Philby

Knowing, post failed doping test, that you took a substance which you subsequently believe not be banned. ...is a subtly different thing to checking with the LFC medical team (or WADA) in advance of taking the substance to verify that it's allowed. Reading between the lines I don't think Sakho took any precautionary steps prior to taking the fat burner but will ultimately benefit from the double-whammy of WADA incompetence and having a bloody good legal team.

For me this is the key sentence when it comes to judging whether we, as a fan-base, should feel a little disappointed by Sakho or whether we should view him as being totally blameless. It's unclear whether the line above relates to LFC/Sakho checking the substance against the WADA list or the Cologne lab doing so. If Sakho took something without consulting the WADA list or someone on the medical side @ LFC then he has to take at least a bit of the blame here. Just because the substance may turn out to be in a bit of a grey area clearly matters in terms of the legal fall-out of this, but it doesn't when it comes to the player's behaviour/professionalism.

Does he play for Spurs?

Does anyone know when LFC will issue the annual report for financial year-end May 2015? Amongst other things it could help us understand whether the Barca (£65m) or LFC spin (£75m) on the Suarez transfer fee is true. Recent leaks indicate that Barca's figure may be more accurate. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/luis-suarez-leaked-contract-shows-barcelona-paid-6498m-for-former-liverpool-striker-a6956056.html FYI - results (to 31st May 2014) were announced in early March last year http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/180970-lfc-announces-financial-results

What absolute lunatic thinks Origi is a centre-back? He should be sectioned.

Any sign of Ilori having returned to Melwood for pre-season? Plenty of pics of Ballo and the new additions but I've not seen a sniff of him yet. With Wisdom going out on loan he may well be seen as a possible back-up option right-back if anything happens to Clyne & Gomez.

I don't think Fellaini is considered as a CM anymore. LVG has come around to the realisation that Moyes had at Everton (...though oddly, not at Man Utd) that he's most effective as a "false-Crouch inverted midfield hoof-magnet" (trademark: Barney Ronay*) That said you left out Daley Blind. He's probably the one most likely to suffer as a result of their two recent buys. Schneiderlin does everything he can do but better. * http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/nov/08/marouane-fellaini-manchester-united-david-moyes

How did Ilori play in general? Any indication that he may be able for some PL games this coming season?

They got away with it. Something similar took place with Moutinho and James to Monaco too. Worth us exploring options on who we can pick up from City, effectively at a 20-25% discount.

Apols if this has been asked already, but how would Sterling's sell-on clause work from QPR's perspective if we swapped him for a player (plus cash) or a group of player (and no cash)? Would they get screwed over? Or might they have a legal challenge for the deal to valued at fair value market rates? Is there any precedent?

Paulinho was previously at Porto & looks to have come on our radar as our current u16 coach (Pep Lijnders) was previously at Porto. ...a few interesting snippets on Lijnders below. http://www.thisisanfield.com/2015/03/liverpool-academy-focus-the-methods-of-pepijn-lijnders/

Ya, back in 2012 Smith confirmed it never happened. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2207977/Alan-Smith-interview--MK-Dons-veteran.html

I didn't catch the charity game. How did Flanno look physically? Capable of making a contribution for the first team in the run-in?

Good points. Personally I'm finding it hard to weigh these up against the cost (transfer & wages) of a suitable replacement...should we ever need to go down that road. You'd think at some point over the summer a deal can be done - perhaps 100k basic with performance bonuses so that if he truly does excel he gets his fair reward?

Not quite sure about that mate. I think there's a scenario (admittedly a niche one) where the 4th placed PL team could miss out on the CL. If, for example, and English side (say Arsenal) win the CL, we win the Europa (...and neither team finishes in the top 4). The 4th placed PL team would then drop into the Europa League for the next season.

Adam L is not a bad call. He strikes his shots as cleanly as anyone in our squad IMHO (Kolo aside of course) Agreed Leo - the swashbuckling, roaming, chance-creating, goal-getting late 20s Gerrard, absolutely. In our current shape the tasks are a bit more silo-ed - Coutinho / Lallana primarily in there to move the ball around and create chances. - Sturridge there primarily to finish them. - Sterling / Ibe / Markovic to inject pace, stretch the defence and see what falls their way in terms of goal creation/scoring

Er...up until yesterday Lucas was 27 himself!

