THE Kop might not want to hear it but the best their club can hope for this
year is fourth place.

And that’s a long shot too. They are in a five-way battle to bring Champions
League football back to Anfield.

It’s 22 years since the Reds last lifted the title and I just don’t see that
drought ending this year. Or next. They are not just going to become
contenders again overnight.

Their target must be getting back in the top four and, sorry Scousers, but
three of those spots are taken.

The two Manchester clubs and Chelsea will occupy them come May. That leaves
Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle, Liverpool and maybe even Everton to claim the
last one.

The Reds have a chance but they’ll have to improve on a terrible opening-day
performance at West Brom.

I’ll be honest, I was disappointed to see Kenny go, I have an unbelievable
amount of respect for him, I felt he was doing a good job — he won one
trophy and came really close to picking up another.

But the decision was taken to get rid of him and he wouldn’t want people
feeling sorry for him.

Brendan Rodgers deserved the chance. I’ve met him a couple of times at Match
of the Day and I’ve been really impressed by him.

And the job he did at Swansea was first class, he’s had a very encouraging
season in the Premier League. I don’t think it’s too soon for him but
there’s no doubt it’s a huge job for him.

They don’t come much bigger than Liverpool. But I think the owners know their
football and will give him time to get it right.

He may well need it, looking at the way they played against the Baggies.

His defence were all over the place.Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel have been
top defenders but both had nightmares. Liverpool didn’t score enough last
term so when you defend like that, you’ll have no chance.

I’m a great fan of Luis Suarez as a footballer but he didn’t score enough last
season. And new signing Fabio Borini will be under pressure to deliver
because it’s clear Rodgers doesn’t fancy Andy Carroll.

It’s a real shame how it’s worked out for my fellow Geordie and I’d love to
see him back at St James’ Park before the deadline.

But he’s not the only big-money buy who needs to pull their socks up.

Stewart Downing is an England international and he has to do better than he
did last year.

You could say the same about Jordan Henderson. I saw him up in the North East
and I’m a fan of his. As with Downing, he didn’t set the fee but it seems
like it weighed heavily on him.

Rodgers has brought in Borini and Joe Allen. They’ll do well but it will take
more than that to get the Manchester clubs looking over their shoulders.

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.

“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.

“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.”

STEVE CLARKE had the last laugh as goals from Zoltan Gera, Peter Odemwingie and Romelu Lukaku secured the points at The Hawthorns.

West Brom boss Clarke was desperate to get off to a flying start against his old club, who axed him along with Kenny Dalglish at the end of last season.

Like Clarke, Brendan Rodgers had hoped to see his side hit the ground running.

But Liverpool were caught cold a minute before half-time when James Morrison’s corner was only half cleared by Daniel Agger.

The ball dropped to Gera, who chested it down before smashing a volley beyond Reds keeper Pepe Reina.

Liverpool had Reina to thank for keeping them in the game when he saved Shane Long’s poor penalty after Daniel Agger was red-carded in the 58th minute.

But it proved to be nothing more than a temporary reprieve as Martin Skrtel gifted the Baggies another spot-kick just minutes later.

This time Long had to stand and watch as Odemwingie stepped up to make it 2-0 with 64 minutes played.

And Rodgers’ misery was compounded when Baggies substitute Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, netted to rub salt into the wounds 13 minutes from time.

More to follow…