Brendan Rodgers

[Vermilion]

The elephant in the room in all this though, is the fact that when we've tried to sign quality players, they choose not to come, and that's very obviously going to have a massive impact on who we end up signing, regardless of how much money we have or who's manager.

The only thing that seems to change such situations, is new ownership of the type of wealth that makes every one in football know that club will be spending like 50 drunken sailors for as long as it takes.

But saying that, there's a lot we could be doing better too, maybe a well known top manager would help to attract more quality, wont have Messi knocking down our door to sing for us; but might just give us a small advantage over another club in for the same player, maybe make players feel more confident of embarking on a journey with him, but then we have to attract such a manager, and they're in demand too.

[G]

Don't let it wind you up mate.

Far more important things in life than football.

I know. Off on holiday soon that'll sort me out, leave this **** behind for a while.

[danperkins]

Good post, and exactly right.
Surely for success a mix, young players breaking through and buying in quality and experience is required. The chances of succeeding long term when you only look to buy potential, and all these players hitting peak performance during the same season is remote.

[Fierce]

Just highlighting you both used the phrase "bigger problems than Rodgers"

Sean

Interesting articles. Sterling is an interesting case, and probably one that cuts right to the heart of the approach or 'model'. We splash out on an young player before he becomes a £30m player, the perfect execution of the model, but unless you're bringing them into a successful team then you're are just the incubator for players for the elite clubs. You are to Barca what Southampton have been to us over the last 18 months. FSG seem to think that contracts still mean something in football. These players stick around for a couple of years after breaking through then go and the money is reinvested in more prospects. Unless you get lucky and have an incredible crop of players come through together and quickly win something, you're going to be chopping and changing every summer and acting as a talent farm instead of a club that genuinely wants to challenge for honours.

Thing is, I'm not sure that's as bad as you do. It would of course be nice to have a team of players worth £50m apiece that we got as foetus' but if we're to remain within FFP and if FSG's model is to be a sustainable viable business, then given the obscene profit in players is that not a reasonable way to ensure turnover rises? Providing of course, that profit is the reinvested into the playing squad, but there's been no indication that that is the case. They've spent it, they just let someone spend it stupidly

[redmike65]

Newsnow giggles

Brendan Rodgers' job as Liverpool manager not under threat as boss prepares... Daily Mail 22:39
Brendan Rodgers could face the axe this summer after a disappointing season... Daily Mail 22:39

[TheElephantMan]

Is it safe to say that I'd still like Rafa back yet? Given what's happened since Benitez left surely we have to consider bringing him back?

[Kenneth]

The elephant in the room in all this though, is the fact that when we've tried to sign quality players, they choose not to come, and that's very obviously going to have a massive impact on who we end up signing, regardless of how much money we have or who's manager.

The only thing that seems to change such situations, is new ownership of the type of wealth that makes every one in football know that club will be spending like 50 drunken sailors for as long as it takes.

But saying that, there's a lot we could be doing better too, maybe a well known top manager would help to attract more quality, wont have Messi knocking down our door to sing for us; but might just give us a small advantage over another club in for the same player, maybe make players feel more confident of embarking on a journey with him, but then we have to attract such a manager, and they're in demand too.

And the difficulty is that we don't know exactly why they won't come. Some of the reasons are probably beyond our control realisitically, but last summer we spent £25m on Lallana and then another £20m Lallana's young understudy. There are 150% definitely proven strikers out there in Euroland who are achievable for package equating to £45m, even factoring in higher wages. We make bad decisions, and some of the explanation for that lies with the manager and 'the committee', and some the owners and their 'philosophy'.

[TheElephantMan]

We have a top manager, we get top players. Simple.

[Kenneth]

We have a top manager, we get top players. Simple.

We might need that leg up to get some deals over the line, yes. It certainly must help.

[Vermilion]

Is it safe to say that I'd still like Rafa back yet? Given what's happened since Benitez left surely we have to consider bringing him back?

It's an itch i'll never ever scratch unless he does come back at some point, always have that nagging feeling that if ever a manager needed sticking by through a bad time, it was Rafa then, and not all self inflicted either the complete shambles we were, never mind the deceit and downright lies he had to put up with regards signings and funds. ******s.

[Vermilion]

And the difficulty is that we don't know exactly why they won't come. Some of the reasons are probably beyond our control realisitically, but last summer we spent £25m on Lallana and then another £20m Lallana's young understudy. There are 150% definitely proven strikers out there in Euroland who are achievable for package equating to £45m, even factoring in higher wages. We make bad decisions, and some of the explanation for that lies with the manager and 'the committee', and some the owners and their 'philosophy'.

