Football
Mike Whalley 9y

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers says Reading sacking 'was making of me'

LIVERPOOL -- Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has said he believes his sacking by Reading five years ago enabled him develop the strength of character that will help him through the current problems at Anfield.

Rodgers is facing growing speculation about his future on Merseyside, having seen Liverpool's form slide drastically this season after having led them to second place in the Premier League last time around.

The Reds are 11th in the table and were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages earlier this month.

Rodgers is facing the biggest challenge of his managerial career since the Reading sacking, which happened in December 2009 after just six months in charge of the Championship club.

He returned to management with Swansea in 2010, guiding them to the Premier League before moving to Anfield in 2012.

"I'll never forget the day [of the sacking]. It was a Wednesday, Dec. 16," he said. "It was probably the making of me as a manager. It's not until you have that experience that you can really analyse and reflect on the things you can be better at.

"And certainly for me, after that period, it gave me the chance to reflect and then to be better, for the good of my career. And that was the way it worked out.

"I was able to go on and do a decent job at Swansea. And up until this year, I would hope people would say I've done a reasonable job here.

"But no matter how well you're doing as a manager, you're always going to have tough periods, and this season has been tough.

"I've got great confidence in how I work, and how my staff here work, and look at the commitment of the players -- the effort and the spirit of the team. When we do and we get some consistent results, we can push on."

Rodgers takes Liverpool to Championship leaders Bournemouth for a Capital One Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday, looking for a response to Sunday's 3-0 Premier League defeat at Manchester United.

The Reds have so far failed to match the form that brought them so close to a first league title since 1990 last season.

Rodgers has pointed to the departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona and a run of injuries to Daniel Sturridge -- two strikers who scored 52 league goals between them last season -- as key factors.

But there has also been criticism of the club's transfer spending over the summer, with nine players brought in but making little impact.

Reports on Tuesday suggested that Liverpool's American owners, Fenway Sports Group are planning a review of the club's transfer committee, which includes Rodgers, chief executive Ian Ayre, head of recruitment Dave Fallows and head of technical performance Michael Edwards.

Rodgers said: "I'm not aware of that. That's obviously something that's maybe within the club. But we're very analytical of performance, and we look at how we're doing in a push for constant improvement.

"You need to analyse and reflect. My work is very much focused on players we do have and trying to improve them, and ultimately to improve them as a team.

"We're a stable club. We're disappointed with how things are going, but we're working very hard to bring back the confidence."

^ Back to Top ^