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Mersey Beat: Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers can talk the talk... now he must deliver results

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A humdrum friendly had just finished with a satisfactory victory when Brendan Rodgers was asked to gauge how his start as Liverpool manager had been received.

'I'm sure the majority of supporters are still unsure about me,' he offered after Liverpool's facile 3-1 success over Bayer Leverkusen last Sunday.

'But I will fight for my life for this club and fight for my right to be here. It has been a terrific pre-season.'

Living the dream: Brendan Rodgers has enjoyed his first few weeks at Liverpool

At first glance, it may have seemed a slightly negative response. The Kop, after all, gained a reputation for embracing its managers, standing by them and offering unstinting support, so the fact they have yet to sing Rodgers' name has not gone unnoticed.

The past couple of seasons, however, have been unlike anything in the club's 120-year history. Rafa Benitez, an icon who brought the greatest prize in club football back to Anfield, was replaced by a man in Roy Hodgson who never appreciated the style and ethos to which Liverpool adhered.

 

When Hodgson was jettisoned after 192 harrowing days, in came Liverpool's greatest ever player and the No 1 idol.

Kenny Dalglish returned with many hoping he would create the halcyon period of the 1980s but instead, just 18 months into his contract, he too was deemed surplus to requirements.

Such upheaval in the dugout has triggered so many wildly different emotions, so perhaps it was inevitable that when Rodgers was appointed on June 1, many would have felt the need to stand back and take stock before offering their judgements vocally.

Do not confuse a lack of sound, though, for a lack of support. Rodgers, who was raised in Northern Ireland supporting the all-conquering Liverpool sides of the 1970s, could not have made a more impressive start to succeeding Dalglish in terms of how he has conducted himself.

Every time he speaks, there is deference for the past yet his ambition for the future bursts through; there is always an emotive, imaginative phrase in a press conference and his answers to inquisitors are laced with intelligence. 

Yet – and he will know this better than anyone – talk is cheap. Rodgers is acutely aware that to fully win over his new audience, killer lines and educated rhetoric pale into insignificance. The only thing that matters is gaining positive results.

New man at the helm: Rodgers is looking forward to a big season

'I'm quite relaxed to be honest,' said Rodgers. 'I look forward to every day here. There's no doubt we have a tough start but, for me, my only concentration has been on West Brom, it's always just the next game for me. We're really focused on that.

'The supporters have been brilliant to me; I've been given a brilliant welcome here. As a manager and a coach, you have to earn respect. That's the greatest thing about these supporters – they won't just hand it out, you have to earn it. But that's what I have done all my life.

'I was never a big player. I never had the protection of that to get a job. Everything in life over the last 20 years I have had to earn and gain respect. Here it is no different. These are educated supporters, brilliant supporters, who I'm sure are wondering how it's all going to work out.

'People have said about them not chanting my name yet, but it's more important for them to sing the players' names. When they feel the time is right, they will. But I'll never be offended if they don't. As long as the players and the team get that support, I will continue to work that way.'

How the Liverpool story unfolds this season will make for fascinating viewing and there was a certain mischief from West Brom manager Steve Clarke, Dalglish's assistant last year, when he claimed on Thursday that Rodgers will be under pressure if he does not deliver a top four place in May.

Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool's owners, insist that is not the case but there certainly is pressure – from Rodgers himself.

'I will never shy away from the top four but it is easier said than done,' Rodgers pointed out. 'The big challenge is to keep improving. The changes here have been traumatic in the last few years but when the light shines on you, you have to be ready. It is a responsibility I gladly take.'

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