I see the plugin for slipery map but it doesn’t seem to work with the latest JOSM client
is that normal and if so will it work at some point?
I assume you’re talking about the WMS plugin for JOSM? You might want to check this page and download the latest version of the plugin you’re looking for. Because of recent changes in JOSM lots of plugins need to be updated.
BTW: it’s slippy map 
there is a plug in call slippy map which I assume downloads the latest rendered map but all I get is a grid of x/y not loaded