Brendan Rodgers

[foxfanazer]

Sometimes it's not even a question of the ability of a manager as to whether they should leave. Things go stale, complacency sets in and the same voice and ideas no longer motivate. He's done a cracking job for us overall but I really do feel like we'd benefit from a fresh approach. Doesn't make him a bad manager!

 

I'd rather he moved on rather than us sacking him though

[mod hero]

25 minutes ago, weller54 said:

It seems to me that BR is breeding negativity into our players.

Apart from the United game (where they shot themselves in the foot) when was the last time we looked confident and played on the front foot?... when we won the title we always came charging out of the blocks, took the game to our opponents, we were feared and aggressive!

.. compare that to now!, we look scared, timid, weak and there for the taking.

Nothing is going to change under BR.

Sorry, but I think we need a change of Manager, someone who will instill confidence into the team again, someone who wants to win games rather than just being afraid of losing them!

... who that Manager is I'm not sure. Maybe Graham Potter?

Prefer your one liners mate

[funkyrobot]

1 hour ago, Guest454545 said:

That's a fair point. But would they be happy with a 1-1 draw despite playing with a back four instead? If the only thing that was different was that you played a back four, but everything else in the game happened the same, would Rodgers be getting as much criticism? 

After Arsenal when it was a apparent that yet another attempt to make Thomas a wing back had failed and that realistically we only have one fit player capable of playing wing back in Castagne I think he wouldn’t’ve been criticised for trying a back four seeing as that had seen a vast improvement in performance and tempo in the 2nd half of the Arsenal match. Obviously we don’t know what the result would’ve been if he’d have done that. Where BR may ending up getting criticised if we did go to a back 4 is if he feels he has to drop Iheanacho as at times the system might require that

[weller54]

22 minutes ago, mod hero said:

Prefer your one liners mate

😂... you happy with how we're performing then?

Asking for a friend.

[Mickyblueeyes]

My problem is that I’m struggling to buy into Brendan’s current style of management. I’m struggling to accept the shortcomings. When you’re outside the big 6 you expect as a bare minimum to be organised and well drilled. We are not. He’s happy with that and somewhat accepting that we are ok conceding goals and being poor in defensive areas. His comments last game that he doesn’t see set pieces as an issue shocked me. Some managers choose to ignore defensive frailties. They prefer attack as a best form of defence. 
 

I just think it’s an easy get out. We cannot defend at the moment and we are disorganised. We always take an extra touch or make the extra pass. For me it’s poor coaching and it’s not a good watch. We had all the time in the world to at least move the ball around quicker outside the box yesterday and we didn’t. It’s not like it’s an off game, we do this nearly every week. We seem unprepared for games. Arsenal ran us out of the game in 25 minutes. The first 35 against Brentford was very similar. Brighton did the same. I understand in some games you just have to get through the first 30 minutes without conceding. Understand games against Liverpool and Man City are like that but Brighton, Burnley and Brentford ? When we switch on, we tend to be unplayable but we usually do that when there is too much to do. 
 

Too many areas lack basic preparation and coaching. Things I expect to be sorted on the training ground. We’ve had two years of poor set pieces (in both boxes). We’ve had too many games of slow, lethargic football. We’ve had too many slow starts for it to be classed as the odd off day. A lot of this for me is down to the manager and his coaches. 
 

Brendan has a lot of qualities. I just don’t feel comfortable with how the team is progressing and the fear factor we seem to want to play with. I don’t know if it’s time for a change but I’m beginning to question if he is the right man going forward. I can understand why some fans may have already lost patience and I can also understand why others may still be loyal because it’s hard to put your finger on these shortcomings. 

[volpeazzurro]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

The problem we find ourselves in is we have been successful. Jaw dropping successful 5 years ago and then successful in the last 2 years too. We are the poster boy club of medium sized clubs that get the majority of things right and make a mockery of the traditional elite. We possibly over achieve or at least maximise our capabilities and seize any under achievement and malaise from the clubs with bigger financial clout than us. 

