Topic: Brendan Rodgers is no longer Liverpool manager

[tommy LFC]

Brendan's record against the other managers in the Premier League era. Thoughts?

League record (played, won, win %, points per game)

Rafa Benitez           228             126   55.3            1.90 Brendan Rodgers   122             63           51.6            1.80 Gerard Houllier           216             108   50.0            1.75 Roy Evans                   172             83           48.3            1.72 Kenny Dalglish           56             24           42.9            1.52 Graeme Souness   84             32           38.1            1.40 Evans / Houllier           12             4           33.3            1.33 Roy Hodgson           20             7           35.0            1.25 Record in cup competitions (played, won, win %)   Kenny Dalglish            18       12   67.0 Roy Evans                    54       34   63.0 Rafa Benitez            119       69   58.0 Gerard Houllier            89       51   57.0 Roy Hodgson            11       6           55.0 Brendan Rodgers    44       22   50.0 Evans / Houllier            6       3           50.0 Graeme Souness   41       19   46.0 Transfer record (spent, received, net spend) Brendan Rodgers       £291.55m           £200.72m   £90.83m Kenny Dalglish               £111.28m           £79.1m           £32.18m Roy Hodgson               £23.85m           £26.05m          - £2.2m Rafa Benitez               £231.15m           £161.7m           £69.45m Gerard Houllier               £125.4m           £59.93m           £65.47m Roy Evans                       £43.1m           £15.45m           £27.65m Graeme Souness       £17.94m           £9.83m           £8.11m

[tommy LFC]

^
Shite, spent ages lining all that up and that's how it comes out   

Anyway, I think Rodgers will regret not taking the cups, and especially Europe, seriously, would have bought him a lot more patience from the fans if he's won one or two.

[Coffeelover]

Brendan's record against the other managers in the Premier League era. Thoughts?

League record (played, won, win %, points per game)

Rafa Benitez           228             126   55.3            1.90
Brendan Rodgers   122             63           51.6            1.80
Gerard Houllier           216             108   50.0            1.75
Roy Evans                   172             83           48.3            1.72
Kenny Dalglish           56             24           42.9            1.52
Graeme Souness   84             32           38.1            1.40
Evans / Houllier           12             4           33.3            1.33
Roy Hodgson           20             7           35.0            1.25



Record in cup competitions (played, won, win %)
 
Kenny Dalglish            18       12   67.0
Roy Evans                    54       34   63.0
Rafa Benitez            119       69   58.0
Gerard Houllier            89       51   57.0
Roy Hodgson            11       6           55.0
Brendan Rodgers    44       22   50.0
Evans / Houllier            6       3           50.0
Graeme Souness   41       19   46.0


Transfer record (spent, received, net spend)

Brendan Rodgers       £291.55m           £200.72m   £90.83m
Kenny Dalglish               £111.28m           £79.1m           £32.18m
Roy Hodgson               £23.85m           £26.05m          - £2.2m
Rafa Benitez               £231.15m           £161.7m           £69.45m
Gerard Houllier               £125.4m           £59.93m           £65.47m
Roy Evans                       £43.1m           £15.45m           £27.65m
Graeme Souness       £17.94m           £9.83m           £8.11m

I think the points per game with Brendan Rodgers will always look a little misleading.

In his first season Liverpool achieved 61 points and in his third season Liverpool reached 62 points.

Both amounts are unacceptable since Liverpool should be reaching 70 points minimum.

To add the points per game does not really take in the nature of European football where one off games are often higher in importance then others.

The percentage of Rodgers would have continued to go down had he stayed as this season looked like another 61 point type of year.

Against that there is one amazing outlier of a season where there was no European football and Liverpool played the lowest amount of games in their Premier League history.

The main problem is that Liverpool FC have the fifth highest revenue and wage bill, on the one hand the difference between the Arsenal wage bill was £166m to £144m but the Tottenham wage bill was only £100m at last financial accounts.

After Tottenham there is even another large drop to the seventh team so Liverpool should always be able to be fifth easily if you just compared financial resources. Certainly they should be able to dispose of the smaller teams with greater efficiency.


Anyhow, thanks for the tables and the hard work, I am sure there is a way to make them look better but I will need coffee first!

[Red Beret]

These arguments claiming that everything is the owners fault smell like agenda driven nonsense. Everything negative thing is he owners and if it's positive it happened by chance because they're amateurs. Whatever.

Some people will never be pleased.  They will seize upon the most trivial of indiscretions as evidence to support their point of view, usually ignoring the vast amount of evidence to the contrary in the process.

