Liverpool Banter Archive April 26 2015

26 Apr 2015 20:57:43
Is it any clearer whether Flanagan will be signing a new contract ie is he fit enough?

Or is the managerial uncertainty throwing that into doubt?

{Ed002's Note - Whatever happens with the manager will have no impact on contracts.}

26 Apr 2015 22:47:10
I guess we'll just have to wait and see then. I hope he does get a contract, otherwise we'll be Scouser-less for the first time in. ever?

26 Apr 2015 20:09:11
It wouldn't surprise me if a new manager came in and did well with the majority of the squad we have available, I actually like a lot of the players we have, a couple more quality additions and we could do very well, and it would be hilarious considering how sorry Brendan has us looking, onwards to the summer lads. YNWA

27 Apr 2015 14:55:45
Here's a couple of tips for the new manager. When you're not scoring goals- play a striker. When you need to keep a clean sheet-play your best holding midfielder. When you need a pacy winger- play your fastest player there. Just a few pointers BR could have used.

26 Apr 2015 19:01:49
Hi eds, please can one of you tell me that Rodgers will not be at our beloved club next year. I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt but after yesterday I can no longer do that. After another tepid performance bereft of creativity and guile he turns round and says we were "outstanding". Having 74% possession yet only managing the same number of shots on target as your opponents is not outstanding. To then claim we need to get a striker who can consistently score is not only stating the obvious but begs the question why didn't you in the summer then after losing Suarez? He is slowly turning us into a laughing stock, he needs to shut up and stop airing dirty laundry in public, the contract situation is clearly affecting Sterling so the last thing the manager should do is call him out publicly on it. His insistence on playing players out of position and then hauling them off when they don't perform seems counter-intuitive to me. I was excited when Markovic signed, an exciting attacking player with bags of potential. Now I feel sorry for him Rodgers has severely damaged the lads confidence it is clear for all to see, he is an attacking player not a wing back, don't play him there then bring him off at half time it's destroying the lad. The money he has wasted is another thing that gets me so angry, over 200mil spent and we still have the likes of Johnson starting. Is he really that poor a judge of player or is just so arrogant and vindictive that if they are not his signings he has no time for them. Ilori and Alberto came here with a lot of press talking about their potential and how we pipped several clubs to their signatures, Rodgers has wasted 2 years of their development and it looks likely they will be gone in the summer. The man is a liability, last year we got lucky, Suarez made or scored over half our goals and Sturridge had a miracle injury free season. For me if FSG want to persist with signing young players with potential then they have to get rid of Rodgers and go all our for Klopp, he had the same remit at Dortmund and won 2 titles and got to a champions league final. All Rodgers has done is shown that when the pressure is on he cracks and his teams crack. We cracked last year at Palace and in 2 semis this year, time up I'm afraid. So please eds tell me the future looks bright and Brendan free

27 Apr 2015 09:51:00
"Last year we got lucky"
No credit to the team or the manager then.
It was just luck.
If it was just luck then what would be the point in changing manager now then?
The luck may return without the need of spending 20 million pound in compensation for getting rid of Rodgers.

27 Apr 2015 12:39:42
It was lucky for Rodgers that he had a striker the calibre of Suarez (who was at the club before Rodgers arrived) who lifted the performance of those around him and at times carried the team. What was not luck was Rodgers' failure to replace him properly, not like for like as that is not possible but to get in an adequate replacement

27 Apr 2015 12:56:02
I would agree with the fact that we did not replace Luis, which is bizarre considering that should have been priority number 1.
I don't think its fair to put last season all on Suarez though.
He was banned for the first 6 games so the points collected in those games alone are not down to him at all.
Also the manager has to take a bit of credit for where we finished.
That is all I am saying.

27 Apr 2015 13:41:07
Suarez was at the club 2 and 3 years ago.

25 Apr 2015 16:03:45
Hello Eds, I guess this would be mainly for the Ed which maintains the site.

On the rumours page, when I click "reply to rumour" and type out my message, click send, I get this error;

"Your device doesn't work with this form"

I am using Windows 8.1 and Firefox on a custom built PC if that helps.

{Ed033's Note - i don't know the exact problem but i receive some variables from the form if you use the form again to see what the problem could be.

26 Apr 2015 19:10:51
I get the same problem using windows 8 and Google chrome.

26 Apr 2015 21:01:13
I had the same problem a few days ago and only way I could post was turn the adblocker off! :( I am using a laptop on Windows 7 and Firefox as a browser!

27 Apr 2015 01:17:09
P45 ASAP !

26 Apr 2015 17:05:41
Sometimes opportunities present themselves. Such will be the case this summer. The managerial merry go round could begin or end with us? If FSG do decide to chop BR ( I hope they do) then I also hope they move swiftly to appoint his replacement! let's not sit back and dawdle and take the leftovers. No, let's get in there grab who we want and let the others fight over who's left. With the couple of class managers available there will be movement let's hope we kick it off. This summer will open my eyes more regards the owners. fingers crossed

26 Apr 2015 18:05:08
Rodgers has got to go.

The crap he is coming out with is embarrassing , I remember when Roy was in charge and we'd draw away at a poor team and he'd be saying what a hard ground it is to come too.

Rodgers is also saying he needs the correct tools to work with.

Correct me if I'm wrong but he's had enough transfer windows and cash to get the correct tools , but instead he's put together a group of individuals that don't fit in a team together.

