Wow, thank god that cluster fuck of a season is over, the question is what the is collateral damage going to be? We are carrying more than the average dead wood, our local captain is leaving, and we have a manager who's more into his mid life crisis dolly bird than managing our team. Let me be honest, until today I was in the "give him one more year" camp... Today has tipped me into the "we need an experienced manager" camp.
Last season he dared bring up how Spurs squandered the Bale money, well sir, I think you've done more than twice the damage, well done. I'm not going to sit here and say we should get x million for him and y million for another. Because in all likelihood we are in a mire right now in more ways than one... what I will say is that Rodgers will be a very lucky man if Henry et al. Decide there isn't better options out there, and even if he does the objective for next season must be clear. Win a trophy or bust.
I do absolve him for any blame on the Sterling/Ward Gate saga, he's been backed into a corner and all he can pretty much say is "He's not for sale" to try and get as much as possible for him. Anything else said would lower the value of the asset.
Realistically the only players that should feel safe after this season are Coutinho, Can, Ibe and Henderson. Hardly the foundations to build upon is it? We could do a overhaul again this summer, boot 10 out, bring 10 in... but in all honesty that's not going to get us anywhere. Do we now accept we are at Tottenham's level and no more? I feel dirty just thinking about it... we deserve more.
The truth of the matter is this, we can't look back. All the people who are in bring Rafa back are deluded, here is a man who sold Xabi Alonso to get Gareth Barry... moreover Napoli are hardly setting the world on fire over in Serie A are they? If we do go for a new manager, we won't attract the likes of Ancelloti who would have a genuine chance of taking us forward, it's flattering to even be linked with Klopp to be honest, however money talks and Turkish clubs seem to throw money at managers these days.
Playing personal it's a similar story, we will be sat at the bottom of the table with the begging bowl, agents using us like some cheap whore to get any champions league first teamer a new contract or as bait to lure a bigger fish out of the water, step forward Vidal or Jese and we'll be sorely disappointed with each and every passing of an A list target, eager to point the finger at FSG, Ayres, Rodgers... delete as appropriate. We do have a chance however of getting players from these teams who are out of favour step forward Cech, Walcott.. players who would better our team no doubt, but unless we want to break the wage structure of the club, refer to my point above about disappointment.
Then there's the second tranche of players who are frozen out altogether from abroad, like Marc Bartha, or, Sami Khedira or Asier Illarramendi, would be welcomed with open arms here, but one look at a 6-1 thrashing and they'll be giving us a wide swerve.
So what can we expect this summer? In a word, more of the same as this year, players from Portugal, Holland and Ukraine etc... where they use clubs like Porto or Kiev like stepping stones, they see us as a stepping stone again, we aren't a final destination, and that is the stark reality here. Or we dip down a division, pick up the talent and hope one or two come off, step forward Bamford (albeit Chelsea owned) or Hughes from Derby.
Before the last half a dozen games of the season, I'd have said the following areas need to be a priority in this order, Keeper, Striker x 2, Central Midfielder and Right Back. Pretty much a spine if you take out the RB. It's just going to frustrate all of us being linked with world class talent but ending up with plan z or leftfield picks to fill positions if we stick with Rodgers.
Sorry if this seems like a ramble, I just wanted to put some thoughts down to fellow Liverpool fans and wanted to know your thoughts, but it does seem like we are further away than ever from getting #19, it could well be another 25 years of pain.
Last season he dared bring up how Spurs squandered the Bale money, well sir, I think you've done more than twice the damage, well done. I'm not going to sit here and say we should get x million for him and y million for another. Because in all likelihood we are in a mire right now in more ways than one... what I will say is that Rodgers will be a very lucky man if Henry et al. Decide there isn't better options out there, and even if he does the objective for next season must be clear. Win a trophy or bust.
I do absolve him for any blame on the Sterling/Ward Gate saga, he's been backed into a corner and all he can pretty much say is "He's not for sale" to try and get as much as possible for him. Anything else said would lower the value of the asset.
Realistically the only players that should feel safe after this season are Coutinho, Can, Ibe and Henderson. Hardly the foundations to build upon is it? We could do a overhaul again this summer, boot 10 out, bring 10 in... but in all honesty that's not going to get us anywhere. Do we now accept we are at Tottenham's level and no more? I feel dirty just thinking about it... we deserve more.
The truth of the matter is this, we can't look back. All the people who are in bring Rafa back are deluded, here is a man who sold Xabi Alonso to get Gareth Barry... moreover Napoli are hardly setting the world on fire over in Serie A are they? If we do go for a new manager, we won't attract the likes of Ancelloti who would have a genuine chance of taking us forward, it's flattering to even be linked with Klopp to be honest, however money talks and Turkish clubs seem to throw money at managers these days.
Playing personal it's a similar story, we will be sat at the bottom of the table with the begging bowl, agents using us like some cheap whore to get any champions league first teamer a new contract or as bait to lure a bigger fish out of the water, step forward Vidal or Jese and we'll be sorely disappointed with each and every passing of an A list target, eager to point the finger at FSG, Ayres, Rodgers... delete as appropriate. We do have a chance however of getting players from these teams who are out of favour step forward Cech, Walcott.. players who would better our team no doubt, but unless we want to break the wage structure of the club, refer to my point above about disappointment.
Then there's the second tranche of players who are frozen out altogether from abroad, like Marc Bartha, or, Sami Khedira or Asier Illarramendi, would be welcomed with open arms here, but one look at a 6-1 thrashing and they'll be giving us a wide swerve.
So what can we expect this summer? In a word, more of the same as this year, players from Portugal, Holland and Ukraine etc... where they use clubs like Porto or Kiev like stepping stones, they see us as a stepping stone again, we aren't a final destination, and that is the stark reality here. Or we dip down a division, pick up the talent and hope one or two come off, step forward Bamford (albeit Chelsea owned) or Hughes from Derby.
Before the last half a dozen games of the season, I'd have said the following areas need to be a priority in this order, Keeper, Striker x 2, Central Midfielder and Right Back. Pretty much a spine if you take out the RB. It's just going to frustrate all of us being linked with world class talent but ending up with plan z or leftfield picks to fill positions if we stick with Rodgers.
Sorry if this seems like a ramble, I just wanted to put some thoughts down to fellow Liverpool fans and wanted to know your thoughts, but it does seem like we are further away than ever from getting #19, it could well be another 25 years of pain.
