WE’VE been here before. Perhaps not as poisonousness, perhaps not as omnipresent. But this is a familiar juncture, a well-known walkway.
Brendan Rodgers should be sacked to save Liverpool. There are petitions. There are campaigns. There are banners and there are planes. The collapse of form and fight is squarely at his feet. Club legends have had their say, it feels like there’s a civil war of sorts among supporters, and the bookies already have their favourites to succeed him.
Hang on a minute. It’s Thursday, let’s throw it back.
Sack Rafael Benitez, Save Liverpool FC. That is the title of a community page on Facebook, which seemingly originated in October 2009 and actively advocated for the axing of the Spaniard. It also picked Jose Mourinho for prime position in the Anfield dugout, before uploading a petition to expedite Rafa’s exit.
In January the following year, Ronnie Whelan provided his view on Rafa: “The way Liverpool have been playing, they have not been good. They have lost 10 of the last 20 games. He should have gone a long time ago. They have got to do it now.”
“Dalglish to blame for Liverpool collapse” is the headline of an article on a fanzine, dated March 2012, calling for the King to be immediately dethroned. A month afterwards, a blog on CNN went with Why Liverpool must sack Kenny Dalglish. A few columns that May referred to the heightened discontent swirling around in the stands. One in particular read: “The savage reaction of some fans to Liverpool’s defeat [in the FA Cup final to Chelsea] demonstrated he is no longer untouchable.” The phone-in shows after that Wembley disappointment were packed full of voices who wanted rid. The message boards were at breaking point.
This goes back further. To when Dalglish departed the first time around, which was the last time the league title was around. Back to and through the terms of Graeme Souness, Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier.
25 years. Seven managers. Zero league titles. That last bit, that’s the punchline. It’s the part that ensures this is a familiar juncture, a well-known walkway.
Souness was too steely. Evans was too soft. Houllier was too stuck. Rafa rotated too much. Kenny was out of top management for too long. Rodgers has not been in top management long enough.
All of them vastly different, all them painfully the same in failing to bring the championship back.
Forget first, Liverpool have only finished second four times over this barren period. New manager, new strategy, new style, new direction — same result.
Over the past 11 campaigns, only the three richest clubs in England have popped champagne and planned the parade. Arsenal finished the 2003-04 season as Invincibles, but have been practically invisible in the picture since. They were runners up to the billions of Stamford Bridge the following season, but by a gigantic 12 points.
The Gunners have stuck by Arsene Wenger, Liverpool have twisted, but still both teams have had to look up at Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Down the M6, United replaced the ‘clueless’ David Moyes with a ‘certified winner’ in Louis van Gaal. Senior players have complained about the dressing room being flat. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic feel the style and transfer policy under the Dutchman is unrecognisable. Gary Neville believes “if he was playing the football he’s playing and getting the results he’s getting, having spent the money he’s spent, at Bayern Munich or Barcelona, he would be in significant trouble.”
Neither of the trio think United will win the league. And Van Gaal has stated as much.
Against all expectation, their neighbours didn’t post Manuel Pellegrini his P45 after an underwhelming season by their standards and spend. “City’s title defence fell apart because they have the wrong man in charge,” insisted a Mirror report. Now, after five wins, 11 goals for, nata against and full collection of league points, he’s the rightest of the right.
Mourinho is widely considered to be at the peak of the managerial pack, and yet, his expensively assembled defending champions have done a Humpty Dumpty thus far in the league.
So what is the right formula? Apart from a kajillion bajillion dollars, is there any other secret? Should a smarter policy be devised around scouting? Should commercial expansion not be side-eyed? Or is it all on the guy in the hotseat?
Is there a man guaranteed to walk into Anfield, and immediately flip the bird to the three big wigs plus one? Can he pack in his bag some of the best players in the world, and make Liverpool party like it’s 28 April 1990? It has to be straight in and win, because if recent history has taught us anything, it’s that nothing in football happens soon enough.