 

We have proven we can do this and then back it up, this is no fluke and we've worked damn hard to put ourselves in the position we've gotten in. The machine goes on and we buy low and sell high occasionally and then reinvest, with momentum like that we have and can keep fighting for progression. However as things are now worryingly tailing off, the excuses come out that what do we expect. We are a club with the 7th or 8th highest wage budget and revenue blah blah blah so why should we be any higher than we are likely to end up if this slump continues. And there lies a huge tolerance for staying in our lane, for putting the shutters down on failure and criticism and using the get out of jail card of measuring us against other clubs of our size. A classic tactic in passing the blame and laughably the complete opposite mindset and mentality this club has had in order to have done what it's done since our return to the Prem.

 

It's the same with our injury problems, whilst we were still able to maintain a top 4 position the majority of last season with various injuries we sat there proud as punch and derided Liverpool and other clubs who had injury problems and moaned about their woes and being able to compete. Yet now we have hit another slump and we put it mainly down to our injuries or players returning and being a shadow of their former self for a long time. Its easy to use those excuses and convince ourselves we are still maximising our capabilities given the tools at our disposal but that's bull shit and you know it.

 

If that was the case then why are we defending so badly? A few weeks ago it was because of Evans not being there to marshall the troops, now its because Fofana is still out and Justin. What's causing us to play such laboured and tepid possession football? Is this just nature of the beast for a club with the 7th or 8th largest wage bill and budget and that's what you get for your money? The fast, attacking and dynamic football that we have seen in large chunks was just a bonus, it was a purple patch and we should just be thankful we saw it but never use it as a benchmark for what this lot and the management are capable of? No, better to measure the teams output when it's at its worst and point to others around us and be happy with your lot.

 

Well bollocks to you, I shan't be. History is littered with case studies of football teams who regress and the management fail to turn it around but are given the opportunity to do so because they earnt the right from what they'd achieved. I can't think of too many recent examples where a manager has done so but I'm praying Rodgers can as its never nice to realise this is the end of the road. An overhaul will be needed for Rodgers to get us back on track, or a new managers ideas will be needed. It's classic for a manager to lose effectiveness after a few years of immediate success, happens time and time again. Very few come back and do it again. 

 

 

Absolutely well said Ric!

[GingerrrFox]

Eventually everything gets stale unless you put fresh impetus into it. We have the same coaching staff and the same manager not putting any new ideas into it. As an example; we have been woeful at set plays for a long time now, other clubs have dedicated set play coaches, why don’t we try it? At the elite level anything that gives you a 1% advantage can be the difference between winning and losing. With 3 centre backs and 2 strikers on the pitch, if we get a throw in the final 3rd why not put it long and get it in the 18 yard box?
 

Football is a sport that requires you to take risks, we have become so conservative that we only start to take risks when we have to chase a game, we scored within 7 minutes of conceding last night and then went back to the turgid, wait for the opposition to make a mistake football, that isn’t going to work against a team who have come to park the bus and happy to have less than 25% possession. 
 

Against United (which for me is the only genuinely good, whole team performance we have had all season) we took risks and we attacked the game. There’s no alternative but to look at the manager when the entire team is under performing, it is down to him to change and bring in that fresh impetus, otherwise we need a manager who can get this team playing again to the level they are capable of. This squad is excellent, there is no arguing that and at the moment, the performances are far from acceptable. 
 

 

[jmono84]

It does seem for whatever reason we’re conceding very easily and we have to work very hard to score. We could be unfortunate, the last 3 headed goals we’ve let in usually don’t go in. The Brentford and Arsenal headers came off the back of their heads not really having a clue where the ball was gonna go and I’m seem to think Moses’ goal last night was headed that cleanly but I’ve not seen it back since.

 

Definitely the defence needs to be more aggressive to try and win these headers and Tielemans should have tracked Moses back last night.

