Rodgers bemoans ref after Spurs defeat

By This Is Anfield on November 29, 2012

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• Hankypoo

  sour grapes

  • Madrileno

    I don’t suppose you’ve got the education to read French/Italian sports papers/journals but in L’Equipe and Della Sport the 2 reporters both wrote about Premier matches this week and BOTH stated that referee (& they named Dowd) would be “Aggrieved” at being belittled by the mickey-taking Suarez dive earlier in the season. BOTH said that any genuine apppeal for a penalty or free-kick from a close angle to goal would be ignored. They even quoted Dowd’s conference report that he would “remember” anyone who undermined his authority. I think that says it all. So I suggest you get the grapes and the rest you know, I wouldn’t belittle your intelligence as to what I mean

• Doggie

  Denied yet again – these decisions were easy, Phil Dowd is past it. Bale has to be the biggest cheat in the PL, at least Dowd got him on that once.

• Mike

  I’m not 100% convinced that the Gerrard and Suarez fouls were definite PKs but
  if you award a free kick for the “foul” on Dempsey how do you not
  call the Gerrard or Suarez fouls then? Seems inconsistent is all. Either way,
  Liverpool shouldn’t have been in a situation where they needed PKs to get back
  into or win the game. Downing’s complete lack of defense gave the Spurs an easy
  goal. I recall Swansea almost getting a goal because of same situation with Downing
  not paying attention to an run on his flank. I’m sorry but Downing, and to a lesser
  degree Henderson are not working out. Henderson should be a sub at best and
  Downing should be playing for the reserve team.

  • junior galtieri

    Totally agree with all of that Mike

    The two pks were far from stonewall (although you do see them given) and Downing playing as full back sounds as stupid today as it did when it was first mooted – Downing cannot defend

    What concerns me is that Rodsgers seems unaware that 12th or 13th in the league and three wins (against Wigan, Norwich and Reading) is waaay below not only what’s expected, but what’s tolerated at a club like Liverpool – Hodgson and even Kenny got stick when their teams were like 7th or 8th – yet Rodgers gets fams sacreamong his na,me oin aduration and coutless articles from the writers on places like This is Anfield saying what a brilliant manager he is

    No wonder Liverpool fans have a repuation for being the biggest mugs in football

    If we crash out of Europe, perhaps people might finally cotton on that sadly Rodgers just isn’t the answewr for LFC

    • Mike

      I’m not totally sold on Rodgers just yet but I’m also not at
      the point where I’ve lost total hope in him.
      In the past he’s made some great tactical moves to get the team
      going. At first I was surprised with
      some of his first half substitutions in recent games but it always seemed to
      work out. I’m just surprised he didn’t
      do it against Swansea or Spurs. I mean
      when Shelvy came on against the Spurs it was like a whole new team
      attacking. And that’s not to say Liverpool
      wasn’t already dominating possesion, it’s just Shelvy coming on gave them that
      extra push they needed. Once Liverpool
      began dominating in the first half I think Rodgers should have considered
      putting Shelvy, Assiadi or Sahin in for Downing or Henderson. Not to pick on those two but they were
      playing too defensively minded and we needed some stronger offensive players. And for all the flack about Gerrard not
      performing, while I disagree with that sentiment, he’s also Steven Gerrard and
      subbing him out just wouldn’t work. Not
      with the players or fans. He’s not that far gone…yet.

      The thing about Rodgers settling for 12th is I
      get his realism there because in all honestly it’s probably true at this point
      BUT as a manager and leader I don’t think you should ever publicly say
      that. He should come out and be like no
      matter what we’re going to fight for a top spot to the very end. It doesn’t matter where he thinks the club is
      realistically; we know where the club is realistically because we see it on all
      the tables and graphs every day. What we
      need is a little optimism and a feeling that no matter what, we’re not going to
      settle. And I don’t mean talking about
      how we’re going to take the top spots and that we can take the league and all
      that. I’m just saying keep telling us that we’re going to work for it no matter
      what. No settling, no giving up. But maybe some people prefer the realistic approach
      that tempers expectations. Not me
      though. In any event, I’m not ready to
      give up on Rodgers just yet. I think
      that the positives outweigh the negatives right now.

