Liverpool FC Forum

To be perfectly honest, I think many are going way over the top in their defense of Rodgers and the job he's done so far. I've stayed out of the whole discussion since he took over but it's a sad state when Liverpool fans of all people are talking about seeing major improvements when the side is 13th in the league, out in the second round of a cup competition and struggling to get past the first round of another. And its not just that, Rodgers seems to make mistakes across the spectrum and many of the problems we currently have are ones that were directly caused by HIS actions since taking over.

Tactically, he has been a disappointment for me. This is the area were I expected him to make the most impact. I thought the defense (particularly at home) would be much stronger. So far, we have conceded 16 goals in the league despite having a strong back4, a top goalkeeper, and decent options on the bench (all of whom are under-performing). In midfield, 2 new acquisitions in Allen & Sahin have so far failed to impress. Both do little to impact down either end and while Allen has shown glimpses of what he can offer in the future, the big problem we have in that area is the lack of balance. Rodgers is yet to get the best out of Gerrard, and I just cant understand why Sahin is continually favored in the attacking role over our skipper. Upfront, we have good prospects in Sterling and Suso. Both are overplayed as far Im concerned and between them they contributed 1 goal and 2 assists in 27 combined appearances this season. A player like Downing, who has more experience and one who has found the net 2 times so far in Europe with an assist, got a total of 140minutes across 4 games in the league despite our limited options down the flanks!  Perhaps most alarming about all the above is the fact that we just dont seem to have a PLAN regarding how things could improve. Atm, I struggle to see what Rodgers is trying to implement on the pitch when we have the ball. Besides passing it around and eventually having it end up at Suarez we just dont seem able to carve out goal scoring chances or any opportunities of note. In many ways, Suarez -and his individual brilliance- is the only things stopping us from sliding further down the table. Defensively we're poor, and going forward we're a one man team.


Another thing that many seem to use as an excuse for Rodgers is the current state of our squad. Our lack of options down the flanks and upfront are obviously having a negative impact on our chances. But Rodgers has to take the brunt of the blame on this one rather than the owners. Getting rid of Kuyt, Maxi, Bellamy, and Carroll without replacing them with players of similar of better quality has cost us so far. His transfers (Allen, Borini, Assaidi & Sahin on loan) have cost more or less 30mill yet still fail to addressthe same problems and issues we've had since last season. Overall, I would say his transfers have weakened the side and left us in a worse state than we were when he took over. We can talk about the wage bill being reduced all day long but the bottom line is that the manager spent a net of over 20mill, let a 35mill striker go out on loan, and ended up with a worse squad than the one he had. Again, the silver lining, theres no way but up from there. Hopefully January brings in the type of players we need to progress.


On a side note and despite the circumstances, I'm delighted to see the likes of Wisdom, Shelvey, Sterling and Suso being given a chance by the manager. They all seem to be future starters in the making and Rodgers has to take credit for having the courage to afford them opportunities in the first team.

aCe' » Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:10 pm wrote:To be perfectly honest, I think many are going way over the top in their defense of Rodgers and the job he's done so far. I've stayed out of the whole discussion since he took over but it's a sad state when Liverpool fans of all people are talking about seeing major improvements when the side is 13th in the league, out in the second round of a cup competition and struggling to get past the first round of another. And its not just that, Rodgers seems to make mistakes across the spectrum and many of the problems we currently have are ones that were directly caused by HIS actions since taking over.

Tactically, he has been a disappointment for me. This is the area were I expected him to make the most impact. I thought the defense (particularly at home) would be much stronger. So far, we have conceded 16 goals in the league despite having a strong back4, a top goalkeeper, and decent options on the bench (all of whom are under-performing). In midfield, 2 new acquisitions in Allen & Sahin have so far failed to impress. Both do little to impact down either end and while Allen has shown glimpses of what he can offer in the future, the big problem we have in that area is the lack of balance. Rodgers is yet to get the best out of Gerrard, and I just cant understand why Sahin is continually favored in the attacking role over our skipper. Upfront, we have good prospects in Sterling and Suso. Both are overplayed as far Im concerned and between them they contributed 1 goal and 2 assists in 27 combined appearances this season. A player like Downing, who has more experience and one who has found the net 2 times so far in Europe with an assist, got a total of 140minutes across 4 games in the league despite our limited options down the flanks!  Perhaps most alarming about all the above is the fact that we just dont seem to have a PLAN regarding how things could improve. Atm, I struggle to see what Rodgers is trying to implement on the pitch when we have the ball. Besides passing it around and eventually having it end up at Suarez we just dont seem able to carve out goal scoring chances or any opportunities of note. In many ways, Suarez -and his individual brilliance- is the only things stopping us from sliding further down the table. Defensively we're poor, and going forward we're a one man team.


