Brendan Rodgers

[Guest itude]

3 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Because he is lambasted without any acknowledgement of context, or at best, stated he is also too blame for any contributing factors so that too is his fault, and it has always been thus. He is far from perfect, I hardly think we need to lump famine, pestilence and plague on him too.

Oh ,just give me the opportunity, and I will

[Mickyblueeyes]

1 hour ago, MattFox said:

“Southampton are a very experienced side with many qualities, our inexperienced boys put in a credible display against a much bigger club, we regroup and go again”

“Every club needs a refresh and I would’ve liked to have had four or five more from them playing for us. The character to finish 11th is ingrained in some of their players and every window we try to get closer to that character that can react to a 9-0 loss. It was a privilege to be on the same pitch.”

[fuchsntf]

7 hours ago, MalletFox said:

If we don’t beat Southampton on Saturday, I’m going to be genuinely intrigued as to what the excuse will be.

 

We’ve had 2 pretty pathetic attempts from BR this far as way of an explanation why results weren’t better. Waiting for the groundsman to get it next week if we don’t see off a poor Southampton team!

I reckon we are playing ok...

We held within the game well ,they were technically better as a team,we are not at that standard..what I didn't see was the players themselve trying to readdress it,but that was mainly they chased us down better.But Arsenal once they find their Rythme at home,it's hard to pick their pockets...

 

To all fans you can't go through the season expecting & being scared that we might not win....besides Southampton did us last season...

See if we have learnt anything...

[taupe]

9 hours ago, Webbo said:

Can I just point out,  I don't care whether anyone agrees  or understands my point of view. I just say what I think. 

You are Brendan Rodgers and I claim my £5        

[Grebfromgrebland]

Given our financial situation, unable to buy annd seemingly sell players, players losing form, the strengthening of all our rivals and the general malaise that's setting in, what position do you think we should finish in?

 

I think we'll do well to finish above 12th.

 

[frany104]

20 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Given our financial situation, unable to buy annd seemingly sell players, players losing form, the strengthening of all our rivals and the general malaise that's setting in, what position do you think we should finish in?

 

I think we'll do well to finish above 12th.

 

Honestly. I would snap your hand off for 12th. With the doom and gloom around the club I think we’re in a relegation battle. We shouldn’t be with the squad we have but negativity sets in and before you know it your struggling. 

[chapero82]

21 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Given our financial situation, unable to buy annd seemingly sell players, players losing form, the strengthening of all our rivals and the general malaise that's setting in, what position do you think we should finish in?

 

I think we'll do well to finish above 12th.

 

I think we will be very lucky to finish that high 

[Sean2000]

25 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Given our financial situation, unable to buy annd seemingly sell players, players losing form, the strengthening of all our rivals and the general malaise that's setting in, what position do you think we should finish in?

 

I think we'll do well to finish above 12th.

 

Our financial situation is fine. The issue is that if we can't move players on then we have no space in our 25 man squad to bring players in. It's that simple. That's why we are ideally loving to move the likes of Choudhury, Vestegaard and Perez rather than Maddison and Fofana (though every player has his price). 

 

Where we finish will very much depend what happens between now and September 1 when the window shuts. Things could get better, or they could get a whole lot worse 😱

[Finnegan]

I think I've come to conclude that Rodgers is one of the best managers we've ever had when he can run his Plan A but is extremely poor when he can't. This is exacerbated by his plan A  requiring wingers, the area of the squad we're objectively weakest in. 

 

When his best 11 is fully fit and available and on form, we play probably the best football we've played in my lifetime. Whilst there was some truly under rated Hollywood stuff in the title season, I'd say by and large 19/20 was some of the best this club has ever looked. 

 

When he can field a 433 with good wide options, a good midfield, a strong defence with Ndidi in front of it to cover for defensive organisation not being his strength and the like of Ricardo fit and on form -  fantastic. I truly don't believe any of O'Neill, Pearson, Ranieri etc could come close to coaching the attacking movement Rodgers had us pulling off at our peak. 

