New Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will go down in history as an excellent Swansea City manager, not so at Reading.
Brendan Rodgers transformation from an out of work up and coming manager to boss of one of the most prestigious clubs in football is remarkable.
Back in 2009 he was sacked as manager of Reading after a disappointing six months in charge of the club.
Taking over from Steve Coppell was always a tough ask, and Rodgers made it clear he never felt he was afforded enough time to put his plan into action.
Since then Brian McDermott has led the club to promotion to the Premier League, and it seems like everybody has been a winner, even Rodgers, who got his career back on track with Swansea City- beating Reading in last year’s play-off final.
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For a look at what went wrong for Rodgers at Reading, here are a selection of perceptive comments from Royals fans made a year ago on a supporters’ forum, casting their eye over his time at the club, which spanned Won Six, Drawn Six, Lost 11.
“We were near the bottom when he went, but not in the bottom three itself if I remember well. Indeed, those last few games of his with us, we were marginally starting to turn things around.”
“We were falling fast under him he had to go. Right decision. What ever success he has elsewhere doesn’t change the fact that we were right to sack him.”
“The style of play wasn’t what Reading were used to, and trying to adopt this new style with a young squad playing their first games in the championship was always going to be a struggle. need to walk before you can run.”
“It was clear when Rodgers came in that he had a long term plan, but I do think he completely gave up on the short term results and we would have been relegated had he stayed. Then I’m not sure he would have been able to turn that around the next season with worse players at his disposal.”
“He tried to change Reading too much too quickly and there was no adaption period.”
Rodgers himself later admitted he was wrong to jump ship from Watford to manage Reading; “My gut feeling at the time was to leave, but there is no doubt, when I look back in hindsight that I shouldn`t have.”
Which is fine with hindsight, but his career path would never have panned out as it did and towards the Anfield hotseat at this very moment. So what can we draw from this?
Clearly to fail and bounce back can only make a manager stronger. A man who has learned from his mistakes is a better bet than one who has yet to make any, and not knowing how he will react.
Liverpool must give Rodgers time. The fans must be patient and not start calling for Rafa Benitez when results don’t go their way.
Rodgers at the same time will know that supporters will not wait forever, but his time at Reading may have taught him not to try and change too much too quickly, although Liverpool fans who watched the side under Dalglish last season may argue that is exactly what needs doing.
It will be interesting to see Rodgers with the cash at his disposal who he tries to sign. His record signing to date has been Danny Graham at Swansea for £3.5 million, one which Gylfi Sigurdsson at £8 million would have eclipsed.
He is likely to have £30-£40 million at his disposal, and how he spends this and who he can tempt to buy into his Reds Revolution will help form how he is defined.
Most importantly, does the short-term ie. next season, matter if Rodgers gets it right in 2-3 years? What is the minimum Liverpool fans will expect next season? Or will expectation be decided by money spent?
Who should Rodgers sign? Should he try to change it all at once? What should he learn from his Reading experience?
image: © kong niffe
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