By Dave Caren
As Brendan Rodgers approaches 3 years at the helm of Liverpool Football Club, he has given fans a rollercoaster of a ride. From “nearly” winning the league last season, to the depths of the August to December period this season. Then the hope of a decent run crashed with back to back defeats to top 4 challengers who we needed to take something from. So what will the future hold for my fellow countryman and will he still be at helm of the LFC ship next season? A lot will depend on the FSG mindset and whether they feel it’s the end of the road for the Brendan experiment. Given the time and money he has been afforded by the club, FSG will have more questions than answers when they review the manager this term. I want to outline why I think its better for FSG to bite the bullet and remove him from his position before its really too late. I know this type of thought will upset many in the fanbase who are devoted followers of Brendan, but the slide needs to stop now before we really are just another team in the EPL.
I have always had several deep issues with Rodgers as LFC manager and with every passing season he reenforces those issues. My concerns started not at LFC, but at Swansea. I used to watch his press conferences, as a fellow Ulsterman, and so many times thought “wind your neck in lad”. So when he was appointed manager of LFC, complete with his 180 page reinvention of football, I was deeply worried. He began by giving us his “Death by Football” speech. Mighty words indeed from a man who had won nothing. But the fans hung on his every word, Death by Football was the new buzz phrase, and they all loved him. The football that followed had us wishing for death as the easier option, so he didn’t really lie, we just misunderstood his definitions. His appointments in his backroom gave Google and Wikipedia a headache, who were these people? Who is Colin Pascoe? Then we had the ‘Being: Liverpool’ show which was the start of a cringe fest of PR that has grown year on year. His first season saw us 7th in the EPL, made 4th round exits in both domestic cups and a last 32 exit from Europa League. But they told us it was his first season, he’s a young manager, he will only get better was the cry. Fair enough, I thought, people seem to like the guy, he’s the manager whether I like it or not, I support the club, he’s just a staff member, my sanity was restored. His second season he “nearly” made me eat humble pie, “nearly”! Instead the Mourinho bus rolled up to Anfield in search of a 0-0 draw, the same draw that most of us would happily have taken pre game, and more importantly all we needed to take from the game. But of course Brendan did what Brendan does, went for the ego boosting glory of beating his old master, ended up colliding with Mourinho’s tactically placed iceberg, and a serious tilt at the EPL title sank without trace. All the season’s effort and momentum gone with one slip of the boot by a legend, a lack of game management and tactical flexibility, unforgivable!
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