Brendan Rodgers repeating Liverpool failures with Celtic

By Connor Gordon

January 23, 2019

Brendan Rodgers in en route to repeat what led to his exit at Liverpool.

The Celtic manager is failing to secure a strong permanent defence and isn’t very strong in the transfer market.

This was a major part of his shortfall whilst part of the English Premier League giants.

Hoops fans hoping lightening doesn’t strike twice with Rodgers

In Liverpool’s famous 2013/14 season, it was firepower that took the Reds so close to the title.

Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge among others steamrolled the Premier League.

An unfortunate slip by now Rangers gaffer Steven Gerrard ultimately put a halt to winning the title.

Steven Gerrard’s slip cost Liverpool the EPL title in 2014. (Photo by Matthew Ashton/AMA/AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)

Unfortunately, Rodgers and Liverpool were unable to build on that season for a variety of reasons.

One big downside was his failure to get a strong defence with Martin Skrtel flattering to deceive, while Kolo Touré wasn’t getting any younger.

During the above season, Liverpool conceded 50 goals in 38 matches and that was a team challenging for the league.

Rodgers at Celtic is experiencing similar defensive issues, sticking with ageing Mikael Lustig at right-back and the current centre-halves, although good, won’t be here in the summer and back-ups are poorer quality.

Manager is failing to regain firepower he had with Moussa Dembele. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

In the double treble season, Celtic relied on the firepower of Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair.

The Bhoys have found it difficult with the Frenchman away and the latter not at that standard anymore.

Transfer market a glaring weakness

Another reason why Rodgers didn’t manage to take Liverpool to the next level was his transfer dealings.

Following Suarez’s exit, failure to get Wilfried Bony meant Mario Balotelli heading to Merseyside.

The Italian was predictably unreliable and not an amicable replacement for the Barcelona striker.

The Northern Irishman also wasted millions on the likes of Divock Origi and Dejan Lovren that summer.

This was only a few of many bizarre stockpiling purchases during his time.

Mario Balotelli wasn’t the Luis Suarez replacement Reds fans wanted. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

However, working with a transfer committee also wouldn’t have eased much for Rodgers.

Finally, Gerrard’s departure meant the club was missing an icon and a stalwart in the Liverpool team. Likewise, Scott Brown could be departing Celtic in the near future for Australia which will have a similar affect.

Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself and the manager has learned from his mistakes. For the sake of the club, any potential downfall must be ironed out by those responsible.

If it comes to the club’s detriment, it will either be Rodgers wasn’t backed by the board or they don’t trust the manager with the funds.