If he isn't sacked then I fear more money wasted and another disappointing season next year.

26 Apr 2015 19:56:44
Deflection and more deflection from the politician and media minefield that is BR.

26 Apr 2015 21:47:47
Not sure if I am correct but BR is the first manager (for a considerable time) that has not won anything when being in charge for 3 years.

I'm not saying we have a given right to win things and a number of teams have caught us up and passed us especially with the business models (sponsorship, ground capacity etc.); but Rodgers has bought players then played them out of position; it's as if he wants to be some genius and prove his way is best. Markovic has been a right wing back; he plays he for 45 mins on a number of occasions then brings him off; not really going to help his confidence.

We have a keeper that can only shot stop; a defence that can't defend, about 8 attacking midfielders and only one striker worth his salt but is injured all the time.

Rodgers doesn't need to be given any more tools IMO (he could have sold Suso but we get next to nothing for him); he tells us the occassion was too much for us - didn't we have a semi final earlier this year?

Last year I said if Rodgers kept learning by his mistakes he would become a better manager - he simply hasn't learnt by them.

I think a number of players would perform a lot better with a manager who didn't appear to have favorites - yes play people out of position when needed but nt every game!

27 Apr 2015 07:12:11
I don't think any decisions on Rodgers future have been made. I think he will travel to Boston for an end of season review/ plan for future meeting where a decision will be made.
Much will depend on if we get 4th place. If we do it strengthens Rodgers hand. If we don't I expect FSG to give him an ultimatum - work with a DoF or move on.
That's my expectation. I'm still hopeful of 4th place.

27 Apr 2015 09:58:20
Comparisons between Rodgers and Hodgson????
Come on Lavers. really?
That for me sums up the hysteria surrounding the manager and his position.

26 Apr 2015 15:46:23
Had our 'outstandings' won the game yesterday and then went on to win at Hull midweek, we could have been 2 points behind United. Even then I wouldn't bet on us catching them as we still have to play Chelsea at the Bridge. But it would have at least left some interest in the last four games with them still having to play Arsenal (at home) and Palace away.

United was just up there for the taking this season. Next year they will be light years away.

I always said that the one thing I couldn't care less with BR is how he speaks to media, and I still don't think it matters much. But calling our game yesterday outstanding is really sad. Football is about scoring goals. You can call your players outstanding if they scored 5 goals in a game, even if they conceded 5.
But if your players cannot score goals for the life of them, and this wasn't a one off - our impotency in the last third was evident in every game without exception this season, to call it outstanding is really sad.

26 Apr 2015 15:57:07
I will say this though fan
If Chelsea win today, they can win the title against leister and will be champions already when facing us. No We won't make top four but it will be a chance to get revenge at the bridge.

26 Apr 2015 16:14:35
I hate it when managers say their team was "outstanding" or when van gal said that the Chelsea game was their "best" performance of the year. When you loose or draw you can't in my opinion of been that good!

26 Apr 2015 16:25:17
I think Rodgers lost his thesaurus and is getting his limited vocabulary of superlatives mixed up with the words mundane, mediocre and lacklustre.

26 Apr 2015 21:45:58
Very rarely will a manager simply say their team was not good enuff after a stale perf. The ones that do often take responsibility and their teams often recover and play better. Mou and Simeone come to mind here. After a loss to Celta this year, Simeone simply said to the media that he got his tactics wrong in the first half and it was too late to salvage the game in the second half. After a loss to Newcastle lat year, Mou simply said he made Ellen mistakes and his players were not good enuff. Now that is showing leadership and when players hear that, they know the coach is a leader, takes responsibility and is willing to correct his mistakes. All these qualities are severely lacking with BR because he doesn't even believe he made mistakes hence, never learns, hence nog a leader and as a result, a failure.

26 Apr 2015 15:14:36
So where do we go from here? New manager or give Rodgers more time? After reading this on yesterday's game:
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says his players were "outstanding" against West Brom despite being held to a goalless draw at the Hawthorns.
Liverpool had 74% possession in the match and had 22 shots at goal, of which only five were on target.
"I thought they were excellent. We didn't get the win, but our overall game was outstanding, " Rodgers said.

I'm not so sure. I don't want to see a revolving door of managers, if we do replace let's get experience both league & European. Let's be honest Rodgers didn't really have either. No plan "B" when his tactic's were found out. The failure to replace Suarez with a top forward hurt. The squad needs to be rebuilt as we will be getting rid f at least 6 to 8 players that are just not good enough. Tell Sterling this is the contract on offer sign or move on, reinvest in a few top & upcoming players (not Milner) My wish list for a manager would be Klopp or De Boer give them the support, backroom staff etc, they want & go from there. I'm sure there will be a few disagreements but this is just my opinion & I'm sure quite a few.

26 Apr 2015 15:31:11
Canadian
I would hope fsg are looking at who's available first.
I would say to Rodgers thanks but no thanks and I would go all out for klopp. If we don't get him have alternatives lined up. but I'm hoping things are already going on in the background not transfers but changes high up.
For me sterling if' the right money is offered. I think he has to go for me if a big offer comes in because the situation is a disgrace.
Get better scouting staff in or someone who can spot actual talent and scar Europe for great striker.
Forget milner in midfield. Get a top class younger midfielder. My choice would be vidal but we couldn't afford him or offer him cl. I really like keidera and I wouldn't go all out to persuade cech to join.
That is what I would wish' the club to do but I fear a few players coming in that are known English players that will further regress us.
To add. If sterling leaves forget depAy. Tell Ibe to go and take his chance.

