The mistakes of Brendan Rodgers/King Power - What are they and what can we learn?

[One Arm Babba]

1 hour ago, Mike1983 said:

Forced out Kasper Schmeichel, then gave Danny Ward 26 games while Iversen was just sat there rotting on the bench. It just never made any sense...

Hundred percent this. A competent keeper would have us 10pts better off. Ward isn’t even championship level. Iversen would have grown in to the gloves if he was given the chance at the start of the season. 

[volpeazzurro]

3 minutes ago, 21st Century Fox said:

And how do we sign other players once word gets out that the club is run like a gulag?

We don't want players who think they can come here for a quick jolly and then switch off for the last 18 months. Tielemans is a reasonable example actually, didn't he have previous for switching off after a while at his last club? 

 

I think there's a happy medium to be had and proper man management. The sort of approach I suggested would only occur in extreme circumstances. I'd suggest most of our current problems have been self inflicted and bad planning as much as anything. 

[Mickyblueeyes]

9 minutes ago, Guest said:

If I were Tielemans in that situation then I would be calling our bluff, hard. The guy's not an idiot. "You're not playing this year Youri" - yeah right, good luck trying to achieve your objectives for the season without me. Who you replacing my creativity and goals with, Dennis Praet?

 

I believe they call it cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Ok but at what point do you sit there and realise you’re losing bargaining power. This club can’t afford to drop players but it also can’t afford to lose assets for cheap or even worse, nothing. Realistically, Tielemans should’ve been sold two summers ago. It’s hindsight, yes but it gives the club or specifically a club of our size the chance to compete.

 

Otherwise, what’s the alternative ? A star player leaves on a free, and we battle relegation ? That’s also counterproductive for a club of our size. 

 

Not everyone (willingly or unwillingly) signs the deal ie Maguire, Mahrez. 
 

At some point, you’ve got to play your hand or it has a knock on effect on the investment at the start of the chain. That’s for all clubs outside the top 4. Your not taking the risk of the risk increases at the end of the chain.

[sacreblueits442]

1 hour ago, yorkie1999 said:

Some of the signings are obvious mistakes, but the pair from Southampton!! I’m fairly suspicious about there was something  dodgy about signing them, who in their right mind would actually sign 2 defensive players from a team we’d beaten 9-0!! I mean, if you were a scout, they’d probably be the last 2 players in the world to recommend. Stinks of back handers to me.

...hey, some people want Hasenhuttl to come and manage us!!!

[John12345]

At the end of the day it's the board at fault. Rodgers proved himself incompetent a good 2 years plus ago. They should have sacked him then. All his mistakes have now snowballed to the point where who knows how bad it could get. 

[Sly]

4 hours ago, foxile5 said:

In reference to David Rennie - I have no insider knowledge but I'll say this. If it isn't broken and working perfectly there should be no need to fix it. If you've fixed it and it starts working like shit then you've ****ed it up.

 

Our injury record post Rennie is suggestive that the working conditions and procedures have been interrupted and has resulted in an inefficient and counterproductive culture.

From what I’m told, Rennie caused other problems within the club, hence why he was let go unfortunately. 

[Jon the Hat]

The very first time Brendan criticised his players publicly, and said the squad needed a refresh, he should have been on notice from the CEO.  The second time he should have been sacked for gross misconduct.  

[Le Renard]

Don't employ someone who talks about being humble but clearly lacks any of the humility they need for the job. 

 

[LCFCJohn]

8 hours ago, MancFox24 said:

I've said this loads of times on this forum, but Rodgers was asked early in the season when he was told there was no money available for new transfers and he said not until he got back for pre season. Nobody from the club has ever disputed this as far as I'm aware. The fact that wasn't communicated earlier was ridiculous. I think he may have walked or at least looked for other opportunities had he known. Instead the negativity was allowed to set in and it's carried on throughout the season. 

An example of where all parties are to blame.

 

It all started with Rodgers mouthing off to deflect from the Forest result going on about a refresh. For me, this is not something to be talking about in a post game interview. Talk about the game and face up to why it went so wrong.

 

Onto the summer. Yes the ownership/board whoever should communicate fully to the manager what is going on. Of course it can create uncertainty.

 

Back to Rodgers, despite this, I would expect a professional manager and person to deal with the circumstances dealt in a professional manager and get on with the job in hand. By all means take those grievances to the board in house but keep the shit in house.

 

It was Rodgers choice to spread that negativity through the media and into the season.

Edited 13 April 2023 by LCFCJohn

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

I think these points have been said already, but not giving a manager as much control and realising when their cycle has come or needs to come to an end should be key learning points. I can’t think of any other manager - other than Pep - where the manager was highly regarded enough to have total control of shaping everything (perhaps Klopp as well?). In our case I don’t think there was enough critical reflection as to whether Brendan’s track record warranted that.

[filthyfox]

One word.... RUDKIN

 

GET RID!

[MancFox24]

26 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said:

An example of where all parties are to blame.

