Brendan Rodgers – Criminal Intent

Brendan Rodgers – Criminal Intent.

If there is one thing worse than a poor loser then surely it is someone unable to accept victory no matter the cost. The striving to ascend and achieve , without excuse & above all showing an ambition to constantly perform to a higher level as is possible – Above all endeavour, success.

Brendan Rodgers – Rabbit Rabbit Yap Yap.

To quote a famous Shankly quote;

“If a man….who’s playing in front of the public, is being well paid, and he doesn’t dedicate himself to the job, I’d be hard on him. If I could I would put him in jail, out of the road of society. Because he’s a menace”

This week Brendan Rodgers would put himself precariously in the High Court of Shankly, he would assume the role of menace, even if only in words he would be guilty as charged as he lacked Shank’s expected dedication. His crime would be that of suggesting that perhaps not qualifying for European Football next season may be a blessing in disguise, as Liverpool would have a greater chance of finishing within the elite top four of next seasons Premier League – Without such distractions.

Firstly and to add balance Rodgers exact quote –

“We would love to be in there and we want to finish as high as we possibly can, but it won’t be the end of the world if we don’t qualify for Europe. If it doesn’t happen then it could end up being a blessing for us”.

Liverpool’s abject failure to qualify for even a Europa League place should be seen as a complete disaster in terms of the clubs statue and as such Rodgers rather than looking for & finding a silver lining in a sows ear of a campaign, would be far better suited to expressing the unacceptable position of this great club – It would be no less than three weeks ago when Rodgers opinion; albeit it agenda ridden; Liverpool could achieve a coveted top four position.

This seems to be the agenda for Brendan Rodgers – self-preservation. At times like this his rhetoric becomes rather less palatable. Indeed unacceptable. Does he expect supporters to become apathetic toward success, by his reasoning our early exits from both The F.A. Cup and League Cup should surely have resulted in a far greater league position this season – Failure excused by future triumphs, losing battles to have opportunity to attend the war.

Rodgers expectation for his Liverpool team has been up & down on more occasions, than a whores knickers, & with it the fans expectations have become watered down with each passing week or press conference.

It costs nothing to kiss The Blarney Stone. It appears that this season Rodgers has made many a pilgrimage to west Cork & Blarney Castle. His chat has become rather nonsensical at times, more reminiscent of Allardyce, Redknapp or Steve McLaren – As much as I like our manager for footballing reasons and remain less reticent as regard this, I am increasingly concerned around his discourse, at times completely embarrassed by it.

I do however understand he is a young man still finding his feet at one of the world’s biggest clubs. With my critique I do feel rather like I am criticizing my friend’s new Adidas trainers for appearing slightly garish.

Football managers do not have, or indeed expect immunity from supporter’s intent on clarification and justification, through their medium of criticism. Blindly following the messiah whilst unable to see and point out his shortcomings won’t win trophies. As Bill Shankly said “is being well paid” –

Abraham Lincoln once said “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”

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Brendan Rodgers – Trouble With The Learning Curve

When Brendan Rodgers was appointed as the new manager of Liverpool Football Club in June 2012, many Liverpool supporters would find themselves with the dilemma of fully supporting his new regime, whilst on the other hand wanting to be respectful to the outgoing manager Kenny Dalglish. Something was not quite right about the fast pace at which they were asked to accept this new love, whilst the office chair was still warm from the previous incumbent.

Rodgers would come armed with a briefcase full of his Tiki-taka spread sheets intent on impressing upon his new charges and supporters, this philosophy of pass & move, unfortunately for Rodgers many Liverpool supporters had their own knowledge of a passing game, having been educated by forefathers schooled in the science, through preceptors like Shankly, Paisley & Dalglish amongst others.

Managing Liverpool would be fraught with a danger all of its own over the previous 20 years, a public whose expectation at times has outweighed a footballing & business reality, where once Liverpool and its owners The Moore’s family would be the richest club on the high street, today they would find themselves playing second, third & fourth fiddle to cash rich Russian’s and Arabs. Liverpool’s fanatical support however has not lowered its expectation, or taken into account this new more able adversary scrapping for its own object of desire – silverware.

It is not just Brendan Rodgers who would find it difficult to compete in this new footballing market-place, where financial hindrances make it essential that young managers are far more savvy in both the transfer market & development of the clubs own young talent. Sometimes the decline of a whole institution like Liverpool Football Club can go un-noticed until it has receded to an extent where the fix takes longer than the decline.

Coming together –

The new finance that has flooded football has meant the rewriting of history & to a certain degree the consequence being obliteration of history, other than from Liverpool’s supporters own perspective, the clubs own history is in fact used as a stick to beat it with, made to be embarrassed by its rich history, for many of its new foes, fundamentally it has become meaningless.