If this miracle man exists, would Merseyside even be his destination of choice? And if he isn’t just a figment of imaginations, wouldn’t a club as desperate to touch glory again as Liverpool are, have parted the sea to already have him chained to L4?
It seems we’ve been asking ourselves the same questions since 22 February 1991. Dalglish’s resignation is described by Jamie Carragher in his autobiography as the “one significant event in Anfield history, which changed the fortunes of both clubs, opening the door for United and sending us into an era where cup success was our main salvation every season.”
Alex Ferguson, he says, capitalised on the Reds’ uncertainty and lack of stability. That book, along with countless others (special mention to the brilliant Men in White Suits) details how Liverpool’s journey to this 25-year point has been largely self-inflicted.
Not capitalising on the globalisation of the game, failure to solve the stadium conundrum, being too slow to change, then being too quick, buying poorly and passing on quality (Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel and Cristiano Ronaldo to name just three), clinging to the past instead of fighting for the future…
When you read all the accounts of the challenges and missteps, it becomes obvious that there is no short-term fix. No over-the-counter solution. And certainly, it goes beyond the job of just one man.
In Carra: My Autobiography, the defender muses: “If a world-class manager such as Benitez leaves Anfield considered a ‘failure’ for having not won us the league, who will win it for us?”
If anaemic performances and poor results continue to be the trend under Rodgers, he should — and will — be waved away. But let’s not pretend the answer to Carragher’s question is elementary.
Because we’ve been here before. And we’ll most likely be visitors again very soon.
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Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda-Photo
I think Liverpool fans want to see decent football, a team that try’s and an ability to compete. Of course we want to win the league but a good start would to be consistently in contention. We don’t want to see the turgid football we’ve had to put up with this past season and a bit.
Any Liverpool manager has to be able cope with demands of the league and European competition. Rodgers has failed at this. We are now going into his 4th season and we still have major problems in defence and holes in the squad. After the overhauls in the squad these last 2 summers it’s looking like we may need another overhaul with the need for a new left back, probably 2 centrebacks and very possibly a new keeper. Possibly more and that’s just the defence. How can that be after the time that has passed and the money spent??
I have been extremely patient with Rodgers but that patience is running out. He is far from the only problem at the club that’s stopping us from competing on a consistent basis but at the minute he’s the one putting out strange formations and teams with no spirit.
I honestly believe it’s only a matter of time before he goes but I fear as to who the owners would install in his stead. I don’t have faith they’ll go after proven talent like Klopp, Ancellotti etc.
You may see the reaction of the LFC support as reactionary. But that isn’t fair.
We’re not talking about just 5 games but 5 + 38 from last season.
Especially, the way LFC have played the last 6…it guts you right to the core.
True Rafa lost 10 of 20. But I don’t recall us being absolutely savaged at home by substandard clubs or losing 6-1.
The fact Rodgers is fumbling about worse than a nervous, horny teenager is making it worse. With the others, we knew they were basically good but time was up. Not in this case.
Rodgers is a Championship level coach and he needs to return to that level of club.
Stop talking sense, Andrew. The Rodgers fan club show their heritage when they choose to reset his pathetic stats when a new season starts. The man is a salesman, called it after his TAW interview where he said what people wanted to hear, then contradicted that in a later interview. 13/14 was a fluke, a fun time, but still an outlier. FSG won’t kick out their yes man unless the club flirts with the drop. TV revenue allows them to ignore the results. All they care about is ROI and leverage.
The sad thing is we’re not even a Spurs thanks to Rodgers. Football is as bad as the Owls. Results are one thing, entertainment are another. We have neither, and the mighty Norwich City have people worried. That’s an all time low for me.
Thanks Melissa, enjoyed reading that
Hey mates. Im a TAW player subscriber. Just wanted to hear what you guys think about this idea. Im one who believes in order to support the team, you have to support the manager. However, lately, it does look like there is absolutely no improvements positive signs of progressive footy in sight.
We say we shouldn’t want Rodgers sacked. We say we shouldn’t want such a thing because it would mean our team would have to lose. The idea of wanting our team to lose is so wrong.
