Caice-d'oh!

[Halmeister]

Can we change the thread title to "Caice-dumb fucks running our club"?

 

[SummerOnions]

Can we change the thread title to "Caice-dumb fucks running our club"?

It's a shit pun so I at least did something

 

[singlerider]

I can believe that we have expressed our concern to the Premier league, and want them to look into it (more than they have done). I doubt we have presented anything.

So basically we as a club are waving an imaginary yellow card?

Best watch out for that...

 

[tomasjj]

I bet you that Klopp will keep his mouth shut the next time he is asked about a transfer not yet done.
I was surprised he answered in the press conf.

 

[Hansern]

He only said a fee was agreed though, but yeah surprised he made a comment. Usually wont say anything. We must have been very confident about him signing after the bid was accepted and the feedback from his reps.

 

[Frogfish]

Was winning the league ever a realistic target this season? Considering
- the league got harder with the spending of the other teams
- we lost and have to rebuild the spine of the team (on top of the belated midfield rebuild)
- we finished 5th and 22 pts off the Champion

I thought winning a trophy or two and CL qualification while getting our team identity back was the more feasible target.

I had us down for 3rd and winning the EL. That'll still happen I reckon. If we had got Caicedo we'd be challenging for the title. So it was worth a go.

 

[binomial]

What would be seen as a more successful achievement for this season between;

Finishing 2nd/3rd + League cup or Finishing 5-6th + EL?

Or are both equal?

 

[Basankayis]

What would be seen as a more successful achievement for this season between;

Finishing 2nd/3rd + League cup or Finishing 5-6th + EL?

Or are both equal?

Top four, even without another trophy, absolutely has to be the bare minimum, surely?

 

[binomial]

Top four, even without another trophy, absolutely has to be the bare minimum, surely?

Is it top 4 or is it CL?

Reason I added EL specifically with the 5-6th place finish was because you get to qualify in next season's CL group.

 

[Tinto]

What would be seen as a more successful achievement for this season between;

Finishing 2nd/3rd + League cup or Finishing 5-6th + EL?

Or are both equal?

It depends on how far we're from the top.

If we finish 4th, around 10 points from the winners, that's a decent season.

If we finish 4th, say, 30 or more points from the winners, that's a mediocre season. I would take 5th/6th and winning the UEFA Cup over that

 

[rubans]

5th will get us CL this season so would like that and EL final.

 

[darkstarexodus]

Key takeaways on this for me:

1. Young player from a poor background chooses to follow the money and play for a team that will pay him shitloads of cash, guaranteed for 8 years.
2. Up and coming club, well run, recognises it can't hold on to its best players and uses auction tactics to get the best possible price for them.
3. LFC engages in game of high stakes poker, finds that their hand is not as strong as they thought and loses.

None of this is the end of the world, and none of it should come as a surprise.

Of course opposition fans will laugh at us, it's what rival fans do. They will also laugh at Chelsea for playing another British transfer record for a player who most objective followers of the game would not have named in the top 5 in the world in his position before they threw all that cash at him. And opposition fans would be laughing at us for the same reason if we'd won the "race".

The thing some of us are overlooking in all this is how it exposes our lack of proper planning for this window. We've not had an adequate sporting director since Edwards left. Ward was out of his depth (we all know what "leaving to spend more time with the family" really means) - he's been pushed out because he wasn't up to the job.

We appointed Schmadke. I have no idea what his strengths are, but the only thing he was going to be able to bring to the party as an eleventh hour appointment was the ability to execute a deal (and our legal / football secretarial team should be able to do that). He hasn't spent the last 12 months looking into our targets, keeping tabs with agents, exploring all the options, developing a plan A, B and C for every position. Even if he had a great list of contacts, he hasn't been working them on our behalf. Billy Hogan supposedly had a go on this deal - to my knowledge he's had no involvement on player recruitment previously. He's tried to be innovative, fair play, but it didn't work, and his lack of experience in this area has been exposed. So what was Schmadke bringing to the table? Apparently not a great deal.

And when the Saudis came in for Henderson and Fabinho, two players we evidently weren't planning on replacing (and we can debate the merits of that), we made the mistake of accepting what was good money for them with no ready-made, lined-up replacements in mind, and knowing that the combined fees for both players would only just cover the outlay on an inexperienced kid who was hardly pulling up trees last season and whose most notable contribution was an error that set up a goal for us on the last day of the season.

