Does Rodgers deserve another season.

[therevivalist]

Brendan Rodgers blew £115m on failed Liverpool title bid and must now go. It's time to bring in Jurgen Klopp or Carlo Ancelotti

• Liverpool suffered humiliating 6-1 defeat at Stoke City in final league game
• Brendan Rodgers' Anfield future uncertain following failed title bid
• Reds finished sixth having at least targeted a Champions League spot

By Mike Anstead for MailOnline

Published: 11:55, 25 May 2015 | Updated: 12:09, 25 May 2015

 

'I don't think there is pressure on ourselves, only what we have from within. Look at Tottenham - you spend over £100m, you'd expect to be challenging for the league.' Brendan Rodgers, Melwood training ground, April 26, 2014.

When Brendan Rodgers uttered those words, he would have given little thought to the chances of them coming round to bite him on the bum 12 months later.

As the Liverpool manager claimed at the time, he had 'never slept better'.

 

 

Ahead of Liverpool's title clash with Chelsea, they required seven points from three games (Chelsea, then Crystal Palace and Newcastle) to guarantee a first title in 24 years.

Rodgers’ words were a response to being asked whether Liverpool missing out on the title would be seen as a failure.

You know what happened next. Steven Gerrard's slip and that crazy night at Selhurst Park cost Rodgers and Liverpool badly. They had one hand on the Premier League trophy and blew it.

 

 

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Now there are much tougher questions being directed at Rodgers. Specifically, ‘do you deserve to keep your job?’.

And, of course, the fact that he spent £115million last summer and got nowhere near challenging for the title. Spurs fans will chuckle at that one.

Here are some illuminating statistics:

*Liverpool ended the season with 22 points fewer than 2013-14 (62 points compared to 84)

*They scored 52 goals this season compared with 101 in the previous campaign

*They lost 12 matches this season – double the total from the season before

*They won five points from a possible 24 in matches against the top four clubs

*Away from the Premier League, they failed to progress from a Champions League group that included Real Madrid, Basle and Ludogorets. 

Brendan Rodgers: If Liverpool's owners want me to go, I go

 

 

 

The goals stat reveals the problems that Rodgers has faced. The figure of 52 is the same total that Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge scored together in the Premier League last season.

Suarez, after his bite at the World Cup, left to join Barcelona for £75m. Sturridge has picked up injury after injury.

But knowing his star man Suarez was off and that his captain Steven Gerrard was in the final stages of his Anfield career, Rodgers needed to spend – and spend wisely.

Here’s who he brought in:

Adam Lallana (Southampton, £23m)

Dejan Lovren (Southampton, £20m)

Lazar Markovic (Benfica, £20m)

Mario Balotelli (AC Milan, £16m)

Alberto Moreno (Sevilla, £12m)

Emre Can (Bayer Leverkusen, £9.8m)

Rickie Lambert (Southampton, £4m)

Divock Origi (Lille, £10m)

Of those players costing a combined total of £115m, who can be labelled a success?

If you’re being generous, you could just about put a green tick next to Can’s name – but he was bought as a central midfielder, then deployed as a cork for their sieve-like defence.

 

The rest have been ineffective, no-one more so than Balotelli. Bought for £16m, Rodgers claimed in August he would prove to be ‘outstanding value for money’.

I don’t know where Rodgers is shopping these days but all you have to do is tweak that sentence to ‘outstandingly poor value for money’ to sum up Balotelli’s dreadful season.

It is quite clear that his signing is a huge regret for Rodgers, but he will have others too.

He has failed to nail down a preferred formation this season, switching to three at the back for a brief revival before his side soon went into reverse again.

The signings are a clear mistake – he failed to buy a world-class striker when he was losing one. With all due respect to Lambert, Balotelli and Origi (loaned to Lille despite being tipped to become ‘world class’ by Rodgers), they are nowhere near Suarez and never will be.

 

 

Rodgers’ adventures - if you can call them that – in the cup competitions have been misguided. Refusing to play his best team at Real Madrid after five years out of the Champions League reflected dreadfully on him.

For every rainy night at Turf Moor, fans dream of balmy evenings in the Bernabeu.

And losing so meekly to Aston Villa at Wembley last month when they had one foot in the FA Cup final was just another below-par performance.

That trip to Wembley could have saved Rodgers - but now he has to go.

