Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

agreed, we lost that competitive edge after strolling the league and being eliminated from UCL. since then performances had a dip even if results didn't (scum games aside)

 

to put into context btw, had rodgers won this treble, it would have been the most impressive treble we won in recent times due to the UCL performances also on top of that, and the goals scored in the league alone. we have made massive improvement under rodgers from ange. it's not the end of the world.

 

Supporters pay good money to buy their season tickets and, for some, it's a major dent in their incomes (especially if they have kids who demand new tops and match day experience etc). I go to the games to hopefully see us win games, win trophies, play well, and be entertained and, to be honest, I haven't seen us play well since Christmas. From the highs of the Leipzig and Bayern games to the lows of getting beat off a very poor huns team, a St Johnstone team that were relegated to the major disappointment of loosing the final on Saturday. I am not an entitled fan and I am old enough to remember the very barren days when we never won anything however, we were skint back then and, as you know, nearly went to the wall but we are cash rich now and although mega bucks can't guarantee success, it should enable us to at least avoid defeat against a very poor sheep team with a fraction of our resources. People aren't panicking but they aren't happy with our recent performances as well as some of the players who just aren't cutting it. So yes, like the teams you mentioned, we need to improve but do you honestly think we will get the players needed for that?

 

Uch, I'm a grumpy auld * Poques who is still a wee bit raging after Saturday.

 

As I said to Poques M8, I'm a grumpy auld * who's still a wee bit raging after Saturday.

 

Bit of a myth that we haven't played well since Bayern..

We obliterated Dundee United at Tannadice to win the league..

We scored 3 going on a good bit more the other week at home to Hibs where the majority of people enjoyed the game..

Our second string went and utterly smashed the sheep to bits at Pittodrie last week..

After that pish result in Perth that Rodgers rightly called out, we hammered, United, St Johnstone and Killie by 5 and were 4, going on 10 up at half time against the latter two..

There's some clear nit picking going on. We've had a very successful season..

 

We have had a successful season, I don’t think anyone can deny that. Any season we win a trophy should be viewed as a success.

However, the way we play is boring as *, I’m rarely entertained watching us play, passing side to side and having over 70% possession and not scoring

I don’t expect us to win every game or every trophy, I don’t really care that we lost the cup final to be honest. However, I do care about how we performed it was an awful game to watch.

We spent over £30m on transfers, maybe close to £40m? Engels, Idah, Trusty, Jota, Bernardo, McCowan, Sinisalo all cost transfer fees. No club in Scotland spent close to that, even our closest rivals. After Rangers, I think Aberdeen were the highest spenders, maybe close to £2m.

Then Rodgers, apparently earning £60/70k per week. More than any player and more than any manager in Scotland. He is the highest paid person in Scottish football, so he is entitled to criticism and to have high expectations held against him. And what we get in return is not good enough.

Out of all of his signings, how many have actually been an improvement?

Idah - not better than Kyogo

Engels - has potential, but not better than O’Riley, McGregor or Hatate

Trusty - not better than CCV and about the level of Scales probably

Jota - not a Rodgers signing really, we already knew about him but he is first eleven quality

Bernardo - same as Engels

McCowan - signed as a squad player, good enough for that

Sinisalo - not better than Schmeichel yet, not sure he will be to be honest but he’s signed for the future

His transfer record is poor, it was the last time he was here as well. His football ends up being boring, it ended up that way last time he was here as well.

He’s a great coach, he’s been incredibly successful here but it’s hard to not complain when you see how much he gets paid, how much he has spent and how woefully poor the rest of the league is in comparison. We’ve lost one league title in the past 14 years, and not many managers would lose the league as Celtic manager if we’re being brutally honest.

That’s why there’s a lot of criticism in my opinion. Anyway, guess we’ll see what happens in the summer and hope he proves us all wrong next season and gets back to playing exciting football.

 

It’s his way or no way. He needs to have a plan B instead of the tippy tappy crab fitba we’ve watched recently.

 

I didn't mind Ange not having a plan B as it was pretty much always entertaining to watch even when we needed to dig out a win, or just get through a packed defence.

Rodgers not having a plan B means constant possession and recycling across the backline. It's just a bit boring.

 

Problem is mate there's very few teams in Scotland want to make it entertaining so the onus is always on us. If we're on it, it's great to watch. If we're slightly off it, it can become a slog.

Case in point was Saturday. How many times did Aberdeen venture up the park in 90 minutes.

Bit harsh on Rodgers as well. He'll continue to be a successful manager for us. Every team goes through bad spells in a season and losing a one off cup final is always possible. Keep the faith mate.

