practically the same article is in tonights echo.
at first i thought the interview was just about playing down expectations but when i read the whole thing it`s actually quite morose and negative, he talks about how instilling a philosophy in the club is as important as winning things but doubts wether he will be incharge to see his work come to fruition.
thats not what you usually get out of a manager who hasnt even taken charge of a game yet.
i think the size of the task has dawned on him, he mentions the power and the wealth of the other clubs we are competing against and as he says himself it`s not just 1 or 2 but a whole host of them.
the yanks arent backing him in the transfer market so he`s having to buy potential, unless you hit the jackpot like when we signed kevin keegan potential takes time to develop and time is the one thing that hasnt been given to liverpool managers over the past 3 or 4 years.
benitez got us to 2 CL finals and a second place finish but the following season when we finish 6th he`s shown the door, hodgson barely see`s christmas and in kenny`s first full season he reaches the 2 domestic cup finals but gets sacked because he doesnt qualify for the CL.
i think rodgers knows that his plan is a long term plan, it`s about waiting for 21 year old players to turn 25, it`s about players perfecting this high intensity pressing game over 3 or 4 years not 3 or 4 months. i think he knows as well that even when everything has been perfected and players come into their prime that still may not be enough to beat teams who at the first sign of a dip in form hand out blank cheques to their managers to go and by some of the best players on the planet.
it`s a f**king big ask to expect a manager to bridge the gap between us and the top clubs whilst spending less than those clubs, it`s not like the clubs above us have mugs as managers either.
the biggest ask though will be expecting liverpool fans to lower their expectations for a few years, expectations are a hard habit to break after 40 odd years.
everyone may all say we`ll give this fella time but we all know once the season starts and the frustration of watching liverpool lose or falling off the pace kicks in our fans will be up in arms again.
at swansea rodgers was praised for his style of footy, he lost games and got praised, that wont happen here, roy evans found that out.
the yanks arent even giving this fella a fighting chance to succeed, at the moment we still have enough quality players at the club to attract other quality players, give rodgers a few bob so he can go and sign a couple more players of suarez`s stature, a couple more players and we would be there of thereabouts.
this 4 year plan wont work because our big names wont hang around that long and the odds of turning £8m and £9m potential into title winners are very long indeed.
i think rodgers knows it himself.
He showed feck all promise for 12 months, scored a coupla goals at the end and now he's the new messiah? After his amateur dramatics up at St James' Park when he did an Olympic dive from the half way line (double pike with triple somersault) to land in the box which summed up his complete lack of ability, what makes you feel the lad deserves another chance? Some might agree and think he still fits the bill, mainly the clubs now being associated with his public auction in the county market in Leominster. The fact that we'll probably recover no more than half what we paid shows you the size of the mistake we made.
