Liverpool Banter Archive February 15 2015

15 Feb 2015 22:12:32
Ed 001
Correctly states that football is about opinions, and if we all agreed it would be a bit boring.
What I can't understand from my straw pole of Liverpool supporters, not one is get Rogers out come the end of the season and general criticism of him.
At the start of any season there is just 4 titles that can be won and 4 places for champions league.
I'm not sure about DoF, Commoli gets a lot of stick both here and spurs but lays claim to saurez and Bale. I think a Dof and coach should be a pair brought in at the same time.
As for 1st half and second half of a season, hasn't the first half been bedding in a new squad. That won't be needed next season as the squad will just need additions.
Great football with good results, I want to win cups and titles too, I see progression but maybe I'm a half full guy and Ed 001 is half empty . No abuse just opinion

15 Feb 2015 23:32:04
Has nothing to do with half full/half empty. You are overlooking the fact that Rodgers made promises to the owners and in return they have funded him to the tune of in excess of a quarter of a billion pounds. These are hard-headed professional businessmen. They have hearts of black granite that pump purple p**s. They aren't interested in a good effort - you make them a promise, you deliver or they dispose of you. He promised this season a major challenge for the Prem and a good run in the Champions League. They expect that and if they don't get it they will act accordingly. At their level of business emotion and sympathy is a major weakness and they will give Rodgers neither. Come May he will deliver them what they have paid for - not try, deliver. If he doesn't, they'll get someone who can.

I want Rodgers to go for all the reasons I hear on this site. Lack of youth squad, poorly worded press speeches, loaning players with no plans and lying to players. His stubbornness with style.
Yet I am easily torn when I see how well we are doing at the moment, I can start to forgive the beginning as the loss of Sturridge was huge. The summer signings, if Lovren and Mario continue as well as their recent cameos then where are the bad signings? Where was the money wasted? Cause Can, Markovic, Lallana and Moreno look alright to me.

Thing is for me, I totally agree with Ed001. Rodgers will revert back to his system which doesn't work, he will continue to mouth off and he will spend over our youth. He alienates players like Lucas and Ilori, plus others.

Problem is who else, realisticly? It means another transition, no guarantee it'll be better? I thought LVG was classed as a top manager but I'd hate to have him now. Klopp? Bottom of his league, why would he smash the prem?

And our current squad. Only 2-3 players not good enough IMO. Only 1-2 need bringing in. But a new coach could want half gone, might not fancy Can, Hendeson, Lucas, Moreno etc etc.

Better the devil you know??

Any manager that makes such a promise and more especially any owner that accepts such a promise, considering the history of the premier league, are quite frankly delusional.

Morning eds and reds
Day 1 of freedom!!
Only had two pizzas and only watched 3 dvd's so far!!!

Liverpool used to give any incoming manager 5 years to get things right.
Evans, Houllier, Benitez all given 5 years. Hodgson would have had the same time if he wasn, t shabbite.
Daglish was always a short term solution.
I would like to go back to the days when we give any incumbent manager 5 years to get it right.
We live in a "must have now" society but Footballing dynasties are built over time unless you have obscene wealth.
We are building towards success at our club and I think we are getting closer rather than getting further away.
So give the manager time is what I say.

16 Feb 2015 09:14:28
Great response Omega Man. I am in total agreement with you. It seem's every season for us is about transition. A complete overhaul is not what is needed. Fine tuning will do

The problem is the summer market with Rogers to sign a top quality players 3 and returning of loan signings would be great
Alienated is harsh any player who was alienated has returned better mignolet Henderson all improved alienated or clever ???

{Ed001's Note - those two were not alienated, Henderson was asked to go out on loan and rejected the move, Mignolet was dropped after a lot of errors.

Alienated are players like Suso, promised game time then not given it, sent out on loan then return to find more promises broken. That is alienating.}

It's funny because I would have thought that Suso would have been right up Brendan's street in terms of a footballer.

15 Feb 2015 20:16:09
RIP the three WEST HAM FANS Whos car got hit on M1 .

Traveling back from a match? That's horrible, RIP.

15 Feb 2015 19:08:59
Eds, A question to you.

Where you think Milner would end up? And what's going on at City. He has proved me enough of his ability and quality.

{Ed001's Note - not sure, he looks certain to stay in the Prem, but I don't know where he will go. It will probably be a while before that becomes clear.}

15 Feb 2015 20:03:08
Thanks Ed01. Do you think Liverpool would try their luck?

{Ed001's Note - it is entirely possible that he will be approached, yes. Especially with Lucas likely to leave.}

Be strange as milner is completely different player if you ask me

Milner was a cm before being moved to the wings in city no?

{Ed001's Note - other way round mate, he started off playing wide, though he always wanted to play central. I think, if I remember rightly, that he did play a lot of youth football in the centre, but he just got given his shot at Leeds on the wing as that was what they needed. I might be wrong though, it was a long time ago now.}

Doesn't have the discipline to be like Lucas and if anything he's too similar to Henderson and at 29, I think he's the wrong age. I do seem to remember another England international midfielder coming in on a free from an Oil team who wanted to play centrally working out quite badly in the recent past, so I'd rather dodge this one as it has bullet written all over it.

16 Feb 2015 18:15:36
The one time Milner has been given a consistent run in the middle of the park was for Aston villa, with that form prompting city to pay the price they did for him. A good player who has improved in his time, on a free I would take him in a heartbeat as a box to box midfielder. His form got Aston villa as a cm was excellent.