I feel kind of guilty about all the new manager excitement.  I'd hate it for Brendan to think he had been discarded casually and forgotten easily.   

[SP]

^
Shite, spent ages lining all that up and that's how it comes out   

Anyway, I think Rodgers will regret not taking the cups, and especially Europe, seriously, would have bought him a lot more patience from the fans if he's won one or two.

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your	friends

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[ARI]

The last time I wrote in here was 2 seasons ago expressing my displeasure with Rodgers. I never liked his philosophy and never thought it would work at Liverpool. Smaller clubs trying to establish an identity maybe but not at Liverpool. There were other reasons too; his lack of credentials, his hubris and bluster especially after a big win, our shameful exits in Europe and most importantly his inability to forge a strong defence, a direct result of his belief in attacking football which for me translates into his lack of acknowledgement that it takes a strong defence to win anything in sports.

As much as he did not help his case I feel that the owners too are culpable for some of the missteps. I have often wondered who has been advising them in the background because some of their decisions have been diabolical at best. Appointing a young manager with no track record of note to go up against some of the best and brightest managerial minds managing some of the richest clubs in the world was akin to bringing a knife to a gun fight. Moyes was probably more equipped to manage Man U than Rodgers at Liverpool yet he failed miserably not only in results but in attracting the best players. Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal came in and despite no Champs League manged to bring in far better players than Rodgers or the transfer committee was able to attract.

Even the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as full time manager was a dumb one. Kenny was great as a stop gap measure to replace Owlface but no board of any company worth its salt would have appointed anyone who's been out of the industry for so long to such a demanding post on a full time basis. Even that appointment was made a few days before season ended  on matchday vs Spurs at home, I believe, a match we promptly lost. 

Saying all this I didnt think it was a good idea to sack Rodgers in mid season. I would have preferred we waited till the end of the season and make our pick then. I can only hope that this means the board has found a suitable candidate and hopefully this time its not some rookie wannabe. What the team needs is someone with a winning mentality and take no prisoner attitude because that was made our club great in the past. I also think the owners should consider a revamp of the coaching structure and management starting with Ian Ayre. This club has always been made up of winners. Unfortunately I dont see that many of them around anymore.

[Red Beret]

It's a good job you're not running the club then.

[telekon]

The last time I wrote in here was 2 seasons ago expressing my displeasure with Rodgers.

And you come back with more displeasure. You also manage to both throw shite at a manager who was just sacked AND be disappointed that he was fired. Stay away longer than two years next time?

[Jookie]

Rafa - The only fans that wanted rid of Rafa were the Andy Gray and Richard Keys variant - i.e. those who haven't really figured out what being a Liverpool fan means and are prone to overt doses of xenophobia. I think they've all learned their lesson, although the lesson we should probably learn here is that there are a lot of casual fans who, with the internet, have much too much of a platform to be heard.

If you think the only fans who wanted Rafa sacked are those you describe above then I think you are mistaken. There's some truth in there but there was widespread displeasure against Rafa during his final few seasons. This came from the type of fan you describe above but also came from other parts of the fanbase. Loads of good match going Reds who'd watched the club for years wanted him gone. You only had to go to home games in 2008-2010 to see how evident this was.

I'm not saying that they were right. I still think the sacking of Rafa was the worst footballing decision the club has made in a long time. However, if you think the above description of the fans who wanted out was correct then you are basically saying about 50% of the fans are xenophobic, or at least 'prone to overt doses of xenophobia'.

Rodgers - I feel like a broken record, but he lost in the fans eyes when he tried to politicise his right to pick Clint Dempsey > Daniel Sturridge, Dejan Lovren > Mamadou Sakho, and then claim the club wasn't supporting him. He played a silly game and lost. This for me destroyed his credibility in the eyes of many of the fanbase, who, while supporting the manager as part of the holy trinity and all, support the club much, much, much more. I actually think most reds fans would be quite glowing about Rodgers' abilities as a coach/manager, despite our seemingly unwavering plummet over the past 10 months.

I think only a minority of fans would think that Rodgers lost their support due to political manoeuvrings.

Rodgers lost support with most fans due to the results and the manner of performances since the United home game last season. All the other stuff is just additional things people add to the mix to justify their opinion. The political stuff will be one of these minor considerations for most supporters.

The above is just my opinion based on what I've heard and seen from both match going and non-match going fans. Most of my interaction comes from match going Reds from Liverpool and my interactions and what I see at the game. Your interactions with fellow supporters may be completely different to mine.

