Liverpool banter 6

20 Jul 2026 12:38:55
We had a visitor at work today who just so happened to be a Liverpool legend. I won't say who it was for obvious confidentiality reasons, but there was a photographer following him around all morning, so I'd imagine photos from the visit will probably end up on social media over the next few days.

Working in the industry, it's not unusual for people from football to come in and check on their investments. Today was one of those days.

I managed to have a quick chat with him. To be honest, I was pretty star struck. I didn't want to be another person asking about transfers, specific players or stories from his playing days. Instead, I asked what the biggest differences were between the Klopp era, the current setup, and now Iraola coming in. I also asked whether the shift in culture behind the scenes was as noticeable internally as it seems from the outside.

He just looked at me for a few seconds, took a breath, and in his thick accent simply said, "Son...

you have no idea."

That was it.

The way he said it stuck with me more than the words themselves. You could almost see the enthusiasm leave him for a moment. Maybe I touched a nerve without meaning to. My colleagues have spent the last 20 minutes calling me "Joy Killer" because apparently I killed the mood.

It genuinely left me feeling a bit deflated though. Seeing someone who's given so much to the club and who clearly still cares deeply about it react like that wasn't easy. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it didn't feel like the answer of someone who's happy with how things are behind the scenes.

Hopefully Iraola can bring some of that joy back. For all the speculation from the outside, hearing such a simple response from someone who's been around the club carried a lot more weight than I expected.

20 Jul 2026 13:14:10
Racking my brains to think who has a thick accent and would start a sentence with the word 'Son'. I'm getting 'Scottish vibes', so I'm thinking King Kenny, Hansen or Souness.

20 Jul 2026 13:27:45
Some of the ITKs were reporting major issues driven by Michael Edwards blocking anything moving. He's now gone. Plus Richard Hughes is due to leave when this window shuts, which is a bit weird (here you are, spend a few £ hundred Million and then be on your way...) I'm hoping Iraloa and Hughes will work well to get what is needed, they have worked closely and successfully before and know each other well.

20 Jul 2026 13:30:13
Me too! Kenny first came to mind. He would also never say anything negative about the club.

20 Jul 2026 13:41:43
Was it Torben Pichnik? 🤔🤔

20 Jul 2026 14:12:09
I was thinking Veggard Heggem.

20 Jul 2026 14:30:25
I know for a fact, second hand info from someone still at the club, that Klopp was not always the easiest person to work with. As all elite professionals are, he was very demanding of people, and he challenged them to constantly improve.



I expect that kind of culture behind the scenes, and I hope that Iraola brings it back. A joyful culture is a successful one, but you need to work hard to achieve it.

20 Jul 2026 14:50:10
Was it Erik Meijer?

20 Jul 2026 15:05:57
I reckon it was Bill Shankley.

20 Jul 2026 15:24:01
Sounds like Souness.

20 Jul 2026 15:34:46
My money's on Jimmy Krankie.

20 Jul 2026 15:35:36
It certainly won't be Suarez, Chewy.

20 Jul 2026 15:39:43
King Kenny 'Son' is definitely a Kenny phrase.

20 Jul 2026 16:57:28
I'm thinking Alan Hanson.

20 Jul 2026 12:16:40
The Yan Diomande deal is fascinating to me, it really feels like there are a lot of rumours about him but nobody truely knows where he’s going. I am going to put my neck on the line here I think we get him and Barcola.

Just becuase people are purely speculating on this.

20 Jul 2026 13:09:25
I think Robbolfc said we would get both before the WC.

20 Jul 2026 13:14:54
He's going down the pan, lad.

20 Jul 2026 13:32:11
From all that's been said here, I don't think he goes anywhere.

What will be interesting and will speak a lot to the player will be how he responds.

From what I've read of him personally, I would guess he responds well with good attitude and hopefully even sees the light that maybe his representatives are putting him down a bad path.



Although more cynically, I could guess that his representatives have him ties up in all sorts of contract that he may not even have the option to move away without massive penalties. This or just him being influenced by them could ruin his mentality and attitude and honestly scupper his career.

I do feel bad for him, honestly.

20 Jul 2026 14:33:09
For me it's all agent speak, putting out rumours and fake bids to drum up the price and interest.

20 Jul 2026 14:35:56
Unfortunately for the lad, as it turned out, the World Cup came at exactly the wrong time for the lad - his star was on the rise and the big move was on the cards. Unfortunately, his team didn't stand out and he didn't shine for his team.



Then, Roc Nation decided, seemingly, to feather their own nest rather than try and represent the interests of their client.

The end result appears to be that he may need a couple of years and a change of agent before another chance comes around.

20 Jul 2026 15:41:41
As soon as we heard his agents were playing games, I said they've cocked any possibility of transfer altogether; I reckon he'll have to down tools to get a move now, unless RBL are willing to cut the price. Personally, I've lost all respect and interest.

