Isakly what we need

[StevieM]

When you typed that, did you believe it?

I mean, I hope Isak scores 200 goals a season for us and wins us 1000 trophies.

But, "honest"? Do me a favour.

And what has he done that’s dishonest?

I get that it’s fucking annoying if your top player wants to leave, but that doesn’t make him a cunt.

Diaz wanted to leave, is he a cunt?

Go back a few years, Mane wanted to leave, was he a cunt too?

As far as I can see it looks like Newcastle getting all shitty and acting like a
15 year old that’s been dumped for the first time.

Isn’t freezing him out what some on here wanted us to do to Konate if he refused to sign an extension.

No wonder players want to come to Liverpool, they’ll be treated like adults even if they want to fuck off on a free after honouring the contract they signed.

 

[LarryHagman]

And what has he done that’s dishonest?

How long's his contract?

 

[peterhague]

Wanting to leave before the end of his contract doesn't make him dishonest.

 

[Glen C]

How long's his contract?

I don't condone what isak did as I hate the whole fake injury shit. But Didn't they do him dirty first by going back on his pay rise?

 

[LarryHagman]

I don't really give 2 shits, it's the way footy is these days I guess. It's the double standards I find funny. I'll bring this thread up in 12 months when MacAllister wants to go to Madrid, see if opinions have changed.

 

[Markeh]

i have the combination of a shit memory and no interest in following the minutiae of the isak saga but what exactly is the difference between what he’s doing here and what coutinho did?

 

[StevieM]

How long's his contract?

So the honest thing to do is see out your contract and leave on a free… like Trent?

 

[juniormember]

I don’t really care either way regarding Isak’s attitude, but what were some of you in the ‘Isak is honest and doing nothing wrong’ camp saying about Torres when he left for a record fee to Chelski?

 

[StevieM]

I don't really give 2 shits, it's the way footy is these days I guess. It's the double standards I find funny. I'll bring this thread up in 12 months when MacAllister wants to go to Madrid, see if opinions have changed.

The opinion would be the same as Diaz - if a player wants to go, try and persuade them otherwise or try and delay it until timing is better, otherwise sell them if a deal is acceptable.

There’s no point fucking around being petty - regardless of who the player is, if they’ve decided they want to be elsewhere.

 

[StevieM]

I don’t really care either way regarding Isak’s attitude, but what were some of you in the ‘Isak is honest and doing nothing wrong’ camp saying about Torres when he left for a record fee to Chelski?

I think there’s a bit of a difference between irrational reactions of fans versus the reality of football.

Like many, Torres hurt, but it was also the transfer that taught me to never again develop some sort of emotional attachment to a player or believe they are driven by the same overly romanticised notions of clubs as the fans are.

It’s ok for players to want to go somewhere else for whatever reason they want - better weather, better shopping, more mountains, more cash, more glitz - whatever they want.

Whether they’re a dickhead or it depends on their actions - saying you want to move for a new challenge or whatever,turning down new contract offers, seeing out the contract you signed and moving for free or using clauses inserted into a contract are not the actions of dickheads.

Faking back injuries, refusing to play or train, mouthing off in the press, “going on strike” - that’s all the sort of thing dickheads do to force moves.

I took the Isak injury to be the club making an excuse for him not playing in a pre-season, the club told him to stay away and Isak and his entourage have generally kept their mouth shut throughout this.

Newcastle are the ones who look like amateur hour dickheads - Isak has kept his mouth shut and generally so have Liverpool.

 

[juniormember]

I think there’s a bit of a difference between irrational reactions of fans versus the reality of football.

Like many, Torres hurt, but it was also the transfer that taught me to never again develop some sort of emotional attachment to a player or believe they are driven by the same overly romanticised notions of clubs as the fans are.

It’s ok for players to want to go somewhere else for whatever reason they want - better weather, better shopping, more mountains, more cash, more glitz - whatever they want.

Whether they’re a dickhead or it depends on their actions - saying you want to move for a new challenge or whatever,turning down new contract offers, seeing out the contract you signed and moving for free or using clauses inserted into a contract are not the actions of dickheads.

Faking back injuries, refusing to play or train, mouthing off in the press, “going on strike” - that’s all the sort of thing dickheads do to force moves.

I took the Isak injury to be the club making an excuse for him not playing in a pre-season, the club told him to stay away and Isak and his entourage have generally kept their mouth shut throughout this.

Newcastle are the ones who look like amateur hour dickheads - Isak has kept his mouth shut and generally so have Liverpool.

Hmm. Fakes an injury and goes AWOL, off to a former club of his rather than his own club. Leaks to the press everywhere about imminent LFC bid for him (could be him or LFC, certainly not from NFC camp). Leaks about him having completely made his mind up about not ever playing for NFC again and wanting the LFC move. Leaks about his contract struggles from the previous season.

 

[StevieM]

Hmm. Fakes an injury and goes AWOL, off to a former club of his rather than his own club. Leaks to the press everywhere about imminent LFC bid for him (could be him or LFC, certainly not from NFC camp). Leaks about him having completely made his mind up about not ever playing for NFC again and wanting the LFC move. Leaks about his contract struggles from the previous season.

I did say I thought the club used the “injury thing, for me it wasn’t clear who was pushing that more.

Also not sure the training at another club facilities is such a big thing - I took it that he had been told to stay away or not train with the team - what’s he supposed to do?

As for “leaks” - I couldn’t tell you what’s just bullshit made up by social media people for clicks and what’s actually coming from him - people have a tendency to read treat crap on the internet as well sourced news.

Who knows who’s leaking what - might as well be the club making sure the fans know they tried to keep him by offering contracts - if it’s true, it can’t have come as a fucking surprise to Newcastle that he quite fancies the idea of joining us.

