That World Cup Kick-Off: Kasper Schmeichel on England, Denmark & the lads arrive in the US | EP. 406

0:00Here we are in sunny Los Angeles for the greatest show on turf. We've had three red cards, two goals and we're back stronger.

0:15Welcome to That Peter Crouch Podcast, the World Cup special edition. We've got Stephen Sidwell and a very special guest, well, a guest host, I suppose. The main man, Tom Fordyce, is back. Pete, last time we did this podcast together we were in the basement of a pretty ropey pub in London the toilet's around the corner you've got the smell of urine and there was a strange man with a plastic bag who just used to walk through I've got to say I like what you've done with the place Do you know what? It feels very surreal doesn't it? Very surreal I don't know how we've pulled this off that there is not AI I can't believe it to be honest but we've genuinely filmed in some real shitholes haven't we and Kensington Palace to be fair we've had some good ones as well did you cycle here?

1:07I cycled all the way from Natsford do you know what Pete a World Cup is a massive event isn't it and before a World Cup you're wondering if you're going to get the nod you try and keep yourself in shape you hope that the previous performances that you've delivered on the big occasion will come good so when I got that little text from you Tom, fancy the World Cup? Easy answer Pete, I'm on my way Listen, we'll get into some more chat with you Tom after but I've got to welcome my very special guest here Kasper Schmeichel Thank you I'm very good mate So we're doing a little bit of work out here as well We're moonlighting on the boss in the pod which is incredibly important but we're doing a bit for Fox as well We had a good day today, didn't we?

1:50We had a really good day Yeah, I enjoyed it It was some occasion, some kind of place we were, what would you call it? Like an immersive experience? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a big screen. It's called Cosm. Yeah, talk us through this because we've seen some pictures since. Great. It was unbelievable. So it's basically like a massive screen, isn't it? And like, you feel like you're in the stadium, but it's just the screen. I mean, the game was in Mexico and we were in LA. The screen is huge though, isn't it? And the ceiling as well. It actually feels like you're there. It's fully 180 degrees around you.

2:21Yeah. It's some experience. It's definitely worth doing, isn't it? Absolutely. If you're around in LA and watching, and you can't go and watch a game, actually doing that, that was pretty special. Yeah. Well, I feel like we've immersed ourselves in a little bit of America, really, in the US, because last night we were in the bar and the Knicks game was on. Well, that got quite messy, didn't it? I found myself, there's a fella from Brooklyn, and we found, I was like on his shoulders, on his back. I was fully invested. It was brilliant. I never thought I did to. But they're saying it's the best game of basketball ever.

2:55Oh, okay. It was some comeback. Yeah, that we witnessed. It's the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history, down 29 points to go and win it with what? What was it? Four and a half, five seconds left? Unreal. It was basically the miracle of Istanbul for the NBA, wasn't it? Yeah. That's the way I'm looking at it. I felt like we had the fella from Brooklyn who was sitting next to us. Yeah. He was in really bad mood for the first half, three quarters. and all of a sudden very very quickly he started he started getting a bit of belief and then everything changed all changed obviously you're doing bits for for fox out here yeah um i wanted to ask you like today was probably your first day when he was working what's it been like in terms of like the term like the word in the terminology because like pitch we say pitch they say field they say grass they say turf you know it's it's not too nil it's too zero like have you had to sort of have you had a sheet where you what you can and what you can't say or do you know what is that I feel like they're adapting a bit you just do it how you would so so yeah cuz I was I was like to start off with the we're calling this soccer yeah we're calling it football no no you you just do how you do it yeah if I said I said start away I mean that was a great pathway power play for the PK.

4:09Strong power play. Strong power play. He took the PK. Hey, there's three ejections today as well, wasn't there? Oh, mate. Super ejections. How about the hydration break? The hydration break. Hydration break sponsored by Powerade. It's crazy. Unbelievable, isn't it? It's just an excuse to get the... It's a tactical break, isn't it? Oh, it's a tactical break now. No need for goalkeepers to go down now, is there? Now we've got the Powerade break. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Thank you so much, Gael. You know, it was brilliant to be a part of it. Great to watch the first game. Good. How have you been, mate? You've recently retired.

4:44Yeah, I did. About, what, two weeks ago now. Yeah, so, yeah, just getting used to it now. You know, trying to figure out what life looks like after football. You started well. Yeah, yeah. They can only go downhill from here, can they? I thought this is normal, innit? This is very normal. Do we think Casper is going to be one of those recently retired footballers who keeps himself in impeccable shape or is he going to blob out? What do we think? That's a real 50-50. That's a toss of a coin that. Yeah, it could go both ways that. I'm not even confident which one. He could go full Neville Southall.

5:24I didn't want to say it. Goalkeepers have got a reputation. Wow. Wow. I've been in the gym every morning. I've been in the gym every morning. When I'm all past there For my bacon sandwich I'll see you there No I was I felt a bit inferior I had John Obi McKellen Next to me And I was getting to like 25 minutes on the treadmill I was absolutely blown He's on minute 48 And he's just like Jogging Not bead of sweat on him So Got a bit of catching up To do I think I was slightly concerned Because like You've got Zlatan Have you seen Thierry At the minute Working out as well And I thought Yeah I thought I'll just I'll just do some Press ups in my room We're not going to the pool Are we at the same time time as them.

6:02There's Paul's a no-go zone. On the beach or something. Imagine having a few like six kgs with the Zlatan. The look he would give you. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Bench pressing cars out there. Peter, steady on. Can you imagine his disappointment? This man's a footballer. The look of disgust. So what are you doing? So you had a shoulder problem is that the reason my shoulder up and yeah basically I've had one surgery now and yeah at the moment they're deciding what the next step is there's been quite a lot of damage in the shoulder so yeah there's a group of surgeons now deciding what the next step would be what the next surgery would be to kind of see yeah how to how to get back to being able to be fully functional again really is it painful now I don't know if you saw Mo today Co-presenter Other than that it's fine It's okay There's certain movements that will Trigger a lot of pain But I can function Reasonably well with it It's my left one luckily So not my dominant hand I can play tennis, I can play paddle And all that kind of thing So it's okay Did that force your hand in terms of making the decision or was it kind of...

