Brendan Rodgers

[Norbs]

I was as frustrated as everyone else after yesterday. But when you look back at it, we can take an awful lot of heart from that game. As Tomkins said, we absolutely battered Utd when it was 11 v 11. You can see the direction we're moving in. Despite the results, it feels as though we're building towards something.

I think it's going to take 2-3 transfer windows for Rodgers to properly put his stamp on this team. It's also going to take time for our current players to really get used to this system. We're losing game by the finest of margins. It will come - I'm totally confident about that, and until it does I'm going to stay patient.

Also, how great is it to see so many talented youngsters emerging. Shelvey, Sterling and Suso clearly all have the ability to make it at the club. Yesil looks a fantastic prospect. Wisdom, Coates, Kelly and Robinson could also make the step up. Finally all the hard work that Rafa put in, along with Borell and Segura, is starting to bear fruit.

Regarding Suarez. I absolutely love the bloke - utter class and I will defend him to the hilt against fickle naysayers. But he's just signed a new contract. Even if we were to lose him over the next couple of years we'd get a good price for him. It wouldn't be the end of the world.

For the first time in about 3 years, it feels as though we're moving forwards again

Spot on. We've had fans crying out about us not being able to compete in the transfer market with the sugar daddy owned clubs and are taking a fresh approach. Long term, academy and youth players that are promoted to the side provide far better vfm and are more committed. A young manager with radical, yet attainable, ideas and an intelligent approach to the media. FFS, we're in the first 6 weeks of his first league campaign and some fans are getting twitchy already. It's one thing to say 'give him time' but we're talking about a 2-3 year plan before we see what Rodgers has as his vision. It's going to be difficult, especially if we don't start to climb the table soon but no one was ever relegated in September. I think the improvement in our play, by which I mean how comfortable our players look with a new system and how seemlessly some new faces are being introduced, is clearly evident. It's not taking years, it's taking weeks. The referee beat us yesterday, had we fought the game on a level footing (ie with 11 men) then we would've won comfortably.

The only downer is the fresh injuries to Agger and Kelly. I'd expect Enrique to deputise at left back, Johnson switch back over to the right and Coates to come in at first. Johnson's better at right back anyway and Sterling is a much better defender than Downing so will shore up the left side. Enrique needs to be educated to keep it simple and pass the ball instead of insisting on dribbling his way down the pitch. If he can uncloud his mind then he might start to find a bit of form again

[fred_plasticine]

My only concern with Rodgers is that he doesn't start to make decisions for the sake of it.
Bringing Suso on smacks of 'look at me, I'm giving a kid a debut at 18 against Man U when we only have 10 men'

95% of fans would have predicted Ferguson bringing Scholes on at HT or early 2nd half to control the game as we had 10 men.
Scholes was always going to have an impact, it's all he can do these days, sit deep and keep the ball (and he's brilliant at it)
Rodgers threw on Suso at HT then had to make another panic sub on 60 odd minutes with Man U over running us in midfield.
Rodgers had no choice but to take off Sterling who was our best chance of nicking a goal on the break as Utd attacked more.

In hindsight the sensible substitution was Henderson for Borini at HT going to 4-3-1-1 with Sterling off Suarez.


Something else worth thinking about is Rodgers got the managers job at the end of May I think, we signed Sahin at the end of August.
If Rodgers loves Suso so much why did he sign a technical, left footed playmaker after watching Suso in training and games for 3 months.

To be clear I'm a big fan of Rodgers and I think Suso will be a very good player but bizzare decisions have been glossed over because of the sending off and penalty decision.

i don't think it's bizzare in any way. he needed an attacker because borini was out with an injury. he had a go instead of opting for the defensive option that is henderson. suso played a part in the build up to the goal so the decision was vindicated imo. sterling was always gonna give us some 60 min and not more, i think that much has been obvious during the games that he started.
suso and sahin are different types of players in my view.

[Neil Young]

The reason we lost yesterday is because decisions went against us, not because Suso came on instead of Henderson at half-time. Had all the decisions been fair just in the second half then we would have got at least a draw. Suso was pivotal to our goal, as well as gratifyingly making a monkey out of Scholes in the process.

