The "do they mean us?" thread pt 3

[Unabomber]

3 minutes ago, ROB-THE-BLUE said:

To be fair he wasn't really as defensive of Rodgers as I expected, and Simon Jordan correctly said we'd be in decline for a long time and Rodgers was a good politician in the way he spins his own agenda 

Yeah was pleasantly surprised with the thoughts of Keown. He said how Rodgers has lost the players which I agreed with.

[BenTheFox]

 

Jordan has nailed it

[Stadt]

Jordan's consistently criticised Rodgers because he's looked at the stats. There's no excuse for Rodgers.

[Nobbyburton]

The post match stuff on Sky yesterday had a brief bit about Brendan from Shay Given, Redknapp and Neville. 

 

Thought it was interesting how quickly Given reeled off a load of nonsense about him not being backed for 2 years. Redknapp didn't say much other than he thinks he's a great manager. You have to hand it to Brendan, he's superb at managing his brand. 

 

Gary Neville couldn't have looked less interested in the topic, obviously because it involved a team outside of Manchester. I will never understand why he is paid to be a pundit in the Premier League but quite blatantly doesn't pay any attention to teams outside the top 6. 

[KingsX]

1 hour ago, turtmcfly said:

 

Be happy this dogshit it behind a paywall...

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pep-guardiola-wouldve-struggled-to-do-a-better-job-than-brendan-rodgers-3mbf6fzk5

 

A sample (something tells me Martin didn't watch either the Palace or Brentford games. Or indeed, any of them)

 

Rodgers was a good manager for Leicester, and the chairman acknowledged this, even at the end. So why not let Rodgers continue being just that? A good manager, but going through a difficult time. A good manager, but in need of better support. Crystal Palace scored with a minute remaining on Saturday. Had Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal not gone in — and he was onside by a whisker — Leicester would have been outside the bottom three and would have drawn two consecutive away games, with home matches against Aston Villa and Bournemouth up next. Leicester put four past Villa the previous time the teams met, only two months ago, and would fancy their chances against Bournemouth.

 

 

 

The Times ... where everyone goes for their football coverage 

[lfu]

2 hours ago, turtmcfly said:

 

Be happy this dogshit it behind a paywall...

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pep-guardiola-wouldve-struggled-to-do-a-better-job-than-brendan-rodgers-3mbf6fzk5

 

A sample (something tells me Martin didn't watch either the Palace or Brentford games. Or indeed, any of them)

 

Rodgers was a good manager for Leicester, and the chairman acknowledged this, even at the end. So why not let Rodgers continue being just that? A good manager, but going through a difficult time. A good manager, but in need of better support. Crystal Palace scored with a minute remaining on Saturday. Had Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal not gone in — and he was onside by a whisker — Leicester would have been outside the bottom three and would have drawn two consecutive away games, with home matches against Aston Villa and Bournemouth up next. Leicester put four past Villa the previous time the teams met, only two months ago, and would fancy their chances against Bournemouth.

 

 

What a lazy and uneducated take that article is 😂

 

Martin does redeem himself ever so slightly by saying this:
 

Quote

Mitigations for Leicester’s plight? There are plenty. Rodgers has been privately advocating an overhaul of the squad for some time, without success. The players who have been bought have been largely inadequate and, for that, the director of football, Jon Rudkin, must share blame.

 

But he conveniently forgets to mention that Rodgers and his first mate Lee Congerton were the ones who advocated for the players we bought!

 

 

[Daggers]

19 hours ago, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/brendan-rodgers-sacked-leicester-city-8317275

 

BBC Sport
Phil McNulty wrote: "The personable Rodgers will certainly be an attraction for clubs in the future, including those in the Premier League, but the high-end posts will be out of reach for now after the manner of his end at Leicester.

"Rodgers, a Spanish speaker, has talked in the past about being open to working abroad and it easy to see his undoubted coaching skills transitioning into that environment.

"He has also seen contemporary Roberto Martinez, who managed across Stanley Park at Everton when Rodgers was at Liverpool and was one of his predecessors at Swansea City, land plum international jobs with Belgium then Portugal.

"Rodgers will rightly feel he is at least the equal of the Spaniard in terms of stature, ability and successes.

"For now, though, Leicester City will attempt to secure their short-term future after taking this emergency action while Rodgers will take stock and ponder his long-term prospects."

