Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has endured a difficult first season at Anfield so far, and with the club currently 12 points adrift in the race for 4th place in the Premier League, the chances of making the Champions League places seem increasingly slim. Rodgers' Anfield project is, of course, a long-term endeavour, but for the first time, it seems like his job may actually be under threat.
According to a report in French newspaper Le Parisien, FSG secretly sounded-out another manager to replace Rodgers next summer. The report states:
"According to our information, Carlo Ancelotti was approached in November and December by three Premier League clubs including Manchester City and Liverpool"
If it's true that FSG secretly approached Ancelotti a mere five months into Rodgers' reign, then it's pretty disgraceful behaviour, and echoes the Jurgen Klinnsman-Rafa Benitez debacle under Hicks and Gillett.
If FSG did send a representative to talk with Ancelotti, it's highly likely it would've been Ian Ayre. Geographically, he's the closest member of the Anfield hierarchy, and I doubt Henry or Werner would fly all the way to France from the US for a speculative meeting.
Even if it wasn't Ayre, I can't see how he wouldn't know about something like that, which means - if the story is true - that Liverpool's MD has basically been lying to Rodgers' face for the last three months. When asked in a press conference over the weekend about rumours linking him with a move away in the summer, Ancelotti responded:
"We will see how things stand at the end of the season and, if the club is happy, and me too, we will continue. Otherwise, there’s no other choice. It’s one or the other. I’m very happy here, but if the club is not happy, I will have no problem changing."
Clearly, the Italian is willing to move on, and if Rodgers continues to preside over poor results, his position could become increasingly untenable.
Ancelotti has always had good things to say about Liverpool. Most recently, when asked by CNN World Sport who he believed are the world's best fans, he said:
"In my opinion Liverpool fans. When they sing a song your hair stands up"
Ancelotti certainly has many advantages over Rodgers:
* Massive experience in the game.
* A long, winning track record.
* Worldwide respect for his achievements in the game.
* Experience of managing the world's best players.
* Ability to attract top class players.
* Experience of winning the Premier League.
* The personal authority that comes with success.
Is the writing already on the wall for Rodgers...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
According to a report in French newspaper Le Parisien, FSG secretly sounded-out another manager to replace Rodgers next summer. The report states:
"According to our information, Carlo Ancelotti was approached in November and December by three Premier League clubs including Manchester City and Liverpool"
If it's true that FSG secretly approached Ancelotti a mere five months into Rodgers' reign, then it's pretty disgraceful behaviour, and echoes the Jurgen Klinnsman-Rafa Benitez debacle under Hicks and Gillett.
If FSG did send a representative to talk with Ancelotti, it's highly likely it would've been Ian Ayre. Geographically, he's the closest member of the Anfield hierarchy, and I doubt Henry or Werner would fly all the way to France from the US for a speculative meeting.
Even if it wasn't Ayre, I can't see how he wouldn't know about something like that, which means - if the story is true - that Liverpool's MD has basically been lying to Rodgers' face for the last three months. When asked in a press conference over the weekend about rumours linking him with a move away in the summer, Ancelotti responded:
"We will see how things stand at the end of the season and, if the club is happy, and me too, we will continue. Otherwise, there’s no other choice. It’s one or the other. I’m very happy here, but if the club is not happy, I will have no problem changing."
Clearly, the Italian is willing to move on, and if Rodgers continues to preside over poor results, his position could become increasingly untenable.
Ancelotti has always had good things to say about Liverpool. Most recently, when asked by CNN World Sport who he believed are the world's best fans, he said:
"In my opinion Liverpool fans. When they sing a song your hair stands up"
Ancelotti certainly has many advantages over Rodgers:
* Massive experience in the game.
* A long, winning track record.
* Worldwide respect for his achievements in the game.
* Experience of managing the world's best players.
* Ability to attract top class players.
* Experience of winning the Premier League.
* The personal authority that comes with success.
Is the writing already on the wall for Rodgers...?
