Quote from Brendan Rodgers. "I've spoken to the players and told them if you get little niggles or little injuries you've got to man up." Naive statement or just what we need? Football has changed over the years and players are treated like stars more than athletes. With the value of even average players in the bottom end of the league worth a million pounds is Rodgers statement something to be be admired? A player may be a valuable asset but he is the clubs asset and it seems that too many don't want to run through that "brick wall or barbed wire fence". "Maybe boys like Suso will get an opportunity now," Again is this a great statement of faith in youth and is it about time we trusted these kids? I've seen the arguments against. If we put the pressure and physical/mental strain on some of our kids will it ruin their career more than develop them? I suppose it might. It may also be the making of them?
Possibly the dumbest thing I've heard from a manager in quite some time. If you have a niggling injury, for ****'s sake, don't be a martyr trying to play through it and end up playing at 80%, heaping more pressure on those having to cover for you on the pitch, and then making the injury worse, therefore being out even longer and piling another arse-biscuit on your team-mates. Jesus-H-****ing Christ! Rodgers opens his trap and out tumbles another foot-in-mouth moment. I know he's trying to get comfortable in the gaffer's seat and all. But for Robbie's sake, please stop trying to stick your nose up the fans' collective arses. We know the players are well paid and we expect them to give blood, sweat and tears for the club, but the last thing I want is a player being carried by his colleagues from the first whistle. Its hard enough to get confidence, momentum and performances going our way, but doing it with 10 men from the get-go just makes it harder. We have some young talent, and they can cover for a game or two in most positions. What we don't want is a senior player making a niggle worse and ending up out for a month...
I thought that 'running through a barb-wine fence' was a kind of allegory about doing it the gaffer's way, about how the youngsters were willing to do it his way, not their way? Perhaps he just means that youngsters will try to play on though an injury - either way, I don't think its a sensible attitude to take to fitness, particularly as chronic niggles can allow a player to cause irreparable damage by continuing to play rather than rest. I agree that some players do tend to look to the bench rather than run off a knock, and in those cases, I think its a lack of character, but I really wouldn't want to cause a long term injury if a couple of games' rest would sort it out... Either way, night-night luv
I agree! Possibly the end of the likes of Gerrard and Aggers careers to play through such 'niggles'! Why spout this **** to the media? I think you have it right StJohn, smacks of a little brown nosing to me!
Dear God! He starts saying what fans have been saying for years & he's brown nosing or naive? Since he's a modern manager who appears to adopt very modern techniques lets just assume he wasn't talking monty python & the holy grail eh? Let's maybe suggest he means stop being a big girls blouse and looking for any excuse for why you're ****e. Orrr, you can stick with the Daily Star "I take everything literally because I don't do subtle." I get the feeling yet again some fans are looking for reasons to whine rather than for reasons to support. Chill, going on the recent history of our club there will be plenty of time to whine later. Try "wait & see for now"....:
Perhaps your right Frank, but this could all have been said behind closed doors and not in the press! The time for this kind of talk is later on in my opinion, prove yourself first by getting some results under your belt. As for looking for reasons to whine, could not be further from the truth, what I want is results first and foremost and thats what will garner support, not just soundbites fed to us every few days!
I accept the argument that certain things should be said behind closed doors but I don't think this is just said as a soundbite...for me its a question of trying to get a "pulling together" sort of spirit. I'm not sure whether or not it's the right way to do it (especially after Lucas trying to shake off a niggle and ending up out for two months) but at the moment he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. When we are on a run of not winning games what can he really say that doesn't either sound like bland rhetoric or sounds like "he's just saying what we want to hear". Calling for Fortress Anfield was exactly what we wanted to hear but after 1 point from 6 it sounds a bit hollow right? What else can he say though. Those of us schooled in the Liverpool way of saying absolutely bugger all to the press have to remember that in the modern age these guys are being asked for an opinion every 5 seconds. They can go down the Kenny route of saying nothing which personally I love but you then have to accept that with owners such as ours that approach will not go down well at all because the media will start to crucify him.
Without seeing the full interview its hard to know the context it was said, seems like he was responding to a question on how we will cope until January? If this is correct then for me if he wanted to convey the pulling together he could have said simply that we have enough players and enough quality to cope, and that he and the players were both committed and determined to do everything to get the results and performances the fans and club expect. This conveys a collaborative endevour, rather than BR's words that in isolation seem very self-appreciating. I agree Billy that its a hard balance, however some of the recent stuff from BR risks alienating some of the players, now of course I despise the power players have over the club as much(perhaps more so) as others do, but unless the budget and resources are there to replace players that may get pissed off then unfortunatley you have to be careful. We saw a fine example last season with AVB! Its one thing to avoid direct questions but thats part of the job, answering only what needs answering and certainly not expanding outside of the questions unneccassarily. The fear is that like some fans the players start to question the motives of some of Rodger's statements, one whiff of BR using the players to gain more respect and everything goes tits up! Lets not forget that BR has achieved nothing yet; in the eyes of the players that can easily be turned back against him.
