Premier League 23/24

[Blue Maniac]

I completely agree…and yet this bloke won the FA Cup. Imagine how much of a complete bastard you have to be to have fans boo you after achieving that.

Also managed the team to the biggest ever top-flight away win, got us to our first ever European semi-final, and humbled some of the best teams in the country during his time here. Bullied both Manchester clubs on their own turf. Smashed Newcastle up repeatedly. He did some extraordinary stuff with this club that we might never have seen otherwise. Sadly for his legacy at the club, the most outstanding was getting us out of the Premier League, for which I’d argue his leadership was largely responsible, but I think it’s fair to throw a good portion of the blame at the people above him who refused to have the difficult conversations with him until it was far too late to reverse the direction we were going in. I still maintain they were a year too late removing him.

The reality of the Brendan Rodgers we got is of extreme highs and lows, which in fairness to him is miles better than I expected. With the benefit of more than a year to reflect on everything, I believe my overall opinion of him has improved from before he joined us. Being a high-profile football manager is a much more difficult job than most fans have sufficient respect for, and BR didn’t necessarily make it easier for himself by playing the press game the way he does, but he had the club in a good position to make a real step up and he wasn’t backed the way he perhaps had a right to expect.

 

[camberwell fox]

Also managed the team to the biggest ever top-flight away win, got us to our first ever European semi-final, and humbled some of the best teams in the country during his time here. Bullied both Manchester clubs on their own turf. Smashed Newcastle up repeatedly. He did some extraordinary stuff with this club that we might never have seen otherwise. Sadly for his legacy at the club, the most outstanding was getting us out of the Premier League, for which I’d argue his leadership was largely responsible, but I think it’s fair to throw a good portion of the blame at the people above him who refused to have the difficult conversations with him until it was far too late to reverse the direction we were going in. I still maintain they were a year too late removing him.

The reality of the Brendan Rodgers we got is of extreme highs and lows, which in fairness to him is miles better than I expected. With the benefit of more than a year to reflect on everything, I believe my overall opinion of him has improved from before he joined us. Being a high-profile football manager is a much more difficult job than most fans have sufficient respect for, and BR didn’t necessarily make it easier for himself by playing the press game the way he does, but he had the club in a good position to make a real step up and he wasn’t backed the way he perhaps had a right to expect.

I can agree with almost all of that except the last sentence.

He had no right to expect financial backing due to him and his team completely ****ing yo their last recruitment drive.

 

[Brown Nose]

The club inexplicably made two horrific decisions after appointing BR as manager.

The first one was allowing BR to bring his mate Congerton in. That destroyed the separation of recruitment and management which had served us so well. From that moment on, our ability to buy wisely and sell high was ruined.

The second one was giving BR a disgusting new contract in Dec 2019. That totally changed the power dynamic at the club. From then on, BR was able to sack and recruit staff at will. He destroyed the analytical set up that was instrumental in our success. He wanted all the power and the club gave it to him.

BR continued to deliver on the pitch all the way through to winning the FA Cup in 2021. Yes, we bottled the top four twice, yes we messed up opportunities in the LC (v Villa) and made a total mess of the EL. But overall he made good use of the very good squad he had inherited.

However, because of those two appalling acts of self harm back in 2019, we were doomed. It all inevitably started to unravel. BR demanded money to be spent on himself, his support team, his preferred signings, etc. He wanted an extensive (bloated) squad. The club had never grown into a properly run top level football operation so the only people that could have intervened to stop our decline were either complicit (Rudkin) or stupid (Whelan and Aiyawatt).

By the time we did the sums and realised we were fecked, it was all too late. By the time BR realised he had spent it all and it was all going to shit, he had a choice. He could have walked and picked up a decent job elsewhere. He chose to stay until being sacked which was entirely about his own personal greed at the expense of the club. The club leaders were long since fecked whatever they did.