7:31No, absolutely. In my head, I actually felt probably the best I'd felt physically for quite a long time and I was really enjoying playing football. In my head, I wasn't planning to retire but when you're sat with a surgeon and he starts the conversation by saying this is the worst shoulder injury you've ever seen. That's not great. No, it's not a good start, is it? And then he says, uh you know what kind of life are you hoping to live after football so that kind of tells you right okay um maybe i need to take this quite seriously because you know i do want to i do want to lead an active life you know i've got kids i want to want to be able to to do stuff and i want to go skiing i want to try all the things i haven't tried you know as a footballer so so yeah at the end of the day the decision was kind of made for me um i'm i'm not yeah i'm not one to just walk away.

8:28I've tried everything I probably could. But I've obviously seen it through my dad. I know that there's a long, long life after football. So as much as I would maybe take the chance of having surgery and trying to get back, by that time I'd be 41 nearly. And the way football is now, if there's a three in front of your age, let alone a four, you've got very little chance of teams wanting to take you on and then on the back of a big shoulder injury as well you know what would my options kind of be they'd be quite limited I think so so yeah and it probably was the right time because you know we were coming up to the 10-year anniversary of Leicester winning the league and all that I just thought okay well if it was ever to be this would probably be it so um so I made the decision and yeah it's just so so early still I think I won't feel it really until you know like lads are in pre-season next season and that starts going and you're not involved I think that's probably when it'll hit Yeah I found that like the big games you know like the big games and you think oh I should have been there and you feel like you want to be there but you know you'll have a long successful career I'm sure after football What was Celtic like?

9:36So that's where you finished right? So how did you find that? What a finish What a finish What an Indian Some finish wasn't it? Unbelievable Yeah some finish But that's what big clubs do you know that's what big clubs they get over the line it wasn't pretty this year like it wasn't pretty but we found a way of getting over the line. But yeah, absolutely love my time there. I genuinely wish I'd been able to spend longer there. I just love the whole winning culture, the demand to win all the time, the demand for excellence all the time. Just being part of the history of a club like that. It's one of those clubs I don't think, until you've played there, I don't think people get it.

10:19like that the pressure that's on there is the same pressure like to win and perform like the biggest clubs in the world but but you you know you're going you're going to places where the pitches aren't necessarily great to play on but people are still demanding that you you're playing that the highest of highest level and when you go and play in europe you know they've they won the you know the champions league with the lisbon lions that they're still not demanding but they're expecting you to go and compete. And I absolutely love that pressure, that whole environment. Because you're there to be shot at every single time, aren't you?

10:54If you're at Celtic, that's the thing. Some people look at Scottish football seeds and they go, okay, well, look, the overall standard's not where the Premier League is. But if you're playing for Celtic, or if you're playing for Rangers, everyone else wants to beat you in every single game. There is no easy game. No, do you know what? And again, people talk about the level. Until you've played, and it is really, really tough, because you're not, like you said, you're not just demanded to win, you're demanding perfection now. And that was one thing I really enjoyed there was when we were like analysing and debriefing games, things that would, you know, if you're playing, for example, when we played for Leicester, things that maybe wouldn't be flagged up because we won the game, it was flagged up here because we're not just looking to win, we're looking for perfection every single time.

11:38And I just thought that was a great mentality and I really, really enjoyed that part. what was your favourite moment in the Silkshire was it the League Cup final the shootout Rangers that was a great moment obviously beating Rangers in a final at Hampden saving a penalty that was that was an amazing moment great feeling but to be fair for me the best moments that was just lifting trophies like because as much as people would talk about the standard of Scottish football and I know that the title hasn't been out of Glasgow for since I think it's 60 odd years it was a close one though No, but that's what I mean.

12:13But no matter what, both the way we won it the first year I was there and the way we won the second year is equally as satisfying for me because they were so different both ways of winning. But I just love that feeling of you stood on a pitch, you're lifting a trophy, and it's something you've created together. And when you're in a club with that much history, we overtook Rangers with the most league wins. And to be able to be part of the team that did that and to stand there at Celtic Park, 60 ,000 people, the atmosphere and knowing you're part of the history of this club now. I absolutely love it.

12:54Like I said, I'd love to have been able to play there for longer. Have you had a get-together with the Leicester boys, did you say, for the 10-year anniversary? Yeah, we did. How did that go? Have the lads changed? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Still a party of parties? There was parties, don't worry. We had a great time. I hadn't seen a lot of them for so long. It was just us boys at the training ground having a few beers. Really? Having a few wines that turned into a few. Nice. At the training ground? Yeah, the training ground was brilliant. It was a great night. Everybody enjoying themselves.

13:31A little sing song. It was just perfect. Perfect way to just have a reunion. I can imagine that. It's like we've had reunions before. When you go back in, it's like you've never been away. It's just straight away. It's just like going back in time. It's just frozen. It's just like you're with the lads straight away again, cracking jokes. That's the bit you miss, isn't it? Yeah. That is what you miss. Did you talk about that season? Or was it just catching up and what you've been up to? Did anyone chat about winning it? No, there was little hints of it. But it was mostly just catching up. What are you doing with yourself?

14:07and where are you in your life and what's going on and all that kind of thing. No, we didn't actually talk too much about that season. Do you think it's, like looking back now, do you think it's even madder than it was at the time? Crazy. I mean, everyone knows the odds, 5 ,000 to one. Okay, so the odds of you winning the total that year are greater than the Loch Ness Monster being or Elvis Presley being found alive. Tom, I love having you back. Elvis Presley being fired alive was two and a half thousand to one was it really? that's how insane it was and I look at that I don't know what you think I look at that and I think it could never happen again but probably the reason why it was miraculous we all thought the same thing in 2016 we even thought before that game against City when you've gone and win there and Huthi scored it's two guys everyone is still going it's not going to last I think it's the greatest sporting miracle of all time it's right up there It is.