You don’t have to have read the Michael Lewis book to know the brief outline of Moneyball. It is clear that spending is a subject he will be grilled on by Mike Gordon, Fenway Sports Group’s second biggest investor, in Boston on Tuesday. You’d love to be a fly on the wall for that ice-breaker.

The final question on Rodgers – and the one that should seal his fate - is this: Are there better alternatives out there?

Well, yes. Much better managers.

 

 

Liverpool are likely to have an option of appointing Carlo Ancelotti (left) of Jurgen Klopp this summer

You could run a sizeable list, but let’s stick to two who will be available for nothing.

Carlo Ancelotti, a three-time Champions League winner, a Premier League winner and one of the most experienced coaches in world football. He’s on his way out of Real Madrid and wants to manage in the English top flight again.

Then there’s Jurgen Klopp, the departing Borussia Dortmund manager who has stood toe to toe with mighty Bayern Munich for the best part of seven years, winning two Bundesliga titles, reaching a Champions League final and acquiring a reputation as a shrewd buyer and promoter of youth.

Both would buy into the Liverpool mould of playing good football and giving kids a chance. Yet they also come with a winner’s mentality. Both have a point to prove.

Liverpool have gone backwards fast. Rodgers’ time is up. It is now time for the club to make their move.

 

 

Are you listening Boston?

[kirkbyred1]

In answer to the title of the thread

 

NO

[Boss]

Maybe they are trying to get Milner through the door before they jib him off.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Or they're waiting until Rafa's got a job before making a vacancy.

[Red House]

It points to inexperience.

 

Bullshit. Paulo Sousa had never been in the Champions League as well, didn't stop his Basel team making it through ahead of us. Ludogorets had never even been in the Champions League Group stage before, nevermind manager. Inexperience is no excuse when the other managers were just as inexperienced. Similarly, inexperience didn't stop other quality managers succeeding in Europe. Mourinho won the UEFA in his first season in Europe and then the Champions League the next. Rafa achieved a similar feat within his 3-4 years in Europe. Vilas Boas won the Europa in his first season at fucking 33. I'm sorry but it really does point to tactical deficiencies rather than inexperience in the case of Rodgers. There hasn't been a single shred of evidence from this season's campaign that he actually learnt anything from the first season he spent with us in the Europa when we got knocked out by Zenit. This year's was just as bad if not worse.

 

 

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

Bullshit. Paulo Sousa had never been in the Champions League as well, didn't stop his Basel team making it through ahead of us. Ludogorets had never even been in the Champions League Group stage before, nevermind manager. Inexperience is no excuse when the other managers were just as inexperienced. Similarly, inexperience didn't stop other quality managers succeeding in Europe. Mourinho won the UEFA in his first season in Europe and then the Champions League the next. Rafa achieved a similar feat within his 3-4 years in Europe. Vilas Boas won the Europa in his first season at fucking 33. I'm sorry but it really does point to tactical deficiencies rather than inexperience in the case of Rodgers. There hasn't been a single shred of evidence from this season's campaign that he actually learnt anything from the first season he spent with us in the Europa when we got knocked out by Zenit. This year's was just as bad if not worse.

 

 

No excuses for not getting out of that group. The worst part was the surrender to Madrid in both games. Not taking picking a full strength team in the away leg was a fucking disgrace to top it all off.

 

Things didn't improve against Besiktas either, who looked far better over the 2 legs in the UEFA cup.

 

Clueless tactics.

[Lycan]

After supporting him from the off, for the first time ever I am starting to question whether he is the right man for the job. It's so sad I'm starting to think this way.

[thompsonsnose]

After supporting him from the off, for the first time ever I am starting to question whether he is the right man for the job. It's so sad I'm starting to think this way.

Come in to the light boy.....

[Lycan]

Come in to the light boy.....

Just fucking depressed mate. Don't know were we are going to go from here.

 

I have zero confidence FSG know what they're doing.

 

I have zero confidence the transfer committee will spend our money wisely.

 

And now my confidence in our manager is seriously starting to wane.

 

Fml. Only Liverpool could fuck up as badly as we do.

[dennis tooth]

Or they're waiting until Rafa's got a job before making a vacancy.

