Where do Leicester turn now? Potter?
You make some very valid points, FFS.
There have certainly been some good moments during the Rodgers reign. The football we played in the first 12 months of his tenure was, for the most part, fantastic. The way in which we played our game at ease and tore teams apart was joyous and the closest we have got to reliving the 15-16 season. And, of course, the FA Cup win was something that we had waited for so long to enjoy - he deserves credit for that.
I also agree that he is not the only culprit responsible for our decline. The financial situation at the club has been allowed to fester and get out of control, leading us to nearly breaching FFP. Yes, some of that is due to COVID and it's impact on KP, but the contract situation and devaluing of many key assets is something that was avoidable. The 2021 summer window was a disaster and the squad did need a refresh - Top's failure to manage expectations and tell us fans the truth about our financial situation sooner left us all thinking we would get a refresh that never game. If Rodgers was promised something that was not delivered on, he has a right to feel aggrieved.
This, I'm afraid, is where my sympathy for Rodgers ends. Over the past 18 months, he has led the club on an accelerated decline that leaves us on the brink of relegation. He has failed to get the best out of what is at his disposal and most players in the squad have regressed massively. His behaviour since last summer and selfish attempts to protect his own brand at the expense of club unity and has played a massive part in our slide towards the bottom of the league. He has talked down the players at every attempt, destroying their confidence and hiding his own inadequacies behind blaming everyone and everything else. His poor management and terrible tactics have just amplified all the bad things he has done off the pitch. As good as the first year or two were, the last 18 months have been disastrous and a warning to other clubs about the dangers of keeping a manager due to misplaced loyalty when they have clocked out and are in self preservation mode.
Is he a bad manager? No. But he's not as good as his travelling circus of sycophants in the media would like people to believe. He will do fine for a season or two and play some good football, but then he will destroy things when someone says no to him. One of the biggest barometers of judging a manager is whether they leave the club in a better position than what they inherited. For all the good football we played early in his tenure and the successful FA Cup and Community Shield wins, I don't think anyone can say he leaves us in a better place now than we were in 2019.
Will history be kind to him? I suspect the next 10 games will decide that. Stay up and people will emphasize the good parts of his reign over the negative. Go down and I suspect he'll join Peter Taylor in the chapter entitled 'managers who destroyed the football club'. Time will tell.
My overwhelming emotion today is relief. Relief that we no longer have to care what Brendan Rodgers does or says. Relief that the destructive last few months have been brought to an end, albeit several months too late. Relief that we now have a chance of survival when before there was none. I am happy that he has gone, and happy to have some hope and optimism again at long last.
Remains to be seen the outcome but to expect the coach to be CEO of the football club and parent group as well as 24/7 head of football operations was probably a stretch. The correlation of finishing position and spend in the EPL is pretty much a straight line. Always has, always will. A different manager may have managed a slightly better or worse end placing but the fundamentals were there for the inevitable relegation. A hope might be huge contact clauses in that event that reduces the outgoings.
Rodgers was at the end of his shelf life at Leicester a year or more ago. If he had went then his reputation would have been enhanced but not now. He's a guy that has always been able to coach a team to play good football but has struggled to keep his players on board longer term.
He could go to Spurs now and do well for 2 seasons and the same would happen which is why they will probably give him a miss. It's been his cycle at every team.
Leicester would do well to avoid Potter. His replacement did better than him, both of them have been lucky that Brighton are an extremely well run club that would make most competent managers looks like good ones.
We'll settle for a competent manager now thanks very much.
I'd wager Potter employed now would take Leicester down.
It’s a really good balanced assessment FFS. I personally don’t think the reason the club finances are in a mess is because of Covid though. There’s no doubt that’s impacted all football owners but FFP and poor planning are the driving factors behind our financial nightmare- not Covid.
FFP restricts football clubs outside of the top 6 who can’t rely on massive commercial sponsorship deals and global merchandise revenue. FFP means Top can’t just put his hand in and bail us out any time he likes - our wages to turnover revenue needs to fit within a certain ratio. That means a club like us has to earn money from European football qualification or cut its cloth accordingly. We didn’t do the last bit
After the failure to secure CL football in May 2021 (where all our troubles started), Top took a ludicrous gamble in breaking the financial model of selling a high profile asset and went on a net spend drive with high wages that meant we HAD to get European football last season to pay for it. We didn’t.
