Graeme Souness: 'Not impossible' for Gerrard to beat Celtic to the title

[Bill 13,717]

14 minutes ago, craig said:

Indeed, making it all the more sensible to be chasing striking targets.

The problem is that, unless you have an idea whether and for what price Morelos goes, you don't know what quality of striker to go for. If you aim high and Morelos stays or forces a move at a lower value then you're in financial peril. If you aim low and Morelos goes for a high value, you've burdened the club with another lower-than-necessary quality of player.

[Malangsob 1,264]

2 hours ago, craig said:

Remember we only really have one goalscorer at the club in Morelos.  Miller has left, Cummings is back to Forest (for now) and Herrera couldn't hit a "coo in the erse with a banjo".  We may not like to admit it but, despite being the league's top scorers last season, we are very light in attacking options, certainly a striker or two would be helpful.  We should be fine on the wings with Murphy, Candeais and now Arfield.

 

Defence is our top priority I agree, but we definitely need at least one striker if not more - if Morelos goes off the boil, as he did after the January window closed, then we will struggle, again, as we did after Morelos went off the boil, without replacements.

Valid points all. I like that expression "off the boil", how accurate.

[craig 5,199]

54 minutes ago, Bill said:

The problem is that, unless you have an idea whether and for what price Morelos goes, you don't know what quality of striker to go for. If you aim high and Morelos stays or forces a move at a lower value then you're in financial peril. If you aim low and Morelos goes for a high value, you've burdened the club with another lower-than-necessary quality of player.

If you aim low and Morelos goes high, you MIGHT be able to afford another higher value player - 2-for-1 if you like

[ian1964 10,724]

 

[JFK-1 1,693]

Nothing is ever certain but taking everything into account the chances of Gerrard being a success as a manger surely have to be good. One of the greatest features we want from a manager is that he has to be a leader. i think we can be confident he's a leader having captained both Liverpool and England and having been quoted as a leader throughout his glittering career at the very top level.

 

Quote

Jordan Henderson described Gerrard as "probably the best player this country has ever seen – not only as a player, but also as a leader and a captain."

He needs tactical awareness. He has more experience than Rodgers of top level football from the inside, ie, being on the pitch. Rodgers never played top level football. His highest level as a player was Newport.

 

Gerrard was noted for having an exceptional ability to read a game and captain/lead his team to whatever was required to turn a game around.

 

All of that is exactly what we need from a manager so with that in mind and given a good transfer window it is indeed not impossible and further than that not highly unlikely for him to beat them.

[craig 5,199]

33 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

Nothing is ever certain but taking everything into account the chances of Gerrard being a success as a manger surely have to be good. One of the greatest features we want from a manager is that he has to be a leader. i think we can be confident he's a leader having captained both Liverpool and England and having been quoted as a leader throughout his glittering career at the very top level.

 

He needs tactical awareness. He has more experience than Rodgers of top level football from the inside, ie, being on the pitch. Rodgers never played top level football. His highest level as a player was Newport.

 

Gerrard was noted for having an exceptional ability to read a game and captain/lead his team to whatever was required to turn a game around.

 

All of that is exactly what we need from a manager so with that in mind and given a good transfer window it is indeed not impossible and further than that not highly unlikely for him to beat them.

You will be unsurprised to hear I disagree with you.

 

Playing is different to managing.  Rodgers may not have played to a high level whereas Gerrard did.  However, they will both be managers.  Doesn't make Gerrard's experience irrelevant, but it certainly doesn't suggest he will "better" Rodgers. 

 

Rodgers has been managing at the top level for a number of years in the EPL, Scotland and Europe.  Gerrard has none of that experience.  None.

 

Celtic has vastly superior financial resources.  Doesn't always mean a great deal but they have guys on their bench or sitting in the stand who would probably get a game in our starting XI.  Their strength in depth is far superior to ours and, like it or not, their starting XI is superior to ours too.

 

I think it IS highly unlikely that Gerrard will beat Rodgers, for all the reasons above.  Doesn't mean it isn't impossible.  Doesn't mean we shouldn't hold out hope for it.  But realism is important too.  Everything is pointing in Celtic's favour, aside from Gerrard's Liverpool connections & his reputation possibly helping us get a better quality of player.  But even on reputation.... lets be serious... if you were good enough for both Rangers and Celtic and they both came for you... would you honestly go to Rangers ahead of a team that a) can offer you Champions League football (hopefully not ) b) has just won back-to-back trebles and c) can offer you significantly more wages.

 

Lets show some realism and lets at least be honest with ourselves.  The cards are firmly stacked against Gerrard.  We just have to hope that Rodgers house of cards falls and we are the beneficiaries.

[JFK-1 1,693]

In your opinion the cards are stacked against Gerrard, in my opinion they're not. Or at least not in terms of being dominant against all but them.

 

Obviously they have a financial advantage but so do we over the sheep and the rest that hasn't worked out as it should.  I have a feeling the also rans will be consistently blown away by Gerrard so then it comes down to how many points they drop to the also rans and how many if any they drop to us.

 

That's not a venture into being unrealistic. It's a mild degree of optimism.

[craig 5,199]

9 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

In your opinion the cards are stacked against Gerrard, in my opinion they're not. Or at least not in terms of being dominant against all but them.

 

Obviously they have a financial advantage but so do we over the sheep and the rest that hasn't worked out as it should.  I have a feeling the also rans will be consistently blown away by Gerrard so then it comes down to how many points they drop to the also rans and how many if any they drop to us.

 

That's not a venture into being unrealistic. It's a mild degree of optimism.

I told you exactly why I believe they are stacked against Gerrard - and I think they are all valid points.  So.... What is it that you believe they aren't ?  Aside from Gerrard having been a world class player ?

 

You do realise that you said the same thing about the also-rans being blown away this time last year ?  And the season before that too ?  There is, presently, ZERO proof of that being the case.  Yes, I know you said you have a feeling therefore proof wont be forthcoming, but it is nothing more than supposition.

 

Celtic have just won the double treble.  They knew that the league was won before the split, they have better players, greater depth, greater finances.  Yeah..... the cards definitely aren't stacked against Gerrard.....

 

Not only that, but Gerrard is also likely going to be trying to blend half a team, has little time to prepare for the season - whilst Celtic will retain the vast majority of last season's squad and have consistency of selection.  I don't think that anyone can really doubt that they have taken their foot off the gas in both of the last two seasons (strangely less so in the "invincibles" season as they had the unbeaten run to play for) and could have finished a greater distance away from us.

[Gonzo79 15,294]

There's positivity and there's just blind hope.  

 

I'd wait until we play the scum before getting carried away with the Gerrard appointment.

[JFK-1 1,693]

3 minutes ago, craig said:

I told you exactly why I believe they are stacked against Gerrard - and I think they are all valid points.  So....

And I already described exactly why I believe he can be a successful manger, and I think they are all valid points. So. Proven leader and a notable tactical awareness during a game. What else does a manager need?

 

As for them there were times last season we could and should have taken them but didn't. It's hardly unrealistic to think we can take it a step further with a better squad than last season and a more tactically astute manager.