Brendan Rodgers

[Shaggy]

How weird

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/29/liverpool-sean-odriscoll-assistant-manager

Liverpool to name Sean O’Driscoll as new assistant manager

• O’Driscoll expected to be confirmed before pre-season tour
• Brendan Rodgers a long-time admirer of England Under-19 managerLiverpool to name

Liverpool are expected to appoint the England Under-19 head coach, Sean O’Driscoll, as their new assistant manager as part of the overhaul of Brendan Rodgers’ back-room staff.

O’Driscoll, a former Bournemouth and Doncaster Rovers manager, has emerged as their leading choice to replace Colin Pascoe, who was sacked along with the first-team coach Mike Marsh this month. The 57-year-old’s move to Anfield has not been finalised but is set to go through before Liverpool embark on a pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East on 12 July. The team report back for training at Melwood next Monday.

The Liverpool manager has been without a No2 since Pascoe and Marsh, paid the price for last season’s disappointments following a review conducted by the club’s owner, Fenway Sports Group. It initially appeared Rodgers had been left isolated by their departures, with Pascoe in particular a long-time confidante, but the Northern Irishman is a firm admirer of O’Driscoll and has been instrumental in the approach.

Rodgers paid tribute to O’Driscoll’s qualities as part of a wider critique into the standard of English coaches in October 2013, when he claimed natural talent was being stifled by archaic coaching methods.

“We need to stop blaming the players,” Rodgers said at the time. “The players get the blame in this country. No, it is the coaching. The problem is that the guys who are ’that type’ of coach you never hear of them really. Look at Sean O’Driscoll. He is one of the best coaches I have ever come across. He is working at Bristol City. He has never had a chance in the top flight. His teams were expressive, had movement, they were technical, but he will probably never get a chance at a higher level.”

Liverpool now look set to give O’Driscoll that chance, only nine months after he replaced Noel Blake as head coach of England’s Under-19s side.

O’Driscoll, who was capped by the Republic of Ireland as a player but was born in Wolverhampton, spent six years in charge of Bournemouth, five at Doncaster and also had brief spells at Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City before his move to the FA.

Nathaniel Clyne has undergone a medical in Liverpool in his proposed £12.5m transfer from Southampton. The 24-year-old right back was on Merseyside on Monday to finalise the terms of his move from the south coast and is expected to be confirmed as Liverpool’s sixth signing of the summer on Wednesday.

Clyne will take Liverpool’s spending beyond the £40m mark, with their outlay to increase once an independent tribunal sets a fee for Danny Ings, but that is unlikely to be the end of the club’s spending. Christian Benteke remains a strong target for the club ,although they are unwilling to meet the £32.5m release clause in his contract with Aston Villa.

The club have also capitalised on Barcelona’s transfer problems by agreeing terms with 16-year-old Dutch winger Bobby Adekanye. The teenager’s move to Barcelona from Ajax’s academy in 2011 was declared illegal by Fifa and he spent last season on loan at PSV Eindhoven as a result. Both PSV and Ajax were keen to sign the promising youngster on a permanent basis this summer following his release from Barcelona but he is expected to finalise a move to Anfield next week.

[Chazza]

60? Thought he'd be mid-40's or something.

57

[Fivex]

So I was right.

[peekay]

ULTIMATELY, Sean O'Driscoll paid the price for not winning football matches in a result-driven industry. But Bristol City's decision to dispense with their head coach is as much about personalities as it is results.

Quite simply, those responsible for the running of the football club are looking for a new head coach who exudes passion, one capable of motivating players and getting the best out of the first-team squad.

A very singular man, O'Driscoll has his own way of working, which is different to many other managers. Certainly, his methods are different to anything City's directors are likely to have experienced in the past and it seems reasonable to conclude that the relationship between the head coach and the board could have been better.
Similarly, City fans found it difficult to warm to O'Driscoll, despite the Midlander's exhaustive attempts to communicate in the media, through his programme notes and by attending supporter meetings.

The perception derived from his body language and mannerisms was that he lacked an inspirational personality and was dour. Whatever the reasons, he failed to build a close rapport with a majority of the club's support-base.

When push came to shove, the fact certain individuals on the board found O'Driscoll difficult to work with mitigated against him being afforded more time. How else can we explain the timing of his departure? O'Driscoll had identified loan targets and was in the process of securing those players ahead of yesterday's deadline.