15 Feb 2015 16:28:24
Who would you rather draw? Bradford at home or west brom/villa away?

{Ed001's Note - tough one, but well done Darby, nice lad, good to see him doing well there with Bradford.}

Always wondered what happened to him.

Ha maybe I don't trust the FA and the other men behind the draw on monday, but we won't be getting any handy tie, at home,
they ha, made sure we got a tough one at Palace, and I am sure they will give us an even tougher one tommorow,
I am going to say Bradford away, for us, and easier games for the two faves, who they want in the cup final .

15 Feb 2015 16:10:10
I haven't wrote a post in a while, With the current situation with Sterling, with the media turning it into a circus, and the "Big Guns" preparing to give Sterling the pay cheque he deserves. Majority of young players that take that leap into a world beater team, normally fail to establish themselves.


What previous players did you think would be world beaters then joined a team without being a finished product and they turned out to be nothing more?

Abit of banter for this Sunday evening.

Can't see what all the fuss is about he can't finish, can't cross the ball, gets de possessed too easily. Only ever scores tap ins. Oh and we clearly haven't missed him last 2 games. Ibe is twice the player already. Just my opinion. I'd take the money on him and let him rot somewhere else, clearly thinks he is better than he is.

15 Feb 2015 20:12:19
@Supermario. He's 20. At 20, Cristiano Ronaldo, now among the 2 or 3 best in the world, was considered by many, including me, to be an over-elabourate, cheating show pony, who would never be world class because he couldn't deliver against top teams. Sterling scored more goals in the PL last season at 18/19 years old than Ronaldo did the season he turned 20.

Sterling has all the raw attributes to develop into a top player, as long as he's managed and coached properly (and preferably not played as a lone striker any more). And if we want to "leave him rot" because he's asking for stupid money for a 20 year old, then we might as well stop watching top level football altogether, because this is the unfortunate reality of it now. And us playing hard ball with Sterling on his contract, possibly to the point of losing him, isn't going to change that.

Sure we have Ibe waiting in the wings. But how do we know he won't get drawn into the media hype and be the one asking for a King's Ransom in a couple of years time, whilst all the time people are sniping at him and saying he's not worth it because he's not the finished article at 21?

And how you can say Ibe is better when he's played about 1/30th as many Premier League games as Sterling, and hasn't had the responsibility of being our team's main attacking threat for half a season, is mind-boggling anyway. Yeah he looked good at Derby, but Sterling probably would've been amazing in the Championship too. Let's say in a year's time if Ibe's been regular in the team hits some bad form because Sturridge is injured and Sterling is being managed correctly somewhere else (sorry, rotting) as you desire, so he's our only pacey outlet and he hits some bad form. And then he's out when Sturridge comes back and naturally makes the team look better in attack? Will he be all hype and no substance too?

15 Feb 2015 20:54:20
Most his goals are put on a plate for him! And we scored bucket loads last year. All this vomparing to what other players did at certain points in there career is nonsense, it's doesn't work like that! I bet he stays at the same level.

{Ed001's Note - I must have dreamt that one he scored against Chelsea then. You know where he ran from deep and slotted it in the back of the net.}

Disagree w/ Supermario on this one. You cannot simpy say Sterling is this or that just by reading the media (who like to stir things up to begin with). He is a very good player who IMO, is still learning the game hence, still a bit rough around the edges just like Ibe is still raw yet has a high ceiling. The contract issue is not yet a distraction BUT could be if it lingers on anymore than it should be. Let the process play out and all will be fine. I will say that Sterling has to understand that if money is the issue, he is only worth what LFC is willing to pay him. Also if he wants be here (which he is) then he should tell the agent to get it done because the agent works for him and not the other way around.

To bring this a little back on track.

I thought Ravel Morrison would make it once he went to West Ham got games and away from his mates. I was very wrong.

Pacheco came to Liverpool with a lot of fanfare, but never got close to those heights, same with Babel.

Franco Di Santo for chelsea

Fran Merida thought he was too good for Arsenal.
Pato was supposed to be the next big thing at Milan.
Jack Rodwell moved to City much too soon.
A certain Mohamed Salah hasn't had the best time of it since his move to Chelsea.
Jovetic and Lamela had the world at their feet before their big moves.
Wright-Phillips was immense at one point.
One might even argue Mangala wasnt ready for the EPL.

And that's just off the top of my head, the list is endless

16 Feb 2015 08:12:46
Sorry but anyone who can't see how good Sterling is is either an idiot, or just one of those contrarian people who just wants to be on the other side of the coin to everyone else because if makes them feel smart and self important because they can see something no-one else can

Dani Pacheco
Ryan Babel
Keith Gillespie
Harry Kewell ?maybe
Lee Sharpe ?maybe
Stan Colleymore
A CB we had called Kippe
Joao Texiera ?maybe he is 20 already, older then Sterling for context
A Spanish midfield player we had off Madrid, Bruma - now at Accrington
Lewis Holtby
Freddy Adu
Ariel Ortega - another the next Maradonna
Adriano
Ricardo Quaresma
Jonathan Woodgate
Paul Gascoinge

15 Feb 2015 14:23:04
I once had a dream that Jovetic was playing up front for Liverpool. I had never watched him play at that time and in my dream he was celebrating his goal and the crowd were singing his name, that was it. Then shortly after he moved to City, so it clearly wasn't a premonition. Anyway, after reading his latest comments on his future it appears that maybe he will be available in the summer, and in my opinion he would really fit into our system.

