Liverpool banter 5

11 Aug 2026 21:15:28
Hi all, I want to welcome Ronald Araujo and genuinely wish him well.
Not wishing to sound pessimistic but can anyone remember when we had a "successful" loan player at the club? Nicolas Anelka springs to mind which was some time ago and he of course wasn't signed on a permanent basis. It seems loan players don't work out at LFC.

11 Aug 2026 21:38:37
Wasn't Mascherano a loan, then we bought him the following window?

11 Aug 2026 21:49:28
Jari Litmanen wasn't bad!

11 Aug 2026 22:01:32
Yeah Mascherano was on loan.

11 Aug 2026 22:06:55
Litmanen was a purchase, wasn't he, 2Shoes? Free transfer IIRC.

Mascherano was the last successful 'technical' loan, but was a bit of a farce given the situation with co-ownership.

The last properly successful one was Anelka, but stupidly we didn't buy him!

11 Aug 2026 22:14:58
Steven Calker? He was a great striker for that one game.

11 Aug 2026 22:20:10
Oh, was he? Can't remember now, but he wasn't there long so thought it was a loan. 🤷‍♂️

11 Aug 2026 22:26:36
What does it matter? He's a football player and an actual person. The type of contract he has or the type of contract anyone before him had is totally irrelevant.

11 Aug 2026 22:28:36
Litamanen was a free transfer. What a player. Loved him, wish he'd stayed longer, but he fell out of favour with Houllier, I believe, so left.

Still can't believe we didn't sign Anelka in the end.

Nuri Sahin could have been a good loan if Rogers had known how to use him.

11 Aug 2026 22:49:14
I think most of our loans in recent years have been pretty last minute emergency types.
Can't remember ever loaning someone who has captained a proper major European team though, so one's a bit different. There's a serious player there.
The guy's definitely an upgrade on Konate anyway.

11 Aug 2026 23:25:19
Why would you play Sahin when you've got the Welsh Xavi tearing it up?

11 Aug 2026 23:56:47
Agreed, Rio. If their heart is in it, it should not matter one iota.

12 Aug 2026 00:03:32
Victor Moses was...okay. But I'm excited for Araujo.

12 Aug 2026 01:15:18
TJ was going to say the same.
Should have won a Premier League medal that season.

12 Aug 2026 02:18:40
If he can rekindle his form from a few seasons ago, he will be a shrewd signing. If he performs the way he has the past few seasons, he will be a liability. Time will tell.

12 Aug 2026 07:11:44
I'm just glad we've got Iraola there for him. If Slot was still here, he'd probably be stuck on the bench while Szob or Jones cover!

Hopefully Iraola can bring the best out of him.

12 Aug 2026 08:36:47
Get didn't like Jari because he attacked too much. 🤷‍♂️

12 Aug 2026 09:00:17
Baz, seems he didn't like Anelka either cos he used to ask questions too much.

11 Aug 2026 20:54:44
At this stage of my career, I prefer to see myself on the training pitch with my players every day - Arne Slot (when asked about the Netherlands job).

This made me laugh when I read it.

So glad we got Iraola.
Might take a bit of time to get where we want to be, but I’m looking forward to the journey.

11 Aug 2026 21:14:59
Slot was misquoted.

Like to see myself on the tanning and pitchers he meant.

Talking about his Ibiza holidays.

11 Aug 2026 21:21:43
It will be renamed the NEVER-lands if Slot is appointed. Jeff Stelling has just written LFC off, good oh?

Arsenal, Chelsea, cheats, old toilet, Spuds, LFC sixth place is his order for PL season 26-27.

Cites dodgy defence, corners, throw-ins etc.

If LFC last season had conceded one more PL goal, it would have been double of winners Arsenal, 27 to 53 PL goals.

"In football, the greatest satisfaction is winning when they say you can't" = Sir Bill Shankly.

11 Aug 2026 21:31:53
Are we the only ones that go crawling back to Slot for an ego boost?

11 Aug 2026 21:35:54
It's good that we have been written off before the season starts.

Because last year "if you sign Isak we may as well give you the league now" was all over the slop.

Go for it, Adoni, Gambatte mate.

11 Aug 2026 21:38:51
"In football, the greatest satisfaction is winning when they say you can't" = Sir Bill Shankly. Best comment today, 007. Brilliant.

