Early thoughts on Rodgers

[Markmywords]

I'm pretty happy with Rodgers so far for the following reasons;

 

1. He's given youth a real chance. He's shown massive confidence in Sterling, Suso, Wisdom etc. which gives the whole next gen a boost as they must feel they all have a chance of getting into the side.

 

2. He's not played it safe, he's ousted the big name space wasters

 

3. He's not panicked or gone mental in front of the press (yet at least).

[Ranxerox]

 

3. He's not panicked or gone mental in front of the press (yet at least).

 

 

....can't see this ever being a serious possibility...

[Gym Beglin]

i love how he has fucked downing off pretty much. shares a fans viewpoint in that respect. same with carra. we are one goalscorer away from top 4 quality i honestly think. lucas' injury has fucked us but that happens.

 

I think you're right, I think we're 25 goals away from being a comfortable top four team.

 

I also think that we need to have a go with 442 from time to time, especially the shithouse teams.

[No2]

8/10 so far. I was initially concerned that he might be a spoofer and he may be out of his depth. The signings of Allen and Borini and the attempted signing of Sigurdsonn had me concerned too, I thought he may be afraid of big players and can only handle players he knows. He also attempted to loan Shelvey and spoke of loaning Sterling too, both would have been big mistakes. The way he waxed lyrical about Carra also gave me reason to be worried. Early indications are that none of the above are issues at all. Very few faults in what he has done so far, the football we are playing is deserving of more points but may it will suit him in the long run that he started from rock bottom, 4 games in and most reasonable supporters had accepted top 4 was highly unlikely. Over all I'd be quietly optimistic that he will at least bring back champions league football, after that who knows....

[fowler9]

8/10 so far. I was initially concerned that he might be a spoofer and he may be out of his depth. The signings of Allen and Borini and the attempted signing of Sigurdsonn had me concerned too, I thought he may be afraid of big players and can only handle players he knows. He also attempted to loan Shelvey and spoke of loaning Sterling too, both would have been big mistakes. The way he waxed lyrical about Carra also gave me reason to be worried. Early indications are that none of the above are issues at all. Very few faults in what he has done so far, the football we are playing is deserving of more points but may it will suit him in the long run that he started from rock bottom, 4 games in and most reasonable supporters had accepted top 4 was highly unlikely. Over all I'd be quietly optimistic that he will at least bring back champions league football, after that who knows....

 

Yep I think he has turned around some of your initial reservations by being willing to change his initial views on what best to do with Shelvey and Sterling etc and then since the season has started Suso and Wisdom have come in from nowhere in terms of first team recognition, in terms of the teams he has played I've been pretty much in agreement with most of his selections although I would like Pacheco to be involved more, particularly now Borini is injured

[silverlining]

I think you're right, I think we're 25 goals away from being a comfortable top four team.

 

I also think that we need to have a go with 442 from time to time, especially the shithouse teams.

 

That goal deficit may be made up by the signing of a fearless African striker aged 30 or above.

[fowler9]

That goal deficit may be made up by the signing of a fearless African striker aged 30 or above.

 

[silverlining]

 

Good call. I've become obssessed with Liverpool signing a fearless African striker ever since the increasingly insame Fuuuuunnnnneeee wrote this:

 

"Id love an African striker for example because quite often they bloom later than others, they don't cost the earth, and they havea fearlessness that's hard to find."

 

They "bloom" later, they're cheap, they know no fear.

 

Now, to most people this might also describe a Somalian child soldier high on khat, but that is to ignore the majestic, mentally ill genius that is Funnnnneee.

[Jairzinho]

We should all do our bit by sending serious replies to those emails.

[RedRazor]

8/10 so far. I was initially concerned that he might be a spoofer and he may be out of his depth. The signings of Allen and Borini and the attempted signing of Sigurdsonn had me concerned too, I thought he may be afraid of big players and can only handle players he knows. He also attempted to loan Shelvey and spoke of loaning Sterling too, both would have been big mistakes. The way he waxed lyrical about Carra also gave me reason to be worried. Early indications are that none of the above are issues at all. Very few faults in what he has done so far, the football we are playing is deserving of more points but may it will suit him in the long run that he started from rock bottom, 4 games in and most reasonable supporters had accepted top 4 was highly unlikely. Over all I'd be quietly optimistic that he will at least bring back champions league football, after that who knows....

 

9/24 from me. Nowhere near good enough.

 

Good that he is giving the kids a chance - Sterling and Wisdom look like they could make it and maybe Suso too - and the purchase of Allen another huge plus. I think we are still four players short of a first eleven that can beat anyone in the league. IMO we only have seven players that are good enough to play in a top four team - Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Allen, Gerrard and Suarez. Borini and Sahin haven't impressed me although the latter may improve if he gets a run in the team. Shelvey needs to improve a lot to make it to the standard we need.

 

The remaining players can usefully support a strong first eleven but I don't see any of them as regular first eleven at this time. So for me we need a new left back, midfield dynamo, striker and a quality wide man. Nothing that another £100m won't solve.......

 

Good that he has shifted some of the deadwood (Adam, Sterling) and positioned some of the others closer to the exit.

 

However, despite all these positives, the one thing that really matters is the thing that he has failed at - getting points on the board.

