Steven Gerrard - One of a Kind.

Carl Clemente (@clemente_carl)

               Steven & me and my brother holding the "One of a kind" Banner in May.

As a writer, reporter, fan or whatever you want to call me, dates such as the 29th November don't pass by unnoticed. On this day 17 years ago, Steven Gerrard made his Liverpool debut as a second half substitute against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield. Myself, as well as many other Liverpool supporters will have followed Stevie's career from the moment the thin looking Scouser, wearing the number 28 jersey graced the field for the first time, right up until his Anfield farewell against Crystal Palace this May. Therefore, any Liverpool fan in their thirties, like myself, would have started to enjoy watching Steven play from when they were around sixteen or seventeen years old. An age when I started going to the games a lot more frequently, compared to when I was a much younger kid.

            History was made on is day in 1998.

Steven Gerrard in his heyday, in my view, was the complete footballer on and off the pitch. Yes, I know he had a couple of run-ins with the police making headlines for all the wrong reasons. However, all in all, the humble, honest man he is, makes him a unique character. Steven didn't use to earn the respect of his players and managers by shouting the odds to make his presence known. He was, from my perspective, the perfect leader. Not only because of his natural footballing abilities, but also for his calmness, passion, dedication and the loyalty he has shown Liverpool Football Club his entire life.

John Barnes, was my childhood hero, the player I pretended to be when we used to have a game in the park after school with all the other local lads. However, nearly everything Liverpool Football Club have won whilst I've been an active supporter, Steven was heavily involved in. I'm well aware that many Liverpool and football fans in general would argue that Steven single handedly "carried" the club for many years. Obviously, having such an iconic figurehead in any team, on and off the pitch, in the dressing room, or at the training ground influences any player to perform at a higher level and also can serve as a mentor to the younger, less experienced players. However, to go as far as saying he "carried" Liverpool is a bit disrespectful to the other quality loyal players we have had in our ranks during the last decade or so.

Indeed, he could have won a lot more in football and played for any club in the world, but like he said: 'What's the point of winning medals and trophies for the supporters of clubs in which I wouldn't have been able to share the silverware with?" He wanted to share the glory and success with his own people, the people of Liverpool. 

On the pitch as a central midfielder, there has been nobody like him, the best in the world. Steve Gerrard was purely world class. Former players keep stating that Stevie is the best player they have ever played with and also against. That's why you simply can't replace Steven. How can you replace someone who is one of a kind?

Now on to the argument that Gerrard can't be considered Liverpool's greatest ever player due to the fact he has failed to win a league title with Liverpool, as well as only having one European Cup to his name. It is generally accepted that the great Liverpool teams of the seventies and eighties were turning out with 9 or 10 exceptional players season after season. Whereas, again, without wanting to sound disrespectful to the teams of recent times, they would compare pretty averagely to the mighty Kings of Europe. 

Nevertheless, let's not overlook the triumphs we lived in 2001, 2005 and 2006. There has been more success, but let's face it, those three years stand out the most. Despite this, realistically speaking, our recent history is on a much lower par to when Liverpool dominated football domestically and in Europe. 

                     Steven celebrates winning the FA cup against West Ham in 2006

The point I'm trying to raise here is as far as Steven Gerrard is concerned he would have walk into any Liverpool team of the seventies and eighties. Furthermore, he would have been their captain and possibly made them even stronger and more successful. (if possible!) Therefore,  it's slightly unfair to judge Steven on his individual success regarding the amount of honours he has to his name, since he wasn't a part of one the greatest teams in the history of football.

Regardless of having played in "weakened" teams, Steven still managed to accumulate numerous major honours both with Liverpool and as an individual footballer. He lifted many of them as captain, including the European Cup in 2005. Moreover, with more than 700 outings in a red shirt to his name, Steven sits in third place in the all time appearance ranking, behind Jamie Carragher and the unbeatable Ian Callaghan. In addition, scoring 186 goals also puts him 5th in the all time goal scoring records for Liverpool. Furthermore, maintaining the captaincy of Liverpool Football Club for more than 11 consecutive years is an magnificent achievement in itself.

