Brendan Rodgers

[Ric Flair]

2 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

I think the top 6 is difficult this season, with Arsenal and both Spurs strengthening, I can only see 6th &7th being up for grabs, between us, Man U, West Ham and Maybe Newcastle. 

 

I think good attacking football and better game management (Defending), being in the fight for a European football at the death of the season and going well in both the Cups would be a successful season.

 

With the 5 subs rule, I would be disappointed if we don't see a few appearances for academy players. 

Agreed. It's always been points totals that I measure us on anyway, we threw away so many last year and conceded so many soft goals and yet we were still not far off the 60 point barrier which I think constitutes a reasonable/decent season for us.

[volpeazzurro]

4 hours ago, smudgerfox said:

I usually agree with you V but I can’t agree with this. I don’t think he insists on a poor style of play rather he insists on a style of play which is difficult to execute well…the safe sideways passing everyone complains about is not a matter of manager instruction but it’s an inevitable consequence of trying to control possession - when an attack is repelled and the killer ball doesn’t happen , the ball is unavoidably recycled back to the back four or even to the keeper who then have to bide  their time to play forward through the lines again. Man City play roughly the same game and sometimes even they struggle to make their possession pay. The question for me is whether a team with our calibre of player can really afford to play that style at all and whether the manager should stick to it so rigidly.. 

Yes, I think that's about right and you put it a lot better than me. I think style, method and tactics have to be commensurate with the players you have available and make the best use of your assets. An obvious one would be like playing a high line with Vestergaard, I'm sure he does his best but he's just not really suited to that role.

[volpeazzurro]

4 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Perhaps so   But I dare say that Susan holds way more sway that Rodgers ever could, and I see no world where she gets bamboozled by Rodgers. I also realise that Rodgers is an extremely divisive figure at this club, but to frame him as some form of Machiavellian saboteur is a bit of a stretch imho.

Good point re Susan in fairness. 

[urban fox]

15 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Agreed. It's always been points totals that I measure us on anyway, we threw away so many last year and conceded so many soft goals and yet we were still not far off the 60 point barrier which I think constitutes a reasonable/decent season for us.

I agree. Add in a decent cup run along the way. If we are being honest, and realistic, anyone other than the usual top 4 would have to be happy with our record for the three full seasons that BR has been here. 5th, 5th and 8th, FA cup winners & QF , League cup SF & QF, a European SF and community shield winners is fairly decent.

Despite the above, there are many who think that unless we are going out and spanking teams 5-0 playing like prime 1970’s Brazil week in week out we are not good enough, there is something fundamentally wrong at the club, we will be relegated to league 1 and the whole thing is about to come crashing down like a house of cards.

As a club, we have never been in safer hands at boardroom level and are experiencing the best prolonged period in our history. It’s the same in the transfer forum. Because we have not moved on a,b,c etc(insert your least favourite/scapegoat player here) and signed Messi, Mbappe and Ronaldo within the first ten minutes of the window opening then we are either rubbish and/or skint or nobody wants to play for us.

So for me, 60 pts. QF cup and just generally looking more secure at defending set piec s will represent progress from last season, which tbf, was a bit disappointing compared to the previous two.

 

[volpeazzurro]

4 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

But Rodgers doesn't have the complete say on transfers so backing him is backing the club not just the manager. If we don't have the correct scouts and analysts to aid us in this then that runs bigger than Brendan as its very rare for a head coach to be hugely responsible for identifying and making signings. 

Yes, whilst I agree with that, supposedly Perez and Vestergaard were his choices and haven't turned out well. He does pick the team though and it was clear that Perez, despite having had plenty of opportunities to shine, was given far more chances than say Praet and Under who seemingly weren't his choices. His personal bias against Iheanacho despite his goalscoring and even Armarty to a lesser extent at first is strange. I just wonder if the club chooses players without his say so, whether they'll even get a fair crack of the whip.