26 Apr 2015 15:36:55
Hes a Spoofer Canadian simple as all of a sudden loosing LS is a problem he knew this at the start of the league but went and bought ballo lambert and a "world class" striker in origi (spelling) all of a sudden loosing saurez is a issue is the man for real?? We can all see sturridge (who I like) is made of glass are we been told the Spoofer didn't see this maybe the shine from his teeth blinded him but he's to go!!!!!

26 Apr 2015 15:37:36
Would *

26 Apr 2015 15:47:39
Vidal is 28 in May and Milner has just turned 29. You don't get much for your £30 million these days. Khedira is also 28.

26 Apr 2015 15:48:21
only caught second half but looked liken r had good players on the pitch but either ill managed or not in their right positions (probably because we don't have players for certain roles). Mario looked lost coutinho had no one to pass to and tbh forgot sterling was on the pitch.

Think we've been figured out and lack the players to change it. All teams do is pack the box and then we can't score. Have no width and can't spread the play to create space.

Can't replace the squad as spent all our money and how do you explain selling players you bought last season. Still need a proper wide player, striker, DM and a GK which is roughly what we needed last summer

26 Apr 2015 16:09:59
Irish rover
Vidal is world class. That is the difference and we would get atleast 3 years of him at his very best. He is a player capable of us really challenging at the top. Matches are won and lost in midfield and he would be the best midfielder in the league.
We need a player of his stature for us to challenge again and would be fantastic for henderson and can to learn from.
Vidal is special and if he cost 30 million. It would be money well spent. If he goes to united in the summer expect a transformed united and real title challengers.
Fabregas is 28 and would cost 30 plus million and he is nowhere near vidal level

26 Apr 2015 16:38:26
I agree, he is a great midfielder. He won't be coming to us tho. He would not have been coming wven if we were in the CL. Khedira might have but i would guess his wages would be more than Liverpool would want to pay, setting aside his injury record. Milner, if i'm honest is a good player but he doesn't get me excited like my mistress does! I don't know! Another find in the Emre Can mould would be nice i guess. I really can't see Liverpool ever buying the really top class talent. They never have!

26 Apr 2015 16:40:56
Agree 100% Irish Rover, but with the 70 or so million we got for Suarez we could of had 2 @ 30, instead we get Ballotelli who Rodgers said would not be joining & who lovs to shot n sight, misses or get's blocked, won't get in where it count's, Lambert (Who I don't think has been given much of a chance, (not that he's any better)bit player Borini, Knowing that Stevie G is done replace with like minded quality (e.g.Vidal,Khedira) Surely with the departure's we will have cash for wages/transfere's?
& sometimes we have to admit we made a mistake & unload players that are not Liverpool quality.
But a manager of quality who can get the best out of players is a priority.

26 Apr 2015 17:17:33
Irish
Your correct. Plus he's could be in a team that reaches the cl final.
Milner is just again ' not needed. We need a top first teamer and he is not that plus will be on huge bucks.
The reason he wants out of city is more game time and I'm struggling to understand how he would get more gametime with us. we should be aiming for far better than milner.

26 Apr 2015 22:00:26
Trust me guys, the Spoofer is still using the same excuses to justify our poor run in the beginning of the season to justify our poor run now. I bet you next year if kept, he will still be talking about Suarez's absence, no money, not enuff tools, the tea lady didn't mix the tea right and so on, as excuses. The guy's ability to shirk responsibility and blame everyone else under the sun for his blunders is only matched by his failure on the field.

27 Apr 2015 10:04:29
I would take Klopp.
Anyone else would be just as much of a gamble as appointing Rodgers 3 yrs ago.
I don't think Klopp is a gamble.
His record demands respect in my opinion.
If we can't get Klopp then I would want the current manager to continue.

26 Apr 2015 14:27:52
Looks like united may lose again. Looks like city will continue to struggle. And it looks like this season again Brendan can't get enough out his players to get expected results.
Instead he wants us to accept the results he gives us, and wishes us to believe that's just how good we are.

He says we need a new striker, he bought 2. Played balotelli in a system every Sunday league manager knows he can't play in.
And lambert just didn't get a chance. And then he blames the players, NOT his tactics.

He'll have us believe he is giving us more than we deserve. He'll have us believe his brilliance is helping us overachieve.

Our players made him look good. Everyone realises that now. I'm seriously sick to death of this guy. He couldn't manage a corner shop let alone Liverpool fc.

I'm amazed that certain people on here still believe he deserves to stay. He's the biggest mistake Liverpool have made in the last 20 years

26 Apr 2015 14:47:06
Second after Roy.

26 Apr 2015 14:54:23
Really frustrating watching Utd geeting beat and Liverpool drawing yesterday. We could have applied a bit of pressure on them. Pity!