What we now have is the result of that stupidity - unable to spend money because we’re stuck with bang average players on massive wages - some of which we will lose for nothing cos we haven’t managed their contracts. On top of that we have created a situation where players don’t see their long term futures here and thus don’t care. It’s a perfect storm for relegation. We are in deep deep trouble and that’s not down to Covid
I personally don’t think the reason the club finances are in a mess is because of Covid though. There’s no doubt that’s impacted all football owners but FFP and poor planning are the driving factors behind our financial nightmare- not Covid
___________________________________________
I think the cause of the financial melt-down is nuanced 99. Covid has undoubtedly impacted our owners more than some, but the lack of leadership, the poor communication and the apparent inability to plan and execute the plan has seriously affected performance at all levels throughout the club.
As you say, Top gambled on European football and he lost. Instead of standing up and being counted and dealing with the issue head-on, he buried his head in the sand and hoped Rodgers would reach the oasis of PL safety. Unfortunately, it all appears to have been a mirage.
Leading in adversity is a challenge and one that neither Top nor Brendan have risen to with any degree of competency.
Yeah I totally agree with that - they are both devoid of leadership qualities
In regard to the original post, Rodgers has tarnished his record with his self-serving antics over the last year or so, so much so that I wanted him gone, which is an unusual position for me to take. He undoubtedly had to deal with a difficult financial situation that the club got itself into and consequent lack of transfers to support him but he has not covered himself in glory recently for sure.
One of the main reasons for me normally backing our managers is I don't like the idea that the Board panics and removes them without having a proper plan in place. Unfortunately they have done exactly that, it couldn't have been much worse. The signs have been there all season, they should have acted on 18 September after the Spurs debacle with us bottom of the League, having harvested only 1 point from the opening 7 games we were always likely to have a difficult season. We would probably have had Dyche in charge from that point and be comfortably mid-table by now.
Strangely, having waited all season for Rodgers to get the boot, which I would have been very happy with, once it became apparent that it was not going to happen I'd changed my mind and wanted him to see it out until after May when he could have been replaced.
The rationale here of course being that we had got to the stage where a new manager would simply not have enough time to make a difference. So in my view getting rid of him with less than 2 months and only 10 games to go is a crazy way to go about things. We're obviously stuck with it now so need to get behind the team from here on. I suspect it may be quiet tonight though once we go behind - here's hoping I'm wrong on both counts!
Having indicated my displeasure at Brendan over the last year or so, there is no doubt that he gave us an incredible period of success for a couple of years. For getting us a first FA Cup win alone he will get legend status.
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Rodgers - a case for the defence
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posted on 3/4/23
Where do Leicester turn now? Potter?
posted on 3/4/23
You make some very valid points, FFS.
There have certainly been some good moments during the Rodgers reign. The football we played in the first 12 months of his tenure was, for the most part, fantastic. The way in which we played our game at ease and tore teams apart was joyous and the closest we have got to reliving the 15-16 season. And, of course, the FA Cup win was something that we had waited for so long to enjoy - he deserves credit for that.
I also agree that he is not the only culprit responsible for our decline. The financial situation at the club has been allowed to fester and get out of control, leading us to nearly breaching FFP. Yes, some of that is due to COVID and it's impact on KP, but the contract situation and devaluing of many key assets is something that was avoidable. The 2021 summer window was a disaster and the squad did need a refresh - Top's failure to manage expectations and tell us fans the truth about our financial situation sooner left us all thinking we would get a refresh that never game. If Rodgers was promised something that was not delivered on, he has a right to feel aggrieved.
This, I'm afraid, is where my sympathy for Rodgers ends. Over the past 18 months, he has led the club on an accelerated decline that leaves us on the brink of relegation. He has failed to get the best out of what is at his disposal and most players in the squad have regressed massively. His behaviour since last summer and selfish attempts to protect his own brand at the expense of club unity and has played a massive part in our slide towards the bottom of the league. He has talked down the players at every attempt, destroying their confidence and hiding his own inadequacies behind blaming everyone and everything else. His poor management and terrible tactics have just amplified all the bad things he has done off the pitch. As good as the first year or two were, the last 18 months have been disastrous and a warning to other clubs about the dangers of keeping a manager due to misplaced loyalty when they have clocked out and are in self preservation mode.
Is he a bad manager? No. But he's not as good as his travelling circus of sycophants in the media would like people to believe. He will do fine for a season or two and play some good football, but then he will destroy things when someone says no to him. One of the biggest barometers of judging a manager is whether they leave the club in a better position than what they inherited. For all the good football we played early in his tenure and the successful FA Cup and Community Shield wins, I don't think anyone can say he leaves us in a better place now than we were in 2019.
Will history be kind to him? I suspect the next 10 games will decide that. Stay up and people will emphasize the good parts of his reign over the negative. Go down and I suspect he'll join Peter Taylor in the chapter entitled 'managers who destroyed the football club'. Time will tell.
