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ECHO Comment: "Fears of Witch-hunt Against Liverpool FC"
- Thread starter davek
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Tommy Chong
Player Valuation: £60m
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Awesome article... bang on the money !!!
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
The quotes of a two-faced, desperately clutching at straws slime ball.
davek
Player Valuation: £150m
Liverpool's problems? Delusions of grandeur, transfer duds and failure to fix clear flaws in the squad
Those who want Brendan Rodgers out are deluding themselves if they think it will change anything under the current set-up, writes Chris Bascombe
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Down and out: Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League last night, but the problems do not just lie at Brendan Rodgers' door
By Chris Bascombe
9:36AM GMT 10 Dec 2014
17 Comments
Liverpool shoved their way back into Europe’s VIP tent as if it was their entitlement last August. Last night they were sheepishly collecting their coat and being escorted from the premises, ending the most shambolic and embarrassing series of European Cup performances in the club’s history.
It was during the Champions League draw they prematurely reclaimed their status as European royalty, chief executive Ian Ayre’s crass suggestion ‘this is our competition’ succeeding only in making the Merseyside club sound like they’d wasted no time guzzling Uefa champagne.
Liverpool never look or sound more insecure than when they start telling everyone how marvellous they are; there is nothing more small-time in football than confirmation of your own sense of greatness'.
Liverpool went into the game with Basel with a goalkeeper who doesn't know whether to kick the ball or exorcise it; centre-halves who you expect to be bullied by AFC Wimbledon next month; midfielders whose goals and assist record must be evident to the statistical wizards who are so revered by John W. Henry; and a 32-year-old striker who ran out of gas 72 hours before kick-off.
Liverpool appear to have lost the memo that makes it clear football is about players. You can offer countless speeches about strategy and appoint a manager with a philosophy that would make Plato blush, but if you buy pap you end up with last night.
That is why those who want Brendan Rodgers out as a result of Liverpool’s performances this season are deluding themselves if they think it will change anything under the current set-up.
Fenway Sports Group would interview another series of idealistic managers delivered fresh from the Uefa pro-licence course, each one no doubt adept at arranging training sessions and communicating his ideas. He’d still be at the mercy of the quality of Liverpool’s recruitment.
Dud: Mario Balotelli has been Liverpool's most high-profile transfer failure this season
The Anfield transfer committee – or more specifically how they operate - is a familiar gripe on these pages and it is not used to absolve Rodgers, merely to point out he is partially rather than wholly responsible.
The Anfield committee was formed with good intentions; too many Liverpool deals since the 90s were filtered through the same agents; players often seemed to be preferred because of who they were represented by rather than whether they were good enough; managers assumed far too much power, made too many mistakes and spent too much time moaning about lack of resources when they’d been given plenty'.
This bloke wont be invited to the post season mid table celebrations.
This argument that's dragged out to spare Rodgers' blushes: "it's the committee" - it simply wont do.
Rodgers in the summer....
“There is absolutely no way a player will come in here if I don’t want him,” Rodgers said. "I will always be the first person it comes to. That’s not being arrogant, that’s how we operate here and how it works in this country.
“Abroad it works differently where you have a coach and the club will bring in the players. The coach then works with the players he’s given. A lot has been made of it but the fact is the process that happens here is no different to what happens at other English clubs. We have a number of people, scouting staff and analysts, who will look for targets who fit the profile of the players that we want.
“Then I will sit down with those guys, look at those targets and make a shortlist from that. All that work that goes on is of great help to me. We identify players, gather all the information we possibly can and then if they’re right for what we need it comes down to whether they are affordable and available. I know the club will go and do the best it can to get the players we want. But it’s very clear that anyone we sign will be because I want him here.”
Bascombe has some sort of grudge with the owners and CEO of Liverpool. That's fair enough. But to try and excuse Rodgers' in any way shape or form is utter tosh.
He's the one who decides on the trash going through their doors.
He hasn't got the internet either.
D
Deleted member 28206
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YES REDMEN TV GERRRRRRRIN!!!
...first call on Five Live last night was a red demanding Rodgers out and Pulis in. I remember the deluded comments when the Euro draws were made, particularly about Everton only being in the Intertoto Cup and Thursday's on ITV4. They have found their level.
R.Reddington
Player Valuation: £35m
He rang after the 3-1 defeat at Palace. Imagine the meltdown if Pulis went to Liverpool though.
Jim Lahey
Banned
He's spot-on to be fair. Someone post that video at RAWK, that Mutton Geoff fellow will melt down!
MikeH72
Player Valuation: £100m
Out of all the CL group winners they could have got, Barcelona and Bayern are the only two who I'd have complete faith in knocking them out. They'd have ended up with Monaco or Dortmund, so I for one am happy they're out. Just hope they get the nastiest possible draw in the Europa
In my opinion, all the Champions League dropouts should go into a separate draw and be made to play each other in the Europa League round of 32. It's unfair that a EL group winner could end up with someone like Juventus in the first knockout round
roydo
in memoriam - 1965-2024
I think the whole thing stinks. But money talks I guess.
MikeH72
Player Valuation: £100m
Yeah. If I had my way then the dropouts wouldn't enter the Europa League full stop
AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Spot on.
The very fact that UEFA countenance failures getting a chance in another competition highlights that UEFA see their EL as a second class competition... hence there is a lack of massive competition sponsors and the prize monies are inordinately different and unfair.
roydo
in memoriam - 1965-2024
They didnt use to drop into the UEFA cup did they?
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