BigBird

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Happy Birthday Case. What present did you get and did you have a card from Gail? Asking on behalf of Hello magazine.

CNN showing a video of our hero in Turkey grabbing the nose of the Galatasary coach after Fenerbache lost 2-1 in a cup tie. The unfortunate victim fell to the floor and rolled around in agony before announcing nothing serious had occurred. CNN expecting the Special One to be dismissed any time soon.

Pedantic jerk announcement for the preservation of collective nouns: It's leap of leopards, not a pride.

Would like to see Robbo pushing on and give Diaz some support. Jones is playing well.

Match commentator for the Bournemouth v City game confirmed what Teamtalk have been reporting in recent weeks. The commentator said Huijen is a Real Madrid target following his impressive debut for Spain in mid week while Kerkez is keen to join us. Teamtalk have been predicting the Huijen transfer to Madrid for a while despite interest from Barca, MU, Newcastle, Chelsea and ourselves. The site claims our pursuit of Kerkez is certain to happen for a fee of £40M.

I read somewhere that Isak's agent insisted on the £75M sell on clause as a condition when he signed for Newcastle. It could be true. Can't see us paying that for a 26 y/o, the low transfer value after a 4/5 year contract doesn't fit with the Moneyball principle. £75M for a player in his low twenties is more our style.

Interesting Article from James Pearce There’s been a lot of nonsense spoken about Liverpool this season. Some have tried to dismiss their status as runaway Premier League leaders as simply down to the struggles of their rivals. Social media discourse has entered the mainstream. Arne Slot was asked recently in a press conference if he felt Liverpool had been lucky considering the injuries that had befallen the teams beneath them. Not only did that completely overlook the work that goes into keeping players fit, but it also ignored the fact that the head coach has been without Alisson, Ibrahima Konate, Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez for crucial periods. It didn’t feel lucky to lose an iconic manager in Jurgen Klopp, miss out on last summer’s top transfer target (Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi) and go into this season with backup attacker Federico Chiesa as the only addition to the first-team squad. Liverpool have wildly exceeded expectations. They have lost just once in 29 league games. They are on course to break the 90-point barrier. Liverpool have set standards others haven’t come close to matching. Their expected goals (xG) difference across the league season is +39.8. For context, Arsenal’s is +19.8 and Nottingham Forest’s is +2.5. Liverpool are creating high-quality chances and not conceding many. Even in the unlikely event of Arsenal winning their last nine league matches, which includes a trip to Anfield in May, Slot’s side only need 16 more points to secure the club’s 20th top-flight title. Captain Virgil van Dijk was right when he told reporters in the bowels of Wembley on Sunday evening that the “biggest prize” remains within their grasp — despite the misery of going out of the Champions League to Paris Saint-Germain and losing the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United. It was a bruising week. If PSG were younger, quicker and more dynamic across the two legs, Newcastle were fresher, more physical and more savvy as they made it the kind of contest they wanted it to be. Food for thought for Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football Michael Edwards, sporting director Richard Hughes and Slot as post-season recruitment plans start to take shape. Change was inevitable in the upcoming window, regardless of what glory was secured. Hughes and Slot agreed last summer that it made sense to stick with what they had inherited from the Klopp era. They saw room for growth and development, and their belief has been proved right. However, some stellar reinforcements will be required as Hughes and Slot seek to put their stamp on the squad. The goalkeeping department is one of the few areas that shouldn’t need addressing. Alisson has said he intends to stay put, with Giorgi Mamardashvili arriving from Valencia for an initial fee of £25million ($32.5m) to provide competition. Caoimhin Kelleher, who only has one year left on his contract, is likely to move on in search of becoming a No 1 elsewhere. If Trent Alexander-Arnold joins Real Madrid on a free transfer there will be a huge creativity void to fill. Conor Bradley is an accomplished deputy but the 21-year-old’s injury issues are a concern and another right-back would need to be signed. Strengthening at left-back is also on the agenda. Milos Kerkez, also 21, is highly regarded but Bournemouth would want around three times the £15.5m they paid AZ for the Hungary international in 2023. Ajax’s Jorrel Hato, 19, is another option. At centre-half, so much hinges on whether Van Dijk pens an extension. Despite the long-standing optimism that the skipper will stay put, he is adamant that his future remains up in the air as talks continue. Then there’s his defensive partner, Konate, approaching the final year of his contract with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations and Gomez, who came close to leaving last summer, recovering from surgery on his hamstring. You could make a strong argument that Liverpool need another centre-half even if Van Dijk commits beyond his 34th birthday in July. The midfield is pretty settled. The quartet of Ryan Gravenberch, 22, Dominik Szoboszlai, 24, Alexis Mac Allister, 26, and Curtis Jones, 24, have their best years ahead of them. Gravenberch was sensational in the deeper ‘No 6’ midfield role in the first half of the season but in recent months his levels have dipped, underlining the need to ease the burden on him. Wataru Endo has been useful in closing out big matches off the bench but five of his six starts this season have come in the domestic cups, with the other coming against PSV in a Champions League dead-rubber. At 32, it’s hard to see Endo becoming more influential under Slot. His lack of game time is a topic of debate in Japan, with some pundits believing their national team captain should move on this summer before the 2026 World Cup. Harvey Elliott’s talent is undeniable but the 21-year-old has only played 121 minutes of league football all season. If Slot isn’t going to turn to him or Endo more often, Liverpool need another option who is trusted to step up more regularly. The make-up of Liverpool’s attack beyond this summer is shrouded in uncertainty. The wait continues to discover whether Mohamed Salah will sign an extension or be lured away by the riches on offer from the Saudi Pro League. Trying to adequately replace a player who has provided 32 goals and 22 assists in 43 games this season would be at best expensive, at worst impossible. Buying a new No 9 looks increasingly necessary given Darwin Nunez’s struggles (one goal in his last 13 games) and Diogo Jota (no goals in 10 games). Renewed interest from Saudi Arabia in Nunez could suit Liverpool given it would provide a big windfall that could be reinvested. Speculation over Luis Diaz’s future continues but it shouldn’t be forgotten how good he has been for large parts of the season. The same goes for Cody Gakpo, who had scored 16 goals before injury struck in February, although he has lacked rhythm since returning to action. Chiesa produced a lively goalscoring cameo at Wembley but has only played 25 minutes of league football this season. He either has to be given more opportunities or replaced. If Van Dijk and Salah sign extensions, less business will need to be conducted this summer but those contracts would still put a dent in the funds available for transfers. As the rumour mill starts to crank up again, there needs to be a dose of reality. Liverpool recently posted a £57m pre-tax loss for last season and had the second-biggest wage bill in the Premier League at £386m per year. The financial landscape looks considerably better courtesy of a lucrative return to the Champions League. Commercial revenues continue to climb, there’s the new kit deal with Adidas and a money-spinning pre-season tour of the Far East on the horizon. However, FSG’s self-sustaining business model won’t change. It’s down to Edwards and Hughes to decide how best to spend the money the club generates. Liverpool’s data-led approach is more likely to lead them to players on the way up with a point to prove rather than buying the finished articles with eye-watering price tags. As good as Slot’s side have been for the majority of this season, there is plenty to address. But they should be doing so from a position of strength as Premier League champions — and there’s nothing fortunate about that.

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On that note, Chiesa took his goal well, won his challenges, accurately passed the ball and beat his man on two occasions. He deserves more game time and, given the state of our other strikers, is surely worth a start.

Hall is a nice footballer but too slow to be top class. Once read it was the reason Chelsea let him go.

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