Brendan Rodgers

[Alf Bentley]

10 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Rodgers must be the Premier Leagues longest serving manager (after Klopp and Guardiola)? 

 

You got me checking Wikipedia.....

 

- Thomas Frank has been Brentford manager slightly longer, but was still managing in the Championship when BR was appointed

- Moyes was first appointed West Ham manager back in Dec 2017, but then left after 6 months (Pellegrini took over - I completely forgot about that) and Moyes only returned after BR was at LCFC.

Can't think of any others who might have been serving longer... 

[Dahnsouff]

38 minutes ago, Chester Dontlie said:

…

 

When people call the 5th place an achievement, I call their memory short and  flawed. In 2019/20 Leicester were sitting in top 4 for 34 out of 38 matchdays!

Next season was even "better"... Sitting in the top four (mostly top 3) for thirty six (!) weeks and he let it slip in the penultimate game - yet again. We can laugh about that now, but let's call spade a spade: that's a big UNDERachievement two times in a row.

 

…

What was the expectation before the season began? It was not top 4 in either of these two regrettable seasons. It’s not an underachievement, you are just fitting your own EVOLVING expectations as a criteria and that is YOUR fault. Disappointing? Christ yes, but that does not make it an underachievement in anything other than what could have been.

[filthyfox]

7 minutes ago, Guppys Love Child said:

Thanks

Dodnt want you to feel unwanted.  Xx

[LCFCJohn]

23 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

This section is mental. Brendan out thought 2 to class managers in the last 2 games yet he gets no credit for this.

 

When we lose its Brendans fault.

 

When we win it's the players.

 

Erm…pretty sure that the last x number of pages since yesterday have been giving him credit…

[Chester Dontlie]

38 minutes ago, StanSP said:

It's only an underachievement if you think we should have got top 4 at the start of the season.

 

5th for Leicester, twice in a row, is pretty damn good going. Considering the clubs we're up against and what they spend.

 

Granted, in the circumstances it arose and how we ended up in 5th is bitterly unfortunate. It's not an underachievement for Leicester to finish 5th.

It might be a damn good thing for Leicester but it's still a major underachievement for Rodgers when you remember we were sitting in top 4 for the vast majority, that's 34/36 out of 38 games, for two consecutive seasons.

 

To picture it better, you could say it's analogical situation to a student who gets good marks for most of the year but in the spring semester he's starting to let himself down, his last exams are a horror show and everyone's asking, what happened there mate, you were doing so good for so long?  Or a fisherman who struggles with a big catch, he has it in the net then on his boat already, and it looks like he'll be in the fisherman's Guinness books and all but then... Splash! 

 

So no, letting the top four finish go like that and having the top five finish instead is not an achievement from this point of view. 

 

Sure, top 5 seems great for Leicester especially when compared to now, or Championship, but you can't get around the fact we/he slipped, bottled it, call it what you will. It's also not about what one could think before the season starts.

 

The expectations keep changing all the time, we adjust them on a week after week basis as the season unfold - as the tactics, form, injuries and other factors change the picture. Did anybody expect us to struggle like this against relegation before the start of this season? Yet at the moment after this 2022/23 winter break our only reasonable (positive) expectations can be to stay up. In the 2019/20 and 2020/21 during winter breaks the expectations were very different, we were expected to place in the top 4, and BR came short of these expectations, that's it.

 

 

[coolhandfox]

Last 15 games are our form is top 6, believe it our not. In that time we have scored 4, 4 times.

 

We are just handicapped by a horrific start.

 

 

Edited 12 February 2023 by coolhandfox

[Chester Dontlie]

52 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

What was the expectation before the season began? It was not top 4 in either of these two regrettable seasons. It’s not an underachievement, you are just fitting your own EVOLVING expectations as a criteria and that is YOUR fault. Disappointing? Christ yes, but that does not make it an underachievement in anything other than what could have been.

Read my post above.

By your logic then, it's my fault, not Rodgers, that we're battling the relegation?  Trust me, this is NOT what I was expecting or hoping for before the season started.

 

Yes, the expectations (both of fans and the board as well) do CHANGE during the season and it is NATURAL (and EXPECTED!!!).

 

Edited 12 February 2023 by Chester Dontlie

[Grebfromgrebland]

34 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

Erm…pretty sure that the last x number of pages since yesterday have been giving him credit…

TBF I didn't read it all 

[Guppys Love Child]

2 hours ago, Nalis said:

Come on thats a bit naive is it not? He's unlikely to turn us into a top 4 or even top 6 challenging team again in my view but IF he did then surely we'd want to keep him?