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
A cup revenue doesn't generate much, it barely helps the big clubs. The small clubs in the lower leagues, yes. Even reaching the Europa League final barely helps. There is a massive difference between the revenue generated by CL and revenue generated by any other cup competition. Massive. Its a mere drop in the ocean, for a PL club, that money from domestic cup runs and Europa League. So no, I disagree wholeheartedly with the importance placing on the revenue from those competitions. Why do you think even Aston Villa a good couple of seasons couldn't be bothered with putting a strong side out in Europa League as it simply wasn't worth it. Why do you think Man United put out two young raw centre backs in Keane and Wootton at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, because it didn't matter financially and that the league was a higher priority, by far. So no, your point of losing revenue from domestic cup runs impacting us negatively to a considerable extent is wrong, imo. City and United could barely be bothered with Europa League. For a big club, it simply is nowhere near enough to make a considerable difference. If you think Europa League and domestic cup revenue matters to the finances of a big club, it simply doesn't. Most British clubs haven't given a monkeys about trying their best in Europa League, because of the financial benefits are neglible and are better off trying their best to push up the league table instead. I think its bemusing to use the revenue angle as some sort of justification to give it our all in the domestic cups. We are not a Championship or League 1 club, where that kind of money truly matters. FA Cup is tried for, because of heritage & romantic reasons and to a lesser extent Europa (especially for clubs who haven't treated their fans to European football in a while, like Boro under McClaren and Fulham with their brilliant efforts in Europa), not for financial reasons.
ReplyDeleteRafa Benitez was a so-called big name manager and he attracted big name players but we couldn't afford them. Nearly every bloody month he comes out 'I could have signed player x, y, z, if we could have afforded their wages/tranfer fee'. We are in a worse position financially now, so no, a big name would not have made a big difference in attracting better players as they wouldn't have had the financial backing this season, in terms of wages. Last season, we were in a better position financially to do so as we had a bigger wage budget but we all know what happened, we spent it on overpriced ordinary British players.
So to conclude, with all due respect, no, just no, to your post.
Totally agree that Dalglish got us out of the rut after he took over from Hodgson, yet everyone forgets that. Does anyone also know that the last manager to win pool a lge title is Dalglish????
ReplyDeleteDats why ppl should be careful , sometimes the alternative is worse than they had. Dalglish clearly did a better job than wat Rodgers is doing now. Even the players respect Dalglish more than Rodgers.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention, Rodgers signings have mostly failed, and he is now using most of Dalglish's players. Did you known that Dalglish even tried to sign Sturridge at one time but failed? Pool would have been darn good if Sturridge had come over earlier.
ReplyDeletewhy Rodgers a chance when we didnt even give Hodgson and Dalglish any chance? Why he so special?
ReplyDeleteIf we stick to Rodgers any longer, the team may decline more. Better cut loss now and get a better manager like Ancelotti or Mourinho. Stop wasting time .
ReplyDeleteKD didnt get the chance. Why should we be any different towards Rodgers? Poor resultz, then he has to face the sack. Otherwise why double standards from Dalglish's sack?
ReplyDeleteI have said it and I will say it again. Sacking Dalglish was wrong and the alternative we have gotten in Rodgers is a downgrade!
ReplyDeleteWe had such nice cup runs last year and all Liverpool fans got together to watch our cup games. The finals were fantastic atmosphere at the Liverpool fan clubs across the globe. Tks to Rodgers, you wont be getting anywhere a trophy anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI suggest that next season if B.Rodgers still a manager for LFC team.LFC management must hire someone to be CARETAKER if anything happen at LFC team.Maybe LFC can get Rafa Benitez or somebody who has biggest experiance to analysize,taech if there are something wrong or problem in the team.This season LFC have many changing in playing system tactikal or technical but the players in the squad stiil cannot compete to be seriuosly a contender for BPL,FA or European Cup.Why?? Because they are don't have mentality a winner or to be a champion.The current team not to strongest yet.The owner need to change because he is too stingy to bring high quality players.Many players target are missing to another clubs because a money factor.A few years LFC management very slow in action to get deal new players.Untill transfer window be closing for a several day,philippe Countinho stiil cannot been using.Why??LFC should using his service during start first day transfer window was opened but not untill be closed he still struggle cannot been used.Is this how LFC management working attitudes??Very good......YNWA.
ReplyDeleteLlorente off to Juve. Cavani will cost £25m+ and the likelihood of Arsenal spending that much on one player is low.