11 Aug 2026 21:58:02
I thought of this place when I saw Arne say that. 😂

11 Aug 2026 22:27:18
We were written off 2 years ago and we all know how that went.

12 Aug 2026 09:01:32
Faith, I guess so.

11 Aug 2026 20:40:48
Looking like another week passing and we still chasing Barcola, leaving zero time to go after anyone else. It's clearly not done!

11 Aug 2026 21:12:13
Call me crazy, but I'm quite excited for this season. Munoz and Araujo seem like the kind of scrappy warriors we lacked. Jacquet and Leoni should hopefully feel their way into the team as the season goes on as well. I think Iraola will get Macca, Grav, and Dom working in the midfield. Most importantly, though, I think he will finally get Wirtz and Isak playing like the world-class talents we paid all that money for.



Whatever happens in the last couple of weeks of the Summer window, I'm just excited to see us playing aggressive and exciting football again. If we sell Gakpo and sign Barcola, great. If not, I'll probably get over it pretty quickly!

11 Aug 2026 21:20:42
Didn't we just sign Araujo while the Barcola deal is ongoing? Why could we not sign anyone else until Barcola is (or isn't) concluded. That doesn't make any sense at all.

11 Aug 2026 21:25:03
Namco, we can have more than one deal going at a time. They're not all sitting in a room waiting for their phones to ring.... Or maybe they are. 🤷‍♂️

11 Aug 2026 21:33:50
With you MK, I really like Araujo - for the loan and the player that he is.

Ironically, I would say he is similar to Konate in that his key attributes are his speed, power in the duel, strong in the air. Will be helpful covering the channels on the right side.

Hopefully, he is way more consistent tho.

I said all last season that Macca needed to play at CAM as his legs were a liability at CM. So I hope Iraola sees this as well.

11 Aug 2026 21:58:59
Faith, it's so easy to forget how optimistic we all were last summer about these players.

One bad season after the death of their close friend and a tactical disaster class hasn't made all of those same players bad overnight.



Iraola will get them back to where they should be. I think we'll be top 3 and win a trophy next season. League title within 3 years. 🤞🏻

11 Aug 2026 22:03:18
Faith, no way Macca gets the cam slot ahead of Writz. If that's where he is going to play, it will be in rotation, nothing more. He just can't carry himself through the middle, so I'm not sure where he gets game time this season.

12 Aug 2026 00:00:11
I'm looking forward to seeing Iraola at the helm. He's going to be great for us. We won't win the big ones imo, but we'll be up there. I hope!!!!

12 Aug 2026 07:15:15
I'm with you, MK - I'm cautiously optimistic. I feel, if certain things fall in place and we get a bit more pace in this team, we could challenge. We have some gaps, but we also have a lot of quality which is being dismissed because of the poor season last season.

11 Aug 2026 20:16:45
Read somewhere today that Barcola was sick but still traveled with PSG every day pings a new story, I’ll keep following the itks on here until it’s sorted.

11 Aug 2026 18:45:18
For the record Bournemouth had 3 points and were 19th after Iraola's first 9 games in charge (3 draws, 6 losses). This is not a criticism of AI, I just think his system is so far removed from Slots that it will take a long time for our players to get it right and to get to the fitness levels required.

I am a little surprised that Ryan and/or Smith haven't been brought in as they might get us up to speed sooner.

11 Aug 2026 19:09:46
Completely agree, this will be similar to Klopp's 1st season, I think. Inconsistent as the team work their way to the demands of this style of play.

11 Aug 2026 19:19:32
I agree, but I have confidence that it won't take as long this time. The fitness will take a while, but we should start getting results sooner just because the pedigree of players is higher.

11 Aug 2026 19:22:29
I hope I'm right in saying, with the players we have, it won't be like Bournemouth's first 9 games under Iraola or Klopp's first season.
Neither of them had the top class players we have now.
We don't need to be fooled into thinking all our players had gone bad in one season, or some of the talent we signed last season were all bad players.


Slot's tactics and work ethic destroyed our season and we will be twice the team, if not more.

11 Aug 2026 19:27:24
Those first 9 games did not include a pre-season.
Not saying I disagree, but a pre-season makes a lot of difference.

