Brendan Rodgers

[Happy Fox]

Under Top’s ownership and Vichai’s legacy we will be challenging the Top 6 for a while to come. Only onwards and upwards getting champions league football will be huge for us and will allow us to grow more as a club.

 

Rodgers is an elite manager, and he has proved that during his time with us, there is room for growth most definitely but also the same with our players as well and that’s an excellent combination going forwards.

 

[moore_94]

1 hour ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Define full strength?

 

We have done well with the injuries in particular during the middle part of the season. However, since late March/early April we have been playing a full strength 11. What we have lacked for 90% of the season is impact players off the bench where we have been light. Our first XI has been strong in a good amount of games. Every team, every season will have injuries and most have at least one injury for every match. We have dealt very well with EL and the injuries this season considering we are not a "Top 6" club with a massive squad. Great move by Brendan to lose to Prague, gave us that bit of extra room in our fixture list!

Full strength as in you have the best players at your club on the pitch

 

Without Justin and Barnes, both of which would be starting every game for us if fit, we have been unable to start our strongest 11

[Daz93]

14 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

The one part of your post that I disagree with.

 

I think we have reached the stage where we are now an attractive proposition to a better class of manager and player than we were previously.

Quite possibly, but the margins are so small in football that a couple of poor signings, a bad manager appointment or a career-ending injury to a key player could derail it all. The acid test will be if we finish top 4 this season and manage to stay up there in the next.

[KrefelderFox666]

34 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

Full strength as in you have the best players at your club on the pitch

 

Without Justin and Barnes, both of which would be starting every game for us if fit, we have been unable to start our strongest 11

Before the season started you would have said Ricardo is above Justin. Justin was given a chance because of Ricardo's injury. Barnes has stepped up massively from last season too. So you cannot say at the start of the season that we had those two as our full strength XI. Also, if Barnes didn't get injured, we would not have had Iheanacho involved as much. Is he not in a full strength XI now?

 

The term full strength XI is very loose and adaptable and there is unlikely to be that. For Leicester, we have a few fringe players who are just as good. As I said above, I think we have had an extremely strong starting XI for the majority of the season. The main problem has been the injuries have made us light on the bench and not allowed much rest.

 

It's impossible to say what would have happened this season if Barnes and Justin didn't get injured, the whole dynamic changes. We may have lost to Man U in the cup (or Southampton). We may have dropped points elsewhere and been on less than 66 points now. I am more than happy with how things have turned out so far but I would love to have 16-18 of our best/strongest players available for the duration of next season so we have bench options and rotation options for games.

[Dames]

54 minutes ago, Daz93 said:

I honestly don't know what more some people are expecting out of us.

 

We are a team with a budget half the size of those we are challenging against. We've built a brand new state of the art facility to help develop and attract new talent. We've lost a key player every summer since winning the league, but still replaced them with consistently quality purchases. We've reached European competition again and navigated multiple competitions this campaign despite a relatively thin squad. We're in an FA Cup final for the first time in 50 years. We've not been out of the top 4 all season, and were only out of it on the last day of last season.

 

We are club punching far above our weight and Rodgers is at the heart of it. Say what you want about him as a personality, but he's got this football club moving towards something special. He deserves a huge amount of credit for how he's been able to bring in and use the young talent we already possess, and flexibly use his squad. We've probably used about 4 or 5 different formations during the season, starting with 4141, then using 442, 4231, 352 and him switching to multiple ones just last night. He's fixed the lacklustre performances we showed against the big boys from last season with some very impressive away wins. All this whilst dealing with some crucial injuries to JJ & Barnes and various ones to the likes of Ndidi/Cags/Evans/Vardy/Maddison/Ricardo  - that is not the sign of a clueless manager. 

 

We are lucky to have him and lucky to be in the position we are now. If I were some of you I'd take a step back and appreciate just how good a position we are in right now, because it's unlikely we'll ever see this kind of success again for a long time.