ReplyDeleteMuch as i respect your views and good points that you raised , your missing the point we do not have CL football nor are we likely to do so for a while , therefore we need to do the next best thing and compete in the other cup competitions (and try to finish up the league) in order to generate revenue otherwise the pot will get smaller and the squad will get thinner size wise and quality wise . You have to stop the downward spiral and try to compete as winning boosts confidence , Take Houllier's team fo 2001 and the cup treble it launched us onto Champions League qualification , boosted morale and instilled the winning mentality and the coffers for better players , yes we cannot afford Cavani's or Falcao's of this world but at the same time we are not a testing ground for an inexperienced manager who thinks he is going to reinvent the wheel and young players who may come good in the future, by which time the damage will be done and we may well become a selling club . We need a balance . The other problem now is dumped out of both cups , beaten in Europe , low morale and it's all becoming the norm and a familiar pattern is developing and we have now begun to adopt a losing mentality
ReplyDeleteOf course, from a sporting view, the domestic cups have importance and can boost morale but I just don't agree with the financial view of it as its very small for a big club. But yes, sometimes winning trophies can breed a certain level of confidence that a good league finish can't give, regardless of the monetary value. So I get where your coming from in relation to that. Yes, I agree, sporting-wise, the cups do have their importance for clubs that need a injection of that winning silverware feeling to give them that shot of confidence. But sometimes it can be a distraction, juggling cups and the league. It was good to get to the cup finals, after a few seasons of problems on and off the pitch. We needed that injection, that lift but we don't always need it (we did need it last season), sometimes they (cups_ need to take a backseat to getting a high a league finish as possible as the league is the bread and butter. I don't want us to become a constant domestic cup team, once in a while yes but not always placing priority on it. For this season, for me, I wanted us to better the league finish of last season more than anything else, especially since it was only last season when we did well in the domestic cups, so I could put up with sacrificing them this season. But obviously we aren't doing so well in that regard, in the league.
ReplyDeleteTactically inept, poor signings and out of his depth. Give him until the end of the season and he will hang himself. Rodgers is not good enough to manage Liverpool football club
ReplyDeleteI agree, Brendan should stay at least another season. He is still building the squad with limited funds. Changing manager now is not the answer. We have to give him some time. Like I have always maintained, what if we bring in Ancelotti, he builds again and we lose out on Champ League again, and then what next. Change manager again and watch the whole cycle repeat again. Does it not remind us of the Roman and Chelsea scenario?
ReplyDeleteFSG should just stick with Brendan and give him time. That is the least Brendan deserves - time, patience and trust. I rather we take the short term pain for the long term gain.
Brendan is no miracle man. I still believe Brendan is the right man for the job and I can see what he is trying to build. We are not there yet but we are moving in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, I just wish people would stop negative comments on Hodgson and Dalglish. They are no longer the manager but they did contribute something to the club and in Hodgson, he dared take the job and tried to move the club forward. Whether these 2 man were successful or not does not matter but they did try when they were the manager.
For that, we should at least appreciate whatever contribution they gave to the club. And we should at least stop those disrespectful comments. Its easy to be couch commentators and if you don't want to thank them, its fine but please stop heaving disrespectful comments on them.
There is an old saying - "No matter how rusted and run down an abandoned ship is, there are still a few good nails in it"
Because Rodgers is here specifically to build and go through that 'project'. It's not double standards - if he does get sacked then JK has got it 100% correct, BR got stabbed in the back.
ReplyDeleteIn 1980s, Dalglish inherited a champion winning team from Fagan!! In 2011, he wasted 83 mil on Carroll, Downning, Hendersen and Adam!!!
ReplyDeletePoor managers with poor transfer policies are causing LFC deadly....from Hodgson's Joe Cole, Poulsen, Koncheski....Dalglish's Carroll, Downning, Hendersen, Adam, Enrique, Coates....to Rodgers's Allen, Borini, Assaidi, Sahin.....over 120 mil spent but none has added any depth to the squad.
ReplyDeleteExcept Suarez and Sturridge, Liverpool basically is still relying on players from the Rafa era....Gerrard, Lucas, Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Carragher, Sterling, Wisdom, Suso, Kelly....how pathetic!!!
ReplyDeleteBit of a sensationalist article here.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool may have approached him. May not. Even if they did, for what role was he approached? Director of football perhaps? Or manager. Doesn't say.
Despite Rodgers not wanting a director above him, it's long known that FSG DO want one. Having seen Borini, Assaidi and Allen fail to set the premiership alight at a fairly high cost, it is quite likely they would consider somebody above Rodgers to make transfer plans and leave Rodgers to the coaching.
The fact Rodgers doesn't like it could be out of his hands, as Rodgers too is insecure considering we're 9th.
100 % Spot on >>No doubt with King kenny and Clarke we would be upthere in 4th and fighting for Champs league cuz we had the 3rd best defense and only a sturridge away from Top 4 .... now we are sinking like the Titanic ....and the band keeps playing on to BRs tune
ReplyDeletewe gone backwards from last year ....FSG premuturely ejaculated the King
ReplyDeleteWe have a few players who should be nowhere near the 1st team. Our young lads with the exception of Wisdom are nowhere near ready. How sterling is on 45k i'll never know. He has been poor all season. Until we can find a way of performing without having to use Sterling, Suso, Downing or all of our center backs we will be continue to be found out.
ReplyDeletei fear the worse tomorrow hope we can get a result but will not bank on it
ReplyDelete