So the real issue for me is that we (still) need to nail down the sporting director position. It's too late for this window, but Schmadke is clearly not cutting the mustard and Hogan doesn't have the experience to deal with recruitment. Whatever the ins and outs of the Caicedo transaction, and however raw it feels right now, it's just one deal, one player.

The positive is the suggestion that the money is there / can be made available, that Klopp can/will be backed, but this window is as good as done as far as transformative signings are concerned. We need someone in to cover the DM position, that's likely to be a stop-gap at this stage, I doubt Valverde is going to give us a pity shag, and we need to put the structure in place to go again in January. Then we need to do the forward planning so that if we lose key players (whether to transfer or injury) we have an option we can dust off and plug the gap. The failure to do that is the real issue here. Caicedo is just one player, and it's all good sticking to your first choice, but he's gone now. It's not like we can have another go in January like we did with VvD, we have to move on to plan B. But we don't seem to have one. Whatever his strengths and weaknesses, you just know that Edwards would be sitting down with Klopp right now running through a list of 5-10 players who could fill the Caicedo gap. Somehow, I don't think that conversation is happening.

Absolutely cracking post. Bang on.

 

[darkstarexodus]

I bet you that Klopp will keep his mouth shut the next time he is asked about a transfer not yet done.
I was surprised he answered in the press conf.

That in itself contributes to the embarrassment. I recognize he only spoke to the fee being agreed but what a farce overall.

 

[Fabio]

To be fair to klopp, all he did was confirm we had bid.

 

[mark1975]

To be fair to klopp, all he did was confirm we had bid.

He'll be fucked off he was given the go ahead to confirm it though, for it then not to result in his purchase.

 

[tomasjj]

That in itself contributes to the embarrassment. I recognize he only spoke to the fee being agreed but what a farce overall.

He only said that we had agreed a fee with Brighton, and that the rest he could not comment on.
I don't think it is embarrassing. I see that word thrown around a lot. I think it is unprofessional though.

 

[King Binny]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...a-snubs-leave-liverpool-desperation-gnqnfrs0t

 

[Basankayis]

Is it top 4 or is it CL?

Reason I added EL specifically with the 5-6th place finish was because you get to qualify in next season's CL group.

Obviously anything that gets us into the CL would be great, but come on, this is Liverpool. Top four should always be an absolute minimum at least, surely? It's not that long since we were hitting 90+ points. I appreciate we've probably been spoiled since JK lifted us up again, but settling for 5th or even 6th place sounds like the start of a slippery slope to me. Getting back into the CL will help to raise income / attract players (unless your name is Chelsea), and its where this famous club belongs.

 

[tomasjj]

is Joyce a bluenose?

 

[King Binny]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...a-snubs-leave-liverpool-desperation-gnqnfrs0t

"many many more to be found by amateur scouts on Twitter" - is that a dig at the club?

 

[King Binny]

 

[tomasjj]

the only players i am disappointed we didn't get are Enzo, Jude and Tchouchou
the rest not too bothered

 

[Red Bird]

the only players i am disappointed we didn't get are Enzo, Jude and Tchouchou
the rest not too bothered

Is it true just that we passed up the chance Fernandez for £15 million some time back or just the usual kick the man when he’s down rumours spread by rival fans?

 

[Frogfish]

Why post this mate ? We all know where he's gone and he's now dead to us.

 

[dee]

Fucking hell his ma needs two cars - the size of her!

 

[tomasjj]

"Moises has proved himself as a standout player in European football over the past 18 months," said Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley in a statement.
Brighton director of football David Weir believes Chelsea are signing "one of the top midfielders in the world".

Bluenose

 

[tomasjj]

only ever been chelsea, since january that is
players should stop saying such waffle

 

[Beamrider]

He turned us down because someone did a "Yo mama so fat" joke when we met to discuss terms.
All makes sense now.

 

[rubans]

That car is fcked before even if it clocked a single mile, don’t care if it’s a 23 plate…

 

[Kay Age El]

Bellingham was the one that got away for me.

I have to admit though; have no idea how good this Caicedo-lad is/can be.