10 reasons Brendan Rodgers should be sacked (or at least face HEAVY criticism)
1) Failure to finish in the Top Four To not finish in the Top Four this year is a catastrophe. Manchester United are laughing. They have literally walked into that fourth spot. I said a few months back, failure to get into the top four will put either Liverpool or United back a few years. It will be almost impossible for Rodgers to lure the big players to Anfield with no Champions League football on offer. That's what the big players want, to be on the big stage. And that's what the fans want. We love those famous Champions League nights. If United had finished in 5th or 6th, they'd still have the money and the manager to go out and attract big players, just look at Di Maria and Falcao last year. Liverpool however, under Brendan Rodgers and FSG, do not have that confidence/ability. Finishing outside the Top Four this season was a disaster, and sadly we'll now see the consequences, unless the owners act fast. 2) European Performances The club's performances in Europe this year were woeful. It was embarrassing. This was where Rodgers was shown to be out of his depth most. I was seriously disappointed by his lack of understanding of what it means to play in Europe, and how you should set up your team on those big European nights. We've all seen the squad line-ups that he thought was acceptable. Leaving Gerrard out, dropping Sakho, not playing Coutinho, Can, Moreno, Lallana, Markovic, on that must win game at home against Basel… What was he thinking? But perhaps the worst thing, after getting knocked out of the Champions League (in a group we easily should have finished second in) was to then slump out of the Europa League in the manner that we did. A tournament that offered another doorway back into the Champions League, if our top four hopes crumbled. It was a terrible year in Europe, and certainly not Liverpool FC standards. 3) Mishandling of players, Sterling, Sakho etc. This is for those that say Brendan Rodgers is good with the players. If he's so good, why did Luis Suarez want to join Arsenal and play under Arsene Wenger? And if he's so good, why is Sterling desperate to leave now? Both of those things say a lot, but it's the way he treats the players that infuriates me. Players don't know where they're standing with Brendan Rodgers. How many times have we seen a player, like Sakho for instance, play a good game, and then be dropped for the next one? Moreno was dropped a few times this year, so too was Manquillo (who I thought looked alright and was at least learning with each game.) Can you imagine how frustrating that must be? Football players want to play football. It's as simple as that. And if you'd played one of your better games, and then been dropped, you'd lose all enthusiasm and respect for the manager. OK, maybe not the first time, but the second time, and the third time… You'd be saying 'what do I have to do to just get a place in this starting 11?' I agree that players should have to work for that spot, but Rodgers for me takes the piss. He takes that philosophy way too far. One more thing to say on this one. I thought his handling of Sakho was appalling. I don't agree with players storming out of the dressing room and driving home if they've not been picked, but dropping him for the next few weeks as punishment was a disgrace. And blaming it on injury? Come on. We’re not that gullible. He's our best defender. He left his boyhood club to come and live in a foreign country. He worked hard, and then he's dropped in the Merseyside Derby, for Skrtel, Lovren and Kolo. That's not on. To add further insult, he then has to sit and watch PSG beat Chelsea in the Champions League, Paris rocking. I feel sorry for the player. Well, all of them really. Borini went to Sunderland and played OK (he’s not Liverpool quality) but he came back, wanting to give his Anfield career another shot. And we’ve seen none of him. You think that’s good handling of a player? A player who will have mates in this team, watching the manager treat them like that. 4) Failure to replace Suarez Perhaps Brendan Rodger's biggest mistake was never replacing Luis Suarez. The guy who got us second place. Did he really think the combined efforts of Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli would bring in the 31 goals Luis Suarez scored in 1 year? No chance. Balotelli has been awful. And Rickie Lambert, yes, was bought as a plan B, but we've hardly seen him play. So why buy him? Nobody expected Sturridge's injuries to keep him out most of the year, but it still isn't good enough that we didn't have another proven striker out on the pitch. I'm 90% sure that when Suarez said he wanted to go to Barcelona, the club did everything they could to get Alexis in return. But whilst Wenger went to Brazil to have face to face talks with Alexis, Rodgers went on holiday. And it wasn't just losing out on Alexis (who would have changed our season) it was not going after players like Diego Costa, Mandzukic, Tevez… who for a different manager in charge, someone like Ancelotti perhaps, might have came. I'm not making out that a better manager would have been able to get whoever they wanted at the click of his fingers, but thinking Lambert and Balotelli were going to fill the big Luis Suarez shaped gap was appalling. 