But didnt Stevie G purposefully do exactly that to get Owl Hodgson the sack? The penalty miss against blackburn is what im thinking about. Maybe we will never know if he missed that pen on purpose but then again i think we silently know the truth.
Is it possible Stevie pen miss is an example how sometimes you need your team to lose to get rid of a larger problem than just the players?
Interested in your thoughts on this. To be clear, Ill support the manager because I want Liverpool to be successful. No ifs or buts.
Hey Christian, you say ” I’ll support the manager because I want Liverpool to be successful.”………………. Well , guess what: I want Rodgers out because I want Liverpool to be successful.
I would settle for any manager who is prepared to play the best players in the squad, in their best positions, in a style which suits the players and not the manager.
As a life-long LFC supporter, embarrassment at my team is an emotion that I am having a hard time coming to terms with as I have no previous experience of it………
She is at the very least consistent – building strawman arguments is her forte. She will also never change her mind regardless of evidence because doing so would mean admitting she has been wrong in almost every article for over a year. And that’s her problem.
Thanks for sharing my problem, Michael. Much appreciated. Saves me therapist fees.
But I’d much rather LFC be boss at everything, than be right about anything.
Why in this article are you talking about managers winning us the league when all we want is a manager who, if he spends £300 million and in his 4th season, will have us top 4 and playing with at least some semblence of style? You, as usual, are making out Rodgers’ critics are knee jerk reactionist degenerates living in a fantasy land expecting to win the title every season which could not be further from the truth.
Why in your last article did you complain about a change in Rodgers’ approach when that same change in approach was very evident against Stoke, Bouremouth and Arsenal, and you never complained about it then?
Good leap there.
Where is the leap my friend? Anyone can look at her articles over the past 6 months and in them they will see her always discussing Rodgers critics as those that go mental on twitter. They’ll also see her never (ever) talking about the legitimate criticisms ordinary fans have been making. I’m sure Melissa can speak for herself but I’m not seeing where the leap is here? Perhaps in my second paragraph?
She complained in her last article about the style Rodgers’ has employed this season, rightly of course, but anyone can go back and look at her articles after Stoke, Bournemouth and Arsenal. They were (in parts) gloating in nature. “Sorry lads, the goals against column is looking pretty good.” Yet the exact style she was soon to be complaining about was evident in those matches. How can that inconsistency be explained? I look forward to her thoughts on that question especially.
I’ll also point out this is her 2nd article in 3 where the majority of comments have been hostile towards a continuous defence of the manager regardless of performances, even from people who used to back her articles on Rodgers. The one she wasn’t criticised for had the headline of “Brendan Rodgers: Falling asleep at the wheel.” That tells you all you need to know I’m afraid.
I just want to say, no one cares that she has been wrong on Rodgers. She thought he was someone he is not. I thought Roy Evans was good enough to lead us to win the league. I was wrong. But I didnt keep to my same position long after it was obvious I was wrong. That woukd have made me look ridiculous.
Maybe this bit my friend. “….making out Rodgers’ critics are knee jerk reactionist degenerates living in a fantasy land expecting to win the title every season which could not be further from the truth.”
Personally, I read it as an article saying the Liverpool job is a difficult one, it’s difficult to win the league as Liverpool manager and hiring a new manager isn’t often a cure-all.
Michael,
I don’t have the energy to argue with you on almost every article of mine.
Even when a column hasn’t mentioned BR (Bursting the Bubble), you’ve made it about him.
I have stated countless times, as has Neil and anyone else who paid attention to the pressers and read between the lines, that the four games before the international break would be handled as sort of an entity on their own.
Was I meant to moan that the club picked up points in the first three games, after acknowledging before a ball was kicked this season, that in the first four fixtures it was all about results?
In the previous article criticising BR’s loss of belief in his own ideals, I clearly state: “When the season kicked off, it made sense for the club to prioritise results in the four games before the international break. New players and a different coaching set-up needed to settle, but not at the expense of points. The plan worked for a trio of those fixtures, but West Ham’s ballsy attitude undid that approach within three minutes at Anfield, and there was no answer. Only two more questions from the visitors. Plan B became Plan A, and Plan A is seemingly sunbathing on a tropical island.
