Brendan Rodgers read a Liverpool riot act as Celtic boss accused of £32m 'obsession' + vetoing transfers

A former Liverpool staffer has accused Brendan Rodgers of not listening to transfer advice as his Anfield spell is revisited.

The Irishman has won round fans at Parkhead after coming back for a second go in the Hoops hotseat last summer, following a controversial move to Leicester City in 2019. A Premiership and Scottish Cup double has sweetened relations and punters want to see their gaffer backed in the transfer market.

Adam Idah’s £9.5m to Celtic from Norwich City is a sign of said backing, with Rodgers making it clear the striker was a man he desired. Back in 2012, he is said to have been casting those same type of recruitment wishes at Liverpool when taking over as manager from Sir Kenny Dalglish.

He lasted until 2015 and as director of research for over a decade at Liverpool, Ian Graham watched his reign first-hand before taking a role in successor Jurgen Klopp’s success in the market. Initially appointed by Michael Edwards in 2012 after they had worked together at Tottenham, A feature in The Athletic claims “Rodgers’ refusal to work with a sporting director meant that a transfer committee was formed compromising of the manager, CEO Ian Ayre, Edwards (then technical director), head of recruitment Dave Fallows and chief scout Barry Hunter.”

Graham was an unofficial member who put data into the decision making process but “friction” occurred when opposing Rodgers plans to sign Joe Allen and Gylfi Sigurdsson, two players he worked with at Swansea City. Signing players he’s worked with previously has been a theme in Rodgers’ recruitment in the past, which continued this summer when signing former Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel for Celtic.

Allen was eventually signed alongside striker Fabio Borini but other members of the committee were of the opinion that Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge was a better option, signing him six months later. Then there was the pursuit of Ashley Williams and Ryan Bertrand but the Celtic boss ended up with Mamadou Sakho and Alberto Moreno.

Graham claims he "begged" Liverpool’s owners not to sanction a move for Aston Villa's Christian Benteke in 2015 due to him not being a fit for the style at Anfield, but signing the striker was an "obsession" of Rodgers’ and FSG paid Benteke’s £32.5million release clause. He scored 10 times in 42 Liverpool games and left a year later for Crystal Palace.

The ex-director of research has opened up on working with the Celtic boss at Liverpool. He explained: "The typical experience of a data person going into a club back in the early 2010s was you come in with some bright ideas straight out of university and some old football guys think, 'This is all rubbish; we're not going to listen to this stuff.’

"There was resistance - and there was certainly resistance from Brendan. Tough as that was, I knew it was a much better position to be in than at most clubs because I had buy-in from the owners and from Michael who was my direct manager.

"In the first few years of the transfer committee, those failed signings, most of them were because the players we wanted to bring in Brendan vetoed. And the ones Brendan wanted to bring in we vetoed. So at times we ended up with fifth- or sixth-choice players. We just weren't getting our top targets.

"The difference was Jurgen's open-mindedness. The data gradually became more sophisticated and the models improved, but there wasn't a step-change in the quality of our analysis when Brendan left and Jurgen arrived. It was the same processes and the same people. Jurgen saw players in the same way as Michael Edwards, whereas Brendan didn't.”