BRENDAN RODGERS saw his Kop revolution crushed and admitted: “I need time to
get it right — but I haven’t got it.”
There was little sign of his trademark Barcelona-style football as Liverpool
slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at West Brom.
And just to add to the misery, new Reds boss Rodgers’ old club Swansea showed
little sign of missing him as they destroyed QPR 5-0 to go joint-top of the
Prem.
The fact that West Brom’s win was masterminded by Steve Clarke — sacked as
Liverpool No 2 when Kenny Dalglish was dethroned — rubbed salt in the
wounds.
But Rodgers is realistic enough to know he has to sort it out — and fast.
New signings Joe Allen and Fabio Borini — worth £26million in all — made no
impact.
Liverpool’s next game is at home to Manchester City.
Rodgers said: “Listen, we’ve got to win games.
KOP boss admits more beatings like opening-day defeat at WBA are on the way as he tries to bed in at Anfield
“It’s okay hearing lots of talk about patience and all that. Every manager
wants that but the reality is you don’t get it. You’ve got to win games.
You’re hoping that progress can be made.
“This was a bad day at the office for us. It’s still a work in progress, this
was the first game. This is going to be a marathon.”
Liverpool were doomed when centre-back Daniel Agger was sent off for bringing
down Shane Long in the box.
Long missed that penalty but Zoltan Gera’s first-half screamer and a Peter
Odemwingie penalty, after Albion were awarded a second in three minutes, did
the damage.
A debut goal from Chelsea loan striker Romelu Lukaku completed the rout.
Rodgers clearly felt referee Phil Dowd’s decision to award two spot-kicks
swung the game Albion’s way.
The Liverpool boss added: “I thought the two decisions were very harsh. Three
if you include the sending off.
“That kills you, especially a new team coming together in terms of structure
and ideas.
“I don’t think the second one was penalty. If you look at the replay you see
Martin (Skrtel) doesn’t connect with Shane.
“In the first one, Shane’s pace gets him in front, there’s slight contact. But
I know Shane well and I know how flamin’ strong he is.
“I thought it was harsh. We might appeal the red card.
“With 10 men, chasing the game becomes very difficult. I was still confident
at half-time.
“I thought the scoreline was harsh, I’ve got to be honest.”
While Rodgers was cursing, the man who replaced him at Swansea was ecstatic
after a stunning 5-0 win at QPR.
Former Real Madrid and Barcelona star Michael Laudrup crowed: “To win 5-0 away
from home in my first game in the Premier League — I could not even dream
about that.
“In the second half we were perfect in every way.
“I’m very happy for my players. It’s very important to know that you can win
away from home. It gives you a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”
Swansea lost key players Allen and Gylfi Sigurdsson during the summer and had
been tipped to struggle this season.
Boss Laudrup added: “We lost some important players but the ones who have come
in have done a great job.
“They have come here from smaller clubs and they want to show they can do it
in the Premier League.”
Laudrup said the £2million price-tags for Michu and Chico will prove to be
bargains.
He added: “Chico and Jonathan De Guzman were once with me at Mallorca and
Michu wanted to work here. Sometimes it’s about knowing people and them
knowing the way we play.
DANISH manager was delighted with 5-0 win at QPR but expects tough times to come this season
“These are players who have played in smaller teams and are used to playing
smaller clubs.
“But they have the personality to play against bigger clubs.”
While Swansea were toasting their first league win at Loftus Road in their
history, QPR boss Hughes was left licking his wounds after the battering.
Sparky labelled the performance “unacceptable”.
He added: “We didn’t stick to our fundamentals, went gung-ho and if you do
that at Prem level, you get picked off.
“In terms of performance and what’s required to get points it was nowhere. We
were poor.”