Another thing that many seem to use as an excuse for Rodgers is the current state of our squad. Our lack of options down the flanks and upfront are obviously having a negative impact on our chances. But Rodgers has to take the brunt of the blame on this one rather than the owners. Getting rid of Kuyt, Maxi, Bellamy, and Carroll without replacing them with players of similar of better quality has cost us so far. His transfers (Allen, Borini, Assaidi & Sahin on loan) have cost more or less 30mill yet still fail to addressthe same problems and issues we've had since last season. Overall, I would say his transfers have weakened the side and left us in a worse state than we were when he took over. We can talk about the wage bill being reduced all day long but the bottom line is that the manager spent a net of over 20mill, let a 35mill striker go out on loan, and ended up with a worse squad than the one he had. Again, the silver lining, theres no way but up from there. Hopefully January brings in the type of players we need to progress.


On a side note and despite the circumstances, I'm delighted to see the likes of Wisdom, Shelvey, Sterling and Suso being given a chance by the manager. They all seem to be future starters in the making and Rodgers has to take credit for having the courage to afford them opportunities in the first team.

thats a fair post ace.
i think we will improve and while he has made mistakes it will be interesting to see how he addresses it in january and the summer and only then can he really be judged.
he wont get 3 or 4 years in the job if results keep on going like this and next season will be make or break for him, he needs to sign game changers and not another prospect for the future.
the youth we have would have progressed through the ranks at some stage and credit to him for taking the risks with them now but not having an experienced team is compounding the situation.
fenway made their choice and for that reason they will stick with him and so should the supporters because having to look for a 5th manager in 5 years is going to damage us further.
this season was always going to be tough and it could get even worse before it gets better but its his debut season here and he will be afforded that luxury but next season he wont.
fenway will find it very hard to renegotiate big sponsorship deals with standard and warrior if we are midtable standard.

aCe' » Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:10 pm wrote:To be perfectly honest, I think many are going way over the top in their defense of Rodgers and the job he's done so far. I've stayed out of the whole discussion since he took over but it's a sad state when Liverpool fans of all people are talking about seeing major improvements when the side is 13th in the league, out in the second round of a cup competition and struggling to get past the first round of another. And its not just that, Rodgers seems to make mistakes across the spectrum and many of the problems we currently have are ones that were directly caused by HIS actions since taking over.

Tactically, he has been a disappointment for me. This is the area were I expected him to make the most impact. I thought the defense (particularly at home) would be much stronger. So far, we have conceded 16 goals in the league despite having a strong back4, a top goalkeeper, and decent options on the bench (all of whom are under-performing). In midfield, 2 new acquisitions in Allen & Sahin have so far failed to impress. Both do little to impact down either end and while Allen has shown glimpses of what he can offer in the future, the big problem we have in that area is the lack of balance. Rodgers is yet to get the best out of Gerrard, and I just cant understand why Sahin is continually favored in the attacking role over our skipper. Upfront, we have good prospects in Sterling and Suso. Both are overplayed as far Im concerned and between them they contributed 1 goal and 2 assists in 27 combined appearances this season. A player like Downing, who has more experience and one who has found the net 2 times so far in Europe with an assist, got a total of 140minutes across 4 games in the league despite our limited options down the flanks!  Perhaps most alarming about all the above is the fact that we just dont seem to have a PLAN regarding how things could improve. Atm, I struggle to see what Rodgers is trying to implement on the pitch when we have the ball. Besides passing it around and eventually having it end up at Suarez we just dont seem able to carve out goal scoring chances or any opportunities of note. In many ways, Suarez -and his individual brilliance- is the only things stopping us from sliding further down the table. Defensively we're poor, and going forward we're a one man team.


