JUST to make it clear, this article is in reply to some of the comments I got from irate fans who read my last article “Uncertainty Brings Its Own Excitement“. I would like to point out at the start that the previous article in question was penned before the Fulham game however the comments seem to have been made largely on the back of the Stoke performance and result.
The game was, of course, a big disappointment although, it’s worth remembering we’ve never won there.
Anyway, the point is, giving in to knee jerk reactions is pointless and counter-productive. We are in the first year of a process set to take at least three more before we’re back to something like where we were in 2005/6/7/8. Yes it hurts to get beaten, especially by Stoke, and inconsistency is upsetting because it raises hope only to dash it but I’ve been a fan for almost 30 years and, believe it or not, things have been worse, many times in my opinion.
We have a good young side with great potential, we have a potentially exciting, dynamic young manager admittedly with much to learn, but seemingly with the brief and desire to set about building a dynasty for the future. We aren’t in masses of debt like our friends in Manchester and we’re looking like a team trying to progress in the future rather than a side still desperate to cling on to the status quo.
Fans going off at the deep end at the owners are understandably frustrated by the summer’s apparent cock-up, amongst other relatively minor things, but realistically FSG have a right to be sensible after the colossal waste of funds during the Comolli/Dalglish era. It was FSG’s mistake to hire Comolli and in a sense now, Brendan Rodgers and us as fans are suffering for it now, but the owners did try to spend big to get back to the top four in one season and look what happened.
When it comes to transfers a big price often doesn’t guarantee quality or a tangible return, and LFC fans more than any other should know that by now. The point is you can get a bargain like Michu for £2m just as easily as you can get a donkey like Carroll for £35m; the secret is in the scouting.
Moving forward we are looking at the January transfer window. This will be the first window that Rodgers and LFC have had their new scouting team working on. The brief, undoubtedly, will have been to identify young players with the necessary attributes to fit into the style of play that Rodgers is looking to nurture at Liverpool and the kind of attitude and character that he’s looking for in a player.
The key to this window will not be the amount of money spent on fees and wages, but the ability of the scouting team to have identified players, possibly under the radar, who can come in and almost instantly improve the dynamic of the team. We’re unlikely to be signing big name players and what the club does will be with a view to strengthening progressively in the summer like Spurs have over the last four or five seasons, only we’ve only had one window to do it in so far and still need to clear out some dead wood that’s tying up the wage bill.
This fact is symptomatic of where Liverpool is as a football club. We have dropped out of the “Big Four” and we did that a long time before most of us really knew Brendan Rodgers existed. FSG, love them or loathe them, rescued the Club from administration and splashed a fortune to try and get us back up the league, including backing one of the club’s greatest legends and one of my all-time heroes Kenny Dalgish, when they clearly had reservations about doing so; that it didn’t work out isn’t their fault. I’m no apologist for foreign ownership by people who aren’t well versed in either the sport or the culture of the club, nor am I a fan of the modern trend of football clubs being run like pure businesses, but that’s where the game is and I would argue that being in our position puts us ahead of other clubs who will have to follow suit eventually – and they all will, even the biggest.
The jury is obviously still out on FSG and they will be judged by their actions in the future and the things they do for the club, but they seem a damn site better than those other cowboys.
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Barcelona and Spain have been mentioned far too much in connection with Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool and Swansea so far. It was understandable as a throw away reference to style, but it’s a very deceptive comparison too. Barcelona is the biggest club in the world and has always been up there in what is, to all intents and purposes, a two-team league. They’ve never slipped to seventh or eighth in the league and repeated that finish three years in a row. They produce the best players and can afford to buy the ones they can’t create.
Liverpool FC have been a colossus of football but the truth is that, aside from Istanbul, we haven’t won an elite trophy in over twenty years. We’ve challenged periodically over that timespan but in the last four years we’ve not only slipped out of the elite bracket, but also gone on to stagnate and consolidate a lower top half berth not least through the inability to produce our own youngsters or attract players with a winning mentality.
Rodgers has set about changing that by blooding the youngsters and giving them their head. Granted he may be guilty of overusing them at times, however they are the players upon which any foundations for a bright future at Anfield will rely and depend. Rodgers has taken stick for some of the players he’s signed however he has at least tried to bring in players with a winning mentality.
The likes of Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini haven’t set the world alight in Red yet but they’re past exploits at other clubs would suggest that there should be a lot more to come from them, having already achieved so much at such a young age. Again, we’ll have to reserve judgement on Rodgers, six months isn’t long enough to get a full picture of where he’s guiding the club, particularly given the transition he’s attempting to make. It’s right to ask questions of the process, however it’s vitally important not to panic and risk strangling the project in its infancy; at least wait until the end of the season to make your minds up.
