Parting ways: Liverpool sack Rodgers, Klopp favourite to replace him

Northern Irishman leaves club after becoming failing to win a trophy in three years.

LONDON: Liverpool sacked manager Brendan Rodgers on Sunday following a year of disappointing results that culminated in a poor start to the current season.

The announcement came just hours after the five-time European champions had held Everton to a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park with another unconvincing performance.

Rodgers, 42, took Liverpool to the brink of the Premier League title in 2014, but they finished sixth last season and are currently 10th with 12 points from eight games.

“We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Brendan Rodgers for the significant contribution he has made to the club and express our gratitude for his hard work and commitment,” said Liverpool’s American owners Fenway Sports Group in a statement. “All of us have experienced some wonderful moments with Brendan as manager and we are confident he will enjoy a long career in the game.”



Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who played under Rodgers, felt the removal is understandable. “He was maybe fortunate to stay on at the end of last season,” he said. “He’ll have known himself that he had to make a good start and he hasn’t.”

Former Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp and former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, both currently out of work, have been linked with the Liverpool job in recent weeks.

“Liverpool need a manager who is big enough to handle the pressure, without thinking he is bigger than the club,” former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson wrote in an article for the BBC. “Jurgen Klopp is the favourite to get the job and he would fit the bill.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger backed Rodgers to bounce back from the setback. “I am always sad when that happens because I think he is a quality manager,” said the Frenchman after his side’s 3-0 defeat of Manchester United. “But that’s the way it goes now and I wish him good luck. I am sure he will find a job again.”

Rodgers is the second Premier League manager to part company with a club this season after Dick Advocaat, who stood down at Sunderland earlier on Sunday.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2015.

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