Who will follow King Kenny?

[Ron Obvious]

I'm a little surprised to be the first person to post on this subject, even though I understand it will hit too close to home for some.

King Kenny has been let go. If it wasn't for history, you could just about understand this decision. After all, it's a business now and there's no room for sentiment. Personally, I would have given a man of his stature at least until December, but I'm a sentimental old fool. Who's next?

Roberto Martinez? Risky, but maybe...
Jose Mourinho? Out of the question
Rafa Benitez? You can't go home again....
Brendan Rogers, Paul Lambert, et al? I can't see it...
Villas Boas? A bit of a risk when the team needs renewing....
Louis van Gaal, Hiddink, Juergen Klopp? I don't think so, but I could be wrong...


Thoughts?

[Marooned]

1. Martinez seems the best bet

As for the King it was time to go. The signings he made were just plain bad. 8th in the league was terrible too considering the lineage of the team.

[regnaD kciN]

2. We need someone with a bigger profile than Martinez...

Can you imagine trying to lure transfers (or, for that matter, keeping our own top players from handing in requests)? "Well, we aren't in the Champions League and have finished 7th/6th/8th in the league the past three years, but we're taking steps to improve. For example, we just hired Roberto Martinez from Wigan!"

To my mind, if the owners want a new, younger managerial outlook, the only one with a credible profile is AVB. Hiring Martinez, to me, means we're going to tear down the squad, forget about being able to lure quality players from elsewhere, and rebuild from the youth program. In other words, mid-table football for the next three years at least.

[Marooned]

3. We do need a bigger profile

the problem is getting someone with a bigger profile to take the job. Right now it seems no one with one wants the job. AVB I could see, but from what I've read he seems ambivalent about it. He could take it (and should) to try and redeem his reputation. The Chelsea drama seems pretty scarring to me considering where they were under him to where they finished. I don't know how all this will turn out but it doesn't look pretty for the next few years. I imagine Suarez will ask for a transfer if things don't improve soon and he really is the only world class player they have now imo.

[regnaD kciN]

5. Actually...

AVB I could see, but from what I've read he seems ambivalent about it. He could take it (and should) to try and redeem his reputation. The Chelsea drama seems pretty scarring to me considering where they were under him to where they finished.

...although it seems easy to forget in light of their cup double, Chel$ki actually had a better record under AVB than they did under Di Matteo.

[Rambis]

4. It will be AVB

I like Martinez as a manager but he is not ready for LFC- Frankly there are no candidates I would have manage the club. This is a disaster unless they were going to sign Jose (who I hate) Pep who is burned out. We will do well to keep Skrtle and one more year Suarez is off. I don't recognize this club or the way it has been run since the cowboys came in years ago. Sad times for a historic club-

[regnaD kciN]

6. I would recommend...

...checking out the "Which manager makes sense for Liverpool?" sticky thread on the RAWK board. It includes in-depth looks at AVB and Martinez. Reading those, I get the feeling that either could be a very good choice for LFC, although I lean toward AVB because, as I've said before, he is higher-profile. But, if we were to get a big-name DoF (or whatever they're calling it now) with lots of experience -- like Begiristain -- to provide counsel on a daily basis, someone like Martinez might not be out of his depth.

I'm of two minds about Kenny. First of all, even though I'm not a long-time Liverpool supporter, it didn't take much study of our history to realize that he is one of those rarest of things nowadays: a true hero in the sporting world, one who basically embodies what is noble about human character. Because of this, I would have been inclined to cut him a lot more slack than I would anyone else. But, by the same token, if it had been someone else who had come in this season and produced similar results, I don't think I'd be shedding a tear about them being relieved of their duties. The big problem I saw was that, strangely, while Kenny seemed to adapt to the modern game and come up with some good tactical ideas in his first half-season, this year, he turned strangely conservative, running out the same 4-4-2 and not really having anything imaginative in the way of tactics. Certainly, there was nothing like Martinez's switch to a 3-4-3, which may have saved Wigan's EPL status. I know that personnel issues (particularly the injury to Lucas, as well as the thinness of the squad) tied Kenny's hands somewhat, but what I suspect the owners saw was someone who the modern game had passed by.