[stringvest]

I think you meant Downing, not Sterling RR

[stringvest]

Good call. I've become obssessed with Liverpool signing a fearless African striker ever since the increasingly insame Fuuuuunnnnneeee wrote this:

 

"Id love an African striker for example because quite often they bloom later than others, they don't cost the earth, and they havea fearlessness that's hard to find."

 

They "bloom" later, they're cheap, they know no fear.

 

Now, to most people this might also describe a Somalian child soldier high on khat, but that is to ignore the majestic, mentally ill genius that is Funnnnneee.

 

He's not fearless, that fucker. I think Funnnee probably had something a little more swarthy, solid, perhaps even barrel-chested and oak-legged in mind. A healthy eater. Someone whose professed birth date is open to ridicule. A warrior. Mandingo.

 

Adebayor may have been shot at but he's no warrior. He probably hasn't even got a big cock.

[RedRazor]

I think you meant Downing, not Sterling RR

 

Good call - I actually meant Spearing

[zigackly]

He's not fearless, that fucker. I think Funnnee probably had something a little more swarthy, solid, perhaps even barrel-chested and oak-legged in mind. A healthy eater. Someone whose professed birth date is open to ridicule. A warrior. Mandingo.

 

 

This man knows no fear. I submit as evidence:

 

[Captain]

Sacking Benitez was a mistake (yes Broughton made a mistake) in hindsight, even though it was the right decision at the time.

 

We didn't need a new manager. We needed a new managing director and new owners. We got both, but too late.

 

If Rafa was the problem, we would have done much better without him. We haven't.

 

Which is even worse when you consider the fact Rafa's successors haven't had to deal with Gillett & Hicks fucking them over.

 

Anyway, fuck the TARTs and back to Rodgers again. I just hope he somehow doesn't end up suffering for last summer's mistakes. Last summer was critically important (our most important transfer window for many years), and we ended up with more or less a worst case scenario.

 

Fingers crossed it won't take too long to recover and we can start to move forward again.

[Dundalis]

I think we're two top level attackers, a high-tempo box-to-box midfielder, a left back and a keeper away from havin a really decent side. Five players, who don't need to be expensive, isn't a lot.

 

Hunterlaar and Walcott would be a terrific, cost effective start. We shouldn't fall into the 'one player' trap, though. It's a squad game, and we've been falling into the 'one player' trap for years. Even when our squad was much better.

I pretty much agree with that apart from perhaps goalkeeper. Not necessarily that we don't perhaps need a top level keeper to replace a declining Pepe, but more that we are likely to find one that matches the cost effective aim. For all his faults, Pepe is still one of the better keepers around. If you look around there are plenty of highly regarded keepers who make more than their fair share of fuck ups and goal letting howlers.

 

I'd get after Ba and Isco as attackers. Isco is probably somewhat unrealistic given we don't have Champions League football, but I think he's got a 16 mill release clause and I doubt Arsenal would let Walcott go any cheaper. Isco from what I've seen is a game changer in the mould of Hazard, Mata, Silva etc. Probably my primary crush atm in terms of players we've been linked with. Consistently excellent in the few Malaga games I've seen this season. And Ba with that 8 mill clause and having a proven record in the Prem is too good to pass up IMO. He's younger than Huntelaar (which FSG clearly take into account in transfer targets) and they are reasonably similar players with Ba having the edge of Premier League experience.

 

Box to Box type, Wanyama or Sissoko would be quality. Think Sissoko can be had free on a bosman albeit we'd have to wait till summer. No idea who'd be good for left back, but I don't think we'd fall apart going with Enrique and Robbo as the left back choices if Johnson moves back to right. I think Robinson will be quite a good left back down the track.

[Coro]

 

Which is even worse when you consider the fact Rafa's successors haven't had to deal with Gillett & Hicks fucking them over.

 

 

No, they just had to deal with the damage that was done by Hicks and Gillett whilst working for a new set of owners who haven't got a clue about the game.

[Guest ShoePiss]

People keep coming back with this "it was right to fire Rafa" bollocks.

 

You people will never learn.

[Kevin D]

People keep coming back with this "it was right to fire Rafa" bollocks.

 

You people will never learn.

 

We've now got a City fan, who is obviously far more familiar with the intricacies of the H&G reign than those who lived it daily, to lecture us on how righteous a decision it is, so we're breaking even more ground.

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[Guest ShoePiss]

Why the fuck are people still talking about Rafa for, there is a reason he cant get a job.

 

hehe

[Jose Jones]

Bit too obvious that one I would have thought Code.

[Guest ShoePiss]

We've now got a City fan, who is obviously far more familiar with the intricacies of the H&G reign than those who lived it daily, to lecture us on how righteous a decision it is, so we're breaking even more ground.

 

Oh aye, then there's that.

[FanchesterCity]

Bloody internet forums eh?

I miss those days when they were full of people working inside the club, leaking the truth about what was really going on and people actually knew how to resolve a club's woes. Living it daily took its toll though -what with having to juggle real life in any spare time that was available.

 

Now it just seems to be people with opinions. Shame that.

[Unrighteous]

I think you're right, I think we're 25 goals away from being a comfortable top four team.

 

I also think that we need to have a go with 442 from time to time, especially the shithouse teams.

 

No.