This narrative is boring now. We’ve been consistently top 4 for the vast majority of the past 2 seasons. Its not luck and its not punching above our weight. Its the culmination of years of hard work and clever dealing. 

Our fanbase really struggles with shaking this participation trophy mentality where we should all be really happy and never be critical of any aspect of the club because we are really lucky to be where we are and will be on our way back to League One soon enough because remember we were there 12 years ago...

 

The club is where it is on merit, i’m really happy with the league position and the cup runs we’ve been on lately, who wouldn’t be. It doesn’t make me blind to the short comings either, we’ve been hard to watch with slow possession based football for a while now and when it goes wrong there is no plan b. If there was a viable plan b we’d be in an even stronger position. My main gripes if thats what you’d call them with Rodgers is his refusal to  change things up when they need changing up. The team has clearly struggled against teams with ‘a low block’ for a while now, 3-5-2 clearly isn’t the answer against this but he’s not managed to crack it yet and we’ve had some really poor results which deserves questions asking.

 

The thing is you have to take the rough with the smooth. Rodgers gets credit when we do well but it doesn't make him infallible when we don’t do so well, the problem with some posters on here is that you can’t be critical even constructively in the slightest without getting really condescending remarks and comments. 

 

[jayfox26]

2 hours ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Define full strength?

 

We have done well with the injuries in particular during the middle part of the season. However, since late March/early April we have been playing a full strength 11. What we have lacked for 90% of the season is impact players off the bench where we have been light. Our first XI has been strong in a good amount of games. Every team, every season will have injuries and most have at least one injury for every match. We have dealt very well with EL and the injuries this season considering we are not a "Top 6" club with a massive squad. Great move by Brendan to lose to Prague, gave us that bit of extra room in our fixture list!

So would Barnes and Justin not be in our full strength 11? 

 

Just noticed you already mentioned this is another post. Ricardo has been injured/unfit all season so he would not be considered a first team starter at any stage this season. I agree Iheanacho has stepped up which has lessened the burden of losing Barnes but Barnes was in fantastic form before his injury, as was Justin. At the time they both could have been in contention for player of the season. 

 

Even when players have returned though, so many arent fit. As I said, Ricardo hasn't been fit at any stage and Maddison hasn't looked fit for large parts as well but we have ended up playing them out of necessity. We also have never been able to rest Tielemans due to the injuries to Praet and Maddison meaning he's had to play a ridiculous amount of games for club and Country.

 

Missed Evans last 2 games as well and he 100% is first 11. 

Edited 12 May 2021 by jayfox26

[Daz93]

11 hours ago, Dames said:

This narrative is boring now. We’ve been consistently top 4 for the vast majority of the past 2 seasons. Its not luck and its not punching above our weight. Its the culmination of years of hard work and clever dealing. 

Our fanbase really struggles with shaking this participation trophy mentality where we should all be really happy and never be critical of any aspect of the club because we are really lucky to be where we are and will be on our way back to League One soon enough because remember we were there 12 years ago...

 

The club is where it is on merit, i’m really happy with the league position and the cup runs we’ve been on lately, who wouldn’t be. It doesn’t make me blind to the short comings either, we’ve been hard to watch with slow possession based football for a while now and when it goes wrong there is no plan b. If there was a viable plan b we’d be in an even stronger position. My main gripes if thats what you’d call them with Rodgers is his refusal to  change things up when they need changing up. The team has clearly struggled against teams with ‘a low block’ for a while now, 3-5-2 clearly isn’t the answer against this but he’s not managed to crack it yet and we’ve had some really poor results which deserves questions asking.

 

The thing is you have to take the rough with the smooth. Rodgers gets credit when we do well but it doesn't make him infallible when we don’t do so well, the problem with some posters on here is that you can’t be critical even constructively in the slightest without getting really condescending remarks and comments. 

