Football Ramble

Massive news from the rulings department of football as Man City face a potential two year ban from the Champions League. It’s potentially seismic stuff, and we are as measured and mature about the whole thing as you might expect.  We also make time to discuss Joelinton’s woes in front of goal, and how they might be helped if he actually spent more time in front of goal, Sean Dyche motivating...

We’re heading back to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for today’s episode of Greatest Games, in association with The Blizzard. The Guardian’s Jonathan Liew joins us to discuss the Netherlands’ 5-1 dismantling of Spain, as “Louis Van Gaal created something he loved - and then destroyed it.” Spain arrived at this tournament with the same formula that saw them win the preceding three as the likes of Xav...

Pete’s back, via the floor of Topman, and he brings with him some revelations about emails. The long and the short of it is that Jim is an idiot.  You already knew that though, so let’s crack on with the other features of the show; Arsenal vs Newcastle! These teams are level on points and between them have drawn seven of their last eight. Is this just a bad season? Marcus Speller thinks other...

We welcome another esteemed debutant to today's episode of On The Continent, as Luke Moore and Andy Brassell are joined by The Independent’s Miguel Delaney! In light of Miguel’s recent piece, ‘How football became broken beyond repair’, we discuss the current imbalances within European football. As the top clubs earn huge swathes of money from Champions League performances and their international r...

We welcome a footballing icon to today’s episode of Ramble Meets… as Andy is joined by one of England's first black footballers, former West Ham striker Clyde Best! After choosing football over cricket in his native Bermuda, and becoming involved in the national side when he was just fifteen, Clyde flew across to London for a trial with West Ham United and went on to score 58 goals over seven seas...

We’re back with another episode of Jules & Andy on Football Ramble Daily! Jules managed to catch this weekend’s Brighton game as a fan, so there’s chat about the emotional strains of watching your team from the stands rather than in a work capacity. There’s also talk about Sheffield United’s march towards Europe and how brilliant that would be considering their comparatively modest status, des...

It may have taken 34 Premier League games - and Jordan Pickford having one of his moments - but CHRISTIAN BENTEKE IS BACK! That’s what we’ve come to during this whole winter break thing. It will be worth it when Dominic Calvert-Lewin leads England to glory at Euro 2020. Of course, football exists outside the Premier League. Sammy Ameobi's making Leeds think they too may continue to exist outside t...

“José Mourinho’s side hold on, and they’ve won the UEFA Cup! In this meeting of two former European champions, it is Porto who come out on top in Seville.” Yes, for today’s episode of Greatest Games, in association with The Blizzard, we’re heading back to the 2003 UEFA Cup between Porto and Celtic alongside Kieran Canning, journalist at Agence France-Presse. This frenetic game brough the curtain d...

We’re back, with our most immature show of the season! If a Newcastle fan fires up the willycopter on live TV then what other choice do we have? Though the winter break is here we’ve still had a surprisingly fun week, with the aforementioned chopper-chopper, Wayne Rooney rolling back the years in the FA Cup and Luke’s pilgrimage to Anfield’s Roy Hodgson statue. And we still have time to hear from...

We’re covering every single blade of European football grass on today’s episode of On The Continent, as Andy Brassell is joined in the studio by Lars Sivertsen and Nicky Bandini! We start with the recent high profile troubles at Barcelona, as Lionel Messi responded on social media to Eric Abidal’s outburst. There’s also time for a wider look at the Catalan side’s struggles over the last few season...

Trevor Francis has spent over 30 years at the top of football both as a player and a manager. In this exclusive episode of Ramble Meets, Trevor talks us through his career from the very start when he broke into the Birmingham City team aged just 16, to lifting two European Cups with Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough. There's also time to discuss Trevor's time with England including making his d...

With February here, we’re taking a look at some of the fallout from a fairly lively January transfer window on today's episode of Jules & Andy! We begin with marooned striker Olivier Giroud who, after touted moves both within the Premier League and overseas never flourished, he remains stuck in the stands at Chelsea. We discuss where it's gone wrong for the Frenchman and how he may be abl...

Liverpool are brilliant etc etc. What more can be said of them at this point? We bow to our new Scouse overlords.  Further down the depths of the table Man City got Mourinhoed in North London, West Ham West Hammed themselves in east London and Nigel Pearson’s Watford are dead after they turned a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 defeat against 10-man Everton. They are dead. This cannot be stressed enough....

