did we chuck the baby out with the bathwater?

[tony]

What difference would he have made Tony?

Who knows Rosco, who knows, but speculation and conjecture are the lifeblood of a football forum no?

As the defence wasn't a problem last season did he deserve to lose his job in the first place? - for me no. Would we have saved a shed load of cash by not sacking him - yes. Does he have a track record better than Colin Pascoe? - of course, what has Pascoe done to get the chance of a job at such a prestigous club?.

It seems madness to me to appoint an unproven coach at this level - such as Rodgers is - without at least trying to persuade him to work with some of the coaching structure already in place, particularly a highly regarded assistant such as Clarke, but so many things in football just don't make sense.

 

[Rosco]

I agree with you to an extent, I don't like how a change in manager necessitates a whole raft of coaching changes.
But I'm not sure Clarke would have made any difference to us.

I don't think he's making much of a difference with WBA either, most people credit Dan Ashworth with WBA's revival, so much so he's taking over some FA role soon.

 

[gkmacca]

I suspect he and Rodgers would have trodden on each other's toes. Both see themselves as coaches as well as managers, both are hands-on when it comes to training regimes. Then there's the added potential problem that their old Chelski relationship would have been reversed, with Clarke moving from Rodgers' boss to his assistant just when he fancied promotion. So I doubt it was ever a starter.

 

[tony]

I suspect he and Rodgers would have trodden on each other's toes. Both see themselves as coaches as well as managers, both are hands-on when it comes to training regimes. Then there's the added potential problem that their old Chelski relationship would have been reversed, with Clarke moving from Rodgers' boss to his assistant just when he fancied promotion. So I doubt it was ever a starter.

No doubt there is some truth in that, but as Clarke was sacked before any appointments were made, it may have been nice if he had been given that option

 

[Rafiagra]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

If Clarke had been given the manager's job after Kenny going, I'd have been going ballistic. At least Rodgers had some managerial track record.

 

[gkmacca]

Not much of one.

 

[Insignificance]

In all fairness, WBA doesn't have a system, so the whole debate is meaningless!

 

[Insignificance]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

If Clarke had been given the manager's job after Kenny going, I'd have been going ballistic. At least Rodgers had some managerial track record.

Reading and Swansea.... Both playing slightly better than Barcelona and repeatingly fighting for a top ten finish.... Just like his Liverpool.

 

[Ryan]

He was well-chosen to come here, and poorly-chosen to leave.

The anti-Dalglish then.

 

[Glen C]

I thought Kenny was offered a role upstairs but refused to take it. Anyway i can see why Clarke wasn't offered the managerial role because his previous attempts at being a manager failed big time. yeah WBA are doing good now, but who's to say that by january they're not in 15th place?

 

[gkmacca]

What previous attempts??? One match as caretaker at Newcastle?

 

[Insignificance]

What previous attempts??? One match as caretaker at Newcastle?

How hard can it be to win one game? Really...

 

[tony]

Yes we fucking did

 

[Buddha]

Yes we fucking did

I'm sure we'd all be delighted with that turgid shit every week. I'd rather at least try and win.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

I'm sure we'd all be delighted with that turgid shit every week. I'd rather at least try and win.

He played for a 0-0 draw and got lucky. That's definitely how we should be playing in every away game.

 

[Buddha]

He played for a 0-0 draw and got lucky. That's definitely how we should be playing in every away game.

Nah, I'd rather us play like we did against City (the Champions) and be unlucky to get a draw.

That kind of football would yield little over a season - and be utterly shit to watch.

 

[tony]

What the city who were stuffed by Southampton? look what he has at his disposal resources wise at wba - on paper our squad should be so much better. He was definately deserving a shot at it imho

 

[Rosco]

Yes we fucking did

Did we really?

Was it a tactical masterplan from Clarke that won out?

Or was it a load of missed chances from us (which we did while Clarke was here) and some good luck for WBA?

I can't tell you how stupid you are if you think Clarke is the reason we lost tonight.

 

[Buddha]

What the city who were stuffed by Southampton? look what he has at his disposal resources wise at wba - on paper our squad should be so much better. He was definately deserving a shot at it imho

There's a huge difference between grinding out turgid smash-and-grab displays with a West Brom squad against bigger teams - and managing a big club with expectations of trophies and attractive football. Just ask Hodgson.

 

[tony]

Did we really?

Was it a tactical masterplan from Clarke that won out?

Or was it a load of missed chances from us (which we did while Clarke was here) and some good luck for WBA?