So how should we reflect on BR after that crazy saga? My view is that he saw an opportunity with a weak club without anyone who would challenge him and he took us to the cleaners quite deliberately. He couldn't give a shit about Leicester City. He was always only about Brendan Rodgers Ltd.

For that, I despise the man irrespective of him winning the FA Cup for us. I also equally despise Rudkin and Whelan for their absolute idiocy and incompetence. And I pity the pathetic Aiyawatt who was exploited by them all and continues to sign the cheques and wonder why every one he signs seems to be worth less than the last.

 

[Blue Maniac]

I can agree with almost all of that except the last sentence.

He had no right to expect financial backing due to him and his team completely ****ing yo their last recruitment drive.

I think should have had to answer some tough questions, such as what the **** is Soumaré, why is Ryan Bertrand here, why did you insist on Vestergaard when you clearly don’t know what he does, things like that. But I also don’t think he should have been given Sideshow Bob as an afterthought when it was too late to sign anyone better. Arguably he should have been kept out of recruitment altogether.

 

[homer]

The club inexplicably made two horrific decisions after appointing BR as manager.

The first one was allowing BR to bring his mate Congerton in. That destroyed the separation of recruitment and management which had served us so well. From that moment on, our ability to buy wisely and sell high was ruined.

The second one was giving BR a disgusting new contract in Dec 2019. That totally changed the power dynamic at the club. From then on, BR was able to sack and recruit staff at will. He destroyed the analytical set up that was instrumental in our success. He wanted all the power and the club gave it to him.

BR continued to deliver on the pitch all the way through to winning the FA Cup in 2021. Yes, we bottled the top four twice, yes we messed up opportunities in the LC (v Villa) and made a total mess of the EL. But overall he made good use of the very good squad he had inherited.

However, because of those two appalling acts of self harm back in 2019, we were doomed. It all inevitably started to unravel. BR demanded money to be spent on himself, his support team, his preferred signings, etc. He wanted an extensive (bloated) squad. The club had never grown into a properly run top level football operation so the only people that could have intervened to stop our decline were either complicit (Rudkin) or stupid (Whelan and Aiyawatt).

By the time we did the sums and realised we were fecked, it was all too late. By the time BR realised he had spent it all and it was all going to shit, he had a choice. He could have walked and picked up a decent job elsewhere. He chose to stay until being sacked which was entirely about his own personal greed at the expense of the club. The club leaders were long since fecked whatever they did.

So how should we reflect on BR after that crazy saga? My view is that he saw an opportunity with a weak club without anyone who would challenge him and he took us to the cleaners quite deliberately. He couldn't give a shit about Leicester City. He was always only about Brendan Rodgers Ltd.

For that, I despise the man irrespective of him winning the FA Cup for us. I also equally despise Rudkin and Whelan for their absolute idiocy and incompetence. And I pity the pathetic Aiyawatt who was exploited by them all and continues to sign the cheques and wonder why every one he signs seems to be worth less than the last.

Yep, having that

For the record I absolutely ****ing despise the complete bastard








Rodgers as well…

 

[glyn]

Also managed the team to the biggest ever top-flight away win, got us to our first ever European semi-final, and humbled some of the best teams in the country during his time here. Bullied both Manchester clubs on their own turf. Smashed Newcastle up repeatedly. He did some extraordinary stuff with this club that we might never have seen otherwise. Sadly for his legacy at the club, the most outstanding was getting us out of the Premier League, for which I’d argue his leadership was largely responsible, but I think it’s fair to throw a good portion of the blame at the people above him who refused to have the difficult conversations with him until it was far too late to reverse the direction we were going in. I still maintain they were a year too late removing him.

The reality of the Brendan Rodgers we got is of extreme highs and lows, which in fairness to him is miles better than I expected. With the benefit of more than a year to reflect on everything, I believe my overall opinion of him has improved from before he joined us. Being a high-profile football manager is a much more difficult job than most fans have sufficient respect for, and BR didn’t necessarily make it easier for himself by playing the press game the way he does, but he had the club in a good position to make a real step up and he wasn’t backed the way he perhaps had a right to expect.

