8 Apr 2013

Urgh, make it stop: Reds hero boards the Brendan Rodgers Sycophant Express

Prior to the game with West Ham on Sunday, Liverpool still retained a very slim chance of gate-crashing the Champions League party, but the failure to beat a team with one of the worst away records in the league has destroyed the dream for another year. The Reds had countless chances to win the game, and an off-form Luis Suarez wasted many of them, but according to Anfield legend Steve Nicol, the Uruguayan's performance apparently underlines his credentials for the 'Player of the Year' award.

Analysing the West Ham game on ESPN, Nicol observed:

"Is Suarez the player of the season? Well, today, he had a real bad day. He lost the ball, he ran offside, he had some chances and he didn’t take them. You name it, things went wrong for him.

"But what stood out is he didn’t sulk, he didn’t cry, he didn't blame anybody else, he kept going, and he gave 100%, from the first minute to the last, and that tells you what playing football means to this guy".


First, just in case people twist misunderstand this as some anti-Suarez tirade (!) - He is entitled to the odd off-day, especially after his many superb performances this season. Yes, his selfishness reared it's head a little against West Ham, but that's the nature of strikers, and that's one of the reasons he's scored so many goals this season.

This post is not about Suarez, it's about one of my biggest bugbears as a fan: the growing trend for gross overpraise of players. The only thing that bugs me more than Brendan Rodgers' continual cacophonous cajolery is when players are eulogised for achieving the bare-minimum of what's expected.

Why does Suarez - or indeed any player - deserve praise for not 'sulking', and 'giving 100%'?! This is what he is paid OBSCENE amounts of money to do; this is his job, and the bare minimum expected of any Premier League player is to give 100% in every game. It's like praising a plumber for trying his best to fix a leak (!). If I was paid over £100K a week, I'd keep going for 90 minutes too.

And the fact that Suarez 'kept going' means it shows 'what football means to this guy'? What else is Suarez going to do? Stage a sit-down protest over his failure to score and refuse to play on? He plays FOOTBALL - obviously, it means something to him, just as it means something to the tens of millions of people who play football (professionally or for fun) across the globe. Why should he be praised for that? Surely he is OBLIGATED to keep going?

Nicol's view on this - to which he is, of course, entitled - is cringeworthy (IMO), and it's almost on a par with Rodgers' nauseating, oft-repeated assertion that his players deserve respect because they have the 'courage to go out and play football'.

Urgh. WTF is he talking about? Courage? This is not Iraq or Afghanistan. It's a group of men kicking a football around. What has courage got to do with it? He makes it sound like these grossly overpaid playboys are making some kind of sacrifice, whereas the reality is they're living the dream: playing football and getting paid. The very least they can do is actually get on the field and attempt to implement his instructions.

Predictably, Rodgers was at it again after Liverpool's 0-0 draw with West Ham. According to him, failing to beat a team with one of the worst away records in the league - and who haven't won at Anfield for 40 YEARS - is an 'outstanding' result.

*Shoots Self*

If you're going to praise Suarez - or in Rodgers' case, the team - then at least make it relevant and/or deserved. This modern trend for deifying players who achieve the bare minimum is supremely counter-productive. What next, putting players on pedestals for turning up to training on time?! Lionising them for remembering to wear shin-pads?

Has Rodgers' constant fawning over the players made any difference to LFC's overall performance this season? Not in the slightest. However, what it *has* done (IMO) is dull competitive edge, and create complacency in certain players. After all, if you're labelled as outstanding, terrific, amazing, brilliant, wonderful and superb after every game, where is the burning desire to improve?

I never thought I'd say this, but bring back Rafa Benitez already!* I'm not his biggest fan, but the Spaniard's brand of ego-deflating tough-love is infinitely preferable to the servile, intelligence-insulting sycophancy currently soiling Anfield.

* This is not a serious plea for Benitez's return :-)



NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


89 comments:

  1. Just a thought Jaimie, do you think Suarez would do better with Benitez being manager?

    ReplyDelete
  2. countless chances to win???
    Diame, Cole and Collison all had better chances than any Liverpool made
    As well as the nailed on penalty West Ham should have had

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't think he'd do any worse. Look at Torres - career best form under Benitez, and the same can be said about Gerrard and Carra. One thing's for sure, you wouldn't have Benitez kissing Suarez's feet every 5 seconds, or endlessly proclaiming what a 'privilege' it is to work with Gerrard. I think Suarez and Gerrard would respect Benitez more than Rodgers, as it's very difficult to respect someone who consistently puts you on a pedestal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pretty much what I've been trying to reiterate on the last article. Thumps up JK

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, it's not a reflection on West Ham's performance. They had lots of chances, but so did LFC.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I
    have watched LFC for over 50 years since it was a shilling on the boy's
    pen and for the first time I feel total despair. I simply do not see
    any recovery

    I know Rodgers has many supporters but I genuinely feel that he is so
    far out of his depth. For Rodgers it is all about Rodgers. Only
    self-publicists allow themselves to be interviewed on Talksport.
    His treatment of Henderson is as bad as Rafa's treatment of Alonso but Rafa did bring in some great players and not just dross

