5 reasons why Brendan Rodgers deserves another shot in the Premier League

#4: His downfall was hardly his own fault

Rodgers can't be blamed for struggling without the likes of Luis Suarez

Admittedly, Rodgers came under criticism for plenty of reasons during his time at Liverpool – even being compared to the notorious David Brent character from The Office at points due to his over-use of mantras and buzzwords – but really, wouldn’t any manager have struggled in the circumstances he found himself in following that successful 2013/14 season?

2013/14 saw Liverpool strikers Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez score an incredible 52 Premier League goals between them – basically half of the Reds’ total in league competition – while Steven Gerrard acted as the side’s driving force from the midfield. But of course, Suarez was sold to Barcelona in the summer of 2014, Gerrard suddenly slipped (no pun intended) from form and Sturridge spent the majority of the season injured, making only 13 Premier League appearances.

The Reds did receive a fee of around £65m for Suarez, and indeed, they spent a hefty £117m in the summer of 2014 and another £79m the summer after that. But according to most sources, Rodgers was not in control of the club’s transfer dealings – that was apparently down to a “transfer committee”, even if Rodgers always claimed he had the final say.

So under the circumstances – losing your best players and not truly being able to replace them – which manager could’ve succeeded? Would Tottenham be the same today without Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen? How would Liverpool fare without Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino?

Basically, the sticky end of his tenure at Liverpool wasn’t completely Rodgers’ fault, even if his methods could be questioned at times. And that means it shouldn’t be held against him when it comes to being given another shot.