Liverpool FC Forum

[JC_81]

I don't see much evidence that Rodgers' man-management skills are a concern, contrary to that article.

Of the 3 players mentioned, Downing's form dramatically improved after some public criticism, so how can Rodgers really be questioned after he managed to get some decent form out of a player who had been an embarrassment up until then?

Sahin, despite his comments, was not always deployed in the 'number 10' role.  It became apparent very early that physically he was found wanting in the Premiership and couldn't cut it being one of a central midfield pair, so Rodgers pushed him upfield so he didn't have to worry about him defensively, but it didn't work.  To me Sahin never really looked like he wanted to be here and his nut-less performance at Goodison summed him up.  Rodgers had the sense to get him off the wage bill sooner, should he be criticised for that?

As for Reina I would reiterate my comments above.  I back Rodgers in this decision too.

[Kenny Kan]

from the independent

There was a moment of sadness in Pepe Reina’s goodbye letter to Liverpool fans, a point of clear criticism directed at the club management.

Reina, after eight seasons at Liverpool, in which he barely missed a game, felt that he deserved to leave on his own terms. He would have preferred to go to a team of his choice, at a time of his choosing, after a discussion with the club.

Instead, he has been shipped off to Napoli on loan with as little consultation as they might give a youngster whom they had decided would never make it.

“I thought that I deserved better than that,” wrote Reina, the disappointment obvious, “even though I understand that difficult decisions have to be taken in football.”

Of course, football is a heartless place and clubs cannot afford to treat their big players with too much deference. When Simon Mignolet signed from Sunderland the only question was under which circumstances Reina would leave this summer. As it happens, those circumstances were not to his taste, and this is a more efficient outcome than his collecting his salary while sitting on the bench for the next season.

But everyone knows about ‘the Liverpool way’, and this is not it. This is meant to be a club where individuals were respected, especially those who had earned it on the pitch. Honest conversation was always meant to be the solution, and difficult divorces managed in a calm and dignified way, but Reina found himself surprised and rather put out when Liverpool decided to move him to Italy.

It raises questions, not for the first time, about the man-management at Anfield these days. It may well grow out of the American owners, coming from a sporting culture where players are traded at the whim of the owners without much of a say for themselves.

Or perhaps it comes from elsewhere at the club. Brendan Rodgers has his own ways of motivating players but it is not clear that they all respond well to him. Early last season Stewart Downing was publicly criticised by the new manager and was not delighted by it.

“I was obviously upset. I always try to give my best," said Downing last October when Rodgers had questioned his commitment. "You’ll have to ask the manager what he meant by his quotes. I would have preferred it obviously if it was private.”

Nuri Sahin, the Turkish midfielder signed on loan from Real Madrid but who never fully settled in his six months at Anfield, doubted the communication skills of Rodgers, and blamed them for his failure to settle.

“I did not fail at Liverpool,” Sahin insisted. “Brendan Rodgers wanted me to play as a number 10. But I do not play behind the strikers. I talked to him and asked him why he was playing me there. It is not my real position. The coach could not answer me. Thank God I have left Brendan Rodgers.”

Reina has left too, with his own distaste at the new regime.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 37142.html

Unfortunately the author like all of us do not know the workings of the club, so baseless assumptions are made here about the way Reina has left (similar to what ConnO'var said). One thing is for sure, I don't know of any manager who hasn't rubbed a prema donna up the wrong way, Rodgers isn't the first and he certainly won't be the last.

[Kenny Kan]

I don't see much evidence that Rodgers' man-management skills are a concern, contrary to that article.

Of the 3 players mentioned, Downing's form dramatically improved after some public criticism, so how can Rodgers really be questioned after he managed to get some decent form out of a player who had been an embarrassment up until then?

Sahin, despite his comments, was not always deployed in the 'number 10' role.  It became apparent very early that physically he was found wanting in the Premiership and couldn't cut it being one of a central midfield pair, so Rodgers pushed him upfield so he didn't have to worry about him defensively, but it didn't work.  To me Sahin never really looked like he wanted to be here and his nut-less performance at Goodison summed him up.  Rodgers had the sense to get him off the wage bill sooner, should he be criticised for that?

