Is Brendan Rodgers enough of a problem to deserve the sack?

Yes

Becky Taylor

Yes, because all the reasons for sacking Brendan floating around now are not new issues. Giving him the benefit of doubt due to not being backed in the last window (which was a total shambles) and for the injuries, is a blinded view and doesn’t take into account his downfalls which have been present for a long time. 

It’s well documented that Rodgers has a two season window of good football and success at a club then he falls off, and his tenure here has been no different. You could argue he was pivotal in us bottling key moments during those two seasons too.

There's been so many question marks around his stubbornness, lack of plan B, mentality about the club, poor substitution decisions, and obsession with playing out from the back, to name a few; they were the complaints 18 months to 2 years ago and they're the same now, with a few additions. Not sure that's acceptable for a manager on his wages.

It is a cliché but I do believe your team is a reflection of the manager. The words predictable, lacklustre, and demotivated are 3 words that come to mind which are synonymous with both Brendan and the team themselves at the minute. 

He has allowed his current frustration with lack of funds for signings to bring out his self-preservation side again. When things are going poorly, his priority is seemingly to cover his own back rather than the team's, so he can line up another big contracted job to buy more Gucci belts, I assume. 

Throwing players, who are clearly lacking in confidence, under the bus in public doesn’t sit well with me either, do it behind doors and breath some energy and passion back into the place externally. I just don't think he's got it for us. 

Alongside that, some of the excuses are painful listens. How long can you be in an 'unlucky injury crisis' without looking internally? It was COVID, then the busy schedule, there must be more to delve into Rodgers' training regime. We used 18 players the year we won the league, a strength, now we've got about that many out injured! 

I challenge anyone to review our PL wins in 2022 and tell me they're not results papering over the cracks, it isnt nice reading and 2023 hasn't started much better.

We were sleep walking to relegation under Ranieri so made the decision to sack him, were ridiculed for it, but we were right to do it. It feels the same scenario again, but we've added in worse football than some of the really bad era of Puel-ball. From the outside it looks bizarre, I'll say it again: he's the best manager we'll have on paper, but it's come to a natural end and it'll benefit both parties for him to go. We just need change and a managerial change is the most visible change of ideas and feeling at a football club. 

No

Jordan Halford

Whilst Rodgers isn’t immune from criticism, sacking him would be a short-term fix to a long-term problem at a time when the club is at a huge crossroads and is in desperate need of stability to rebuild the squad.

His decision to make the injury-prone Evans captain and Albrighton vice-captain at the start of the season appears an odd one in hindsight and his public reminder that this squad needs investment might not fill an already depleted dressing room with confidence, but the problems at the club are not a mess entirely of Brendan’s making and his point is accurate.

He has been a victim of his own success reaching two 5th place finishes and spending the majority of both seasons in the top four when we had no right to compete with the ‘big six’ in terms of wage bill and transfer activity, but ultimately the squad depth meant we fell short after overachieving for two seasons.

He’s also won silverware in the FA Cup and Community Shield, had two campaigns in the Europa League and reached the semi-final of the Conference League, having lost Maguire and Chilwell and more recently Fofana and the influential Schmeichel without having the funds to reinvest in the squad sufficiently.

He is clearly a capable manager if given the tools to do his job effectively, but the money from departed players hasn’t been reinvested in an ageing squad and the board have allowed several players to run their contracts down simultaneously including two of his best players in Tielemans and Maddison.

Many use the growing wage bill and signings as a stick to beat him with, but he isn’t entirely culpable for incomings and he was also in charge for the arrival of Tielemans, Justin, Fofana and Castagne, who have largely been successful for the club. Perez and Praet haven’t been hugely impressive but there is potential in young players such as Soumare and Daka while the club still haven’t found a successful replacement for Mahrez despite signing Under and Lookman on loan.

King Power clearly have long-term plans for the club with the purchase of the new training ground and plans for stadium expansion and the model of selling one of your best players for a large fee has worked previously, however, Rodgers has not been able to replace them and could now lose his two best assets for free.

The arrival of Faes was the only signing in the summer, at just £15m, meaning we have spent the least net spend in the Premier League, compared to Newcastle (£211m), West Ham (£146m), Nottingham Forest (£143m), Wolves (£116m) Southampton (£66m), Aston Villa (£65m) and Everton (£31m) and combined with our injury record it is no surprise we are two points off the relegation zone.

His hands have been tied in this regard and while the amount of injuries under his tenure is worrying, most of these have been obtained in matches which simply cannot be legislated for. The club needs to back a manager sufficiently to rebuild this squad in the summer and given Brendan's track record at the club, I think he deserves the chance to do just that.

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