Welcome to LFC Ibrahima Konate

[Doc_Piptorious]

Yeah he's just not that guy. He's a physical specimen, great one vs one that has put in some great performances beside and under the direction of one of the goats. On the other hand, he's rash, awkward on the ball and not the smartest footballer looked and has looked an absolute catastrophe on many occasions too... a worrying amount if I'm honest. Even with Virgil on the backend, he's still an inspiration and a young CB can learn so much from him. I don't really see the likes of Leoni or Jacquet learning much from Konate. Jacquet is an unknown, Leoni is an unknown, Konate is hit and miss, Gomez is hit and miss and a crock and VVDs best days are behind him. I would feel much better if we signed a solid and seasoned CB in the summer and got rid of Gomez and Konate.

Regardless of whether we see Konate and Gomez go, I would still want one CB of the level of a Bastoni of a Schlottorbeck and a quality utility player like Geertruida (who after his loan will have a season's worth of PL experience under his belt so no having to get used to the league) coming in.

Gomez I would be happy to let see out the final 12 months of his contract and use him as cover whenever fit and let him be a back up to Geertruida.

Geertruida might even be good enough to make the RB spot his own.

If Konate does go, then I would want one senior CB and a utility player in during the summer and then another CB (his level would depend upon whether or not one of our younger CB stepped up in the first half of the season) coming in during the Jan window. That way all the new CBs are coming in whilst VVD is still here and also they are not all coming in at the same time so by the time a new one arrives, the previous new one will have had at least a half season to be settled into the squad and city.

[baitman]

Happy for konate to go, he can't cover cb without Virge to change his nappy for him.
I'd much sooner see vvd playing with these young lads and let them learn from the master.

[5europeancups]

I'd Keep Gomez until he scores a gaol. It will be the biggest cheer heard in Anfield the day that guy scores!!

[SB]

I'd Keep Gomez until he scores a gaol. It will be the biggest cheer heard in Anfield the day that guy scores!!

We owned a few race horses years back now & one of them didn’t win in 15 starts that we had it so we sold him on. Someone bought him & took him to the country race tracks where he won his first race for the new owners & the race caller said on the radio, congratulations to the owners for sticking with him , not knowing that we’d sold him a month or so earlier. So my point is Joe will score once he leaves us imo.

[Exiled_red]

We owned a few race horses years back now & one of them didn’t win in 15 starts that we had it so we sold him on. Someone bought him & took him to the country race tracks where he won his first race for the new owners & the race caller said on the radio, congratulations to the owners for sticking with him , not knowing that we’d sold him a month or so earlier. So my point is Joe will score once he leaves us imo.

Probably against us knowing our luck...

[Catrin]

Tough one. Would he celebrate a goal against us, even if it was his first ever goal?

[vlahka]

I'm pretty sure if he did celebrate against us our fans would probably celebrate with him.

[Exiled_red]

What's going on with the contract, supposedly very close ages ago, now we are going into last game of the season still not sorted

[kingfunk]

What's going on with the contract, supposedly very close ages ago, now we are going into last game of the season still not sorted

Apparently it depends if we qualify for the CL (clubs stipulation, not his).

[Fosterbloke]

What's going on with the contract, supposedly very close ages ago, now we are going into last game of the season still not sorted

The fact he hasn't signed an agreement with a new club bodes well for the moment. Let's beat Brentford, get CL and then I reckon he'll sign.

[kingfunk]

I think he has played the club/fans like a fiddle, knew he was leaving all along, tried to camouflage it with ridiculous demands, has already signed for Madrid. There is no way that deal was not agreed in the background already. I’m not bothered he is gone, its just the club put him on a pedestal, brought him to the top, and like traitor trent, we get ****ed over with no transfer fee. ****.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I think he has played the club/fans like a fiddle, knew he was leaving all along, tried to camouflage it with ridiculous demands, has already signed for Madrid. There is no way that deal was not agreed in the background already. I’m not bothered he is gone, its just the club put him on a pedestal, brought him to the top, and like traitor trent, we get ****ed over with no transfer fee. ****.