[DanA]

Rodgers lost me as a fan for building an unbalanced squad and poor tactical acumen. It's as simple as that. There is other stuff that rubbed me the wrong way, some of the team selections and the "thick reverence" he always spoke with which came off arrogant and condescending to me but these were minor things that barely bothered me when we were winning. What bothered me even in that 2013/14 team, which was maybe my favourite season ever, was the unbalanced nature and his lack of tactical ability.  I give Rodgers a huge amount of credit for developing our players but decisions made in the transfer market building this squad and the tactical naivety he consistently showed......I'd had enough of that, I wanted him to be replaced.

This is only my perception of the situation. I can't speak for others but reading message boards and talking to people I think this was a pretty common view. It leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth because I do think he tried to do the right thing (long term view, had the players backs, etc) which makes it a sad sacking in my eyes.

[Thepooloflife]

Lovely statement from Brendan - reflects the decency of the man. The timing of his dismissal is poor - thought he would at least have been given this season (Christmas at the very least) especially being given more cash and is still early days with the players bought this summer. Good luck Brendan - respect.

[keyo]

I'll say again, don't get hung up on individual names. We've been doing this(sacking) for years now.

We've tried buying our way out of trouble - see the moans about numerous mangers and how much they have spent - so we can't say we haven't put the money up, but what have done, is consistently replace managers with what is a one in every 3 years(roughly) frequency.

This isn't about a Hodgson, a Benitez or a Rodgers, this is about the next guy, and the next, what then? What if they don't bring success, how long is that piece of string that dictates when we blink and rip the whole thing up and get another manager in?

Stability and continuity are key, 3 years doesn't give that.

averages don't work in this case..houllier and benitez both had 6 years each.  hodgson half a season, dalglish a season and a half, and Rodgers 3 and a bit.  so we have not been throwing managers to the lions at a regular rate over 17 years, we have since 2010. so maybe that is an issue worth addressing.  or maybe we are stuck now, top 4 is now seen as us 'over-achieving' and expectations are at their lowest level...a new manager raise hopes, and we are patient enough to allow time to build, stamp his authority on the team, etc. 

there is a different atmosphere amongst the fanbase these days...is it to do with changing times?  or is it a reaction to a change in the relationship with the club? whatever it is the apathy and acceptance of late has been depressing. again, how much fsg and Rodgers have contributed to that is a matter of opinion. personally, I think many fans are jaded by the battle (h&g, anfield, prices, suarez, sterling, etc, etc) and this is dictating responses to results, performances.

[lapapa]

Would have loved to say a proper goodbye. Thank you Brendan.

[Black Bull Nova]

This site feels schitzophrenic, on the one hand there are tributes (rightly) and complaints about Brendan's sacking, elsewhere there are criticisms but also excitement about a new appointment. I think that reflects the confusion and division that exists within people's minds and across the fanbase depending on what bits they prioritise and see.

-We were fantastic in 2013/14 but very poor afterwards
-We were strong with Suarez (unsurprisingly) and less so without
-Brendans buys were poor/strong but we're not sure who's choices they were (TB claiming Sturridge/Markovic/Sakho/Can and -Firmino were TC led)
-We could beat most teams, we couldn't deal with the top 4
-We were OK in the PL, we were shit in europe
-We went on consistently good at times, consistently poor at others
-We were good in attack, we were poor at home
-We scored first, we couldn't keep the lead


That's why it was confusing, we were not, like Newcastle, consistently shit at everything for a long period.

That's why there are those who, whatever they wanted, have doubts, either way. We like life in Black and White (but not stripes) but it's almost always a shade of grey (even Hodgson beat Chelsea to introduce a little tiny spec of grey)


I'll leave the other stuff out where there were differences because it was not relevant

[Fitzy.]

Only just got round to watching MOTD2 from Sunday. The verdict from Shearer and Wright is damning to say the least. It comes across as if they're sticking the knife in. Wright even said anyone could've done well with the 13/14 side - presume he predicted a title challenge for Liverpool at the start of that season.

It does seem that amongst the establishment Rodgers wasn't liked.

[JackWard33]

Only just got round to watching MOTD2 from Sunday. The verdict from Shearer and Wright is damning to say the least. It comes across as if they're sticking the knife in. Wright even said anyone could've done well with the 13/14 side - presume he predicted a title challenge for Liverpool at the start of that season.

It does seem that amongst the establishment Rodgers wasn't liked.