So what will be success for Brendan Rodgers? Liverpool supporters will only be placated with winning trophies & as much as Rodgers can be seen to improve the club or its playing staff, where this season he and they have received plaudits, criticism has also followed with accusations of a lack of fight or passion from his troops at times. If he is going to field young inexperienced sides then supporters have to expect the learning process will not be such a palatable dish at times.

The owners decision to relinquish Kenny Dalglish of the reins would also mean the club taking  a massive backwards step in its five-year plan, there is no doubt that this has also hindered Rodgers in terms of the type of progress that was going to be seen in one yet unfinished season, against a backdrop of two visits to Wembley last season under Dalglish, Rodgers would always be up against it whilst fans would unfairly compare that season forgetful that the club had remained without a trophy since 2006, albeit they were qualifying for The Champions League regularly during this time.

It would be naïve for fans of the club to purely look away & allow a huge reverse in its fortunes or standing, ever wary that FSG’s responsibility and commitment to the franchise they have acquired, their financial input & reinvestment of the massive financial rewards that a club like Liverpool generate, even through times of very little success on the field. It is not about dipping its fingers into the petty cash tin once in a while, it must be reinvestment & this will be the only way the club can become stable whilst turnover grows year on year like it has. If the owners have confidence in Brendan Rodgers then of course he must be backed financially and the verbal support it has so far during its stewardship been lacking must be added when required.

FSG must reinvest –

Has Rodgers made mistakes? For sure he has, for a young manager in his first season at one of the World’s most iconic football clubs have those mistakes taken the club backwards? Tactically at times he has been found wanting with very little in terms of a plan B. The accusation being levelled at him is one; that when we struggle to break teams down there becomes a reliance on continuing on the very tactic that has reaped little success, as arrogantly we stick to plan A, with no adaptation. To be fair to Rodgers lately we have seen a rather different approach, this coinciding with acquisitions of quality with Daniel Sturridge & Philippe Coutinho seemingly making a difference in approach, whilst also offering Rodgers options that seemed lacking through the early season.

The players have no excuse to push on in this final section of the season, there is no pressure as in effect our campaign has run out of steam, we can only assume a possibility of a top 6 finish will be enough to spur the squad & Rodgers on. The plan for next season has to be in place & whether Rodgers is a success as Liverpool manager cannot be decided at the conclusion of this season, rather in the next two.

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Brendan Rodgers Revolution – Lacking Warriors!!

With all the talk around Anfield centring on the much-lauded excuse of a lack of fire power, with Liverpool’s willingness to dump a multi-million pound striker whilst leaving itself woefully short in that position, Liverpool’s defensive frailty and a lack of heart in its midfield has mainly gone unrecognised.

The Stoke City game was a prime example of the many flaws the side have at this moment, which are being overlooked by the no striker’s situation, how we were bullied, out thought and out ran. Stoke to their credit and this hurts a purist like myself, were fantastic on the night, playing some excellent football alongside an attitude of no surrender, possibly even if we had one of the great sides from our illustrious history out on the field that night they may have also been defeated.

Criticism of the Rodgers regime & of course his tactics and selections, must be tempered with the knowledge that this is a small building block this season, indeed for myself I am quite prepared to give my critic with that knowledge that it is a 3-5 year plan. With that in mind the vitriol of my pen is quite blunted, ever wary that a brutal truth has no place in this so far short journey.

Head scratching decisions from the manager!!!

There will always be a requirement at Anfield to produce, both players & manager the prerequisite of the huge support always afforded those players & manager – Lately the shirt which historically has changed the ordinary as if magically from average to great, is now it seems lost amongst the mediocrity around the fields of Anfield Road.

Where are those that would die for this club, those who would not flinch when faced with the ultimate challenge of getting deep in the trenches whilst facing its foe – Liverpool do not have such players, such Warriors. The one man who could always be relied upon when the chips are down – Steven Gerrard seems lacking the edge to his game which was synonymous with everything the captain did, the Warrior seems weakened by his new-found role.

Even the centre appears to have gone soft, from Reina, Skrtel and Agger they seem slightly at odds with the type of style that Rodgers is attempting to perfect – And that word seems to be the problem PERFECT. Unless you can pass a football, then you will always be under pressure in a passing team, for all Skrtel’s many qualities, facing forward and passing the football in the same direction appears not to come naturally, add to this that he appears uncomfortable when being bullied by opposing strikers, for a senior player there seems some work still to be done.

My fear for Brendan Rodgers lies within an argument that perhaps we have the wrong personnel for such a plan to readily take on to the battle field, some may have been his own making, whilst the majority have been thrust upon him, those of a certain age will remember when Graeme Souness took over the reins from Kenny Dalglish and duly went about dismantling the team at super-sonic speed, whilst unintentionally destabilising this great institution in the process, this club has never recovered from those actions.

So the fans have a choice to stand by and accept that we and the manager need time, time for the disposal of services whilst nurturing the talent we have at the club, giving talent the opportunity to make their way in the game, we must remember how young some of those players are, Rodgers also owes it to these young players to flower the squad and team with experience.

