Manager and player of the month
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That would be " oh yes hey..." then.
I think you're right, I had a bit of a brain fart and couldn't think how to spell it.
Erm, Binny, your stats... It says the manager of the month wins 46% of the time in the first game after they've been awarded the trophy... that means 54% of the time they don't win the next game. So the majority of the time they DON'T win.
We're fucked.
We're fucked.
Brendan Rodgers is breeding hunger at Liverpool with food for thought
The manager says frank chats have led to amicable departures or to the development of attitudes he seeks at Anfield
Brendan Rodgers talks to Steven Gerrard at Liverpool training in the build-up to the trip to Swansea. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Brendan Rodgers returns to Swansea City on Monday evening, not for the first time as Liverpool manager but the first time as manager of the month, with a side at the top of the table at the start of the weekend and the Premier League's only 100% record.
"We've made a good start," he says. "But it is only a start. It is important to maintain the level we have set for ourselves and no one here is getting over-excited this early. I believe we can still play better and of course you don't need to tell me that you never get an easy game at the Liberty Stadium."
Waiting to meet Liverpool in south Wales will be Jonjo Shelvey, formerly of Anfield, a player who decided to take Rodgers' advice when he realised his opportunities on Merseyside would be limited. "Jonjo himself will tell you what happened," Rodgers says. "He wanted to know where he stood, so I told him. I said: 'Where you are at the moment is behind the captain of Liverpool and England, who plays in your position. So you can stay and pick up knowledge and experience but probably not play in too many games for the next couple of years or you can find a new club and play week in week out. Several clubs have expressed an interest in taking you but the one I would recommend is Swansea.'"
Shelvey listened, as did Pepe Reina when Rodgers told him he wanted more competition for the goalkeeper's shirt. "Pepe is a lovely guy and a very good goalkeeper but I didn't think he was being pushed hard enough," the Liverpool manager explains. "So I took him out for dinner and told him that. I explained that my whole coaching philosophy is based on hunger and competition and I didn't want anyone getting too comfortable.
"He had been at the club a number of years and done well but I didn't do anything underhand. I looked him in the eye and told him I was thinking of bringing in another goalkeeper good enough to be No1. He accepted that at the time. When he decided he wanted to go on loan to Napoli I never got the two No1s I had wanted but I still ended up with a good goalkeeper. Simon Mignolet had the hunger, he wanted to come here and prove himself and that's what I wanted to see. I was comfortable enough with the situation to let Pepe go. Looking at it from his position, it is a World Cup season and he needs to be on view."
Although a restaurant seems the perfect venue to debate whether or not a player is sufficiently hungry, Rodgers does not make a habit of booking tables to deliver bad news, otherwise he would quickly find himself dining alone. He simply likes to be up front and available for discussion when he has something to say. "One thing I'll always do with players is let them know what I am thinking to their face," he says.
"I won't wait six months to tell them what I know now. There's no point bluffing because I believe players appreciate honesty. One of the things I've learned in all my years of coaching is that not only are players human beings like the rest of us but that some of the biggest, richest and most famous names are actually quite vulnerable individuals. Because maybe 99% of people always tell them what they think they want to hear, they appreciate a bit of straight talking even if they don't always like it. I'm not saying you have to be brutal. It's not about being nasty or nice. But there's a way of dealing with people based on respect."
It is not only early results that suggest Rodgers may be on to something. The way Martin Skrtel played against Manchester United, after being dropped in favour of Kolo Touré then brought back from the cold as injury cover, suggested he, too, has bought into the competitive ethos the manager is trying to instil.
"I want fierce competition for places, I don't want a situation where players are comfortable," he says. "Martin never moaned once about being left out. He just made sure he was ready when the chance came and he was absolutely brilliant. That is exactly the attitude I am looking for."
The manager says frank chats have led to amicable departures or to the development of attitudes he seeks at Anfield
- The Observer, Saturday 14 September 2013 23.00 BST
Brendan Rodgers talks to Steven Gerrard at Liverpool training in the build-up to the trip to Swansea. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Brendan Rodgers returns to Swansea City on Monday evening, not for the first time as Liverpool manager but the first time as manager of the month, with a side at the top of the table at the start of the weekend and the Premier League's only 100% record.
"We've made a good start," he says. "But it is only a start. It is important to maintain the level we have set for ourselves and no one here is getting over-excited this early. I believe we can still play better and of course you don't need to tell me that you never get an easy game at the Liberty Stadium."