[volpeazzurro]

2 hours ago, Dusty said:

I think you are right to a degree that there were results that were gained solely through individual brilliance, as we were struggling to create, the Brentford game really rings true of this.

 

But then the opposite of this argument is there were plenty of games where we were the better team and winning games, only for really awful individual mistakes to lose us those games. There’s that ridiculous stat that if we’d won every game we’d been winning we would have finished in the top 4 so we can’t be relying on individual brilliance all the time, there’s clearly a system that works even if it was boring for lots of the season. Lots of the reasons we lost points were because of players losing their man at the back post from crosses, or just generally from set pieces, we gave away late penalties, kasper had a few nightmares etc. 

 

Whilst Rodgers made mistakes last season, so did many of the players. With our strongest back four I think we reduce those mistakes, reduce the number of set piece goals we concede and improve our progression form the back. Obviously easier said than done as we have too many injuries, and Rodgers has his part to play in that too I’m sure.

I think you make some good and valid points. However, even without our strongest back 4 available, I would suggest it was more the tactical approach to defending corners for example rather than the players themselves for the most part. The zonal fiasco went on far too long and even the media pundits pointed it out. That was down to coaching and management and was a problem for Rodgers to acknowledge and change. Like always, he blamed the players and lack of aggression etc.

[The Year Of The Fox]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

What constitutes turning it around, have we got to get top 6 again? This is where I think he's now got no hope anyway. For me, he turns it around by rectifying the set piece debacle, maintains the style of football seen in the last handful of games and proves he can keep a squad fit enough to not have a plethora of injuries constantly.

 

Do all that with a real desire to bring through some of our academy players and hit 60+ points and don't really care where we finish as that's a positive season.

That’s all I’m asking 

[filbertway]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

What constitutes turning it around, have we got to get top 6 again? This is where I think he's now got no hope anyway. For me, he turns it around by rectifying the set piece debacle, maintains the style of football seen in the last handful of games and proves he can keep a squad fit enough to not have a plethora of injuries constantly.

 

Do all that with a real desire to bring through some of our academy players and hit 60+ points and don't really care where we finish as that's a positive season.

Points, style of play and future proofing are the areas he needs to hit. 

 

60+ points should be the minimum for a good season. Where that gets you obviously depends on the quality of teams above, I actually think that more quality clubs should mean that the points these top tems pick up will also drop as they should take a lot of points from each other.

 

The football needs to be better, we've got some top quality players available to us and we play some awful football with them. We need to be faster and we need to get more men forwards in attacks. 

 

Future proofing, until Rodgers took over, we seemed to improving the quality of the squad season after season and getting value for money, which allowed us to compete with teams with far greater budgets. We've now got a bit of a bloated squad of average players on a lot of money while Rodgers still relies on the core of players that were signed under previous regimes.

 

Point 1 and 2 are short term and can be rectified fairly quickly with the right replacement. Point 3 is the big concern and if left too long would have long term consequences to our future. A future that looked very hopeful only a couiple of years ago.

[The Year Of The Fox]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

I believe he will.

 

I believed Pearson could turn us around after the shocking second half of 12/13 and similarly I think Rodgers will.

 

Top 6 and a decent run in one of the Cup competitions would be enough for me as an improvement and I think he'll achieve that. The big issue for me will be whether he has us defending set pieces better.

Fair enough

 

Our overall performances have been bad for much longer than half a season though. More like two years 

 

 

[The Year Of The Fox]

1 hour ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

I suppose the burden is on you to define what 'turning it around' would consist of? 

 

 

What a ridiculous post.

 

We all have levels of expectations (though it seems like some on here have incredibly low expectations and are just glad to be in the PL still) 

 

If his football doesn’t meet my expectations then I’ll want him gone. 
 

Is there a problem with that? 

[The Year Of The Fox]

Just now, pmcla26 said:

Two years would encapsulate the whole of the 2020/21 season where we finished 5th and won the FA Cup. 

 

Last season it was quite obvious that when we had the majority of our best players out injured, we would then play worse. Things will pick up next season and be fine. 