                                       Stevie celebrating achieving a dream

Without a shadow of a doubt, Steven is number one in my eyes. Indeed, the likes of Souness, Dalglish and Hansen won more medals during their time at Liverpool, but the question I ask myself when pondering over this topic is; What's the biggest achievement, or better still, what involves making the most effort? Winning, being part of a winning team or you yourself make your team and teammates winners. The latter, in my view, has to be the most satisfying. 

There is still a lot of work to be done in Liverpool for the Huyton lad. Steven Gerrard, will return to Liverpool Football Club, although, at present it's unknown in what capacity, but he will. Steven Gerrard, is more than just a footballer to this City.

Was great to see our banner appear in Steven's new book.

Feel free to leave any comments on Twitter. Thanks for reading. @clemente_carl 

Brendan Rodgers is Liverpool Football Club’s all time biggest purchaser.

Carl Clemente. @clemente_carl

As the pressure on Brendan Rodgers continues to pile on, I’ve asked myself; is his high amount of player purchases the result of him failing with previous ones? Or can patterns and trends in history prove that modern managers operating in today’s climate simply just make more changes?

Although, I still strongly believe that the current Liverpool manager holds the inability to be able to mould together a successful team. Trends in history seem to suggest that the modern game does require clubs to have much larger squads at their disposal.

 

Brendan Rodgers has recently been known for breaking all the wrong records. However, this one is very interesting and proves he has difficulties in gelling teams together as a unit. Brendan Rodgers has signed the most amount of players per year than any other Liverpool manager since the great Shankly took over in 1959.

 

(This graphic only includes managers who have spent a minimum of two years at the club. Therefore, doesn't include Roy Hodgson or Kenny's 2nd term)

As you can see, he is averaging more than 10 players a season, which is almost a new starting XI every year. The argument that Brendan Rodgers is in 'constant transition’ is true. How can you instil stability into a team if your personnel are constantly changing? Not just in Football but in every walk of life this can be viewed the same. A successful Business will have their core workforce, making minor changes each year; however the majority of it would continue to stay the same.

Rafa's turnover of players and even Houiller’s wasn't great either and many of their signings also turned out to be flops. Nevertheless, Houiller & Benítez won us trophies and maintained us as a more or less top European team. Whereas, Brendan just makes us look mediocre and average. 

In his defence, more players are now leaving Liverpool for bigger clubs, whereas in the 70s and 80s that just didn't happen as nobody was greater than Liverpool. Therefore, the more players that leave the more you need to replace, which obviously will  increase the amount of players you buy.

Moreover, the development of youth isn't as effective as it was before, resulting in players been bought rather than produced. Although young Jordan Rossiter looks to be getting this head down and working hard at his progression as a footballer. Liverpool are failing to produce players like they did. How long will it be until we see the next Ian Callaghan, Tommy Smith, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Carragher or Steven Gerrard? Players who ultimately, didn't cost the club a penny. Therefore, having a lack of ready made world class players at our disposal means managers are left with little choice than to enter the transfer market in search of players.

A prime example of Brendan failing at this is the 'Dejan Lovren' signing. Dejan's transfer fee was the most amount of money Liverpool have ever paid for a centre back, when the club were looking to replace the ever present Jamie Carragher. £20m is what he cost the club and from what we have seen of him so far, he isn't even worth £2m.

Referring again to the above graphic. Remarkably, if you start from the bottom and work your way up, you'll find apart from swapping Fagan will Dalglish, the managers are in the exact same order that they managed Liverpool Football Club. Therefore, proving the theory that the further back you go in history, the fewer transfers there were.

Although, business was conducted slightly differently back then; Shankly and Paisley, didn't average more than three new players per year. Even all the way up to Roy Evans Liverpool weren't constantly signing player after player to make things right. In them days it seemed you signed players for the long term.

Between Rodgers, Benítez and Houllier; 132 players were signed. When you get the chance, look through the names on these lists and you will find that many of them, let's just say, didn't fulfil their full potential. In comparison, Shankly, Paisley, Fagan signed 71 players during their reigns, 61 less than our last three long term managers.

