Brendan Rodgers

[Fivex]

Just thought, maybe Pako's the DofF rather than assistant?

[BigChief]

Just thought, maybe Pako's the DofF rather than assistant?

Even better if that happens.

[Fredo]

I think we're signing Pako Rabane. Typical mirror off reporting.

[Paddy]

I think we're signing Pako Rabane. Typical mirror off reporting.

Smells suspect that

[James P]

Them Cornish are a bunch of patsies really.

****ing hell, Dom. First you slag off accountants, then the Cornish. Feel free to say that people called James are complete helmets for the hat trick.

[Oberon]

I don't believe it at all. He's just won a trophy as manager for starters.

Unless of course he's been promised the manager's job if Rodgers gets the chop?

What incentive would there be to make BR successful if you knew you were next in line for the job?

I'm not convinced that FSG are going to hand out long term contracts to anyone if it is in the back of their minds they might need to sack them in six months time.

[Phoenix07]

I think we'd just be a stepping stone for Pako if he does return. He'd be here for a year or two, but he'd still be applying for managerial positions in the Premier League.

He's 52 years old, and unless he doesn't fancy management anymore after his experiences with Tecos and Maccabi Tel Aviv, he needs to target a much larger managerial position if he has those ambitions.

Even if we appointed Hyypia somewhere among the coaching staff, he'd probably be the same. I'm sure we could make room for Sami too alongside Pako and Inglethorpe.

[Saveloy]

****ing hell, Dom. First you slag off accountants, then the Cornish. Feel free to say that people called James are complete helmets for the hat trick.

[dww]

I think we'd just be a stepping stone for Pako if he does return. He'd be here for a year or two, but he'd still be applying for managerial positions in the Premier League.

He's 52 years old, and unless he doesn't fancy management anymore after his experiences with Tecos and Maccabi Tel Aviv, he needs to target a much larger managerial position if he has those ambitions.

Even if we appointed Hyypia somewhere among the coaching staff, he'd probably be the same. I'm sure we could make room for Sami too alongside Pako and Inglethorpe.

I don't really see any downside of having a top level assistant short term. Especially if we look to use that time to build the rest of the coaching team.

One thing that I was thinking about when reading about Barcelona under Enrique was how people felt that something that had shone through in the second half of the season was how much fitter they were. That is the sort of thing we always felt in the Rafa + Pako days. I think if you have the fitness doing the right things on the pitch is easier and I wonder if the that is one of the failings in the last few years that we might want to address.

[marcus50bucks]

Ian Doyle: Why FSG will want Brendan Rodgers to stop clubs mocking Liverpool FC

10:00, 7 JUNE 2015 BY IAN DOYLE

Champions League football yet again the key to long-term future for Reds

As he sat down with Liverpool chairman Tom Werner and Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon, Brendan Rodgers was no doubt braced for it.

The two-word phrase that will determine his future at Anfield.

The two-word phrase that’s determined the future of almost every Reds manager during that past two decades.

Champions League.

Ever since the revamp of the European Cup unlocked a treasure chest of financial riches, qualification has become the bare minimum for any successful team.

As Liverpool have discovered too often in recent years, being out of the Champions League can render a team invisible. And, it seems, a bit of a joke.

Only last week, Lyon president Jean-Michael Aulas, on hearing the Reds were reportedly interested in his club’s striker Alexandre Lacazette, said: “Liverpool have not called and which European Cup do they play in?”.

Being taunted by a team who have only four times reached the quarter-finals of the competition in their history (compared to Liverpool lifting the trophy five times) would have made any Reds fan shuffle uneasily in their seat.

So too FSG. They want to be taken seriously as football club owners, and the best way to improve their stock is with regular Champions League qualification.

As expected, there was no appetite for a change of manager despite such a disappointing season.

But FSG couldn’t be seen to do nothing. So Rodgers has had to accept the axing of backroom staff Colin Pascoe and Mike Marsh, departures which have a potential for leaving him exposed, especially if the owners bring in their own chosen replacements.