Another thing that many seem to use as an excuse for Rodgers is the current state of our squad. Our lack of options down the flanks and upfront are obviously having a negative impact on our chances. But Rodgers has to take the brunt of the blame on this one rather than the owners. Getting rid of Kuyt, Maxi, Bellamy, and Carroll without replacing them with players of similar of better quality has cost us so far. His transfers (Allen, Borini, Assaidi & Sahin on loan) have cost more or less 30mill yet still fail to addressthe same problems and issues we've had since last season. Overall, I would say his transfers have weakened the side and left us in a worse state than we were when he took over. We can talk about the wage bill being reduced all day long but the bottom line is that the manager spent a net of over 20mill, let a 35mill striker go out on loan, and ended up with a worse squad than the one he had. Again, the silver lining, theres no way but up from there. Hopefully January brings in the type of players we need to progress.


On a side note and despite the circumstances, I'm delighted to see the likes of Wisdom, Shelvey, Sterling and Suso being given a chance by the manager. They all seem to be future starters in the making and Rodgers has to take credit for having the courage to afford them opportunities in the first team.

Interesting post. Agree with a lot of it and disagree with other parts. The way i look at it is we simply need to get back to supporting the manager no matter what the result is. That is what helped create the unity and stability that brought along all our best decades on the pitch. He does things that I didn't agree with at times but so has every manager here since Shankly.

I'm not even criticising Rodgers if his brief was clear out the old and bring in the new, slash the wages and get us on a sound footing long term while keeping us in the division. Personally as someone who is interested in winning matches I think we have under-achieved since July - blame that on who you like.

aCe' » Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:10 pm wrote:To be perfectly honest, I think many are going way over the top in their defense of Rodgers and the job he's done so far. I've stayed out of the whole discussion since he took over but it's a sad state when Liverpool fans of all people are talking about seeing major improvements when the side is 13th in the league, out in the second round of a cup competition and struggling to get past the first round of another. And its not just that, Rodgers seems to make mistakes across the spectrum and many of the problems we currently have are ones that were directly caused by HIS actions since taking over.

Tactically, he has been a disappointment for me. This is the area were I expected him to make the most impact. I thought the defense (particularly at home) would be much stronger. So far, we have conceded 16 goals in the league despite having a strong back4, a top goalkeeper, and decent options on the bench (all of whom are under-performing). In midfield, 2 new acquisitions in Allen & Sahin have so far failed to impress. Both do little to impact down either end and while Allen has shown glimpses of what he can offer in the future, the big problem we have in that area is the lack of balance. Rodgers is yet to get the best out of Gerrard, and I just cant understand why Sahin is continually favored in the attacking role over our skipper. Upfront, we have good prospects in Sterling and Suso. Both are overplayed as far Im concerned and between them they contributed 1 goal and 2 assists in 27 combined appearances this season. A player like Downing, who has more experience and one who has found the net 2 times so far in Europe with an assist, got a total of 140minutes across 4 games in the league despite our limited options down the flanks!  Perhaps most alarming about all the above is the fact that we just dont seem to have a PLAN regarding how things could improve. Atm, I struggle to see what Rodgers is trying to implement on the pitch when we have the ball. Besides passing it around and eventually having it end up at Suarez we just dont seem able to carve out goal scoring chances or any opportunities of note. In many ways, Suarez -and his individual brilliance- is the only things stopping us from sliding further down the table. Defensively we're poor, and going forward we're a one man team.


Another thing that many seem to use as an excuse for Rodgers is the current state of our squad. Our lack of options down the flanks and upfront are obviously having a negative impact on our chances. But Rodgers has to take the brunt of the blame on this one rather than the owners. Getting rid of Kuyt, Maxi, Bellamy, and Carroll without replacing them with players of similar of better quality has cost us so far. His transfers (Allen, Borini, Assaidi & Sahin on loan) have cost more or less 30mill yet still fail to addressthe same problems and issues we've had since last season. Overall, I would say his transfers have weakened the side and left us in a worse state than we were when he took over. We can talk about the wage bill being reduced all day long but the bottom line is that the manager spent a net of over 20mill, let a 35mill striker go out on loan, and ended up with a worse squad than the one he had. Again, the silver lining, theres no way but up from there. Hopefully January brings in the type of players we need to progress.


