ohmelads

The implication is Liverpool win again. The source is Anfield Sector. This is easy engagement from Liverpool's vast global 'fan' base.

A quick glance at the source tells you all you need to know.

Do you always laugh at your own jokes?

That's their strategy and they've got no cards left to play. They'll wait and pray. Our strategy is do what's best for Newcastle and so we tried to sign a replacement. It didn't work out and since Liverpool aren't offering a tempting bid (which would have to be huge), he looks more likely to stay with each passing day. I wonder if a loan or loan to buy deal to anyone but Liverpool will be the best outcome for us. Plenty clubs want to sign Isak but the timing probably doesn't work in terms of cash flow. A loan gets us a loan fee for now, gets rid of a bad apple and he gets games which preserves his value, all while making a stand against Liverpool's snide tactics.

If Liverpool had put a sensible bid in early in the window, he'd be there now. They're now panicking because if they don't get him, they probably do need another forward, so they need to know one way or the other soon. It's lose lose for us, but I think they'll either end up paying far more than they might have, or just won't get him at all and will have spent all summer wasting their time on it too. Seems like they assumed we'd have rolled over ages ago.

These twatter posts just tell us that Liverpool are absolutely desperate. Isak's had his tantrum today through client journalist Ornstein, so they don't really have any leverage left. I think they'll make a slightly larger bid, with the plan that he hands in a transfer request once that's rejected. Then they'll make a third bid, again slightly higher, in the hope that the pressure is too much. That's the only play Liverpool have left at this point, but a transfer request loses its value when you've already done it through a joirnalist. Can Liverpool afford to let this rumble to the last few days of the window? You'd think they'd want time to get an alternative in.

I wouldn't sell to Liverpool for under £200m. Absolutely rinse them, or sell him in Jan to someone else, at a lower amount if need be. They're not the only club in the world that wants Isak. If we don't hold the line, the dominos start to fall as other players and clubs know exactly what to do. And it's too late to get a replacement in anyway. We'd get a body in, but options are thin on the ground and it'd be a panic buy. At this point, we're waiting until Jan anyway.

You sound surprised. They've changed their entire XI on 60 mins while we didn't and fielded an XI yesterday.

If Liverpool sign someone else and the window closes, he'll change his tune pretty fast.

For all the arrogant and smug behaviour of their 'fans' on social media, Liverpool have already shown their hand - they're desperate to get him. Look at the lengths they're going to with all the Romano stuff. We know they need a forward and can't go into September without one. They're banking on him throwing his toys and us buckling under all the pressure. But time is running out. There will come a point - 10, 15, 20 days later that Liverpool either raise their offer or switch targets. We'll have to reject, because we now have no one left to go for, and because prices keeo escalating for alternatives, which is why we need an even bigger fer to sell Isak late in the winfow. I think we went big for Sesko with a mindset of selling Isak, but also knowing that Sesko was the last realistic option to replace Isak and make a clean break. If Liverpool have to give up, and they will if we hold our ground, they'll go big for someone else. If that happens, I believe we can start reintegrating Isak because there'll be no point in him downing tools and sulking. He'll know he needs a good season for a big foreign team to come in and pay what he wants.

Client journalism has always been around but this window we are seeing it being used aggressively by Liverpool to apply maximum pressure without evidence of tapping up. At this stage I wouldn't sell even for £150m. There aren't any obvious replacement options left and we need to send a clear message that these tactics won't work.

Not all of those are positive stats. More shots? Ekitike was in a much better team. Higher xG can be read either way. Didn't Ekitike underscore his xG more than anyone in the major European leagues? xG per shot being higher suggests he was missing good chances too. Touches in the box can be indicative of playing for a team that scored 15 more league goals last season.

The closer we get to September, the more they'll panic. Ideally we get a signing in and tell them the price is fixed regardless of what he does or what Romano writes.

Where does it say we're offering the same wages?

Agree. We should set a non-negotiable price with a hard deadline. Once it's passed, communicate to the media that the matter is done from our side and sll further communication will be internal. Other clubs aren't rolling over and letting us have their players.

