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November 29, 2014

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Rodgers joint favorite for sack

YOU would have been hard pressed at the start of the season to find anyone to bet on Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers becoming the first English Premier League manager to get the sack, but he is now the bookies’ joint favorite.

After last season’s runner-up spot, a terrible start to this season has left the Reds without a win in five games, 12th in the table, flirting with an early Champions League exit and Rodgers as low as 4/1 with one bookmaker to get the sack.

That makes him joint favorite with Harry Redknapp at bottom club Queens Park Rangers and struggling Aston Villa’s Paul Lambert.

Rodgers is taking the lion’s share of the criticism for Liverpool’s poor start, with questions being asked about his record in the transfer market, his failure to replace Luis Suarez or sign adequate back-up for the injured Daniel Sturridge.

With goals in short supply, fans are also beginning to wonder about his ability to fix a leaky defense that arguably cost them the title last season.

After Suarez left for Barcelona in a 75-million pound (US$117.6 million) deal, Liverpool signed nine players for 130 million pounds, including big-money deals for Dejan Lovren and Lamar Markovic.

Having said previously that Liverpool needed a few players of genuine quality that could improve the first team, the club seemed to embark on a transfer policy designed to swell an under-strength squad rather than fine-tune a title-challenging team with the best talent.

Its rivals took another tack. Arsenal beat it to Chile’s Alexis Sanchez, who shone at the World Cup, Manchester United signed high-profile names like Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, while Chelsea recruited Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas.

Of those who arrived in the wake of Suarez’s departure only Rickie Lambert, signed for 4 million pounds, and Javier Manquillo, loaned from Atletico Madrid, started Wednesday’s crucial Champions League qualifier against Ludogorets.

It is a simple case of money wasted, according to former United great Paul Scholes.

“I go back to the signings once again,” he said in the Independent. “They weren’t good enough. A manager lives and dies by the players he brings in, especially when someone as big as Luis Suarez leaves.”




 

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