It was meant to be all change after the two-week interval, with no better fixture to bring the house down than United away.”
That it wasn’t all change, that LFC decided not to play on the front foot against a poor Utd side gave me cause to pen that piece.
Also, if writers cared if comments were hostile or not, we probably wouldn’t bother typing in the first place.
You seem to be annoyed that I don’t share the same opinion as you, that my posts are not kicking and screaming. Or perhaps you just don’t like my writing. Or maybe even me. All of that is perfectly okay, but insisting everything is a defence of BR when it’s not is as tired as a 15-hour shift.
Bet you missed the part in the article that said he should and will be sacked if performances and results don’t greatly improve, but don’t worry, you’ve missed plenty of such to suit your plot.
So you thought Rodgers was going to have one style for the first four games then change it completely for the next set of games? Fair enough. That would explain why you didn’t complain about this style when we won but did when we lost.
Let me ask you though, why should it take any energy to “argue” – surely we can have a mature disagreement without any need for energy? Let me also ask, why should we have to “read between the lines?”
You also don’t need to talk to me about hostile reactions to written pieces – I was a journalist a lot longer than you have been. I didn’t mind responding to clarify positions, perhaps you do and there is nothing strange about that. Many colleagues of mine refused ro read feedback from the public.
I’m not annoyed you don’t hold the same opinion as me, although it clearly irks many (it’s not just me criticising as Im sure you are aware) that your excuses and defence of an under performing manager has continued for so long regardless of what we are seeing on the pitch. Only a few weeks ago you were asking for yet more patience, despite the time and money Rodgers has already had. He is the secong longest serving manager in the league. You’re writing is okay and I know nothing about you to dislike you personally. Those comments were unneccessary, as was the dig at “my plot.” I haven’t missed any part of your article so you’d have lost your bet – I just didn’t think it was worthy of my time to comment on such a blindingly obvious statement as “he should and will be sacked if performances and results don’t greatly improve.”
I just want to make sure there are no hard feelings. You appear to have great contacts and as your writing improves with age you may well make it further in journalism than I did, especially if you’re willing to play the game. It also doesn’t hurt that you are not bad to look at – and people can say what they want but that’s important in the modern industry. Good luck with your career.
“….As your writing improves with age you may well make it further in journalism than I did, especially if you’re willing to play the game. It also doesn’t hurt that you are not bad to look at..”
Presumably, after journalism you set up a series of charm schools, Michael.
Personally, I’m prepared to allow for the fact that our three most important players are yet to play together. If there is no dynamism when the captain, striker and playmaker are back then change is a must.
This run of 4 at home could either be ideal or fatal for Rodgers.
Agree with these criticisms and I don’t see much of a leap in the underlying assertion either. Melissa I like your articles on non Rodgers related subjects – one on Benteke and another on Sterling in particular spring to mind. That you can be witty also comes across in your posts. But you really need to stop with this excrutiating cheerleading for Rodgers. This post is by no means the worst example, but as the person above says one just needs to trawl through your posts over the past few months to see that it is the latest in a long line. When it comes to this topic the theme is always the same – deluded fans hating on Brendan because of irrational expectations or reasons. Usually you cite the teeth and younger girlfriend but mercifully those props haven’t been used in this post. Please stop, seriously. There are very very good reasons people have problems with Rodgers. That doesn’t mean you have to share the scepticism or even that you should stop defending him. But if you are going to defend him please at least address the real arguments and stop referring or alluding to fans being unrealistic and deluded. Addressing the actual concerns rather than scything down strawman arguments will make for far more interesting reading.
Omar,
To address your “excruciating cheerleading for Rodgers” shout, I have written one piece specifically about fandom and BR – play the ball, not the manager. In that, I stated it’s fair to attack him on football matters, but not his personal life.
The last column called him out for not being true to what he’s preached. The one before, about perspective featuring thoughts of fans from other teams didn’t even mention BR, but all the comments did.
