Sean O'Driscoll
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Couldn't agree more, my main doubt about him is the fact that he's never had to deal with world class players and the egos that go with that talent. He has always been popular with players that have played for him and hopefully that continues but we have to hope that O'Driscoll isn't overawed by the job. For the record I think he'll adapt well but like you I have some doubts.
Surely FSG have to put some manners on Rodgers. From Pascoe and Marsh to two coaches of underage players, after the clusterfuck that was last season, is fucking ridiculous.
He really does, what excellent research again.
As for this move, it's baffling, unless as a coach he has something that's in tandem with what we want to do, but as you said, if he's another quiet one, then what difference is it going to make when you want a coach who will be fiercely competitive?
I guess alot of it is down to how you interpret our fall last season. Personally I think it was an accumulation of playing without a good attack and constantly inviting pressure for months and months, I think we just caved in in the end, but that's where you wanted a coach who would make us play a more compact, disciplined way and with the determination to take something from each game, in the end we just gave up, which is inexcusable.
[article=http://exiledrobin.blogspot.sg/2013/08/online-exclusive-interview-with-sean.html]3. We admired the passing football your Bournemouth and Doncaster teams played and hope for more of the same at City. Is the aim this season to play a more possession-based, fluid style of football?
The whole possession/passing thing is a bit of a misnomer. I’ve never coached passing; we aim to give players options on the ball, then coach decision-making. You can’t be predictable.
Sometimes passing it out from the back might be the right thing to do but why would you persist with doing that if your centre-halves or sitting midfield player then kept getting caught in possession in dangerous areas? If players are comfortable in possession and don’t lose the ball, like Xavi and Busquets, it’s an easy option to give it to them. But sometimes your keeper or centre-half spotting a striker has peeled off his man into a dangerous position in the channel, and playing the ball up to him, is completely the right thing. If you keep getting joy that way and you play 15-20 ‘long’ balls into that space, does that make you a long ball team or an intelligent one?
It sounds so simple but from the youngest ages players in this country have never been challenged to think and make decisions like that themselves, they’ve always waited for a coach to tell them what to do. What we try to say is ‘Here are your options, what do you think is the right thing to do and why?’ If they pick the right option and it doesn’t come off we will still applaud the decision making, but if they continually pick the wrong option then you’ve got a problem.
4. In interviews you’ve spoken about wanting "thinking" players and ones with the right "character". Could you expand a little on what you meant?
I’ve probably touched on this in the previous answer but I want to develop players and a team who understand what is being asked of them, and therefore can make their own decisions on the field of play; players who are prepared to take responsibility for the decisions they make. As I said before, we will never have a go at a player for trying something and it not coming off if it was the right thing to do at that time. If it was stupid, irresponsible and careless they won’t be afforded the same grace!
The more times you can create environments in training where people can take responsibility, the better the team will be. People who get that concept fly very quickly, and although they may not always be the most talented boy, they are your glue, the unsung heroes in a team.
In any walk of life you want characters around you that you can trust, even down to the most basic things like punctuality. Why should footballers be any different? It’s just basic professionalism.
6. Barcelona's Xavi was once quoted as saying "The result is an imposter." Do you agree? Is this a variation on your mantras "I don't look at the league table" and "focus on the process not the outcome"?
That is a fantastic quote and it is so right. My experience in 15 years playing was – win and all the things we did wrong didn’t matter, lose and all the things we did wrong were demonised. It wasn’t about how we’d played or what elements we could take from what we’d done well or poorly, and learn from them.
The process/outcome thing still gets misinterpreted by some people who think that, because you say you focus on the performance and not the result, you don’t care about the result or you’re not bothered about winning. Of course I’m bothered about winning! How can I not care about winning when I’m in a results-driven industry? But I have to understand the reasons behind every result. Then I can understand how we can improve and move things on, even in victory.