Grow Up. Rodgers is a manager - nothing more and nothing less. He's not a tactical genius, he's not a media expert, he's not a motivational guru. What do you expect of him? At best over 50% of what we all say and do is rubbish - even in areas where we are supposed to be experts!
Full interview is here. http://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2012/09/transcript-the-brendan-rodgers-interview/ Relevant section below. Will this force existing players to step it up? “They have to. Absolutely. We’re in a position where we’ve got 25, minimum, games between now and January so it’s going to be, we’re going to be, stretched to the limit. But this is the idea of why they’re here. “We now need people, I’ve spoken to the players: ‘If you’ve got little niggles and little injuries you’ve got to man up and we’ve got to come together and be strong.’ But it’s one of the things I would say is, the majority of this group coming in, I think what I’ve got here is a platform of hard work and integrity. “The group have been absolutely fantastic every day, working well, working hard. I said before we wanted help but that will hopefully come, but as I said it’s important we all come together: supporters, players, management and push forward.”
Shall we close the board and go home now then, debate has just died, opinions are no longer valid, because 50% of what we all say is rubbish! I suppose that means all your posts on here have never criticised anyone then?
How dare you suggest that any of my posts should ever be criticised What I intended to say relates to our inclination to pick over every word that is said as though it was a well constructed dissertation. Even if we can read the words or even see the interview, we are probably only getting a portion of what actually transpired. Things are not always as they appear to be in the media. Thoughts are not always expressed in the exact way that they were intended. That's all I was really meaning.
Fair enough Dave, but I have to say that I don't appreciate starting a post with an insult. Fair enough add or counter posts but not sure you need to resort to insults just because you may not agree.
I think footballers have been acting like a bunch of fairies for years now, and I wish more people would call them on it. However, Billy's right in that Lucas' "manning up" may well have cost us his services for several weeks. We need to be able to discern between someone with a minor, but potentially problematic, injury and someone just being a bit of a girl. Which is presumably what the medical staff are for. I also agree with dave that we should never take the soundbites out of context- we all know how the press love to make a stink- and that we can't really expect a football manager to be a consummate diplomat.
You won't get any argument from me on the fairiness of players. My concern was merely that yes the power that players have does need to shift but the worry for me is the timing of such comments. Having seen it in context it is nowhere near as bad as an isolated sentence but still, rightly or wrongly his statement can backfire easily. Whilst Mourinho, Fergie and Mancini can get away with anything Rodgers will have to earn that privelege, especially with the players.
Just a small example of the fine line that a manager walks. I watched all the interview, he was very relaxed and engaged, and looked like he was enjoying himself, and more than anything expansive in his explanations, which was appreciated by all involved. As soon as he made the "Man up" statement you just knew it would be the leader somewhere in the media, it was a churnalist's dream. On the actual facts of whether a player can "man up" and carry on, or come off and rest, well that would be the physios call and then later with ultrasound, xrays, and god knows what else, you can more understand the nature of the injury. The statement was a call to arms, to battle through till January, and not a suggestion of playing on with your leg hanging off. Did think he was possibly, unconsciously, being a bit glib in some respects with the statement, sort of has an element of - its the players not giving enough is why the new system may not bear fruit quickly, but all in all I think he was enjoying the session, had built up a head of energy, was excited about his plans, and that positivity emerge's in metaphors like the ones we have heard from him before, running through barbed wire, etc. though on this occasion "man up" was to easy to construct an article around, as I say a fine line.
Do we know if there has been excessive whinging about niggles and excuse making. As for players playing with niggles and ending up offering 80% <This is just pandering to the fact footballers are glass in mentality and physically on the whole. They stay down when not hurt Limp when not injured And hold their faces and wriggle as if in agony ala vidic v Chelski or Rivaldo at hte corner flag when a ball tapped his foot. We're all to ready to excuse a player cos he scraped his shin or landed on his backside when we've done those things ourselves so many times without actually ending up 80%. Man up indeed, players use to take a kicking and keep on ticking not that I want that but if they can suffer through that and keep going, for decades.. then this lot are soft. If you are injured you are injured. If not get the fk off your arse and work. Niggles
I liked his comment about young players running through barbed wire whereas older players try to find the gaps. I don't the Rodgers meant for players to struggle on, more that they should through minor niggles rather than playing on it. Maybe a injection? He certainly won't be looking for less than 100% in both commitment and performance!
