Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

The far bigger issues are at board level - that is clear.

But that doesn't give the manager a free pass from any opinions or criticism.
Rogers can and should do better with what he has and when you see the team struggle in attacking third it's also in part down the manager, his ability to motivate, pick the right team and formation as well as adjust to the situation/opposition and his tactics.
Tail end of last season and start of this, it's been a struggle. That is not all on the board.

 

Part of that I think actually comes from Rodgers.

Mind in his first spell he was unwilling really to sell Boyata, Armstrong and Dembele. Then in the summer probably same with Maeda.

Another manager like Ange would think, let these guys go and just sign others but Rodgers I think always shites himself about losing good players as he doesn't like having to replace them.

Even the Taylor situation, rather than move on and get someone in, Rodgers seemed to clutch at straws till the death that he could stay. Probably led to the club signing Inamura thinking, this Rodgers heads up his * and we'll need someone like Taylor to come in and he's not bothering. Then Rodgers reacts like "is that your Taylor replacement, im not interested get me another one" even though the guy played fine.

 

Aye, yesterday we created more and were unlucky - on another day we could have scored. Doesn't change the fact we've had four 0-0s already this year. Recruitment aside, that should not be happening to a Celtic side this early in the season.

 

"Recruitment aside" seriously? You've just listed the root cause of the issue. Doesn't matter how early it is in the season a pish option is a pish option. If we don't get Iheanacho firing we'll struggle to score regularly.

 

This season under Rodgers has all the eerie hallmarks of Strachan's last season, the football has gone stale, boring and lacking imagination, stubborness by the management to change the system and tactics in any way, and sticking to players who are either over the hill or simply not good enough to fill the roles anymore, and strings of goal less games beginning to set a definite pattern, with no cutting edge up front. The only difference is we have a manager at loggerheads with the Board, and working his ticket to the end of the season.

It's a recipe for disaster, and we all know how Strachan's last season ended up.

Already papped out of the Champions League by minnows Kairat, trailing the mighty Hearts in the league, and a Cup Semi coming up with the Huns.

We have two stark choices, either stick with a demotivated manager and run the risk that nothing changes or cut our losses now, and get someone else in, qualified to save our season.

 

We see you Peter.

 

Taylor and AJ are being badly missed I think. They are so good at knowing when and where to move during the build up and giving Cal Mac people to bounce off which is why he’s looking so negative in his game now. The 8’s have got to work much harder to get on the ball for me.

 

State of this *

 

Of course he would be reluctant to let Maeda go. We sold Kuhn and still didn’t replace him. He has seen this movie many times. If the board had actually went out and brought in a capable replacement, Maeda would have went. That’s the long and short of it. Also, the fact Idah left without a replacement completely goes against your argument. Rodgers was adamant he wasn’t going without a replacement, he did leave and when the window closed we had nobody to replace him.

 

We get rid of Rodgers now, it’s Kennedy and the boys for the rest of the season.

they wouldn’t even get someone else in. They can’t conduct a proper transfer window they are never got to have someone else lined up.

 

It wasn't too bad yesterday but there's clearly gonna be a few more of these to come..

We've got an unhappy manager who's been let down
Unhappy players who've either been brought in by the recruitment team and no Rodgers. Players here who were away to leave and brought back. Players who emptied their lockers and were about to head off..

The manager and people or certain people above are at loggerheads, or trying to sabotage him. The support are protesting and united in their support for change..

Add all of this in and our lack of quality, decline in our team and it's mo wonder there's very little spark..

The players themselves will be feeling it and questioning why they're watching big players go and the failure to even replace and stand still, nevermind improve..

Then we've got our manager who's out of contract and will definitely be away..

It's a mess and a case of trying to get through to January, getting some bodies in and key players back from injury..

 

Oh trust me, they are already lining someone up to replace Rodgers, and he knows it.

That is why he is just going through the motions just now, thinking he has the Board on a plate, thinking they won't sack him before the end of the season, because they would have to pay off the rest of his contract.

