http://www.thisisanfield.com/2013/11/brendan-rodgers-liverpool-fc-boss-far-part-three-vision/ [HR][/HR] Part One: The Vision In the first part of his four part series this week on This Is Anfield, Romanian writer Alex Irimia charts the progress of Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers in his first year and a half at the club. In June 2012, when Liverpool announced their new manager as Brendan Rodgers, I found myself a bit confused by the lack of data I had on the new man. I only knew what everybody did at the time about the rising Northern Irishman. That he was the manager who lead Swansea City in the Premier League for the first time and he did so by taking his team to a credible 11th place finish. Like everyone else, I knew that he imprinted a fluid type of football to his team, his trademark being an elaborate passing game based on possession and pressure. But that was pretty much all of what I knew and I felt it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t decide, on that moment, whether I should rejoice to his appointment or fearfully await an outcome of what I considered to be, at the time, a huge bet from the owners. Rodgers soon shared with everyone the details of his vision. It involved a project that could be described as a redevelopment plan. Rodgers convinced the owners that in order to obtain great success, massive change was needed. The way he asserted his view was by handing over to the owners an extremely detailed blueprint of how Liverpool can be restored to the status everyone craved for, but seemed further and further away at the time. Brendan’s 180 page manifesto, as it was called, revolved around the vision and the philosophy the young manager wanted to install at the club, and the explicit means to apply them in his quest of transforming Liverpool into the club everybody wanted to see. The owners were sold and gave Rodgers the job, and they did so in a categorical manner, entrusting him with total control and great credit. That was highlighted by the owner’s decision to abandon the idea of naming a Sporting Director. Things were happening at a fast pace and I was, if anything, more and more intrigued by the whole thing. The acquisitions made by the club in the first transfer window with Rodgers in charge didn’t help much, as the whole summer transfer business ended in a pessimistic note with little concrete results. Although a football manager’s transfer strategy might tell you something about the direction he is about to take on, it doesn’t actually reveal much, as a new manager would consider to evaluate the squad he inherited first, before throwing himself in a crazy transfer spree. But the reality was I wanted to know more about what kind of man Rodgers was. I was interested to discover this man’s personality, his qualities and, if possibly, some flaws, what he loved and he disliked, his way of being in general. I know that it was too much to ask but I was desperate to know more about the man who took the destiny of our beloved club in his hands. What I was most interested in was to discover more about this man’s leadership abilities and his social and educational skills. In my opinion a great manager cannot be described simply by limiting to football knowledge and training methods. Such a position requires other abilities just as much as the aforementioned ones or even in a higher dosage. By definition a football manager is not solely a technical expert but primary a person who manages a group of people. The position doesn’t require merely training the squad of players, but leading the technical staff as well, which nowadays has come to include more and more experts from very different areas concerning this sport. So the manager should first and foremost have the social abilities required to lead groups of people, like communicating skills, educating abilities, people reading and psychological profiling, all based on a genuine emotional intelligence. The last ingredient to add to the recipe, but the one putting all the other ones in place, is the leadership. So how would Liverpool’s manager fare on the criteria listed above? The news of January 2011, that Dalglish was about to come back to stop the uncontrollable downfall of the club was nothing less than an angel choirs music to my ears. It seemed like it was some sort of a response to a silent cry sent from every fan’s soul to a higher power and the appointment of King Kenny was like a descending of a mythical hero who was about to pull the club out from the quicksand which was drifting in more and more at the time. And the man did the job. He put a halt to the downfall and stabilised the ship. Everyone could see that the great Scot was body and soul in the job and he cared for the club probably just as much as the most hardcore fans out there. Plus, it was an inexplicable joy to watch King Kenny celebrating the goals of the team the same way he used to do it as a player. All these were the reasons why I was gutted when the owners decided to part ways with Dalglish in May 2012. Later I realised that at that moment I was governed more by emotions rather than reason, and that was a necessary step towards progress. King Kenny was the ideal man to infuse confidence and belief in a club where no one seemed to believe in a better tomorrow. But once reached a floating line, it was time to hand on the torch to someone who would posses amongst his primary abilities skills like innovative spirit, capacity to adapt on different situations and a strong vision that would imprint a clear direction to the club. It felt like Kenny was the engineer who saved the ship from sinking but afterwards the ship needed an explorer to point the direction and sail towards it. The Vision It was evident almost instantly that Rodgers was a manager of such type. What got him the job in the first place, beyond his good reputation built at Swansea, was his 180 pages manifesto, through which he shared with the owners his vision, his philosophy and his plans of rebuilding the club to its natural status. Moreover, once installed in the position, he would constantly go on and on about the vision he had on the club and how it was absolutely essential that everyone climbed on board and moved in the same direction, at the same pace. Doubled by the personal lead, that is, by definition, what a leader does, more than anything else. He points the way and leads. That was what Brendan Rodgers did, and still does, proving himself a genuine leader. Even