From tactical genius to managerial flop

BRENDAN Rodgers is a man running out of time, luck and excuses. The under-fire Liverpool manager won't publicly admit it, but he probably can't wait until this damaging season comes to an end a month from now.

The Northern Irishman, who took up the post at Anfield in 2012, has failed to hit any of the targets his bosses - the owners of the American Fenway Sports Group - gave him at the start of the season.

He has already made history for all the wrong reasons. When this season is over, he will be the first Liverpool manager to fail to win a trophy in his first three years in charge since the 1950s.