I think this idea of a manager being some kind of sacred cow is really blown out of proportion. We all would love a Shankly figure who would be here for years and years and years but the times have changed. First of all, failure for us has much, much bigger consequences than it did decades ago. Because we don't have an oil tycoon owner, we are desperately dependent on the tens of millions from Champions League to keep us competitive. If we miss out on CL, it's not just "oh well, better luck next year." No. FSG and co see that as a LOSS of tens of millions of pounds.
On the football pitch failure is just as dangerous. Dropping out of the CL and being in the wilderness for so many years meant that no top players wanted to come to us, other than Suarez who even then wasn't world-class at the time. I mean look at all the players who we bid for who rejected us, Willian, Costa, Mkhitaryan, Sanchez, etc. When you fall out of the elite, it becomes a dangerous and vicious cycle where you aren't elite anymore, and therefore the elite players don't want to play for you, so you can't.... become elite again, because the top players solidify the standing of the top teams!
So. We have to do everything we can to stay competitive. People don't want to call for a manager's head because they feel some stigma about being like those "other clubs." But if you knew that Manager-X was objectively not good for the club, then why would you NOT want a new manager? if Manager-X is bad for the club, and you don't want him gone just because you value "stability" more than success, then in fact in that moment you're putting an individual above the club.
As for Rodgers, I don't see why he "deserves" time. If we had won the league last season, then ok, he would deserve time. But he didn't win us the league. We came in second. First losers.
But that's not even really the issue. It's not just that we're not doing well. It's two things: 1) the worrying fact that he is so, so stubborn. He keeps playing Johnson, he keeps playing Lovren, he keeps playing Stevie at DM, he keeps playing Allen etc etc. He refuses to accept that there are other options. Look at Pardew a few weeks ago---things weren't working, his lot wanted him out, but at least he was trying new things. "Okay, these 11 aren't winning, let's throw someone else into the mix." At least it's a new perspective. With Rodgers, it's "okay, Plan A isn't working. So let's try Plan A again. and again. and again and again and again." On top of that he lies through his teeth, saying players can earn their places, and yet when Toure played the best game by a CB we've seen in a long time, he then... got dropped for Lovren against Chelsea. And then there is 2), the fact that pretty much all the sh*te players we have now, are players that Rodgers signed. He himself has said he has the last word on transfers. So if he didn't want a player, the player wouldn't be here. He's spent almost 200m on players since he's come. And who can be called an unequivocal success? Coutinho and Sturridge are probably the only ones (and Sturridge has proven to be made of glass!).
So, getting down to the nitty gritty about when it's okay to consider a new manager, I think that if by the end of December things haven't drastically turned around, we should consider it. We have a lot of games between now and then so plenty of opportunity for Rodgers to try something new. There's no point in giving him until the end of the season if this goes on, because we MUST have CL again. Absolutely have to. And in such a weak league this year, we can't let it slip up. So what that means is we would get a new manager to turn things around in the second half of the season; however, it would be unfair to make him do that with just Rodgers' players, so he would have to come in in January so that he can have a shot to bring in some players he thinks can turn it around.
I guess the point is: it would be stupid to get rid of Rodgers in, say, March or April. By then it's too late to turn things around because any new manager wouldn't be able to bring in new players. But if this continues through the end of December, and someone comes available, then it would make sense to do it sooner rather than later, that way the new manager would have a transfer window to make signings and would have a good 5 months to turn the team around and get us CL again.
I don't have any problem calling for Rodgers to go; the club is much more important than Rodgers (even though it seems at times he doesn't believe that himself). If things don't improve massively by the end of December then we should seriously look at who is available to come in and clean up this mess.
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