Brendan Rodgers

[Kilworthfox]

3 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

A great LCFC manager, but pretty poor at every other club his managed. 

 

So you don't think BR has had to deal with that? 

 

Ideal what would you consider to be our best back four? 

So he didn't change he style against the bigger clubs last season?

Doesn't diminish what he did here. 

 

To an extent, but the injuries at the end of 19/20 were massively hampering. He had the financial resources to offer fees and contracts to players who were to cover such normal injuries, but he has replaced them with inadequate cover.

 

Ideally... we are spoilt for choice: Castagne Evans Fofana Ricardo, at Present: put Cags in for Fofana.

 

I think we ideally would go with a back 5 of Castagne Fofana Evans Cags Ricardo with the sides acting as wing backs.

 

He changed 1 time away to Man city. Played to our strengths as Brendanball is the same as Pepball, and we don't have the quality that Man City do, hence a change, but he has not ever used this tactic since. Baffiling.

[StanSP]

4 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

Yet this is the reality of all teams

Factually speaking, I think only Liverpool could rival us for serious injury problems suffered in the past 12-18 months. 

 

Not sure of the final stats, but in terms of games missed by individuals and then collectively, I think we were top of the list. We definitely were at some point last season. 

 

I think it's an insult to call it a failure given where we finished last season and what we ultimately achieved. If that's not good enough for you, under fairly desperate circumstances then I actually despair for you and think nothing the club ever do in future will ever be good enough for you, and that you will struggle to enjoy or embrace and future achievements we have. 

[KrefelderFox666]

1 minute ago, coolhandfox said:

Pearson had the biggest budget in League 1 and one of the biggest in the Championship if not the biggest in he's time here.

 

 

All this debate about who is the better manager...(and this is not aimed at yourself but everyone in here discussing).

 

Pearson was the right man to take us from our lowest point and rebuild us. Which he did successfully. Eventually, in his second spell, he managed to take us back to the Prem, at which point, in truth, it didn't quite work and his ways nearly returned us back down. Overall in our recent history a fantastic manager to turn us from utter rubbish to a good unit.

 

Then came the mastermind of our title win, he inherited a decent squad and got the best out of them, let them express themselves and take the pressure onto himself. Perfect for that time. The season after showed he was also a little bit lost when teams figured us out.

 

We will skip over Shakespeare who was really just an interim but did OK.

 

Then came Puel, and a lot hated his style and personality but you cannot take away what he did for the club and to rebuild us from a counter attacking team to a ball playing and possession based team. He took us as far as he could but set up everything that Brendan is now thriving off.

 

Which brings us to the here and now. Brendan took what Puel left and fine tuned and got the best out of that team, changing tactics and making us even better. Which has got us to a point where fans expectations may have gone above and beyond what is realistic for this team. We know how good we can be, but it takes a lot to go right for us to be there.

 

In summary (and this is just the last decade or two), we have had a few managers and all of them have been successful in their own way but every single one of them also had limitations. I am satisfied with Brendan even if he is struggling to get the team playing well consistently at the minute but it could be much worse. I would much rather have a manager in charge for a long spell being mid table and regularly challenging for those European spots then changing manager at the rate of Watford and getting nowhere.

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

Some people think that Rodgers inherited a top 5 squad and seem completely oblivious to the fact that under him our players have dramatically improved.

 

Soyuncu, iheanacho, ndidi, Barnes have all become top level players under him. Even kasper and vardy have gone up a few notches. Evans has gone from bit part player under puel to one of the best centre backs in the league. 

 

Are we seriously giving him no credit for that?

 

One day he'll leave us and its going to be very very tough for us to maintain  this. 

[The whole world smiles]

19 minutes ago, jerry said:

How fickle are supporters. A few months after winning the F A Cup we are discussing the Managers position ? Having supported City since the early sixties the last few years have been incredible and we are not a club who should expect success but some seem entitled to believe that is our right now.

Go on Jerry! 

[Kilworthfox]

Just now, StanSP said:

Factually speaking, I think only Liverpool could rival us for serious injury problems suffered in the past 12-18 months. 

 

Not sure of the final stats, but in terms of games missed by individuals and then collectively, I think we were top of the list. We definitely were at some point last season. 

 

I think it's an insult to call it a failure given where we finished last season and what we ultimately achieved. If that's not good enough for you, under fairly desperate circumstances then I actually despair for you and think nothing the club ever do in future will ever be good enough for you, and that you will struggle to enjoy or embrace and future achievements we have. 