5) Attitude In his first year in charge, I was in full support to see this new guy come in that had done well with Swansea, and was playing exciting football. I was made up the club went for him. But after a few weeks, I started to get pissed off with the same words coming out of his mouth every post match interview. If we got beat, 'we shown great character' if the players underperformed 'we've got some great technicians here' it was the same words, all of the time. And two years later, we're still hearing the same sentences. Another thing is that he hasn't learnt from his mistakes, and it’s down to his attitude. As fans, we never see the whole picture, so we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. But one thing has been crystal clear in his 3 years in charge. Our defence has not improved. And it's painstakingly obvious that we need some help in the form of a defensive coach. But will he have one? Nope. Carragher should never have left. He should have stayed one more year, playing now and then, helping the younger lads develop. And it would have been nice to see him stay on as our defensive coach. But what happened? He couldn't wait to get away. Klopp replied to an interviewer the other day 'una cerveza por favor' when asked 'are you learning Spanish?' Those words would never have came out of Brendan's mouth. He'd have said something about great character. 6) Lack of identity Almost every great team has a way of playing, and it looked last year like we'd finally hacked into something. It was full on kamikaze, but it was winning the team vital points. But this year, we’ve gone back to year one, perhaps even further. There's been no solid line-up. No real identity to our play. No ‘pass and move.’ No serious set play attacks. No possession play. Nothing. It's like we just think playing football is 11 guys going on a field and kicking a ball. You can't have that. I was glad to see Brendan go back to the 3 at the back, with the two wing backs. But he hasn't even discovered a back 5 that works. Every weekend it's 'oh I'll try Markovic again. This week Ibe, Erm.. Henderson?' It really has been a trial and error season, and you can't do that at Liverpool Football Club. Not in your third year. 7) Lost the fans Where's the serious Brendan Rodgers song? Where's the Kop gone? Why do I see more people moaning now about the Anfield atmosphere than 3 or 4 years ago? Is it my fault? Fans like me that want the best, and expect the best? Nah. We're the ones that keep the club ticking. Liverpool FC wouldn't be where it is now, still in competition with that top 4/5/6 if it wasn't for the fans and their fight. Liverpool fans expect the best. Always. And it's what we deserve. So when you see your team struggling to beat Ludogorets in the Champions League, after being out of the bleeding competition for so long, of course you're going to be pissed off. And when you're struggling week in week out to beat lower league teams, and when you get knocked out the cup by Aston Villa, and have to take god knows how many penalties against Middlesbrough… The list goes on. Quite simply, the fans are fed up. Fed up of Rodger's mind games. Fed up of his ramblings. I realised the other day, that I've never in all my life as a Liverpool fan seen the fans as divided as now, over Brendan Rodgers. And if that's not a sign that something is wrong, then I don't know what is. 8) Signings in general They haven't been good enough. For every good one, we've had 4/5 poor ones. And expensive ones at that. Whether that's Rodgers or whether that's FSG, I think the club need to come out and say. If the owners decide to stand by Rodgers next year, then the fans need to know who is signing who. Is it the transfer committee? Was it them that paid that much for Joe Allen? Was it them that signed players like Aspas, and that guy I can't even remember the name of. Alberto? And Lambert? And Balotelli? And our worst signing this year, a player that has well and truly underperformed, Lovren? Who's signing was he exactly? I don't trust Brendan Rodgers with more money to spend in the summer, because as a whole they've not been good enough. They've not been Liverpool quality, and they’re the reason we’ve not finished in the top four this year. It all comes back to Rodgers. 