Where the next warrior comes from I believe will be our next key signing, every top team or even mediocre team has to have its fair share of fighters, those required in the trenches – Over to you Brendan.

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Brendan Rodgers Pass or Move on…….

So the majority of Liverpool supporters are beginning to take on board Brendan Rodgers himself – his footballing philosophies, which have given supporters a mood of optimism. Regurgitated over the last few years, but somehow, someway this feels different.

We will very soon find out as to whether the packaging has indeed changed alongside its substance – Talk is cheap and God we have heard enough of that since Rodgers took the helm in the Kings chair. Although I like the rhetoric there does seem to be a part of me that nags at my conscience with words like “I have heard it all before”.

We started off with Rodgers stating what a difficult job he had, quite rightly dampening the mass hysteria and expectation that comes from within Anfield and from the terraces. Interestingly the last two media friendly press conferences have included talk of Liverpool achieving dominance in the English game once again – akin to the 1970s and 1980s. That old steam train which would derail us through a barren 20 odd years is once again leaving the station before the latest Nike football has been kicked into row Z by Charlie Adam.

This is Liverpool Football Club and of course it would be extremely difficult not to get carried along in a river of red, but drowning in such expectation has become a regular occurrence over these last few years.

The league form under Dalglish was at the best poor, at the worst disastrous – with a side that at times did play some great football, all be it too infrequently and more likely it lacked fire in its belly. However much Rodgers believes he is imparting this new style to our masses must not forget that most of us cannot be taught to suck eggs – with such talk the pressures he is putting on this new Liverpool could quickly become insurmountable – weighing down hopes with the burden of expectation.

Brendan Rodgers Talking A Good Game

The Andy Carroll story – a tale of two halves from last season, has already this term divided and disconnected the fans, many want to see the big man given the opportunity to progress, flourish, and grow inside Anfield. Brendan Rodgers I feel has a very different opinion about Carrolls part, or not, that Carroll has in the revolution. Interesting that the talk has included giving younger players an opportunity to show what they can do – obviously this seems not to apply to Carroll.

The “Beautiful Game” has to have many faces – criticism aimed at clubs like Arsenal, Madrid and even Spain during the European Championships is that such ideology only has one plan – no plan B. The Premiership past winners have always mage to procure an ability to win ugly – Surely a player that offers such a way in a collection of all those particular skill sets is Andy Carroll.

In business terms to take a huge hit on the £35 million which the club paid for Andy Carroll makes little if no sense, sure Brendan Rodgers must be under immense pressure to find funds to recruit the players he believes will enhance the Tiki Taka style of football he prefers – I would prefer to lose Downing for what I assume would be a similar fee.

In a way Brendan Rodgers has a much more difficult conundrum to face than his recent predecessors because when he looks around at assets that may bring in some financial gain the box is empty, he can’t sell Suarez or Gerrard, a breakup of the central defensive pairing would be seen as foolhardy, as would selling Pepe Reina.

Rodgers has spoken on many occasions about the strength of mind to work and to succeed – a winning mentality and mind-set yet we are in the process of recruiting players that have not been under such pressures and have won next to nothing, we have personnel in the shape of Stewart Downing who you would assume does not fit that criteria – I am not myself sure what such an answer should be, fortunately I am not in Rodgers position.

Stewart Downing Does He Fit The Profile ?

I am not too sure that Liverpool supporters fully appreciate the task that Rodgers has taken on, the very small building blocks that he has to work with – how essential it is that he gets into The Champions League as quickly as possible to ultimately put the plan in action. I have always thought that The Champions League has made any sort of success gained elsewhere within the season a kind of irrelevance, which is very sad – but money talks in this modern game.

Liverpool is a great club, a great institution supported around the globe – an iconic brand, its football team however right now is NOT – there lies the problem, until the supporters accept that this is the case and we need to build, with Brendan Rodgers given the correct amount of time to attempt the job.

When we look at this season, it may actually have to be written off in terms of Champions League, which may well be what supporters have to accept, what Kenny Dalglish called a “realism check” as painful as it might be.

I have liked Rodgers and what he has had to say, however I am waiting to see the proof in the pudding, an evidence that we are working toward a goal, and of course that technically we have improved – this is what has been promised, along with the strong-minded individuals who remain fearless in possession of a football – something I find hard to accept with some of our players, but time will tell – whether it remains Pass & Move or purely – Move On.

Will Brendan Rogers be given the full support of The Kop? This will be determined by the exacting of such of plan, the systems and tactics and the squad of players he assembles, the one thing we will not accept is mediocrity which we have seen matches sprinkled with over the last few seasons. If he does nothing more than instil in the minds and hearts of players what that shirt means, not only to the supporters but what it should mean to the players themselves – then the supporters will be won over.

You can find me on Twitter https://twitter.com/christobinsings