20 Jul 2026 12:07:24
It seems the noises coming out of the club are we won't buy a midfielder unless Jones or Macallister leave. Shame because other than Gravenberch having a purple patch for 5 months in the 6 we have looked desperate for a natural D.M since Fabinho's legs went.

20 Jul 2026 13:27:10
We still have Endo and Badj on the books, so until their future is sorted, it wouldn't make sense to add another wage to an already stacked area.

20 Jul 2026 14:38:25
@Fowlers2 - where can I find the "noises coming out of the club" please? Are they on the club official web site or are they on social media?

20 Jul 2026 11:24:03
Apparently, the squad flies out to the US today.

Interesting to see that Bradley, Leoni, Hugo, Bajcetic and even Ramsey are joining them whereas last season we chose to leave Chiesa at home (citing injury) and sent Joe Gomez home mid-tour.

Is that because US training facilities are better than Asia or is that just better/more inclusive man management from Iraola? Hmmm.

20 Jul 2026 12:33:50
Really like this, it costs more than a few £, but got to be good from a motivation/management viewpoint, and also tactical preparation, ensuring everyone's on the same page.

20 Jul 2026 12:37:05
I'd say it's to get the tactics across and unity.

20 Jul 2026 12:52:37
Slot was just preparing them for all the time off they was going to get in the season.
🤣

20 Jul 2026 13:01:51
Think this is just good team management, keeping everyone together helps build team unity, think it's a clever idea.

20 Jul 2026 13:25:51
I think that it is widely understood that Slot had very little in the way of personal skills. I think he probably thought that it was more important for them to carry on with their recovery regime, even if it meant leaving them back home.

Iraola is different. He has far more people skills and likely sees the benefit of a squad being together even if some of the players are not fit enough to play. I much prefer that approach. We need a squad that are well bonded and will fight for each other.

20 Jul 2026 13:37:37
It's a full club attitude. As a 15 year old in our academy right now. Are you going to be motivated to push yourself as much when we have a manager who didn't give youth a legitimate chance even when things were completely crap? A manager that never went to any youth games or trainings, allegedly? All while pushing academy prospects out of the club or ostracising them?

I think that is the biggest lesson the club can learn from the last couple of years. I think our academy still needs a bit of a rework overall from what I have read.

But I will take a local talent coming through any day of the week over a 100 mill signing. It just hits different. Obviously would and will celebrate all of Isak's goals this season, but would there be even more emotion if it was a Jaydon Danns or any other youngster that's come through academy? For me it certainly does anyway. But I also think the sport of football for me as a fan is not just about winning. I like to be emotionally invested and entertained which isn't always the case when winning and can be the case even when losing.

20 Jul 2026 14:42:24
Presumably the coaching staff selected the pre-season squad last year and the current coaching staff selected the pre-season squad this year. Trying to compare is pointless - different approaches in place.

20 Jul 2026 08:17:48
Now that soccer is over, can we get into football proper?

20 Jul 2026 11:05:30
What's Soccer????

20 Jul 2026 11:09:23
Amen, brother. Even tho the soccer was pretty good.

20 Jul 2026 11:41:14
Just seen on Sky Sports News, Villa have signed Gomes from Wolves. What happened, thought we had a shout there?

20 Jul 2026 11:56:02
We didn't shout loudly enough? 😉😂

20 Jul 2026 12:02:36
According to some online (i.e. clickbait) reports I saw, we turned down the opportunity to sign him even though he was keen, to go for Wharton instead - a DLP rather than a CDM.

20 Jul 2026 12:01:41
I'm glad that it's over because everything that is good about football, won, in the end. The Argentinians tried hard to dirty up the game even after the whistle, but they got what they deserved. And pumpkin head trying to stay in the photo frame after the presentations was truly cringeworthy.

20 Jul 2026 14:47:28
I thought it was really funny + basically the Argentinians weren't interested in Trump, or anybody else for that matter and the Spanish squad shook his hand and then just disregarded him.

He looked like the embarrassing, old uncle that everybody swerves at a family do. The absolute best way to handle the clown - acknowledge he's there and then ignore him - the best way to deal with his ego.

20 Jul 2026 03:15:46
I live in Brazil, my wife is Brazilian Colombian.

Pretty much all of South America hates Argentina and Argentinians and they have a reputation for being racist. Today's behaviour honestly doesn't surprise me at all.

It only surprises me just how often Argentina escapes punishment.

20 Jul 2026 04:10:04
Okie dokey.

20 Jul 2026 06:24:21
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game yesterday for exactly this reason. Whilst no nation is perfect or free from bigots there does seem to be a pervasive culture there.
Also loved their reaction to the Rugby defeat 🤣

20 Jul 2026 08:02:32
I'm sure there's a few nice non racist ones out there, but their football team were not classy last night, that's for sure. Glad they lost.

20 Jul 2026 08:58:33
Yeah, let's just brush over how FIFA tried their hardest to not punish them for their behaviour throughout the entire tournament.