On the contrary I think our levels of performance (overall) have nosedived since before the pandemic. The last time I enjoyed us playing was Villa away when we trounced them.

 

After that we were still getting the results at times which papered over the cracks. 
 

 

I don’t go very often anymore. So when I do go the contrast in how we used to play is stark. It’s a bit like that person you don’t see very often and when you do meet them you notice how much weight they’ve lost/gained. Whereas someone who sees the same person everyday doesn’t notice it so much. 

[Ric Flair]

10 minutes ago, The Year Of The Fox said:

On the contrary I think our levels of performance (overall) have nosedived since before the pandemic. The last time I enjoyed us playing was Villa away when we trounced them.

 

After that we were still getting the results at times which papered over the cracks. 
 

 

I don’t go very often anymore. So when I do go the contrast in how we used to play is stark. It’s a bit like that person you don’t see very often and when you do meet them you notice how much weight they’ve lost/gained. Whereas someone who sees the same person everyday doesn’t notice it so much. 

Did you not enjoy some of the football from Oct 2020 to Dec 2020 and Jan 2021 to mid Feb 2021 where we were very very good vs the likes of Southampton, Chelsea, Stoke and Brentford in the cup we battered them 2nd half, Liverpool at home? 

[sacreblueits442]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

I believe he will.

 

I believed Pearson could turn us around after the shocking second half of 12/13 and similarly I think Rodgers will.

 

Top 6 and a decent run in one of the Cup competitions would be enough for me as an improvement and I think he'll achieve that. The big issue for me will be whether he has us defending set pieces better.

...there was nothing for Pearson to turn around, the talent was already there!!!

The problem was the fear instilled in the manager and his lack of knowledge of playing in the Premiership. As soon as he decided to release the shackles, we showed the quality which we had all along.

  The strange thing was after the United game, coming back from 1-3 down, he (Pearson) would have been assured that we could bring our own game to this league. I suppose he felt it was just one of those freak things that happen now and again, and sought to play safe to keep us up.

[The Year Of The Fox]

9 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Did you not enjoy some of the football from Oct 2020 to Dec 2020 and Jan 2021 to mid Feb 2021 where we were very very good vs the likes of Southampton, Chelsea, Stoke and Brentford in the cup we battered them 2nd half, Liverpool at home? 

I’m not even sure I went to them to be honest. Or watched them if they were BCD

[Simoken]

This forum of BR hating misfits will probably start talking about replacing him with Rooney next.

[The Year Of The Fox]

9 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

So you're not bothered about watching the matches but you are really bothered by the manager keeping his job?  

Well yeah, I might start going again more when we’re not making 36 passes between the back 4 and being told that it’s good football.

[David Hankey]

5 minutes ago, Simoken said:

This forum of BR hating misfits will probably start talking about replacing him with Rooney next.

Well, Appleton has gone back to Blackpool!!

[Les-TA-Jon]

1 hour ago, The Year Of The Fox said:

What a ridiculous post.

 

We all have levels of expectations (though it seems like some on here have incredibly low expectations and are just glad to be in the PL still) 

 

If his football doesn’t meet my expectations then I’ll want him gone. 
 

Is there a problem with that? 

Huh? Is there a need to be so antagonistic?

 

Unless I'm missing some larger conversation, I saw your comment saying "He won't turn it around" without any further explanation, evidence or elaboration and simply wanted some more info?

[BenTheFox]

I've seen talk of finishing in the top six being essential for Rodgers. To be honest, if we finish eighth again next season but with a higher points tally that would be comfortably good enough for me. Arsenal and Tottenham look much better than they did a couple of years ago and we've seen what Newcastle and Aston Villa are prepared to spend. 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

3 hours ago, Fox92 said:

I believe he will.

 

I believed Pearson could turn us around after the shocking second half of 12/13 and similarly I think Rodgers will.

 

Top 6 and a decent run in one of the Cup competitions would be enough for me as an improvement and I think he'll achieve that. The big issue for me will be whether he has us defending set pieces better.

