Brendan Rodgers. No excuses this time?

 I've been one of Brendans biggest supporters on here and I'm made up that the owners have not only kept him on, but it looks like they're properly backing him in the transfer market too. Not only that, they've gone with him on his backroom changes and it appears to me anyway that they've completely got in behind him.

 So here's the rub (and I'm assuming we get Benteke here) to my mind from here there can be no excuses. None of this "It takes time to bed lots of new players in" nonsense, none of this "we aren't getting time to train" bollocks, we and Brendan has to deliver. Deliver what exactly? Well I aren't like some on here, I don't demand that he does the quadruple, pens the Eurovision song contest winner and comes up with the solution to Greek debt crisis before next May. What I do demand though is that we become a credible challenging team BY THE END OF THE SEASON. I put that bit in capitals because as everyone knows, we have a very tough start. If we start badly or even averagely badly, that simply means we have to go on a sustained run of winning football matches before the end of the season. However we do it I don't really care, but to my mind we have to put in a credible challenge for one or more of the top four places in the league. That doesn't mean we're "aiming for fourth" as of course we're "aiming" for first, but it does mean that being seven or eight points outside of the top four with four or five games to go and needing snookers isn't good enough. Last seasons performance for example would be in my eyes nowhere near good enough.

 In the cups of course lots depends upon the draw. If we lose at Chelsea away I can live with that if we get done in a tight match. Losing to Aston Villa on a neutral ground though in a cup semi final is bollocks, it was bollocks last season and it would be bollocks this. If such an eventuality or upset were to occur, in my eyes we really ought to be compensating for it in another competition. Whichever way you look at it though we need to improve and drastically, or there's nowhere to hide.

 Anyway given our squad and the fact the manager has been backed re his targets on players (assuming we get Benteke) and his backroom, this for me is this seasons "par".

 1. It is extremely unlikely but not completely impossible that we could win the league. While I accept it is unlikely, we ought to approach the season with a challengers mentality. While it is entirely possible if we are managed well that we could finish in any spot from 1-4, "par" for me would be definitely no lower than fifth, and if we do miss out on the top four it should only be by the tiniest of margins. Anything less is not good enough, no excuses.

 2. We should not be losing to teams like Aston Villa on a neutral ground in cup semi finals, certainly not in the manner we did where we were completely outplayed and outfought. If they completely fluke the win a la the Mancs in the Champions League final against Bayern there's not too much you can do, but even if that happens their goal should be under siege for the last 20 minutes.

 3. The Europa League I don't give a flying f*** about, and I should hope neither will Brendan unless we get to the last eight even though we are playing a scratch team every week. As such, I won't be criticising him if we get knocked out by AEK Dukla Transylvania or some such nonsense, but neither do I want to hear a "lack of training time" excuse.



 It's time to deliver, now.   

3. The Europa League I don't give a flying f*** about, and I should hope neither will Brendan unless we get to the last eight even though we are playing a scratch team every week. As such, I won't be criticising him if we get knocked out by AEK Dukla Transylvania or some such nonsense, but neither do I want to hear a "lack of training time" excuse.

I think we should go all out to win it, guaranteed Champions League place for the winner, yes start off playing a second fiddle team against the minnows, but once sh*t gets serious, I expect Brendan's team sheet to match that, its time he started getting some good European experience under his hat.

Plus depending on who the likes of Arsenal, Utd, Chelsea, City and even Spurs sign this summer, then top 4 maybe a little harder to achieve than we think.

So what your saying Mick is, it all depends on Benteke (if we buy him) how our season unfolds & the excuse laid out with our tough start?.

I'm expecting a challenge this season with a trophy & I don't care how some care less about the Carling Cup,FA & the Europa, all 3 competitions have made us the most successful English team, let's not dismiss them so easily.

I think we should go all out to win it, guaranteed Champions League place for the winner, yes start off playing a second fiddle team against the minnows, but once sh*t gets serious, I expect Brendan's team sheet to match that, its time he started getting some good European experience under his hat.

Plus depending on who the likes of Arsenal, Utd, Chelsea, City and even Spurs sign this summer, then top 4 maybe a little harder to achieve than we think.

Agree with this.

Also, it's a trophy!

So what your saying Mick is, it all depends on Benteke (if we buy him) how our season unfolds & the excuse laid out with our tough start?.

I'm expecting a challenge this season with a trophy & I don't care how some care less about the Carling Cup,FA & the Europa, all 3 competitions have made us the most successful English team, let's not dismiss them so easily.

