Brendan Rogers

[floyd__streete]

In short, Rodgers was the master of his own downfall here. He left us having secured six wins in 23 games, was overseer of some clueless performances which were the result of either bad tactical decisions or sending out totally inadequate teams (Gunnarsson and Cisse as a midfield pairing with Mills, Ingimarsson and O'Dea at the back? No wonder we lost 4-1 and were completely overrun ). He spent significant sums on players who either underperformed or were dropped completely when they questioned what exactly they were supposed to be doing. And on top of that he didn't enamour himself with the club's board. Regardless what anybody says, if you don't have the full support of the board in any job, you're skating on thin ice. The board will win every time.

Spot on. You could also have mentioned the Frank Lampard 'Football Doctor' fiasco, as well as employing Stone Cold Dean Austin as his assistant. Notice how neither of this pair rolled up at Swansea with him.

[Muskrat]

Frank Lampard Snr - Football Consuloltant Need we say more?

[sandman]

Thats a bit one-sided Handbags. Rodgers came in at a time when the club was on a downer after a dismal end to the previous season where we couldn't borrow a win at home for love nor money. We lost in Kevin Doyle our best player and Bikey and Hunt as well.
He did try and change far too much too quickly and making Pearce his captain was two years too soon...but he realised Siggy was ready(Coppell may not have) and the signings of Bertrand and Cummings should have worked...just feel their pace. With Pearce and Mills at centre-back we should have been sorted in defence. With Siggy pulling the strings in midfield and McAnuff a very decent signing we had (with Kebe) two good wingers. At the time Long wasn't firing nor really were Church and Rasiak but I don't believe Rodgers was far away from getting it right.....and he was only given five months.

Two issues:

He had no idea how to deploy Gylfi in the structure of the team. Perhaps if he'd have listened to his Chief scout instead of Christine Bleakley's match day advisor and Stone Cold he'd have realised he needed to build the team around Gylfi - as McDermott did - instead of accomodating the likes of Howard and Matejovsky. In that fateful last game against Scunny the player who was the main reason we turned our season around spent most of his time playing right wing making it very difficult for Gylfi to "pull the strings".

Cummings was ruined by Rodgers at West Brom when he was hung out to dry against Jerome Thomas. He should've been given protection that day and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Rodgers almost ruined the lads career at this club and possibly beyond.

[Only one Trevor Morley]

No one has mentioned the Tommy Smith fiasco - that more than anything else showed that he wasnt in the reading mould. Reading tend to keep their views private and say things collectively (Hammond, Coppell and Mcdermotte all have similar styles when commenting on transfers). But for Rodgers its all about him - which is why he gave that running narrative ending in disaster... his dealings with the media are all around 'I' rather than the team.

also he was tinkerman - unable to keep the same side in virtually any match even on the rare occasions we played ok. Why? Becaase his ego told him only he could sort out the problem and the players were disposable pawns in his quest to get us playing the beatiful game. and when you look at his comments (particularly in the play off final programme) its clear he doesnt shoulder much responsibility for where we were in Dec 09 - not enough time and resistance to change were what he referred to. rather than seeing he only has one blueprint and he is spent if that doesnt work.

Mcdermott has shown his ability to get the best out of players who have disappointed for other managers(Long) to channel the efforts of those with somewhat suspect tempremant (Mills) and to even rehabilitate the cast offs (Cummings). People forget that Long was 4th choise striker when Rodgers left and people still did the circus theme tune when Kebe had the ball. Mcdermott has the gift of making things simple. Thats what reading are good at making good things simple. We'll always be happier with flying wingers and the traditional 4-4-2 of 4-5-1. and nothing wrong with that - its delivered us 106, 8th in Premiership, two addtional play offs and two quarter finals.

[DOYLERSAROYALER]

Frank Lampard Snr - Football Consuloltant Need we say more?

...aka a free meal ticket ! I note the he hasnt found another cushy role like that one since ....glad to see the Swansea board didnt fall for it though and let BR bring in someone for 2/3 days a week on no doubt decent "consultancy" fees and who prefeered to watch his son play at Stamford Bridge than attend all the Reading games.....

.

[Vision]

I can see both sides with regards the Rodgers' argument.

I generally think that if you are going to employ an inexperienced manager at a time of inevitable change then unless he's a complete disater then he needs to be given more time than he got and you have to accept that his inexperience will lead to some errors of judgement. We'll never know but I don't think we'd have been relegated that season if he'd stayed and who knows what situation we'd be in now. That season was always going to be a struggle to begin with mainly due to the inevitable turnaround in playing staff and I'm not sure McDermott would have fared much better under the same circumstances.

Having said that BR did show a horrendous lack of judgement in many areas. Saying half a dozen games into the season it was still "pre-season" instantly pushed panic buttons for me. His choice of backroom staff was really bizarre. He had a major asset in Gylffi who he marginalised somewhat by playing him out on the left. Players who would subsequently become hugely influential were left out altogether (Mills,Kebe,Long). Finally the simple fact that he says he didnt realise he was under pressure for his job despite our perilous league position at the time beggars belief really.

No-one really comes out that period with much credit I'm afraid and its one of the few times when the club just seemed to get it wrong. What has happened to us since would suggest that they took the right course of action in the end but for me personally I cant shake the feeling that he should have been given more time than he was

[Archie's penalty]

Not much to add here but his 'me, me, me' attitude was what really grated.

I think I could have taken the bad results, he just got up my nose.

