Good luck to BR.
Met him in Sainsbury's the night he flew in to sign his Liverpool contract, good man... bit smaller than I had anticipated, but he'll fit right in at Leicester.
Made up he's back in the Prem to be honest, it shows
good character of him to come back.
We will now have 'good' relations with both Newcastle and Leicester. Will come in handy in the summer when we go in for their players.
But this will be the true test of Rodgers' credentials. At Liverpool, okay, he was tested and took us within our first title shot in years... But as I've aged and the dust is settled, I'd be interested to see how he'd have done without Suarez - because as much as it pains me to admit, while Rodgers certainly got the best out of some players, I think that most of us can agree by now that after seeing Suarez at Barca, the man (Suarez) has proven he can walk into any team and improve them (Groningen, Ajax etc...).
As I say, this will be a proper test of him - if he can get that squad sorted and Vardy back on form, the team themselves can raise Rodgers' game alone.
Personally, I just hope he doesn't become a career manager like Sam Allardyce et al.
He's at a critical part of his career where he will either go one way, or go another...
He has a proven ability to talk the talk, but back in the Prem, he's really gotta win something with Leicester - as others have said, they have the squad to push for silverware, but unless he can get someone trained up to do the Kante role, (as well as Mahrez's role), he'll not pacify the fans at all.
I think he'll take Joe Allen there from Stoke as they don't look like they're getting promoted and Joe Allen, while nowhere near Kante's ability or skill, can certainly act as a pivot for Rodgers and I don't know if anyone is watching Stoke of late, but Joe Allen ain't playing too bad for them, not too badly at all.
Joe Allen could do a job at Leicester, and I think he'd link up well with Vardy - Allen is well good at picking out a runner and that's what Vardy needs.
So, all in all, quality signing by Leicester and Rodgers would have been a fool to not go. Watched a lot of Scottish footy this season and while Celtic are a great club with great supporters, it is unfortunate that the SPL doesn't have the weight and money the EPL. I've watched it a lot, and without sounding elitist, the competition is on par with the Championship (at times, League One). And also, it takes courage from him to leave now... it really does, and I think folk are looking at this wrong - he could have sat off and got a treble and told Leicester he'd join in the summer (and prepare targets and tactics), but instead, he's left a certain thing, for something that could easily kill off his career in the Prem (at least, at the tune of £6 million).
In fact, I'm throwing a fiver on Joe Allen to sign for Leicester in the summer.
From a totally non-biased perspective, Leicester might be worth a tenner for the title next season - let's face it, stranger things have happened, and while of course, I think and hope that we'll be up there (and retain it
), think about it...
Aside of Kante and Mahrez (who, let's face it, are replaceable), that squad kind of looks better than the squad who won the title. They're a defender light of course, and Vardy's ports and spliffs look to be catching up with him, but they've got a cracking club Leicester and if Vardy has a swan song in his prime years, Rodgers could very well rub mud in the eye of a lot of people who've already made up their minds about him.
Good luck to him, and good luck to Leicester!