On a side note and despite the circumstances, I'm delighted to see the likes of Wisdom, Shelvey, Sterling and Suso being given a chance by the manager. They all seem to be future starters in the making and Rodgers has to take credit for having the courage to afford them opportunities in the first team.

Spot on!

razor blade anyone?

Jesus wept.

Things really are not that bad. Yes we're 13th but come on, BR got shut of some deadwood. Then the window shut and that is that until January. So he has to put a team out every week that he thinks can manage against the oppo. sometimes it works, sometimes we can't compete but he can only do what he can do! Come January he'll know exactly who he needs to help the cause. He'll get the backing and get the players and we'll have  a better 2nd half of season. Then in summer he'll do the same again. Thats BR's first season aim. He needs to see what he's got so he can know how to strengthen it. You can't expect him to just wave a wand and sort it all out before we've kicked a ball?

come on lads, we're not daft and neither is BR.

redno7 » Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:17 pm wrote:razor blade anyone?

Jesus wept.

Things really are not that bad. Yes we're 13th but come on, BR got shut of some deadwood. Then the window shut and that is that until January. So he has to put a team out every week that he thinks can manage against the oppo. sometimes it works, sometimes we can't compete but he can only do what he can do! Come January he'll know exactly who he needs to help the cause. He'll get the backing and get the players and we'll have  a better 2nd half of season. Then in summer he'll do the same again. Thats BR's first season aim. He needs to see what he's got so he can know how to strengthen it. You can't expect him to just wave a wand and sort it all out before we've kicked a ball?

come on lads, we're not daft and neither is BR.

Whats all this about?...  common sense has no place here     8 points off 4th is not a disaster and the league is very bunched up, a few wins can see you move up pretty quickly.  We need to have a good transfer window in Jan and I think we will see a quick improvement.  I would love Huntelaar as he knows where the goal is and has alerady played with Surez so should fit in quickly

Ola Mr Benitez » Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:15 pm wrote:

redno7 » Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:17 pm wrote:razor blade anyone?

Jesus wept.

Things really are not that bad. Yes we're 13th but come on, BR got shut of some deadwood. Then the window shut and that is that until January. So he has to put a team out every week that he thinks can manage against the oppo. sometimes it works, sometimes we can't compete but he can only do what he can do! Come January he'll know exactly who he needs to help the cause. He'll get the backing and get the players and we'll have  a better 2nd half of season. Then in summer he'll do the same again. Thats BR's first season aim. He needs to see what he's got so he can know how to strengthen it. You can't expect him to just wave a wand and sort it all out before we've kicked a ball?

come on lads, we're not daft and neither is BR.

Whats all this about?...  common sense has no place here     8 points off 4th is not a disaster and the league is very bunched up, a few wins can see you move up pretty quickly.  We need to have a good transfer window in Jan and I think we will see a quick improvement.  I would love Huntelaar as he knows where the goal is and has alerady played with Surez so should fit in quickly

lets hope he see's that a player like huntelaar is exactly what we need and addresses it with that ilk rather than another one for the future.

aCe' » Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:10 pm wrote:To be perfectly honest, I think many are going way over the top in their defense of Rodgers and the job he's done so far. I've stayed out of the whole discussion since he took over but it's a sad state when Liverpool fans of all people are talking about seeing major improvements when the side is 13th in the league, out in the second round of a cup competition and struggling to get past the first round of another. And its not just that, Rodgers seems to make mistakes across the spectrum and many of the problems we currently have are ones that were directly caused by HIS actions since taking over.

