Blues Brothers Everton Podcast
Blues Brothers Everton Podcast
Derby Preview
We look ahead to the second derby match and assess our chances. We also talk about which Everton players we expect to leave in the future, and which we want to stay.
Welcome to episode 84 of the Blues Brothers Everton podcast. I'm Austin, your host. Glad to be with you again, Andy. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:Hi Austin, I'm good. Thank you, yeah, just in the middle of me, three days off work this week. Did an overtime shift on Tuesday. It was an expensive month last month for car repairs and caravan service and basically everything we own with a set of wheels all needed repairing and fixing at the same time. But we're through that period now and just in the process of trying to pay for it all. But, yeah, looking forward to chatting, good things, all things.
Speaker 2:Everton, the lines have crossed financially again, which is always good news. Adam, how are you doing?
Speaker 3:I'm all right. Yeah, I'm good thanks. Like Andrew, I have car-related news. I've purchased a new car, which has been a long time. This is the one you were waiting for, right? Yeah, I just ended up buying it myself, finding one, and then I went up to Pontefract a couple of Tuesdays ago and, yeah, I liked it, bought it there and then no pissing about.
Speaker 2:That's the way. Awesome Ben can't be with us, so three of us are going to crack on. We're recording this on Thursday, so we're in the middle of it. It's a weird time because we haven't played for a couple of weeks and the West Ham game is the last game. Dear listener, if you're waiting for us to review the West Ham game, we're not going to. Two reasons One, it was shit. And two, none of us can really remember anything other than it was shit. A mate of mine, steve big up to Steve, I know he listens One of the New York Evertonians managed to get there to go to Goodison for the last time with his girlfriend, jen, and it was the first time she'd gone. So, uh, it was good for that and glad that we got an equalizer, but we're not really going to talk about that game.
Speaker 1:Just on that note, actually, one of my uh the driver trainer at the company I work for is an everton fan and he was asking if both tickets ever come up, um to let him know. So him and the transport manager um could go, because lee the driver trainer wanted to go to goodison one. So him and the transport manager could go, because Lee, the driver trainer wanted to go to Goodison one last time and Nick the manager had never been. So they both went to the West Ham game and enjoyed the experience. But they can confirm that the game was indeed shit. Nick at one point turned to Lee and said I thought this was supposed to be a Premier League game. If I want to watch League Two football, I can go to watch Grimsby Town, the team I actually support, which probably tells you all you need to know.
Speaker 2:Here we are talking about it. West Ham aren't very good and Graham Potter has not really done his thing there yet. And the Everton players, if they literally roll out, I mean I think they'll be up for the Derby, but after that, if they actually turn up wearing flip-flops, I wouldn't be surprised. I think we'll maybe do. Okay, derby's a big game. I think the Southampton game at home is a big game because it's the last game at Gooders and I fancy us. In both those games I think we've done well, despite the fact we've been pretty poor for the last few weeks. We keep grinding out points, which is fine, yeah, gloriously, doesn't fucking matter. So, uh, we're not really gonna talk about it that much. We are going to talk about the ground, um, the bramley moore dock, which is the other test event. Actually, before we get on to that, I should mark momentous occasion. Uh, we got a new high-powered evertonian, the prime minister of canada, mark car, big Evertonian, actual big Evertonian, not just one of these people that you hear, like Sylvester Stallone, who wore a scarf once. His family are from Liverpool, he's a big Everton fan and he wrote a letter. I mean, it was not that long ago when we got Dr Points last season. He wrote a letter in protest. So, if he can, I mean not that he achieved anything, but he's going to bring that attitude to dealing with Donald Trump. His letter was very good, actually. You should look it up. So, yeah, I just wanted to. Congratulations to Mark, who's the prime minister of Canada for at least a month. Maybe not much longer than that, but we'll see. Yeah, the grant. A month, uh, maybe not much longer than that, but we'll see. Um, yeah, the ground.
