Topic: Brendan Rodgers - Liverpool Manager (ours to keep - or at least till 2018)

[Redman0151]

See Tony Evans is chatting shit about him again, saying he's a manager who's 'luckier than most' and 'inherited Suarez'.

Never seen a Liverpool supporter who is so bitter against the team he claims to support

[tacklemyballs]

Tony Evans

Heard him on some podcast the other day saying we shouldn't be moaning about Howard Webs 'performance'. I think his attempt at impartiality has got him going in the opposite direction.

[Kopenhagen]

See Tony Evans is chatting shit about him again, saying he's a manager who's 'luckier than most' and 'inherited Suarez'.

Never seen a Liverpool supporter who is so bitter against the team he claims to support

Oh yes, and I'm sure the Sturridge and Coutinho signings were just two strokes of good fortune, despite having been long-term targets for Rodgers. 

I actually think Rodgers doesn't get the credit he deserves for turning Suarez from talented maverick to a top 5 player in world football.

[Redman0151]

Oh yes, and I'm sure the Sturridge and Coutinho signings were just two strokes of good fortune, despite having been long-term targets for Rodgers. 

I actually think Rodgers doesn't get the credit he deserves for turning Suarez from talented maverick to a top 5 player in world football.

He actually said Rodgers never wanted Sturridge and scuppered the first deal

[DeLeiva]

See Tony Evans is chatting shit about him again, saying he's a manager who's 'luckier than most' and 'inherited Suarez'.

Never seen a Liverpool supporter who is so bitter against the team he claims to support

What a lucky git BR is, inherited a player who's goal rate was 40% (21 goals in 52 games).

And by luck alone got him to 77% (53 in 69)  - Tony Evans is a blurt.

[Brentieke]

See Tony Evans is chatting shit about him again, saying he's a manager who's 'luckier than most' and 'inherited Suarez'.

Never seen a Liverpool supporter who is so bitter against the team he claims to support

Must be awful to be so bitter that you can't enjoy the team you love doing so well while playing some of their best football for 25 years.

[Brentieke]

Heard him on some podcast the other day saying we shouldn't be moaning about Howard Webs 'performance'. I think his attempt at impartiality has got him going in the opposite direction.

Got nothing to do with impartiality. It's to do with him going nuts on FSG when the sacked Kenny, stating we wouldn't improve on 8th with FSG in charge etc... and refusing to admit he was wrong.

I thought it was lunacy getting Rodgers in ahread of Van Gaal, Benitez and Capello. Delighted to state I was completely in the wrong. He's done an absolutely fantastic job so far. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem the likes of Tony Evans can admit when they were wrong.

[helmboy_nige]

Got nothing to do with impartiality. It's to do with him going nuts on FSG when the sacked Kenny, stating we wouldn't improve on 8th with FSG in charge etc... and refusing to admit he was wrong.

I thought it was lunacy getting Rodgers in ahread of Van Gaal, Benitez and Capello. Delighted to state I was completely in the wrong. He's done an absolutely fantastic job so far. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem the likes of Tony Evans can admit when they were wrong.

So so true.  The day Tony Evans admits to being wrong is the day that Ferguson stops going on about Liverpool.

Rodgers has really come into his own this season and his positive attitude is so infectious.

[SerbianScouser]

Two people that really rub me the wrong way are Tony Evans and Nick O`Prey. I wonder if O`Prey still stands by his genius comments some time ago of how we would get embarrassed in the CL next season.

[Snail]

See Tony Evans is chatting shit about him again, saying he's a manager who's 'luckier than most' and 'inherited Suarez'.

Never seen a Liverpool supporter who is so bitter against the team he claims to support

He's a good red though. Top, top red.

[Mr_Shane]

Dont mind being lucky if we luck our way to the title

[DeLeiva]

Dont mind being lucky if we luck our way to the title

Luckiest manager in the history of the Prem.