Fully expecting him to get his comeuppance in the prem.

[DOYLERSAROYALER]

I can see both sides with regards the Rodgers' argument.

I generally think that if you are going to employ an inexperienced manager at a time of inevitable change then unless he's a complete disater then he needs to be given more time than he got and you have to accept that his inexperience will lead to some errors of judgement. We'll never know but I don't think we'd have been relegated that season if he'd stayed and who knows what situation we'd be in now. That season was always going to be a struggle to begin with mainly due to the inevitable turnaround in playing staff and I'm not sure McDermott would have fared much better under the same circumstances.

Having said that BR did show a horrendous lack of judgement in many areas. Saying half a dozen games into the season it was still "pre-season" instantly pushed panic buttons for me. His choice of backroom staff was really bizarre. He had a major asset in Gylffi who he marginalised somewhat by playing him out on the left. Players who would subsequently become hugely influential were left out altogether (Mills,Kebe,Long). Finally the simple fact that he says he didnt realise he was under pressure for his job despite our perilous league position at the time beggars belief really.

No-one really comes out that period with much credit I'm afraid and its one of the few times when the club just seemed to get it wrong. What has happened to us since would suggest that they took the right course of action in the end but for me personally I cant shake the feeling that he should have been given more time than he was

Agree - backroom staff that he pulled out of Watford to take to Reading but obviously didnt believe in them enough to appoint at Swansea when he got job there......

[Svlad Cjelli]

What really led to his downfall was the fact that he wouldn't take any advice or accept any compromise. Everything had to be done exactly his way - full stop.

That wind's people up and one by one he lost his allies and pissed too many people off - the RFC "team" ethic isn't just in the team, it's across the whole club, so that was a major culture change for everyone and most didn't like it.

That kind of "my way or no way" attitude is tolerated as long as you're getting results ... when you're not it leads to problems.

[Royal Lady]

^^ Do you think he is still like this at Swansea? If so, and it starts to go wrong next season, he could find himself as the first Prem manager out of a job when the new season starts.

[Vision]

I think his job will be pretty safe unless the wheels fall off completely.

The Swansea board doesn't strike me as the sort that will discard what BR has acheived there or spend huge amounts merely to preserve Premiership safety (mind you I'd have said the same about WBA with regards to DiMatteo as well).

With regards to Dirk's point re Rodgers autonomist approach, is this not something the club should have expected when they appointed him to some degree? Or did they think they were getting the same down to earth Northern Irish kid that was in charge of the Academy thus underestimaating the effect of 2 years wth Jose. I mean we actually head hunted from Watford so to speak.

[Terminal Boardom]

I would like to think that BR has learnt a hell of a lot about his time with us. Only time will tell how he gets on when he comes up against the big boys. Could be a struggle if his established players move on as is starting to happen already.

But what really makes me laugh is all the nonsense about BR being a brilliant manager because he got Swansea promoted. Don't make me laugh! The infrastructure and philosophy of the patient game that he prefers was already in place. He got it wrong here and too many of the games under his leadership were nothing short of insipid. Time to move on.

[Royal Lady]

I was like at his comments about 6 weeks into the season that it was "still pre-season" and how he chopped and changed players around so much. I think if he'd been just a little bit more humble, hadn't knocked every single RFC fan with his dig at Dellor and admitted when we'd played badly, he *might* have been more liked by more people and we'd have had a little more patience with him.

[URZZ]

I was like at his comments about 6 weeks into the season that it was "still pre-season" and how he chopped and changed players around so much. I think if he'd been just a little bit more humble, hadn't knocked every single RFC fan with his dig at Dellor and admitted when we'd played badly, he *might* have been more liked by more people and we'd have had a little more patience with him.

You really don't like him dya?

I've never been a fan but he's not the worst manager we've had.

Much like everyone else has said, tried to incorporate a different style, didn't work, NEXT!

[sandman]

He likes himself so much that I doubt he cares how others feel about him.

[Hiram K Hackenbacker]

I agree

[Winchester Royal]

He didn't get it. We needed results to save ourselves falling into the abyss and he didn't deliver. It's ok to try to incorporate a new style of play but you've got to do it while making things work elsewhere. And he talked shit, wore a big watch and loved himself just a little too much.

[rhroyal]

At Swansea it was perfect for him. He built upon the work done by Martinez and Sousa as it suited him. Continuity is a good thing; it has worked for him at Swansea. He has done an excellent job himself, make no mistake. It's down to more than the work of the previous 2; he has added goals and substance to Swansea's style. His big money signing, Sinclair, has been a master stroke whilst he has continued to get the best out of Dyer and many other squad members.

With us, he tried to undermine the work of Coppell and start all over. It was a hard transition time to come in, but he simply tried to change too much too fast. I've seen somebody mention on this thread "Building a house with no foundation" and it's spot on. I wonder if he genuinely learned from his big mistakes with us, or if Swansea was just absolutely perfect for him.

If he is destined for bigger things, it would be interesting to see him take over a bigger job in circumstances more similar to the ones he had with us. He should never forget the mistakes he made with us; he could learn the same lesson again in even harsher, more high profile circumstances.

[SCIAG]

Rodgers didn't play Long, Kébé, Mills or Gunnarsson, who were crucial at various points under McDermott. Consequently, he had to play Sigurdsson on the wing and Tabb at right back, where they couldn't play to their best, and had to pick a midfield of Matejovsky and Howard which left our defence ridiculously exposed.

[Hiram K Hackenbacker]

I agree