Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool are over.
The 3 year 4 month relationship met it's end an hour after their final date together at Goodison Park.
Just over an hour after Liverpool's 5th 1-1 draw in 6 games the owners delivered the message that their choice to replace Kenny Dalglish approximately £300M ago was no longer their choice. Ian Ayre, the club's chief executive, met with Brendan personally to further explain the decision.
A message on the club website read:
Liverpool Football Club has announced that Brendan Rodgers will leave his post with immediate effect after having his contract terminated. The process to appoint a new manager is underway.
Contractual payments mean the reds will probably shell out northwards of £5M to the Northern Irish manager.
Speculation, which has been going on for some weeks, had intensified prior to the game that Liverpool would bring in Jurgen Klopp to replace him. And following Rodgers dismissal several journalists suggested the decision to sack Brendan had been made prior to the Everton game.
Further clarification was provided by LFC
In a joint Fenway Sports Group statement, Principal Owner John W Henry, Chairman Tom Werner and President Mike Gordon said:
“We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Brendan Rodgers for the significant contribution he has made to the club and express our gratitude for his hard work and commitment.
“All of us have experienced some wonderful moments with Brendan as manager and we are confident he will enjoy a long career in the game.
“Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for success on the pitch. Ambition and winning are at the heart of what we want to bring to Liverpool and we believe this change gives us the best opportunity to deliver it.
“The search for a new manager is underway and we hope to make an appointment in a decisive and timely manner.”
Liverpool finished 2nd in the 2013-14 season - on course for the title before a home defeat to Chelsea and a disappointing draw away at Palace.
But once Luis Suarez left the club weeks later the plan began to unravel for the Liverpool manager - and he has been dealing with waves of intense pressure for the last 10 months. Last November he was widely tipped to be heading for the exit before a mini revival in form.
Poor signings and tactical indecision and the reds endured a disappointing last season - easily knocked out of the Champions League group after some peculiar team selections, knocked out of the FA Cup in a subdued performance at Wembley and humiliated in a succession of games at the end of the season - culminating in a 6-1 drubbing away at Stoke City.
Over the summer the manager was further backed in the transfer market - and bizarrely his two coaches paid the price for last season's failure - leaving Brendan somewhat alone if he did not start the season well.
Liverpool did not start the season well. The reds have won just 3 games out of 11 this season in normal time (the 4th requiring penalties against a League Two side at Anfield).
Given the current league table, victories against Bournemouth (against the run of play), Villa (scraped home) and Stoke away (wonder goal) are not the standard expected for a team with dreams of being in the top four.
Parts of Brendan Rodgers reign will be remembered with fondness by many - by frustration by many - but the Liverpool record books will record the first Liverpool manager in over half a century to have spent a full season at the club yet not have enlarged the trophy collection.
The reds turn their attention to bringing in a new manager before the trip to White Hart Lane in a fortnight.
Good luck to Brendan in his future career and thanks for that exciting 2013-14 season.
He will also be known for the following:
1) He spent the most amount on players (£291 million) as compared to any other manager in Liverpool history and still ended up with rubbish players.
2) He talked too much and delivered next to nothing.
3) He was the only manager in Liverpool history who did not win anything in three seasons.
4) He was clueless as Roy Hodgson and lacked tactical acumen.
5) His teams showed a lack ideas, lack of discipline, lack of planning for corner kicks and free kicks whether attacking or defending.
5) He was pigheaded and stubborn, especially in team formation, always playing 3-5-1-1 or 4-2-3-1 when it was obviously not working.
6) He regularly played square pegs in round holes and these contributed to his and the teams downfall.
7) He was guilty of gross favouritism e.g. Lallana, Joe Allen, Mignolet and Lovren got more game time than the others even when they have not performed well in many games.
8) He bought players who were no better than those retired, sold or loaned out. ( Cara, Stevie G, Suarez, Kuyt, Reina,