If the unthinkable happened and Rodgers was sacked.....

[Flight]

There's enough in the public domain that describes his behaviour over the last 18 months of his behaviour when at Liverpool.

 

That's the thing about Rafas last 18 months - loads in the public domain - mostly courtesy of that cunt Purslow constantly spewing bile to the media.

 

No coincidence that Purslow joined the club 18 months before Rafa left.

[an tha]

Pretty much spot on, there has been virtually no proper game management all year from him, much worse than the transfer debacle and that's saying a lot.

 

Its blindingly obvious in my opinion - and it amazes me that he isn't all over it.

 

The problem is though does he have the personnel to do anything about it - it is going to involve a tactical rethink and some changes in personnel for my money.

 

I just cant see us winning games regularly until we stop teams from having wave after wave of runners at us and waltzing through us.

 

Every bloody error we make seems to get punished too which isnt helping confidence. Migs kick that went straight out yesterday led to a goal - how many times would a team ordinarily get away with that? Of course dont make mistakes and you wont get punished, but it does seem uncanny that we inevitably get punished.

[JermainePennant]

For anybody thinking about Rafa coming back, if I could be arsed searching I could link plenty of posts from his last 12 months saying exactly this.

 

Truthfully, if Rodgers went and I could have "good Rafa" back, the one who didn't have a beard, was always laughing and joking in press conferences, who built a team that gave us Mascherano and Alonso with Gerrard ahead of them setting up Torres, won us a European Cup and in doing so, gave one of our greatest players the consolation that he will have when he looks back on his career and doesn't see a league winner's medal, I might be interested.

 

Trouble is, that guy is dead. He was killed slowly over a period of months, maybe years, by Hicks and Gillett, stubbornness, shite transfers and ultimately, by his own hubris. By the end he was more concerned (or at least as concerned) with winning the multiple internecine wars he was fighting within the club than he was with winning football matches. To some extent that was a product of the completely poisonous atmosphere in which he was working at the time, but the manner of a death doesn't change the fact of it.

 

I'll tell you how it would go if he came back. In 18 months tops, the forum would be full of threads asking why we were signing our eighth £7m defensive midfielder when we desperately needed a quality striker, whilst Rafa played mind games with Ayre to try to free up another £5 that he could spunk on some left-back from Lithuania who we'd keep for 12 months and sell for £4.5m so that we could buy another, marginally better left-back from NAC Breda for £6m. We'd be in the Europa League, flying to the arse end of Russia for Thursday night games against some cunts from a tractor factory, playing three quarters of our league games on Sundays and all praying for that last big push to get 4th, the highlight of our fucking season. Meanwhile, the pavement outside the KFC on County Road would be awash with blood from all the forum straighteners that had taken place there.

 

No thanks. The past is better left in the past I think.

Rafa never signed a striker when we needed one because the funds were not their that he was expecting, it is widely known he had a deal for jovetic set up.

 

The only position rafa did not address was the wide areas but there wasn't much talent around during his time, quareama who is shit was one of the best and I remember when we signed pennant rafa said Birmingham had got a good fee off us because they knew there was not many options out there.

 

Now there is quite a lot of good wingers around and we have a couple decent ones, our weakness is defence and lack of a dm, I couldn't think of a better man then rafa to address those areas.

[billypilgrimnz]

New research has found that the majority of threads on the internet eventually converge to an argument over religion, racism, or Rafa.

[stringvest]

I'd rather have a fatwa than a fat one

[Josef Svejk]

New research has found that the majority of threads on the internet eventually converge to an argument over religion, racism, or Rafa.

 

You forgot beans on a fry-up.

[billypilgrimnz]

You forgot beans on a fry-up.

 

Didn't start with "r" and so ruined my delicate prose.

[Denny Crane]

Just a thought if Rodgers has no clauses on top 4 etc and if the "unthinkable" happens. Do we loan him out until he has resell value, so we do not take a loss.

[King Emlyn]

Just a thought if Rodgers has no clauses on top 4 etc and if the "unthinkable" happens. Do we loan him out until he has resell value, so we do not take a loss.

Probably not, what do you think?

[Denny Crane]

People keep telling me FSG are all about the money/ wages. There is also something about FSG and FFP and Rodgers sacking in a Bascombe article, why they may not be able to take the hit.

[Section_31]

Wouldn't have Rafa back even though I think he's a legend, you just don't go back, onwards and upwards. Saying that, I think it's impossible to look back at his tenure and the way it ended without looking at the absolute barmpot state of the club at the time. 

[Boss]

Rafa was the best manager we've had in the transfer market since Kenny's first spell, he signed Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Alonso, Garcia, Torres, Sterling, Rodriguez, Kuyt.

 

He also wanted to sign Silva, Jovetic, Falcao, David Villa, Dani Alves but the owners veto'd it, the man was the best judge of a player we've had in recent times.

[ngogswilly]

Rafa was the best manager we've had in the transfer market since Kenny's first spell, he signed Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Alonso, Garcia, Torres, Sterling, Rodriguez, Kuyt.

 

He also wanted to sign Silva, Jovetic, Falcao, David Villa, Dani Alves but the owners veto'd it, the man was the best judge of a player we've had in recent times.

 

He signed some utter shite too.

 

But you're point is valid, he had a better hit rate than what we've done over the past 2/3 years.

[xerxes]

Wouldn't have Rafa back even though I think he's a legend, you just don't go back, onwards and upwards. Saying that, I think it's impossible to look back at his tenure and the way it ended without looking at the absolute barmpot state of the club at the time.

What Rafa achieved here is in the history books for all time.

 

Ironically, the slack G&H cut him because they were never around and did not know what they were doing helped him. His own vanity was his downfall.

 

Ayre couldn't control him, so Rafa won't be back, and if he did come in through the front door, Stevie G would be out the back door creating an instant crisis, and FSG don't like crises.

[ratcatcher]

Calls for Liverpool to sack Brendan Rodgers premature but culture of negligence at Anfield could be his undoing Liverpool have spent so much time patting themselves on the back for finishing second, they overlooked bit where Barca took best player and domestic rivals overtook them

Feeling the pressure: Brendan Rodgers admits his job is at risk Photo: GETTY IMAGES

 

By Chris Bascombe

8:08AM GMT 24 Nov 2014

 

115 Comments

 

It is a scientific fact soon to be explored in the next Christopher Nolan movie that wherever you travel, at any fixed point in the universe, someone somewhere will be calling for someone to resign. Or be sacked.

 

We live in an age where the default position is to be offended by the continued employment of those we don’t consider to be as complete human beings as ourselves. There are now offices full of recent graduates dedicated to a daily web search to find out what they – and the rest of civilised society – should be offended by.

 

“We’ve found a bloke who sent a distasteful email to his friend in Doncaster last month. See if you can get hold of the service provider to make the exchanges public and get it online quick so everyone else can see how inappropriate it is.”

Some offences, naturally, are worse than others, but if it’s not revolting text messages or Stone Age opinions provoking the evangelicals into full preach mode, it’s losing football matches.

 

You can have eleven month investigations into all that other stuff like casual racists attitudes, but losing a couple of football matches is so insufferably bad there have to be immediate repercussions.

 

It is the ultimate resigning matter and sack-able offence, and of the 20 managers in the Premier League it is the law of the land at least one must be ‘on the brink’ every Monday morning.

 

So it was that at 3.24pm on Sunday, a mere ten minutes after the final whistle at Selhurst Park, the first ‘Rodgers for the chop?’ email dropped from the bookmakers (they were a bit late so presumably someone was on a tea break when Crystal Palace scored their third goal).

 

A fortnight ago it was Mauricio Pochettino, but Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini have also had it this season. Pellegrini might have won the league title a few months ago, but he lost football matches in Europe this season, which is unforgivable at a club that has never won the Champions League.

 

Wenger has paid for the Emirates Stadium more than Emirates Airlines with consecutive Champions League qualification, but he keeps on losing football matches against others teams who want to be or are already in the Champions League. The Arsenal fans – or some Arsenal fans who like to think they speak for all Arsenal fans – have had enough.

And now Rodgers, greeted to Anfield with a guard of honour and new contract last summer, will have to tolerate the sound of a ticking clock until he stops doing daft things like believing his current back four will ever keep a clean sheet in his current formation.

There is so much to repair at Anfield the construction company looking at the new Main Stand may need to look closer at the plans.

 

Rodgers’ idealistic system of playing Steven Gerrard in front of his back four worked last year but is utterly inappropriate now; his defenders lack clarity of thought and strength of character and need more protection; his goalkeeper is dreadful (and his back-up keeper even worse); his midfield lightweight and unbalanced; and if Liverpool do not recruit a top class striker even those predictions of a mid-table finish will seem optimistic. Rodgers’ vulnerability is many of these issues were raised when Liverpool were winning, and a culture of negligence, possibly even arrogance, has set in across the whole club where nothing has been done to address glaring inadequacies.

 

We should not be entirely surprised. Liverpool have simply done what they do after every good season. They spend so much time patting themselves on the back and dishing out contracts on the back of finishing second, they overlook the bit where Barcelona or Real Madrid take their best player and their domestic rivals sprint ahead of them.

 

They then revert to defensive mode, questioning the judgement of the critics until the acceptance a couple years later (probably in an autobiography or cathartic interview of some sort) that – yes – another opportunity was indeed missed.

 

Rodgers must also take responsibility for Liverpool currently being the easiest team in the country to play against. Just let them knock the ball around in their own half for a few minutes and wait for the forward pass that concedes possession. Better still, press their defenders, watch it go back to Simon Mignolet and bingo.

 

Rodgers’ response to questions about his future after the loss to Crystal Palace hardly quashed the appetite of speculators smelling Irish blood, but for all the blame on him this is still premature.

 

Aside from having only just signed that new deal and still, yes still, remarkably still, being in all competitions and only five points off fourth position, there is no appetite at Anfield for another change and the fresh rebuilding process it would involve.

 

You’d also have to ask aside from the obvious dire start to this campaign what would Rodgers really be getting sacked for? Putting his name to the mistakes of others?

Although there are those who insist he has made terrible signings it is well-documented it is the committee of which he is a member that will be held accountable by John W. Henry, not just the manager.

 

He may accept public responsibility because it makes him look in complete control of transfers when he never has been, but it’s not the truth, and he is clever enough to know there will be an email trail somewhere detailing exactly who brought those eight summer signings (and the rank average Mignolet a year ago) to Merseyside. If Rodgers had his way he'd have a Dutchman who could pass the ball in goal, while Ashley Williams would have been marshalling his back four last season and this. Would he have made a difference? Anyone who watched Wales in Belgium last week might think so.

 

Some might argue he would also have Clint Dempsey in attack, too, but the point remains he is not the only architect of the squad.

It is series of transfer failures that have caught up with Liverpool and an ensemble cast must face up their responsibility. Rodgers is simply the public face of the deterioration.

Dismissing Rodgers would also be expensive, and Liverpool – still awaiting a UEFA verdict on their FFP status – cannot afford another hefty round of ‘termination payments’ in their next accounts.

 

You also have to ask where would they turn next? One of the attractions of Rodgers was he was a relatively cheap purchase when he left Swansea, his immediate predecessors earning anywhere between £3million to £5 million a year. Some of the names erroneously linked with the post recently would be on the higher end of that pay scale, making them non-starters.

 

Liverpool ripped it up and started again when Rafa Benitez left. They did the same after sacking Roy Hodgson, and then Kenny Dalglish. For two years the switch to a ‘long-term’ strategy under Rodgers was working. Another change and Liverpool might as well ask Mike Ashley if they can take the name St James’ Park.

 

Last season was the most enjoyable watching Liverpool for 24 years, but for the first four months of this one it has been as bad as it has been in the same period.

The appetite from some to change after Rodgers’ first poor spell is uncharacteristically impatient and also rather suspicious, as many have not really like the cut of his jib since day one and are putting rather too much relish on their despair.

 

Rodgers will not lack supporters desperate for him to ensure if it is going to get even worse before it gets better – and it certainly will get worse without a top class striker – it does EVENTUALLY get better.

 

Victory against Ludogorets on Wednesday would be a start, but the least Rodgers deserves is until the end of this season and the beginning of the next – preferably with the help of a transfer committee that finally proved it knows what it is doing.

 

Nothing is unconditional in football, however. He can not let Liverpool sink too much nearer to the bottom three before they start clawing their way towards the top four or – just like those esteemed names who came and went before – the pressure will become intolerable.

[Denny Crane]

Bascombe normally makes sense, but I'm struggling to buy the, if only he had been given Williams and Vorm line. Seriously Chris, he has not been able to drill a defence with whatever personal he has had. Every defender has looked better not under him. If that is his excuseexcuse, he is more fucked than I thought. The blame it on the committee is the biggest kopout ever. He is a member of said committee.

 

I agree he should be given the season, but I would certainly be drawing up a list of people who we should be recruiting in the summer,so we don't get left short should results not pickup. He has shown in his two dire starts he is unable to balance domestic and European football.

[billypilgrimnz]

So it's not Rodger's fault for the transfers and if we had only let him have his own way, we could have had Ashley Williams?

 

Bloody hell.

[ngogswilly]

Being honest though(as much as I dislike Ashley Williams) he'd do a better job than Lovren at the minute.

 

Although he'd probably struggle just as bad with teams breezing through our middle. 

[JermainePennant]

What Rafa achieved here is in the history books for all time.

 

Ironically, the slack G&H cut him because they were never around and did not know what they were doing helped him. His own vanity was his downfall.

 

Ayre couldn't control him, so Rafa won't be back, and if he did come in through the front door, Stevie G would be out the back door creating an instant crisis, and FSG don't like crises.

Rafa was cut slack by G&H? They tried to sack him during his first iffy spell under their ownership before the marseille game when they were sounding out klinnsmann.

 

After that rafas achievements on the pitch and support from the fans stopped them sacking him, when he had another bad period during his last season and some fans turned against him they got rid straight away.

[Dr. J]

 

Rodgers will not lack supporters desperate for him to ensure if it is going to get even worse before it gets better – and it certainly will get worse without a top class striker – it does EVENTUALLY get better.

 

Huh? Not sure what that even means. In any case, all he has to do is start winning some games. In the end, it's all down to what he accomplished on the pitch.

[Jairzinho]

Being honest though(as much as I dislike Ashley Williams) he'd do a better job than Lovren at the minute.

 

Although he'd probably struggle just as bad with teams breezing through our middle. 

 

As would Toure, Ilori, Coates, and Titus Bramble.

[ngogswilly]

As would Toure, Ilori, Coates, and Titus Bramble.

 

I wonder what old Titus is up to these days. 

[xerxes]

Rafa was cut slack by G&H? They tried to sack him during his first iffy spell under their ownership before the marseille game when they were sounding out klinnsmann.

 

After that rafas achievements on the pitch and support from the fans stopped them sacking him, when he had another bad period during his last season and some fans turned against him they got rid straight away.

Yes, he was left pretty much to his own devices. G&H were never here.

 

G&H looked for alternatives when Rafa was pressuring them for more cash and authorised his own agent to speak to Inter, then allowed the story to be leaked to increase pressure on G&H.

 

The fans didn't save Rafa, nor did G&H want him out(until the last season).If you recall, rafa demanded and got a lucrative long new contract which he couldn't sign quick enough, hardly the sign of owners who wanted him out.

[Boss]

Being honest though(as much as I dislike Ashley Williams) he'd do a better job than Lovren at the minute.

 

Although he'd probably struggle just as bad with teams breezing through our middle. 

 

Rodgers would of been better off with Williams and Bertrand, than he currently is with Lovren and Moreno, even though the fan's were up in arms about it (myself included)

[Rotpeter]

Simao was left on a plane and Alves was just left. don't understand people who slag Rafa off but yet claim the likes of purslow saved us.

You're not supposed to understand. You're supposed to fulminate.