Football forum Brendan interview

[jv1]

Couldn’t see a specific topic on this and thought it definitely deserved one 

 

Good interview from the forum lad - I actually think that’s about as much honesty about the current situation as we are going to get and clears up a lot of things straight from the horses mouth - I’ll put it out there now I’m not a Rodger’s lover or hater - I’m an on the fencer-  I don’t think he always gets it right but I also think he is realistically as good as we get 

 

1 - we definitely are in some financial troubles - we don’t have the funds to buy new players - we need to balance the books and get people off the wage bill- my take was that even if we do that there still may be nothing available to bring anyone in - from the way he speaks things are a lot worse than I thought they would be - I know covid - I know bad buys - I know big squad but I still thought we were relatively sound and would have some money available- we clearly dont and that should be a big concern for us all 

 

2- he is obviously surprised about the severity of situation as well by his wording - im not sure how that happens and shows some internal issues but he definitely has a massive excuse for failure which he is making very clear that he doesn’t have what he needs to be successful - basically says I’ll do what I can with what iv got but don’t expect miracles which to be honest is probably fair 

 

3- can’t praise Maddison or Fofana enough - he knows they are the 2 he needs - and makes it very clear we can’t sell either - if we do I wouldn’t be surprised if he resigned - on the reverse he knows kasper and youri will be gone before window closes - again no surprises for us there and exactly as expected - a lot clearer to me now why he has said ward will be first choice - as per point 1 we simply don’t have anything available even for replacements- all the money coming in is needed to balance the books - will be same when youri leaves don’t expect anyone to come in 

 

4- refers to the deadwood numerous times - obviously wants them out but nobody wants most of them - obviously doesn’t take any responsibility for signing a few of them but fundamentally nothing again we haven’t speculated about already- club will do everything they can to move them on but very difficult 

 

my take for what it’s worth on the whole interview is it basically confirms nearly everything we expected in most ways but the financial situation is a lot worse than we thought and that’s obviously a concern - it’s not all doom and gloom though - he is very well respected for his coaching and that’s exactly what he has to do with what we’ve got - as long as we keep fofana and Maddison we will finish top half again and for those of us that have been around many years that’s  something I’ll never take for granted - going to be up to us as much as ever this year to stay positive and support our club with everything we can 

[coolhandfox]

There is a difference between being in trouble and being prudent.

 

You don't plan to build a stadium extension cost 100m + if you are in trouble.

 

Simple balancing the books due to new FFP regulations and failing to qualify for Europe.

 

We spent 60m last summer which is a large net spend for our club.

 

Nothing economical has changed since then, you don't spend that sort of money without having a forward view.

Edited 2 August 2022 by coolhandfox

[LcFc_Smiv]

5 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

There is a difference between being in trouble and being prudent.

 

You don't plan to build a stadium extension cost 100m + if you are in trouble.

 

Simple balancing the books due to new FFP regulations and failing to qualify for Europe.

 

We spent 60m last summer which is a large net spend for our club.

 

Nothing economical has changed since then, you don't spend that sort of money without having a forward view.

Amazes me that so many on here think we just spend on a whim. 

 

I haven't heard the interview myself so will judge when I've had chance to hear it, but from the OP's comments it almost sounds like the club aren't going to give him free reign when funds are available, where as he might have expected to spend as he deemed suitable. If that is the case, lets just hope the club does back him with ensuring Madders and little Wes aren't going anywhere.

 

For clarity I don't back Rodgers so my view can be tainted. I'm happy to see if he changes my mind this season and I'll back him and the lads going into the season, seems detrimental for people to create a negative buzz before we've kicked a ball. Having said all that, the cynic in me says he's just got some excuses in early doors. 

[fox in the sox]

I don’t think your summary of the financial situation is quite what he said. He confirmed that we needed to sell to buy and said that we had to balance the books. There was no indication that we need to sell players or that we won’t replace sold players. 

[foxinsocks]

I think our wage bill is the problem.   Shame owen dudnt press him about why this was a surprise 

[Pliskin]

We are not in financial trouble.

 

Why do people constantly keep thinking this is the case?

 

We have a business model that we won’t deviate from, that’s not being in financial trouble, that’s working within your means. 
 