 

Problem is, he's woeful when he's got to deviate. Yes, he came up with some clever tactical tweaks for away trips Tottenham, Man City and Leeds but all this really came down to was a low block and Barnes and Vardy's pace. It wasn't rocket science. 

 

Consistently left to try and make other systems work, particularly a 352, he's hopeless. He doesn't know how to coach it at all and his hubris won't let him see this as his failing. He ends up losing trust and confidence in the squad, over compensating defensively and it all shows on the pitch. We're stuck playing turgid, lifeless football creating nothing, getting pinned back and the players all look low on self belief. 

 

Problem for Rodgers is we have a squad with some excellent strikers, excellent centre mids and when we can keep them fit, some excellent wing backs. 352 makes sense. Conte would love our squad, Gasperini would love our squad, Allegri would love our squad. But it must isn't well built for Rodgers. And look, all the best managers in the world need the right tools. You couldn't give Guardiola a squad full of Sean Dyche-esque work horses with no touch or footballing brain and expect him to thrive. You couldn't give Klopp a team full of skilful but ageing and unfit veterans and expect them to gegenpress all season. 

 

Rodgers isn't a terrible manager but like all managers with a specific vision, he needs an appropriate squad. Our squad isn't really compatible with how he wants to play and we don't have the money to rebuild it as dramatically as he needs. 

 

For a good 1/3 of the year, if he can recover the damage to morale he causes when things aren't ideal, we'll keep playing fantastic football. Barnes will be back fit soon, we'll have a short run where he and Vardy are both in the team, we'll play well and we'll pick up enough points to cover the losses when the injuries come back and he's forced to change it again and all told we'll wind up back somewhere mid table. 

 

But if we want to kick on we need a manager who can work to this squad's strengths, who can play with good wing backs, fit two of the strikers in the team, actually play his preferred system with what we actually have in the squad. Rodgers has done enough here to show that isn't really him. 

 

We're not getting relegated, I'm sure we'll look better against Southampton and quite possibly win and everyone will calm down. We've got a decent manager and a tidy squad. But I don't see us getting back to where we were, either. It just feels like we're waiting for change one way or another. 

[taupe]

^^° Agreed. I think we'd best all settle in for a treadwater season as we wait for that change. I think we've got what we've got for the foreseeable (fingers crossed Fofana doesn't go) and so we make do. My only hope is that Rodgers can embrace that, work with all of what we've got and back-off his personal ambitions for a bit.

[Ric Flair]

A sad indictment of Rodgers and our team is we no longer have the real competitive fight in closely fought games to get a late winner or even a draw. I cannot even remember the last time we scored a meaningful last minute goal? We got a late one to go through vs PSV which I think most of us were so shocked with how we turned that around but it will be well over a year since we did it in the league. Yet at the same time we've thrown over 10 points away late on in 2022 alone.

 

We're a busted flush, so easy to play against. You can let us go ahead and we'll gift the opposition a phase of play to turn the game in their favour or if we go behind then there's a very good chance that we'll not turn it around either. 

[ScrumpyJack]

I’ve supported Rodgers for ages on here but I can’t hack it anymore.

 

The fact that the same mistakes are still happening is just an absolute joke. I had Rodgers down as a coach capable of developing players and teams and it’s just not happening anymore. The fact we’re still making the same mistakes from set-pieces is beyond a joke at this point.

 

One of his saving graces has been the attacking movement, when it works has been stunning, but even that has gone now. The players look bored on the pitch and completely deprived of any excitement or invention.

 

And that is really reflected in the stands now. The singing is half-arsed, so many fans are barely engaging in the game and are on their phones. Sick and tired of seeing adult men be completely disinterested and then flicking onto Snapchat or Instagram to film themselves celebrating wildly as if they are Matt Oakley down the pub at 11PM on a Friday!

 

The worst thing is that we have clearly talented players like Daka, Iheanacho and Tielemans that are just not being worked into any system at the moment.