 

My main concern is BR doesn’t seem to play the correct system when it’s needed. You don’t play 3 at the back against that team last night at home in a game we really have to win. He should have changed it up too, Spartak didn’t have to do much to shut us out, just a simple deep block and we looked stifled, the game was begging for us to get wide with fullbacks and wingers over/under lapping.

 

There is a place for the 352 but Im a bit fed up seeing it now. Hopefully now Ndidi’s back he’ll revert to having 4 at the back instead.

 

Im still in favour of BR even if this season is a bit of a flop by our standards but the guy needs to switch on which system to play because the last two games it massively hasn’t worked.

[mod hero]

34 minutes ago, weller54 said:

😂... you happy with how we're performing then?

Asking for a friend.

That’s better 😁

[kingfox]

The football we are seeing right now is no better than what we saw under Puel, yet some posters are still blindly defending Rodgers, because he got us playing good football and delivered us an FA Cup. Ranieri delivered us the Premier League, but we sacked him because we were turning shite.

 

This good football Rodgers got us playing has hardly been seen in 2021, this season we have had one good performance, against Man Utd, the rest of our performances have been between average to poor. Fans would be quick to lambast Puel for performances like that, yet Rodgers still gets a pass by many.

 

Our team shouldn’t be drawing at home to Spartak Moscow, our team shouldn’t be losing away to Legia Warsaw, our team shouldn’t be drawing at home to Burnley, our team shouldn’t be scraping a win against Norwich. We are better than that, the past two season’s has shown it, yet right now we are displaying results that are mid table worthy, there’s nothing to be positive about.

 

This what tends to happen with Rodgers, he gets you to a certain point, things suddenly go downhill, and he fails to pick you out of that rut, what we are seeing right now, is what Liverpool fans saw towards the end of his tenure there.

 

We can’t afford to slip behind, have a bad season and finish mid table, we need to be where West Ham are right now, exactly where we have been for the past two season’s. Falling behind will have massive consequences for the future, the likes of Youri will more than likely leave, as will others. 
 

The rest of November is a massive period for us, we have the likes of Leeds & Watford coming up, two teams that we should be beating, if we beat those then things will look a bit more rosey again, fail to beat those then it clearly shows that we have massive problems, and that a managerial change might actually be needed.

[lcfc_forever]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

The problem we find ourselves in is we have been successful. Jaw dropping successful 5 years ago and then successful in the last 2 years too. We are the poster boy club of medium sized clubs that get the majority of things right and make a mockery of the traditional elite. We possibly over achieve or at least maximise our capabilities and seize any under achievement and malaise from the clubs with bigger financial clout than us. 

 

We have proven we can do this and then back it up, this is no fluke and we've worked damn hard to put ourselves in the position we've gotten in. The machine goes on and we buy low and sell high occasionally and then reinvest, with momentum like that we have and can keep fighting for progression. However as things are now worryingly tailing off, the excuses come out that what do we expect. We are a club with the 7th or 8th highest wage budget and revenue blah blah blah so why should we be any higher than we are likely to end up if this slump continues. And there lies a huge tolerance for staying in our lane, for putting the shutters down on failure and criticism and using the get out of jail card of measuring us against other clubs of our size. A classic tactic in passing the blame and laughably the complete opposite mindset and mentality this club has had in order to have done what it's done since our return to the Prem.

 

It's the same with our injury problems, whilst we were still able to maintain a top 4 position the majority of last season with various injuries we sat there proud as punch and derided Liverpool and other clubs who had injury problems and moaned about their woes and being able to compete. Yet now we have hit another slump and we put it mainly down to our injuries or players returning and being a shadow of their former self for a long time. Its easy to use those excuses and convince ourselves we are still maximising our capabilities given the tools at our disposal but that's bull shit and you know it.

