Thing is with Nicola, he would want total control and to basically answer to no one, he was exactly what we needed at the time and our growth under him was exceptional, once we got to the Prem though the rate of growth was always going to slow down, and the belief is he wanted to keep spending and spending, and our owner wanted to have more of a say in matters which ultimately left to him leaving. Introduced the great Markus to us (RIP) and I'm not sure there's any Saints fans who aren't grateful/can't appreciate what he did for us. In summary, he was a bit of a power hungry dictator ****, but he was OUR power hungry dictator ****, and we loved him for it, the ambition we show now and the way fans look at things is all down to him imo. Him moving on when he did was probably best for all parties though. Also he appointed Pardew who promptly signed Rickie Lambert for £1 million (Arguably the best million we've ever spent, apparently Cortese took A LOT of convincing by Alan to part with that amount for a L1 striker). Our current captain was also signed in League 1 as well - even dropped a division to join us Schneiderlin played for us in L1 too but think we signed him the year we went down from Championship.
Yeah I thought Schneiderlin was before cortese or no? In any event. There is a big supposition in a great job at Southampton equalling a great job at lfc.
Yep Morgan was pre-Nicola - I believe we signed him in our relegation/admin year so 08-09. Agree with your 2nd line as well, I don't think he would be a success with you in your current set up, ignoring the fact of Liverpool/Southampton for the moment, it's a very different challenge going to a league 1 team (big club for that level) with all the infrastructure in place and seeing over the rise back to the PL than going to a big club and getting them to compete with teams above with massive financial advantage.
That is true but in the credit column is the consistent failure of clubs like leeds who for example had the slate wiped clean to do what you did or indeed derby who had a ice little ground thats modern or middlesboro. In fairness the job done was made look better as a result of 2 promotions. in fairness the first one was 92 points in second which is quite a haul and then the championship was a one point of champions too (and 2 down to west ahm) both were fully deserved but its what was done after in prem on top that really gave him the spot light. I mean brighton won the league 1 when you were second and they are scraping along at the bottom of the championship. they've built a great stadium too. really the team you had got you up. lallana, lambert (signing as you pointed out) cork (you signed in championship) schneidrlin etc As an LFC fan looking at the clubs around middlesboro hve a 40k stadium, brighton have built well... there are a LOT of good sized clusb in the championship now.. how the **** LFC thnk 45k in the prem is enough i don't know. I know we half arsed tried for years but right now i have to say 54k is nowhere near enough and neither is 58k.
He even had specially designed mattresses for the players that were taken to the hotels they stayed at. It's ridiculous how much detail the man gets into. Re the L1 players - Fonte and Schneidelin (just) still here. Lambert with you guys.
I think he'd do a great job for you if he was given the free rein to impose his ideas etc. That's a big ask though. Can't see him going unless he gets that - you'd think the size of the club would appeal, but then he turned down AC Milan whilst with us. The fact you guys are in a bit of turmoil and need some firm direction would make me think it's a gamble worth taking with him (no doubt), but whether FSG think the same is the big thing. They'd basically need to cede all control and just invest.
Paul Joyce confirms that Hyypia and Pako are both interested in returning to Liverpool. Not too keen on Hyypia as a coach but I suppose he could bring some structure to the defence, and will certainly command respect from players.
Agreed. I do have my concerns in that he's not been particular successful in other coaching jobs i.e. Leverkusen and Brighton, and his defensive style is sitting deep, whereas I think Rodgers wants to play with a high line, so could be a clash of styles. But as you say, he won;t take sh*t and he can at least teach the basics of defending. Pako would be brilliant - get us set up tactically and add structure to the team.
You don't have to be a top manager to be a top number two, the list of assistants failing as a manager is endless.
I agree but Hyypia's roles were as Head Coach at Leverkusen, not sure if it was the same at Brighton - which means his focus was coaching and tactics. I suppose if you take away the majority of that plus the pressure, and allow him to focus on defending, then he could be a success. Either way - I'd sooner have him and Pako, than Marsh and Pascoe.
he was joint head coach at leverkusen and then head coach and then manager at brighton. all guy have to be in the end coaches first. he's qualified. to say only do x or y is completely missing the point of football coaching. if we are hiring a coach we are hiring a coach not a "defensive coach"
Rumour on Facebook sites is that Ian Ayre has gone. Not been able to find any confirmation as yet. Anyone else heard this?
On that basis, then I wouldn't hire Hyypia because his record is quite poor. I think sentiment and his rep as a player is clouding judgement. Rene Meulensteen and Pako would be great first choices. Pako as Assistant Manager, and Rene as First Team coach.
If we got in these 2, then I will certainly have more faith in Rodgers. A lot of supporters of Rodgers would argue that he's young and learning on the job - problem is, who is he learning from? By putting experienced, quality coaches around him, I have a lot more faith that he will learn more.
Agree on these points. Also agree that Hyypia's record is poor and beyond the fact that he was a great defender for us and was a leader, there's little to suggest that he would make a good coach if would come. That said, maybe if he's not the number one he can concentrate on certain aspects that he may be good at and leave out other bits that he's not/less need to find a balance between all the areas. That would be quite a risk to take though.
Yeah I agree - focus on defending. But his defensive style doesn't suit the way Rodgers wants to play i.e. a high line. Would be interesting to see. At the very least, he will command respect. Imagine the players taking orders from Colin 'Postman' Pascoe.