Red Rum

He was brilliant for Florentinea and torn us apart in CL. Rafa wanted to sign him up at Liverpool FC.

Florentinea? Harry Is back then ;)

Good to see you buddy!

You clever little stats man 😊😊😊😊
I used to read your post a lot.

Keep up Adam

15 Feb 2015 14:13:26
Eds fellow reds .watching villa Leicester what a bag of sh the worst game I've ever seen .just as well sky sports had signed that deal last, because after this game they might have changed there mind

I suspect Villa v Leicester will not be their typical super Sunday game. Liverpool Suprs is a more typical one and usually well worth watching.

15 Feb 2015 12:55:36
Ed001, where would you rank Rodgers in the premier league as a coach only (Not a manager)?

Thanks in advance

{Ed001's Note - as a coach he is top 3. He is clearly an excellent coach, the players show signs of technical improvement over the period of time they are with the club.}

As a coach, he is awesome and if he would just focus on that and get help in other areas as well as play the youth players (who will excell under his astute coaching), I will defo keep him.

16 Feb 2015 01:16:48
Great coach, terrible manager.

15 Feb 2015 11:57:58
So cleaners and other staff at Highbury only get minimum wage. I hope our club pays the living wage. How can we find out and how could we start a campaign for football league and premiership to lead the way as an industry, in paying all staff the living wage?

{Ed001's Note - try googling the Living Wage Foundation. I am sure there will be ways to help on their website.}

15 Feb 2015 10:43:48
Rogers out
Yes it took time to get his shape and players to settle, and mistakes were made Stevie shouldn't have been DM, legs gone, but now he has a young team that from now on needs 1 good player per year rather than trying to buy 2-3 worldies.
We can't compete with City and Chelsea financially, and but for a striker would have beaten chelsea in the cup.
So you lot want a new manager who will have his style and his back room team who will need to settle. That's other clubs not ours.
Enjoy the football let the manager learn he's still a pup and mistakes will be made

I've said it all along Pete.

He's made mistakes yet he's still learning, and hopefully he will continue at our club.

Not many on here will agree with us lad as they want blood.

There's been venomous hatred directed at our manager to the point of personal insults.

Disgusting armchair supporters.

Anyway, them away fans don't stop singing his name and in my opinion, there opinion means so much more than a Sky Sports Fan.

Easy to highlight a problem, but it might be difficult to find a solution to it.

Fair assessment, but who could come in and promise us the title? Another question is, would they be interested in joining us?

If you can´t answer these questions, then there´s no point in stating "Rodgers out".

I like Rodgers and he deserves a lot of credit for turning our season around.

Points that need addressing under his tenure.

-We are courting FFP sanctions due to his high spending on player he wanted but never played, or couldn't cut the mustard once they arrived in his opinion.
Examples, Aspas, Ilori, alberto, Lovren, Balotelli, assaidi, Borini.

Sold some good youth brought in some poor replacements.
Examples.Sold Kelly brought in Mnaquillo on loan, loaned out wisdom, now playing markovic wing back.

Has a tendency to piss a lot of players off. Sakho, Ilori, Suso, Reina, Sahin

I don't really watch his interviews, but almost every week he seems to open his mouth too quickly.

He promised a title challenge after we spent £100 mil+ this summer, we're in 7th position. I expected us to try and solidify 4th with a strong showing personally. Not clawing back points with 13 games to go.

The insistence of playing Gerrard DM without Suarez and Sturridge for his passes. When lucas and can were there. Playing sterling as a false 9 when you have 3 strikers on the bench.

He screwed up big time in the first half of the season, being stubborn in his ways as well spending £50m on Lambert Lovren and Lallana etc. He's done well to improve things recently - but make no mistake about it - no champions league footie next season would class this season as a failure. We've improved in the 2nd half of seasons under him, but the league is 38 games, not 19. I'd be happy with him next season as long as he has no say in player recruitment and he stops coming out with his nonsense in press conferences.

15 Feb 2015 11:37:43
Kelly good kid, how many injuries ?
Transfers. No one gets then right
Mark, Moreno Cam Sakho goods buys and getting better, Loren will get there.

{Ed001's Note - last warning, if I have to keep removing imbecilic petty insults in your comments aimed at everyone who has a different opinion from you, I will ban you. Same for you too Davey - armchair supporters? That just makes you sound a prick! Plenty of people working for the club would happily see the back of Rodgers, so you might want to wind your necks in the pair of you, as you are not some kind of gurus, you are just fans with a different opinion.}

Bobatron, surely if the board were concerned about spending and FFP, they would just reduce Brendan's budget. I do agree that he needs coaching on his media relations.

15 Feb 2015 12:14:28
The owners will decide whether Rodgers stays or goes - not the fans. The owners will have expectations - largely based on what Rodgers has promised and how much he has spent. He either achieves those expectations and delivers or they will discard him like yesterday's rubbish and rightly so. The most ironic thing is that Rodgers is in the position he is because of his own stubborness about refusing to work under a DoF. If he's accepted a DoF being over him, the faults with the squad would be getting thrown at the DoF instead because there is no doubting that he is an efficient coach.

