Brendan Rodgers

[Fredo]

Shut it, CJ.

[CJ]

Sir ,Nigel has been drinking again.

[Chazza]

Raheem Sterling's agent Aidy Ward claims 50% of Liverpool players think Brendan Rodgers ISN'T a good manager

Raheem Sterling's agent Aidy Ward has taken aim at Brendan Rodgers - and claimed half of Liverpool's squad would say he isn't a good manager.

Ward was vilified in the summer as Sterling left Liverpool for Manchester City in a £49million deal.

It brought an end to a bitter transfer saga which saw the England international declare he would not be signing a new deal at Anfield before giving an interview to the BBC.

After Sterling's departure, Rodgers stated he and the player were still on good terms and denied any fall-out.

But Ward was not impressed with how the ex-Liverpool boss dealt with his client's willingness to depart - insisting he is the only person with whom there is an issue.

"I had no problem with Ian Ayre for example. I have no issue with anyone but Rodgers. He had a massive job with massive funds. How did he do? Good coach, but as a manager I didn't like certain things about how he dealt with Raheem.

"Fifty per cent of the players would probably tell you Brendan is not a good manager, but he is a good coach."

Earlier this month, Rodgers paid the full price for Liverpool's slow start to the season and struggles in the transfer market, when he was sacked after the Merseyside derby.

Replacement Jurgen Klopp's arrival has been met with mass hysteria at Anfield, with the German securing a 0-0 draw in his first game in charge at Tottenham.

And in a further dig at Rodgers, Ward claims Sterling would have flourished under Klopp - stating the pair would have been a "perfect fit".

Sterling continued his impressive start to life at Manchester City on Saturday with a hat-trick in the win over Bournemouth.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/raheem-sterlings-agent-aidy-ward-6666367

[Chazza]

Raheem Sterling’s agent has launched a scathing attack on Brendan Rodgers - blaming the “sly” former Liverpool boss for the England international’s acrimonious exit from Anfield.

Sterling joined Manchester City in a £50million deal back in July after months of trying to force through a move to the Etihad.

The 20-year-old repeatedly rejected Liverpool’s attempts to tie him down to a new contract with agent Aidy Ward heavily criticised for his part in the damaging saga.

However, Ward has accused Rodgers of alienating the youngster by playing him out of position and claims Sterling would have stayed put if Jurgen Klopp had been appointed earlier.

“Raheem could’ve stayed, he should be at Liverpool,” Ward said.

“I think for me it was like he was being told to be a good boy and sign a contract.

“In December I spoke to Liverpool and said we’ll sign a contract if there is a buy-out clause - those clauses are now common practice. They said no to that.

“Then there was an underhandedness, there were sly remarks. In press conferences, Brendan told everyone Raheem would sign - why do that?

“I knew, Brendan knew and Liverpool knew there was an issue. Right now he probably should be a Liverpool player, but he’s not and he’s in a great place at City.

“The new Liverpool manager probably would have been a great fit for Raheem - passionate, disciplined in the right way, new ideas, not afraid of trying new things. He’ll do great at Liverpool.

“Would Raheem under Klopp have been a good scenario? Yes, 100 per cent, definitely, mainly because of the person Klopp is - the passion, the drive, the emotion, wanting to achieve.

“Raheem has all of this, but you won’t always see it outwardly. Working with Klopp - that could have been great. He’s going to get the best out of those players. It could have been a dream come true.”

'I became the bad guy'
Ward found himself underfire back in May when a conversation, which he claims he thought was off the record with a journalist, ended up being published.

In it he said Sterling wouldn’t sign a new contract even if Liverpool offered him £900,000 per week and insisted he “didn’t care” about the damage being done to the club’s image.

“I became the bad guy, that’s how I was portrayed,” Ward told the Daily Mail.

“I was being criticised and my back was against the wall a bit, so I would have changed the way some stuff came out into the public domain, that's my only regret.

“It started from the PR behind Liverpool. There is no issue with the fans there, they don’t know the full story, and there are lots of good people at Liverpool.