As for Reina I would reiterate my comments above.  I back Rodgers in this decision too.

More sense, good post John. Most would acknowledge Downing's upturn in form although personally it's not enough for me - wrong buy at the wrong price, yet the author fails to even acknowledge this.

Agree about Sahin and I agree with your last post on Reina, which seems to be what the majority of reasoned posters have said.

[Benny The Noon]

I don't see much evidence that Rodgers' man-management skills are a concern, contrary to that article.

Of the 3 players mentioned, Downing's form dramatically improved after some public criticism, so how can Rodgers really be questioned after he managed to get some decent form out of a player who had been an embarrassment up until then?

Sahin, despite his comments, was not always deployed in the 'number 10' role.  It became apparent very early that physically he was found wanting in the Premiership and couldn't cut it being one of a central midfield pair, so Rodgers pushed him upfield so he didn't have to worry about him defensively, but it didn't work.  To me Sahin never really looked like he wanted to be here and his nut-less performance at Goodison summed him up.  Rodgers had the sense to get him off the wage bill sooner, should he be criticised for that?

As for Reina I would reiterate my comments above.  I back Rodgers in this decision too.

What we hope now is for Mignolet to not crumble

Then again I expect a new keeper should arrive soon because BR did say he would like competition for the GK spot and hinted Jones wasn't good enough.

Mignolet hopefully can handle the competition

[ConnO'var]

Good post ConnO'var, good to see you posting as well.

Cheers mate... the barra biting?

[Kenny Kan]

Good post ConnO'var, good to see you posting as well.

Cheers mate... the barra biting?

Oui. 

[JC_81]

I don't see much evidence that Rodgers' man-management skills are a concern, contrary to that article.

Of the 3 players mentioned, Downing's form dramatically improved after some public criticism, so how can Rodgers really be questioned after he managed to get some decent form out of a player who had been an embarrassment up until then?

Sahin, despite his comments, was not always deployed in the 'number 10' role.  It became apparent very early that physically he was found wanting in the Premiership and couldn't cut it being one of a central midfield pair, so Rodgers pushed him upfield so he didn't have to worry about him defensively, but it didn't work.  To me Sahin never really looked like he wanted to be here and his nut-less performance at Goodison summed him up.  Rodgers had the sense to get him off the wage bill sooner, should he be criticised for that?

As for Reina I would reiterate my comments above.  I back Rodgers in this decision too.

More sense, good post John. Most would acknowledge Downing's upturn in form although personally it's not enough for me - wrong buy at the wrong price, yet the author fails to even acknowledge this.

Agree about Sahin and I agree with your last post on Reina, which seems to be what the majority of reasoned posters have said.

Yeah Downing still needs to be shipped imo too.  But at least he has a bit of re-sale value now, albeit still less than half of what we were stupid enough to pay.

I think if you look at how positive Gerrard and Carra have been when speaking about Rodgers it speaks volumes too.  They've seen more LFC managers come and go than most.  I'm not saying Rodgers is perfect, but I would say man-management and his media-handling are particular strengths from where I'm sitting.  I have also been impressed by his tactical flexibility and especially adapting his tiki-taka midway through last season to allow us to play some longer balls to get the best out of our current players (ie Gerrard who hits a great long ball and Suarez/Sturridge who are great at working the channels and getting on the end of them).

[Greavesie]

So if Madrid came in for Suarez you think he would turn them down after going on about them all summer ? He would be away in an instant

He hasn't publicly stated as bluntly as Reina. You answer questions with more questions and fail to acknowledge genuine points

[Kenny Kan]

I don't see much evidence that Rodgers' man-management skills are a concern, contrary to that article.

Of the 3 players mentioned, Downing's form dramatically improved after some public criticism, so how can Rodgers really be questioned after he managed to get some decent form out of a player who had been an embarrassment up until then?

Sahin, despite his comments, was not always deployed in the 'number 10' role.  It became apparent very early that physically he was found wanting in the Premiership and couldn't cut it being one of a central midfield pair, so Rodgers pushed him upfield so he didn't have to worry about him defensively, but it didn't work.  To me Sahin never really looked like he wanted to be here and his nut-less performance at Goodison summed him up.  Rodgers had the sense to get him off the wage bill sooner, should he be criticised for that?

