Neil Taylor fears for British managers after Brendan Rodgers' dismissal

05 October 2015 01:31

Brendan Rodgers' former Swansea colleague Neil Taylor says he does not envy young British managers following the sacking of the Liverpool boss.

Taylor worked with Rodgers as the Northern Irishman won promotion with Swansea from the Championship and established them in the Premier League before he moved on to Liverpool in 2012.

The Wales defender considers Rodgers a fine manager and believes he will soon find another job following his departure from Anfield on Sunday evening.

But he feels Liverpool's decision to sack Rodgers and probably go foreign, with Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti among the early front-runners to land the Anfield job, paints a bleak picture for ambitious British managers.

"This is modern football and I don't envy young British managers coming through," Taylor said.

"I am shocked because it seemed like they had a long-term plan at that football club.

"Brendan is a good manager and whether they changed their train of thought that they needed to bring someone in to have immediate success I don't know.

"They gave him money to spend this summer and maybe they felt they haven't started well enough this year.

"But the key for young managers is they've got to be given time to build their own team."

In the 2013/14 season, fuelled by the brilliance and goals of Luis Suarez, Rodgers almost steered Liverpool to their first English title for 24 years.

But Liverpool failed to hit those heights again after Suarez' departure to Barcelona in the summer of 2014 and Rodgers came under increasing scrutiny before his three-year reign was ended in the wake of Sunday's 1-1 draw away to Merseyside rivals Everton.

"I think it all goes back to the year they didn't win the title," Taylor said.

"They were very close to it and if they'd won it then maybe Suarez and Raheem Sterling stay and it's a different story.

"Daniel Sturridge has had some long injures as well and any football club losing those players would be in quite a lot of trouble.

"When you lose three players like that what are you supposed to do as a manager?

"As a manager you've got to manage expectations, but you also need a little bit of realism in football."

But Taylor has no doubts that Rodgers will return better for his Liverpool experience and land another big job sometime in the future.

"I'm disappointed for him but he's had three good years at a big club and has gained loads of experience as a manager," Taylor said.

"Sometimes your name has to fit as well and maybe Brendan's didn't.

"I feel for him, but I'm sure he'll get another good job and move on quickly from this."

Source: PA