    Can you imagine Rodgers signing Hamman. He is too tall.
    We will always be bullied by the likes of West Ham Stoke etc because of his refusal to have a plan B.
    I
    decided at Christmas that I will not go to Anfield whilst he is
    manager, simply because I get too negative and that is a great sadness
    to me.
    I dont expect any managerial changes 1) because of cost and2)
    because our owners see the holy grail as being in the top 4. Paisley
    will be turing in has grave with this defeatism. First is first and
    second nowhere. That was our mantra. It has gone

    ReplyDelete
  7. Comments like this from Rodgers makes you realize that he's just a little kid on a big stage. Either he's scared of getting tough with players for fear of losing their support in the dressing room or he just does not know how to get tough with experienced players. He has a lot of growing up to do as a manager.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just a little correction - it's 50 years since a West Ham win at Anfield, not 40!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Would still love having Benitez back at anfield!! Wanted him last year when Kenny got sacked. Would sack Rodgers for Benitez anyday but i feel sorry for BR, its something new for him choaching players like Gerrard and Suarez. He's just afraid he will loose Suarez that's why he's praising him all the time, IMO.
    He sees Suarez as his key to success, that's why he's always overdoing..

    ReplyDelete
  10. look we can talk about rodgers for ever and a day we all know hes here for the long haul fsg hired a yes man and will keep there yes man i said at the start of rodgers reign fsg are starting to get us used to midtable mediocracy and i still believe i was right,last seasons carling cup victory will be celabrated like we have just won the league the longer fsg and rodgers remain

    ReplyDelete
  11. I get depressed before any LFC game starts for the past few months. Same old results, poor management and what the heck is happening. It is truly sad to see this team disintegrate into leftovers. They look like a top division 2 team. Wake up call needed - whatever that means:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. allen i totally agree with you although i have not watched as long as you (over 30 years)you are right i,am in total despair and do not see no chance of recovery what so ever under rodgers infact all i can see is the longer he,s here the more damage done to our once great club

    ReplyDelete
  13. jaimie lets get this straight rodgers has no respect whatsoever of the lfc players he has not earned it and never will,and before people start posting about how certain players have said they are seeing progress under rodgers ,what do expect them to say ,that hes f"cking clueless, that the think hes a joke only one player rodgers signed for lfc as left suhin ,and is comments that speak the loudest,i loved my time at anfield and loved the fans BUT i thank god i have left rodgers(take this to mean what you want,imo it means he his glad to be away from a person he thought was inept and disliked to say the least)

    ReplyDelete
  14. You obviously don't like it, but I think it's nothing more than your personal preference. I can't see any evidence that media coverage of players, managers or pundits praising other players, managers or pundits has any effect on actual football. It's an interesting theory, but on top of the medical staff that I have already stated my utmost confidence in, LFC also have a sports psychologist whose profession it is to help players stay focused, motivated and happy. I can't entertain a scenario where the manager and his advisors have not at least considered the idea of how press statements affect player mentality. I'd guess Rodgers thinks quite carefully about what he says to the press before he says it and each comment is reasonably well thought through. I suppose at the very least he has a different philosophy on player praise that you do, but I do strongly suggest that your point of view is based around your own emotional preference while his is more carefully considered and based around what he thinks is best for the team.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Spot on. a good manager is the one who knows the best for the club and knows when to take risks.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Of course it's my personal preference (!)

    The proof is in the pudding: what discernible difference has the constant overpraise made to LFC's performances this season?

    You can buy into whatever you perceive to be going on behind the scenes all you like, but the people making the decisions are human beings, thus they are going to make mistakes. Just because LFC have doctors on the payroll doesn't mean they won't make mistakes, and/or be kowtowed by the individual will of players.

    Rodgers (IMO) has proved this season that he has a gigantic inferiority complex, and I believe that's a reasonable conclusion to draw based on observation of his actions/comments this season.

    You seem to suggest that any decision Rodgers' makes must, by default, be correct. How do you know his decisions are 'carefully considered'? The evidence suggests otherwise. Was playing Joe Allen ahead of Henderson when his shoulder was a 'thumb away from breaking' the best decision for the team?

    Clearly not - LFC lost to Southampton, and Allen got subbed off at half time.

    That decision alone casts doubt upon Rodgers' ability to make decisions that are 'best for the team'.

    Additionally, if LFC's medical staff are as amazing as you seem to think, why did they allow Allen to play in that game when they knew he needed urgent surgery?

    The medics - like all the other backroom staff - have an opinion, but it is meaningless unless it's followed by the manager. I suspect they told Rodgers the risks of playing Allen, and he overruled them. Why else would a player with an (almost) broken shoulder play?

