Brendan Rodgers

[jmono84]

12 hours ago, st albans fox said:

I wonder how true this stat is of other teams ? 
 

Overall	0-10	11-20	21-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-70	71-80	81-90		1st H.	2nd H.
Arsenal	7-2	6-5	10-3	4-4	6-5	8-5	5-4	1-8	9-6		31-18	25-24
Aston Villa	2-8	5-2	3-4	4-4	7-7	4-2	8-6	3-5	11-9		19-23	28-24
Brentford	1-5	5-6	5-3	3-9	3-8	7-3	4-7	4-8	12-3		15-27	29-25
Brighton	3-3	1-5	3-6	2-3	8-5	4-6	3-7	3-1	11-6		15-21	23-21
Burnley	2-7	5-4	2-3	6-8	4-5	4-4	3-5	2-5	4-8		16-25	16-24
Chelsea	4-1	7-1	8-4	6-1	12-5	12-6	5-4	3-3	13-6		31-9	39-22
Crystal Palace	5-4	3-3	1-4	4-11	6-5	5-1	7-3	5-3	10-8		18-25	28-17
Everton	3-3	1-8	5-4	2-4	5-8	5-7	6-6	6-8	4-8		13-25	24-31
Leeds Utd	2-6	4-6	5-10	2-5	4-10	5-11	4-9	4-7	9-10		16-33	23-41
Leicester City	2-6	6-7	3-9	8-5	7-2	5-5	6-7	4-4	8-11		24-28	25-28
Liverpool	8-3	8-1	9-2	11-2	8-4	7-3	13-4	9-2	14-2		41-11	46-12
Manchester City	11-3	8-1	9-2	10-1	7-2	7-5	16-1	4-2	17-4		42-7	47-14
Manchester Utd	4-6	3-3	4-6	7-5	6-9	7-8	10-6	8-3	8-10		22-24	35-32
Newcastle Utd	5-1	2-8	2-6	10-5	7-5	4-7	3-10	4-6	3-13		24-24	16-37
Norwich City	4-9	2-5	1-4	1-7	3-9	3-8	1-12	3-8	4-13		10-32	12-43
Southampton	7-7	1-7	6-7	5-6	8-8	3-10	4-6	2-3	5-7		23-31	18-30
Tottenham	6-2	7-3	5-4	6-7	7-3	8-2	6-3	8-6	7-10		28-17	32-23
Watford	3-6	5-7	4-9	1-6	3-9	1-7	3-5	6-4	6-17		16-34	16-36
West Ham Utd	4-5	2-2	7-3	7-7	5-6	7-6	9-5	7-0	9-12		24-21	33-25
Wolverhampton	5-1	4-1	3-2	3-2	4-5	3-3	2-8	4-4	7-8		17-10	18-24
'41-50' and '81-90' also include added time

From that table the problem is we start so poorly then have a good middle but finish weakly!

 

No wonder we are where we are constantly chasing games and when we actually get ahead we squander the points.

 

Has been a terrible season when you think about it.

[Nalis]

The current criticisms of Rodgers are warranted but what I find bizarre is that a small section of our fans want to discredit him from any of his achievements since joining the club, as if he just fluked the 1st half of the seasons 19-20 and 20-21 seasons, our fa cup win and our wins in europe.

[Dahnsouff]

12 minutes ago, Nalis said:

The current criticisms of Rodgers are warranted but what I find bizarre is that a small section of our fans want to discredit him from any of his achievements since joining the club, as if he just fluked the 1st half of the seasons 19-20 and 20-21 seasons, our fa cup win and our wins in europe.

Its becasue some people like to be able to form binary opinions about his whole tenure, so he is either awful or amazing. Bit weird.  

[Winchesterfox]

13 hours ago, st albans fox said:

I wonder how true this stat is of other teams ? 
 

