Brendan has been in the centre seat for more than 50 competitive games now. Its a reasonable time to look at this progress, and particularly to compare it to his predecessors. ..............Brendan................Kenny.................Roy......................Rafa.....................Ged Played.....51........................74......................31........................350......................307 Won........23.....45.1%..........35.....47.3%........13....41.9%...........197.....56.3%.......160...52.1% Draw.......14.....27.5%..........17.....23.0%..........8....25.8%.............74....21.1%.........73...23.8% Loss........14.....27.5%..........22.....29.7%........10....32.3%.............79....22.6%.........74...24.1% Hmm, not convincing, is it? Lets have some thoughts, ladies and gentlemen...
I'll happily sacrifice cup success for a couple of years as long as it meant we improve significantly in the league, and by that I mean getting back into the Top 4. We should be looking to win everything - cups without league success is good in the short run. League success (top 4) without cups is pointless (ask Arsenal).
Surely this comparison should be the first fifty games (bar Roy for obvious reasons) for each? Rafa and Houllier both have boosted figures having had time to build and shape the squad to how they wanted it!
i am happy with progress being made, we don't want to be chopping and changing managers all the time, and looks like the team are understanding the tactics, we just need to tweak it now hopefully and bring in a few key players, ie Erikson etc (hopefully) real test for me will be next year as Brendan has had a whole season to see what needs doing, he didn't really have a chance to see players properly in the Summer as they all came back at dif times and he assumed and hoped they would be good enough, but some seem to be struggling and Jan he concentrated on strengthening our attack, but we have had problems at the back, if he fails next season and no improvement i may start to question him then, but he needs time in my opinion, just hope he stops being linked with ex players he has worked with coming here.
I know we are, in general, much happier with the style of football the team has been playing this season, but as noted elsewhere, style without substance is not a great thing - Arsenal have shown the emptyness of this philosophy. Other say that Barca are the way forward, but they have some very unique players, like Messi, who are literally irreplaceable, and who have been found out recently when he's not played through injury. We have accepted previously that we aren't going to dominate games and perhaps play more on the break, underdog fashion, which yielded some great results (notably against United and Real in that magical week in 2009/10 season). Our manager wants us to play quickly, move the ball and dominate possession. Its a hypnotic, tantalising and seductive way, but is it really the right way? The old maxim of 'if you don't know what to do with the ball, just pop it in the net and we'll talk about your options' seems to have been slightly lost. Frankly, getting it from back to front quickly and in the net has become get it back to front and 'rest with the ball', don't lose possession and work a chance. I'm still (despite a 0-6 drubbing) quite cynical about this 'project' that requred a 180-page dossier...
Rafa's first season in charge (04-05) League(5th) PL 38 W17 D7 L14 F52 A41 GD+11 Pts58 League Cup Finalists; Champions League Winners Ged's first season in charge(99-00) League(4th) PL 38 W19 D10 L9 F51 A30 GD+19 Pts67 No Finals or Silverware Regardless of the goal difference, which has been boosted by some unusual results, we need at least 4 points to get us to Rafa's total. Ged's is far superior...
Was that Houllier's first full season in sole charge? Or was it partly the joint shambles with Roy Evans?
Rodgers: PL 35 Pts 54 On course to beat Rafa's first season (league wise) yet Rafa finished 5th. It shows how much the league has improved with the likes of Man City and Spurs entering the race.
Not convinced we will better it - 1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw and its the same total without the extra challenge of playing in the CL or getting to the League Cup final...
I think BR's figures will look a lot better this time next year, I reckon he'll bypass Kenny's percentage
I will assume you mean Kenny's second coming (48.6% win ratio). Because there is not a hope in hell (IMO) he'll match Kenny's first time round (60.5%) If he doesn't achieve a 50% win ratio, I'd say "Brendan lad, nice try, here's your P45, try your luck across the park, they'll believe anything, even about them being the most popular club in Liverpool..."
Of course I would expect a Liverpool manager to achieve at least a 50% win rate at some stage if they expect to keep their job but I was talking about the end of next season. considering he has a 45.1% rate now, he would have to achieve a 55%+ rate next season to do that, that's not going to happen. I think it is worth noting the state of the squads that each took over too. Houllier go Fowler, McManaman, Redknapp, etc. Rafa got Gerrard, Hyypia, Carragher, Hamann, etc. Roy took over during the H&G hell and had a partly depleted squad, Kenny took over a very depleted squad that needed a drastic re-build and Rodgers got a depleted squad that had inherited a few expensive signing but was still in need of a re-build.
You could look to Roy having a good spine - Reina, Carra, Agger, Skrtel, Gerrard, Lucas, Torres Kenny still had most of that spine, and had swapped a disinterested Torres for Suarez and an injured/unfit Carroll, who, by the end of the season was beginning to find his feet. Yes, the peripheral players needed reinforcement, but things were not so bad when injuries were not causing disruption. Rafa had to cope with three seasons of 'sell to buy' and keep us competitive. IMO, Rodgers has been given a very easy ride, and with the exception of Carroll, who was never given a chance, Kenny's 'expensive' signing are all coming good (and the other one - Adam - has been shipped out). Kenny had the hard job of axing the dead wood.
