Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool -> Celtic -> Leicester)

Bigs us up lauds over Lovren then the reality sets in.

Interesting

After 3 seasons in charge we have an average tally of scoring 93.3 goals and conceding 62 goals a season

The reality is that you don't replace a Suarez - he is an outstanding world class player. You can only hope to strengthen the rest of the squad sufficiently. 

Bollocks! You go out and scout beforehand and find these players, did we know at the time Suarez when he came on against Stoke would be an even better player than Torres? We went out and scouted him, we didn't just get rid of Nando and then decide to go looking for a striker.

No one knew how good Suarez was going to be which was why we went out and spunked an extra £35 million on Carroll!!

In hindsight we could of saved ourselves £35 million, but it does prove those players are there if you scout and find them.

I agree, if Sturridge was fit I wager he'd be playing two up top so why not use Ings for what he is, a backup to Sturridge and play with two strikers?

You'd lose, he was forced to play that way with the way the team were playing at the time.

His natural instinct is to go with one up top.

Have to admit it's been a weird season so far - all the top teams apart from City are struggling against sides supposedly lower in the table. United are losing 2-1 at the moment and De Gea is on his way out.

Rodgers needs to capitalise fast.

"Bollocks! You go out and scout beforehand and find these players, did we know at the time Suarez when he came on against Stoke would be an even better player than Torres? We went out and scouted him, we didn't just get rid of Nando and then decide to go looking for a striker.

No one knew how good Suarez was going to be which was why we went out and spunked an extra £35 million on Carroll!!

In hindsight we could of saved ourselves £35 million, but it does prove those players are there if you scout and find them."

Suarez is one of the best players in the world. Perhaps in the top 5 strikers so clearly he is not easily replaced especially for a club like Liverpool who cannot pay £200k+ a week. Do you know how hard it is to unearth a player like him?

If we go to UTD and win this will all be forgotten pretty quickly. Another bad defeat and the pressure will build its going to be like this all season and that makes it almost impossible for the team to perform well and put a decent run together. Huge changes this summer both in the management team and the playing staff do FSG have any clue as to what is acceptable progress?.
You have to question how we got to thinking Benteke was the answer even though every pundit was saying he will not fit our playing style something Baloteli himself admitted. So if we dont go two up top especially at Anfield then we are going to struggle to score goals again and Brendan will just get more and more pressure heaped on him.

If we go to UTD and win this will all be forgotten pretty quickly. Another bad defeat and the pressure will build its going to be like this all season and that makes it almost impossible for the team to perform well and put a decent run together. Huge changes this summer both in the management team and the playing staff do FSG have any clue as to what is acceptable progress?.
You have to question how we got to thinking Benteke was the answer even though every pundit was saying he will not fit our playing style something Baloteli himself admitted. So if we dont go two up top especially at Anfield then we are going to struggle to score goals again and Brendan will just get more and more pressure heaped on him.

The way expectations have been dumbed down no doubt we will play for a draw and when we get a 0-0 posters will be lauding Rodgers as a tactical genius.

Look at how some were celebrating our 0-0 at the Emirates like it was some sort of cup win..................... . Mediocrity at its extreme!

Well given we have had a mediocre record in the league for two and a half decades it's not really a surprise.

Most people can only trade on their history for so long.

Look at how some were celebrating our 0-0 at the Emirates like it was some sort of cup win..................... . Mediocrity at its extreme!

I'm pretty sure most of us were lauding the performance at the Emirates, with it being the best showing out of this squad this season...

Hate to say it, but whoever takes charges the club is living on it's history.

If we go to UTD and win this will all be forgotten pretty quickly.

Then that just speaks to the ignorance and fickleness of the typical "fan".

"Bollocks! You go out and scout beforehand and find these players, did we know at the time Suarez when he came on against Stoke would be an even better player than Torres? We went out and scouted him, we didn't just get rid of Nando and then decide to go looking for a striker.

No one knew how good Suarez was going to be which was why we went out and spunked an extra £35 million on Carroll!!

In hindsight we could of saved ourselves £35 million, but it does prove those players are there if you scout and find them."

Suarez is one of the best players in the world. Perhaps in the top 5 strikers so clearly he is not easily replaced especially for a club like Liverpool who cannot pay £200k+ a week. Do you know how hard it is to unearth a player like him?

Yeah we went to Ajax, scouted him and bought him. And when he first came to Liverpool, he was nowhere near on a £200,000!!

Then he got his head down on the training field and then went out onto the pitch and proved why he is now considered one of the best in the world and is on £200,000, unlike say that other bag of sh*te Balotelli.

Then that just speaks to the ignorance and fickleness of the typical "fan".

Correct mate. I think it will take more than a single win even against "the enemy" to return people's confidence in Brendan and certain players.

