STM

Say what you want about Hope but hes our cunt and hes batting our corner here. Its time to start changing the narrative on this and start making Liverpool look daft. Get him back to the training ground, give him a big hug, sort his contract out and next summer he can leave respectfully. Yes he will get booed to fuck, and rightly so, but there are bigger stakes at play.

Don't worry, noone else laughed either.

Fuck sake man. Missed the joke entirely. I know hes mint.

"Isak has told Newcastle he wont play for the club again" is the most obvious next step. If he takes that nuclear step, let him rot.

Hopes video was filmed prior to Liverpool briefing that they wont bid a second time. The obvious thing to deduce, is that we should expect Isak to kick up a fuss but he has to be wondering if that's smart. The smart thing for him to do is take a pay rise, accept a release clause and leave next summer.

Theyve actively told people they dont value Isak as much as us. That's the opening we needed to get him back to the club. I know he will get booed to fuck but hes not Muniz of Fulham.

Weird im seeing people on criticise the club for KEEPING the best striker on the planet.

For all ive criticised our leadership on this, I will give them 100% credit if they end up coming out of this without selling Isak and him being reintegrate back into the squad. I dont care about him leaving, provided its on our terms.

I absolutely hope that Jacobs tweet is true.

"Going to be serious and bid a substantial amount". Get to fuck. They've been trying to get the price down for weeks. Don't budge. We cant sign a replacement, so he should go nowhere.

Thats the stuff the everyone said Hope was making up.

Pleased hes back and focused. When hes on form hes unreal.

I think from a numbers perspective midfield is worse off. From a quality perspective we have a top 4 midfield and a mid-table CB pairing. I dont say that because I dont love Burn and Schar but because of their age. Obviously Botman is class but hes injured too much for me to trust him. Ive been banging this drum for weeks but an Eddie Howe side (especially at SJP) will always score goals because of the style and intensity we play at but if we keep playing old CBs, any opposition with pace will kill us. There's also the option of playing 2 CMs which I suspect Howe is thinking of edging towards in the future, but then that requires 2 strikers. Lots of work to do.

Especially without context. It would be like looking at Ramsdales cleansheet stats without looking at what team he played for etc. Stats are nearly always used to show someone's negative flaws too, which is often some sort of confirmation bias.

I watched Brighton a few times last season and Van Hecke is shit.

I wonder how people would feel about us loaning Isak to Barcelona or somewhere like that before selling him next summer?

I really like Stand Larsen but as a Wilson replacement, not Isak. Hes also just signed for Wolves permanently this year right?

In Hopes Q and A, who's his "dark horse" striker, just so I dont have to read?

Hes training in Spain mind. Thats one thing that's seemingly missing from the Spain jaunt, is he injured or not?

My head had PSG. With Mbappe gone and their rise, he'd be perfect. He'd no doubt win the league and probably a CL, he'd also have time for another move elsewhere in a couple of years. I think it's crazy from him. I could have understood Man City if they'd shifted Haaland and they wanted the next main man to be Isak. I could have stomached that. Not Liverpool, never Liverpool.

Hope is accurate with his reporting (mostly) but his interpretation is often sensationalist and negative. One man's unrest in the camp, is much different to anothers and Hope plays on that grey ambiguity to create stories. Im absolutely sure there is some restlessness amongst the squad over Isak and the lack of signings but that's a million miles from a lack of harmony, cohesion and team spirit. We do need to be careful though.

Ive never had any issue with Isak leaving, its the timing and manner of his potential exit which is disgusting. How hard would it have been for him to sit down and tell the club he'd stay one more year and he'd sign a contract for more money but only if he had a fair release clause next summer? He'd have had my blessing and left a legend. Also, if he'd done that, he'd have a better club than Liverpool sniffing.

I'd say that top 6 is the best we could aim for at current. Consistent Europe is important, even if the flavour is Europa. I say that from a football perspective, rather than financial. If we can get 3 more in, then Howe could pull his usual miracle.

First sensible thing ive seen in ages.