9) Klopp/Ancelotti are available This is the big one for me. Because if managers of these standards weren't available, I'd be less wanting to swap manager (although I still would.) Both of these managers, Klopp and Ancelotti, are known throughout football as excellent managers. Look at their honours. Look at what they've done/won. Klopp for me is the better option. His character (shudders at the use of the word) his charm, and his love for his fans sets him above Ancelotti. He’s worked wonders at Dortmund. And for those that say 'look at where they finished this year!' please just stop reading. If you're going to judge the man on one league season, in which his best players had all been swallowed by Bayern, and his other superstar, Reus, was out injured... I think if you put Brendan Rodgers in that situation, they'd have finished a whole lot lower. Ancelotti is World Class, and Madrid are crazy for letting him go. If Klopp won't come, Ancelotti is next on the list. If neither of them, Bielsa/de Boer. All better options than Rodgers in my opinion. All better options for the future of this club. 10) 3 Years is a Long Time When I hear people talking about Rodgers, you'd think they were talking about Hodgson. 'He needs more time...' But, it's been 3 years… Seriously. 3 years. How long should we give a guy that is taking the club backwards? I see no progress here. I was argued with the other day with this 'a few years ago we had Poulsen and Spearing in the midfield' to which my response was 'any decent manager would have gotten rid of those two players.' (For the record, I liked Spearing, and would have liked to have seen him given more game time before selling. And Poulsen? He was bloody awful, but he went on to win the league with Ajax.) In today's day and age, in this modern game, 3 years is a VERY long time for a manager to be given. And if they've won nothing in that time, and regressed as much as we have after a good year, their job should seriously be called into question. The top clubs should set their managers targets every season. And FSG would have said to Rodgers this year ‘we want to see the club stay in that top four.’ We haven't, he hasn't, and the end of year review should take serious note of that. - - - The worrying thing for next year is that Carragher has gone, and now Gerrard. Two captains (more or less) gone, and Henderson looking the likely player to take the armband. Is he captains material? I don't think so. This summer will be one of the most important in the club's history. Get it wrong, and it could be disastrous. This is a team of youngsters, and if performances like the one at Stoke are anything to go off, it looks like Brendan has lost the team. So we've got no leaders, just fingers pointing everywhere. Would a new manager coming in solve all of that? Not all of it. But the right guy can unite the team again, get them fighting, digging in for victories. We've never seen that under Rodgers. We've never totally controlled a game. I know a lot of people that put last year's excellent season down to Rodgers, but just look at how many goals we conceded. Last year was all down to Luis Suarez's personal ambition to get noticed by Barcelona again. And the fans? They need uniting too, just as much. Someone like Klopp would do exactly that. You want proof? Just look at the Dortmund fans and their love for the guy. Look at his leaving ceremony. I didn't write this just to moan about Brendan Rodgers. I have nothing against the guy, I just think it's the right time for him to move on. I think it's best for everyone involved. If FSG decide to give him another year and nothing improves, they'll be forced to replace him, and it will have been another year of disappointment for the fans. And if they do decide to stick with him (when all the polls around the internet show huge amounts of favour in sacking him) and next year is as bad as this, the fans will turn on the owners. Liverpool fans want owners that listen. It's as simple as that. FSG need to either stick with the guy and be honest with us about money/signings/ambitions, or sack him now and bring someone new in, someone exciting, someone that will get the Kop roaring again (Klopp.) But above all, just give us honesty. We, the fans, that make this club so great, deserve that. I seen a picture the other day, from the post-match interview after that humiliating defeat at Stoke, and Rodgers looked broken. He had that Dalglish pre-sacking look in his eyes. A look of sadness, of sorrow, and regret. It wasn’t a nice thing to see. Nobody wants the club to be in the situation it is now. No fan loves seeing a guy, whose heart is in the right place, fail. Rodgers has done his best, he’s gave it his all, but sadly I don’t think it’s worked out. If he leaves the club I’ll support the guy and wish him well for the future. I’m sure he’ll be successful elsewhere. If he stays I’ll support my team, and I’ll again wish him well. After all, he could still get it right... But whatever happens, we should always be respectful towards a guy that tried his best to make Liverpool FC successful again. I hope in this writing I haven’t been too harsh. These are my opinions. Please respect them as I respect yours.