11 Aug 2026 19:47:07
At the moment, I agree with the comments, this could be like Klopp's first season. Fabinho coming in was unbelievable for us, and we still need a DM capable of protecting the back four. Hopefully we score 3 a game and the opponents score less.

11 Aug 2026 20:12:17
I'm still clinging to the hope that the players who should've walked the league last season, if it weren't for Slot, will do just that this season. Simple.

11 Aug 2026 20:33:51
It doesn't matter who comes in or who goes at the end of the day. Against Newcastle there will be 11 starters and we will support them as ever no matter what their names are.

11 Aug 2026 20:39:28
One difference between the first 9 games of AI at Bournemouth and our first 9 ahead, besides the better pedigree of players and preseason, is the facilities for training. Not knocking Bournemouth, but our facilities are way better, from nutrition to recovery to improving fitness levels, etc. The team should be able to ramp up faster than Bournemouth did.

11 Aug 2026 20:59:37
Yes Rome, the league was there for the taking last season - poor management cost us.
We're weaker now without Salah and Robertson, but still strong enough first 11 I reckon. Squad depth needs urgent work though.

11 Aug 2026 21:18:17
Lord-nukem, Salah was finished last season, and Robertson was getting pelters the season before, so losing those 2 is no excuse whatsoever.

It wasn't just poor management that cost us, though that was undoubtedly poor.

It was also piss poor performances from players and also players who didn't come close to living up to their price tags. They all need to step up this season if we're to have a sniff of a chance.

12 Aug 2026 00:01:23
On the money, Rome.

11 Aug 2026 17:57:12
For heaven's sake, get Spence! Leave Lewis Skelly well alone!

11 Aug 2026 18:33:53
To be quite honest, mate, I'd rather not sign either of them. Neither of them can defend any better than our own Luke Chambers.

11 Aug 2026 18:50:04
Spence, current England international, with a point to prove, is a big motivation to succeed. Will Chambers be an England international in the future? More likely no than yes. A big improvement on Frimpong, and will Bradley last a full PL season when fit? Hopefully yes, but you still need to have competition for every place in the team, to be successful.

11 Aug 2026 19:00:44
007, being in the England squad only matters when it suits people's agenda. If I used it to argue we should re-sign Quansah or go after Marcus Rashford, I wonder what the reaction would be?

Simple fact is, Spence is not a good player. 4 successive Spurs managers were not impressed by him. He's only got any games out of sheer necessity and now they're more than happy to shift him. And not for financial reasons, but for football reasons. Spurs. He's not wanted by Spurs.



Lewis-Skelly is club trained and Arsenal are actively offering him around other clubs. Although to be fair, that might actually be for financial reasons, because being an academy graduate he would show as a huge profit in their accounts.

Neither are particularly great. I'm slightly more open to signing Lewis-Skelly after learning he is only 19 years old, but he's still not great. Certainly not a good left back, and no better than Nyoni in midfield.

11 Aug 2026 19:03:14
I think Lewis Skelly is a great wee player.

11 Aug 2026 19:05:24
Conor Bradley has only completed 9 full 90 minutes games for Liverpool, I heard the other day.

I would love nothing more than Bradley to be our right back, but I just don't think he will be. I don't think he will ever be able to stay fit and play regularly. I so hope I'm wrong.

11 Aug 2026 19:16:22
Sadly, I agree, Dhfc. It's harsh, but RB should have been a major priority in this window.

11 Aug 2026 19:19:52
Stevie had similar issues and outgrew them. Bradders is only young.

11 Aug 2026 19:24:19
I have absolutely no idea how good Lewis Skelly is, but I'd imagine it's pretty hard to compare him and Nyoni at this stage, considering both are 19 and one has 72 mins of Premier League and CL football and the other one has 3,335 minutes, a PL winners medal, CL runners up medal and 6 international caps.

11 Aug 2026 19:27:56
I wish I had as much confidence in our youngsters as you do, MK.

11 Aug 2026 19:45:38
I love Nyoni, been a cracking little player since he joined the club. But in fairness, Skelly is a bonafide Premier League player whereas we all hope Nyoni one day becomes one.

11 Aug 2026 19:45:52
Rome, I only have confidence in Nyoni, to be honest.

Pointing out that Chambers is probably better defensively than Spence (a failed RWB) and Lewis-Skelly (a failing CM) is not really much to write home about.