It would be just senseless to compare the honours won between these two sets of managers. Nonetheless, this just proves that spending massive amounts of money and buying for the sake of buying does not bring success to your football club.

As always thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions on Twitter.

@clemente_carl for @anfieldeurope

 

 

 

 

Those were the days.

 

                                   Carl Clemente

As I stared into my empty pint glass hours after Liverpool's defeat to West ham, disheartened and saddened by what I had witnessed only a few hours prior. Questions, fears and negativity started to run through my mind.

Obviously, we have to lose, that is football, but the way we lost, after putting in such a heroic display at the Emirates, filling the fans with hope and instilling belief that maybe we are back on the track is simply unacceptable. These hopes were all but shattered after Saturday's dismissal display. 

Yet again, the same word always comes to mind; "consistency”, like it has done over and over again for many years. Is it bad management preparing your team so well for one game then relaxing for the next? Players should be mentally and physically prepared for each game in exactly the same way. These days, there are no easy games in the Premier League or in European competitions. Therefore, every encounter should be treated with the same amount of preparation in order to avoid two completely different performances within five days.

The truth hurts; we are nowhere near the level to be playing successful Champions League football. Pot 2 in the Europa league competing against teams most of us have never even heard of is where we are at present. Shankly & Paisley's hard work and legacies are finally dying. The Bootroom is now a part of the Anfield tour, on match days the ground is full of tourists, some even come in Fancy dress and worst still, corporate customers who don't even support Liverpool. Shanks famously described the Kop as a place "Where you've got thousands of friends all and about ya, and they're united and loyal" sadly that isn't the story now.

The fearful question which is always present at the back of Liverpool supporters’ minds is; will the Glory days ever return? Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of our famous FA Cup win against West Ham at the Millennium Stadium in Wales. Without wanting to neither forget nor disrespect our League Cup victory in 2012, Rafa's FA Cup triumph in Cardiff was the last major honour we won and that was nearly ten years ago now. Moreover, we reached the European Cup final either side of winning the FA Cup in 2006, winning one in 2005 & unfortunately finishing runners up in Athens in 2007. In addition, the five trophies we won in 2001 came just four years prior to winning in Istanbul. Therefore, from 2001 to 2007 Liverpool won seven major honours in total and reached a European Cup final, compared to recent years from 2007 to 2015 where the Reds have only just managed to win the League Cup. 

Since Brendan Rodgers took control we have signed thirty-two players & spent around £289,680,000 million. Many of his signings, or before you correct me the committee's signings, in which Mr Rodgers is a fundamental member of and ultimately had the final say in, have been, let's just say not as successful as we would have liked. I have said many times Rodgers doesn't convince me. Why would he? What has he done in football to gain our trust and support? 

Without wanting to jump the gun, it is going to be a long old season. Let's be honest, Benteke's goal should never have counted at home to Bournemouth and Aaron Ramsey's first half strike was wrongly ruled out at the Emirates. Furthermore, our initial praises for our newly improved defence have now gone out the window since conceding them three woeful goals against The Hammers. They also lacked confidence and composure throughout the entire game, especially Devan Lovren. I strongly believe, if we fail to add a world class centre-back to our squad we are not going to win a lot for a long time. 

Anyway, fair play to West Ham for picking up away wins at Arsenal and Liverpool this soon into the new campaign and achieving their first victory at Anfield since 1963. It is frustrating how shocking we were on Saturday. I could not have felt more different in comparison to how I felt after the final whistle was blown at the Emirates last Monday night. 

Memories of last season's semi-final against Aston Villa came flooding back to me & as well as games such as Crystal Palace, Stoke and defeat away to Basel in the Champions League. However, on the flip side we were capable of beating Man City; the Premier League Champions at Anfield, consistency again, see what I mean?

When I hear the word 'mediocre' been associated with Liverpool Football Club I feel a sense of anger and sadness. On the one hand, recent success would agree with this assessment of us. However, on the other, Liverpool are not only still the most successful football team in English football, but also one of world football's all-time top clubs.