Yeah was discussed earlier - Wright didn't put us in his top 4 pre season... utter revisionist bull shit
And as for Shearer how he has the balls to comment on anyone's management ability after the shit he produced in his short time in charge of Newcastle is beyond me

[karl740]

Only just got round to watching MOTD2 from Sunday. The verdict from Shearer and Wright is damning to say the least. It comes across as if they're sticking the knife in. Wright even said anyone could've done well with the 13/14 side - presume he predicted a title challenge for Liverpool at the start of that season.

It does seem that amongst the establishment Rodgers wasn't likeod.

Think it's more of a case of impartial people calling it what it is and being realistic. Brendan was part of the success of 13/14 but if we are being honest, most attack minded managers could've done a similar job with Suarez/Sturridge in the form of their lives. Just stick those two names up top on the team sheet and everything else just fell into place.

If we are being honest not many wanted Rodgers here in the first place and not many tears will be shed now he has gone. That being said he has handled himself with dignity and I have no doubt that he did give his all and that's all you can ask for, but sometimes it isn't enough.

Hope to see him back in management soon and will be interested to see how he gets on.

[Guz-kop]

Think it's more of a case of impartial people calling it what it is and being realistic. Brendan was part of the success of 13/14 but if we are being honest, most attack minded managers could've done a similar job with Suarez/Sturridge in the form of their lives.

No

[na fir dearg]

Only just got round to watching MOTD2 from Sunday. The verdict from Shearer and Wright is damning to say the least. It comes across as if they're sticking the knife in. Wright even said anyone could've done well with the 13/14 side - presume he predicted a title challenge for Liverpool at the start of that season.

It does seem that amongst the establishment Rodgers wasn't liked.

Does anyone actually take Ian Wright seriously?

[Black Bull Nova]

Does anyone actually take Ian Wright seriously?

Not Mrs Phillips I assume

[Hazell]

Only just got round to watching MOTD2 from Sunday. The verdict from Shearer and Wright is damning to say the least. It comes across as if they're sticking the knife in. Wright even said anyone could've done well with the 13/14 side - presume he predicted a title challenge for Liverpool at the start of that season.

It does seem that amongst the establishment Rodgers wasn't liked.

Everyone's wise after the fact eh? I'm not in the camp as some are on here about the club - certainly not in terms of FSG being the devil and us scrapping for mid table or relegation in the future or how some fans are shit because they felt Rodgers wasn't the man to take us forward (some of the very same who did the same, or much worse, when it came to Rafa and/or Hodgson) - although there does seem to be issues about the how the club's being run on the football side of things, probably not intentionally (I don't see why that would be the case) but more though stubbornness/concessions being made/people not really working together/whatever. No one on here really knows for sure. If that''s the case, let's hope the people at the club and the next manager can work more positively together with the club to move us forward.

What we do know and what we can see are the performances on the pitch and if things haven't worked out since the summer of 2014 because of Rodgers then one can't really say the season before worked irrespective of Rodgers. My feeling about football in general is that the manager/coach are more important than any individual player (it's why I never subscribed to Liverpool just being Gerrard + 10 others and a manager) and Rodgers was the most important person for us during that season. It was a great ride and the revisionism about it (and I've read it on here too) being just down to Suarez is terribly unfair on him. However much things have stagnated since then, Rodgers was still our manager during that season and as such deserves credit for being exactly that. However much people are coming out of the woodwork now, it's nice to see things like this thread here (that despite some of the vitriol directed at him by our own fans whilst he was the manager).

[JackWard33]

Think it's more of a case of impartial people calling it what it is and being realistic. Brendan was part of the success of 13/14 but if we are being honest, most attack minded managers could've done a similar job with Suarez/Sturridge in the form of their lives. Just stick those two names up top on the team sheet and everything else just fell into place.

Very very few managers would have played Gerrard as a lone DM or put Sterling as a 10 or been able to make it work the way it did

(the reason I know that is very few managers have teams that score 100+ goals or teams that have the 5th biggest wage bill in a top league and nearly win it)

[robgomm]

Very very few managers would have played Gerrard as a lone DM or put Sterling as a 10 or been able to make it work the way it did

(the reason I know that is very few managers have teams that score 100+ goals or teams that have the 5th biggest wage bill in a top league and nearly win it)

Absolutely spot on.

[karl740]

Very very few managers would have played Gerrard as a lone DM or put Sterling as a 10 or been able to make it work the way it did

(the reason I know that is very few managers have teams that score 100+ goals or teams that have the 5th biggest wage bill in a top league and nearly win it)

Thats fair. I do think Sterling was at his best when played in the number 10 role and that was down to Rodgers. But the cloud will always remain over him that there was a big possibility Suarez/Sturridge were the main reasons for the success of that season. Obviously there is no way of proving this one way or another but it's not a big surprise a lot of fans/pundits have this opinion.

