Mo Salah. A very long read. I think I know a little about LFC, its supporters and how they view their club. Shaped of course by Shankly then Paisley, Kenny, Jurgen and now now Slot. One thing remains constant, perhaps more than any other English club, its always the club first and last, players and managers add their DNA to the club, but the club trumps the individual. Now, Mo Salah has left plenty of winners DNA at Anfield and has taken his place in the pantheon of greats. So it's interesting to see his interview, dropping a grenade into the club because if I know Liverpool and it's supporters at all (I think there may be even a generational difference in responses, younger supporting the grenade, older shaking their heads) then their first reaction will be.. Club, first and last, don't care who it is. Its a living and breathing mantra and one that even Mo Salah will find it difficult to duke it out against. Now, could Arne Slot be less pally with players than Jurgen? Absolutely, he's a calm, relaxed, tad detached guy who ( if you remember) was unimpressed with Trent early doors and showed a nonchalant attitude in season one to "one of their own" who'd won everything there is to win. I think that's impressive, but not as impressive as winning the title in your first season. So he's earned his respect too. The team are playing well in spurts, comedy defending and decision making at other times. That includes everyone, and if you ask 99.9% of players if they'd accept 2 or 3 games on the bench for not hitting levels, all will say yes. Only in the madness of 2025 modern football would the cult of personalities not only question a reasonable conclusion of "you're not playing well, here's a spell on the bench", but Mo maybe has almost tricked himself onto elevating himself to the untouchable status of Messi or Ronaldo, players who could, if they chose, literally do and say as they pleased in the last decade. Mo isn't them, and Liverpool as I said, isn't that club either. I'm sure some of the youngsters will rant "he's right and Slot's to blame ", but without any evidence that Slot has deliberately ( managers NEED their star players to perform, not to be asked about them in every presser for the next 5 months....) ostracised anyone at the club other than do what every good manager has done since the invention of the game, namely leave someone out who's not playing well misses the point as every great club, team and manager have dropped great players at some stage. Some even when playing well!! The solution to what is now a very open sore is simple (ish) 1. Player and manager talk privately. 2. Manager tells player what he wants from the player. 3. Player commits or tells manager he wants out. 4. If player wants out, make it happen quickly. If not, pick the player and let him be judged by his continued performances. If they're poor, manager can't lose, "I told you so". If they're great, manager can't lose. So Slot playing Mo is a very good starting point, especially as 2 very big signings have yet to make Mo " yesterday's man" Arne Slot can help himself a little by using his natural openness to say " maybe I'm not Jurgen but I love my players and they couldn't have won a spectacular title last season without reacting to me and my methods a little too, but I hear Mo's comments and I can tell you all now, I love him to bits and he's ours to keep". That heads off any "seniors" with similar grenades to throw. But one thing's for sure, I don't think there will ever be a Liverpool player past, present or future with valid gripes that would jeopardise the "club first and last" ethos of Liverpool, and those who've had legitimate concerns I'm sure aired them at an appropriate time, not a flash interview when emotions are high. Liverpool FC have done as well for every player who's played for them as players have done for the club, so the institution has earned that private, rather than public critique. Whoever that's from.

Suicide. I'm choosing to be deliberately blunt and provocative in this post because it's necessary. Government, charities, football clubs are all pushing water up a hill in highlighting what is undoubtedly a major health crisis. You take a rope. You put it up in a garage or a tree nearby or far away. You're thinking about every loved one you'll leave behind as you put that rope around your neck. Then you drop. Some are decapitated. Some aren't. All are found by someone who has a lifetime of trauma that will never leave them. A son. A daughter. A brother. A sister. A mother. A father. I know 2 men who hung themselves. One was found by his Mom. One was found by his brother. Neither have recovered fully. 20 and 30 years on. A life sentence for people who were already worrying, terrified their loved one may do something. So just visualise the above and ask, "is there another way"? A segway for a moment. I do a few Q&A's every year. Tales of yesterday with a 99% male audience of my age group. After the stories and fun, my last question back to the audience is.. "Hands up if you struggle with a mental health issue". Nobody ever puts a hand up. Despite 1 in every 3 of 500 attendees statistically struggling. "Ah, nobody, that's fucking brilliant! Well I do! ". I then graphically tell people, stunned into silence about how a rope around my neck in the middle of nowhere jolted me to go home and cry like a baby to my Mom. After the Q&A has finished, something always happens. I'll be chatting to a few guys, saying bye and one by one, men will come over and whisper " I struggle". Or my mailbox the next day will have 30 emails from guys, their partners or kids saying " Dad/Uncle /Brother was there last night and what you said hit them hard". And that's how some people realise that it's time to speak to a pal or family member or even rant to me in an email. It works, I often get a follow up email a year or 6 later saying that they took responsibility for their suicidal feelings and are now flying. Humans are programmed to want to live, to have families and to keep the species growing and thriving. So for a human to want to short circuit that desire isn't normal, and it should never be spoken of as normal. It's the ultimate red flag. If you suspect your mate, Dad, Brother, Uncle is struggling mentally, they deserve your intervention. They deserve a " are you OK, please tell me what's up". They deserve an opportunity to get past wanting to hang a rope over a tree or in a garage and slowly struggle until they die and you find them. If you've been there and trust me I have plenty, then you'll know that text out of the blue, or a footie mate or one of your kids asking jow you are can open the curtains to some sunshine. Because when suicide is your only answer, the room is already dark, and you can't see a way out. So please, fucking pretty please, ask that husband, Dad, Uncle, Cousin, footie pal TODAY how they are. You may be shocked what comes back but extremely glad that you asked. For those who struggle, you're not alone.