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So no PM at the wedding. Wonder what bad news will be sneaked out today? Probably Brexit related, and potentially something likely to irk the DUP, who will be too busy fawning over the wedding to notice until it's too late.

Yep. Hicks & Gillet = immediate death by massive explosion, resulting in a mass fightback. FSG = gradual death by a thousand cuts, resulting in everone looking around wondering 'what the fuck has happened'?.

I'm not necessarily comparing us with the 'top 4'. Top 4 being UTD, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. I'm comparing our paltry spend with the supposed value and revenue worth of the club. The link below shows us sitting 13th in the premier league in a measurement of nett spend on players over the last 5 years. http://www.transferleague.co.uk/premier-league-last-five-seasons/transfer-league-tables/premier-league-table-last-five-seasons It shows our average spend at around £10m per annum. So not only are we not competing with the 'top 4' in the rich league, or even those from positions 5-10 in this 'rich' league. Within our own league we compare unfavourably against the likes of Watford, Brighton, WBA, etc.

No arguments with the 'different environment' comment. Yes it is. The money in the game now has possibly quadrupled in the last 10 years, particularly revenue to clubs, especially with the new TV deals. Subsequently this has seen player purchase prices and wages increase. You make valid points regarding the spending power of Chelsea, City and UTD. But then you refer to those teams having 'greater spending power'. They may well do to differing extents. I would question whether it is to the extent that sees Liverpool spend so little comparatively. It isn't just a mere gap in spending, it is a chasm. At this point it is important to differentiate between 'can't spend' and 'won't spend'. It can be argued that the latter applies to us. The 2016 football 'rich list' of clubs seen us as 8th richest in the world. Depending on which source referred to we're 8th/9th in 2017. Interestingly the combined value of the 'top 20' clubs increased in value from 2016 v 2015 by 24%, and then by a further 12% when comparing 2017 v 2016. That is phenomenal growth, much of it fuelled by the growth in club revenue. Does our investment on the playing side reflect that of the 8th richest club in the world? Probably not. If anything during that period of phenomenal revenue growth (2015-2017) the extent to which we invest in the team in terms of buying players, has at best stood still (the oft quoted '£30m' net), and arguably has reduced. We always seem to be waiting on the next transfer window, which tends to come and go with no change.

While we no doubt have a fair portion of 'reactionists' in our support, as have most other clubs, quite a lot have genuine concerns regarding the actual management of the club, if not the team. The below is a year or so old but highlights many of the concerns. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2669156-six-years-of-fsg-the-highs-and-lows-of-fenways-liverpool-ownership Since this was published the club released, via the usual suspects, 'rumours' of a 'warchest' type fund of circa £100m-£150m being made available last Summer, which mysteriously, if not unexpectedly, failed to materialise. As ever these rumours surfaced on the eve of Season Ticket renewal time. As it turned out it was the usual relatively modest net spend figure last Summer. And obviously Coutinho has gone this month for a hefty fee, and then we have statements made again via the usual suspects which would indicate not only was there no plan to replace Coutinho, there appears to be no intention to do this, during this window at any rate.

I doubt the truth of anything that comes out via any 'usual sources', Joyce included.. Probably 'fake news' outlets from the club.

It's Winter so hence no Sturridge. 'Winteritis' is a crippling condition and appears to be contagious and possibly spread to Lallana, who has dissapeared off the face of the earth after a brief cameo some time ago.

Well it is Winter again. Should be back around April.

CL dosh becomes more irrelevant each year as it gets dwarfed by the TV revenue.

Sadly our team is littered with 'decent lads', as in they wouldn't say boo to a goose.

The mistakes for all the goals were bad (not all obviously on Lovren when he was binned), but his mistake for the second was the most basic. And it isn't the first time he's made such a basic mistake. Trying to nip in front of his player to intercept a long ball only to fail miserably by completely misjudging the flight of the ball. I'm sure he's done this about 4 times in his time here, all leading to goals. Even at amateur level you rarely if ever see a defender so clumsily fail to assess the flight of a long ball.

No there are other problems in addition to Lovren. But the decision to effectively say 'we know you're shit and the manager knows you're shit, but here's a long term contract at £100k per week' or whatever he gets paid. Anything between £1-£100k would be too much anyway. A bizarre decision, maybe the most bizarre, in a sea of bizarre decisions over the last load of years.

You'd have to wonder why the feck this happened a short time ago? http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/261714-dejan-lovren-signs-new-long-term-liverpool-contract

Not a surprise given they finished 6th last term. The two trophies no doubt helped though.

