Shearer9

Bruno is just a video game player at this point, such a lift to the team

Fuck isak. Time for the owners to issue a statement as soon as this game is over. He can train tomorrow or he’s not getting paid. Any transfer is not happening this window. If he returns to training he can have the privilege of watching osula from the bench against Leeds on Saturday

Was fun while it lasted, good night

Tell me this team couldn't compete for the league title with a decent striker. So many good pieces in place.

Battering them right now

Was great today, so lucky to have him

He was already on strike, surprised nobody has "reported" it yet. Hopefully this will cement the narrative around what is actually happening, which is that he is refusing to travel, train, or play with the rest of the team.

Despite the fact that I think there probably were some missed opportunities by the club here, I have fully come around to the opinion that Isak is being a total cunt here. I’d make him stay unless they meet the valuation. What leverage does he really have to force a move through? It hurts him tremendously to refuse to play beyond the transfer deadline.

Not sure why people are freaking out over the “news” today, there’s nothing new to report from the situation, it’s just that Isak or his people have briefed the press on their position again. if I’m betting he is getting antsy at this point as the end of the window gets closer

The vibe will change once the window is shut, he will look like a complete twat if he continues with this strike. Especially if there are clearly and publicly communicated terms for his “reintegration”

This will be the story of their season. Free-scoring but can't keep anybody out at the back. Especially away from home. Isak won't solve that problem.

Isak isn't in the right frame of mind to train with the group? Just start calling it what it is: he is very clearly on strike to force his valuation down and force the club into selling him to Liverpool. I don't really read that much into Howe's comments either way, he knows he needs to leave himself room depending on which way this situation goes. If he isn't sold, he needs to be able to reintegrate him, if he is sold Howe needs to be able to look strong for the other players. In the meantime he needs to leave the door open to him staying as much as possible.

Isak is out over his skis. He did this in a way that did not maximize the chances of his desired move happening. The timing of it, waiting until the end of the window, was horrible. It’s also clear now that he is on strike. If you're going to do that, you better be damn sure that the buying club you want to go to is going to match your own club’s evaluation. That has absolutely not happened.

The (entirely justified) disgust at Isak’s behavior has now overshadowed the club’s piss poor management of this situation. In what world did you expect to publicly tell everyone that this player was worth the highest transfer valuation in Premier League history but also think you could get away with not paying him top wages? A core group of players in this squad are elite and would improve any team in the world - is it really so shocking that they want to be in a place where they can compete for titles and silverware? The actions of the club do not match the top players’ ambition. That is destabilizing. regardless of how this Isak saga ends there is going to have to be a sea change in how the club operates in order to keep this kind of thing from happening again. Whether that’s truly possible under current PSR rules I have no idea.

So so relieved that the club leadership has much more levelheadedness and backbone than so many others who were losing their minds and ready to sell a generational player at the first sign of any turbulence