[john_mac]

Nicely prepared statement as part of a confidentiality clause that.

[Funky_Gibbons]

Very very few managers would have played Gerrard as a lone DM or put Sterling as a 10 or been able to make it work the way it did

(the reason I know that is very few managers have teams that score 100+ goals or teams that have the 5th biggest wage bill in a top league and nearly win it)

Well said. Give the guy the credit he deserves for that season ffs.

[wemmick]

Listening to Klopp talk about Dortmund fans in January last season, and Dortmund fans themselves talk about Klopp and the squad - Liverpool 'fans' ought to take a look at how they 'supported' the team during the rough patches and be ashamed of how they've collectively behaved with Rodgers.

The way the fanbase has behaved itself since last season has been deplorable. Not singling out RAWKites here but just in general and including all the twitter idiots etc - read the comments on any Echo article posted in the last 12 months and its just awful, awful, nasty, personal bullshit. It's as embarrassing as the boos and people leaving their seats early at Anfield. People now try to spin it like its just the last few weeks but thats bullshit. This time last year it was already toxic.

Rodgers is gone, maybe he should have gone in the summer, maybe he deserved to go now, but fuck if it wasn't just a very gross, nasty affair the whole way and those who lacked class most were the ones calling out rodgers for his supposed lack of class - for his white teeth, or whatever other nonsense they could add into their ranting tantrum. Seeing these same nobs post digs at the man after he's been let go on these very forums is just the cherry on the shit cake.

The saddest thing is that from here it only gets worse. If we arent winning every match and outplaying a Barcelona in its prime and winning every trophy the whining will start and gain momentum until history repeats itself.  Then I'll have to wade through a million posts talking about how this or that man isn't big enough for liverpool, etc etc.

You have to wonder how much longer any liverpool supporter can say 'best fans in the world' and keep a straight face.

Depressing stuff.

Well, not exactly, mate. Dortmund supporters were pissed the fuck off. They loved Klopp, but they weren't shy about expressing their ire either.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/_aAeVlACFzg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/_aAeVlACFzg</a>

[KopThat]

Brendan's record against the other managers in the Premier League era. Thoughts?

I added some formatting for you Tommy, after all that good work

League record	played	won	win %	points per game
Rafa Benitez	228	126	55.3	1.90
Brendan Rodgers	122	63	51.6	1.80
Gerard Houllier	216	108	50.0	1.75
Roy Evans	172	83	48.3	1.72
Kenny Dalglish	56	24	42.9	1.52
Graeme Souness	84	32	38.1	1.40
Evans / Houllier	12	4	33.3	1.33
Roy Hodgson	20	7	35.0	1.25

 

Record in cup competitions	played	won	win %
Kenny Dalglish	18	12	67.0
Roy Evans	54	34	63.0
Rafa Benitez	119	69	58.0
Gerard Houllier	89	51	57.0
Roy Hodgson	11	6	55.0
Brendan Rodgers	44	22	50.0
Evans / Houllier	6	3	50.0
Graeme Souness	41	19	46.0

Transfer record	spent	received	net spend
Brendan Rodgers	£291.55m	£200.72m	£90.83m
Kenny Dalglish	£111.28m	£79.1m	£32.18m
Roy Hodgson	£23.85m	£26.05m	- £2.2m
Rafa Benitez	£231.15m	£161.7m	£69.45m
Gerard Houllier	£125.4m	£59.93m	£65.47m
Roy Evans	£43.1m	£15.45m	£27.65m
Graeme Souness	£17.94m	£9.83m	£8.11m

[Redman0151]

I don't really think you can look too much at stuff like PPG over different eras and directly compare them. Football is constantly changing, and there's lots of other situations and events that those stats don't account for, such as having top 4 secured weeks/months before end of season + trophies to fight for.

Ultimately the trophy haul is what is remembered IMO, not the win %

[Xxavi]

^True. You may also add that Rafa's time at Liverpool coincided with the time when English clubs were dominating in Europe. On the positive side, it meant a strong Liverpool is also automatically a strong contender for the Champions League title (that wasn't the case when Rafa actually won it with Liverpool, however).

On the negative side, Rafa was competing with some of the best ManU and Chelsea teams in their history. ManU had Ronaldo, prime Rooney, and a bunch of other stars at the time at their peak. Mourinho's first edition of Chelsea team was also littered with stars, and they were a really hungry, great team. Then you had a classic (bottling) Arsenal team, but certainly stronger than Arsenal of the past 3 seasons, i.e. at least they weren't getting embarrassed by Olympiacos and Dynamo Zagreb.