There were calls to comment on the changes in BR this season, so I did that. Again, there was no acclaim, simply a decision that I was going to enjoy the first three results, not moan about them.
Now, because I am not screaming Rodgers Out, Klopp for the Kop, Brenda or Fraud, doesn’t mean everything I write is pro him. This post is not even about him, but on the wider trend at the club.
I am against things he’s done in the past, and the present. But if people want me to rant and rave and get all ‘off with his head’ to make them happy, sorry…
The rodgers-haters (i’m no fan of the man myself but i support him as LFC manager and will continue to do so) are similar to the manc fans somewhere in the early 90s were yelling “Three years of excuses and all you give us is crap! Tara fergie your out!” Luckily mufc management never listened to those knee jerk louts who today are prob were the first to get on the bandwagon once it got going. no twitter back then either. Fans will be fans. Every fan thinks he can manage a team better than the actual coach who is far more qualified. Not saying rodgers will turn out as another alex, far from it i think a guy like shanks or alex only come round once in a very long while and rodgers aint it. As shanks said it support the team win lose or draw. Revolutionary or just common sense?
No, purely for comments like these, Dan. So, you’ve made my day. Ta
Dan’s gone. And anyone else who can’t be civil from now on will be too. Can’t be doing with it.
So what’s the answer? Who would you have?
The lack of a PL trophy hangs around this clubs neck like an albatross, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. In the short term, Rodgers would get more fans on his side if his football was more positive and confident, but inevitably the question will always return.
After spending 200m we are as a liverpool fan think finishing 6th is ok. Gone are the days when finishing second was a failure. Now 5th or 6th is ok. This is Mr Rodgers 4th season and reading at the article it seems like we will be happy with another 6th place finish with 300m spend. You get a quality manager to build a quality team its the fsg responsibility to find a top manager. We can only hope they make the right appointment IF rodger goes. How can you predict that if a board chooses hodgson to be there manager. Its out of your control. We can not choose fsg has to choose a manger who can make us a league contender.
The Manager that was capable of winning the title was hounded out by the Board..Local players..and some vocal supporters..It may just be him again that wins it back for the club in the near future…the universe has its own laws! By the way Melissa did we meet at the Zimbali Lodge in Kwazulu Natal around 2010..are you from that province or Durban..your face looks really familiar !
Sorry Zak. Never been to Zimbali, but would love to go sometime. Hear it’s all kinds of awesome.
Its totally awesome..lush green landscape of a tropical rain forest..the chalet..surounded by civilised residents.such as the bush buck.the.bush monkey..the bush deer.the ever so blue.peacock..and exotic parrots ..really private and intimate setting for all LFC talks ! The golf course is very close to the Shark Coast so easy to get rid of the “Hodge” memories…
If Rodgers goes, lets take the Joe Fagan approach and hire a f””””ing winner. Klopp or Carlo if either of them are interested. Didn’t work out too badly last time did it? That Rafa fella was alright despite the clowns running the club and the conspirators in the dressing room.
Time for experienced champions, who know what it takes to manage a big club to success in a big league.
Well written article Melissa. I don’t understand how some commenters have interpreted it as either a defence of Rodgers or dismissive of his critics.
It’s quite straightforward really – there has been 7 managers since our last League title and each of those at one stage or another had a section of the supporters and / or former players who wanted them replaced. Obviously 6 of them were replaced and ultimately the same fate awaits the current one if results don’t improve.
Thanks for *actually* reading Gerry, and not looking for some nonsensical agenda.
Excellent article, Melissa.
[ As is most of your work on the TAW. Keep it up].
Did not think for a minute you are defending Rodgers here.
Personally I think he has been promoted way above his station and should be replaced soon.
Great article Melissa. Ignore the trolls!
What on Earth , are you on about , Melissa? The managers you have compared could not win the league , because they didnt have it in them to win it. simple as that. Alex Ferguson is not a God neither is Mourinho, they just are better managers. If BR was as good as them , tactically , a better judge of players , and not full of delusion and self grandiose , he might have won by now. Stop this justification of BR. Its a waste of time and space on this website which you occupy!