 

I never said it's all luck to be where we are - it IS also the work of great planning, acquisition and management. However, you have to understand that football is now dominated by those with more financial power than everyone else. For us to be competing at that level consistently on our budget truly is punching above our weight class. When those clubs can just come in and buy our best players then we aren't on a level playing field.

 

I don't mind people being critical of individuals but some on here just cannot give Rodgers an ounce of credit based on pre-conceived ideas of him being a bottler or arrogant. Reactions like Friday need to be put into perspective of the entire season and our direction of travel. Once we start to stall, once we start to dip below expectations, then it's acceptable to berate Rodgers. 

Edited 12 May 2021 by Daz93

[midland_red]

1 hour ago, Buce said:

 

The one part of your post that I disagree with.

 

I think we have reached the stage where we are now an attractive proposition to a better class of manager and player than we were previously.

if we win  CL football.....and as o'er Khun Vichais plan, regularly challenge for it

[Simoken]

2 hours ago, Daz93 said:

I honestly don't know what more some people are expecting out of us.

 

We are a team with a budget half the size of those we are challenging against. We've built a brand new state of the art facility to help develop and attract new talent. We've lost a key player every summer since winning the league, but still replaced them with consistently quality purchases. We've reached European competition again and navigated multiple competitions this campaign despite a relatively thin squad. We're in an FA Cup final for the first time in 50 years. We've not been out of the top 4 all season, and were only out of it on the last day of last season.

 

We are club punching far above our weight and Rodgers is at the heart of it. Say what you want about him as a personality, but he's got this football club moving towards something special. He deserves a huge amount of credit for how he's been able to bring in and use the young talent we already possess, and flexibly use his squad. We've probably used about 4 or 5 different formations during the season, starting with 4141, then using 442, 4231, 352 and him switching to multiple ones just last night. He's fixed the lacklustre performances we showed against the big boys from last season with some very impressive away wins. All this whilst dealing with some crucial injuries to JJ & Barnes and various ones to the likes of Ndidi/Cags/Evans/Vardy/Maddison/Ricardo  - that is not the sign of a clueless manager. 

 

We are lucky to have him and lucky to be in the position we are now. If I were some of you I'd take a step back and appreciate just how good a position we are in right now, because it's unlikely we'll ever see this kind of success again for a long time.

Yeah what he says..

[KrefelderFox666]

1 hour ago, jayfox26 said:

So would Barnes and Justin not be in our full strength 11? 

 

Just noticed you already mentioned this is another post. Ricardo has been injured/unfit all season so he would not be considered a first team starter at any stage this season. I agree Iheanacho has stepped up which has lessened the burden of losing Barnes but Barnes was in fantastic form before his injury, as was Justin. At the time they both could have been in contention for player of the season. 

 

Even when players have returned though, so many arent fit. As I said, Ricardo hasn't been fit at any stage and Maddison hasn't looked fit for large parts as well but we have ended up playing them out of necessity. We also have never been able to rest Tielemans due to the injuries to Praet and Maddison meaning he's had to play a ridiculous amount of games for club and Country.

 

Missed Evans last 2 games as well and he 100% is first 11. 

Evans is a big loss due to his experience. And I would love to have Barnes and Justin back, but not because they are essential to our strongest XI. I just don't agree with that concept. Pick Man CIty's strongest XI. They don't really have one. So many players, and the tactical system, can be interchanged. Similar to our way of playing. I wouldn't say that we have not once played our strongest team this season but we have had plenty of injury problems and issues with players getting back to 100% post such.

 

As I keep saying, strongest XI is all down to interpretation and doesn't mean better results.

[Chrysalis]

3 hours ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Before the season started you would have said Ricardo is above Justin. Justin was given a chance because of Ricardo's injury. Barnes has stepped up massively from last season too. So you cannot say at the start of the season that we had those two as our full strength XI. Also, if Barnes didn't get injured, we would not have had Iheanacho involved as much. Is he not in a full strength XI now?

