GARETH ROBERTS was joined by Rob Gutmann, Ian Salmon and Dave Segar for this weeks ‘Backpage’ show.
On the agenda this week:
Jürgen Klopp taking it back to basics, keeping it very simple from the pitch to dealing with the media.
How he communicates his message to the public and the media, and his district, publicly at least, lack of ego.
Is the club and the fan base at risk of building the manager up to soon? Is a ‘Cult Of Klopp’ a good thing?
The gang also chat about Jonathan Wilson’s study visit to Ethiopia and his findings about how people in ‘Ethiopia consume’ their football, who they support and why?
Daniel Sturridge, and Jürgen Klopp’s comments pertaining to the England strikers injury.
Is he slowly becoming lost cause or has the manager thrown down a challenge to the incredible talented centre-forward.
Can we afford to rely on our other options and treat Sturridge as a luxury.
All this and more thrown in the air on this week’s ‘Backpage’.
I was always a fan of Brendan Rodgers and think he did a lot right with us but even I was shocked when in one of his first interviews after becoming manager he was asked who his inspiration was and he said “I’ve always inspired myself”. There’s so much wrong with this statement that I don’t know where to begin. Klopp’s too self-aware and, dare I say, modest to say such a thing.
Here’s the main difference between the two men. BR knew the job had come too early for him and he felt under pressure to prove the shirt wasn’t too heavy. JK knows he’s a worldclass manager, so has the confidence and belief that goes with it.
Interesting discussion, especially the part about the humility of Klopp being a refreshing change.
I strongly disagree with Rob on the point that Rafa was someone who lacked humility, if anything he was far too humble given the constant disrespect he was subjected to whilst in England.
He’d have been well within his rights to address the plethora of knobheads that included players and managers alike who routinely criticised his every move by slapping his medals on the table, but he always remained classy and responded to their drivel with a level of respect that was ill deserved.
I’ve got the feeling that should someone whether it be a journalist or player try to patronise Klopp or his understanding of the game, he’ll have no qualms about putting them in their place and remind them of what he’s done more assertively than Rafa ever did.
Great show lads. The discussion on Klopp and Sturridge was really interesting