It is the summer of 2012 and Brendan Rodgers is on the outfield grass at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Liverpool manager has been in the job two months but already he knows the weight the clubs crest on his shirt carries. It is a weight he tries to ease with every careful word that leaves his mouth and lands on the newspaper pages back home. Rodgers approaches the fence to say hello to the some passionate Liverpool supporters. "Are we going to win the league this year?" asks one. The new boss ducks the question with a smile. He, more than most, knows exactly what he has inherited. For a club like Liverpool this is rock bottom. It is the first time in the Premier League era that Liverpool have finished outside of the top four in three successive seasons. The previous season, under Kenny Dalglish, the Reds achieved their fewest amount of wins in a Premier League campaign, winning just 14 of 38 games on their way to an eighth place finish. They scored just 24 home goals in that 2011-12 campaign, their lowest amount since 1903-04. In the two seasons under Roy Hodgson and Dalglish, Liverpool lost 21 of 38 away league matches. During that time they spent over 100 million pounds on players called Andy Carroll, Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen, Jonjo Shelvey, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Jose Enrique, Sebastian Coates and Danny Wilson. Many of these average, overpriced players stood just yards away from Rodgers on the Fenway grass and if he really wanted to give an answer to such a ludicrous question all he would have needed to do was open up his arms and nod his head in their direction. It is August 18th, 2012 and the club is at The Hawthorns for a game against West Bromwich Albion to start their first season under Rodgers. There is evidence of a change in style as a scoreless game gets close to half-time but then Zoltan Gera blasts a screamer into the top corner and Rodgers is forced to make his first half-time team talk as a losing manager. It goes from bad to worse in the second half as Daniel Agger is sent off and Liverpool lose 3-0. "Well have more days like this, thats the reality," said Rodgers after the game. It is August 26th, 2012 and eight days after their opening day loss the Reds are at home against the champions, Manchester City. They take the lead twice but are forced to take a point when central defender Martin Skrtel, attempting to play the way Rodgers desires, keeps the ball too long and plays a mistimed back pass to his goalkeeper, one that is intercepted by Carlos Tevez who scores to make it 2-2. The Being: Liverpool cameras follow Rodgers after the match and once again he chooses words carefully, but this time shows just how much he is aware of Liverpools plight. "We are at the beginning of a process where we hope to build to make this club competitive again. People have asked me are we going to win the league? It is ridiculous to even say that. All of that takes time, hours. I came here not because it was an easy job, but because it was an extremely difficult job." Rodgers would be proved correct. Liverpool would score more than one goal in just four of their opening 15 games of last season. It is the last week in March 2013 and Steven Gerrard places the ball on the penalty spot at Villa Park. The England captain blasts home the winning goal to give the Reds their fourth win in their last five games. In the 13 league games after Christmas they have scored 32 goals after netting just 23 in the first 17 matches. There is a resilience about the group, featuring intelligent pressure on the ball, a cohesion to their attack and an aggressive tempo to their style, particularly in their passing and defensive game, that never existed under Dalglish. "People have said we have turned the corner but I dont think were at the corner yet, weve still got a long way to go," said Rodgers that day at Villa Park. Five clean sheets in their last seven games of the season helped Liverpool finish on 61pts in seventh spot. They had moved up just one spot than the previous year under Dalglish but the table didnt tell the full story of progression. In the first half of the season they had scored 28 goals and claimed 25pts. They were a team on pace to finish 8th/9th with a total in the low 50s. They fell behind ten times and came from behind to win just once, losing six. In the second half of the season they had scored 43 goals and claimed 36pts. They were a team that would have finished in the top four with a total in the 70s over a full season. They fell behind nine times and came from behind three times, losing just twice. It is August 2013 inside Anfield and a buoyant crowd is excited for the opening day of a new season. Unlike the year previous, the schedule makers have been kind to Rodgers and his team. Seven of their first eight opponents didnt finish in the top half of the league last season. Their first