[the_red_pill]

See Tony Evans is chatting shit about him again, saying he's a manager who's 'luckier than most' and 'inherited Suarez'.

Never seen a Liverpool supporter who is so bitter against the team he claims to support

Suppose Danny and Coutinho are also "lucks"...

[Samie]

Tony Evans hasn't gotten over Kenny being sacked.

[the_red_pill]

Oh yes, and I'm sure the Sturridge and Coutinho signings were just two strokes of good fortune, despite having been long-term targets for Rodgers. 

I actually think Rodgers doesn't get the credit he deserves for turning Suarez from talented maverick to a top 5 player in world football.

Well, look at another one of our "top targets" this past summer- Diego Costa. 'Nuff said!- as the kids say.

I won't be so arrogant as to say we can replace Luis- no-one can; but we can spot strikers and can come up with something that's good enough.

[Funky_Gibbons]

See Tony Evans is chatting shit about him again, saying he's a manager who's 'luckier than most' and 'inherited Suarez'.

Never seen a Liverpool supporter who is so bitter against the team he claims to support

Thing is if you look at the team that thrashed Arsenal and Everton only three players, Skrtel, Henderson and Suarez from that team were bought by previous managers (I know Sterling technically was but he wasn't bought as a first team player).

Mignolet, Toure, Cissokho, Coutinho and Sturridge were all Rodgers' signings and he has played a big part in the development of Sterling and, as others have said, Suarez. Even the six substitutions he made in those games were either his signings or academy players Ibe, Allen, Aspas, Alberto, Kelly and Moses.

Yes he was lucky to inherit a player as good as Suarez but he has also used his intelligence, coaching ability and some signings of his own to get the best out of him and make us the attacking force we are now. 

[Mr_Morosoph]

I knew he wasn't happy when Kenny got sacked but I never realised until recently Tony's bitterness towards Rodgers. Is it just because Rodgers was Kenny's replacement or is there more to it?

[SerbianScouser]

I knew he wasn't happy when Kenny got sacked but I never realised until recently Tony's bitterness towards Rodgers. Is it just because Rodger's was Kenny's replacement or is there more to it?

I don`t buy that bitterness angle. I think he just doesnt like Rodgers and that`s crystal clear. I think he`s that old school type of football fan who found Spain at previous Euro and their type of football boring. If you offered him Liverpool to play as either Dortmund or Barca he`ll opt for Dortmund every time.
Personally I`d give my right arm if we could go to Etihad and Emirates like Barca and Bayern and bore the living crap out of those games and played them to our tempo and I think in time with Rodgers we`ll get to that stage.

[paddysour]

. I think he`s that old school type of football fan who found Spain at previous Euro and their type of football boring. If you offered him Liverpool to play as either Dortmund or Barca he`ll opt for Dortmund every time.

I'd opt for that too and I love our team and manager!

[Fiasco]

I stopped paying attention to Tony Evans a long time ago. I feel he's deliberately contrarian and adversarial just for the sake of it. Then if he genuinely can't give Rodgers credit without it being backhanded then I feel sorry for him, it must be horrible having an attitude like that.

[Mr_Morosoph]

I don`t buy that bitterness angle. I think he just doesnt like Rodgers and that`s crystal clear. I think he`s that old school type of football fan who found Spain at previous Euro and their type of football boring. If you offered him Liverpool to play as either Dortmund or Barca he`ll opt for Dortmund every time.
Personally I`d give my right arm if we could go to Etihad and Emirates like Barca and Bayern and bore the living crap out of those games and played them to our tempo and I think in time with Rodgers we`ll get to that stage.

Our style of football is a lot more similar to Dortmund than Barca though so surely it can't be that.

[Solomon Grundy]

Tony Evans knows he is wrong about Brendan but, he's too proud and pig-headed to admit he was wrong about him. So he'd rather carry on chatting absolute shit about him, making a complete twat of himself in the process, instead of just apologising.

[SerbianScouser]

Our style of football is a lot more similar to Dortmund than Barca though so surely it can't be that.