Waiting to meet Liverpool in south Wales will be Jonjo Shelvey, formerly of Anfield, a player who decided to take Rodgers' advice when he realised his opportunities on Merseyside would be limited. "Jonjo himself will tell you what happened," Rodgers says. "He wanted to know where he stood, so I told him. I said: 'Where you are at the moment is behind the captain of Liverpool and England, who plays in your position. So you can stay and pick up knowledge and experience but probably not play in too many games for the next couple of years or you can find a new club and play week in week out. Several clubs have expressed an interest in taking you but the one I would recommend is Swansea.'"
Shelvey listened, as did Pepe Reina when Rodgers told him he wanted more competition for the goalkeeper's shirt. "Pepe is a lovely guy and a very good goalkeeper but I didn't think he was being pushed hard enough," the Liverpool manager explains. "So I took him out for dinner and told him that. I explained that my whole coaching philosophy is based on hunger and competition and I didn't want anyone getting too comfortable.
"He had been at the club a number of years and done well but I didn't do anything underhand. I looked him in the eye and told him I was thinking of bringing in another goalkeeper good enough to be No1. He accepted that at the time. When he decided he wanted to go on loan to Napoli I never got the two No1s I had wanted but I still ended up with a good goalkeeper. Simon Mignolet had the hunger, he wanted to come here and prove himself and that's what I wanted to see. I was comfortable enough with the situation to let Pepe go. Looking at it from his position, it is a World Cup season and he needs to be on view."
Although a restaurant seems the perfect venue to debate whether or not a player is sufficiently hungry, Rodgers does not make a habit of booking tables to deliver bad news, otherwise he would quickly find himself dining alone. He simply likes to be up front and available for discussion when he has something to say. "One thing I'll always do with players is let them know what I am thinking to their face," he says.
"I won't wait six months to tell them what I know now. There's no point bluffing because I believe players appreciate honesty. One of the things I've learned in all my years of coaching is that not only are players human beings like the rest of us but that some of the biggest, richest and most famous names are actually quite vulnerable individuals. Because maybe 99% of people always tell them what they think they want to hear, they appreciate a bit of straight talking even if they don't always like it. I'm not saying you have to be brutal. It's not about being nasty or nice. But there's a way of dealing with people based on respect."
It is not only early results that suggest Rodgers may be on to something. The way Martin Skrtel played against Manchester United, after being dropped in favour of Kolo Touré then brought back from the cold as injury cover, suggested he, too, has bought into the competitive ethos the manager is trying to instil.
"I want fierce competition for places, I don't want a situation where players are comfortable," he says. "Martin never moaned once about being left out. He just made sure he was ready when the chance came and he was absolutely brilliant. That is exactly the attitude I am looking for."
Young though he is to be a manager, Rodgers has had twenty years of coaching experience. I reckon it shows in what he says there.
It's interesting to hear both Fergie earlier in the week & now Rodgers admit that players are actually emotionally vulnerable now.
I've mentioned before that ex players have tried to explain that to me, they are often completely reliant on the club & are in a hard to understand position of wealth but mental fragility.
I think understanding &, to a point, using that emotional state is key to helping players succeed.
I've mentioned before that ex players have tried to explain that to me, they are often completely reliant on the club & are in a hard to understand position of wealth but mental fragility.
I think understanding &, to a point, using that emotional state is key to helping players succeed.
The desire to establish real competition for each position is great, but I still don't think it would work for goalkeepers. Whoever you get as number two gradually deteriorates through lack of match practice. Look at Chelski and Cudicini - a really good keeper just faded away. And as we saw when Souey kept changing his mind about James and Friedel, keepers are much more flaky when they aren't settled. So I'm not convinced Rodgers is being entirely honest about Reina, I think he knew what he was doing and it wasn't encouraging him to fight for his place. Elsewhere, however, the changes have been great - Enrique's work rate shot up the first game after Rodgers signed competition for left back, so it's good to see.
The other point is that I don't think anyone is competing with SG for his place. He has basically said to Shelvey you've no chance of getting ahead of Gerrard for the next 2 years. Which is fine, because I can't see Shelvey being good enough to shift Gerrard in the next 2 years. However, I would like us to sign someone who puts SG under pressure, someone who can not only step in, but who is even preferred on occasion. Ferguson phased Scholes out over a bunch of seasons, and he wasn't playing 90 minutes every week by this phase of his career. I don't think SG should either, much as I think he's been excellent since Christmas.
I suspect we may see that next season.
I think keeping stevie completely on his side is essential for a least this season, we all know our captain fantastic can be a pissy little girl at times!
This will Hughes lad plays a similar role doesn't he? Him coming in January & playing a part next season may work.
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