Liverpool Banter 4

12 May 2026 17:41:28
Question for the EDS/ITKs

Surely we have to acknowledge the news over the past few days regarding Alonso and the Chelsea talks? I appreciate the club can feed whatever narrative they want through journalists, etc.

But can it really be as simple as "it's all nonsense, he's coming to Liverpool"? Or am I just being negative?

How can there be so many reports saying "Slot is staying" and that "the club trusts Slot", while people still believe Alonso is definitely happening?

Thanks!

12 May 2026 18:06:35
I don't know who to believe, but it's got so toxic that I think they have no choice to get rid of Slot. If we don't start winning well from the start, it will turn toxic (even more so) very quickly.



There's all the journalists saying he's staying, and the ITKs here saying he's leaving.

I don't think it's some master 4D chess move from Edwards to keep it under wraps, but I can't see how they can keep him.

12 May 2026 18:07:23
Tactical, these are just smoke and mirrors at this point. We are not even sure if the whole Chelsea/Alonso noise is a distraction by Chelsea to distract people from the guy they really want but no one is talking about.

And for the club to keep saying Slot is staying could also be a smokescreen, cos if they want him gone (or if he is already gone), they're not gonna say that now, will they?

In the end, you really can't know what will happen now with so much posturing in the media, so again, we're gonna have to be patient.

12 May 2026 18:07:32
It was a bigger shock that he survived November than if he survives this summer tbf.

How the hell did he stay on after being slapped off Forrest and PSV at home? 😂 madness.

12 May 2026 18:14:57
I don't know if Slot is staying or going, but if he is going then the official line from the club will be that they are backing Slot at least until Champions League football is guaranteed.

12 May 2026 18:23:14
I personally think he's gone. He's caused a divide with everyone, not just the fans. He will remain in place for the final two games, as we have pretty much locked in CL football. He will leave by mutual consent after the season ends.

Edwards and Hughes wanted to save face. They made a mistake; this way they all leave with their egos intact.

12 May 2026 20:02:30
Can't see him staying, they haven't extended his contract and can't see them spending money on players a manager wants on the last year of his contract, that makes no sense, they must have seen the problems it's caused Man Utd.

12 May 2026 20:59:31
Devils advocate - Liverpool announce Slot will be leaving at the end of the summer, before securing Champions League. The papers run wild with articles posing all sorts of questions, like whether Edwards and Hughes will survive the chopping block. The club looks unstable in the most critical stage of the season.

The players become distracted, and what little respect is left in the dressing room is completely lost. We lose the remaining games and don't qualify.

There is no alternative choice but to publicly back Slot.

13 May 2026 00:38:22
How was Slot a mistake? He won us the league ffs.

13 May 2026 09:58:30
ArnieJ, why would they say that? That would be like putting chum/bait in the water for the Piranha (the media and content creators alike) to feed on, causing unnecessary noise which could scupper CL footie challenge to begin with. I don't see why, personally.

13 May 2026 10:12:53
FSG aren't stupid, they do listen. As was seen last week, when they changed their plans for ticket prices for the next two seasons, they listened to the fans. They will have been listening to the fans' displeasure with the Chelsea match - it's not often that the fans show such open dissent.

Of course there will be a season-end review, and although I am an original IKFA I'd be staggered if they don't produce a statement of Slot leaving the club by mutual consent.



It'll be interesting to see who comes in as manager / head coach and who will come in (and leave) on the playing side. But, as they say, that's a story for another day.

12 May 2026 17:36:37
Why is there no comment from ownership regarding all the speculation over manager’s future?
They haven’t come out to give him the dreaded “vote of confidence”, they haven’t said they’re in negotiations over new contract & they haven’t sacked him!!

Fan sites, social media etc is full of speculation, fans are torn, ex players & pundits are all talking about it….

Wouldn’t it help calm things down if FSG told us what the plan actually is?

12 May 2026 18:08:14
@Rob, if they have not told us anything in these types of situations before then, why would they do that now?

