OhForAGreavsie

Whenever Frank was interviewed during the lockdown he always put forward arguments which lent towards cancelling the remaining games. He was always careful to couch his comments in terms of player and staff safety, but I could never escape the impression that he knew ending the season then suited Chelsea just fine. Oh well, Southampton have thrown us a quarter of a lifeline, and opened up the possibility of a nightmare scenario. It's entirely possible that we could take one win and one loss from our next two games, while Man u and Leicester take two wins. That would leave each of our rivals 2 points in front of us going into the last game of the season. With their big goal difference advantage that means a draw would be good enough for both of them in that last fixture. Can we get something at Anfield? We might need to, but it's only going to matter either way if we get the job done tomorrow.

This has seemed inevitable for the last two weeks.

I've seen him play several times for the 18's, both live and on TV. I like him a lot. I've posted the opinion that he is more talented than Gilmour which attracted some comment. When you see him play my bet is that you'll agree. We have to remember however that just being more talented does not mean he'll necessarily become the better player. That doesn't automatically follow but all other things being equal more talent will give an advantage. I've also posted the idea that if we could somehow grab Bellingham ahead of Dortmund, or manage to take him from there at some point, then Bate, Bellingham and Kova will make a good midfield in three years time.

Great news. Unlikely that Frank is taking him with the expectation that he'll play, but I'm delighted that Lewis is getting another sight of the matchday squad. I really like the look of this player.

Quite right.

Is the correct answer.

For what it's worth, Guillem Balague really likes Torres.

Thank you. Never heard of them before today. I'm on an adventure of exploration. I was in a quiz recently where a question was asked about One Direction and I had to admit that I had never heard a single one of their songs so I promised I would listen to some, and I did. Life's for learning.

Given the amount of time I spend watching football; reading, talking and typing about it, it would be reasonable for everyone to conclude that it is my favourite sport. Anyone who thinks that would have been misled however. Cricket is the greatest game ever invented. I've been in love with it since I was too young to go to school, and today is my younger daughter's 30th birthday so that's been a while now. In theory, I think everyone in football would agree with us on the value of selling at the right time. The question is whether they can summon the confidence to actually pull the trigger when it comes to parting with a good player. When the theory meets the reality, it seems that the deed is easier said than done. In all those years of following cricket I've heard many generations of ex-captains complaining from the commentary booth about their successors being too conservative with their declarations. "He should have declared an hour and a half earlier to give his bowlers more time to get the wickets.", or "He should have left them a smaller target so they would have chased it because, when a side is chasing runs, you have a better chance to get them out." Ex-captains always espouse that opinion once they've put down their bats and taken up a microphone, but while they're out in the middle making the decision, they always err on the side of caution. As I've stated since he was playing for us, I believe in Frank's potential as a manager. As you say however, the way he handles this situation will be an indicator of how successfully he might convert that potential into achievement.

You are absolutely right about this. True, and this is very much a part of the argument @Vesper makes. Selling at the right moment is clever squad planning. It was very much Liverpool's mantra back in their glory years. They used to say it was important to make sure that your players' legs went when they we're on someone else books, not yours. Selling while a new club still believes in what a player can offer them maximises his remaining transfer value, and should be in every director of football's playbook.

Who the heck are Rick & Monty?

Agreed. That's a certainty. More than enough I think. I very much doubt that Tammy will be sold, or loaned, at the end of the season. This makes it inevitable that he will get starts somewhere along the line but he can never become The starter for us. He does not have the quality. I feel bad being so blunt about such a likeable lad who demonstrates a huge commitment to the club, but we can't just wish our preferred realities into existence. No matter what Trump thinks. I'm only just reading through the thread, and as I tend to do, I'm reading it from the most recent posts and working backward. I therefore haven't yet seen comments about Willian being poor but I'm really surprised by posts like that. I actually made him player of the match today. I wouldn't object to a new contract on squad player terms. If he's holding out for the reported £12m a year however, than, as @Vesper would say, that's a hard pass.

It was astonishing to me that, with all the transfer fever going around, many people were proposing first choice XI's without Pulli in them. Made no sense, but I hope no one will be repeating that error now.

Pulli or Willian for sure. I would have given it to Willian but Pulli once again showed why, no matter who else joins this summer, he is an automatic first choice selection.

Everybody needs to hear this and get on board with it. I don't mind what Frank says for public consumption. I don't even mind if he means what he says because he feels he needs all the resources he can get. I do think he has to hear this song however. In any case, Frank is a bright man; we don't need to worry about his ability to assess the situation.

At least it's consistent then because it looked very, very bad the first time you looked at it. Let's hope the contract is not as big as reported. If Callum's deal is in the region of the amount reported then I hope he has KDB's & Moh Salah's numbers, so he can call to thank them everyday.

This is not news.

Not all of us. When he was first linked I watched video of him and posted that he was clearly not good enough and we should steer clear. Someone asked what on Earth I was talking about and told me that Kennedy looked brilliant in those videos. Comes down to what you're looking for when watching videos I suppose. Anyway I always felt this was a very ill judged signing.

Well yes, if he said it, it must be true. I'd guess that £30m was just an opening gambit but it would be interesting to know how close the side came to an agreement. With all these deals there's the need for the selling club to avoid caving and there's a calculation as to what can be earned in load fees across the balance of the contract, compared to the cash on the table.

Did Newcastle make an offer?

I'll settle for reducing the deficit to 5.

Because few people care?

It's a good model.

Interesting take. If we do sign Havertz I'd vote to play all three new signings, along with Pulli, at the top of the team. Frank may have other ideas, but, on the occasions he does start with those four, I'm struggling to see where Mason gets in the side.

Can dolphins swim?