Brendan Rodgers

[Alex]

What does 'I think he is being given time because everyone is so fed up with constant change' mean. I need enlightening

I meant people are willing to be patient with him. Because of whats gone on in the past. That's not unfair is it?
You might have misunderstood it as Lecter or me thinking he was crap, but being given time for the **** of it. But its not what i meant. I personally like Rodgers and his ways.

[-V-]

He's being given time because Carroll, Downing, Henderson, Joe Cole, Charlie Adam, Spearing etc etc are not his fault

Its not his mess, buts its a mess he has to deal with. And we all know thats one big ****ing mess. Despite it though we have mostly played good football

Our league position is poor but Im confident things will turn out well. There should not be any questioning him at such an early stage. Fickle fans and all that

[CJ]

its getting like RAWK in here

[Norbs]

I meant people are willing to be patient with him. Because of whats gone on in the past. That's not unfair is it?
You might have misunderstood it as Lecter or me thinking he was crap, but being given time for the **** of it. But its not what i meant. I personally like Rodgers and his ways.

I'm going to be pedantic, sorry.

'He is being given time' implies that he is currently in the period where his job would've been under pressure if it weren't for the constant changes that we're all fed up with. What you mean, and I agree, is 'he will be given time' which would imply that maybe a year further down the line he'll be here and still may not be getting it right but deserves longer. No?

Your post was subject to misinterpretation

FWIW, if we were coming out of a period where our previous manager had been in the job for 20 years and this was the situation we found ourselves in, then I still wouldn't want him sacked. They shouldn't be being patient with him in spite of his results, they should be being patient with him because the transition we're in is huge

[el matador]

end of the day its a results business.

no one in their right mind would accept bad results as long as the football was good. You do that at youth level where player development is more important than winning matches, leagues etc... because your best players are consistently played in different positions to give them a more rounded football schooling and results go out of the window as long as performances are good.

I like rodgers but some of the things he said yesterday were a joke.

The bit about us finishing 8th last season and we would be lucky to do that this season. WTF is all that about. We finished 8th last season but we hit the bar 41 times. even if 10 of those goals had gone in we would have qualified for champions league football.

We would be lucky to finish 8th this season. Has he seen the ****ing players at his disposal.

Reina, johnson, agger, skrtel, gerrard, allen, lucas, suarez sterling.

Then you look at the second stringers like downing, henderson, sahin, enrique wisdom, suso etc...

there's a lot of quality there. yes we our squad doesnt compare with the likes of chelsea or uniteds but no one can tell me that west ham or fulham have a better squad than we do. FFS even west brom who's entire squad cost less than what we paid for downing are above us, playing better football and getting results.

Its all rubbish. I thought a point at chelsea was pretty good given that i thought we would lose.

[DeanoUK]

I'd like to point out - diverging from the current discussion, but in-line with the topic - that at least one myth has been expelled since Rodger's arrival, and certainly by the Chelsea game.

There was a great deal of people claiming he was unable to change tactically when things were going against him. This, at least, seems not to be the case.

I'm not sure this is a massive discussion opener, but at least I'm trying to attribute something to him!

[Mattshark]

end of the day its a results business.

no one in their right mind would accept bad results as long as the football was good. You do that at youth level where player development is more important than winning matches, leagues etc... because your best players are consistently played in different positions to give them a more rounded football schooling and results go out of the window as long as performances are good.

I like rodgers but some of the things he said yesterday were a joke.

The bit about us finishing 8th last season and we would be lucky to do that this season. WTF is all that about. We finished 8th last season but we hit the bar 41 times. even if 10 of those goals had gone in we would have qualified for champions league football.

We would be lucky to finish 8th this season. Has he seen the ****ing players at his disposal.

Reina, johnson, agger, skrtel, gerrard, allen, lucas, suarez sterling.

Then you look at the second stringers like downing, henderson, sahin, enrique wisdom, suso etc...

there's a lot of quality there. yes we our squad doesnt compare with the likes of chelsea or uniteds but no one can tell me that west ham or fulham have a better squad than we do. FFS even west brom who's entire squad cost less than what we paid for downing are above us, playing better football and getting results.

Its all rubbish. I thought a point at chelsea was pretty good given that i thought we would lose.

We finished 8th last season because we we barely won a game after new year.