They got their comeuppance in the final, but they shouldn't have got past Egypt. A joint worst performance by FIFA and Argentina.

20 Jul 2026 09:13:19
The authorities really believed in cleanliness, didn't they? They even stopped play towards the end of normal play to remove a small turd from the pitch. I will say, however, they should have done it in the semi-final!

20 Jul 2026 09:23:26
Even Messi was at it, trying to get Cuccerella booked for apparently covering his mouth. Got what they deserved, zip. The sight of Fernandez waving his finger in innocence after the attack on Cubarsi says it all. In these games where we have no allegiance, I like to see a penalty shoot-out. On this occasion, just glad Argentina lost.

20 Jul 2026 10:04:12
I'm from Chile (based in Australia) and I can confirm: No South American nation likes Argentina, and I think now a lot of the world (in a football sense) doesn't like them either.

When that first Spain goal was ruled out, I feared the worst, but I'm so glad Spain got another one.

20 Jul 2026 10:09:12
What was worse, half-time show or Fantino's suit with trainers that were so white you would think they came from a Turkish dentist?

20 Jul 2026 11:35:30
I'm on holiday in Mexico currently, and every single person in the theatre at the hotel showing the game, bar a handful of Argentinians, wanted Spain to win and cheered when they scored and did. All nationalities... Brits, French, Mexicans, etc.

20 Jul 2026 11:13:20
Nevada, Argentina has always been hated in SA esp. by the countries that have our melanated brothers and sisters within their population like Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador etc. The hate is real.

And now that their reprehensible history and conduct has been outed to all the world during this WC, a ton of African Americans just hate them now due to their messy history with racism even if, they like Leo Messi as a player, icon and football (or soccer) legen.

20 Jul 2026 13:02:48
One of the reasons is that a lot of Argentineans think of themselves as Europeans, not Latinos (because of their Italian heritage). They've always been quite arrogant and looked down on the rest of South America.

At one point they also had a very strong economy in the 50s if I remember correctly.

They call themselves the Europe of South America. I call them the Europe of Temu lol 😆

19 Jul 2026 23:57:08.
Congratulations to Victor Munoz (And, Iraola, I guess) for the World Cup.

I can tell you now, as an ITK, he was indispensable. Spain would not have won the World Cup, if not for Munoz's heart and dedication throughout the competition. He wasn't tackled once. That is how good he was.

Don't check, believe me. Courtesy, of the new, ground-breaking, ITK, poster.

20 Jul 2026 01:33:28
To be fair, he looked a popular guy in the celebrations. Hoping that's an indicator that he is a good egg.

Looking forward to seeing him play. I was always hoping he would come on for Spain.

20 Jul 2026 07:24:45
The whole of Argentina need to ha g their heads in shame was a total disgrace the dark arts and blatant fouling a thought mobbing meant a yellow card in all fairness the referee should have been stronger from the 1st whistle which would have meant the players were not going to get away with any shenanigans which they did parades should have seen red earlier than he did a hope fernandez tries thay assault this seasons and see where it gets him Madrid should steer well clear of him his behaviour was a disgrace

20 Jul 2026 11:02:04
Had to take a deep breath to complete that sentence, Hunter.

20 Jul 2026 11:14:11
@Hunter, Argentina have never had any shame. Can't shame the shameless, man.

20 Jul 2026 14:42:17
They've had a bad reputation in football since '66. They've always been know as dirty cheats

19 Jul 2026 23:39:14.
Barcola move hotting up!

I think we could see a few ins and outs this week coming.

Also, like to see Macalister move on now too.

Just not good enough.

19 Jul 2026 23:52:22
Macca always throwing himself on the ground again with every little touch in the WC finals. Hope the club sells him, we don't need that in our midfield.

20 Jul 2026 06:30:37
Listen, I get what Macca does on occasions is infuriating, but he ain't on his own in that respect. Hopefully new laws come in that will encourage players to stay on their feet once they know they're not getting a free kick.

20 Jul 2026 07:12:36
Talk of a bid of £85m for Barcola.

20 Jul 2026 07:58:12
Doubt that will be enough.

20 Jul 2026 09:07:56
I'm not sure where this witch hunt for Macca came from Irish, but watching the WC final last night, he was actually one of the better ones for Argentina. Enzo Fernandes was 10 times worse than Macca, but in truth they were all dropping like flies.



I'm not saying he doesn't do it, I just don't understand how anyone could watch that game and pick Macca out for particular criticism for diving. Most of the Argentina players were far worse than him.

20 Jul 2026 09:25:06
The bottom line is, he's a Liverpool player, and in a few weeks' time he'll likely be pulling on a red shirt, so we will need to get behind him.

19 Jul 2026 23:38:18
I'm excited the World Cup is over because it allows the board to move on from complaining about international matches, to almost exclusively complaining about the transfer window and the Liverpool players they support, haha.

20 Jul 2026 09:46:04
I'd like to register my displeasure at people who complain about complaints. Now, where is that complaints form?
Cheers
Mr Irony.