Football 2025-26

[pink_triangle]

2 hours ago, Comfy Bean said:

Tuned in tonight but see Hyam is on the bench. Anywayz good luck 👍 big game.

Played the second string 11 and got punished for it!

[thetime]

8 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Played the second string 11 and got punished for it!

 

Thats nuts. 

 

Wrexham playing a second string with a chance getting to a major quarter final. I can understand the teams playing in European competition, but mid table championship sides. 

[Livvy13]

11 hours ago, Comfy Bean said:

Martin O’Neil in is bizarre. I thought he was struggling a bit as a pundit when I last saw him. With the injuries Celtic have I thought they’d need someone already at the club who knows what they have in reserve.

Think that's why Shaun Maloney's joined him. All of Rodgers' assistants have left bar Maloney so I'm assuming O'Neil asked for him specifically as a former player of his, to assist in that particular area. 

 

Definitely a strange choice though, especially with an Old Firm semi final coming up on Sunday. 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

Thats nuts. 

 

Wrexham playing a second string with a chance getting to a major quarter final. I can understand the teams playing in European competition, but mid table championship sides. 

Tbf I feel like the best value for an upset in the FA Cup is a Championship side being knocked out by a League 1/2 side given they seem to just heavily rotate. 

 

Hell, when we were last in the Championship, pretty sure all of us, Brighton and Huddersfield were knocked out by L1/2 sides then at the end of the campaign were celebrating promotion. 

[charlierc]

12 hours ago, Comfy Bean said:

Aye it’s a mess and all being played out in public. Interesting to see if Rodgers has his say. Hearts have the old firm in turmoil 😂 

 

Martin O’Neil in is bizarre. I thought he was struggling a bit as a pundit when I last saw him. With the injuries Celtic have I thought they’d need someone already at the club who knows what they have in reserve.

I've seen Leicester fans suggest Rodgers had a bit of spikiness in his final season or two there, to the point where many believe he's the primary reason for their surprise 2023 relegation. So I can believe he's not easy to work with, but it's still remarkable Celtic's board have gone nuclear with their criticism. It's certainly rare to see such a meltdown going public like this. 

 

I'm guessing O'Neill is an attempt to gain good will and remember the good old days. Though I've seen some of their fans want Ange back. Given he's unemployed again, maybe that could suit him or maybe the lack of preseason to adjust to his approach wouldn't really help. 

[pink_triangle]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

Thats nuts. 

 

Wrexham playing a second string with a chance getting to a major quarter final. I can understand the teams playing in European competition, but mid table championship sides. 

I think in some ways it’s a matter of bad timing 3 games in 6 days and the cup match sandwiching 1st and second in the league. I think the fans would like to have seen that game prioritised more, but from the managers perspective you probably live and die by league results.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Hell, when we were last in the Championship, pretty sure all of us, Brighton and Huddersfield were knocked out by L1/2 sides then at the end of the campaign were celebrating promotion. 

I went to the loss at Oxford (league 2 at the time), when we started with a line-up that included Mitrovic, Perez and Hayden, so was about half our first team at the time. Played off the park.

[Skip997]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

've seen Leicester fans suggest Rodgers had a bit of spikiness in his final season or two there

He was the same at Liverpool. He’s certainly got an ego 

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I went to the loss at Oxford (league 2 at the time), when we started with a line-up that included Mitrovic, Perez and Hayden, so was about half our first team at the time. Played off the park.

A fun experience of their famed stadium with a bowling alley car park instead of a stand behind one of the goals huh. 

 

Though as I recall we missed a penalty, conceded just after and fell apart. Admittedly we got promoted at the end of the campaign so I cared less. If we were knocked out by a League 2 side now, I think I would be a lot more annoyed. 

[kaosmark2]

7 minutes ago, charlierc said:

A fun experience of their famed stadium with a bowling alley car park instead of a stand behind one of the goals huh. 

 

Though as I recall we missed a penalty, conceded just after and fell apart. Admittedly we got promoted at the end of the campaign so I cared less. If we were knocked out by a League 2 side now, I think I would be a lot more annoyed. 

Yup, that's the one. 

[charlierc]

9 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Yup, that's the one. 

It's a different kind of thing if we're making 8 changes and brushing Spurs aside. Job done. Happy stuff.

[charlierc]

11 hours ago, Skip997 said:

He was the same at Liverpool. He’s certainly got an ego 

Wasn't there a documentary in his first season at Liverpool widely defined by him being a very peculiar person?

 

And this was when he was still on the up, before the famed 2013-14 title near-miss and the post-Suarez fall down the mountain.

[thetime]

Certainly hot and cold balls on that draw. 

[kaosmark2]

26 minutes ago, charlierc said:

It's a different kind of thing if we're making 8 changes and brushing Spurs aside. Job done. Happy stuff.

Still looked a strong team mind. Bringing in Tonali, Elanga, Schar not exactly reserves.

[charlierc]

11 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Still looked a strong team mind. Bringing in Tonali, Elanga, Schar not exactly reserves.

True but it's still decent we can give them games where they don't have to do a full 90 all the time, as was the scenario two seasons ago when we last had this conundrum. 

