Brendan Rodgers

[Vermilion]

BR could well be a great manager, it's just such a difficult time to be in the job, other clubs already ahead of us are working to improve too, and from a much better position and with more purchasing power which also adds pulling power.

Even if he's a superb manager, it may still take years, and tbh there's no guarantee any manager could take us back to being consistant title challengers in the next 5 or 6 yrs.

Other clubs need to really **** up in one way or another, while we get things right, thing is there are now 5 clubs ahead of us, all with either equal; or vastly more wealth than us as it stands, and some are in a position to attract the very top players, maybe even our top players!

It will be extremely difficult, whoever is our manager.

[Mostar]

To be fair to FSG the amount they've spent for the return they have got is absolutely shocking.

Carroll & Downing for a start.

It really is.

With the exception of Suarez we have not signed a single player that really made the difference for us since FSG took over and that we could sell for what we paid for or more (Sturridge and Coutinho do not count).

Kenny made some terrible buys but Rodgers signings in the summer atm do not look like any better purchases either.

[Imy]

the thing about naive people is that if they're smart, they mature. i know it might not be acceptable to some, but a thing that american sports management often does is arrange their teams to peak after x amount of time. it's not really possible to spend like city in american sports, so the idea is to get young players in and then add players closer to their peaks afterwards so that as many players as possible are hitting their peak years around the same time, and then sustaining that. it's like buying a kid shoes to grow into rather than shoes that fit perfectly today but need replacing soon after.

With shoes though you know for a fact that your kids feet will grow in to them shoes, there is no guarantee the young players will mature in to good players.

Also the longer we're out of the CL the less likely we're going to be able to attract or compete for the best players young or proven.

[little dave hedgehog]

with regard to naivete i was referring to fsg. i have a hard time imagining they will remain naive. they are most certainly gaining experience.

and i just flat out disagree they won't refurbish the stadium, but there's no real discussion there. they either will or they won't.

[Baracus]

Posted by Bryncoch

If the idea is that we stop the opposition by keeping the ball then that isn't really working. We don't transition into defensive positions quickly enough so as soon as we lose the ball we are too open to counter-attacks. That's the same for most teams though, more goals are scored on the counter than by keeping the ball and moving defenders around until you create an opportunity. That's probably why Barca are as good at pressing the ball as they are at keeping it once they have it.

We used to be brilliant at stopping the opposition through defensive positioning. It isn't as obvious as good attacking play so when we battered Real Madrid apparently they were awful when actually they played as well as we let them. We need to get back to playing well without the ball, be awkward *******s to play against, then build from there.

Been saying it for ages, the bare minimum should be that we are difficult to beat.

[Baracus]

with regard to naivete i was referring to fsg. i have a hard time imagining they will remain naive. they are most certainly gaining experience.

and i just flat out disagree they won't refurbish the stadium, but there's no real discussion there. they either will or they won't.

I mentioned this somewhere in this thread IIRC. They have been naive but they have shown especially this season that they are learning and that is commendable.

[Buzzo]

They are certainly a much less tangible or visible presence this season.

[Sarb]

I'm going to go out on a limb here.

If FSG sack Rodgers and appoint someone other than Rafa, regardless of who it is, I think some fans would only give him 6 odd games before forming an opinion on him too. Yeah we aren't playing great at the moment, but with Sturridge in the side it made a huge difference to our whole play (Oldham aside). When he's out we've been pretty pants the last two games.

Allen and Borini are young players with minimal premiership experience. In the first month or two months Allen showed enough to indicate he definitely has the talent and ability. They were purchased for the future. They are certainly not financially cripppling deals like the ones of Aquilani, Cole, Carroll etc.

Allen feels the need to constantly come out and tell everyone that he knows he's been piss poor of late but he will work on coming good. Us fans didn't really learn from the Lucas episode or Henderson to a lesser extent. They both had sh*te support from the supposed best fans in the world. Lucas said he was in tears after matches, but look at him last season....brilliant.

But I think the patience and sense of perspective has gone from many now to be honest. Look forward to the next meltdown after the next bad result

[dizzycat]

I think it's clear that Rogers can coach a team to play attractive football. Also his training methods seem to have reduced the regular injuries that have blighted us in recent sessions. What's not clear though is whether he has the leadership skills for a team like us. The team appear a bit spineless and give up when it ain't going their way. In my opinion its his biggest challenge, because with where the club is now he needs characters that will fight tooth and nail for HIM. Otherwise he's going to end up known aas a good coach, but mediocre manager.

[Sarb]

I think it's clear that Rogers can coach a team to play attractive football. Also his training methods seem to have reduced the regular injuries that have blighted us in recent sessions. What's not clear though is whether he has the leadership skills for a team like us. The team appear a bit spineless and give up when it ain't going their way. In my opinion its his biggest challenge, because with where the club is now he needs characters that will fight tooth and nail for HIM. Otherwise he's going to end up known aas a good coach, but mediocre manager.

There are some experienced players in the team who are folding like a deck of cards at the slightest sign of pressure. For me that says more about them than it does about Rodgers. It's those experienced players who have been part of an underachieving team for about 4 years. For me, he could justifiably replace the whole back 5.

He isn't faultless for sure. For me, Borini should have played the last 2 games from the start to keep the same set-up as when Sturridge played. But some of the more experienced players are playing pants. It's not on

[Captain Stu]

His quotes after the match are, frankly, shocking.

[Sarb]

If he said what people are saying on ITV then I agree. I missed that. His interview on the official is a bit more balanced

[AnfieldForever]

I'm going to go out on a limb here.

If FSG sack Rodgers and appoint someone other than Rafa, regardless of who it is, I think some fans would only give him 6 odd games before forming an opinion on him too. Yeah we aren't playing great at the moment, but with Sturridge in the side it made a huge difference to our whole play (Oldham aside). When he's out we've been pretty pants the last two games.

Allen and Borini are young players with minimal premiership experience. In the first month or two months Allen showed enough to indicate he definitely has the talent and ability. They were purchased for the future. They are certainly not financially cripppling deals like the ones of Aquilani, Cole, Carroll etc.

Allen feels the need to constantly come out and tell everyone that he knows he's been piss poor of late but he will work on coming good. Us fans didn't really learn from the Lucas episode or Henderson to a lesser extent. They both had sh*te support from the supposed best fans in the world. Lucas said he was in tears after matches, but look at him last season....brilliant.

But I think the patience and sense of perspective has gone from many now to be honest. Look forward to the next meltdown after the next bad result

[Captain Stu]

If he said what people are saying on ITV then I agree. I missed that. His interview on the official is a bit more balanced

"a near perfect away performance".



Brendog REALLY isn't making this easy for himself, he's constantly making rods for his detractors to beat him with and sadly he doesn't have the points or cup progression to fend them off.

[reds123]

Something is happening that shows that some players are either not adapted to Rodgers' style of play or that they are not happy with it.

The body language of some of our players during the west brom game is worrying.