Monday Jan 24:
The fallout from that pen we got yesterday is mad. You’d think it was the biggest VAR scandal of the season and that it had been a decisive decision that decided where the points were going. It’s a contentious decision that I personally think they got wrong but we see far worse decisions than that on a weekly basis. It’s odd the way so many pundits and journos have their knickers in a knot over this one though.
I think what’s annoying me most is that we were 2-1 up and the pen was in the 89th minute. In other words, Palace had six minutes to force an equaliser and we had six minutes to kill them off on the break (as we almost did with the pen incident). What was more likely? Us holding on for 2-1 or even scoring again, or Palace equalising? The chances of them snatching a draw are what, 10% at the absolute most? They hadn’t created a chance for about 25 minutes and it looked like we’d finally got them under control. So we were very likely to win the game even without the pen.
Yet Vieira called it game changing and I heard it described on the news as ‘decisive’. Get to fuck. There was none of this shit when City got that armpit handball against Wolves when it was 0-0, or when Bernardo took a blatant dive against Arsenal and got a pen that brought them back from 1-0 down. Micah Richards was fucking pathetic on MOTD2. The novelty has worn off with him now, I never used to mind him as at least he seemed to be enjoying his work, but it turns out his only real usefulness is being able to bring out the fun side of Roy Keane. Still, that’s one more thing than Jermaine Jenas brings to the table.
The thing is, I’m in agreement with those saying it isn’t a pen. What I take exception to is the outrage at what they seem to be suggesting is one of the great travesties of our time. This isn’t a big deal at all. It is if you’re a Palace fan and I’m completely ok with them kicking off as I would be if the shoe was on the other foot. All these so called ‘neutrals’ going mad about it though, behave yourselves knobheads.
Meanwhile, Everton’s managerial search has led them to some Portuguese fella I’ve never heard of who got relegated in Turkey. Yep, that’ll do, sign me up for those shenanigans. Tell you what though, those scenes of Kenwright being grilled by them after the Villa game were fucking grim. I struggled to watch it, it was uncomfortable. He’s an old man having to face a barrage of aggressive questioning from clueless dickheads who seem to be blaming everyone else other than the man responsible for it all. Just because Moshiri has put money in it’s like they’re scared to target him. “Sack the board”. It wasn’t the board that appointed Rafa!
Kenwright will have been vehemently against that as he isn’t stupid. He knows what Everton fans want and don’t want, because he is one himself. But he’s got fuck all say anymore because he sold to a rich fella because the fans wanted him to sell to a rich fella. Now they’re giving him shit because it turns out the rich fella might be rich but he is also fucking mental. Bill Kenwright is a cringey bastard who is way over the top with his theatrical nature of support. But he’s also a thoroughly decent man who loves his football club and it’s hard seeing him in that situation, especially when it’s Moshiri who should be out there talking to the fans.
Over at AFCON there was tragic news as fans died at the Cameroon match. This seems like an all too regular occurrence in games in Africa. It’s tragic and shouldn’t ever happen, but you wonder just how many of these tragedies need to occur before they get their house in order. Just fucking awful and really harrowing to see.
Tuesday Jan 25:
Naby is on his way home after Guinea were knocked out yesterday. No piss taking and I’m not going to be snarky here, I’m genuinely happy to get him back because he’s in good form and could help us over the coming months, with the massive provisio that he stays fit of course. I think we’ve looked at our best this season when the midfield has been Fabinho, Henderson and then one of the others that offer something different. Thiago has obviously been the best, but Jones, Elliott, Keita and Ox have all contributed as that midfield player with a bit less responsibility and more freedom to get forward. Milner is more of a safety blanket these days when we need to calm things down.
Sadio is still over there though after he helped Senegal advance to the semis. He was knocked unconscious, then scored, and then had to go off because he was fucked with the concussion he so obviously had from being knocked the fuck out. It’s easy to use such amateurish behaviour as yet another stick to beat AFCON with, but we’ve seen this happen in the Premier League too so this is a wider problem in football that defo needs sorting. The NFL let this shit go on for years and only got to grips with it when they were hit with lawsuits. Footy will go the same way.
Staying with AFCON and it was pretty sickening to see how yesterday’s tragedy was reported. Headlines referencing a ‘stampede’ which de-humanises it and implies that it’s the fault of the those who died. Sound familiar?
Ranieri was sacked yesterday and now Watford have appointed Hodgson. You may scoff at that but at least he has a track record of keeping teams up. Everton could have done worse than look at him….
Wednesday Jan 26:
Mo scores the winning pen as Egypt advance to the quarters. Terrible game by all accounts. I didn’t watch any of it but my dad tuned in because Mo was playing. He said Zaha did nothing but moan and look pissed off. That’s him though isn’t it? Absolutely fucking ridiculous level of ability but always has that hard done to face on him, like everyone is out to get him. Same look that Richarlison has. Only difference is Zaha actually has talent. Shame he has no idea how to harness it properly.
Events across the park continue to amuse. The Portuguese fella issues a statement after fans were vocal in opposing the idea of him getting the job. There was even graffiti at Goodison calling for “Pereira out, Lampard in”. That’s a record even for them. He hasn’t even got the job yet and they’re calling for him to be sacked. Usually you get a least a couple of home defeats before that happens.