My big gripe is that I wish the owners had given Kenny another season, so that, if the problems continued, he himself would have seen that it was time to move upstairs, and everything could have been handled much more amicably. Instead, by letting him go when he still clearly thought he deserved more time, we wound up with a situation where our most famous figure is now completely cut-off from the club to whom he was so devoted. That's the sort of situation that will fester with the supporters (as virtually every thread on the subject on RAWK and several other LFC boards demonstrates), and that threatens to undermine support for the club. As I said before, can you imagine what might happen if we bring in Martinez or AVB and get off to a slow start? If, by the time the new year rolls around, we are somewhere below 8th? How many disappointing home showings will it take before we start hearing the chants of "Dalglish!" from the Kop?

[Marooned]

7. I think a slow start is a given

unless they make a few great signings in the summer. The talent level is just *meh*. A coach is only as good as the players he has to work with. i wish they would takes a look at Moses from Wigan, every match I saw him in he was dangerous around the goal. Not a big name player but he knows where the net is, and LFC surely needs more of those type players.

[Ron Obvious]

8. Money

But how much money will Fenway Sports Group make available for signings? Any big name signing for manager would have to be assured of money availability, and FSG are known for conservative management. That's partly why I'm sceptical of a big name signing for manager. I agree that a slow start looks likely, and I also think value signings along the lines of Moses might be a possibility.

[Rambis]

9. Brendan Rogers new LFC manager

I didn't see that one coming at all.

[Ron Obvious]

10. I'm surprised too

Although I listed him as a possibility, I'm rather surprised too. I liked what he did with Swansea though, and it'd be nice to see Liverpool play like that.

They key question will remain: how much money will be made available for signings this summer?

[Rambis]

11. It better be a metric fook ton of $

[Ron Obvious]

12. It won't be...

I think you and I both know that won't be the case. In fact, I think the very signing of Brendan Rogers means that the new owners are going for value rather than price tag.

Not that I necessarily disagree with that strategy, of course.

[regnaD kciN]

13. Hard to tell...

In Rogers' first interview with the press, he mentioned how it would take a lot of money for transfers to get LFC working the way he wanted it. I would assume this came up in his interviews with FSG, and wasn't a sticking point.

More to the point, though, is who else is going to be appointed? Before Rogers' hiring was leaked, speculation had it that Louis van Gaal would be coming in as Sporting Director/Director of Football. It was thought that he would be handling transfers (and, I, personally, thought someone like him would be necessary to provide the clout we would need in the transfer market). But now, I understand, LvG has fallen out of favor with the owners, and whoever they might hire in his place, Rogers will still have higher authority. If so, I'm a bit confused (since that was the structure FSG had been preaching for some time), and also concerned that, however big the pile of money provided, we may have a hard time signing any targets if one of the other major clubs have their eye on them. The fact is, we haven't been in the Champions League for three years, we've been slightly-above-mid-table for the same number of years, and we don't look like we're going to have the heavy hitter in upper management that might convince players that LFC was truly on the verge of turning the corner. I mean, I seriously doubt anyone would rush to sign with us because we now have Brendan Rogers...

[Rambis]

14. I like him I think he will be a success at liverpool

He is well thought of by Henry Winter and Jose the special one. They say he is different and I have to agree. Can he recruit big players we will see but I think he will make a team of lesser players and take us forward.

[regnaD kciN]

15. Interesting article on Rodgers' approach...

http://thepathismadebywalking.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/brendan-rodgers-tactical-approach-explanation-how-will-liverpool-implement-tiki-taka-football/

[Rambis]

16. Good stuff

Cheers!