I think players downing tools has become far less common in recent years though, hasn't it? I'm aware Wissa has done it this month, but not many other examples jump out to me. Players run the risk that if the move doesn't materialise, they've embarrassed themselves, hurt their image (or 'brand' in modern football terms) and have to either swallow their pride and graft again or double down and sit in the reserves, losing a significant chunk of their playing career. They also run the risk that potentially, a year down the line, the cartel clubs turn their interest elsewhere. I agree that Isak staying and not playing is a disastrous outcome for club and player, but in that scenario, it would guarantee no player will ever do it to us again. The cartel clubs like Liverpool would also know that they wrecked one summer for us, but they won't be able to do it again. If this happens, it'll be the biggest transfer story of the summer and remembered for years. If Liverpool get him on faviurable terms, the dominos will fall for us and we'll have this in January and next summer with our other stars.

4 and 5 will have serious repercussions unless the money is silly. Doing that sends a clear message out to other Premier League clubs that this is how you take our best players when you want for the price you want. It tells current players that this is how you get a move whenever you want and there's little risk in downing tools. Everyone's waiting to see what we do, and our response to it will set the tone for what's ahead in coming windows. We need the market, clubs and players, to see us as tough sellers and serious about growing. You don't achieve that by rewarding a player who throws his toys and rewarding a cartel from the same league that uses media friends aggressively to unsettle players. I wouldn't sell to Liverpool at any price for the underhanded way they've dealt with it.

I disagree. As long as football is what you describe, clubs will have to put the fans last as they race to build revenue at any and all costs. Even still, we will never compete with those clubs, and neither will anyone else. The second anyone does, the goalposts will be moved again. The only way to preserve what's left of the competition, integrity, identity, and culture of the game is the abolishment of the corrupt rules both by the Premier League and UEFA that were carefully created to preserve the status quo. Until that happens, anything else is pissing in the wind and the game will continue on its current path with the gap ever widening.

Liverpool wanted both players. We bid £10m lower for Ekitike and were offering far lower wages. He was never a realistic option. It's no wonder Liverpool fans are cheerleaders for PSR and PL corruption. We aren't allowed to pay Isak what he wants because we don't sell enough shirts in Asia.

If the club let him go for 120 or thereabouts, the dominos will start to fall. Our other players will know that throwing toys will be successful, and other clubs will know we're pushovers. Everyone is watching what we do next. Bigger picture - the club have to stand firm. If he wants to go, the buying club have to pay up 150m+. Current and prospective players need to see that we operate that way, and so do other clubs. If he downs tools, then he is running the risk his big money move doesn't come around again.

SPL starts two weeks earlier. It's Celtic's 5th pre-season friendly and our 1st.

Yes, the cartel clubs can print money and FFP/PSR barely affects them. That's why it was created in the way it was. Remember when Klopp once bragged that some clubs have no ceiling. People made out he was playing the victim but he isn't an idiot - it was a taunt. That BBC article conveniently ignores the wages they throw around. The article even cherrypicks data to imply they've spent less than Brighton. Why wouldn't you include wages? It destroys the narrative the article is trying to create. The cartel clubs all sell well but, thanks to the Saudi league, they've also been able to sell declining players on huge wages who could have been awkward to shift, such as Henderson and Fabinho.

We had loads to play for in the league games before those cup finals though, because it was the middle of the season. We couldn't throw them. Besides the momentum argument, these league games mean nothing to Man U and Spurs. Momentum is nice, but imagine if one manager wins their pointless league game at the cost of getting knocks and injuries, while the other throws the league game and has the strongest available side for the final. That'll be on their minds. It's a very different situation to our Carabao finals.

Leggy performance. Villa had the extra day's rest and brought in 4 fresh outfield players vs 0 changes for us. We started the same XI for the 7th game in a row and the third time in a week. In that situation we were never going to match their intensity. We failed to adapt our tactics to compensate. I thought we would sit deep, deny space in behind and play on the break. Instead we pressed high up the pitch with a high line which was the type of game Villa wanted.

Van Dijk was a world record transfer fee for a defender when they signed him.