 

The football is drivel, and I’m so fed up that we have made no progress. The smokescreen of not being able to sign players is a joke, there is so much quality at the club but the Rodgers Rot has well and truly settled in now.

 

I’ve support him massively on here but I can’t do it any more, #RodgersOut

 

 

[ScrumpyJack]

Just now, ScrumpyJack said:

 

And yes I do feel better getting that off my chest 

[daddylonglegs]

2 minutes ago, taupe said:

^^° Agreed. I think we'd best all settle in for a treadwater season as we wait for that change. I think we've got what we've got for the foreseeable (fingers crossed Fofana doesn't go) and so we make do. My only hope is that Rodgers can embrace that, work with all of what we've got and back-off his personal ambitions for a bit.

 If we get what we deserve unlike last year, a ‘tread water season’ could be dangerously close to a relegation battle. 
 

We no longer have Kasper bailing us out for half the season & our set piece record hasn’t got off to a great start without him. 
 

Vardy may continue to score goals out of nothing but he surely can’t keep this up for another entire season.

 

[daddylonglegs]

2 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

A sad indictment of Rodgers and our team is we no longer have the real competitive fight in closely fought games to get a late winner or even a draw. I cannot even remember the last time we scored a meaningful last minute goal? We got a late one to go through vs PSV which I think most of us were so shocked with how we turned that around but it will be well over a year since we did it in the league. Yet at the same time we've thrown over 10 points away late on in 2022 alone.

 

We're a busted flush, so easy to play against. You can let us go ahead and we'll gift the opposition a phase of play to turn the game in their favour or if we go behind then there's a very good chance that we'll not turn it around either. 

When I think of character shown late on in games I think of Kasper pulling off outrageous saves (Chelsea, Rennes, etc).

 

 I don’t think of a dogged defensive unit or a side attacking til the final whistle. 
 

 

[Happy Fox]

@FinneganRodgers is not a flexible manager he always reverts to type, the style of play is not conducive to out players strengths and no wonder most of them seem half arsed when they play in this system.

 

If he showed an ounce of humility I might have a bit more respect for him.

[5waller5]

23 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

I think I've come to conclude that Rodgers is one of the best managers we've ever had when he can run his Plan A but is extremely poor when he can't. This is exacerbated by his plan A  requiring wingers, the area of the squad we're objectively weakest in. 

 

When his best 11 is fully fit and available and on form, we play probably the best football we've played in my lifetime. Whilst there was some truly under rated Hollywood stuff in the title season, I'd say by and large 19/20 was some of the best this club has ever looked. 

 

When he can field a 433 with good wide options, a good midfield, a strong defence with Ndidi in front of it to cover for defensive organisation not being his strength and the like of Ricardo fit and on form -  fantastic. I truly don't believe any of O'Neill, Pearson, Ranieri etc could come close to coaching the attacking movement Rodgers had us pulling off at our peak. 

 

Problem is, he's woeful when he's got to deviate. Yes, he came up with some clever tactical tweaks for away trips Tottenham, Man City and Leeds but all this really came down to was a low block and Barnes and Vardy's pace. It wasn't rocket science. 

 

Consistently left to try and make other systems work, particularly a 352, he's hopeless. He doesn't know how to coach it at all and his hubris won't let him see this as his failing. He ends up losing trust and confidence in the squad, over compensating defensively and it all shows on the pitch. We're stuck playing turgid, lifeless football creating nothing, getting pinned back and the players all look low on self belief. 

 

Problem for Rodgers is we have a squad with some excellent strikers, excellent centre mids and when we can keep them fit, some excellent wing backs. 352 makes sense. Conte would love our squad, Gasperini would love our squad, Allegri would love our squad. But it must isn't well built for Rodgers. And look, all the best managers in the world need the right tools. You couldn't give Guardiola a squad full of Sean Dyche-esque work horses with no touch or footballing brain and expect him to thrive. You couldn't give Klopp a team full of skilful but ageing and unfit veterans and expect them to gegenpress all season. 

