Early thoughts on Rodgers

[lebron]

As has been mentioned in passing once or twice on here (!), the squad is short on goalscorers, whilst most of the allocated budget in the most recent transfer window was used to beef up the midfield options, the area of the pitch that Rodgers clearly believes is critical to improving chances of winning a game. As they are the link to getting the ball to any goal-scoring areas of the pitch, I'm inclined to agree.

 

Which (again I think it's been touched on?) makes the next two transfer windows important, both of which, save for some unmitigated disaster, should be presided over by Rodgers himself. Hopefully the money saved in some inflated wages of recently departed players can be put to the manager's transfer fund and the squad can get a little depth, whilst increasing the quality/value from within with some positive development from some of the youngters, that has been one of the highlights of the season thus far.

 

Good post, and so many LFC supporters failing to see the reason for Rodgers strengthening the midfield first is a bit worrying if we're trying to keep our "most knowledgeable fans in the world" reputation... It could be that some of our supporters actually want Rodgers to fail, even if it means the club suffering in the same timeperiod..

[TheHitman]

Rick Parry. Turfed out by the 'winners' he brought in and fucked the club. That Rick Parry?

 

Say what you like about Parry but as time passes Purslow and Ayre are making him looking pretty darn competent on the footballing side of things.

[lebron]

He should lay into the officials more, that is my only issue with him, he's only been here for 5 minutes though, you might get the odd Benitez nut throwing their toys out the pram but all the proper fans are behind him.

 

I'd replace Benitez with Dalglish for that sentence to have any semblance of truth...

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Good post, and so many LFC supporters failing to see the reason for Rodgers strengthening the midfield first is a bit worrying if we're trying to keep our "most knowledgeable fans in the world" reputation... It could be that some of our supporters actually want Rodgers to fail, even if it means the club suffering in the same timeperiod..

 

Yeah, I agree. He's clearly thinking long term about that. Which is right if you're doing a building job. However, we shouldn't forget who his first signing was. For those talking about 'priorities' but forgetting who his first signing was, it was an £11m, 21 year-old Italian International striker.

[Guest San Don]

Say what you like about Parry but as time passes Purslow and Ayre are making him looking pretty darn competent on the footballing side of things.

 

Yeah but that's like saying himler made hitler look quite a decent chap!

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Say what you like about Parry but as time passes Purslow and Ayre are making him looking pretty darn competent on the footballing side of things.

 

Eating dog shit doesn't make McDonald's food into 3 Michelin star goodness.

[clangers]

Say what you like about Parry but as time passes Purslow and Ayre are making him looking pretty darn competent on the footballing side of things.

 

Let's not get too carried away, Parry's air of competence came from him having his phone switched off at critical moments. Parry was really not great at his job even though his successors have managed to be even worse.

 

The lack of a decent managing director has been one of the significant factors in our decline and remains an issue to this day.

[TheHitman]

I knew I'd get that, does anyone think the Suarez ban would have been avoided or the Carroll purchase etc etc if we had someone who had a bit more nous about him.

 

Most of those work who at that level are charlatans, might as well have one that is a bit more clued up.

[lebron]

Yeah, I agree. He's clearly thinking long term about that. Which is right if you're doing a building job. However, we shouldn't forget who his first signing was. For those talking about 'priorities' but forgetting who his first signing was, it was an £11m, 21 year-old Italian International striker.

 

I think he saw that as an opportunity too good to miss because Borini:

- fit the "profile", i.e up-and-coming

- is versatile enough to play all three forward positions

- had worked with Rodgers before, making the team's transition easier (same with Allen)

- would (in theory at least!) bring goals to our team

 

Anyway, it's not like the top strikers in the world were lining up to join us then, nor will they in January.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I like Borini. I think he's going to get many goals for us over the next few years. He has great movement. I'm looking forward to see how he does when he gets more than five league appearances under his belt.

[gkmacca]

See the issue facing Rodgers is the backroom team are neither awe inspiring nor do they have any major link to our glorious past - Mike Marsh won the FA Cup under Souness, Colin Pascoe is hardly awe inspiring, plus would Rodgers be willing to jib him for more experienced second man -they seem quite closely tied up, is Pascoe responsible for the defensive setup? Not looking to escape goat the fella, but wondeing what he brings other than Rodger's daughters fella.

 

 

Not particularly awe inspiring backroom staff, I hope they do make it here, but have very little to base that on other than hope.

 

Yes, there's an insecurity about Rodgers. When he's not boasting about what a revolutionary thinker he is, he's having little digs at previous regimes here and suggesting it's either their fault or current players' fault when anything happens on the pitch that doesn't suggest he's as great a coach as he claims he is. And Mike Marsh being brought in to the first team set-up, as a supposed sign of his willingness to have someone 'with a Liverpool heart,' suggests again an uneasiness about having any real challengers around him. Marsh certainly loves the club and seems a decent young coach, but he's no threat to Rodgers. Houllier was a big enough man to accept Thommo as his assistant - someone who came with all the authority of a great player who'd won everything, a great bond with the fans and a reputation for being outspoken when he felt he needed to be. That's what the club needs at the moment. It does need a Scouse heart and it does need someone who isn't afraid of sometimes challenging Rodgers - discreetly - and pushing him to improve. Maybe Carragher once he's retired would be the ideal figure, with the positive challenge to Rodgers that there's a contender within the coaching set-up, but the club needs someone there with a passionate commitment to the club rather than to Rodgers.