26 Apr 2015 15:02:11
Roy was a bigger mistake, but then we didn't keep him on and suffer endless reminders of how rubbish he is. And money wasn't thrown at him to amplify that mistake.
did Roy ever blame the players?
Did Roy talk about managing barca, Madrid etc. Rodgers will go down as one of our biggest ever mistakes. And why the owners haven't corrected that mistake amazes me further. It's a disgrace

26 Apr 2015 15:07:13
I disagree. Your perception of football is that of simple maths. 1+1.
We don't have a striker who can score consistently. Lambert was used and all I remember is a man running like a headless chicken. Occasionally he could get that odd goal. Balotelli is the striker that can cause the most problems to the opposition and was unlucky not to score in some occasions. We simply don't have a good enough striker not just in our system, in every system.
West Brom is managed by Pulis. We all know what Pulis teams are capable of. Keeping the score to 0. And he is good at it.
Rodgers is not the best tactician, he simply knows how to make the players perform to their best and make the team play beautiful football. With that being said we don't have good enough players currently to perform to that standards. I disagree with people say we have a good spine. Other than Hendo, Sterling, Coutinho and Can I can't call anyone else spine. Sturridge was out most of the season we lost Suarez and anyone who built their hopes at the beginning of the season after all these is a dreamer.
I only blame Rodgers for the poor beginning of the season and poor experimenting. IF it wasn't for that we would have definitely finish top 4.
But saying he was the biggest mistake after leading us to almost a title in his 2nd year(albeit with team that didn't have title credentials), is there to prove you wrong.

26 Apr 2015 22:09:25
There are many mistakes we have made and hiring BR at that moment was not one of them. However if we continue to fund and support his recurrent failures an mistakes, that would be an even bigger mistake. As for what he says in the media, I propose we not pay too much attention because clearly he only believes in massaging his poor excuse for an ego not backed up by any ounce of success, as well as self angradizement. He is now in the business of trying to litigate his case in the media hence, giving interviews to James Pearce in the Echo because he has a feeling he will be gone. We do not have a manager at our club. What we have is a two-faced politician who is only interested in holding on to his position and not the progress of our club. At least, KK as well as Roy, cared if we won or not and took their firing like gentlemen

27 Apr 2015 07:59:27
I think fans are frustrated Pirate.
I can understand that.

27 Apr 2015 10:06:17
In 20 odd years of not winning the title I think we have made too many mistakes to actually warrant Rodgers even being in the top ten of mistakes the club has made.

26 Apr 2015 12:59:59
hi eds .

am i right in thinking that we are in a straight fight for M.Depay with Man Utd, i read in the liverpool echo that we had sent a private jet to bring him over for a meeting with our clubs officials and it said he was impressed with the way we have dealt him, would this still be enough for him to sign for us over a champs league spot that Man Utd can offer him i like a lot of reds fans would love to see him in our colours

{Ed002's Note - PSG are also interested.}

26 Apr 2015 13:07:03
thanks for the info Ed002 , it will be interesting to see who wins his signature , if he comes to us he has come to play and i think if he settles in straight away he can give the team a lift and that will lift the players around him

{Ed002's Note - I know Bolo Zenden has recommended Liverpool to him but I still suspect he will end up in Manchester.}

26 Apr 2015 13:52:31
Who do you think is the best fit for him ed?

{Ed002's Note - He can play anywhere across the front line and although he is having a very good season, the fear remains with some that he may not quite be ready for the EPL, not unlike Markovic last year. PSG is probably a good fit for him - they are looking for a wide player to add this summer. Manchester United remains very keen and have the manager he already knows. It is hard to see where he would fit at Liverpool, but if Sterling were to leave he would be a good replacement - and Bolo has advocated Liverpool to the player. van Der Wiel has admitted he has been extolling the benefits of moving to Paris.}

26 Apr 2015 14:19:02
Is Zenden still involved at PSV in the youth setup ED02?

{Ed002's Note - He is, yes.}

26 Apr 2015 14:51:38
Ah bolo zendan everyone's favourite ever player for the next few weeks. Haha

26 Apr 2015 15:39:33
I suspect that he will end up at Man United as well. We'll just have to comfort ourselves that Bodgers will spend £20+ on someone like Bolasie. Happy days

26 Apr 2015 22:11:45
Who will end up playing wing back like Sterling, Marko, Can, Ibe and Lallana. Brilliant!

26 Apr 2015 12:37:33
Although I'm not 100% Rodgers out- I'd keep him if we can't find a replacement as prestigious as a Klopp or Ancelotti (for the record I'd rather BR than either De Boer or Rafa)- anyone who thinks the owners are unlikely to sack him are clearly deluded.

He stated at the start of the season our intentions were to retain our place in the top four, punch our weight in Europe and win a trophy of any kind.

In each of those categories we've failed miserably.

I don't own a football club and therefore don't understand the process of evaluating a team and manager's performance over the season, but it doesn't take a genius to understand if you fail to meet any of three targets- in any line of work- your position is going to be under review.

Furthermore, I'd never really understood how awful his media interaction is until recently. How can the same man claim a club the size of Tottenham should challenge for the title after spending £100million on transfers, suggest we aren't underachieving when we do the same and languish in fifth place?

If he just came out and openly admitted this season's been a disaster for everyone around the club, he's underperformed in the big games and most players haven't done any better either, I'd be far more content. But he's trying to hide the fact we've been awful when it's blatantly clear to every fan with two brain cells.

26 Apr 2015 13:12:25
Ian Salmon's piece on TAW sums it all up best for me.

26 Apr 2015 13:21:02
Agreed 100%, he also seems to come out with deluded statements about playing well when we patently haven't (West Brom as case in point where we might have had possession but we were flat).

He does it so often it makes me question whether he knows what he's doing. If he really thinks that that's a good performance, what does that say about his ambition, Liverpool as a club, and what we can expect in the future? I'm sure it's not all that appealing for players we're trying to recruit this summer either!

