Lallana's Left Peg

One of our genuine relegation rivals with a state backed takeover this evening. One more nail in the coffin for our ability to stay in this league based on our current business model. And its not that our model is fundamentally wrong, it's that it doesn't work in the rich playground like the Premier League.

This too is what tempers any enthusiasm about a run of 'winnable' games. Our strikers aren't particularly efficient and our team is not very creative, so I don't really feel like the way we play against the better teams gives us much encouragement for facing weaker opposition that play much more defensively.

It's about the bigger picture. 4 league wins since January 4th. Those league wins against teams placed at the time 20th, 18th, 17th and 14th. Also in that span 26 goals scored, 56 conceded. Club is heading one way and anyone pretending otherwise is deluded. It's happening this season or next unless a takeover happens and we get investment. I accepted earlier this month after Semmens initially gave us all hope in May investment might be coming. No-one is blameless - players can do better, Ralph can do better etc. but in the big picture the club cannot succeed in the Premier League in the current circumstances.

And get who? Club has been decaying for 5 years and desperately needs investment. Semmens was bullish about it in May and nothing has happened. I don't care who you have in charge the Premier League is a rich mans playground and we're the equivalent of the homeless man who sells off his most valuable item of clothing each year just to make sure he can live. It's not the 1-0 home defeats against Wolves that are the problem, its the fact we go backwards every summer which mean we get closer and closer to relegation.

It does have an impact, but it happens to all U23 and U18 teams so isn't a difference maker. Our coaching and talent is clearly a problem. Don't score goals, concede too many, and play badly as well. It's just rotten. EDIT: I do think we have some talented players, but no more than a handful and the moment they are injured or are training with the first team the lack of depth, and lack of quality of depth, really exposes us and we're whipping boys.

B Team playing WBA at home and two down at HT. Conceded the first after 2mins, and the second on the stroke of HT. Something is going catastrophically wrong and given how blunt Crocker was in the summer about fixing it whatever has been attempted hasn't worked.

Yeah not great but this is one of my fondest away days: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7565074.stm Svensson and the kids playing a team off the park - was never going to end well over the course of a season but very satisfying to see our youth players do so well and have so many of them in the team.

Terrible at football though.

But as others said, he was spending a billionnaires money without a need to balance the books outside other regulations. It was easier to convince players to stay when you had the money to back up the ambition - either by new signings or new contracts.

Any idea what the PA of Small and Livramento will be in the upcoming seasons DB? Assume they are still set by the Everton and Chelsea researchers respectively regardless?

When it comes to keepers the best way to judge someone is if they'd start for another team in your division. Would McCarthy? Not for me.

His threatening words after West Ham last season appear to either indicate he's incapable of addressing the issue despite recognising it or the players aren't reacting to his coaching. Either way it reflects badly on on him. A reminder:

We don't know what Salisu's ceiling is, I am pretty sure we now experience Bednarek's - the issue is our team is so chaotic that we need very good centre halves to deal with all thrown their way and when we don't we concede the amount of goals we did last season. I feel sorry for our CB's in some respects, but in others you always get the feeling that a very good CB would make a world of difference.

When it comes to throw ins I think it would be less painful for all if we just agreed to throw it straight to the opposition and get on with things rather than wait 20 seconds and do it anyway after some half arsed attempt at movement and keeping possession from them.

Nat Phillips not in Liverpool training pictures today...

Sell all day long. We'll miss his passing out of the back more than we will his defending. Considering he's got a year left on his deal and wasn't going to sign a new deal, to end up being able to replace him with someone of not far off the same quality and have that player for the next 4 - 5 years is a good move for us. The emergence of Salisu has helped this to happen too.

On the basis Kepa remains their #2, I assume not.

An interesting dynamic to Ings leaving and Armstrong arriving is how it trusts Adams as our senior striker. I often felt that when Adams didn't have Ings as his partner he stepped up in his all round game (leading the line, holding the ball up etc.). There is definitely more to come from Adams and I wonder if the need for him to step up will now suit him.

We don't need players in Oxlade-Chamberlains position and he would be an expensive loan. Better than what we have got but we need a striker and a defensive midfielder. Bit concerning that we're linked as it makes me wonder if we're about to sell JWP (which then makes AOC affordable)?

I don't think its as clear cut as having a deal lined up for a replacement the moment Villa moved for Ings. I do think it would be normal and sensible to be kept abreast of the market so that in the eventuality Ings went (for whatever money) we knew what we might do. I assume the club have done this and feel confident we can retain our status in the league so gave the Ings deal the green light. Whilst its hard to know what is true and what is not in the media, it doesn't appear on the face of it that the club has been able to act swiftly after Ings' departure which again suggests to me we aren't as sure about things as I might otherwise hope we would be after selling our best player. Right now we're less than a week from the start of the new season and have one of the worst strike forces in the league and have to hope that one of the most porous defenses last season has got better. It doesn't exactly fill you with confidence, does it? EDIT - to add to this, signing a kid on loan from Chelsea is the sort of thing you normally see from Championship clubs or promoted teams, not one that has been back in the Premier League nearly a decade now. Alarm bells should be ringing. And I would love for him to be brilliant, but the odds are that he isn't right now.

The decision to sell Ings for such a good fee should have only happened if they are sure they can purchase players to replace him and retain our presence in the league. If the club sold him without knowing who they could realistically get in then it is a massive risk that means the fee is less attractive to me. If Ings had no intention of signing then £30m sounds good in principle but if we end up signing players who between them cannot replace his goals then the club is likely relegated. I'll decide on whether or not the Ings deal was good firstly on 1st September, and then with hindsight at the end of next May. As for the overall criticism it is entirely probable that both Semmens et al are doing a good job and the club is decaying can both be true. The club heading in one direction is no criticism of our board when you consider they are playing in a rich mans playground with no money. Gao needs to find a solution quickly.

Bye bye Premier League 👋

I think its even worse than that in terms of the way things are trending: Light Years Away Forget About It Man City Man Utd Chelsea Liverpool Spurs Arsenal Too Big / Too Rich (either by size and / or investment from owners) Everton Leeds Aston Villa Leicester In & Around Us But More Means Wolves Brighton Crystal Palace West Ham Hopeless Praying On Muck Coming Up Saints Newcastle Burnley Promoted Clubs - Wilcards But Likely Crap Watford Norwich Brentford We're really only a couple of promoted clubs getting their act together or Newcastle waking up to being back to where we were most of my life - but back then there was always a clutch of teams fighting it out each season but those above us will simply leave us stranded because of the investment they get while we decay.

Negatives Best player gone Vestergaard still not signed a new deal (or been sold) Operating in bargain bin and club has said as much Team has very little goal threat League is very much becoming a playground we can't afford to play in Absolutely nothing about a takeover which means the club is heading only one way Positives We're so broke and so desperate we're genuinely attractive to 18 year olds in big clubs as they know they will get gametime Signed a left back (still one short) Some takeovers come out of the blue, but I really am clutching at straws here

Not for top half clubs in the richest league in the world. Shows the trajectory of our club right now.