Overall	0-10	11-20	21-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-70	71-80	81-90		1st H.	2nd H.
Arsenal	7-2	6-5	10-3	4-4	6-5	8-5	5-4	1-8	9-6		31-18	25-24
Aston Villa	2-8	5-2	3-4	4-4	7-7	4-2	8-6	3-5	11-9		19-23	28-24
Brentford	1-5	5-6	5-3	3-9	3-8	7-3	4-7	4-8	12-3		15-27	29-25
Brighton	3-3	1-5	3-6	2-3	8-5	4-6	3-7	3-1	11-6		15-21	23-21
Burnley	2-7	5-4	2-3	6-8	4-5	4-4	3-5	2-5	4-8		16-25	16-24
Chelsea	4-1	7-1	8-4	6-1	12-5	12-6	5-4	3-3	13-6		31-9	39-22
Crystal Palace	5-4	3-3	1-4	4-11	6-5	5-1	7-3	5-3	10-8		18-25	28-17
Everton	3-3	1-8	5-4	2-4	5-8	5-7	6-6	6-8	4-8		13-25	24-31
Leeds Utd	2-6	4-6	5-10	2-5	4-10	5-11	4-9	4-7	9-10		16-33	23-41
Leicester City	2-6	6-7	3-9	8-5	7-2	5-5	6-7	4-4	8-11		24-28	25-28
Liverpool	8-3	8-1	9-2	11-2	8-4	7-3	13-4	9-2	14-2		41-11	46-12
Manchester City	11-3	8-1	9-2	10-1	7-2	7-5	16-1	4-2	17-4		42-7	47-14
Manchester Utd	4-6	3-3	4-6	7-5	6-9	7-8	10-6	8-3	8-10		22-24	35-32
Newcastle Utd	5-1	2-8	2-6	10-5	7-5	4-7	3-10	4-6	3-13		24-24	16-37
Norwich City	4-9	2-5	1-4	1-7	3-9	3-8	1-12	3-8	4-13		10-32	12-43
Southampton	7-7	1-7	6-7	5-6	8-8	3-10	4-6	2-3	5-7		23-31	18-30
Tottenham	6-2	7-3	5-4	6-7	7-3	8-2	6-3	8-6	7-10		28-17	32-23
Watford	3-6	5-7	4-9	1-6	3-9	1-7	3-5	6-4	6-17		16-34	16-36
West Ham Utd	4-5	2-2	7-3	7-7	5-6	7-6	9-5	7-0	9-12		24-21	33-25
Wolverhampton	5-1	4-1	3-2	3-2	4-5	3-3	2-8	4-4	7-8		17-10	18-24
'41-50' and '81-90' also include added time

In my head the problem is later on in games, where Brendan fails to have a plan B, puts on the wrong subs or puts them on too late, and we concede late goals.  But the stats suggest the biggest problem is earlier on  We have conceded 22 goals in the first half hour of matches.  No team has conceded more,

[oadby.fox]

54 minutes ago, Nalis said:

The current criticisms of Rodgers are warranted but what I find bizarre is that a small section of our fans want to discredit him from any of his achievements since joining the club, as if he just fluked the 1st half of the seasons 19-20 and 20-21 seasons, our fa cup win and our wins in europe.

Maybe some out there are of this view but I feel that most acknowledge his achievements regarding the two decent runs he has had in both seasons. The problem is that he doesn’t seem at all capable of recreating that form and developing the team further. Perhaps that is also down to him - who knows? Given that the best runs he’s had are two isolated starts at the beginning of both of those seasons, people begin to (righty imo) question his credibility as one of the highest paid and therefore supposedly best managers in the world.

 

Before he arrived, the fifth place finish would’ve been fairly impressive but many of the criticisms acknowledge that really we should’ve at least finished fourth in both of those seasons. That’s not entitlement, that’s just seeing it through and over the line. Losing out on the CL two years in a row from a fantastic position was deflating and we probably lost out on many transfer opportunities as a result. There were poor performances from players in both seasons but I also remember some horrendous tactical tinkering, substitutions and selections. The mentality was generally pants and he has to take some of the blame for this but he is rarely ever accountable. 

With regards to the FA cup, yes he did well to win it but when I look back at the games, I don’t see what he alone has done as being some kind of master class. He did well, we had a fairly easy route to the final and then we’ve managed to hang on for our lives in the final and score a screamer. Yes, he did well to help guide us to win it but was it a managerial master class of epic proportions that will buy you years of time? No, not in my opinion and league performances have already been awful for one and a half seasons continually (plus the other half from 2019/20). 
 

As for Europe, good wins? We were easily outclassed by a very average Prague side in the first knockout round. Yeah, we played well against Braga and Athens well in the group stages but to me, the campaign overall was a failure. This season, we went one worse and got knocked out at the group stage. We lost to teams far below us in terms of quality and we threw points away against Napoli. Given a run in the Europa was the aim for this season, he again failed miserably. The conference was a golden chance for him to reclaim some credibility but even the run to the semi was fraught with issues. But for a brief period against Rennes/Eindhoven, we generally played quite badly and we were lucky to not go out against Rennes after the referee missed the penalty. That’s exactly why people see the run as nothing to shout about, dumped out of the Europa by third rate sides, luckily into the Europa conference to salvage something, play awfully for the entire run and scrape through with narrow wins and bad refereeing. Perhaps I could be accused of having a pessimistic view but we never looked like winning the conference league despite how much we all would’ve enjoyed it. 
 

For me, the sign of a great manager is one that is able to be flexible and turn things around when things aren’t going their way. Whether that’s finding a new system for the players at your disposal or getting players back into form and confident again. Rodgers has struggled to maintain high standards even when players are on top for prolonged periods as evidenced by both collapses. But, for me, the biggest worry is his inability to continue to develop the side, instil a fighting mentality and work with what he’s got to get the best out of them.
 