 

The term full strength XI is very loose and adaptable and there is unlikely to be that. For Leicester, we have a few fringe players who are just as good. As I said above, I think we have had an extremely strong starting XI for the majority of the season. The main problem has been the injuries have made us light on the bench and not allowed much rest.

 

It's impossible to say what would have happened this season if Barnes and Justin didn't get injured, the whole dynamic changes. We may have lost to Man U in the cup (or Southampton). We may have dropped points elsewhere and been on less than 66 points now. I am more than happy with how things have turned out so far but I would love to have 16-18 of our best/strongest players available for the duration of next season so we have bench options and rotation options for games.

True we dont know how things would have gone, but what I do know we have a fantastic player in JJ and I think we are missing him, just watched the FA clip on youtube and seen in that how good he is.  Ricardo isnt the same since his injury and also is out of position which probably isnt helping either.  So I dont think we have been able to play our strongest 11 for a while.

[sacreblueits442]

...as a club throughout the years we have always had a team which you could quite clearly see was our strongest eleven!!!

  Ask any supporter and they would have ran off the same list from a group of twenty players. 

  What we now have is a squad and more than adequate depth that renders the strongest eleven argument to be moot. When all our players are fit and available, just take a look at the proposed team sheets, espoused by the forum posters and the contrast between them is noticeable. 

  Our success and scouting has taken us to a place where a best eleven is a figment of our imagination, we have now come too far for it to exist.

[HighPeakFox]

Those not familiar with the Butterfly Effect Theory might save themselves much heartache by not wondering 'what if?'. I say this not to insult or deride, but to reassure that (say) Barnes had stayed fit, there's no definite way to say things would definitely have turned out better. 

 

It is as it is, and accepting what happened already is the most likely way to stay sane. 

[STUHILL]

4 hours ago, Dames said:

The thing is you have to take the rough with the smooth. Rodgers gets credit when we do well but it doesn't make him infallible when we don’t do so well, the problem with some posters on here is that you can’t be critical even constructively in the slightest without getting really condescending remarks and comments. 

This really bugs me. It's an argument used to bash completely normal reactions to posters saying things like Rodgers is "Clueless", "Overrated", "a Bottler", "Embarrassing", "Blinded by arrogance"  etc etc. You can find a load more of these anytime we concede a goal or lose a game. Completely over the top and ridiculous considering we are currently 3rd/in FA Cup final. It overshadows rational debate where the majority of people are in agreement about many things like the back 3 not always working or whether Maddison should be starting etc. 

 

I see loads of rational criticism of Rodgers, the team and performances. I don't see that rational debate being met with "condescending remarks". The backlash is for the OTT nonsense that swamps this place during a bad moment. Don't mix the two. 

[Muzzy_Larsson]

39 minutes ago, STUHILL said:

This really bugs me. It's an argument used to bash completely normal reactions to posters saying things like Rodgers is "Clueless", "Overrated", "a Bottler", "Embarrassing", "Blinded by arrogance"  etc etc. You can find a load more of these anytime we concede a goal or lose a game. Completely over the top and ridiculous considering we are currently 3rd/in FA Cup final. It overshadows rational debate where the majority of people are in agreement about many things like the back 3 not always working or whether Maddison should be starting etc. 

 

I see loads of rational criticism of Rodgers, the team and performances. I don't see that rational debate being met with "condescending remarks". The backlash is for the OTT nonsense that swamps this place during a bad moment. Don't mix the two. 

Agree with this, criticism of Rodgers is fine and deserved, he makes mistakes and makes the wrong calls and if we can't say that then just pack the forum up and go home.

 

He's not a protected species as far as I can see on here where people have a problem though is the vitriol, hyperbole and knee jerk reactions anytime there is a negative result.

 

For example this week in this thread alone we've had:

 

"the team is falling off a cliff"

"anytime the team loses it's Rodgers fault"

"he's f&ckin shit"

"he's a bottler"

 

I could go on. That's not criticism that's ridiculousness at best and personal vitriol at worst.