I’ve said it so many times but if someone can show me a way to play poorly every week and win I’d take it. But no one ever has so that’s why I focus on trying to make sure we tick all the boxes that make a good performance for our team, whatever they may be. The more boxes you tick, the likelihood is you’ll win more matches than not. You can still take positives from a defeat too.
7. The terminology you use in a lot of your interviews, like “processes and outcomes”, sounds like it comes from sports psychology, much of which can be traced back to Buddhist philosophy. Are you a big reader of sports psychology, a Buddhist, or perhaps both?!
I’m a big believer in trying to understand why successful people are successful, whether that’s businesses, sports teams or people, schools, anything. I’ve read so many things and the one thing that everyone concentrates on is the processes. I’ve read it time and time again; if the processes are right then they get the outcomes.
And I’ve experienced it with every club I’ve been at too. Surely it’s just common sense? Every successful business has concentrated on putting foundations in place first, but in football the minute you say those things so many people still roll their eyes and switch off; they just want to hear you’re going to win 6-0 and get promoted. It’s that favourite British football cliché “passion”; people who go on about processes and outcomes can’t be passionate right? But if you’re saying stuff with no substance to back it up what’s the point? You have to judge people by their behaviours and not what they say.
I can communicate with fans in loads of ways but if what I’m saying isn’t backed up by what I’m doing it’s pointless. I might not always get something right but I’ll always be the first to put my hand up and say ‘I got this wrong but this is why I did it’. It’s up to someone whether they then accept that or not.
We’re in an industry completely governed by results but because you know that, you might as well do what you think are the right things to do because you’re probably going to lose your job one day anyway. I believe the way this club is now heading is the right way. If I owned my own club this is the way I would take it. If that makes me an Irish-Black Country Buddhist then so be it!
8. "The most important thing in football is what a player is doing on a pitch when he's not in possession of the ball, not vice versa." So said Valeriy Lobanovskyi (former coach of Dynamo Kyev & the USSR). Do you agree?
The average Championship game is 94 minutes long and for 45 of those minutes the ball is out of play. One of the things we asked at Doncaster was ‘can we be the best team in the league for those 45 minutes?’ That has nothing to do with money, the size of the club or a player’s technical ability, simply whether they understood the value of switching on when the ball was not in play. For us it was an opportunity to win the ball back and we were very effective when we were in possession.
It’s one of those Moneyball type things. One of my biggest bugbears for years has been the number of goals conceded from throws in the final third; more chances come from throws than corners and free kicks because they are seen as innocuous, players switch off and don’t think marking from throws is important. But just watch how many times it happens!
One day one of the top coaches in the world will make this point and everyone will think it’s genius but we’ve been saying it for years. It’s such a simple thing to do – stay alert and concentrate on throws – it’s not difficult!
9. Historically City fans have enjoyed watching us play with a proper winger, even two at times, but your previous teams have not always included out-and-out wide men. Is this a personal preference or can we hope to see some skilful wing-play for the City this season?
Wade Elliott at Bournemouth and James Coppinger at Doncaster were probably the two most skilful wingers I’ve managed, but they had so much more to their game than simply hugging the touchline and waiting for the ball to come to them. They had the intelligence to switch sides in play without being told, come inside to find pockets of space, yet always had their basic winger instinct to beat a man to underpin all that too. They were wingers who understood what was needed in a fluid system. They weren’t one-trick ponies. The days of standing on the touchline have gone.
Even Wilfred Zaha, probably the most high-profile ‘winger’ in the British game at the moment has added so much more to his game, which has made him the real asset he is now. He always had pace and could beat a man but now he can switch wings, drop into midfield, play upfront – he better understands his own game, when he needs to defend and how he can contribute to the team effort.
You think traditional wingers and you picture immediately a 4-4-2 formation; we get so bogged down in formations in this country it’s untrue. What you want is flexibility and fluidity, intelligence and bravery. Get that in a wide man and you have got a good player.