 

[Dreambeliever]

So there are no honest dickheads then to summarise?

 

[Stevesquash]

I think, if its true, you have to take into account he was promised a contract that then didn't materialise. You or I would be pissed off in our own work if your organisation renegged on something like this.

We only treated Trent with respect.

The 2 situations are not comparable.

 

[juniormember]

I did say I thought the club used the “injury thing, for me it wasn’t clear who was pushing that more.

Also not sure the training at another club facilities is such a big thing - I took it that he had been told to stay away or not train with the team - what’s he supposed to do?

As for “leaks” - I couldn’t tell you what’s just bullshit made up by social media people for clicks and what’s actually coming from him - people have a tendency to read treat crap on the internet as well sourced news.

Who knows who’s leaking what - might as well be the club making sure the fans know they tried to keep him by offering contracts - if it’s true, it can’t have come as a fucking surprise to Newcastle that he quite fancies the idea of joining us.

The thing about training at his old club was that he didn’t tell his club where he was going, and that standard protocol is usually that you go back to your own club to work with your medical team if injury is what’s preventing you from being with the team.
I don’t think you can sugar coat that one.
But as I’ve said, I don’t personally care and hope we get him. Just found it intriguing as the Torres situation has similarities.

 

[The Nomad]

Lets not compare him to Trent.

A better comparison would be Coutinho.

 

[StevieM]

The thing about training at his old club was that he didn’t tell his club where he was going, and that standard protocol is usually that you go back to your own club to work with your medical team if injury is what’s preventing you from being with the team.
I don’t think you can sugar coat that one.
But as I’ve said, I don’t personally care and hope we get him. Just found it intriguing as the Torres situation has similarities.

I actually have no idea what’s actually been going on behind the scenes.

From what I’ve read, Isak travelled with the Newcastle team and Howe sent him away - he’s on record as saying that was his decision.

Then there was the “minor thigh injury” that prevented him going on the pre-season tour - which again would have to have been Newcastle’s decision.

Then after the Newcastle squad left for pre-season, Isak went off to Spain to train on his own and was subsequently told to stay away from training and social events with the squad, while the club erase him from their promotional material.

I honestly don’t quite know what to make of it - but it doesn’t sound like he’s being a complete bellend.

If I was to take a guess, it feels like someone at Newcastle thought that playing a bit of a hardline to show him who’s boss would slap him back in line, but they completely misjudged the situation and it’s completely backfired into a situation where they’ve likely burnt all bridges with the player.

I can’t really tell who’s reacting to who here - normally it’s a bit easier to tell - but things only started to get spicy after Howe left Isak out of that Celtic pre-season game.

 

[Red Bird]

I can see a test application of the Lassana Diarra case here.

 

[StevieM]

I dunno - Newcastle have made a pigs ear of this - like they have every other attempted transfer, which suggests weapons grade incompetence at that Director of Football type function/level - that’s before you even look at Howe falling out with the previous incumbent and giving the job to his inexperienced 31 yo nephew.

The transfer will happen as soon as Newcastle sign replacements and we won’t be paying much more than the opening offer.

 

[Brizzle]

How can anyone compare this to Trent? He isn't running down his contract 3 years in advance. He should be being sold for a british transfer record.

No one knows what the owners promised him and his agent. He has delivered their first trophy in a generation, and probably feels he's done as much as he can at this club. His departure would set them up to build their next great team - if they'd sold him early doors then look at all the players they could have signed that have been moving around in the market.

By waiting too long, they've shot themselves in the foot and probably won't be able to add the quality they want until next summer.

 

[Frogfish]

So the honest thing to do is see out your contract and leave on a free… like Trent?

Yes. After being promised a substantial rise that never materialised.

 

[tombrown]

If a team's best player wants to leave themt o join us then he is perfect in every respect

If our best player wants to leave us to join another team, he is a rat.

It's simple, it doesn't need justification or an "adult" objective analysis, it just is. If it isn't that obvious for you then I suggest you are an academic football appreciator rather than a feral Liverpool fan.

 

[peterhague]

Trent was a fan and a local and he deliberately left for nothing after years of scheming.

It was much worse than what Isak is doing.

 

[Number21]

I don't see Isak as a dickhead. I like him even more for wanting us this badly.

We are hypocrites to a degree but we all know the score because we've been through it with the South Americans/Spanish players in the past.

There does seem to be an awful lot of crying from Newcastle & other fans about this though & an awful lot of bullshit too.

 

[Hansern]

Who ordered a hit piece?


View: https://x.com/anfieldedition/status/1954475592012763399?s=46

 

[Markeh]

i don’t think they’re used to having good players and even less used to having ones that force a move.

you can understand this kind of talk, some of us have probably said similar over various players. at least they’re getting well compensated while relearning never to trust or attach any emotions to a footballer playing for your club.

 

[dogboy]

It's fairly straightforward, he's a dick, Newcastle are dicks and we're dicks. If you think anything different you're one as well. Although as @tombrown has said, you being a dick is mitigated by supporting a football club.

 

[Dreambeliever]

It's fairly straightforward, he's a dick, Newcastle are dicks and we're dicks. If you think anything different you're one as well. Although as @tombrown has said, you being a dick is mitigated by supporting a football club.

This reminds me of team America world police.

 

[juniormember]

If a team's best player wants to leave themt o join us then he is perfect in every respect

If our best player wants to leave us to join another team, he is a rat.

It's simple, it doesn't need justification or an "adult" objective analysis, it just is. If it isn't that obvious for you then I suggest you are an academic football appreciator rather than a feral Liverpool fan.

I’m a top, top academic.