And why does he feel the need to praise players that have played badly? Why not just say honestly it was a tough game? Again feels like he's constantly justifying his selections and trying to swing public opinion, particularly as relates to Allen and GJ. Trying to pull the wool over everyones eye's just annoys the heck out of everyone.

26 Apr 2015 13:57:57
He knows he's going, that's why!

26 Apr 2015 14:07:39
Zimbo, you have described BR to a tee. Nothing to add there. Toddy, I agree with most of what you say BUT I don't believe we need to keep him if we don't find someone better. Why? because we need the right man for our club like a hand fits a glove and that doesn't necessarily mean someone who's better than BR because that is not such a high bar to scale based on his failures and deluded attitude. I do feel Klopp,would fit us well if he agreed to come because he is a good coach and motivator.

Juicer, what did Salmon actually say, pls? Care to share?

26 Apr 2015 11:39:27
Rodgers decision to persist with Johnson and Gerrard is baffling.

OK so Gerrard I can understand as he is a club legend and it is an emotional decision.

Johnson!? This is a player leaving on a free in a month and is quite frankly rubbish. i'm really starting to believe the fact that he has a 'must play when fit' clause in his contract. Not only has he been dire, Rodgers Is now playing him out of position at left back!! Why is it because of injuries? if so give a youth player a chance! He would struggle to put in a worse performance.

Ive stuck up for Rodgers throughout qhat is turning out to be a poor season. I also think last seasons performance should give him the first half of next season. However Klopp is very tempting.

26 Apr 2015 12:39:49
If he had such a clause then why was he on the bench not so long ago?

26 Apr 2015 13:40:16
irish rover ,

he might not have been fit enough , but can you tell us all why he gets played when he is so bad , would it not be better to give a young plater a chance to get valuable experience , also the kid can't be has bad has Glen Johnson who nearly cost us the game against West Brom when he never defended well at the end of the game

26 Apr 2015 14:24:15
mbrock
I guess you would have to ask all the managers that kept on picking him! If you are not fit enough then why are you on the bench? You could be called upon in the first 10 minutes. Just saying!

26 Apr 2015 11:06:44
I like Brendan Rodgers, but the fact that he keeps mentioning the 50 goals we lost is getting ridiculous. In fact, Balotelli, Borini and Lambert scored close to 50 goals between them last season for other clubs. Perhaps he should look in the mirror before he speaks again.

26 Apr 2015 11:29:44
Thats why he was given the money to buy players to replace them goals.
Helps if they get a game now and again.

26 Apr 2015 11:46:21
He's a joke. If you need goals play the strikers you bought, then play to their strengths. Or buy a player who plays like the one who left.

26 Apr 2015 13:38:11
They are all terrible players. It's Orite scoring for poor clubs where teams open up and there's more space. We need a 50/60 million pound in form never injured goal scorer if we want top 4 but we won't be getting one. Something majorly wrong at Liverpool at the top

26 Apr 2015 14:16:43
Deflection, deflection, deflection! Why doesn't anyone ask him what he did with the money he was given to replace those goals? Still using the same excuses from the start of the season and still looks and sounds stupid. The guy will never learn and to me, he's a lost cause on that front. Lucky for him I'm not a journo because I would have him sweating bullets by the time I'm done with him.

26 Apr 2015 09:23:45
Ed s reds yday looked a bit like a training match at times balo telli playing wider than sterling? Can at right back? We still have small chance of 4th or did! !! The players did the look determined enough against average opposition. Maybe that says it all. I'm not in favour overhaul of the squad again but we have to improve on what we have. I'm not one who thinks we need to spend millions on millions the likes of koplyanka mliner kedihra etc some high quality players are available and would improve the squad and that's what counts!!!!

26 Apr 2015 10:01:15
We battered them 0-0. Teams keep it tight and hope for a set piece or mistake. Rodgers has no plan B. Thought Lovren had his best game by far. We need to mix it up a bit, playing too predictable and that shows how conceited our manager his. You should always respect the opposition, especially when you don't have the firepower to out score teams.

26 Apr 2015 12:25:54
I agree too flat and predictable. When a team packs defence like that you need pace and movement to create the cracks as defenders try to track runners, but instead it looked we looked really static a lot of the time (particularly Balo upfront) and hoping for a piece of dribbling magic from Coutinho or Sterling or perhaps Ibe. Ibe looked most likely in my opinion and his one-two with Balo almost made it happen but everyone else looked a bit lost for ideas.

26 Apr 2015 14:23:40
The Villa game has shattered the team's confidence. The swagger we had while we were winning games and the pep in our step seems to be gone hence the flat perf vs a team we knew would park the bus.seems they just went thru the motions and BR's deluded comments in the media post-match, only makes things worse.

26 Apr 2015 08:56:11
So Rodgers deserves another season?

+-£120m spent this season and after drawing against a team which is struggling for form and according to Brendan Rodgers LFC was outstanding?

Rodgers had no answers. Every other manager has figured him out with his 'death by football' philosophy that made all the fans go oooo and ahhh when he first arrived.

If FSG are planning on sticking with this comedian then he will be getting many more laughs out of me next season.

26 Apr 2015 12:20:50
I just keep thinking about the ease in which they dumped King Kenny.

Yet they cling to this clown !

{Ed002's Note - Dalglish was sacked by the owners over the Suarez incident - you had six months notice it was coming.}

26 Apr 2015 14:28:52
If we stick with failure, we will NEVER succeed but I don't be live they will keep him because FSG are winners and based on their reputation of wanting success and intolerance for failure via the sackings of managers at the Red Sox, they will not reward failure. But we will see.