15:04Like the Knicks. No, it is. I mean, that's the thing. I think that's what gives sports fans hope is that those stories can happen and something similar will happen. I mean, you look at history. I'm from Denmark. Denmark, we won the Euros in 92 and we didn't even qualify. Things like that can happen. You have, was it 2004? We had Greece win. Euros, yeah. You know, so these stories come along every now and then and they give you hope as a sports fan that the impossible can happen and I think that's the whole that's the whole appeal of sports is that at the end of the day you've got 11 people competing against 11 people anything can happen in that moment if but of course if you got to do over a 38 game season that's very very difficult that you can have one of finals where you can have an off day or something but there was just a there was just a confidence a belief in this in the team and at the end of the day what what did we have to lose we didn't have anything to lose there's no pressure on us to win the league the pressure wasn't everyone else you know so so we were just having a great time we honestly had the best time ever what moment what moment during that season did it drop as this ago we're gonna do this well for me it was it was we played Swansea away we played Swansea away around Christmas and we were going on our Christmas do and we battered them like we've beaten three-nil and I I remember we sat on the plane and it's like, look at you, lads, this is happening.

16:28I don't care, this is happening. Because we were top at Christmas. And I think it was something like 18 hour 21 teams that had been top of Christmas had gone on to win the league. So we were like, I was very close. I said, guys, this is happening, I don't care. This is just gonna happen. But I think a lot of people maybe on the outside, you mentioned the city game. That was probably the one where people thought, wow. Cause I mean, we were three and a lot. Aguero scored in the last minute, you know, a consolation. Unreal that wasn't it? But that was, I think that was the game where I remember driving home after that game and my phone just going mad like, wow, this is unreal.

17:05You've just gone to City and you beat them, like proper beat them. That was my moment. Yeah, I think that was most people's. We've spoken about it before. I think we both did the same thing. It was Man City away that it was like. Yeah, so we're out here kind of, you know, for the World Cup, obviously. you've got Mahrez and Kante who are still playing they're out here you know how they're going to do yeah they're going to do well they missed the reunion weren't but they were we had them on FaceTime on the iPads but I mean two probably two of the best players I've ever played with so I'm absolutely buzzing for them another another major tournament N 'Golo's already won it you know which is is mental and Riyad Ria's just a magician and he's you know captain of Algeria now he's leading the whole country so yeah they're going to do good I'm really sure of that what about your major tournaments that you've played in you know how were they obviously I have fond memories of the one at Wembley in the semi-final that was probably my favourite for you yourself yeah I was lucky enough to be in a few tournaments my first one was in 2012 as a backup and we missed a couple after that.

18:23I mean, my first World Cup was 2018 in Russia, which was an incredible experience. Absolutely loved that. It was just phenomenal. The whole thing about playing for Denmark, knowing that you're out in the world representing Denmark and everybody at home is watching when you're playing games. you come in after games after you've won and you just you know you got 120 messages on your phone everybody's watched it you know your former school teachers are writing to you literally everyone you know has watched this game and it is the biggest stage in the world you know we went we got to you know we got knocked out by Croatia on penalties you saved a pen from Modric before the end of the game then you saved two more pens didn't you in the shootout and we still missed how harsh is that we missed three did you have a word after like come on there was honestly I've saved Modric's spot kick I've saved two more do me a favour yeah to be fair we were we were knackered so 118th minute and yeah we got caught he was one on one he took it he took it round me he did well to be fair and one of our defenders just absolutely clipped him like took just took him out and took the chance that I could save it.

19:46And luckily I did, took it to Penn's and we missed three, which was slightly disappointing. But it was an insane experience. The magnitude of the World Cup is just... I think when the game started, I think I had something like 280 ,000 followers on Instagram. I had nearly 800 ,000 by the end of the game. which was you know it was absolutely insane the amount of people that watched the World Cup everywhere so the draw of it is just amazing and so then go and play for your country and give you a good account of yourself that was that was incredible what's the expectation like from within the camp because like with England before the tournament even started it's coming home you know they're going to win it has it ever been home?

20:37no I'm just saying we've had discussions about that he's a big fan of that comment But every tournament that they're going to go into, they're expected to go and win it or get to the final semis. What is it from within at Denmark? The expectation is to do well. You've got to remember, we won a major tournament more recently than you guys have. Ouch. Just putting it out there. But what I mean is that means it can be done. Do you know what I mean? I see what you mean. It means it can be done. Granted, it's a different tournament now. I think it was eight teams or something back then. It's very different now.

21:17But the expectation is that we go and do well. It's difficult because we're a country of only 5 million people. But to consistently perform the way we have through many years and to stay within, you know, we were in the top 10 for quite a while, but to be in and around the top 20, a country of that size, is I think pretty good. But the expectation is high, definitely. It's not like in England, but you're expected to win. But I think when you look at the talent mass that you have to choose from, it's understandable that there's a high expectation. But the problem from an outsider looking in, it is that you do, in every single way, put too much pressure on yourselves.

22:00I think we have a bit of banter about it, don't we? you know I was asked I was asked on a press conference going into the semi-final about it coming home in the Euros and it's become like a thing everyone said that to me everywhere I go has it ever been home you know and I was making the point well you won the World Cup not the Euros so how can it come home if you've never won it do you know what I mean it's harshly fair isn't it I mean look we all have to admit it's got a good point it's a great point that was kind of that was kind of my point yeah but But yeah, that went viral quite quick. There's also an argument, I think, with Denmark, Kasper.