 

If that was the case then why are we defending so badly? A few weeks ago it was because of Evans not being there to marshall the troops, now its because Fofana is still out and Justin. What's causing us to play such laboured and tepid possession football? Is this just nature of the beast for a club with the 7th or 8th largest wage bill and budget and that's what you get for your money? The fast, attacking and dynamic football that we have seen in large chunks was just a bonus, it was a purple patch and we should just be thankful we saw it but never use it as a benchmark for what this lot and the management are capable of? No, better to measure the teams output when it's at its worst and point to others around us and be happy with your lot.

 

Well bollocks to you, I shan't be. History is littered with case studies of football teams who regress and the management fail to turn it around but are given the opportunity to do so because they earnt the right from what they'd achieved. I can't think of too many recent examples where a manager has done so but I'm praying Rodgers can as its never nice to realise this is the end of the road. An overhaul will be needed for Rodgers to get us back on track, or a new managers ideas will be needed. It's classic for a manager to lose effectiveness after a few years of immediate success, happens time and time again. Very few come back and do it again. 

 

 

This is a brilliant post and got me thinking. 

 

When I started supporting City, I never thought in my wildest dreams we would win all 3 major domestic competitions. 

 

And absolutely agree we should be ambitious and aim higher than the resources we have. Otherwise, what is the point of being involved in competitions if you're going to accept mediocrity? Ajax, Dortmund, Lyon etc, have similar budgets and achieved amazing things. 

 

That said, where I don't agree is not putting our success in context. I've been one of the people to make the point about the level of our wages because it's important to know how much we've overachieved, and how the manager deserves more credit. 

 

He's not beyond criticism - for example, I've highlighted the set piece issue, and the poor selection vs Legia away. But he's found a way before to sort things and remain hopeful he will again. I do think the consistent problem with injuries has also had a psychological impact on the players, you can see how it can damage a team's resilience, especially a younger side so the leaders in our dressing room need to step up. The returns of Fofana and Justin will have a big positive morale effect, even if they don't capture their form straightaway. 

 

Also, what is happening with the infrastructure of the club and stadium development should also give fans huge cause for optimism longer-term. In the short-term, of course I've been disappointed by our inconsistency but there's so much to be hopeful about. 

Edited 5 November 2021 by lcfc_forever

[RoboFox]

Cue the sanctimony crew piping up with their usual:

 

"blah blah you obviously weren't there during the Pleat years, if you don't know how good we have it now you're not a real supporter blah blah" 

 

Such a load of absolute horseshit. What are we supposed to say? "Ah well, it was good while it lasted... About time we faded back into obscurity" 

 

This is Leicester City in 2021. Expectations have shifted, and we're allowed to expect better. 

 

 

[Happy Fox]

Rodgers just seems half arsed to me, something seems off tbh and I cannot put my finger on it 

[RoboFox]

1 minute ago, pmcla26 said:

Of course it's ok to expect better, but can't people do that without calling for the manager's head? 

Of course we can. And anyone wanting him out is daft. 

 

If we're being realistic, we won't be able to attract a better, higher profile coach than Rodgers. I do empathise with the frustrations of supporters, but we've been spoiled rotten as a result of what he himself has done over the last couple of seasons. He should be allowed to see us out of this rut. 

 

Whats worrying is he doesn't seem to know what the problem is, and supporters are frustrated by a lack of action in an attempt to change it. 

 

 

[CrispinLA in Texas]

2 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

Rodgers just seems half arsed to me, something seems off tbh and I cannot put my finger on it 

Totally agree, I really don't now what his long term or even short term plan is for Leicester, it's like he doing the motions because he is here as Manager for the time being. Also actually getting bored by some people here using the same excuses that it's because he can't use Fofana or Justin, think the issues would be the same if they were playing aswell.

[StanSP]

What about him makes you think he's half-arsed? 

[Matt]

2 hours ago, pmcla26 said:

It's not that though. You can see with the training ground and some of the signings in the summer that we're still making progress. Results aren't always going to be positive, but the club is still on an upwards trend. It's the whole panic stations and wanting to scrap a project that is far from over that people who are saying "be patient" are arguing against.

