With only 10 league games to go until the closure of the current campaign, Liverpool Football Club are still very much in the process of turning this season into successfully one. Our performances on the pitch are starting to equal those of last season resembling such performances of the 1980s.
However, our inability to neither secure a Champions League spot nor deliver silverware in the form of the FA Cup would mean our improved form on the field would mean nothing. The 2014/2015 season would be deemed an unsuccessful and disappointing one, not only for just finishing outside the top four but also for falling at the first hurdle in both European competitions we took part in.
Therefore, the next 8 weeks or so will make or break The Rodgers' Reign. Delivering silverware & securing Champions League qualification would be enough to keep FSGs faith in Rodgers. Whereas, finishing outside of the lucrative European spots and finishing another season without picking up any honors would really test our owners’ patience. Not only our progression as a football club would be halted but also the financial side of the club would suffer greatly.
Entering the Champions League next season must be an absolute minimal requirement for Rodgers due to the extensive investments FSG have put into the club in order for Liverpool to be able to compete with the best teams, not only in the Premier League, but also across the continent.
Since Brendan took control of Liverpool we have signed 25 players for £212,380,00m with no trophies won. Therefore, no fan can complain that the owners aren't supporting us and are doing their bit towards the cause.
At present on the football field Rodgers seems to be getting it right again by taking 20 points from a possible 24. Beating Manchester City at Anfield last weekend showed how far we have come since that dreadful result and performance at Crystal Palace before Christmas.
Furthermore, it was encouraging hearing Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher's incredible statistic in that the three seasons Rodgers has been at the helm, we only have lost four League games since Christmas.
Despite this encouraging statistic, I am refrained from getting over excited. Without wanting to sound too negative, only a couple of bad results would dampen our chances of a top 4 finish. Moreover, anymore injuries or bad refereeing would really throw a spanner in the works for us.
I openly admit that after our abysmal Champions League campaign I wasn't Rodgers biggest fan. I can be quoted in a previous article of mine saying: "why should Brendan Rogers deserve more time than Kenny Dalglish got to put things right? Has he earned it? He hasn't won anything. If he was replaced now by "the right replacement" how much harm would this inflict on our current situation?"
However, looking back, I would say the reason for my negativity towards Rodgers was mainly due to my pain and sadness of waiting many years' for Liverpool's return to Europe's elite competition. To perform the way we did, after all the hard work we put into getting there was dissatisfying to say the least. Only to notch up 1 win in 6 isn't the form of a Liverpool side I'm used to.
My current view of the situation is not the one I expressed after the Basel game. Rodgers, has obviously worked hard, put a new system in place and has turned it around. Now we don't resemble the Liverpool team he put out a few months back.
The team back then had just lost one of Liverpool's greatest ever players in Luis Suarez and his strike partner Daniel Sturridge was injured before the Champions League had even started. In addition, adding a string of new recruits which have needed time to be molded into the system reinforces the fact that Rodgers' new team weren't the best prepared entering into the competition.
Nevertheless, Rodgers, a young inexperienced manager in European Competitions will view this as a learning curve for himself going into next season's "fingers crossed" Champions League group stages. I suppose as a Liverpool fan, them fixtures home and away in Europe are what we thrive on and with Brendan's European win percentage at 35% (7/20) we can only get better as a whole.
It would be unthinkable finishing outside the top 4. None more so than for Brendan himself. Managers get the sack not players. At the end of the day it's his and his coaching staff's responsibility and sole objective to make Liverpool Football Club a success. If they don't come up with the goods and fail, then in my view they should be moved on. Three years in football is more than enough to show and prove your abilities as a manager.
On the flip side, Liverpool fans as a whole wouldn't favor a change of management at this stage. Brendan Rodgers is not just the Manager but also he has instilled his own philosophy, system and way of thinking right from the youth ranks up until the first team.
Every manager change brings in new personnel, players and yet another redevelopment process altogether. We don't want that, we want Brendan Rodgers to bring us success. However, if we finish this season trophy less and with a 1/3 Champions League qualification record the fans and owners patience will be tested. Patience, a thing which football fans of a top club like Liverpool don't have much of when it comes to seeing their club underachieve.
Nevertheless, this Liverpool team is getting stronger and now without any European distractions I'm confident that a top 4 and even maybe a top 3 finish is well within our reach.
@anfieldeurope
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