Speaker 2:So we're the other second test event um story from the first test event. I'm sure you guys heard this, but there's a guy, uh, a good family friend of ours, a guy called pete lewis who was um, sat behind us at goodison for years and he's a. Our dad worked with p. We've all known him for a long time. Bless him. He managed to stretch the definition of test event at the first test game by getting all the way up to the top of the South stand where his seat was, and falling over and cracking his head open, becoming the first customer for the medical center at Bramley Moor Dock, gave him nine stitches and he saw none of the game whatsoever. He's doing, apparently doing great. So Pete was tested it, yeah, but singing test with you, that are they day. I don't know if you guys have heard anything. I have a couple of friends of mine who had people who were there, so I've kind of had a couple of conversations with folks about it. But any thoughts on what we've seen from that test event?
Speaker 1:yeah, as I said a moment ago, just before we started recording, all I know is that the test event happened and they were going to test the fire alarm and the stadium evacuation in the second half, but, um, I don't actually know anything about how that sort of procedure went on. So if either of you two do know, then I'm all ears.
Speaker 2:I mean they stopped the game. The referee was weird. The referee blew the whistle on 65 minutes. It was an under-21s game. Everton were winning 1-0. They'd scored just before that, so it was a bit weird, but understandably they played a half 45 minutes. They came out for a second half On 65 minutes. The referee blew the whistle for full time and they evacuated the stadium. So everyone left. So the coverage stopped Apparently went very, very smoothly and also there's been a lot of stuff around the transport which I think is going to be a problem.
Speaker 2:But a good friend of mine's dad was there and got the train up to Sandhills and his view was it was no problem at all, it was totally fine. Now that's with 25,000 people, so that's half capacity. So we'll have to see how it plays out, but everything I've heard has been good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I can't remember what was discussed on my last pod regarding transport, but you can walk to Liverpool City Centre in half an hour, so I imagine that's what a lot of people are going to do. Rather than queue at sandhills for a train, they can just walk to lime street or james street or whatever and just, uh, just get on with transport from there I think um, what I've seen it's the?
Speaker 3:um. There's been a lot of talk about the steepness of the stands. I think it's basically as steep as it can go legally without watching the Quidditch World Cup from one of those Harry Potter films, and it makes a huge difference. I went to the Mestalla a number of years ago and I was sat up in the gods there. But that is fucking. That's fucking steep as well and you really feel that even though you're high up, you're just really on top of stuff. And obviously that was the purpose of Dan Mice's creation. Of course was to try and on top of stuff, and obviously that's the. That was the purpose of um. Dan mice's uh creation, of course was uh, to try and um to um recreate that that good. You know the, the atmosphere, which obviously has sort of waned over the last 10 years, in my opinion, um, but I have no doubt that it will come back. And you know the, the blue wall of 13,000 seats looks absolutely incredible. So yeah, I think, from what I've read about the second test event, the club said it went really really well.
Speaker 3:I think there's obviously a question mark over the, over the you know transport and stuff, because, as you know, it's um, you know the the stadium is, it has the area, has the stadium and then not a lot else.
Speaker 3:Um, I think there's been talk about plans for a new railway station, um, in uh voxel. My geography of uh my, my geography of liverpool isn't fantastic um, so I'm not exactly sure where that is, but that's part of the plan and obviously the last thing they're going to want is going to be those sort of transport issues that you might see, if I'm sure, if, like you know, spurs can, spurs can manage it with a, with a crap, with a. When, when white heart lane went from you know 40, 35 000 up to uh, up to 60 000 um in london, I'm sure if they can manage it, it'll be one of the top things that they're they're looking at to ensure doesn't cause any any particular any problems I mean, I think the think the challenge they've got is that the city council are just way behind where they should be on this like way behind and you know, I think, that they're obviously scrambling to catch up.
Speaker 2:The thing I'm surprised hasn't been talked about, and I won't be surprised if it doesn't start to become part of the answer is running ferries because there's a. It's a dock. Yeah, you, you could. I'm not an engineer, but, like you can see how, on the side of the stadium, where there's a side that sort of sticks out into the water, obviously where the old dock wall is, which I think is where basically the team buses are going to drive around the water, obviously where the old dock wall is, which I think is where basically the team buses are going to drive around, there's no reason at all in theory why you couldn't have uh, put a, a, you know, a dock on there and have ferries running from uh, from, uh, from the city. Now it might not, it might be six or one, because you've got to get from lime street down to pierhead to get on the ferry.