“I had no problem with (chief executive) Ian Ayre for example. I have no issue with anyone but Rodgers: he had a massive job with massive funds. How did he do? Good coach, but as a manager I didn’t like certain things about how he dealt with Raheem.

“Fifty per cent of the players would probably tell you Brendan is not a good manager, but he is a good coach.

“Last season I thought subliminal messages were being sent to Raheem. Why would Liverpool play him at left wing back? Would you play Simon Mignolet up front?

“I think it was the game against Manchester United, he was played as an attacking midfielder, moved to right back, then up front, then left back, and eventually back to attacking midfielder. I was watching thinking: ‘Well this is interesting’.”

'I spoke to all the super-powers - except Barcelona'
Rodgers frequently bemoaned the “bad advice” Sterling was getting from Ward, but the agent insists his conscience is clear.

“Let me tell you about advice,” Ward said.

“In that documentary Being Liverpool, when Brendan Rodgers pulled Raheem on camera - it went on TV - and said he’d be on the first plane home (from a pre-season trip to the USA) if he answered back to him again, what do you think Raheem did after that?

“He called me, telling me he had not said what the manager had accused him of saying. I listened, and then said to Raheem: “Go and apologise to the manager, and get your head down and work hard”.

“Brendan was so impressed that Raheem had apologised that he then put him in the first team. Do all these people think that was me giving him bad advice?”

Manchester City were the only club to officially table a bid for Sterling but Ward claims “every European super-power bar Barcelona” wanted to sign him.

Sterling has helped lead Manuel Pellegrini’s men to the top of the Premier League and grabbed a hat-trick in Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of Bournemouth.

“The only club I didn’t speak to from all the super-powers was Barcelona - they were the only ones, and that was because they had a transfer embargo, so it was pointless,” he added.

“But you know Xavi came out and said Raheem is a world-class player in the making and could play at Barca in the future. In the end it was Manchester City and I thought he’s got a job to do, go and do it, and he’s doing it.

“So those who thought he would be a sub - what did they think of his performance last weekend?

“He’s scoring, he’s playing, what’s the opinion of those critics now? Are they trying to destabilise Raheem? Or back him so a young England player can compete at the very highest level in the Premier League, the Champions League and on the international stage?

“If Raheem is caught in a situation when he does something silly off the field every paper picks it up. He scored a hat-trick and there is barely a mention of it.

“Look at Raheem now, he’s buzzing, he’s happy and he’s at a good club, with good players, a good manager, good coaches and good staff. He’s in a good place.”

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aidy-ward-rodgers-blame-sterlings-10295295

[Muddled]

Sterling has one good game on the Saturday (his first in 13) and Aidy's parping in the press within 48 hours and kicking Rodgers whilst he's down. Stay classy, Aidy.

[Chris]

Sterling has one good game on the Saturday (two months after his move) and Aidy's parking in the press within 48 hours and kicking Rodgers whilst he's down. Stay classy, Aidy.

Haha yep, just as things have died down a bit on the criticism of him, instead of letting him get good headlines for the hattrick and the chance to continue it this week in the CL he has to bring up all this. What a bellend he is. If the worst thing Brendan has done was play him out of position and say he'd sign a contract I'd say thats not too bad!

[dom9]

What a massive ego and power trip.

He seems to be implying that the player unquestionably does as the agent says (we kinda got that feeling already).

He also seems to be implying that the player is accountable to his agent and not his manager (again, we kinda got that feeling already).

The man comes across as a complete skid mark.

[Vermilion]

Would i play Simon Mignolet up front ?

[Chazza]

5/2 second favorite for the QPR job behind Nigel Pearson.

[dww]

Probably the only team that would be/have been a worse choice for him than Villa.

[Yozza]

He'd be better off going to a medium size stable club where he can re-build his reputation

No point going somewhere with a hire & fire policy - not sure if QPR will give him the time?

[rodo]

well he has moved back to london

[Boogs]

He should give Sociedad a go and prove he is better than Dave.

[CJ]

You could move to sociedad and be better than dave

[Assassin]

Its becoming very apparent that rodgers has the devine ability to stiffle the **** out of any talented footballer......