The Shill Effect

[Steveo]

You mean a troll surely 😂

Correct.., I Should have spotted that one. ☝️

[CCTV]

Marketing agencies and PR firms 'do' engage in "reputation management" which can look exactly like the following.

A paid shill (or "astroturfer") does not enter a forum sounding like a press release. That is too obvious. To be effective, they must mimic the behaviour of a "Top Red" or "Legacy Fan" - someone who claims to be rational, experienced, and superior to the "hysterical" mob.

Here is the anatomy of how a club-incentivised shill operates during a crisis.

Phase 1: The Persona (The "Real Fan")

They will not join and immediately defend the owner. They will spend the first few weeks building "street cred."

The Backstory: They often claim to be an older fan. They will reference going to games in the 80s or 90s when the team was *truly* bad.


The Tone: Condescendingly calm. While everyone else is angry, they are the "voice of reason." They frame anger as immaturity.

The Setup: They will post in non-controversial threads (kit discussions, ticket news) to look normal before entering the war zone of the "Sack the Manager" threads.

Phase 2: Protecting the Manager (The "Careful What You Wish For" Strategy)

If the manager is under threat, the shill does not argue that the team is playing well (because they can't - everyone has eyes). Instead, they argue that 'change is dangerous'.

Their Talking Points:

1. The "Grass is Greener" Fallacy: They will aggressively list managers who failed elsewhere. "You want Potter? Look at Chelsea. You want Conte? He destroys clubs." They try to convince the forum that there are no good alternatives.

2. The "Transition" Narrative: They will insist that the bad results are actually part of a long-term plan that fans are too stupid to see. "He's clearing out the deadwood. It has to get worse before it gets better. Trust the process."

3. Blame the Players: A shill often deflects heat from the manager by scapegoating specific players (usually ones the club is planning to sell anyway). "Pep couldn't win with this defence. It's not the manager's fault Trent/Virgil/etc. aren't running."

4. Weaponised Nostalgia: "Do you remember the Roy Hodgson days? You don't know how good we have it. Stop crying."

Phase 3: Protecting the Owners/Club (The "Sustainability" Shield)

If the anger turns toward the boardroom (FSG/Glazers/Levy), the shill shifts to financial fear-mongering.

Their Talking Points:

1. The Bankruptcy Threat: The ultimate silencer. "Do you want us to end up like Everton or Portsmouth? Getting a 10-point deduction? Be thankful the owners are prudent."

2. Net Spend Accounting: They will obsess over spreadsheets. If the club didn't buy a striker, they will write 500-word posts explaining amortisation and PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) to "prove" the club literally couldn't spend a penny.

3. Whataboutism: "Look at City with their 115 charges. I'd rather win nothing and keep our soul than cheat." (This distracts from the fact the club might just be being stingy).

4. "FIFA Kid" Insults: Anyone who wants a transfer is labelled a child who plays too many video games. "This isn't FIFA, you can't just buy Mbappe. Grow up."

Phase 4: Disruption Tactics (How they kill a thread)

If a thread criticising the club gets too popular, the shill's job is to derail it so the conversation loses focus.

The Pivot. They will pick on one tiny factual error in a critic’s post and argue about that for 10 pages, ignoring the main point.

The Moral High Ground: They will accuse angry fans of not being "true supporters." "Support the team through thick and thin. If you abuse the manager, you're not a fan."

Gaslighting: "I was at the game and the atmosphere was actually great, the boos were just a minority on Twitter."

Summary: The "Shill" Bingo Card

If you see a user who checks these boxes, be suspicious:

* Never criticises the owners, ever.
* Uses the word "Sustainable" or "Prudent" constantly.
* Calls other fans "entitled," "plastic," or "bed-wetters."
* Constantly references how bad things were 15 years ago to justify mediocrity today.
* The Giveaway:Their opinion perfectly matches the "brief" given to friendly journalists in the newspapers the next day.

You're the biggest shill on the forum. But you're an arsenal shill for kroenkeo & ArtetaFamTV.

Not that the minions will know fed a diet of PR leaks to friendly media mouthpieces..but the only thing that stops Alonso being our 'manager' next season... imo - is Alonso..

And it needs to be a manager..the 'Cigar Smoking Wrinkled Dick' and his chum Edwards and his underling Hughes - must be kept away from the football.. It doesn't work. at least not IF we want what we had under Jurgen.

Here are 2 quotes from you within months of Klopps departure...

QUOTE 1

Steveo said:
4th August 2024 09:47 AM

There is some very good ‘next level’ football developing under Slot. Yes I know it’s only Pre season friendly etc… but still.

It is a different approach to Klopp’s. Not massively but it is different - dare I say it, a more compete form of the game. It would be magic if we could become adept enough at it to mount a title challenge with this style. Not expecting that at all this season.

But the early signs are very encouraging

https://forums.lfconline.co.uk/showthread.php?310495-24-25-Pre-Season/page11

QUOTE 2

Steveo said:
29th September 2024 09:52 PM

Brighton are a well run club - so fucking what. The reality is our amazing manager wasn’t backed as well as Arteta despite the obvious need - and from 43 points behind us in 2020 they closed the gap in 3 years to be ahead of us 2022/23 and again in 2023/24.

This happened after they dropped the self sustaining model and we continued with the buy to let. It culminated in the best manager around walking early.