25 Apr 2015 21:20:07
Ed02. I'm interested in your view of Ian Ayre as a CEO nogotiator in the transfer market. We had Rick Parry previously, and he at least got deals done, but Ayre doesn't seem to have a clue. We all go in low with a deal and expect to be bidded up, but his dealing is woeful and stubborn, overpaying or losing out with ridiculously insulting low bids. Rumour has it that he wants to offload Lambert plus £10 million to Crystal Palace in exchange for Yannick Bolasie. Pardew scoffed and said 40 to 60 million. Why do we make such stupid offers if we know it will be laughed at? Makes our club a laughing stock.

{Ed002's Note - Firstly, I don't know Ian Ayre at all so I will try and stick to what I know to be correct rather than drop in to conjecture and supposition.

However, I can answer for each of the players that are usually mentioned - and they are not picked by Mr Ayre: (a) Liverpool were accused of tapping up Clint Dempsey which is why Mr Werner and Mr Ayre issued apologies to Fulham in order to have them withdraw their complaint to the FA. A transfer was not going to happen. (b) Mkhitaryan was never going to happen due to the price being too high and Shakhtar wanting a single payment. It would have been dependent on the sale of Suarez. (c) As for Salah, the club's valuation of the player was miles away from what Basal would consider acceptable - hence there being no negotiation. This was made worse by Brendan Rodgers saying that they were not sure if the player was good enough for England and that is why they would not offer anything like a reasonable amount of money on such a high-risk purchase. The player and his club both, quite rightly, found this offensive. (d) The Dnipro owner was always likely to want to keep Konoplyanka - you cannot blame Mr Ayre for not being able to resolve that.

I am pretty sure that I explained all of these at the time.

You can add to that: (e) Willian was a player Liverpool were interested in, but they did not offer enough money to buy him. (f) Costa was not going to happen without selling Suarez - because of the money and because he was seen as his replacement. (g) Sigurdsson decided to sign for Spurs instead of Liverpool because he felt they had a better chance of giving him Champions League football - he was probably wrong - but how many still lust after him?

And don't forget the players he has done the deals for since Brendan Rodgers arrived: Daniel Sturridge, Kolo Touré, Tiago Ilori, Joe Allen, Fabio Borini, Mamadou Sakho, Luis Alberto, Iago Aspas, Simon Mignolet, Coutinho, Oussama Assaidi, Samed Yesil and the loans of Victor Moses, Nuri Sahin and Aly Cissokho. I appreciate many of these players are not favourites of the fans, but you cannot blame Ian Ayre for that - he doesn't pick the players but he did get the transfers done.

You are right about the seeming indecision in going in with a very low offer and not following it up - it will not help anyone and it can make it difficult to negotiate sensibly later.

As for how selling clubs feel about low bids, generally they see it as simply wasting their time and it makes it more difficult to do business between the clubs in the future. I am also aware that a number of senior personnel within EPL clubs found what John Henry said about an Arsenal bid in public 18 months ago to be very disrespectful.

Liverpool perhaps need to become a little more humble in the way they do their transfer business.}

26 Apr 2015 09:31:57
Thanks Ed2 for the very enlightening answer. You have amazing insight. Cheers.

26 Apr 2015 11:07:33
Hats off to you Edds. Amazing insight info.

26 Apr 2015 12:11:20
And Arsenal's infamous "£1" bid wasn't taking the **** !?

{Ed002's Note - They made a bid that met the contractual terms in his contract - Suarez wanted out of Liverpool and wanted to join Arsenal - which is why they were made aware of it. This was to be the basis of Suarez suing the club. Try not to make yourself as stupid as the owners were in that situation.}

26 Apr 2015 12:38:16
Seemingly they were incorrect though.
But, whatever, the following year proved Mr Henry right.
As for Salah, Rodgers was proved correct too. He chose to go where he wished but couldn't settle in London, so what chance he would have done so up north ?
Willian went where he wished to also ; despite Spurs offering the money.
They were just dead ends those two deals.
The club has already said that Sterling is going nowhere in the Summer.
But I guess it's kick a man when he's down time now ed eh ?

26 Apr 2015 13:07:52
You don't mean BR is the man down, right juicer? Because according to him he has the full backing of the owners and the team is exactly where it's suppose to be, barely 5th and 2 cup semifinals! We're doing great!

26 Apr 2015 13:51:21
Was last season just an aberration though Steph ?
If you look at Liverpool's league finishes (not including last year) since 2010, it's been 7th, 6th, 8th, 7th and currently 5th.
If last year was all about Suarez, as some would argue (in which case, see above - better that we never accepted Arsenal's £1) then this season is not that poor.
Saying that Rodgers has given us some crap and brilliance. The only time I've ever walked out of a game early was at West Brom in his first league match in charge, to the fantastic stuff played last year.
I don't know what to think. As I said above, there is an article on TAW which sums this feeling up perfectly.
But I am uncomfortable ripping in to the manager, when last year he oversaw the best football we've seen for 25 years.

26 Apr 2015 13:58:41
I really don't understand your logic Juicer. If the players you mentioned had been shown enough respect they would probably have signed. Ed2 is spot on. And if you think we are kicking Brendan when he is down, then you are sadly mistaken, he put himself there with his strategies and blunders. He's lost the plot. He likes to use the "Fight to the Death" analogies, well he's missed the eight count. Time to throw in the towel mate.