The King Power group have obviously based the business model on their own, which was built from the ground up, to be sustainable. It’s exactly what is in progress here.

 

What we don’t have is the financial power of Man City et al. But the way we do our business means we’re able to compete with them. 
 

If we were in financial trouble, we would be selling our key assets without a second glance. 

[RoboFox]

I liked it when Brendan proclaimed that he was "above average at most sports." 

[foxile5]

Sounds very much like the foundation setting for a mid season move to Newcastle with his reputation in tact.

 

The deadwood that he's talking about are pretty much the players signed on his watch and Hamza. 

[jv1]

35 minutes ago, fox in the sox said:

I don’t think your summary of the financial situation is quite what he said. He confirmed that we needed to sell to buy and said that we had to balance the books. There was no indication that we need to sell players or that we won’t replace sold players. 

I don’t think he said anything about selling to buy - he said selling to balance the books - not once does he relate it to then being able to buy - in fact he pretty much hints multiple times throughout the whole interview that he won’t be strengthening the he squad - time will tell I guess 

[jv1]

17 minutes ago, RoboFox said:

I liked it when Brendan proclaimed that he was "above average at most sports." 

Can’t believe I missed that bit off - actually made me giggle - classic Rodger’s 

[Qwerty]

Can someone explain why we’re at risk of  breaching FFP?  I don’t feel like we’ve massively overspent.  We’ve had full stadiums, loads of European fixtures, and finished top half for several years , all generating revenue. 

 

I’m also baffled at the presumed continuation of the stadium expansion plans.  Surely that makes no sense at this point in time. If money is that tight, isn’t there a risk that in a few years we’d be like Sunderland - relegated and in a massive stadium that we can’t fill?! 

[Lesta2014]

2 minutes ago, jv1 said:

I don’t think he said anything about selling to buy - he said selling to balance the books - not once does he relate it to then being able to buy - in fact he pretty much hints multiple times throughout the whole interview that he won’t be strengthening the he squad - time will tell I guess 

He said something alone the lines of if we were to sell somebody we still wouldn’t be able to sign someone, can’t remember how exactly it was worded now. 

[Ric Flair]

I'll make it quite simple for people, we won't take risks financially that could put us in a position to break any rules, the club are still mindful of what happened with the EFL. Therefore whatever the ruled are we'll comply, if we harbour European qualification again then we'll reduce our wages and net spend on players to 90% of turnover by the end of this season, 80% the year after and 70% the following year.

 

To do that we cannot carry more than 25 players and I think we'll carry even less than that. Next summer will see a good chunk go and not many replaced like for like. Our academy has to be utilised more and I'm hoping the sync between the investment in brains of Paul McGuinness last season, the training ground facilities and now a 6+ years of being the best team in the Midlands has enabled us to improve our footing as the go to club as a youngster and we are in a position to get these coming through to compliment 18-20 proper first team players.

 

I thought Brendan spoke well on this interview, although you could sense he's also either a little bit frustrated and weary from the obstacles he's facing here or he's very very good at using carefully chosen words to convey his annoyance. The only real irksome comment from him was referring to us once again as a young squad when we really aren't, he's been here 3.5 years and achieved a large amount of success with a largely unchanged squad and most of them will have gained invaluable experience at challenging top 4, winning trophies and competing in Europe. They did a damn good job of being young and inexperienced as they achieved this but they aren't still at that point 3.5 years on, it's bollocks and insulting.

 

I do wonder how the squad as a whole feels when he says we aren't good enough to compete, I'm sure they want some additions to but I hate the situation we are now in and how that could effect some, but Brendan's best quality is man management IMO so hopefully he alleviates this if we can't strengthen.

[ARM1968]

Seems like some people are failing to grasp that we ARE tight for cash. That and I really do not think the Owners trust Brendan’s judgement. Also we are stilling awaiting the arrival of our new head of recruitment or some shite - the guy from Southampton - obviously. 
 

Make no mistake, we are on the precipice of  a steep drop and there is no saying we will avoid that fall. Been a fun ride though. 

[Fear Of The Fox]

I trust our owners that they will not throw under the bus a decade of effort. Whoever leaves will be replaced successfully. I understand the panic mode is on amongst us fans but I have faith there's still planning and vision. 