Arrr, sorry.  I can see where there could be the confusion with my post..

 

I'm not implying that we could go on an unbeaten run now after the last two great results, far from it. (just using it as a best case 'Yard stick' that I  know is not a realistic chance that it will actually happen, but I still wouldn't want him here if it did)

[LCFCJohn]

4 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

TBF I didn't read it all 

Fair enough, at least you’re honest about it 

[BigGibbo]

43 minutes ago, lifted*fox said:

I just fail to see how all of the things he supposedly said were so upsetting tbh. I feel like some people read way too deeply into throwaway comments and took far too much of it personally / to heart. 

 

1. Were the fans good enough - not really, imo. We're happy to get behind the team when the going is good but as soon as we hit a wall we go into quiet negativity mode instead of giving all out support a go first. Very little middle-ground with our support. 

 

2. He said we needed new players - was he wrong? Doesn't look like it. 

 

3. Were some of the players not giving their all / not committed enough? We've known certain players have been on the way out for ages and not giving their all, it's hardly a revelation. Was he right to throw them under the bus? I mean, yeah - maybe. 

 

4. Freezing out players - nobody on here has the slightest idea what goes on behind closed doors. Why players are frozen out, etc. It's all speculation. If you know so much and understand the game so much, and think you could handle man management aspects of football players so well - how come you're on here with your pie in the sky musings and not out there earning 10m a year managing a PL football team? 

 

He didn't get it spot on, far from it - but people act like he walked in the centre circle whipped out a home shirt and laid a hot dog egg on it at half time. Like I've said before - the hardcore FT spit-the-dummy-out crew have wondered why everyone else isn't as outraged as them - at games, on here at times, etc. Maybe it's just other people haven't lost the plot over the things that have been said as much. 

 

The most anger I've been able to whip up against Rodgers for some of his comments is a strong 'meh'. And I can get plenty angry about the right things. It just doesn't seem he's really been all that offensive, imo. All the vitriol and 'little goblin' shit people come out with is pretty cringe stuff. 

 

Without being arsed to go back and pick out individual quotes he essentially threw the club, the players and eventually the fans under the bus to protect himself and his ego.

 

We all knew he was using this club as a stepping stone because he has delusions of grandeur, but that in itself isn't totally damning. It was his repetitive slating of the board, players and fans when he was clearly underachieving and not getting the best out of any of the players already at his disposal that vexes most.

 

These are thoughts that a man might wrestle with privately but would ultimately accept the buck stops with him and not so tactlessly spout them repeatedly in public. He would then either voice his concerns in private whilst doubling down in his efforts or resign if he believed he was genuinely not being backed as he should be.

 

True character is revealed when pressure is applied and he revealed that of a man with zero humility that would do or say anything to deflect from his failings and to protect his image, ego and bank balance.

[SheppyFox]

20 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Last 15 games are our form is top 6, believe it our not. In that time we have scored 4, 4 times.

 

We are just handicapped by a horrific start.

 

 

This is good to know, it also feels as though we’re on the cusp of one of those ridiculous winning runs we seem always capable of, sometimes out of the blue.

[Guppys Love Child]

2 minutes ago, BigGibbo said:

 

Without being arsed to go back and pick out individual quotes he essentially threw the club, the players and eventually the fans under the bus to protect himself and his ego.

 

We all knew he was using this club as a stepping stone because he has delusions of grandeur, but that in itself isn't totally damning. It was his repetitive slating of the board, players and fans when he was clearly underachieving and not getting the best out of any of the players already at his disposal that vexes most.

 

These are thoughts that a man might wrestle with privately but would ultimately accept the buck stops with him and not so tactlessly spout them repeatedly in public. He would then either voice his concerns in private whilst doubling down in his efforts or resign if he believed he was genuinely not being backed as he should be.

 

True character is revealed when pressure is applied and he revealed that of a man with zero humility that would do or say anything to deflect from his failings and to protect his image, ego and bank balance.

And that's Rodgers in a nut shell..and is one of a few reasons I want him gone.. 

[coolhandfox]

6 minutes ago, BigGibbo said:

 

Without being arsed to go back and pick out individual quotes he essentially threw the club, the players and eventually the fans under the bus to protect himself and his ego.