10. Any memories of playing against City yourself, as a Bournemouth player in the 80s/90s? (Please don’t mention that 5-0 drubbing at Dean Court in 1985 when Colin Clarke scored a hat-trick in the first 10 minutes as we still have nightmares about that!)
I don’t have too many memories of playing against many clubs to be honest! I’ve just never been someone that reminisces about things; I’ve always been too worried about what’s around the corner that could bite you on the backside!
I remember an interview with Arsene Wenger when he recalled walking around the pitch having just won the title and going through the season unbeaten, and all he was thinking was ‘how am I going to better this next year?’ – while he’s on the pitch! That’s what it’s like and the minute you start slapping yourself on the back is the minute things start to slip.
As an opposition manager two of my best team performances have come at Ashton Gate with Bournemouth on a Tuesday night and the 5-2 win with Doncaster Rovers. But you enjoy those because of the performance and execution of gameplan.
One of my strongest memories of this club strangely was an FA Youth Cup game at Ashton Gate on a freezing Tuesday night when I was youth team manager at Bournemouth. We were down to ten men when James Hayter, who I later had in my Bournemouth first team and also took to Doncaster, scored the most magnificent Glenn Hoddle-esque chip from the edge of the 18-yard box to win the game. As for Colin Clarke, he was an excellent finisher, which taught me it doesn’t matter how good a team you are if you haven’t got a goalscorer you won’t be successful.[/article]
The whole possession/passing thing is a bit of a misnomer. I’ve never coached passing; we aim to give players options on the ball, then coach decision-making. You can’t be predictable.
Sometimes passing it out from the back might be the right thing to do but why would you persist with doing that if your centre-halves or sitting midfield player then kept getting caught in possession in dangerous areas? If players are comfortable in possession and don’t lose the ball, like Xavi and Busquets, it’s an easy option to give it to them. But sometimes your keeper or centre-half spotting a striker has peeled off his man into a dangerous position in the channel, and playing the ball up to him, is completely the right thing. If you keep getting joy that way and you play 15-20 ‘long’ balls into that space, does that make you a long ball team or an intelligent one?
It sounds so simple but from the youngest ages players in this country have never been challenged to think and make decisions like that themselves, they’ve always waited for a coach to tell them what to do. What we try to say is ‘Here are your options, what do you think is the right thing to do and why?’ If they pick the right option and it doesn’t come off we will still applaud the decision making, but if they continually pick the wrong option then you’ve got a problem.
4. In interviews you’ve spoken about wanting "thinking" players and ones with the right "character". Could you expand a little on what you meant?
I’ve probably touched on this in the previous answer but I want to develop players and a team who understand what is being asked of them, and therefore can make their own decisions on the field of play; players who are prepared to take responsibility for the decisions they make. As I said before, we will never have a go at a player for trying something and it not coming off if it was the right thing to do at that time. If it was stupid, irresponsible and careless they won’t be afforded the same grace!
The more times you can create environments in training where people can take responsibility, the better the team will be. People who get that concept fly very quickly, and although they may not always be the most talented boy, they are your glue, the unsung heroes in a team.
In any walk of life you want characters around you that you can trust, even down to the most basic things like punctuality. Why should footballers be any different? It’s just basic professionalism.
6. Barcelona's Xavi was once quoted as saying "The result is an imposter." Do you agree? Is this a variation on your mantras "I don't look at the league table" and "focus on the process not the outcome"?
That is a fantastic quote and it is so right. My experience in 15 years playing was – win and all the things we did wrong didn’t matter, lose and all the things we did wrong were demonised. It wasn’t about how we’d played or what elements we could take from what we’d done well or poorly, and learn from them.
The process/outcome thing still gets misinterpreted by some people who think that, because you say you focus on the performance and not the result, you don’t care about the result or you’re not bothered about winning. Of course I’m bothered about winning! How can I not care about winning when I’m in a results-driven industry? But I have to understand the reasons behind every result. Then I can understand how we can improve and move things on, even in victory.