26 Apr 2015 14:27:00
I think you're very much mistaken e-s, those players were always going to Chelsea regardless.
If you feel that way about BR that's your prerogative.

26 Apr 2015 14:27:22
Juicer, yes we played some amazing football last year. Credit goes to Rogers for that. But we got found out and he hasn't got a plan B that he can use to maintain the same standard. Last year was just that, last year. He's proved incapable of achieving anything close this season. So,in your logic we keep him because he had a good season last year, but has failed since. He said himself we overachieved, but does that not apply to his bloated ego too? Or is he immune of any blame?

26 Apr 2015 14:38:47
Awesome season! Wasted half a season screwing up and sleepwalking thru games, wasted money on players, some of which were not needed, spent more money than Chelsea, City, and they are miles as in Chelsea alone, ahead of us, dumped out of the CL and EL like a clinger girlfriend and dropped from 2nd to barely scraping 5th after spending over 100m. If this is success or progress then I need to go to a psychiatrist because I have defo lost my sanity and ability to understand life in general.LMFAO!!!!

26 Apr 2015 14:50:08
E-S, the most serious indictment against the set-up is the failure to recruit the strikers. It's not the case that we've been found out. Just that we're playing without the finishers and have not been able to play the football we've wished.
For me, whoever recruited Balotelli should be the first one / s to get the call to Boston.
Put the striker situation right in the Summer, and I think we can go back to approaching last season's form.

26 Apr 2015 15:18:37
Fair comment Juicer. Nothing personal mate. I do admire your faith though. However some would say its blind. All the best fella.

26 Apr 2015 16:03:02
Well, we're informed that there is not an awful lot in the pot for the Summer transfer window but there'll be even less if the club has to pay off Rodgers and his team.
Strikers situation sorted, tie up Sterling, and a keeper, that would do me !

26 Apr 2015 08:21:58
Another embarrassing and laughable article on the Liverpool Echo by BR's favorite media man that is James Pearce who has now blamed everything and everyone ranging from the Transfer Committee to the Anfield turf for LFC's failures this season but the real culprit - Rodgers.

26 Apr 2015 09:04:29
Wembley pitch looked ok to me lol

26 Apr 2015 14:48:20
They must b buddies and have arranged for Pearce to do his dirty work and litigation for him in the media and the court of public opinion. Typical really. In The U.S justice system, you only do what BR is doing if you are guilty of what you are accused of so he is following the path of someone who either knows he will be sacked or has a feeling he will be sacked. If he actually put as much effort trying to get better as a manager as he does deflecting and covering his butt in the media for his failures, we might get somewhere as a club but don't hold your breathe

26 Apr 2015 05:11:27
Manchester United fan here in peace.

I have followed your site relatively closely over the last year and am well aware about the views on Rodgers, the transfer committee, players etc.

To me Rodgers seems like a guy whose heart is in the right place but he simply does not have the ability to learn and adapt and is especially poor with the media. He simply cannot see 2 or 3 moves ahead, a great example being your game against us, when your system should have been changed just a game before, as it had been found out. Also, the way we would use Fellaini was obvious, yet he did nothing to counter it. Contrast that with Jose, whose ruthless pragmatism meant he put Zouma on Fellaini and nullified him. Jose started with a "draw would be ok" mentality, shored up the defense and won the game 1-0. Rodgers seems incapable of doing that.

The recruitment policy at Liverpool has been a bit baffling. I think last summer with Champions League football and the Liverpool name and history as a pull, a mentality of "we will only buy if the right player is available, who is significantly better than what we already have" should have been in place. Yet the only top player I saw Liverpool go for was Sanchez. The club should have been prepared to pay the top wages and attract the top players, instead the likes of Lambert, Lallana, Markovic were bought who were mere side steps and just adding to positions in which the team was already strong. Rodgers seems to have made Lovren a worse player and Balotelli. well I don't want to even touch that topic.

My personal view is that Lallana, Lambert, Balotelli and Markovic add nothing to the team that already existing players at the club don't and neither have the potential to be world class that justified their purchase. Also, Liverpool should have explored the possibility of bringing Xabi Alonso back (I don't know if they did or didn't). Would have made a huge difference I think.

Looking forward, tactical blunders, poor recruitment, inability to learn, and a failure to achieve targets means Rodgers has to go, and perhaps the transfer committee needs to be seriously looked at as well. This will be a make or break summer for Liverpool. If there is any chance of getting Klopp, the club should do whatever it can to get him. The important thing is, the club shouldn't make another side step and get another Rodgers-esque manager. That would be disastrous. Perhaps an experienced manager with a cool and calm head could put the club back on track.

Success doesn't happen in a day and Liverpool supporters should not expect a turnaround in a day. I think it will take 3 years at least to repair the damage that has been done. Before anyone tells me United bounced back in a season, the situations are different. United are a different animal financially and can spend huge sums, while Liverpool have bought poorly and put themselves in trouble with FFP. There is a need to accept that mistakes have been done and let go of players who aren't required, perhaps for cut prices, just to get them off the books.

There are still some really talented and hardworking players at the club and in general, its a decent squad. The defense should be addressed as top priority, its criminal the amount of goals you let through.

Looking at the larger picture, a good look at the way Juventus have built themselves back to the top, or the way Chelsea are run and how they carefully get their pieces in order one by one, would be a good place to start in the new way to run the club from this summer.

