From unsuccessful job applications to the Premier League summit

Liverpool’s title challenge is gaining momentum. Luis Suarez is on course to become the Premier League’s top scorer in a season. Daniel Sturridge is on his way to stardom. Steven Gerrard has a realistic choice to win that one medal that has eluded him always. Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho have gone from squad players to integral parts of a team with title aspirations. Most importantly, and miraculously, a team that was ready to do anything for a fourth spot in the Premier League is charging rampantly towards an unprecedented league title, gaining more believers week after week.

All this comes down to one man; the carefully chosen one, Brendan Rodgers. The former Swansea man was appointed by FSG at the close of the 2012-13 season, not long after firing club legend Kenny Dalglish. His appointment was met with waves of disappointment, fans were not angry with the appointment of an unknown entity but the fact that he was chosen to replace the legend himself. One good season with a mid-table club like Swansea was hardly enough to win over supporters (The man said so himself!).

The relaunch of This Is Anfield!

After taking charge of the club, he signed Fabio Borini and Joe Allen for a combined fee of 27 million pounds, both of whom had worked with Rodgers at his previous club. The manager was slowly building a reputation with the supporters, who were still getting to know him. He reinstalled the famous ‘This is Anfield’ sign at the tunnel at Anfield, he spoke of his vision to play attacking football and make Anfield a fortress again and he believed that he could bring the glory days back to Anfield. The Kop was brimming with optimism; after all, they loved the humble yet firm approach to the game and towards the club.

An opening day shock loss to West Brom at Anfield shattered those dreams. The next four fixtures, three of which were against the Manchester Clubs and Arsenal at home, yielded performances that would give hope, but not points. Rodgers was under scrutiny even before he could get the players to pass the ball the way he wanted them to.

This was followed by the highly controversial ‘Being Liverpool’, a series of documentaries featuring Brendan Rodgers prominently and his training sessions. The idea was good, to develop a relationship between the manager and the fans, to give them an idea of how and what was to come. However, before even the fans could actually understand anything of it, it was highly ridiculed by both rival fans as well as many football ‘pundits’. He was quoted as saying “I want to improve the players as footballers as well as human beings” amongst others, which were met with laughter from a significant portion of the footballing community.

Brendan Rodgers at his unveiling

Eighteen months later, those very words hold so much importance now. The bad boy of Liverpool, Luis Suarez, was deemed a “disgrace to Liverpool Football Club” by Sir Alex himself, has hit the headlines all season long for the correct reasons. His belief in his players and his ideology are paying dividends as they are firing on all cylinders.

Last season when Chelsea visited Anfield, songs of homecoming were sung for then Chelsea manager, Rafael Benitez. When they do so this season, they will see that the Kop has found a new hero, who could well be on his way to Liverpool greatness.

He has been brilliant in almost every aspect, from man-management to tactics to transfers. He has made some very good additions in terms of both first team players as well as squad players (see: Daniel Sturridge, Phillipe Coutinho, Madamou Sakho, Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto). Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson have all not been shy when it has come to bestowing the manager with praise.

And with the current situation at Old Trafford, Brendan Rodgers must be paid due respect for winning over the dressing room and never losing the fans’ backing, although he was asked to replace a legend who was sacked but was not recommended by a retiring legend.

One amazing thing about Brendan Rodgers has been that he has always taken a firm stance on everything and never budged from his words. He has maintained, and still does, that his team haven’t still won anything and have a long way to go. He has never given in to the ridiculous demands of a player, maintaining that no one is bigger than the club and still managed to keep hold of Luis Suarez.

He has believed in his players when they have scored a beauty and even when they have looked clueless, and put the best XI on the pitch but not the reputed XI. He has been agile with his tactics and his formations, adapting to minor needs of his players rather than the other way around. Never has he made an attempt to sign a player out of desperation nor has he been afraid to take risks or challenge the best. He hasn’t backed down from a duel, and he certainly hasn’t been afraid to make his opinions known.

His actions have seen him gain the status of one of the best managers in the league, if not in the game. But never has he shown a hint of arrogance, always being the man who walked with dreams onto the Anfield pitch. He was rumoured to have submitted a 180-page dossier to Liverpool owners, and more recently he spoke of his unsuccessful approach to many clubs. He has never forgotten that, he claims, and invites sacked managers to watch his training sessions.

His commitment towards improving, towards his players, towards his staff, towards his colleagues and towards the Liverpool Football Club and fans is not unparalleled but rather unheard of, at least today. With a contract running out, all of the clubs would be running to get such a manager to sign a contract and almost all of them would start negotiating a better price. But not him, not at least when he could lift the Premier League.

“I will always fight for my life for Liverpool, and that will be on and off the field.”

Long may you live, Bill Shankl… sorry, Brendan Rodgers.