You are massively overrating our squad, especially on attacking grounds. Suso and Sterling are potentially top class players, they are not there yet and at present lack end product. Allen and Lucas lack any sort of goal threat and Lucas has played one game. Gerrard has not been the player he was a couple of seasons ago. Downing and Henderson offer very little.

Also, it is ****ing November and we are on our best run of form for all of 2012, we will see where WBA and Fulham end up, getting whiny over their current position ahead of us is rather silly quite frankly.

[dww]

We finished 8th last season because we we barely won a game after new year.

You are massively overrating our squad, especially on attacking grounds. Suso and Sterling are potentially top class players, they are not there yet and at present lack end product. Allen and Lucas lack any sort of goal threat and Lucas has played one game. Gerrard has not been the player he was a couple of seasons ago. Downing and Henderson offer very little.

Also, it is ****ing November and we are on our best run of form for all of 2012, we will see where WBA and Fulham end up, getting whiny over their current position ahead of us is rather silly quite frankly.

I half agree with you. We will certainly struggle to do better than 7th/8th if we don't improve our attacking options. I'm not sure that the rest of the squad has more problems than the top 4 contenders.

[Norbs]

What I don't think is credited is that the 'system' is merely a starting point from which Rodgers will build. Suggestions are that he's not flexible but yesterday's shift in tactic shows he is very good at it. The 'system' or 'playing a passing game' will be rigid, and quite rightly so as we need to improve our possession and ball skills. Once he has a squad of players happy to hold on to the ball we'll see any combination of formations to suit our personnel and the teams we're up against. Learning to pass is just starting at the bottom, it's apparent that from that starting point we're working our way up.

He's making mistakes, he's admitting to making mistakes, and he'll make more mistakes. Rome wasn't built in a day

I'd like to point out - diverging from the current discussion, but in-line with the topic - that at least one myth has been expelled since Rodger's arrival, and certainly by the Chelsea game.

There was a great deal of people claiming he was unable to change tactically when things were going against him. This, at least, seems not to be the case.

I'm not sure this is a massive discussion opener, but at least I'm trying to attribute something to him!

I agree Deano

[MrMichael]

The midfield is more of a worry for me than the back four

We have nobody in midfield winning enough possession and pressing the ball

Lucas might help that but we will also need more of a contribution from whoever we put in alongside him

Yet on average through the season, we've had almost 60% of possession in our games. I do agree though that the midfield shape is not yet convincing and some more players need to step up. Lucas will help a huge amount imo.

We cant afford to give away goals because we dont score enough

There is your major issue right there

Yep, that's quite true

Oh come on Brendan, Fantastic!? Really!? West Ham are looking at finishing higher than 8th! ffs.

No, they aren't. Their target is not to get relegated, and they are very unlikely to finish in the top 10.

Our target for the season quite flagrantly should be to finish in the top 10, and it would be great if we ended higher than last year. Given the state of the squad and the amount of upheaval over the last few years, that is absolutely sensible and any LFC fan who is remotely looking at something like top 4 needs a serious reality check.

That said I cant say I'm as impressed as some are on here by Brendan

Yeah, we noticed

I'd like to point out - diverging from the current discussion, but in-line with the topic - that at least one myth has been expelled since Rodger's arrival, and certainly by the Chelsea game.

There was a great deal of people claiming he was unable to change tactically when things were going against him. This, at least, seems not to be the case.

Aye, if anything he's proven the complete opposite now in this and the Everton games.

[el matador]

We finished 8th last season because we we barely won a game after new year.

You are massively overrating our squad, especially on attacking grounds. Suso and Sterling are potentially top class players, they are not there yet and at present lack end product. Allen and Lucas lack any sort of goal threat and Lucas has played one game. Gerrard has not been the player he was a couple of seasons ago. Downing and Henderson offer very little.

Also, it is ****ing November and we are on our best run of form for all of 2012, we will see where WBA and Fulham end up, getting whiny over their current position ahead of us is rather silly quite frankly.

i was getting 'whinny' over what rodgers said not where we are at present. try and read the posts before you come out with your condescending bull****.

You seriously think our squad is the 8th best in the league ? Downing and henderson were both their respective clubs player of the year when we bought them so they are capable of producing more than are showing currently.

Last season we underachieved. Kenny didnt have a plan that was visible to most people so he went because ultimately we spunked a load of money on players who werent worth the money. He played his part in that as well as being responsible for the results so he had to go.