I am truly grateful for all the hard work past generations have contributed to making Liverpool 'great'. Nevertheless, I am worried about the current situation of our club on and off the pitch. Where are the next Steven Gerrards, Jamie Carraghers & Robbie Fowlers going to come from? We are lining up for the first time in many decades without a Scouser in our starting XI. Being a local lad is a unique attribute that players are only born with and cannot be taught.

I am envious of Liverpool supporters who lived following the club home and away during in 70s & 80s. From 1973-1991 The Reds only finished outside the top two on one occasion and in that year, 1981 we won the European Cup & the League Cup. All we seem to have now is their heart-warming memories & fascinating stories of which will probably be the most successful period of Liverpool Football Club.

As always thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions on Twitter.

@clemente_carl for @anfieldeurope

 

Listen to the fans, before it is too late.

Carl Clemente for @anfieldeurope

I have constantly said over the years that I always defend Liverpool Football Club as "a club" but not always the people, they come & go, apart from us, the fans, and we aren't going anywhere far soon! However, what I have started to realise, especially during last season is that nearly all the initiatives set up by the club are solely aimed at benifiting corporate rich businessmen in order to increase the richness of the club. Consequently, the dedicated, passionate fans, who have followed Liverpool Football Club for many decades, all around the world are getting left behind and priced out of the game. 

A highly important issue that overshadowed last season is the price it costs to actually attend a game. For many supporters this topic is far more critical than any other problem currently surrounding the club. The recurring struggle fans are facing regarding "ticket prices" is turning fans away leaving their seats to people who don't even know the first verse of "Poor Scouser Tommy".

An increasing number of fans are getting priced out of football and are no longer able to keep up with these ridiculous price increases. Clubs including Liverpool are not doing enough to prevent family traditions, stretching back generations, passed down from grandad to grandson from disappearing.

(Fans started to use Twitter to voice their opinions on this heartbreaking situation)

Football is our sport, a working class sport, for working class people on working class wages. The fact that it is slowly slipping away from us into the hands of the rich and wealthy absolutely saddens me. The directors at the club know very well they can sell out almost every game with the current prices they have set. Therefore it does not interest them to lower the price of tickets, as at present they are maximizing their revenue brought in by the sale of tickets. Lowering them would only give the club the excuse to come out and say "we are not able to compete with the top clubs and so on".

(This is an old ticket stub of mine. In 14 years ticket prices have increased 100%. However, my wages only 15%)

Football without fans is nothing. I'm not talking about the Prawn Sandwich Brigade but the hardcore loyal fans who do their absolute upmost to get everywhere in order to support their beloved Reds, never allowing them "to walk alone" and making many sacrifices on the way. 

Unfortunately, for the first time these fans, who are ultimately the inner core of Liverpool Football Club are starting to turn against the club through staging frequent protests and more significantly, boycotting Liverpool games. What happened last season at Hull City summed up the importance of this situation. Liverpool fans choosing to rip up their tickets in protest of the treatment they are receiving from the club, had to be the ultimate message Liverpool fans could have sent them.

As previously mentioned, it is heartbreaking that dads can no longer afford to take their kids to the match due to extortionate ticket prices, breaking generations of family traditions. The prospect of local passionate fans slowly being replaced by corporate customers and day trippers carrying iPads and wearing half-half scarves will finally kill the once famous Anfield atmosphere. As time goes by, the values that our creator Bill Shankly built our club on are gradually disappearing. I for one, will do my absolute upmost to prevent this from happening. Liverpool Football Club is not a tourist attraction! 

A friend of mine Jonny Poulter (Twitter: @jonnyplfc) who gets absolutely everywhere with his banners across England and Europe had this to say about Stevie's farewell game last May. The only other time Jonny has had any problems with his banners was at Old Trafford!