Speaker 2:But it seems like I mean, how long do you think a new train line or new train station would take in this country? I mean, we'll be moving to the next stadium by the time they've got that built, whereas the river is there. So I mean, I imagine what they're going to do and we've said this before is just close the roads and we're going to ship out the buses. Yeah, I'm sure that's what they're going to do, because it is a relatively catastrophic shot up there to get up there on the bus. So I'm sure that's what they're going to do, but the no doubt the pressure is on the city council because everton's it's not everton's responsibility and and it's not like being a surprise that we've been building this thing or when it was going to open. So Steve Rotherham will be under serious pressure if this turns into a shit show on the first day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, totally, and also it should be the catalyst. I'm sure it will be the catalyst for a lot of economic growth in that area and transport has a potential to stifle that if it's. If they're not um, you know, if they're not careful yeah, and it should.
Speaker 2:You know there'll be a lot going on. I mean, I saw the other day they're going to host, we're going to host one of the rugby games excuse me, not in october, when australia are touring. So they're obviously it's going to be a place that other things are going to happen and and it's obviously on the um.
Speaker 1:it's going to be a Euro 2028 venue, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it's spec to be a Champions League ground as well. Yeah, not with Everton in the Champions League. No, the stadium might play in the Champions League.
Speaker 3:Um so yeah, I know, go on, adam. Sorry, that's right, and I was uh, I can say that there's one more. I think, uh, there's one more test event which is like I think it's near capacity, yeah, over the summer, sometime over the summer. So, and obviously, like you said, there'll be. You know there's going to be, you know gigs and other things that are going on as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, just on that point, talk about other celebrity Evertonians. Billy Joe Armstrong, front man of Green Day.
Speaker 2:He's an Evertonian.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Didn't know that. Straight on how, yeah, how, how does that happen?
Speaker 1:I believe there was. I can't remember the exact details why, but he is an Evertonian. We'll just take a word for it. Yeah, so Green Day gig at Bramley Moor Dock. Sign me up for that.
Speaker 3:Well, we need to replace Zed Cars with the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Speaker 1:Highly appropriate. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the other thing I liked a couple things on the the picture, the steepness of the stadium. Again, a friend of mine's was. I heard from a guy who a friend of mine who was there, who said it was like the word that was used like fucking unbelievable and how steep, how steep it was. Basically it was like climbing a ladder, basically getting up there, but you've actually got quite a lot of space when you sit down. There's quite a lot of leg room. Yeah, but it's steep. And the other thing about it being steeper, course, is you've not got someone's head in front of you. So this is part of having great views is people's heads are going to be and the Spurs Stadium is like this, which is fantastic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I noticed that when I was at the Spurs Stadium back in January. So you climb up the stairs from the concourse, turn around and look up and it's like looking almost like about to go on like a Via Ferrata on the side of an alpine mountain somewhere. Just right, I'll get my crampons on and clip myself onto a safety line and hoist myself up. But once you're absolutely right, once you're sat down, you've just got an uninterrupted view of the pitch because everybody else is below you, and it's fantastic.
Speaker 2:So I'm really excited To everyone. I mean, everything I've heard has been great, and I loved as well the shithousery of us serving hot dogs with blue ketchup, which is Seriously, I didn't know that was a thing that's fantastic, fucking perfect, isn't it? Of course you think about it like we could have done that all the time, probably should have done it. But like, yeah, the hot dogs have blue ketchup on. Of course they fucking do yeah.
Speaker 1:You see, like? Of course you should not, you know, like. The obvious question is what food colouring is that? But of course the answer is if it's blue ketchup at Everton's Ground, you don't care.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't get it. Do you think the red ketchup was red because of all the tomatoes in it? No, they made it green. Remember when Heinz made green tomato ketchup? Remember that? I do remember that.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, the stadium looks great. I'm really excited to be there and it's really nice that I really don't give a shit about what's happened on the pitch. But we should, because this is the last pub we'll do before the derby, which is next Wednesday. It's miserable. We should talk about it. How are we feeling? And particularly, you know, there's some, I don't know. I mean, liverpool are going to win the league, but there's some. There's more tension over there than there should be, I would say, for a team that are like 20, however many points they are ahead in the league, because obviously they lost to Newcastle, went out to PSG. All the Trent Alexander-Arnold stuff this week has got everyone wound right up. So how are we feeling about Adam? I'll start this with you. How are we feeling about the derby next week? I just don't know how to think about it because, all things being equal, obviously we get battered, but maybe tell me if it's not going to be that way I don't think it will be that way.
