20 Jun 2015 15:08:28
One of the arguments I read a lot from the BR fan brigade is that he is a great coach for young players.
If this is the case how come so many of them like Illori, Wisdom, Suso, Rossiter etc etc never seem to get a chance. Only Ibe seems to have come through under BR and wasn't that due to lots of injuries rather than a coaching masterpiece?
Exactly what has BR done as a "great young player coach"?
20 Jun 2015 16:29:53
Do you expect BR to personally coach all the youngsters?
I would say that's not likely.
20 Jun 2015 16:41:57
Sterling, Sturridge, Coutinho, Henderson, Ibe, Can & Flanagan have all improved under BR. All young when he got his hands on them. You don't have to be part of what you call the "fan brigade" to be fair-minded.
And if you question whether those players have improved consider their values now compared to when he first worked with them.
He's also played Sinclair, Rossiter, Williams, Smith, Suso, Alberto, Yesil, Teixeira to name just a few during his time in charge. Compare that to the teams he's competing against. Of course not all of them will make it. Same at Chelsea, Arsenal, United and the rest. How many kids have City promoted despite investing tens of millions in their academy?
And if he was as toxic and clueless as you infer then why have Origi, Ings & Gomez put their careers in his hands in the last 12 months?
It's the black and white brigade again. Life is several shades of grey my friend.
{Ed001's Note - seriously has Sterling improved? I don't see a better player than the one I watched regularly in the youth teams.
Has Sturridge improved or did he just get the chance to show what he can do? Again I remain unconvinced he improved, everyone knew he had the talent.
Coutinho, again, I don't see improvement, but then I don't get why people rave about him. He is far too inconsistent for my liking. Gives away far too many passes and play breaks down at him too much.
Henderson I will agree has improved.
Ibe? How on earth can you even dare to include him? For starters the improvement has happened while he was away from the club!
Can? Is this a joke? He started off playing well but went steadily backwards as the season went on, how on earth can you include him as being improved over the player he was?
As for Flanno, difficult to dispute or agree on that one.}
20 Jun 2015 17:11:24
Come on Ed. Sterling isn't better? Sturridge? Coutinho? Flanagan had his best season in a red shirt no quibbles. On what planet is Can not a better player than when we signed him? A few bad games don't spoil it for me. He was one of the few positives last season. Ibe did improve a lot at Derby but surely BR shaped that career progression? I'm not saying Rodgers is perfect ( far from it) but to deny the man ANY credit is unfair.
20 Jun 2015 17:18:38
Really can't get into this argument because either way you look it is good and bad, and you'll never win wih the eds (not because there always right but because there very string characters and will stick to there points - got to love em tho)
What I will say though is thank you ed for not making me the only one who struggles to see what all the fuss is about with mr inconsistentiho 😊
20 Jun 2015 18:32:53
Man City wouldn't be willing to pay around £40m if Sterling hadn't improved. Yes, he was performing at youth level, but the premier league is a different kettle of fish. He has improved his game massively but for his lack of concentration towards the end of the season.
Coutinho is quality, he has improved his game massively, but for me he has the wrong players around him. You can't expect him to be at his best when he's playing behind the likes of Balotelli and Lambert. He needs runners ahead of him, not big lumps.
To be fare to Rodgers, at least he is giving these young players game time, even if some haven't improved. I think it's easy to forget that we have a very young squad. The likes of Can, Markovic, Ibe, Sterling etc are 7/8 years off their prime and for me are ahead of their years in terms of development.
Red Rum
{Ed001's Note - how has he improved? He played better last season and in the World Cup than he has this season, so that is not improvement. He has regressed this season.
Coutinho is potential quality, but like Luis Garcia, his brilliance comes in flashes and then he is poor for a run of games. If you are clueless enough to put Lambert down as a big lump then I am wasting my time as you know nothing about football.
He is giving them game time because he is crap at buying better players to replace them, despite his best efforts to do so. Do you think Ibe would have got a game if Markovic hadn't been so poor?}
20 Jun 2015 19:06:13
He frustrates me too (Couts, not Ed01!) and I agree with Gary Nev that he doesn't do enough compared to the players in other top teams in similar positions (Silva, Oscar, Mata, Cazorla, Eriksen).
He's great to watch at times but did the magic produce anything that might win us a game? Often not.