Dedicated and passionate supporter groups, The Spirit of Shankly and Spion Kop 1906 are doing a great job in voicing our opinions to the club. It's now high time that officals from Liverpool sit down and really start to listen to our concerns and improve dialogue between the two sides. If Liverpool fail to do this, they risk loosing their most treasured possession, their fans.

We obviously can't bring back the standing Kop. However, what about the boys pen? It's a shame that an entire generation of kids will miss out on going the game. Therefore, why not leave 500 or so tickets spare for a friday after school sale, and sell them for a tenna? Under the right supervision from stewards and match officals, kids would then be able to attend games without their parents having to fork out ridiculous amounts of money in order to take them.

 

Raheem Sterling Update

 

As Liverpool brace themselves for a third and probable final bid for Raheem Sterling. Reports have now emerged that his agent Aidy Ward has cut a deal with the player himself in order to lure him away from Anfield. It has been widely suggested that agent Ward has offered Sterling 50% of his own fee which is usually around 10% of any sale. The amount of money in question could see the 20-year old bank up to £4m of what would ultimately be Aidy Ward's own money.

 

It's Incredible and even to a certain extent sickening how Aidy Ward is using and manipulating Europe’s most promising young footballer. Without a shadow of a doubt, Aidy Ward sees Raheem Sterling as a once in a lifetime money making product. Wielding the sale of the England youngster would financially set him up for life.

How much does he actually care about Raheem's footballing career? How can this man take on Liverpool Football Club and publicly insult Liverpool Legend Jamie Carragher? Finally, how desperate is this unprofessional businessman? These are the questions running through my mind right now as this unpleasant transfer saga draws to its close. 

Regarding how desperate Aidy Ward actually is; offering a 20-year old kid, who comes from a poverty stricken background financial incentives worth millions of pounds, ultimately setting up his own family financially for life, in theory should be a no brainier for Sterling. Raheem is not a Liverpool fan (he grew up supporting Manchester United) and has no emotional ties to the club. His mum lives in London and his daughter is not getting brought up in the city.

Aidy Ward is a selfish, greedy individual who has the sole interest of seeing heaps of “Sterlings" on his own table rather than assisting a  potentially world class player to develop his career on the pitch. It doesn't take rocket science to work out what their game is. As a dedicated and passionate Liverpool fan, I'm saddened that my club has to deal with such distractions going into preseason.

I strongly believe, now that Fenway Sports Group " have dug deep into their pockets" as Stevie stated after his farewell game at Anfield and provide us with more than a sufficient transfer kitty, then in my opinion there is no need to cash in on Raheem Sterling.

The only way to stop this is by making a statement. This is Liverpool Football Club. Shankly's club. Yes, Raheem is good but he is not world class yet and certainly is not in the same league Luis Suárez was at the time of requesting and demanding ridiculous amounts of money and insisting everything is done on his terms.

As I've mentioned, his agent and advisors are clearly not working in his best interests as a player. Nonetheless, losing a talent, a potential world class talent that Liverpool have nurtured since he arrived from QPR as a 15-year-old kid would be giving out all the wrong messages with regards to where the club is at. Not only to our rivals but for potential signings who are mulling over joining Liverpool Football Club or not. Letting this type of player go isn't what Brendan Rodgers should be doing, not yet anyway.

It's obvious; Raheem is not looking for a move abroad and is keen to carry on playing in the Premier League, with London or Manchester being his preferred destinations. He would not want to be too far away from his mum, who now lives in the capital, nor his daughter, Melody Rose, who he already sees a lot less of than he would like. 

I am sick of football players refusing to respect their contracts and along with their agents think they have the run of the green, showing little respect to their clubs, forcing them to give in and surrender to their greedy demands. Liverpool Football Club should always be pulling the strings no matter who you are. Especially, when dealing with a 20-year old kid and his half-wit agent wishing to take on the Club. It's ridiculous that it has even got this far!

My proposal to deal with this current situation would be; Ok, fair enough if Raheem doesn't want to renew his current contract at Liverpool then nobody's going to hold a gun to his head until he does so. However, let's not make it that easy for him either. At the moment, he's earning £35,000 a week and has already turned down a £100,000 a week contract which is a 186% wage increase. Ludicrous really isn't it?

