David Hodgson

Mahrez is left footed. I know he plays off the right for Leicester but it's a world gone mad when you can't make good use of a left footed player down the left hand side of the pitch.

Totes agree.

Yep, all true.

And yet, despite being desperate to recruit, having sold Neymar, their best offer for Coutinho in August was only £82m (exc spurious add ons), and even that offered over several years. That's not how seriously rich clubs behave when they're trying to get the job done. They didn't even come close to an offer that could make LFC think.

The only facts in all of this are that £220m worth of funds have been 100% committed to strengthen the playing squad. There's no going back on that spend. That is around double our previous biggest gross spend. It is at a level comparable to that being invested by the biggest clubs in the world. Everything else is guesswork or paranoia. Everything else is supposition or paranoia.

Well, if we look at last 6 months gross of £220m and deduct Coutino at say £130m, it’s still a sizeable net spend. Add Lemar and it’s right back up there. It’s pointless factoring in the period before last summer because a) the scale of the market has changed beyond recognition, and b) we’re talking about where the ‘project’ stands now and it’s direction of travel. I’m not after re-appraising FSG here, just trying to reasonably assess what the plan is from here-on in.

Reports are that LFC offered Coutinho a new contract . The captaincy was part of the charm offensive. Liverpool blocked his move in August. These aren’t the actions of a club that wants to trade down on its best player, which is what you’re implying.

As if. You seriously think that if we sell Coutinho that the club turn round to Klopp and say ‘soz lar, you’ve had the spends already, no big money for a replacement ’ ? If you’re cautious penny pinchers who want to keep the project afloat with minimal investment you don’t spunk £220m in 6 months on the promise of a future transfer. What if Coutinho gets a serious injury and is unsaleable? It’s blindingly obvious that FSG have responded to the vast increase in wealth for clubs at the top (due to tv and CL deals) and realised that their best commercial move is to invest decisively to protect and enhance an appreciating asset. Our interests and theirs are at this point in time, very much aligned . In terms of on the pitch progress, at any rate. Or, it’s simply because all of these players wanted to play for bigger, richer clubs than us to earn more money and to win more trophies. The simplest explanation.

Yeah, absolutely. The only truth is that the player saw an opportunity for betterment and did everything he could to make it happen. Torres bangs on about broken promises but they all applied to the Hicks/Gillet era. He disingenuously conflates the two American ownerships. The nerve of these lads and their wounded pouts. I get them wanting to go, that’s life, but do it with a smile and good grace . It’s a business deal. If one of your main cards is ‘putting on a sad face’ then don’t expected to be respected.

Haha. Thanks hun. I'll defo take you up on that offer soon.

The only way Coutinho goes in January is if the manager wants him to, I'd guess. Short of a £200m offer from Barca I can't see him just being offloaded without Klopp's consent. My overall hunch on this is that Barca won't get Coutinho, even in the summer, because they won't be able to make a good enough offer. I think PSG are a more likely destination. I can live with us selling the player only if the offer is at the very top end of his market rate. He's still under a long contract, there is no way we should be accepting modest bids just because Phil has always dreamed of playing at the Nou Camp. We've ended up paying top dollar for Van Dijk because of his contract length and their desire not to part with him. The tapping up furore in the summer was about money. Southampton suspected Liverpool were positioning themselves as the only suitor for the player, with Van Dijk in cahoots, and would therefore be able to succeed with a low ball bid. This is exactly what Barca's game is with Coutinho. It's an attempt to box Liverpool in so that they'll take any half baked bid going. The club have withstood this tactic thus far, and I think will continue to do so.

I think the pricing should be much more 'dynamic', in theory. I'd reserve a 1000 seats on the Kop that the club could sell to daytrippers for £300 a pop, throw in a chicken dinner and a badge, and market it as 'the Kop experience ticket'. Then use the increased revenue to help create a core of much cheaper tickets elsewhere on the kop. Maybe prioritising younger age groups. Rinse and repeat throughout the stadium. With a bit of determination its not hard to find a face value ticket for most matches. The bigger problem is the cost.

You’re on here all the time . Chattin wham. Yeah it would but it won’t happen. If someone stumps up the right money for Coutinho in the summer I’m content that we’ll splash the fee on someone like a Lemar, and others. I’m no longer worried that we won’t spend. On footballers , anyway. Someone (Edwards ?) f*cked up over vvd. But the mistake has been corrected. Keita was a decent outcome. Salah an outstanding one. Ultimately everyone on the list has now been bought. Happier days.

That's some spending now in the last 6 months. About £220m gross ? very little coming back in. It's a sea change. We're spending like European heavy weights now. I'm more excited about our prospects, in terms of winning the big trophies, than I have been in years. Cynics can say the ownership are just pre-spending the Coutinho money, but that argument can be sustained ad inifinitum about valuable players. Coutinho was meant to be sold in the summer to fund the splurge. Didn't happen. If FSG are banking on revenue from his sale they're taking a helluva risk that he doesn't sustain a serious injury. I'd love to see the Anny Rd sorted, but in terms of their investing 'on the pitch', FSG are stepping up. Praise where due. The notion that our reported interest in players of the value of Keita and VVD was just PR and that we'd never actually pay the going rate has been proved utterly fallacious. And, even if Coutinho is going in the summer, the succession planning by all concerned, has been impressive, and in stark contrast to how we attempted to compensate for the loss of Suarez.

Southampton want one of our players do they ? Tell 'em to get ta f*ck.

Coutinho going in the summer is far from clear cut. Given the market, he's worth a minimum of £150m, and arguably as much as £180m. That's not loose change for Barcelona. Securing Messi and getting Griezmann in for 100m euros will restrict their budget. It doesn't matter how much Phil wants Barca, he can't expect LFC to sell him to them for a massive discount. PSG will probably emerge as the most viable suitor for him. If that happens then I don't think his choice is as clear cut. PSG are a massive club now but they still play in a second rate league.

It won't be an issue til summer 2019 at the earliest.

I'll go with 5.

Thought you were talking about us there for a second.

Haha. Ya daft racist.

From a certain sector there's always been a racist agenda against confident young black lads. Like Raheem, like Daniel. White northern racists like their black guys to be the quiet types. Stick ya chin out and they start twitching. Having said that , I don't think that element exactly plagued Raheem Sterling . They weren't a groundswell. Raheem truly got it in the neck when Aidy started playing silly beggars. Raheem played along because he wanted his big move. But he was 19 so all should be forgiven.

Yes, agree with both. He's irritating. I think the building presumption that he's an evil harmful knob is taking things too far though . Let's give him a chance to actually do something meaningfully bad first.

Seriously ? That particular 'worker' signed a £150k a week 6 year contract that guaranteed him about £45m. He chose his own destiny. I don't remember him getting any grief until he did that interview and it began to become apparent he was off. Even then it wasn't much.

I think the jokes over with Edwards. Can't be a***.d with him and his ways.

I don't have a problem with Lazar Markovic mistake. Happy to see us try that kind of thing. Can't think of many other examples though.