The idea that an entire rebuild is needed is just to save face. New players are needed but he’s just signed five last summer alone and apart from Lookman and occasionally Daka, the rest have never had a look in at all. He’s had the opportunity to add to the squad in my view but he deems the players he has brought in to be even worse than what was already here as back up. That’s also forgetting Perez and Praet, the former was once a favourite of his but now can’t seem to buy a game. If it is to do with the players and not him as he keeps saying, then why are so many of his new signings so far behind in the pecking order? Why have so many players also regressed under his tenure? This does point in the direction that maybe he just took over at the right time and his ideas have a certain expiry date.

Edited 10 May 2022 by oadby.fox

[foxinsocks]

8 minutes ago, oadby.fox said:

Maybe some out there are of this view but I feel that most acknowledge his achievements regarding the two decent runs he has had in both seasons. The problem is that he doesn’t seem at all capable of recreating that form and developing the team further. Perhaps that is also down to him - who knows? Given that the best runs he’s had are two isolated starts at the beginning of both of those seasons, people begin to (righty imo) questions his credibility as one of the highest paid and therefore supposedly best managers in the world.

 

Before he arrived, the fifth place finish would’ve been fairly impressive but many of the criticisms acknowledge that really we should’ve at least finished fourth in both of those seasons. That’s not entitlement, that’s just seeing it through and over the line. Losing out on the CL two years in a row from a fantastic position was deflating and we probably lost out on many transfer opportunities as a result. There were poor performances from players in both seasons but I also remember some horrendous tactical tinkering, substitutions and selections. The mentality was generally pants and he has to take some of the blame for this but he is rarely ever accountable. 

With regards to the FA cup, yes he did well to win it but when I look back at the games, I don’t see what he alone has done as being some kind of master class. He did well, we had a fairly easy route to the final and then we’ve managed to hang on for our lives in the final and score a screamer. Yes, he did well to help guide us to win it but was it a managerial master class of epic proportions that will buy you years of time? No, not in my opinion and league performances have already been awful for one and a half seasons continually (plus the other half from 2019/20). 
 

As for Europe, good wins? We were easily outclassed by a very average Prague side in the first knockout round. Yeah, we played well against Braga and Athens well in the group stages but to me, the campaign overall was a failure. This season, we went one worse and got knocked out at the group stage. We lost to teams far below us in terms of quality and we threw points away against Napoli. Given a run in the Europa was the aim for this season, he again failed miserably. The conference was a golden chance for him to reclaim some credibility but even the run to the semi was fraught with issues. But for a brief period against Rennes/Eindhoven, we generally played quite badly and we were lucky to not go out against Rennes after the referee missed the penalty. That’s exactly why people see the run as nothing to shout about, dumped out of the Europa by third rate sides, luckily into the Europa conference to salvage something, play awfully for the entire run and scrape through with narrow wins and bad refereeing. Perhaps I could be accused of having a pessimistic view but we never looked like winning the conference league despite how much we all would’ve enjoyed its. 
 

For me, the sign of a great manager is one that is able to be flexible and turn things around when things aren’t going there way. Whether that’s finding a new system for the players at your disposal or getting players back into form and confident again. Rodgers has struggled to maintain high standards even when players are on top for prolonged periods as evidenced by both collapses. But, for me, the biggest worry is his inability to continue to develop the side, instil a fighting mentality and work with what he’s got to get the best out of them.
 

The idea that an entire rebuild is needed is just to save face. New players are needed but he’s just signed five last summer alone and apart from Lookman and occasionally Daka, the rest have never had a look in at all. He’s had the opportunity to add to the squad in my view but he deems the players he has brought in to be even worse than what was already here as back up. That’s also forgetting Perez and Praet, the former was once a favourite of his but now can’t seem to buy a game. If it is to do with the players and not him as he keeps saying, then why are so many of his new signings so far behind in the pecking order? Why have so many players also regressed under his tenure? This does point in the direction that maybe he just took over at the right time and his ideas have a certain expiry date.

Great post... I think he cant recreate the earlier form because it conflicts with his posession obsession. 

Yes  the rebuild is part of his narative to say "it's not down to me".

All clubs in the pl will want to bring in 3 players... hardly a rebuild. 

We have players who could be improved... yet he has not done so... and he trashes their confidence .  Players are so expensive to buy and to pay that this failing is unforgivable. 

His treatment of praet looks vindictive.

His purchase of bertrand and vesty was his big mistake... they contributed nothing.

Tick tock... time is up 

Edited 10 May 2022 by foxinsocks

[NFPOUT]

3 hours ago, gerblod said:

There comes a point where too much damage has been done to the spirit of the players for them to still wish to commit to the club. These 'clear-outs' and 'getting rid of dead wood' are cop-outs by club and coaches alike to shift responsibility on to players for poor management.

I listened to RL last night - everyone talking about a rebuild except one caller who thought Rodgers + certain players should go. Consensus was that KDH, Madders and Wes (Wilf too ?) were critical players to retain. Schmeichel was discussed - his shot-stopping ability emphasised as his major plus. It was opined by Matt Piper that Thomas should be loaned out because he wasn't getting enough playing time! I wonder, of the returning full backs, if anyone has really stamped their authority on the left-back position better than he did when he was automatic choice. 