 

It all started with Rodgers mouthing off to deflect from the Forest result going on about a refresh. For me, this is not something to be talking about in a post game interview. Talk about the game and face up to why it went so wrong.

 

Onto the summer. Yes the ownership/board whoever should communicate fully to the manager what is going on. Of course it can create uncertainty.

 

Back to Rodgers, despite this, I would expect a professional manager and person to deal with the circumstances dealt in a professional manager and get on with the job in hand. By all means take those grievances to the board in house but keep the shit in house.

 

It was Rodgers choice to spread that negativity through the media and into the season.

This is an example of where people had it in for Rodgers no matter what he did. We all heard those press conferences after a crap performance where he would defend the players and say we were the better team and fans would call him out for it. But pretty much the only occasion where he went to town on the players and gave some much needed home truths after the forest game and he's called out for that as well. 

 

I agree to a certain extent that he let his ego get in the way and his demeanour had definitely changed at the start of this season. But players aren't stupid. If they know that there aren't any new players coming in to challenge in their positions then their performance levels will drop, even if it's only subconsciously. It won't make any difference what the manager is saying.

 

So if we had no money to refresh the squad the only way to shake things up would have been to bring in a new manager. And it needed someone strong enough to have that honest conversation with Rodgers well before pre season so we could have gone our separate ways. 

 

Maybe a lesson out of all of this is to recognise that you don't always have to wait for things to turn to shit before moving on from a manager. 

 

 

[lcfc sheff]

Don’t be afraid to sell a player- even if it means we get someone a little worse but with upside. Madders should’ve gone last year and we could’ve had two or three players signed. Same with Youri who’ll now go for nothing. Admittedly having a bloated squad of players who didn’t want to leave due to their pay checks hasn’t helped and left us with no room for manoeuvring in terms of getting players in and out.

[SK3Blue]

It does appear that several players that were bought in didn't fit the LCFC 'bloodline' of hardworking, good attitude, team player etc. Perez, Fofana, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Under, Soumare. We've then tried to return to that Bloodline with Souttar, Faes.  There was a definite shift here, and those lazy signings impacted. 

[LCFCJohn]

33 minutes ago, MancFox24 said:

This is an example of where people had it in for Rodgers no matter what he did. We all heard those press conferences after a crap performance where he would defend the players and say we were the better team and fans would call him out for it. But pretty much the only occasion where he went to town on the players and gave some much needed home truths after the forest game and he's called out for that as well. 

 

I agree to a certain extent that he let his ego get in the way and his demeanour had definitely changed at the start of this season. But players aren't stupid. If they know that there aren't any new players coming in to challenge in their positions then their performance levels will drop, even if it's only subconsciously. It won't make any difference what the manager is saying.

 

So if we had no money to refresh the squad the only way to shake things up would have been to bring in a new manager. And it needed someone strong enough to have that honest conversation with Rodgers well before pre season so we could have gone our separate ways. 

 

Maybe a lesson out of all of this is to recognise that you don't always have to wait for things to turn to shit before moving on from a manager. 

 

 

I’m referring purely to starting talking about transfer to deflect. For me a manager should not be talking about things that don’t relate to on the pitch but maybe that’s old fashioned of me!

 

In terms of criticism of players, no issue with this except that again, often this is better done behind closed doors. Pearson for example would put himself in the firing line to take the heat off his players. I never remember Rodgers doing that. 
 

Some of the best such as SAF at Man Utd, I don’t often remember him slating his players publicly but I was quite young during his time there so maybe he was.

 

I agree with the last two paragraphs although surprised you have said that as I thought you were Rodgers in until the end?

 

You're right that he should have gone if he was not up for the challenge of managing the team as it was. To flip it though, he’s a big boy and could have walked at any point himself. But he wouldn’t do that because of the money would he so can’t have it both ways. 
 

Basically, the finances were what they were. Due to wages having pushed the limits to back him in previous seasons I should add. He want happy at not getting new signings in so took a negative mindset into the new season, meaning he underachieved with what he did have. Yet he didn’t want to lose money by walking away. That basically summarises how I see it.

[themightyfin]

10 hours ago, LVFox said:

The most important man at the club is a very competent director of football.

 

If you don't have one, it will catch up with you.

 

Give your manager too much power and you're screwed.

Worked OK with MON? 

[themightyfin]

39 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

Don’t be afraid to sell a player- even if it means we get someone a little worse but with upside. Madders should’ve gone last year and we could’ve had two or three players signed. Same with Youri who’ll now go for nothing. Admittedly having a bloated squad of players who didn’t want to leave due to their pay checks hasn’t helped and left us with no room for manoeuvring in terms of getting players in and out.

Hindsight is wonderful. 

If we had sold  Madders last year the fans would have been up in arms and god only knows where we would be now without him this season.

And Youri? We was never able to sell him. He was always going to run down his contract for a nice big fat signing on fee with a new club. Selling him was never an option last summer. 