Tactically, he has been a disappointment for me. This is the area were I expected him to make the most impact. I thought the defense (particularly at home) would be much stronger. So far, we have conceded 16 goals in the league despite having a strong back4, a top goalkeeper, and decent options on the bench (all of whom are under-performing). In midfield, 2 new acquisitions in Allen & Sahin have so far failed to impress. Both do little to impact down either end and while Allen has shown glimpses of what he can offer in the future, the big problem we have in that area is the lack of balance. Rodgers is yet to get the best out of Gerrard, and I just cant understand why Sahin is continually favored in the attacking role over our skipper. Upfront, we have good prospects in Sterling and Suso. Both are overplayed as far Im concerned and between them they contributed 1 goal and 2 assists in 27 combined appearances this season. A player like Downing, who has more experience and one who has found the net 2 times so far in Europe with an assist, got a total of 140minutes across 4 games in the league despite our limited options down the flanks!  Perhaps most alarming about all the above is the fact that we just dont seem to have a PLAN regarding how things could improve. Atm, I struggle to see what Rodgers is trying to implement on the pitch when we have the ball. Besides passing it around and eventually having it end up at Suarez we just dont seem able to carve out goal scoring chances or any opportunities of note. In many ways, Suarez -and his individual brilliance- is the only things stopping us from sliding further down the table. Defensively we're poor, and going forward we're a one man team.


Another thing that many seem to use as an excuse for Rodgers is the current state of our squad. Our lack of options down the flanks and upfront are obviously having a negative impact on our chances. But Rodgers has to take the brunt of the blame on this one rather than the owners. Getting rid of Kuyt, Maxi, Bellamy, and Carroll without replacing them with players of similar of better quality has cost us so far. His transfers (Allen, Borini, Assaidi & Sahin on loan) have cost more or less 30mill yet still fail to addressthe same problems and issues we've had since last season. Overall, I would say his transfers have weakened the side and left us in a worse state than we were when he took over. We can talk about the wage bill being reduced all day long but the bottom line is that the manager spent a net of over 20mill, let a 35mill striker go out on loan, and ended up with a worse squad than the one he had. Again, the silver lining, theres no way but up from there. Hopefully January brings in the type of players we need to progress.


On a side note and despite the circumstances, I'm delighted to see the likes of Wisdom, Shelvey, Sterling and Suso being given a chance by the manager. They all seem to be future starters in the making and Rodgers has to take credit for having the courage to afford them opportunities in the first team.

I think you have inadvertently pointed out why we shouldnt have high expectations for this season. You say we have "a strong back4, a top goalkeeper, and decent options on the bench (all of whom are under-performing)" yet we have conceded 16 goals. That cant be wholly down to the manager? Surely the goalkeeper and the defenders must shoulder the majority of the responsibility? Look at Terrys goal yesterday. It was an absolute shambles and a gift with Agger playing hide and seek and Gerrard playing off ground tick. Was that down to Rodgers? I disagree that Allen and Sahin have failed to impress as they have both had some good games in their short time at the club and look to be very effective in the future. Gerrard is a victim of old father time Im afraid as his super powers are fading and we have to accept that he is in decline. Thats not to say he cant still be a force and one of the best midfielders around. Just that his "Captain Fantastic" days are coming to an end. Again, the manager cannot be blamed for this.
As far as the goal threat is concerned we have Borini, Assaidi, Shelvey, Stirling, Sahin, Gerrard, Johnson, Enrique, Agger, Downing and Souso who are all capable of scoring but arent doing the business. Should the manager be held responsible for their lack of effectiveness in front of goal? Can he kick the ball in the net for them? I think not. Suarez is scoring virtually all our goals on his own, but that cant be laid at the managers door because other players arent taking the responsibility.
You have a point that we may be suffering because of the departure of Kuyt, Maxi, Bellamy and Carroll, but this is mainly due to the current players not chipping in with goals. There is no guarantee that any of those players would fare any better, but we can convince ourselves that they would because theyre not here.
Rodgers has brought a passion and desire that has been missing for too long. He has brought a stability that we have craved and I believe his vision for a pass and move Liverpool is worth investing in. We are a work in progress and while the jigsaw isnt complete yet, it is taking shape and people have to be patient. We have played the top four and took points off 3 of them. We would have taken points off united except for cheating and terrible decisions. Its going to take time and we have to accept that we can no longer swat teams aside and win leagues at a canter. It has to be earned and worked for and Rodgers is putting things in place which will put us in good stead in the future. We will not be in the bottom half of the table in May.
Have faith

Interestingly, I agree 100% with every post on this page!

