I felt that too. His performances in getting two 2 finals deserved more recognition. But he got embroiled with the Suarez/Evra saga and whether deserved or not, our reputation was seriously damaged. Looking back, he needed someone to guide him though this minefield. I felt he was left to struggle on his own and while support of his player was admirable it was perceived differently in the media. As a global brand, FSG couldn't take that sort of risk. From a purely footballing perspective he could have had another season.
It appears you've got the know how but not the how know, if you find a happy medium betwix the two you will have it cracked, if you know what I mean.
Despite his obvious knack of doing well in Europe, I didn't feel Rafa was ever going to quite get the hang of the PL well enough to put us back on top. I have respect for him for what he did, but I wasn't overly surprised at his leaving. Of course. his tenure was marred by the Laurel and Hardy years, and we can only guess at what might have been. Kenny- a true and deserving legend at the club, was nevertheless a bit too old-school for FSG's philosophy. Roy was an unmitigated disaster, of course- wrong in every way it was possible to be wrong.
As clear as mud. Like most stuff on this board. I think I'll continue to keep my head in the sand and let my arse do the talking.
I don't think too many were surprised at Rafa's leaving it sort of felt like the only way out and if we'd had different owners, never mind it wouldn't have ended like it did, it wouldn't have got to that situation in the first place. FSG and Rodgers are learning the game [at this level] together. They will want a return on their investment - player-wise - and are sticking with BR to see if the 'group' - he can now pretty much call his own bought with their money - can indeed deliver. From their perspective, there would have been little point in handing over BR's untested team to a new manager who would immediately want to throw most of them out and start again, meaning more investment, more risks.
I'm not going to pretend Rafa didn't get money- he did... we clearly were a top 4 "spending club" - but we were also a consistent top-4 finishing club. He was not as free to spend as Kenny or Rodgers were. "Kenny Rodgers" got to spend massively in comparison- and all without regular CL. Rafa took us to a close second... but then instead of getting the last few pieces of the puzzle the funding suddenly stopped when we were so close and we had transfer season spending in the negatives when we really needed to be improving. It fell apart over the next two seasons. Rodger's 2nd came at the same time most of the other big clubs were crap. Rafa's came when there was stiff competition.
Getting 2nd was an achievement for Rafa, true- but we were a consistent top 4 team for several years anyway. Until City gatecrashed the party and Spurs started sniffing around the back door, there was nobody else to seriously challenge Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and us for the CL places- apart from the odd spurt by the BS.
Have to disagree with this. Rodgers has chucked out half the team from last year himself as well as most of his signings. I don't think hiring rodgers was such a bad idea at the time. You went for a young up and coming manager with a philosophy and you wanted to give that a go. There also were not that many great managers available who would have joined. Rodgers had a great second season but he had a terrible first season and an even worse 3rd with seemingly differing philosphies in play styles all three years. Howeever this season there are two outstanding managers available in ancelotti and klopp who are still jobless. I dont care what anyone says about comparing klopp and rodgers but rodgers has won sweet fa and dont sweet fa in any competition. Ancelotti and klopp are both winners and have won numerous trophies. In the example of klopp hes actually created a team on the cheap with a style which is exactly what your owners want. Rodgers was a manager who is going to learn on the job and has proven in 3 years he hasnt learnt much. Klopp is one who has won things. Rafa, kenny, jose, fergie, even wenger have all won leagues before they joined a big club.
I think Rodgers was a risk worth taking... he just didn't work out! Ancelotti or Klopp would be a step up, for sure. Of the two I'd prefer Klopp, but I'd take Ancelotti over Rodgers. I'm just worried we'll get someone like AVB.
I'm not actually sure what it is you disagreed with in my post because nothing you've said here seems to disagree with anything I said
You said taking risk on a new manager this season meant chucking half the players away from last season that rodgers bought. I disagree with that as hes changed half the team anyway
Only RvP could be rated as good enough out of those that got the boot, the rest would be in the rejects column.
Buttner, Fabio, Bebe, Rafael, Anderson, Nani, Powell, Kagawa, Macheda & Zaha were all definitely good enough
To clarify - Rafa is a million miles better than Brendon and did a far greater job in much more difficult circumstances.
I'm guessing you're splitting them Zaha, Nani, Rafael, Powell, Kagawa as good and the rest as bad? Am i rite or am i rite?
