Stan Collymore has defended Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, claiming that the club can’t fall into the habit of operating a revolving door policy with our managers, who instead need to be given more time.
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Collymore, who scored 28 goals in 64 league games for the Reds in the mid-1990s, was quick to admit that Rodgers has made mistakes during his time at Anfield, but reasoned he’d done nothing which could not be put down to an inexperience of coaching at the top level.
It’s been a disappointing season for the Reds for a number of reasons, with the discontented feeling among a section of our supporters continuing to grow following yesterday’s stalemate at West Bromwich Albion.
However, Collymore has now attempted to ease those fears in his Daily Mirror column. He argues that Rodgers’ much-criticised summer signings will come good and that the Northern Irishman will learn from his mistakes.
He said: “They [Liverpool fans] wonder whether Rodgers really is the man to get them across the line, and a few in the last week have been asking if Jurgen Klopp would be better placed to take the club forward.
“I’d say ‘no’ to that because Rodgers will be learning from his mistakes and, on top of that, I expect Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic and Emre Can to be much better and far more consistent performers in their second season at Anfield.
“Lovren can’t get any worse to be fair, while Can will become a major midfield force and Markovic will have a far better understanding of his role.
“I’m not going to argue with the fact that some of Rodgers’ signings have been poor but young managers are going to make mistakes with transfers so I’m holding fire on my criticism of that.
“He arrived at the club with little experience of handling bigger budgets, particularly on transfers, although even vastly experienced managers don’t always get it right on that front.
“Given the mess at Anfield at the end of the Tom Hicks-George Gillett reign, Liverpool as a club have really turned themselves around.
“What makes things more difficult these days is the fact that Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal are now on an equal footing with them when it comes to being able to spend money and build a team.
“So, realistically, Rodgers has a one-in-six chance of winning the big domestic prizes each year and with that in mind, I think he has done a cracking job.”