Brendan Rodgers

[Sol thewall Bamba]

2 hours ago, chapero82 said:

We were in terrible form before lockdown 

So lazy to say we've been shit since the break. The stats are readily available to say we've been awful since Christmas.

[chapero82]

1 hour ago, foxinsocks said:

Good to know the lock down didn't effect us 

Many teams have come out after lockdown doing ok so what is our excuse? 

[sdb]

I wonder why a club that's had such a great record with injuries, suddenly has a season full of long term absences. Bad luck? Playing style? Change of personnel behind the scenes?

[Happy Fox]

1 minute ago, Fox92 said:

It was a stupid decision to give him a new deal after half a season. Why do we throw contracts around like there's no tomorrow? Makes no sense.

I agree, we will have to wait and see what happens either way we need huge investment in the summer.

[chapero82]

Just now, Sol thewall Bamba said:

So lazy to say we've been shit since the break. The stats are readily available to say we've been awful since Christmas.

Yep it seems we went downhill after Rodgers got a new contact 

[Sunbury Fox]

5 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

It was a stupid decision to give him a new deal after half a season. Why do we throw contracts around like there's no tomorrow? Makes no sense.

I suspect the board did it because they panicked that he might go to Arsenal, who were sniffing around at the time.

[fabufox]

1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

Imagine if Man City had taken this approach when they made the leap from being a terrible premier league team.

 

I wouldn’t sack him yet but this view, in my opinion, is that sort that sees the club never progress. 90% of our fans at the start of the season looked our our squad and said it’s better than Chelsea, it’s better than United, it’s better than Arsenal and it’s better than Spurs. That says that 3rd/4th place is about Par.

 

For us to blow a 15 point lead over some of them teams, while for the most part we didn’t have injuries, is woeful. I wouldn’t at all be shocked if we start next season poorly and then Top has a decision to make after allowing a summer of recruitment decision.

 

Lets stop this “we should be happy with 5th” nonsense.

Spot on mate. I love your post because it's got a great balance to it. We need to balance realism with optimism. We're simply not the club that most of us (of a certain vintage) grew up with. We are now one of the best clubs in England. Brendan's done a terrific job, but the second half of the season has been very poor. For all the credit he's had, he needs the equivalent challenge now.

[Costock_Fox]

1 minute ago, fabufox said:

Spot on mate. I love your post because it's got a great balance to it. We need to balance realism with optimism. We're simply not the club that most of us (of a certain vintage) grew up with. We are now one of the best clubs in England. Brendan's done a terrific job, but the second half of the season has been very poor. For all the credit he's had, he needs the equivalent challenge now.

Thanks.

 

Imagine if Ranieri had come out in the new year and said “Well done lads, objective for the season is done” and we then slid to 10th. 

[brucey]

11 hours ago, chapero82 said:

I’m more worried what signings he will bring in tbh 

We won't have much of a transfer budget, so at least we can't spend it all on expensive crap 

 

..just cheap crap 

[brucey]

20 minutes ago, chapero82 said:

Yep it seems we went downhill after Rodgers got a new contact 

Or after Ndidi's injury and several key players dropping form after becoming fathers around the same time

[Finnaldo]

1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

Imagine if Man City had taken this approach when they made the leap from being a terrible premier league team.

 

I wouldn’t sack him yet but this view, in my opinion, is that sort that sees the club never progress. 90% of our fans at the start of the season looked our our squad and said it’s better than Chelsea, it’s better than United, it’s better than Arsenal and it’s better than Spurs. That says that 3rd/4th place is about Par.

 

For us to blow a 15 point lead over some of them teams, while for the most part we didn’t have injuries, is woeful. I wouldn’t at all be shocked if we start next season poorly and then Top has a decision to make after allowing a summer of recruitment decision.

 

Lets stop this “we should be happy with 5th” nonsense.

Spot on. 
 

“Happy with what we’ve got” is a loser mentality. 
 

We’ve completely capitulated and threw a 15 point lead away. 
 

More concerningly, we’re totally unable to deal with any kind of pressure or expectation. Villa beat us over two legs in the League Cup semis. Chelsea looked shocking in our FA Cup match and they do us over. Bournemouth, Tottenham, the list goes on. I literally cannot see us winning an important game because we haven’t come close this calendar year with little sign of improvement.

 

’Happy with what we’ve got’ when we got out in the group stages because it’s easier not to deal with the pressure and we’re 14th looking over our shoulder. 
 

Something big has to give, it’s either some of the players or the manager, or both. 

[Costock_Fox]

1 minute ago, Finnaldo said:

Spot on. 
 

“Happy with what we’ve got” is a loser mentality. 
 

We’ve completely capitulated and threw a 15 point lead away. 
 

