TRon

I'm guessing this is a poor attempt at a Biffa Bacon parody.

Not at this point no. Fuck him and Darwin Nunez.

Who the fuck were Onyewu and Moore? (Double checked the spelling of Moore with a quick google before joeyt pounced on it). The rest were not that bad tbh.

I can't see anyone else offering a bigger one, although I suppose PSG could if he's happy to sit on the bench behind Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. Maybe we could go for one of those on a one year loan if they are surplus to requirements over there.

Klopp's teams do have explosive pace in key areas though, such as wide and up front. I guess it's just how you put it together. I recall Nobby Solano wasn't the quickest, but he was reinvented as a full back because he could pick out a pass to one of the lightning trio of Bellamy, Dyer and Robert during SBR's time. Actually I think it might have been Roeder who first played him as a full back, ironically he wasn't blessed with much pace either as a CB, but he read the game masterfully.

I think he's lost a bit tbf. Looks more like a pregnant middle aged biddy as opposed to a beached whale of NUFC days.

Were those all Mark Hughes signings?

I have a policy of not watching anyone on Youtube unless I know there's a real serious link there. I don't want to start getting excited about a player then get pissed off he's joining Liverpool.

I agree, in the long term we will probably be better off for it, at least from an accounting POV. But I don't think Chelsea or City minded losing money at the time because they did buy their way to trophies. Let's face it, we could do it as well given half a chance. But we'll get there in time, might just take a couple of years longer.

Agree, FFP will slow down our efforts to crash the top 4. City and Chelsea were able to buy top players closer to 30 who they were prepared to lose out on resale value because they were in their prime and could do the job right now. We have to be very careful not to go down that road because the way things are set up now, we'll be hamstrung further down the road, a bit like Everton are now. Villa are playing a dangerous game as well.

The reason we won't get much for him is exactly why we need him replaced tbh. But at least you know he'll run around for 90 mins so I guess if he's here for another season it's not a disaster.

Absolutely.

Thanks man, it was a long time ago.

Man, I wish someone like you wrote the football columns in one of our national newspapers. I could just download it and read it on a tablet in the morning with a cup of tea. Genuinely fascinating stuff re the difference of football culture, especially about midfield. So many different factors can make a difference though: pitch size, climate, local culture regarding acceptable body contact, etc.

That does sound just a touch bitter mind.

That is proper embarrassing stuff tbh. No one would blame the lad for dreaming of playing for Milan, but he always seemed genuinely interested in coming here as well. as has been proven.

Aye, you've had your little pout and playing hard to get BS. Now get over here #Rayden

Feels like another Bruno level of signing this one. Maldini wanted him and he knows a bit about defending. Buzzing.

I actually think Lascelles is a decent squad player, but since he's probably one of our more saleable assets, it makes sense to cash in on him. Sort of similar to the Hayden deal. He never really let us down, just we had outgrown him, and I would say we are close to that with Jamal as well. We do need money in to fund some of the players coming in.

At this point I agree. His wage demands might be high, but they could probably be accomodated into our FFP strategy. Still hope we can get in someone more in the mould of Ekiteke, but if not then Lingard would definitely give us some options.

I am really pleased with this signing though, let's be clear about that. I always thought Dubravka was one of our more solid players and that we didn't really need a replacement, but Pope is a really top class goalkeeper, and for the money it was a great decision to bring him in.

So what? In a couple of years hopefully we'll be at a stage where we can attract any amount of top strikers. If he wants to leave for other pastures, we will probably be able to sell him for a decent fee and on to the next one.

Yep. I think it would be a really big ask to expect us to hit top 6 form without one or two real game changer signings. Teams will adapt and learn to probe our weaker spots better. As it stands, we are still looking like more of a defend and counter attack team, but massively reliant on Wilson staying fit.

This is me as well. These are all very solid signings, especially from a defensive POV, but it's the midfield which will allow us to control more of the play, and some really top quality attackers who will win matches. Patience is definitely going to be needed, might need another season of mid-table consolidation before we can really start making inroads.