Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers has criticised figures outside the club for attempting to undermine his position and unseat him as Reds coach.
The Northern Irish manager has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks following a poor run of form which has included defeats to West Ham United and Manchester United and a home draw with newly-promoted Norwich City.
The Merseyside giants also suffered the ignominy if having to beat League Two Carlisle United to advance in the League Cup, and in light of their struggles, the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klopp [both Daily Mail] and Walter Mazzarri [Italia 24 news] have all been linked with the Anfield hotseat.
Even with big-money summer signing Christian Benteke absent, Liverpool managed to return to winning ways against Aston Villa on Saturday, seeing off Tim Sherwood’s side thanks to an inspired performance from Daniel Sturridge and a key contribution by James Milner.
Speaking to the media after the match [as per Goal], Rodgers has revealed how he and his team remained calm in light of the speculation, and has accused outside forces of attempting to undermine his position.
“I never worry about the players, the players have been absolutely brilliant,” Rodgers began.
“This group work very hard but of course there’s a lot of hysteria and of course that continues. I’m pretty confident there’s a group of people who don’t want me here to be the manager.
“Certainly from my perspective, in all competitions we’ve lost less games than Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
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“But the hysteria around ourselves is obviously interesting to note. Myself and my players stay very calm knowing we’ll get our rewards.
“I will continue to work with the players, we’ve got more players to come back and top-class players. We’re very much together as a team.
“We’re five points off the top and still with a lot of progress to make. I know entirely what it’s like having been here for three seasons – incredible club, huge expectancy and the expectancy has come from ourselves.
“I’m talking about people outside here.”