I’ve said it so many times but if someone can show me a way to play poorly every week and win I’d take it. But no one ever has so that’s why I focus on trying to make sure we tick all the boxes that make a good performance for our team, whatever they may be. The more boxes you tick, the likelihood is you’ll win more matches than not. You can still take positives from a defeat too.
7. The terminology you use in a lot of your interviews, like “processes and outcomes”, sounds like it comes from sports psychology, much of which can be traced back to Buddhist philosophy. Are you a big reader of sports psychology, a Buddhist, or perhaps both?!
I’m a big believer in trying to understand why successful people are successful, whether that’s businesses, sports teams or people, schools, anything. I’ve read so many things and the one thing that everyone concentrates on is the processes. I’ve read it time and time again; if the processes are right then they get the outcomes.
And I’ve experienced it with every club I’ve been at too. Surely it’s just common sense? Every successful business has concentrated on putting foundations in place first, but in football the minute you say those things so many people still roll their eyes and switch off; they just want to hear you’re going to win 6-0 and get promoted. It’s that favourite British football cliché “passion”; people who go on about processes and outcomes can’t be passionate right? But if you’re saying stuff with no substance to back it up what’s the point? You have to judge people by their behaviours and not what they say.
I can communicate with fans in loads of ways but if what I’m saying isn’t backed up by what I’m doing it’s pointless. I might not always get something right but I’ll always be the first to put my hand up and say ‘I got this wrong but this is why I did it’. It’s up to someone whether they then accept that or not.
We’re in an industry completely governed by results but because you know that, you might as well do what you think are the right things to do because you’re probably going to lose your job one day anyway. I believe the way this club is now heading is the right way. If I owned my own club this is the way I would take it. If that makes me an Irish-Black Country Buddhist then so be it!
8. "The most important thing in football is what a player is doing on a pitch when he's not in possession of the ball, not vice versa." So said Valeriy Lobanovskyi (former coach of Dynamo Kyev & the USSR). Do you agree?
The average Championship game is 94 minutes long and for 45 of those minutes the ball is out of play. One of the things we asked at Doncaster was ‘can we be the best team in the league for those 45 minutes?’ That has nothing to do with money, the size of the club or a player’s technical ability, simply whether they understood the value of switching on when the ball was not in play. For us it was an opportunity to win the ball back and we were very effective when we were in possession.
It’s one of those Moneyball type things. One of my biggest bugbears for years has been the number of goals conceded from throws in the final third; more chances come from throws than corners and free kicks because they are seen as innocuous, players switch off and don’t think marking from throws is important. But just watch how many times it happens!
One day one of the top coaches in the world will make this point and everyone will think it’s genius but we’ve been saying it for years. It’s such a simple thing to do – stay alert and concentrate on throws – it’s not difficult!
9. Historically City fans have enjoyed watching us play with a proper winger, even two at times, but your previous teams have not always included out-and-out wide men. Is this a personal preference or can we hope to see some skilful wing-play for the City this season?
Wade Elliott at Bournemouth and James Coppinger at Doncaster were probably the two most skilful wingers I’ve managed, but they had so much more to their game than simply hugging the touchline and waiting for the ball to come to them. They had the intelligence to switch sides in play without being told, come inside to find pockets of space, yet always had their basic winger instinct to beat a man to underpin all that too. They were wingers who understood what was needed in a fluid system. They weren’t one-trick ponies. The days of standing on the touchline have gone.
Even Wilfred Zaha, probably the most high-profile ‘winger’ in the British game at the moment has added so much more to his game, which has made him the real asset he is now. He always had pace and could beat a man but now he can switch wings, drop into midfield, play upfront – he better understands his own game, when he needs to defend and how he can contribute to the team effort.
You think traditional wingers and you picture immediately a 4-4-2 formation; we get so bogged down in formations in this country it’s untrue. What you want is flexibility and fluidity, intelligence and bravery. Get that in a wide man and you have got a good player.