 

I agree it’s up to us to be entertaining but for every other team, there job is to try and beat us whatever way they can. We have so much more resources available in comparison, I don’t blame them for how they play. We have that much better quality.

I don’t think it is harsh on Rodgers at all. I’ve already posted previously that I know we’ll be successful domestically with Rodgers and that the cup final defeat doesn’t bother me too much, we can’t win everything.

However, it is Rodgers problem to solve that is what he is paid to do. For me it’s so boring to watch, I want to enjoy the games not fall asleep.

 

I remember thinking a few months back, no way is this squad good enough to deliver a treble. Unfortunately, that's how it turned out. Even though the cup final loss is still gutting and will remain so for a good while yet, a silver lining might be that the manager and board now recognize that we have serious issues, particularly in midfield and goalkeeper imo. Potential summer departures could weaken us up front as well.

Rodgers urgently has to figure out a way to beat Rangers, who clearly have become quite comfortable playing us. We haven't beaten them in ages (I don't count a penalty shoot-out as a defeat). It would be naive to think they won't narrow the gap considerably next season

 

Too often this season we have reverted to that insipid horse-shoe stuff. A big miss that often goes unmentioned is the loss of the Kyogo/O'Riley combo - two sharp brains that could cut open a defense in a flash with the right pass from O'Riley and movement from Kyogo. Hard thing to replace, and we've lacked that dimension for a while now.

To be honest, Brodgeball has me falling out of love with football a bit. I know that sounds melodramatic but at the end of the day we watch football to be entertained and too often it has felt like a waste of my afternoon.

Rodgers doesn't have the most amazing transfer record either but I'll be happy to be proven wrong this summer. Either way I wouldn't be too upset if next season is his last.

 

I agree mate, I don't blame other teams for playing that way but it doesn't help and can make the game boring if the other team do well restricting our attacks and we're slightly off it. Saturday is the prime example.

It's surely Rodgers job to win things, which he's doing so that's why I'm saying you're being a bit harsh. Most games are pretty good to watch, we score plenty goals, but I'd say it's impossible to play to a high standard every game throughout a long season.

 

I dont think we have moved forward as a team under Rodgers overall.

In the league we finished with less points than last year (1) but 7 less than Anges treble season.

Europe is generally referenced to as the evidence for improvement of the team under Rodgers. The jury is out for me on that. The format changed this year to a more forgiving format. We still didnt make the last 16 which would have been in line with the old format. Where we finished overall in the table would have translared to 3rd place in the old group format roughly. Modest improvement rather than seismic leap forward.

Domestically we have posted a decent points tally but the rangers games for me have been real red flags in terms of where the level of the team is at overall - which i think a lot of the support have been too quick to down play as being a result of having nothing on the line. We have played 2 cup finals domestically with a trophy on the line an in reality have not really stepped up to the mark. Failed to win either in regulation time. Overall i feel this points to issues in the team.

Our transfers this year which were meant to move us forward i think are still jury out. Trusty, idah and engels was 26mil. Have they moved us forward signaficantly? Id say probably not given what we spent on them.

Far from a crisis but a really disappointing way to finish of the season when you take into account the failure to beat a poor rangers side yet again, the flat final day performance against st mirren and then failing to complete the treble against an aberdeen side we clearly have the beating of. Are we moving forward? Probably not for me. We seem to have plateaud and possibly may be regressing as a team overall.

 

I wish he'd mix up the system a bit more, especially in games. With KT & AJ at the back and Maeda's versatility we can easily flip to a 3-5-2 or 4-4-2

 

Im struggling to see where Rodgers has made any significant improvements on Ange domestically. In 2 seasons Ange won more trophies and got more points and had a better record in the derbies against a stronger Rangers side than the one of this season. Ange also took over in much more difficult circumstances.

In Europe, Rodgers first season was little different to Ange. Second season, the format changed to make knockout football more attainable as it added in an extra knockout round. Disagree we got a tough draw. I think its closer to the opposite. We got a fairly kind draw and avoided almost all the big teams. After 8 games we finished 21st which was in the third quartile. We were than eliminated in a playoff to reach the last 16. Overall I think that represented improvement, but not really any seismic leap forward. We still didnt make the last 16 round but we avoided finishing what was the equivalent of last place in the old CL format. Would we have expected to make the last 16 - no. But failing to at least make the playoff for it would have been viewed as disappointing. Difficult to compare how Anges team would have done as he never had that same format which makes it easier to get into the knockouts.

Are we going forwards as a team under Rodgers? Given most of the games over the last few months its hard to say yes to that. There have been a lot of stuttering performances, consistent failures to beat one of the poorest rangers teams in years and finished off by squandering a treble opportunity. Domestically teams look to be getting better at shutting us down because theres little variation in our approach.