Speaker 3:Um, liverpool are clear favorites because they're the better team, um and um, and they will be. And they'll be hurting massively because you know they had a really shitty week a few weeks back when they obviously were comfortably beaten over two legs by PSG and obviously all the talk around and accurate talk as well around potential complacency at that stage of the season because the only other actual real quality team that they've played this season was Real Madrid and they beat them 2-0. But then they come up against an absolutely excellent PSG side and get turned over twice, albeit, obviously, the away leg, which was the biggest robbery I think I've ever seen, and then obviously losing to Newcastle, when again they should have been favourites, especially because Newcastle had several key players out injured. So they'll be really hurting and obviously that's the sort of perfect game for them to try and do some damage. But I don't think it will happen because I think we are a much different side than the one that we've had a couple of months ago under Sean Dyche.
Speaker 3:Moyes has really turned us around and if Moyes has always been one thing, he's always been defensively solid and made us organise, and we're also going to have. Obviously, there's been the international break, but you could probably count the number of players, like from our squad that have been away just like on, you know, certainly on both of your hands. So you will have had an awful lot of time on the pitch, on the training ground, for those players. Um, looking at um, you know tactics and structure and things like that, those sort of things that you need. That Moyes, absolutely, you know, loves to, uh, you know, grind out a result for one of a better term, um, so no, I don't think, I don't think it's gonna. I don't think it's going to, uh, we're gonna get battered. I think it'll be a closer game than perhaps a lot of people think it will be.
Speaker 2:Andy being as optimistic as that.
Speaker 1:I am actually. Yeah, I think we will go into the game with a defensive solidity and a plan to sit back and frustrate Liverpool, which will mean I don't think they're going to absolutely steamroller us by four or five goals. Being realistic, I still expect them to win because they are the better team, and I was just looking at the reminding myself of the league table. I mean they've got a 12-point lead with nine games to go. So it would have to be a spectacular collapse, greater than the one that Newcastle did under Kevin Keegan in the 90s. It would have to be worse than that for them not to win the league from this position. So I still expect them to win the match. But having said that, if we go into the game with, you know, good defensive shape, good defensive solidity and the ability to do something on the counter-attack, then you never know. Does anybody know if N'Jai's going to be back or is he still out?
Speaker 2:I don't think we heard anything. We won't probably know until the press conference. So yeah, don't know is my long way of answering a very simple question. It would make a big difference if we did, because he is the difference, I think, between us winning a bunch of games and drawing a bunch of games.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was again just thinking. I think we've scored as well in every game since Moyes has been at the club. And again, if Alexander-Arnold plays which you imagine he will, but some of the Liverpool fans aren't happy about him going off to Real Madrid. I mean, I don't understand that. I mean, if Real Madrid comes for you, you've basically got to say yes because it's Real Madrid, and any fan who believes otherwise is just deluded. It's as simple as that, because you're basically guaranteed to win the Champions League and a little leaguer, if nothing else.
Speaker 1:So if he plays, will that have an effect in terms of his level of performance? Who knows? A couple of months ago it looked as if we had almost no hope and Liverpool were going to comfortably defeat us. But I share Adam's view that it's not quite the sort of open and shut game that it might have appeared, and I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with I mean, we've drawn a few games, one all recently under Moyes. I wouldn't be at all surprised if or pleasantly surprised, I should say I do think Liverpool will win, but a 1-0 draw wouldn't entirely surprise me either.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there are reasons why we haven't lost in nine games, which is we don't give up. And I was really coming back to the West Ham game that I confidently predicted we wouldn't talk about. It was another good example of I mean, we were shit and nothing was really. Coming back to the West Ham game that I confidently predicted we wouldn't talk about. It was another good example of I mean, we were shit and nothing was working, but they kept going and particularly we had players in the box. You know we had a couple of times O'Brien Tarkovsky in the derby. We've had people in the box towards the end of the game trying to get a goal and it's worked out more than it hasn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and just on the point of Jacob Ryan, actually it's worth giving him a shout out because he was obviously signed under Dyche. You know how much input Dyche had to that signing is open to some debate. There's speculation it was Thelwell who brought him to the club, but you know he brought him to the club. He was brought to the club at his behest rather than anything Dyche wanted. But for whatever reason he was persona non grata under Dyche.