But we hit the woodwork 41 times. Id be surprised if we hit the target 41 times this season the way things are going.

If rodgers finishes below 8th then he's got to go. a couple of others have said that 4th place is still up for grabs and I agree with that. its just a shame we wont be anywhere near it.

[Shaggy]

I'd like to point out - diverging from the current discussion, but in-line with the topic - that at least one myth has been expelled since Rodger's arrival, and certainly by the Chelsea game.

There was a great deal of people claiming he was unable to change tactically when things were going against him. This, at least, seems not to be the case.

I'm not sure this is a massive discussion opener, but at least I'm trying to attribute something to him!

Definitely. Although on the flip side he doesn't often use all of his subs. I think he's used all three just 5 times this season. Rafa and Kenny got some stick for that but no-one seems to mention it with Rodgers. Although Rafa & Kenny also got stick for perceived slowness in making the first change. (I always thought that was bollocks - 99% of managers make their first change between 60 and 70). Rodgers is not afraid of a half-time sub or a sub around the 50th minute.

[Alex]

I'm going to be pedantic, sorry.

'He is being given time' implies that he is currently in the period where his job would've been under pressure if it weren't for the constant changes that we're all fed up with. What you mean, and I agree, is 'he will be given time' which would imply that maybe a year further down the line he'll be here and still may not be getting it right but deserves longer. No?

Your post was subject to misinterpretation

FWIW, if we were coming out of a period where our previous manager had been in the job for 20 years and this was the situation we found ourselves in, then I still wouldn't want him sacked. They shouldn't be being patient with him in spite of his results, they should be being patient with him because the transition we're in is huge

Without wanting to start a drawn out back and forth. Being that pedantic will never further the discussion will it? I totally get what you say, and that's how I meant it. But saying he is being given more time, and he will be given more time are fairly interchangeable to me.

Anyway Craig. Ill leave it now

[RichC]

Definitely. Although on the flip side he doesn't often use all of his subs. I think he's used all three just 5 times this season. Rafa and Kenny got some stick for that but no-one seems to mention it with Rodgers. Although Rafa & Kenny also got stick for perceived slowness in making the first change. (I always thought that was bollocks - 99% of managers make their first change between 60 and 70). Rodgers is not afraid of a half-time sub or a sub around the 50th minute.

I did wonder yesterday why we didn't bring on a fresh pair of legs in the last 10 - 15 minutes, very strange.

Didn't realise he has only used all his subs only 5 times this season.

[MrMichael]

We finished 8th last season because we we barely won a game after new year.

You are massively overrating our squad, especially on attacking grounds. Suso and Sterling are potentially top class players, they are not there yet and at present lack end product. Allen and Lucas lack any sort of goal threat and Lucas has played one game. Gerrard has not been the player he was a couple of seasons ago. Downing and Henderson offer very little.

i was getting 'whinny' over what rodgers said not where we are at present. try and read the posts before you come out with your condescending bull****.

You seriously think our squad is the 8th best in the league ? Downing and henderson were both their respective clubs player of the year when we bought them so they are capable of producing more than are showing currently.

Last season we underachieved. Kenny didnt have a plan that was visible to most people so he went because ultimately we spunked a load of money on players who werent worth the money. He played his part in that as well as being responsible for the results so he had to go.

But we hit the woodwork 41 times. Id be surprised if we hit the target 41 times this season the way things are going.

If rodgers finishes below 8th then he's got to go. a couple of others have said that 4th place is still up for grabs and I agree with that. its just a shame we wont be anywhere near it.

Downing got 0 goals and 0 assists in a whole season. He should still be playing for Villa. A player like him is just as capable of being in a relegation team as a CL one. Look at the squads Leeds and more recently Newcastle had when they went down.

It doesn't matter if we hit the woodwork ten thousand times, that means nothing. We were **** last season and our squad this one has less options and is much less experienced. 4 managers in 4 years have seen the senior players in this squad underperform, now either all those managers are ****e, or perhaps we over rate some of our players?

The idea that some of our fans are still looking at 4th place I find quite laughable and utterly unrealistic. We have absolutely no entitlement to finish above any team in this league, and having hit the reset button the way we have we need to take a long view of things. 8th would not be a disaster at all and above that really would be a success for this year.