The irony of people talking about scraping projects is that they're usually the same people who wanted to scrap our title winning style because 'we'd been found out' or most recently i'm reading 'it isn't sustainable' or 'it isn't successful on a consistent basis'.

 

I'd argue the same thing about the style we've been trying to emulate since, we've certainly been found out and it happened a very long time ago, we must be one of the easiest teams to defend against, opposition want us to have the ball, they're happy to concede possession to us, people talk about us dominating games, we dominate possession but we don't dominate games.

 

For me you can't just have one style, firstly you play to the strengths of what you have at your disposal, secondly you adapt and mix it up. We do neither.

[MonkeyTennis?]

Love the guy, great manager:

 

Turned us back into an attacking threat after we faltered in the post PL winning years under Puel.

Rejuvenated Vardy and Nacho.

Helped Tielemans, Evans, Fofana and Justin (and more) to kick on hugely.

Won the FA Cup, beating the Champions League winners.

Won the Community Shield, beating the PL winners.

Got us European football every year he's managed us.

Got us through the group stages in the Europa League last year.

Kept us in the top four for almost two entire seasons (only for injuries to see us drop out at the last minute).

Ever since he came we have performed better, and won more, than the majority of the 'big six' clubs. 

Did all this on a smaller budget than any of his competitors. 

 

But, sometimes, he's a bit brittle with his team selections, set pieces are messy, and we aren't always great at breaking down a deep block, so let's get rid because apparantly this kind of performance is boring. 

 

This is insane. In terms of results, he's one of the very best managers working in any league. 

 

 

[Jimmy]

he really needs to stop the back 3 crap we don't need to play a back 3 in order to play Iheanacho, just drop Maddison or have Nacho play the Perez RW role, either is preferable to me then the current system as we don't have the wingbacks to make it work

[NeilLCFC]

4 hours ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

Really interested in where people like @Kilworthfox @Matt and @NeilLCFCthink we should be finishing up then?

 

Accounting for the massive resources available at the 'big 6' and similar resources and squad qualities at clubs who are also pushing for top 8 finishes like West Ham, Everton, etc. We also need to count for 30+ year trend of how difficult it is for teams other than the 'big 6' to break into the Top 4/Top 6. 

 

Or is it just about the performances? 

For the record I actually think Rodgers is the man to turn this slump around, but the only way that happens is if he drops his fixation with possession and ‘controlling the game’ (which if you think about it we’re not really doing).

 

We have played some amazing football under Rodgers at times, but there are so many things he does that I will never be able to understand. I fully appreciate we’ve had a nightmare injury record over the last few years (BR should be held to some level of accountability for this), but even with the injuries our squad is better suited to attacking football which slowly looks like is being coached out of our players. 
 

Why aren’t we playing to our strengths?Take the West Brom game where we were 3 up at half time, and he had ago at the team for not being ‘in control’. How do you explain that? For some odd reason it’s like he goes out of his way to make it harder to get the three points.
 

We finished 14th during the season of the great escape, and it’s possible we could finish in similar standing this season. In terms of expectation a 14th place finish with our best ever squad would not be acceptable, especially when considering the backing BR has received. 

[foxinsocks]

9 minutes ago, NeilLCFC said:

For the record I actually think Rodgers is the man to turn this slump around, but the only way that happens is if he drops his fixation with possession and ‘controlling the game’ (which if you think about it we’re not really doing).

 

We have played some amazing football under Rodgers at times, but there are so many things he does that I will never be able to understand. I fully appreciate we’ve had a nightmare injury record over the last few years (BR should be held to some level of accountability for this), but even with the injuries our squad is better suited to attacking football which slowly looks like is being coached out of our players. 
 

Why aren’t we playing to our strengths?Take the West Brom game where we were 3 up at half time, and he had ago at the team for not being ‘in control’. How do you explain that? For some odd reason it’s like he goes out of his way to make it harder to get the three points.
 