10. Any memories of playing against City yourself, as a Bournemouth player in the 80s/90s? (Please don’t mention that 5-0 drubbing at Dean Court in 1985 when Colin Clarke scored a hat-trick in the first 10 minutes as we still have nightmares about that!)
I don’t have too many memories of playing against many clubs to be honest! I’ve just never been someone that reminisces about things; I’ve always been too worried about what’s around the corner that could bite you on the backside!
I remember an interview with Arsene Wenger when he recalled walking around the pitch having just won the title and going through the season unbeaten, and all he was thinking was ‘how am I going to better this next year?’ – while he’s on the pitch! That’s what it’s like and the minute you start slapping yourself on the back is the minute things start to slip.
As an opposition manager two of my best team performances have come at Ashton Gate with Bournemouth on a Tuesday night and the 5-2 win with Doncaster Rovers. But you enjoy those because of the performance and execution of gameplan.
One of my strongest memories of this club strangely was an FA Youth Cup game at Ashton Gate on a freezing Tuesday night when I was youth team manager at Bournemouth. We were down to ten men when James Hayter, who I later had in my Bournemouth first team and also took to Doncaster, scored the most magnificent Glenn Hoddle-esque chip from the edge of the 18-yard box to win the game. As for Colin Clarke, he was an excellent finisher, which taught me it doesn’t matter how good a team you are if you haven’t got a goalscorer you won’t be successful.[/article]
The quotes that Binny has helpfully posted make me feel a little more optimistic, but I am confused as to why Pascoe was sacked - I assumed it was to address the lack of winning experience in the coaching side of things. If it wasn't, then why was he binned?
I'm always a bit suspicious of this sort of talk. It smacks too much of self-help books, management speak and seminars. I'd say at the top what you coach best are good habits. It's not a game played in slow motion. Decisions are largely instinctual (or rather, they become instinctual). On the training pitch some coaches can spend so much time telling players to consider their options, but that's one reason why, in a game, they're caught thinking and lose the ball. It's weirdly reminiscent of early Enlightenment rationalists thinking every single decision needed some elaborate thought process to be legitimate. It's a fast, fast, game at the top. It's no accident that Wenger (spit, vomit) concentrates so much on timing his players' passing. They're good players, they should know about their options. One of our problems last season was how painfully slow we were in building any attack: you could almost SEE them thinking about their options. Sometimes coaches, like TV pundits, spend so much time gazing at slo-mo replays they forget the reality of a match situation, when nano-seconds are all you have to do or not do anything.
The other misleading thing is O'Driscoll's comment about teams 'don't win by playing poorly'. No, nearly always, they don't. But that's a false dichotomy. A Pulis team doesn't play 'poorly' as such - it just doesn't play as Rodgers or O'Driscoll would be satisfied with their team playing. And it's the likes of Pulis who often outwit the likes of Rodgers and O'Driscoll. Which is why fans will be so enraged if either of them comes out with anything like 'we outplayed them'/'dominated possession'/played some really good stuff' after losing to such a side. No style of play wins you games if the players don't get it right. By encouraging people to think in terms of 'playing well' and 'playing poorly' he's deluding them and himself. That really isn't the issue. It's beating another team, playing well in their different style. That's where we've been failing.
No, I mean in terms of cheap to get shut of along with Rodgers if they need bring in a new manager with his own people.
If this was about money, they should have kept the two they fired a few weeks ago.
What Gerry said.
The precedent, I guess, is when Roy Evans was promoted to assistant manager to Souey, when the alternative was Souey getting the sack. Things picked up for a while after that and Evans got all the praise as a consequence. If things improve now - and obviously we all hope they do - it will be interesting to see how Brendan copes with the inevitable laudatory reviews O'Driscoll will get.
Weird timing for this. He seemed very practical in that last interview (Thanks @King Binny). Even mentioning going long 15-20 times a game if it was going to take advantage of the other team's weakness and keep you from exposing yours. It was a refreshing read. Pragmatism is something Rodgers doesn't have.