I can't tell you how stupid you are if you think Clarke is the reason we lost tonight.

Anyone with half a brain could see how much better organised their side was, if you think Rogers is getting the best out of this lot you really are a mentalist

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

There's a huge difference between grinding out turgid smash-and-grab displays with a West Brom squad against bigger teams - and managing a big club with expectations of trophies and attractive football. Just ask Hodgson.

Why appoint Rodgers then?

 

[Rosco]

Anyone with half a brain could see how much better organised their side was, if you think Rogers is getting the best out of this lot you really are a mentalist

No, sorry you seem to think it was some genius plan by Clarke to get bummed for 90 mins yet sneak a result. Your a fucking moron if you think that was some sort of tactical genius by Clarke.

Like I always say, this game is about the players and ours are massively overrated by our own fans.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

this game is about the players and ours are massively overrated by our own fans.

Yup

 

[Hansern]

Steve Clarke is NOT the answer. They scored with 2 of their 3 shots on goal, we missed our 23.
And thats it really.

 

[tony]

Did we really?

Was it a tactical masterplan from Clarke that won out?

Or was it a load of missed chances from us (which we did while Clarke was here) and some good luck for WBA?

I can't tell you how stupid you are if you think Clarke is the reason we lost tonight.

Maybe not but if you couldn't see how they pressed all over the pitch and had Malumba destroying everything in midfield then you didn't watch the game. You didnt see Henderson struggling on the wing and Shelvey playing as a no10 ? . I don't remember THAT many clear cut chances we created. We need to face facts Rogers is tactically inept.

 

[juniormember]

I want Clarke to become our new manager and make us organised. So organised and in control of a game that we allow 25 shots on goal, including a penalty and can have zero shots on goal for 80 minutes of a game and three total shots on target overall.
That is exactly the type of footballing culture we should be looking to build here at Liverpool.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

To be honest, we missed the boat when we didn't take Roberto. Look what he does with players who aren't massively overrated by their own fans!

 

[gkmacca]

It was a big mistake not to bring in an ex-LFC player with real stature and authority to be an assistant, as happened with Thommo when Houllier arrived. Someone like Sami or Digger or even Nicol would have been ideal. They could have provided an inexperienced manager with invaluable support, taking some of the pressure off Rodgers while offering reassurance to the fans during a difficult period. But Rodgers only belatedly and halfheartedly, as a sop to such a tradition, promoted Mike Marsh, who is a good Red but seems to owe his presence more to the fact that he's no threat to Rodgers than to any positive contribution. Maybe ego dictated making himself so exposed but it's done him no favours. Would Clarke have done any better? Probably no worse, and would have surely been cannier with his comments and quicker to get his ideas on board with a set of players already familiar with his approach. But had he earned a chance? No. Had Rodgers? No. And that's what happens, 99 times out of a hundred, when a club like LFC takes such a gamble.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

It was a big mistake not to bring in an ex-LFC player with real stature and authority to be an assistant, as happened with Thommo when Houllier arrived. Someone like Sami or Digger or even Nicol would have been ideal. They could have provided an inexperienced manager with invaluable support, taking some of the pressure off Rodgers while offering reassurance to the fans during a difficult period. But Rodgers only belatedly and halfheartedly, as a sop to such a tradition, promoted Mike Marsh, who is a good Red but seems to owe his presence more to the fact that he's no threat to Rodgers than to any positive contribution. Maybe ego dictated making himself so exposed but it's done him no favours. Would Clarke have done any better? Probably no worse, and would have surely been cannier with his comments and quicker to get his ideas on board with a set of players already familiar with his approach. But had he earned a chance? No. Had Rodgers? No. And that's what happens, 99 times out of a hundred, when a club like LFC takes such a gamble.

The first part - yup, in hindsight, that should have been what we pursued. Barnes - Not so sure but Sami would have been an excellent choice.

The bold part - I don't know why Rodgers didn't do it, but I don't get why his ego is always the reason for his short comings. Maybe he just messed b/c he's human?

Last bit - fair analysis, and I hope we'll still Rodgers as that '1'! Gotta have faith.

 

[Rosco]

I want Clarke to become our new manager and make us organised. So organised and in control of a game that we allow 25 shots on goal, including a penalty and can have zero shots on goal for 80 minutes of a game and three total shots on target overall.
That is exactly the type of footballing culture we should be looking to build here at Liverpool.

To be fair to Tony, the above approach won us the Champions League