Brendan Rodgers

[Shaggy]

City still interested in Brendan. Why wouldn't they be.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/why-manchester-city-could-turn-to-liverpool-manager-brendan-rodgers-if-manuel-pellegrini-is-dismissed-10083382.html

Why Manchester City could turn to Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers if Manuel Pellegrini is dismissed

The Liverpool manager will be the first option after Pep Guardiola, writes Ian Herbert

Brendan Rodgers could have a decision to make about the Manchester City manager’s job this summer if he is interested in such deliberations.

Manuel Pellegrini’s position is contingent on City’s owners believing that the club is moving forward under their current manager. An emphatic win in Barcelona two weeks tomorrow could strengthen his position as much a surge of Premier League form allowing the champions to challenge Chelsea. But the club appear stuck, signings have failed and the only loud re-endorsements of him, in the aftermath of the 2-1 defeat at Liverpool, have come from the man himself today.

The only real certainty surrounds the type of candidate City would want to replace Pellegrini. The philosophy of attacking, attractive, possession-based football which the club’s chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain want for the club remains little less than an obsession – and it is the relative shortage of top class managers capable of bringing that which make Rodgers a prime candidate.

Needless to say, Pep Guardiola would be the top choice for City as he would be for any club if he were available. You will not find anyone at City denying the appeal. Soriano and Begiristain know him better than any other manager. He was the one the pair together selected to take over after they sacked Frank Rikjaard at Barcelona and who subsequently took Barcelona to the top of Europe. Soriano and Begiristain’s reputation in football is underpinned by what he achieved in that time.

Guardiola, whose contract expires next summer, appeared to declare himself unavailable today. "I am very happy at Bayern. It’s not an option that I leave this summer. I have a contract. I have not received offers and neither do I expect to," he said, though there is also no sign of him extending his original three year deal signed in 2013

If Guardiola is as good as his word, Rodgers is the manager who carries most appeal. “We like him very much,” Soriano told me two years ago. City wanted him as Mancini’s assistant in 2009. They took Rodgers to a hotel in Sardinia to meet him with a view to that happening, though Mancini wanted his own people. The Spaniards running City have not failed to notice his tactical ability this winter, as he has redrawn his formation to compensate for the absence of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge

City’s problem would be persuading Rodgers to join them, because he is acutely aware the value attached to loyalty by supporters of his current club. Though City may be able the only one of the two clubs able to offer Rodgers Champions League football next season, it would take a brave individual to become the first manager to leave Anfield for another English club - undoing all the work he has done to earn himself the affection of the great club’s fans.

If neither Guardiola nor Rodgers is available, City could turn to Carlo Ancelotti, whose challenging relationship with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has always made a return to England possible and who has a personal attachment to Britain – albeit London. The prospect of a move for Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone are unlikely, because the Atletico Madrid side do not play the Soriano/Begiristain way.

The elevation of Patrick Vieira, presently elite development squad manager, is a possibility – a move City had hoped they would not have to consider just yet. Contrary to reports by Spain’s AS paper, there has been no contact between City and Rafael Benitez, though the Spaniard will be available for work after his successful Napoli tenure ends this summer.

The task of persuading Rodgers to make the short move east would be a challenging one. But his retrieval of Liverpool’ situation under immense personal pressure last autumn makes him arguably manager of the season if Liverpool continue on their trajectory. If Pellegrini leaves, City will try.

[Kenneth]

One thing I'm confident of after this season is that brendan will not be desperate for a high pressured champions league run next season.

[frank the tank]

Benitez would make City much more competitive in europe......and if he could get some sort of control over incoming transfers then it could be a match made in heaven....

[The_weatherman]

I don't see any reason why Rodgers would have started this season with anything other than his diamond formation. It was tried and tested and half the squad knew the finer points of what their job entailed. The start of this season, whilst terrible, was unfortunate and I don't know what Rodgers could have done? It's not as if he had a solid defence that he could rely on to try the old 'smash and grab'.

You can't just flick a switch and suddenly change to the 3-4-3 formation. Whilst he (and the players) were working hard on the training ground, Rodgers put faith in his experienced players (Gerrard, Johnson, Skrtel) and they couldn't repay him.

The whole Rodgers showing Gerrard too much respect is any easy cop-out for people looking for excuses. Rodgers had been upfront with Gerrard about how his game time would be managed and that was one reason Gerrard was willing to listen to offers elsewhere. Rodgers was caught in limbo and a team low on confidence stuttered. That's it.