Yeah hard to disagree with that tbf, even taking everything into consideration we've wasted an awful lot of money on players since fsg took over, difficult to argue that we couldn't have avoided wasting a lot of it too.

[marcus50bucks]

Brendan Rodgers backed by FSG to walk through Liverpool storm

• Manager under fire following 6-1 defeat at Stoke City
• Owners willing to continue with Rodgers despite lack of success

Jamie Jackson

Brendan Rodgers’ job as Liverpool manager is not under threat, with the club having no plans to review his position despite their dismal end to the season that featured only one victory in the last seven matches.

On Sunday Rodgers oversaw a humiliating 6-1 defeat at Stoke City, Liverpool’s worst result since 1963. Yet despite that, and a growing clamour from supporters to see the Northern Irishman replaced, Fenway Sports Group, the owner, is not assessing whether he should continue as manager for next season.

There will, however, be a review of Liverpool’s disappointing campaign. This will be led by Mike Gordon, the FSG president who is a member of the club board, plus Rodgers and Ian Ayre, the chief executive.

While communication goes on between Rodgers and FSG, based in Boston, there is no immediate rush to hold the review and it appears unlikely to be this week.

In the aftermath of the Stoke defeat Rodgers apologised to fans and appeared to throw his future into doubt by saying: “I’ve always said if the owners want me to go, I go. It’s as simple as that. I still feel I’ve got a lot to offer here. A lot has happened this year that has made the job difficult and we’ve kept fighting right to the very end but I totally understand that [question].”

When the review is held an explanation will be required for some of the more damning statistics returned by Rodgers’ team this year.

The defeat by Stoke meant the team finished in sixth place, compared with last season’s second, and the 62 points won were 22 fewer than in 2013-14.

There have been 52 league goals compared with the 101 Liverpool managed 12 months ago and the 12 league defeats were twice as many as in the previous campaign. Against the clubs that finished in the top four – Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United – Liverpool scored only one victory, over City, and managed a total of five points from the 24 available.

Rodgers also spent £115m last summer following the sale of Luis Suárez to Barcelona for £75m. Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Dejan Lovren, Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Alberto Moreno, Rickie Lambert and Divock Origi were signed. There is a case to be made that all, apart from Can, have been a failure.

However, there is an acceptance that, having lost Suárez, who has been an integral part of Barça’s La Liga-winning success and their progress to next month’s Champions League final, Rodgers was bound to struggle to replace such a talent.

The manager has also been without Daniel Sturridge, his main remaining striker, for most of the season due to the 25-year-old suffering injuries and the hip problem that ended his campaign will also rule him out of the start of next term.

In addition the controversy regarding Raheem Sterling’s public efforts to leave the club have been a distraction for Rodgers and his players, as has the farewell to Steven Gerrard that began when he announced in early January he would leave the club.

Yet despite these mitigating factors Rodgers understands the dismay from fans and, more importantly, FSG, and knows that he must recruit well this summer as he will be under scrutiny when next season starts.

Rodgers hopes to add City’s James Milner and Burnley’s impressive striker Danny Ings with Origi also arriving from Lille, having been loaned back to the French club last season after joining Liverpool last summer.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/25/liverpool-brendan-rodgers-fsg-owners-anfield-future-stoke-pressure?CMP=share_btn_tw

[marcus50bucks]

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers safe for now as owners target signings - with £20m Christian Benteke top of list

Sam Wallace - Chief football correspondent

Brendan Rodgers’ job is not under immediate threat from Liverpool’s American owners in the aftermath of Sunday’s 6-1 Premier League final day defeat at Stoke City and the club expect to pursue their transfer targets as agreed this summer.

Fenway Sports Group is making an enquiry about the Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, who has two years of his deal left to run and could fetch a price in excess of £20m.

The owners still also hope to sign the summer’s two leading free agents, Danny Ings and James Milner, and as yet there are no moves to replace the manager, with whom they have drawn up this list of potential signings.

Rodgers went into Sunday’s game aware that he would face what has been described as a robust and thorough review of the club’s season, most likely in Boston with the key figures in FSG some time next month. The owner, John W Henry, and Mike Gordon, the second-largest shareholder in FSG, are likely to attend that meeting, as well as Anfield chief executive Ian Ayre, but there is no current belief that Rodgers is under threat.

The meeting is expected to be about how the club and the owners can get more out of Rodgers, as well as addressing his £117m spending last summer after the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

There is the possibility of a new director of football being appointed to oversee transfers, although the club’s nominal transfer committee already has a major say in which players are signed.