 

Sky Sports
Rob Dorsett said: "I think they have agonised an awful lot over this decision. This is not an easy decision for Leicester to have made. I think in truth a number of Premier League clubs would have pulled the trigger earlier such has been Leicester's poor form.

"There was a feeling that Brendan Rodgers was building something for the long-term at Leicester with all their ambitions to compete with the biggest clubs in the Premier League in the years to come.

"However, it feels to me that this is very much a decision that Leicester's bosses have taken for the short-term rather than the long-term. They felt as though the slide in terms of performances couldn't continue.

"They have taken this decision with a heavy heart and my understanding is that they gave Rodgers every chance to turn things around and that he had earned that chance to turn things around.

"My understanding is that Leicester do not have a ready-made replacement lined up and there is no specific timeframe that they are working to in terms of finding someone to take over from him."

The Telegraph
John Percy wrote: "There will be many pundits and neutrals who repeat the old tropes of ‘be careful for what you wish for’ and ‘it’s only Leicester, what do they expect’?

"These should be ignored, for the people who actually pay the money to watch games have been frustrated for months, or longer.

"Perhaps Rodgers should have gone earlier, for it has to be remembered that those first two and a half years were special. He did not deserve the situation to become so toxic.

"He will return, most probably in the Premier League, and the chance to recharge will be good for him.

"Now the change has come and Leicester are locked in a 10-game shootout for survival.

"The prospect of Championship football does not bear thinking about."

 

Guardian
Ben Fisher wrote: "Rodgers was supported by the Leicester hierarchy after a miserable start to this season with the chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, maintaining belief that the former Celtic and Liverpool manager was capable of turning things around.

"It had long been felt that as long as Srivaddhanaprabha was confident of avoiding relegation then Rodgers’s position was safe, but defeat and a poor performance at Palace – a relegation rival – prompted the decision that large sections of the fanbase have been calling for in recent months. The chairman said Leicester felt 'compelled to take alternative action to protect our Premier League status'."

 

Independent
Miguel Delaney wrote: "It was when the Leicester City hierarchy noticed a new disconnect between Brendan Rodgers and his players on the training ground this week that they decided results on the pitch could no longer be tolerated. The realisation was the club’s run was not getting better, and they had to act to save their Premier League status.

"If that would appear to suggest the Northern Irishman has reached a ceiling as a coach, it really says much more about the potential of such clubs in the competition. It is also a warning. The widespread expectation, after all, was that Rodgers himself was going to seek to leave in the summer.

"Leicester are the latest in a series of well-run Premier League 'model clubs' - following Swansea City, Southampton and West Brom - to find they couldn’t keep the idea going indefinitely. Ambition ultimately came up against financial reality, and there are few managers as personally ambitious as Rodgers, or few competitions as economically exacting as the Premier League."

Daily Mail
James Sharpe wrote: "Leicester City fans finally got their answer. They hung banners and sung songs but all it took for Brendan Rodgers to lose his job was for the Foxes to drop into the relegation zone.

"Defeat by Crystal Palace with the last kick of the game on Saturday – in a match they were outshot 31 to three by a Roy Hodgson team – left them 18th.

"West Ham's win puts them 19th. One point from their last six. Eight since the World Cup. The worst team in the division since the restart.

"The fans wanted it but the owners didn't. Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, known as Khun Top, thought and hoped Rodgers could still get them through and keep them up. In the end, he felt he had no choice...

"The timing of the decision is odd. There's no succession plan and backroom staff members Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will take charge of a monumental game against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

"History suggests changing the manager this late does little to alter your fate. Since 2010, all managerial changes from March onwards at clubs in the relegation zone have still seen those sides go down. The tightly-squeezed bottom half of the table will give Leicester hope.

"Whoever replaces Rodgers has a job on his hands. Not just to keep Leicester up but to fix the mess that's left behind."

 

Press Association
Jonathan Veal wrote: "Leicester were 'compelled' to sack Brendan Rodgers in a bid to maintain their Premier League status but insist his place in the club’s history is assured.

"The Foxes dropped into the bottom three after Saturday’s last-gasp defeat at Crystal Palace, which extended their winless run to six games, and their position in the top flight is in real danger going into the final stretch of the season.

"Rodgers, who recently celebrated four years in charge at the King Power Stadium, delivered two top-five finishes in the Premier League and the club’s first ever FA Cup success in 2021, but leaves by mutual consent.

"Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha insisted that the club had “experienced some of our finest footballing moments” during Rodgers’ reign but that the board were “compelled” to make a managerial change in order to avoid being relegated to the Championship...

"Rodgers took over from Claude Puel in February 2019 and immediately set about turning the Foxes into European challengers.

"They twice missed out on Champions League qualification with final-day defeats – finishing fifth in 2019/20 and 2020/21 – but Rodgers did get his side over the line in the 2021 FA Cup as the club won the famous competition for the first time in their history.

"They reached their first ever European semi-final last season with a run to the last four of the inaugural Europa Conference League before losing to Roma.

"But the landscape of the club changed in the summer, with financial constraints seeing a number of players leave – including star defender Wesley Fofana – and only one outfield player coming in.

"They started the campaign terribly, losing six of their first seven games, before picking up form and heading towards mid-table.

"However, a run of six games, including defeats against relegation rivals Southampton and Palace, proved too much and the board instigated the change."

“There was a feeling that Brendan Rodgers was building something for the long-term at Leicester”

 

How do they even write that level of evidence-free bollocks? 

[Daggers]

19 hours ago, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/brendan-rodgers-sacked-leicester-city-8317275

 

BBC Sport
Phil McNulty wrote: "The personable Rodgers will certainly be an attraction for clubs in the future, including those in the Premier League, but the high-end posts will be out of reach for now after the manner of his end at Leicester.

"Rodgers, a Spanish speaker, has talked in the past about being open to working abroad and it easy to see his undoubted coaching skills transitioning into that environment.

"He has also seen contemporary Roberto Martinez, who managed across Stanley Park at Everton when Rodgers was at Liverpool and was one of his predecessors at Swansea City, land plum international jobs with Belgium then Portugal.

"Rodgers will rightly feel he is at least the equal of the Spaniard in terms of stature, ability and successes.

"For now, though, Leicester City will attempt to secure their short-term future after taking this emergency action while Rodgers will take stock and ponder his long-term prospects."

 

Sky Sports
Rob Dorsett said: "I think they have agonised an awful lot over this decision. This is not an easy decision for Leicester to have made. I think in truth a number of Premier League clubs would have pulled the trigger earlier such has been Leicester's poor form.

"There was a feeling that Brendan Rodgers was building something for the long-term at Leicester with all their ambitions to compete with the biggest clubs in the Premier League in the years to come.

"However, it feels to me that this is very much a decision that Leicester's bosses have taken for the short-term rather than the long-term. They felt as though the slide in terms of performances couldn't continue.

"They have taken this decision with a heavy heart and my understanding is that they gave Rodgers every chance to turn things around and that he had earned that chance to turn things around.

"My understanding is that Leicester do not have a ready-made replacement lined up and there is no specific timeframe that they are working to in terms of finding someone to take over from him."

The Telegraph
John Percy wrote: "There will be many pundits and neutrals who repeat the old tropes of ‘be careful for what you wish for’ and ‘it’s only Leicester, what do they expect’?

"These should be ignored, for the people who actually pay the money to watch games have been frustrated for months, or longer.

"Perhaps Rodgers should have gone earlier, for it has to be remembered that those first two and a half years were special. He did not deserve the situation to become so toxic.

"He will return, most probably in the Premier League, and the chance to recharge will be good for him.

"Now the change has come and Leicester are locked in a 10-game shootout for survival.

"The prospect of Championship football does not bear thinking about."

 

Guardian
Ben Fisher wrote: "Rodgers was supported by the Leicester hierarchy after a miserable start to this season with the chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, maintaining belief that the former Celtic and Liverpool manager was capable of turning things around.

"It had long been felt that as long as Srivaddhanaprabha was confident of avoiding relegation then Rodgers’s position was safe, but defeat and a poor performance at Palace – a relegation rival – prompted the decision that large sections of the fanbase have been calling for in recent months. The chairman said Leicester felt 'compelled to take alternative action to protect our Premier League status'."

 

Independent
Miguel Delaney wrote: "It was when the Leicester City hierarchy noticed a new disconnect between Brendan Rodgers and his players on the training ground this week that they decided results on the pitch could no longer be tolerated. The realisation was the club’s run was not getting better, and they had to act to save their Premier League status.

"If that would appear to suggest the Northern Irishman has reached a ceiling as a coach, it really says much more about the potential of such clubs in the competition. It is also a warning. The widespread expectation, after all, was that Rodgers himself was going to seek to leave in the summer.

