Grabber and Lobster

The man is a god. Not only is there no better manager we could have, there's not even one close.

Christ hope this isn't an english ref. I know it's a friendly, but he's missed two stonewall - Robinson on theirs, and that one on Jones. Awful.

Seems to be effecting us more than them. City looking much sharper, with a squad of kids + Mahrez.

Looks like Virgin 551 is Juve v Bayern, unless I'm missing something.

i like his contract killer 'last thing you see before you die' hard stare.

Bloody hell, this is awesome. Right now the only thing we're moaning about is cover in the forward line, and Klopp might just reckon he'll bring through some of our young 'uns for that. Maybe not ideal, but our 1st team is fantastic, and we like bringing through young forwards who might just be the next Rush/Fowler/Owen don't we? Properly excited about the season.

I was surprised to see Bono in there, I figured he earned enough with the music gig, but I guess he always has legals bills to pay.

I'll try that again... https://youtu.be/R_NwXtO9MI8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_NwXtO9MI8

Really? Good news. Thought this was destined to be one of those, and the RB was keeping a watching brief in case we signed another boss lad up front and he became 8th in the pecking order

Possibly interesting development: Brighton just signed another keeper (their 2nd of the summer), so either they're stockpiling 29 year old goalies, or they're preparing for Ryan to leave.

Almost certainly. Sh*t coach, sh*t scout. Remind me again what Achterberg has done in his entire career that might suggest he even knows what good goalkeeping looks like, either to train or to buy?

If we do, Danny Ward should just cancel his contract. However good or bad he may be, surely now is the circumstance under which you would try him: one keeper who's beyond redemption, and one who'll be a basket-case as soon as he lets in a goal.

Not sure about that. Ryan's been very good for Brighton - notably a good level of concentration, as Brighton often have sustained possession and face teams breaking on them - and Hughton requires his keeper to be good with the ball. Biggest problem I'd say is he's not big, and so needs a CB that can handle corners/high-balls (hi Virgil!). Not the worst option in the world for us - though obviously a little disappointing when we were hoping for an Oblak-level signing. NB: suspect Ryan has a relatively cheap buy-out clause.

Shot out of a cannon?

This. Owner said a few things publicly that practically incited people to attack them - named specific players as frauds, who weren't trying, were stealing a living, etc etc, were cheating the fans. And this from a guy who it's pretty much an open secret used to be in the ultras that attacked the players. It's a close run thing as to who's the biggest psycho between this guy and the greek owner who went on to the pitch with a gun.

Not happening. The group of players have all said they'll never go back. Dost was whipped on the head by the belt of one of the thugs. Really nasty injuries. I think whether the president was involved or not, knowing that your own fans could do that to you, and that they have some way of getting into training... the only comeback Sporting would have would be to hire private security permanently for all club activities. That's not going to happen. So we should get Gelson, Bruno and Carvalho while the getting's good

Three things: one, the Ultras got into a 'closed' training session. Two, not being able to provide a safe work environment also counts as just cause. Three, one of my mates is mates with Bas Dost. Says it's done, that all the players cancelling are definitely out of there, and already negotiating their next gig. Atmosphere been poisonous for months, this was just the worst thing that's happened.

Well he doesn't rate Lloris is all I know. And he was literally speechless over The Performance That Shall Not Be Spoken Of a week back. Actually he says the guy at Toulouse - Lafont - is superb, but he's still very young, so be too early for him to move. However he might be biased, given that it was his team

Like I said before, my mate was a keeper in Toulouse youth & reserves. Saw Fekir play when he was coming through, said he is insanely good, and driven like a madmen. He's been raving about him for ages. Only injuries in his early 20s held him back before now. Oh and this same mate said we had to get Salah 18 months before we signed him. So...

He pretty much is so far. Every cross he's put in has been dangerous. Reckon he might be starting ahead of Trippier.

And on that point, Gundogan and Shaquiri would be similar in terms of quality I'd have thought. Not world-class, but good quality nonetheless.

Exactly. And if he was coming from Bayern or Inter I think everyone would be excited - it's just he's been slumming it in a cr*p team. Pretty sure his reputation previously was as a winning-obsessed dynamo, wasn't it?

You've seen start and you've seen quit I always thought of you as quick