Tom Werner has recently acknowledged the impact and the efficiency of the new manager, saying in an interview for the Mirror that, “We are all moving in the same direction and Brendan Rodgers is very much the leader.” It is one thing to talk about something while remaining on a theoretical position and a total different thing to put into effect the sounding-good ideas. The most revealing event in showing that Rodgers is not only a dreaming theoretician, but a visionary who can transform his ideas into deeds, was his decision to ask club legends Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Rob Jones to join the club’s Academy as coaches. It was a masterstroke in many ways, for these men can teach the youngsters success, and the path to it, in a very palpable way as it’s been a concrete part of their careers. Add to it the invitation Rodgers extended to King Kenny to rejoin his beloved club in a directorial position and you will see clearly that his vision has a lot to do with building a bright future using as inspiration an incredible past. Too many times Liverpool fans have been slated for living in the past, but the past is an integral part of the club, nobody can deny that. And since it’s there, why not use it in a constructive way, seeking inspiration and examples in it rather than just use it for bragging purposes. Rodgers seems to understand all that and utilise it to a maximum effect.
http://www.thisisanfield.com/2013/1...pool-fc-boss-far-part-two-leadership-tactics/ [HR][/HR] In the second part of his four part series this week on This Is Anfield, Romanian writer Alex Irimia charts the progress of Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers in his first year and a half at the club. Leadership They say that you can truly see a personâs character in that personâs darkest hour. A period with many rough patches, last season provided enough dark hours for the Liverpool manager. Beginning with the horrible start of the campaign, the frustrating closing days of the summer transfer window, the lack of depth in the squad exposed during the campaign, the inevitable retirement of the club veteran and vice-captain, Jamie Carragher, injuries and loss of form, âbitegateâ and the resulting suspension of the clubâs best striker â all climaxing with the never ending Suarez getaway story during the summer, the whole last season was full of hardships. If you think about it, it was more than a handful for a young manager in his first year in charge of one of the biggest clubs in the world. But the fact was that Brendan Rodgers has dealt with everything thrown his way in a very mature, cool-headed manner. It made a huge impression on me, personally, that even though dealing with such problems constantly, many of which not of a light scale, Iâve never seen the new Liverpool boss lose his temper, or even giving the impression that he would be on the verge of losing it. He manifested his discontent in a calm, polite way, proving to be a pillar of composure and calmness in some very troubled times. And that spoke volumes both about his strong personality and his leadership abilities. Probably the hardest part of a leaderâs job is to take the unpopular, yet necessary, though decisions. Everyone wants a part of the success when it occurs, but when it comes down to making though calls nobody would like to be the one to do it, and almost instinctively everybody turns to the leader. A false leader will hesitate, a genuine one will act promptly. Although he has been in charge for only a year and few months we have had the opportunity to see that Brendan Rodgers is not a man to shy away from such hard duties. We have already seen him push firmly towards the exit doors those deadwood players who failed to establish themselves at the club and didnât look like making the cut into the new bossâs plans. One by one, Rodgers saw out the likes of Joe Cole, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing or Andy Carroll. This not only unburdened the chequebook of some high wages but it also created room for some fresh reinforcements. But there was a moment this summer that showed, more than others, that the new boss has real courage as well as being able to consciously assume the fans discontent, or even, is some cases, rage. It was the bringing in of Simon Mignolet and the shipping out of the veteran and Kop idol Pepe Reina. Viewed from any angle, it seemed like a make it or break it moment and it must have required all the steadiness the young manager had at the time. Looking back we can now see that Rodgers was right to proceed as he did and by doing so he resolved one of the most pregnant problems of the team. But, at the time, the voice of the majority of Redâs fans wasnât an advocate of Rodgersâs nor was the general opinion in the press. Credit to him, the Irish stand firm by his decision, and despite all the opposition, he went on and stuck to his plan, proving his doubters wrong. The tactical know-how Football knowledge is probably the most obvious criterion favouring the Redsâ boss. Rodgers has made a name for himself in the best way possible. He didnât follow the common steps to becoming a football manager. He never occupied the assistant manager position to any other club manager. Instead, he started coaching in his early 20âs in the youth system of his playing club, Reading, due to a career ending knee injury, and went from there onwards. He travelled through Spain attending coaching sessions and courses, learning any way he could and picking up skills and knowledge from anyone and anywhere, all that before his 30âs. That prompted him to declare at one point that the person from whom he learned most was himself for he had to turn to self-education from a young age. Invited by Jose Mourinho in 2004, Rodgers joined the coaching staff of Chelseaâs academy where he impressed massively, earning a promotion to the manager of the reserveâs team in 2006. He occupied the position until 2008 when he got his first club manager position at Watford. After that, he went on to manage his former club, Reading, for a short spell before moving to Swansea City in 2010. Everyone knows that Rodgersâs time with the Swans was a massive success which earned him the reputation as one of the most exciting young managers in present football. It also earned him the new position as the manager of the Liverpool Football Club starting with 1st of June 2012. Later he would describe his new status as the most challenging task he ever had.
