Brendan Rodgers

[Buzzo]

I don't think FSG know if Rodgers is to be fired yet.

For those looking at the similarities to the end of Dalglish's tenure, I think it's a bit premature. Dalglish knew he was off as they climbed the steps of Wembley at the end of the FA Cup final and got blanked by Henry. Contrast with Rodgers's 150% claim, I think he's been given certain reassurances but nothing concrete.

Or, we could be signing Benteke and Clyne for Klopp's 4-2-3-1.

Im not sure I agree, they must have an idea what they are going to do, and the meeting with Brendan will either reinforce or change their mind. To not have any idea would show a pretty astonishing lack of preparadness.

You could equally say the 'no show' by FSG in the end of season run in is an indication, where at least Kenny got us to a final which they had to attend and be placed in the spotlight, all they had this year was a set of increasingly meaningless end of season games.

Who knows, though I'll bet Brendan is starting to get a feel for how it's going to play out. Werner shoring up, if true, could be fairly telling.

[Muddled]

For me personally one of the main reasons I want him out is his part in recruitment. We have Barrett telling us it's Rodgers pushing for Benteke and he has also told us it was Rodgers who wanted Lovren, Lallana, Lambert too. He can't spot a player and that's a big problem. He apparently wanted Williams too but thankfully somebody at the club saw sense but those same people felt Lovren was an acceptable alternative. The whole thing needs changing and he's part of that.

I agree with your underlying point. There needs to be an acknowledgement of our failings and an action to rectify them. What that is, I don't know; I'd hope we can admit fault and we will see a noticeable change of structure.

If this does take place - and reading between the lines, it will - it will come down to Rodgers and if he is willing to accept a reduced role as Head Coach.

I think this is why there are conflicting stories as to whether Rodgers stays or goes.

[dww]

Its Klopp in particular that I'm referring to. The other factor is his pulling power for top players. We're a club struggling to find any success, and we're living on past glories. We need all the help we can get to bring in the best players available and I just don't think he's got the respect in the game to do that.

It's difficult to tell how important that is. There is a genuine question as to whether a manager really swings the choice of destination for top end players. I would think that for some, particularly young, players Suarez endorsing Rodgers coaching would make us very appealing. It's not as if many big name players have signed for Klopp before (I know that this may have been due to other factors, I'm merely suggesting his level of draw is unknown).

[Doc_Piptorious]

Not when they pick a man who they back.

Everyone will be losing their **** when he is still in charge next week.

Different sport but over the years they have let go a number of Red Sox managers that they backed.


Depends on whether they see the season just gone under Rodgers as another Bobby Valentine scenario, or if they think Rodgers is going to have an upswing like John Farrell.

But one thing they can be with their own men, even the ones that achieve something, is ruthless and as such I think Rodgers is going to have to do more than just sound good when he meets Werner & Co he is going to have to make them think he has the ability to oversee a very quick turnabout in form.

[cream]

Rodgers will be sacked. Their man or not, FSG don't give a **** about sentiment.

[Muddled]

Im not sure I agree, they must have an idea what they are going to do, and the meeting with Brendan will either reinforce or change their mind. To not have any idea would show a pretty astonishing lack of preparadness.

You could equally say the 'no show' by FSG in the end of season run in is an indication, where at least Kenny got us to a final which they had to attend and be placed in the spotlight, all they had this year was a set of increasingly meaningless end of season games.

Who knows, though I'll bet Brendan is starting to get a feel for how it's going to play out. Werner shoring up, if true, could be fairly telling.

I think I've started to answer this question in a post I've just made in response to Gee.

My take on the situation is that FSG think there are structural issues within our current setup. They believe these changes can be made without losing Rodgers, hence his steadfast belief that he'll be here next season.

However, these changes disband the transfer committee and change the way we recruit players, effectively dissolving some of the duties Rodgers fought for when he was appointed. Rodgers' reduced role is purely a coaching one.

Come this end-of-season review, Rodgers will have to make a choice. He swallows his pride or he walks away. As a precaution, FSG have started to sound out replacements if the latter takes place.

[marcus50bucks]

Jonathan Northcroft @JNorthcroft 18m18 minutes ago
LFC assessing manager options before season review. Klopp one of them. Rodgers may v well survive but LFC seeing who's out there.

[Buzzo]

I think I've started to answer this question in a post I've just made in response to Gee.

My take on the situation is that FSG think there are structural issues within our current setup. They believe these changes can be made without losing Rodgers, hence his steadfast belief that he'll be here next season.