More concerningly, we’re totally unable to deal with any kind of pressure or expectation. Villa beat us over two legs in the League Cup semis. Chelsea looked shocking in our FA Cup match and they do us over. Bournemouth, Tottenham, the list goes on. I literally cannot see us winning an important game because we haven’t come close this calendar year with little sign of improvement.

 

’Happy with what we’ve got’ when we got out in the group stages because it’s easier not to deal with the pressure and we’re 14th looking over our shoulder. 
 

Something big has to give, it’s either some of the players or the manager, or both. 

Yep, bottled every big match this season pretty much without exception.

[Nalis]

1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

Imagine if Man City had taken this approach when they made the leap from being a terrible premier league team.

 

I wouldn’t sack him yet but this view, in my opinion, is that sort that sees the club never progress. 90% of our fans at the start of the season looked our our squad and said it’s better than Chelsea, it’s better than United, it’s better than Arsenal and it’s better than Spurs. That says that 3rd/4th place is about Par.

 

For us to blow a 15 point lead over some of them teams, while for the most part we didn’t have injuries, is woeful. I wouldn’t at all be shocked if we start next season poorly and then Top has a decision to make after allowing a summer of recruitment decision.

 

Lets stop this “we should be happy with 5th” nonsense.

I agree with most of what you say but regarding the bit in bold, maybe we as fans were wrong with our assumption that we have better squads than those mentioned above? 

 

At the start of the season our squad looks great on paper. When the squad players had to step up after injuries to first team players its become clear they weren't as good as we thought, aside from the managers tactical errors. Except Nacho, most have had a fair chance to impress and most have failed.

 

The one silver lining is that we know we need to improve the squad before a transfer window and not after the new season starts.

[Blanchflower78]

1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

Imagine if Man City had taken this approach when they made the leap from being a terrible premier league team.

 

I wouldn’t sack him yet but this view, in my opinion, is that sort that sees the club never progress. 90% of our fans at the start of the season looked our our squad and said it’s better than Chelsea, it’s better than United, it’s better than Arsenal and it’s better than Spurs. That says that 3rd/4th place is about Par.

 

For us to blow a 15 point lead over some of them teams, while for the most part we didn’t have injuries, is woeful. I wouldn’t at all be shocked if we start next season poorly and then Top has a decision to make after allowing a summer of recruitment decision.

 

Lets stop this “we should be happy with 5th” nonsense.

The target at the start was to be the best of the rest 'ala' Wolves last year. We have the most incredible season 4 years ago and people forget the season before we survived by the skin of our teeth, before that a championship side! 

 

Accepting 5th isn't complacency it's a progressive reality! It's our second highest finish ever. Season of 2 halves, incredibly GOOD and very mediocre.  So you expect us to be incredibly good all season, and what now, every season? 

 

Cmon let's be real here. Were and youthful squad with promise and a coach who back in November was being courted by the whole media to City, United and Arsenal. 

 

We have proven ourselves to be worthy premier league standard. Take our league finishes since return:

14th

1st

12th

9th

9th

Probably 5th this season

 

At which point does anyone look at that along with our squad and say we MUST be top 4?

 

There should be a full analysis in to what has changed and why levels have dropped and to try and learn from that.

 

 

[Foxxed]

Anyone suggesting we bin him needs binned. You want to give him less time than Puel?

[BraunstoneFox23]

We’ve had the new manager bounce, we’ve had the unbearable run of awful results. Now let’s rebuild in the summer and form a squad that’s more in line with the managers vision and see what it’s capable of. I don’t think we’ll fully know this managers limitations until the end of a season in which we have European football.

[RonnieTodger]

Some balance here and I don't mean "you'd have taken 5th at the start of the season". 

 

His hands were tied into picking that team yesterday. What options did we have? Ricardo, Maddison, Chilwell and Soyuncu are four vitally important players. Add to that his second choice wing-backs in Fuchs and Albrighton were also out and we were left with a cart-horse back three and two extremely inexperienced wing-backs. He took a gamble and it didn't work, but drawing to Spurs wasn't much better than losing as we'd still need to beat United on the last day to get 4th. I thought we played ok and Mourinho did a job on us, but he had Kane, Moura and Son running at Bennett, Morgan and Evans. It was probably naive, but we didn't really have much choice. Outrageous finishing from Kane too. We blew it against the smaller sides, not yesterday.

 

I can't believe there's this many that want him gone, but he does have to be held accountable for our slump before these injuries. Yes we're on course for our second best Premier League finish, but that kind of attitude doesn't help anyone. Rodgers was rewarded for the great start with a ****ing massive contract. You can't tell me that if his salary is raised, expectations aren't too? We were 14 points clear of 5th. We didn't need to maintain the same form to make the top 4, just get mid-table level results. Instead, we've absolutely nosedived and every single win since December has been a false dawn. 

 

To sack him now would be mad, but you cannot ignore the colossal slump that we've been on by simply suggesting that we're doing better than we normally do.