22:42Denmark, they're one of those teams, 1986, who can say they're one of the best teams who never won the World Cup. People talk about Brazil in 1982. You might talk about France in 2006. But that Denmark team, Crouchy, you love a football shirt. Iconic. The Hummel's unbelievable. Yeah, the pinstripe here, pinstripe there. top three world cup shirts i think it's i think it's right up yeah that is like they did recreate it a few years ago like uh for one game they did and it looked it looked spectacular even your dad's massive like the harlequin shirt that is that is also that's still a massive selling shirt back in denmark like and the thing is when you when you're looking into a crowd it stands out so you can see where the ones are.

23:29But, I mean, would I want to wear it? I'm not too sure. But it is iconic. The Hummel in general, like, is it a Danish brand, right? Yeah. It's such a good kit. The boots as well. I had boots. The Hummel boots. Nice boots. That's coming back. The best. Next year, apparently, they're coming back. Hummel boots. Yeah. I've heard rumours. Belters. The thing about Hummel, you see, they don't do too many kits. Yeah. So, there is that sort of, the rarity value isn't there. Spurs had Hummel for a bit niche pony as well Casper what is your what was your first World Cup so Crouchy you and I've had conversations down the years about your first World Cup as a watcher was Italian 9c always got a place in your seats you guys was same Casper my first one watching the one I remember the American one but I didn't watch the guy just remember a lot furore about it but the actual one i watched was france france 98.

24:28it's a great first so so uh demar were based in the south of france and uh the families were there as well and we uh we lost to brazil in in the quarterfinals of that um were you that you were there yeah and we were there i was there in the stade de france we we played uh we won 4-1 against nigeria started to france i was for that um and then yeah we stayed in france for the for the final and so obviously france going on to win it to actually be in the host country when they won was outrageous and the mad thing was i ended up living in that area like years and years later when i went to san finis you know to actually go back there and have those memories still of that place um that was that was my first world cup proper like okay this is this is this is the real deal mine was hispania 82 and the beauty of that one if you were grown up in britain was the the timings of the kickoffs so italian 90 was obviously great for you boys as well um with in 82 you got back from school about half three and the games were on straight away so you could have one game go out in the garden play football have your tea come back next game which was dream scenario so we just got back from them from the Cosm I still can't really pronounce it I don't know Cosmo I kept calling it Cosmopolitan Cosmo Cosm the Cosm Cosm Cosm C O S M it just doesn't got enough it's not a vowel in it it feels like it's missing Is there no valve?

25:56Yeah, Cosm. Oh, the O. Yeah. But it needs another one. And the second O. Yeah, like it's the... No, there's no second O. It's C-O-S-M. Yeah. That's what's doing me in. Cosm. Cosm. Cosm. It ends too soon for you, doesn't it? You just started it and it stops. I've just started it. And I've finished too soon. But it's fantastic. As I say. What did you think of the Mexico game? Enjoy it? It was, I mean, the atmosphere in the Azteca looked... Oh, it looked incredible, didn't it? It looked proper. Sending off, goals. Yeah, I think slightly underwhelmed with South Africa. They're slightly disappointing.

26:32They handed it to them basically by the way they played out. And also the red cards, they just kill you. Yeah, I think particularly when the red cards start the second half, I looked at you and said, oh, this game's going to be a bit boring now. So I think for Mexico, obviously amazing. We were there with a load of Mexico fans, weren't we? And they were buzzing. We met a few We had a few On the actual On the show One of them said She was asked What she would do For a Mexico World Cup win And she said She'd give away One of her kids That was That was her actual response Imagine being With her kids Watching at home The worst thing is One of those kids Knows exactly which one it is But do you think We'd all give away One of our kids To win the World Cup No No No On loan Turn them on loan I mean You know At times you would, wouldn't you?

27:23Lock them away.

27:30You can't give them up, unfortunately. Sid, we were saying, as an opening game for the World Cup, because most of the games in this World Cup, obviously it's spread around Canada, US and Mexico, but most of the games are in the US. I thought it was really nice that the opening game in this World Cup was in one of the great World Cup stadiums. So the Azteca is where Pelé and Carlos Alberto won the World Cup. It was the Hand of God Stadium. It was where Maradona lifted the trophy. So bearing all that in mind, it was a great place to start, wasn't it? Just watching it, I was like, oh, I'd love to go there.

28:02If there's a chance that we could get to Mexico to watch a game, I would definitely do it. Even the colours as well, the green, white, red, it just looked like... We had a friend that was there as well, sent a video into the WhatsApp group. The atmosphere was brilliant. So yeah, I was watching it on one of the big screens downtown. And again, a lot of Mexicans there and passion. They're like really passion. Yes, they turn up. Yeah, they did turn up. They could be a force, you know, because I think if they win their group, they can get to the quarter finals without leaving Mexico, which is a big thing for them.

28:34So I know you've got no interest in England whatsoever, but what do you think their chances are? Oh, it's coming home, isn't it? That was it. Me and Mo, we've got our little thing. You say we're going to, you're going to, you always jinx it by saying it's coming home. So me and Mo are going to keep saying it. No, I think England are, they're so close. I mean, two finals they've lost now. It's just about getting over the line, I think. When you look at the talent mass that they have, and even the players that aren't even in the squad, it's an embarrassment of riches how good the England team can be.

29:12And now, you know, Gareth Southgate has laid the foundations of it. You also have a coach now who has actually really gone and won big trophies, you know, everywhere he's been. So that could be a real, real pivotal factor for England. I think that you have a coach now who's managed to get over the line in big finals because that is basically all that I think that's missing for England is getting over the line in the game. Do you know a weird stat? I'm not just going to deliver stats to Le Crouch, but this is something I worked out. I don't think a foreign manager has ever won the World Cup, if that makes sense.

29:46Really? I think so. If you go back, which seems nuts, bearing in mind how many foreign managers there are of big teams. It could happen because you've got Ancelotti at Brazil now. Tuchel. You've got Tuchel. Right, so a foreign manager not of that nation. I'm dying to prove you wrong. I'm racking my brains now. Keep working back. Is that real? I think so, but it seems weird. What do you think about Tuchel? because the thing with Southgate, everyone loved about Southgate, was that connection that he had to the England team and the connection that he had seemed to have to that group of players. What people seem to like about Tuchel is that it's not about that.

