Liverpool chairman reveals reasons why Brendan Rodgers avoided the sack

Rodgers needs Liverpool to reach the top four this season or he will be looking for new employment.

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has outlined the reasons why Brendan Rodgers survived the chop at the end of last season. The club went from Premier League challengers to Champions League outsiders in the space of nine months and the Northern Irishman was under serious pressure. Rodgers was summoned to meet the top brass, in May, but lived to fight another day. Unfortunately for some of his coaching staff, someone had to be thrown under the bus. Liverpool, it must be remembered, had sold top scorer Luis Suarez and were without injury-prone Daniel Sturridge for large tracts of the season. However, Werner and his board did outlay funds for a number of pricey signings that failed to hit the ground running - Dejan Lovren, Lazar Markovic, Mario Balotelli and Adam Lallana, to name just four. In an interview with Liverpool Echo, Werner said, 'We take a long-term view on these matters. We believed in Brendan when he won Manager of the Year for 2013/14. That was only a year earlier when he was awarded that compliment.

'Our track record demonstrates that our approach and attitude is very much focused on stability. We have demonstrated that both on and off the pitch.'

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - APRIL 13: The Liverpool players acknowledge a minutes silence for the Hillsborough victims on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on April 13, 2014 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

The American added, 'We do believe Brendan is the right man for Liverpool and the right man to take the club forward. When we hired Brendan we wanted to see improvement. 'Hopefully when we have a conversation in a year’s time he will have demonstrated and the squad will have demonstrated that we’ve regained top form again.' Werner admitted last season was "disappointing", with the Reds finishing down in sixth and missing out on cup consolations. He continued, 'We wanted to see some progress. There were bright spots along the way. There was a period in the season from around the halfway mark when we really did show top form. But the end of the season was disappointing. 'I don’t really want to get into the reasons why we fell short of our goals. We had some very constructive discussions with Brendan. We learned a lot and we are very much looking forward to the start of the season because we’re a stronger team now than we were a year ago.' Time will tell but it would appear that Rodgers may not have much of it. [H/t: Liverpool Echo]

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Liverpool chairman reveals reasons why Brendan Rodgers avoided the sack

Rodgers needs Liverpool to reach the top four this season or he will be looking for new employment.

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