    ReplyDelete
  17. lool Jamie to me it seems you're starting to get sick of Rodgers....I wanna see what he can do next year but if we dont get top 4 he should go...I dont give a crap if we put in a challenge for it,we either get it or we dont and if we dont sorry but you've had 2 years and 4 windows and though shit

    ReplyDelete
  18. i have always looked forward to lfc games till this season and its the 1st time in my life i cannot wait for a season to finish

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have noticed that you guys like slating our players alot. You are not doing them any good. You think everyday should be christmas. I wouldn't be surprised if suarez leaves because you guys don't have encouraging words at all. All the whole stars in the world have performed below their best this season so why complain. Moreover westham were solid too' thank God we didn't lose.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I saw someone talking about the Southampton game we lost. What will you say about the QPR game last season. For goodness sake you guys think before you speak. 2008 we should have won the premier league but benitez gambled with our games, bought robbie keane and sold him within six months. We had the most draws in a season that year, despite beating manu,chelsea H&A. Every coach has their own flaws.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I don't think it's Nicol's fault. The standards in some players' attitudes have really dropped in the last decades, and now a consistent attitude of 100% effort and perseverance, as displayed by Suarez, looks like an absolute maximum rather than bare minimum.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Yes I think it's time to bring back Rafa,

    he inherited a team from Houllierand, whatever be said, he won the CL the same year.

    he got us second position and everything was going well,

    when you score a goal you wo't feel uneasy to the point of asking when is the opponent going to equalise;

    westham, stokes westbrom were just multiples of +3 points for us.

    it was only the nightmare of the previous two us owners that pushed Rafa to italy.

    i dont wana question the ability of br. but infact when you sit and ponder what he has brought to lfc except 'to be', 'promising', 'owners has no money right now',' we have to buy quality not quantity' (and thus we missed players who went to spurs', or worse in the initial stage of the league '... expect to be thrashed like this for a fewmore matches...' , FOR HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO WAIT? AND FOR WHAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    just anxiety and frustration, always relying on other teams to slip so that we can climb up in the table, he is too stereostyped or too stubborn with one type of football. barc is barc , we are liverpool and we have always played passing football , rafa revived it !!!!!

    oh yes indeed, We will always be bullied by the likes of West Ham Stoke etc BECAUSE HE HAS NEVER BEEN A GOOD TACTICIAN ALTHOUGH A GOOD COACH FOR SWANSEA-type of teams!!!!

    WE HAVE A PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD PASSING FOOTBALL, we dont ANYONE TO TRANSPLANT TIKITAKA TO OUR DNA OF GOOD PASSING FOOTBALL, WE need A GOOD TACTICIAN AND A GOOD COACH AND ONE WHO LOVES LFC GENUINELY AT THE SAME TIME;

    BRING BACK RAFA

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a load of nonsense. Especially the first few negative replies to the post.
    Where do I begin? Rodgers does not always praise players. He praises where there is clearly maximum effort and attempt to execute his style of play. However he is quick to criticise when this isn't forthcoming and will say so whether this is at team or individual level. E.g. Downing earlier in the season showed effort but it was ineffective and he wasn't penetrating in his play.
    Rodger's style of play is good to watch and in the majority of games this season has meant we have outplayed the opposition. Clearly finishing remains an issue but I'd prefer this to Roy Hodgson's style of footy.
    As for man management. Benitez's style really? The style that lost us Alonso? Benitez as a tactician yes but not as a man manager.
    The knee jerk reaction to one result is farcical and whoever echoed idiot allardyce's comments agreeing that they had the better chances in this game is clearly postin on here just to antagonise or has escaped the lunatic asylum!
    Intelligent analysis of anything should always be focused on the long term and the underlying fundamental trends. Under Rodgers there has been improvement and this will continue.
    One bad result that doesn't go our way and the short term doomsday merchants re-appear with their anti Rodgers posts. I'm yet to see one such negative post that is supported with analytical evidence. It's all just throw away comments like 'Sahin said he's crap so he must be'. I'd take time to give the negativity some consideration if it was supported with anything meaningful.
    As for quoting periods of time you've watched a team for......Is that how this works? Longer you've watched your team the more you know? If you listed coaching badges etc you've got then I'll listen but years on the planet doesn't really tell me an awful lot!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Loved our time under Hodgson did you?

    ReplyDelete
  25. on another subject i see my opinon of assaidi was confirmed yesterday another waste of money

    ReplyDelete
  26. no but things picked up at xmas ,where as i have had to suffer i full season under rodgers with more to come

    ReplyDelete
  27. What a load of negative nonsense. Can someone please support this negativity with some stats and meaningful analysis rather than Sahin said Rodgers is crap so he must be! I'm yet to read a negative post that is supported with any facts.
    Rodgers criticises the team as a whole or individual players when he needs to and praises his players when he feels they've given their best. What else should he do?
    We outplay most teams under Rodgers but need to work on our finishing still as the West ham game showed.
    Aldridge tells it as it is. He knows his stuff, isn;t scared to criticise the team as those who listen to local radio know, is a real fan and recently stated that he believes this is the best team we've had in 20 years. His views are the type that mean something re LFC.
    Knee jerk negative posts following one game are ridiculous. this is a long term project and all of the stats and analysis shows the trend under Rodgers is upward.
    Just another thought. Under Rodgers we wouldn;t have lost a talent like Tom Ince. He'd have had game time!

    ReplyDelete
  28. did you watch the game west ham had clearer cut chances than us you can support your god like figure (rodgers)all you like thats your chose but if others do not jump on the rodgers is some kind of genius it doe,s not make them wrong ,or are you always right about everything and cannot be wrong

    ReplyDelete
  29. It would help if you actually stated who you're replying to/addressing.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Excellent article Jamie, you seem to have raised at least three major talking points here, the first one re Suarez deification i agree with, wholeheartedly.