I know you are mate, and if Brendan can discover a cure for cancer while he's on the team bus more the better. That's good though, it's all opinions and all that. If we arrive in a cup semi final against Villa again and the other semi is made up of Swansea and Leicester, I'll "expect" a trophy too. As it is though with lots of rounds to negotiate I'll not "expect" anything until I see who we're actually playing against, and where we're playing them. In the league, I'm well aware you "expect" a challenge, but I'd rather err on the side of being sensible if that's OK with you. I didn't "expect" a challenge the year before last at the start of that season (it took me a couple of months to come to that conclusion), but like then I think if we are going to seriously challenge for the title we'll need a perfect storm.

I don't know how many times I'm going to have to remind you of this, but we've only won one trophy in the last nine seasons, under four different managers. Equally, in the last six seasons (under the same four different managers) we've only finished in the top four the grand total of once (that was under Brendan in the aforementioned year, the same year we challenged for the title coincidently). Previous to that we used to finish in the top four usually, but since Manchester City have emerged with their huge spending power, our place at the top table has only been occasional (under four different managers).

All that said, I think that THIS SEASON GIVEN HOW THE OWNERS HAVE BACKED BRENDAN, we really ought to be able to make a very decent fist of it. By that I mean much better than Benitez's final effort, obviously much better than Hodgson's effort, much better in the league than either of the kings efforts, and much better than two out of three of Brendans efforts. Yes I'd love a trophy but I don't "expect" one, also I'd love Brendans second title challenge but I don't "expect" one of those either.

What I do "expect" infact "demand", is a decent and a sustained effort which sees us in and around the top four from Christmas onwards. Yes we've got a tricky start which may see us with a bit of ground to make up, but by the seasons end I "expect" us to be right in the mix. If we aren't given the support the manager has had (assuming we get Benteke), I would think we ought to look elsewhere. I guess that's the difference between us though Shabs, you "expect" things in the hope that you'll be able to frame an argument come the seasons end which will show we ought to get rid of the manager, whereas I don't.     

I know you are mate, and if Brendan can discover a cure for cancer while he's on the team bus more the better. That's good though, it's all opinions and all that. If we arrive in a cup semi final against Villa again and the other semi is made up of Swansea and Leicester, I'll "expect" a trophy too. As it is though with lots of rounds to negotiate I'll not "expect" anything until I see who we're actually playing against, and where we're playing them. In the league, I'm well aware you "expect" a challenge, but I'd rather err on the side of being sensible if that's OK with you. I didn't "expect" a challenge the year before last at the start of that season (it took me a couple of months to come to that conclusion), but like then I think if we are going to seriously challenge for the title we'll need a perfect storm.

I don't know how many times I'm going to have to remind you of this, but we've only won one trophy in the last nine seasons, under four different managers. Equally, in the last six seasons (under the same four different managers) we've only finished in the top four the grand total of once (that was under Brendan in the aforementioned year, the same year we challenged for the title coincidently). Previous to that we used to finish in the top four usually, but since Manchester City have emerged with their huge spending power, our place at the top table has only been occasional (under four different managers).

All that said, I think that THIS SEASON GIVEN HOW THE OWNERS HAVE BACKED BRENDAN, we really ought to be able to make a very decent fist of it. By that I mean much better than Benitez's final effort, obviously much better than Hodgson's effort, much better in the league than either of the kings efforts, and much better than two out of three of Brendans efforts. Yes I'd love a trophy but I don't "expect" one, also I'd love Brendans second title challenge but I don't "expect" one of those either.

What I do "expect" infact "demand", is a decent and a sustained effort which sees us in and around the top four from Christmas onwards. Yes we've got a tricky start which may see us with a bit of ground to make up, but by the seasons end I "expect" us to be right in the mix. If we aren't given the support the manager has had (assuming we get Benteke), I would think we ought to look elsewhere. I guess that's the difference between us though Shabs, you "expect" things in the hope that you'll be able to frame an argument come the seasons end which will show we ought to get rid of the manager, whereas I don't.     

Not looking to frame anything or have an agenda, I held the opinion Rodgers should have been sacked last season & still do however that's not happened and he has now been given support in the market to challenge not just in the league but the cups too something that I expect of all Liverpool managers to do.

You carry on though laying the ground work for excuses.

& remind me again how many seasons has it been we won a trophy since Kenny was sacked and replaced by a manager who has had the financial backing to win silverware?.

Not looking to frame anything or have an agenda, I held the opinion Rodgers should have been sacked last season & still do however that's not happened and he has now been given support in the market to challenge not just in the league but the cups too something that I expect of all Liverpool managers to do.

You carry on though laying the ground work for excuses.

Unbelievable  . I don't think I could be any clearer what I expect from the manager and the team if I tried, even in the title of the thread I've made it clear. Lets just agree to differ mate, and of course you "don't have an agenda"  . 