Time will tell. January needs to be good, and next summer too. If we don't get a small handful of players who can improve us now, then we'll be in trouble - and I suspect that the success or failure of the next couple of windows will be more down to FSG than Rodgers...

EDIT: I've re-read aCe's post and I'm forced to disagree with his call for more of Downing, so almost 100%! 

I've re-read aCe's post and I'm forced to disagree with his call for more of Downing, so almost 100%!   

I agree with you, 101%.

RedHands » Sun Nov 11, 2012 9:44 pm wrote:Think Rodgers is fantastic. I think he'll do really well IF he gets backing in the transfer market. I love the way we are playing at the moment.

My only criticism of him is Andy Carrol. We will perhaps never know what kind of promises were made to BR about him getting another player if he loaned AC. BUT I think AC could have helped us a lot this year in tricky away fixtures or against teams like Stoke, Everton, and West Ham (or today against Chelsea). Or games where its raining and a little more difficult to pass the ball about. Surely, having him for those games and for cover for Suarez is worth the 7m/year we are saving by loaning him to WHU. Its mind boggling.

Do you think Carroll would have been more effective for us this season than he was last season, do you remember how cr@ppy he was? He hasn't exactly set the world on fire at West Ham has he?

heimdall » Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:32 pm wrote:

RedHands » Sun Nov 11, 2012 9:44 pm wrote:Think Rodgers is fantastic. I think he'll do really well IF he gets backing in the transfer market. I love the way we are playing at the moment.

My only criticism of him is Andy Carrol. We will perhaps never know what kind of promises were made to BR about him getting another player if he loaned AC. BUT I think AC could have helped us a lot this year in tricky away fixtures or against teams like Stoke, Everton, and West Ham (or today against Chelsea). Or games where its raining and a little more difficult to pass the ball about. Surely, having him for those games and for cover for Suarez is worth the 7m/year we are saving by loaning him to WHU. Its mind boggling.

Do you think Carroll would have been more effective for us this season than he was last season, do you remember how cr@ppy he was? He hasn't exactly set the world on fire at West Ham has he?

I think that's a harsh stance to make. Any transition to a new club is hard, especially when that transition is injury hit.

I actually think he would have done well here this season, the last few months of last season showed he started to gel, he became more influential as the season closed. I honestly think he would of got better this season. What annoys me more is the number of games this season that we have struggled to score in and resorted to crosses into the box aimed at Suarez that Carroll would of thrived on.

I get Rodgers and am totally behind his style and philosophy. However, I think it was a little idealistic to think Liverpool could change and adopt to a new style in one season. I woul dhave like to see a transition season that included Carroll.

heimdall » Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:32 pm wrote:

RedHands » Sun Nov 11, 2012 9:44 pm wrote:Think Rodgers is fantastic. I think he'll do really well IF he gets backing in the transfer market. I love the way we are playing at the moment.

My only criticism of him is Andy Carrol. We will perhaps never know what kind of promises were made to BR about him getting another player if he loaned AC. BUT I think AC could have helped us a lot this year in tricky away fixtures or against teams like Stoke, Everton, and West Ham (or today against Chelsea). Or games where its raining and a little more difficult to pass the ball about. Surely, having him for those games and for cover for Suarez is worth the 7m/year we are saving by loaning him to WHU. Its mind boggling.

Do you think Carroll would have been more effective for us this season than he was last season, do you remember how cr@ppy he was? He hasn't exactly set the world on fire at West Ham has he?

As I've said in the rumour page, Carroll is effective with the rough and tunble approach, he has a presence and can cause defenders problems. From what I've seen of Liverpool this season, it's finishing the chances that's our problem and Carroll's record doesn't suggest he's particularly capable of that

Im a fan of Rodgers but the only concern I have is if he starts looking too far ahead and using this 'project' bollox
as an excuse for losing games and poor performance.