    I reckon it would be possible to pull out at least 15 games this season where Luis has all but wrecked our chance of pushing on esp when we seemingly start turning a corner.....& start looking like a decent side again....a few wins etc and then we are treated to a display of complete and utter incompetence in front of goal, SHOCKING link up play....& schoolboy type errors so amateur in nature that it gets you wondering IF he actually is playing AGAINST us NOT with us....


    Sadly, he's not been alone in this type of blatant inconsistency either...Glen Johnson, Enrique, Reina, Agger, Skrtel & the much loved Lucas Leiva have ALL left us up shit creek without a paddle this season in terms of the fact that we will have dropped right out of Europe and be sat in mid table mediocrity at the end of the season where we certainly IMO shouldn't be with the standard of players we have at the Club.....


    In fact IF only ONE of those mentioned above had actually played to their ability ALL season (esp Suarez...) we would no doubt be a little higher up the league than we are.....


    But, last season was the same, pretty much with the same players letting us down along with a few others who have at least to their credit kept up their performances to a respectable level (Downing Henderson...) and even made improvements to their game....


    I said last summer that we needed to off load many of the players mentioned above, as they had let Kenny carry the can for their under-performances....& this is where i have to disagree with you Jamie because IMO it is NOT the manager/s that we have had since Rafa left that have fcuked us up, it is actually those players who have been letting us down in order to help bring RAFA back to the Club....


    You have to say though that it has all but worked out really, but its certainlyt not something that I as a Liverpool supporter am very happy about, esp IF Rafa is brought back to sort out the mess, IMO he (Rafa) is very much responsible for us losing our place in the CL not only because of his last season but after that in the form of players left at the Club who perhaps wanted him to stay AND have not exactly been playing like we know they can on a regular basis....


    Roy's tenure was IMO sabotaged, Kenny's tenure was also sabotaged & finally Brendan Rodgers tenure has been also, by said players....


    So, when we talk about bringing Rafa back to sort out our "problems" we should IMO take into consideration that he is either directly or indirectly responsible for the mess we are in....


    Doesn't sit well with me, won't ever sit well with me, after 30 odd years of supporting this Club i will hang up my supporting boots if i see Rafa back at the Club & i hope that others follow suit, i would however like to see the likes of Suarez Johnson Enrique Lucas etc unceremoniously fcuked off out the Club and replaced with quality players, no need to bring Rafa back just surgically remove the rest of the cancerous problem that is IMO behind our demise....

    ReplyDelete
  31. thatcher after a bad week for lfc you have made my day i hope you rot

    ReplyDelete
  32. thatcher you have made my day i hope you rot

    ReplyDelete
  33. you can hang your your boots up when you like no great loss ,and as for the players you would like to see kicked out of our club the mind boggles,infact i do not even know why i,am replying to your post,you obviously need medicle attention as you have completly lost the plot if you can find one lfc supporter who agrees with the 4 players you mention i suggest you keep well away from them as they may be more mentally disturbed than you, and that is a very very scary scenario ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  34. jaimie i know you would never want benitez back but how much are you still behind rodgers please give it percentage as it surly cannot be 100%behind rodgers anymore ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Youre 100% right.. getting sick of waiting and hoping, but on the other Hand, sacking Rodgers would mean we're just a Chelsea type club andthats a really bad thing. Sacking managers after one season is probably the most inneffective way to try to get back in the top 4...

    ReplyDelete
  36. you have to move with the times,if things are not going as planned look at spurs they got rid of redknapp and it has not done them any harm

    ReplyDelete
  37. Downing was a easy scapegoat, a very easy scapegoat. If you got a few examples on similar stances on players higher up the hierarchy, than fair dos but hard to find some. Downing was a easy one for Rodgers to have a pop at. He has had a go at the younger players (such as the lads in the FA Cup) but what about the guys up the hierarchy eh. Skrtel and Agger need a rocket up the backside but they have hardly any competition and get a easy ride. So no, I don't agree with your implied point that Rodgers is fair with his comments. Yesterday wasn't maximum effort, it was sloppy, stupid flicks and backheels, yet he used the word 'outstanding' to compliment the team's performance yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  38. davewestausregularguest3:23 pm, April 08, 2013

    I was first time in the 'boys pen' about 1952/53,(60yrs ago) and I have very similar thoughts to yours! However I would have Benitez back but I cannot see it happening.LFC need Rafa or someone of similar European experience,and tactical nous! Rafa is as good as you can get in that regard!

    ReplyDelete
  39. nothing is going to change.
    The owners are running a YTS scheme

    ReplyDelete
  40. Quote "for acheiving the bare minimum of what's expected"

    I know it's off topic a little but it's like when waiters and waitresses expect a tip for serving you at a restaurant i.e just doing their job..... now that really bugs me!

    Plus everyone then thinks I'm the tight-arse, it's their bloody employer that's the tight arse and we just subsidise the wages.