The team I would mention if attempting to make a comparison is Borussia Dortmund. A one-time giant of German Football who went from Champions League victory to administration and near relegation in the space of ten years. The Directors at the club set about re-organising and making the club into a successful, productive outfit by concentrating on youth, hiring a dynamic young, relatively untested head coach from little known Mainz and having faith in him to revive the club’s fortunes. That man was Juergen Klopp and the rest is history: taking over at the end of a season which had seen Dortmund finish 13th, Klopp managed them to a sixth place finish, followed by a fifth place finish, followed by successive Bundesliga titles.
Dortmund follow a strict regime in terms of wages, transfers and finance in general, in order to avoid the almost catastrophic position they found themselves in ever repeating itself; a wise move. No player earns more than £60,000 a week, they have often sold prized assets such as Shinji Kagawa and reinvested the money wisely, the emphasis is on the group dynamic and work ethic, they play a short passing, high tempo, hard pressing game and have a talented, media savvy manager. There are comparisons to LFC there, albeit we’re at an early stage in the process, but what Dortmund have shown and is that this model of progressive football, placing emphasis on youth, can win out in one of Europe’s most competitive league if given the time and the backing to flourish.
I am not gloomy about the future of LFC like a lot of you ranters are. I have my reasons for seeing the positives, not least because I’m a fan, and I don’t believe that I’m glossing over anything or being mindlessly positive, neither however am I being melodramatically negative. I suppose my point is; get a grip of yourselves!
It’s not all brilliant but these are potentially exciting times, it’s not all terrible but there are some times where you wish the ground would swallow you whole. That’s the reality of being a Liverpool fan; has been during most of my lifetime. Reality can be hard place to reach for some, but that’s where I’m standing, care to join me?
You can catch Neil on Twitter @Neil1980 and on his blog http://itsallinthegameblog.wordpress.com/
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Excellent article Neil. It is refreshing to read an optimistic evaluation of where Liverpool are at as a club right now. I for one have faith in Brendan and his attitude impresses me most of all. It will take a few years for his ideas to be implemented fully, but he seems to have the character to build a quality team.
Aye, spot on
Talking bull again Neil LOL
The writer invites us to join him . I have no wish to visit his asylum .
Rubbish fictional piece of trash
I don’t rate FSG because they fed KD and LS to the media scum and then went on to sack KD. They are not fit owners they make a mockery of YNWA. BR is Their man a coach who not only continually plays Downing but plays him at LB. please forgive us for having doubts about FSG and BR !!!!!!
I understand the doubts and on that score there’s nothing to forgive mate. Just don’t write them off yet. Cheers for the comment.
Neil, just like a lot of fans, we are a realistic lot. We do not expect a top 4 challenge now or even next season. But to have our worse start since 1954 (The last man who did that got sacked) and sitting at 10th after 20 games? BR says judge him after 10 games.
A lot had been said how thin our squad is and how BR is forced to use youngsters. Well besides FSG who helped created this hole? Granted some of our older players are on high wages but any coach, let alone one considered fit to manage our great club knows you would need a blend of experience and young players. Players like Kuyt and Maxi although on high wages, aren’t they worth every penny, especially Kuyt who had and still was a great servant of the club till the day he left?
In truth we are talking about a man who is much in love with his own voice and who is better at PR than actually managing a football club. That was how he conned FSG to appoint him.
Players like Borini, Allen or even Sahin, really what had they achieve so far? Why are they at our club? Allen and Borini are supposedly have Prem experince and yet struggled. I did npot see Michu have this problem.
Our team in general are now playing worse football. Just look at Stevie, Pepe and yet we BR is buying Sturridge for 12 mill. BR can’t even get the best out of existing great players, what makes you think he can do so with Daniel?
If a coach like Pep for example came in and struggled for a while we could understand because we know what he truly represents and what he brings to a team. Nothing in BR suggest we are heading in the right direction.
As for FSG they only thing they did right was to sack KD and DC, as these 2 had set us back for years in a little more than a season alone. Much had been said about them wiping out our debt which is great of course. Trouble is they think that is about enough. A lot of people had commented about Manure’s debt, but they are challenging for the title every year while us a debt free club is mired in mid table medicority and occasionally flirting with relegation. Great to be where we are huh?
We are know how KD blew 100 mill of FSG money (35 mill for a donkey anyone?) but the reality is a prem club must invest at least 20 mill just to stand still with some exeptions like the Swans?