I know but he formulated his opinion on his first 6 months.

[007.lankyguy]

I don`t buy that bitterness angle. I think he just doesnt like Rodgers and that`s crystal clear. I think he`s that old school type of football fan who found Spain at previous Euro and their type of football boring. If you offered him Liverpool to play as either Dortmund or Barca he`ll opt for Dortmund every time.
Personally I`d give my right arm if we could go to Etihad and Emirates like Barca and Bayern and bore the living crap out of those games and played them to our tempo and I think in time with Rodgers we`ll get to that stage.

I buy the bitterness angle. He wasn't at all happy Kenny got sacked and then he also wasn't happy that when that did happen, Rafa wasn't appointed to take over. There's no problem with him being unhappy about those things, it's the fact that he chooses to be critical of Rodgers because of it and the fact that he doesn't seem to have gotten over it nearly two years on despite the obvious (and sizeable) progression

[Paul JH]

Tony Evans is a bitter bastard. He'd probably be overjoyed if we didn't get a CL place or win the title because he could say he was right. Sad really.

[BreakfastPercy]

Don't think Tony was unfair in his comments at all. Has everybody read the full webchat?

Rodgers has achieved fuck all to be honest. That's not to say we can't legitimately think we've got a brilliant manager, but so far Lambert's record possibly stacks up better. Back to back promotions and kept his teams up twice. Rodgers got promoted once, kept his team up, had a 7th place finish with us. Though currently we're flying high, nothing is signed and sealed yet and should we fall outside the top four and Villa reach midtable you'd probably have Lambert edging ahead.

It's really not crazy to think Lambert might turn out to be a better manager, especially if Tony hasn't taken to Rodgers yet.

How many managers get to go from one season in the Premier League to manager of Liverpool? Rodgers has been lucky. Good, but lucky too.

Think people would be surprised by how cordial Tony & our owners are, and how protective FSG are of Rodgers who is certainly not as infallible as people might think.

This should be the takeaway from his webchat:

"FSG want to win things. The league, Europe. The top four just a means to an end. They want to be in the title race every year"

[B0151?]

Though currently we're flying high, nothing is signed and sealed yet and should we fall outside the top four and Villa reach midtable you'd probably have Lambert edging ahead.

You and Tony would maybe

[Samie]

You and Tony would maybe

 You've been whooshed.

[BreakfastPercy]

You've been whooshed.

Nope. If Villa get 10th and we get 5th or below I think (objectively) Lambert's record probably looks better on paper.

[PhaseOfPlay]

It's really not crazy to think Lambert might turn out to be a better manager, especially if Tony hasn't taken to Rodgers yet.

You only have to look at the football, though BP. Lambert plays dire football. It's not designed to win anything skilfully, except by attrition. Rodgers' football is designed to win games without really relying on luck or chance. That's not to say Lambert is a bad manager, but he's in the same group as Moyes, Allardyce and Pulis - he plays "fear" football, and sets his teams up accordingly. He might have the odd good season in the top division, but that type of football has more success the lower down the levels you go. However, at the very top, you need to be able to produce skill and some form of clinical attack, and for that reason, I don't think there will ever be a time when people will consider Lambert to be a "better" manager than Rodgers.

Back-to-back promotions is not to be sniffed at, of course, but he seems to be like Mick McCarthy, for example - great in the lower leagues where the game is more physical and less skilful and quick, but regresses when in the top division because he doesn't have the right mindset or ideas to be able to tweak his game-plan to raise the level of his team (or at least adapt to the circumstances). Rodgers has show this flexibility, the coaching ability, and the man-management ability to make the right changes to his ideas to push his team beyond where they are expected to go.

[alonsoisared]

Don't think Tony was unfair in his comments at all. Has everybody read the full webchat?