What I am getting at is that Rodgers' tenure at Liverpool coincided with the best possible time to break the top 4. Ferguson retired, Moyes came in, ManU had a deep crisis, and they are still not completely out of it. Despite their decent results here and there, they are inconsistent, erratic, and shaky, not really a great team, ManU. Chelsea have also been up and down, the second half of last season they were totally shit, they are shit now. ManCity, again, up and down, but perhaps the most consistent of them all. Arsenal are Arsenal, but worse than what they were when Rafa was at Liverpool.

This context should not be forgotten when comparing the numbers of different managers. Top 4 has been at its weakest in the past several years, and this is a great time to break it and establish a consistent top 4 spot.

[Ken-Obi]

It's a good job you're not running the club then.

But we are running the team!

... we're not?

[red mongoose]

http://www.leaguemanagers.com/news/lma-latest/brendan-rodgers-statement/

BRENDAN RODGERS STATEMENT

“I am, of course, incredibly disappointed to be leaving Liverpool Football Club. It has been both an honour and a privilege to manage one of the game’s great clubs for the last three years.

“I have worked every day to represent the club to the best of my ability, to develop both individual players and a team that the club’s magnificent fans can be proud of. There have been some very memorable moments during my time at Liverpool and I would like to thank all of the players for their hard work and commitment. The current squad is one in transition, but they have some real talent and are showing a strong sense of togetherness. I expect to see them continue to grow and develop over the coming weeks and I wish them and my successor well for the rest of the season.

“Liverpool has a magnificent football heritage and I have nothing but respect and admiration for the history, tradition and values that make the city and the club so exceptional. As well as my players, I would like to thank everyone connected with the club; Fenway Sports Group, the Liverpool Directors, in particular Ian Ayre, my coaching staff, the staff throughout the club, the volunteers, the Academy staff and its young players and of course the amazing Liverpool fans for their unwavering support, passion and dedication which has made my time at the club so special. 

“Finally, I would like to give a special mention to John W. Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon. They gave me this great opportunity and even though we will no longer be working together I am sure our relationship and friendship will continue into the future.”

Not at all surprised to see that he showed class to the very end. Well done, Brendan.

[RedBeast]

Whenever someone leaves/dies/resigns the eulogies begin and romanticism sets in. It's like breaking up with a girl. The relationship was getting stale and you knew there was no future but as soon as it's finished and you're alone you start to think that she wasn't so bad and there were happy times, especially at the beginning. Of course, as soon as you meet someone new you believe that they must be the one and this time it's true love.

Firstly, I give Rodgers credit for the title challenge. Whether he accidently stumbled upon the diamond formation or it was a stroke of genius, the fact is, is that he put those players in the best position to succeed. He also found a way to get the best out of Suarez when he was determined to leave.

I've noticed many people talking about him being a good man and a classy person. I've never met Rodgers so I cannot say that this is true or not. However, I don't think the original posters know him either. It makes me cringe when people make these comments. I understand that some have the attitude that when he is gone you say something nice. Personally, I think that there are factual positives to his tenure which can be mentioned rather than speculating as to his personality.

Personally, I believe that Rodgers has been his worst enemy. I do believe that if he had been just that little bit more humble and cooperative, he could have had a long term future with the club. However, his vanity did not allow him to build working relationships within the club.

I do not believe that it is possible, in this day and age, for one person to have control over every element of the club. Even Ferguson toward the end of his tenure at United had delegated many functions to others including coaching and player identification. The make up of Rodgers' support team also made it fairly obvious that he was not in favour of having any well credentialed football people around him to challenge his thinking. For this reason, an experience DOF would never have sat well with Rodgers. Yet, I think this would have been exactly what he needed. Belief in yourself is an admirable quality but it is dangerous when you do not believe in anyone else.

My biggest issue with him is that he allowed his pride to damage the team and, just as bad, damage the players. The reports now surfacing around his struggle with the TC confirm the suspicions that many have had about Rodgers' politicking. At the end of the day, he was not operating in the best interest of the team. His selection of Lovren ahead of Sakho not only hurt Liverpool but hurt Sakho's international career. I believe that it is unforgivable to play with the careers of people, particularly young ones, as a device to prove a point or win a power struggle. For this reason, and some others, I do not believe that Rodgers has the requisite character to be a Liverpool manager. As I have mentioned before, our best managers have always been all about the team. Their concern has been for the collective. When Benitez was warring against the cancers, you never got the impression through his comments that he had any other thought apart from putting a winning team together. Even though he is acknowledged as a tactical genius by all and sundry (he is credited for inventing the 4231), he never waxed lyrical about how he masterminded a win or how his management of a player has turned them around.

