That was the headline I read as I poured over the morning paper, I was pleased for my old boss Rodgers. I was at the Chelsea academy, and was taught the beautiful passing game by the man himself, however just like him my career was cut short by injury. We had kept in touch fairly well over the years, as he helped me into jobs such as striker coach at Cardiff, assistant manager at Huddersfield town and interim manager at Telford. I was fairly successful in all those job's, however I didn't keep a single one. Though considering I am now only 26, I have had a successful career. I must text Brendan, I thought to myself. He deserved congratulations.
Later that day...
Hello, Brendan? It's me Keith. I just thought I better call to offer my congratulations, wow! Liverpool, what a job! Ah Keith, I am very pleased you called. Thank you, and if this call goes well I will be congratulating you! Sorry Brendan, I don't follow. You see Keith, Colin (Pascoe) won't be following me to Liverpool as his family are settled in Swansea. I have followed your progress over the past few years, and would like to offer you the chance to be my assistant. Are you up for it? Really? Thank you, I would love to be your assistant! Excellent news. I must go now, the club will be in touch over the next couple of days. Goodbye, and thank you!
So much guilt passed over me. My friend, former coach and boss had been sacked just 3 weeks into the job. The club statement was that he was 'Personally involved with a relative of John W Henry'. I knew the truth, he hadn't been happy in his marriage for years and was finding the strain so difficult, he began an affair with John W Henry's younger sister. But now I had been asked to take over his job and couldn't turn it down. £44,000 a week before tax would secure me financially. Plus the chance to make my name at one of the biggest clubs in the world. Colin Pascoe had a change of heart a few days after I was appointed Brendan's assistant, so I invited him back to be my assistant.
The money at the club is tight and I haven't been given much to spend, with just over a month of the transfer window left it will be difficult to get players in. Rodgers was given the budget and he spent it, I am left to feed on bargains and loans. The squad is small and getting a top 6 finish won't be as easy as it sounds.
However I am trying to look on the bright side, 1 month ago I was unemployed, and I have dropped into the job purely by chance.
Chelsea chase Johnson. View attachment 305089
Chelsea are reportedly putting together a bid for their former player Glen Johnson, now at Liverpool. Johnson signed for Liverpool for £17,000,000 and has established himself as a key member of the squad. With new Liverpool manager Keith Lomas openly admitting he has very limited funds, will he cash in on the England international?
There was no chance in **** I am letting him go, I want to play an attacking 4-5-1 and having good full backs is a key part of that. Although, if Chelsea were to offer a ludicrous sum, maybe I would have to take it.
Staying on the topic of defenders, myself and Colin agreed to let John Flanagan and Andre Wisdom go out on loan for the season. Flanagan to Nottingham Forest and Wisdom to St Johnstone.
A deal that was 90% done before Brendan left is one involving Daniel Pacheco going on loan to Bolton for the season, I finished the deal off and think the young spaniard can gain some experience. Plus, after watching him around the place I think he needs to mature abit more before he can challenge for a place in my team.
On a limited budget after Brendan's buys, my fingers were stretched in the transfer market so I focused on strength in depth. The squad was strained, still is! But Ian Ayre worked very hard to get the players that we did in. A number of the youngsters were sent out on loan to gain experience, they probably wouldn't of been much use anyway. We came very close to a couple of star players, but their wage demands were out of our reach. Florent Malouda was almost a Liverpool player, but I wasn't prepared to pay 100+k p/w for someone stuck in the Chelsea reserves. We went for a certain Barcelona striker on loan, but didn't have the funds to complete the deal. Here are the players we managed to get in, and the players that went out... View attachment 305836
Thomas and Craig added depth to a small squad, whilst the experience of Gianluca will be extremely beneficial.
John Guidetti is a very promising striker, and we attempted to put a clause in the loan allowing us to buy him for £10M at the end of the season. Jose Enrique was our only experienced left back in the squad so we brought in Ravzan to cover that. Guillaume and Milos are two good players, that I'm sure can make a big impact.