Paul Merson says ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers would be a ‘cert’ for the Chelsea manager’s job if he was judged on his two fifth-placed finishes at Leicester City and FA Cup success.
The Sky pundit added that Rodgers, 50, has also been in big pressure jobs before, as he mentioned his time at Celtic and how every game is a ‘cup final’ for the Scottish Premiership champions.
There is big pressure on Graham Potter at Chelsea following their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
It leaves the West London club tenth in the table, and ahead of their clash against Leeds at the weekend, another defeat and Potter might be out of the door before the weekend is out.
Rodgers has managed Liverpool before, when he narrowly missed out on the Premier League title.
But because of Leicester’s relegation fight and struggles, Merson thinks Rodgers won’t get a mention for the Chelsea job, as he told Soccer Special (28/02/23 at 7:30 pm).
“I am a big fan of Brendan Rodgers,” said Merson. “He is the manager of Leicester and he has a 48% win percentage. It’s amazing really.
“I don’t think he has been backed. I think he is a top manager. If they got relegated, then I don’t think he would want to manage in the Championship, to be honest.
“It’s all about timing. If Rodgers was flying high like Leicester have a couple of years ago when they were finishing fifth and fifth, then he would be touted for Chelsea like you couldn’t catch your breath now. But Leicester are where they are. It’s not because he is a bad manager, it’s just that he’s not being touted.
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On if he’s better than Potter: “I like Graham Potter. You would never know until he comes in. I thought Graham Potter would be successful at Chelsea, but at the moment, he isn’t. If Rodgers was where he was a few years ago, he’d be a cert to get the Chelsea job.
“He has managed Celtic (in terms of pressure). It’s a cup final every week.”
WILL RODGERS GET A TOP JOB AGAIN?
When the Manchester United job came about, Rodgers’ name was thrown about for that gig.
Now, if the Northern Irishman is lifting the FA Cup, like he was a few seasons ago, ironically enough against Chelsea, then his name would have been mentioned a lot more.
But he has to take some form of responsibility for their current issues and that’s probably going to put off the elite teams in handing him the keys.
Plus, when he was at the elite club in Liverpool, at the end of the day, they slipped up right at the death and Jurgen Klopp came in and now the rest is history.
In other news, Liverpool now want a player who was once Diogo Jota’s regular partner in training
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