malcolm waldron

Those nine words and and the way he said them I really picked up on when I heard the interview over the weekend. It's like he was saying - look at what I'm capable of, if only I had the time, the money, the players, worse opposition, L1 expectations and no pressure..........

I'd like to know where this has come from as the idea has been floated around on here for some time now. At the Brighton game you could see it was a nasty one and we thought immediately that it looks like an ACL - from Tino's reaction and Shane rushing over etc. That injury as far as I know is not caused by being over-played.

Thought it was worth this having a bump back up again. More convinced than ever that this is either direct from NJ himself or from one of his team on his behalf. Knowing what we now know after EIGHT weeks of him being here a lot of it is fascinating (to me at least) - particularly a re-read of why the Stoke failure is now recognised as allegedly being down to the players' attitudes and the general atmosphere of the club. I suspect we might be hearing that again soon - and while there may be an element of truth in that, for £4M a year it should be something a capable, top level coach can swiftly address and start to put right. So ultimately many of the issues we now face were hiding in plain sight all along.....

Fantastic reference - and the first thing on here for 36 hours that's brought a smile to my face. You'll need to share a link for the younger ones (son-in-laws? 😉) on here unfamiliar with its origin.

He's only 27.....? (Is that how the quote went??)

That would have been a great way to preserve the legacy wouldn't it.....

I have to wonder who is the random Luton fan who wrote this piece originally? For a start it's very long - and why would a Luton fan be bothered to go to this length of analysis having just lost their saviour to us? Absolutely glad that he did though. For me the interesting piece is how much they know about relatively low key players we have (or have loaned out). I understand that many football fans live and breath it every day (and I'm the same during transfer window closing week and the Ralph situation over the last few days) - but how many Luton fans really know about Larios, Mara, Smallbone (I get the Stoke connection) and above all Thierry Small. I'd blocked him out of my mind after Coventry and yet a Luton fan has the awareness to select him as one for the future NJ team. I'm very impressed! I'm a little out of touch but have now seen TS is coming back....when regrettably according to Port Vale he didnt get the game time he might have wanted? So - very grateful for the 'Luton fan' to have given us such a huge insight into Nathans career over the last five years - and it sounds a potential good match for us. I just wonder how much of the above text was lifted from Nathans first conversations with us back in the summer.......

I noted that too. Can't remember the exact passage of play, but I think it was our usual shovel it around at the back under increasing pressure before it goes back to the keeper for a punt downfield (and lose the header). Only this time Bazunu looked up and drilled the pass (to Armstrong I think) through a crowd of about 4 Arsenal players. More of that to come hopefully. We were trying to imagine McCarthy trying to do the same.

I thought the same - especially after his first start against Liverpool. Prove us all wrong tonight Moussa.

Interesting to see if the third Dean Smith games follows the pattern of the other two. In the first one, my memory is that we could have been out of sight in the first half (and Villa down to 10) - but that the second half was pretty uncomfortable for us, especially the first 15 mins or so. At Norwich I think we were less dominant in the first half but let in a poor goal just after we scored to keep Norwich in the game. The second half Norwich came out going for it and my sense in the away end and from those around us was that if a goal was coming - it would be a Norwich one. Step forward Alex to give them three points. Did Theo miss a great chance in stoppage time having said all that? I feel we're now moving on from Ralphball 1.0 (first half great, second half poor) but tonight will be a big test as Norwich are desperate for a result.

The Conte post match interview was fantastic. I know its not his first language and so we should give him some leeway, but it was just a series of mumbled words with no meaning. Great that we reduced him to rambling incoherence....

I think this series of pictures says it all. Broja was clearly taken out and I'm convinced that if that was Bednarek on Kane it's an immediate free kick and a yellow card. Anyway play continues very quickly and a goal is scored. In my view the reason the referee didn't stop play for the head injury (wrongly of course) is because of how quickly play developed - and he simply bottled making a decision to stop the game. The madness then occurs as VAR rules the original foul was too early in the phase - or words to that effect? So we have a ref bottling a decision because of how quickly Spurs threatened our goal - and yet the VAR ref decides the contrary. How can that be possible??

Isn't he unavailable this weekend?

Typical of you - always trying to deflect the plaudits away from others. I too was going to massively vouch for FT's credentials as well (not that I've any idea who he/she is), but forgot to and so also missed out on the abuse. You won't find me mentioning it on here though. The Dean Henderson transfer though - well that's a different matter.......

