Liverpool FC Talking Point: If plenty of fans were still ‘undecided’ on Rodgers' future, then this was enough to change their minds18:48, 24 MAY 2015
BY
NEIL JONESIncreasing majority of Reds believe last season, not this, was the exception to the rule where Rodgers is concerned
Prior to this game, Brendan Rodgers was asked by the media if he believed he would be Liverpool’s manager next season.
“Yes, yes, 150 per cent,” was his tub-thumping answer.
If he is still of that opinion now, then he’s either the bravest man alive, or he’s kidding himself.
There are lows and then there are lows. In a footballing sense, this was as bad as it gets, the most embarrassing afternoon imaginable, both for Rodgers and for Liverpool Football Club. Disgraceful barely does it justice.
Rodgers was berated as he passed the travelling Reds fans on his way to the dressing room at half time. It wasn’t a nice sight, but then Liverpool were 5-0 down. At Stoke. At half time, having conceded all the goals in the space of 22 horrific minutes. In all honesty, he was lucky any Reds had stayed long enough to confront him.
“They have every right to be angry and frustrated,” he said. “That was awful, absolutely awful.”
If there were still plenty of supporters in the ‘undecided’ camp when it comes to the manager’s future, then this was enough to change their minds. This was a performance so bad, it had to be seen to be believed. A sackable offence? Time will tell.
Rodgers’ end-of-season review with the American owners next week – “a formality”, he felt last week – will now be a more than uncomfortable experience. He may be able to offer mitigation for an underwhelming season, or show the logic behind his increasingly strange team selections, but to explain a capitulation, a humiliation, like this? All the best.
This was a performance worse than anything the club offered up under either Roy Hodgson or Kenny Dalglish
To be fair to him, he didn’t even try to here. Usually a bullish, confident character in front of the cameras, here his demeanour reflected his team’s performance; humbled, humiliated, beaten. That pained, haunted look, we’ve seen it before. It was the look of a man worried about his job.
“If the owners ask me to go, then I go,” he said. By the end of next week, we will know whether they’ve asked.
If they do, then what a horrendous way to sign off – with the club’s worst competitive defeat for 52 years, with supporters jeering, players hiding. And with an increasing majority believing that last season, not this, was the exception to the rule where Rodgers is concerned.
There’s no sugar coating it; this was a performance worse than anything the club offered up under either Roy Hodgson or Kenny Dalglish, both of whom lost their jobs pretty swiftly under Fenway Sports Group.
Of course, the noises out of Anfield throughout this season, even during the darkest moments, have been that Rodgers is NOT in danger of becoming the latest managerial casualty.
“He’s our man,” was the message after defeat to Crystal Palace in November, and repeated following the FA Cup semi final defeat to Aston Villa in April. The manager’s position was “not even up for discussion.”
It’ll be being discussed now, though. Loudly. You can bet your bottom dollar on that one.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/liverpool-fc-talking-point-plenty-9322190#ICID=sharebar_twitter