He's basically saying he wants them to learn what is the right thing to do most of the time. I.E. Correct them when they make the wrong decision. Praise them when they make the right decision, even if it doesn't come off.
I partly agree, but I figure they had to change something after the end of last season.
All of the steps they're taking seem like half measures to me. If you accept that we're selling sterling than they've laid out no real cash whatsoever & said nothing in support of Rodgers. They've replaced the assistant manager with another of his choices, who doesn't threaten him in anyway & would be relatively cheap to ditch.
I just don't see anything that convinces me they see Rodgers as worthy of backing or our long term manager, & it just strikes me as indecision or a lack of cohesive clinical strategy.
Perhaps I'm wrong, it's all supposition of course.
BOOM! There. That is the seal of approval I was hoping / waiting to see.
I had been doing a bit of reading around when I saw the news earlier today, and I think almost everything I'd read from the fans of clubs he'd been at (and maybe some neutrals as well) seemed positive, approving and supportive of him, even in periods when he wasn't getting results and getting sacked. Some of those interviews / writings have been shared by the King above.
So now, Ings and O'Driscoll have the blessings of the Pesam. That's good enough for me!
Studsup, a rich Nigerian uncle of mine left me a lot of money and.................................................🙂
There was clearly a brief in May by the FSG President to the press that Rodgers job wasnt up for discussion, wasn't there?
What more needs to be said?
They've laid out more cash than pretty much everyone bar the Sheiks since they arrived, and we clocked up losses of 50m, 49m etc
I think it's the opposite of what you say, Rodgers job never being under threat is as decisive as you can be. Installing coaches like O'driscoll who a) see the game the way statistically inclined people do and b) who Rodgers rates and can work with couldn't be anymore well thought out, clinical and supportive of Rodgers.
For too long people want to see divisions within the club that may not be there, it started under Rafa. There don't appear to be any divisions now, it looks like the entire club is working together forma change. Maybe we'll get somewhere now
What more needs to be said?
They've laid out more cash than pretty much everyone bar the Sheiks since they arrived, and we clocked up losses of 50m, 49m etc
I think it's the opposite of what you say, Rodgers job never being under threat is as decisive as you can be. Installing coaches like O'driscoll who a) see the game the way statistically inclined people do and b) who Rodgers rates and can work with couldn't be anymore well thought out, clinical and supportive of Rodgers.
For too long people want to see divisions within the club that may not be there, it started under Rafa. There don't appear to be any divisions now, it looks like the entire club is working together forma change. Maybe we'll get somewhere now
The money spent or made available for Milner, Ings, Clyne, and Benteke says otherwise.
Exactly. I was saying this just before. It's become clear there was never any serious doubt about his position in the first place.
Not that I can see. I think part of the reason for that could be because the first 4 games he handled came a month after he got appointed - the first qualifying rounds in October for the 2015 Euro U19 Championship. Right after that was a friendly against Italy in November. Given that the U18s/U21s schedules don't kick off until around September / October I think, he's probably had to go into the qualifiers with the team that was left to him by Noel Blake and not have the chance to scout around for others.
England U19s won their 3 games and qualified for the Elite Round in late March this year, so that was the time to bring in some of our lads if he deemed them good enough. However, none of our lads were picked again. Maybe it's got to do with him sticking with the guys who got them to that stage. Rossiter and Kent were injured or fresh back from injury (in Kent's case) during that period anyway. Ojo still plays for the England U18s and Jones is overage for the England U19s (Ibe and him play for the U20s). So I suppose the ones missing out on call ups are Sinclair and Brannagan.
Arguably that's the way it should be.
If we're going to change manager every time things don't quite go to plan then we'll get nowhere.
Regional newspaper Western Daily Press:
[article=http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/O-Driscoll-set-join-staff-Liverpool/story-26807108-detail/story.html#ixzz3ebqHDr7Y ]Former Bristol City boss Sean O'Driscoll is set to join Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers' coaching staff at Anfield.