Rodgers has achieved fuck all to be honest. That's not to say we can't legitimately think we've got a brilliant manager, but so far Lambert's record possibly stacks up better. Back to back promotions and kept his teams up twice. Rodgers got promoted once, kept his team up, had a 7th place finish with us. Though currently we're flying high, nothing is signed and sealed yet and should we fall outside the top four and Villa reach midtable you'd probably have Lambert edging ahead.

It's really not crazy to think Lambert might turn out to be a better manager, especially if Tony hasn't taken to Rodgers yet.

How many managers get to go from one season in the Premier League to manager of Liverpool? Rodgers has been lucky. Good, but lucky too.

Think people would be surprised by how cordial Tony & our owners are, and how protective FSG are of Rodgers who is certainly not as infallible as people might think.

This should be the takeaway from his webchat:

That, is just mental.

[Pricey]

Anyone suggesting Paul Lambert is a better manager/coach than Brendan Rodgers needs to go take their face for a shit.

[steveeastend]

Our style of football is a lot more similar to Dortmund than Barca though so surely it can't be that.

It's not, it really isn't.

[Mr_Morosoph]

It's not, it really isn't.

It is though.

I'm not saying we're close to any of them but our style of play is a lot more similar to Dortmund than it is Barca. Maybe those first months Barca was the model (maybe still is) but we're far more direct now.

[88_RED]

Who gives a fuck whether we are like Dortmund or Barca...

I couldnt care less if we were like Grimbsy Town, if it led to us winning the next 12 games of the season and bringing home no. 19

 

[Mr_Morosoph]

Who gives a fuck whether we are like Dortmund or Barca...

I couldnt care less if we were like Grimbsy Town, if it led to us winning the next 12 games of the season and bringing home no. 19

 

You're obviously a complete one off mate. I'm sure everyone else would be up in arms that we won the league on the last day of the season with less possession than the opponent.

[jamieredders]

Must be awful to be so bitter that you can't enjoy the team you love doing so well while playing some of their best football for 25 years.

Absolutely.  It has been fantastic watching us play this season.  Exactly as I hoped would happen when we appointed BR.  We are great on the eye and full of goals.  If we return to the Champions League and land a few trophies he will reach legendary status.  Keep up the progression Brendan lad.  Most of our support are loving every moment.

 

[Funky_Gibbons]

I think that's a very odd post Pecry which seems very strange for someone who I regard as one of the best posters on this site.

You seem to be associating a lot on the final league position as to whether Lambert can be considered better than Rodgers. If we finish 5th this season isn't that still an improvement on last season, our points total will be considerably more than last season and our goals per game will be an improvement on last season.

We finished 20 points ahead of Villa last season and are already 25 points ahead this season so there would have to be a dramatic change in form for them to improve on the points difference of last season. If this gap is maintained and how Lambert have improved even if we finish fifth.

I don't think anyone believes Rodgers is infallible, but mistakes he has made are normally fixed very quickly. Rodgers has been chased by the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and City so although he 'only' won one promotion and only kept them up one season he has obviously been identified by many top clubs as showing considerable talent.

[PhaseOfPlay]

I think that's a very odd post Pecry which seems very strange for someone who I regard as one of the best posters on this site.

You seem to be associating a lot on the final league position as to whether Lambert can be considered better than Rodgers. If we finish 5th this season isn't that still an improvement on last season, our points total will be considerably more than last season and our goals per game will be an improvement on last season.

We finished 20 points ahead of Villa last season and are already 25 points ahead this season so there would have to be a dramatic change in form for them to improve on the points difference of last season. If this gap is maintained and how Lambert have improved even if we finish fifth.

I don't think anyone believes Rodgers is infallible, but mistakes he has made are normally fixed very quickly. Rodgers has been chased by the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and Spurs so although he 'only' won one promotion and only kept them up one season he has obviously been identified by many top clubs as showing considerable talent.

[88_RED]

You're obviously a complete one off mate. I'm sure everyone else would be up in arms that we won the league on the last day of the season with less possession than the opponent.

God Forbid.....