Brendan Rodgers has denied trying to force Steven Gerrard out of the door at Liverpool – directly to someone who previously claimed he had – Richard Keys.
The former Liverpool manager, now in charge of Leicester, was at the helm when Gerrard departed in 2015 for LA Galaxy.
Gerrard retired not long after, although he has since stated he wished he’d had an opportunity to work under Jurgen Klopp by just staying at Liverpool a little longer.
Rodgers told the Keys and Gray show on BEIN Sports (16:19): “As always, there are always stories. Steven was brilliant for me during my time there. Especially in the first couple of years.
“He was towards the latter stage of his career and he was first class.
“So despite what you [Keys] said at the time, unfortunately it wasn’t quite true.
“But listen, it’s something you become used to in this game, there are so many stories and gossip, but it was interesting when I read that.”
We think the decision made was probably a mutual one. Gerrard didn’t want to become someone used sparingly and wanted to leave Liverpool when he was still a starter – which he very much was in a final season in which the majority of his team-mates were useless.
At the time Rodgers probably felt he’d be in charge for many more seasons, but the poor start to 2015/16 saw FSG show him the door and bring in Klopp – still the best thing they’ve done as our owners.
Rodgers is a good manager, though – proving as much at Celtic and now Leicester. We can see him managing a top six club again whenever he fancies the challenge – really.