    Anyway nice topic :)

    ReplyDelete
  41. rodgers net spend is nearly as much as kenny and rafa at least would bring back the feel good factot for most of the fans it will be interesting to what kind of reception he gets when he comes home with chelsea ,i suspect awesome

    ReplyDelete
  42. to try and suarez as let lfc down this season is mindblowing i wish half the rest of the squad had let us down as badley we would have won the league by xmas

    ReplyDelete
  43. mine two alas were not aloud to speak about this evil woman as it keeps getting deleted,and i would like to know why as an lfc fan i think its a great day

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thanks for your comments. You're right, there is improvement in the second half of the season, but my issue here is separate to any consideration of the club's current state on the field. Even if we were top of the league, I'd still raise these points.

    I don't think I've discussed anything to do with the club's performance on the field in my post, just the growing trend for servile overpraise at Anfield.

    As a comparison, consider Alex Ferguson. United are infinitely more successful than LFC over the last 23 years, but even though they're regularly at the top of the league, you don't hear him constantly fawning over his players when United draw, or even lose. Why is that?

    True winners don't kiss ass.

    ReplyDelete
  45. If you want to pi$$ on Thatcher's grave with mean-spirited comments, go and do it elsewhere. Civility extends to everyone here, not just footballers/managers etc.

    ReplyDelete
  46. yes we have been fantastic since xmas rodgers as turned a corner,mansfield ,oldham,the europa league wba,southampton and west ham were just blips infact yes you have convinced me rodgers is a tactical genius if he keeps saying were outstanding after every game even when were dog shite the sheep will believe him,and if he gets enough sheep he as a flock,infact he could set up a new religion the rodgers witnesses sorry got to go i think there at the door now

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hope its bound up with a lot of hospitality and memories!

    Well i was never a friend of signing Rodgers as our manager, because everybody knew he will turn the club around, sell the players Kenny bought in, would have been better if we went for a player that would have used the 100m team Kenny bought...

    Youre absolutely right with the feel good factor IMO, but i can see a lot of fans not wanting Rafa to come back...

    ReplyDelete
  48. That's your interpretation, and that's fine, but as I said, if you want to slag off MT, then please do it elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  49. if you praise medicracy then the idea of continuous improvement and over achieving is dead. . BR has a different mentality to me, he praise his players in everything they do, he reminds me of one of them dads i used to see on the sidelines constantly praising their kid all game even when the lad was useless and tackled his own player. The main difference is Liverpool players are not his kids, As a manager you are there to give an honest performance appraisal of what you have seen and for me he fails at it miserably and it is starting to make me think if he is one of them managers who is touchy feely, everyone around the camp fire, mediocre is good and we cant hurt anyone feelings. He may reserve the bollockings for behind closed doors but it is not good coming out to the media and saying fantastic, outstanding as it gives the fans the wrong message. I would prefer him to come out and simply say, 'we were not good enough to day'. I may be wrong but when i take over a team of people i set the stall out quickly and what i have found it is best to have morale courage and set your benchmark of knowing what is poor performance and what is outstanding. It is very easy to tell people they are outstanding, but what makes a manager a top manager is being able to tell someone they are absolute crap and in the same breath being able offer development to fix it without the person taking a hissy fit or going of in a sulk. To get this out of people, you often have to great credibility and the correct air of authority, does BR have that, IMO not yet.

    ReplyDelete
  50. JK are you getting softer on a benitez return???

    ReplyDelete
  51. jason f*cking shoot me but im beginning to look forward to rogers and his interviews ...hes the football equivalent to audley harrison its like watching a car crash its hypnotic .....if he doesn't praise the players or say outstanding even when they are crap im disappointed.....im not even sure hes watched the same game as me half the time ........can we sack him and keep him as spokesperson

    ReplyDelete
  52. so have you ever been behind rodgers? or do you avoid supporting him from the first day?

    ReplyDelete
  53. Do you read anything that I say before you write this drivel, or do you just decide that because I don't spew venom in Rodgers' direction that I am a no-questions-asked supporter of him?

    Jaimie laid out the facts a few weeks ago about how improved we've been in the league during the second half of the season. The facts are the facts; if we performed better in the first half of the season, we would most likely be contending for a higher position in the league. How can anyone dispute that?


    Did we perform poorly against those teams you mentioned? Yes. That's not to forgive him for those performances. But you'll have to excuse me if I prefer to focus on the positive results we've had as opposed to the negative results, and that I have the audacity to disagree with you from time to time.

    Seeing as how I didn't make any assertions that BR is some sort of savior (here or otherwise), I'm assuming the main message that you have an issue with is my reference to the Everton FA Cup game and how if we didn't win that, people's view of last season would have been worse.

    I know that a major issue you have with BR is that he was brought in after Kenny was fired. King Kenny is no longer the manager. I, like you, would have been fine if he stayed on longer (Hey, we agree on something!). But it's been almost a year already. Get over it and move on to grinding a different ax.

    ReplyDelete
  54. we could sack him and keep as a spokesperson and a ballboy lol

    ReplyDelete
  55. Well, mindblowing or not....he played like an utter twat yesterday, him & his mates all played like utter twat's.....