Spot on for me. The FA Cup win was special and the football in those first two years was at times excellent. I just wish he’d left in 2021, which clearly would have been the best outcome for everyone.

 

[Blue Maniac]

The club inexplicably made two horrific decisions after appointing BR as manager.

The first one was allowing BR to bring his mate Congerton in. That destroyed the separation of recruitment and management which had served us so well. From that moment on, our ability to buy wisely and sell high was ruined.

The second one was giving BR a disgusting new contract in Dec 2019. That totally changed the power dynamic at the club. From then on, BR was able to sack and recruit staff at will. He destroyed the analytical set up that was instrumental in our success. He wanted all the power and the club gave it to him.

BR continued to deliver on the pitch all the way through to winning the FA Cup in 2021. Yes, we bottled the top four twice, yes we messed up opportunities in the LC (v Villa) and made a total mess of the EL. But overall he made good use of the very good squad he had inherited.

However, because of those two appalling acts of self harm back in 2019, we were doomed. It all inevitably started to unravel. BR demanded money to be spent on himself, his support team, his preferred signings, etc. He wanted an extensive (bloated) squad. The club had never grown into a properly run top level football operation so the only people that could have intervened to stop our decline were either complicit (Rudkin) or stupid (Whelan and Aiyawatt).

By the time we did the sums and realised we were fecked, it was all too late. By the time BR realised he had spent it all and it was all going to shit, he had a choice. He could have walked and picked up a decent job elsewhere. He chose to stay until being sacked which was entirely about his own personal greed at the expense of the club. The club leaders were long since fecked whatever they did.

So how should we reflect on BR after that crazy saga? My view is that he saw an opportunity with a weak club without anyone who would challenge him and he took us to the cleaners quite deliberately. He couldn't give a shit about Leicester City. He was always only about Brendan Rodgers Ltd.

For that, I despise the man irrespective of him winning the FA Cup for us. I also equally despise Rudkin and Whelan for their absolute idiocy and incompetence. And I pity the pathetic Aiyawatt who was exploited by them all and continues to sign the cheques and wonder why every one he signs seems to be worth less than the last.

I’m struggling to find anything here I particularly disagree with. I get the sense that we’re saying mostly the same thing in different ways. My take is he has an intense commitment to some misguided ideas and was given too much space to implement them before he’d really earned the appropriate level of professional trust. Then when he did do something to earn it, they tried very clumsily to take it back.

Few managers have true emotional ties to the clubs they work for, especially not those who have no long-term connection with their employer. In this era when managers or coaches or players are so often dispensed with for any or no reason, loyalty is pointless and of little value to anyone in the game. Even fans, as we’ve seen recently, sometimes don’t get much of it in return for their own. Genuinely, I don’t know why any employee of any club is ever expected to be infinitely loyal. Why shouldn’t they just treat every job as what it truly is: a career move?

 

[Fox Fan]

The club inexplicably made two horrific decisions after appointing BR as manager.

The first one was allowing BR to bring his mate Congerton in. That destroyed the separation of recruitment and management which had served us so well. From that moment on, our ability to buy wisely and sell high was ruined.

The second one was giving BR a disgusting new contract in Dec 2019. That totally changed the power dynamic at the club. From then on, BR was able to sack and recruit staff at will. He destroyed the analytical set up that was instrumental in our success. He wanted all the power and the club gave it to him.

BR continued to deliver on the pitch all the way through to winning the FA Cup in 2021. Yes, we bottled the top four twice, yes we messed up opportunities in the LC (v Villa) and made a total mess of the EL. But overall he made good use of the very good squad he had inherited.

