Brendan Rodgers

[Captain Stu]

Who here thinks BR is doing a better job than they expected him to when he was appointed?

I expected exactly this - inconsistency because his focus isn't just on the pitch, it's the club and the squad as a whole.

[dom9]

Who here thinks BR is doing a better job than they expected him to when he was appointed?

FWIW I do think he should quite rightly be given time to implement his plan/philosophy. At the same time nothing in this sport surprises me anymore and if we continue to play with such inconsistency the pressure on him will only build.

Good question. I think I expected top 6 or 7. I'm not entirely sure though. We're 6 points off 6th. 1 point off 7th. So probably in line with or just below expectations.

[Tee]

I expected exactly this - inconsistency because his focus isn't just on the pitch, it's the club and the squad as a whole.

I honestly expected us to do better, but at the same time I promised myself that I would write off this season and not take any poor results too seriously because it is another rebuild job. The latter is proving much harder than I thought!

[Alex]

Who here thinks BR is doing a better job than they expected him to when he was appointed?

FWIW I do think he should quite rightly be given time to implement his plan/philosophy. At the same time nothing in this sport surprises me anymore and if we continue to play with such inconsistency the pressure on him will only build.

Too be honest he is doing pretty much as I expected. The lower end of expectations admittedly. But about right. I quite like him, i have obviously got my reservations, but I still believe he can take us forward.

Now, if this time next year we are still fighting it out with West Brom for 7th/8th then I think he needs to be seriously questioned.

[Shaggy]

That's just it though - if it's just cringe and a 'style thing' then he's not full of **** is he? David Brent didn't just come out with cheesy management soundbites, he often misappropriated them and/or failed to understand whatever truth lay behind them and was a garbage manager as a result. I don't remember thinking anything Rodgers has said was a load of ****, however cringe it may have been. Even if he were to fail miserably with us, the idea of him as a footballing Brent would be a crude caricature of him at best.

[Bender]

I honestly expected us to do better, but at the same time I promised myself that I would write off this season and not take any poor results too seriously because it is another rebuild job. The latter is proving much harder than I thought!

with our strongest 11 we should be challenging for 4th

[kingfunk]

All the right signs are there, we were all over brom like a rash until Steve missed the peno. We missed sturridge , just like we have since the start of the season. Three or four new additions/tweaks in the summer and we will be right up there. BR is doing just fine IMO. We live in a world now where if anything goes wrong the finger of blame gets pointed to the manager. In our case, individual errors have cost us this season and with the squad we have its just wrong the blame BR for that.

[Sarb]

I expected pretty much how we have been this season. Some very good performances, some very mediocre ones and some totally pants. Because, to be honest, we've been like that for a few years. With a new manager coming in, trying to implement his ways, with the need to balance the books and some experienced players leaving (who would have been pretty good in his system) I expected none if little improvement on last season, and probably thought we'd be a little worse off. I'm nowhere near judging him a failure or success. I like the guy, I like listening to him and his honesty. I'm not cynical enough to think of him as sound bites or some Brent spin off.

[kingfunk]

with our strongest 11 we should be challenging for 4th

If we had our strongest 11 on the pitch, ie including Sturridge, I do not believe we would have lost against brom.

[Alex]

with our strongest 11 we should be challenging for 4th

Unfortunatly football is not a First 11 game nowadays. Our squad is about the 6th best in the league. Which is reflected in our league position at the moment, and in the fact we cannot beat anyone in the top 6.

[dom9]

Unfortunatly football is not a First 11 game nowadays. Our squad is about the 6th best in the league. Which is reflected in our league position at the moment, and in the fact we cannot beat anyone in the top 6.

We're 9th.

And we haven't beaten anyone in the top 10.

Other than that, I agree.

[danperkins]

Unfortunatly football is not a First 11 game nowadays. Our squad is about the 6th best in the league. Which is reflected in our league position at the moment, and in the fact we cannot beat anyone in the top 6.

IMO we will finished about 6th or 7th

[The Birdman]

We're 9th.

And we haven't beaten anyone in the top 10.

Other than that, I agree.

But that's just a fact twisted to suit (as in I know its 100% fact) so that fans or whoever isn't bright enough to make up their own minds think we haven't been good enough or deserved to beat a top 10 side.

Yes it's all if's buts and maybe's but last min winner vs Everton not given, outplaying, thats completely outplaying Man City in both games only for Skrtel and Reina to hand them points.
Those 3 games alone are 6 extra points we lost through linesman error (absolutely ****ting himself at having to allow a last minute Suarez hat trick) and 2 basic, schoolboy errors from senior internationals
Arsenal away we were hanging on but could have won with Suarez at the end etc... etc...

Yes the longer it goes on the more the press will make of it but we have genuinelly deserved more points and certainly wins in games against the top 9/10.

Also, it is really complete bollocks as the teams above you in the league tend to be the ones that beat you (as a general rule of thumb)
It's very unusual to finish 7/8/9th for example yet beat the teams that finish 1-6th at least once.

[dom9]

But that's just a fact twisted to suit (as in I know its 100% fact) so that fans or whoever isn't bright enough to make up their own minds think we haven't been good enough or deserved to beat a top 10 side.

Yes it's all if's buts and maybe's but last min winner vs Everton not given, outplaying, thats completely outplaying Man City in both games only for Skrtel and Reina to hand them points.
Those 3 games alone are 6 extra points we lost through linesman error (absolutely ****ting himself at having to allow a last minute Suarez hat trick) and 2 basic, schoolboy errors from senior internationals
Arsenal away we were hanging on but could have won with Suarez at the end etc... etc...

Yes the longer it goes on the more the press will make of it but we have genuinelly deserved more points and certainly wins in games against the top 9/10.

Also, it is really complete bollocks as the teams above you in the league tend to be the ones that beat you (as a general rule of thumb)
It's very unusual to finish 7/8/9th for example yet beat the teams that finish 1-6th at least once.

So in one post, we have gone from 100% fact to 100% conjecture.

[The Birdman]

And as I posted at the start of the season, my expectations for Rogers were top 8 this year (hopefully squeeking into Europe), Top 6 in 2nd season with a flirt in and around the top 4 for a while and a full on bonafide challenge for the top 4 in season 3.

Anything more/above/higher than that is unrealistic in my opinion.