 

[Ricey]

He shouldn't be sacked, but how often do you see a manager lead a team through such a terrible second half of the season and turn it around in the new season?

 

Add to that his shocking record at Celtic in Europe and his generally terrible recruitment record and I am fearful.

[whoareyaaa]

12 hours ago, Costock_Fox said:

Undoubtedly deserves more time but the form plus his form for buying players does really worry me, and that’s without players like Ricardo getting their head turned by teams in the champions league.

i agree with the buying part we've gone from signing players like Ricardo to looking at players like Bennet

[Costock_Fox]

31 minutes ago, Blanchflower78 said:

The target at the start was to be the best of the rest 'ala' Wolves last year. We have the most incredible season 4 years ago and people forget the season before we survived by the skin of our teeth, before that a championship side! 

 

Accepting 5th isn't complacency it's a progressive reality! It's our second highest finish ever. Season of 2 halves, incredibly GOOD and very mediocre.  So you expect us to be incredibly good all season, and what now, every season? 

 

Cmon let's be real here. Were and youthful squad with promise and a coach who back in November was being courted by the whole media to City, United and Arsenal. 

 

We have proven ourselves to be worthy premier league standard. Take our league finishes since return:

14th

1st

12th

9th

9th

Probably 5th this season

 

At which point does anyone look at that along with our squad and say we MUST be top 4?

 

There should be a full analysis in to what has changed and why levels have dropped and to try and learn from that.

 

 

The point where it was widely acknowledged, and led to his sacking, that Puel was hugely underperforming with this squad.

 

Lets not let another managers failure to do anything to galvanise the squad be the bench match for what we should be achieving, the bloke literally dropped Jamie Vardy to play Demarai Gray up front....

[Mickyblueeyes]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

It was a stupid decision to give him a new deal after half a season. Why do we throw contracts around like there's no tomorrow? Makes no sense.

In hindsight yes. But at the time, had he gone to Arsenal and the board here didn’t make that move, our fans would’ve been upset that we didn’t make an attempt to keep him. 

[martyn]

Simply put, Rodgers will live or die with his recruitment. He has entrusted Congerton again, so the buck will stop with him if he gets it wrong.

 

He has his style of football which he won't deviate from, and it's a style which at it's best is devastatingly good, so therefore we need 16/17 players who can happily slot into the side without a noticeable drop in quality to compensate for injuries, loss of form etc etc. We could also do with a couple of players with the cliched "winning mentality" to drag us through when the going gets tough given tactical flexibility and in game management don't appear to be a particular strength for Rodgers.

 

Our first choice XI at full tilt is a top 6, arguably a top 4 quality side over the length of a season. We had a run of bad form after Christmas, which will happen unless you're a truly elite club, and circumstances since, including injuries in key positions have derailed us when we least needed it, and we've struggled to get any momentum to drag ourselves out of the funk. It's obvious that failing to strengthen in January was the biggest mistake we'll make this season.

 

I know Rodgers likes to use it as a convenient truth, but we are a young side. You'd hope that whilst they're here, players like Chilwell, Soyuncu, Ndidi, Maddision, Tielemans, Barnes, Thomas et al are only going to get better. Rodgers has his faults, but he is a good coach who historically improves his players. 

 

This run has been deflating, and errors have been made by Rodgers in it, but there is no reason at this point to think about over-reacting to that disappointment. Ultimately, are we going to be able to attract a better manager than Rodgers? How many other managers are there in top European leagues who have clearly performed better than Rodgers this season, and who would be jumping at the chance to take the Leicester job? Some hipster German manager who has taken his club to 7th in the Bundesliga whilst playing some ludicrously named formation and wearing a perfectly fitted t shirt, blazer and slim fit jeans/chino combo need not apply.

 

Football is a 38 game season. If we finish 5th, it's disappointing given where we were,  but in the context of the time parameters in which a season of football is played, it has been a success. 

Edited 20 July 2020 by martyn

[coolhandfox]

As bad as our form has been since December Rodgers still has the best win ratio of anyone who's managed us in the PL, anyone who suggest he hasn't earned the right to have another season isn't thinking straight

 

Martin O'Neill	38.3
Peter Taylor	35.2
Micky Adams	16.3
Nigel Pearson	28.9
Claudio Ranieri	44.4
Claude Puel	34.3
Brendan Rodgers	50.0

 

We have a top 6 starting 11, give or take, but a squad that is paper thin.

Edited 20 July 2020 by coolhandfox

[Deeg67]

Pretty comical to see some using injuries as an excuse when we've been terrible for half the season, most of that time with a healthy squad.

[Ricey]

Just now, Deeg67 said:

Pretty comical to see some using injuries as an excuse when we've been terrible for half the season, most of that time with a healthy squad.

Also some of those injuries were because Rodgers brought the players back too early. Ndidi, Vardy and Maddison all returned too quickly and broke down again. Chilwell and Ricardo played through injuries which could have made things worse.