As the new season draws upon us, Brendan Rodgers' every move will be closely monitored by the footballing world, and rightly so......
Fenway Sports Group's refusal to replace the Northern Irishman with a top European manager last month was negligence in the first degree and is certainly on a par with their incompetence when they were faced with finding a suitable replacement for Luis Suárez. In football, you must replace quality with quality otherwise standards will drop. Mediocrity is not something I'm going to accept as my club declines.
I have written extensively about Brendan Rodgers' reign at Liverpool. However, the question I find asking myself now is:
Why would the owners employ a new manager and begin to implement new long term strategies, when in less than a year they are going to want out themselves?
Nevertheless, Rodgers remains their man. However, has anyone ever thought that FSG may even depart before Rodgers himself does?
It makes perfect sense to me. Any company pondering the sale of an asset would behave the same way. The months leading up to a sale would involve fewer financial commitments and as little investment as possible. My gut feeling this is on the cards has not only been proved financially with Liverpool's apparent transfer budget only coming from the sale of Raheem Sterling but also by their support for the team on the pitch.
Where were they last season supporting us from the stands throughout the difficult months? Where were they for Steven Gerrard's farewell game against Crystal Palace, showing their appreciation to a Liverpool Legend? Where were they when we took on Aston Villa at Wembley? The only time I have a recollection of seeing them last season was when they came over to see if the Main Stand expansion was making sufficient progress. Ultimately, it is another financial interest of theirs.
Nonetheless, in all fairness, at the end of the day, they are not only businessmen but also avid baseball fans and have little to no interest in the sport of football itself. They bought Liverpool Football Club as a business venture. If the tables were turned and Liverpool businessmen owned the Boston Red Sox, it is pretty safe to say they wouldn't be hopping over the Atlantic week in week out to watch a sport they have no special interest in apart from the money it generates their company.
I strongly believe, Liverpool Football Club deserves not to play second best to anyone. Shankly built this club from nothing and I'm not going to sit around and witness the club get pulled down by incompetent greedy people. Joint ownership of two of world sports most successful teams is sure to cause issues with prioritising.
John Henry since taking control of Liverpool in 2010 immediately set out to mirror how he achieved success with the Red Sox. Buying and developing young home grown talent, setting specific wage structures and instilling strict transfer policies. However, it bamboozles me how this can happen. Liverpool and The Red Sox are miles apart and not just in distance. They also represent completely adverse sports, operating in different leagues in different parts of the world. The way Premiership Football Clubs operate isn't the same way Major League Baseball teams work. Importing a business model from one sport to another and assuming that the outcome will be the same is simply absurd.
As Liverpool fans, Champions League qualification is the absolute minimum requirement we must demand from any manager. I'm not saying that we have to win the league or trophies every season. However, converting Liverpool Football Club into an established top four club is the least we should have expected from Brendan Rodgers. Unfortunately, he hasn't been unable to achieve this and lacks the capabilities and skills in order to do so. Therefore, Mr Henry had no other option, than to move him on. He failed.
The way Liverpool gave away the FA Cup by not turning up against Villa, and then consequently threw away Champions League qualification by failing to beat West Brom and Hull City is more than enough to prove that Rodgers can't produce when it matters. Furthermore, the defeat against Crystal Palace and that shambles we saw away to Stoke City, capped off a dismal season for the Reds. My feelings after the Stoke game weren't ones of anger or frustration, but ones of sadness.
It seems as if FSG have made a calculated risk in sticking with Rodgers. Not only due to the financial implications involved in removing him, but also if provided with the right resources, in the short term he is probably considered to deliver success faster than starting from scratch again.
FSG appointed Brendan Rodgers in 2012 with bundles of confidence that he was capable of bringing them success. Therefore, in their eyes letting him go now, this late in the game, would suggest that FSG have failed. The extensive investment they put into Rodgers' Liverpool would now mean nothing. There isn't anything more that businessmen want to avoid then 'failure'. It is a sign of weakness within the business world, a sign that a company the size of FSG will not want to be associated with. It would put a huge dent in their reputation.