I'm surprised folk still listen to this 'war chest' guff on the eve of ST renwal time. Happens every season. Death by a thousand cuts over a period of time (7 years). In this manner you don't know you're dying until you're dead.

Garbage again. Arguably worse defence in the league and one of the most uncreative midfields Liverpool has had

This 'deal' was probably known about some time ago. But got an email from the club today 'celebrating' the first ever 'sleeve sponsor'. Yep, the new 'signing' just ahead of the first game of the season is announced to great fanfare and special offer. Western Union now on the sleeves of the kit. Wait for it. Special 'opening offer'. Send money via Western Union for £0 fee until 31st August. Timing is everything isn't it. Just before the first game of the season when the support has been crying out for an actual signing or two, they announce a 'sleeve sponsor'. Surely they're actually trolling the support now. You gotta laugh, or you'd cry.

The trophy haul and league finishes under their tenure speaks volumes. I thought about 5 years ago they were shysters. Not G&H type shysters. Those two were just bufoons. FSG on the other hand are much more savvy, professional if you like. After all they're made up of a collection of individuals with backgrounds in hedge fund ops. And hey ho they can play the supporters like a tune. Usual leaks via the usual suspects of 'massive' transfer intentions on the eve of season ticket renewal day. Their usual prelude to a barren summer. Many view this Summer as the one where they will finally 'back the manager'. For others (me included), that was last Summer, and I think we made a profit on transfer shenanigans. Saved ultimately by the impact of Mane, but fell off the inevitable cliff when Mane and one or two other players were missing. Evidencing the weakness of the 'squad'. And something of a rescue job achieved in the end, probably down to Klopp, by scraping into the CL qualifyers, almost by default in the end, thanks to the shitness of Arsenal and UTD. I thought 5 years ago it won't be a 'sudden death' under their tenure, the way it almost was under G&H. They'e much too savvy for that. I thought then it would be a case of death by a thousand cuts. A gradual managed decline, including the lowering of expectations among the supporters. Not necessarily 'intentional', but something that is inevitable with minimal investment while maximising returns. I don't mean they're syphoning dosh directly out of the club, but the value of having the club on their investment portfolio can't be underestimated re its impact on their other businesses. I'm sure they'd prefer LFC to be competitive with minimal investment. Sadly that is of course never going to happen. Nothing they have done since changes my mind. Having said all that they will of course sanction some signings this Summer, eventually, if nothing else to keep the natives quiet. But it will be another damp squib I fear, hoping again we land an unexpected gem aka Mane. As for the recent effort in the transfer market and the Southampton apology, well incompetence doesn't cover it. The sad thing of course is that we still have a top and seemingly motivated manager at the helm, and arguably only a couple of reasonable if not top players short of a decent team, well one that can compete for the odd trophy here and there. Let's hope the manger hangs about.

This sort of spin usually comes out this time of year, just before season ticket renewal time.

Agree re the atmosphere in the ground. But clapping a bus arrival? Each to their own.

Extremely disappointed window, and one which I thought may see us for once go after top quality as this was effectively Klopp's first major window (I'll exclude Jan for now which was also shit). But no, same old. Can't or won't compete. Just becasue we binned a load of garbage doesn't make it good. How does that add to the team? That's only beneficial from an accountants perspective. We're now reliant on Klopp to pull off a miracle. Some seem to suggest that Klopp is happy with his lot. Just becasue he doesn't go slagging off his employers in public doesn't necessarily mean he's satisfied at having to shove Milner into LB or having no better options at DM. This may be the owners payback for those pesky protests around the proposed price rises last season re the main stand. Where's the TV money John Boy? Or maybe they'e trimming the costs ahead of a sale, who knows.

Well if you take England out of the equation and ask 'is Henderson good enough to captain an Allerdyce team?', then the answer may be yes, given he usually steams in to rescue a team from relegation. The fact that Sam is England manager is more of a weird one than Henderson being a captain under him.

I don't think criticism is of getting rid of deadwood. In my opinion there are potentially others who we wouldn't miss and one or two are in the first team. It's the lack of those coming in that criticism is aimed at, esp the LB gap and the gaping one in DM, which to fair has been there for years anyway.

Our 'best defender' doesn't necessarily equate to 'good', certainly in the context of the prem. He's way over-rated by some of our support (like most of our players) but on the other hand under-rated by opposition support. Which says ability wise he sits somewhere in between. An average defender isn't going to have clubs lining up to sign him. But if we're determined to off load some team will probably take him.

What is it 6/7 years FSG have been in charge. And little to zero success in all that time, in fact mediocrity you could argue, except for Kenny's LC win where he was promptly sacked. Why wouldn't you want a sale?