I can't help thinking that Fraser's late second half drop kicks being shanked towards his right (my left as I looked on from the Chapel) were all deliberate. It seemed a case of - we'll give Spurs the ball back but from deep in their own half so that we can keep our shape in midfield and at the back. Stuart Armstrong gave Fraser a massive above the head clap from that position after the ball had gone straight out at one point - hence I think it was a deliberate tactic. Ultimately it worked. Let's see how he kicks it on Sunday.

I need some advice from well travelled road users as my evening game experience is pretty grim usually. I'n travelling down the A34 and will typically loop round the M27 heading east and, leave at the Bursledon exit and go over the Itchen bridge. This is a long way round the city but the motorway usually is free flowing. Can anyone offer a better quicker route without massive jams? Some ask i know! There's obviously the airport junction or The Avenue but I don't know how these are typically during evening matches or where best to park if coming in one of these.

Not at all impressed by Perraud from a very causal glance at those three minutes. i was expecting him to have played a key role in all four goals and weighed in with a direct free kick for a fifth. if he doesn't sort it out for the next game then I feel a loan spell in L1 might be needed to toughen the boy (as Dave Merrington will no doubt start calling him) up a little......

Do we know why KWP went off? Injured or tactical? If the latter then why disrupt the midfield. Better surely for Diallo to come off for OR?

I have to disagree I'm afraid. I spent a large part of the first half wondering where the midfield had gone - especially when the WBA midfield were running in behind. Diallo frequently seemed to be in full FIFA21 mode - just charging forward at all the wrong times. If you watch the build up to the first goal (pen) you can see both JWP and Diallo caught forward (albeit marginally) and Maitland-Niles then running into a cavernous space behind them. Shades of the 2nd half of the Leeds game all over again. I was shouting at the TV for one or both of them just to sit in for a bit and Theo to come in tighter to KWP - just to try and gain some control for 5 mins and take the pressure off the defence.

Interesting that the only shirt (i think) that they haven't produced in this range yet is the classic 1989 - 1991 home shirt, the first time we wore 'traditional' stripes for years. That shirt brings back some very happy memories of Shearer, MLT, Rod Wallace etc in a 4-2-4 formation. Now.......why would that shirt not be produced along with all the others I wonder.....??🕵️‍♂️

Didn't Lawrie always say we need violinists and road sweepers? Or was that Claude Puel..........?😉

Treated myself to watching the whole match again - this time without the stress but with the ability to look at certain players and watch what they were doing. The main thing that struck me second time round was the work rate Theo put in defending. Many times (including the first half when it was a more even match) he sprinted back to provide defensive cover. We all know he's quick but when that pace is used to defend and get back in shape it's a great asset to have. I must admit the second half second time round was still stressful - in terms of much of that Liverpool build up play down the left side. Hard to believe that all of that only led to one shot on target! 😃

It's a while ago now but he had extreme balance and could get on the ball early and beat a player on either side. He could turn and pirouette on the proverbial pound coin and so always got the ball and team moving forward in midfield. I won't say anymore as things can change so quickly but you could see the natural attributes were there, and there's no reason why they shouldn't still be there. Hopefully the rest is down to full time professional coaching rather than enthusiastic amateur coaching! I'll say again that he has a very grounded family and so hopefully all the support is in place to help him progress. In my view he deserves it.

I was lucky enough to see a lot of his football going through the age groups (my son played in the same team). He's a lovely lad, his parents I'm sure are keeping him grounded and let's hope he can build a career from here. It's a great example of a young boy with all the attributes that somehow the scouting nets failed to find, finally entering the system and benefitting from full time coaching. Good luck to Kegs!

I've been thinking and, although by know means fully formed (some may say half-baked), I do have an idea. It's called 'wild card' - see, I'm already ticking the important U.S. box. This simply means that Liverpool get five 'wild card' match choices a season. They can select any game as a wild card choice (other than against a fellow Top 6 team - Man City, Saints etc) and automatically be awarded a 3-0 win. So they can avoid tricky away games at Turf Moor, annoying long away games e.g. Brighton, or boring mid week easy games e.g. Arsenal. When they play a wild card for a fixture they were due to be on TV for (i.e. all of them) Sky can simply instead televise the usual load of ex-Liverpool 'pundits' to embark on a two hour snorefest of rose-tinted nostalgia on all things scouse. After three seasons they will campaign for an uplift to seven wild cards, to allow more overseas profile raising trips.....