"Leicester are the latest in a series of well-run Premier League 'model clubs' - following Swansea City, Southampton and West Brom - to find they couldn’t keep the idea going indefinitely. Ambition ultimately came up against financial reality, and there are few managers as personally ambitious as Rodgers, or few competitions as economically exacting as the Premier League."

Daily Mail
James Sharpe wrote: "Leicester City fans finally got their answer. They hung banners and sung songs but all it took for Brendan Rodgers to lose his job was for the Foxes to drop into the relegation zone.

"Defeat by Crystal Palace with the last kick of the game on Saturday – in a match they were outshot 31 to three by a Roy Hodgson team – left them 18th.

"West Ham's win puts them 19th. One point from their last six. Eight since the World Cup. The worst team in the division since the restart.

"The fans wanted it but the owners didn't. Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, known as Khun Top, thought and hoped Rodgers could still get them through and keep them up. In the end, he felt he had no choice...

"The timing of the decision is odd. There's no succession plan and backroom staff members Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will take charge of a monumental game against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

"History suggests changing the manager this late does little to alter your fate. Since 2010, all managerial changes from March onwards at clubs in the relegation zone have still seen those sides go down. The tightly-squeezed bottom half of the table will give Leicester hope.

"Whoever replaces Rodgers has a job on his hands. Not just to keep Leicester up but to fix the mess that's left behind."

 

Press Association
Jonathan Veal wrote: "Leicester were 'compelled' to sack Brendan Rodgers in a bid to maintain their Premier League status but insist his place in the club’s history is assured.

"The Foxes dropped into the bottom three after Saturday’s last-gasp defeat at Crystal Palace, which extended their winless run to six games, and their position in the top flight is in real danger going into the final stretch of the season.

"Rodgers, who recently celebrated four years in charge at the King Power Stadium, delivered two top-five finishes in the Premier League and the club’s first ever FA Cup success in 2021, but leaves by mutual consent.

"Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha insisted that the club had “experienced some of our finest footballing moments” during Rodgers’ reign but that the board were “compelled” to make a managerial change in order to avoid being relegated to the Championship...

"Rodgers took over from Claude Puel in February 2019 and immediately set about turning the Foxes into European challengers.

"They twice missed out on Champions League qualification with final-day defeats – finishing fifth in 2019/20 and 2020/21 – but Rodgers did get his side over the line in the 2021 FA Cup as the club won the famous competition for the first time in their history.

"They reached their first ever European semi-final last season with a run to the last four of the inaugural Europa Conference League before losing to Roma.

"But the landscape of the club changed in the summer, with financial constraints seeing a number of players leave – including star defender Wesley Fofana – and only one outfield player coming in.

"They started the campaign terribly, losing six of their first seven games, before picking up form and heading towards mid-table.

"However, a run of six games, including defeats against relegation rivals Southampton and Palace, proved too much and the board instigated the change."

And amazing that only the Mail gets it. 
 

“The timing of the decision is odd. There's no succession plan and backroom staff members Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will take charge of a monumental game against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

"History suggests changing the manager this late does little to alter your fate. Since 2010, all managerial changes from March onwards at clubs in the relegation zone have still seen those sides go down.

"Whoever replaces Rodgers has a job on his hands. Not just to keep Leicester up but to fix the mess that's left behind."

[MattFox]

3 minutes ago, Daggers said:

And amazing that only the Mail gets it. 
 

“The timing of the decision is odd. There's no succession plan and backroom staff members Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will take charge of a monumental game against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

"History suggests changing the manager this late does little to alter your fate. Since 2010, all managerial changes from March onwards at clubs in the relegation zone have still seen those sides go down.

"Whoever replaces Rodgers has a job on his hands. Not just to keep Leicester up but to fix the mess that's left behind."

James Sharpe is ex Mercury and a fan so not surprising 

[LCFCJohn]

33 minutes ago, Daggers said:

And amazing that only the Mail gets it. 
 

“The timing of the decision is odd. There's no succession plan and backroom staff members Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will take charge of a monumental game against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

"History suggests changing the manager this late does little to alter your fate. Since 2010, all managerial changes from March onwards at clubs in the relegation zone have still seen those sides go down.

"Whoever replaces Rodgers has a job on his hands. Not just to keep Leicester up but to fix the mess that's left behind."

