TRon

He was under contract, we should have played hardball. I said that at the time, but I can understand why we took the money in the end. It just backfired because we wasted it.

Real is a level above Jose. He needs a fallen giant to revive, not a world leading club.

This is actually a great opportunity for the players to stand up for Howe. I said the same against Arsenal tbf, but they are title favourites so a difficult game. Even though I thought they were poor on the day. If Howe wants to regain support we need to see something on the pitch pretty soon. Games are running out.

Last summer's window was meant to address any issues with an ageing squad as well I would presume. If they didn't it's because we bought badly and didn't prepare well enough.

He's still shown the odd burst of pace IMO. Whether he can sustain it over 90 mins is another question, but unless I'm seeing things, it looks like he can still sprint when he wants to.

On the third attempt.

Agree.

I'd assumed it was 25% of any fee tbh. I did think it meant profit initially but then reading all the messages here I thought maybe not.

Howe is still making noises that we haven't seen the best of Wissa and he could come good next season. That might just be for PR purposes, but tbh, it would at least be consistent with our reasons for buying him in the first place.

I'm not sure how much the Saudis actually know about football though. So you would think they would take advice from whoever they've appointed to make such judgement calls.

Reads like a spoof piece tbh. Can't even tell these days.

Howe is on record saying he has known Wilson for several years. That doesn't mean Wilson isn't good at his job, but it does make me wonder if Wilson would be ruthless if he needed to be when it comes to Howe. As for his credentials, he seems to have got a bad rep at Rangers, and turned it round somewhat at Forest. Other than that I'm not sure what his pedigree is.

Arteta absolutely ruined our set piece experts with that one, no getting around it.

Is Ross Wilson considered best in class? I have real concerns there because I've not seen that much which would suggest it, but he does seem to have met Howe's approval.

Not really sure how any of this helps us now though. We can't play the coming season with players who have left or are declining.

Reeks of mismanagement in both buying and selling players. Plus holding onto too many for loyalty reasons, and to me that's one of the reasons you need a good DOF to take these decisions away from the manager.

I'd be quite happy to see Wissa starting tbh. He's going to start scoring goals again at some point. Doesn't really look like anyone else is at the moment.

If you're behind the queue to Havertz for the striker spot, it's not exactly a great endorsement of Woltemade's standing at this point tbf.

Must admit, I'll be watching Germany's games with some interest in the WC. I know it's probably a bit easier for a forward than the EPL, but he will still need to get on the end of stuff to be considered a success.

I would much prefer to have PIF here. Not because they are particularly competent, but they don't need the money. Americans will only look at the financial returns.

A draw might not get the adrenaline pumping, but it would actually be a great result given the form of the two sides.

I'm Howe out currently but it's based on me feeling that a lot of the good players have lost faith in the project. After the three week break if we had come back with our batteries charged and had a good go at qualifying for Europe, I would have said, yeah just a bad season, let's go again next time round. But I'm not seeing that, I'm only seeing players who look collectively worse than the sum of their parts. I don't mind a year where we go a bit stale, but it's galling seeing some of the sides who have barely a quarter of our budget outperforming us this season.

Personally I think Liverpool would want a manager who puts more emphasis on playing with the ball rather than intense work rate off it. Liverpool have always been a hard working side for sure, but they put the emphasis on skill and patterns of play. I think Howe is too focused on intensity and speed, and that's why signings like Elanga have been such a flop. Not enough consideration given to technical excellence and too much on physical ability.

Tbf, they might well have been. I agree, the job of any CEO should be to ensure everything is in place to keep the club progressing, and the job of any DOF should be to build a playing staff that should be ready for a change in coaching with a minimum of disruption should a manager need to be replaced when it's decided it's not working. It's just that I'm not that sure we have the right men in place to carry out those plans. Hopkinson seems a commercial expert, and Wilson was Howe's recommendation from the rumours at the time of his appointment.