OutByEaster?

Lovely to see the big man on the scoresheet after such a long time out.

Yep - the chap with the twitter thread has missed the big fundamental rule that comes in first (I did too). This is interesting: Looks like Chelsea are the team most at risk in this.

So would I be correct in thinking that the people this would really benefit would be a 'super' team if they had a bad year and finished 8th - so for example if United did that this year, their revenues would be such that they would be able to spend more money next season than they would be able to normally in order to buy themselves back in? That would sort of make sense in terms of how the Premier league works and its desire to protect its TV show and that TV shows 'stars'.

The only thing I'm absolutely sure of is that not one of the clubs around the table voted for anything that they felt was remotely there to benefit the wider game - it's just twenty sharks each trying to pull of the biggest piece of meat for themselves. I notice it's still the case that nobody is allowed to mention debt at these proceedings.

Pierre in for Jimoh is the only real surprise there I think - pretty much the standard line up. Good luck fellas!

I'm ready.

I'd go both sides - but I"m not sure it's a very direct comparison. If the IRA were to launch an attack on Belfast, killing several hundred people, and in response the UK government were to bomb then demolish most of Dublin and blockade the Republic of Ireland to the point of starvation, destroying any infrastructure and killing tens of thousands, would you say that the two groups responsible were the British and the Irish? In both cases, there aren't really two sides, because one of the sides is a small group within a wider population - that wider population might well sympathise with the small group at some level, but there's a lot of different ways they might do that, some will agree with the idea in principle of a united Ireland (or an independent free Palestine), some would want to play an active part in campaigning for that politically, or vote for those that will, some would want to do whatever they can to smuggle in food and medicine or work in the interests of the people they live around and some would be in favour of joining an armed struggle - but those groups are incredibly disparate - the biggest problem with the Israeli response to Palestine is that they make no effort, either by accident or design, to distinguish between those levels of support or indeed the existence of different types of desire for freedom/safety/security - they just get in and clear everything out. It's like having a schoolkid bully your child and you as a parent and professional special forces agent burning down the school with every child but yours inside it - of course, you can make a case for the school itself being a part of the problem, but the argument that both sides are responsible, the bully for being a bully, and the parent for burning down a school full of kids is, whilst factually correct, morally empty.

Because he'll be 32 in the summer, he's visibly not the player he was last season and he's lost a step, plus he'll be out of contract at the end of next season and he's on an enormous wage. He's on the verge of becoming a weight on Liverpool's shoulders - he's arguably not good enough to start for them, but the fans love him, there's an opportunity to pass him on to the only people in the world that might want to satisfy his wage demands and Liverpool won't want to offer him a deal much longer than a couple of years which is unlikely to be what he wants. Salah has been brilliant, but age catches up on players for whom pace is a massive part of their game more than it does on others - he's just not a £100m player at 32 with 1 year left on his contract - if he was headed somewhere like Germany rather than Saudi, they'd be very lucky to get half of that.

Just trying to pick an example of someone who might be able to erm, shall we say, "inflate", their revenues.

He is just a babby - born in 2007. I bet he barely remembers the pandemic.

Im guessing because it would mean next year Newcastle, who aren't in Europe, could spend up to £466m on wages while trying to build their revenues, while we, who are in Europe, would be restricted to around £200m on wages under the UEFA rules. Although frankly the rules are becoming so comically complex as each club tries desperately to find a system that benefits only themselves, that it's very difficult to know. Unfortunately, we've reached the point where Premier League clubs can't really be trusted to make the rules for football in this country, we need some sort of governmental regulator.

We could still make it over the line without winning any of our games.

Hadn't realised his contract only has one more year to go, for some reasons I thought he had three more on it. Not sure if that makes him less valuable in terms of a fee or not, but it probably reduces the need for Liverpool to get rid - what you don't want if you're them is to be left paying him £400k a week once he's gone full Agbonlahor - they've got the contract length about right, there's a year left in him. There's a very fine balance between finding the right wage to offer him for a new contract now to protect his value and getting left holding the expensive has-been baby in 2025-26.

I'm presuming a new deal means "one that isn't £400k a week" - if he's happy to accept a massive pay cut, he's probably got another couple of seasons as a rotation option in him. It's like the media think he's still 26.

What's their line up like? Anyone we know? Any injury issues?

They'll pay him a fortune, I just don't think they need to pay Liverpool a fortune to get him, in some ways they'll be glad to get him off the wage bill.

I think Salah also knows his days of being a star in the Premier league are pretty much over too - he'll be looking for his retirement village contract somewhere.

I think if the Saudi's offered to take him off Liverpool on a free, they'd have to consider it. He's got maybe one more useful season left in him and he's paid almost £20m a year.

I'd guess they'll sell the likes of Kepa, Lukaku, Broja and maybe Maatsen - players that they won't particularly miss, plus they'll have the £28m for Lewis Hall from Newcastle and whatever they're getting from Galatasary for Ziyech - so they will have a chance to raise some decent money and retain what they've got as a starting point.

There's a link on the beeb about Liverpool allegedly preparing for bids of £150m for Mo Salah, according to the always hilarious Football Insider. That got me to thinking - if Salah wants out this summer, when he'll be 32 and perhaps starting to fade, how much do you think a Saudi team would have to pay for him? I'd think Liverpool would be quite happy to have his £400k a week off the wage bill at this point - £150m would be an absolute fever dream. I reckon they'd let him go for £30-40m

Thanks Ivan.

If Chelsea beat Spurs I reckon one more point might well be enough. If Chelsea beat Spurs and we beat Brighton, we may even be able to live without the horror of it going to the last day.

The Travelling Wilburys have let themselves go.

I don't come in to this thread very often and must confess I hadn't heard that there was a Shogun series that had been made (or of anyone that's seen it) - from the reviews here it sounds like it's fantastic - is there any likelihood of it being re-broadcast on the type of channels where people actually see stuff? Seems a shame for it to be hidden away.

I am satisfied with the first half efforts of Arsenal. I am also satisfied with Brighton's new direction and hopeful it continues next Sunday.