Liverpool banter 8

13 May 2026 06:39:06
Ed1. I know it's not Liverpool related so understand you might not post this.

But what are your thoughts around the whole spygate saga with Southampton? A fine doesn't feel like anywhere near enough of a deterrent to me? If it gets them into the prem it'll be "worth it".

Was keen to get your thoughts on the situation and what you think would actually be a suitable punishment that the EFL could carry out?

{Ed001's Note - I don't think it should be even an offence, training should not be hidden away, it should be open and fans should be able to attend. It would make the game less about tactics and more about good players playing well. At the moment it is far too tactical and less entertaining as a result. Stop hiding things like injuries and training and engage the fans more and teams would benefit massively. Especially as it would mainly engage the locals, it will reduce the arguments over day tripper fans etc.

It is very weird that he felt he had to hide to record the training as I have spent many a day at Boro's training centre sitting openly watching them train. The staff there were always very welcoming back then, it is sad that it is now being hidden.}

13 May 2026 07:33:22
Thing is, though - it is an offence now so it should be punished.

What is almost certainly going to happen is as follows:
Saints have until the day before the final to answer the charge.
They will try to delay that - they already are.


They will appeal any judgement and use the legal system to do that.

Once they're in the Premier League, they can't be punished by the EFL as per the rules.

So they cheated and they knew the timeline would mean they're unlikely to be punished.

13 May 2026 07:32:54
If I knew you were up my way ed1 I would happily have taken you for a drink and maybe a bit of a dance

{Ed001's Note - my parents used to live in the village near the training centre, so I used to spend a lot of time up there. I don't drink though, so you would have had to do the drinking for me!}

13 May 2026 08:42:53
Didn't know you used to live in the boro ed001. It's now where I am after my mrs eventually dragged me further north after 10 years 😂

As for spygate, I think it's a storm in a tea cup and I'd expect it goes on a lot more than we think. The poor soul though should maybe go to spy school to learn how to go undetected.

As for the game it was refreshing to watch a match without VAR. Yes there was times when VAR would likely have got involved but it ruins the spectacle of the sport.

No one wanted every thing to be over analysed, we just wanted to remove the obvious errors like mistaken identity or the hand of god. Not arguing over is an arm being pulled back after 2.5 mins of viewing!

{Ed001's Note - I never lived there, my parents moved up there when I had left school, I never went with them. It was a little village called Hurworth-on-Tees (iirc), not really Boro. Very pretty.}

13 May 2026 10:07:30
It was up there where you met Stu Francis, if I recall, Ed? I think we could all crush a grape at the moment, mate!

{Ed001's Note - good memory mate. He nearly bloody crushed me with that bloody big Bentley of his.}

13 May 2026 15:52:07
WYred, my nephew supports a team in League 1. When his dad can't take him to games, I take him. I love watching games without VAR. The long VAR checks in Prem ruin the momentum of the game, and can ruin the atmosphere in the stadium. Glad EFL voted against it. Thing that annoys me most with VAR is, (this is just my opinion), why should only the clubs have had the vote originally? Surely, for a massive change to the game it should have been for the fans to decide as well.

Even just season ticket holders or fans who go to x amount of games got to vote. I don't mind goal line technology but VAR is making the game worse.

12 May 2026 23:12:30
Get rid of Edwards.
Let slot book a one way ticket to Amsterdam, get Xabi in.
He's a Liverpool guy and available. We should not be going into next season under slot.

12 May 2026 22:58:43
Cheers Carra. Sooner Slot is gone the better. Things settle down then. PS. Hope it's Xabi.

12 May 2026 22:43:21
Congratulations to Rio Ngumoha, who scooped up two prizes at the Premier League Youth Development Conference this evening! 🏴💎

🏆 Home Grown Debutant of the Season.

🏆 Scholar of the Year.

13 May 2026 00:22:44
Good to see he has brains as well as ability.

13 May 2026 06:00:44
With all the free time the squad has off from training, well done to the lad for getting his nose into his books...

13 May 2026 09:30:38
Congrats to the lad. Hopefully, this will only motivate him to work harder and do better.

12 May 2026 21:57:24
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 36 - Quick Round Up

13 May 2026 02:26:29
Thanks for the roundup Ed. I've been watching less football than I usually do this season so it is much appreciated to read up on the games of other teams.

{Ed001's Note - I am glad it is useful for you mate. It has been a hard watch in the main this season, some really really bad football being played in the Prem.}

13 May 2026 06:50:58
Ed001 not sure if you've seen the var audio from the Arsenal game yet but it makes it so much worse.

- Chris Kavanagh - "I don't know what you're trying to show me, give me a clue!"

- Kavanagh saying there is "nothing in it" on the trossard contact which is so clearly a foul

- nobody spots the obvious shirt pull on Raya's back.

- nobody spots the equally obvious shirt pull on Pablo by Gabriel.

- Var not showing Kavanagh the longer clip showing all of the contact, particularly with trossard and pablo before the contact with Raya.

Like honestly what is the point of VAR if you can spend so much time looking at an incident and you still get so much wrong. Completely pointless.