Seems to me that everyone has been depending on the return of injured players as the salvation of the season rather than gradual reintegrations of their damaged bodies. Only Fofana has returned fit in mind and body.

Is there any guarantee that a Rodgers' 'refit' over this summer will be any less unsuccessful than last summer? Daka and Lookman apart, the influx was meaningless. Excuses were made on RL for Soumare not turning up - he was supposed to be a gradual integration. But he got a run of games in which he neither integrated or performed. Had he improved his obvious lack of 'tone' he might have become a feature of the team, but he appears to be on the verge of becoming yet one more invisible man.

The not defending corners or free-kicks has now become a 'yips' issue with all involved believing the accepted mythology that 'Leicester can't defend corners'. How is Rodgers going to magic that one away? Kolo Toure isn't doing the job he's employed to do. Maybe he needs to go in order to get someone in to exorcise the curse - maybe a Catholic priest is needed (or to watch a video of a team defending  which isn't shipping in dead ball goals!).

No - the weight of Rodgers ego is like a heavy felt blanket thrown over the team. Tielemans to go - if anyone thinks they can get £40ms worth of player out of the £15m guy currently holding down a job he doesn't have to compete for.

I sorted through some saved newspaper articles. I'd saved two City reports - the drubbings of Southampton and Man City. That's how the team can play when the force is within them. I cannot see how any number of transfers in and out can recover the élan of the squad with Rodgers remaining.

 

great post !  l think we lose value of players in sell on prices when our team is playing so bad along with them that are wanted by other clubs will be happy to get out. For me Rodgers as to go asap because it is costing us in lots of ways and our future could easily be destroyed by all this negativity within the club.

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

17 minutes ago, oadby.fox said:

Maybe some out there are of this view but I feel that most acknowledge his achievements regarding the two decent runs he has had in both seasons. The problem is that he doesn’t seem at all capable of recreating that form and developing the team further. Perhaps that is also down to him - who knows? Given that the best runs he’s had are two isolated starts at the beginning of both of those seasons, people begin to (righty imo) question his credibility as one of the highest paid and therefore supposedly best managers in the world.

 

Before he arrived, the fifth place finish would’ve been fairly impressive but many of the criticisms acknowledge that really we should’ve at least finished fourth in both of those seasons. That’s not entitlement, that’s just seeing it through and over the line. Losing out on the CL two years in a row from a fantastic position was deflating and we probably lost out on many transfer opportunities as a result. There were poor performances from players in both seasons but I also remember some horrendous tactical tinkering, substitutions and selections. The mentality was generally pants and he has to take some of the blame for this but he is rarely ever accountable. 

With regards to the FA cup, yes he did well to win it but when I look back at the games, I don’t see what he alone has done as being some kind of master class. He did well, we had a fairly easy route to the final and then we’ve managed to hang on for our lives in the final and score a screamer. Yes, he did well to help guide us to win it but was it a managerial master class of epic proportions that will buy you years of time? No, not in my opinion and league performances have already been awful for one and a half seasons continually (plus the other half from 2019/20). 
 

As for Europe, good wins? We were easily outclassed by a very average Prague side in the first knockout round. Yeah, we played well against Braga and Athens well in the group stages but to me, the campaign overall was a failure. This season, we went one worse and got knocked out at the group stage. We lost to teams far below us in terms of quality and we threw points away against Napoli. Given a run in the Europa was the aim for this season, he again failed miserably. The conference was a golden chance for him to reclaim some credibility but even the run to the semi was fraught with issues. But for a brief period against Rennes/Eindhoven, we generally played quite badly and we were lucky to not go out against Rennes after the referee missed the penalty. That’s exactly why people see the run as nothing to shout about, dumped out of the Europa by third rate sides, luckily into the Europa conference to salvage something, play awfully for the entire run and scrape through with narrow wins and bad refereeing. Perhaps I could be accused of having a pessimistic view but we never looked like winning the conference league despite how much we all would’ve enjoyed it. 
 

For me, the sign of a great manager is one that is able to be flexible and turn things around when things aren’t going their way. Whether that’s finding a new system for the players at your disposal or getting players back into form and confident again. Rodgers has struggled to maintain high standards even when players are on top for prolonged periods as evidenced by both collapses. But, for me, the biggest worry is his inability to continue to develop the side, instil a fighting mentality and work with what he’s got to get the best out of them.
 

The idea that an entire rebuild is needed is just to save face. New players are needed but he’s just signed five last summer alone and apart from Lookman and occasionally Daka, the rest have never had a look in at all. He’s had the opportunity to add to the squad in my view but he deems the players he has brought in to be even worse than what was already here as back up. That’s also forgetting Perez and Praet, the former was once a favourite of his but now can’t seem to buy a game. If it is to do with the players and not him as he keeps saying, then why are so many of his new signings so far behind in the pecking order? Why have so many players also regressed under his tenure? This does point in the direction that maybe he just took over at the right time and his ideas have a certain expiry date.

