RODGERS: I LOVE BEING AT THIS CLUB AND WORKING WITH THESE PLAYERS
BRENDAN RODGERS has ruled out becoming Newcastle boss after setting his sights on taking Leicester to new heights.
He conceded the £305million Saudi takeover of Toon will make life even more competitive for his ambitious Foxes.
But he has challenged his players not to rest on their achievements after a lacklustre start to this term since winning the FA Cup last season.
Rodgers has vowed to make them “uncomfortable” in a bid to get them producing again ahead of Manchester United’s visit today.
“I have a contract until 2025, I absolutely love being here,” said the Foxes boss. “I’m very fortunate I have a great chief executive who runs the club and I have a group of players I really enjoy working with.
“For me, as long as they don’t want to move me, then I am very happy being here at the club. I am focused on my job and my role.
“Of course there will be richer clubs than ourselves but we have a great infrastructure and one that allows us to at least compete.
“The league now has lots of teams with lots of money. We have all seen the reports of what Newcastle aim to do over the next five to ten years.
“It is going to add another team, which will make it even more difficult to arrive into those top positions. But I came here to disrupt the market and we want to compete and be fighting.
“For some of these players, what we have done over these last couple of seasons may well be what they think is the best they could do. But I am here to win and I want to keep challenging and keep pushing.
“For that we have no compromise. You have to get uncomfortable again to keep striving to be the best you can be.”
Leicester finished fifth in the previous two seasons but this campaign has been undermined by injuries to Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana and Wilfred Ndidi.
It has left them languishing 13th in the Premier League and bottom of Group C in the Europa League.
They have not won in the topflight in four attempts and Rodgers (above) has tried to press reset since their last game at Crystal Palace, which ended 2-2.
He said: “The international break has been a great opportunity to reflect.
“I looked at the team as if I was first coming in. I was able to look at it from a dispassionate position and assess the team. It is really about resetting and getting back to the fundamentals of our game.
“I have identified where we need to be at and the level we need to be at, fixing that is my responsibility.
“I looked at where we can improve of which there are many areas. We need to get back to fundamentally how we press the game and synchronise so we are all together.
“Then play that dynamic fast football with confidence which allows us to create opportunities and score. We will look to get back to that level over the coming weeks.
“It might be a reverse this season where we don’t quite start the same but it is really all about how you finish the season.”
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