Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers is hoping to rise from his lowest moment as Leicester City boss and take the club into their first FA Cup final for more than 50 years.
Brendan Rodger said: “It’s not a nice moment. Certainly in my time here it was the lowest I’ve felt for a few days after I’d found out. It was a low moment, but once the fog clears and you get refocused and speak to the guys you look to move forward. You can’t dwell on it. We started this season as a squad and a team. We didn’t want to leave anyone out of that. Of course there’s an expectation around the standard of work on and off the pitch. This week was a chance to bring everyone together again. They are all great lads, all honest boys and they admitted their mistakes. You don’t dwell on it, because if you do it can hurt. I’d be very hopeful that between now and the end of the season it will provide that little bit of extra spirit in our squad.”
After apologising to their team-mates, they have been welcomed back into the group, and Rodgers said there was noticeable improvement in the energy and enthusiasm at the club’s training ground. If that translates to the pitch on Sunday, it will act as an apology to supporters angered by the players’ behaviour.
Brendan Rodgers added: “I felt it was in the best interest of the two sets that they would train separately. It allowed the guys who had fallen out of line to reflect without interference of the guys who were continuing to work. This week there has been a clear acceptance. We’re not all perfect. The players have come back together again. I can judge around the group and out on the training field today, the energy is definitely lifted. You’re looking at players’ actions because you can talk, you can apologise, which is part of the process, but then you judge physically. You see the tempo, the rhythm of the game, the action of the players. We all came in afterwards, the coaches, and we were really enthused by what we’d seen, and that’s what we’re looking for. It was an awful week for us, to be honest, last week. It’s not the type of week you’re looking for to go through leading into a big game. But that process we had in place for a misbehaviour will certainly help us going forward. There has to be a certain standard. The energy is back in the squad this week and there is a real steely focus to put last week’s result behind us and really push on all together.”