Top post

[PAPA LAZAROU]

3 hours ago, Guest454545 said:

Wasn't Rodgers responsible for those drubbings? Or is the manager only responsible for the bad stuff that happens?

Balance those two matches with the dross we have had to put up with since, and you'll get a clearer picture.

[Guest Col city fan]

29 minutes ago, oadby.fox said:

Maybe some out there are of this view but I feel that most acknowledge his achievements regarding the two decent runs he has had in both seasons. The problem is that he doesn’t seem at all capable of recreating that form and developing the team further. Perhaps that is also down to him - who knows? Given that the best runs he’s had are two isolated starts at the beginning of both of those seasons, people begin to (righty imo) question his credibility as one of the highest paid and therefore supposedly best managers in the world.

 

Before he arrived, the fifth place finish would’ve been fairly impressive but many of the criticisms acknowledge that really we should’ve at least finished fourth in both of those seasons. That’s not entitlement, that’s just seeing it through and over the line. Losing out on the CL two years in a row from a fantastic position was deflating and we probably lost out on many transfer opportunities as a result. There were poor performances from players in both seasons but I also remember some horrendous tactical tinkering, substitutions and selections. The mentality was generally pants and he has to take some of the blame for this but he is rarely ever accountable. 

With regards to the FA cup, yes he did well to win it but when I look back at the games, I don’t see what he alone has done as being some kind of master class. He did well, we had a fairly easy route to the final and then we’ve managed to hang on for our lives in the final and score a screamer. Yes, he did well to help guide us to win it but was it a managerial master class of epic proportions that will buy you years of time? No, not in my opinion and league performances have already been awful for one and a half seasons continually (plus the other half from 2019/20). 
 

As for Europe, good wins? We were easily outclassed by a very average Prague side in the first knockout round. Yeah, we played well against Braga and Athens well in the group stages but to me, the campaign overall was a failure. This season, we went one worse and got knocked out at the group stage. We lost to teams far below us in terms of quality and we threw points away against Napoli. Given a run in the Europa was the aim for this season, he again failed miserably. The conference was a golden chance for him to reclaim some credibility but even the run to the semi was fraught with issues. But for a brief period against Rennes/Eindhoven, we generally played quite badly and we were lucky to not go out against Rennes after the referee missed the penalty. That’s exactly why people see the run as nothing to shout about, dumped out of the Europa by third rate sides, luckily into the Europa conference to salvage something, play awfully for the entire run and scrape through with narrow wins and bad refereeing. Perhaps I could be accused of having a pessimistic view but we never looked like winning the conference league despite how much we all would’ve enjoyed it. 
 

For me, the sign of a great manager is one that is able to be flexible and turn things around when things aren’t going their way. Whether that’s finding a new system for the players at your disposal or getting players back into form and confident again. Rodgers has struggled to maintain high standards even when players are on top for prolonged periods as evidenced by both collapses. But, for me, the biggest worry is his inability to continue to develop the side, instil a fighting mentality and work with what he’s got to get the best out of them.
 

The idea that an entire rebuild is needed is just to save face. New players are needed but he’s just signed five last summer alone and apart from Lookman and occasionally Daka, the rest have never had a look in at all. He’s had the opportunity to add to the squad in my view but he deems the players he has brought in to be even worse than what was already here as back up. That’s also forgetting Perez and Praet, the former was once a favourite of his but now can’t seem to buy a game. If it is to do with the players and not him as he keeps saying, then why are so many of his new signings so far behind in the pecking order? Why have so many players also regressed under his tenure? This does point in the direction that maybe he just took over at the right time and his ideas have a certain expiry date.

Literally one of the best posts I’ve ever read on here

👍

[volpeazzurro]

2 hours ago, gerblod said:

There comes a point where too much damage has been done to the spirit of the players for them to still wish to commit to the club. These 'clear-outs' and 'getting rid of dead wood' are cop-outs by club and coaches alike to shift responsibility on to players for poor management.

I listened to RL last night - everyone talking about a rebuild except one caller who thought Rodgers + certain players should go. Consensus was that KDH, Madders and Wes (Wilf too ?) were critical players to retain. Schmeichel was discussed - his shot-stopping ability emphasised as his major plus. It was opined by Matt Piper that Thomas should be loaned out because he wasn't getting enough playing time! I wonder, of the returning full backs, if anyone has really stamped their authority on the left-back position better than he did when he was automatic choice. 

Seems to me that everyone has been depending on the return of injured players as the salvation of the season rather than gradual reintegrations of their damaged bodies. Only Fofana has returned fit in mind and body.

Is there any guarantee that a Rodgers' 'refit' over this summer will be any less unsuccessful than last summer? Daka and Lookman apart, the influx was meaningless. Excuses were made on RL for Soumare not turning up - he was supposed to be a gradual integration. But he got a run of games in which he neither integrated or performed. Had he improved his obvious lack of 'tone' he might have become a feature of the team, but he appears to be on the verge of becoming yet one more invisible man.

