Well for me i'd snap PSG's hands off. But we need to take a look back at timing... november... we were rocking and rolling in the europa league. it did look like we'd go out of it after anzhi. Was this considered not good enough and frankly wouldn't losing i nthe next round be considered weak as well? We lost badly to swansea i nthe league up the last day in septemebr, again looking weak. In fact bar wigan we had a poor novembe enough november deispe drawing with chelsea. i don't see where the timing really comes form unless some decision was taken there. ...... now spending 20mil in january. If you notice both signings fit perfectly with the FSG way. buy two young, undervalued players base don the fact they both have had issues but MIGHT get over them. Sturridge's injury record for chelsea isn't too hot so its no suprise he's out now but his price at 12mil is an absolute stael for an england player. Hwell you won't get a 17 year old like chamberlain was or zaha etc etc for that now... and coutinho has a big name s it was also a steal. inter have judged him wanting and have picked out who's the real deal so we've snapped up this kid hoping he'll come good. Oh i'm not saying that sturridge and coutinho are not most welcome additions or that they are not bteer that whats there before, i'm jsut saying we got two bargains for a total 20mil when both men could be both that on thier own. I have to wonder who's really running the show for transfers. rodgers was playing a game of brinkmanship in late decemebr to seemingly force a buy then he was flip flopping and then suddenly he'd be back on the same forcing the issue line... a skeptic might ay that as he found out a new bit of info he was going out and talking big like he was doing it... I have to wonder if he's just the mouth piece I would jump at anchelotti no question. i am more reserved about agent rafa as we can all see his touch deserted him a long time back now but as of today i think the rodgers experiment is one that just needs to run its course. the only question in my mind is how far our stature falls unitl someone says enough is enough. I watched grame souness being induldged for at least 18month after he should have gone, we wtached evans be half arsedly move aside as the results just got worse and we watched rafa be given a 5 year deal just before the wheels came off but after he maasically did crazy things to playing assets of the club that G&H had to know something about even from afar... so the question about FSG is... you dismissed hodgson after a few months which while the world knew it should happen its forgivable for getting feet under table but you dismissed dalglish for what i think was non football related issue so will you show simialr ruthlessness with your little experiment. I mean i've no faith, these guys totally flip flopped on thier structure and strategy to put this clown in charge on the basis of a 180 page presentation of what football is. What football man has 180 pages other than a mouth and a spoofer. Roll on swansea i nthe week to define our season.
I think a big problem is that Rodgers isn't playing a system that is suited to his current players. It will take time but if he gets the right players in, we will see the system working.
i think league wise we are ok, with Sturridge it has certainly made a dif in attack, and if he was fit might have made a dif Monday against the baggies. same old same old in the Europa though, we are toothless in attack if Suarez hasn't got his shooting boots who scores. we expect some signings to be made, but who will leave to make way for them? Shelvey Downing Skrtel Borini also what about Allen and Henderson, do they deserve more time,bit harsh on Allen as he hasn't had a season, but Henderson has, are people convinced? Assiadi and Suso don't play, i hope they are not sacrificed. do we give this lot time and hope it comes good?
You started it with your 'Oh he's only 53, he's a lot younger than I thought. maybe it is a good move then' comment.
Nah, rodgers is a mouthing clown. you are either mourinho or you are a clown with this style and personally i've stayed away from "being LFC" to stop myself form getting distracted from real football but this sort of stuff but you can't avoid the cringing quotes. ALL THAT MATTERS IS RESULTS. we are worse now than we were last may from a result perspective. We cannot defend worth a dman and its an ongoing issue for years in fairness to the guy. Suarez is a hot and cold guy and right now since arsenal where for 70mins he looked truely world class form the left side he as been very cold indeed. result = disasteorus run. result matter. and they are all that matters. if we were playing donkey ball and getting 4th there'd be no conversation. it'd be like the whining in the rafa days when we were up there but guys wante dmore pretty... well take a look at pretty! there's always something to whinge about. so the question has to be did the squad improve under kenny... yes.. did the results improve... marginal if you ignore hodgson.. hugely if you don't..... did the squad improve under rodgers.. probably... did results, no way. So if we've seen an improvement of sorts in terms of squad over the past 2-3 years but results if anything have done backwards then we must take a good long look... there's no lacking of money IMO we just whine about not being city.. well lots of clubs would love our money.. is it then the players at the club, do we just say agger aint no hyppia and needs replacing or skertl or is it the full backs being no arbeloa type.... or is it the fact we are thiking mascherano and alonso and gerrard when we actually have lucas, allen and henderson.... Are we right to target 4th??? are we actually a mid tbale club? frankly if we were a club with 20mil to spend per window (one big buy) and targeting 4th would you hire a guy with 1 years expereince i na top division and a checkered alebit breif total career where he scraped in through the playoffs? At the time I called it a huge gamble so the only question to me is how long will this play out for now. mourinho got lucky himself getting the porto job and you know one moment at old trafford set him on his way in a nearly unstoppable juggernaut of success. rodgers is similarly lucky to get such a chance but he's not delivered the same style that makes mourinho what he is... his sides are bloody hard to score against and he's got players somewho dying for the cause.... i don't see that out of rodger sor his players..... and the reason i am done with him is around shelvey.... the kid bascially mouthe doff about being victimised and was straight backin v west brom as a result. i find that very hard to take.... now the boy tried he really did with the chance so perhaps somewher ein training he did knuckle down but i jsut think no top manager would take that
Whilst that is a valid point, how long do we wait before he does have the players and then how long when he has the players do we give him to prove he is up to the task of taking us to the levels we are hoping for? I know these risks apply to all managers, however I have possibly never felt that a manager has so much to learn and so much to prove before or to have to make such a huge step up from such little experience.