Good Luck.

26 Apr 2015 08:08:47
Excellent post. 100% agree.

26 Apr 2015 08:14:31
Re the defence should be addresses and the 'criminal' amount of goals. We condeced 36 goals this season, same as City, only five more than you. Last year we conceded 50 all season, so we did improve our defence. I didn't check but my guess is that we also had more clean sheets this year as well. The problem was primairly in our forward game. Last year we scored 100 goals, this year we will probably finish with 50 or so, exactly half. Yesterday was a good example of where our problem is.

I am afraid we are stuck at the moment. Our woners which I appriciate overall want to do everything 'right', organised, not kneeJerk reaction, long term thinkin and all this. But in top European football you have to be ruthless at times. This is exactly what you learned last season, brining Moyce and talking about 'the United way' and all this rubbish until you relaised where it takes you and just showed him the boot with no sentiments. If the United owners or Abramovich or the CIty owners would be in the position of our owners they would sack BR today and try to brink Klopp. Our owners don't have the ruthlessness or money to do it. So we are stuck.

26 Apr 2015 08:21:50
To be fair you make some good points about Rogers, but let's not forget 8 weeks ago your fans were screaming to sack lvg and that if it wasn't for De Gea you would be a midtable team. Your manager went more direct and found a system that suits your squad. I still believe our defensive players are better than yours, it's just our managers failure to drill them right.

26 Apr 2015 08:26:15
Very good post redfaith. I totally agree with you about Brendan, he'd have us all believe he is a tactical genius but has been outsmarted by the likes of Tim Sherwood
lovren is a bit of a mystery, I was delighted when we bought him but as you say, he seems to of gone backwards at us. A few regular posters seem to think that playing with skyrtl has done him no favours at all.
markovic is the only one I disagree with you on. I think he is a player who needs confidence and being constantly played out of position and then getting subbed all the time is destroying what little confidence he has. I think he's got all the tools to be a very good player.
Good luck(not too much!) for next season. Cheers

26 Apr 2015 08:27:00
Some good points, though I disagree about how we need another three years to build a competent side to challenge. This excuse has been used far too often by managers like Rodgers and it doesn't wash with me or most other fans here. We do have a good squad, couple of experienced players to it and a competent manager who is more concerned with success on the pitch rather than deflecting blame the whole season,a nd we will have regular CL football. To succeed in CL though, we might need to spend the big bucks, but that is for the future.

26 Apr 2015 10:58:58
The thing is though, we don't have a good squad, how many of our players would get into the chelsea or arsenal squads? i'd say two/three max. Our defence is poor bar sakho who would be brilliant with the right coaching, midfield is weak, lucas is brilliant on his day, but half the time he's either injured or non existent, Hendo can turn up, but half the time does nothing really, can is constantly being played in CB where he has been found out on numerous occasions. Coutinho is a different class to the rest of the team when he decides to turn up, haven't seen someone with his technicality for years. Sterling and studge are good but ones almost always injured and the other can't shoot. There are many poor players in our team and why oh why lambert, toure, ballo and borini are in the squad I will never know. By the way Enrique and manquillo, they spend more time playing pranks on eachother and playing table tennis on lfctv than they do playing bloody football!! What's the point in having them?!

26 Apr 2015 11:34:16
I agree with everything, great post, but i don't believe brendans heart is in the right
place. Not anymore.

For the first two seasons, we evolved, we changed style and formation, rodgers worked hard to improve players and achieved this. I don't care what anybody else says about rodgers but the side that nearly won us the league last season was his side, he improved those players and plyed them in a coherent team. He gave suarez the platform for success, not the other way around.

I think it all changed in the chelsea game. We only needed a draw but he insisted we were going to win. His arrogance had consumed him.

Follow that up this season. We revert back to the tactics and play style that he tried to implement upon his arrival that failed us. He bought a load of players in what can only be described as a football manager vanity exercise - young and technically gifted, but never what the team actually needed. Rodgers then sticks with this formation for months because he believes after the success of last season he can do what he wants.

Theres also the various distractions in his life, which have worsened as his tenure continues. The teeth whitening, the rumoured nights out on the town, the housing situation with gerrard, and of course, the whole situation with his wife and mistress.

This all shows his arrogance has consumed him and he is not the same man he was when he joined the club. As far as i'm concerned, his arrogance clearly shows he thinks he is bigger than the club. For that reason alone, i'd like him gone.

26 Apr 2015 12:29:51
Excellent post Redfaith.

3 years to get to the top, but only a few matches to turn things around.

Look what Tim Sherwood has done at Aston Villa.

How much better with a real top class manager.

26 Apr 2015 15:00:15
Great post. I noticed the same thing and Everton have figured that out and have so far, nullified Fellaini by putting Barry on him hence, shielding the central defence, allowing it to nullify Rooney. Any fan could see that like you and many just did but the genius was too busy massaging his own ego, he was getting whipped tactically by other managers including Sherwood who is average at best. His arrogance will be his downfall and has been his downfall which cost us the PL and cost us this year. Oh, did I also mention he is a media minefield?

26 Apr 2015 00:47:15
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

Brendan Rodgers is all of these things.

26 Apr 2015 08:28:32
Some men accept mediocrity, and that's what Brendan Rodgers have been trying to do.

26 Apr 2015 15:02:24
Then we as a club should send the message to the owners that we will not allow this manager and his arrogance keep us in the depths of mediocrity.