Rival Watch

I think what happened with Brendan shows the bias against home nation managers. Klopp has largely been a flop yet he doesn't get questioned about his 50/50, shoot from the hip methods. Heck, Brendan actually almost won the league and still got fired. It's almost as though when you're a foreigner and managing the top clubs, you automatically get a free pass on a host of things that home managers get undermined for. It is not a coincident that all top 6 clubs have foreign managers, with many of them flops BTW, and still almost guaranteed to get a free pass going into next season.

 

Was it Big Sam who said that were he called "Alladerci" he would be praised to the rafters? There seem to be an inbuilt bias against home grown managers.

If one look at kloppyflop's matches since he started and compared them with the same number of matches Brendan had at the start, his record is worse. Despite being branded as the messiah who will bring the RS their first premiership title. Brendan showed he is a title winning manager and that astro the retard was right at the start of kloppyflop appointment in questioning whether he was indeed an upgrade.

 

I'm not even going to bother tearing that post to shreds

Total bollox btw

 

Whether you think it's total bollocks or not, there is an element of truth to it. When Rodgers got second and very, very nearly won the league it was pointed out that not being in Europe was a massive help.

I used to go the Liverpool board back then and it is a fact that most, if not all, of the posters on there thought this hilarious, nothing to do with it. You were that good. Honest.

Six months later and you're all calling for Rodgers head as he and the club could not cope with European football and maintain any sort of form in the league.

Be interesting to see how it all pans out next season. I don't think your squad is equipped or good enough to compete on both fronts. You'll need some big signings and you'll have some big competition for those signings.

 

Not sure how to take that

 

Not all that perfect imo - there's a real risk now Arsenal will sack Wenger and thus potentially be dangerous in the league once more. With a manager who can actually use all the money their board spends every summer bragging about to buy some top players, they could well improve a lot next year.

 

I think summer 2018 could be the biggest test. Klopp should be able to persuade players to stay based on a tilt at the CL next season. But if Liverpool don't look like winning anything again it will become harder to persuade players to stay. Coutinho says he wants to be a legend, but they don't build statues to players who don't win any trophies. Sooner or later he's going to want some medals in his cabinet.

Then it will be tough for Klopp - he didn't cope when his big players were sold out from under him at Dortmund, not sure he'd do any better in the same situation at Liverpool.

 

It was all to do with Suarez, not Rodgers. You're right though. Major signings are absolutely pre-requisite

 

Like I said above - it can become a snowballing thing across consecutive windows. As with Arsenal - they build a decent squad around 2008 / 2009 and were on the verge of challenging for the title again. But they failed to build on it, then lost Hleb, then Adebayor, then Fabregas, Nasri, RVP and were right back to square one and fighting for fourth.

If you don't get the signings needed to push on this summer, it becomes harder to keep Coutinho next summer. He goes and suddenly Mane, Henderson and Clyne are having their heads turned and you are fighting to keep who you have rather than building.

That was largely the problem when Suarez left imo. Yes you lost a top player, but the problems really started when Rodgers failed to replace him with quality or build on the 2nd place finish. Then you had Sterling looking to leave and could only buy the likes of Balotelli, Ings and Benteke for the next couple of years.

 

I agree completely Swarbs Continuity is paramount. We MUST make some key (major) signings this window. As you say, I think Coutinho will stay for the forthcoming season, but we need CL again and some silverware to boot.

 

How do you assess your squad in terms of having strength in depth to fight on the domestic and CL front next season. That is the problem for many clubs, reaching the CL can often mean making a decision as to what front to fight on the following season - unless the squad is good enough.

 

The current squad isn't strong enough to do it. As I said earlier, key signings are essential this window.

 

Calling an ex club "we" against a foreign club can get you in trouble with the RS. How petty and small minded can you get?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ans-petition-remove-Owen-club-ambassador.html

 

The RS's pettiness may arise from United having won 2 major trophies and a place at the CL next season. Or even beating them at this most trophies title which no one has even heard of.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...r-United-pip-Liverpool-FC-decorated-club.html

 

They do love the DM

 

Wonder where those goalposts will move to next?

It used to be that 18 league titles was the only thing that mattered
Then we won 19, and it was that 18 titles and 5 European Cups were better than 19 titles and 3 European Cups
Then we won 20 and it was total trophies won
Now we have won more trophies

It's surely only a matter of time before they create a new measure of success so they can exclude some of those 42 and claim they are the greatest once again...

 

Already happened... It's also about how many smiley faces you see in the stands.

 

Wait until we win the Super Cup on 8th August

 

Would that be our 4th trophy of this season or the 1st of next season?

 

As we qualified from this season's efforts, I would say another trophy for this season.........or is it a bit like the Charity Shield