Rodgers should be cut some slack, not sacked
TUMBLEWEED won’t blow across the pitches at Leicester City’s magnificent new training facility.
The spectacular green baize at the £100million complex at Seagrave will be left untouched – instead, all the debris will be in boss Brendan Rodgers’ office.
Yes, the frisson of excitement that accompanies every close season – pubs and bars throughout the land full of gossip about who stays and goes – will have failed to feature the Foxes.
With good reason, too, because there’s been no transfer activity. Nothing.
Inertia is not healthy among the playing staff – football thrives on competition – and retention of the status quo means that the established order in the dressing room isn’t shaken up.
Few are looking over their shoulders and fewer still relish the challenge of staking a claim after being overlooked for 12 months.
A healthy contract situation for any player acts as a convenient buffer – and, in a depressed market, there have been no takers for the club’s fringe players.
It all adds up to a tricky conundrum for the former Liverpool and Celtic chief - particularly so now he has Newcastle breathing down his neck chasing James Maddison.
Set against a backdrop of a heavy financial burden – the club’s owners have lost more than £100m during the past two financial years – any wriggle-room for the 49-year-old manager is minimal. In fact, the situation is compounded because the final ties with the class of 2016 – those who completed the fairytale – such as Kasper Schmeichel and Jamie Vardy are close to being cut.
The Danish keeper appears to be heading for France and a Nice little earner.
Vardy, who turns 36 this season, is en route to the exit door.
Evergreen defender Jonny Evans won’t be far behind.
After all, time waits for no man.
Patience
Perhaps recognising what lay ahead, Leicester had already tied down Harvey Barnes and Maddison. Wesley Fofana was also handed improved terms, despite a lengthy knee injury.
Rodgers has influential midfielder Youri Tielemans entering the final year of his contract – another situation that needs handling with care.
So, the cupboard is half-full for Leicester’s boss, who will need a bit of patience from those in the stands. And he deserves it, too.
Somehow Rodgers is the fourth favourite to win this season’s sack race behind Frank Lampard, Ralph Hasenhuttl and Jesse Marsch (all below). The phrase that any manager has ‘credit in the bank’ rings hollow whenever a match is lost. But if ever there was someone who deserves to be cut some slack, it’s the Northern Irishman.
Two fifth-placed finishes and the first FA Cup win in the club’s history 14 months ago were impressive. With a horrific run of injuries last term – Fofana missed almost all the season – eighth was highly commendable, too. But the competition towards the top end has beefed itself up. Newcastle finished within one win of the Foxes. while Aston Villa have spent heavily.
Test
Leicester have punched above their weight for the last few years – and a big part of that has been down to the manager.
But it is difficult to escape the feeling his greatest test lies just around the corner. And if he is to reshape the Foxes into a force again, he may need to head to the bank and start drawing on the goodwill he is owed.