      • junior galtieri

        The football is so similar to last season’s – dominating possession, complete failure to convert the plenty of chances we manage to create, too many players without any mental strength etc etc – that it’s easy to forget there’s been a change of manager

        And what can Rodgers hope tpo solve in January. His refusal to work with a director of footballer looks more nonsensical by the day when you consider how bad he is in the trabsgfer market – neither Boreini nor Allen look anywhere near worth the money we paid for them (just like the players Kenny brought in) and he couldn’t even convince Siggudson, whose career he revived, to sign for Liverpool. The failure to sign a striker was more down to the owners than him – but it’s still a concern

        Fact is this is the weakest overall squad I can remember us having – and that’s saying something given that we arguably have the best player in the premier league this season in our team right now – and Rodgers cpould have done so ,ich more than he did if hew had sdomeone alongside him who has the contacts and the influence on players he so clearly lacks

        It pains me to dsay it – as I like the football Rodgers sets out his teams to play and seems a decent, enthusiastoc bloke bit i say what i said when he was appointed – if he’s not good enough for Watford or Reading nit seems bixzarre to conckude he’s good enoigh for Liverpool – and the resukts back that up in a manner not even i thought imaginable when he was recruited

• John Boy

  i knew Phil Dowd would get his back at Suares after the goodison swan dive fiasco… you could see it in his face how often do you see the 4th official get involved with whats happening on the pitch?…

  He gave 2 soft pens against us at WBA and has failed to give us the pens last night.
  Did we expect anything else?.

  Still we should not be looking to the ref’s decisions to win or rescue the game. We need to do some serious business this Jan. Losing to beatable teams cannot continue (No disrespect to Spurs) but without some key players in their side we failed to even nick a point.

  Disappointing is an understatement. I hope it does not continue.

• eskimo

  if you complain about the referee after every match nobody is gonna listen when you’re actually right. we weren’t robbed yesterday and we weren’t robbed last weekend against swansea. gerrard nor suarez was a stonewall penalty, both were contentious. dempsey dived for the first goal but on the other hand skrtel could’ve been sent off after 30 mins.

  we weren’t robbed, not by the referee at least. we were robbed by our very own steven gerrard. i’m sick and tired of people critisising henderson on these forums because he’s an easy target. all our midfielders were sloppy in posession yesterday but at least hendo and allen worked their socks off to win it back, either stevie starts chipping in with some goals or he needs to get it toghether defensively. as much as i love the guy he has got to produce more or he could be the one axed when lucas returns

• Butragenio

  Fact: Brenda has a good squad, enough to be placed in the top 7, even with all the decisions going against us

  Fact: Had we bought a quality striker rather than Joe Allen, we would be in a better position
  Fact: We are in 12th position

  • http://www.facebook.com/Jonathan.Khan7 Jon Khan

    Fact: Are you sure you’re not rafa in disguise?

• imoff

  Downing is an abject failure in every position and should be released from his contract

• sMoke

  Saying that the squad is thin and having world class players, like Reina, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard and League’s best striker Suarez is ridiculous. Instead of buying Allen, Borini and Assaidi, BR could’ve brought in a classy striker or a creative midfielder for 30 m, or maybe 20, and the rest spend on backup. Having 6 class players already with the addition of another makes 7 world class players, and the rest could be average players and hot prospects for the future. But no, BR is looking for young players with an intention to draw as many games as possible. I’m afraid we’re becoming the new Arsenal. And, if I could, I would ask BR: ‘Is 3 wins, 7 draws and 4 loses the progress Liverpool has made?’.

  • Gerard

    Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has the right idea but the wrong players

    NO! NO! NO!

    Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has the wrong idea but the right players

• Redblooded Male

  Forget the refs decisions what about your decisions BR?
  Shelvey starting would’ve matched Dembele & Sandro’s physicality.
  Also, If Assaidi was fit enough to be subbed on, then why not start with Enrique in his native LB spot & Assaidi at LW intsead of Downing at LB who was useless in that position vs Swansea, & allowed Lennon to run on his blindside? I don’t get BR’s thinking/tactics, against Swansea he only had to beware of Routledge/Dyer, as Rangel isn’t that attacking, but Downing isn’t competent enough to defend against both Lennon & Walker. Okay, Enrique’s been a effective @ LW, but I thought this was a stop gap solution & didn’t expect him to be picked every game ahead of NATURAL wingers???
  This obviously proves we need another winger as well as strikers.