    Should have won that game 4-0 at a stroll....i know it, you know it.....the player's know it, we all know it BUT here "we" are...trying somehow to deflect the blame YET AGAIN....onto our manager who IMO would be enjoying a top 4 finish this season had Suarez & Co NOT fcuked it up.....


    Funny how you have just picked up Suarez out of all those players i liosted as being responsible for our demise and start up defending him.....


    & yes his goal tally itself is decent but im sure if you could be bothered to break it down into games where he actually looked like he wanted to score & did against those games where he never looked like scoring in a month of sunday's AND gave the ball away consistently during the game, not linking up with others & NOT leading the line properly then im sure you could say that the GOOD would easily cancelled out by the BAD....and then some...


    So, yes i stand by that statement that he has let us down this season, but it would be wrong to just single him out when certain other players are just as if not more responsible for our demise....

    ReplyDelete
  56. That's fine and I agree with you. We need to be more consistent regardless.


    And we need BR to stop being so glee with praise. This whole "I can't fault them" business needs to stop. At some point, we need to continue these runs and not have the hiccups of Southampton and West Ham.


    If we are "outstanding" now, imagine how good we'd be if we were "really outstanding".

    ReplyDelete
  57. thats what originally started irking me about him ...his treatment of some to others....he has IMO treated certain players disgracefully while given others a free lunch ...thats why i detest the guy..its kinda the way a big time charlie would act...look at me i can do what i want ...kiss my arse and you can play regardless of whether you have earned it.....

    ReplyDelete
  58. i was never behind is appointment as i always thought it would be a disastar i tried to get behind him but he has shown me nothing worth backing

    ReplyDelete
  59. rogers always praises certain players have you ever heard him slag carra ,gerrad pepe or surez or agger allen off i havnt

    ReplyDelete
  60. that was the final straw for me a it all started with the this is liverpool documentary and his portrait and treatment of sterling,like you say big time charlie who as achieved f"ckall

    ReplyDelete
  61. yes but next time you go in they will spit in your food...pay the tip tight wad

    ReplyDelete
  62. borini and allen for starters lol

    ReplyDelete
  63. i can not read your post after the ist line said utter twat i posted that yesterday and mine got blocked,and no i picked suarez as he was the most obviouse one the others have been a lot better than 4 players i could put into the pot

    ReplyDelete
  64. i backed him at first...then grew off hm over his treatment of players...i started doubting him when he said he would have to be an idiot to loan carroll then did it ,,,,,,,that told me he didnt have the courage of his conviction

    ReplyDelete
  65. you cant back rogers then as he said we where outstanding ....you cant have it both ways

    ReplyDelete
  66. ah i see its not the mangers fault its the players...of coarse he buys them ...he picks the team...he picks the tactics...he motivates them...and if the team lose he is without blame...its so obvious why have i missed it

    ReplyDelete
  67. why should they step up when the manger says they are playing brilliant ...if my boss at work says im brilliant i ask for a rise and slack off

    ReplyDelete
  68. No, its simple, he (Rodger's) is damned if he does & damned if he doesn't.....


    People have such short memories i do worry about the level of nigh on convenient dementia amongst certain sections of the fanbase.....


    Cast your mind back to Roy's tenure & i recall being sickened & repulsed by the hate campaign waged against him, the forums were awash with all kinds of personal attacks and slanderous comments esp when he did actually come out and say things that poor BR is choosing to be more shall we say diplomatic about.....


    & what's more i like that about him & i think given the right backing in the summer he would no doubt look at strengthening our shall i say WEAK area's....


    It's undeniable that ceratin player's are letting him (Rodger's) & more importantly the entire Club with its fanbase down....


    Let's say for instance that he drop's all those players who have been underperforming....including Suarez Reina etc take's the hard line approach and plays the youth instead & we struggle to even maintain mid table....ask yourself how the fanbase would react to that!, they would be calling for his head on a plate....


    Damned if he does & damned if he doesn't, he won't get backed again in the summer either IMO if FSG can get rid of Kenny then there won't be much hope for a second term for BR.....


    Poisoned challice....is what it is.

    ReplyDelete
  69. we wont get top 4 next year ....

    ReplyDelete
  70. show me the positive results we have had this season one lucky win against spurs and a few hammerings of sides who are leeking goals apart from that f"ckall and i do not have a problem with kenny getting the sack thats life what i have a problem is with the way a legend like kenny was treated,and the way rodgers is treated as some kind of messiah,one rule for one one rule for all rodgers has to go by fsg,s own standards or did they get rid of kenny because they were scared that they could not control him and brung in there yes man,because if they hired him on his experience or potential were in more serious trouble than i thought ps i do not give a f"ck if you like me or not if i wanted to be liked i would follow the shepperd

    ReplyDelete
  71. that why i cant respect you jk

    ReplyDelete
  72. Totally understand you...
    I still think he could turn out to become a wonderfull manager, but you never Know. Right now, his press conferences and Interviews are absolutely suicide commandos,. Whatever - backing Rodgers or Not (im also Not sure any more) i would still give him one more year, its hard to turn a team arround in one season - if not impossible - and I don't think he deserves the sacking yet. Fact is, this season is over. Were without any European football next year., so there can't be any excuses after the next season. I'm gonna give him a last chance, we will see how this works out(if FSG don't sack him this summer). Surely Rodgers has to change at some parts of his managing (planB, interviews and overdoing, praising to heaven etc) but I don't see any reason in sacking him after just one season. Hopefully with new optimism and a lot of warrior instinct we can fight for a top 4 place next year.