I don't understand. Why copout? They spoke, what in november? Until then Gerrard started practically every game. Why should I or anyone else, be looking for excuses, I've felt Gerrard was illsuited for the DM/HM for over a year, when we hit the diamond it worked but I'm not certain it wouldn't have been even better with someone else.

[BigChief]

One thing I'm confident of after this season is that brendan will not be desperate for a high pressured champions league run next season.

I've been suspicious City would come in for him for over 9 months now. And there is zero doubt in my mind should they make a concrete offer Brendan will be off. I wouldn't blame him but I would be totally, totally gutted.

I've said it often enough, worth saying again...the most exciting manager we've had since Kenny Dalglish left in 1991.

[Shaggy]

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rodgers-refused-roll-over-die-8763261

Rodgers: I refused to roll over and die, I vowed to fight to transform Liverpool FC's season

18:05, 3 March 2015 By James Pearce

Reds boss says he faced his biggest challenge after miserable start to campaign

Brendan Rodgers admits putting his Anfield reign back on track was the biggest challenge of his career.

The Reds go into Wednesday night’s home clash with Burnley on a high after a blistering run of eight wins and three draws in their past 11 league matches.

A season has been transformed with Liverpool FC re-igniting their push for a Champions League spot and progressing to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

It’s a far cry from their struggles earlier in the campaign when Rodgers found himself under increasing pressure.

With Luis Suarez gone, Daniel Sturridge injured and a clutch of new signings failing to impress, the Reds were a pale shadow of the side which had lit up the Premier League during the previous season’s title challenge.

Their fall reached its nadir at Selhurst Park in November when Crystal Palace inflicted a fourth successive defeat. The support of owners Fenway Sports Group remained unwavering but Rodgers was feeling the heat.

“We had no identity and everyone could see it,” he said.

“I probably was low because it was not working. We had a huge challenge, probably the biggest I have had as a coach or manager, at a club the size of this one, where I love being.

“We just weren’t the team I had built over a couple of years. You try to give everyone a chance but it just wasn’t happening for us and of course that can eat away at you.”

IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW MUCH SUPPORT YOU HAVE, YOU NEED TO GET RESULTS

The memories of being sacked by Reading in 2009 were still painfully fresh and Rodgers knew he had to quickly find solutions to the array of problems facing him.

“I certainly wasn’t going to roll over and die. I have always been that way and always will fight for my life,” he said.

“I love it here and I want to be successful here. And after the Palace game in particular, I felt it doesn’t matter how much support you have, the team is not functioning and it could not go on really. I respect and understand that.

“My experience at Reading told me that. That’s what I learned from that sacking. I went in with the full backing of the chairman, who was great to me, and I got 20 games. Even though it was a three-year project and they wanted me there and I was the guy who had moulded the club more than anyone, I got the sack after 20 games.

“Funnily enough when I did get the sack we were just starting to pick up. We had a lot of young players, we’d lost 14 players that summer, they wanted to rebuild and it was quite radical in terms of how I was asking them to play on the back of how they had before, which was a direct game.

“It just started to turn a bit, but they just lost their patience. What I learned from that was it does not matter how much support you might have in the boardroom, from the directors, the executives, you have to get results and you have to win.

“I call that a fortunate period in my career because I learned that from then and that paved the way for my learning here.

“I needed to make sure that I was going to make decisions which would allow us to get back to at least somewhere near where we were.”

CHANGE OF FORMATION SO VITAL TO REDS’ TRANSFORMATION

Initially, in the wake of that defeat to Palace, progress was slow. A scrappy draw away to Ludogorets, league wins over Stoke and Leicester and a stalemate with Sunderland before Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League after failing to beat Basel at Anfield.

It was in the days that followed that crushing disappointment that Rodgers burned the midnight oil and came up with the tactical tweaks which have proved so effective.

The Reds went to Old Trafford and played 3-4-2-1 with Raheem Sterling pushed into a central attacking role. Sterling’s energy and movement helped Liverpool rediscover their creative spark.

Chances went begging and defensive errors were punished as United ran out 3-0 winners but the general improvement was clear.

Rodgers kept faith with that system and since then the Reds have taken 27 points out of a possible 33. Their exciting revival reached new heights with Sunday’s impressive victory over Manchester City.

I HAD TO PICK THE RIGHT TIME TO MAKE THE CHANGES

New boys like Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, Alberto Moreno and Adam Lallana have started to show their worth and Liverpool have got their identity back.

