Xabi Alonso: Welcome back to Anfield.

[sir roger]

On a general point, I think that football fans always ignore the main imperative in player and manager moves, their family.

 

I see a guy with a wife and three teenagers of whom the eldest was only one year old when he left Liverpool , and has only recently uprooted them from Spain to Germany in 2022. In that situation and with at least 2 viable options available for him in Germany ( and a return to Spain his probable end aim in a couple of years ) I really hope I am wrong but think we are the outsider here.

 

[Kevin D]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/03/20/liverpool-richard-hughes-sporting-director-michael-edwards/
 

Liverpool are expected to confirm the appointment of Richard Hughes as the club’s new sporting director later on Wednesday.

Hughes’ Anfield key role is already an open secret. His current club, Bournemouth, said the Glasgow-born executive will be leaving the south coast at the end this season, and the guessing game as to where he is headed did not last long.

 

He joins the Merseyside club to restructure its football operations after Jurgen Klopp’s departure this summer.

 

Officially, Hughes begins in June, alongside Fenway Sports Group’s new football chief executive, Michael Edwards.

 

However, it is inconceivable Edwards and Hughes will not already be consulting regarding the pressing matter of who replaces Jurgen Klopp before the start of next season.

 

Once Edwards’ new role was established and agreed, the luring of Hughes was anticipated and agreement swiftly reached, despite much interest in both their services. The pair have a long-standing friendship having worked together at Portsmouth in the early 2000s.

Edwards rejoined Liverpool earlier this month after a prolonged negotiation with FSG President Michael Gordon. He had earlier rejected the chance to return as a sporting director, but his reiterating of that stance disguised the true nature of his talks with Liverpool’s owners as they offered a more senior role,

 

Hughes is regarded as one of the most astute talent spotters in the Premier League, and those credentials will now be put to the test at one of the world’s biggest clubs.

 

As was the case with Gordon when he delegated many responsibilities to Edwards - especially in overseeing the club’s famed data analysis and scouting department - so it will be for Hughes.

 

The 44-year-old has plenty on his plate from day one, with contract talks needed to keep Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah beyond the final year of their contract, all expiring in 2025.

 

And most urgently, who will emerge as the successor to Klopp.

 

 

[Anubis]

That’s me convinced…

 

[Scott_M]

34 minutes ago, Anubis said:

That’s me convinced…

 

 

[VladimirIlyich]

Richard Hughes being an average footballer doesn't concern me as his role now is completely different. What did concern me was the talk of being together at Portsmouth in the early 2000s. That's when it turned to shite,wasn't it? Harry Redknapp,brown paper bags and Colin the Canine Accountant.

[JohnnyH]

12 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Richard Hughes being an average footballer doesn't concern me as his role now is completely different. What did concern me was the talk of being together at Portsmouth in the early 2000s. That's when it turned to shite,wasn't it? Harry Redknapp,brown paper bags and Colin the Canine Accountant.

Did I read somewhere that he’s 44?  If that’s the case then I wouldn’t be overly concerned with what he did in his early to mid 20s. 

[Bobby Hundreds]

I was a shit footballer yet I make great toast, you can't judge people on their past mediocrity in different fields or all fields except toast.

[Dapower]

3 hours ago, Bobby Hundreds said:

I was a shit footballer yet I make great toast, you can't judge people on their past mediocrity in different fields or all fields except toast.

 
I love cold burnt toast with lots of butter and I was a decent goalie 

[Bob]

12 hours ago, Bobby Hundreds said:

I was a shit footballer yet I make great toast, you can't judge people on their past mediocrity in different fields or all fields except toast.

Pics or gtfo 

[Bjornebye]

12 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Richard Hughes being an average footballer doesn't concern me as his role now is completely different. What did concern me was the talk of being together at Portsmouth in the early 2000s. That's when it turned to shite,wasn't it? Harry Redknapp,brown paper bags and Colin the Canine Accountant.

Nah it was late 00’s when they started signing players well above their station. I remember standing at a packed Fratton Park, capacity 19k and they had the likes of David James, Glen Johnson, Sol Campbell, Lassana Diarra, Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch etc and turning to my mate asking how the fuck they’re affording all these players. They only averaged a few home sky games a season as well.

 

It was Peter Storrie who was responsible for all that. Inflated players bonuses etc. Them winning the FA Cup eventually crippled the club. It’s well known down there that plenty of Pompey staff were actively hoping that they’d lose the final to Cardiff. 
 

Unless we see Haaland, Bellingham and Mbappe pulling into Kirkby when the window opens I reckon we’ll be alright with Edward’s and Hughes on that front. 

[Scott_M]

Apparently Hughes tried to hire De Zerbi at Bournemouth when they sacked Scott Parker. 
 

This bit isn’t related to Xabi, but…

[Scott_M]

[Dapower]

6 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

Keep kidding yourself mate it’s a shit league with the attention it’s getting is only to do with Alonsos leverkusen 

[VladimirIlyich]

13 hours ago, Dapower said:

Keep kidding yourself mate it’s a shit league with the attention it’s getting is only to do with Alonsos leverkusen 

It's actually a very good league but it's spoiled by Bayern Munich. Oh for a League where supporters actually have a bit of a say in the running of the club,not a massive say but some influence at least. And the admission prices are still affordable enough for families to attend. Only Bayern skew the Bundesliga.

[Bobby Hundreds]

FC Bayern is the measure of all things! What the fuck does that even mean. Pure wham from Holy Highness there. 

 

China is here Mr Burton!

[chrisbonnie]

16 hours ago, Scott_M said:

Apparently Hughes tried to hire De Zerbi at Bournemouth when they sacked Scott Parker. 
 

This bit isn’t related to Xabi, but…

 

Bad scarf wearing ponce. 

 

 

[Scott_M]

[JohnnyH]

If he’s not moving to us, which I think seems more and more to be the case, then I hope he stays at Leverkusen and leads them into the Champions League as opposed to going to Bayern. 

[dave u]

The only people he's likely to have spoken about this with are his wife and his agent. Maybe his Dad too if he's still alive.

 

Fairly sure none of them will have been running off to tell sky Germany about it. 

[Scott_M]

4 minutes ago, dave u said:

Fairly sure none of them will have been running off to tell sky Germany about it. 

I feel the louder Bayern and their minions shout, the more desperate they sound. 

[JohnnyH]

1 hour ago, dave u said:

The only people he's likely to have spoken about this with are his wife and his agent. Maybe his Dad too if he's still alive.

 

Fairly sure none of them will have been running off to tell sky Germany about it. 

No, but they’ll have told Bayern if he wants to move to them. And the leak will have come from them. 

[Bobby Hundreds]

If he goes to Bayern from Leverkusen then he lacks class and I turn my back on him anyway... so there.

[Dapower]

16 minutes ago, Bobby Hundreds said:

If he goes to Bayern from Leverkusen then he lacks class and I turn my back on him anyway... so there.

Too right you just don’t do shit like that and to turn down the Liverpool job to stay in that league get to fuck 

[Harry's Lad]

4 hours ago, Scott_M said:

The German Dharmesh Sheth understands fuck all just like all the other itk's.

[VladimirIlyich]

2 hours ago, Scott_M said:

I feel the louder Bayern and their minions shout, the more desperate they sound. 

Yep. They do it every year to unsettle rivals. It's so predictable it's boring.