However, these changes disband the transfer committee and change the way we recruit players, effectively dissolving some of the duties Rodgers fought for when he was appointed. Rodgers' reduced role is purely a coaching one.

Come this end-of-season review, Rodgers will have to make a choice. He swallows his pride or he walks away. As a precaution, FSG have started to sound out replacements if the latter takes place.

Without discussing the minutia, and killing the best part of the day playing out scenarios I kind of agree. I'd imagine FSG have a strong idea of how they want this meeting to go. And they may have already made a decision, but I'd suppose only 2/3 men know this.
If they are sounding out replacements in any way, I'd suggest BR is gone.

[Daffy Duck]

Looks like Klopp is going to Napoli, so we're kinda running out of options for a replacement.

[cream]

They've made an offer, that's it. He isn't going anywhere yet.

[Vermilion]

I reckon Napoli really want BR.

[G]

I agree with your underlying point. There needs to be an acknowledgement of our failings and an action to rectify them. What that is, I don't know; I'd hope we can admit fault and we will see a noticeable change of structure.

If this does take place - and reading between the lines, it will - it will come down to Rodgers and if he is willing to accept a reduced role as Head Coach.

I think this is why there are conflicting stories as to whether Rodgers stays or goes.

But Barrett has said its Rodgers who wants Benteke so that would indicate that nothing has changed as far as recruitment goes and we are ploughing on regardless which is most worrying/annoying.

[danperkins]

Echo are definitely changing their stance.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport...rnabeu-9358169

couldn't argue with any of that.

[dww]

I agree with your underlying point. There needs to be an acknowledgement of our failings and an action to rectify them. What that is, I don't know; I'd hope we can admit fault and we will see a noticeable change of structure.

If this does take place - and reading between the lines, it will - it will come down to Rodgers and if he is willing to accept a reduced role as Head Coach.

I think this is why there are conflicting stories as to whether Rodgers stays or goes.

I don't think it will necessarily be as clear cut as Rodgers to Head Coach with a DoF.

The important thing for me is that whatever happens there is a clearer strategy and that all decisions made are clearly in service to that. We are supposed to be building a team/squad. I think we now have the necessary depth but need to work on a cohesive team plan. In recent times everything we do has been dependent on one or two key players being fit for every game.

[marcus50bucks]

Liverpool FC alternative review: The Bernabeu experiment, Brendan Rodgers' strange switch and Dejan Lovren

17:00, 30 MAY 2015 BY IAN DOYLE

Ian Doyle provides his unique take on a hugely disappointing term for the Reds

Days after the dismal FA Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa, Brendan Rodgers was offered a chance to assess Liverpool’s campaign.

“Where we sit now, at this moment in time, in fifth place and having reached two cup semi-finals, that’s probably really on par with where we’re at,” said the Reds boss.

By finishing sixth, then, Liverpool can, in the words of their manager, be described as having a ‘below par’ season.

That, though, only scratches the surface of one of the club’s most dismal campaigns of the Premier League era.

It was there from the moment a frustrated Luis Suarez sunk his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini: this wasn’t going to be an easy season for Rodgers and Liverpool.

Suarez had informed the Reds before the World Cup of his desire to leave, but his aberration in Brazil made it that little bit more difficult to agree a deal for his departure to Barcelona.

With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo unavailable, Liverpool knew it would be impossible to replace Suarez.

They couldn’t, however, have envisaged it being so difficult to attract a new forward, ultimately settling on Mario Balotelli only weeks after Rodgers had stated he wasn’t interested in the Italian.

The Reds boss should have trusted his instincts.

Elsewhere, their close season transfer dealings underwhelmed, especially given the carrot of Champions League football.

Fenway Sports Group’s transfer committee had always been viewed with great suspicion by supporters, and last summer’s business has only increased the scrutiny.

Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Alberto Moreno, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic – bought for a combined total that surpassed the £75million recouped from the sale of Suarez – were all reasonably young but with little experience in the Champions League.

Can was the only qualified success, and even then the German’s confidence was shattered by bizarrely being employed at right-back for the dire closing weeks of the season.

Early doubts increased when an unconvincing home win over Southampton on the opening day was followed by a sound 3-1 defeat at champions Manchester City the following week.

The tone was set.

Having come so close to finally lifting the Premier League in exhilarating fashion, there was always a fear Liverpool would take time to come to terms with their narrow failure.