Did you even fully read or understand the article?
As always Melissa i enjoyed the article, thank you for taking the time to write it. In relation to the majority of responses that you receive i think no matter what topic you (or many of the other contributors) choose to write about its going to be met with the manager debate (i look forward to an article about how well Rossister is progressing leading to the comment that his crap banner was somehowRodgers doing!).
Obviously praising you will now lead to the assumption that i support Brendapool, think its acceptable to lose 10 of the last 5 games we’ve played, get beat 18-1 to Stoke or believe that good dental hygiene is what it takes to be a top premier league manager. Personally i don’t think you’ve ever actually sided with the sack or not be sacked debate as fans we are meant to be having. Recently i passed comment about how poor we were someone said “so you want Brendan out,” when i replied i wanted him to do well because that means Liverpool are doing well, it was “so you want him to stay.” You’re one camp or the other.
However in terms of this article many of the responses tell us Brendan can’t win the league but don’t actually tell us who could? Even those managers who are “Born Winners” had to start somewhere…….Shankly for example. It’s easy to say Klopp or Anchelotti for managers but what……and you may have to use your imagination for this……what if they don’t want to come? What if they fail? Who then do we turn too? Some foreign manager we’ve never heard of (or AVB)?? An up and coming manager like Eddie Howe?? Roberto Martinez (he has a dream you know)!!! For the debate that Liverpool fans are having about Rodgers maybe we should take time to consider that this could have easily been Dortmund fans discussing Klopp last season. He won them some silver in the past but there wasn’t an out cry of dismay when he decided to walk away.
Melissa i agree 100% that the league title will hang over any manager no matter who he is. There is a generation of fans who have seen us win the lot apart from the league and its the one we all want. When we was a guarantee in the later stages of the Champions League we would still moan that Benitez “concentrates more on Europe than the league”. Rodgers hasn’t won the league, he may never win the league, he may never even get close to it again but he took us closer than any of those managers before him, (stand by for “it was all thanks to Suarez”). It will be the same story for whoever is the manager after Rodgers. Rodgers may go, Klopp/Anchelotti/whoever may come in, if we’re not winning the league the debate will continue.
Nicely written Melissa and good response Spudo;
Its not impossible for us to win the leauge as the recent past has shown us all. But its going to dammed hard with the competition around us. I stil consider us a top club in this country even if we have fallen but life is going to get harder as the middle class – stoke, swansea, west ham et al spend their TV money and gradually improve.
Had this discussion about sacking the manager last week with some mates – I really dont care who manages us within reason – Its a cheap shot but I never did get the answer to the question I raised; Who do you want and who will actually come?
This article just underlines the difficulty of us winning the leauge – nothing more or less as far as I can see – If he goes, I agree with the point that a top level replacement be bought in if we can get one – but that wont guarantee us anything.
It’s about backing a manager that you know has the talent and the pedigree to win big trophies and win the league, even through the tough times. Like Man Utd did with Fergie, who did wonders with Aberdeen before and took him a bit of time to do his work at Man Utd, too
Rafa was that man for us and unfortunately at the first sign of trouble we sacked him, and we’re still paying the price for that today
There are no problems with backing a manager like the way we backed Rodgers, but is Rodgers that man that we should be backing considering he really doesn’t have a CV to back himself up?
Like I’d have no problem if Klopp somehow comes here and we back him for years. He is a man proven to be able to do it
Backing a man who has the talent…hmm but the untied fans wanted him kicked out??? IT counted for nothing his previous achievements in aberdeen. So mufc management ignored those genius fans who thought they knew it all….like some of the rodgers hating liverpool fans perhaps?
Like all at TAW Melissa Keep up the great work as it is certainly thought provoking and brightens up my week currently living in a distant remote WA outpost which thankfully is a haven for sensible positive Liverpool support even in our darkest days and need of restbite in the form of success. It’s quite ironic really as I’m quite relieved I’m not back in the thick of the naysayers and doom merchants who have so bizarrely and pathetically latched on to your goodself so as to vent their venom. It’s almost vampire like contamination of the living dead!!