Let's just say hypothetically that he did sign for that amount and played out the last two years of his current contract of £35,000 a week. Liverpool would be saving £65,000 a week for two years on wages which would be around £7 million.

This small amount does not sound that much if he eventually leaves on a free, but this way would also give Brendan Rodgers two more years to add, build and improve his squad which Raheem would play a major role in. If Brendan finally delivers success then Raheem could quite easily turn round and say, "Go on then", and sign a long term deal with Liverpool.

Realistically, Rodgers only has one more year to improve the club's current situation. Therefore, if the “Gaffa” does go at the end of next season, still with one year to go on Raheem's contract, then his replacement and new faces might be enough in itself to persuade Raheem to stay.

Let's not overlook, that we only paid £600,000 for Raheem five years ago. So, if we take the figure of £7 million mentioned before, again hypothetically speaking, which ever way you want to look at it, we would still have made or saved around £6 million. Of course, that's if we decide to keep him on a low wage contract which would be seen more as a punishment. However, a rightly deserved punishment after the lack of respect he has shown the club.

Additionally, as Raheem's contract will expire when he is still less than 23 years' of age, he won't be allowed to leave on a free. Similar to what Liverpool are going through with Danny Ings at the moment. Any club interested in acquiring his services when his current contract expires will be made to pay Liverpool compensation for developing him. A tribunal will decide how much Liverpool would be entitled to. This figure is constantly growing and maybe in a couple of years’ time, Liverpool could receive around £15-£20.

When it all boils down to it, Liverpool Football club should never be seen to be a feeder club nor sell players to their direct rivals who can get into their own starting XI. Especially, with the lads we have brought through our very own academy who have learnt the game "the Liverpool way".

Let's see how this one pans out as a cash deal wouldn't really interest Liverpool. 20% of any sale to an English club goes straight into QPR's bank account. That figure could also reach 25% if Raheem was sold abroad. 

This situation epitomises modern football in a nutshell. Greed and wealth are finally taking over. The traditions of our once beautiful game are starting to become secondary and even lost amongst the desire to profit from its success. When and how will this all end?

Now or Never, Mr. Rodgers

Carlos Clemente

As the new season draws upon us, Brendan Rodgers' every move will be closely monitored by the footballing world, and rightly so......

Fenway Sports Group's refusal to replace the Northern Irishman with a top European manager last month was negligence in the first degree and is certainly on a par with their incompetence when they were faced with finding a suitable replacement for Luis Suárez. In football, you must replace quality with quality otherwise standards will drop. Mediocrity is not something I'm going to accept as my club declines.

 

I have written extensively about Brendan Rodgers' reign at Liverpool. However, the question I find asking myself now is:

 

Why would the owners employ a new manager and begin to implement new long term strategies, when in less than a year they are going to want out themselves? 

 

Nevertheless, Rodgers remains their man. However, has anyone ever thought that FSG may even depart before Rodgers himself does?

 

It makes perfect sense to me. Any company pondering the sale of an asset would behave the same way. The months leading up to a sale would involve fewer financial commitments and as little investment as possible. My gut feeling this is on the cards has not only been proved financially with Liverpool's apparent transfer budget only coming from the sale of Raheem Sterling but also by their support for the team on the pitch.

Where were they last season supporting us from the stands throughout the difficult months? Where were they for Steven Gerrard's farewell game against Crystal Palace, showing their appreciation to a Liverpool Legend? Where were they when we took on Aston Villa at Wembley? The only time I have a recollection of seeing them last season was when they came over to see if the Main Stand expansion was making sufficient progress. Ultimately, it is another financial interest of theirs.

Nonetheless, in all fairness, at the end of the day, they are not only businessmen but also avid baseball fans and have little to no interest in the sport of football itself. They bought Liverpool Football Club as a business venture. If the tables were turned and Liverpool businessmen owned the Boston Red Sox, it is pretty safe to say they wouldn't be hopping over the Atlantic week in week out to watch a sport they have no special interest in apart from the money it generates their company. 