An interesting aspect to emerge from the meeting was the assertion there would be no review of Liverpool’s recruitment policy.

This places further pressure on Rodgers. Signings, especially those who failed having been brought in last summer, are seemingly seen as his players, his choices.

FSG appear to be saying to the Reds boss “well, we did everything right – you clearly picked the wrong players and then didn’t develop them”.

It probably isn’t quite as black and white as that, the infamous transfer committee providing a significant grey area in terms of who does what in terms of recruitment.

What’s almost certainly crystal clear, though, is another season without Champions League football won’t be accepted.

With Anfield’s new Main Stand due for completion at the start of the 2016-17 season, FSG will have an impressive statement of investment and intent in the club.

They’ll want to show it off in front of the bright lights and cameras of Europe’s elite competition.

Otherwise, Rodgers will probably be hearing another two-word phrase at his next end-of-season review.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport...rendan-9403726

[dom9]

****ing hell, Dom. First you slag off accountants, then the Cornish. Feel free to say that people called James are complete helmets for the hat trick.

Goes without saying innit.

And if their surname starts with a P, then well. It doesn't get any worse than that.

[dww]

I don't buy into the idea that Lambert was bought to be some sort of B plan involving a big strong frontman to win balls when the high pressure A plan failed.

Lambert was not used in that manner for Southampton and he played a pretty important role in being a link man in their high pressure style of playing.

If anything the way Lambert played, and the role in which he was deployed, for Southampton should have allowed him to slot into our pressure game and play his part.

What Rodgers did after we got Lambert was to not use the guy in the role he was doing well in, and when he did play the guy it was often in a role or system that played to every weakness in Lambert's game rather than using his strengths.

Balotelli I could see an arguement for being described as a plan B, but Lambert came with a track record of being able to do well within a pressuring style team, and a track record of being able to link play well for his fellow attackers and for any midfielders breaking forward.

I agree with a lot of what you say and think that people have lost the nuances of the idea of Lambert as a plan B. I don't think the idea was to switch to being an Alladyce team when he came on but to have a player who allowed us to vary the point of our attack by offering an aerial threat whilst fitting the way wanted to play more generally.

The problem was that there was a dependence on at least one mobile forward in both the basic plan A and and any modification involving Lambert. The closest we had for most of the season was Sterling and he was learning the job (a good analogy would be Walcott who has only now after a couple of seasons trying and a lot more general experience is making the right runs as a striker).

Balotelli hasn't really played in a high pressure based team but many of the same arguments apply.

[Paul12]

1 I had always thought of Pako Ayesteran more as a fitness man than a football coach; is that wrong? (I don't have a problem if that is thought to be something that needs sorting - I don't think we handled the semi-fitness of some players that well last season.)

2 I hope they appoint a really good defensive coach. If we had had one on board last season we would have been in the Champions League now.

[dww]

Haha I love Pako. Hope this is legit. Wonder what Brendan makes of it all

I wonder if people are under estimating Rodgers a bit. I suspect he must have been aware that things weren't working and something had to change. Top managers are (and have to be) ruthless. We have seen tactically and with player personnel that he is willing to change if he feels things aren't working.

It is perfectly possible that FSG are driving all of the changes but I wouldn't be surprised if Rodgers own analysis pointed in the same direction.

[The_weatherman]

I wonder if people are under estimating Rodgers a bit. I suspect he must have been aware that things weren't working and something had to change. Top managers are (and have to be) ruthless. We have seen tactically and with player personnel that he is willing to change if he feels things aren't working.

It is perfectly possible that FSG are driving all of the changes but I wouldn't be surprised if Rodgers own analysis pointed in the same direction.

Yeah, I guess it's a bit unfair to assume this all some sort of tactical manouver by FSG, it could just as well be that Brendan is taking these decisions himself, he could feel he wanted more help or different ideas, or that he wanted to engage in some image work himself.