I think so far this season the myth of possession football has been truly sunk in the prem and at least at this stage of the season it is a case of what you do with it rather than how big or how much you have which is proving to be the more successful.

I'm not sure that anything less than a genuine run of wins will do much to change the feeling that Brendan is living on borrowed time, and unfortunately a following couple of defeats will have most back questioning him again. 

I do believe it is possible for Brendan to recover from this situation, I am not quite as sure that Brendan will recover.   

Then that just speaks to the ignorance and fickleness of the typical "fan".

I don't think the more level headed fan will mate, I think going into a forth season and seeing the same errors rearing their head its a reasonable amount of time to gauge an opinion that won't be swayed by one result..

I want the manager to do well as because of that the Reds will be doing well but unfortunately for Brendan we are seemingly no further forward than we were when he took over.

He still can't set up the team to defend, it's just not in his nature, I'm not saying he cant but he is unwilling.. And we have seen enough to say that with confidence.
We aren't a fluid attacking side either, it's more a 4-5-1 than anything with Benteke exposed with little or no support.. No matter what he wins it comes back as we aren't gettimg numbers around him.. The balance of the midfield and forwards is at best unbalanced, too many people doing the same job, filling the same space and not getting enough people into threatening areas.. It may be early days this season but it's following the same pattern in all aspects of the side and set up/approach to games.

The transfer business over the last two summers is at best described as scatter gun.. Hope that something works

None of these lads this summer like last have seemingly been signed with an idea of how to get the best ft them.. Think when Rafa signed Torres, he knew what he was going to do with him and how to get the best from him before he signed on the dotted lines and he has an immediate impact. Look at Firmino this summer and any from last.. There seems no real plan how to get them to fit seamlessly in to a system..

The committee and manager signing players almost seperatky over the last few years has led to a fair few boss lads with no plan on how to actually use them correctly

It's akin to a chef getting 20 really tasty looking ingredients but no F***ing idea what's he's going to cook with them

There is loyalty, which I will always show as like I said I want him to be successful as then the club will be too.. But blind loyalty just to be loyal wont make us a success either

I like the man, I want him to get it right but I can't not talk faults that I see

Then that just speaks to the ignorance and fickleness of the typical "fan".

. If we beat UTD we will go above them and be 10 points the two points per game target.
The problem Brendan now has is every defeat unless its after a 4 or 5 game winning streak is going to hurt him and he has nobody but himself to blame. Despite seeing how playing two up front wins more games than you lose he still sticks to his dogmatic 1 man up on his own .
last 6 games of the top of my head won 2 drawn 1 lost 3 conceded 12 scored 4 .
as its still very early into this season a win against UTD would put us in a good position but the next slip up is just around the corner

Yeah we went to Ajax, scouted him and bought him. And when he first came to Liverpool, he was nowhere near on a £200,000!!

Then he got his head down on the training field and then went out onto the pitch and proved why he is now considered one of the best in the world and is on £200,000, unlike say that other bag of sh*te Balotelli.

If it is so easy everyone can get their scouts to spot players that justify £60k per week but within 24 months will justify a salary of £200k per week. Yes it is so easy isn't it? So according to you Markovic will justify a salary of £200kpw within the next 12 months?

I want the manager to do well as because of that the Reds will be doing well but unfortunately for Brendan we are seemingly no further forward than we were when he took over.

He still can't set up the team to defend, it's just not in his nature, I'm not saying he cant but he is unwilling.. And we have seen enough to say that with confidence.
We aren't a fluid attacking side either, it's more a 4-5-1 than anything with Benteke exposed with little or no support.. No matter what he wins it comes back as we aren't gettimg numbers around him.. The balance of the midfield and forwards is at best unbalanced, too many people doing the same job, filling the same space and not getting enough people into threatening areas.. It may be early days this season but it's following the same pattern in all aspects of the side and set up/approach to games.

The transfer business over the last two summers is at best described as scatter gun.. Hope that something works

Good post mate, your bang on the money when you talk about the balance of our attack and our lack of creativity. That I think is our biggest problem, we can bemoan the defending but we didn't create a thing in that first half yesterday, we don't look like we will dominate the ball as I previous years, the movement we are accustomed to seeing isn't there and as well as we played at the Emirates on Monday night I worry about us beating the bus parkers at Anfield? I could actually see us being more successful away from home tha at Anfield this season.

The problem Brendan now has is every defeat unless its after a 4 or 5 game winning streak is going to hurt him and he has nobody but himself to blame.

This was my point...so he basically has to win every single game to keep people off of his back? What other manager has to work under those standards?

It's ridiculous to think we are going to win every single game and we don't need to win every game to win the title (or to get top 4 if that's your goal).