I think most fans accept that we need an eye on the longer term but the owners and Rodgers must never lose sight
of the fact this is Liverpool Football Club and its not acceptable to be average at any point of the building process.

The support has a duty to ensure that always retain a level at least in some way befitting the great sides of the past
and if we start accepting second best its easy for those in charge to also accept medicocraty.

I know its often perceived as being disloyal but you must always keep nudging them and expecting more as thats
how you you move it forward, it should never be enough.

Time for Liverpool to start winning

Rodgers has spent much of his time praising Liverpool's players for their efforts this season and not enough time discussing victories. It is hard to paint a pretty picture of a league start that currently only contains wins over Norwich City and Reading but he tried nonetheless.

And if he was to take a backward glance over his shoulder he would see that the current Premier League placing of 13th with 12 points from 11 games is three points worse than the same position under Roy Hodgson in 2010/2011 as he was on the road to effectively being run out of town by disaffected Liverpool supporters.

No-one would suggest for a moment that a similar fate will befall Rodgers. He is barely through the door and admitted Liverpool fans had been "lenient". There is genuine support for him from Liverpool's followers.

This must not disguise another reality. This points tally is not good enough for a club of Liverpool's ambition, even if Rodgers appeared to be scaling this back at Stamford Bridge. Eventually Rodgers must start winning.

Much has been made of his passing "philosophy" - although anyone could tell you this has been in the club's DNA since Bill Shankly arrived in December 1959 and not something Rodgers brought in the boot of his car as some great secret on the journey up from Swansea - and the only philosophy that actually matters is the one that wins matches.

Rodgers insists signs of development can be seen in Liverpool's side and he has a point. He is working with a squad in reduced circumstances and despite this they have proved difficult to beat. Their last two away league fixtures have brought creditable draws at Everton and on Sunday at Chelsea. Few will pick up even single points easily at either place this season.

Rodgers was also on the mark to underscore Liverpool's "great character, resilience and survival instincts" but eventually there must be more than possession coupled with a reliance on the cunning and brilliance of striker Luis Suarez. This is his top priority.

He can be well pleased with the eventual outcome at Stamford Bridge after Suarez - who else? - scored the goal to earn a draw that looked most unlikely for more than an hour. Liverpool, so poor for the first 45 minutes, even ended the game emboldened and looking for a fourth successive win at Chelsea.

Rodgers was in candid mood as he said: "The reality is we are a long way off winning the league. I'm not going to sit here and say we are up there challenging."

He added: "The club has given me brilliant support since I have come in here. The owners have brought me in and given me great security in terms of the plan going forward."

The task facing Rodgers is turning draws into victories - but for now he is very grateful to have a player of Suarez's class to turn potential defeats into draws, as he has done in the last week against Newcastle United and Chelsea.

Rodgers has shown a commendable desire to inject young blood into Liverpool's side and there is no doubt he received the rough end of the deal in August when the Anfield hierarchy showed no appetite for his desire to buy Clint Dempsey from Fulham and left him desperately short of a striker after Andy Carroll was loaned to West Ham.

But his own buy, Fabio Borini, was looking decidedly underwhelming at a reported £11m before injury, so Rodgers will need to spend wisely in January. "You need materials," said Rodgers. "Hopefully we can add one or two in January to help us in the top half of the field to try and turn draws into wins."

Much depends on his success in that period but for now he can take a measure of satisfaction from a draw at Chelsea, although this should be tempered by the knowledge that if Oscar and Juan Mata had matched finishing to the expertise of their approach play this game might have been over inside an hour.

John Terry gave Chelsea the lead before going off on a stretcher with a knee injury following an accidental collision with Suarez, who was once more Liverpool's talisman with the equaliser, albeit courtesy of a less-than-subtle shove on Ramires that was missed by referee Howard Webb.

Liverpool had stand-out performers in defender Jose Enrique and goalkeeper Brad Jones but in reality - that word again - it was Suarez alone who won them a point.
Rodgers is in the first flush of his infant Liverpool reign and no-one can carp at a point gained at Stamford Bridge but he must soon find the winning habit.