Disagree.

-United have improved greatly.
-Arsenal Have improved greatly.
-Chelsea are the champions and have strengthened.
Our best hope is City being shyte, and self-imploding.

4th will still be tough for us from a logical standpoint.

But if we see real improvements from a team standpoint I'll be happy that we are headed in the right direction. CL footy would be a bonus. But i don't expect our fans to be so level headed.

We should not be losing to teams like Aston Villa

Every team has their share of teams they 'shouldnt' be losing too. But it did happen too much last season. But lets be realistic, it happens, teams drop point. This is why we love football.

The question is - can it get any worse than last season?
Last season we lost Suarez and Sturridge for the most of the season, and lots of new players comming in So we know how that went.
This season only Sterling left but he didnt have an impact Suarez did.
Now the players tat came in last season can only get better and we have Firmino. Benteke very likelly to join.

Think the team will be much stronger and will get the better results than last season but so will other top 6 teams.
A lot will depend on what results we get from matches with those.

The Mac's back so I'm expecting the treble again 

I just want to watch Liverpool playing good football again, that's first and foremost. People can get hung up a lot on trophies and yes they are important but for me... I just want to enjoy watching Liverpool play, so long as Rodger's can bring that back to me, then I'm happy with him.

The Mac's back so I'm expecting the treble again 

He's not playing though! 

I'm honestly not going into the new season with any set in stone expectations, all I hope for is, to be able to enjoy watching football again.
Last season's capitulation was soul destroying. We've got some tidy players now, the standard of our football should be much improved, and if we can get that team spirit from season's ago, we could achieve good things.

I just want to watch Liverpool playing good football again, that's first and foremost. People can get hung up a lot on trophies and yes they are important but for me... I just want to enjoy watching Liverpool play, so long as Rodger's can bring that back to me, then I'm happy with him.

Beat me to it 

He's not playing though! 

I'm honestly not going into the new season with any set in stone expectations, all I hope for is, to be able to enjoy watching football again.
Last season's capitulation was soul destroying. We've got some tidy players now, the standard of our football should be much improved, and if we can get that team spirit from season's ago, we could achieve good things.

Said the same in the other thread mate.  I have a good feeling about the season though for no particular reason other than its a fresh start for everyone.

Beat me to it 

It's the most important thing mate. Say what you want about trophies if we play a boring brand of football and win the league cup that's not what I love about this game. I love football and I'll go out of my way to watch good football, if I can watch my favourite team and at the same time enjoy real quality football, well then I'd rather be nowhere else. If I just get to watch my favourite team... It's just not the same no matter what pieced bit of shaped silver they parade around.

Depends if BR has learnt from last year. And the team are still behind him.

The Mac's back so I'm expecting the treble again 

The quadruple would be better because it means we would be league champions at long last.

LFC under BR has a bad string of results against the top 4. Not saying we have played badly but we tend to lose. Conversely Utd won the league (with Ronaldo) a few years back and I think they only one 1 game from 8 against top 4 ( might have been the year we finished second under Rafa) and had the worst record of the top 4 against each other ( and obviously a bad record it was). 2 things, we need to beat the other 15 teams and maybe we get some good results against the other 4 just because statistically we r due. Also, we should be doing our best in the EL.

Good sensible posts from Mick in here. I see comprehension of English isn't the strongest part of somebody's language skills - accusing you of getting the excuses in early. It's the same old sh*te     

I generally agree with you Mick in what you are saying; from my perspective I still think we need to make a couple of quality signings, at least before we allow Rodgers "no excuses" from this point on.

With Sterling gone, Gerrard gone, I still think we need to add quality (yes we've got Milner) so a DM and a striker should be sufficient enough, I think. However, if Rodgers only goes on to sign one more quality player, and say he sees Benteke as the final piece of the jigsaw. Then of course he will have no excuses come the beginning of the season, if this is the squad he thinks will be able to tackle all cups and comps.

Anyway, Rodgers has a cup now. 

The Mac's back so I'm expecting the treble again 

I've heard, when it comes to the kids today, they don't care about the treble, as it's all about that bass.

No Excuses

I've heard, when it comes to the kids today, they don't care about the treble, as it's all about that bass.

?

Keeping Rodgers on after such a disastrous season might be the best decision FSG will ever make at LFC.

I thought it then and I think it now, that the Gaffer is a great manager who is simply making mistakes due to him learning the game at the highest level. He's shown time and again that he learns from mistakes (95% of the time - nobody is perfect and this is a marathon not a sprint) and the signings he's made so far only serve as more evidence of this. For me at least.