Anyway, the board don’t want him but the word is that Moshiri is under the spell of that Joorabchian leech and he’s being advised by him. Pereira is one of his clients, obviously. But the statement he put out tonight was great, it was basically “who the fuck do you think you are turning your nose up at me? You should feel lucky to have me”. God I hope he gets it as he’s already picked a fight with them before he has even one foot in the door. Imagine if he comes in and sacks Duncan.
Newcastle want Nat Phillips but offered a loan to buy which was turned down. Watford have had a £7m bid for him turned down. Fuck this shit, come on West Ham get your chequebook out, Nat is too good for these bottom feeders. There’s talk that we’re ready to allow Neco to leave as well. If that happens, heads should roll. Keep him until the summer because we might need him. We’re in four competitions so letting anyone go who might be asked to fill in at some point is madness.
Meanwhile…..
“Get Big Sam in, to keep us in the league!”
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) January 26, 2022
“This is our lives! Listen to us! Leave Bill alone.. Moshiri is destroying our club!”
You have to hear this passionate fan’s speech on what he wants for #EFC. pic.twitter.com/r6B6ud6yvW
and also....
Thursday Jan 27:
Fat Frank is getting the Everton job apparently. They asked to see his CV and he showed them the clip of him shouting at Klopp and Ljinders at Anfield. Didn’t show them the final score of that game of course, but Moshiri said “I love it! You’re hired. Now let me tell you about the time I bought the Liver Birds”. Fucking losers, them getting relegated would be great enough on its own, but if Lampard takes them down I might spontaneously combust from joy.
Meanwhile, Adama Traore is going to Barcelona on loan with a view to buy. Awful for Spurs who thought they’d landed him. They’re in for Douglas Luiz from Villa now, which you’d think will lead to more disappointment as why would you leave Villa right now when the mood there is so optimistic?
Brighton are reportedly willing to let Bissouma go for £50m. We’re long time suitors but I’d be amazed if we were still interested after the rumours of sexual assault a few months back. He may well be completely innocent of any wrongdoing, but City and Everton have both had to completely write off £50m signings so everyone is going to be extremely careful now about this kind of thing.
Saw an interview with Sergi Canos on LFCTV today and he really impressed me. I remember when he was here and he was a good player but not someone who looked like he’d make it here. He’s done well for himself and is playing regularly in the Premier League now with Brentford, but I didn’t know anything about his journey to get there. He was talking about how a cruciate injury changed his life because he realised he needed to work harder and stop making excuses as that is only lying to himself. I can’t do it justice here but he came across as a sound lad with a really mature outlook and I’m really rooting for him to do well now. Unlike his former team-mate Conor Coady, who can fuck right off.
Friday Jan 28:
Holy fuck! We’re making a signing, in January no less, and it’s an exciting one. These are almost unprecedented developments and a big shift from the norm. There was a story a few weeks ago that we tried to get Luis Diaz and were preparing a £70m bid. I dismissed that as bollocks as there’s just no way we’re spending that kind of money without selling someone to finance it. But there’s been a lot of smoke around Diaz and he does fit the profile of what we like to do with forwards. 24 years old, good experience, great stats (not specifically goals, but the whole package that these nerds look at) and someone ready to make that next step.
Still, we weren’t going to get him this month as it’s not what we do. But then Spurs went for him and the price had dropped to something more reasonable. Diaz didn’t want to go to Spurs (why would he when Klopp wants him) so we brought forward the deal and it looks like it’s happening in the next couple of days once he’s passed a medical. I’d say this almost certainly means Divock and / or Taki are off because we’ll want to recoup that money and reduce the wages. I don’t particularly want either to go but there seems little point in keeping them now, especially with Gordon coming through.
Horrendous couple of days for Spurs but despite their fans going nuts at Daniel Levy, what are they expecting here? If a player has a choice of Barcelona (even in their current state) or Spurs, he’s going to Spain. If he has a choice of Klopp’s Reds or Spurs, he’s coming here. That’s just their current place in the pecking order. Short of doing a City or Newcastle and blowing everyone away with wages there’s nothing they can do about it. We’ve been there. There was a time when Spurs and Arsenal were nicking players we wanted and it was fucking hard to swallow.
I don’t remember Diaz from when we played Porto twice this season so he couldn’t have stood out much, but then Alisson shipped five goals on the only occasion he’d faced us and that didn’t mean anything. He looks boss on YouTube so that’ll do me. Seriously though, we know YouTube compilations can make anyone look good, but this lad was doing some magical shit in the Copa America and some of the goals are amazing. More important than that though, we just don’t get these signings wrong anymore.
There’s nothing like a fancy new attacking signing to get the pulse racing and I’m fucking buzzing now. Everyone will be, even the players (except maybe Sadio as this is potentially very bad news for him).
So yeah, Diaz is going to be brilliant. How do I know this? Because like I say, he’s in that ‘bracket’. Suarez, Firmino, Mané, Salah, Jota. All a similar age when we signed them and with a similar price tag. All big talents ready to take the next step. We just get these ones right, especially when they come in to play for Klopp in this team.
Of course it is almost 12 months to the day since I was writing about how I thought Ben Davies was going to surprise people and prove to be a better option for us than Kabak (and Rhys Williams), so there is that, but this is different and I’ll stick my neck out and say Diaz will be a superstar if this goes through and we don’t have another Nabil Fekir situation.
Imagine if he comes in and has a Ronny Rosenthal impact on the title race.
….and that was the week that was.
Recommended Comments