On today’s episode of Greatest Games, in association with The Blizzard, we’re looking back at the heady days of the 1987 Littlewoods Cup. John Cross, the Mirror’s chief football writer, joins us to remember the semi-final second leg replay between Tottenham and Arsenal! With Arsenal languishing in comparative mediocrity by the early 1980s, George Graham’s arrival begun a revolution at the club – a...

What a week! Carabao Cup semi-finals, the transfer window in full late stage chaos and some tidy fixtures coming up. Lovely! There’s been drama everywhere. James Maddison chipping off at referees, Portsmouth drawing Arsenal in the FA Cup, Everton telling Barcelona where to go with their paltry £85m bit for Richarlison! Incredibly we still find the time to talk about whaling, UB40 and Death Grips,...

Greetings OTCers! It's time for yet another episode of our European football show and today Luke and Andy is joined by Spanish football expert David Cartlidge to discuss all the big stories from around the continent. This week we look ahead to a big derby in Spain as Atletico, beset with muscle injury worries, head to the Bernabeu. What's become of El Cholo and his team this season? Meanwhile, in...

On today’s Ramble Meets… episode, Andy Brassell sits down with Joe Palmer, CEO of AFC Wimbledon, to discuss his fascinating career in football. Joe can trace his obsession for football back to the 1987 FA Cup final where his beloved Spurs lost to Coventry, and his love for the game has never wavered. After beginning his career at a PR agency selling stories for MUTV, Joe eventually found himself a...

It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means: it’s time for another episode of Jules & Andy on Football Ramble Daily! We begin today’s show with a chat about the upcoming ‘mid-season break' that the Premier League is trialling, where it will split one round of matches over two weekends to give players a rest. Will this help reduce player fatigue as we head towards the Euros? Or will it simply re...

Y’all ready for this? On today’s Milk Football Ramble we say the word “Cumdog” a frankly uncomfortable amount, but Shrewsbury’s Jason Cummings has given himself the nickname, scored twice to bring his team back from 2-0 down against Liverpool and so has given us no other choice.  Elsewhere in the cup, the Bilić is back as Slaven’s West Brom knocked out his former club West Ham, Newcastle put...

On today’s episode of Greatest Games, in association with The Blizzard we head back to another epic Premiership finale. The Irish Times' and Second Captains’ Ken Early joins us to remember Blackburn’s title win on the final day of the 1994/95 season, despite a 2-1 defeat at Anfield.  Blackburn needed to win or hope title rivals Manchester United didn’t beat West Ham, to clinch their first tit...

It's FA Cup time again! Let's all take a weekend off from how astonishingly bad the Premier League is and enjoy some red hot knockout action. Newcastle face Oxford, Chelsea and Arsenal lock horns, and Norwich try and spoil Burnley's post-Man United win party. We've covered it all in the way you'd expect, by talking about wagyu beef, Hollywood stars and moped thieves. Elsewhere, Marcus wants to pra...

We’re back with some more continental conversation as Luke Moore, Andy Brassell and Lars Sivertsen bring you another episode of On The Continent on Football Ramble Daily! After a fantastic Coupe de France performance we begin with a discussion on Lyon’s latest academy product, 16 year-old Rayan Cherki. We discuss his impressive technical qualities and also look at the wider history of exciting gra...

It’s a meeting of minds on today’s episode of Ramble Meets… as Luke sits down with writer, broadcaster and Liverpool fan Rick Edwards! Rick can trace his fandom back to "picking the red team” in the 1986 FA Cup final aged six, and Liverpool Football Club has remained a significant pillar in his life ever since. He joins Luke in the studio to discuss his passion for football that has followed him s...

Greetings, one and all, to another episode of Jules & Andy on Football Ramble Daily! Pleasure to have you with us. Today we begin with Wolves’ flying winger Adama Traoré and his hugely impressive season thus far. We discuss how his all-round game has matured since leaving Barcelona and establishing himself in England, as well as praising Wolves for their continued success. We then take a look...

Good day! Marcus, Pete and Luke round up all the big stories from the weekend's football, stories such as Mike Dean's latest big moment, Roy Keane's latest argument and how Florian Lejeune would dispose of a dead body. We also debate the latest injury to an England hopeful, marvel at Steve Cook's athleticism and then find time to wonder who we think will get relegated from the Premier League this...