Brendan Rodgers should be linked with the best jobs in English football, says Gary Neville
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville reckons Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers is good enough to manage any top club, including Manchester City.
The comments did not come in response to the historic 9-0 win over Southampton on Friday. They had been made pre-match as the Manchester United legend showered praise on the Foxes gaffer.
Since the Irishman has taken over, Leicester have only been on the up. They have hardly had any disappointments and it does not look like that will be the case anytime soon.
No one is therefore surprised to see Neville claim that Rodgers should be considered as the successor to Pep Guardiola, whose time “may” be up at the Etihad Stadium at the end of this season.
"“I think if you look at what he achieved at Liverpool and then Celtic and now what he is doing at Leicester City, we always talk about international coaches having philosophies and values, but he improves teams and plays great football,” Neville said on Sky Sports.“He is quite innovative and he does seem to be a great coach, the players enjoy to work with him, and I’m asking the question now, why wouldn’t he be seen as a coach of one of the big clubs?“You look at Manchester City changing to Pep Guardiola and you probably won’t see Brendan Rodgers’ name linked with that job because people at the club will be thinking, maybe, someone else.“But why not? if you look at what he’s done in terms of the football he plays and the improvement he has on players on the pitch.“People say he hasn’t won that much silverware but then people talk about Mauricio Pochettino really highly and he’s not won silverware in England and then don’t speak as highly of Brendan Rodgers. I know Pochettino got to a Champions League final.“So in Brendan Rodgers’ view – if he gets the top four this season – he should now be linked with the very best jobs in English football.”"
Rodgers has always been an underrated coach. Let us not forget that he made Liverpool play some of their best football in the Premier League era and very nearly won the title, too.
Some people also forget his time at Swansea City. He didn’t only earn them promotion in his first season but also secured 11th position in the PL the subsequent season, something that was not deemed possible by many.
He may have had a hard time at Anfield after the 2013/14 campaign but that happens to the best of the lot. He is still only 46 and relatively young.
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The way he is going, he does not only deserve the footballing world’s respect but a chance – if it does come his way – to win big trophies at bigger clubs as well. Not that he cannot win silverware at Leicester, mind.