If that is the case, what is BR doing here instead of Rafa? (He was available earlier)
WELL SAID Chan , You should have written the article instead of the delusional writer
This is the same Downining who improves with every game. Unlike Stevie G who seems to be getting worse and Sterling who started with a hiss and a roar but who is now no more than an average player and the biggest disappointment for me so far this season. At the moment I would rather see downing on the pitch than Sterling
Great analysis. Of course there is a loud minority of dissent-it’s the Internet! Any proper Liverpool supporter that’s been around for a while can look at the situation with the lens of history and see that we are on an upswing. Most great managers in history are known for taking a struggling side and turning them into a winning force, this is Bill Shankly’s story, what if we had only given him 6 months? Liverpool have been worse, we’ve been in the 2nd division. A spot of patience is required now but I think we will see sustained success if we are patient
Here, here!
Talking bull Neil
Luke you’re a * why don’t ypou and your kind EFF off to OT or Stamford bridge. We need SUPPORTERS to make our club great again, not a bunch of moaning * who think they know a thing or two about managing an top flight club
You ‘Baz’ should * off to old trafford . We need SUPPORTERS to make our club great again , not of bunch of idiotic morons who are happy for us to be mid table with a clown of a manager
LOSER
And you would put Rodgers in that company? If so, why? What have you seen in his resume or during this season that convinces you that Rodgers is the answer?
an excellant article and i agree with most points but i wander about rodgers,he to my mind makes the wrong changes during games,case in point shelvey against stoke was struggling and he finished the game and why play cole he gives us nothing.Downing has had one good game in the premier league yet Rodgers plays him,so i wander is he up to job,
No he is not up to the job
There are 5 or 6 regulars on here who, without any reason behind it , put their blind faith in a unproven no mark , who has already made a mess of things after just 6 months .
I think its called a shared delusion
BR is coming to LFC to learn hiow to be a Prem Manager. Since when LFC is traning ground for trainee managers?
Fantastic Article!!! As for the comment about Downing…while i agree it was probably his name that was not just in one of BR’s envelopes but his name was probably in all 3….at the moment the squad is what BR has to work with…if Downing can do a job…albeit limited, in a position that means we can rotate our tiny squad then that works for me…and it should work for all true fans!
Its easy to be a Terrace manager and negate all that BR tries and does. Yes he WILL make mistakes….so did and still does SAF….hindsight is a wonderful thing, if only we all had crystal balls.
This season is likely to be a right off…we should accept this….I for one would take 10th place if it means the club is stronger each season going forward. Patience can be a painful thing, especially when the likes of MUFC are destroying every team in their path…but keep the faith people, this article seeps positivity, and if we were all this positive when we stepped inside of Anfield then we might even surprise ourselves or how positivity breeds! 😀
Cheers mate, much appreciated. I reckon we could still get a top six finish this year tho and build from there.
woooooo top 6 …. for Liverpool FC ? wow wouldnt dat be great . The article is embarrassing as are comments like dat
What do you expect anto? The side we have now is not top 4 material and it never was to begin with. Your an embarrassing fan to LFC with comments like that, totally clueless.
Reality will bite you tomorrow when we draw or lose at home to sunderland.
Then don’t bother going to the game (that’s if you actually do go) Give your ticket to someone who actually supports the club through good times and bad. You Glory hunters make me sick….. Through the wind and rain people, through the wind and rain
Even with a clueless manager , with the players we have its a easy 3 points
excellent article m8, good points all around.However the sad state of affair’s is that as it stands we are closer to the bottom the table than the top. 18points above QPR and 27 points off the SCUM. Now i think there has been positive’s in particle Rodgers brand of football(which i’m guessing has kept him in a job). But fair play the man should be given some backing and be aloud to bring a few young players. i think Sturrige will be dynamite, still hoping we can pull Walcott in. these are types of players we need around suarez. we need players raw pace YNWA
Agreed mate, I’m looking forward to bringing Sturridge in too and Walcott if possible but that one looks unlikely. Cheers for the comment.
Excellent article lad. I’m standing all the way with you.
ITS A STUPID IDIOTIC ARTICLE – GET A GRIP NEAL
Fitz, i would not say its stupid, just one sided in support of BR and written by a BR Fan first and a LFC fan second.
It basically says that as manager BR is not resonsible with the mess we are in just because he did not fill the squad with ALL his players.
It’s like saying if any one of us works as a manager in an ordinary company and if the results sucks, we should not be sacked as we did not fill the whole team with our dream workers. And oh if the new workers we brought in does not work, its not our fault too.