15 Feb 2015 12:22:36
Well Ed, there are people who work for a government doesn't mean they make good assessments for the country just because they work their socks off for the government.
It seems to me that opinions in this matter is about not accepting you were wrong all along. What you were saying about Rodgers? Stubborn? Well before people calling other people names they should take a good look of themselves. We have no better players than Chelsea or City or United or Arsenal altogether yet we have better consistency right now. Isn't this because of Rodgers? Just like last year we overachieved because of Rodgers.

{Ed001's Note - what is your point in the first instance? You are just making my point for me! What is it with people trying to dispute a point because they haven't the intelligence to follow what you say?}

15 Feb 2015 12:41:01
I have no problem in moving out Rodgers, But am skeptical on the options outside.
No new comer would come and deliver us a trophy straight away.
Top 4 would be the deciding call in this matter
My opinion.

{Ed001's Note - and you think Rodgers will bring trophies? Just a question.}

15 Feb 2015 12:51:47
Ed01, TBH mate apart from Chelsea and possibly City None would win the title for the next 3-4 years.
Its plain and simple. We are talking about players like Pogba and Vidal ( Quality ) to be brought by Chelsea.
LVG when arrived had the best resume as a manager ( One better than all of the PL managers combined )
He has also spend close to 150 mill and where are they now?

My take is simple, We had the chance to win last season and BR screwed it up.

If FSG are adamant with the trophy, Then they will have to get in World class manager and some special players.

{Ed001's Note - sorry but LVG's resume is not good, nowhere near Mourinho's nor Pellegrini's. When you actually look at it closely, it is a resume of having a blueprint to follow, doing well following it, getting too big for his boots and deciding to move away from the blueprint, followed by falling out with everyone and miserable failure.}

15 Feb 2015 13:04:58
I believe Rodgers can bring trophies, the FA cup has to be a real possibility now, and honestly I see no reason that the Europa league is out of our grasp, I know it's not as weak as some will try to tell you, but I think a proper challenge for that is on the cards too.

Now, he may not win them both or even either, but providing we get top 4, I still think we should stick by him. Mainly because I'm not a fan of changing management every 3-4 years, as it isn't just the manager that changes it's a whole rebuilding process including playing philosophy amongst other things. And secondly, what real options do people think are out there?

15 Feb 2015 13:27:37
Agree with Big E on the rebuilding issue. A change of manager would see many players coming in and moving out. We simply cannot afford another 3 years of transition.

{Ed001's Note - that is why you appoint a head coach, rather than manager. They have to make do with what they are given.}

15 Feb 2015 14:09:06
To be frank Ed, it is not solely in Rodgers hand to win us trophies(CL and PL). Chelsea and City are well ahead of us, both have great managers.
For me I will be relaxed with Rodgers if he just keeps on playing the beautiful football without the mistake of the first half. If we get 4th place and we are in CL next year I expect from him to make some clever transfers so that United and Arsenal will not topple us and go near the other 2 strong teams. Also since he got his lesson from CL, I expect him achieve much much more there.
In terms of PL I would expect 3rd place next year with a possibility of a challenge. Nothing else.
For these things I said, I challenge you to name a manager(who we can get) that will achieve more than him next year.

{Ed001's Note - you expect him to make clever transfers on what basis? You mean now he is not in sole charge of transfers? That would be the transfer committee you are saying will make clever transfers then....
Why are you challenging me to name a better manager? How many times do I have to waste my time saying that we shouldn't have a manager before anyone bothers to take notice?}

15 Feb 2015 14:16:34
And my point is in reference to your comment stating that people who work for the club would happily see the back of Rodgers. So? Does this make it more reasonable to sack him?

{Ed001's Note - you still don't understand then? Repeating a stupid comment doesn't make it any more intelligent you know. Just proves that you still don't understand.}

Thank you Ed for setting the other "armchair supporters' straight who because people disagree with them, call us names and such because they have no way of proving you wrong or having a consistent debate on the issues. BR is in a world of trouble with the owners REGARDLESS of how people wanna spin it. He promised them stuff he may not be able to fulfill and if it ends up that way, he might be gone. Whether he will bring trophies or not is another story and remains to b seen. However, we have no time for his stubborness, dithering in the TW, and his other BS and if refuses to get help nor change and learn from his mistakes, then let him go because we will NEVER win the PL by sleep-walking thru half a season due to the stuborness of a manager and in the name of "transition". We need results and the PL ASAP and so do the owners. If he can`t do that then why should we keep him in a position where your job is to WIN?

15 Feb 2015 14:32:53
Ok so your problem is that he doesn't have a DoF next to him(or he doesn't accept one).
First of all name me a better coach then that we could appoint. This is the first step. Because I don't think a DoF solves the problems.
Just have a look at Tottenham. Rodgers bad manager. because what did he do as bad manager?
You sound like a broken record with him opening his mouth in the press etc etc or the defense etc etc. Then I tell you that our defense is far far better today than any of the last years in his tenure. Then I tell you Mignolet is a changed man after he was made to sit on the bench. Balotelli? Rodgers will be probably the only manager that made Balotelli chase the ball and time will show that he will be the only manager that changed Balotelli
Sterling? Sterling needs spanking.
Press? Who cares about what he says to the press?
All i see right is unity in the team. A manager who talks before he thinks loses this. He is a great coach, excellent at man management and good(not extraordinary) with transfer dealings. It is not his fault if we didn't get Costa, Willian, Sanchez. So what more could I ask for a manager? Yes he is still learning and despite people saying that he is not learning I will disagree.