“Every manager will tell you the same, you’re thinking of the game all the time, you’re locking yourself in a room and analysing and looking at ways to make the team function,” he said.

“I knew I had to do something fairly radical because I had seen enough of the players to know we were not going to be able to shape up and work and play as we had done for the previous couple of years with what we had got.

“I am an innovative coach, and I needed to find a way to make us play better.

“It is a complex way in which we are working and playing but it suits what we have. I knew I needed to do something earlier than when I did do it.

“We played the system away at Newcastle but I couldn’t really work on it in training because we didn’t have the time.

“At Newcastle, Raheem played as one of the wide players. What did I get out of that game apart from a loss? I learned that Raheem probably won’t be able to play wide in what I was looking to do because he’s not in the game enough.

“I knew what I wanted to do earlier but after Newcastle we had Real Madrid and I wasn’t going to go into a game of that magnitude with a system that I knew I needed more work on. It was just about the timing and the timing was right for the Manchester United game. By that stage I was comfortable that we had the players to make it work.

“I think the transformation in the team has been really good to see and to see the confidence, and everyone talking about the system and how dynamic it is, and the fluency. I should have done that earlier!”

STERLING SETS THE TONE WITH HIS PRESSING

The decision to turn Sterling into a striker proved inspired as the youngster quickly shrugged off the disappointment of that afternoon at Old Trafford. The 20-year-old has since taken his tally for the season to 10 goals and is the Reds’ joint top scorer with Steven Gerrard.

Rodgers says Sterling sets the tone with his relentless running when Liverpool are looking to win back possession.

“When you have so many attacking players who are gifted technically you need to get them on the ball as high up the field as you can,” Rodgers added.

“In order to do that you need to be able to press the ball. That’s how I work. Even in Besiktas, we struggled to press the game.

“Raheem is so important to what we do wherever he plays but when he plays in that central role, his movement, which is so dynamic, it sparks off other passes. And his pressing is so important too.

“Adam Lallana has intensity in his pressing, so does Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen, and that’s where I think Manchester City had the problem. Raheem, as the focal point, is key to that.”

[Fivex]

So at xmas basically lump your bonus on us winning the league if we're averaging around 2 points per game.

[Fosterbloke]

I don't think he'll be off to City. I think he loves nurturing young talent and building them into something greater than the sum of their parts.

City is just the football club equivalent of "Pimp my Ride".

[baronvonskidmark]

I don't think that the City job is that attractive for Rodgers - at least not at the moment. You've got an ageing team coupled with impatient owners, so there is easily sacking potential there. Plus what City's owners really want is the CL and Europe is not exactly Rodgers' forte at the moment. He'd be mad to go.

[captainfog]

Haha that interview made me laugh! Rodgers at his self aggrandising best!

[rudedog]

Our record in Europe is dreadful, and so I'm not sure how you could come to any other conclusion.

The team will have more experience playing together and hopefully Rogers has also learned from this year's failings.

[captainfog]

The team will have more experience playing together and hopefully Rogers has also learned from this year's failings.

He might have done, not seen any evidence of that yet though and until we do you have to assume we'll struggle.

[The_weatherman]

He might have done, not seen any evidence of that yet though and until we do you have to assume we'll struggle.

I think you may still be a little bit pissed off about how things went in the early part of the season? I think he deserves the chance to show that he's come out of this a better manager, as it is we're the form team so he probably completed the most dramatic turnaround in the history of the PL. Although that might imply us having been one of the most under-performing side in the PL from sept-dec

[captainfog]

I think you may still be a little bit pissed off about how things went in the early part of the season? I think he deserves the chance to show that he's come out of this a better manager, as it is we're the form team so he probably completed the most dramatic turnaround in the history of the PL. Although that might imply us having been one of the most under-performing side in the PL from sept-dec

I actually think if we get top 4 we'll do well in the league next year, but even in our recent terrific run we were pony in Europe. That's why I worry about a qualification round.

[G]

He's done a fantastic job domestically and he defo deserves the chance to show what he can do in Europe next season but I agree with Foggy on his record. We were poor in his first season in Europe which I put down to it being his first season in Europe! Not much changed this season though. We should have got out of that CL group with ease but we were were terrible domestically at the time and in Europe. We got our **** together at home and still went out of the Europa at the first hurdle. I'd like to think that was deliberate but I don't know.