TRon

They aren't strawman arguments, I explained it pretty clearly. I'd rather have the club with less debt and the owners pay it out of their pocket. Tbh I am not even convinced they will put up 50% of the cost of a new stadium any more, if they don't then I am happy to have any new ownership who will take the club to the next level. Although again...with SCR in place that will be a long slog even assuming any new owners want to invest like PIF have so far.

FWIW I think a light show is fine for a one off, it would probably get a bit tedious after that anyway.

He looked a bit off on the weekend anyway, saw him lose the ball a couple of times which is not like him. But that was probably before he picked up the injury I imagine.

That was a great team tbh, but even when they supposedly don't have a good side, they always seem to do better than expected. Been very few WCs where they just turned up and got mullered.

Pretty sure that's the blueprint on how we can close the gap with the cartel clubs, i.e. trading players successfully until we have a team of superstars. Although of course they can do the same thing only they will have more money to chuck at it.

Of course. Although some of us look down on using shit American abbreviations for to be fair. Tbf.

Personally I would prefer an owner foot the bill for the financial health of my football club. Ask a Man U fan how they like their club being loaded with debt. But you are right, I doubt financing is a hold up, so more than likely it is planning issues of some sort.

As far as I was aware PIF were going to fund 50% of the stadium directly whereas I would assume the stadiums like Old Trafford, Selhurst Park and Stamford Bridge would be funded by borrowing against the club.

Brits tend to be more cynical about this type of stuff, but they love their light shows in the middle east, and probably in plenty of other places. Anything which brightens up a cold November evening shouldn't be written off IMO.

Germans always seemed to have a knack of rising to the occasion when it comes to WC finals. I never write them off tbh, would be typical if a waster like Havertz ends up being one of the leading goalscorers this time round.

That's what I was getting at as well.

Saudi economy seems to be flatlining and the ongoing war will only have made things worse. I do wonder if they are as enthusiastic about pumping money into foreign ventures as they were 5 years ago.

It's more that a player like Jones would probably see us as a step down.

Especially a worse one.

Definitely considering how expensive forwards are these days. He's signed a long term contract, if any team wants him they have to meet our asking price. I know what happened with Isak but we didn't have a DOF in place then who actually knew how to negotiate.

This is where I stand. It's fine to aim for top 4/5 finishes, but we don't have the budget or the players to compete regularly for that. Top 6-8 is probably more realistic, and that's why this season has been such a disappointment. We can't have a repeat next time round, but it's going to need quite a turnaround.

He probably took a picture of his doormat to show him as well.

It's not about what we've done in the past, it's about the direction we've been headed this season. That's not to say we can't pivot again, I'm just calling it on what we've done this season.

We bought Elanga. We play Murphy over Elanga. We played Burn over Hall because of height. We play Osula ahead of Woltemade. All of these can be justified by the result on Saturday, but it doesn't scream technique is what Eddie values most.

Howe hasn't shown that he is about possession football, and it seems like we are going to be buying more technical players, if less proven in the future. He's not someone who likes to introduce younger players quickly either so not sure how that will work given we are looking at younger profile players now rather than paying top whack for PL proven. Honestly think we've gone with Eddie because that's the safest option. I can understand it, but I do fear we are just kicking the can down the road ultimately. Anyway, next season will be interesting, but I think achieving any type of European qualification should be considered a success. I don't see where we get a top class striker who could fire us into the CL positions, and I don't think Woltemade or Wissa will be much more successful next time round either if they are still here.

Ok so he was realistic until Man U showed their hand. Then we moved back to Elanga who had been on our radar for more than a year. We are always going to be second choice if a cartel club comes in. No shame in it, that's just the way the world works. That's why we are changing our approach this summer by all accounts.

That's the sort of line up we should have put out against Carrierbag in the dead CL rubber. Instead of moaning about fatigue then playing the majority of our first team.

100%. Can't believe this is even a conversation.

He was never a realistic option though since he had already said he wanted Man U over us.

Happy with that. Carrick gets to keep his job and Liverpool lose.