{Ed001's Note - why are you asking me to name a better option? Is your only reason for keeping him that you can't think of a better manager? Does that mean you will accept mediocrity just because your knowledge of the game is so lacking that no one gives you the name of a better manager? Either you think he is the right man, or you don't.

What the hell has Tottenham to do with it?

I sound like a broken record? Have you read the comments you are banging the drum to over and over? Please don't address any more comments to me, you have no interest in a discussion, you just want to shout about how you are right, and shout over anyone who disagrees. Everything that isn't to your liking you just don't seem to care about, even though it is part of his role to deal with the media, apparently you think you know better. Well I am not wasting any more time on you, you are not having a conversation or a discussion, you are just telling me I am wrong. Pointless. You just ignore everything that doesn't suit your view point.

By the way, please don't make disgusting personal comments from your own ignorance about one of our own players. You have no idea what is going on with Sterling and his contract discussions, so give it a rest! This is why the manager should keep his mouth shut and not make comments, because fan boys like you lap it up and jump on a young lad's back with no idea what is going on!}

Rodgers will not work under a DOF unless you impose this on him.

Then he should either get the success the owners want on his own or be shown the door.

BTW Ed01, way to go! Some on here are ready to give BR a pass for all his blunders just because we have turned it around a bit and now act like BR`s blunders never happened by making pathetic excuses for his behavior, as a result. As Lenin said, the owners will decide BR`s fate and if he walks, he would have earned it based on his behavior and failure to meet THEIR expectations based on their investment. Nothing more, IMO!

16 Feb 2015 10:33:37
First of all the FFp is the issue of the owners. They sanction the buying of players. So if we get sanctions blame them.

Next, where were all the critics last season? Did Rodgers not do interviews or is it, as i see it, Ed002 makes a quip towards the start of the season and everyone jumps on the bandwagon. A use of the search function would come in handy to see if anyone commented on Rodgers "foot in mouth" syndrome last season.

My opinion? He needs top 4 to survive, if not then it curtains for him. Although i wouldn't be surprised to see him get the chop if he did get top 4. Just then put it down to another FSG cock up. The long list!

{Ed001's Note - both Ed002 and myself have said from the moment he came under consideration that his mouth was a source of concern. So to suggest it is only this season is quite simply wrong. The reason why it is not getting mentioned by others is because they now have the evidence to see it during his time at Liverpool. It is simply a mass of evidence of his idiotic comments stacking up that have caused the criticism, nothing to do with Ed002.

It is typical of those with no ability to dispute his idiotic comments to try and deflect by suggesting no one would have noticed if it wasn't for Ed002. It is quite simply ridiculous and irritating that you think people are so stupid they can't see what is self evident for themselves, just because you are blinded by your bias.}

16 Feb 2015 10:34:01
I don't get the Kelly injuries thing. He was ok to go last season, BR admitted as much, but said he wanted to ease Kelly into it. he got him to sign a new contract just the season before, then he sold him having never played him. Kelly is now playing well at palace and injury free for about 1.5 years.

I know people make mistakes in the transfer market. But BR's have cost us upwards of 70 million. With the promise of a title challenge.

We've loaned in player like Moses, Chissoko, Sahin, Manquillo and barely played them.

Pile Driver. I would go into finances with finishing places, sponsorship deals with champions league etc etc, but Ed002 might have a fit. They sanctioned the purchases based on assurances given.

Maybe he tried to sort his mouth out by getting them new gnashers?
Maybe he misunderstood what you meant by "his mouth being a source of concern".
ha ha ha

{Ed001's Note - they are lovely and pearly white.}

15 Feb 2015 10:36:36
Ed1 ed2 Liverpools form over the last 2 months has been very good, surely if we keep it up til the end if the season Rodgers would be unsackable??thank you

{Ed001's Note - why?}

NO coach is unsackable, especially not BR.

15 Feb 2015 08:53:34
I liked the fact BR brought in Mario after HT and didn't wait for the 'traditional' 60 min mark. Among other things that I am impressed with BR recently is how he has been able to keep Baloteli useful for us after he seemed a lost cause for so long. It is true that some people here said that with Sturridge fit it may be easier to integrate Mario, but it does seem as if he can contribute now even when replacing Sturridge. Few more goals from the Italian can be helpful though. I don't know if we can ever have them all on the pitch at the same time but as a defender, having Sterling, Sturridge, Mario, Lallana and Coutinho all coming at you must not be a nice feeling.

Btw Sturrdge's goal yesterday exact copy of Sterling's goal against Bolton (also equaliser to 1:1). Lalana scored similar goal agaisnt leicester. He has very quick feet Adam, it wasn't an easy finish.

Beyond what happen on the pitch, the destiny of this season can very much be determined on the cups draw. So let's hope for a good day tomorrow.

And finally, personal request if I may - winning tight games and coming from behind to win are very nice and a sign of a mature team with good character and form like that team no need to mention its name under that manager that also no need to mention after a happy weekend. Still would be nice occasionaly to kill games early. I honestly cannot remember one game this season when we went to HT leading, let alone leading by more than one. We did it so often last year. Com'on guys think about our heart health.

Sorry mate, I didn't see anything much different yesterday from The Italian.

He has proved he can't be relied on.

He's not a good footballer.

He smiled for a change, that was about that.

I'm one of his biggest critics but even I can tell ballotelli has improved his attitude and game lately.
It's like he actually wants to play football.
He still has a long way to go though.

It was Ballo's flick, 1-2 and subsequent free kick that made our second goal.