    ReplyDelete
  73. You're right that was a joke, absolutely forgot this .. I was never a fan of fsg hiring Rodgers because they knew the actual team wasn't the right one for Rodgers and he will turn the team around ..

    ReplyDelete
  74. Well IMO it IS the player's fault (certain players...) & they fcuking well know it..... Kenny was their sacrifice last season and this season they are trying hard to get BR to walk the same plank....


    There is very little that BR could have done to change our season from being once again de railed by certain players who simply have been well below form on way too many occasions to make it a bloody one off.....!!!


    Bullshit to that type of mentality where we can CONVENIENTLY keep on excusing the same bloody players in the last few seasons for playing out shockers and somehow go through 3 manager's who all seem to have carried the can for them.....


    I don't give a flying turd if i am the only Liverpool supporter alive who is sick to death of watching this travesty continue, just go and watched that game again & see how many times "we" squandered our chances to get ahead......then see who was responsible.....then re wind our season & see how the same pattern of shite play has continued with the same perpetraitors....then re wind last season and see the same players doing the same thing under Kenny & then go back further to Roy....and see some of the same pattern of play & same problems.....


    FACT is ALL those players who have been letting us down would no doubt be VERY happy IF Rafa came back.....


    Im sure they would improve miraculously you could say, which would be great for the enhancement of the Rafa cult, which JK looks to have converted to after being their apparent "tormentor in chief"....


    I wonder how much he is being paid...

    ReplyDelete
  75. i really hope we can push for top four next year and if thats under rodgers i will bite the bullet but for me he gets 6to10 games next seaon max to show real signs of improvement or he has to go

    ReplyDelete
  76. At times Suarez decision making, finishing and selfishness can be so frustrating ...

    ReplyDelete
  77. Harsh but fair... I'm confident FSG think like you in this situation, and I'm absolutely sure they will fire him if our first 10 games next season are as bad as this one.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Good article Jaimie. I think ur spot on when you tie these absurd post game comments from Rodgers with the complacency we've seen at points in this season. I'm surpised Suarez still puts in a shift because his boss is basically saying he run around like a headless chicken for 90mins and still be praised in some way.
    People will say "but he criticized Enrique during the season and now look at him." Yes he did, but its almost a double standard. How long did it take for him to bench Skrtel, a player that was clearly underperforming on the pitch? And he never called him out so what message does that send to Enrique, downing et al? The boss only critisized players he doesn't consider "big" at the club.
    If benitez did anything right it was making sure you earned your starting place. You can critisize his rotation policy but those who worked hardest started (unless he was resting players). Our big players need to continually pushed in order to get better which includes criticism as well as praise where its merited. Overpraising will only create complacentcy and an environment that might do more damage than intended.

    ReplyDelete
  79. 1. You are making all kinds of leaps off of my post. I never said BR is the messiah (or even insinuated that in any way, shape or form).

    2. I agree with you on Kenny. Should have been treated better. That's FSG's own fault for putting itself in the position and mishandling it essentially from the very beginning.


    Now onto your challenge of this idea that we have been lucky and have no positive results:

    Since the start of 2013, we are 6-3-3 in the league.

    By comparison, for the first 12 league games starting January 2012, we were 2-2-8 in the league and ended up finishing 5-3-12 in the league.

    Granted in 2012, we won the Carling Cup and we made the FA Cup final. Those efforts should be applauded and not ignored.

    What also should not be ignored... Included in last year's 2012 league results: we lost to Bolton (A) Sunderland (A), QPR, (A), Wigan (H), Blackburn (A), Fulham (H). And we drew Aston Villa (H).

    By comparison, in 2013, our worst league results are Southampton (A) loss, West Brom (H) loss, and Aston VIlla (H) loss. Our other league loss of 2013: Manchester united (A).



    Of course, taking the FA Cup into account, that's disappointing, as well as the other domestic cup.


    In terms of Europa, we had a poor game against Zenit the first leg, and a great game the second leg. Unfortunately, we fell short. It's disappointing.


    The bottom line is that when looking at the league results, we have been better since Jan. 1. Are we perfect? No, not by any stretch.


    But this idea that we have nothing positive to show recently is taking a very stretched glass half empty approach.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Yes, but i could also argue that he (Rafa) was way too ruthless and lacked man management skills with regard to unsettling players at the Club.....


    So for me that particular "positive quality" could be seen as a deficiency in his personality, in fact it was & probably still is due to that deficiency, just in the same way that you wax lyrical about BR having a "gigantic" inferiority complex i would say the same about Rafa, hence why i think certain players like Alonso were unsettled, definitely a flaw in Rafa IMO who i believed was very fortuitous in winning the CL with us a la Di Mateo style at Chelsea....


    & we were most definitely set to lose the FA Cup final under Rafa (against West Ham no less...) had it not been for Gerrard.......(who i believe Rafa tried to unsettle also...) we/he would have lost.....


