Player trading improvement needed by Rodgers

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Setting aside Brendan Rodgers’ achievements at Celtic, where he won all seven domestic trophies on offer at his time here, his best season in football south of the border was 2020-21, at Leicester City.  That season he won the FA Cup, the first time Leicester lifted that trophy, and finished fifth in the league.  Dropping five points in their final two games of that season saw them slip from third.  A late collapse against Tottenham on the final 14 minutes of the season saw them lose out on a Champions League spot.

As he watched Casper Schmeichel lift the FA Cup a week later, Brendan was at the peak of his powers.  Two years after taking control at the midlands club, silverware was back in the trophy room, and they had qualified for the Europa League.  Until the closing weeks of the season, only the two Manchester clubs were above them, neither of whom were in contention when Leicester’s miracle league win happened in 2016.  Without Claudio Ranieri’s achievement, Brendan’s would have received even greater praise.

There was no shame in the fact that Leicester did not kick on in the following season.  They slipped to an eighth place finish that year later, as Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham all moved above them.  European competition seemed to tax his side, where they ended third in their Europa group, before a run to the semi-finals of the new Conference League.

The wheels came off spectacularly last season.  A home draw against Brentford and win over Nottingham Forest was all they had to show after nine league games, a run which saw Arsenal hit four, Brighton five and Tottenham six against them.

New signings were made last season, the joint-most expensive of whom was the £17m capture of Aberdeen-born Australia international, Harry Souttar (24).  Harry was part of the Australia side that won admirers during December’s World Cup.  Brendan moved for the player a month later.

Dundee United and Ross County fans pondered what happened to their former player to cause such a dramatic improvement in form, while some of us wondered if Brendan had made a classic tournament-scouting mistake.  In other news, Jack Hendry made seven league starts at Brugge last season, he was surely available for a lot less than £17.

Brendan can motivate and man manage with the very best of them.  Alongside Chris Davies, who yesterday joined Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, he was able to coach and organise.  For me, his Achilles Heel is player trading.  Fix that, and you have a more complete package.

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  1. ‘A coughball of laughter leapt from his throat dragging after it a rattling chain of phlegm’

     

     

    Happy Bloomsday ghirls and bhoys !

  2. Is anyone over at Ross Hall for the Stock Exchange window slamming shut

     

     

    conflation

  3. McPhail Bhoy et al. It’s the opposite. Any announcement which might affect share price has to be made outside of trading hours, so that all investors have an equal opportunity to react. Hence the 5pm last time.

  4. We’ll win games in the CL with BR. I always felt that angeball and our budget couldn’t win a game in the CL because

     

     

    A: the team can’t do angeball for 90 mins

     

    B: angeball maximises opponents’ chances of getting a goal on the break and in the CL you are playing against experts at getting goals on the break.

  5. PRESTONPANS BHOYS on 16TH JUNE 2023 4:26 PM

     

     

    Interesting read by Joe McHugh

     

     

    *just another anti PL posting, sounds just like that bitter Limerick kid on reporter

  6. Just logged on to see if there was any news, sadly no, but the sight of WEEMINGER posting is a really welcome sight, where the eff have you been, great to see you posting.

  7. Tom McLaughlin on

    There is no time limit for notifying the Stock Exchange. Companies can register information digitally at any time 24/7. In fact all such notificatiins are lodged digitally.

  8. Exiled Tim – I started to take work seriously, and just got out of the habit. I’ll probably not be back regularly just checking various boards for white smoke as I’m waiting for something else to complete.

  9. WEEMINGER

     

    I know what you mean, life kinda gets in the way, I now work harder than ever, the shop is doing OK all things considered, esp given the fact that the stuff I sell is a luxury for most folks and in this day and age when folks don’t have any it can be a struggle at times, clicking on my name takes you to my shop.

     

    Thanks, you are a star.

     

    HH

  10. Apologies all as TOM MCLAUGHLIN it can be anytime. I was sure the rule with material RNS announcements was that they had to be outside trading hours but AP was at 8.51am.

  11. Anyone fancy a sing-song while we wait?

     

     

    POST-E-COGLOU

     

    HE RODE HIS KANGAROO

     

    TO LONDON FROM AUSTRALIA

     

    HE’S TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR’S SAVIOUR!

     

     

    DO DO DO DO…

     

     

    🦘 🇦🇺

     

     

    🎶: Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom – Vengaboys

  12. ” PHILBHOY on 16TH JUNE 2023 3:32 PM

     

    I’m getting a wee bit concerned.”

     

     

    Is that, possibly, because quite a few posts, without any evidence whatsoever, referenced Friday as the likely day of the announcement?

     

    Stay calm. Que sera, sera.

  13. Bhoy From The Boyne on

    Can’t say I am either nervous or excited. I did have a moments smirk for 2.5 years each time I read that Leicester FC had lost though 😜

  14. 67 European Cup Winners on

    HOT SMOKED on 16TH JUNE 2023 2:40 PM

     

     

    Thank you – I hope you are not on your second wife (and out of pocket)

     

     

    Now getting nervous – Time waits for no man !!

     

     

    67ECW

  15. Prestonpans bhoys on

    BRRB

     

     

    Watching dark clouds moving over Loch Lomond, radar says pouring. Thankfully the caravan is 7 miles away and will miss us, red wine 🍷 time!

  16. Hotting Smoking, @ stock exchange shut time.

     

     

    On the contrary my friend

     

     

    I think the Eddie Howe saga is still fresh in our minds.

     

     

    We all know we got lucky there at the end up.

     

     

    HH.

  17. Fake accounts galore, all trying to outdo each other.

     

     

    All we feckin need.

     

     

    HH

  18. Can’t help but feel that with Brendan’s previous at the helm that a new deal would have been sorted out by now … and that the publicity is good for Brendan to flush out other offers and for us to work more quietly through other offers …

     

     

    Probably means Brendan will be anointed shortly !

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