MancFox24

That's the issue, with Youri out I don't see any options. Hope you're right about Praet but he hasn't had a good game in 2 years either so I don't see it. Not against playing Maddison at 10 and bringing Ricky in on the right

So who plays instead?

We must have been watching different games. I thought that was one of the poorest performances this season, and that's saying something. We went from being clueless at playing it around at the back to hoofing it long to an isolated vardy. The pressing was terrible, Maddison completely out of the game, and they were still able to cut through us so easily despite having 2 defensive midfielders. I've been hopeful of survival before today but now I'm pretty resigned to relegation

Would he come in for 9 games? And if you've ever listened to Carragher talk about him then you'll know he's so detailed in his tactics that I just don't see him having enough time to turn it around

Harsh red but Villa were the better team throughout. Didn't like Maddison's body language tonight- an argument for keeping Rodgers was that they clearly got on and we need Maddison on form to get us out of this. I honestly can't see what the plan is from here- I can't think of a decent choice who'd be willing to come in for 9 games and risk their reputation. So they either appoint somebody long term who's willing to go down to the championship (so will be an uninspiring choice) or we stick with the caretakers. It's grim whatever choice we make

Don't mind the selection. We have to stop shipping goals and a wilf/mendy midfield is worth a try. Maddison is alot harder for defenders to pick up when he plays from wide. Vardy is a sentimental pick but if it gets the crowd on side then I'm not against it. And I'd sooner him start and get taken off than bring him on late in the game when he seems to struggle to get involved at all

I guess if you see 2 5 finishes as failures then it explains why we have such differing views on his time here. I agree that we got one transfer window wrong but in the context of what premier league clubs are spending nowadays, it was hardly massive investment. Look at the net spend over his time here and you'll see why I think the problems lie elsewhere. I disagree with your characterisation of him running the squad down and blaming the fans. These things constantly get said so they've become facts but I've seen pretty much every press conference Rodgers has given since he became manager and he very rarely dug out players. The exception is Cags but people forget he kept loyal to him well after he deserved to be dropped. And he's always defended the fans right to express whatever opinion they want. Psychology definitely is important, and this is why not refreshing the squad in the summer was such a terrible decision. Players aren't stupid- if they see a club not investing then it doesn't matter what Rodgers says. Part of bringing new players in is about improving those that are already there. Anyway, I guess time will tell whether Rodgers was more to blame than I think he is. Like I've said in another post, I'm happy to be proven wrong and for us to turn it all around this season and kick on after a refresh in the summer

Yeah, agreed it's time for the fans to come together now so maybe the post wasn't needed! And I would love this same group of players to go on to comfortably get us out of relegation trouble and the club to rebuild in the summer and kick on. I'm sceptical that will happen cus I don't think Rodgers was the cause of the issues we have at the club but I hope I'm proven wrong

Mate, read the comments on this thread before I posted. Fair play if you put your own grievances to one side but there were plenty who didn't. People who supported Rodgers have had to take plenty of flack on here for the past couple of years, so I'm pretty comfortable with the post to be honest

And the 5th place finishes? I agree he's got an inflated ego (not sure there is a good manager out there who doesn't) but if people could see past their dislike for the man then maybe they could see that alot of what he was saying was true. He recognised this squad needed a refresh after the forest cup defeat and was only told he wasn't getting one at the start of pre season (something which has never been disputed by the club). He should have walked away at that point but he believed he could do enough to get us to 40 points. He probably would have failed on that by about 5-10 points if he was here until the end of the season. In my eyes that doesn't take away the great job he did before that

Nah, unlike his haters I don't actually care about him that much so couldn't give a f*** what he does next. He could relegate man city for all I care, wouldn't change the fact he did a great job here

And so to prove my point, you reel off a list of opinions which doesn't argue with the fact he is one of the most successful managers we've had

You're right, I should have had more trust in Rodgers and believed him when he said 40 points was the target this year

That meeting would have gone something like: Poch- what resources are available to me? Top- F*** all and you'll have to sell one of our best assets Poch- I'll see myself out

The mental gymnastics that the Rodgers haters have to go through to justify their hatred is so entertaining. According to them anything good that happened was nothing to do with Rodgers, anything bad was everything to do with him. People are entitled to their opinions, but opinions don't beat facts, and he will objectively go down as one of the best managers we've ever had. His biggest failing was not to walk away at the start of the season- he clearly felt let down (rightly so) by the lack of investment in the playing squad and that resentment has had an impact on his ability to do the job. But I stand by the fact that we would be close to relegation this year no matter who was in charge.

We finished 8th last year and he's the most underperforming manager you've seen for 25 years. That's some take

Nah, don't like the fella that much. Hard to argue with facts though innit

Probably the right decision. As much as I don't agree with the vitriol some have towards him, I hope the fans can at least unite behind the team now because I really fear what relegation could mean for us. And as much as people shout, I'm afraid they won't be able to change the fact he was one of the best managers in our history and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him show up at a bigger club than ours and do a good job

Switch Barnes and Tete over. They've got a right footed left back so he's happy to show Tete inside all day

Minimal attacking threat? I've never quite got this argument. We're the 8th top scorers in the league. Have a go at Rodgers' defensive records by all means, going forward I think we're alright

So is winning the FA Cup but doesn't stop people shouting when you mention it

Thought it was Rodgers' supporters who lived in the past

It might seem like a backwards step but I'd like to see Mendy and Ndidi play together to add a bit of solidity to the team. It would allow our fullbacks to push on more, especially if Ricky is back playing, and we should have more than enough quality going forward with Maddison, Nacho, Barnes and Tete. I can never call out KDH for a lack of effort, I just think he could do with a rest. Ndidi's form has been horrible but having Mendy alongside him might help and it also adds height to the team to defend against set pieces

Yeah, I get it. He had one bad transfer window and that seems to have lost alot of the fans. But by Premier League standards we didn't spend that much money in that window. And considering he's been at the club 4 years, I think only 3 players that he signed started tonight- Faes and Tete, who were probably 2 of the better players, and Soumare who shouldn't play for us again. That should tell you all you need to know about how the squad has been allowed to stagnate

But you don't even have to have that much ability. It's really simple stuff and i just cant believe how bad some of the palyers were tonight. I'm with you that it would have been better to start our strongest 11 but I've seen alot of people on here criticising our injury record under Rodgers because he doesn't rotate