I'm not even confident in Rio, as we've produced several wingers down the years who started pretty decent like he has (Ibe, Ojo, K.Gordon, Kent, Wilson etc).

Nyoni is the one. Special talent, in my opinion.

11 Aug 2026 19:51:01
JK23, Just to point out that in 2022 you could've posted exactly the same thing (give or take a few minutes, and plus a few extra Domestic cup winners medals) about 19 year old Harvey Elliott.

It's an impressive CV, but it doesn't equate to actually realising potential.

11 Aug 2026 19:57:14
I've said before in our discussions about Nyoni, that I hope you're right, MK.

Regards to Rio, I agree with you there. He's obviously still a baby, but he's nowhere near ready to be starting regularly.

11 Aug 2026 19:59:58
Mk, I'm just pointing out, comparing them now, mate, with current stats. No idea what the future holds for both.

I do remember a few years ago you tipping Elliot to be a future Balon Dor winner. Come on, own up, you remember it, mate. 🤣

On a serious note though, my excitement for Nyoni has increased ten fold just from your praise in recent weeks.

11 Aug 2026 20:10:42
Florian Musiala, that bonafide Premier League player, started 5 Premier League games last season. If the media hadn't sold him as the next Ashley Cole 2 years ago, there wouldn't be hardly anyone on here interested in him at £40m.

Even Arsenal have moved on from him, it seems, and he's one of their own.

Rio also started 5 Premier League games last season, by the way. Can I call him a bonafide Premier League player too?

11 Aug 2026 20:21:31
When he broke through at left back, he was getting good reviews, but maybe hasn't sustained it, and Arsenal have continued to reinforce, which has contributed to his limited game time.



We don't need a left back just yet, although Kerkez needs to up his game to convince the doubters and nail down a place.

I don't see Skelly as an answer to our midfield requirements, either.

11 Aug 2026 20:34:24
I remember saying Elliott was too weak for midfield and too slow to play on the wing, JK23. If I did say he'd win a Balon D'or, I must've been drunk that day. 🤣

{Ed025's Note - you might have meant the Exit Door MK?.. :)

11 Aug 2026 21:04:18
Elliott needs a run of games, same as Chiesa - both very capable players who are short of match fitness, more so than most of squad.

11 Aug 2026 20:58:17
🤣🤣 fair play you're a good sport Mk.

Hahahaha excellent reply that Ed0025.

12 Aug 2026 00:06:01
Skelly and Spence are the absolute bottom of what we should be looking at in order to progress. Both are at best mediocre football players. There's much much better out there than both of those. Move on.

11 Aug 2026 17:25:00
Not sure if this bears any relevance, maybe some of the ITK's can shed some light. Barcola just showed live on SSN training with the PSG squad. Clearly reports of him being ill and not joining them were off the mark.

11 Aug 2026 15:46:20
Eds or fellow reds why was Bob Paisely never knighted, same for Jock Stein.

The way they throw awards around these days it seems an utter scandal some of the great where/are not a "Sir"

11 Aug 2026 16:05:20
Maybe they didn't throw them around back then like they do now?

11 Aug 2026 16:09:29
Knighthoods cannot be awarded posthumously.

11 Aug 2026 16:17:09
I know that, Clay, but why was he not when he/they were alive, considering he achieved much more than Fergie, for example.

11 Aug 2026 16:42:16
Ed's I never got that Sir Mat Busby Sir Alex Ferguson.
Bob Paisely in 9 years won 3 European trophies and a UEFA cup and 6 league titles and then left a team good enough to do a treble. He is by far the greatest manager this country as ever produced.
Is this more then establishment going against the city because they are against them.

11 Aug 2026 16:17:28
Knighthoods are awarded by the British monarchy. That's enough reason not to want one.

11 Aug 2026 16:20:19
Who gives a flying fish about such "honours"? Outdated imperialist garbage.

11 Aug 2026 17:29:54
They should be reserved for military heroes and community heroes.

Sports people need not apply.
It's bloody stupid that Andy Murray and David Beckham have knighthoods, even some cricketers.

Yet Lou Macari hasn't got a knighthood.
Just populist nonsense.
Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall had them, no more needs to be said.

