As you lot seems so skilled at picking up old posts I guess it wouldn't be too much to ask for a few quotes where I insulted Chelsea's interim manager. Mind, the fact I said he put his ego before the best interests of the club hardly qualifies as an insult. Please enlighten me of my wrongdoings.
What you claim to have done or not done is what happens
most of the time on here re Rodgers, but you apply different standards to those comments than you do to the ones you make about Benitez. It's not so much that you regularly offer your insight into him, it's the fact that he's now irrelevant to this club, whereas Rodgers isn't.
You appear to keep haranguing him and bringing him up as some of 'retaliation' for the perceived 'insults' supposedly hurled at Rodgers, mainly I suspect because you seem to think that those who don't share your appreciation of Rodgers would like to see him replaced with Benitez.
From my perspective Benitez deserves credit and most importantly respect for bringing number 5 and another CL final two years later. Whilst he underperformed in the PL which is a huge disappointment, that can't take away one jot from the CL experiences we enjoyed.
If Rodgers gets us to one CL final he'll have my everlasting respect like Rafa does.
If he gets us into the top four on a regular basis like Wenger has with Arsenal (as that's the model we appear to following), then likewise.
I'm setting his bar lower than the one Benitez scaled.
Martin, I can accept without question that you see it as fine having a guy with a mere 2 years management experience, a single top flight season and not one single European match placed in charge of trying to halt the decline and regain our previous place at the top table of English and European football. Appointed to a club that has an equally inexperienced and in Ayres' case, totally unsuitable, management structure and board setup.
Therefore I understand that you defend your choice and seem able to 'let go' things that others who are less partial see as a real problem.
I've told you this before, but I'll repeat myself (mainly because my middle initials are BBC) in saying that when Benitez was manager he got the
same scrutiny and had the same disection of all aspects of his management as Rodgers has had, in spite of the fact he had an infinitely better CV and therefore bought himself respect with such.
I'd have had much more respect for Rodgers if he'd agreed to work with a more experienced appointment (whatever the guy's title would have been), thereby acknowledging his youth and massive inexperience whilst at the same time showing a greater appreciation of what would be required to succeed at the job in hand.
Anyone who had been appointed after the Toxics had been ejected would have had a mountain to climb, especially as the new owners haven't seen fit to appoint a board and managing director with sufficent knowledge, experience, gravitas and savvy in all required elements to both guide them (the owners) and render the fact that Henry, Werner and Co have the knowledge and interest in all aspects of English and European football of your average fence post, as being a merely academic fact, nothing more, nothing less.
The thing is it's better to have Sir Edmond Hilary there to show the way up the mountain than your average Joe who's nearest experience to peaks of that nature is doing a bit of hill walking in the Derbshire Dales whilst on their annual caravanning holiday, and who thinks that reaching the top of Mam Tor is a conquest of nature.
Interesting that you use the mention of putting ego before the club as an example of a non insult, as points very similar and references to a lack of humility and when things go right congratulating himself and his methods and when things don't absolving himself and his methods from any culpability or being contributory in any way, have been made on occasion, but don't get granted the same free pass as you have given yourself over the highlighted points you've made previously about Benitez.
As for wrongdoings, that's the whole point of this running 'back and forth'.
There is no 'right' or 'wrong'. Observations or opinions whether shared or not agreed upon or nether 'right' or 'wrong', so whether one, all or none of us agree or disagree with a single word written, it means nothing.
So whilst it's irrelevent, so almost pointless to keep bringing up previous managers who have moved on elsewhere, if you wish to that then have the grace to accept when similar things are levelled at the current manager if appropriate, as that has much more of a bearing on the here and now and where we will be going forward.
It seems as our season long defensive paucity is down to the players, or at least thats the impression being given from some quarters, so therefore if that's the case and the reason why the issue has gone unaddressed or at least the effect is one continued problems, then I would expect the manager to address it in the Summer and there be a noticable change and improvement next season.
Quite why players who have previously been a part of much more effective defensive units have suddenly become less effective both individually and collectively seems somewhat odd, and if the answer lies in the different method of playing that has been adopted then surely questions have to be asked as to why carry out something which whilst improves on the one hand detracts on the other, leaving an overall nett effect of pretty much zero.
Or if indeed the players are to blame and therefore aren't suited then why the change until the neccessary pieces of the puzzle are at hand to use. The decision to carry on regardless of having the required tools for the job to be undertaken can't be levelled at the players, so it's not quite as cut and dried as has been inferred from some quarters throughout the season.
Anywho, let's see what we get at Villa, a response or a continuation from the Southampton game. Lets see what has been learned from the mistakes of earlier in the season against them.
It will be interesting to see if our midfield is set up better so Villa can't just walk through it, almost at will, like they could at Anfield.
