With Man City enduring a few early bumps this season and trailing Liverpool in the title race, some predict that this could be Pep Guardiola’s final season at Man City. The Spaniard has never stayed at one club for long and despite being under contract until 2021, some tip him to leave if the season doesn’t end well.
If that turns out to be true, then the Citizens will be left with the daunting task of finding the right man to succeed the highly-respected Spaniard. According to Gary Neville, however, that task would not be difficult as there is already an ideal candidate in the Premier League.
That man is none other than Brendan Rodgers. The Scottish manager returned to the English top-flight back in February and since then the Foxes have gone from strength to strength in the Premier League.
Vardy and Co. have begun the current campaign extremely well and are third in the league, trailing reigning champions Man City by only two points. Neville highlighted Leicester’s attractive attacking football as his main reason for nominating Rodgers.
This was evident for everyone to see on Friday, with Leicester thrashing Southampton 9-0. As a result, one Man United icon feels he would be an excellent shout-out should the managerial job be vacant at the Etihad Stadium.
"I think if you look at what he achieved at Liverpool and then Celtic and now what he is doing at Leicester, we always talk about international coaches having philosophies and values, but he improves teams and plays great football," said Neville (as per Goal).
"He is quite innovative and he does seem to be a great coach, the players enjoy working with him, and I'm asking the question now, why wouldn't he be seen as a coach of one of the big clubs?
"You look at Manchester City changing to Pep Guardiola and you probably won't see Brendan Rodgers' name linked with that job because people at the club will be thinking, maybe, someone else.
"But why not? If you look at what he's done in terms of the football he plays and the improvement he has on players on the pitch.”
Rodgers won tons of trophy in Scotland with Celtic but in the Premier League, he failed to win silverware during his spell with Liverpool. However, Neville does not see this as a major concern, pointing out Pochettino – a well-regarded tactician who is yet to win silverware – as an example.