12 May 2026 17:27:17
Wouldn't say no to Endrick on loan for a season.

{Ed001's Note - why?}

12 May 2026 18:07:26
For what reason?

12 May 2026 19:17:04
He's been playing well at Lyon at RW and striker tbf. Wouldn't hate it if it had an option to buy to see if he develops more, as gives us depth at two positions we need.

13 May 2026 10:15:03
Nah @OP, to quote Nancy Reagan, 'just say no'.

12 May 2026 17:26:35
I think we all know which posters info is worth following more so than others.

Prediction wise though... il say

• Chelsea appoint Alonso properly.
• Liverpool stick with Slot.
• Liverpool continue to be awful.
• Liverpool sack Slot by October.
• No good managers out there.
• Another wasted season.

This is how it'll go.

12 May 2026 17:53:46
Say no to drugs. Lol.

12 May 2026 17:54:05
I think they will keep Slot and have another massive summer to appease the fans.

I assume some of Slot's backroom staff will be replaced.

I assume he will change his style of play to slightly more direct, higher intensity. Simply because, if he doesn't, he knows he'll never turn the fans.

I suspect none of this will work and Slot will be sacked by mid-season. Caretaker to next summer, when hopefully a big appointment is made.



Mid-season is a terrible time to change manager, of course, but a decent enough time to change a Dof and whatever Edwards' role is.

Changes are afoot one way or another. Whether Slot goes Summer or later on, he needs a miracle now. He is done after this season and he can take his borefest football with him when he goes. Whenever that is.

12 May 2026 17:58:04
Chelsea will have sacked Alonso by October, so it'll be grand.

12 May 2026 17:59:35
I have a bad feeling that Slot will be kept on.

Regardless of who the manager is, having them trying to manage a super club with less than 12 months on their contract is putting them on a hiding to nothing.

12 May 2026 18:11:40
Davey, if he was going to change his style to appease fans, why hasn't he started already?

I don't think he's going to change.

It would help with some dynamic wingers, but I don't get the impression he knows what's wrong.

He isn't trying things. We know Mac has been poor, but he continues to start him.

He's playing dom RB instead of giving a younger player a chance.

They might not be good enough, but he's harming the rest of the setup.

If he was trying things, and you could see, well he knows what's wrong, he just doesn't have the players. That's one thing.

But, it just seems like he doesn't know what's going wrong, and keeps trying the same thing till it works.

12 May 2026 18:31:54
Has anybody seen or heard anything from Slot where he has acknowledged he's doing anything wrong? I can't remember it.

His main defence is number of injuries, number of chances missed, and times opponents score with minimal chances.



That doesn't sound to me like somebody who is willing to change.

Slot was shown the way with the Villa and Madrid performances. He chose to ignore them.

He can't change and he wouldn't if he could.

12 May 2026 17:10:31
Going on current form alone, I just don’t see us winning the last 2 games. Similarly, I can see both Brighton and Bournemouth winning, leaving us in goal difference jeopardy.

12 May 2026 17:57:37
If it means we get rid of a manager who's happy to have the least fit team in the league and runs back to Holland every chance he gets, because he has no philosophy to train the players, so why would you do extra training sessions then? So be it, we just need him gone. I hate the lazy....

12 May 2026 18:10:10
@Bauldy, for weeks/months now, I am genuinely surprised when we win games. Cos I know we will be crap all game long, hence, kinda hard to tell what the final outcome will be.

12 May 2026 17:03:16
And to think we laughed at the Mancs over the last years for the shambles that their club became. Sad times only trumped by when we nearly went into admin.

12 May 2026 17:31:16
Ah, Barry, we are defending Champions and have Champions League football next year. It's bad, but it's not that bad.

12 May 2026 17:45:17
I'm talking about the mess that is the three stoogies.

12 May 2026 17:52:50
Has CL next season been confirmed?

12 May 2026 17:59:36
We're nowhere near as bad as the Mancs lad.

If Slot goes, I'd back us to finish ahead of them next season.

12 May 2026 18:00:04
Flo, We've not got CL yet mate and it'll be squeaky bum time against Brentford as I can't see us getting anything against Villa on Friday.