 

Amazingly the backdrop to the comments above are us in a cup final, sitting in the champions league spots and on the verge of the second most successful season in the club's EPL history.

 

In the context of the above, when balance and respect go out the window and people are downright abusive of the manager, particularl when the team are actually doing really well, of course people are going to get their back up and defend him. It's says a lot in a positive sense about this forum that so many are imo.

 

Gimme dem reps

 

 

 

Edited 12 May 2021 by Muzzy_Larsson

[Webbo]

15 minutes ago, Muzzy_Larsson said:

Agree with this, criticism of Rodgers is fine and deserved, he makes mistakes and makes the wrong calls and if we can't say that then just pack the forum up and go home.

 

He's not a protected species as far as I can see on here where people have a problem though is the vitriol, hyperbole and knee jerk reactions anytime there is a negative result.

 

For example this week in this thread alone we've had:

 

"the team is falling off a cliff"

"anytime the team loses it's Rodgers fault"

"he's f&ckin shit"

"he's a bottler"

 

I could go on. That's not criticism that's ridiculousness at best and personal vitriol at worst.

 

Amazingly the backdrop to the comments above are us in a cup final, sitting in the champions league spots and on the verge of the second most successful season in the club's EPL history.

 

In the context of the above, when balance and respect go out the window and people are downright abusive of the manager, particularl when the team are actually doing really well, of course people are going to get their back up and defend him. It's says a lot in a positive sense about this forum that so many are imo.

 

Gimme dem reps

 

 

 

Us? 

[Muzzy_Larsson]

46 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Us? 

Well, you know how it is

 

[fuchsntf]

7 hours ago, Daz93 said:

I honestly don't know what more some people are expecting out of us.

 

We are a team with a budget half the size of those we are challenging against. We've built a brand new state of the art facility to help develop and attract new talent. We've lost a key player every summer since winning the league, but still replaced them with consistently quality purchases. We've reached European competition again and navigated multiple competitions this campaign despite a relatively thin squad. We're in an FA Cup final for the first time in 50 years. We've not been out of the top 4 all season, and were only out of it on the last day of last season.

 

We are club punching far above our weight and Rodgers is at the heart of it. Say what you want about him as a personality, but he's got this football club moving towards something special. He deserves a huge amount of credit for how he's been able to bring in and use the young talent we already possess, and flexibly use his squad. We've probably used about 4 or 5 different formations during the season, starting with 4141, then using 442, 4231, 352 and him switching to multiple ones just last night. He's fixed the lacklustre performances we showed against the big boys from last season with some very impressive away wins. All this whilst dealing with some crucial injuries to JJ & Barnes and various ones to the likes of Ndidi/Cags/Evans/Vardy/Maddison/Ricardo  - that is not the sign of a clueless manager. 

 

We are lucky to have him and lucky to be in the position we are now. If I were some of you I'd take a step back and appreciate just how good a position we are in right now, because it's unlikely we'll ever see this kind of success again for a long time.

..

[HighPeakFox]

The word 'arrogant' gets tossed around on this forum, in all sorts of contexts including about Rodgers. The meaning is lost increasingly. 

 

In a school in Tideswell today, I was met with proper male arrogance. I went to fetch a pupil from a classroom, and the kids know who I support. It'd be fair to say that I wasn't spoken to with any respect at all. I must say it takes the cake when a Manchester United fan from rural Derbyshire calls you a glory hunter for supporting Leicester. That's proper arrogance and ignorance. 

 

If I ever get a male pupil from that school I'll be astonished, the attitude there is incredibly toxic amongst the men. 

 

As you were. 

 

 

[Guest Bert Fill]

7 hours ago, Daz93 said:

We are club punching far above our weight

True. But we’re bulking up.