Bit of a cheesy piece, but always good to read other opinions. I like Rodgers and as long as this run of form continues he'll win over any doubters.
more fluff.. reality time. young manager.... still learning, has made errors but also got a lot of good things right, tries to play a game that a fan can have patience with. no more no less. the thing that should have most fans on his side are signings thus far. Sahko, coutinho and sturridge, on the other hand are young men who people won't be sure about, borini, allen and the like. The measure as always will be results. LFC as a whole stood firm and got another season out of suarez and will hope to profit by it but it is results that will prove rodgers mettle, not reputation, not playing style and certainly not age. You have to feel sorry for a man like hughton at norwich who has now a reputation despite over achieving in reality at clubs but being moved aside. Rodgers has to succeed by getting results or the question will start... primarally in the media as i think most LFC fans do not or at least did not expect CL football qualification this year.
Most? I don't know, maybe at the start of the season the majority didn't expect it but that optimism is probably growing with most fans now looking at that as a minimum goal. There is certainly a divide though.
I actually did mean at the start of the season when i aid did rather than do. I agree with you that there are a growing number who do expect we've a chance now and perhaps even some who would expect it. However i don't know if that will become a rodgers out if we are 6th or 7th again. I just don't know. The way i'm looking at it is we've a basic squad with few real options. front 3 great, moses sterling, aspas... not good at all... same in midfield. We can't expect top 4 yet. I think we need to win the next 7 or 8 in a row to start really expecting it from this far out.
It's some of those maybes that will define our season imo. The likes of Sterling, Allen, Aspas etc will need to chip in and have good games we can't rely on the usual people in every game.
May get shot down for this but I wouldn't be completely disheartened if we missed out on CL qualification this year. We finished on 52 points in Kenny's last season. In order to get CL, we need to be hitting 70 points - that's an 18 point gap that we need to close in such a quick space of time is almost unheard of. Last season, we improved by 9 points and ended up on 61. Natural progression would dictate that we can improve further by another 9 points to hit 70 points. Reaching 70 points would be a very good target for me - hopefully this is enough to achieve CL qual. But if anything, this will get us closer to the top bunch once again. This steady progression is far more important to me.
Personally I am happy so far. Feels like we have a bit of stability back now - it's been a dark 4 years for our club but everyone seems to be pulling in the right direction.
I think you might be in the minority here. The good start has raised expectations massively. If you are still among the top 4 in january, there will massive disappointment if you miss CL at the end of the season. This is the best chance Liverpool have of a CL place. It will get more difficult next seasons as City and Chelsea and United will get better as they have new managers settling in and buying more top players. Spurs will too as their manager and expensive players get settled in and Arsenal will just add to their already good squad.
These were my expectations before the season started. Things have gone our way and rivals have dropped points which has given us some optimism or 'false hope'.
Without dismissing your hopes and aspirations I just cannot see Liverpool getting a CL place. Chelsea and city are favourite for the title and United and Arsenal fighting for 3rd and 4th. So it looks like Liverpool and spurs fighting for 5th and 6th. At least Liverpool looks good for the Europa this year.
The days of utd being nailed on to finish top 4 have well gone smiffy, and you might get into the Europa League a bit earlier than expected.
United may not win the title but even without SAF I cannot see them finishing outside top 3. Which leaves arsenal and Liverpool and spurs(less likely) fighting for 4th. I would go arsenal taking that last place. Europa is liverpool's fate which Tbf would be an improvement on last year
Why can't you see utd finishing outside the top 3? What happened during Fergies reign retired with him. No you're the new Everton.
