We have relegation form....nearly 20% of the season gone already. Yesterdays clean sheet was welcome but we are leaky at the back and often toothless up front.....and yet all we hear is how well we played! We have one foot out of the Europa league and are one loss away from the bottom three - pretty football is not important to me right now. Rodgers should keep his mouth shut too - whether you agree with him or not, Downing is right, some things should be kept private. Am truly worried....
Calm down man! We are quite obviously in the midst of a rather large transition. The football that BR is trying to implement will take time, but the signs have been very encouraging. We're passing teams to death, (generally) scoring several in the process, and some of the new signings have bedded in very well (Allen, Sahin, Assaidi, still plenty of time for Borini to mature, have faith), and we're giving youth a chance leading to some very impressive displays from players who may not have been given the same chance under another manager. We are 7 games into the season, how long do you think it takes to implement a new system? If we are still in this position in 2-3 seasons I will share your despondency, but for now have faith.
Kenny got sacked despite the fact that we often played well and lost. I feel for BR in that he got screwed by the owners in the summer in terms of transfers (or lack of) but you're right about not slagging players off in public. Taking yesterday as an example it showed up how easily combatted our "new" brand of football can be. As I've said all along this kind of football is great in La Liga but look at which teams the Spanish so often struggle against in Europe and its those who play a negative, ten men behind the ball kind of football (how else did a pretty ****e Chelsea team beat Barca last season). BR needs to adapt and adapt quickly. Walking out of the ground yesterday all the talk was about how utterly predictable we were in terms of style and about why the hell he was quite so keen to shove Mandy out of the door at the first opportunity. Someone even made the point that when Carroll came on as a last minute sub against City and got a standing ovation that that was The Kop sending him a message to "give the lad a chance to prove himself". Well whether that's true or not we'd have certainly given Stoke more of a test yesterday if the big fella had been around to rough Huth and Shawcross up a bit.
You seriously think he'll get 2-3 seasons to improve things? its all very well to expect a new manager to get time (as he should) but our beloved owners don't have a track record of it either here or over the pond (just sacked the latest Red Sox coach last week). If we're still in this position come Xmas you'll be hearing the sharpening of knives from thousands of miles away.
He should get at least two or three seasons but if we finish in the second half of the table then he won't get more than one
No, Kenny got sacked because of the Suarez affair and because he (along with Comolli) spent a vast amount of money with no clear improvement shown for it. The results would not have helped either, plus he wasn't FSG's man
If things are terrible, and I mean really terrible i.e. relegation zone, bottom half by the end of the season then I think he'll go. If he finishes around 8th like last season, then he'll be given more time. As with Kenny last season, all style but no substance. I'm sure we will rectify this in the January window though ... (here's hoping!)
No but not because he had achieved top four, he wouldn't have been sacked because of the status he holds with the club the owners wouldn't have dared upset the fans. Because we finished lower it gave them the opportunity
I am very calm Fact is, the 'very impressive' displays have no end product generally; pretty football wins you nothing unless it is effective too. I don't like what i am seeing or hearing right now. Dismissing results or our league position or the lack of cutting edge as due to luck, referee bias or in transition is a dangerous game - in fact it's complacent! Before we know it, half the season will be gone and at this rate, we'll be on 14 beautifully earned points......not for me, a calm thanks anyway
When was the last time we rectified anything in a transfer window? Serious question because thinking back over the last 8 or 9 of them when have we actually improved things as a whole?
I'm sure it was a combination of things. Kenny didn't handle the Suarez affair that well but he wasn't given any support from the club on how to handle it. But as Gerrez has already mentioned, spending the amount that Kenny and DC did to acheive 8th position is embarrassing.
We've been wasteful since Rafa left mate! But Kenny made a big difference when he brought Suarez in and we then had a brilliant 2nd half a season. Unfortunately, it went down hill from then!
If we sign someone who can score goals in January I can see it lifting the entire squad. Give Rodgers £15M, he'll spend it well, as he's shown so far - Borini apart (so far).
Agreed - although I would love to see Borini played down the middle with Suarez on the wing. I think Borini would make more of an impact.
We need to go on an unbeaten run, as much as I'm gutted about not beating Stoke if we can turn over Reading and have 7 from 9 points and then continue from there it will all look a lot better. Reading is a must win game.
I would like to see a front 3 of Sterling Suarez Gerrard. I said this at the start of the season, Gerrard is capable of playing the wide right of the front 3. Midfield is then Shelvey Allen Sahin, surely our best option?
If we played Gerrard on the right, every attack would end with a diagonal ball into the box. He doesn't have the guile or the speed we need. Look at Spurs - there is serious pace in their attack. Even if they're not on song they stretch, worry and usually exploit defences. Same with United and now Chelsea.
