TheDrowningMan

First objective has to be keeping the score down. We're going to struggle to put a shot on target let alone in the back of the net, so keeping it at 0-0 or even 0-1 for as long as possible is the best chance we have of taking something off of an own goal.

Three points at Old Trafford or it's hard to see him recovering.

It would be an astonishing failure on his part if Chelsea fail to win one of the league or CL this season. Given their squad, I'm not sure that should actually be possible.

Obviously not if the current one continues as it has started. You cannot spend that amount of money and miss out on the top four entirely; retaining the manager would essentially be a concession that we're a small-time club. If he turns it around and gets us into the top four, absolutely. Top four is a realistic expectation, a title challenge each year less so.

It looks to me as though the only tactic Rodgers knows how to utilise effectively is "The Suarez". Unfortunately, I'd wager that even Moyes could.

Sunderland 1-0 up. Is Warnock's record of failure to keep a single team in the top flight going to continue?

Similar to the previous game against them, keep it below 5 and it's a genuinely excellent result relative to our season thus far.

I actually wouldn't be surprised to see him back in England if he doesn't adapt quickly to what will be a relatively peripheral role at Barcelona, but the publicity shots will be taken alongside Mourinho or Pellegrini. Given the amount of money we'll have flushed down the drain by that point, we probably won't even be able to afford a faxed low-ball offer just to say we tried.

That's not what I said. I think he'll be in trouble if we fail to beat them - almost four years to the day after Hodgson did, a defeat at home would leave us with fewer points than we had under the Owl. Given BR's summer spend, on what planet is that acceptable? Hodgson is a monumental fool, but his sacking was because he turned us into the shittiest Liverpool team in generations. If BR - after spending more in a small amount of time than any Liverpool manager in history - turns us into a shittier one, it's reasonable to question whether he is the right man for the job. That's not the same as demanding his sacking.

Depends how quickly he arrests the decline. On current form we're going to find ourselves in a similar place to where we were under Hodgson in January - on past form Rodgers obviously has more going for him, but that is undermined by what would appear to be a massive waste of money, the sort of money you simply cannot waste in football if you aspire to remain employed. It's not cut and dried, but if the CL is missed I think it is unlikely that he would be trusted to spend much money in the summer and if the trust isn't there between owner and manager, what's the point? If FSG - not unreasonably - said in the summer that he had a season to save his job but - also not unreasonably - insisted he had to sell to buy, how likely is it that that would be productive?

Nope, just realistic. You would have to be unfathomably naive to suppose that a manager who had failed so spectacularly after such extravagant spending would get to keep his job at a major club. Doesn't happen. Even if we lived in a fantasy world where such a manager survived the summer, it would be a massive step too far to expect the owners to give him more money to spend after such a season, so what would be the point?

Nah, it's a legitimate concern. He's gone if we miss out on top four, that's for certain. You can't spend that amount of money and comprehensively fail to deliver in any job.

It will be almost four years to the day since Hodgson's team comfortably saw off Chelsea. Given the summer spend and resulting toss, I don't think it's unfair to say BR should find his job under threat should we end up being three league games without a win & beyond realistic contention for a CL spot after that game. Thankfully, FSG's past form suggests that they won't hesitate in getting rid of a manager for whom the task is too big.

There's no excuse not to beat Chelsea next week given his summer spend.

We're worse than we were under Hodgson. It's important that the board don't fuck around until January if we fail to win against Chelsea next week

Should we miss out on the top four this season, I'm not sure his purchase is going to count in favour of the continued employment of whoever decided that bringing in a £26m substitute from Southampton represented good business.

How has our defence been in general since Rodgers took over?

He's not a lone striker. I hope that penny has dropped with BR now; too late, obviously, to win us the game today, but a clean sheet and hindsight would be a start.

I think it's something that needs to be considered soon for his own sake. There shouldn't be ludicrous goals like having your job depend on whether you or not you win the league or CL, but after the past summer's spending, I think it's a foregone conclusion that there will be a new manager next season if we drop out of the top four.

I've said that so many times here - we need a good defensive coach to organise & suggest tactical adjustments for the benefit of that area of the team. It wouldn't be a sign of weakness on BR's part, quite the opposite. I just think it needs to be implemented over his head if he's not willing to suggest such a hire.

Rodgers cannot set up a defence. It's that simple.

Mingolet is an objectively bad goalkeeper at the top level. Sticking with him when there are better goalkeepers available to sign and play is just bad, stubborn management.

Good result, relatively speaking. It could and should have been much, much worse.

He needs a defensive coach appointed to take command of that area of the team whether he likes it or not. He can still man-manage them, of course, but it's a simple fact that he cannot organise a defense. If he's a top level manager he will recognise that and have someone brought in sooner rather than later.

Well, he insists on playing Lovren despite the fact that he is - at best - a middling Championship level CB.