Brendan Rodgers - I salute you!

Now I know I am in danger of getting shot down in flames here, but I really like Brendan Rodgers – even now! I don’t agree with all this betrayal and lack of loyalty bullshit – yes I know that Huw gave him his chance at a time when his stock was low, but for me he has more than repaid that by getting us to where we are now. He never once stated that he was never going to leave Swansea, he always said that his ambition was to manage a top club and that one day he would move on, okay it came a little sooner than anyone expected, but how many of us in all honesty would turn down a job that would blow our current salary out of the water and give us the opportunity to test ourselves at the very highest level? To us SCFC is a lifelong passion – to him it was a job, so don’t crucify the guy because he put the financial security of himself and his family at the top of his agenda – job offers like the Liverpool one maybe come once in a lifetime if you’re lucky – would anyone of us seriously turn a similar opportunity down?

He could have stayed with us; we could do even better next season but the flip side is that we could be relegated – then there would have been no glamorous suitors knocking on Brendan’s door. In my opinion he had no choice in the matter – he had to grasp that once in a lifetime opportunity. But his motivation wasn’t purely financial – it is well documented that his beloved Father and Grandfather were massive Liverpool fans – he grew up supporting them and I found it very poignant that he mentioned the fact that he wished his Father was here to enjoy the fact that his son would manage HIS team!

And I don’t believe for a moment that Brendan was taken by surprise by the Liverpool offer; his stock was rising month by month as the Swans impressed in the Premier League and he must have had a pretty good idea that there might be some big clubs coming for him at the end of the season – he could have walked away on a ‘free’ but protected the club that, whatever the haters think, he had come to love by signing a contract that would ensure a healthy chunk of compensation for the Swans! But I understand totally how some of my fellow posters on here feel – I have refrained from posting until now because my feelings on the situation have changed from minute to minute and if I had started a thread last week it might have been very different from the one you are reading now.

But at the minute I am feeling confident that Huw and the board will see us right, as they have throughout their tenure. I am also very encouraged by the soundbites that have been coming from Brendan; the agreement to not poach players for 12 months and also the latest – that Brendan wants to re-establish the ‘special’ relationship the Liverpool had with us in the 80’s and I quote from an article in today’s press;

‘Rodgers, who conceded he will not be in the market for any current Swans stars for at least 12 months, has insisted he would only consider the best for his old outfit. “I have already spoken to Huw Jenkins about this kind of thing,” said Rodgers. “Swansea can be a great place for any young Liverpool player to go to”.
“I did it the other way around with Chelsea and we used a connection then. But they have to be good enough – you have to be a real good young player to play for Swansea.
“The players I took from Chelsea – like Scott Sinclair and Fabio Borini – I did because they were talented players. For talented young players, there’s no better place to leave than Swansea.
“And it will be interesting now to assess the squad here and have a look at the young players we have.”

I have met Brendan on many occasions through various fundraising events with ‘A Touch Far Vetched’ and have always found him to be a genuine and thoroughly decent man, and his love of all things Swansea has always been very apparent; yes he has moved on but, believe me, he will never forget the club that put him in the spotlight. I also know for a FACT (sorry Dai – know facts are your thing) that leaving the Swans was the hardest decision that Brendan ever had to make, and he was as gutted to leave as we were to see him leave – it wasn’t a decision he took lightly and there were many tears shed when the decision was made – so cut the guy a little slack and wish him well for the future – he gave 110% whilst he was with us and there will be a part of him that will always be a Jack Bastard – and that may well benefit us in the future with talented Liverpool youngsters getting Premier League experience with the mighty Swans!

For me Brendan came to a club that fitted with his footballing philosophy – it was a perfect match; the groundwork had been done and Brendan stepped in and took us to the next level – he has now stepped up to his next level and I believe it would be churlish of us to deny him the chance to prove himself at the summit of professional football; we did good by him and he did good by us – so don’t hate the man – celebrate what he did for us and wish him well for the future – I know I will!

 

I respect your views, cartoon but I don't share them.

 

Fair enough Ivor - is what this forum is all about!

 

I agree with everything you said Cartoon - we are always biased with our opinions being Swansea fans - you cant blame him for taking the job though

 

Good man Copper! Can't blame the man - would love a job offer like that - and loyalty would be out of the window - would like to think I am loyal to my bosses but if anyone offered me 5 times my salary I would be hard pressed to refuse it!

 

I to respect your view, but much of what he has said since he left our club smacks of insincerity, and frankly a load of bullshit

 

....but surely now that he's gone to Liverpool it means that he will probably never manage Man Utd ? If you want to go to a top club isn't it better to go to a team that has a chance of winning the league ? I mean Liverpool have won the same amount of Premier League titles as us in the last 20 years......and that is a FACT

If Man City come in for him at the end of next season will he make the same move ?