However, because of those two appalling acts of self harm back in 2019, we were doomed. It all inevitably started to unravel. BR demanded money to be spent on himself, his support team, his preferred signings, etc. He wanted an extensive (bloated) squad. The club had never grown into a properly run top level football operation so the only people that could have intervened to stop our decline were either complicit (Rudkin) or stupid (Whelan and Aiyawatt).

By the time we did the sums and realised we were fecked, it was all too late. By the time BR realised he had spent it all and it was all going to shit, he had a choice. He could have walked and picked up a decent job elsewhere. He chose to stay until being sacked which was entirely about his own personal greed at the expense of the club. The club leaders were long since fecked whatever they did.

So how should we reflect on BR after that crazy saga? My view is that he saw an opportunity with a weak club without anyone who would challenge him and he took us to the cleaners quite deliberately. He couldn't give a shit about Leicester City. He was always only about Brendan Rodgers Ltd.

For that, I despise the man irrespective of him winning the FA Cup for us. I also equally despise Rudkin and Whelan for their absolute idiocy and incompetence. And I pity the pathetic Aiyawatt who was exploited by them all and continues to sign the cheques and wonder why every one he signs seems to be worth less than the last.

Totally agree. Brendan put himself first on every occasion and everything he did while at the club was only to further his own personal fortune.

Two specifics come to mind in that regard:
1. The spurious links to Arsenal that marked a total change in our form, but also gave him a huge new contract.
2. The inexplicable signing of Ryan Bertrand on a huge salary whilst represented by his son.

 

[M17TT C]

 

[camberwell fox]

Spursy, hilarious.

 

[Miles Away]

Love watching Spurs shit all over themselves.

 

[M17TT C]

These could be an outside shot for relegation next season imo, they've been terrible for a while now, as this proves:

 

[H T B]

These could be an outside shot for relegation next season imo, they've been terrible for a while now, as this proves:

Was their manager’s head turned with recent speculation?
A bit akin to BR here

Would Potter return?
Is this the job for BR?

 

[Robin127]

Is this the job for BR?

Tony Bloom is not stupid.

 

[fitz]

These could be an outside shot for relegation next season imo, they've been terrible for a while now, as this proves:

Yeah I'd not be too shocked to see them struggle.

 

[FOX Franks]

I don't know too much about this proposed spending cap but from what I read it it is simply a way to even further guarantee the success of the top 6.

If you're going to put a wage spending cap in... just do it properly. Don't let clubs inflate revenue to game the system.

State the wage cap is X for all clubs and then leave it.
Anything like this really needs to be agreed across Europe though doesn't it

Yes some players would leave to Al-Ahli or wherever... but for how long?

 

[M17TT C]

I believe this is a bit of a red herring anyway as teams would need to be within Uefa's squad cost rules in order to qualify for Europe - eg finish top 4 as you've spent a shit load but can't qualify for CL as you're in breach of Uefa's rules.

 

[M17TT C]

 

[FOX Franks]

I believe this is a bit of a red herring anyway as teams would need to be within Uefa's squad cost rules in order to qualify for Europe - eg finish top 4 as you've spent a shit load but can't qualify for CL as you're in breach of Uefa's rules.

5 times the TV revenue of the bottom club, when it's shared equally. Has anyone got easy access to what this actually means vs current wage expenditure?

 

[Blaarev]

5 times the TV revenue of the bottom club, when it's shared equally. Has anyone got easy access to what this actually means vs current wage expenditure?

Quote from The Athletic:

«If anchoring was in effect last season, the cap would have been £518million, five times the £103.6m that Southampton, who finished 20th, earned in centralised revenues, with Chelseaspending more than that on wages, amortised transfer fees and payments to agents, with Manchester City not far behind.

Unsurprisingly, the idea is far more popular with clubs further down the revenue table. They see it as a way to stop the league’s biggest earners from being able to outspend them at an ever-expanding rate. Without it, they fear the league’s already fragile competitive balance would be further eroded.»