I am not sure either. It isn't something that is often kept track on, and certainly only something that is mentioned when clubs struggle.

 

Thank you for the sentiment. Football is not sentimental, you earn the results that you justify with your performances on the field. That said I do watch the game acutely.

 

It is not an insult, it is analysis, you do not agree with it, but that is fine, these are just my opinions.

As a lifelong LCFC  fan I hope I am wrong and we become a tough unit for everyone to deal with, rather than what we are currently. I just see no evidence of this.

 

For any reader of my posts, I hope I am able to convey that I am not trolling at all, I am unemotionally analysing the performances, and the tactics used. We have World Class players! 

 

I can accept defeats, but only if I am sure the team gave it everything, and were just beaten by a better team on the day.

 

There is so much wrong at present, and even the wins can be criticised, let alone performances 

[MPH]

23 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said:

Some people think that Rodgers inherited a top 5 squad and seem completely oblivious to the fact that under him our players have dramatically improved.

 

Soyuncu, iheanacho, ndidi, Barnes have all become top level players under him. Even kasper and vardy have gone up a few notches. Evans has gone from bit part player under puel to one of the best centre backs in the league. 

 

Are we seriously giving him no credit for that?

 

One day he'll leave us and its going to be very very tough for us to maintain  this. 

 

you been on Mars this season? Just got back?

[honeybradger]

27 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said:

Some people think that Rodgers inherited a top 5 squad and seem completely oblivious to the fact that under him our players have dramatically improved.

 

Soyuncu, iheanacho, ndidi, Barnes have all become top level players under him. Even kasper and vardy have gone up a few notches. Evans has gone from bit part player under puel to one of the best centre backs in the league. 

 

Are we seriously giving him no credit for that?

 

One day he'll leave us and its going to be very very tough for us to maintain  this. 

Soyuncu and Ndidi were better at the start of 19/20 than they are now honestly, at a time when he had only had 6 or so months to work with them. Soyuncu has regressed massively to his 18/19 form this season since then and ndidi is around where he was before rodgers came in, that might be to do with his injury woes. He's still good now but he was a consistent monster in those first few months, now he has his good games but plenty of off ones to go with them.

[Ric Flair]

34 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said:

Some people think that Rodgers inherited a top 5 squad and seem completely oblivious to the fact that under him our players have dramatically improved.

 

Soyuncu, iheanacho, ndidi, Barnes have all become top level players under him. Even kasper and vardy have gone up a few notches. Evans has gone from bit part player under puel to one of the best centre backs in the league. 

 

Are we seriously giving him no credit for that?

 

One day he'll leave us and its going to be very very tough for us to maintain  this. 

We're fcuked as a fan base

[CosbehFox]

39 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

Doesn't diminish what he did here. 

 

To an extent, but the injuries at the end of 19/20 were massively hampering. He had the financial resources to offer fees and contracts to players who were to cover such normal injuries, but he has replaced them with inadequate cover.

 

Ideally... we are spoilt for choice: Castagne Evans Fofana Ricardo, at Present: put Cags in for Fofana.

 

I think we ideally would go with a back 5 of Castagne Fofana Evans Cags Ricardo with the sides acting as wing backs.

 

He changed 1 time away to Man city. Played to our strengths as Brendanball is the same as Pepball, and we don't have the quality that Man City do, hence a change, but he has not ever used this tactic since. Baffiling.

Liverpool at home, Spurs away and Arsenal away were all tactically akin to that Man City 5-2 win last season. You could even suggest Chelsea in the Cup too. 

[Mike Oxlong]

Nothing wrong with wanting to build on our recent successes but the fact remains that we have been punching above our weight in recent years. That a slump may see us only finish mid table shows what progress has been made. A mediocre season for a Man City or Liverpool sees them finish top 4 and not winning a trophy. A mediocre season for us puts us around 10th -12th in the league. I’ve been disappointed by recent performances but in the scheme of things am still living the dream. 

[gerblod]

17 minutes ago, messerschmitt said:

We went through a stage when we played some really inventive short corners and looked far more dangerous than we do now. Why did we stop doing it? We often see an opponent break away from one of our corners, it seems baffling to me as to why we are so happy to give possession away after taking a corner. It seems to go against every one of Brendan's philosophies.