 

We all knew he was using this club as a stepping stone because he has delusions of grandeur, but that in itself isn't totally damning. It was his repetitive slating of the board, players and fans when he was clearly underachieving and not getting the best out of any of the players already at his disposal that vexes most.

 

These are thoughts that a man might wrestle with privately but would ultimately accept the buck stops with him and not so tactlessly spout them repeatedly in public. He would then either voice his concerns in private whilst doubling down in his efforts or resign if he believed he was genuinely not being backed as he should be.

 

True character is revealed when pressure is applied and he revealed that of a man with zero humility that would do or say anything to deflect from his failings and to protect his image, ego and bank balance.

Take it you know him personally?

 

[Guppys Love Child]

2 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

That's fair enough.... but you said if we won every match 4-0 for the rest of the season you'd have the same attitude. Which is a little disturbing, no?

Why?

[Dahnsouff]

26 minutes ago, Chester Dontlie said:

Read my post above.

By your logic then, it's my fault, not Rodgers, that we're battling the relegation?  Trust me, this is NOT what I was expecting or hoping for before the season started.

 

Yes, the expectations (both of fans and the board as well) do CHANGE during the season and it is NATURAL (and EXPECTED!!!).

 

Yes and that is normal,  but we should try to judge against the expectations stated (yes, I know it’s nigh on impossible ) where possible as otherwise we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
 

Not sure we were ever supposed to be struggling this season though, no matter who would ask. 

[Fear Of The Fox]

Our abysmal/non existent summer transfer window ruined the season. Financial reasons or whatever, it doesn't matter. If we had a proper, at least decent summer window, we would be sitting 6th or 7th. Add to all the above the stubborn state of BR and you have the recipe of disaster. 

The positive thing is that our team is one of a kind in the world of football. When everything is going well it's a team made for breaking records. Recent one? The 3 goals in HT after being 1 down in back to back games. 

 

[BigGibbo]

23 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

Take it you know him personally?

 

He's revealed enough publicly for me not to need to know him personally to come to that conclusion!? 

[lifted*fox]

 

Quote

We all knew he was using this club as a stepping stone because he has delusions of grandeur

do we? or are those just words? he's been here 4 years - one of the longest serving managers currently in the PL. some stepping stone. 

 

Quote

It was his repetitive slating of the board, players and fans when he was clearly underachieving and not getting the best out of any of the players already at his disposal that vexes most.

 

the board didn't seem to take it that way considering they didn't push him? the players didn't seem to down tools? the fans outside of FT didn't seem to vexed? where were the protests FT was pushing for? where was the boycotting matches? 

 

like i've said - he's not free from criticism, far from it - but so much of the things that I see posted like the above are just hyperbole without much actual foundation, imo. I get people are frustrated but there's a complete unwillingness to look at the bigger picture sometimes. Rodgers has been part of a much bigger problem imo - and we're starting to see that play out - in that we're improving with some investment in the squad. 

 

arguing that he should have been getting better out of the remaining players - well for me there's a few things to consider: 

 

1. yes, we have some players capable of playing better than they have done in the last 18 months. the players also have to shoulder some of that blame. unfortunately, some of those players, because of injuries, or players who aren't interested or capable in positions around them, have suffered. football is a game of chemistry - players like barnes suffer when his partner on that side aren't up to the job. and he hasn't been. we've seen that happening across the entire pitch for the last two years. 

 

2. Im sometimes inclined to agree that perhaps rodgers should change his tactics to suit the squad he has left. but on the other hand, if we've spent 2 years trying to play a system, should we completely bin that at the first sign of trouble? it worked for us previously - it clearly stopped working when we lost a large number of our better players to injury etc. it's clearly working again now we've got some personnel who suit the plan again. tbh - I actually think you sometimes have to credit someone who has a vision of how things should be done and sticks with it even through a difficult period. chopping and changing isn't always the answer either. we could have quite easily reverted to what people consider 'golden' style of Leicester football that we played in 15/16 and found out very quickly that that isn't the answer we're looking for - the game, as much as people hate to admit it, has changed since then. 

 

my points above dont really matter anyway. unlike some on here i hardly claim to be a master tactician who thinks they can outthink the likes of actual football managers. i wish i could, id be earning a lot of money. on some level I trust that someone like rodgers knows better than I, what team to pick, which players to freeze out, what to say to the board, the media, the fans, etc. and dont tend to pull apart every little thing that goes on. I find my enjoyment of football a lot more relaxing that way. 

