Brendan Rodgers

[marcus50bucks]

Liverpool's under-fire Brendan Rodgers 'facing sack if he loses to Everton in the derby'

22:30, 3 OCT 2015 BY STEVE BATES

Owners FSG have shown no sign of firing the manager but Anfield sources suggest demoralising defeat at Goodison WOULD have an impact on their thinking

Brendan Rodgers is facing D-Day in the Merseyside derby, with Liverpool’s owners ready to pull the trigger if they lose at Everton, writes Steve Bates in the Sunday People.

So far, the Boston-based Fenway Sports Group who own the Reds have shown no appetite to sack Rodgers, who ended last season with a 6-1 hammering at Stoke and has had an erratic start to the new campaign.

The poor 1-1 draw with Swiss minnows Sion in the Europa League in midweek did little to lift the pressure on 42-year-old Rodgers.

And Anfield sources have suggested a demoralising defeat in the 225th Mersey derby at Goodison Park on Sunday will shift FSG’s thinking.

Former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti and former Borussia Dortmund chief Jurgen Klopp head a list of available managers who would jump at the Kop job if FSG do dump Rodgers.

Ajax boss Frank de Boer has also expressed interest in work in the Premier League and would also be a candidate if the club’s American owners decide to make a change during the international break which begins on Monday.

Senior Liverpool figures believe that 12-day period to be a key window of opportunity for FSG if Rodgers and his stars suffer defeat against their neighbours.

Owner John Henry and his management team in Boston are not prone to knee-jerk reactions, especially concerning one game.

But informed sources close to FSG point out that while the owners have always been strategic planners with a long-term view over the direction of the club, the game at Everton is a major moment for Rodgers.

Henry and chairman Tom Werner backed their manager in the transfer market during the summer with a slew of arrivals which will amount to around £85million once a compensation tribunal sets a fee for ex-Burnley striker Danny Ings.

That will take Rodgers' gross spending in his three years at Anfield to £300m, and FSG are concerned Liverpool are no closer to winning major titles.

But club officials are also keen to point out that a Liverpool win at Goodison could change the picture entirely — even though Rodgers faces another tricky game away to Tottenham in the first fixture back after the international break.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...odgers-6565960

[RichC]

Bender in a blender eh?

Now there's a thought.

[Norbs]

I feel so detached from our football these days I actually don't care anymore if he stays or goes

It's like watching a foreign team now. Like Montpellier or Marseille ; some good players and moments but generally mediocre.

The club needs re-invigorating, that's for sure.

Indeed. I chose watching a recording of Dr Foster over the Sion game and hoped that I'd regret missing it. Deep down I knew I wouldn't. I'll skim the game today but a couple of seasons ago I'd have set myself up with beer and nibbles and know we'd give it a good go.

Players have lost it and until they start trying again I'm not that fussed either.

PS Took a glass of port to bed and fell asleep before drinking it. It's a guilty pleasure of mine that that means I'm allowed to drink it before I get up. It went down a treat

[Norbs]

watch out for some comedy tweet from mario once rodgers is given the bullet.

Balotelli can then come back next season and score 20 goals and prove that the only reason he was an utter waste of a name of the team sheet was because of his manager.

[Norbs]

Bender in a blender eh?

Now there's a thought.

Bender might not be your cup of tea but he does at a least bring news items to the site and offers a bit of humour. I've never seen him once say anything vitriolic towards another poster

[marcus50bucks]

Brendan Rodgers, your time is up

Paul Parker
1 October 2015

Brendan Rodgers is under enormous pressure to retain his position as Liverpool manager. With Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp waiting in the wings, former Manchester United defender Paul Parker believes change is imminent…

There has been a lot of speculation about Brendan Rodgers of late after their below-par start to the season. The way I see it, I’d be very surprised if we’re not sitting here at Christmas time and Liverpool have a new manager.

Firstly, I think he was very, very lucky to survive last season. Liverpool had a terrible season and I didn’t like what took place at the end of the year either when first-team coach Mike Marsh and assistant manager Colin Pascoe both lost their jobs.

Most ex-players and anyone in football management or coaching would have looked at Rodgers and felt he basically threw them to the wolves. So as a player, would you trust him?

I don’t think we’ve heard the whole truth about what went on there. I’m sure the players at Liverpool had a lot of time for those assistants. They would’ve been working with them regularly. The manager might have lost a bit of face there for what he did to survive. So unless he told those players why they really left, and those players believed him, there would have to be some question marks.

In the modern game, players are more wary than ever before. A few years ago, the players might’ve given him a bit more time. But when you’ve got Brendan Rodgers’ credentials and his background, you’re not going to get as much trust as a Jose Mourinho, an Arsene Wenger or a Louis Van Gaal.

Let’s go back a step. Like a lot of people, I was surprised when Liverpool signed Brendan Rodgers. Looking at his background, he’d been sacked by Reading and Watford, which isn’t the best on a CV when you go to manage a club like Liverpool.

Then he took over quite a good team at Swansea and they were OK, they played some decent football, but it’s very easy to play that nice kind of football when there’s no pressure on you. It’s very difficult to play nice football when you’re at the top end and people are expecting it.

Rodgers’ first words were “judge me after three years”. Now he’s saying there’s a vendetta out against him. You have to stick by what you say. One thing about football is it can put egg on your face very quickly. People have long memories.