Speaker 1:He's come into the team under Moyes playing out of a position at right-back, doing a fine job out there in a position that's been a problem for us because you think of all the players we had playing out there, there was Ashley Young, uh, patterson's been in there. Seamus Coleman has been in there. There's been a whole host of players that we've discussed on pods. He was going to play right back. It's been a problem for six million years. I know Brian's come in, done a decent job and chipped in with a couple of important goals. So yeah, and that reflects really badly on Dyche the fact that Moyes has come in and instantly got something out of a player that Dyche had for months and just wasn't doing anything with at all.
Speaker 2:How do you guys listen to Dyche on? He was on the Restless Football with Gary Lineker a couple of days ago.
Speaker 1:Not listening to that, no.
Speaker 2:It's interesting. It's worth listening to. I wouldn't say it does anything. My view on Dyche stays the same. They'll change your view on Dyche. I like him as a guy. I think he's a limited manager, but it's a good interview in terms of you talked a lot about his childhood and his history and how he got started in the game and some of the challenges he's had in the way. That's worth listening to. They almost don't talk about Everton at all, which is maybe better for everyone all around. I agree, Andy, on Jake O'Brien. He's obviously a very talented guy and it'll be interesting and a good segue for us to. The last thing we want to talk about today is some summer stuff. So I'll ask you guys two questions and, Andy, I'll start with you, Answer them in whatever order you want. Do you think Branthwaite will stay this summer or do you think he'll leave? And what do you want the club to do about Abdullahi Dikori?
Speaker 1:answering the Brantwick one at the risk of giving a sitting on the fence answer. I think it depends if a club comes in for him and what money they offer.
Speaker 2:Thank you for that that's a real insight. It is, but you know exactly what I mean. It's a fucking groundbreaker that one Carry on.
Speaker 1:But listen, you know exactly what I mean. If a club comes in with a large offer that we can't refuse, then the club will sell. That's true of any player. I mean, how long is his contract? Did he sign a new contract this season, or have I made?
Speaker 2:that up. He's got another four years. He's got a long time on his contract Right long time, or maybe three years. It's a long time.
Speaker 1:So I don't think he'll be agitated to move. Personally, I only think he'll move if a club comes in and makes us an offer that we can't refuse, which is a good permission for Everton to be in, because I've heard no hint that he's looking to move or no feelers out that he's looking to move. So I think he'll stay, because I don't think and in one sense I thought he was very unlucky not to get in the England squad for the Albanian and Latvia games. But on the flip side, if he's kept out the public eye, then maybe he's more likely to stay if he's a little bit less in the public eye. I don't know. And on the Decore question, he's 30, is he 33 or 32? I think he's 32. 32. I mean it's yeah. I mean you could offer him a one-year contract, I suppose.
Speaker 2:Well, they've declined to extend it by a year. So the club have got a year extension which they're not going to activate.
Speaker 2:So, presumably they want him to stay, maybe, but for less money. Less money, yeah, I guess that's the kind of maybe. More specific question is if he costs us because we don't know what to call his pay but we know he's one of our highest paid players, so he's probably on 150 a week or something. If it's two thirds that, do you keep him or do you think we take that potential spend and go somewhere else?
Speaker 1:If that's the question, then I would take that spend because you could almost certainly sign a player who's as good, that's younger, for two-thirds of Decorah's wages. So if that's the answer to your question because I'd actually forgotten he was out of contract at the end of this summer and they declined to offer the extension. So, yeah, if he doesn't accept lower wages, then I would be quite happy for the club to see sort of you know, say thanks very much for your service, shake his hand and you know, see you later.