30:24It's not about building for a future tournament. It's not about bringing players through for two years' time or four years' time. It's just about now. Yeah, I think that that always happens, though, with a major tournament, right? We want the exact... Because it didn't work, we go for the exact opposite. It's like when we had Sven and then we had Capella. And then you go... It's very different. things like that. Sven came off Keegan, didn't he? Let's go to a completely different moment. Yeah. Sven after Keegan, so you had that absolute passion and then you had a sort of cool, calm, sweet. Yeah.

30:50Sven was the man. Oh, I love Sven. I absolutely love him. He was incredible, mate, bless him. I mean, he's... You went to Knox County for him, didn't you? And Leicester. And Leicester was the one He gave him my Premier League debut as well at City. So, yeah. Oh, so he's been a big influence for you. He's big for me as well. He was a massive I did his documentary for Amazon, I think actually, a couple of years ago. Yes, I mean, like I said, Sven gave me my Premier League debut. He took me to Knox County and he was the one who brought me to Leicester. So yeah, Sven, safe to say, Sven's been a big influence in my life.

31:23But the one conversation I kind of had with him that kind of changed my perspective and kind of set me on the course I ended up going on was, here comes Sven, he's been England manager, he's been, you know, Benfica, he's been Lazio, he's been all these big clubs, he's had a lot, you know, of massive, massive players, and particularly goalkeepers as well, when you look who he's worked with, and he had a conversation with me about something, and he was the first person to call me world class, like, he was talking about my speed on the line, he said, it's absolutely world class, he said, and I just thought, I hadn't played in the Premier League I'd been around the lower leagues and it was the first time anyone had ever referred to one of my abilities as world class but that gave me the confidence to actually, do you know what if he's saying that then I've got, if he's saying I have to believe it and that gave me so much confidence and that helped me build into becoming a goalkeeper that could play at that level.

32:26Sounds like a bit of dual parching Double parching

32:33he was very similar with me you know like with I went into the England squad at the time and I was people weren't sure if I should be in the squad and he was because he did not care what anyone else thought no interest in you know the press at the time their agendas or it was water for ducks back I always remember all the fake shake stuff that was like carnage and we thought we'd have a crisis meeting and we're sitting in there you know God this has all come out my god he's going to resign comes in and just gave a whole talk about what we're going to do on the weekend didn't even mention going out about how we were going to go out and then he didn't even mention it i think rio said like were you going to address like what what's been going on he said oh the english press it's so funny and then walked out and everyone I went, all right, well, that's gone.

33:29That's the way he dressed it. Fair enough. He's not bothered, so we shouldn't be. Is that what you need at a World Cup then? Obviously not. It didn't come home. It didn't come home. But with two cool Sids, what I like about him is that, a bit like you talk about Sven there, he doesn't seem bothered about upsetting people. He doesn't necessarily seem upset about, bothered about upsetting big-name players. He would leave Duke Bellingham out. he seems to be totally confident in his opinion on these players doesn't mind about the background noise yeah all about the team isn't it all about building the team you can see the direction of what he's trying to build and how he's going to do it I think it's not about us scoring goals it's about us not conceding and being on the counter-attack but a lot of people are talking about the players that's been left at home I want to reverse flip it and let's talk about the score that's here they're here now it started let's be positive I think, listen, I think we're going to go well into the competition.

34:26Let's hope so, Sid, because then we can stay here for a little bit longer. Yes, please. I think it's important what you said there. This whole thing about building for the future. No, it is about the here and now. When it comes to international football, you have tournaments. If you're qualifying like England, for every major tournament, it's not four-year cycle. It is the here and now. You have to qualify and you have to go and win. It's not about, oh, we've got to look to the next four or six years. No, focus on the here and now. I think that's such an important bit. There you go. Inspirational speech.

34:59Casper, it's been an absolute pleasure, mate. Thank you so much for coming on. Thanks for having me. You can hang around for the pool party after. Do some laps. But, yeah, listen, good luck in your retirement, mate. Thank you. I'm sure you'll be a big success. It's a real pleasure having you on. Cheers, guys. Thanks for having me. You may have noticed that Chris Stark's not with us today. He's had a visa issue and he has actually got a real job. He's chatting to Biffy Clyro in the Chamba One Bar about everything Scotland.

35:33Thank you, Peter. Thank you, Sid. I don't know why I'm doing a football voice with this, but yes, I'm here with Simon and Ben. Welcome to the Chamba One Bar, lads. Thank you for having us, Chris. It's a pleasure to be here. What a spot. Simon, you were just looking around at some of the artifacts that are in here. They all have memories. They've all got stories. But I think it's the picture of Serge from Kasabian that caught your eye there. Yeah, I'm used to seeing Peter on the pitch, but not quite on the stage with Serge there. He looks quite at home. He loves it. In fact, I've never seen a Kasabian performance live where Peter hasn't ended up getting on the stage.

36:09Well, he's a natural. I tell you what, Serge is good in the pitch as well. that is a good combo of people that can help each other out in any situation. Has Crouchy ever tried to get on stage at one of your gigs? Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. He can try, though. He can try, although we've, I think Ali McCoy's is probably first on the list, to be honest, to get on stage with Biffy Peter. So you're most welcome any time. But is it sometimes hard to keep people back? A little bit. It's funny, though, because I think because we play with our shirts off and we're quite intense, people tend to slowly walk away from what we're doing.

36:38We're less of a kiss and a cuddle when we're on there, but not anyone's welcome. We're going to get into the football world. Get you up there at some point. Listen, I'm 100 % coming. In fact, the night you're doing at Finsbury Park is you guys and Nothing But Thieves. Yes, Great Bill, Nothing But Thieves, Don Broco, Marmosets and Waves. It's going to be a great rocking night. So that's Finsbury Park on 3rd of July. Yes, thank you for remembering that. It is a good run of geeks. And in fact, Kasabian are in Finsbury Park. Yeah, the next night. The next night as well. And then Will Fallis on the Sunday.

