Wiggytop

I think we’ll get 4th.  Liverpool city and spurs above us.  Arsenal 5th Chelsea 6th United 7th.  Wolves will be dealing with Europa which I’ll derail their league campaign.  Leicester Vardy is ancient and I don’t rate Perez.  I think if we play our game we can do this.  It’s going to be wide open for 4th so why not us?  I’m optimistic.
 
richarlison DCL and gylfi will all be on 15 goals or more.  Pickford will won keeper of the year and be sold in the summer.

I only concentrate on us as Ive has it drilled into me all my life that as long as I do my job, the opposition does t matter. Play your game and make them think of you.
Im expecting us to finish around 6-7 but be a lot closer to making a dent in that top six. Really interested to see if the end of the season was just simply a run, or if it’s clicked. 
Expecting Richarlison to continue to improve and have another good season. I’m also hoping to see DCL either score some goals or find his level. My prediction is he is going to surprise a few doubters, as finishing is a skill that can just one day click (Henry).
Very optimistic for the coming season.

At £8m compared to Mings at £20m I know who I'd rather have, seems like a sound bit of business to me

At £8m compared to Mings at £20m I know who I'd rather have, seems like a sound bit of business to me

At £8m compared to Mings at £20m I know who I'd rather have, seems like a sound bit of business to me

I think Gomes is best when he is the box to box player. He is as comfortable taking the ball of CBs as he is around the box. I think back to his Wolves goal and that is what I would like to see from him rather than sitting behind 2 others in midfield because time and time again he has shown that he doesnt have a defensive enough mindset. He is pretty rash in the tackle too. 

Just looked at his stats on fantasy football.
last year - 6 goals 5 assists in 1769 mins ( 160mins per goal affected )
year before - 4 goals 8 assists in 1871 mins ( 155mins per goal affected )
Based on that being quite consistent  ( despite him having inconsistent runs in the team ) over the course of a full season (3600mins - granted he won’t play every minute) he’s looking at a tally of about 21 goals scored/assisted. 
Believing this could be his big year.

Fuck the polite part. 
He’d destroy the dressing room, it’d be Etoo all over again

Now if only he can miss the plane back.

Were also trying to buy a higher caliber of player than we did in the past, so it’s going to be harder to get deals done. The only way to speed that up is to throw money at it, and they won’t be doing that so much anymore.
Buy a player who isn’t wanted by the selling club will be much easier I’m sure. 

The point is that we may well have already gotten a move on, we just don’t have the visibility as supporters. This is fine by me, at least now that we have someone competent running the show. 
Players we’re after, as has been said before, might not be possible to get until the selling team has a deal in place for a replacement. It could be that we’re playing hardball too, which is something that hadn’t happened in the Walsh era. It could be that we need to shift others off the wage bill before we can add a big wage onto it. Could be that talks breakdown after months of negotiations and the back up plan isn’t yet possible to implement. 
The frustration is completely understandable, but it’s not yet time to panic. Last season and the last 2 windows were “steady the ship” mode. We don’t want to go rocking the boat again by panic buying. Brands has already shown he knows what he’s doing, so I’d say just be patient, as frustrating as that can be. 

On that note - I’d like to see Dom step and take the 9 shirt. Really state that he thinks he’s the man for the job.

I agree, he’s very good at everything but scoring and I think he can add it to his arsenal. This needs to be a big season for him though and I really hope he has it. Few early goals will do him the world of good.

I was a big critic of his because of his finishing but, now that we actually have quality behind the striker, his main role is more about work ethic and being a pain in the arse to defenders which he is excellent at. As soon as the 3 behind him trust that he’s going to win a ball in the air and gamble on where it may land, the sooner he’ll be racking up assists too

True, but how many of them are about and how many can do the job of DCL and score 15-20 goals a season?
DCL had 1/3 of a season (don’t care that the stats say he had 38 games, he didn’t start 2 thirds of them) and it’s no coincidence that him starting up top towards the end of the season, as well as Bernard on the left, made a massive impact to our play. He is a 15 a season striker in my opinion, he just needs to have a continued run to get the goals and we already know how he occupies defenders making space for the other 3-4 behind him

A people person for the people’s club, besides being a top class player he’s a top bloke gonna be a great fit for us. 

He annoys me, constantly moaning to refs all the time like he’s not allowed to be tackled. Good player on his day but can’t see anyone touching him for £70 mill or whatever palace are asking for him. Much better players out there 

Bar Chelsea every team that’s been mentioned are going to improve their squads not just us, you are talking like we are the only ones who are going to buy new players and we are going to then come up against the same teams of last season, just being realistic I can’t see us finishing fourth next season. 

Maybe I'm looking thru blue-tinted glasses, but I agree. It's all speculation from the outside, but it appears the current management has greatly improved the quality inside the dressing room even more than quality on the pitch. I'm guessing a more defined "culture" and a consistent set of expectations from a management team that is unified is creating an environment the players have bought in to. I think that starts with getting good players, who are "good eggs"  focused on doing  the collective job the manager has set forth, and their role to achieve it - not their individual goals that may or may not align. And those on the fence either buy in, or find a different situation for themselves. 
The "toxic" players you mentioned have all been removed from the locker room, or will be, in one way or another - when Brands finds the best return for the club. I think the change in Morgan is a perfect example. So is the Gana situation - where he seemed excited for opportunity that was even better than the one he had. And when it failed to materialize, instead of sulking his way the rest of the term with little to actually play for, he returned and played some of the best football of his career.
Didn't really hear public chirping about transfers or playing time from players or agents who's roles weren't as big as expected - Davies, Morgan, Walcott, Lookman, Tosen, Baines lost his job, and just signed on for another year to work, train, and watch Digne play etc. I don't think Vlasic was happy with his role, so he's been moved, and I think the same may happen with Henry with the right offer (I'm sure he frustrated with the permit too)
And Gomes...bought in the system (not to mention the charity work in the community) and went from being lost in the woods, to a star EPL CM just entering his prime with many interested suitors. We could have been a one year stepping stone for his career, and that really wouldn't have been unfair. But it appears he wanted to hitch his star to THIS manager, THIS club and play his role in management's vision. It appears, at least, Zouma may be similar.
When you add all that up and look at how we closed the year...it doesn't look like unconnected dots, it looks like a plan and a growing culture within the squad. Blue-tinted glasses and all!
 

Think about this - we got Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes for £40m combined. That sort of quality for less than we paid for Sigurdsson. Shows what having a good negotiator, rather than a PE teacher, in charge of transfers brings about.

Radio Merseyside reporting that we’ve agreed to sell him to Sparta, no fee mentioned though.

Zoo, Shukes, don't worry it could be worse, just read that Man U are looking at recruiting Steve Walsh. Need I say more!

Zoo, Shukes, don't worry it could be worse, just read that Man U are looking at recruiting Steve Walsh. Need I say more!

Zoo, Shukes, don't worry it could be worse, just read that Man U are looking at recruiting Steve Walsh. Need I say more!

Zoo, Shukes, don't worry it could be worse, just read that Man U are looking at recruiting Steve Walsh. Need I say more!