20 Jun 2015 20:36:28
How people can say on one hand that he improved Hendo and Flanno whereas on the other hand, he wanted both players gone, is just baffling. Hendo knuckled down and improved his game to the point that he fought off his competition in Allen, Shelvey and Sahin. He is now three times the player Allen is whereas Allen was his replacement. As for Flanno since KK gave him his debut vs City where he had a blinder, we all knew he was good enuff and just needed game time which BR would never have given him had injuries not forced his hand. As for Ibe, many who knew him in the academy knew he was quality yet BR sent him on loan and brought in his replacement who has turned out on the face of it, to not be better than him. And Studge was already a household name who just needed chances.also, has Can, Marko, Ilori improved under him or are the pathetic excuses of them not being good enuff hence, not BR's fault if they can't be improved be the explanation. So again to the BR fan club, how has he improved the young players he either never plays, sends out on loan or play out of position?
{Ed030's Note - Rodgers has mismanaged many players at the club, Their is no doubt in my mind Rodgers does not bring out nowhere near the best in players. Quite the opposite actually as he has a thing for playing players out of position. }
20 Jun 2015 20:43:15
Dont do him the shame of putting Oscar above him though.
20 Jun 2015 20:36:28
How people can say on one hand that he improved Hendo and Flanno whereas on the other hand, he wanted both players gone, is just baffling. Hendo knuckled down and improved his game to the point that he fought off his competition in Allen, Shelvey and Sahin. He is now three times the player Allen is whereas Allen was his replacement. As for Flanno since KK gave him his debut vs City where he had a blinder, we all knew he was good enuff and just needed game time which BR would never have given him had injuries not forced his hand. As for Ibe, many who knew him in the academy knew he was quality yet BR sent him on loan and brought in his replacement who has turned out on the face of it, to not be better than him. And Studge was already a household name who just needed chances.also, has Can, Marko, Ilori improved under him or are the pathetic excuses of them not being good enuff hence, not BR's fault if they can't be improved be the explanation. So again to the BR fan club, how has he improved the young players he either never plays, sends out on loan or play out of position?
20 Jun 2015 20:43:15
Dont do him the shame of putting Oscar above him though.
20 Jun 2015 21:49:15
I would have to agree with ed in the main on this.
Sterling has completely regressed this season.
Ibe is a talent that was clearly on show at Derby he and will hughes played off each other well. He just needed a chance
We've all seen the progression in Hendos game,I think he learnt a lot from gerrard cross field balls etc,and I think we will see a stronger hendo without having to cover SG next season.
I would disagree with ed a little on coutinho. When he first came from jan onwards I thought he was pretty influential,next season no doubt he didn't offer enough goals etc. But this year,especially in the latter half of the season I thought he was very consistent.
Sturridges talent was always there. I had so many arguments on this board when we were in for him that he was good enough. What he did at Bolton and when played (rarely) up top for chelsea was phenominal. There were a great many on here for me who had to eat their words on Studge. He for me was always brilliantly talented.
I can't really say Can's progressed. He's a midfielder for me,slotted into a centreback role. He did those big runs from did for germany when i saw some u20's so it's nothing new. He needs to be played midfield before any progress can be ascertained.
20 Jun 2015 23:10:13
No need to be disrespectful because I disagree with you Ed! I don't know if you noticed, but when Lambert is leading the line he is nothing but a big lump. He's not going to be running onto through balls from Coutinho.
However, played in the number 10 role he'd be much better as he (like Coutinho) needs runners ahead of him. He has been mismanaged. My point is you are only going to get the best out of Coutinho if he has pacey forwards ahead of him.
Red Rum
{Ed001's Note - so it is ok for you to be disrespectful about a player who has worked his backside off to get to play for the team then been totally mismanaged by an inept manager, but not ok for someone to disrespect you for slagging him off? I don't know if you noticed but our manager has not got a clue and is using him extremely poorly, as he is not a big lump and has never played that way before. Now if you continue to be disrespectful about one of the few players we have who bothers trying, then I will continue to be disrespectful about your knowledge of football because it is clearly lacking. Lambert is far from a big lump that only people with no understanding of the game think he is purely because they can't look past his height. Just the same crap as was applied to Crouch.}
21 Jun 2015 09:02:35
Redohio,
That is exactly what I was going to reply with, a perfect perfect summary of BR and our young players, 10/10.
How these fans can cite Hendo when BR tried to sell him, OMG. Fair play to Hendo for sticking it out and working his arse off to be the player he is today, FairPlay to Hendo NOT Brendan Rogers.
21 Jun 2015 23:50:16
Thanks, mate!