Rodgers' decision to bring on Suso would have been vindicated but for the referee.

[Captain Stu]

The reason we lost yesterday is because decisions went against us, not because Suso came on instead of Henderson at half-time. Had all the decisions been fair just in the second half then we would have got at least a draw. Suso was pivotal to our goal, as well as gratifyingly making a monkey out of Scholes in the process.

Rodgers' decision to bring on Suso would have been vindicated but for the referee.

Honestly think we'd have won, they looked so poor and half arsed and barely made the man advantage count at all. Had we not been a man light in the middle - really think we would've seen them off.

[BigChief]

Two words - Joe Allen.

How many people scoffed at spending £15M on him - he's small, he's Welsh, he's barely played in the Premier League - but **** me, the wee man is brilliant. He's absolutely brilliant.

Watching the second half I was trying to work out why it didn't feel like we were a man down. It was because we sneaked Joe's twin brother, Allen, onto the pitch. He was immense in his game intelligence.

[Big-Red-Ed]

What we needed was a kind fixture list to allow us time to develop the new system. We haven't got it but still the signs are there that we will get there in time.

I expect we will begin to pick up points quickly with these big games out of the way.

[ric.williams]

Next summer IMO. Unless, we have one helluva transfer window next Summer, which is unlikely.

there is a good chance.he must be a nightmare to play with. big money we could probably get two players with the fee

[S-RED]

i like rodgers, but why does every manager but Rafa, Wenger & Mancini all buckle under his presence; it's like he's the overlord, FFS Shelvey had it right...

[baitman]

Spot on. We've had fans crying out about us not being able to compete in the transfer market with the sugar daddy owned clubs and are taking a fresh approach. Long term, academy and youth players that are promoted to the side provide far better vfm and are more committed. A young manager with radical, yet attainable, ideas and an intelligent approach to the media. FFS, we're in the first 6 weeks of his first league campaign and some fans are getting twitchy already. It's one thing to say 'give him time' but we're talking about a 2-3 year plan before we see what Rodgers has as his vision. It's going to be difficult, especially if we don't start to climb the table soon but no one was ever relegated in September. I think the improvement in our play, by which I mean how comfortable our players look with a new system and how seemlessly some new faces are being introduced, is clearly evident.

you have just edited brendans 150/180 page project plan document down to a nice, manageable size, and for this we thank you.

[Mostar]

I have 100% confidence in Rodgers i only hope FSG spend the money which i am not so confident on.

I like him and I really want him to succeed but I am not confident at all that we will spend the money that we need to compete with other big clubs.

Losing Lucas was a big blow but we are in this predicament for the same reasons why Kenny failed.

We couldn't score then and we sure can score now.

I am not saying that buying Dempsey would change a thing coz I don't know but I do know he wanted him and he was ****ed over big time.

[Shaggy]

Darren Burgess has left the club

LIVERPOOL'S AUSSIE ERA ENDS

Liverpool's Australian triumvirate of Peter Brukner, Phil Coles and Darren Burgess has come to an end

By Simon Hill FOX SPORTS September 25, 2012 11:52AM

It passed with little fanfare, but the weekend before last marked the end of an era at Liverpool FC.

Two years ago, three Australians - admired from afar for their work with the Socceroos - blazed a trail to Anfield. Dr Peter Brukner, physio Phil Coles and strength & conditioning coach Darren Burgess were all recruited to set up the club's Sports Science & Sports Medicine department.

Melburnian Brukner left in April this year. Coles, from the Central Coast, was next out of the door after accepting an offer from Newcastle Knights NRL club, where he starts his official duties in November.

The game against Sunderland saw the final member of the triumvirate - Sydneysider Darren Burgess - fulfil his duties for the last time before he also heads back down under.

“Brendan (Rodgers) wanted to bring in some staff from Swansea, and Brendan has been fantastic, but my role has changed and its not really worth living on the other side of the world for.” said Burgess, speaking from the UK where he is preparing to bring his young family home.

