“Farewell, then, Brendan Rodgers. ‘It was a wonderful show of character and resilience.’ That was your catchphrase. Also: ‘Anyone can ask a team to just sit back and defend on the edge of the box.’ That was another. By the end it felt as if the final year and a half of Rodgers’ time at Liverpool – in total 40 months, 166 games (one fewer than Graeme Souness) and no trophies (also one fewer than Souness) – was measured out above all in soundbites and noises off, a constant bickering rehash of errors made, political missteps and arithmetically robust transfer denunciations. This was perhaps the oddest thing about Rodgers at Liverpool. Six glorious title-chasing months aside, a modestly engaging team punched at occasionally below and only rarely above their own weight. For the manager, however, it has been a bizarrely fraught and angry ride, a rollercoaster of pointless enmity and oddly personal rage.” Guardian
Brendan Rodgers’s sacking by Liverpool is inherently sad if you care about British football
“First David Moyes. Now Brendan Rodgers. Maybe neither manager was right for Manchester United and Liverpool but their sackings are significant blows for the hopes of British coaches to land the top jobs in this country. No-one is mentioning a British manager for Anfield and, given the field, probably understandably so. Ryan Giggs represents the best hope of one eventually taking over at Old Trafford again but he is a bit of a special case given his association and current role at the club. Chelsea will not go British if Jose Mourinho departs – they never have done under Roman Abramovich so are unlikely to break that trend. Manchester City and Arsenal are also unlikely to think a British manager is the way ahead for them either when Manuel Pellegrini and Arsene Wenger eventually leave.” Telegraph
Liverpool in crisis: the problems facing the next manager at Anfield
“Whoever takes over – such as Jürgen Klopp, should he accept the invitation – inherits a playing pool of shallow quality. Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino were absent from Rodgers’ final game due to injury but, even if they had been fit, Liverpool’s squad at Everton on Sunday would not have looked equipped to deliver on the club’s top-four ambition. Philippe Coutinho brings creative class, albeit inconsistently, Daniel Sturridge scores goals but is frequently injured, and the young potential that Rodgers was tasked to develop is there in Joe Gomez. Yet there is no outstanding core to this Liverpool team and the owners’ conviction that Champions League qualification is a realistic aim is at odds with the talent at the new man’s disposal. Rodgers had to contend with several seismic losses during his 40-month reign – add Jamie Carragher’s retirement to the departures of Suárez, Gerrard and Sterling. All were inadequately replaced. Before what proved Rodgers’ final home league game and win as Liverpool manager, an unnecessarily nervous 3-2 defeat of Aston Villa, he was asked whether mediocre results are inevitable considering his best players had been replaced by mediocre ones.” Guardian
Scissors Kick 
![England: Premier League [1st division], location-map with 14/15 attendances, all-time seasons in 1st division + major titles listed](http://billsportsmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-16_premier-league_d_.gif){kind=link}