Which of the big 6 do you think we'll finish above? 

[coolhandfox]

8 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Which of the big 6 do you think we'll finish above? 

Difficult now Arsenal and Spurs seem to have got themselves in order. 

 

I think the only chance is continued disharmony at Man U or an implosion at Chelsea. 

 

Chelsea is an interesting one new owner seems determined to move on everyone from the previous regime. They have got rid of the Chairman (Buck), Petr Cech (Technical and performance adviser) and  Marina Granovskaia who did a lot of work on the transfer front and Boehly will operate as sporting director until the club names a full-time replacement.

 

Lots of upheavals when you need to replace Rudiger, Christensen, as well as an ageing Azpilicueta and Alonso. Chuck in a kante that can't get fit and moving on Lukuku.  

 

They have some work to do and could have a mixed season, not say we will finish above them but I don't think as strong as previous seasons. 

[lcfcsnow]

Any sign of Rodgers? 🤔

[Lesta2014]

25 minutes ago, lcfcsnow said:

Any sign of Rodgers? 🤔

Just about to say this myself, hopefully a picture special coming up to show us more of who was there? In albrighton interview there’s a few in video clips I don’t really recognise, couple of blonde lads. 

[Vindaloo FOX]

34 minutes ago, lcfcsnow said:

Any sign of Rodgers? 🤔

Yes he took the training session 

[The Year Of The Fox]

2 hours ago, Les-TA-Jon said:

Huh? Is there a need to be so antagonistic?

 

Unless I'm missing some larger conversation, I saw your comment saying "He won't turn it around" without any further explanation, evidence or elaboration and simply wanted some more info?

Apologies, I thought you were the one being antagonistic in how you said what you said 

 

I’ve said loads on here many times about what I want from Rodgers, about my issues with his football (which run a lot deeper than us failing to finish 5th) and about how those issues have been around for two years or so. I’m aware I repeat myself a lot on here and I’m trying to avoid continuing it.

 

Our first really bad performance under him was Everton at home (Iheanacho VAR goal) which masked over the cracks. Slowly but surely our footballs been in decline ever since. 
 

Yes we’ve won some games and we’ve won the FA Cup. (So did Martinez at Wigan before they got relegated)

 

We’ve had abject result after abject result this season just gone. What games can you point out and honestly say we were brilliant? United and Liverpool at home are the only two I can think of. Two games out of 38. Throw into the mix the Warsaw game, the Napoli game, and the two performances against Roma where we simply didn’t have enough of a go. I’ve not even mentioned the utter embarrassment of Forest away, or the Newcastle or Spurs games.
 

But I’m not even bothered about the failure to win very often. I’m not even that bothered about our set piece problem. What bothers me the most is watching turgid sideways football and then being told I should be grateful for it. All whilst the players are chucked under the bus by their manager. It’s clear to me the manager is hampering the players. People say Barnes isn’t good enough- he’d bloody thrive at somewhere like Liverpool where they look to get the ball forward early and attack. If Rodgers would stop being so stubborn and sort out the above, the wins would follow. But no, we have to play total football apparently. 
 

September last year I was completely fed up of his current brand of football at Leicester. I decided to look at the PL stats of most completed passes in our side. The furthest player up the pitch who was in the Top 10 of LCFC most completed passes was Youri, who was 8th. All other 9 were Kasper defenders and Ndidi. (I can’t list them all as I don’t remember, but it’s true) Soyuncu and Kasper were leading our charts by a million miles. Football should not be like that. What baffles me even further is that some of the fans regurgitate the utter rubbish that’s comes out of Rodgers’ mouth in terms of possession football, and its importance. Despite managing to win the league over a season where we probably had the most possession only a handful of times. 
 

I wish some of the FT members were my bank manager with the amount of credit they’re still offering Rodgers. It went a bloody long time ago in my eyes. 
 

 

Edited 27 June 2022 by The Year Of The Fox