    That was & is still my biggest gripe with Rafa i.e. his inferiority complex which resulted in pissing certain players off at the Club, in order to beef up his own sense of inferiority.....


    Re your conversion to the Rafa cult, i guess only you will know where you stand on that.....but for sure your comments are a green light to all those still secretly harbouring the wish to see Rafa return to express their Rafa luv.....


    Plant the seed.....& let it grow....i think you know exactly what you are doing JK by writing articles like this.....

    ReplyDelete
  81. Rafa was the same, he had his favourites too, Lucas was his little blue eyed boy.....don't you remember that...?


    Very short term memory, dementia setting in methinks....

    ReplyDelete
  82. thats the only way to go because sides will not slip up like the have this year i honestly believe if kenny had been given one more season we would be in a top 4 place now

    ReplyDelete
  83. the reason the result dropped last season is we were out of runnunig for the champions league ,we had already quailified for the europa league through carling cup,hence nothing to play for so concentrate on the fa cup

    ReplyDelete
  84. Ironic, considering one of the main points of Jaimie's post were about how our players shouldn't be commended for giving their all out effort.


    And yet, you justify the poor league form last year by saying that we had nothing to play for.


    I've never excused Rodgers for the lack of success in the cups this season. Or for the Europa ouster.


    But you've managed to attempt to excuse an entire second half of league play from last season.


    I think we're done here. Good Day.

    ReplyDelete
  85. i have not excused last season i,ve stated they were circumstances all of which rodgers has not had to combat

    ReplyDelete
  86. I could get into this in quite a bit of detail and, honestly, I'm not trying to be dismissive or condescending but it's quite obvious that we have very different perceptions about how things work at a top flight football club. Always in my mind, every question you ask has an answer that is based on a body of information that we as fans just don't have access to. The working of many hundreds of people who work for the club is just too complicated, in my view, to be summed up in a few lines. I could never subscribe to the view that decisions that you talk about are made on anything other than many many carefully weighted facts. Maybe the analogy doesn't apply, but from my experience in how things operate in any large corporation dealing with millions of pounds there is just no way these events play out as simply as the way you describe them. It would just be insane, and I don't think FSG got to where they are in life by letting cowboys run their prized assets. Most every conclusion you come to leaves me asking so many more questions, assuming that there is always more to the situation than it appears. And considering where we get our information from: newspaper rumours and press conferences, I feel pretty comfortable in that view. We just don't know what happens behind the scenes and any assumption either way is entirely just that: an assumption. You could be completely right in certain instances, and maybe Rodgers did just go with gut instinct, ignore the doctors and do something bizarrely stupid in playing Allen against Southampton, but it's a theory at best, at worst it's nothing but vague speculation. How could you possibly know?


    And maybe that's just the difference here: I think it's really quite pointless making speculation about what really happens when we could never know the whole story, where as you're probably just having a conversation about the football club you love. I don't like to come to conclusions about people I simply don't know and that, of course, is my personal preference.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Just in regards the whole overpraise of players, consider this:

    http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2012/11/24/liverpool-fc-appoint-top-rated-sports-psychiatrist-dr-steve-peters-100252-32297665/

    So Rodgers oversaw the hiring of a specialised sports psychiatrist with the very purpose of preparing players for the mental aspect of the game. This is a guy on a full time role, and consider that Liverpool already have similarly qualified people in the academy looking after the mental well-being of the younger guys. So one man is dedicated to the mental well being of the first team and their support staff. Full time.

    Now of course I don't suggest that Rodgers is perfect, that he makes no mistakes, but what I do object to is the suggestion that he makes this kinds of remarks, that he indulges in player praise simply as off-the-cuff remarks without properly thinking about the implications. That just makes no sense to me. Why would he hire a sports psychiatrist and then them proceed to make random remarks to the press based on his own internal feelings about things? Why would he have a full time staff member analyse the mental state of players, but not then take a few minutes to consider how his own statements to the press might impact or not impact that same issue? It makes no sense. He'd have to be a complete idiot to have this qualified professional next to him, know that he goes into press conference consistently over-praising his players, and yet never ask the guy if he thinks it has a negative impact. Or if he does, then he just ignores him and says what he wants anyway. He'd have to be a prize idiot.


    So sure, we can agree that you don't like the way Rodgers praises players after a game, particularly after a loss. We can say that you disagree that it's a good idea, that it might affect his mental state. But if you start to suggest that Rodgers behaves in this way without first considering the impact it might have ... then I think you're way off the mark. I think he gives it plenty of thought and I think it's a purposely and deliberate strategy. I think he even choose the right words to use, which is why we hear him always talking about how "the effort from the players today was outstanding". Do you honestly think he says this same thing over and over again while remaining ignorant to the impact it might have? When we, ordinary fans, can see that it might be important, this man who is in charge of a football club, a highly paid professional with a TEAM of staff including a dedicated sports psychiatrist, has just glossed it over and mistakenly thought it not important? Does that sound right to you? I guess it doesn't, which is why you're writing about it with such a degree of concern, but I honestly think the concern is misplaced. Rodgers knows exactly what he's doing, he's doing it on purpose and he's well aware of the impact it has.

    ReplyDelete