[LVFox]

9 minutes ago, themightyfin said:

Worked OK with MON? 

Footballs a different beast now compared to the late 90s/early 2000s.

 

Clubs don't revolve around a manager, and rightly so. Any business towards the top end of an industry worth billions shouldn't revolve around an employee with a 3-4 year shelf life.

[los dedos]

46 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

Don’t be afraid to sell a player- even if it means we get someone a little worse but with upside. Madders should’ve gone last year and we could’ve had two or three players signed. Same with Youri who’ll now go for nothing. Admittedly having a bloated squad of players who didn’t want to leave due to their pay checks hasn’t helped and left us with no room for manoeuvring in terms of getting players 

Sometimes I'd sooner keep a player if it means we win cups, qualify for Europe or even stay up. Than sell for maximum profit. 

[themightyfin]

11 minutes ago, LVFox said:

Footballs a different beast now compared to the late 90s/early 2000s.

 

Clubs don't revolve around a manager, and rightly so. Any business towards the top end of an industry worth billions shouldn't revolve around an employee with a 3-4 year shelf life.

A lot of clubs do let the nanager have an enormous amount of control and have great success.  Different horses for different courses.  

[LCFCJohn]

15 minutes ago, los dedos said:

Sometimes I'd sooner keep a player if it means we win cups, qualify for Europe or even stay up. Than sell for maximum profit. 

That’s the ideal of course. Unfortunately the players we have kept in in the past couple of years will be leaving on frees or heavily discounted so not getting the maximum profit the likes of Maguire, Chilwell and Drinkwater got (Mahrez and Kante were good fees but not the maximum two world class players like they were should have got).

[LCFCJohn]

27 minutes ago, themightyfin said:

Hindsight is wonderful. 

If we had sold  Madders last year the fans would have been up in arms and god only knows where we would be now without him this season.

And Youri? We was never able to sell him. He was always going to run down his contract for a nice big fat signing on fee with a new club. Selling him was never an option last summer. 

What about the summer before park after the two 5th places and he had scored the winner in the cup?

 

You're probably right re Youri as there has never really been a great level of interest last summer or the year before. One of those players that was just worth a lot more to us than potential buyers? Or perhaps his agent has just put the message out for the last two years that he’ll leave on a free this summer….

[David Hankey]

I wish folk would acknowledge that many "mistakes"have been made by many other people during his reign here, not least by most players on a week by week basis.

 

And why all this analysis/inquisition when there are far more important issues to be tackled, not least our EPL survival?

 

Did we have the same after the departures of O'Neill, Pearson, Puel, Ranieri and others?

 

What has happened has happened and whatever we, as ordinary supporters feel or say, won't change a thing.

[NotTheMarketLeader]

12 hours ago, cityfanlee23 said:

So obviously Rodgers reign at Leicester is now consigned to the history books. And whilst we had obvious successes on the pitch and should not dwell too hard on the past, errors along this timeline have clearly put us into a very difficult situation and somewhat eroded the foundation of our club, many fans have noticed (and pointed out time and time again) over the last 4 years many aspects of our club and decisions made by those in charge that have fundamentally shifted in direction ultimately led directly or indirectly to us going from being a well run, "model club" in world football in 2015/16, to an absolute mess just 7 years later.
Now personally I am surprised to be still learning new things about decisions that Brendan and his team made that were clearly poorly thought out in some cases, and pure stupidity in others, so I wanted to get the opinions of fellow fans to curate a list of examples of where we have gone wrong over the last few years to see if there is anything we can learn going forward. I have to admit there are things I never knew anything about that I wish I'd known at the time. So I'll start us off with a couple of examples. (try to give sources if you can)

1) From the other thread that has recently been revived, Rodgers ignored key data analysts in the scouting department who advised Rodgers and his team against multiple signings including Vestergaard and Bertrand, but the moves were forced through anyway, leading to some of our key Data Analysts leaving the club having become "exasperated at the change in approach and felt their work and their previously trusted process were being ignored" 
Source: The Athletic https://theathletic.com/4386390/2023/04/07/leicester-rodgers-recruitment-finances-contracts/

2) Forcing out long time club Head Physio Dave Rennie (who had been at the club since 1999) which led to multiple and continued injury crisis scenarios that really harmed our chances of securing more points. Now I can't remember where I read this so take it with a pinch of salt, but I was under the impression that Rennie and his team had expressed opinions toward Rodgers that his training style would lead to injuries and were ignored (this could be wrong as I cannot remember where I saw this, it might have been FT but any source welcome). Leicester, of course, had an exemplary record on fitness and lack of injuries in the years before Brendan Rodgers arrived, Rodgers described this as the club heading down "a different path" 


So which decisions can you think of that you feel have played a role in the regression of Leicester City football club into this mess?

Is there anyway I can get this article without signing up to the Athletic?

I click on it but are asked to sign up 

[Dames]

The biggest lesson we need to learn as a club is to be far more savvy with contracts.