12 May 2026 18:16:24
Flo, no CL footie is guaranteed mathematically, which is not the case right now, so relax and chill with the bullish talk cos that has led us nowhere this season.

As for the Mancs, they are still bang average and very easy to play against and school by teams who actually know what they are doing, have a system of playing, and everyone knows their jobs in and out of position, all the things we are not under Slot.



All you have to do is watch them at home vs Brentford and Leeds and you will see why. Absolute shambles. Cos we are a trainwreck and a half does not mean they are this very good team. The fact that they dominated us just shows depth of irrelevance we are as a club this season.

12 May 2026 18:19:57
Yeah it's not certain that we get it tbh. Which is insane considering how bad Chelsea and the like have been.

12 May 2026 19:23:42
Ok lads, yous all decide to sit on the ground rockin back and forth facing the corner of a room like lunatics if you so wish. I choose to be totally relaxed about Champions League football next year.

12 May 2026 20:06:43
Being optimistic doesn't make it true though, does it.

Calling everyone else lunatics when you're factually incorrect at this moment in time is hardly a great argument.

Maybe, you can come on in a week or twos time and say I told you so.

But, I'm sure there's plenty of previous optimism on here that crashed and burned where the same could be said back.

12 May 2026 20:43:55
No JK, I suppose it doesn't, but if we were 4 points behind with two games to play, and one of them games was against a City side who can still win the title, nobody on here would give us a chance in hell. No point in being overly negative for the sake of it either.

12 May 2026 21:32:35
Not sure asking if we have qualified for the CL qualifies for being overly negative, mate.

13 May 2026 10:44:05
Overly worrysome then. 😁

12 May 2026 14:56:22
Darwin back on a free - could do worse!

12 May 2026 15:42:28
I actually agree. He's a good impact sub and stays pretty fit. And, given our strikers, particularly one struggle for fitness, can't see the fault in it.

12 May 2026 15:43:04
Only if Darwin's evolved into someone who now grasps what offside means.

12 May 2026 16:07:22
Has he hit that illusive barn door yet?

12 May 2026 16:09:16
Would love him back to cover Ekitike injury.

However, I am sure the Spanish clubs will be all over it.

Plus, if Macca and Alisson leave this summer, we will have Zero South Americans at the club for the first time in 20 odd years.

12 May 2026 16:54:19
Would genuinely love him back. Slot obviously didn't rate him because he worked hard. I can't help but feel we would have been far better this season with his chaos creating space and chances.

12 May 2026 17:01:53
He's rubbish. There's a reason why he was sold. That's the reason. Or another reason if you don't agree with that one is, he was bought to score goals. He was no good at that either. Bring him back??? I'm more than delighted that he's not part of the team any longer. Terrible purchase. Not as bad as Frimpongadingdong, but getting there.

12 May 2026 17:19:42
@shankly: He played on the left when we bought him and tried to convert him to striker. What was terrible was swapping him for Isak. At the very minimum he kept himself fit even when he returned from injury. You can't back a player who gave his all on the pitch even out of position, but you prepared to back most expensive Liverpool player who can't stay fit for more than 3 weeks.

The stick Gomez gets. Joe will be available/play more times than Isak next season.

12 May 2026 17:38:33
I'd have him. We could do with Nunez head-butting someone at the minute. 😂

He was never boring and never injured. We need exactly that.

12 May 2026 17:52:21
Nunez played on the left 7 times in his final season in Portugal and 34 times as central striker.

The issue we had was trying to convert him into a footballer. He just wasn't very good at it. And further proof is he's being released from Saudi for free after 1 season.

{Ed001's Note - that is more because he is not a big enough name to bring in crowds mate. I watched him play for them in the Asian Champions League elite and he was head and shoulders above the rest of their team.}

12 May 2026 18:17:18
I loved Nunez as a player and went to bat for him many times on here. He definitely should've started more in Slot's first season than he did (particularly around the PSG games & League Cup Final where Jota started three games in about 11 days, looked injured and didn't get a kick in any of them, whilst Nunez scored in the one game he started), but the reality is he has everything you need to score goals. Apart from the mentality and composure. And that absolutely kills him. All strikers miss chances, but Nunez lets the misses get to him, then he misses another one, and then it snowballs.