[lebron]

Kenny would definitely have improved from last season, but I guess we wouldn´t have seen this amount of youngsters marching to the first team, althought Sterling was already getting a look in and Shelvey also started to get more playing time at the end of last season. But Kenny had definitely spotted the mistakes he had made and fixed them, I´m sure of that.

 

I think his lack of ability to rectify those mistakes is the main reason he's gone, personally. How on earth he decided to play Henderson and Downing over and over and over when they were clearly not up to it, keeping Maxi, Shelvey and Bellamy on the bench was a little more than baffling. Nothing pointed in the direction you are saying, we were getting worse as the season progressed.

[Evil_Ways]

On what basis?

Neither Allen or Borini have improved us.

 

I think Allen certainly has improved us. Big improvement on Henderson and Charlie Adam. I'd say the jury is out on Borini. He is a young italian international

with plenty of room for improvement.

 

Rodgers has not had it easy, everyone knew he had a big rebuilding job ahead of him. He's had to significantly cut the wage bill aswell.

 

We'll see this january how much money he gets and what players he can bring in. If his hands are tied again it's a disgrace, if they are not and he brings in the wrong players we can start to worry. But at this point i think the doom mongers need to slap themselves hard in the face and realise he's not been given nearly enough time or money to get a fair shake.

[lebron]

I like Borini. I think he's going to get many goals for us over the next few years. He has great movement. I'm looking forward to see how he does when he gets more than five league appearances under his belt.

 

I agree. I don't think he's particularly suited to play wide right though, as he lacks the ability and/or pace to succesfully beat players. I think we might get away with it when Johnson's back on the right though, as that combination should provide us with both goals and trickery. Having Enrique (I still believe he'll come good!) and Sterling/Assaidi on the other side will give us a good balance overall once everybody is back to full fitness (including Lucas).

 

I'm probably the most optimistic on here when it comes to our squad and manager. I think the future looks very good, the only questionmark being what happens when/if Suarez gets injured or leaves, as he's virtually irreplaceable.

[lebron]

On what basis?

Neither Allen or Borini have improved us.

 

Negged for being completely and utterly wrong...

[Dicko]

Negged for being completely and utterly wrong...

 

Really.

Have we improved from last season.

Because the league table says we haven't.

[piscinin]

Good post, and so many LFC supporters failing to see the reason for Rodgers strengthening the midfield first is a bit worrying if we're trying to keep our "most knowledgeable fans in the world" reputation... It could be that some of our supporters actually want Rodgers to fail, even if it means the club suffering in the same timeperiod..

 

You assume people don't see the reason. Maybe they just don't agree with it.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

 

You assume people don't see the reason. Maybe they just don't agree with it.

Maybe. Maybe it's just as he says. Which it is.

[piscinin]

Yeah, I agree. He's clearly thinking long term about that. Which is right if you're doing a building job. However, we shouldn't forget who his first signing was. For those talking about 'priorities' but forgetting who his first signing was, it was an £11m, 21 year-old Italian International striker.

 

We're not forgetting. We're just saying shipping out 4 forwards, 30 goals leaving you with ONE striker, is shit. If that's addressing priorities, please don't prioritize winning, or defending.

 

And in the real world, the only right way to approach a rebuilding job, is combining, short, medium and long term thinking. No-one has the luxury of just thinking long term.

[Code]

That was at Anfield. If it wasn't for some stupid little fuckwit linesman' date=' we would have beat Everton at Goodison.[/quote']

 

We also beat them 2-0 at Goodison and 2-1 at Wembley after that useless shite Andy Carroll scored the winner.

[Trucker Paddy]

 

Really.

Have we improved from last season.

Because the league table says we haven't.

 

Don't you remember yesterday we came to the conclusion winning isn't everything and its all about possession not scoring goals.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Is it just me or have we tried to improve our midfield every single year for the last 20 years. I've waited so long so patiently for a top class winger that sterling actually seems unbelievable, he's good and may go on to be great but we've been that starved he's like a breath of fresh air and is hyped.

 

How hard is it to scout a goal scorer too, there's thousands of footballers we pay people huge salaries to spot them, where are they. Scoring goals should be the most common player to find its what every kid strives to do where they want to play and hitting and 8 foot by 8 yard target should be a fairly simple skill.

[Carradona]

We also beat them 2-0 at Goodison and 2-1 at Wembley after that useless shite Andy Carroll scored the winner.

 

That brilliant Andy Carroll who is scoring loads and loads of goals for West Ham.

 

Oh wait...

[King Emlyn]

Bobby Hundreds on fire today.

[Horus]

I think Rodgers deserves more time, but after reading his piece in the guardian this morning, I can't help but think he's pulled a bit of a Hodgson, and announced that if we can't get players to help Suarez, then he will be off, especially as he had the chance to leave in summer.

 

Why was it entertained that he could leave in summer in the first place? And why are we fucking advertising our best players have options to leave us?

 

It's my opinion that Rodgers sees the Suarez money as the only way of getting any funds injected into the squad, so is willing to sell him for the right price, and is laying the groundwork for fans, by saying "well, the squad wasn't good enough and he wanted to leave".