Corners, as every football analyst will attest to, give poor returns as goal opportunities. That particular short corner which produced a goal - was it Albrighton and Ricardo (?), was an example of creative thinking and mixing the options up. It points to high confidence within players and each other. BR isn't a manager who will stick with espressivo playing when he's not getting results - instinctively, he's a head back inside the shell bloke.

The two most inventive and audacious players are Maddison and Tielemans. They have largely both stuck to hoofing it into the middle. I'd love to see something different to percentage playing coming from them. That's why Tielemans' long-range goals are so rewarding - they demonstrate out-of-the-box thinking. I think a lot of young footballers have that free-thinking trained out of them. We need players who will adapt quickly and improvise on the hoof. That's the major difference between teams that achieve and those who are run of the mill. That only comes from managers who encourage that kind of approach. Guardiola is the prime example.

 

[RonnieTodger]

Some staggering stuff here. 

 

People seem to think other clubs just exist as a challenge to us. Everton, West Ham, even Wolves and Villa will be wanting to break into the European spots. 

We've got no god-given right to be around the top four and Rodgers is now a victim of his own success. Rodgers got far more out of that squad than Claude ever did. It's a great squad, but it's not enough to be constantly demanding a top-six finish. 

 

Does anyone really think that sacking Rodgers and bringing in Graham Potter will take us into the Champions League? Madness.

[CosbehFox]

6 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

Soyuncu and Ndidi were better at the start of 19/20 than they are now honestly, at a time when he had only had 6 or so months to work with them. Soyuncu has regressed massively to his 18/19 form this season since then and ndidi is around where he was before rodgers came in, that might be to do with his injury woes. He's still good now but he was a consistent monster in those first few months, now he has his good games but plenty of off ones to go with them.

Unsure if you are agreeing or not with Teapot’s point.
 

At the start of the 19/20 season Soyuncu had played just six premier league games. Rodgers played him once in the period he took over at the end of 18/19 against Huddersfield where he conceded a penalty. 
 

Rodgers improved him over a pre season to his highest form. 

[coolhandfox]

1 minute ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

All this debate about who is the better manager...(and this is not aimed at yourself but everyone in here discussing).

I think it is impossible to pick the better/best manager we have had due to the different circumstances in different era's.

 

Also, their personality can have an impact on how you view their time at the club. Some are just more likeable the others due to how they come across.

 

As a City fan from the mid-'80s, I have very fond memories of Little, Adams, O'Neill, Pearson, Ranieri and Rodgers.

 

I would group O'Neill, Ranieri and Rodgers as top tier as they delivered major silverware.

 

I would group Adams, Pearson and Little in the next tier down, with  Pearson as number 1 in that group as he achieved promotion and kept us up. 
 

1 minute ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Pearson was the right man to take us from our lowest point and rebuild us. Which he did successfully. Eventually, in his second spell, he managed to take us back to the Prem, at which point, in truth, it didn't quite work and his ways nearly returned us back down. Overall in our recent history a fantastic manager to turn us from utter rubbish to a good unit.

100% he was the perfect fit for us, and we were probably the perfect fit for him. Without the controversy involving his son, he would have been our manager for a lot longer. 

1 minute ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Then came the mastermind of our title win, he inherited a decent squad and got the best out of them, let them express themselves and take the pressure onto himself. Perfect for that time. The season after showed he was also a little bit lost when teams figured us out.

100% he was part of a perfect storm that saw us win the league, which then blew itself out the following season. 

 

He had great foundations, massive momentum from the great escape, and inherited 3 players who became world-class talents in Vardy, Mahrez and Kante.

 

He somehow resisted the urge to tinker, but it unravelled when he had to bring in his own players and had to deal with fall out of a seismic event. 

 

1 minute ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

We will skip over Shakespeare who was really just an interim but did OK.

I will always be grateful for the memories he delivered in the Champions League 

1 minute ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Then came Puel, and a lot hated his style and personality but you cannot take away what he did for the club and to rebuild us from a counter attacking team to a ball playing and possession based team. He took us as far as he could but set up everything that Brendan is now thriving off.

I think someone had to do a bit of the dirty work of breaking up the title-winning squad. Maybe a necessary evil but he was very dull. 

1 minute ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Which brings us to the here and now. Brendan took what Puel left and fine tuned and got the best out of that team, changing tactics and making us even better. Which has got us to a point where fans expectations may have gone above and beyond what is realistic for this team. We know how good we can be, but it takes a lot to go right for us to be there.

He has made us into a side that can mix it with the big boys, compete for the top 4-6 places in the league, and mount realistic challenges for silverware.