As for Reina I would reiterate my comments above.  I back Rodgers in this decision too.

More sense, good post John. Most would acknowledge Downing's upturn in form although personally it's not enough for me - wrong buy at the wrong price, yet the author fails to even acknowledge this.

Agree about Sahin and I agree with your last post on Reina, which seems to be what the majority of reasoned posters have said.

Yeah Downing still needs to be shipped imo too.  But at least he has a bit of re-sale value now, albeit still less than half of what we were stupid enough to pay.

I think if you look at how positive Gerrard and Carra have been when speaking about Rodgers it speaks volumes too.  They've seen more LFC managers come and go than most.  I'm not saying Rodgers is perfect, but I would say man-management and his media-handling are particular strengths from where I'm sitting.  I have also been impressed by his tactical flexibility and especially adapting his tiki-taka midway through last season to allow us to play some longer balls to get the best out of our current players (ie Gerrard who hits a great long ball and Suarez/Sturridge who are great at working the channels and getting on the end of them).

I'm not a big lover of his media handling John    he likes to come across a 'bit' too philosophical for my liking and does tend to contradict himself a bit and waffle on being the media friendly guy he is. I'd prefer him to walk the walk rather than preach talk.

Having said that I can't really complain about the tactical side of his footballing management, it's very positive and he has shown he can adapt methods of his game to suit the players' needs (like you said). I would like to see a bit more discipline to the sides defensive duties but other than that things look bright on the pitch.

[Benny The Noon]

So if Madrid came in for Suarez you think he would turn them down after going on about them all summer ? He would be away in an instant

He hasn't publicly stated as bluntly as Reina. You answer questions with more questions and fail to acknowledge genuine points

No the difference is Suarez has constantly go on about Madrid all summer into the press and come up with all sort of reasons to wanting the leave - if anything Suarez is the one playing it all out in the open. How many times to the media did Pepe say he would like the club to consider an offer ? I think this is the first time.

[parchpea]

The club wanted shut of Reina and a new keeper in and that's all it is really despite all
the drama.

Nobody likes to be let go either Reina or Sahin and the latter was useless anyway.

[JC_81]

I'm not a big lover of his media handling John    he likes to come across a 'bit' too philosophical for my liking and does tend to contradict himself a bit and waffle on being the media friendly guy he is. I'd prefer him to walk the walk rather than preach talk.[/quote]


It can be a bit cringe worthy at times, and personally if I was a football manager there's no way I could do what he does.  That said, I think these days, with the amount of media coverage about - especially SSN, it's all about getting the media onside.  We've seen in the past with the likes of Rafa and Kenny that being confrontational with the media just brings more pressure onto the club, which eventually manifests in bad results.  Look at how Rodgers handled the Suarez biting scandal vs how Dalglish handled the Suarez racism scandal.  Kenny, as much as I love him, got too wound up by the press and was too defensive.  Hilarious to watch at times though - I was watching 'Premier league years' the other day and saw one of his interviews in his Blackburn days - absolute comedy gold the way he shot down the guy interviewing him, Strachan was the same, but I don't think it's helpful in the long run.

[Kenny Kan]

Strachan often had me creasing up.

[damjan193]

Great arguments today lads. Really enjoyed reading.

Anyway, concerning Pepe. Good luck to him, he's been a great servant and will be remembered as one of the best goalies this club has ever had. Too bad he didn't have a chance to say goodbye to the fans in a proper way, and if the club really didn't tell him that they're planning to loan him, he has every right to complain.

However, he has only himself to blame for this whole situation. The club were wrong not to tell him that they're planning on loaning him, but the rest is his fault. I'm sure Pepe loves this club and the fans, but let's not kid ourselves, he would have left for Barca if they were seriously interested in signing him and I doubt he would have cared if we had no one to replace him.

The management did what had to be done. We couldn't afford to be played by him, he's not more important that the club, definitely not with the form he's been in in the past few season.

All the best Pepe, but please, don't blame our management for your situation. You reap what you saw after all.

[supersub]

Reina will be handsomely compensated with a Champions League winners medal at the end of the season.....had £20 on it last week at 66/1