After showing such promise throughout the last campaign, Liverpool’s title challenge never quite materialized this year. With Luis Suarez sold off to Barcelona and a whole raft of new faces brought in, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers and owners Fenway Sports Group have come in for the brunt of the criticism with everything from transfer policy to the way the club is run coming under fire.
With the season drawing to a close, the Anfield outfit has received backing from a familiar face with former chief executive Rick Parry urging them to keep on their charted course. “You have to stay strong. You’ve got to stick to your principles and not be blown this way and that. By last season’s standards, this season’s been a little bit disappointing,” conceded the former Liverpool board member before pulling things back into perspective. “Then again, two domestic cup semi-finals and still technically in contention for a Champions League place is not a million miles away.”
While they’re certainly not as far behind as when the American consortium took over, they are lagging behind the expectations of some fans. After coming so close to bagging their first title of the Premier League era last year, it’s safe to say that the minimum the fans wanted was another tilt at the top — something that frankly hasn’t arrived.
This, of course, has lead to speculation regarding the future of Rodgers with the Northern Irishman’s position looking tenuous at best. Although he did caution against making a hasty decision, Parry understands almost as well as anyone the pressure that comes along with any job at Anfield. “You don’t go from zero to hero overnight and you don’t go from hero to zero overnight” he said when asked about the Reds embattled manager. “But at a club like Liverpool, the weight of expectation, from the fans and the ownership in terms of delivering and winning trophies, is very high.”