The exact moment his Liverpool career permanently stalled for me was against Toulouse in Europa. He came into the game in decent enough form, I think he scored early in the game, and then in the 2nd half, he was put through 1v1 with the last defender.

Confidence is flowing, he turns into prime McManaman, sits the defender on his arse with a nice bit of skill, and then rounds the goalie to score a brilliant - lol, no, he rounded the goalie and then hit the post with an open goal to aim at. That was typical for him, and then the next chance he gets, that's playing on his mind, and the next one and the next one and the next one.

And his link up play isn't good enough to make up for the fact that he'd probably do less than 1 in 2 at this level.

All I can say in his favour is that he'd run around and score a few until Ekitike is 100% again. Not *many*, but a few.

{Ed001's Note - and he did link well with Salah and create space for others with his runs.}

12 May 2026 18:18:13
"He played on the left when we bought him and tried to convert him to striker."


Darwin scored 33 goals at Benfica the season before we signed him and none of them came from the left wing.

12 May 2026 18:10:31
Ed001 cheers for the reply mate.

Where do you see Darwin ending up next?

{Ed001's Note - I have no idea, I would expect him back in Europe though and I am sure he would do better with a manager that plays attacking football. Probably end up in Portugal I would think, as he had previous success there.}

12 May 2026 18:20:11
Ed001 - Didn't they drop and release him because they brought in Benzema and didn't have enough non domestic player slots in the squad?

{Ed001's Note - yes. Benzema is a bigger name. They all want one 'franchise' player to build their team around and Nunez isn't that. It is not about ability, it is about how many fans will come to see them.}

12 May 2026 21:07:00
Don't think we were wrong to sell Darwin, but only Isak available up top till after Xmas, getting Darwin in on loan would be a great move.

12 May 2026 21:34:00
He's a free agent, so we can't loan him. But could offer him a 12 month contract.

12 May 2026 14:27:51
The battle of the journalists vs the ITKs will be very interesting over the next few weeks!

Journalists as confident as ever that Slot is staying.

12 May 2026 14:51:12
It's like musical chairs. Whoever delivers the last propaganda piece will get the legitimate exclusive.

12 May 2026 15:17:26
Honestly the drama and conflicting reports (ITKs v Journalists) about if Slot will go have been the best part of the season.

12 May 2026 13:28:49
Does anyone think that if we secure Champions League with win against Villa that the club will announce Slot's departure or wait until season is over?

12 May 2026 14:49:03
It's 12 days until the last game at home where we say farewell to Mo, and then perhaps we will hear something. The club won't say nothing until after then, so all this back n forth about he stays or not is pointless.

12 May 2026 14:50:12
I think their preference would be to get to the end of season review.

They are, if anything, predictably stubborn when it comes to speed of decision making.

12 May 2026 14:52:48
If Slot is going, then I imagine it will be announced once the Champions League has been achieved and before the final game to give him some sort of send off/appreciation with the fans.

I would find it strange to not announce it, and then sack him and Slot leaves through the back door.



If it doesn’t get announced before the end of the season then I’ll start believing that Slot will be staying.

12 May 2026 14:55:18
Mo, Robbo, Alisson, VVD, Jones, Endo, Macca. It's a good job I haven't been asked to put to a leaving collection, I'd have to sell my body!

12 May 2026 15:29:00
No, nothing will happen until the season is officially over, even then, I am not expecting things to happen quickly.

12 May 2026 15:29:06
If it's going to happen, I can't see it until after the season is finished. They won't add to the send off of Mo, Robbo.

It's a shame though, as if he is going to leave, he does deserve a send off even with how crap this season has been. He still contributed to 20.

12 May 2026 18:20:05
Black Monday (the day after the season ends, where head coaches get sacked in the NFL) is coming.

We will all be here to see what happens.

12 May 2026 18:30:42
Unless Slot resigns, I can't see anything happening quickly.