Not least as recent history suggested whenever the Reds have gone close to lifting their 19th title – in 1991, 1997, 2002 and 2009 – the fall-out has been both sudden and severe.

So it proved once more.

And it wasn’t just the team that appeared affected.

The Anfield crowd were subdued, although they weren’t given much to shout about – Liverpool won only 14 of 28 home games this season, and one of those was a Capital One Cup penalty shoot-out success against Middlesbrough.

The weight of expectation was too much to bear for many players, too many of the supposed senior men unable to help shoulder the burden for the new arrivals.

Only when they slipped almost entirely from view in late autumn were Liverpool able to regroup – until they once again refused to answer the door when opportunity came knocking, starting with the pivotal clashes against Manchester United and Arsenal in the spring.

With his team humiliated 3-0 at home by Real Madrid in October, two weeks later Rodgers made the polarising move to rest key players in the Champions League return ahead of the weekend’s Premier League game with leaders Chelsea.

It was a decision that had far-reaching effects, not least helping make up the mind of Steven Gerrard that he was no longer a first-team regular for Liverpool.

Don’t forget, it was the chance of playing in such high-profile games that prompted Gerrard to retire from international football after the World Cup.

Rodgers would argue he was being pragmatic. But many – including this reporter – were hugely critical that it sent out a message Liverpool didn’t believe they could win the match, denting their reputation among Europe’s elite.

Liverpool’s Champions League nadir was still to come with a timid 1-1 home draw to Basel that sent them tumbling out.

The man whose late goal gave the Reds hope? Gerrard, of course.

And the skipper was injured when Besiktas ensured an early Europa League exit, Rodgers falling at the first hurdle in both European competitions.

Only after the Basel loss did Rodgers finally rip up his masterplan and start afresh by unveiling a three-man defence at Old Trafford in the following match with Raheem Sterling up front.

A 3-0 defeat didn’t augur well. However, slowly but surely, Liverpool regained their footing, claimed notable scalps in Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, and for a few months were arguably playing the most impressive football in the country.

It couldn’t last. But when their top-four hopes were effectively dashed by successive defeats to United and Arsenal, Rodgers swiftly and curiously reverted to a back four.

Such a move meant Liverpool ended the season the way they began it, with a series of inconsistent, incomprehensible displays culminating in a biggest defeat in more than 50 years at Stoke City.

Rodgers could at least point to the runs to the semi-final of the Capital One Cup and FA Cup, the furthest he had reached in either competition as a manager.

The manner in which the Reds went toe-to-toe with Chelsea in the last four of the League Cup raised hopes of going one better against Aston Villa in their FA Cup semi-final showdown.

Liverpool’s subsequent appalling display at Wembley, though, highlighted an issue that had been gnawing away for some time.

Does this group of Reds player have the bottle to succeed?

Only by winning something will there be an answer in the affirmative. Until then, it’s a question that hangs heavy.

Rodgers was compelled to field questions on his future after the 6-1 defeat at Stoke, but FSG have shown no appetite for removing their man ahead of the usual end-of-season review.

But change is in the air, whether than be in terms of personnel, transfer committee policy or style of play.

Certainly, the names on Liverpool’s wanted list – Christian Benteke, Danny Ings, Nathaniel Clyne – would suggest a tweaking of Rodgers’ usual tactical approach.

The redevelopment of Anfield continues apace and ideally FSG would want the newly-fashioned stadium, scheduled to be finished next summer, to be given the exposure of Champions League football.

And the departure of Gerrard has confirmed Liverpool are now entering a new era.

Player of the season: Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian, like the rest of his team-mates, underwhelmed massively during the opening months of the campaign, but was such a catalyst from December onwards he was voted in the PFA Team of the Year and shortlisted for the Player of the Year award. Martin Skrtel and Raheem Sterling also deserve a mention.

Must do better: Everybody, basically. But none more so than Dejan Lovren, whose exorbitant £20million price tag has genuinely hampered his game. Rarely has a player appeared so nervy in a Liverpool shirt, while a tendency to rush into challenges which still persists suggests someone who remains far too eager to impress.

Performance of the season: That there are arguably only three games worth mentioning highlights the paucity of Liverpool's quality, and all came within a three-week period. While impressive in defeating Tottenham Hotspur at home and Southampton away, the 2-1 Anfield triumph over Manchester City harked back to the previous campaign and gave a glimmer of false hope for the spring.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport...rnabeu-9358169

The echo have continued with their negative articles on Rodgers