Speaker 2:Thanks for keeping us in the league, adam thoughts.
Speaker 3:Yeah, on the Brantford way. I understand Andrew's point and optimism, but I think Brantford way will go. I understand Andrew's point and optimism, but I think Branthwaite will go, not because we need the money, because I think our prudence over the last couple of transfer windows being the only team in the league, for example, to actually make a profit in the last couple of seasons, and the increased revenue from the stadium, means that I don't think we actually need, we don't need to sell to. We don't need to sell to buy in the same way that we may have done in the last couple of a few transfer windows. I just think that there's a lot of factors that mean that he will be extremely sought after and um, you know the, the, the, the fact he's left-footed, um, what means a huge premium? Because a lot of, a lot of team, more and more teams are playing, like you know, wider center backs. Now he's a ball playing center back which has always been, over the last decade or so, a huge pull. Um, he's got the english premium which soccer domics tells us, you know, has.
Speaker 3:Um, uh means that players are uh, automatically, um, inflating their prices. Um, and he's. He's very young and I think he's got a real fan. He's got a very, very level head the fact that he could have done an Anthony Gordon and downed tools last summer when United had those two bids rejected, but at no point did he ever give any sort of inkling that he wanted to leave.
Speaker 3:So I think we've got a fantastic professional, a fantastic player, and our financial position means that we can, um, we can demand a high price for him and I think this season he's shown, you know, played, he's played his uh, he's really played his role in in, uh, giving us the um things like the fifth we're the fifth or sixth uh, best defense in the league. I think. So fair to say that him and tarkovsky have been fantastic and, uh, brantham Waite has probably been the better of the two. Um, and you know Thelwell's astuteness, uh, with signing a ready-made replacement in Jake O'Brien means that we don't really have to worry about um replacing him. So, um, I think we're in a good position. Um, you know, if we keep him, great, if we sell him, it'll be for a lot of money.
Speaker 3:So, um, and you know, we are a we're a bottom half of the league team and it's unrealistic to expect us to keep future England starting centre-backs at the club, unfortunately yeah so and then under Corey, I really, I really like, you know I like to, I do likecore, I think he's a fantastic professional, but you know, so would I mean, so would you know. Scott Gemmel was a fantastic professional, gareth Farrelly was a fantastic professional, you know they weren't, but they. There comes a time when that, there comes a time when that, where things tip and, uh, you are looking for more technical players and unfortunately, de corey, I think, has shown this season that he's technically not up to standard anymore. I think, positionally he's very good, he, you know he's he drag, he presses really well, he triggers a press, he's obviously a real leader. He's obviously very, very popular and the fact that Moyes obviously likes him as well shows there's a lot of qualities to perhaps the players on the footballing side of things that we don't necessarily see.
Speaker 3:But I would be getting rid of him first and foremost because of the footballing side of things, but also the money as well, because I can't see him taking anything less than half his pay and whatever you turn on your source that you read, but he's on anything between £6 million and £7.5 million, £8 million a year. So if you're looking at that, yeah, exactly, and even while there's rights to say, well, why should I, you know, why should I? Half my wage for a year, and you know that would be the absolute minimum that I would take is, like you know, putting him on two or three, bringing him down to about three, two, three million a year, to be honest, because he should be a squad player. So he's the one. He's, I think, because he should be a squad player, he's the one. I think.
Speaker 3:For me it's a pretty open-shut case. Thanks very much, abdoulaye. You've been fantastic, you really have been fantastic over the last seven years Sorry, six years, and thanks for the Bournemouth goal. But yeah, you know, please, it's been brilliant, but see you later. I think the other one that's more probably concerning, I think we should make more effort to keep hold of, is Idrissa Gueye, because I think he's been ever since moise has come back. He's been absolutely incredible, like some of his like, even, even even his age that he is, and I think he's a year older than decor.
Speaker 3:I think he's like 34, something like that yeah, I think yeah, I, he's reading of the game is so is incredible and like when you've got that such understanding, like the mobility side of things doesn't matter as much. We saw that with, do you remember with Alan, who is basically legs had just turned to like dildos by the time of his career.