The not defending corners or free-kicks has now become a 'yips' issue with all involved believing the accepted mythology that 'Leicester can't defend corners'. How is Rodgers going to magic that one away? Kolo Toure isn't doing the job he's employed to do. Maybe he needs to go in order to get someone in to exorcise the curse - maybe a Catholic priest is needed (or to watch a video of a team defending  which isn't shipping in dead ball goals!).

No - the weight of Rodgers ego is like a heavy felt blanket thrown over the team. Tielemans to go - if anyone thinks they can get £40ms worth of player out of the £15m guy currently holding down a job he doesn't have to compete for.

I sorted through some saved newspaper articles. I'd saved two City reports - the drubbings of Southampton and Man City. That's how the team can play when the force is within them. I cannot see how any number of transfers in and out can recover the élan of the squad with Rodgers remaining.

 

Very good post and that's the reality isn't it. Yes, we suffered some crucial injuries as all teams do but, when you look at who we had as replacements, compared with most of our counterparts, were they really that bad? If Evans and Fofana are out, wouldn't many of the other teams now above our 14th position not think that Soyuncu, Armarty and Vestergaard, all internationals, would be reasonable stand ins? Are they all that bad or is playing Vestergaard in a high line or Soyuncu on the extreme left of a three contributory factors in their downfall. Rodgers didn't even trust Armarty at first and would use Ndidi which would then weaken our midfield as Mendy was out of favour and banished from the squad. He even tried Castagne to laughable effect in the tv studios.

 

Should Rodgers not know the strengths and weaknesses of his players and alter tactics accordingly? If you perceive you have a weak defence, why only protect it with a 2 man midfield at times against teams like West Ham who have  recent history of overrunning you there?

 

As for the set peice issues or the persistence with zonal marking until recently, well it's been done to death and quite frankly, for a manager of Rodgers supposed reputation, it's inexcusable! We sometimes laugh or sneer at names like Pulis or Alladyce, but do you not think they'd have found a solution to it? Repetative,  boring hard work would have been their order of the day every day until the message got drilled home and has become second nature. So what did our coaching staff do, do they even know what to do? It really doesn't look like it still! Well Fofana, Evans and JJ are back, no real mind-blowing improvement so it can't be that realistically can it.

 

The whole thing has been a debacle for 12 months now, we've all seen the tepid, dull and dire product on the pitch. Rodgers seemingly only knows one way and regardless of who is bought in the summer, he's going to train them with the same mantras. Players at times rightly have to take some blame but there's a reason why some of these players, who we have witnessed with our own eyes as being capable of playing free-flowing attacking football are not doing it any more. Not all of them can have lost their talents. They have been subjected to Rodgers football philosophy radicalisation, micro-managed and often played out of their best positions to service his fantasies. He really is poor and has been found out. The problem is that it's been so long since we've seen such football from these players, it has become too easy to blame them and accept the belief that a revamp will bring the good times back. It really won't, it's just not that simple. 

[5waller5]

1 hour ago, Nalis said:

The current criticisms of Rodgers are warranted but what I find bizarre is that a small section of our fans want to discredit him from any of his achievements since joining the club, as if he just fluked the 1st half of the seasons 19-20 and 20-21 seasons, our fa cup win and our wins in europe.

 

1 hour ago, Dahnsouff said:

Its becasue some people like to be able to form binary opinions about his whole tenure, so he is either awful or amazing. Bit weird.  

In terms of the great first half of those two seasons … that’s not an achievement is it?? It’s only an achievement if it results in something - and those starts absolutely should have resulted in champions league qualification.

 

1/2 game that we lose, or 1/2 season that we then capitulate result in nothing… apart from disappointment. 
 

The criticism of BR is that he can’t finish the job, he bottles it. Those seasons demonstrate that perfectly.

[foxinsocks]

Can I just point out that we never fell away in April before Rodgers arrived.

[Dahnsouff]

15 minutes ago, 5waller5 said:

 

In terms of the great first half of those two seasons … that’s not an achievement is it?? It’s only an achievement if it results in something - and those starts absolutely should have resulted in champions league qualification.

 

1/2 game that we lose, or 1/2 season that we then capitulate result in nothing… apart from disappointment. 
 

The criticism of BR is that he can’t finish the job, he bottles it. Those seasons demonstrate that perfectly.

After so long, I do feel obliged to offer a counter point to the continued negative posts, so...

 

I think in the two seasons where we missed out on fourth, we ran out of steam, just that simple

We were and lacked the quaity squad depth to limp over the line

I think this is true as we don`t have the quality in the squad to ensure we can rest first XI players without seriously impacting our quality, an issue those other top 4 chasers did not have

 

Also, you cannot discount half a season (Well 2 of them) purely because it meant we failed to reach the target (A target we actually made based on pre-season hopes) and note that this clearly done with a agenda behind it.

[LestaAl]

It’s not a pleasant experience  when a significant majority of the supporters of the club feel the manager is creating more problems than he solves.

