don't want to play anymore.

42:55Get him in the away end. Get him in there. That would be so good because the people in the away end would be like, what the fuck are you doing here? I'm one of you. Can I come back, please? Do you remember that League Cup win? Yeah. Well, now, Arna Slott has accused his critics of not listening properly after he received backlash for saying that losing to PSG helped them win the Premier League last season. I mean he's absolutely right isn't he yeah what did he say exactly what was the feeling of what he was saying he basically said that by not having to focus on two major fronts going into the the back end of last season that he was able to put all his efforts into and the squad were able to put all their efforts into the Premier League and people read that to say that oh he enjoyed being knocked out of the Champions League right yeah I mean he was seen celebrating with the PSG players he was yeah he let off a flair Like Digimon Ceso with Samuel Nasri at the end of when City beat QPR.

43:52Yeah, exactly. But at the risk of being contrary for the sake of it, which is obviously not my style, is that not missing the point slightly? Because what Anaslot is saying is that people didn't listen properly. I said, this might have helped us and people didn't pick up on the fact that I said it might have helped us. But Steven Gerrard, I think it was, came back in and said, well, that's not the point. The point is that at the time of the PSG game, You guys were 15 points clear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you could... Oh, I see. And Arsenal's title to the challengers pissed poor last season. So you could have played a stronger team.

44:26And then what was telling, I thought, was that Arnest Lott, after he's pushed on that, said, yeah, well, I thought that we had the team to win the Champions League as well, and I'm disappointed that we didn't. It feels to me that people think, in retrospect, they were a bit cautious when they didn't need to be when they had such a big cushion. Sometimes I think what Arnest Lott does and says is quite reminiscent of a manager who isn't very used to being right at the very top level. There's a naivety of how he does things. Which is understandable. Thomas Frank is the same. Thomas Frank does stuff and says stuff where it makes him look a bit of a laughingstock.

44:59And it's because they're not used to the scrutiny. And I think with slot, it's very difficult to think of a manager who's managing the reigning champions and getting so much stick. And it's not just because they've been inconsistent it and their football's not been great. I think it's also because of how he handles it. I think that's a great point, yeah. Because if you use Frank and Slott as two really good examples there, I think a lot of the time, even last year with Slott where, just last season, because of the way they were winning the league, there wasn't actually that much to talk about.

45:33It was basically about just keep doing what you're doing, as you said, had a decent lead. And now when you're in this state that he's in and in Frank's case when you're at a high-profile club, people pour over what you say which you might deem inconsequential within a press conference itself and bring it up to you in another press conference two days later and you're almost like, oh, you know, I didn't really mean that I didn't really think we're the worst United side of all time Yeah, yeah, that kind of stuff, yeah and you're like, people come back at you often and you end up just having to you know, make excuses for yourself every few days The point I would say, if I can weigh in on that is that Liverpool have not looked the same under slots since that loss.

46:14I mean, the League Cup final, which was what, the week after or something, they were an absolute shadow of themselves. Salah was non-existent in that game. They played like they're playing now. Totally. And I understand they obviously very, very comfortably got over the line in the Premier League and credit to them for that. And they had some moments after that. But that, when they went toe-to-toe with PSG, and it's a penalty shootout and their chances missed, if they win that game, it's such a sliding doors result, if you see what I mean, if there's such a thing as a sliding doors result rather than moment.

46:42because Liverpool, at that time, everyone thought they're on for the league. They're on for the Champions League. In fact, when we talk about quadruple, that's how good it was. It has not been the same really since that result. Now, there's more to it than just, oh, we're a bit gutted about that result, clearly. So I think that's why people often scrutinise that result and what happened after that. That's all fair points. And then obviously they limped towards the end of the season. It wasn't like a relentless mentality. But they didn't need to. No, no, they didn't. but they only won like three of the last eight games last season or something but what I'm trying to get at is the idea that how you carry yourself as a manager of a top club there is a kind of eye test to it and another example would be I'm not comparing the two managers because I think the situation was very different and they're very different characters anyway but like if you think of when Roy Hodgson was manager of Liverpool back in like 2013 they had that bad result against Everton in the Merseyside derby and he came out and said all these things and everyone from like the Liverpool Echo the fans groups the pundits were like we're just not having this you're talking absolute shit yeah you can't talk about the performance when you've lost a derby exactly he just didn't understand that because I guess to be perhaps unfair to him he's just in that period of his career used to managing effectively smaller clubs now I know he's done stuff before that places like Inter and stuff but it was just it was just like it hit him in a way that he wasn't prepared for what's coming and I think with Slott that's part of the story here and that's why this stuff keeps happening I'm trying to explain to people why Slott despite being the manager of the Premier League champions keeps getting stick for everything and it's not just because of the way they're playing.

48:14Which is, yeah, which is a contrast to last season where he's handled himself really, really well. But it's easier, I suppose, when things are going really well. One game in the first 30 games of the season. Indeed, indeed. Right, everybody. It's time for me to tell you that this afternoon it's a big one. It's Jack's encyclopedia. It's me versus Luke versus Vish. Vish is trying to unify the belts. Already, he's only been back 10 minutes and look at him. What a man. It's not an exaggeration to say that I am currently in the middle of moving house and I'm feeling more stress after losing last week to Vish and knowing it's Jackson which I'm not that great at about that than I am the house move.

48:51Does it make you feel better that I'm wearing a Luke Nation t-shirt right now? Slightly. And he's a referee as well. Yeah, I'm not sure he's going to wear that for the actual show. That's a two-bob bit, I tell you what. Get yourself to footballarmastore.com. I think it's a nine-bob note. It's a nine-bob note. Yeah. Two-bob bit. Two-bob bit is just a slang for the shits. I've got the two bob bits. Oh, right. Bent is a nine bob note, means you're corrupt. Nine bob notes. It's a two bob note. We did what we used to have. It doesn't exist. Yeah, well, there we go. So it's still just as bent. I think the spirit of that is you can use any number, but I think nine bob note was...

49:22That's what people say to me. Yeah, I think so. But I think... I don't feel like a co-broadcaster, I feel like a translator. Custard. Custard as Cockney Rhyming Slap. Crème Ingles in English. Custard. Do you know what that is? I didn't know what that was. Custard, as far as I understand, giving someone the custard is like mugging them off giving them a custard pie no no custard and jelly telly telly oh okay yeah nice get it on custard get it on a custard is that true is that front champion saying that is it mockney rhyming slang we'll see in the comments I'm sure people will get involved oh that'll be the least of their comments okay we're producer George he's a West Ham fan yes so Jack and Salopini will be available to listen to later today make sure to subscribe to the Football Ramblin on your podcast app so you do not miss it Can I make a slight prediction?

50:08The narrative is about me being the current title holder and Vish come to unify. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a third horse in this race sneaks up on the rails. Well, at the moment I'm just a little horse. Yeah. Thank you for listening to the Football Rabble part of the ACAST Creator Network. As I say, get your ears around Jack's Encyclopedia this afternoon. Until then, thank you very much Luke Moore. Thank you very much. Thank you for doing Hantharaja. Thank you. Thank you Pete Donaldson. Goodbye everyone. And thank you, yeah Thomas Frank, why not? Let's thank him. He needs it. Yeah.

50:44The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.