He is playing a very dangerous game.

 

Im probably the most vocal critic of Rodgers on here. Not a problem.

I said it loud and proud I didnt want him back because of his shelf life and signing record. I said 18 months in, the wheels always come off. Yada yada yada.

But even im willing to admit we're well and truly 50 shades of * if he leaves.

Given this board, theres zero succession plan in place. And more importantly, no willingness to pay for a new manager and the obvious chunk of cash if he would insist on to recruit this January.

All of that means that we would end up with Lennedy for the season, or * me, Neil Lennon. Or * me sidways... Lennon or Lennedy offered the job full time.

He HAS to go after his contract is up. Push this last title over the line then wait for yer ticket back to the epl with some mid table dross. Thanks for the titles.
But given the harrowing * alternatives, we need him more than ever at this point. Him leaving or being let go would literally * us for YEARS after.

He just needs to give himself a * shake, cut out this turgid * 4-3-3, and start setting teams up according to the opposition, not his preferred system.

 

Yesterday we created enough chances to win so over the course of the season you will run into these kind of games where the ball doesnt go in. We probably played better than St Mirren and Kilmarnock where we scraped wins.

My faith in his system has been eroded though. The team was declining well before the Summer. We had some horrendous performances against a poor sevco team and couldnt beat an Aberdeen team in the Cup final when it mattered - an Aberdeen team that has won about 5 games in the last 9 months. Practically any time we come up against a team thats approaching half decent now we struggle to win.

Its also concerning now that so many of the players we have signed under Rodgers fail to really improve the side or outright look to regress under him. I get not every signing is going to be a hit but the extent to which we cant seem to improve so many of them is not a good look. You start to question whether its the players or the system. The calibre of player we have brought in under him may not be good enough to make inroads in Europe. But they should be able to boss the SPL which increasingly doesnt look to be the case. In midfield, where we actually do have depth, none of our midfielders actually look very comfortable or effective irrespective of who plays. Thats another concern I have about the system.

With sevco being as poor as they are, and Hearts probably unlikely to be able to keep up the pace we should have the luxury of being able to win the league without hitting top gear unless the wheels really come off. I think we should see how the season pans out and whether Rodgers is able get more out of the players we have at the club or is willing to adjust the set up. If our current form and performances are as good as gets under him for the remainder of the season then I wouldnt be averse to a change end of season.

 

We say this every year but January is going to be huge in terms of ins and outs, and absolutely no faith remains in our ability to get it right especially given the manager will possibly be off 4 months after.

It's insane we've managed to get ourselves in this situation.

Out (at least):

Maeda, Yang, Kenny

In:

RW, RW, FC

 

He is becoming an * now

 

Yes, recruitment aside. Meaning that the players we have in the squad are still superior to Rangers, Kairat and Hibs. We should be scoring against these teams. Do you think that our squad is not superior to those teams?

 

Is football as simplistic as that? We've just played 3 games in 6 days, is our squad properly equipped to win 3 times while rotating and resting players where needed? No it clearly isn't. If we had a weeks rest to beat Hibs then we probably would have. But we simply don't have a squad capable of rotation as we have too few options in the forward areas. Rangers squad is up for debate, they have a better forward line for me on paper. If they had a manager of Brendan's calibre they'd be a dangerous team. We're struggling to score goals as a direct result of our recruitment, so you can't simply say "recruitment aside" and then try to say we should have won every game this season. Its hypocrisy at its finest.

 

It seems to me he doesn't know his best team as of yet..

Still, tinkering.. Taylor leaving and having 2 predominantly overlapping full backs has changed the balance of the team.

We look as if we need some fresh thinking, Rodgers has managed us really well, but maybe after 3 seasons we need fresh impetus.

I hope he finds it and we start to fly soon, but truth is, he'll probably get us over the line in the league but the season may be a bit if chore.

 

Probably a throbber on this thread, could be a few of them.