We finished 14th during the season of the great escape, and it’s possible we could finish in similar standing this season. In terms of expectation a 14th place finish with our best ever squad would not be acceptable, especially when considering the backing BR has received. 

But hes not going to drop his fixation is he.  To become a top manager you have to have oodles of self belief.  That's why when things arent working they just keep on digging.  Rodgers wont change.

If we run more and if we start finishing then no one will mind.

[NeilLCFC]

1 hour ago, MonkeyTennis? said:

Love the guy, great manager:

 

Turned us back into an attacking threat after we faltered in the post PL winning years under Puel.

Rejuvenated Vardy and Nacho.

Helped Tielemans, Evans, Fofana and Justin (and more) to kick on hugely.

Won the FA Cup, beating the Champions League winners.

Won the Community Shield, beating the PL winners.

Got us European football every year he's managed us.

Got us through the group stages in the Europa League last year.

Kept us in the top four for almost two entire seasons (only for injuries to see us drop out at the last minute).

Ever since he came we have performed better, and won more, than the majority of the 'big six' clubs. 

Did all this on a smaller budget than any of his competitors. 

 

But, sometimes, he's a bit brittle with his team selections, set pieces are messy, and we aren't always great at breaking down a deep block, so let's get rid because apparantly this kind of performance is boring. 

 

This is insane. In terms of results, he's one of the very best managers working in any league. 

 

 

He did initially turn us into an attacking threat, but has gone full 360 and returned us to how we were under Puel.

To be honest he totally transformed Nacho, but then constantly refused to give him 90mins even though he was our best player at the time and only goal threat. Yet always persists with Perez (even if he is playing him out of position half the time).

Whilst injuries were a major factor in missing top 4 both times, it wasn’t the “only” reason. Brendan’s bizarre tactics, substitutions and overall decision making certainly played a part. Games like Bournemouth come to mind.
 

The fact we did all this on a smaller budget has far more to do with the way the club is set up (recruitment etc) than it does Rodgers. We won the league on a tiny budget.

 

There is no denying we’ve had success while he’s been here, but equally our slump is also down to him. The biggest mystery is why he is so obsessed with sideways, backwards football when we have a team that can attack.

Edited 5 November 2021 by NeilLCFC

[majaco]

7 hours ago, Fox92 said:

I haven't watched the goals back but it was just to slow. Everything we did.

 

Mind you, I did wonder pre game why we went with 3 at the back against them. I don't think that was needed. Should have had wingers on from the start.

We are short of wingers.  Barnes-ill, Albrighton coming back from injury. Lookman plays narrow anyway.   Under- plays for Marseilles and doesn't track back.

 

Which wingers do you mean?

[Fox92]

44 minutes ago, majaco said:

We are short of wingers.  Barnes-ill, Albrighton coming back from injury. Lookman plays narrow anyway.   Under- plays for Marseilles and doesn't track back.

 

Which wingers do you mean?

Well considering Perez was on the left for a lot of the first half I'd have gone with him and Lookman.

 

It needed stretching. Castagne had so much room.

 

I just think three at the back against a side like Spartak isn't needed.

Edited 5 November 2021 by Fox92

[majaco]

46 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Well considering Perez was on the left for a lot of the first half I'd have gone with him and Lookman.

 

It needed stretching. Castagne had so much room.

 

I just think three at the back against a side like Spartak isn't needed.

Perez is a poor winger.  

 

Our formation was about as good as it could be with the players available.  

 

It could be argued that our recruitment is at fault as the squad is a little unbalanced due to lack of wide men (but that may have been in part due to centre back injuries).  Defensively we were poor for their goal.  

 

Overall, we were unlucky not to win that particular game.   We were a little unlucky against Arsenal.  We were robbed against Brighton.  We were lucky against Wolves and maybe Norwich.   We have not fired properly this season but we have the potential to go on a run.   Rodgers management on Wednesday was fine.