 

Broadly speaking, my views are in line with yours. Good piece and well-written.

 

Cheers Mab - but don't agree with the insincerity thingy - he was always gonna be the devil incarnate to a lot of Jacks and how sincere he is will always be up for debate - I have talked with the guy on many occasions and always believed him to be honest and sincere - but that could just be me being a gullible tit! But one thing I don't doubt is that he feels he has an obligation to do the right thing by Swansea - if that means we get promising Liverpool youngsters on loan then I am all for it! Would be quite happy for Huw to lay a guilt trip on him 'you deserted us - now it's payback time - give us some of your young talent!'

 

Cheers Aswan

 

Some fair comments there cartoon but do you really think if Ary got the england job Brendan wouldnt have shot off to spurs sharpish ?
A lot more to do with becoming a multi millionare than love of any club which is fair enough securing his and family future but a bit to much blarney on the way !
If Siggy signs and he doesnt poach any players regardless of any so called agreements and we get a decent replacement manager and we stay up then i will forgive him fully . I dont think thats asking to much do you ?

 

nicely written well-balanced argument Cartoon, i think the truth is that none of us really knows how things will pan out with BR's future legacy at the moment because none of his really knows what he is thinking and how he will do at Liverpool. His success at Swansea was greatly helped by inheriting a team of players with a team ethic, who were comfortable with the ball at feet, coupled with the low expectations of the fans. He fine-tuned what he inherited to remarkably good effect, got in some great signings from Chelsea and got us to the promised land - for that alone we should always respect him.
If we're honest i'm sure all Jacks feel disappointed and not a little betrayed by him upping and leaving for Liverpool when it's quite clear we all feel that there's much more to do here to cement our place in the PL, particularly a week or so after refusing to talk to them. it almost feels like being dumped by your first girlfriend and then seeing them being paraded around school by the their new beau, the head prefect lol. then when we read the almost blanket news coverage on BR the new anfield messiah it really, really grates. on top of this now openly courting siggy seems to add insult to injury.
My opinion of BR is in the balance. i expect siggy to go to Anfield, and i wouldn't blame him, it would be understandable for siggy to rate playing under BR more important than playing for the swans as it was BR that developed him at Reading and Swansea.
However BR leaving us has left us vulnerable and this is the major worry, but as i've said on other threads i respect BR for signing the contract in January which means that we got 7m for him and his team. I hope that armed with the extra cash, Huw will be able to find a suitable replacement, one who adheres to our footballing philosophies and keeps us in the PL. if so then maybe we'll forgive BR a little sooner than later.
But i think BR's relations with Swansea and ultimately mine and other Jacks opinion on him, will in part be affected by how well he copes at Anfield in the coming months. He's now working with a group of players that doesn't gel particularly well as a team. if he fails to get them playing cohesively pre-season, then the pressure on BR and the attraction of our players may well prove too much, and despite the transfer embargo (will this really work?) i fear he may unsettle our players. if he does unsettle our players and they put in transfer requests and end up at Liverpool within a year, then i wish him nothing short of eternal damnation, if on the other hand he does leave our existing players alone and even prove to be a source of good young loan signings then i'll always cherish the time he was with us.
It's up to you Brendan to prove you are the man you espouse to be, we'll all be watching..............

 

I will always appreciate the players Rodgers brought in to get us to the top flight & for signing a contract that insured a very good payday when he left . Beyond those two things , I was never big on Rodgers , sorry but I was over the moon to get the money for him . And if I was a betting man , I'd put it on him bombing at Liverpool .

 

Cartoonhead

Well done, about time someone agreed with my feelings of total respect for the man. His reign at Swansea has left me with some great memories and my club in a place I could never have imagined 5 years ago. Managers and players move on, thats football.

 

One of the best posts on here for a very, very long time. Very well thought-out and very well written. And everything you say is spot on.

Stereo - You don't need to manage Man U to win the title. Liverpool haven't won much recently, but Brendan is good enough to take Liverpool to the top. Man U won't always be there. They've had their time and it is surely coming to and end. In another 10 years Man U won't be in the top 4. Look back over history - things constantly change. No team stays top forever. One bad season, no Champions League and their debts will catch up with them and overwhelm them. There is no doubt that Man U are a good team, but they are living on their debt and we only need to look at the recent world recession to know how badly that can end.

 

liverpool fan alert!!!

 

Liverpool fan alert!!!!!!

 

Liverpool fan alert!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You couldn't be further away from the truth, he is a well respected swans fan, though don't know what's it got to with you in any case!

 

Oh what a spoilsport