It’s a fair point, I suppose the are two key points that may end up turning this on it’s head for us;

 

1 - The league being so close. If that stay is based on sides 5/8/10 points from safety, it is a poor comparison as I can’t remember a lower half as close as this season with nobody cut adrift.

 

2 - We are not a plucky promoted team who is probably in the position they should be and try to roll the dice. This may be proven wrong but I still feel that these players are capable of much more and have been mismanaged. If they feeling is correct, a couple of wins are we’d climb up the table.

 

Thats not to say that the reality could be that we have just left it too late and even with an upturn on form from what we have been showing, that we could still go down!

[Nalis]

18 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

It’s a fair point, I suppose the are two key points that may end up turning this on it’s head for us;

 

1 - The league being so close. If that stay is based on sides 5/8/10 points from safety, it is a poor comparison as I can’t remember a lower half as close as this season with nobody cut adrift.

 

2 - We are not a plucky promoted team who is probably in the position they should be and try to roll the dice. This may be proven wrong but I still feel that these players are capable of much more and have been mismanaged. If they feeling is correct, a couple of wins are we’d climb up the table.

 

Thats not to say that the reality could be that we have just left it too late and even with an upturn on form from what we have been showing, that we could still go down!

Completely agre.

 

I dont think its biased to say we have the best squad of the 9 teams, certainly better than at least 6 others anyway.

[Jon the Hat]

I really hope we can bounce back, not just to avoid relegation - that would be a minimum - but to show Brendan is full of shit and was failing.  A nice 12th place finish would be perfect

[teblin]

Was listening to the Monday Night Club last night and it was very pro-Brendan. "he's been let down", "lack of money to spend" .

 

To be fair to Chris Sutton he did call out Vestergaard and Bertrand as bad signings.

[StanSP]

1 hour ago, Daggers said:

And amazing that only the Mail gets it. 
 

“The timing of the decision is odd. There's no succession plan and backroom staff members Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler will take charge of a monumental game against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night.

"History suggests changing the manager this late does little to alter your fate. Since 2010, all managerial changes from March onwards at clubs in the relegation zone have still seen those sides go down.

"Whoever replaces Rodgers has a job on his hands. Not just to keep Leicester up but to fix the mess that's left behind."

Has it ever been this close in the relegation battle before, with 8 teams involved though?! 

[kingcarr21]

 

12 minutes ago, teblin said:

Was listening to the Monday Night Club last night and it was very pro-Brendan. "he's been let down", "lack of money to spend" .

 

To be fair to Chris Sutton he did call out Vestergaard and Bertrand as bad signings.

That's the narrative Rodgers has spun. He has been deflecting blame since the Forest debacle last season. At different points he has thrown shade at the players, injuries, recruitment, the board and the fans and probably more that i am currently not thinking of. 

 

I do not remember there ever being a moment where he has taken responsibility, you might find a little off the cuff comment about taking responsibility but that is well hidden within all the excuses he threw our way. I was fully backing Brendan to sort the mess out until he blamed the fans. That was the final straw. This whole mess is mostly on him. Can you blame the players for not giving 100%? Yes they get paid mega dough but they are still human and when their manager is so demoralising about the players when talking to the press why would they then give you there all? They must be thinking 'what an absolute willy puller'.

 

Rodgers is a mastermind of deflecting blame and i for one am delighted he has gone. 

 

EDIT : I love my my original word has auto corrected to Willy Puller  

Edited 4 April 2023 by kingcarr21

[Sean2000]

If we win tonight we go 13th 😬

[UniFox21]

 

Genuinely not a clue where to start here 

 

All well and good saying he hasn't been backed, without actually looking any deeper than surface level transfers.

Nice of them to miss off the fact he was one of the highest earning managers in the league (impacting us having to let go some key players) and the absolutely spiral in performances theses last 2 years. 

BR hails himself as a coach, so why can't he coach our backline?

 

Not sure why I'm surprised when it's Alex Crook

 

[Sunbury Fox]

32 minutes ago, teblin said:

Was listening to the Monday Night Club last night and it was very pro-Brendan. "he's been let down", "lack of money to spend" .

 

To be fair to Chris Sutton he did call out Vestergaard and Bertrand as bad signings.

You're joking. 7th highest wage bill in the league, a £100m training ground to work at and £100m+ spent on players over the past 18 months even with the limited spending last summer. 