37:06So it's three great shows in London. Very lucky. That's what it's all about, isn't it? I know, sunshine. Let's get into the football then. So Scotland, Haiti, how are you seeing this one play out? What's the expectations overall? We're realistic, but we have to beat Haiti. We have to, absolutely. We need to make our mark for the confidence. I think, I'm hoping we'll beat them 2-0. Haiti, it's awful to say this, but Haiti have had a lot of challenges as a country. They've been through an awful lot with all the natural disasters and things going on. I'm amazed that they can even make it. I'm delighted that they're at the World Cup, but honestly, Scotland, it's a real good chance to put some points on the board because Morocco in the second game is going to be really, really tough and Brazil and Miami is just going to be almost impossible.

37:51Brazil. Brazil. So yeah, we've got to win against Haiti. That's the way I'm seeing it and I'm confident that we can. Yeah, I think we'll start off with a win, definitely. You think that's how? It has to really, doesn't it? Yeah, I mean, the Scottish way to do it would be to lose against Haiti and then maybe get a draw against Morocco and then somehow beat Brazil. Need to beat Brazil 7-0. And almost do it. You know, that's the Scottish way. Hopefully we go about it the right way and beat Howe. It's funny because it'll be like, we need to beat Brazil 5-0. And we'll be like, if we get an early goal.

38:19I know. And then we get it, we get it. But yes, it's so exciting. But I mean, Morocco are really, really tasty as well. They're a great team. But yes, it's just, we've been checking the odds. We're 300 to 1. I think Ecuador are 100 to 1. So we're definitely not, there's definitely not very high expectations. but um are you tempted to put a bit of money on there i mean why not i've wasted money and worse do you have much involvement with the team i mean how is it being such high profile i guess fans you you could say but um is it is it not tempting in a tournament like this to put a song out and and to try and make the anthem because if they win the world cup you want to have the song It's hand in hand.

39:02I know we did have a, we had a song that we were going to record and then James got a little bit unwell. So we kind of put the song in the back burner. I mean, I'm kind of glad we did, but we've still got it up our pocket for the next one. World Cup. Oh, really? We're going to qualify for the next one, obviously, because this is what happens now. The holders normally get through. Yeah, exactly. This is so good. So Ben, there is a song that exists. There's a Biffy song that exists, which is potentially the Scotland anthem. Yes, but we just didn't have time this time. Time's got a bagpipe solo in it.

39:32It's perfect. Don't laugh. It's excellent. It's just we didn't quite find the time to finish it off. So we're a bit gutted that way. But see, whenever we get invited to meet the Scotland team, it's something that's really hard to be comfortable with because we get really uptight around footballers for a start. You know, I think lots of musicians wish they were footballers and that, but I just admire the team so much and I just don't want to get to know them, if you know what I mean. I want them to just be my national team. Exactly that. So whenever we've been asked to kind of go out at halftime or anything, we always struggle a bit with it and we're a bit too nervous.

40:08Yeah, I mean, I get way more starstruck meeting any kind of footballers than I have musicians. But then I guess it's also hard to know what to do. Like if you go in at halftime, I think there's an expectation that you're going to do something to influence the game. Like bring some kind of magical speech or something like that. Also, I think sometimes footballers at halftime, they see like pop stars or something come in they just roll their eyes and go, what are you doing here, mate? Yeah, right. But no, I mean, I think any Scotsman or women would love to give a halftime team talk, to be quite honest.

40:38You know, it emanates out of our bones. We'll definitely get lots of good advice, whether it follows it or whether it's followable. Use your bum again, use your bum. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Run from the chopper, John. Run from the chopper. Do you get many of the lads turning up at the gigs? A couple over the years. Yeah, over the years, a couple. A couple of rugby guys, a couple of football guys. To be honest, everyone's quite low key. I don't know if we're maybe not the most welcoming seeming people, but it will always be after the show. We'll hear such and such at the gig and we're like, oh, why didn't they come and say hello?

41:06And it's probably because you stand and scream with your shirts off. It's not the most enticing invitation. And then look, to change your tone slightly, but I think it'd be good to talk about Sir Kenny Dalgleish. And obviously the news that came out the last couple of weeks about his health. Have you had any experiences of meeting him and what's he like to be around? We've never met Kenny. I've never met Kenny, just admired him from afar. I mean, the quintessential number seven, still Scotland's highest cap holder. I just remember him in the European Cup, I mean, I'm sure my age now, the European Cup for Liverpool in the 80s.

41:39You know, it was like, he was just one of the first players I remember seeing, a Scottish player that was just totally world-class, just never out of his depth, always calm, and just such an integral part of that amazing Liverpool team. And obviously, you had Hanson as well, and I guess Stevie Nicola at a certain point as well. So there was a real Scottish spine to that Liverpool team. But I mean, obviously what he did for Celtic was amazing as well. But I'm a bit of a Rangers man. So when he was managing Celtic, I wasn't, you know, I'm glad he did well. There's always room for worse. Boys, we've got to talk about Steve Clarke as well.

42:15Do you know him or personal relationships with him? I'm lucky enough to have met him because I'm a Kelly fan and he was our manager. He basically made out. just about if he'd let me I wouldn't have gone that far but it was at a dinner and I went up to him and it's the first time I've ever seen him smile and he was beaming to meet a musician and I said something along the lines of and got all embarrassed and then ran away but he was lovely and I love what he did for Kelly and I could not be happy with what he's done for Scotland I mean he's flying he's flying he's already got a new contract even before the start of this tournament so it says a lot about him and he's just steadied the ship Scotland's had a tough time and it's easy to forget because a lot of people moan maybe about the style of football we're playing but we've been in two Euros in a row and we're in a World Cup now and that is such amazing progress and I think giving them the faith of the next few years knowing that you can work with this squad moving forward I think that's important but this will be the first hopefully we do ace in the coming weeks but you know what after this tournament there will need to be an overhaul there's a few boys in the team that just getting on a bit yeah just kind of age but do you think there's a balance there between as you say maybe getting on a bit and the kind of leadership that some other teams lack.