{Ed001's Note - exactly, get rid of it. It is supposed to be about clear and obvious, which should be a quick glance, not a forensic examination.}

13 May 2026 08:29:02
Yeah that's the reason why I stopped watching as many games as I used to Ed. Most of the time it doesn't seem very worth it to me, especially since the games mostly start at 10pm/11pm where I'm at.

{Ed001's Note - same here mate for midweek games. It used to be fine, but this season there were times when it became a chore. Football really needs to fix it before it starts losing its lustre.}

13 May 2026 09:38:09
Wassa-lfc, that is some damning stuff right there. The fact that Kavanaugh (who Klopp ridiculed after the EFL final vs Chelsea for not being at the level, btw) said there was "nothing in it" on the Pablo shirt pull is crazy.

Also, Kavanaugh admitted that he didn't know what they were trying to show him, which means, in real time, he didn't think there was a foul on Raya.



Now here lies the question(s): If no one spotted the foul on Raya then, why was the goal disallowed for the "foul" no one in the VAR van spotted?

Also, why was the full clip not played for Kavanaugh to make a full judgement of all the commotion going on?

And people wonder why VAR is a shambles and people want it gone.

13 May 2026 09:48:52
Ed1
Totally agree on the VAR question. Clear and obvious error from the perspective of the referee on the pitch. How could a ref be expected to see incidents from multiple angles in slow motion!

The wider issue is the lack of application of the rules. Grabbing, body checking and wrestling are all fouls everywhere on the pitch apart from in the penalty area!

Get rid of VAR which seems only able to reduce the number of goals scored and ensure the rules on the pitch apply all over the pitch including in the penalty area.

The ref is rapidly becoming the administrator of VAR decisions which equals anti football in my book.

12 May 2026 21:26:29
{Ed's Note - thekonatekid has posted a new article entitled, Liverpool, PSR Pressure and a Leadership Drift

12 May 2026 20:50:48
Anyone else feel that Alonso isn't the right manager for us?

I have no reasons why, just it doesn't seem to sit right.

Saying that, I had good feelings about my ex's. So I guess I'm not that good at judgement.

12 May 2026 21:11:41
I think he is 100% right for us, he's already won a league with a team who have never won a league before against a juggernaut that is Bayern, plus he knows the city n fans, if you look at our most successful managers of late like King Kenny, Rafa n Klopp, they used that to their advantage n the fans honed in on it.

12 May 2026 21:36:14
I wouldn't go that far but I think he is one of the riskiest appointments of the few names mentioned.

12 May 2026 22:08:09
I don't think Alonso would hit the ground running with this squad, but in time, once he's built his own team, I believe he could deliver big trophies. He's already shown winning pedigree in Germany and has now everything to prove again after his poor spell in Spain.

I just hope he would have more luck fixing some of the egos in our dressing room than he did in Madrid. But I'm sure he'd be given more patience by the fans to get it right because he's one of our own.

12 May 2026 23:40:53
Not sure why you think he is the riskiest appointment, Irola has been okish with Bournemouth but there is little to no real pressure being their manager, Hoeness is coming from a different league n not from one of the top clubs, Alonso has won a league with an unfancied team, he's getting flak for not being able to dictate to the drama queens at Madrid, hardly any manager has though, they are a special breed them lot.

All 3 is a bit of a risk like any other manager would be.

13 May 2026 00:15:26
Nonsense.

Alonso knows the club and the league, loves the city and has won titles with us as a player. He will have all the support from the fans and ex-players, and then some.

He's also a brilliant and dedicated young coach with a proven track record of success in Germany. Additionally, he loves to work and develop youth, and turned Wirtz into one of the best young players in Europe.

Same Wirtz we paid a fortune for, and should be a key player going forward...

What's not to like about Xabi then? Madrid? That loony bin of egos and Ferraris?

Come again... What's not to like about him?

It'd be a historical mistake losing out on Xabi to another Premier team... He is our man, through and through.

{Ed025's Note - then you should get your arses into gear and get him signed up Kameron...before Chelsea make him an offer he cant refuse mate..

13 May 2026 01:44:00
I think Iraola would be risky. You cannot have a manager with an unhappy family, he wouldn't last. Slot doesn't live in the city & his family are back in Holland. We need someone like Alonso knows the city and the people. He was pushed out by Rafa, he was never a want-away player.

13 May 2026 02:10:37
"No reason, just doesn't sit," all I need to know right there.

13 May 2026 04:07:31
To be fair, I think there are an awful lot of people who are building up an awful lot of expectations based on hopes rather than facts.

Of course there's always a risk when a club changes manager and Xabi did some good stuff in a relatively weak German league. He also had a good win rate in his short time at RM but he didn't last that long in a high pressure role.



I don't have a problem with Xabi becoming manager (and you can probably hear FSG saying 'thank God WDW doesn't have a problem'), but I do have real concerns about the test he will face and the ever increasing expectation that the fans have.

