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Last season:
Premier League Eighth; FA Cup Runners-up; Carling Cup Winners
Manager Brendan Rodgers (since 2012) Odds on being first out of his job 20-1 (11th)
Transfers in Fabio Borini (Roma), Joe Allen (Swansea)
Transfers out Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce), Fabio Aurelio (Gremio), Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina, after loan at Juventus), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell's Old Boys)
As Carling Cup winners, Liverpool appeared on SSN's rotating roll of honour for last season. Immediately beneath them were Chesterfield, as victors of the Johnstone's Paint. The Reds have not sunk quite that low in playing terms but their reputation and that of a club legend plunged in 2011-12.
Kenny Dalglish heads into retirement having unwittingly tarnished his own standing and that of the club by taking a lead role in the crass defence of Luis Suarez. It remains the case that the Uruguayan was found guilty by an FA independent panel despite the lack of corroboration - an arguably surprising absence given the cameras focused on the striker and Patrice Evra - and the judgment was delivered on the balance of probabilities, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt. But a limited apology was due simply on the basis of what Suarez told the match officials - via Damien Comolli - he had said. By treating attack as the best form of defence, the club and its manager did irreversible damage.
In playing terms, the first half of the season was mixed. But far from building on the shoot-out victory against Cardiff the Reds wound up 17th in the table for the second half of the season. Had the FA Cup been won - and the resurgent Andy Carroll was so close to an equaliser against Chelsea - then that may have been sufficient mitigation for the Scot to keep his job. The cup runs did include victories against Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and Everton. Instead, with only the lesser pot secured, Dalglish, like Comolli and PR man Ian Cotton, found his services no longer required. And while Suarez has signed a new contract, the jeers aimed his way when playing for Uruguay in the Olympics show that no line will easily be drawn under the controversy, nor has he given any indication that he will steer clear of further trouble.
So Brendan Rodgers is taking charge of a club at an all-round low ebb. In a way the appointment of the former Swansea man is a reversion to Plan A for FSG, who wanted a young, club-building manager and were only persuaded into appointing the then-59-year-old Dalglish because of the fine job he performed as caretaker in the latter half of 2010-11 after replacing Roy Hodgson. Rodgers' appointment was far more palatable to Reds fans than the Dave Whelan-led rumour that Roberto Martinez was on his way. None of this lessens the burden on the Northern Irishman.
On top of the Suarez saga there was plenty of debate regarding the value for money offered by Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and above all Carroll, who endured and only latterly enjoyed his first and possibly sole full season as a Liverpool player. However, the impact of the loss to injury of Lucas Leiva, a player for whom there was insufficient cover, was overlooked in some of the post-mortems on Dalglish's season.
The new manager has started with a limp away win and a convincing Anfield victory in the Europa League qualifiers, setting up a play-off against Hearts. But he seems to have got himself in some verbal tangles over the futures of Daniel Agger and Carroll and has some worrying speech patterns.
Reading Rodgers talk about himself in the third person during the Olympics brought back some remarks from the 2008 Games, when our now most decorated gold medallist was asked: "What does Chris Hoy think about Chris Hoy?" Came the memorable reply: "The day Chris Hoy talks about Chris Hoy in the third person is the day Chris Hoy disappears up Chris Hoy's own arse." Rodgers' habit is even worse than his tendency to phone in to TalkSport.
Some dead wood has been taken off the wage bill - most notably Alberto Aquilani - and the departure of Dirk Kuyt is perhaps indicative of the change of style Rodgers is seeking; so too the acquisitions of Joe Allen and Fabio Borini, and the reportedly imminent loan deal for Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid, apparently attributable to Rodgers' relationship with Jose Mourinho.
Will it work? The first chance to find out is at West Brom, but there are three major tests in four subsequent matches: home games against Manchester City, Arsenal and, just shy of the anniversary of Suarez-Evra, Manchester United. The other games before the end of September are trips to Sunderland and Norwich, but we - and Rodgers - will have a much better idea of the size of the task on the field once United have headed home.
Philip Cornwall
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