My overwhelming emotion today is relief. Relief that we no longer have to care what Brendan Rodgers does or says. Relief that the destructive last few months have been brought to an end, albeit several months too late. Relief that we now have a chance of survival when before there was none. I am happy that he has gone, and happy to have some hope and optimism again at long last.
posted on 3/4/23
Remains to be seen the outcome but to expect the coach to be CEO of the football club and parent group as well as 24/7 head of football operations was probably a stretch. The correlation of finishing position and spend in the EPL is pretty much a straight line. Always has, always will. A different manager may have managed a slightly better or worse end placing but the fundamentals were there for the inevitable relegation. A hope might be huge contact clauses in that event that reduces the outgoings.
posted on 3/4/23
Rodgers was at the end of his shelf life at Leicester a year or more ago. If he had went then his reputation would have been enhanced but not now. He's a guy that has always been able to coach a team to play good football but has struggled to keep his players on board longer term.
He could go to Spurs now and do well for 2 seasons and the same would happen which is why they will probably give him a miss. It's been his cycle at every team.
Leicester would do well to avoid Potter. His replacement did better than him, both of them have been lucky that Brighton are an extremely well run club that would make most competent managers looks like good ones.
posted on 3/4/23
We'll settle for a competent manager now thanks very much.
posted on 3/4/23
I'd wager Potter employed now would take Leicester down.
posted on 3/4/23
It’s a really good balanced assessment FFS. I personally don’t think the reason the club finances are in a mess is because of Covid though. There’s no doubt that’s impacted all football owners but FFP and poor planning are the driving factors behind our financial nightmare- not Covid.
FFP restricts football clubs outside of the top 6 who can’t rely on massive commercial sponsorship deals and global merchandise revenue. FFP means Top can’t just put his hand in and bail us out any time he likes - our wages to turnover revenue needs to fit within a certain ratio. That means a club like us has to earn money from European football qualification or cut its cloth accordingly. We didn’t do the last bit
After the failure to secure CL football in May 2021 (where all our troubles started), Top took a ludicrous gamble in breaking the financial model of selling a high profile asset and went on a net spend drive with high wages that meant we HAD to get European football last season to pay for it. We didn’t.
What we now have is the result of that stupidity - unable to spend money because we’re stuck with bang average players on massive wages - some of which we will lose for nothing cos we haven’t managed their contracts. On top of that we have created a situation where players don’t see their long term futures here and thus don’t care. It’s a perfect storm for relegation. We are in deep deep trouble and that’s not down to Covid
posted on 3/4/23
I personally don’t think the reason the club finances are in a mess is because of Covid though. There’s no doubt that’s impacted all football owners but FFP and poor planning are the driving factors behind our financial nightmare- not Covid
___________________________________________
I think the cause of the financial melt-down is nuanced 99. Covid has undoubtedly impacted our owners more than some, but the lack of leadership, the poor communication and the apparent inability to plan and execute the plan has seriously affected performance at all levels throughout the club.
As you say, Top gambled on European football and he lost. Instead of standing up and being counted and dealing with the issue head-on, he buried his head in the sand and hoped Rodgers would reach the oasis of PL safety. Unfortunately, it all appears to have been a mirage.
Leading in adversity is a challenge and one that neither Top nor Brendan have risen to with any degree of competency.
posted on 3/4/23
Yeah I totally agree with that - they are both devoid of leadership qualities
posted on 4/4/23
In regard to the original post, Rodgers has tarnished his record with his self-serving antics over the last year or so, so much so that I wanted him gone, which is an unusual position for me to take. He undoubtedly had to deal with a difficult financial situation that the club got itself into and consequent lack of transfers to support him but he has not covered himself in glory recently for sure.
One of the main reasons for me normally backing our managers is I don't like the idea that the Board panics and removes them without having a proper plan in place. Unfortunately they have done exactly that, it couldn't have been much worse. The signs have been there all season, they should have acted on 18 September after the Spurs debacle with us bottom of the League, having harvested only 1 point from the opening 7 games we were always likely to have a difficult season. We would probably have had Dyche in charge from that point and be comfortably mid-table by now.
Strangely, having waited all season for Rodgers to get the boot, which I would have been very happy with, once it became apparent that it was not going to happen I'd changed my mind and wanted him to see it out until after May when he could have been replaced.
The rationale here of course being that we had got to the stage where a new manager would simply not have enough time to make a difference. So in my view getting rid of him with less than 2 months and only 10 games to go is a crazy way to go about things. We're obviously stuck with it now so need to get behind the team from here on. I suspect it may be quiet tonight though once we go behind - here's hoping I'm wrong on both counts!
Having indicated my displeasure at Brendan over the last year or so, there is no doubt that he gave us an incredible period of success for a couple of years. For getting us a first FA Cup win alone he will get legend status.
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