Speaker 2:Not concrete yeah, rubber dildo yeah.
Speaker 3:And he was never the player that we we thought we were getting, but but gay just seems to be like just time.
Speaker 2:It's brilliant as well because he's uh. So you know someone? Uh, I saw on a forum someone earlier on today. Someone used the phrase gabamining it to mean someone who's something always being two weeks away which deserves wider audience. Because, of course, the beauty of Idrissa Gay is, you know, we sold him, we struggled to replace him and then we finally did replace him two years later with him with himself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was. It was a dark period when we were without him. So, and I agree, he's been fantastic. I mean, he can't shoot for shit, and I think he's realised now because he's a lot. There's a moment in every game now where he could shoot and he doesn't. So I think someone's had a word, but I agree he's.
Speaker 3:I don't know how you can be so bad at shooting. Like you know, I play football on a Friday night. I used to play for a Sunday league team and, like some of the, they're just blokes that are just kicking about and they can ping one in from 20 yards into a top corner. Yeah, it's like how can you not do that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, or the very most professional footballer at the top level. Yeah, At the very least hit a shot so it doesn't balloon 20 yards over the bar.
Speaker 2:You're totally right, I played years ago. I played in a charity match with Dean Ashton and Nigel Winterburn. Oh wow, dean Ashton was on Dean Ashton's team and he played like 20 minutes. His ankles he had really bad injuries His ankles. Both of them had been fused so that his ankles didn't move A little bit left, right the guy. He was like a penguin.
Speaker 3:Yes, he ran like Donald Duck.
Speaker 2:Literally no force to move his ankles. He ran rings around us first thing. But also we got a free kick at one point. He didn't really run, obviously, because he couldn't, but he was brilliant. We got a free kick about 30 yards out and he said to me just roll that to me like three yards. So I sort of took it left foot just across and without he just didn't even no, run up, bang top corner, you know, and it's like that is the difference, you know. So you're right, it's like wild that a Drissagay can't yeah, he can't shoot, he just obviously it's something about his center of gravity. He just leans back too much.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But I suspect he'll mean I think obviously there's a bunch of bones obviously gonna go. I'm sure this will be coleman's last season. Actually, young, uh, michael keen, I think, is probably another one, but the gay, I think probably will, will stay, um, and I'm sure dcl will, dcl will go. Uh, all right, anything else for anything else that we should talk about before we wrap this up.
Speaker 3:I just want to mention the go back to the Alexander Arnold thing because, like it is for that, like some of the full fans, heads have fallen clean.
Speaker 2:Oh my god which is it is they do. It is their thing for their heads to fall, like it really is them, and man United fans just carry on there was quite a popular thing.
Speaker 3:I think there's anfield talk. I think it was a sorry tiktok video earlier where they, they, these guys were just reading out these uh tweets from um quite popular uh liverpool podcasts or fanzines and things like that. One of them was like he should, he shouldn't be on the, he shouldn't be allowed to play ever again for Liverpool, he shouldn't be on the bench, he shouldn't be allowed for the victory parade, he should have to watch Liverpool at home on his sofa at home on the telly. And that's it. Another one was like uh, you know, they've started the started. The um started with us at six. Uh, and is now we're gonna leave. Uh, we're gonna um lose 115 million million pound player.
Speaker 1:Uh, for nothing, rat, yeah the fact is he helped you win lots of trophies and done really well. All of a sudden that doesn't matter anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean all teams have been. You know some of Liverpool's, some of Liverpool have bought, had loads of players that were, you know, free transfers. Like James Milner was there for eight years, he was a free transfer from Villa. There's a couple of other examples as well over the years where they bought really important. Matip was another one I was reading as well. Like Joel Matip, he got him on a free transfer. It happens to everyone. It's really shit.
