OhForAGreavsie

You'd love to keep them all but we can only console ourselves with the hope that the competition for squad places will help drive up the overall quality.

No, I can't say that I know that he did meet them all but players have described him doing that to welcome them so it was at least an occasional thing. The examples I remember were of players joining an American tour in progress. Agreed.

Thanks J, I hope I've made it clear that I am also reserving judgement on the Pedro story by prefacing my comments with, "If true". Pulli described traveling alone from his arrival point and meeting up with the squad at their hotel during the preseason tour. He said that he was then pretty much left to his own devices until the start of his first training session. Contrast this with earlier new signings joining up during overseas tours being met at the airport by JT, and travelling with him to get settled in and to meet the group. In my previous comments about the players help for the club*, and in the one to which you replied, I've acknowledged that there is room for impressions to be updated when more complete information is known. Notice I said the players seemingly didn't offer to help the club. It was reported that the players offered to sacrifice a portion of their earnings on condition that the club paid that money to charity instead. This would result in little or no saving to the club. Granted, the club's press release stated that the players had been asked to make charitable donations, but reports suggested that this was just an attempt to spin the outcome of discussions. It was said that Chelsea still hoped the players would agree to share some of the financial burden. I'm proud of the way CFC has behaved during the pandemic, and I have a good opinion of our players too. Whether we ever get to hear details or not, I hope club and players resolve the situation in a way that shows they really are in this together. *To avoid any thoughts of hypocrisy: The club is refunding a pro-rata amount from the cost of season tickets. It has invited ST holders to make a donation, if they wish, to one of a selection of charities, and stated they will match amounts donated. I wrote to the club saying that I had made (small) contributions to a number of charities already, and that I would prefer the club to keep the refund. They have not replied.

Obviously Pedro has a right to leave at the end of his deal. It's not unreasonable of him to want to protect his next contract. Not playing avoids injury, ensures a good rest, and sets up a structured preseason for himself. His decision is still disappointing though. If true, this is more evidence that things are not as we would like them to be in Cobham. First there was the cold reception for Pulli, then the players seemingly failing to offer the club financial help during the pandemic, and now this. As far as I know, Pedro has always given his best, and generally been a good servant. If this decision shows that there isn't a bond of affection between the club and some of its players, then maybe less harm will be done if they do leave asap. It will take maximum output from the players to secure a CL place. If some of them find they've already moved on in their heads, then there's no point forcing them to leave their bodies behind.

Turning the clock back 53 weeks. You may need popcorn. 🙂

If Werner signs, and if he contributes for us like Son does for Spurs, we'll all be very happy people.

Some people (not me) have been promoting Havertz for quite some time on here. It's only as a result of that that I began to check his videos. When you do that, his quality hits you in the face. I quickly progressed from, what's this lad all about, to he's a talent, to no chance we're getting him. It's the feeling that one of the 'name' clubs will take him which prevented me adding my voice to the calls for us to chase him. Frankly, I've read those calls with amazement. They seemed deluded to me. Still, Vesper (who has been mentioning Havertz for a very long time, continues to hold out hope.

If he can't that would be highly unusual for a German.

If Klopp really wanted him; that's to say enough to push for the fee to be met, and to offer Werner significant minutes, then we would be out of the running. We seem to be in with a chance of signing Werner because Klopp does not want him enough.

Be great if you're right, but I can't see it.

And I agree, she is an attractive woman.

We still need to be cautions. Many of us liked Pepe last summer, Arsenal fans were ecstatic when the got him but, while there is still time for the move to come good, it hasn't worked out as expected so far. If a player is available to Arsenal, or even Chelsea, it's because clubs higher up the food chain are not completely sold on taking him. The story goes that Real wanted Eden in 2012, but not enough to give him realistic hopes of being a starter so he looked elsewhere. When the bigger beasts pass it gives us a chance, but we should stay realistic and appreciate that there must be a reason they have passed.

I'm not pretending to know but this seems a realistic assessment to me. It also fits with the claim that we have a good chance of getting him, whereas I see no hope that we might get players such as Havertz or Lautaro.