Do these idiots really think they are genuine supporters coz only if there was some way of requesting genuine LFC suppor ID cards in order to block out impostors or those so called fans who have never been frequent match day visitors to Anfield as I would bet £1 to a pinch of shit that most of the grief makers are that way inclined and have never spent there hard earned cash watching live football.
As a matter of curiosity how many posters out there would subscribe to this theory??
Nice work as always Melissa.
Wish I could say the same for the comments section, now almost as painful to read as This Is Anfield.
So much futile effort into seething whinging. I don’t want to share a football team with you lot.
I think I’ll swerve the agenda below the line from now on, life is really too short.
Every time I browse through comments sections like this one it just adds to the endless list of reasons why I really, really, really could have done with us just winning it. That fucking slip will haunt me forever…
Basically I reckon most people would have liked Rodgers replaced by now regardless with how things have unfolded since the end of the season before last and arguably rightly so, but they’d at least speak more respectfully of him and to each other with him being the manager who won us no. 19. Then again the fella who won the 5th European cup got spoken about like shit in the end (although the severity of the H&G situation distorted everything). Everyone’s having to choose sides and point score again rather than just chat footy without having to second guess whether you’re coming across like you’ve got an agenda or – as I’m going to start referring to it as – a ‘plot’.
By the bye, I’m organising a plot before Norwich to get Skrtel and Lovren dropped for Sakho and one of the water bottles if anyone wants in.
Brilliant piece, I can’t do a search for #lfc on twitter again because of the childish whines of the masses.
They will be the same no matter who the manager is.
EXACTLY. Most of social media has the IQ of a five watt light-bulb and They are easily swayed hither and thither. They are the equivalent of the old wild-west lynch mobs, just tar and feather a guy and run him outta town. Pathetic.
Nice one Melissa. Well written and snappy as always.
Christ on a bike though, I see that now it is no longer a requirement that you defend Rodgers (which this article doesn’t) to be slagged off; unless you actively join the Twitterati in metaphorically nailing him to the nearest tree you are deemed a traitor to be rooted out.
Can’t wait to find out who the mythical messiah that will lead the club to glory. One thing is certain, if Jesus himself came down and took the job, but failed to win the league at the first time of asking, the same Twitterati would, well, crucify him.
Of course, human beings will be human beings. Its easy to hate and rage and swagger around in vain pomp and ceremony. Its not so easy to be kind, patient, generous or gentle.
Very good piece, Melissa. It makes a lot of sense. It echoes what I’ve written and believe on the manager issue.
Spoiler Alert: changing the manager is unlikely to *dramatically* change the trajectory of the club.
Not on its own anyway.
That doesn’t mean it won’t or shouldn’t happen if results don’t improve. It’s the nature of the game.
However, we have 25 years to show that making a change (and even spending big at times) doesn’t guarantee a league title. Those changes have involved getting “proven winners”, disciplinarians, “arm round the shoulder guys” and club legends. The perfect manager doesn’t exist. The perfect strategy is only perfect with the benefit of hindsight.
We’ve been close a few times, of course, but I don’t see how ANY manager wins the league for Liverpool given the current setup and the climate of football. It’s not that the club necessarily has to spend like Man U, but there’s a dearth of world class talent in the team (it takes time to produce that, shrewdness to unearth it and a fortune to buy it), and that’s not helping. Liverpool’s remit is to achieve success without a high net spend and, 13/14 aside, there’s no evidence this will help produce a league-winning campaign.
A good manager can help enormously, and I could be wrong: someone like Klopp could dramatically enhance the current squad and have it punching above its weight. It does happen. Yet history and gut instinct has me thinking that it’ll take a lot more than that to get Liverpool over the line and lifting the league title.
Great piece Melissa. Esp on the finds for the posts about Benitez and Kenny in the past. I was looking for proof points to write a similar piece recently but couldn’t find any, so dropped the pen