I strongly believe, Liverpool Football Club deserves not to play second best to anyone. Shankly built this club from nothing and I'm not going to sit around and witness the club get pulled down by incompetent greedy people. Joint ownership of two of world sports most successful teams is sure to cause issues with prioritising. 

John Henry since taking control of Liverpool in 2010 immediately set out to mirror how he achieved success with the Red Sox. Buying and developing young home grown talent, setting specific wage structures and instilling strict transfer policies. However, it bamboozles me how this can happen. Liverpool and The Red Sox are miles apart and not just in distance. They also represent completely adverse sports, operating in different leagues in different parts of the world. The way Premiership Football Clubs operate isn't the same way Major League Baseball teams work. Importing a business model from one sport to another and assuming that the outcome will be the same is simply absurd.

As Liverpool fans, Champions League qualification is the absolute minimum requirement we must demand from any manager. I'm not saying that we have to win the league or trophies every season. However, converting Liverpool Football Club into an established top four club is the least we should have expected from Brendan Rodgers. Unfortunately, he hasn't been unable to achieve this and lacks the capabilities and skills in order to do so. Therefore, Mr Henry had no other option, than to move him on. He failed.

The way Liverpool gave away the FA Cup by not turning up against Villa, and then consequently threw away Champions League qualification by failing to beat West Brom and Hull City is more than enough to prove that Rodgers can't produce when it matters. Furthermore, the defeat against Crystal Palace and that shambles we saw away to Stoke City, capped off a dismal season for the Reds. My feelings after the Stoke game weren't ones of anger or frustration, but ones of sadness. 

It seems as if FSG have made a calculated risk in sticking with Rodgers. Not only due to the financial implications involved in removing him, but also if provided with the right resources, in the short term he is probably considered to deliver success faster than starting from scratch again.

FSG appointed Brendan Rodgers in 2012 with bundles of confidence that he was capable of bringing them success. Therefore, in their eyes letting him go now, this late in the game, would suggest that FSG have failed. The extensive investment they put into Rodgers' Liverpool would now mean nothing. There isn't anything more that businessmen want to avoid then 'failure'. It is a sign of weakness within the business world, a sign that a company the size of FSG will not want to be associated with. It would put a huge dent in their reputation. 

Rodgers' Liverpool only won three out of their last eleven games. One being against championship side Blackburn Rovers and the other two were against Newcastle and QPR, who both sat in the bottom 4 of the Premier League. Failing to have the ability to attract big names must be frustrating. It's clearly visible that Rodgers doesn't have sufficient pulling power to attract these sorts of players.   

Having a top class European manager at the helm doesn’t guarantee marquee signings. However, it certainly helps. Players who are going to play for a manager, who has already enjoyed many years of success, some in different leagues, winning various titles, know that they are going to play for someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Sadly, Rodgers doesn't have much experience, with only seven years as a top flight manager and winning no trophies along the way. The words of new signing Joe Gomez last Saturday after signing for the club epitomises this. Joe said Rodgers ability to develop & provide young players with opportunities played a major part in his decision to join Liverpool. Therefore, does this mean Brendan Rodgers can only attract young players and not world class ones? which we are in desperate need of right now.

Moreover, wantaway Raheem Sterling also stated that Liverpool is the best place to develop your career. Players talking about Liverpool Football Club in this way, to say the least, is upsetting & frustrating to any Liverpool fan.

Let's not forget, Brendan Rodgers is the only Liverpool manager to spend over a £100 million in a single summer. An amount, which FSG would have thought to be more than enough for Liverpool to compete not only in the Premiership League but also in the Champions League too.

If you were John Henry would you trust Brendan Rodgers with another 100 million?

I understand not all fans will agree with me on my opinions about Rodgers. I've spoke to a lot of people over the last few months and I've found there is a mixed response regarding his abilities. I do agree, the Liverpool manager position shouldn't be a revolving door, manager in, manager out. Nonetheless 3 years in football is more than enough to prove your worth.