 

Rodgers isn't a terrible manager but like all managers with a specific vision, he needs an appropriate squad. Our squad isn't really compatible with how he wants to play and we don't have the money to rebuild it as dramatically as he needs. 

 

For a good 1/3 of the year, if he can recover the damage to morale he causes when things aren't ideal, we'll keep playing fantastic football. Barnes will be back fit soon, we'll have a short run where he and Vardy are both in the team, we'll play well and we'll pick up enough points to cover the losses when the injuries come back and he's forced to change it again and all told we'll wind up back somewhere mid table. 

 

But if we want to kick on we need a manager who can work to this squad's strengths, who can play with good wing backs, fit two of the strikers in the team, actually play his preferred system with what we actually have in the squad. Rodgers has done enough here to show that isn't really him. 

 

We're not getting relegated, I'm sure we'll look better against Southampton and quite possibly win and everyone will calm down. We've got a decent manager and a tidy squad. But I don't see us getting back to where we were, either. It just feels like we're waiting for change one way or another. 

I agree with pretty much all of this… but if wingers are so important in his system then why have we spent 3 years / 6 transfer windows not signing one (other than two loans that we don’t make permanent)??

 

I’d also suggest that if that is his plan A and that’s his identity, then we’ve spent 20%? 30%? Of his time here playing his formation?

[Finnegan]

Just now, 5waller5 said:

I agree with pretty much all of this… but if wingers are so important in his system then why have we spent 3 years / 6 transfer windows not signing one (other than two loans that we don’t make permanent)??

 

I’d also suggest that if that is his plan A and that’s his identity, then we’ve spent 20%? 30%? Of his time here playing his formation?

 

But as I've said many, many times -  Brendan Rodgers doesn't sign players, it's done broadly as a club and he's just one voice. 

 

I've also said quite recently, when it comes to building and maintaining the squad, the buck actually stops with Rudkin not Rodgers. Whilst, again, no one man is doing our transfer business alone it is Rudkin's ultimate responsibility to oversee it. 

 

It's a really good question, if wingers are so important to Rodgers - and by the way, this isn't just me speculating, he's said it himself multiple times including recently - why haven't we prioritised that position? As good as some facets of our recruitment are (we definitely know how to spot a talented young player) other parts are weird. We have an unbalanced squad, we have real lack of depth in some obvious areas and that's persisted for years. 

 

We have three excellent Premier league strikers and we play a one striker system. We have one decent winger when we need three or four. We have a wealth of centre midfielders on the books with Senegalese, Belgian and French u21 Internationals that can barely get a kick. Why on earth did we need Soumaré if we were going to blood KDH? 

 

We make very silly decisions in the market, regardless of whether or not the players we sign are talented. But this isn't Rodgers, people really have to get past that and stop blaming him for all of our signings like it's a game of Football Manager. Why do you think there's been reported discontent between Rudkin and Rodgers for a while now? Rudkin who, by the way, famously had a poor relationship with other previous managers not least Pearson. 

[Dames]

33 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

I think I've come to conclude that Rodgers is one of the best managers we've ever had when he can run his Plan A but is extremely poor when he can't. This is exacerbated by his plan A  requiring wingers, the area of the squad we're objectively weakest in. 

 

When his best 11 is fully fit and available and on form, we play probably the best football we've played in my lifetime. Whilst there was some truly under rated Hollywood stuff in the title season, I'd say by and large 19/20 was some of the best this club has ever looked. 

 

When he can field a 433 with good wide options, a good midfield, a strong defence with Ndidi in front of it to cover for defensive organisation not being his strength and the like of Ricardo fit and on form -  fantastic. I truly don't believe any of O'Neill, Pearson, Ranieri etc could come close to coaching the attacking movement Rodgers had us pulling off at our peak. 

 

Problem is, he's woeful when he's got to deviate. Yes, he came up with some clever tactical tweaks for away trips Tottenham, Man City and Leeds but all this really came down to was a low block and Barnes and Vardy's pace. It wasn't rocket science. 