Rodgers' Liverpool only won three out of their last eleven games. One being against championship side Blackburn Rovers and the other two were against Newcastle and QPR, who both sat in the bottom 4 of the Premier League. Failing to have the ability to attract big names must be frustrating. It's clearly visible that Rodgers doesn't have sufficient pulling power to attract these sorts of players.
Having a top class European manager at the helm doesn’t guarantee marquee signings. However, it certainly helps. Players who are going to play for a manager, who has already enjoyed many years of success, some in different leagues, winning various titles, know that they are going to play for someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Sadly, Rodgers doesn't have much experience, with only seven years as a top flight manager and winning no trophies along the way. The words of new signing Joe Gomez last Saturday after signing for the club epitomises this. Joe said Rodgers ability to develop & provide young players with opportunities played a major part in his decision to join Liverpool. Therefore, does this mean Brendan Rodgers can only attract young players and not world class ones? which we are in desperate need of right now.
Moreover, wantaway Raheem Sterling also stated that Liverpool is the best place to develop your career. Players talking about Liverpool Football Club in this way, to say the least, is upsetting & frustrating to any Liverpool fan.
Let's not forget, Brendan Rodgers is the only Liverpool manager to spend over a £100 million in a single summer. An amount, which FSG would have thought to be more than enough for Liverpool to compete not only in the Premiership League but also in the Champions League too.
If you were John Henry would you trust Brendan Rodgers with another 100 million?
I understand not all fans will agree with me on my opinions about Rodgers. I've spoke to a lot of people over the last few months and I've found there is a mixed response regarding his abilities. I do agree, the Liverpool manager position shouldn't be a revolving door, manager in, manager out. Nonetheless 3 years in football is more than enough to prove your worth.
Now that the 2014/2015 season has been deemed an unsuccessful and disappointing one, not only for finishing outside the top four but also for falling at the first hurdle in both European competitions we took part in. Everything we competed in this season seemed to drift slowly away from us, The League, The Champions League, The Europa League, The League Cup and finally Top 4 & the FA Cup.
Delivering silverware and securing Champions League qualification would have been enough to keep the fans faith in Rodgers. Whereas, finishing outside of the lucrative European spots and ending another season without picking up any honours is now going to really test our patience leading into next season. Not only our progression as a football club has been halted, but also the financial side of the club has suffered greatly.
Moreover, to be the best, you have to beat the best. Rodgers' record against top four opposition in the three seasons he has been at Liverpool (As you can see from the graphics below) has been abysmal.
Rodgers himself would argue that he needs more time. His team at the start of last season 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 moulded into his new system reinforces the fact that Rodgers' team weren't the best prepared entering into the Champions League or competing at the highest level this campaign.
Liverpool Football Club need to be playing Champions League football year in, year out. As a Liverpool fan, those fixtures home and away in Europe are what we thrive on and with Brendan's European win percentage at 35% (7/20) after three seasons simply isn't acceptable. It would be unthinkable finishing outside the top 4 again.
If the owners are starting to lose heart, where does it leave us?
Undoubtedly, Fenway Sports Group will want to sell the club with Champions League Football, as together with a newly developed stadium, the value of the club will be increased and be more lucrative for potential buyers. On the other hand, failing to qualify for Europe's elite competition will make the club less appealing for a successful takeover to be put in place.
Furthermore, another season without Champions League football would put the futures' of our top players such as, Philippe Coutinho in doubt. Players of this calibre will start to question if they are able to achieve greatness at Liverpool Football Club.
Let's just hope we bring in the correct personnel on and off the field to ensure us of a successful season. Let's just hope we get off to a strong start and make sure the headlines after our opening fixture at the Britannia read something like:
"Rodgers puts to bed last season's Stoke defeat with an empathic start to the season"
At the moment Reds, we can only hope!
As always, thank you for reading, and please voice your opinions in the comments box on the Twitter below.
Carl Clemente
for Anfield Europe
@clemente_carl
@anfieldeurope
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