Now that the 2014/2015 season has been deemed an unsuccessful and disappointing one, not only for finishing outside the top four but also for falling at the first hurdle in both European competitions we took part in. Everything we competed in this season seemed to drift slowly away from us, The League, The Champions League, The Europa League, The League Cup and finally Top 4 & the FA Cup.

Delivering silverware and securing Champions League qualification would have been enough to keep the fans faith in Rodgers. Whereas, finishing outside of the lucrative European spots and ending another season without picking up any honours is now going to really test our patience leading into next season. Not only our progression as a football club has been halted, but also the financial side of the club has suffered greatly.

Moreover, to be the best, you have to beat the best. Rodgers' record against top four opposition in the three seasons he has been at Liverpool (As you can see from the graphics below) has been abysmal.

I would say the reason for my negativity towards Rodgers was mainly due to my pain and sadness of waiting many years' for Liverpool's return to Europe's elite competition. To perform the way we did, after all the hard work we put into getting there, was dissatisfying to say the least. To only notch up one win in six isn't the form of a Liverpool side in Europe I'm used to. 

Rodgers himself would argue that he needs more time. His team at the start of last season had just lost one of Liverpool's greatest ever players in Luis Suarez and his strike partner Daniel Sturridge was injured before the Champions League had even started. In addition, adding a string of new recruits which have needed time to be moulded into his new system reinforces the fact that Rodgers' team weren't the best prepared entering into the Champions League or competing at the highest level this campaign.

Liverpool Football Club need to be playing Champions League football year in, year out. As a Liverpool fan, those fixtures home and away in Europe are what we thrive on and with Brendan's European win percentage at 35% (7/20) after three seasons simply isn't acceptable. It would be unthinkable finishing outside the top 4 again. 

If the owners are starting to lose heart, where does it leave us? 

Undoubtedly, Fenway Sports Group will want to sell the club with Champions League Football, as together with a newly developed stadium, the value of the club will be increased and be more lucrative for potential buyers. On the other hand, failing to qualify for Europe's elite competition will make the club less appealing for a successful takeover to be put in place.

Furthermore, another season without Champions League football would put the futures' of our top players such as, Philippe Coutinho in doubt. Players of this calibre will start to question if they are able to achieve greatness at Liverpool Football Club. 

Let's just hope we bring in the correct personnel on and off the field to ensure us of a successful season. Let's just hope we get off to a strong start and make sure the headlines after our opening fixture at the Britannia read something like: 

"Rodgers puts to bed last season's Stoke defeat with an empathic start to the season"

At the moment Reds, we can only hope!

As always, thank you for reading, and please voice your opinions in the comments box on the Twitter below. 

Carl Clemente 

for Anfield Europe 

@clemente_carl

@anfieldeurope

Complete 2015-2016 Fixture List

August

8 - Stoke City (A)
15 - Bournemouth (H)
22 - Arsenal (A)
29 - West Ham United (H)

September

12 - Manchester United (A)
19 - Norwich City (H)
26 - Aston Villa (H)

October

3 - Everton (A)
17 - Tottenham Hotspur (A)
24 - Southampton (H)
31 - Chelsea (A)

November

7 - Crystal Palace (H)
21 - Manchester City (A)
28 - Swansea City (H)

December

5 - Newcastle United (A)
12 - West Bromwich Albion (H)
19 - Watford (A)
26 - Leicester City (H)
28 - Sunderland (A)

January

2 - West Ham United (A)
12 - Arsenal (H)
16 - Manchester United (H)
23 - Norwich City (A)

February

2 - Leicester City (A)
6 - Sunderland (H)
13 - Aston Villa (A)
27 - Everton (H)

March

1 - Manchester City (H)
5 - Crystal Palace (A)
12 - Chelsea (H)
19 - Southampton (A)

April

2 - Tottenham Hotspur (H)
9 - Stoke City (H)
16 - Bournemouth (A)
23 - Newcastle United (H)
30 - Swansea City (A)

May

7 - Watford (H)
15 - West Bromwich Albion (A)

(Source: Offical LFC.TV site)