43:25Yes, so true. Especially in their national teams. Steve Robbo and Tierney and obviously, I mean, Hanley's great as well. He's a great steady in the ship and McTominay. It's just, we have experience finally. We've got people that are playing at the top level and that's been the thing for the last 15, 20 years since we last qualified. We haven't had players that are playing with the best players in the world and you don't stand a chance. You know, you look at Morocco team, like Hakimi's the Morocco captain. and he's one of the best fullbacks I've ever seen in my life. He can run for days. So yeah, I think we've got a good balance.

43:59There's a few boys in the squad that maybe we would have liked to have seen play a few more times this season. Yeah, not many minutes in some of the trails. Not a lot of minutes, but that could work to our benefit as well because everyone will be fresh and really wanting to make an impact. But the heat is a genuine concern for the Scotland team. Well, especially the Scottish team. Yeah, you know, because where do you guys play most of your games? you're well in terms of yeah well this is the problem there is a lot of talk about the humidity the heat of mexico is going to be a massive problem that's going to be wild um it is it is but yeah i hadn't thought of it from the point of view of a scottish team yeah even more i know

44:39but it will be i mean honestly it's like i i think by that point we'll be we'll have acclimatized but you know the fact that that is an actual thought for the scotton team when we're not used it. I feel there's a real kind of siege mentality around it all. There's something exciting about this Scottish team and you see the way Andy Robertson's talking about it and a word on Andy Robertson as well you know, given his news, I mean maybe this is his summer, you can sort of see him grabbing this whole team and moving him through See the emotion him and the rest of the team that Andy put into the qualifiers, see that after that Denmark game when he gave that lovely speech about what it meant to him and losing his friend Jota, it's just so emotional and the fact that that all tied up for him You can just see what he's carrying.

45:20And hopefully he's a bit liberated that he knows he's moving away from Liverpool now. I don't know if he's, I guess the chat, he's going to Spurs maybe. I don't know. Yeah, is this confirmed yet or not? I believe so, suggest not. I believe so, suggest not. Fabrizio said yes. He never gets it wrong, doesn't he? Fabrizio said yes. Yeah, what do you think about that move then? What's your thoughts on that? I think it's good. I mean, I was kind of half hoping he'd come back up the road. But I mean, he's still got a good few, what is he, he's only 32. too. He's still got a good few years at the top level.

45:49I mean, even in Liverpool, I mean, they're still using him. He's still an important part of that team because I don't think Kierke is amazing, but maybe he still needs a couple of seasons to come too. So I'm glad he's playing at a top level. Again, him and McTominay and a couple of the other boys that play in Italy, it gives the next generation of players something to aspire to as well because, you know, Andy playing in Champions League finals and things, winning the league, it just makes it possible for the next generation and you'll have teenagers now that know that they can play at a World Cup, you know.

46:18Because we're definitely looking long term. It's been so long. It's been almost two generations since we've made a major tournament. So, honestly, I can't tell you how excited we are now. I can tell you. I know you guys are so used to it. You know, we always watch you guys at tournaments and we're so jealous, you know. But yeah, let's think really positive. Let's think Scotland. Get the Haiti result. Bit of confidence and then win the next two games. The bonding is strong. You go on. while how do you celebrate winning the world cup i think i took a year off face tattoo i would just get a world cup tattoo the head of the world cup there just down my nose um i don't think we could handle it i think you know like we we have a lot of bluster in scotland and we obviously any kind of size of dream becomes the biggest dream you know and like so we're already joking about making the sammies and stuff but you know we are we are realistic we're cynical we're realistic but If Scotland got anywhere near the world, I think Scotland would just, we'd implode.

47:12We'd implode. We're not very good at dealing with positive news. We're used to just kind of dealing with the downside. Even in Denmark, after the Denmark game, we didn't know what to do with ourselves for a couple of days. It was just like, people kept asking us and then when you get asked, you go, oh, that did happen, didn't it? And this happened about 25 times. That really did happen, didn't it? I don't know how to deal with winning. It's such a bizarre thing. The third goal went in, which was obviously just before the final. We were like, well, I can't counter-check it. That's definitely, it's not for sure it's like we've got we've got a fear of kind of like success which is why we choose not to succeed all the time it's more of a choice I get that I get a kind of pessimism around it I kind of kind of think we're naturally sort of ingrained with it to a certain extent self defence making it yeah I think so we're hurt so often but you know what it's like I just want to see us on the same stage as the best teams in the world that's what's so but that's what's happening this is it it's all coming can you tell that we're still struggling to believe it.

48:09Suggling to believe it. Okay, Steve Sidwell's been drafted many a time by fans of this podcast to give motivational team talks to sports teams and stag dudes and stuff like that. Which one of you two boys would give the most rousing speech to rally the troops before a gig or during the game? I think you can see where this is headed. I'd probably try. Do you want me to get right? Are you about to go for this? Yeah, yeah. Well, hang on because we all need to brace ourselves. So this will be for the Scottish national team. Right, okay. Right before the Haiti game. Shall I look to the camera? We'll get some emotional, rousing music underneath, okay?

48:43The far away one. This can only be good. Boys, we only get one life. We only get one nation. Let's not make this the only World Cup. One chance to be an icon. Live forever in the hearts of the people of Scotland. You've come this far. There's only so far to go now, boys. The crazy thing is, it's within touch and distance. And you know, Clark is main. You've been there, you've had bigger challenges. We're all with you every step of the way. Scotland, we need you, we love you, we believe in you. We see you. We're sending the love, the tartan love from Scotland. Go and get it done, boys. Come on!

49:32Mother's gone! We're at 26! Welcome! Yeah! Come on! Mom and the babe! Here we go! Here we go!