Total nonsense just like your previous article . U are living in cloud cuckoo land .
Question is – how many of the positive comments above did you write yourself Neil ? I know you did it b4 – praising ur own articles . Funny how nobody said your last one was good
Just to make it clear, I’ve never praised my own articles, nor would I, I have better things to do unlike you. If you don’t like my articles feel free to skip them and read somebody else’s.
So teel us luke what will you do once you replace BR?
start a party !
Talking bull again Luke
trolling as usual Matt
Same to you Stevie g same old bull crap from you.
Less of the accusations Luke please. No writer on this site does what you are suggesting. Perhaps you know your own tricks best? Grow up.
Excellent article lad. The club is heading in the right direction. We as supporters need to be a little patient and let Rodgers have time to turnaround are fortunes. The future is bright. I’m deffo standing with you on this one.
Thanks for ur comments mate, much appreciated.
Reality ? You wouldn’t know reality if it slapped you in the face . You are a totally biased fan that ignores all evidence and facts , you just focus on wishful thinking
You infer that just because Dortmund had success wuth Klopp we will have success with Rodgers – total fantasy and daydreaming . Bet you Klopp didnt waste 15m on a welsh wimp like Allen , Bet you Klopp didnt blow 30m plus on total crap .
Just because One club had success doesn’t mean others will . I can name 100 clubs who were patient with their manager and regretted it , Steve Kean the latest .
Get your head out of your ass , and try to see things as they are , not the way you want them to be . Articles on here are supposed to be intelligent and infomative , not biased gobbledegook
Just saying that everybody has to start somewhere, all managers make mistakes and just cos we’ve lost a few games doesn’t mean we’re on the road to rack and ruin. It’s called perspective!
there is perspective , and then there is reality . Reality = Rodgers bought rubbish , he has no history of success or of working with good players , he has ruined our season , and weakens our squad with every passing transfer window , and has turned us into mid table crap
Spot on . Rodgers out – for all our sakes
Lost a FEW games ??? Look at the league table you fool .
Highest place team we have beaten is 12th
Neil, we do not have the luxury of letiing inexperience nobodies to make mistakes. We do not have much time and money. That was why we needed Rafa to come back, instead we have this clown. Did we not dug our own hole?
Where did the article say “this is how it is”? The only thing the writer did is to show the possible current position of the swindle during transition. Jesus… Try to understand what you read…
More banal nonsense , all of it fiction , its like reading a 7 year olds hopes and wishes . Really lad , grow up
your response is like a spoilt school kid who didnt get picked to play for the football team.
To say someones view and opinions is nonsense is ridiculous….in addition to the fact you have not backed your view up with anything tangible….
At least we are positive….it wont guarentee us things or win us anything….but without it we would all be chelsea fans booing our manager and team every game!
genius response….and who is this miracle worker manager who is gona a) want to take over b) we can afford and c) hasnt been found and magically fixed things in the past 20 years?
reality?…stop blaming and look at the bigger, longer term picture!!
I agree . Rodgers MUST GO quickly .
Neither hopes nor wishes… It is called possibility and perspective… Try the dictionary and respect the writers!
respect insanity ? no thanks
seriously the writers should try to be well informed and produce balanced opinions . This is so one sided and biased beyond all reasoning – its difficult not to ridicule it
Same as last article NONSENSE _ Liverpool will never be good until a proper manager is put in place and the dross like Allen shipped out
Agreed . Any ‘fan’ who thinks Rodgers is the answer should wake up and live in the real world
This is NOT reality . It is bullsh*t .
BR OUT
What a moron you are . You said ( in your typical biased manner ) that Rodgers has at least tried to get players in with a winning mentality . WHAT are you blabbering about ? How has Allen or Borini or Assaidi got a winning mentality ? they hav won nothing , absolutely nothing .
Comparing dortmund to liverpool is just pathetic – there is only one class team in Germany to beat
Your making it up as you go along in the same manner as the last load of cobblers you wrote .
This websites standards are slipping massively !
He is soooo biased and lacking in football knowledge there really is no point arguing the points
Because you cannot argue a reasoned point without resorting to insults? Get a grip. To say someone’s viewpoint is laughable on your behalf. It is a reasoned article, pointing out the reality of the situation
Allen ? Winning Mentality ??? LOL
Well said James. Allen and Borini complements BR rather well, limited experience, no tophy.
I wondrr why the same logic was not apply to RH. He is the current Enland manager, can’t be that bad right?
