Home Football Liverpool ready to tie Brendan Rodgers down

Liverpool ready to tie Brendan Rodgers down

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Liverpool are ready to reward Brendan Rodgers for his stunning success this season with a massive new contract.

Fresh from their triumph in securing Luis Suarez’s future with a new four year deal worth a million pounds a month that stunned the football world, the club’s American owners have turned attentions towards their talented young manager.

Rodgers has steered the Reds into top spot in the Premier League despite slashing the wage bill by offloading a host of overpaid, under-performing stars, to emerge as one of the brightest young bosses in the game.

Yet he now has only 18 months to run on the three year agreement he reached when he arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2012.

And inevitably, that has aroused the interest of clubs who recognise the job he has done in turning Liverpool around.

But the Mirror can reveal owners John Henry and Tom Werner will cut off any bid to tempt their boss away from Anfield by extending his deal with the promise of a significant pay rise.

Initial talks are already underway, with Henry making the first informal round of contact, to reassure the manager he is admired and prized at Anfield, and will get a new deal.

We understand Rodgers will be offered a two and a half year extension, and will see his salary rise well above the ÂŁ2m-a-year mark, to reflect his status as one of the coming managers in the game.

And the former Swansea chief has already made it clear he would like to stay on Merseyside beyond the three years he originally agreed.

The Reds boss praised his owners last week for giving him the platform – and financial support – to make a sustained challenge for the top four place he believes is essential this season.

Speaking last week he admitted he had a “close shave” in turning down the Spurs job 18 months ago, after Andre Villas-Boas was dumped by the London club after only a season and a half in charge.

And he said: “I think the owners here have a strategy. When I look this week at managers and decisions that have been made, it makes me really appreciate the decision I made to come here with the owners,” he said.

“They’ve been so supportive of me in my time here, but ultimately they had a strategy. They had a vision as to how they wanted to work. They brought someone in and trusted them enough to give them the time to implement things.

“We still have a long way to go to be where I would want us to be, but I think it’s clear that we’re making progress. You have to give the owners huge credit for that, because never once have I felt under any pressure.
“I think if they’re putting you under extreme pressure in a short period of time, it may affect decision making. But I’ve never, ever felt that.

“Even in the most difficult moments, during the first five or six months here, when the transition was really taking place in terms of our identity, and we didn’t have a lot of coaching time with the players on the field, they were very strong and committed in terms of the choice they had made.

“And I hope over the longer term, they’ll get the rewards for that, because they’ve shown that strategically, they know where they want the club to go, and they’re prepared to give it that time to evolve.”

Henry hopes to tie up his manager on a new deal soon into the New Year, and he will offer Rodgers financial backing in the January transfer window to ensure he can make a sustained assault on a Champions’ League place.

Written by Steve MIlne – Have your say below 🙂

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