He harried Palace's defence, passed well and really opened up space for Studge too.

Davey what is the difference between you slating people for getting on Brendans back. But its ok to get on Marios?

Both have showed improvement recently.

Was going to post the same thing, MarcO. Balo`s mentality and attitude seems to have changed and the players seem to enjoy being around eachother as well (winning always helps too). Interstingly, Davey has no prob trashing him BUT supports no matter what, the manager who has contributed a great deal IMO, to his failures. #Interesting!

15 Feb 2015 07:17:41
Kevin Kilbane blamed Can for the goal Palace scored yesterday.
I blame Skittles for that one personally.
Not having a go because he has improved a lot for me but you should not be getting eased off the ball by Dwight Gayle who is about 8 stone ringing wet!!
On that note what do people make of Gayle??
I think he is a good player, dives a bit but he has something about him and I can see him playing at a top 6 side in the future.
Liverpool do have history with the Gayle surname:)

{Ed001's Note - to be fair, both were at fault. Can was caught out of position and Skrtel then allowed himself to be outmuscled by Gayle.}

Ed001, what do you reckon is going to happen with Skrtel?

I believe his contract is up end of next season and with FSG not bowing down to Johnson's demands then they will surely also offer Skrtel a small contract extension on reduced wages which he will unlikely accept.

I believe we need to cash in on Skrtel while we still can.

{Ed001's Note - depends on who is in charge by then.}

What do you make of Gayle Ed001?

{Ed001's Note - quick, hard working, but lacks intelligence and flops to the ground when brushed past. Not good enough for the Prem in my opinion, if he wasn't quick he would be in the lower leagues.}

15 Feb 2015 08:31:16
Emre looks over at gayle seconds before the pass comes, and markovic clearly has him . I guess that's part of the reason he doesn't hold he's posision. Skrtl is unussually soft in the duel, but i also think that the midfield is doing a very bad job putting pressure on the ball, he should not have been able to hit that pass so easy IMO. Peace

Agree with that Ed.

He's a lively player and that's all I see.

I don't think the blame should be layed only one on player for that goal, it was a combination of mistakes from both Skrtel and Can.

Ed1 you said depends who is in charge by then, surely if Liverpool keep this form up til may Rodgers will be there next season!!??
Thabks

{Ed001's Note - why?}

Yes agree Kaizer, fault lies a little with both, however I do think it could have been given as a foul against Skrtel as Gayle made a back for him, probably anywhere outfield and the ref may have given it, i don't think it was a case of Skrtel being out muscled as he was in the air and strength really has nothing to do with that but I do think Skrtel could have anticipated and dropped a bit quicker to get a full head on the ball but also Can was at fault and you could argue that Skrtel was actually trying to cover Can. How many times this year has Skrtel been blamed for causing someone else to be out of position and therefore at fault. Can is flavour of the month at the moment so not much criticism has come his way. I think we all have to be un-biased and judge each incident on its own.

15 Feb 2015 11:25:57
I think we've seen BR trying to reintroduce Lovren which will make sense seeing as he is actually a centre back. Can is still very much learning that position (he seems to learn from his mistakes very quickly, to give him credit)

Dont get me wrong essex, Can has been very good, just highlighting that we all have our favourites which a lot of times clouds our judgement in the blame game. I heared Niel Mellor give Sakho MOM, I disagree as once again for me he is too prone to mistakes. Actually when thinking about it it was quite hard to pick a MOM, maybe Mingolet or Can for me.

Tbh i bash skrtel the most and even i can see that it was Cans fault.

Mingo for me. He made a point blank save vs Gayle that IMO, changed the game because at 2-0, we DON`t come back and get the win. At best we lose or get an unwanted replay.

15 Feb 2015 03:24:10
Good solid comeback from the Reds. Pleased with the collective team effort and Balo starting to play well.

I kinda feel that some of our players are starting to look a little jaded. Moreno, Markovic, Can, Coutinho etc. They've been playing well but their form seems to have dropped a little.

The squad is light due to injuries and I think that Rodgers should rotate as much as possible. I doubt our first team players can play 2-3 games a week until the end of the season without suffering a dip in form. Maybe the fringe players should be given a chance in the EL and FA Cup games. Players such as Lovren, Toure, Enrique, Lambert etc.

On a side note, can't wait to see who we've drawn in the quarterfinal. Preston North End and Middlesborough will be pretty challenging ties!

Most of those players have made around 25 appearances ( including as subs) in 7 months, that is not a vast amount. If anything keeping consistency is helping the team.

The problem is these fringe players are a world apart from the 12-13 players who start. As we seen yesterday we win games very tightly and these changes can be costly both defensively and going forward (which see to be the case not only with us, this is why City and Chelsea lost their FA cup campaign). Players of a team like Liverpool should be able to play 2 games a week, week in week out. We will have Sterling and Gerrad soon and Baloteli can start games I think so this will give you some flexibility but Enrique, Johnson, Toure, Lambert and Borini and at the moment also Lovern, I would leave on the bench as long as I can, no disrespect to nay of them but at the moment they are not good enough.

Fanobip. I agree with you on all except Lovren.
His two cameo appearances have been just as good as Balotelli's.
He deserves a start soon in my opinion.
I would start him on Thursday but rest him against Southampton.
I could see him having a mare against his former club. But that is just me being superstitious!!