Before the season, FSG set out a top-four finish and Champions League qualification as Rodgers’ target.

The club have little time to waste in preparing for next season, with the chance they could begin Europa League third-round qualifying on 30 July if Aston Villa win the FA Cup final on Saturday. If Arsenal win the Wembley showpiece, then Liverpool’s sixth-place finish will be enough to qualify them for the group stage of the competition.

It was reported in Germany last night that the former Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp is to take a six-month sabbatical from football, ruling himself out of any potential move to Liverpool.

Kolo Touré is set to sign a year’s extension at the club, despite his relative lack of playing time, to give what Rodgers hopes will be the benefit of his experience to the team next season.

Speaking after the defeat by Stoke, Touré said that the players had tried to win the game for Steven Gerrard, in his last Liverpool match, but had found themselves on the end of a damaging defeat.

“It’s no good to end the season with a game like that,” Touré said. “What can we do? It’s difficult. That’s not a great finish to the season. It’s difficult to find words after a game like that. Of course, it’s difficult for Stevie to end up on the end of a result like this. He would’ve been expecting a better result with what he has done for Liverpool.

“We wanted to do better for him. We wanted to finish fifth as well, but we could not.”

But Touré did not believe that the end to Liverpool’s season would discourage new players from joining in the summer.

“This is a great club, any player would want to play for Liverpool, we all know that,” he said. “It’s up to the club to see what they think is going to be good for them.”

“The talent is there. We conceded one goal, that’s fine. But then it was another and another and it was five at half-time. How can you describe that?”

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/liverpool-manager-brendan-rodgers-safe-for-now-as-owners-target-signings--with-20m-christian-benteke-top-of-list-10275090.html

[Mattshark]

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers safe for now as owners target signings - with £20m Christian Benteke top of list

Sam Wallace - Chief football correspondent

Brendan Rodgers’ job is not under immediate threat from Liverpool’s American owners in the aftermath of Sunday’s 6-1 Premier League final day defeat at Stoke City and the club expect to pursue their transfer targets as agreed this summer.

Fenway Sports Group is making an enquiry about the Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, who has two years of his deal left to run and could fetch a price in excess of £20m.

The owners still also hope to sign the summer’s two leading free agents, Danny Ings and James Milner, and as yet there are no moves to replace the manager, with whom they have drawn up this list of potential signings.

Rodgers went into Sunday’s game aware that he would face what has been described as a robust and thorough review of the club’s season, most likely in Boston with the key figures in FSG some time next month. The owner, John W Henry, and Mike Gordon, the second-largest shareholder in FSG, are likely to attend that meeting, as well as Anfield chief executive Ian Ayre, but there is no current belief that Rodgers is under threat.

The meeting is expected to be about how the club and the owners can get more out of Rodgers, as well as addressing his £117m spending last summer after the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

There is the possibility of a new director of football being appointed to oversee transfers, although the club’s nominal transfer committee already has a major say in which players are signed.

Before the season, FSG set out a top-four finish and Champions League qualification as Rodgers’ target.

The club have little time to waste in preparing for next season, with the chance they could begin Europa League third-round qualifying on 30 July if Aston Villa win the FA Cup final on Saturday. If Arsenal win the Wembley showpiece, then Liverpool’s sixth-place finish will be enough to qualify them for the group stage of the competition.

It was reported in Germany last night that the former Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp is to take a six-month sabbatical from football, ruling himself out of any potential move to Liverpool.

Kolo Touré is set to sign a year’s extension at the club, despite his relative lack of playing time, to give what Rodgers hopes will be the benefit of his experience to the team next season.

Speaking after the defeat by Stoke, Touré said that the players had tried to win the game for Steven Gerrard, in his last Liverpool match, but had found themselves on the end of a damaging defeat.

“It’s no good to end the season with a game like that,” Touré said. “What can we do? It’s difficult. That’s not a great finish to the season. It’s difficult to find words after a game like that. Of course, it’s difficult for Stevie to end up on the end of a result like this. He would’ve been expecting a better result with what he has done for Liverpool.

“We wanted to do better for him. We wanted to finish fifth as well, but we could not.”

But Touré did not believe that the end to Liverpool’s season would discourage new players from joining in the summer.

“This is a great club, any player would want to play for Liverpool, we all know that,” he said. “It’s up to the club to see what they think is going to be good for them.”

“The talent is there. We conceded one goal, that’s fine. But then it was another and another and it was five at half-time. How can you describe that?”

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/liverpool-manager-brendan-rodgers-safe-for-now-as-owners-target-signings--with-20m-christian-benteke-top-of-list-10275090.html

worrying for our future.

[BigChief]