I think Klopp will create the team atmosphere and passion that is needed at the club. I also think that he is confident enough in his own abilities to allow others to help him to take us where we need to go.

I think Rodgers is suited to a smaller club at this time. He is like one of those players that needs to have a team built around them to be most effective but are not quite good enough for that to happen at a top team. To the club's credit, I don't think that any of the other top 6 teams in the premiership would have ep Rodgers on after last season (maybe Arsenal).

I do wish him the best of luck with his career and hope that he also gets the stability that he needs in his personal life. I hope that he does see his time with us as a learning experience. If he does, I think he will get to manage a big club again. However, if he blames his failure on everyone else, he will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes again.

[Lolo]

Thanks for all your efforts Brendan. I'm sorry it never worked out. So near, yet so far!

Onward.......

[A Dick]

I think it's a shame we ever hired Brendan in the first place. He was not ready for such a big job and now we've fired him he'll most likely never manage us again. However, I firmly believe he'll go on to be a world class manager and if we'd waited we could have had him 10 years from now. He understood the values of the club and it's a shame we didn't get to enjoy him at his peak.

[Pistolero]

Whenever someone leaves/dies/resigns the eulogies begin and romanticism sets in. It's like breaking up with a girl. The relationship was getting stale and you knew there was no future but as soon as it's finished and you're alone you start to think that she wasn't so bad and there were happy times, especially at the beginning. Of course, as soon as you meet someone new you believe that they must be the one and this time it's true love.

Firstly, I give Rodgers credit for the title challenge. Whether he accidently stumbled upon the diamond formation or it was a stroke of genius, the fact is, is that he put those players in the best position to succeed. He also found a way to get the best out of Suarez when he was determined to leave.

I've noticed many people talking about him being a good man and a classy person. I've never met Rodgers so I cannot say that this is true or not. However, I don't think the original posters know him either. It makes me cringe when people make these comments. I understand that some have the attitude that when he is gone you say something nice. Personally, I think that there are factual positives to his tenure which can be mentioned rather than speculating as to his personality.

Personally, I believe that Rodgers has been his worst enemy. I do believe that if he had been just that little bit more humble and cooperative, he could have had a long term future with the club. However, his vanity did not allow him to build working relationships within the club.

I do not believe that it is possible, in this day and age, for one person to have control over every element of the club. Even Ferguson toward the end of his tenure at United had delegated many functions to others including coaching and player identification. The make up of Rodgers' support team also made it fairly obvious that he was not in favour of having any well credentialed football people around him to challenge his thinking. For this reason, an experience DOF would never have sat well with Rodgers. Yet, I think this would have been exactly what he needed. Belief in yourself is an admirable quality but it is dangerous when you do not believe in anyone else.

My biggest issue with him is that he allowed his pride to damage the team and, just as bad, damage the players. The reports now surfacing around his struggle with the TC confirm the suspicions that many have had about Rodgers' politicking. At the end of the day, he was not operating in the best interest of the team. His selection of Lovren ahead of Sakho not only hurt Liverpool but hurt Sakho's international career. I believe that it is unforgivable to play with the careers of people, particularly young ones, as a device to prove a point or win a power struggle. For this reason, and some others, I do not believe that Rodgers has the requisite character to be a Liverpool manager. As I have mentioned before, our best managers have always been all about the team. Their concern has been for the collective. When Benitez was warring against the cancers, you never got the impression through his comments that he had any other thought apart from putting a winning team together. Even though he is acknowledged as a tactical genius by all and sundry (he is credited for inventing the 4231), he never waxed lyrical about how he masterminded a win or how his management of a player has turned them around.

I think Klopp will create the team atmosphere and passion that is needed at the club. I also think that he is confident enough in his own abilities to allow others to help him to take us where we need to go.

I think Rodgers is suited to a smaller club at this time. He is like one of those players that needs to have a team built around them to be most effective but are not quite good enough for that to happen at a top team. To the club's credit, I don't think that any of the other top 6 teams in the premiership would have ep Rodgers on after last season (maybe Arsenal).

I do wish him the best of luck with his career and hope that he also gets the stability that he needs in his personal life. I hope that he does see his time with us as a learning experience. If he does, I think he will get to manage a big club again. However, if he blames his failure on everyone else, he will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes again.

good post that...