Said this last season and probably the season before, but think people need to get more and more used to players running their contracts down along with managers signing on for shorter contracts.

Players and managers know they cannot be forced out unless they want to go themselves, and that the shorter the contract the closer the are to their next massive signing on fee.

At this point when you see a player getting to his final 12 months it is probably best to accept said player is off come the end of that season. Things like VVD and Salah re-signing in their final year of contract will very much be the exception going forward imo.

Think the same thing applies to Iraola and his two year contracts. He can dress it up anyway he likes but a two year deal means you are pretty much coming in with one foot out the door and an eye on your next move imo. If year one is a transition year, then year two becomes a countdown to potentially leaving and especially if year two is a good year and the manager has an eye on managing a Real Madrid or whoever.

Think the way around it would be something like a wage cap, but that is never going to happen. Think it is just another part of the slow death of the game at the highest levels though. From governing bodies to club owners and to players it is nothing but a big cash cow and the regular every day supporters do not mean a toss to anyone from governing body down to player no matter what mewling platitudes any wish to make about the fan base.

Just take a look at the latest farce of a world cup to see how much ordinary fans of teams, domestic or international, mean.

The whole idea of being a "special" club or a "special" fanbase is just something people like to peddle so they can act as if the club they support is any different to the rest and that the players at that club are somehow "better" or more socially minded than those at any other club.

Not quite sure when the game at the highest level started to die, was it as recent as Chelsea under the russian that started the dominos to tip over or was it the likes of ourselves at one point being at the cutting edge of commercial values meet sport (before the likes of the red Mancs showed us have commerical values could really be put upon a sport) or was it when the Premier league was formed and it's own commercial deals then had a ripple effect out onto other leagues, other governing bodies and into the international game. Matters not a jot how a decline begun I suppose once it has been allowed to go beyond a point of no return.

All that can be done now as an ordinary supporter is cling on to whatever things still provide onself with a spark of hope and kindle that spark into a flame of optimism that gets you through the next season and so on.

[Exiled_red]

Said this last season and probably the season before, but think people need to get more and more used to players running their contracts down along with managers signing on for shorter contracts.

Players and managers know they cannot be forced out unless they want to go themselves, and that the shorter the contract the closer the are to their next massive signing on fee.

At this point when you see a player getting to his final 12 months it is probably best to accept said player is off come the end of that season. Things like VVD and Salah re-signing in their final year of contract will very much be the exception going forward imo.

Think the same thing applies to Iraola and his two year contracts. He can dress it up anyway he likes but a two year deal means you are pretty much coming in with one foot out the door and an eye on your next move imo. If year one is a transition year, then year two becomes a countdown to potentially leaving and especially if year two is a good year and the manager has an eye on managing a Real Madrid or whoever.

Think the way around it would be something like a wage cap, but that is never going to happen. Think it is just another part of the slow death of the game at the highest levels though. From governing bodies to club owners and to players it is nothing but a big cash cow and the regular every day supporters do not mean a toss to anyone from governing body down to player no matter what mewling platitudes any wish to make about the fan base.

Just take a look at the latest farce of a world cup to see how much ordinary fans of teams, domestic or international, mean.

The whole idea of being a "special" club or a "special" fanbase is just something people like to peddle so they can act as if the club they support is any different to the rest and that the players at that club are somehow "better" or more socially minded than those at any other club.

Not quite sure when the game at the highest level started to die, was it as recent as Chelsea under the russian that started the dominos to tip over or was it the likes of ourselves at one point being at the cutting edge of commercial values meet sport (before the likes of the red Mancs showed us have commerical values could really be put upon a sport) or was it when the Premier league was formed and it's own commercial deals then had a ripple effect out onto other leagues, other governing bodies and into the international game. Matters not a jot how a decline begun I suppose once it has been allowed to go beyond a point of no return.