“well run” hmm

https://forums.lfconline.co.uk/showthread.php?310133-Top6-spends-analysed-by-MV-13-14-onwards

1) You were quite happy to post about Slots next level football in August 2024, compared with Klopps, dare you say so...
2) And quite happy to post about how Arteta "overtook" Klopp with his big bucks..

Slot won the league, and since this outcome was obviously emerging you've been as bitter as fuck

Was all good talking up Slot and down Klopp as you've done throughout his reign, and when you didn't think we'd win the league.
As soon as Number20 was done bittereo emerged. Needing to rubbish Slots contributions and forget what you posted about Klopp & Slot at the start of the season.

[Nineteenx]

The overpassing and passing up opportunities to be more direct and take the quickest route to chance creation and goal was an obvious problem brewing at times in Slot’s first season that needed to be kept in check

[Steveo]

Do we think Henry’s GIMP has realised that every one of the quotes he attributes to me is true and came to pass.

Does he/she/it no realise that by highlighting precisely how Arteta closed a 60 point gap on us in 3 seasons and finished above us 2 times in 3 seasons and likely 3 times in 4 - he serves only to strengthen my position..?

Quote 1… 100% spot on - that’s how we played and how we looked at the time it was said - more controlled and less heavy on the players. and “the early signs WERE very encouraging” what is confusing you exactly?

Are you simply a bit thick OR is it part and parcel of the same joker who continues his baseless and sickening F$G PR narrative on Diaz - which carries zero weight when the photos of him "partying" in Colombia were from a pre-contracted influencer/charity event (Copa Creadores de Contenido) that he was legally obligated to attend and had organised long before the Jota tragedy.

Alisson Becker also missed the initial funeral in Portugal. Like Diaz, he was across the ocean (in South America) when the tragic news broke. Is he also a snake..? You fraud.

Quote 2. Again 100% spot on. The shills defending the fact that Klopp was stiffed repeatedly in the market shut their mouths this summer when slot was given the funds stolen from Jurgen.

1. I was very happy to credit Slots coaching of 'Klopp’s team' playing superb football early last season - because as a Liverpool fan it felt great… Do we get it?

2. And Arteta DID overtake Klopp with his big bucks with 2 higher placing in both of Jurgen’s last 2 seasons. Both times taking points that would have won the title last season.

I have said it before. Disconnect the internet before you embarrass yourself yourself even more.

[Steveo]

The overpassing and passing up opportunities to be more direct and take the quickest route to chance creation and goal was an obvious problem brewing at times in Slot’s first season that needed to be kept in check

Start of last season though we looked superb. It was 90% Klopp’s game just dialled down a touch - I do think it led to a degree of preservation on the players. I think their legs felt the benefit. But they were still playing mostly from muscle memory from years of Jurgens methodology.., That fairly brief spell from the start of the season until Christmas last season - looks like it was just the embryonic stages of the transition to what we see today.

[Steveo]

On Boxing day I was at the Leicester City game in the thick fog… We did ok and came from behind - Cody and Mo rescuing us from behind…. but I felt we were starting to see a change by then already.

By the time they play PSG - you start to see the bigger picture… Ok you say - well Enrique has a next level side… So then - how does Newcastle dominate us so comprehensively on the big pitch at Wembley too. The signs were there. Then PKP

Post Klopp Panic

[JockStrap]

Exposed.

The Cockney fucking WUM.

GTFO you Gooner.

[Steveo]

Aw - rough night “pet”?

tick tock

[Steveo]

The Astroturfer playbook… Cont’d

Key Behavioural Indicators and how to spot them.. Yuck

It isn't just what they say, but how they say it. An incentivised account often displays these traits

Hyper rational - While everyone else is emotional and angry, the norm for fans who are frustrated, they remain eerily calm, even typing long, well-formatted paragraphs about ‘amortisation’ etc.

Consistency - They never EVER criticise the ownership. They might criticise a player, possibly even the manager, the fans, but the "money men" remain off-limits.

Attack the Source - If a journalist or someone on social media publishes a negative story about the club's hierarchy, the shill will immediately attack the journalist's credibility rather than the content of the article.

tick tock

[CCTV]

Use ArtetaFamTVs own posts against him, watch him cry and talk absolute bollocks.

I've given you 2 posts this season on the emergence of Slotball as you posted them.
The first, where you say Slotball emerged in August 2024, more complete dare you say it...
The second, where you say Slotball emerged after the PsG defeat, not more complete..

Now a person with a basic understanding of logic, would say one of those statements must be wrong. You stood over both and cry about hyper rational


You only started citing Klopps team once the league was done.
Remember in September 2024 it was the squad that caused Klopp to walk early.
It was very much FSGs squad in September 2024 by your words.
I was crediting the squad handed over to Slot by Klopp in September 2024, so when Slot won the league I was able to credit Klopp for the squad handed over to Slot.

In contrast ArtetaFamTV needed to forget the squad was credited to FSG by himself in September 2024 when it was a bang average squad..
then when Slot won the league, you needed to credit Klopp for the same squad you blamed FSG for, because Slot won the league to your disgust & surprise...

As said, it was all good you talking shit about Klopp in the immediate aftermath of his departure. Your post about more complete football under Slot was before any professional football game managed by Slot.

And its typical for you to be trying to re-imagine what you said and refute direct quotes.
Thats why both quotes are provided.