He pretty much officially signed with Swansea yesterday. The medical is just a formality, I honestly don't expect any turnarounds.
One would have to assume though that Swansea will have a 'no poaching' clause in the agreement, we might be fine for the out of contract players but the others might be harder to get. I hope he has bigger plans than just bringing in his old squad.
Brendan Rodgers' playing philosophy could be a success if he transfers it from the Liberty Stadium to Liverpool
Brendan Rodgers must keep Liverpool's congregation on side or risk drowning in whirlpool of fan discontent
I'm with everyone else, the more you read/listen etc, the more you like. Hoping for great things. Will be interesting to see how our players fit into his system.
Echo reporting that Colin Pascoe, Chris Davies and Glen Driscoll are the three staff joining LFC from Swansea. Assume Keen is out, but will Clarke stay on?
Well as I posted on the search thread, he is our gaffer and I am hoping he succeeds beyond our wildest dreams. But I am always wary of the initial stories about coaching philosophy and the like. Many people can espouse that they will play like Barca and it is good he tried a variant at Swansea but the proof will be in the pudding. Welcome Brendan.
This article has been posted before, but it gives a nice insight into the philosophy and routine: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/11/brendan-rodgers-swansea-city Pretty standard stuff, but I like the emphasis on ball movement, spacing and fitness. Also, while this isn't about Rodgers, this Simon Kuper article on Barcelona's defending is a good primer on how a high-pressing, ball-keeping team plays without the ball.
Another interesting piece to add to the summer reading: http://thepathismadebywalking.wordpress.com/tiki-taka-football-handbook/0-complete-handbook/
We may be getting a little ahead of ourselves here - reports now of a big snag in the compensation arrangements between the two clubs. And we're still not sure how the structure will be sorted out, with reports Rodgers wasn't prepared to accept a DoF. Apparently this guy is very impressive in person and comes very well prepared so he knocked their socks off and they offered him full authority over footballing affairs. Ballsy move if it finally comes off. Stay tuned.
The Beeb is reporting the compensation is agreed to, and Rodgers will bring his own staff (so Clarke and Keene are out): http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18285289 No update on DoF or technical director.
Good news on the comp front. Giving all authority to an unproven manager (and at this point he is unproven) is definitely a ballsy move.
Lets not jump the gun and assume he is getting all authority. He may not have wanted another manager, Van Gaal, sitting up stairs waiting to take his job, and so we are looking at alternatives, possibly Txixi B.
Clarke was instrumental in getting him the job at chelski under jose wasn't he? So why would he not keep clarke?
So to sum up. Rodgers is going to try and bring Barca to Liverpool, which is fantastic, but what has yet to be addressed (adequately) is whether or not we have the players for it. If this is the direction we will be taking (and I for one hope that it is), the owners are going to need to bring in players with high technical ability on the ball. I think Reina, Agger, Suarez, Johnson and Gerrard can adjust well into this new system. But other than that, do we have anyone else noteworthy that can play that style of football?