13 May 2026 06:48:20
Well I know Ron is against him, calls him "one of the riskiest appointments" as opposed to who Iraola? Or the weird suggestion he plays like Slot, which he doesn't. No one is saying Alonso is going to come in and do a Klopp, but I have no doubt he will have them running and more tactically astute, that's already an improvement.

13 May 2026 07:09:27
Cyklopps, why do you think he had a bad spell in Spain? He had a 70% win rate, he was sacked because little s***s can't take discipline. Why people think he was rubbish in Spain is beyond me.

13 May 2026 07:26:21
Frode
Would Iraola not have the team running and more tactically astute too?

13 May 2026 09:13:56
A 70% win rate in a two team league isn't very good.

{Ed001's Note - 2 team? You mean 3 surely? Atleti deserve more respect.}

13 May 2026 09:54:27
Where do people get the idea that Alonso knows the club from? The club is run by FSG, and he knows as much about them as anyone else who has never managed Liverpool under their ownership. Romance is not a criteria I would use to appoint a manager at this very pivotal moment in our history.


As for his track record, how is it better than Slots?

I don't think Slots is the right man because his personality is the wrong fit. But that doesn't mean we should appoint a coach who used to play for us years ago and whose track record is no better than Slots.

13 May 2026 10:40:46
Look, if we were changing manager this summer Xabii would be my pick. But it wouldn't be from the 70% win rate in Spain with Real when deciding whether to give him a job in the Premier League. The League is nowhere near as strong throughout as the Premier League, where even teams getting relegated have players like Gomes, Andre, Bowen, Fernandes and Summerville.

But what he did with Leverkusen was unbelievable, miraculous even.

13 May 2026 11:16:28
Anyone will be better than Slot right now that things have become so toxic.

13 May 2026 09:45:00
@Kameron, good thing you said. Same as you, @Frode.


"I have no reasons why, just it doesn't seem to sit right.".

Yeah whatever, mate because I have no idea what this statement means.

Ed25, we should definitely go for XA asap because if that guy goes to Chelsea and we are stuck with this manager for next season, i'm could lose my mind.

{Ed025's Note - if you miss out with all this dithering Oli then you will get what you deserve mate..

13 May 2026 12:50:11
Ancient Kemlyn, you've genuinely no idea what you're talking about. You just saw a number and treated it like a grade in a school exam. Xabi's win rate was 73% in the league and 70% across all competitions.



Since 2015:

Man City 69% 7 titles
Bayern 74% 10 titles
PSG 72% 9 titles
Benfica 73% 4 titles
Galatasaray 63% 6 titles

Care to explain how Xabi's achievements aren't "very good"?

13 May 2026 13:29:59
@Chewy, the levels people will go (up to the utter ridiculous) to try and taint XA's time at RM on a solely on-the-pitch performance is just pathetic and insane at this point.

13 May 2026 13:30:58
Ed25, really? With all that you and I have been thru, me losing my mind is what you think I deserve? Wow, that hurt.

{Ed025's Note - when i said you...i was referring to Liverpool Oli...not you personally mate, i actually like you.. :)

12 May 2026
New image uploaded to the
Liverpool Player Sightings page entitled, A fitting tribute

Click picture for larger image

12 May 2026 21:36:37
Nice one mate. 🙂

12 May 2026 19:48:09
I appreciate my opinion doesn't matter, and I have no idea the outcome.

I believe we wouldn't hear publicly if slot was leaving at this time. We are still trying to get Champions League football. Which is far from a given with two games left.

I think it would be very unsettling if it was known that Liverpool were actively recruiting another manager with the current one in post still. Players and the manager may down tools with his impending departure. I also think that would be damaging to their reputation (whatever that may be).
I think if it was announced he was leaving at the end of the season, our remaining few games would be overshadowed by press questions to the players and slot. I know there are questions now but I think this would be worse.


They won't sack him right now, as there are so few games left also.
I also don't believe that they're definitely behind him. With current tensions, it would be crazy to wholeheartedly back him because if we loose the last few games, Liverpool fans will be demanding he leaves and the atmosphere will be truly toxic.
If they really believed he was right for the project, they would give him a new contract and maybe release a public statement. Instead, we get journalists' opinions. I don't want him here, but I think the club have to show faith until the last few games are over.
I don't think we will hear much until the end of the season.

I could in peace. This is just an opinion. Remember everyone is contributing, and there is no need to be nasty to one another.

12 May 2026 20:40:15
100% mate.

13 May 2026 02:25:40
Earlier in the season, I would have agreed - especially if we knew a new appointment would not happen until the new season. Now, however, it's so bad, and with all the rumours of players unhappy, etc., maybe announcing now would light a fire under the players, to show what they can do for the new manager, and also improve the mood, knowing they don't have much longer to go under the current coach.



Could strategically help us get it over the line - but - I do think we'll get CL football anyway now.

13 May 2026 09:48:00
@Turkey, I said the same thing already. If Slot was outta here, the club would be stupid to announce that now esp. with CL not fully secured. It would make no sense to do that.

The end of the season is nigh, hence, we need to ignore all the noise and wait till the news (whatever it is) drops.