 

We have a first 11 that, when it fit and healthy and in-form, can realistically get top 4. After that first 11, we have a squad that can compete for the league's top 5-8 places.

 

When we have injuries, we suffer like any team in the league. 

 

He has already made legendary status as a LCFC manager for me. 
 

1 minute ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

In summary (and this is just the last decade or two), we have had a few managers and all of them have been successful in their own way but every single one of them also had limitations. I am satisfied with Brendan even if he is struggling to get the team playing well consistently at the minute but it could be much worse. I would much rather have a manager in charge for a long spell being mid table and regularly challenging for those European spots then changing manager at the rate of Watford and getting nowhere.

100% agree 

[Kilworthfox]

18 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Liverpool at home, Spurs away and Arsenal away were all tactically akin to that Man City 5-2 win last season. You could even suggest Chelsea in the Cup too. 

Not the games that I saw.

[coolhandfox]

48 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

Doesn't diminish what he did here. 

Never said it did. 

48 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

To an extent, but the injuries at the end of 19/20 were massively hampering. He had the financial resources to offer fees and contracts to players who were to cover such normal injuries, but he has replaced them with inadequate cover.

Example? 

 

48 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

Ideally... we are spoilt for choice: Castagne Evans Fofana Ricardo, at Present: put Cags in for Fofana.

 

I think we ideally would go with a back 5 of Castagne Fofana Evans Cags Ricardo with the sides acting as wing backs.

So in the 2 game in the league we have been able to field 4 of of that 5 at the same time, we have won both. 

 

[Grebfromgrebland]

So if we're crediting the manager for improved players form we have to blame him when players go out of form.

[NasPb]

47 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

Some staggering stuff here. 

 

People seem to think other clubs just exist as a challenge to us. Everton, West Ham, even Wolves and Villa will be wanting to break into the European spots. 

We've got no god-given right to be around the top four and Rodgers is now a victim of his own success. Rodgers got far more out of that squad than Claude ever did. It's a great squad, but it's not enough to be constantly demanding a top-six finish. 

 

Does anyone really think that sacking Rodgers and bringing in Graham Potter will take us into the Champions League? Madness.

Agreed. Our starting lineup is but let's remember that we have a lot of injuries and not a lot of depth. Sometimes we forget that fact. 2 of our best players haven't played a minute so far. Lots of ticky tack injuries 

[CosbehFox]

35 minutes ago, Kilworthfox said:

Not the games that I saw.

Same formation. Same counter attacking tactics. 

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

1 hour ago, MPH said:

 

you been on Mars this season? Just got back?

We're 10th, 3 points off the top 4 and still in both the other competitions we've been in. Hardly that bad is it?

 

And this has been without several of our big players.

Edited 2 November 2021 by Chocolate Teapot

[coolhandfox]

19 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

So if we're crediting the manager for improved players form we have to blame him when players go out of form.

I don't think anyone is saying he has no reasonability for players being out of form or our average league form.

 

People are arguing that he has enough credit in the bank to not be under pressure at this point and should have time to address our issues.

 

Is he perfect? No. 

 

Does he make mistakes? Yes!

 

But people saying we should replace him is just crazy talk. 

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

37 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

So if we're crediting the manager for improved players form we have to blame him when players go out of form.

That would be fine if you did in fact give him that credit. Several on here aren't.

 

I don't think anyone is saying he's perfect or this season has been brilliant. It's been fine though considering everything.

 

Calling for his head because we've list a game is just nuts and I'll say what I always say is that several of our fans don't deserve this club.

[sacreblueits442]

2 hours ago, jerry said:

we are not a club who should expect success but some seem entitled to believe that is our right now.

...so we should just get back inside our box!!!

  Every other clubs supporters would have been expecting us now to stay in our lane, but the quality of players we have garnered does not lend itself to that kind of thinking. 

  No one is expecting success to be showered upon us as a right, but the long term plans and vision of Khun Vichai and the implementation of the staff and players has put us on solid ground with the chance to continue to build stronger and better.

  We can't keep looking backwards and keep being afraid of what we were, we are where we are not by just good fortune, and we should not be afraid to embrace success. 

Edited 2 November 2021 by sacreblueits442
Spelling error.

[Simoken]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

We're fcuked as a fan base

Agreed, i have been round a few footy forums and we have to be the worst in the 'fickle' category. A slight issue with form on the pitch and we all bring out the pitchforks. get a grip FT. k thanks

Edited 2 November 2021 by Simoken