Speaker 2:When it happens, it must be awful If you think about the implication of that thought, right, which is he's a Liverpool fan. I mean, he wasn't, he's never Tony, and actually, but you know, he signed with a kid. What you're saying is he should accept whatever offer the club gives him, because that's obviously the case, right? Yeah, totally. Whatever he's been offered, offered he doesn't want. If they offered him a billion pounds a day, he'd sign for them, right? So there's some line where he would. What you're saying is he should accept that, and that's not loyalty, that's a cult. You know, it's like it's that it's a really bizarre worldview to have. And it's not like he's out in the press saying, oh, actually, you know, liver, liverpool were a bunch of wankers and their fans all smell like cheese. You know, it's like he's played his contract and he just doesn't want to sign another one because he wants to go to Liverpool and he's in his prime.
Speaker 3:He's 27. He's won everything he can with Liverpool. It makes logical sense that he should leave.
Speaker 2:And the one that he really needs to worry about more is Mo Salah. Well, and they've got I mean they've got. You know, I agree with Salah. I agree Van Dijk is also a problem. Van Dijk's easier to replace. I think there's more centre-halves than there are strikers. I'd be a bit worried, if it's perverse to say it, because they're going to win the league. But there's something in this, because clearly these players' contracts are not getting renewed at the level. There are no offers that match their previous. Now Salah is still at the top of his game Now. He won't be forever, but right now he is.
Speaker 2:There is clearly a change in what Liverpool's owners are prepared to fund in terms of the wage bill of the club. It's obviously going to be lower in the future than it has been up until now, and that's why you've ended up with arguably their three best players, three most important players, being out of contract and probably all three of them will leave, and I think that will be a tricky. I don't think the next sort of two or three years are going to be as rosy for liverpool as they may look like they are now, because you know, if that's the case, then you're going to end up with a marginally worse squad still probably a very, very good squad and slots a good manager, but they're not going to have, you know, they're going to replace Mo Salah with someone of that quality. I can't think of how you do it, because who is it? Who's that good? You know there's so few strikers, and are they going to have 200 million pounds to spend? No, they're not.
Speaker 3:So it's going to be I think a real problem. It's not their model to pay, it's not really their model. Don't think there's any more to pay such amounts for them, and there will be. I mean, obviously, winning the league is fantastic, but there is a in the back of my mind. I've always thought, like how much is the cop system still having an influence there? And slot taking? People say that things have been seamless for them. And they have, and they seemingly, and they seemingly have. But as we saw with martinez, you know, martinez in the first, in the in our first season, came fifth because it was he brought in his flair. But there was also that, that, that those deck, that those um, just over a decade of moises system in play, uh, on a squad of players. And then obviously it started to unravel when that got eroded.
Speaker 2:So there's that question mark over it as well. Yeah, fuck those guys.
Speaker 1:Just one other thing as well about the derby that has just sprung to mind is um, the referee is a gentleman called sam barrett who is only in his second season refereeing premier league games. He's only 31, which I think is a very bold appointment by the pgmol. When you consider what happened at the end of the last derby, with four red cards and fights and all the rest of it, that's fresh in the memory. So to give a relatively young and inexperienced referee a derby match at Anfield in these circumstances could either be very bold or very foolish. So that's another aspect of that game that will be worthwhile keeping an eye on.
Speaker 2:Mark, we're going to wrap up in a second, but Mark Plattenberg was on the Overlap on YouTube.
Speaker 1:I've downloaded this. I haven't listened to it yet. What did he say about the?
Speaker 2:game. I'll let you listen to it. The only thing is, if you thought previously Mark Plattenberg was a self-important gobshite about, this will change your mind. I have never heard anybody laugh at their own jokes more when no one else is laughing than him. On that, it is. He's a he's clearly a deeply egotistical individual. Clearly, some of the stuff he says about refereeing is interesting, and he's got a point of view on it, and I don't disagree with all of it, but he's quite clearly a complete prick, and, on that note, there's a good story about Adam Lallana, though, which is worth listening to it for. All right, on that note, we're going to wrap up. Good to see you both. We'll be back, probably after the derby. I don't think we'll be back back before uh, next wednesday. Uh, wherever you get your podcast, that's where we are. Follow, leave us a rating on on itunes, apple podcast, spotify. Tell your evidence supporting friends. Follow us on the socials, uh, and yeah, come on, you blues. See you on the other side. We'll see you next time.