Borini is a full Italian International at 21, you don’t get there without a winning mentality. Sahin has won a Bundesliga title and Allen has won a play-off final and promotion.
HAHAHA won a play off final ? LOL LOL LOL . U21 international ? how does dat make u have winning mentality ? LOL
You dont have clue mate ! LOL
the same way mancini wasnt the answer for city?
world class managers & players dont want to come to us now as we cant offer CL….city had to buy average players to help them climb the league…then the world class players become interested!
If you think we would ever had hopes of players like mata, hazard, RVP where we are at now then im afraid you guys are the ones who arnt living in reality , not the author!
We are a mid table squad….with a young unproven manager….hmmmm crazy…cause i cant think of any other young unproven managers who have gone onto good things?…SAF, Pep Guadiola, Mourinho @ porto…..
Impatience wont help….deal with the short term pain for the long term gain!
Impatience is not the issue , We would be patient if we have a decent manager . Rodgers has proved himself incapable .
time is of the essense, We are already a long long way behind the top 4 , 2 or 3 more years with this bum, Suarez and any other top players will go , no decent players will come, our exiting youth will leave , then we will be so far behind we may never get back
So its important to start again NOW when we have a lot going for us , rather than 2 or 3 years when things will be worse
Reality is that no decent manager will come because of what we offer and same with players. It’s not because of our manager players won’t come it’s because we are mid table with no CL and have been for three years. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Of course top managers will come . It is Liverpool FC FFS
yes i agree time is important
i dread to think the state we will b in if Rodgers gets more time
Ohh, than what is Suarez doing here?
you mean when we bought suarez as a decent player and he has now blossomed into a world beater…..?!
we certainly didnt buy him with the rest of the world knowing what he is capable of….otherwise why was there no competition for him?!
Same biased meanderings as last time . Your nonsense is so silly , so narrow minded and one sided it actually makes me LOL every time
Cant wait for the next ” we love rodgers ” pile of bull
So all you football manager managers…who is this miracle worker manager who is gona a) want to take over b) we can afford and c) hasnt been found and magically fixed things in the past 20 years?
reality?…stop blaming and look at the bigger, longer term picture!!
Another dumb unintelligent article … by the king of the dumb unintelligent articles
I do get a laugh out of them though , dont you ?
Fantastic article Neil, especially how you put things into perspective and also compared to Durtmond. While I still remain positive in the direction of the club but I also do question FSG, they stated in public they are still learning the club and game and that was made clear in the summer transfer window and for Rodgers, I like how he remains calm and positive but I do believe he likes the media a lot and tries make himself look big and good of running a massive club. It terms of his signings they have been poor but they are still young and with Sahin who came from the Dortmund ‘rise’ to me should be making more of an effort to get a starting berth, he wasn’t even on the bench against QPR unless there was something wrong with him, that’s why I understand some fans are complaining but the point they make are often the same crap week in week out, offer no advice and are very juvenile.
Rodgers did say this year was about reducing the wage bill and cleaning out deadwood. I’m very excited about Sturridge he did score 11 goals under AVB and I’m hoping Walcott will be added but I can’t see that happening given the state we are in.
Our position on the ladder isn’t that bad, if we win tomorrow we are 3 points off Arsenal in 5th and 8 points of Spurs. Our style of football is improving and there been many games we should’ve won. It’s only halfway though the season and its too early to judge Rodgers, I believe if we stick with him and gets the players he wants that suit his style then there is a lot to look forward too.
Once again very good article and I hope there is more to come.
We do offer advice ( usually sack the idiot manager ), you just repeat the same moronic crap on every article . You have never offered anything intelligent , you just say what a good manager Rodgers is , which just shows your stupidity
I never said he was a good manager i clearly stated what i dont like about him and his poor signings, but im giving him my support. You only repeat urself by saying sack the manager offering no other suggestions come up with something new. Reality is mate we are mid table have been for sometime it will be very hard to get good players and managers when we don’t CL and money to spend.
Step 1 is get new manager , it has to be 1st step . step 2, 3 , 4 or whatever else are irrelevant til step 1 is done
No point in looking further than we need to . Anyway as neither you or I are managing director of LFC – more suggestions are totally pointless
As fans we can exert some pressure to get manager removed . Anything else fans have no say
hahaaa….calling the writer stupid then backing that up with “We do offer advice ( usually sack the idiot manager )” GENIUS….you must be an oxford or cambridge graduate!
errr … that was tongue in cheek scouse humour you dumbass
FFS some people are just idiots
Wow…your funny StevieG…. almost hilarious…..