Villa Build up away

[The_weatherman]

Do people really think BR is fighting for his job? I'm not a complete fan but changing manager now would seem like madness.

He is not fighting for his job, FSG would not want to get a reputation like Roman's. BUT I believe he should be fighting for the fans to trust him, he was growing on me a bit after signing Sturridge and Coutinho but his insistance on playing a two man midfield recently is perplexing and that coupled with playing Allen lost us the game against Southampton and made the Spurs game very difficult. I can't see any top team playing with only two central midfielders, let alone with no defensive midfielder.

I think he might be too preoccupied with playing Allen in the hope he will prove Rodgers right eventually instead of playing Henderson who is much better and more suitable IMO. To sum up, he needs to get his head out his arse ASAP, I'm not going to call for his head now though, he'll get next season hopefully.

[The_weatherman]

Yep, thats how I feel. With us it will either be handing out a tonking or throwing it away like we did on Saturday.

Me too, but I think it's too easy to figure us out and get at us, surely the other teams are picking that up. We'll play two in midfield, surely Gerrard and Lucas now, how is Villa's midfield? If they have some energy and power and can press us high then we are in trouble IMO.

[dww]

I think for his methods to pay off in the long run he has to stick to his guns on some of these points. Personally I don't think it is about Allen per se but about the type of football he wants to encourage. I suspect he feels we should beat teams like Southampton by strangling them with possession - a style that suits Adam more than Henderson or Shelvey. I tend to agree with you that it is unlikely to work with a non-physical defence and a lack of bite in midfield but on the flipside there are many ways to skin a cat and he has to be given time.

In most situations a manager only gets trust through success. Rodgers came in with a difficult building brief with over inflated expectations making it hard for him to convince people he had been a success. I think he's done pretty well on balance. Next season will be the real test as he has been able to put foundations in place now.

[fred_plasticine]

I think for his methods to pay off in the long run he has to stick to his guns ion some of these points. Personally I don't think it is about Allen per se but about the type of football he wants to encourage. I suspect he feels we should beat teams like Southampton by strangling them with possession - a style that suits Adam more than Henderson or Shelvey. I tend to agree with you that it is unlikely to work with a non-physical defence and a lack of bite in midfield but on the flipside there are many ways to skin a cat and he has to be given time.

In most situations a manager only gets trust through success. Rodgers came in with a difficult building brief with over inflated expectations making it hard for him to convince people he had been a success. I think he's done pretty well on balance. Next season will be the real test as he has been able to put foundations in place now.

[The_weatherman]

I think for his methods to pay off in the long run he has to stick to his guns on some of these points. Personally I don't think it is about Allen per se but about the type of football he wants to encourage. I suspect he feels we should beat teams like Southampton by strangling them with possession - a style that suits Adam more than Henderson or Shelvey. I tend to agree with you that it is unlikely to work with a non-physical defence and a lack of bite in midfield but on the flipside there are many ways to skin a cat and he has to be given time.

In most situations a manager only gets trust through success. Rodgers came in with a difficult building brief with over inflated expectations making it hard for him to convince people he had been a success. I think he's done pretty well on balance. Next season will be the real test as he has been able to put foundations in place now.

We actully do better when we have less possession, I saw some stats on that the other day - of course that might mean many things but interesting nonetheless. But if he feels we should beat a pressing team like Southampton by playing Allen I think his methods are a bit off. I have nothing against Allen, if he wanted to play him he should have put Lucas in as well though, IMO.

I think Rodgers is showing some improvement signs of learning but tactically I think he's a bit naive ( I know that sounds arrogant but so be it ) and that worries me a great deal tbh. I also disagree about inflated expectations, they have never been lower for he past 40 years or so.

[frank the tank]

Joe Allen will come good and become one of the first names on the LFC team sheet........ to be honest, i think the critisism of him is way over the top...... one of the things that differed us from the fans of the likes of Spurs, Chelsea and the scum, is that our fans were educated and knew their stuff.....

In reality, we are a work in progress. It might take another 2 years but lets not all jump on the bandwagon and slate the likes of Allen, Henderson and Rodgers..... lets support them through thick and thin...... through the wind and the rain........though our dreams will be tossed and blown!!!

Maybe Borini will come good. Maybe Allen will become the welsh Xavi that he was hyped up to be. Maybe a midfield of Lucas, Allen and Henderson will become the best in the land.... with Shelvey and Teixeira also in the squad.... maybe Sterling, Coutinho and Suso will become the new dream team - with Suarez and Sturridge leading the line.... maybe Wisdom and Kelly can become mainstays in a mean defense......

One thing is for sure though, there is a lot of development and potential in LFC right now - both in the team and the manager.......lets get behind it and see where it goes....

I think we are right to put a timescale on it, but in reality Brendans contract duration of 3 years is the correct timescale. After that, then all bets are off.....