[Alf Bentley]

11 minutes ago, jv1 said:

I don’t think he said anything about selling to buy - he said selling to balance the books - not once does he relate it to then being able to buy - in fact he pretty much hints multiple times throughout the whole interview that he won’t be strengthening the he squad - time will tell I guess 

 

If this is true, I wonder who'll play right midfield? Team selection for the Sevilla match suggests that Plan A was to play Ricardo there, but he's now out for a fair while, it seems.

We don't make the most of Maddison by playing him away from the centre, so I hope we don't do that. It's hard to imagine Albrighton starting regularly now. Maybe Plan B could yet be Perez, if he stays and nobody new comes in? 

[Lesta2014]

1 minute ago, Alf Bentley said:

 

If this is true, I wonder who'll play right midfield? Team selection for the Sevilla match suggests that Plan A was to play Ricardo there, but he's now out for a fair while, it seems.

We don't make the most of Maddison by playing him away from the centre, so I hope we don't do that. It's hard to imagine Albrighton starting regularly now. Maybe Plan B could yet be Perez, if he stays and nobody new comes in? 

Castagne started right midfield against Sevilla didn’t he? 

[Stadt]

3 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

We are though? There's hardly anyone in the starting 11 who is old or in their "prime". Most are under the age of 26. 

We were were a young squad when Rodgers took over, lots of 22, 22 and 23 year olds in the team, the average is 26.96 now - the third oldest in the league  

[Aus Fox]

1 minute ago, Stadt said:

We were were a young squad when Rodgers took over, lots of 22, 22 and 23 year olds in the team, the average is 26.96 now - the third oldest in the league  

What 

 

2 minutes ago, Stadt said:

We were were a young squad when Rodgers took over, lots of 22, 22 and 23 year olds in the team, the average is 26.96 now - the third oldest in the league  

Where did you get that from? This has us 9th, and that will reduce further when Kasper leaves.

 

[VLC86]

Just listening now. Interesting that he mentioned our strikers, Vardy and Daka, are better in behind.

 

With Iheanacho not getting on V Sevilla I recon we are trying to cash in.

[Ric Flair]

29 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

We are though? There's hardly anyone in the starting 11 who is old or in their "prime". Most are under the age of 26. 

He talks of us being a young squad in their experiences which baring in mind a lot of the core first team players have been here the majority of the time he's been here it's evidently not true.

 

He seldom used this tag when he was busy getting us in the top 4, winning cups and playing in Europe but now the issues have occurred he's saying its no surprise given we're young and still learning.

 

 

[Stadt]

6 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

But how is that dragged up by Vardy, Evans and Kasper? 

 

Look at this 11 going into the season: 

 

Ward (29) 

 

Castagne (26) 

Fofana (21) 

Evans (34) 

Justin (24) 

 

Ndidi (25)

Youri (25) 

KDH (23) 

 

Maddison (25) 

Vardy (35) 

Barnes (24) 

 

Daka (23), Kel (25), Thomas (21), Soumare (23), Iverson (25).

 

The only other slightly older player in our long-term plans not included above is Ricardo (28). The rest we would move on if offers came in. 

 

How can you say that that isn't a young squad? Most of them are about 3/4 seasons away at least from being at an age where they should be at their peak. 

Only one of them is under 23 lmao, anywhere between 21-23 is considered young hence we have U21 squads? You're conflating not being old with being young.

 

 

[Ric Flair]

Just now, pmcla26 said:

Isn't that the case though with young players in being wildly inconsistent? 

We were more consistent when they were younger though? The older the squad or certainly main core of 11-15 players have gotten, the more Brendan has reminded us we're a young squad.

 

We have the 3rd oldest squad someone just said? 😂😂😂😂

[Stadt]

Just now, pmcla26 said:

If they're neither young, nor old, nor in their prime... what are they? 

They're in the peak age window which is about 24-28, these aren't young kids with little experience (besides Fofana maybe), they played in 5 different competitors last season, they have hundred of career appearances, they've finished in the top 6 in 2 in 3 of the last few seasons. 

[Beechey]

We spend nearly 100% of revenue on wages. The issue has been the wages and it's been obvious for years that this would be a problem.

Next year, we will lose up to 10 players as their contracts expire, that will largely solve our wage issues, unless they're replaced/renewed on similar wages.