So Burgess is packing his bags - and, as with Coles, he will, in all likelihood, be returning to a different code.

"I’ve had AFL clubs asking me if I was interested for the last couple of years now," said Burgess, who spent the earlier part of his career working with Port Adelaide Power - one of several outfits now vying for his services.

"The sports science side of things in AFL is world class - you don’t get a better set up. It’s tough, because I worked for 15 years to try and get into the EPL, it was my dream. But I leave thinking it’s the right thing for my family."

Burgess has, in fact, had offers from both Adelaide AFL outfits, and there is also interest from clubs in Melbourne. A decision should be made shortly - but while the AFL may be his immediate future, there’s no doubt where his heart lies.

"Football is my number one sport by a long way. I didn’t like AFL much when I started working in it - I appreciate it much more now - but football is still my number one," Burgess said.

"I’d have liked to have worked in football in Australia, and I did have some initial conversations with Tony Popovic at Western Sydney, but nothing came of it."

With his time in the UK nearly up, it’s time for reflection on his spell with one of the biggest football clubs in the world - and Burgess admits there are two players he’s enjoyed working with more than most.

“Luis Suarez's training intensity is unlike anything I’ve ever worked with in any code. He just cannot lose."

"Sometimes, as a coach, you have to make up numbers in training, and this happened in the early days when he arrived, because he was serving a suspension from his days in Holland.”

“He booted the hell out of me. I looked angrily at him, but he just gesticulated as if to say ... when you are on the field, you are one of us!”

Burgess also says Steven Gerrard doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

"I've never seen anyone strike a ball as well in any code of football. When the big clubs play at Anfield, the opposition players all want Stevie’s jersey. The respect is amazing, but that doesn’t filter through in Australia, probably because he’s English,” Burgess said.

Burgess would like to return to Anfield one day - but for now his immediate future is back in Australia, where he’ll be able to keep a much closer eye on the Socceroos, with whom he made his name in the game. And on that note, he is keen to set the record straight over his former boss, Pim Verbeek.

"Pim was an absolute gentleman. It upset me to see some of the articles written about him after the World Cup.” Burgess said.

“It was scandalous - he got four points, the same as Guus. He got us through qualifying by conceding just one goal - we are seeing just how hard Asia is now.

"As for the Germany game, people keep forgetting Tim got sent off. And I can tell you I was in that dressing room before the game when Lucas (Neill) gave his talk, and there was no dissent against the coach - nothing."

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/premier-league/liverpools-australian-triumvirate-of-peter-brukner-phil-coles-and-darren-burgess-has-come-to-an-end/story-e6frf4a3-1226480933527#ixzz27TBAdCPe

[Muddled]

To be expected I guess.

I suppose - looking on the positive - is that Rodgers didn't come in, remove everybody and stick in his own team straight away. He has given it time, addressed each section in turn and removed some gradually.

Viva la evolution.

[Shaggy]

That's because Brendan evolves, but he doesn't..........revolve. I guess what I'm trying to say is, we don't want another Chris Evans on our hands.

[Shaggy]

With his time in the UK nearly up, it’s time for reflection on his spell with one of the biggest football clubs in the world - and Burgess admits there are two players he’s enjoyed working with more than most.

“Luis Suarez's training intensity is unlike anything I’ve ever worked with in any code. He just cannot lose."

"Sometimes, as a coach, you have to make up numbers in training, and this happened in the early days when he arrived, because he was serving a suspension from his days in Holland.”

“He booted the hell out of me. I looked angrily at him, but he just gesticulated as if to say ... when you are on the field, you are one of us!”

Burgess also says Steven Gerrard doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

"I've never seen anyone strike a ball as well in any code of football. When the big clubs play at Anfield, the opposition players all want Stevie’s jersey. The respect is amazing, but that doesn’t filter through in Australia, probably because he’s English,” Burgess said.

[yamiedo]

Had a good laugh at this article earlier http://full-timewhistle.com/2012/09/...ng-relegation/