[Manini]

48 minutes ago, Muzzy_Larsson said:

Well, you know how it is

 

How long did it take for you to start looking out for our results? I’m not trying to take the piss I’m just interested as to how this started for you  

[cruzFOX]

I’ve read everything I could and I’ve come to the conclusion our teams form comes down to nerves. It’s a mental thing. Yesterday is showed when they took the lead and took their foot off the gas immediately allowing manu to hit back and everyone lost focus.

 

rogers has been repeating this over and over again now concentration, focus. I believe him because if you look at the goals we’ve conceded it’s all down to our mistakes which are sloppy and below our standards if happens when we lose focus. Like a high performance car needs to be revved high and drive hard it can also stall if you go too slow to use an analogy. We are at our best when we play high tempo with urgency and intent it doesn’t allow mistakes to creep in.

 

i hope on Saturday the boys get their heads right. If they are nervous which is natural as it’s a massive occasion they just need to keep it tight until they find the right gear & confidence takes over. Brendan can only do so much once the players step out on the field. We need our leaders to step up!

[Muzzy_Larsson]

2 minutes ago, Manini said:

How long did it take for you to start looking out for our results? I’m not trying to take the piss I’m just interested as to how this started for you  

Good question, probably after a few months and I'd accepted Rodgers leaving

 

[lcfcbluearmy]

So far this year we have played in 5 or 6 different formations yet some people think Rodgers has a big ego because he won’t change things. When things start to go wrong or we get injuries we adapt and that’s one of the main reasons we haven’t gone more than two or three games in a row this season without winning.

Edited 12 May 2021 by lcfcbluearmy
I didn’t mean to press post

[murphy]

8 hours ago, Daz93 said:

I honestly don't know what more some people are expecting out of us.

 

We are a team with a budget half the size of those we are challenging against. We've built a brand new state of the art facility to help develop and attract new talent. We've lost a key player every summer since winning the league, but still replaced them with consistently quality purchases. We've reached European competition again and navigated multiple competitions this campaign despite a relatively thin squad. We're in an FA Cup final for the first time in 50 years. We've not been out of the top 4 all season, and were only out of it on the last day of last season.

 

We are club punching far above our weight and Rodgers is at the heart of it. Say what you want about him as a personality, but he's got this football club moving towards something special. He deserves a huge amount of credit for how he's been able to bring in and use the young talent we already possess, and flexibly use his squad. We've probably used about 4 or 5 different formations during the season, starting with 4141, then using 442, 4231, 352 and him switching to multiple ones just last night. He's fixed the lacklustre performances we showed against the big boys from last season with some very impressive away wins. All this whilst dealing with some crucial injuries to JJ & Barnes and various ones to the likes of Ndidi/Cags/Evans/Vardy/Maddison/Ricardo  - that is not the sign of a clueless manager. 

 

We are lucky to have him and lucky to be in the position we are now. If I were some of you I'd take a step back and appreciate just how good a position we are in right now, because it's unlikely we'll ever see this kind of success again for a long time.

You are right in that we have been exceeding expectations for the past two seasons now and you're also right that we're lucky to have BR.

 

The problem is limping over the line like Jonny Brownlee and snatching defeat (Europa League) from the jaws of victory (CL).  We spent 325 days in the top four last year and failed on the last day surrendering a 14 point cushion in the process.   We have spent virtually the entire season in the top four this year.  To lose it now would feel like self-inflicted failure.  

 

This year, I see improvement, especially in the way that we have manfully soldiered on and gained results despite an injury list as long as your arm.  However those questions over our mental resilience resurface again over recent games as we approach the end.  Do you really think that Newcastle drubbing would happen mid-season?  We are stumbling towards the line again.  I feared the worst first half against a team that was Manchester United in name only and we have squandered two good chances previous to that, but credit is due for a much better second half.

 

I think that when it comes to expectations, nobody expects Champion's League qualification, that would be absurd, but I think that we do have a right to expect us to finish the last 20% of the season the same way that we approached the previous 80%.