I hope the board make some comment in the next fortnight rather than letting speculation run riot going into the summer.

[Ric Flair]

17 minutes ago, foxinsocks said:

Can I just point out that we never fell away in April before Rodgers arrived.

Didn't we nose dive under Puel in 2017/18 having looked primed to go for 7th at the turn of the year? Memory is hazy.

[Daggers]

I think if he inhaled helium before answering every question I might have warmed to him more.

[Chelmofox]

1 minute ago, Daggers said:

I think if he inhaled helium before answering every question I might have warmed to him more.

He should scat his bulllshit answers.

 

ooom ba da dah, omm ba da doo - 'physically' . Anything to make me think there is a personality in there.

[Guest454545]

20 minutes ago, PAPA LAZAROU said:

Balance those two matches with the dross we have had to put up with since, and you'll get a clearer picture.

Out of interest, are you reducing Rodgers tenure to just two games? Because you can go back to the start of this thread to see how different the mood was then. And that was near the end of last season. You'd just got into the final, had not yet won it, and all was rosey in the garden. Then it was all very anti-Rodgers. Then you win the FA Cup, and page 45 or so is a complete contrast to now. It was all how great Rodgers was, and he was building a legacy. Then you missed out on top 4, it gets bad again. Then your best defender gets chopped down pre season and really, your entire year ends there, to be honest. I had a post that wasn't approved that showed that some teams have gone backwards and then come back under a manager the following season. Liverpool was one of the examples. They won the league and then lost their best defender and dropped 30 points the season after. Now look where they are. A single player can have that effect, by addition or subtraction. It's just one of those truths of football. Relegating Rodgers time at Leicester to just two games seems overly reductionist to make a point. This is the worst league season in Brendan Rodgers top flight management career. Wherever he is next season, he's probably going to be back up there again, fighting for the European spots. The question is, will it be at Leicester, or will someone like Southampton or Leeds or whoever, be reaping the benefits?

[smudgerfox]

1 hour ago, oadby.fox said:

Maybe some out there are of this view but I feel that most acknowledge his achievements regarding the two decent runs he has had in both seasons. The problem is that he doesn’t seem at all capable of recreating that form and developing the team further. Perhaps that is also down to him - who knows? Given that the best runs he’s had are two isolated starts at the beginning of both of those seasons, people begin to (righty imo) question his credibility as one of the highest paid and therefore supposedly best managers in the world.

 

Before he arrived, the fifth place finish would’ve been fairly impressive but many of the criticisms acknowledge that really we should’ve at least finished fourth in both of those seasons. That’s not entitlement, that’s just seeing it through and over the line. Losing out on the CL two years in a row from a fantastic position was deflating and we probably lost out on many transfer opportunities as a result. There were poor performances from players in both seasons but I also remember some horrendous tactical tinkering, substitutions and selections. The mentality was generally pants and he has to take some of the blame for this but he is rarely ever accountable. 

With regards to the FA cup, yes he did well to win it but when I look back at the games, I don’t see what he alone has done as being some kind of master class. He did well, we had a fairly easy route to the final and then we’ve managed to hang on for our lives in the final and score a screamer. Yes, he did well to help guide us to win it but was it a managerial master class of epic proportions that will buy you years of time? No, not in my opinion and league performances have already been awful for one and a half seasons continually (plus the other half from 2019/20). 
 

As for Europe, good wins? We were easily outclassed by a very average Prague side in the first knockout round. Yeah, we played well against Braga and Athens well in the group stages but to me, the campaign overall was a failure. This season, we went one worse and got knocked out at the group stage. We lost to teams far below us in terms of quality and we threw points away against Napoli. Given a run in the Europa was the aim for this season, he again failed miserably. The conference was a golden chance for him to reclaim some credibility but even the run to the semi was fraught with issues. But for a brief period against Rennes/Eindhoven, we generally played quite badly and we were lucky to not go out against Rennes after the referee missed the penalty. That’s exactly why people see the run as nothing to shout about, dumped out of the Europa by third rate sides, luckily into the Europa conference to salvage something, play awfully for the entire run and scrape through with narrow wins and bad refereeing. Perhaps I could be accused of having a pessimistic view but we never looked like winning the conference league despite how much we all would’ve enjoyed it. 
 

For me, the sign of a great manager is one that is able to be flexible and turn things around when things aren’t going their way. Whether that’s finding a new system for the players at your disposal or getting players back into form and confident again. Rodgers has struggled to maintain high standards even when players are on top for prolonged periods as evidenced by both collapses. But, for me, the biggest worry is his inability to continue to develop the side, instil a fighting mentality and work with what he’s got to get the best out of them.
 