The 57-year-old, who is currently the England Under-19 manager, had spells in charge at Nottingham Forest, Doncaster, Bournemouth and Crawley before his period in charge at Ashton Gate when he was unable to arrest City's slide out of the Championship in 2013.
It is believed O'Driscoll has been offered a role on the coaching staff, although his exact position is yet to be confirmed, and while there are still a number of matters to be finalised the move is likely to happen.
O'Driscoll is understood to have found it a difficult decision to leave the international set-up, where he has been since last September, but felt working alongside Rodgers presented a huge opportunity.
Liverpool sacked assistant manager Colin Pascoe earlier this month and did not renew the contract of first-team coach and former player Mike Marsh as a result of a robust end-of-season review which examined why the Reds failed to retain their Champions League status in finishing sixth.
O'Driscoll has a good relationship with Rodgers, having visited the club's Melwood training ground to observe some of his coaching sessions, and shares a similar philosophy to the Reds boss.
Liverpool are also expected to promote highly-rated academy coach Pepijn Lijnders from the under-16s team before the start of pre-season next week.[/article]
[article=http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/O-Driscoll-set-join-staff-Liverpool/story-26807108-detail/story.html#ixzz3ebqHDr7Y ]Former Bristol City boss Sean O'Driscoll is set to join Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers' coaching staff at Anfield.
The 57-year-old, who is currently the England Under-19 manager, had spells in charge at Nottingham Forest, Doncaster, Bournemouth and Crawley before his period in charge at Ashton Gate when he was unable to arrest City's slide out of the Championship in 2013.
It is believed O'Driscoll has been offered a role on the coaching staff, although his exact position is yet to be confirmed, and while there are still a number of matters to be finalised the move is likely to happen.
O'Driscoll is understood to have found it a difficult decision to leave the international set-up, where he has been since last September, but felt working alongside Rodgers presented a huge opportunity.
Liverpool sacked assistant manager Colin Pascoe earlier this month and did not renew the contract of first-team coach and former player Mike Marsh as a result of a robust end-of-season review which examined why the Reds failed to retain their Champions League status in finishing sixth.
O'Driscoll has a good relationship with Rodgers, having visited the club's Melwood training ground to observe some of his coaching sessions, and shares a similar philosophy to the Reds boss.
Liverpool are also expected to promote highly-rated academy coach Pepijn Lijnders from the under-16s team before the start of pre-season next week.[/article]
Aha, that makes sense, thanks.
The BBC seem excited.
O'Driscoll factfile
O'Driscoll played for Fulham and Bournemouth. Won three caps for the Republic of Ireland
Started managerial career at Bournemouth in 2000, leading them to one relegation and one promotion
Took over Championship side Bristol City at the start of 2013 but left with the club bottom of League One in November
Was named England Under-19 boss in September but failed to get them into the European Championship
O'Driscoll factfile
O'Driscoll played for Fulham and Bournemouth. Won three caps for the Republic of Ireland
Started managerial career at Bournemouth in 2000, leading them to one relegation and one promotion
Took over Championship side Bristol City at the start of 2013 but left with the club bottom of League One in November
Was named England Under-19 boss in September but failed to get them into the European Championship
It seems as though every move the club makes these days is frowned upon by sceptical 'supporters'. Shouldn't 'supporters' be changed to 'critics'.
Now I don't know if this new guy is competent or not, as only time will tell, but the club must see something in him and so giving him a little breathing space to prove himself doesn't seem unreasonable.
Given that Rodgers is being given a last chance I'm sure he's thought long and hard about everything he's doing, I doubt he's rolling the dice needlessly.
Now I don't know if this new guy is competent or not, as only time will tell, but the club must see something in him and so giving him a little breathing space to prove himself doesn't seem unreasonable.
Given that Rodgers is being given a last chance I'm sure he's thought long and hard about everything he's doing, I doubt he's rolling the dice needlessly.
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