All that can be done now as an ordinary supporter is cling on to whatever things still provide onself with a spark of hope and kindle that spark into a flame of optimism that gets you through the next season and so on.

IMO it is a very different situation for players and managers - while technically you could pay off either, you are unlikely to sack/payoff a player, but are quite likely to do it with a manager. The situation with managers means in the majority of cases a shorter contract means a reduced payoff if you get sacked. Yes that does mean that Iraola could leave for nothing in 2 years even if he does great, but there are a limited number of clubs that are a step up or even a side ways step from LFC, yeah maybe he could go to Madrid, but chances are he he really wanted to go to Madrid he it would probably happen we would just get compensated.

Players leave for all kinds of different reasons, that might be to go to a bigger clubs, a different challenge or to take the step from a squad player to a regular somewhere else

[Doc_Piptorious]

IMO it is a very different situation for players and managers - while technically you could pay off either, you are unlikely to sack/payoff a player, but are quite likely to do it with a manager. The situation with managers means in the majority of cases a shorter contract means a reduced payoff if you get sacked. Yes that does mean that Iraola could leave for nothing in 2 years even if he does great, but there are a limited number of clubs that are a step up or even a side ways step from LFC, yeah maybe he could go to Madrid, but chances are he he really wanted to go to Madrid he it would probably happen we would just get compensated.

Players leave for all kinds of different reasons, that might be to go to a bigger clubs, a different challenge or to take the step from a squad player to a regular somewhere else

Managers still have the security, if they do poorly, of getting a big pay off for their failures and if the club does not want to pay them off then the manager could also sit on their contract if they liked.

Why would we get compensated by Real Madrid, in the hypothetical situation that Iraola goes to them after two years? After two years his gig is up if he does no re-sign so he is free to go where he wants in 24 months. That is not a knock of any kind against Iraola either as he asked for the contract and it was the club that agreed to give it to him. Personally with a new young manager I think a three year contract makes far more sense.

You get the first year to be a transition year, the second year to show real progress and then early in the third year you sit down with the manager and find out if both parties want to extend. Two years for me puts a lot more risk on the club than it does the manager, any manager.

Or at the very least a 2+1 contract whereby the club can activate the third year so that if the manager wants to join a Real Madrid or whomever the activation of the thiord year means if the other club wants him they have to sit down and discuss some sort of compensation.

[Exiled_red]

Managers still have the security, if they do poorly, of getting a big pay off for their failures and if the club does not want to pay them off then the manager could also sit on their contract if they liked.

Why would we get compensated by Real Madrid, in the hypothetical situation that Iraola goes to them after two years? After two years his gig is up if he does no re-sign so he is free to go where he wants in 24 months. That is not a knock of any kind against Iraola either as he asked for the contract and it was the club that agreed to give it to him. Personally with a new young manager I think a three year contract makes far more sense.

You get the first year to be a transition year, the second year to show real progress and then early in the third year you sit down with the manager and find out if both parties want to extend. Two years for me puts a lot more risk on the club than it does the manager, any manager.

Or at the very least a 2+1 contract whereby the club can activate the third year so that if the manager wants to join a Real Madrid or whomever the activation of the thiord year means if the other club wants him they have to sit down and discuss some sort of compensation.

I meant in the situation where a manager has a longer contract, if he really wants to go to Real Madrid before his contract runs out, he probably goes, you get the compensation but you probably don't stop it happening is what I meant.

Iraola has seemingly always worked on short contracts, you could argue that is part of what allowed us to get him, you could argue that the clubs he has managed have been (with all due respect) stepping stones for him and that was part of the motivation, does he regard us as a destination or another stepping stone? Is the reason for a short contract at LFC the same as previously or is it because of the circumstances behind the scenes (he presumably has a good relationship with Hughes, but with speculation over Hughes' future is he reluctant to sign a long contract because he doesn't know what happens in a year?