The idea that an entire rebuild is needed is just to save face. New players are needed but he’s just signed five last summer alone and apart from Lookman and occasionally Daka, the rest have never had a look in at all. He’s had the opportunity to add to the squad in my view but he deems the players he has brought in to be even worse than what was already here as back up. That’s also forgetting Perez and Praet, the former was once a favourite of his but now can’t seem to buy a game. If it is to do with the players and not him as he keeps saying, then why are so many of his new signings so far behind in the pecking order? Why have so many players also regressed under his tenure? This does point in the direction that maybe he just took over at the right time and his ideas have a certain expiry date.

I’d slightly disagree about the Conference campaign and to some extent the FA Cup as well. I think in cup competitions you can always look at matches and say we’d have lost if this had happened but what counts is getting over the line. Riding your luck, taking full advantage of it, and being merciless on the opposition. We did that in the FA Cup including the Final and I’d say we managed the games against Rennes and PSV pretty well considering the strength of the opposition. 
 

I agree with everything else 100 per cent. Sadly I think finishing fifth twice, when fourth seemed nailed on, typifies his management. It lacks a ruthless streak. And it fails to instil a strong on pitch psychology in a team. And It relies on flogging favoured players half to death rather than imaginative use of a whole squad of 25 players. 

[foxinsocks]

18 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Didn't we nose dive under Puel in 2017/18 having looked primed to go for 7th at the turn of the year? Memory is hazy.

Mine too... I blanked it our drinking my wes Morgan rum

[5waller5]

21 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

After so long, I do feel obliged to offer a counter point to the continued negative posts, so...

 

I think in the two seasons where we missed out on fourth, we ran out of steam, just that simple

We were and lacked the quaity squad depth to limp over the line

I think this is true as we don`t have the quality in the squad to ensure we can rest first XI players without seriously impacting our quality, an issue those other top 4 chasers did not have

 

Also, you cannot discount half a season (Well 2 of them) purely because it meant we failed to reach the target (A target we actually made based on pre-season hopes) and note that this clearly done with a agenda behind it.

If I enter a 200m race and lead it at 100m it means nothing if I finish 5th.

 

That having been said, yes we did look exhausted towards the end of the season. Exhaustion because he ran the players into the ground, rotating just one or two players a game gives you 4 on / 1 off…. Or taking off key players when you’re winning giving a bit of rest.

 

I said it at the time, it’s not revisionist, he didn’t manage our fitness or rotation during those seasons (or since). He bills himself as a master tactician and coach and misses the very obvious.

[StanSP]

25 minutes ago, LestaAl said:

I hope the board make some comment in the next fortnight rather than letting speculation run riot going into the summer.

This won't happen. And I'm glad it won't. 

 

Firstly, if they say he's safe, it really won't go down well with fans right now and would effectively be a PR disaster. 

 

Secondly, if they say he's not safe, that won't really inspire confidence in Rodgers. A chairman publicly exposing his manager as unsafe in his job literally never happens. 

 

Thirdly, they just don't make statements like that in public. I trust they'll have the necessary discussions with Rodgers in private and I'm totally fine with that. It's how they do their business and you have to respect that. 

 

The only public statement they'll probably intend to make is if he is sacked at any point. Just how it is really. 

[oadby.fox]

14 minutes ago, smudgerfox said:

I’d slightly disagree about the Conference campaign and to some extent the FA Cup as well. I think in cup competitions you can always look at matches and say we’d have lost if this had happened but what counts is getting over the line. Riding your luck, taking full advantage of it, and being merciless on the opposition. We did that in the FA Cup including the Final and I’d say we managed the games against Rennes and PSV pretty well considering the strength of the opposition. 
 

I agree with everything else 100 per cent. Sadly I think finishing fifth twice, when fourth seemed nailed on, typifies his management. It lacks a ruthless streak. And it fails to instil a strong on pitch psychology in a team. And It relies on flogging favoured players half to death rather than imaginative use of a whole squad of 25 players. 

I don’t disagree and we have also had moments go against us in cup runs. The point was more in reference to whether those runs had shown him to be a fantastic manager. It seems to me that anyone can ride their luck or draw a simpler path to the final irrespective of managerial class or tactical nous. We often say the same about Southgate in response to the media fanfare. Yes, often times, many teams will ride their luck to get deeper into a cup competition but doing so doesn’t necessarily merit great adulation of the manager, as it’s not necessarily good evidence of their own ability. There are sides who have also gone out and just completely dominated a cup run by dispatching each team along the way. Regarding both European campaigns, Eindhoven was probably the stand out performance in the second half but aside from that, the rest was pretty drab to awful at times. 

[Hammo]

Players lose confidence and self-belief. Managers too.

 

It is plain for all to see that Rodgers has lost his. He is making scatterbrained decisions, none of which are working.

 

I think he must have finally realised deep down that his predictable way of playing has been 'outed' by opposition managers and he is struggling to know how to respond. Plus, he must also know that a sizeable percentage of the fans have had enough of him. That's why he is getting on the defensive in interviews and looking increasingly irascible on the touchline.

 

It's not a happy situation, and it certainly can't be allowed to continue. If we mess up the last four games and finish, say, 15th, he doesn't have a leg to stand on.