I think this is the key comment in all you have said. If what you believe is true then Marina's job might indeed have come under pressure. Instead she clearly enjoys Roman's confidence and Frank speaks convincingly about enjoying a good relationship with her. I ask you to consider if this might mean that the people who actually know the facts know something you don't? Far from being sacked, Marina has been promoted more than once. Just how stupid would everyone involved in those decisions need to be to miss the gross incompetence you think Marina is guilty of? The facts do not support your opinion. I really believe you should think again about this.

hello BL, If Marina was responsible for selecting the players targeted then yes, she would deserve whichever of credit or criticism was going around. I've never seen anything that suggests that she is in fact responsible for decisions about footballing merit however. Not one word outside of what seems to have become a received opinion on here. I can see a multitude of reasons why Roman might reserve the final say on transfers to himself, but I see absolutely no reason at all why he would delegate that responsibility to Marina. If he was to allow someone other than himself to make those decisions, no way he's going to conclude that Marina is the woman for the job, Makes absolutely ZERO sense, and I just do not believe it. Marina's responsibilities are financial and administrative. Marina signs the cheques, authorises the budgets, negotiates contracts, and makes the call on whether a particular deal is affordable or fits within the club's approach. She probably signs off on the FFP accounts and has board responsibility for ensuring the football operation runs smoothly. No doubt all the people who do the day to day management tasks, report to her. She does not select the players however. The notion that Frank is sitting outside her office while Marina watches videos and studies scouting reports is too stupid to be believed. People have issues with Roman, but I don't think anyone believes he's an idiot. Which he would have to be to have Marina selecting players.

They say it takes your friends and your enemies working together to hurt you. Your enemies to say stuff you wouldn't like, and your friends to tell you about it. 🙂 I'm not interested in Twitter or Instagram so comments made in those platforms would never darken my door... if it wasn't for those kind souls on here who collect them from there and put them here. That's how I came to read @blue_footy's tweet. As far as I know that's the only thing I've ever read from him but I'm out of patience with him already. 🙁🙁

And I'm losing patience with people who rush to make judgements when they have few facts, if any. If it's true that the club refused to pursue a deal for Frasier, then it's about why they did that. If you don't know why then you can't form an opinion. At least not one that people should take seriously.

If it's true that Werner wants Liverpool, and only Liverpool then the Reds are showing that Bayern aren't the only club which knows how to be smart about recruitment. In that situation, there is no market and Liverpool, who can field a powerful line up with or without Werner, have no need to hurry. As long as the player remains determined not to go anywhere else, each day that passes makes Liverpool's position stronger. They need only bide their time and they'll get their man sooner or later, even if it means they have to wait a season. Bayern would be impressed.

I like the sound of CFCW winning the league whichever way it's calculated. Indeed, we'll be champions by a bigger margin if the FA goes for a weighted points method. One of the more interesting remaining decisions awaiting concerns whether to relegate any teams. This will impact Liverpool in particular. The WSL is firmly in a development phase and, as such, the more sides which are backed by big clubs, the better. Problem is, Liverpool FC are not really getting behind their women's team. Since the end of 2017/2018 they have drastically reduced the support for their women's team, with the result that their better players left and turned them into relegation candidates. If Liverpool undertake to back their team in the way Chelsea, Arsenal, City and United do, then I'd like to find a way to keep them up. If not, send them down and hope for a fan backlash to once again shame them into doing the right thing.

I reckon it'll be a new golf club. Either one with greens, fairways and bunkers, or one that fits in a bag.

Agreed.

To be frank I think he'd be out of his depth in midfield but, again, I'll be happy if you are right and I am wrong.

That's fair enough. Let's hope you are right, and I am wrong.

Well, it's just opinion of course, but I'm afraid I don't rate Ethan highly enough, no. For me, he's a competent footballer, not a special one. This has been my take since before Ethan went on loan, so it hasn't been influenced by the way things panned out in Germany. A chief concern is his passing. I think it's short of the required level. I've no idea whether or not Ethan's stats support my claim, but I firmly believe that pass completion stats don't tell even half the story. I prefer to examine a performance and ask how well each involvement was performed. Were control, touch, decision making and execution as good as could be reasonably expected in any given situation. On that basis, Ethan does not score well enough in my opinion.

I don't believe that Ethan is good enough in either position.