15 Feb 2015 02:00:20
I backed the gaffer in November when it was all doom and gloom and said wait until he gets his best 11 then judge. Well he has now and we are playing well does anyone of the "brendaned Brigade" hold their hands up and say they were wrong? Or am I going to get the usual tripe that I read from so called fans/eds saying it was all his fault he was to stubborn to change his tactics! He done what he thought was best for the team he lost his strike force and tried to build from the back which by the way looks better than it has done in a few years.I'm not looking for agrees or disagrees I'm just saying Brendan is a good manager and deserves our loyalty at the end of the day we are playing good attacking football and other teams are looking over there shoulders! No disrespect to fans or eds but that's the way I see it! Everyones in titled to their views this is mine. YNWA

I'm not one of those who want Rodgers out and I actually think he's a good manager but, best 11 or not, there's no excuse for how rubbish we were for the first 3 months of the season. What cost us was the transfer business. If you let Suarez go and don't replace him even though you knew he was going, you can't complain when suddenly the team isn't playing as well as it was last season

It does not matter how well we play from till the end of the season. If Brendan cannot get a UCL place and a trophy in the end, then he is as good as gone. Try looking at the bigger picture from the owners POV, business is not as simple as "just enjoy the team's performances."
There are targets to be achieved and promises that need to be kept. If Brendan cannot fulfill those promises then he has failed the owners and the club. A club that wants to be in the list of elite should start their season from August, not from January every year.

15 Feb 2015 04:21:36
He shouldn't have taken so long to get us to this stage though. We always had a quality team and yes maybe it took time for players to settle in, but I garentee if he had played the more fast attacking football he played last season we would be 2/3rd easily.

It's not like Tottenham where players are learning a new style of football most of our team played that football the whole of last season and were extremely good at it. We was not a one man team last season we made Suarez that good not the other way round.

Let's face it, everyone wants the manager to do well because that would mean the team does well. What annoyed everyone is that it took him 4 months to realize that playing similar tactics to last season was the way to go instead of using his arrogant system that never worked.

15 Feb 2015 06:05:08
I for one don't feel that he has done enough. Scraping results, although results non the less, against teams that we should be beating convincingly only goes to highlight that we, will not and do not cut it against the teams that we should competing with for the CL places and title. If, after last season, mediocrity is acceptable then he is doing a great job. His bizarre team selections, tactics and media outbursts with delicate situations show that he is currently NOT doing a great overall job. The players were always going to raise their game and perform because they are good players and nobody crosses that white line to lose every week.

Your views are fine and opinions are all allowed. For me, I'd just say the manager is responsible for the whole season, not just the parts where we do well and he'll be judged at the end of the season on the final result, which is as it should be.

Surely "looking at the bigger picture" would be not sacking Brendan Rodgers for a bad 3 months?
And how can anyone say there was no excuse for the bad start to the season?
Look at who left, how many arrived and who was injured.
I said I would not judge this team for the first 3 months because we basically had a new team.
I must admit I started to doubt the manager but even his harshest critic can't argue with 1 defeat in 17 games.
Everyone said we needed a defensive coach. Who is saying that now?
The manager solves problems. (some were of his own making granted)
We have belief, we have our fear factor back and we will get top 3 and hopefully a cup.
If the players keep doing the basics.
I have been posting a lot recently in support of the manager and that is basically because I can see a prolonged period of success coming if we keep a) the owners b) the manager and c) the core group of young players.
My question would be why sack a manager who is on the cusp of something great?
He puts together long periods of sustained form.
Last year 12 wins 1 loss and 1 draw in the last 14 games.
This year 1 defeat in 17 after an abysmal start when his neck was on the line.
People claim the transfer business was awful while at the same time are watching the very same players blossom in front of their eyes.
If we sack this manager then we will have made the biggest mistake since appointing Souness.
Even fans at other clubs I speak to are getting worried. That has not happened for years.
Patience is a virtue for a reason.
I would prefer to look at the long term rather than 3 months when judging Brendan Rodgers and that long term looks very promising.
The away support told you everything you needed to know.
They are a good judge of manager and they were singing his name to the rooftops.
Get on board lads. Its going to be fun.

{Ed001's Note - I still think we need a defensive coach, we still can't defend, our set up at set pieces is awful. Joe Allen man marking a centre back? What the hell is that about? How are we on the cusp of something great? We are not top 4, where we should be if we had a top manager. In fact a top manager would have us pushing City, maybe even Chelsea, this season. An average manager would have us outside the top 4 looking to blame losing Suarez and bringing in lots of players for us not being up there, even though the fault was totally his.}

I am one of those who thought earlier this season he should go because how poor we have been and not for one game or two but consistently. We were really awful.

I have changed my mind around Xmas as I said here several times and am quite impressed with how much we was able to change things around. I don't feel very guilty about the fact I wanted him gone, because it is very rare that a team play so awful consistently for 3-4 months and then change and play so well and consistently win as we did in recent months.

I agree with other here that if we don't win trophies and finish top4 the season will still be considered a failure though I am pretty sure if we are able to play like we play now until the end of the season BR's position is safe. Assuming we cannot bring a Mourinho or Guardiola, getting rid of BR when the team is playing so well and a very attractive football as well, and when he is very popular among the players, would be insane and the way I read the owners they are not keen to get rid of him unless they feel we hit rock bottom.

I think we are zonally marking with our biggest defenders, so they are free to attack the ball and the smaller members of the team stand in front of the oppositions players to try and stop them from getting an easy run at the ball.
Not a bad theory but I am not sure it will work.
I would not be unhappy having a new voice and ideas in terms of defensive coaching its not an insult to receive help is it?