 

Consistently left to try and make other systems work, particularly a 352, he's hopeless. He doesn't know how to coach it at all and his hubris won't let him see this as his failing. He ends up losing trust and confidence in the squad, over compensating defensively and it all shows on the pitch. We're stuck playing turgid, lifeless football creating nothing, getting pinned back and the players all look low on self belief. 

 

Problem for Rodgers is we have a squad with some excellent strikers, excellent centre mids and when we can keep them fit, some excellent wing backs. 352 makes sense. Conte would love our squad, Gasperini would love our squad, Allegri would love our squad. But it must isn't well built for Rodgers. And look, all the best managers in the world need the right tools. You couldn't give Guardiola a squad full of Sean Dyche-esque work horses with no touch or footballing brain and expect him to thrive. You couldn't give Klopp a team full of skilful but ageing and unfit veterans and expect them to gegenpress all season. 

 

Rodgers isn't a terrible manager but like all managers with a specific vision, he needs an appropriate squad. Our squad isn't really compatible with how he wants to play and we don't have the money to rebuild it as dramatically as he needs. 

 

For a good 1/3 of the year, if he can recover the damage to morale he causes when things aren't ideal, we'll keep playing fantastic football. Barnes will be back fit soon, we'll have a short run where he and Vardy are both in the team, we'll play well and we'll pick up enough points to cover the losses when the injuries come back and he's forced to change it again and all told we'll wind up back somewhere mid table. 

 

But if we want to kick on we need a manager who can work to this squad's strengths, who can play with good wing backs, fit two of the strikers in the team, actually play his preferred system with what we actually have in the squad. Rodgers has done enough here to show that isn't really him. 

 

We're not getting relegated, I'm sure we'll look better against Southampton and quite possibly win and everyone will calm down. We've got a decent manager and a tidy squad. But I don't see us getting back to where we were, either. It just feels like we're waiting for change one way or another. 

Excellent post but a lot of Rodgers credit rests on the fact we last played good attacking football nearly 3 years ago. 
 

There have been smatterings here and there and the FA cup win was excellent but by and large Rodgers plan A for the past 2 and a half years has been safety first, possession for possessions sake football. I’d have thought if he really wanted to get back to his plan A he’d have brought in some decent wingers over the past 3 years but they have always been an afterthought. 

[Dames]

1 minute ago, Finnegan said:

 

But as I've said many, many times -  Brendan Rodgers doesn't sign players, it's done broadly as a club and he's just one voice. 

 

I've also said quite recently, when it comes to building and maintaining the squad, the buck actually stops with Rudkin not Rodgers. Whilst, again, no one man is doing our transfer business alone it is Rudkin's ultimate responsibility to oversee it. 

 

It's a really good question, if wingers are so important to Rodgers - and by the way, this isn't just me speculating, he's said it himself multiple times including recently - why haven't we prioritised that position? As good as some facets of our recruitment are (we definitely know how to spot a talented young player) other parts are weird. We have an unbalanced squad, we have real lack of depth in some obvious areas and that's persisted for years. 

 

We have three excellent Premier league strikers and we play a one striker system. We have one decent winger when we need three or four. We have a wealth of centre midfielders on the books with Senegalese, Belgian and French u21 Internationals that can barely get a kick. Why on earth did we need Soumaré if we were going to blood KDH? 

 

We make very silly decisions in the market, regardless of whether or not the players we sign are talented. But this isn't Rodgers, people really have to get past that and stop blaming him for all of our signings like it's a game of Football Manager. Why do you think there's been reported discontent between Rudkin and Rodgers for a while now? Rudkin who, by the way, famously had a poor relationship with other previous managers not least Pearson. 

He had his mate as chief scout for ages, they chose to bring in Betrand and Vestergaard. Rudkin has his share of the blame but can you seriously say that Rodgers and Congerton couldnt form a decent enough argument between them to recruit a winger? 

[An Sionnach]

1 minute ago, Dames said:

Excellent post but a lot of Rodgers credit rests on the fact we last played good attacking football nearly 3 years ago. 
 