[ThePoolMan]

Whenever someone leaves/dies/resigns the eulogies begin and romanticism sets in. It's like breaking up with a girl. The relationship was getting stale and you knew there was no future but as soon as it's finished and you're alone you start to think that she wasn't so bad and there were happy times, especially at the beginning. Of course, as soon as you meet someone new you believe that they must be the one and this time it's true love.

Firstly, I give Rodgers credit for the title challenge. Whether he accidently stumbled upon the diamond formation or it was a stroke of genius, the fact is, is that he put those players in the best position to succeed. He also found a way to get the best out of Suarez when he was determined to leave.

I've noticed many people talking about him being a good man and a classy person. I've never met Rodgers so I cannot say that this is true or not. However, I don't think the original posters know him either. It makes me cringe when people make these comments. I understand that some have the attitude that when he is gone you say something nice. Personally, I think that there are factual positives to his tenure which can be mentioned rather than speculating as to his personality.

Personally, I believe that Rodgers has been his worst enemy. I do believe that if he had been just that little bit more humble and cooperative, he could have had a long term future with the club. However, his vanity did not allow him to build working relationships within the club.

I do not believe that it is possible, in this day and age, for one person to have control over every element of the club. Even Ferguson toward the end of his tenure at United had delegated many functions to others including coaching and player identification. The make up of Rodgers' support team also made it fairly obvious that he was not in favour of having any well credentialed football people around him to challenge his thinking. For this reason, an experience DOF would never have sat well with Rodgers. Yet, I think this would have been exactly what he needed. Belief in yourself is an admirable quality but it is dangerous when you do not believe in anyone else.

My biggest issue with him is that he allowed his pride to damage the team and, just as bad, damage the players. The reports now surfacing around his struggle with the TC confirm the suspicions that many have had about Rodgers' politicking. At the end of the day, he was not operating in the best interest of the team. His selection of Lovren ahead of Sakho not only hurt Liverpool but hurt Sakho's international career. I believe that it is unforgivable to play with the careers of people, particularly young ones, as a device to prove a point or win a power struggle. For this reason, and some others, I do not believe that Rodgers has the requisite character to be a Liverpool manager. As I have mentioned before, our best managers have always been all about the team. Their concern has been for the collective. When Benitez was warring against the cancers, you never got the impression through his comments that he had any other thought apart from putting a winning team together. Even though he is acknowledged as a tactical genius by all and sundry (he is credited for inventing the 4231), he never waxed lyrical about how he masterminded a win or how his management of a player has turned them around.

I think Klopp will create the team atmosphere and passion that is needed at the club. I also think that he is confident enough in his own abilities to allow others to help him to take us where we need to go.

I think Rodgers is suited to a smaller club at this time. He is like one of those players that needs to have a team built around them to be most effective but are not quite good enough for that to happen at a top team. To the club's credit, I don't think that any of the other top 6 teams in the premiership would have ep Rodgers on after last season (maybe Arsenal).

I do wish him the best of luck with his career and hope that he also gets the stability that he needs in his personal life. I hope that he does see his time with us as a learning experience. If he does, I think he will get to manage a big club again. However, if he blames his failure on everyone else, he will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes again.

It is not anti-success for a single man to have the final say on all footballing matters for the first team at a club. That was the power that Benitez had at Liverpool and we did not do too badly. The proviso however is that he must be able to bear that burden competently.

In the end Rodgers' estimation of his ability was vastly in excess of reality. He was a sophomore manager who was still having his training wheels and he was fit only at best to be the manager of a mid level club like Swansea. He had potential but nowhere near as high as the British press and other local footballing figures thought he had. People always said he was a young manager for the honour of being Liverpool manager but Benitez for example was younger than him when he became manager and he had already by that time won two La Ligas and one European trophy. Rodgers was no wonderkind.

He had not earned the right to be manager of a club aspiring for the top 4 and European competition like Liverpool  and the pressure to perform in the end broke him.

[fowlermagic]

I don't think Brendan will lose much sleep when he checks his golden handshake bank balance next week and he can point out that no matter who was in charge, LFC has failed to do any better than he did 16 months ago over the past 25 years. No doubt even with Klopp in charge we will see the same old threads popping up in a year or two explaining why we cant consistently push above our weight.

[boots]

Sad to see him go. He tried. But he lost my support after the 1- 6 stoke result. I wish him well.

[Les Willis]

I work with a whole bunch of Man Utd fans. Every one of them is totally gutted that Brendan is gone. Which kind of indicates that maybe it was time to move him on.