As spotlight turns from Rodgers to Moyes, Foxes boss laments Premier League ‘witch hunt’

WEST HAM v LEICESTER London Stadium: 3pm

BY BRENDAN MCLOUGHLIN BRENDAN RODGERS says there is a constant clamour for Premier League bosses to be axed, claiming: “One game you walk on water, the next you’re the devil.”

Leicester travel to West Ham with Rodgers’ opposite number David Moyes under pressure after just one league win in the last five games.

It leaves the Hammers two points above the drop zone and level on points with their visitors. who have won three of their last four top-flight matches to take the heat off King Power manager Rodgers.

While Leicester’s owners stuck by him during a torrid start to the season, five Premier League teams – Bournemouth, Chelsea, Wolves, Aston Villa and Southampton – have sacked their managers this term. Rodgers (below) said: “I think there is a real witch hunt for managers to lose their job these days.

“I don’t see that changing too much. It takes the strength of the board to trust a manager.

“It feels like you can’t have any downturn of results, otherwise the cry is to change. Football management is about peaks and troughs and it can take time to get going again.”

Rodgers says Premier League managers can now find themselves coming under pressure over just one result. He added: “You can walk on water one game and do nothing wrong and the next game you lose you’re the devil. You’re always going to have critics and different types of supporters.

“You get the supporters who will always support you because you’re the manager of their club. They will respect you, you’re the custodian of their club.

“The second group is ‘let’s see how he does’ and will take it from there. The third is the critics. So, when you win a game 4-0, you should have won by five or six.

“When you have experience as a manager you understand that group and you know you’ll never change their mind.” And Rodgers used former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson (below) as an example. “Sir Alex, the greatest manager, would have had people in that third group,” he said. “It’s the people in the first two groups you want to influence. “Patience is important in life but in football clearly it isn’t there so much. Thankfully if you have clever owners who use their common sense then you can benefit.”

And Rodgers says any heat on former Everton and Manchester United manager Moyes right now is ridiculous after he led the Hammers into Europe with sixth and seventhplaced finishes in the last two campaigns. He added: “David has done a fantastic job there.

“It’s been difficult for him in terms of results but he’s having to introduce a lot of new players. Some who have moved on were key influences, like Mark Noble. Some are in natural decline and that happens to all players eventually.

“And on top of that you have European football.

“What doesn’t change is that David is a top manager and he has proved that with West Ham and what he has done with them in recent years.”

Leicester, who did not win a Premier League game this term until October 3, when they beat Nottingham Forest, host Newcastle on Boxing Day after the break for the World Cup.