There have been smatterings here and there and the FA cup win was excellent but by and large Rodgers plan A for the past 2 and a half years has been safety first, possession for possessions sake football. I’d have thought if he really wanted to get back to his plan A he’d have brought in some decent wingers over the past 3 years but they have always been an afterthought. 

The cup final win was achieved playing the opposite of the "Rodgers Way" . No possession , under the cosh , last ditch defending , breakaway goal.. Real Madrid beat Man.City and Liverpool in the CL  the same way. We were masters of that play when we won the title , now we are masters of nothing.

[5waller5]

6 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

But as I've said many, many times -  Brendan Rodgers doesn't sign players, it's done broadly as a club and he's just one voice. 

 

I've also said quite recently, when it comes to building and maintaining the squad, the buck actually stops with Rudkin not Rodgers. Whilst, again, no one man is doing our transfer business alone it is Rudkin's ultimate responsibility to oversee it. 

 

It's a really good question, if wingers are so important to Rodgers - and by the way, this isn't just me speculating, he's said it himself multiple times including recently - why haven't we prioritised that position? As good as some facets of our recruitment are (we definitely know how to spot a talented young player) other parts are weird. We have an unbalanced squad, we have real lack of depth in some obvious areas and that's persisted for years. 

 

We have three excellent Premier league strikers and we play a one striker system. We have one decent winger when we need three or four. We have a wealth of centre midfielders on the books with Senegalese, Belgian and French u21 Internationals that can barely get a kick. Why on earth did we need Soumaré if we were going to blood KDH? 

 

We make very silly decisions in the market, regardless of whether or not the players we sign are talented. But this isn't Rodgers, people really have to get past that and stop blaming him for all of our signings like it's a game of Football Manager. Why do you think there's been reported discontent between Rudkin and Rodgers for a while now? Rudkin who, by the way, famously had a poor relationship with other previous managers not least Pearson. 

If we have a manager that has a strong formation identity and style of play, and a recruitment team that don’t recruit for that system, then we are not the well run club we’re touted as. 
 

In fact, I’d say that was the antithesis to “well run”

[Ric Flair]

Rodgers has a much better track record at clubs with the players he inherits as opposed to the longer he is at a club and the players brought in whilst he is there.

 

I'd say this is history repeating itself but actually when you look through our 8 years back in the PL, the majority of major successes with our squad are done carried out by the managers whom aren't then in charge when we do well. The summer of 2018/19 is lauded as a great window but Puel was dog mess with them and it was Rodgers who benefitted greatly from the rebuild that had been done, as well as then getting one last push from the likes of Fuchs, Morgan and Albrighton and made Vardy the most devastating he'd been in a while. 

[Daggers]

19 hours ago, midland_red said:

Well the current state of play suggests that he has lost the dressing room

I’d argue he hasn’t, you’re simply seeing a squad that doesn’t have the ability to focus and commit because some are looking to leave and others are seeing that they will be part of a poorer squad. Consequently, they’re running at 80% and looking to blame others for the shortcomings of the side. Then you’ve got no competition for places, so the desire to excel is quenched - on top of there being nothing to play for all season other than salary.

 

I’d say what you’re seeing is Rodgers’ inability to change any of that with a team talk - especially as he’s called a number of them out for not being good enough.

 

Its not rebellion, it’s resignation.

[ARM1968]

Looking back over Rodger’s reign there are good things to see, as well as bad. Looking at the present it’s mostly bad. Somewhere, somehow, the spark has gone out. 
 

We are far too easy to beat. Far too easy to stifle and nullify because we only have one speed. Rodgers is not getting anything much from the players and each game is like a microcosm of the two Seasons where we finished 5th. We can play really well and then just collapse. It is a pattern. An elite manager would have recognised that quickly and moved to fix it. We have the talent in the squad. 
 

Something is very wrong and if Brendan cannot fix it, which he looks incapable of doing, then he has to go for the good of everyone including himself. 
 

I genuinely don’t think he has long.