 

[ARTY_FOX]

The Phil mcnulty peice

 

I can see it now, Brendan Rodgers manager of Spain needs a win to get to the world cup in place of the mighty San Marino. 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go he brings on 2 CDM's and a right back. 

 

 

Edited 4 April 2023 by ARTY_FOX

[Sunbury Fox]

5 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

 

Genuinely not a clue where to start here 

 

All well and good saying he hasn't been backed, without actually looking any deeper than surface level transfers.

Nice of them to miss off the fact he was one of the highest earning managers in the league (impacting us having to let go some key players) and the absolutely spiral in performances theses last 2 years. 

BR hails himself as a coach, so why can't he coach our backline?

 

Not sure why I'm surprised when it's Alex Crook

 

His logic might make sense if the manager didn't sanction the signings of all of the useless players on that list he reads out.

[StanSP]

Just now, ARTY_FOX said:

The Phil mcnulty peice

 

I can see it now, Brendan Rodgers manager of Spain needs a win to get to the world cup in place of the nighty San Marino. 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go he brings on 2 CDM's and a right back. 

 

 

This, after bringing on a DM for an attacking mid on 60 minutes

[UniFox21]

Just now, Sunbury Fox said:

His logic might make sense if the manager didn't sanction the signings of all of the useless players on that list he reads out.

Indeed or alienated players who would be starting in the defence

[ARTY_FOX]

8 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

 

Genuinely not a clue where to start here 

 

All well and good saying he hasn't been backed, without actually looking any deeper than surface level transfers.

Nice of them to miss off the fact he was one of the highest earning managers in the league (impacting us having to let go some key players) and the absolutely spiral in performances theses last 2 years. 

BR hails himself as a coach, so why can't he coach our backline?

 

Not sure why I'm surprised when it's Alex Crook

 

It's talksport. You won't get sense there. It's all about rage baiting. 

[UniFox21]

3 minutes ago, ARTY_FOX said:

It's talksport. You won't get sense there. It's all about rage baiting. 

I don't fully agree there, some of their content actually perfectly hits the nail on the head - as much as Simon Jordan is a plank, some of the crap him and Jim White come out with is spot on. 

 

But shit like this, is actually astonishing people get paid for it 

[ALC Fox]

All this talk of the board not backing Rodgers and that the financial problems being down to King Power's issues because of Covid is incredible.

 

Rodgers wanted to keep everybody a couple of summers ago, so new contracts lessened our ability to sign new ones because of FFP. We've also been less able to blood youngsters because of the sheer number of senior pros on our books, which could've been a source of inspiration and injected life into our team.

 

When the dust settles, I'll be incredibly grateful for those first couple of seasons. Finishing fifth twice was exciting. It was hugely disappointing not to get Champions League football but it was brilliant watching us while we were in the top 4. And winning the FA Cup for the first time is clearly one of the greatest achievements in the club's history. I shed tears of joy on that day.

 

But the rot had potentially even set in by then. Slipping out of the top 4 a second time would've hurt Rodgers and we would've been seen as bottlers. We really rode our luck in the final, albeit it was clear that Tuchel's Chelsea were a formidable opponent.

 

Subsequent seasons were hugely inconsistent and his comments about the players must have alienated a lot of them. Perhaps the board must shoulder a good portion of the blame for not communicating the FFP issues at that point. Or, maybe Rodgers knew and he thought the tough guy treatment would put a rocket up players' backsides. Either way, we have a situation where our trophy-winning, Champions League-chasing squad worth potentially hundreds of millions in total is in tatters psychologically, in terms of performance on the pitch, and in terms of their value to the club. Several could leave for nothing. Others could leave for buttons.

 

Rodgers and the board need to accept responsibility for the decline. And he simply had to go. Being in the relegation zone in April is not acceptable and there was little sign he could turn things around.

 

I love Ranieri and 2015/16 was an incredible season, the absolute very best. But after being sacked in March 2017 we were in the bottom three before we played our next game. He had to go but I'll always be fond of him and what he did.

 

By the same token, I'll always be grateful of the brilliant football, challenging the elite, and winning the FA Cup in Rodgers' golden period at the club.

 

Injuries provide some mitigation, but he had time to coach his way out of the mire when things started to slide. And he didn't. He simply had to go while we still have a chance of getting out of this.

Edited 4 April 2023 by ALC Fox