Brendan Rodgers has been under ever-growing pressure this season as results have fallen farther and farther short of expectations. After this weekend's bore draw with Sunderland that saw Liverpool play flat and uninspiring football for the umpteenth time this season, speculation is starting to swirl as to who a potential replacement for the Northern Irish manage could be.
While most of the speculation has been laughable, the generally-not-full-of-it Times has come up with a doozy:
This is from The Sunday Times - they are reporting FSG have approached AVB. pic.twitter.com/arBbyVCmNg
— Jim Boardman (@JimBoardman) December 7, 2014
Yes, that AVB. The same Andre Villas-Boas who Chelsea brought in from Porto at great expense and then fired six months later. The same Andre Villas-Boas who had a mildly impressive first season with Tottenham Hotspur, got the team to invest heavily the following summer, and then got results so poor the phrase "pulling a Spurs" was coined. A term Liverpool have grown too familiar with this season.
Things have gone better for Villas-Boas since his inglorious departure from Spurs. He took over Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg in March, immediately running off a six-match winning streak and ultimately falling just one point shy of winning the Russian Premier League title. This year, though, he's got Zenit seven points in the clear atop the table, and can advance his side to the Champions League knockout rounds if he can find a way to beat Monaco in France this week.
Still only 37, Villas-Boas is in many ways an odd manager to be linked to the Liverpool job. His resume is impressive in terms of where he's been, but except for his time with league-trophy-machine Porto and now with uber-rich Zenit, the Portuguese manager hasn't had much actual success.
Perhaps third time could be the charm for him in the EPL, but Liverpool fans are greeting this rumor with a healthy dose of skepticism with very good reason. There's just no evidence available that he'd do any better a job than Rodgers has done, and if Liverpool are going to replace their current manager, they need to replace him with someone who can guarantee improved results.