{Ed001's Note - yes they are doing that, and it is idiotic and will cost us over extended periods of time. We always look like we are going to concede and it gives opponents hope. Fix the set pieces issue and we would find opponents concentrating entirely on trying to stop us, which would put us under even less defensive pressure.}

Sorry ed. We will have to disagree on that.
I think its obvious we are on the cusp of a prolonged period of success.

{Ed001's Note - how is it obvious? Every season he messes up the first few months, when has he shown any signs of learning a lesson from that? This is the 3rd season in a row now, there has been not one single sign of anything changing.}

Harsh because the 1st season is always going to take time to settle with a new coach and players who are not used to his methods.
And I know Koeman has hit the ground running but that is not always the case.
Last season we won the first 4 games in a row.
I am happy to go with you in your belief that we were not playing great football but we were picking up results early on last season.
And in my opinion there are lots of reasons why we had a slow start this year. 9 new players, manager being stubborn, Losing best player in Europe behind CR and LM and our other worldy striker being injured on England duty.
I can agree that he deserves a lot more criticism for this seasons poor start than the other two starts and that does give credence to your argument about not learning.
But you can't ignore the fact that he always finds solutions to the perceived problems.
That is surely the sign of a good manager.
For me the biggest reasons I think we are onto something big is the style of Football we play, the age of our squad and the academy we have. ( if he uses it)
Maybe I am overly optimistic Ed001 after a good result yesterday.
Or maybe its because the wife and kids are about to go to the mother in laws for about 3 days.
FREEDOM.
And sorry in advance for the increased post traffic headed your way.

{Ed001's Note - sorry mate but as I see it Rodgers is like Mourinho, Bielsa, Redknapp, Allardyce and almost every manager every to have managed. They have their way of playing and will always revert to it as soon as they possibly can.

Allardyce is a really prime example, fighting for a top 3 place, playing good footie, after being forced to change his style or be sacked. So what does he do at that point, when he has made himself safe from the chop? He reverts back to 'his' style and they slide down the table. I know people are making excuses about injuries, but they had those injuries when they were flying. It is not injuries, it is poor management.

Rodgers made himself safe last season using a different style, so what does he do at the start of this season? That's right, he reverts to 'his' style. It was only when his situation was close to an immediate sacking that he made a change. As soon as he is safe, he will once again revert to 'his' style of boring pass, pass, pass, going nowhere football that has failed him miserably but he is too arrogant to accept defeat with.}

Jonnybarnes, so u are happy that that our season for the past 3 seasons has started from January? That is simply not good enough for a club like LFC. Fans like u have gotten so used to mediocrity that even the slightest improvement is seen a success by you. What excuse will u have if Brendan makes the same excuses next season repeatedly. How can us say this season is anything more than a pathetic failure if the club is not in the UCL next season after spending nearly 150 million GBP?
"A manager on the cusp of something great???" Did u say the same thing after last season? How did that turn out for u? This excuse about needing time and more time is just plain c**p. Managers just come up with this excuse to cover their own backsides and the fans just lap it up. Pellegrini won the BPL in his first season with a fractured Man City team. Saints are challenging for top4 after losing half their first team squad. I didn't see these two making lame excuses about needing time, instead opting to achieve the season's targets. Brendan should take a leaf out of their books, and admit his shortcomings.

Jonnybarnes, put urself in the owners shoe. Think of all the money you have spent over his time as the manager. and not the performances of the past month alone.

Barnes, we are all positive because we want our team to win. It just seems like you are ready to give BR a pass for all his unforced blunders (LS is not one because he knew he would be sold) by making suppositions and excuses for his appalling conduct. "On the cusp of something big". Did you say that with a straight face because i`ll have whatever you`re having. You can be positive BUT please, be reasonable and logical and quit glossing over his recurrent failures that the owners (bless their hearts) will no longer tolerate IMO. I know this because we both know that if we were FSG, we would not tolerate this shambles from an employee so why should they tolerate it from BR? Top 4 was NOT the target he promised and like it or not, HE DID and it will be seen as failure so why should they keep him? because he has a good half a season every year or because he speaks 3 languages? His job is to win and get success that the owners have spent fortunes on and if he can`t do that over 3 years, then we both know what the verdict could be. Come this summer, he will have to explain himself and the verdict will fall.

If our season started in January last year then we must have been doing something well before then because we were top in January.

Redohio, not a pass but time.
W

15 Feb 2015 00:59:52
Great game by the whole team.
Im liking the new Mario. He is passing the ball a lot quicker, also not trying to do too much on the ball, just keeping things moving. I think he has finally bought in.
But the thing i'm liking the most is how he is aggravating his defenders. If he keeps it up and keeps his own cool, it will only benefit the team (red, yellow cards, free kicks pens). And some pay back for him on some of the low acts we'v seen on him by some defenders this season. Keep smiling Mario!

He has pace, strength, almost everything u need to be a good striker.

with application he could be a very good buy. so I do agree with you, but he needs to keep this up.

Totally agree, ability never been his issue but he's getting himself in good areas and his decision making has improved ten fold. Like having a new strike force with him improving and Danny back.

15 Feb 2015 00:18:02
Great win today, but did anyone notice Sturridge ducking out of tackles? i can't say i blame him too much after the injuries, but it is still worrying.