It’s been three years, the club has gone backwards, so does he still want more time or is he going to fall on his sword? When you haven’t delivered – and it’s not just winning, it’s also about the quality of the performance – people then start looking for a change.

Liverpool surprised everyone by what transpired in the 2013-14 season. But we all know why that happened and that’s Luis Suarez. We’re now seeing the difference that same person is making at Barcelona. Rodgers was very, very fortunate that Kenny Dalglish signed Suarez and gave him that player.

It made Rodgers’ name and briefly put Liverpool back on the map, but it really ended up being a broken promise. They weren’t able to continue what they’d shown because the player that had been the whole focal point had gone.

I don’t think there’s ever been a player to make such an impact on English football in modern times as what Suarez did at Liverpool.

When Liverpool lost him, Rodgers never found a way to replace those positions that Suarez filled.

It’s cost him dearly because he’s gone out and bought at least 10 players and still not come close to filling that position. Suarez could defend, create and score goals. They come along once in a lifetime.

They were able to scrape past Aston Villa on the weekend and get a vital three points, but a win isn’t just a win for Liverpool Football Club. It’s not that simple. A win must also come with the performance. Beating Aston Villa 3-2 doesn’t help. It might’ve taken a little of the pressure off, but Villa were awful, Liverpool were awful and that could so easily have ended 3-3.

Villa were hopeless and showed no desire to win the game. Rodgers again switched to three at the back and it didn’t work. Now they’ve got a Europa League match coming up at home against FC Sion and questions will be asked again because they’re playing a lower-entity team where they’re expected to dominate and win well.

Daniel Sturridge has finally returned from injury and everyone knows that, given everything, a fit Sturridge could’ve made a huge difference to Rodgers and Liverpool. But a manager can’t keep relying on one player to win games of football.

Rodgers’ biggest problem really isn’t scoring goals, it’s more about conceding. They’re weak in midfield and they’re very weak defensively. Then when it comes to creativity, they’re basically relying on Philippe Coutinho.

James Milner wasn’t the right buy. You don’t go and buy James Milner from Manchester City to slot him in the middle with Jordan Henderson. Then when Henderson is injured, you don’t go and make Milner captain. That’s not the right message to send out. I feel it’s just been a series of mistakes.

We keep hearing that Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp could be available. Rodgers knows it too and I don’t think Liverpool will miss that chance. I don’t think they can afford to miss out again.

One is obviously a very proven manager in Ancelotti and the other is an up-and-comer who has proven himself at a club that is a lot smaller than Liverpool in European football terms.

Jurgen Klopp turned Borussia Dortmund around, had over 80,000 people turning up every week and had them competing with Bayern Munich. They had a terrible start last season and it looked like they might get relegated, but he didn’t panic. He ended up getting them back into Europe, which shows his pedigree.

In my mind, it’s impossible for Brendan Rodgers to be manager of Liverpool next season. Absolutely impossible. They can’t take the gamble any more because they are simply not showing they can sustain any kind of winning mentality. They can’t afford to wait.

I think something will happen before Christmas. Kenny Dalglish’s pedigree is a lot better than Brendan Rodgers’ and the owners were brave enough to ask Kenny to step down. That means they’re going to be brave enough to ask Brendan Rodgers to step down.

A different manager could lift that squad and give them belief. He would go in there and tell people the truth. Rodgers is another one of these managers that came in talking about his philosophy, but he’s gone and changed that about 10 times. They need to stick with one system.

I think Brendan Rodgers has gone as far as he can with a club like Liverpool.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/featur...yJ-V9Zm_KiqzyA

Sorry if already posted. I found myself agreeing with all of what Parker said. He nails it!

[Bender]

Sorry if already posted. I found myself agreeing with all of what Parker said. He nails it!

you posted it on page 586 and 587 Marcus,but no need to beat yourself up about it

[marcus50bucks]

you posted it on page 586 and 587 Marcus,but no need to beat yourself up about it

haha no I didn't

[Bender]

haha no I didn't

Made you look though

[marcus50bucks]

Made you look though

[EwarWoo]

I don't feel bad for him for a single second.

Me neither. But the situations depressing enough already without the drama queens having their pity competition.

[Buzzo]

Yep. Pretty much agree word for word with an article by Paul Parker.

Dark days.

[G]

Said it at the time, sacking the staff to save himself left a bad taste. Just another attempt by FSG to find a clever way around an obvious problem.

[RichC]

Easy to say that but we've no real idea who or why the decisons to get rid of the back room staff were made. In hindsight they should of all probably gone en masse but then you also need to replace them with suitable quality. For all the talk of Klopp nobody knows if he'd have joined in the Summer or even now if the job becomes available.

[Gibbo]

Said it at the time, sacking the staff to save himself left a bad taste. Just another attempt by FSG to find a clever way around an obvious problem.

What's another example of this?

Im still not seeing while FSG are getting some grief, should they have put more money into the club? Is it the fact that they trust too much in their "football guys" who happen to be telling them not to sack Rodgers yet?

I think if we don't even seem to be approaching Klopp or Ancelotti (A walk down and American street with an American coffee) then questions deserve to be asked.

But besides that what else could FSG have done.