Yeah look what happend last time they gave in to fan pressure we ended up winning a cup. Fuck fsg got rid of kenny because the fellow they appointed above him fucked up transfers and they didnt like the power kenny had, they alluded to as much themselves,revealing that theyd get rid of a man they just didnt like cos they just didnt like him, despite it looking like we were going to win things and be a success and build on it all under a manager who had done it all, on feild success is not enough, you must kneel before john henry and kiss the ring.

Well you reap what you sow and we may not as fans have been party to it all but still we clapped like lemohedz off our faces captivated by hedge funders and warrior and dunkin donuts, we dont mind you sacking kenny and tryna make our fans so obese they cant protest. Not at all. No need to put your hand in your pockets boys or even come over from boston ian ayre and brendan the untrophied trophy wife one will restore this great club. Reduce the wage bill and release a statement telling us we have to rely on youngsters coming through. Resign brad and kolo. See if we care. If only you could identify a striker before you send out st renewals, moneyball? No problem, yeah we are gullible, change the hillsborough flames to milkshakes, use margie aspinalls dedication to wedge in some random boston marathon dedication banters lolz, we love you fsg keep up the good work, any sarcasm in the interpretation of this post will be attended to by a fsg fan with a raving review of how theyve been good at merchandising and marketing and made wage bill savings whilst carving the live within our means mantra into their forehead to teach any doubters a lesson.

[Kobayashi Maru]

[Philbert]

I would rather a Pol Pot than  the fucking pantomime horse we currently have.

Ferguson made Pol Pot look like Mother Theresa and it ended quite nicely for him

Spot on. Imagine having to face Ferguson at half time with a display like that, at Stoke - or (dare I say?) his modern-day equivalent; Klopp. Much easier and less daunting to face David Brent-style consultancy bollocks, all backed up by an organisation that makes the Civil Service look like ISIS. Management and decision making by committee, with a total lack of accountability and failure to deliver.

[ZonkoVille77]

I had a nice cup of tea just a moment ago. It was bliss.

[JermainePennant]

Having read a lot of fans opinions from different sites twitter etc my confidence in Rafa being a success here is gone, there's too many fans already against him and will get on his back at the first sign of trouble.

 

I predicted this season correctly at this point last year and I have an opinion on how it will go in the future.

 

If Rodgers stays we address the weak areas, have a good start playing excellent football again, the majority of fans get back on side by the end of November and we get top 4 with a possible title challenge.From there I don't see BR dropping out of the cl again and he stays for years and gets atleast one title.

 

If Rafa or Klopp comes in they have a rebuilding year and are sacked at the end of their second season where we haven't got a cl place but have won a cup competition during their time.

 

If they go for another smaller name they get 3 years outside the top 4 and we keep ploddin along as a Europa league team until we get new owners.

[El Dangerous]

What's the thinking behind people saying we won't want Klopp if we jib off Rodgers? I get Rafa, yanks were poisoned against him from day one but we've been knocked back by Klopp already so there's definitely interest. He'd be there ideal manager I'd have thought, probably work for as much as Rodgers last bumper pay rise, use to the same constraints as we work with, will actually work with a DoF.

[Dr. J]

 

If Rodgers stays we address the weak areas, have a good start playing excellent football again, the majority of fans get back on side by the end of November and we get top 4 with a possible title challenge.From there I don't see BR dropping out of the cl again and he stays for years and gets atleast one title.

 

You forgot the unicorn.

[Arl arse]

Having read a lot of fans opinions from different sites twitter etc my confidence in Rafa being a success here is gone, there's too many fans already against him and will get on his back at the first sign of trouble.

I predicted this season correctly at this point last year and I have an opinion on how it will go in the future.

If Rodgers stays we address the weak areas, have a good start playing excellent football again, the majority of fans get back on side by the end of November and we get top 4 with a possible title challenge.From there I don't see BR dropping out of the cl again and he stays for years and gets atleast one title.

If Rafa or Klopp comes in they have a rebuilding year and are sacked at the end of their second season where we haven't got a cl place but have won a cup competition during their time.

If they go for another smaller name they get 3 years outside the top 4 and we keep ploddin along as a Europa league team until we get new owners.

Hark at Mystic fuckin Meff here.

[JermainePennant]

Hark at Mystic fuckin Meff here.

It's my opinion Im not saying I'm right or wrong, I've seen a few predicting relegation and mid table if BR stays, that was my take on what will happen.

[ratcatcher]

Spot on. Imagine having to face Ferguson at half time with a display like that, at Stoke - or (dare I say?) his modern-day equivalent; Klopp. Much easier and less daunting to face David Brent-style consultancy bollocks, all backed up by an organisation that makes the Civil Service look like ISIS. Management and decision making by committee, with a total lack of accountability and failure to deliver.

 

Yeah, ferguson made them change their strip at half time (southampton away) I seem to recall.

 

This is all getting tedious. The 'this manager wouldnt stand for it' or the 'this manager wouldnt let it happen' blah, blah fucking blah.

 

It was a shocking performance but let's not absolve the players of that even if they dont respect or like the manager any more, eh?

[RobbieOR]

Liverpool shouldn't have an inexperienced manager.

 

Everyone of our managers bar two since the 60's have been inexperienced.

[Nightcat]

Wow Matthew it took you four months to realise how shite we were in the Champions League and what a complete joke we made of our return to the competition, not to mention our Europa League campaign....

 

Rafa is a Legend, a fantastic manager and tactician like light years ahead of Brendiola.

 

I feel some sadness watching the video above, though, watching Chelsea bastards surrounding Reina and our captain or any other of our senior players were nowhere near to support Pepe.

 

Nowadays of course no Liverpool player would tackle like Reina or bother to look the Chelsea bastards straight in the eyes. It stems from the manager too, Brendiola shits his pants when he sees or listens to Mourinho. He even gave the chance to Gerrard to get a standing ovation at the infamous Bridge. I want to vomit until the end of time.... we deserve better than this.

[Boss]

If Rodgers stays we address the weak areas, have a good start playing excellent football again, the majority of fans get back on side by the end of November and we get top 4 with a possible title challenge.From there I don't see BR dropping out of the cl again and he stays for years and gets atleast one title.

 

If Rafa or Klopp comes in they have a rebuilding year and are sacked at the end of their second season where we haven't got a cl place but have won a cup competition during their time.If they go for another smaller name they get 3 years outside the top 4 and we keep ploddin along as a Europa league team until we get new owners.

 

[ratcatcher]

Wow Matthew it took you four months to realise how shite we were in the Champions League and what a complete joke we made of our return to the competition, not to mention our Europa League campaign....

 

Rafa is a Legend, a fantastic manager and tactician like light years ahead of Brendiola.

 

I feel some sadness watching the video above, though, watching Chelsea bastards surrounding Reina and our captain or any other of our senior players were nowhere near to support Pepe.

 

Nowadays of course no Liverpool player would tackle like Reina or bother to look the Chelsea bastards straight in the eyes. It stems from the manager too, Brendiola shits his pants when he sees or listens to Mourinho. He even gave the chance to Gerrard to get a standing ovation at the infamous Bridge. I want to vomit until the end of time.... we deserve better than this.

 

What a load of fucking guff.

[Caramac]

Having read a lot of fans opinions from different sites twitter etc my confidence in Rafa being a success here is gone, there's too many fans already against him and will get on his back at the first sign of trouble.

 

I predicted this season correctly at this point last year and I have an opinion on how it will go in the future.

 

If Rodgers stays we address the weak areas, have a good start playing excellent football again, the majority of fans get back on side by the end of November and we get top 4 with a possible title challenge.From there I don't see BR dropping out of the cl again and he stays for years and gets atleast one title.

 

If Rafa or Klopp comes in they have a rebuilding year and are sacked at the end of their second season where we haven't got a cl place but have won a cup competition during their time.

 

If they go for another smaller name they get 3 years outside the top 4 and we keep ploddin along as a Europa league team until we get new owners.

 

[Russ Atmosphere]

Having read a lot of fans opinions from different sites twitter etc my confidence in Rafa being a success here is gone, there's too many fans already against him and will get on his back at the first sign of trouble.

 

I predicted this season correctly at this point last year and I have an opinion on how it will go in the future.

 

If Rodgers stays we address the weak areas, have a good start playing excellent football again, the majority of fans get back on side by the end of November and we get top 4 with a possible title challenge.From there I don't see BR dropping out of the cl again and he stays for years and gets atleast one title.

 

If Rafa or Klopp comes in they have a rebuilding year and are sacked at the end of their second season where we haven't got a cl place but have won a cup competition during their time.

 

If they go for another smaller name they get 3 years outside the top 4 and we keep ploddin along as a Europa league team until we get new owners.

Perhaps instead of suggesting replacements all the time, you could get behind the current manager.