11 Aug 2026 17:29:59
Slow news day, sg!

11 Aug 2026 17:46:07
Grino, I get why you think Paisely was the best manager this country has ever produced, but Shanks built everything this club stands for & built it from nothing basically, same to a degree as Busby when UTD were on the bones of their Arse.
Stein won the European Cup with a team of Glasgow boys.
I'm going
Busby
Shanks
Stein
Can't separate Paisley & Clough.

11 Aug 2026 18:06:50
Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall were not knighted.
They were honoured but never knighted.
Savile was.
Something else to thank Thatcher for.

11 Aug 2026 16:53:22
Because the Tory party hate the working class and they particularly hated Liverpool at that particular time.

11 Aug 2026 17:46:58
We can all do are part to Knight the most "Successful" LFC manager ever by doing what I always do for starters? because he was never Knighted I always when I mention his name simply put Sir Bob as he is a Knight to the Club and us LFC supporters more importantly.

A Knight is a man of "Honour", Sunderland gave Sir Bob a trial to be a player for them, they turned him down in their words for being too small, realised weeks later they had made a grave mistake, and offered him another football trial, Sir Bob had the offer of a trial with LFC also, but despite never having had the actual trial with LFC.

Said to Sunderland "No", Liverpool Football Club have generously asked me to have a trial at Anfield and I will honourably accept that kind offer gladly, it would be very wrong for me to reject that LFC kindness, Sir Bob could quite easily have took the easy way out and gone back to his boyhood club Sunderland, but he was a man of "Honour" and integrity, and the rest they say is just magnificent history, and a winning legacy that has lasted fifty years so far when winning his first European Cup in Rome 1977.

I was there as a 22 year old all because of Sir Bob being a loyal servant to the Club. He should have been Knighted also for serving six years in a Tank Regiment in World War 2, my own father was the same he spent six years away from home serving his country in the same second world war, a lot sadly never came back from that war.

To those LFC supporters who have never visited Liverpool, if you ever do visit the city, take the 75, 76, 78 bus service to Woolton Village for two pounds and a circa half hour journey, and make your way to St Peters Church at the top of Woolton Hill, Sir Bob is buried there in the graveyard, his gravestone simply reads; Robert Paisley OBE " an ordinary man, amidst extraordinary achievements", nothing is mentioned on his gravestone to who Sir Bob actually was just a small football 3 inches in diameter at the bottom of his grave stone, his son Graham is Rector of the Church he is there most days takes the Sunday service sometimes, he will tell you all about his dad Sir Bob, but not football tales just ordinary Sir Bob.

Eleanor Rigby's gravestone of the Beatles famous hit is also in the same graveyard, Woolton Village has many other famous links to the Beatles, Strawberry Fields, John Lennon's home growing up, where the Beatles used to first play in a Village Hall, it's a most enjoyable tour for currently two pounds each way.

11 Aug 2026 18:11:27
Maybe they turned them down.

11 Aug 2026 19:02:08
How can you say Busby is the best ever British manager, when what Sir Bill Shankly built, Liverpool Football Club, is and has been the most successful club ever in English history? Surely the more trophies you have won than anybody else gains the elite position of LFC being the most successful English club ever, "second to none" is the LFC motto.

YNWA 97 and 20.

11 Aug 2026 19:11:15
Where's Steve McMahon's knighthood then, droopybalz?

11 Aug 2026 19:25:39
I haven't posted in years so had to re-register just to say thanks to 007 for that post about Sir Bob. Really lovely words about a giant of our club. I'm from Ireland, but I'm taking his advice about heading to Woolton next time I'm over to pay respect.

12 Aug 2026 00:10:14
@007, Shanks was nowhere near the level of manager that Paisley was. Nowhere. If you want to win things, Bob is it every time. Zero debate.

11 Aug 2026 14:24:04
Hi Ed001 where can i find your podcast?

{Ed001's Note - I will post a link up for you.

11 Aug 2026 19:35:53
I like watching your podcasts Ed001, some special guests from the site might be fun though. Just a random poster every week (not Harry)

{Ed001's Note - that is a good idea. If anyone is interested.

11 Aug 2026 20:19:41
I'll even wave my usual fee 2 packets of Toffo. 👍

11 Aug 2026 22:55:29
Yeah, I nominate Barry. Haha.
You could even invite Harry one day again and have when Harry met Barry?

11 Aug 2026 23:41:46
Love it, Mikey. 😂