An interesting concept, although an algorithm-based estimation will always spit out some quirky results. Of the top 10 valued players 6 of them play PL football and 3 of the remaining 4 used to. Overlooked: Zlatan, as you mentioned (...age playing a factor?) Heavily under-valued: De Gea £15.6m Heavily under-valued (relative to recent transfer fees): Radamel Falcao £21.9m David Luiz £18.8m Gareth Bale £47m Sturridge's injury record (...and the small fee we got him for) may well be working against his valuation.

I'd love to get De Bruyne in. He's going great guns in Germany and is the closest thing to an early 20s Gerrard as there is in world football IMHO

Interesting concept, although an algorithm-based estimation will always spit out some quirky results. Of the top 10 valued players 6 of them play PL football and 3 of the remaining 4 used to. THE TOP 10 1. Lionel Messi £172.6m 2. Cristiano Ronaldo £104.3m 3. Eden Hazard £77.6m 4. Diego Costa £65.9m 5. Paul Pogba £56.4m 6. Sergio Aguero £51m 7. Raheem Sterling £49.4m 8. Cesc Fabregas £48.6m 9. Alexis Sanchez £47.8m 10. Gareth Bale £47m http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2898556/Lionel-Messi-cost-staggering-172m-Barcelona-sold-month.html

Passing on what I've heard (from a Toffee): "Liverpool are in talks with Luke Garbutt's agent about a summer switch. He's out of contract in summer but because of his age a few would have to be set by tribunal" Everton fans rate him very highly with many advocating his inclusion ahead of Baines. 21 yrs old and Everton paid £600k back in 2009 to take him from the Leeds academy.

Iago Aspas has hit another hat-trick last night against a lower division side in la Copa Del Rey. This time it only took him 4 minutes...about half a minute faster than Fowler famout hat-trick against Arsenal! That's 7 goals in 4 games started for Aspas at Sevilla. But he hasn't started a La Liga game yet. Stats eh...

Line-up predictions for tonight? I think Henderson, Gerrard & Allen are nailed on starters in a 3 man midfield. Moreno, Skrtel & Lovren will all start...a toss-up between Johnson & Manquillo at right-back. I expect Johnson to get the nod as it's a pretty young side already. Further forward it's hard to call. Lallana & Sterling will surely start so it's all about who will join them. Coutinho has impressed more off the bench than from the start this season. I think he'll be kept in reserve. On a night when a Kuyt/Ji Sung Park type would be useful you could make a case for Borini, but having not even made the bench last week it would be a big surprise. I don't think Lambert has any hope of starting. Balotelli doesn't deserve to start on merit. But he often shows his best in big games & the occasion may jerk him into life. I think he'll get the nod ---------Mignolet Johnson Skrtel Lovren Moreno ----------Gerrard -------Allen--Henderson Lallana ------------- Sterling ----------Balotelli With Coutinho the first sub on if/when there's a goal to be chased.

Agreed. Nice symmetry with Gerrard handing down the captainship to him (or perhaps Lovren if he makes a significant impression) in a few years.

Well well well…this is a surprise but it looks like it might just happen. Just when you thought Liverpool were about to stay under the controversy radar  Talent is not in doubt. Give him Dirk Kuyt's attitude & he'd be right up with the best centre-forwards in world football. But manager after manager have failed to focus him. Mourinho called him "unmanageable" and even Mancini, who gave him his start in football & went out of his way to bring him to City gave up on him in the end. I would've felt far more comfortable with a loan (…and even if he performed well I'd be nervous about executing an option to buy as he's a ticking time bomb). But he certainly better than nothing & could be a the maverick wildcard that might make a difference in games where more pedestrian options like Borini & Lambert may struggle. On Falcao, while it would be a significant show of financial strength I'd also be uncomfortable lashing out £20m for a single season of football from a guy who is coming off the back of a serious injury & was deteriorating a bit pre-injury.