Scouser Tommies: The Better Baldy

Jim Boardman is once again joined by Jay Reid for a look at the latest from Liverpool on the Reds and as always there’s plenty to talk about. Football’s summer break is almost over, at least in terms of competitive club fixtures, but for a lot of the Reds squad there hasn’t been much time to rest at all. International commitments for many of the players mean new boss Arne Slot has had less time than he would have liked to really get a look at what he’s going to be working with. Pre-season fixtures gave him some insight on some members of his squad, but he might not get to start with what he thinks is his first-choice line-up before the season starts for real with the 500-mile round-trip to Ipswich on August 17th – at 12:30. That trip to the US was successful for the Reds, three wins in three games, opportunities for the manager to really get to know his youngsters, a first chance for a number of the first team to impress and a 3-0 win over one of the main rivals. It’s only pre-season, but a win’s a win against that lot. For Jay and Jim the transfer silly season is best avoided, but sometimes a name will seep through that’s worth a look. Strong links to a certain midfielder, a move that some on social media are happy to make things up about, suggest that the Reds might be making the kind of move they really could have done with making a year ago. Liverpool should have enough room for a couple of decent signings, not just the one in the headlines now. However, the clamour from some to get players signed early seems to be one that doesn’t really suit where the Reds are this summer. As Jim points out, it might have been possible to get some signings done sooner had Liverpool only brought a new Head Coach in this summer, or only a new Sporting Director, but it seems like it was more sensible to wait, assess and then move for new faces. As Jay points out, Slot told us this was the plan back on his first day at the club. Profit and sustainability rules have to be kept in mind of course when it comes to working out who to sign, but Liverpool have enough coming in from commercial deals, TV money, shirt sales, gate receipts and the rest of it to have a decent budget. And that’s before any possible Covid allowance is taken into account… And Liverpool would be able to do that without the need to join a consortium of clubs that were making unusual but convenient last-minute deals with each other as the deadline for PSR kicked in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices