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

[FanchesterCity]

I want the comittee fucked off. Give rodgers an accountant say here's the funds to buy players and heres the wage bill, stay with in it, if you want to sell 5 player to create wages to pay one top class player then do so but its on your head. You fuck up and we kill you.

 

Stop fsg for Fucksake looking at every player with pound signs in your eyes this isn't fucking david dickinsons real deal, buy to improve the team not what that purchase will be worth in a few years you fucking mentalists. Improve the team forget about future value you can't run a club like a bastard second hand shop.

 

That's harsh on FSG. If they'd wanted to cash in, they'd have kept the Suarez money, or just told Rodgers to spend half of it, on a direct replacement (not by quality, just position). They could then have just worked on the 'we lost a world class player' line all season and be quids in.

 

They didn't do that. They released the funds (plus more besides when you take into account the multiple salaries too). Not only are the players not working out, but (on paper) it's looking like you'd have to take a hit on most of them if you sell them on. 

 

FSG can't possibly have unlimited funds, and they (arguably) felt Kenny Dalglish cost them dear in the transfer market, and now they'll feel even more so with Rodgers.

They're stumping up yet more cash for the expansion (which yes, it should pay back handsomely), but surely it's unfair to suggest they've been tight with the money?

 

And as unsporting and sad as it sounds, sadly it's a business to them. Yes, they'll want to win things and be successful, but they HAVE to consider things like sell on value, and how it's all going to balance out financially. 

 

I reckon they've done this:

 

FSG: 'here's the budget', but you need to run any transfers by the committee first

Rodgers: I'd like superstar A please, and possibly 2 or 3 other lesser players to cope with the added games.

FSG: Ok, we'll go for that

....

FSG: Superstar A's not coming. We've offered him top whack, but he's off to Arsenal.

Rodgers: OK, then can I use all the money I was going to spend on him for other players?

FSG: If you think that's the way forward, ok.

Rodgers: Here's the list of names

FSG: Ok, we've managed to get some of the ones you asked for and here's the cost

Rodgers. I'm happy with that.

FSG: Great, then we're all agreed?

Rodgers: Yes.

 

That's how I suspect it went, and Rodgers COULD have said 'ok I'll save the money and we'll have a crack at another top player later on'. That would have been music to FSG's ears who would have been able to keep the money on the books until next summer.

 

He could argue they weren't his first choice, but that's no different that you setting your heart on a BMW, not being able to get the one you want, and buying two Fiesta's instead. I can't believe they made him buy two Fiestas

[Section_31]

The problem with giving Rodgers time is that time literally equals money. If a manager can't spot a good player then you're fucked.

[Tyler Durden]

The problem with giving Rodgers time is that time literally equals money. If a manager can't spot a good player then you're fucked.

Let's be honest can anyone seriously think we will have a good January window and get the 2 or 3 players we need in? Not a fucking chance. His performance so far with the exception of the Sturridge/Coutihno one has been gash. What's that like a 1 in 5/6 success rate?

 

Given how stubborn he seems he won't be buying a DM and I can't see who we will get to start banging shit loads of goals in (which his philosophy dictates).

 

We will bobble along until May as we are I think, I'll be made up if he turns it around but I've seen fuck all to suggest he will.

[Gym Beglin]

I back FSG to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. Ruin two seasons for the price of one.

 

Meanwhile, Rodgers will sign Kevin Nolan and Quaresma.

[Dave D]

Let's be honest can anyone seriously think we will have a good January window and get the 2 or 3 players we need in? Not a fucking chance. His performance so far with the exception of the Sturridge/Coutihno one has been gash. What's that like a 1 in 5/6 success rate?

Given how stubborn he seems he won't be buying a DM and I can't see who we will get to start banging shit loads of goals in (which his philosophy dictates).

We will bobble along until May as we are I think, I'll be made up if he turns it around but I've seen fuck all to suggest he will.

Not signing Alex Song should be a written warning and all overtime stopped

[FanchesterCity]

I think after last season, he probably thought he was the new Mourinho - ace motivator and master tactician, and Liverpool's performances certainly seemed to confirm that view...

 

So he went out and bought what he believed to be good players, and bought in bulk, thinking they'd just slot into a great team, and be even better players once he'd blessed them with a motivational speech or two.

 

But the balance of the team was already starting to be upset once Suarez left, and much of the spirit of last year was knocked out of Liverpool by falling just short of winning the league. It might not have gone altogether, but it had to be a blow.

 

Then along comes the hope of taking the Suarez hit on the chin, and hoping to mitigate the loss with some astute and quality signings...

 

That just didn't happen. It was a quantity over quality decision that didn't pay off. Then Sturridge gets injured, and suddenly those games last year where you'd outscored teams for 3 points, you're on the receiving end of not being able to score.

 

Confidence is now low, the money's gone, and Rodgers is discovering that he's like most other managers... not a miracle worker, and has his work cut out.

 

I don't think last season was indicative of his ability, but nor do I think this season is entirely indicative of his lack of it. I think the truth is somewhere in between. He's a decent manager.

 

But is 'decent' enough for a club like Liverpool to get back into the top 4 regularly? I don't think it is.

 

United recognised it with Moyes, and went all out for LvG. Yes he's had the money, but it's doing what precisely they wanted it to do.

 

FSG can't say that of Rodgers when he's been given money.

[Gnasher]

Questions questions, questions, Was Roy Wood driving around his local tesco for half an hour looking for somewhere to park on christmas eve when he wrote his smash hit single "i wish it would be christmas every day" ?

[Coro]

he's trying to break the record for the most sackings in 5 years.

 

I thought you didn't wanna talk about ..... him?

[Nightcat]

Coro, I always found your perspective interesting. How do you see things evolving with Rodgers? What do you think of the FSG cunts now?

[RoboRiise]

That's harsh on FSG. If they'd wanted to cash in, they'd have kept the Suarez money, or just told Rodgers to spend half of it, on a direct replacement (not by quality, just position). They could then have just worked on the 'we lost a world class player' line all season and be quids in.

 

They didn't do that. They released the funds (plus more besides when you take into account the multiple salaries too). Not only are the players not working out, but (on paper) it's looking like you'd have to take a hit on most of them if you sell them on. 

 

FSG can't possibly have unlimited funds, and they (arguably) felt Kenny Dalglish cost them dear in the transfer market, and now they'll feel even more so with Rodgers.

They're stumping up yet more cash for the expansion (which yes, it should pay back handsomely), but surely it's unfair to suggest they've been tight with the money?

 

And as unsporting and sad as it sounds, sadly it's a business to them. Yes, they'll want to win things and be successful, but they HAVE to consider things like sell on value, and how it's all going to balance out financially. 

 

I reckon they've done this:

 

FSG: 'here's the budget', but you need to run any transfers by the committee first

Rodgers: I'd like superstar A please, and possibly 2 or 3 other lesser players to cope with the added games.

FSG: Ok, we'll go for that

....

FSG: Superstar A's not coming. We've offered him top whack, but he's off to Arsenal.

Rodgers: OK, then can I use all the money I was going to spend on him for other players?

FSG: If you think that's the way forward, ok.

Rodgers: Here's the list of names

FSG: Ok, we've managed to get some of the ones you asked for and here's the cost

Rodgers. I'm happy with that.

FSG: Great, then we're all agreed?

Rodgers: Yes.

 

That's how I suspect it went, and Rodgers COULD have said 'ok I'll save the money and we'll have a crack at another top player later on'. That would have been music to FSG's ears who would have been able to keep the money on the books until next summer.

 

He could argue they weren't his first choice, but that's no different that you setting your heart on a BMW, not being able to get the one you want, and buying two Fiesta's instead. I can't believe they made him buy two Fiestas

 

Shame we can't go with your lot's model really:

 

"I'd like Superstar A, Superstar B, Superstar C and Superstar D please."

 

"No problem, can I buy you Superstar E as well?  And a £100m training complex?  Oh and a comical sponsorship deal from an affiliated company to help swerve the financial fair play rules?"

 

"Aye, OK then."

 

"Grand."

 

As for FSG, one of the issues is that they seem OK with spending money on fees but less keen on spending it on wages; sadly you need both to attract top talent.

[dennis tooth]

I think after last season, he probably thought he was the new Mourinho - ace motivator and master tactician, and Liverpool's performances certainly seemed to confirm that view...

 

So he went out and bought what he believed to be good players, and bought in bulk, thinking they'd just slot into a great team, and be even better players once he'd blessed them with a motivational speech or two.

 

But the balance of the team was already starting to be upset once Suarez left, and much of the spirit of last year was knocked out of Liverpool by falling just short of winning the league. It might not have gone altogether, but it had to be a blow.

 

Then along comes the hope of taking the Suarez hit on the chin, and hoping to mitigate the loss with some astute and quality signings...

 

That just didn't happen. It was a quantity over quality decision that didn't pay off. Then Sturridge gets injured, and suddenly those games last year where you'd outscored teams for 3 points, you're on the receiving end of not being able to score.

 

Confidence is now low, the money's gone, and Rodgers is discovering that he's like most other managers... not a miracle worker, and has his work cut out.

 

I don't think last season was indicative of his ability, but nor do I think this season is entirely indicative of his lack of it. I think the truth is somewhere in between. He's a decent manager.

 

But is 'decent' enough for a club like Liverpool to get back into the top 4 regularly? I don't think it is.

 

United recognised it with Moyes, and went all out for LvG. Yes he's had the money, but it's doing what precisely they wanted it to do.

 

FSG can't say that of Rodgers when he's been given money.

 

They dont offer top whack wages so your whole shit it wrong

[xerxes]

I think after last season, he probably thought he was the new Mourinho - ace motivator and master tactician, and Liverpool's performances certainly seemed to confirm that view...

Some underestimate what a poor state the club was in when Brendan took over, five league wins that calendar year and a transfer spree which had failed ( sound familiar?)

 

Brendan did a fabulous job just convincing the team that a man with one year’s PL experience could turn things around. But he did that, combining charm with modern coaching and close man management. Binning Carroll showed that he was a man who knew his own mind and was not afraid to make a big call, effectively snubbing KK’s biggest move.

 

On appointment his highest risk strategy was turning down a DOF. The club was, and is, woefully short of football knowledge, Brendan gambled that he could succeed on his own. It’s a gamble that is failing.

 

It is a mistake to assume that a manager who has done well in a specific set of circumstances is therefore a great manager and can do well in other situations for which they have no experience. Chelsea acknowledged that in their treatment of Di Matteo and Grant.

 

Brendan last year enjoyed what amounted to a perfect set of circumstances. Sturridge, a player whom he knew and had reliable reports about from Chelsea was a success, alongside Suarez who profited from Brendan’s attacking possession style. No European cup football and even early domestic cup exits suddenly paved the way for perfect preparation with a squad that stayed relatively injury free, with key players not losing form and referee decisions going for us in a way they rarely had before. Combine that with Mourinho sorting out Chelsea’s problems, the Moyes debacle at Man U and Wengers injury woes, particularly the loss of Walcott. Now you still have to do it, and Brendan did, but it was not simply down to his miraculous coaching and judgement.

 

Old bird ditched, new blonde bird from the promo dept hooked, new flat, Porsche purring and a £120m transfer war chest. Life was good. Or was it? He had never had to build a team, (Martinez and Sousa had done that for him at Swansea) and he had never had any sort of transfer budget to spend, let alone a PL transfer budget. And no-one at the Club had either, he was on his own. And just like FSG liked Ayre because he owed everything to them, and Ayre liked Brendan because he was one of the few candidates with less PL experience than him, so Brendan actively eschewed heavyweight support. Carragher, Reina, Agger, all may well have been justifiably let go for playing reasons, but their knowledge of the big time was lost, and remains so.

 

Now he is faced with a challenge that would test the most experienced of managers. How do you replace one of the world’s best strikers? How do you manage the ageing limbs of a club all-time great with far greater top flight experience than he has? How do you admit to the Board that you have fucked up in the transfer market yet ask for more funds?

 

After KK it was understandable that we might give a green and keen a go. Offering what amounted to work experience was very high risk . A more knowledgeable Board might have reasoned that having outperformed their wildest hallucinations it might have been wise to play safe and then appoint a manager with a proven CL and elite transfer experience. Of course that would have provoked outrage, as KK’s sacking did, but in practise, the fans understood.

 

Now, we are faced with the worst of all worlds. FSG will be reluctant to pull the trigger mid- season, but if we wait till the summer it could be another season before we get into shape again- assuming that FSG will finance it, just at a time when they need to think about filling very expensive seats in the new stand.

[Tony Moanero]

.

[Anubis]

.

 

Christ, Tony. Not another 120 page missive on microdot. This isn't Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, you know.

[Tony Moanero]

.

[ratcatcher]

I dont get this obssession some people here have with rodgers separating from his wife and finding a new woman.

 

Sounds like people are just desparate to dish any shit on him. Weird.

[Tony Moanero]

Any stick.

[BCM]

I dont get this obssession some people here have with rodgers separating from his wife and finding a new woman.

 

Sounds like people are just desparate to dish any shit on him. Weird.

 

Was talking to a Reading fan this week, He mentioned about Rodgers under pressure at Liverpool we were talking about Rodgers trading his missus in for a younger model.

He then says:  well thats why he got sacked from Reading

Me :  what

Him: well he was knocking off other players Wives/Girlfriends.

 

Hadnt heard that before, but a quick search on Reading forums and it gets a mention

[Anubis]

Deuteronomy 22:22, King James Bible

 

If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

[ratcatcher]

Was talking to a Reading fan this week, He mentioned about Rodgers under pressure at Liverpool we were talking about Rodgers trading his missus in for a younger model.

He then says:  well thats why he got sacked from Reading

Me :  what

Him: well he was knocking off other players Wives/Girlfriends.

 

Hadnt heard that before, but a quick search on Reading forums and it gets a mention

 

And you believed that! Jeez. I heard he tried to tap up Linda with his Irish brogue but she was having none of it.

[Anubis]

And you believed that! Jeez. I heard he tried to tap up Linda with his Irish brogue but she was having none of it.

 

He's deffo a regular at Glenn Johnson's keys-in-the-bowl parties. Explains how Glenn keeps his place.

[an tha]

I couldn't give a toss if he is bumming the tart who cuts his hair, her ma, her ma's mate and her ma's mates cleaner.

 

I couldn't give a toss if he is bumming his accountants wife or even his accountant

... I am only interested in whether he is winning football matches in charge of Liverpool.

 

I do hope however he is bumming Lovrens wife and ma - dead hard, just out of spite like...

[BCM]

And you believed that! Jeez. I heard he tried to tap up Linda with his Irish brogue but she was having none of it.

 

Ha, maybe he has. Might be why JH hasnt been to a game in months

[Denny Crane]

Maybe the Reading players insulted Rodgers country

 

In his monthly column on footyhighlights.com, Peter Ndlovu recalls a salacious incident from the Africa Cup of Nations 2006:

 

We had just played our final group game, ending on a high by beating a strong Ghana side but still crashing out of the tournament. At the hotel that night we decided to have a few drinks and toast to our victory. I had invited my friend, who I can’t name for legal reasons (fans of English football will remember him from his highly successful period with Leeds United), along as he had been watching the match.

 

The lads started giving my friend a lot of stick for his country’s loss, especially our head coach. My friend was taking it quite gracefully but, as a proud Ghanaian, I could sense his patience was wearing thin. Nevertheless, the drinks kept flowing and so did the jokes.

It came to the end of the night and some of the lads had disappeared to bed, most notably our coach and my friend. Now during the whole tournament the manager had personally entered the hotel rooms of our most lazy players (Benjani was the worst) and pulled them out of bed in the morning to get ready for training so myself and a couple of the other lads decided to repeat the routine on him.

 

We got the keys from reception and seven of us bundled into his hotel room at 4 a.m. To our horror it was not our coach who we found in bed, it was my friend. The worst part was that he was having sex with the coach’s wife!

I quickly rounded the boys up and ushered them out of the room, frantically hoping to keep a lid on the situation. After all, it was I who invited him to the party! We found the coach in one of the hotel bathrooms. He had had far too much to drink and crashed out.

 

The next morning, at breakfast, I quizzed my friend about what happened and he delivered a line which I will remember all my life:

 

“When a man insults my country, I insult him by taking his woman“

 

Our manager did eventually find out about the incident and I think he separated from his wife for a period. The last I heard though was that they are back together and he’s now coaching in the USA.

 

The moral of the story is never to slag off someone’s country!

Ndlovu is hardly subtle about revealing the identity of his ‘friend’. A Ghanian striker who was successful at Leeds? He might as well have titled the story ‘Don’t let Tony Yeboah near your wife.’

[RoboRiise]

Christ, Tony. Not another 120 page missive on microdot. This isn't Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, you know.

 

.

 

Bit harsh that Tony, especially page 79.