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50:21Potential savings will vary. He's back, he's back. That was special. This next part of the podcast is supported by Paddy Power. Yeehaw!

50:38I've got a letter here from the Minister of Mischief. Have you? Yes. The reason I said yeehive, that was already, I've got a cowboy hat on. A green cowboy hat on. It actually suits you, though. Do you think? Yeah, a little bit. I wouldn't wear it when we get home. Maybe not. But I think out here... I think sometimes, you know when you go on holiday, like, go to Ibiza or something, I'll come out, I'll put loads of beads on my arm. Yeah. You know, like, stuff like that. I just think the cowboy hat kind of works out here. Yeah. Adpluck, cowboy? Yeah. Yeah. Not me in a cowboy hat, but probably a cowboy, yeah.

51:09He likes, what's his name? Rip. Everyone likes Rip. What's the deal? You know, she said he's like, he is like the perfect husband, isn't he? Do you know, like, he said, I was watching the new one. Is it Dutton Ranch the other day? Sorry, we'll get into the Piety Power bit in a minute. But the Dutton Ranch the other day, he just came down. It was like six in the morning. He said, do you want a ride before work? Did you see that? Yeah. and I obviously not in that way but just and he said I'll saddle up and I've said I would she was like oh I'd love you to say that to me and I said to her it's like it's like you going quick nine before you oh Carrie quick nine I love you to say that I'll go clean the clubs quickly you go and get ready can you imagine wow but I said it's the thing it's romantic which goes both ways.

52:03Could nine before work? All right, Minister of Mayhem. He's got a new game. Score predictions. It's a World Cup game. Okay, so it's Crouchy. Tom Notorious, SID. It's a frat house in America somewhere. He's got the address. Okay. It feels a bit wrong not writing to Chris too, given all the laughs we've had watching him stink out the league for years. No. But you can't be bothered flying out for the biggest show on earth, then so be it. Now, I'd say it's been a while, but it really hasn't because as soon as I heard you chaps were heading to the States, I knew I had to bring the mischief. So, lo and behold, the Predictions League is back with a World Cup twist.

52:44Each episode, instead of predicting three scores, correct scores, you'll predict three legs of a bet builder on the Paddy Power big fixture. To keep things simple, your legs will be the same each week. One correct score, a player to be carded, and the player to have two or more shots on target. For each leg that you call correctly, you get three points. And seeing as I'm feeling generous, if you get the score wrong but the result right, you still earn yourself a point. Nice. Simple enough. Right. And who knows, maybe this change will actually give you a fighting chance against Sid's Crouchy. He was pretty good last year, Tom.

53:24But I think, Tom, you'll be good at this. Thank you. And one last thing. Seeing as I enjoyed watching you lads squirm every week, it brought me so much joy last season. You know we had to bring back the Chaos cards. Only this time, we're giving them a US makeover. Bigger, louder and even more chaotic. Each episode, I'll be back in touch to reveal your next card, but we'll start off with a simple with the MVP. Americans love turning players into heroes, so whoever wins game week one will bag themselves an extra five bonus points in an early lead. So without further ado, your first Paddy Power big fixture is Haiti, Scotland.

54:02Is there a battering on the cards? Only time will tell. Best of luck, lads. Paddy Power, Minister of Mischief. That's nice, Crouchy. Sid, as the current champion, the reigning champion, do you want to go first? It feels like the correct score is an easy way to start. What are you thinking? I think Scotland will win. Yep. I'm going to go 3-0. You're going 3-0. Well, that's interesting. I'm going 2-0, Crouchy, on the basis that it's a bit cagey, generally, the opening game of the World Cup. Haiti aren't all that, really. They got battered by Kurosan, so I'm going 2-0. You've got no room. I've got nothing left.

54:40You could go for the same, because you've got two other things to separate it off. That's a good point, yeah. Okay. Actually, I shouldn't have said that. You can't go for the same. I can, can't I? I'm going to go with 3-0 as well, then. Okay. So that's the correct score. Card? Sids. Card, I'm going to go for a Haiti player. Yeah. I'm going to go for, I think his name's Lacroix, the fullback. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I can just see Scotland's been a bit nippy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know what? I like your thinking. I've done a similar thing. I think the easy thing would be go Scotland midfielder or Scotland centre half.

55:14But Scotland are going to play two up front. They're going to attack. So I have gone for the Haitian midfielder, Danly Jean-Jacques. Danly Jean-Jacques Danly Jean-Jacques That's what a great name Is he your new favorite player? I love him Danly JJ Yeah Say again Danly Jean-Jacques Danly JJ Superb Danly JJ He could be our pod man I think so Keep an eye on him DJJ I'm going to go for Ryan Christie to get booked Yeah That sort of player Nice And then our final category Sid Is a player to have two or more shots Oh, yeah. Don't have to be on target. Bear that in mind. They could be hoops. They could be corner flaggers.

55:58I've got to be looking at Scotland. You've got to be looking at McGinn's, McTominay's. I'm going to go Adams, Che Adams. I'm also going Che Adams. Are you? Yeah. Do you want him? I'll change. I'll change. You don't have to. No, no. I'll change. Let's go for John McGinn. Yeah, yeah. He's been scoring a lot of goals. Okay. Che Adams? Yeah, Che Adams for me, yeah. Scott McTominay. Okay. That's good. I hope he's fit. Didn't really check that. That's why I didn't win the league last year. Thank you. Right, Casper's legged it. I have to say, Tom, it really is going down memory lane with you, mate. It's nice to see the new breed and the old guard together again.

56:41It's lovely being here with Sid. It's been good, isn't it? We had a good catch-up before. We had a nice beer at the hotel. We're good to go. It's important, isn't it? And look, we're going to have an amazing six weeks ahead, I think. whatever happens with England, whether it comes home or not, Crouchy. I mean, look at that view. Are we not going to have a good time? I know. I think we're going to be fine. I think so. I think we'll be OK. Do you crack open another one?

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