 

[Koke]

7 minutes ago, Fear Of The Fox said:

Our abysmal/non existent summer transfer window ruined the season. Financial reasons or whatever, it doesn't matter. If we had a proper, at least decent summer window, we would be sitting 6th or 7th. Add to all the above the stubborn state of BR and you have the recipe of disaster. 

The positive thing is that our team is one of a kind in the world of football. When everything is going well it's a team made for breaking records. Recent one? The 3 goals in HT after being 1 down in back to back games. 

 

 

This is the truth. The summer windows failed us. We could and should have been around the top 6. 

[Matt]

11 minutes ago, Fear Of The Fox said:

Our abysmal/non existent summer transfer window ruined the season. Financial reasons or whatever, it doesn't matter. If we had a proper, at least decent summer window, we would be sitting 6th or 7th. Add to all the above the stubborn state of BR and you have the recipe of disaster. 

The positive thing is that our team is one of a kind in the world of football. When everything is going well it's a team made for breaking records. Recent one? The 3 goals in HT after being 1 down in back to back games. 

 

 

1 minute ago, Koke said:

 

This is the truth. The summer windows failed us. We could and should have been around the top 6. 

All hypothesis but Rodgers doing groundworks on bringing players in only to be told it wasn't happening that he spoke of, not being backed with new players, lack of summer transfer activity, bringing Glover in but not joining us until September all adds up to the club getting a stranglehold back on recruitment and now in hindsight makes sense.

[coolhandfox]

4 minutes ago, BigGibbo said:

He's revealed enough publicly for me not to need to know him personally to come to that conclusion!? 

With a microphone and camera in his face.

 

I just think it's a easy thing to say about any celebrity or sports person.

 

Lot of people who come across well on TV are nobs in real life and visa versa.

 

I understand people judging him for his team selections, tactics, signings but the sweep statement about his humility seem odd.

[BigGibbo]

Just now, coolhandfox said:

With a microphone and camera in his face.

 

I just think it's a easy thing to say about any celebrity or sports person.

 

Lot of people who come across well on TV are nobs in real life and visa versa.

 

I understand people judging him for his team selections, tactics, signings but the sweep statement about his humility seem odd.

 

Hence I said repeatedly. Saying the wrong thing once or twice can of course be brushed off but a repeated campaign of self PR/club smear to deflect from his own failings is what I'm judging him on (and is also the antithesis of being humble hence my comments on his humility).

[BKLFox]

2 hours ago, Chester Dontlie said:

When people call the 5th place an achievement, I call their memory short and  flawed. In 2019/20 Leicester were sitting in top 4 for 34 out of 38 matchdays!

Next season was even "better"... Sitting in the top four (mostly top 3) for thirty six (!) weeks and he let it slip in the penultimate game - yet again. We can laugh about that now, but let's call spade a spade: that's a big UNDERachievement two times in a row.

Short and flawed memories you say?
Tell me other than the title winning season when we have had better seasons in our full Leicester City History…& you still don’t think finishing 5th is an achievement? 
A season is over 38 games it don’t matter where you are until the end and we finished the second highest we ever had in history 🤷‍♂️ 

[Guppys Love Child]

5 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

With a microphone and camera in his face.

 

I just think it's a easy thing to say about any celebrity or sports person.

 

Lot of people who come across well on TV are nobs in real life and visa versa.

 

I understand people judging him for his team selections, tactics, signings but the sweep statement about his humility seem odd.

OK I'll bite.

 

Which he absolutely loves..as he plays the media as well as Brian May plays guitar

 

 If he was as good at managing us as he was at 'spinning the media' we would be  champions league winners by now (tongue in cheak joke everyone  🤪)

He is very good at diverting answers to lead the conversion in a direction he wants.  He is very measured in his answers and he has a plan of what he wants to say even if the questions asked are contrary to that.  

 

For me, and I gather its the same for a few other posters as will  its this aspect of him and the BS that dribbles out of his mouth that I dislike. Added to the the perceived "throwing under the bus" of players, fans etc ( no I can't be @rsed to go back and find previous copy paste extracts  from LM interviews or previous posters similar views...feel free to search anyone) that grinds my gears.   

Remember the media is Rodgers friend. Its the mechanism he uses most to cultivate his facade of he's "Elite Manager" status and his get out of jail cards when things aren't going so well.