When I spoke to City vice chairman Jon Lansdown yesterday, he alluded to O'Driscoll's perceived lack of passion. Adopting a diplomatic approach, he told me: "All coaches and managers are different and they all have their own styles and work in their own various ways.

"Whichever way you go about doing the job, you have to be successful. That is the bottom line. Sean has had the opportunity, has had the time and had the players to do it. I'm sure someone will come in and give it a slightly different approach."

He added: "We have good players – I don't think there is any question about that. It's about getting the best out of them.

"We are looking for a head coach who fits into our strategy and our plan and who can get the best out of those players. That is the role of the head coach and he is in charge of the first team and is responsible for delivering results on the pitch.

"I think we need to inject a bit of passion into that and start getting those results."

As in all cases where a football manager loses his job, there is a bottom line. Since succeeding Derek McInnes in January, O'Driscoll presided over a record of seven wins, 13 draws and 18 defeats in 38 league games. He failed to keep City in the Championship last season and leaves the club in 22nd position in League One, two points adrift of safety.

That record in itself would be sufficient to see most managers out of a job, and it could be argued that Robins owner Steve Lansdown and his board of directors have been remarkably patient. But, in the final analysis, a return of 34 points from 38 league games tells its own story.

"There is never a right time to do it, but you only have to look at the league table to see we are the third worst team in League One," said Lansdown.

"I understand there will always be questions concerning the specific timing of these things, but it won't come as a complete shock to people.

"We're five games away from being halfway through the season and we are third from bottom of the league. That is clearly unacceptable and that is why we have acted now."

Great strides have been made within the club's academy and Under-21 set-ups, while fundamental changes have been implemented to ensure future player recruitment is sustainable. But as Lansdown was quick to point out, head coaches are judged by results on the pitch.

He said: "Sean has helped us to implement our club strategy and I thank him for that. We have made a lot of improvements, but a club is only as good as its results on the pitch and those have not matched the good work that has gone on behind the scenes.

"We're not impatient and we want managers to succeed and head coaches to succeed.

"We try to allow as much time and give as much backing as we can to ensure that happens.

"There are a lot of other clubs in the league that have got rid for a lot less. You have to make these decisions when you feel the time is right and, for us, we need to pick up. I think that is clear for everybody to see."

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/apparent-lack-passion-Sean-O-Driscoll-s-Bristol/story-20238718-detail/story.html#ixzz3eUWe51Ow

Bring back Pascoe, All is forgiven. I promise I will never make fun of his shorts again.

[peekay]

[ame="https://youtu.be/_dNynDVvxzQ"]Sean O'Driscoll loses it with reporter following Brentford loss - YouTube[/ame]

Shanklyesque

[Gazzla]

Not quite the high level coach I was expecting. This is totally perplexing

[peekay]

Not quite the high level coach I was expecting. This is totally perplexing

It is almost as if the universe had decided, LFC fans were becoming too happy after the Firmino signing and need something to balance that out.

[Liverpool]

Pako >> Mike Bassett >> Sean O'Driscoll

[RichC]

Never heard of him. Some good coaches make terrible managers but it's a bit of a left field link.

[Corndog]

It is almost as if the universe had decided, LFC fans were becoming too happy after the Firmino signing and need something to balance that out.

Who gets excited about the signing of an assistant manager anyways?

If someone does, they need new hobbies/ to get a life.

[Shaggy]

If you ask me it's ****ing weird appointing a bloke who's nearly 60. It's a younger man's game now, senior backroom staff should surely be able to relate to the players. That Pep Lijnders is a young lad, Brendan is.....maybe they want experience but it's difficult to envisage the young lads in our squad responding too well to some 60 year old duffer.

[Buzzo]

It's also another appointment with no top level trophy winning experience.

Definitely a strange one.

[Liverpool]

its difficult to see the thought process behind getting rid of pascoe to get this fella. how did it happen?

[dom9]

It's interesting to think what City have achieved since firing him too.

[Leyton388]

No top level experience at all. What top footballer is going to take instructions from a guy who's had no experience at all at the top level of the game?

I can't get my head around this? So Liverpool football club are now at a level where the team is coached by some championship level coach? I was hoping for so much more.