I would not have been surprised to see Brendan shown the door in the off season and I would not have argued against it being warranted, but the fact that he's been backed financially by the owners, and backed confidence wise by the owners, he needs to be given time to make things work. Yes we were a bit fortunate in the first couple of games and now we've been beaten badly once again, but look at some of our rivals and the struggles they have had. I mean does anyone really think that LC is going to be in the top 4 after December? And likewise, does anyone think that Tottenham or Chelsea are going to continue to struggle to score? There's a lot of time left in the season, to turn on Brendan after one defeat seems a pretty fickle.

I'm not happy with some of his decisions...I think he's making a mistake staking his claim with Lovren and not playing with 2 up top.

Personally, I would have considered playing the diamond with two strikers (Ings and Benteke) and then going with either Sakho and Skrtel or even Sakho and Ilori at the two CB spots. A game against West Ham at home would have been the perfect time to mix things up a bit...but his insistence to play not to lose bit him hard. I will say it's not his fault that Phil got two yellow cards and we had to try to come back with 10 men. But still...Brendan has got to show pragmatism and get us firing again. If he doesn't, I think December is the first reasonable time to look at a replacement if we are languishing. In my opinion it's silly for people to turn on him so early in the season and nothing is going to change that opinion.

I don't get this 'it's only four games' or 'I'll give him until Christmas', any time a decision is made is arbitrary. Four games is irrelevant, unless they are a managers first four games, because you can't just wipe the slate clean at the start of a season and say I will ignore the dross from the previous season. As supporters we will be here long after Brendan's finally sacked, and every single season wasted is a season we can never get back.

In one way I actually admire the owners for backing the man they hired, it actually makes sense they support someone they interviewed and selected, and it would have reflected poorly on them not to give him chance, but we also know they know f**k all about soccer. Neither do I advocate binning a manager after a poor season or few games in every case, but analyse all Brendan's KPI's and in the cold light of day, away from the forum, any sensible fan will see he is not up to it.

 My question is why does anybody think he will achieve? Yes a fluke is possible, anyone can have a good cup run, footballs littered with one season wonders, so it's entirely possible we could win a cup under him, but here and now what makes anybody think he has what it takes to be a real success? Is it Brendan's transfer record, or his CV littered with trophies, maybe it's his fantasic defensive record, or his ability to outthink managers?

Brendan has been hugely fortunate, with having top four transfer kitty's and inheriting some brilliant talents and getting stability with the ownership, and still the hard fought records tumble as does taking thrashings none of us can ever recall happening before.

My own thoughts are that the owners scout out a replacement now, find the best manager out there willing to stay long term and if he's availiable now, then great, if it's at the end of the season, fine, but have a plan, because BR is not up to it.

This was my point...so he basically has to win every single game to keep people off of his back?

I'm not sure it would have to be every single game FL but like I said yesterday this was always going to be the case if we lose a game badly and if we follow it with another poor performance against the mancs the pressure will continue to build.

I always feared the pressure would build to a level that would only have one outcome this season and already it seems that it might be the case.

If it is so easy everyone can get their scouts to spot players that justify £60k per week but within 24 months will justify a salary of £200k per week. Yes it is so easy isn't it? So according to you Markovic will justify a salary of £200kpw within the next 12 months?

No cos I personally think he's sh*te!!

Tell me then what's the F***ing answer smart-arse?

Good post mate, your bang on the money when you talk about the balance of our attack and our lack of creativity. That I think is our biggest problem, we can bemoan the defending but we didn't create a thing in that first half yesterday, we don't look like we will dominate the ball as I previous years, the movement we are accustomed to seeing isn't there and as well as we played at the Emirates on Monday night I worry about us beating the bus parkers at Anfield? I could actually see us being more successful away from home tha at Anfield this season.

Defo mate, the Arsenal game was a different entity to most games we will play, especially in comparison to what we will play in 80% of the games we will play at Anfield where we will be expected to dominate the games, Arsenal will always play like Arsenal do, and we could actively play with a 'low block'... Keep them out and play our football on the break, we actually atarted both halfs in that game very deep with two banks of four and brought them to us, in the first half we came out because they started making uncharacteristic mistakes with their cb pair and we grew in confidence as they drained in it.. In the second half they didn't allow us out, yes we played well, yes we created chances through their mistakes but it was in game by the players rather than a set up prior to the game.. Had Ramseys goal stood the gane probably would have been utterly different.

There have been positives this year, the Stoke game though I'd imagine there was a massive element of the players who played there last season playing for complete personal pride and redemption

We currently look like we are operating in three seperate sections, the pitch looks massive because we are playing with big gaps between the midfield and attack. Brendan doesn't seem to know if he wants to be all out attacking dominance or attempting to try to keep it tight, the upshot is neither and a disjointed mess.

Arsenal to be fair are very very good at beating that sh*te of the league at home