I still maintain that Rodgers is the man to take us forward. He needs another a couple of windows before we get a decent squad of players together - players that will be suited to this style. Against WBA and Zenit - yes our defence was poor but it comes down to the fact we failed to take our chances. By not scoring, we allow the opposition to still be in the game thus giving them some motivation that they can still win the game. Scoring the goals early, we can kill the game off and play at our tempo. If we don't score, we're creating more pressure on our defence to save us. I know there is a lot of talk about our defence, but I want Rodgers to sort out our front 3 and our midfield. Another potent attacker to play in the front 3 - we saw how toothless we are without Sturridge and IF Suarez is struggling. Another penetrative winger - Downing has improved but he's not at the required level. Sterling is very raw, Suso is not suited to that position. Coutinho could be another option but is an unknown quantity. Some more energy and strength in the middle - a more refined Henderson is needed. Cover for Lucas - a disciplined DM who can read the game. Whilst Lucas is a refined, new age DM who stays on his feet and nicks the ball, I would like our cover to be able to do the same but to also do the crunching tackles - just to assert some dominance. A classic number 10 - someone who WANTS the ball even if he has 3 players around, someone who has the confidence to receive the ball, control and draw 1-2 players out of position thus creating space. IMO - it feels we need 4-5 players just for the midfield and attack, before we even get to the defence.
When BR started the season everyone accepted that this season would be a transition. Then we looked like having a chance of competing for top 4 and when it went away again people acted like that wasn't the situation from the start anyway. Stick with BR. P.S. This thread needs a poll.
I am disappointed that we spent approx £30m on Assaidi, Allen, Borini and Sahin and none have had any impact. Borini and Allen are the bulk of that expenditure and I'm sure they will improve in the future, I was hoping for more success on the pitch this season. I would reassess the situation at the end of next season and hopefully we will have improved. As long as we improve each season and there is a sign of progress, then Rodgers should be safe. But I share your concern about his inexperience. But we've tried the 'tried and tested' route with Rafa, Roy and Kenny (Rafa and Kenny should have been given more time) and failed. We have a young, dynamic manager and if he gets it right, our future could be sorted for a very long time.
I think his 'system' is fundamentally flawed, unless you've got Barca's squad, lol. He's taken a back 5 that have proved in the past they are a solid unit & made them sieve goals. Now I know Reina has had a poor season & there's been some individual errors on occasion, but the system itself is leaving your back line exposed & that's nothing to do with personel. In any case, a good manager gets the most out of what he has available to him & alters his tactics to what best suits what he has to choose from.
I would'nt mind Carlo and his crazy eyebrow but I can't see it happening. I think he would be mad to leave PSG at the moment and I think our owners will give Brenda at least another season.
think the ship has sailed for us attracting those type of managers to be honest. if we had targeted them before Kenny we may have succeeded, trouble is we needed Kenny to settle the ship from the crap Roy left us in, but he either was given a season too long (should have been replaced in the Summer may have got a manager with reputation then) or given another year to see his signings coming through, then be judged fairly, how 2 cup finals is a failure is still a ****ing mystery to me. Brendan needs time, but not sure how many of us have the patience to see if he comes good.
This is the crux of the whole debate in my opinion. Those who see him as a great up and coming manager with the possibility of being another Shankley, Fergie or Cloughie, will obviously be more patient. Those like me who always saw the step up and risk as too big, as well as just feeling that BR will never take us any where near the heights we as Liverpool fans desire will tend to have less patience. Thats not to say I think he should be sacked, in fact I have held back on purpose any Rodgers criticisms because I know I am biased to some extent by my original intuition that I still stand by. But of course there are limits and the tolerence level for me is likely to be less than those that see potential.