[frank the tank]

We actully do better when we have less possession, I saw some stats on that the other day - of course that might mean many things but interesting nonetheless. But if he feels we should beat a pressing team like Southampton by playing Allen I think his methods are a bit off. I have nothing against Allen, if he wanted to play him he should have put Lucas in as well though, IMO.

I think Rodgers is showing some improvement signs of learning but tactically I think he's a bit naive ( I know that sounds arrogant but so be it ) and that worries me a great deal tbh. I also disagree about inflated expectations, they have never been lower for he past 40 years or so.

If Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham all spend far more than us on a budgetory hybrid of transfer fees and wages, then 6th or above is a good return.....

If we continue to develop and get stronger as a team (which is highly likely considering that the majority of our players are young and will only get better with more experience both individually and as a team), then we should be punching above our weight, get into a position of steady continuous improvement, qualify for the champions league more than just once, then we should be in a position to attract top top players and compete for the real honours of the game....

[Frenchie]

If Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham all spend far more than us on a budgetory hybrid of transfer fees and wages, then 6th or above is a good return.....

If we continue to develop and get stronger as a team (which is highly likely considering that the majority of our players are young and will only get better with more experience both individually and as a team), then we should be punching above our weight, get into a position of steady continuous improvement, qualify for the champions league more than just once, then we should be in a position to attract top top players and compete for the real honours of the game....

oh do stop talking sense

[Mostar]

As I said, I'm still not sure that he won't be sacked in the summer. Not many thought that Kenny would be sacked. It is almost impossible to figure out what FSG will do. How important is it to them that we finish as high up the league as possible?

I think that the rest of the games this season will decide if Rodgers stays or not.

Villa is a very important game. If we don't win then the season could fell apart and we may not even finish in the top half of the table.

Likelihood that BR will not be around next year is slim to none.

So many things need to go so bad between now and the end of the season for that to become even a remote possibility.

In terms of Kenny, it was hardly a suprise that he was let go as our PL run was below any expectations especially given FSG investment that summer.

Carling Cup Victory and FA Final successes made it little more difficult to know for sure but I'd say that most fans knew there was a good chance Kenny would be gone especially towards the end of campaign.

[little dave hedgehog]

yeah. take it from me, a guy who knew kenny was going to get sacked, brendan rodgers will be our manager come august 31, bar an apocalyptic behind the scenes argument. or, i guess if we somehow manage to lose all our remaining games without scoring any goals. that's what we're talking about here. a negative 50 goal differential over 8 matches is the kind of form it would take.

[Exiled_red]

Do people really think BR is fighting for his job? I'm not a complete fan but changing manager now would seem like madness.

Not for me, I think we're making progress, and that he'll be given at least until the end of next season, and we'll assess the team's progress then. If we have are in a similar position this time next year I think he could be fighting for his job.

[Eric Swindler]

No. It's complete nonsense to think he's under threat. There is always pressure but we've been on a good run recently and one (albeit abject) performance shouldnt change the fact that overall we have improved. There are worrying things and nobody is saying things are perfect, but there is absolutely nothing to be gained by a manager change or even a suggestion of it. We've had enough of that **** in recent seasons.

[Arn]

Likelihood that BR will not be around next year is slim to none.

So many things need to go so bad between now and the end of the season for that to become even a remote possibility.

In terms of Kenny, it was hardly a suprise that he was let go as our PL run was below any expectations especially given FSG investment that summer.

Carling Cup Victory and FA Final successes made it little more difficult to know for sure but I'd say that most fans knew there was a good chance Kenny would be gone especially towards the end of campaign.

yeah. take it from me, a guy who knew kenny was going to get sacked, brendan rodgers will be our manager come august 31, bar an apocalyptic behind the scenes argument. or, i guess if we somehow manage to lose all our remaining games without scoring any goals. that's what we're talking about here. a negative 50 goal differential over 8 matches is the kind of form it would take.

I think it depends on who is available in the summer. I want Rodgers to get at least another season but I wouldn't be upset if we replaced him with someone like Ancelotti.

If we sack him then it must be a top class manager replacing him.

The reason to why I mention Ancelotti is that we have been linked with a lot of PSG players the last couple of months and Ancelotti was linked to us only weeks earlier.

[RichC]

There is not a cat in hells chance IMO that he'll be sacked in the Summer.

[Neil Young]

I think for his methods to pay off in the long run he has to stick to his guns on some of these points. Personally I don't think it is about Allen per se but about the type of football he wants to encourage. I suspect he feels we should beat teams like Southampton by strangling them with possession - a style that suits Adam more than Henderson or Shelvey. I tend to agree with you that it is unlikely to work with a non-physical defence and a lack of bite in midfield but on the flipside there are many ways to skin a cat and he has to be given time.

In most situations a manager only gets trust through success. Rodgers came in with a difficult building brief with over inflated expectations making it hard for him to convince people he had been a success. I think he's done pretty well on balance. Next season will be the real test as he has been able to put foundations in place now.

There is not a cat in hells chance IMO that he'll be sacked in the Summer.