03 Sep 2026 09:59:32
Good article by Paul Joyce in The Times today about Hughes’ tenure, but highlights how 2027 is the rebuild of the midfield, specifically mentioning Camara.
03 Sep 2026 11:18:27
Not really sure he says anything insightful in it. A bunch of potential excuses and how we cannot judge his tenure for another 18 months.
The facts are we dismantled a title-winning squad and now have one that will compete for top 4, despite spending half the GDP of a small country.
Yes, we've been unlucky with injuries and other circumstances, but there have been many windows and plenty of money available to react accordingly.
03 Sep 2026 11:40:45
I think the thing we can all see as supporters is: he/they have taken a squad that won the title and now left us what feels like a long way behind Arsenal, City and maybe even Chelsea (harder to judge them without European football). He has taken a squad that, not perfect — few squads ever are — but had decent cover in every position and game changers on the bench, to one that is lopsided and clearly lacking in some areas.
I mean, is Frimpong going to be our no1 RB for most of this season? It looks that way. All this was done in 2 summers!!!
03 Sep 2026 12:05:30
How did we dismantle a title winning squad, Pelican?
Didn't Diaz and TAA want to go? Were Konate, Robertson and Salah not on the decline? Wasn't Nunez just a mistake?
03 Sep 2026 12:36:40
Rigsby - Believe it or not, the Sporting Director is accountable for the squad strength, with the exception of a club that is financially hamstrung, which we are certainly not.
If you agree that the squad strength is weaker than 22/23 and 23/24, then whether you want to say dismantled, deteriorated, diminished or disasterclass (Carra's word), I don't mind.
I know how you don't like certain words, Rigsby.
03 Sep 2026 13:08:32
I agree with Rigsby. Trent and Diaz wanted to leave so nobody dismantled anything.
Konate wanted stupid money for a guy who’d just had a season Djimi Traore would be ashamed of, so had to go.
Salah was absolutely awful last season to the point where he was a hindrance, and he was mouthing off to the press, causing problems in the camp. He had to go.
Robbo was constantly getting caught out on the wrong side and literally couldn’t stop a cross if his life depended on it. It was his time to go.
Nunez was everyone's whipping boy.
We tragically lost Jota, as everyone knows.
We’ve now replaced them with real quality players. I mean real quality. Wirtz, Isak, Barcola, Ekitike. Munoz looks like a shrewd signing too.
The only ones who you could question are Kerkez and Frimpong, but they’ve only had 1 season when even our best players weren’t performing. Players we’ve relied on for years like VVD, Salah, Robbo and Ali all had really poor seasons, so how can you expect any new signings to perform at their best level?
Like it or not, we bought Kerkez and Frimpong a year ago and we absolutely shouldn’t be replacing them before they’ve even had a chance to show us what they can do.
I despise this hate for Frimpong, especially. Why can’t we just support him and give the lad a chance? He was injured for most of last season and now we need to rely on him until Bradley is back. You don't become first choice in a team that won the German title going unbeaten all season if you are an awful player.
He just needs to find his feet with a new CB next to him and a new RW ahead of him. He has pace to burn, which could be really important as Iraola slowly coaxes Virgil out of his ‘let’s all retreat into our own box at every opportunity’ phase.
Long and short of it, yes we’ve lost players from a title winning team but we couldn’t have done much better in replacing them. Now we just need to let the manager do his job and figure out a way to get them firing.
03 Sep 2026 13:51:10
Riosstepover - Richard Hughes will never sleep with you.
Chiesa signing has proven to be a waste. Marmar cannot use his feet, which makes no sense as a Liverpool GK signing. Frimpong is not a RB or a RW. Could we have not done better than that to replace Trent? Kerkez is a bombing fullback, yet the previous coach wanted him to invert. What on earth was that about? We will see what his old coach Iraola now does with him. He was poor on Saturday. Wirtz was signed without a midfield plan behind him. In terms of coaching we have gone from from press-bait first Slot-ball to suffocate the opposition Iraola-ball. Diaz was replaced a year late. Salah will be replaced a year late. Please don't tell me we couldn't have done any better.
Some good things have been done too. Those should be rightly appreciated. Hugo, Isak, Barcola, Wirtz, Munoz and Rio is some attacking threat. Trey Nyoni is a talent and deserves a chance in midfield this season. The CB situation looks good, especially the young talent we have signed. The new young GK looks a talent too.
Seriously though, the proof will be in the pudding when we get to the next windows demanding a RB, midfielders that can actually tackle and pass and a specialist RW. Maybe even a goalkeeper after Alisson gets his autumn hamstring injury and we have to watch Marmar save nothing for months.
If that doesn't happen, I will be first to say that I was wrong. :)
03 Sep 2026 14:42:09
I am fed up with the hate Frimpong gets on here. Whatever happened to the best supporters in the world?
And get over the players we 'lost'. Konate was an accident waiting to happen and most wanted him gone. Robertson and Salah were on a rapid decline and continued their downward trajectory at their new clubs.
Nunez was another pariah, but he split opinion.
Sammy Lee, Craig Johnston and Paul Walsh wouldn’t have got a look-in on here if they were playing today.
We need the team to gel and battle for each other. Some of our players may surprise a few on here this season.
03 Sep 2026 16:28:14
Ping Pong is a disaster signing. He cannot cross a ball and does not defend well, is often out of position and has lost the ball more times than anyone else.
What do we get from him?
{Ed666's Note - bantz
03 Sep 2026 21:54:59
Well said, Rio.
St Etienne, in whose eyes are we the best supporters in the world? I think that myth was well and truly busted when we booed Trent.
Oh, and Frimpong was a complete and utter waste of a signing.