  32 days till January
  Please get: Nolito, Heung-Min Son, Walcott , David Villa, Ince, Hemed, J.Suarez
  We won’t get Bony or Mertens
  #NoBent #NoSturridge #NoGrosskreutz

• L Shaw

  I have seen much softer calls been given as penalties to Man U this season. Had Man U played Spurs and infractions like that not been called for the mancs fergie would wet himself whinging. The referee in question is a waste of breathable air. And those who have said you should not count on penalties to win the match are correct. However, with the limited player resources available, at LFC we need all the help we can get. FSG is responsible for the state of the team. BR has only limited authority and autonomy. 12th place, 8th place, and comparison’s to RH and KD and team performances would be better left till the end of this current season. This time of vetting will come. How about we see if FSG invest in the much needed player resources this January. If not the last 13 or so matches might be squeaky bum time withe the bottom 7 teams fighting for their EPL lives, and the top 6 fighting for CL and EL places.. LFC will need some daylight underneath them last season’s 8th place would do right now. 16 points from a potential 42 for the first 14 fixtures is dismal and discouraging. Here’s hoping for better.

• http://www.facebook.com/SchumskI ????? ????????

  The squad is not the problem, it’s the mentality of the squad. West Brom are third and can anyone dare say they’ve got better players? Final 10 minutes of every game we fight to keep the score in fear, instead of chasing more and make them run scared. Confidence is shattered, no courage to make a run at them, penetrate the defense and actually create a goalscoring chance. No one plays with his face towards the goal, they keep waiting for someone to step up and try something. And with all respect to our legend, but i think Stevie has done what he can, he lost that spark he had, desire to shoot, and just isn’t himself anymore. The whole team is playing under huge pressure and it shows on them. Reina and the defense make mistakes they couldn’t imagine a few years back. A good sports psychologist could be an option that might help with their mentality.

• JulHI

  Ref poor decision???? the fact the players failed to perform! I can’t believe the club owner can stay calm! Kick out B.Rogers

  • junior galtieri

    And just like Dalglish last season, Rodgers always goes on about how ‘magnificent his players were’ regardless of the result – which again makes me think maybe he really does think 16ps from 14 games is good enough for a club like Liverpool

    He certainly talks a good game but the results have been so poor under his tenure that I just can’t see us going anywhere with him at the helm

    He doesn’t have enough experience, doesn’t have the network to recruit the right players and doesn’t understand the club

    He’s gardly helped by utterly clueless owners and arguably the most incompetenct Managing Director in club football, but ven with the ‘bum’ hand he’s been dealt his team are still massively underperforming

    He’s noyt good enough and it’s a joke that consoidering his record, some Liverpool fans thought he was. How naive ate we?

• Erik

  I’ve just got that feeling that things will get better, much better. Starting with a huge win tomorrow. Yes.

• magic2ouch

  At the end of last season the one thing that stood out was an out and out goalscorer – it was obvious. So you would expect a new man coming in to rectify that first. Brendans first mistake was to spend 10 million on borini who wasnt proven. Mistake no 2 was allowing the likes of Kuyt, Bellamy and Rodrigues to leave without even any real effort ot keem them All 3 of them would have fitted in well and were crying out for more football after spending a lot of time on the bench last season.

  Mistake no 3 was to spend 15 million again a large chunk of the budget on Joe Allen – granted that he was required for the way BR wants to play but is he really worth 15 million? Wasnt it a playmaker that we so needed who would create chances ala Mata as opposed to a defensive midfielder when Gerard is filling that role despite allen. The other mistake was keeping downing who adds no value whatsoever – the embarrasing thing now for him is that Enrique shows more guile beating his opponent than downing who as soon as comes across an opponent stops and passes it sideways or backwards.

  We arent good enough to beat the top teams but are decent enough to beat the bottom ones therefore mid table mediocrity is where we are heading.

  Its not gone unnoticed that now talk of the huntelaars coming is dying down with Arsenal being linked more. Once again were linked with Darren Bent more and Rodgers as come out and said not to expect too much this transfer window.

  Though Dalglish did waste 100 million last season the bulk of it wasnt FSG’s but return from the sale of players. So this idea that FSG has nothing in the bank shows that they didnt have much in the way of funds in the first place.

  One thing with dalglish was that he soon realised that we had to aim for the cups to make sure we had a reasonable season. With brendan im not so sure.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/T75U5A53Y3MVZWCVYHFFKIBYJQ Human Being

    Thank you for writing sense! its so obvious …personally I can not see LFC challenging for major honors too many mistakes in the boardroom over the last 20 years.

• JulHI

  Current poor performance due to poor managers & poor selection of players. The club owners MUST kick out BR if we lose the game with Southampton tonite. We couldn’t emerge in domestic league, leave alone in the UCL!
  Wake up the club owner, Club Chairman & the all time the great Brit’s Liverpool fan!
  YNMA!