Rayvin

Yeah this is the common thread - whether it is the case in reality or not, the appearance at the moment is that no one is running the show here. Howe can't do it all, he's limited to the team - Eales is probably completely focused on succession planning and we're likely being operated by several individuals who are out of their depth at the moment.

Could just be ratcheting up the pressure to get his new contract though. This would be a good way to force the club's hand, especially if negotiations with the club are separate from his day to day with the team.

He is quite good yeah - his video on the 100 years of bad decisions which broke the country is particularly strong in terms of a summary position. I don't think anyone is just saying 'tax the rich' btw as if that's the answer to everything. It's more the principle behind it, i.e. that we should collectively not suffer as a consequence of a system that only benefits a tiny number of people. It's the system that needs to be obliterated, one way or another. It cannot go on like this or it is going to end up somewhere extreme.

If he is, we should ask for £300m. And then they loan him back to us.

Might be the wake up call the club needs but that's the most positive spin that can be put on it. They've just been blindsided on every front this summer. Oh well, Isak isnt the whole team in the end and realistically it was probably going to come to this next summer anyway. Think we need a good few years before we can properly compete at the top end commercially. I'll accept all of this if the club actually get their fucking act together from here.

I reckon the question is probably whether he wants £300k a week, or if he wants £300k a week and to play for Liverpool. If it's the former, I can see him being rehabilitated. If the latter, I think he's done.

If they get Isak as well as Ekitike then there'll be no living with them. Admittedly that's a problem for the whole league, not just us, but still.

I thought he was injured?

Don't worry though, the centre has it covered. It's going to pander them into submission. Meanwhile the left will be focused on tearing itself apart as per tradition.

Yep, the gloves are off, they're not hiding anymore.

I did. Absolutely fascinating. Mehdi was told by Jubilee that he was going to be debating hard right Republicans btw, not out and out fascists. Jubilee stitched him up. He did very well in the end but honestly it was wild. That guy he got onto early who sat down and was like 'Let's not interrupt each other cos, I have this thing.. people know I have this thing ok, I have to stay calm'.. what an absolute fucking bellend of a man that guy was. I would have fucking decked him on general principle for that even if he'd have kicked the shit out of me after. And then yes, the christofascist. He has since lost his job and raised £30k on a gofundme. I think a name we're going to start hearing a lot of is Nick Fuentes. He's essentially Christofascist Prime, and the source of a lot of these muppets. Here's the video for anyone interested:

I do hope this comes off though. He's basically the best remaining, and he's still very good. £30m would be solid business if we actually manage it without half the PL outbidding us.

I am really interested to understand our transfer logic. The guy is supposedly up for 40m, so we lowball them at 25m. What is the actual point man, they are never going to accept that.

Yeah that had me choked up a bit at the end tbh.. It is well said. I've been reflecting recently if nations go through the same cycles as individuals, to some extent. One person traumatised by another, and who is unable to process it, then goes on to traumatise others - and the only end of that chain is when someone is brave enough to break the cycle and move beyond it. Mandela and the South African leaders who followed him understood this, and when apartheid ended, focused on sharing experiences and an approach towards unity and forgiveness, flawed though it may be. I just wonder if somewhere down the line, someone has to be brave enough to forgive. Maybe it's Palestine that has to do it. But either way, it feels like the only real way forward.

Gordon at least is on a new deal, so they'd not get him easily.

He was in the first year of a 5 year contract with Frankfurt mind, they had no pressure to sell at all.

Yeah let's be real, he's probably not worth that. And surely, surely that is the end of them chasing Isak.

There's no way they're getting Isak and Ekitike though. Surely. That would be absolutely ludicrous spending.

Where is the faith in the leadership of the club coming from, in that picture? I think if I could be sold on that, I'd be more comfortable here. I'd be absolutely fascinated at this point to understand specifically who is ruling out bidding more for some of these players tbh. Who is sitting there and saying that each player is worth no more than what we're bidding. If it's Howe, I have some more confidence around this, if only because he at least is someone I trust to understand the club's needs. If it's anyone else, idk.

It's a good post man, the rational part of me agrees with it, but I do think that aside from those realities, a lack of leadership is apparent now. I think I could handle all of this if I believed that the club really had some sort of plan for kicking on, but for the first time it just feels like we're floundering and relying entirely on Howe just being really fucking good at developing players, rather than working to any real vision. What happens if Howe quits tomorrow? At this point I half think the club would implode.

I dunno, I don't think that interview sounds as bad as is being made out. There's no 'I'd like to keep him but it's not in my hands' style comment, it's more like 'You never know but as far as we know everything is good there'.

It absolutely is a depressing circus to follow this stuff along, and I do think it really has sucked the joy out of a lot of it. When we eventually signed Elanga I'm not even sure I really cared that much about the event itself because getting to it was so drawn out. I do think though that this window has at least felt very frustrating, and it looks it internally as well from that interview Howe gave. The risk of missing out on kicking on is what gets me at the end of all this.

I think we do all agree with this tbh, no one here would genuinely be calling out the club for dropping 40m on him. It's really hard to understand why we don't just commit to this. Better to overpay slightly for a couple of players than miss out on literally everyone.

Cathartic to discuss the frustrations, better than bottling it up. Sorry if it's bringing you down though, I generally avoid this thread but it's helped today to vent a bit. I'll quiet down.

A bit harsh. Under Ashley we had Penfold, and under the Saudis we have seemingly no one. It's still an improvement.