[kaosmark2]

10 minutes ago, charlierc said:

True but it's still decent we can give them games where they don't have to do a full 90 all the time, as was the scenario two seasons ago when we last had this conundrum. 

Oh absolutely. The quality of depth is genuinely there to compete on multiple fronts. I appreciate all they've done for the club, but Dubravka -> Ramsdale, Longstaff -> Ramsey, Almiron -> Elanga is a huge improvement.

Edited October 30, 2025 by kaosmark2

[thetime]

Liverpool fans gone back in hibernation on here, who would of thought hey. 

 

Hands up if anyone in August, thought Slot would be getting sacked before Amorim. 

 

Massive game for Liverpool v Villa. I know Klopp liked an excuse, but slots been reeling them off in the last week. 😃

 

 

Edited October 30, 2025 by thetime

[kaosmark2]

11 minutes ago, thetime said:

Liverpool fans gone back in hibernation on here, who would of thought hey. 

 

Hands up if anyone in August, thought Slot would be getting sacked before Amorim. 

 

Massive game for Liverpool v Villa. I know Klopp liked an excuse, but slots been reeling them off in the last week. 😃

 

Slot's been reeling them off since March! They didn't even play that well for the last 3 months of last season.

[thetime]

1 minute ago, kaosmark2 said:

Slot's been reeling them off since March! They didn't even play that well for the last 3 months of last season.

 

13 losses in 26. 

[Gnomicide]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

Liverpool fans gone back in hibernation on here, who would of thought hey. 

 

 

Still here. I'll do a summary of how things have gone so far this season.

 

Start felt great, though a little worrying with all the last minute winners. Felt like we would actually sort that out and things would click into place.

 

Dear reader, it didn't. Turns out we can't defend, who'd a thunk it? I still think things will turn round, but the league has gone. If we can hang on to the knock out rounds of the Champions League, there's something to aim at. But I think this will just be a transition season. 

 

It would be interesting to see how things were looking if they'd got that Guéhi transfer over the line.

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, thetime said:

Liverpool fans gone back in hibernation on here, who would of thought hey. 

 

Hands up if anyone in August, thought Slot would be getting sacked before Amorim. 

 

Massive game for Liverpool v Villa. I know Klopp liked an excuse, but slots been reeling them off in the last week. 😃

 

 

Palace's reward for doing a very impressive job last night is quite something - Arsenal away straight after a Premier League match against Man City and in the same 8 days they also have a Conference League tie and a match with Leeds. Just proper full on stuff. 

 

This week coming up for Liverpool against Villa, Real Madrid and Man City feels massive. They do look demoralised and in need of something to get it restarted. 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, Gnomicide said:

 

Still here. I'll do a summary of how things have gone so far this season.

 

Start felt great, though a little worrying with all the last minute winners. Felt like we would actually sort that out and things would click into place.

 

Dear reader, it didn't. Turns out we can't defend, who'd a thunk it? I still think things will turn round, but the league has gone. If we can hang on to the knock out rounds of the Champions League, there's something to aim at. But I think this will just be a transition season. 

 

It would be interesting to see how things were looking if they'd got that Guéhi transfer over the line.

I was wondering if Isak was necessarily who they needed even after the very public way that saga dragged out where it's hard to see how he would've been received had he stayed at Newcastle. To me I thought they needed the extra centre back more. Throw in that both new full backs Frimpong and Kerkez have stumbled and that changing the midfield shape to accommodate Wirtz has had trouble and it makes it weird. But I assume the talent is there to stop them losing every week before too long. 

[thetime]

1 minute ago, charlierc said:

I was wondering if Isak was necessarily who they needed even after the very public way that saga dragged out where it's hard to see how he would've been received had he stayed at Newcastle. To me I thought they needed the extra centre back more. Throw in that both new full backs Frimpong and Kerkez have stumbled and that changing the midfield shape to accommodate Wirtz has had trouble and it makes it weird. But I assume the talent is there to stop them losing every week before too long. 

 

I think they needed Isak, it will turn out a good buy in the end once the noise dies down. 

 

They lost Diaz, Nunez and Jota plus Salah is 33. There only signing was ekitike.

 

 

[Gnomicide]

Yeah, a striker was definitely needed, and Isak looked to be the best available.

 

It was obviously identified that thr defence needed strengthening, but the Guéhi deal falling apart very last minute buggered things up. 

 

Of the newbies, Ekitike is the only one to hit the ground running. Kerkez is looking shaky but I'm confident the rest will come good. Wirtz is surprisingly young, younger than Elliot, he'll get there eventually. 

 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

I think they needed Isak, it will turn out a good buy in the end once the noise dies down. 

 

They lost Diaz, Nunez and Jota plus Salah is 33. There only signing was ekitike.

 

 

Even then I wonder if they needed a left winger as to me it feels like their only major option is Gakpo. Though I think that teenager who scored the winner against us unquestionably represents a viable option. 

 

It seems as though Isak has picked up an injury that was initially in that "play through the pain" spot before it cracked. For all there would be schadenfreude if it didn't work, I think he's too good to fail forever. Ekiteke looks like a really good signing so I'm a little jealous we couldn't get him, even if Nick is starting brilliantly for us.