If we go down

[oadby.fox]

2 hours ago, shailen said:

The full three seasons he's been in charge, only West Ham have finished above us in the league, bar the 'big six' clubs. We've also won the FA cup in that time too. 

 

I do agree with the fact that our problems to some degree have been self inflicted by him. Confidence was shot for the first 8 games or so, due to him basically saying squad is not good enough. 

 

Where we currently are is an underachievement, but to what extent have we overachieved before? Are we a top 10 club or do people think we should be top 6? I'm not saying he hasn't got things wrong but who is to say we'll do better with someone else then what he has already achieved?

I appreciate the response. It’s my view that people view things like the “big six” as being a little too static. Yes these teams have all of the money, bigger fanbases etc., but league performance and quality isn’t some static non-comparative measure or something that is fixed by Sky/BT. Teams get better or worse each year and if anything, we’ve shown that you can be competitive if you get the model right. 
 

I don’t generally like thinking of whether we are under or overachieving even though that language can make sense in certain scenarios. Where we are in the table is not only a product of how we play and are managed as a club, it’s also the result of what others do or don’t do well. In a season where big teams are “underachieving”, then it might not be an “overachievement” to finish in the top four or five given your squad quality relative to everyone else in the league. But some will look at the fifth place finishes and see it as an overachievement because they view everything through a static lens which isn’t so sensitive to the shifting dynamics present. On this view, we should expect to finish no better than 10th, irrespective of whatever else happens during the season.
 

I don’t think that anyone is arguing that Rodgers has never been good enough or the right man for the job. All things considered, he was the right man to take over after Puel. The question is whether he remains the right man for the job moving forwards. Assessments of aptitude have to be forwards looking and previous success isn’t always a predicate for future glory (especially the more distant the success is). A lot of things came together (and fell apart) for us to finish in the top five and win the FA cup. Some of that is attributable to Rodgers and some of it isn’t. One thing should be clear, however, and that is that things are getting progressively worse. Not many disagreed with the Puel sacking and we were sitting in mid table then. Clearly many thought we should be doing better and we did with a new manager. Similarly, I don’t think we should be at risk of relegation but we are and the performances are becoming increasingly lacklustre. In fact, it’s the manner of the results over the past couple of years which is probably the most worrying thing.