Guest writer Iain Anderson, of Why Say Anything fame, gives his take on Liverpool’s surprise decision to sack Brendan Rodgers after the Merseyside derby.
If Margaret Mitchell was alive today she would be proud. Proud of Brendan that is. He has decided that tomorrow is another day. He may have added that, frankly my dear, he doesn’t give a damn, but he probably didn’t.
His tenure at Liverpool was ended shortly after gaining a creditable draw against Everton at Goodison Park. No mean feat considering that the blue side of Merseyside was above the red side in the league and Liverpool made sure that the gap didn’t get any bigger.
Rodgers, however, was not sacked for this result. The timing of the dismissal says two things about Liverpool. The first is that this had been planned for a while. The second is that they have a replacement in mind, if not in Liverpool.
Taking the first point. Rodgers has been on thin ice since narrowly losing out on the Premiership to Manchester City. It was a general feeling that, under Rodgers, Liverpool would never get a better chance to win it. It wasn’t his fault that Steve Gerrard, Gerrard, he slipped on his arse, his arse. It also wasn’t his fault that Suarez wanted to go to Barcelona and eventually got his wish.
Where Rodgers was culpable though was in the way the Suarez money was spent. Players were brought in, it seemed, for the sake of bringing in players. At one point the Liverpool dressing room started to look like the Southampton dressing room. Dejan Lovren arrived, Adam Lallana, Ricky Lambert and Nathaniel Clyne followed him.
All of these had performed well for Southampton but, as Tottenham Hotspur found out, splashing the money received for one superstar on a few players doesn’t necessarily work. It is a nice thought, but doesn’t work.
On the second point, I doubt very much that Liverpool would sack their manager without having at least a verbal agreement with his replacement. It would be a strange action to take after eight games to then have to start the search for a new manager, so expect an announcement in days rather than weeks.
Brendan’s immediate reaction to his sacking was to fly out to Spain to flip through the Sur in English and see what was available in the managerial vacancies. He has always wanted to manage a club abroad and may now decide that the time is right. Read Brendan Rodgers’ full statement on his departure here.
He may get his chance at Real Sociedad, where David Moyes is proving that his failure at Manchester United was no fluke. Having been defeated by Malaga, Moyes can probably shelve the Spanish lessons for the time being. He has managed to learn how to count to four, so it hasn’t all been a waste of time.
In other news, Sunderland are looking for another sacrificial lamb as are the Uniteds of Rotherham and Dundee. It seems that the old OBE, (out before Easter), which was dreaded a few years ago has now gone and has been replaced by the OBEg, (out by eight games).
The one comforting thought for all football mangers, whether in work or not, is that it is one of the only professions where, when you get sacked because you are deemed to be no good at your job, somebody else will usually decide that actually, you are good at your job, and will employ you.
So, if any of you fancy a flutter on the managerial vacancies at Liverpool and Sunderland see what the odds are on a double of Sam Allardyce for Sunderland and Jurgen Klopp for Liverpool. Oh, and while you are at it, get the odds on the same two being employed by the same two clubs three years from now.