opponents, Stoke City, are one of them but after a thoroughly dominating performance, the Reds are up by a single goal to nil in the final minute when the visitors are awarded a penalty. It is only game one of 38, spread across ten months, but new goalkeeper Simon Mignolet makes the biggest save he will make all season and another Rodgers signing, Daniel Sturridge, scores the game winner. It is now, well and truly, a team molded by Rodgers. The manager, known to hold back on predictions and grand statements, has no such reservations about Sturridge: "I think he can be one of the top scorers in the league this year." How right he was. With Luis Suarez suspended, the former Manchester City and Chelsea striker scores in each of the clubs first four games to lay a foundation for the team to build on. The Reds would lose just two of their first 17 matches before suffering back-to-back narrow defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea in the span of four days. In 13 Premier League games in January, February and March, Liverpool went on to win 11 and draw two. They arrived for their game at West Ham on Sunday as, by far, the best team in the league for over three months. It is the first Sunday in April. The Upton Park pitch is playing slow and Liverpools style isnt working as well as it has in previous weeks. Rodgers makes another tactical adjustment and the versatility his team has shown so often this season comes to the forefront once again. Liverpool finds another way to win another type of football match. As night falls on Merseyside the team arrives home knowing just how close they are to achieving the impossible dream. Five games to go and still they lead this enthralling Premiership race. In April 2012, one of the most iconic sports franchises was on their knees with a pathetic 46pts through 33 matches. Down the stretch they lost to West Brom, Fulham and Swansea. It is little wonder Rodgers is the calmest man in this title race. Not even he imagined all of this would come so soon. There is no award for man of the year in English football but it is, without question, Rodgers who deserves such an honor. That question, that once seemed so ridiculous, that one that Rodgers laughed off, is no longer funny. He may continue to not answer it but deep down he now knows the answer. Liverpool cannot just win the Premier League, the way they are playing they should win it. Five games to go to complete one of the biggest turnarounds English football has ever witnessed. Custom Cardinals Jerseys .com) - There may be a debate in Philadelphia about who should be the starting quarterback of the Eagles. Discount Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . The Argentine midfielder made the announcement himself on Twitter on Tuesday and posted a picture of his swollen left foot. His message said he would be out "at least three weeks. http://www.cardinalscheap.com/. The 28-year-old from Rochester, Alta., was selected by the Redblacks from the Saskatchewan Roughriders roster in the 2013 CFL Expansion Draft. Arizona Cardinals Jerseys China . A last-minute leveler ensured the two-time defending champion remained nine points ahead of Roma, which drew 0-0 at bitter rival Lazio in the capital derby. Wholesale Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . Casey Janssen was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday due to a strain in his left abdominal area and lower back.KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- It was a game neither skip wanted to play, but a series of missed shots by Quebec gift-wrapped the bronze-medal match for Manitoba Sunday at the Canadian mens curling championship. Manitobas Jeff Stoughton won 9-5 in nine ends after scoring two in the first and stealing two in the second on a missed Quebec runback at the Tim Hortons Brier. He stole another in the third on a gentle Quebec hit that overcurled and two more in the fourth on Jean-Michel Menards tap-back attempt that barely brushed Manitobas stones. It put Manitoba up 7-0 going into five. Menard drew for one finally in five and raised his arm in a good-natured salute to the applause of the half-filled arena. He let alternate Pierre Charette skip eight and he stole two to keep the game going when Stoughton missed a hit for one. Manitoba also put alternate Garth Smith in at lead. Neither skip was up for the game and both suggested it shouldnt even be part of the Brier. "I was personally totally mentally exhausted," said Menard. "Playing two back-to-back games, having only five hours sleep because of the time change . . .We werent really focused, expecially me, and it cost us early in a few ends." Stoughton minimized the win andd said they werent really focused either.dddddddddddd "We got lucky in the first end. If he makes his shot they probably steal two and they win the game," he said. "Its a disappointing game to play because youre not going to win the Brier. Its a game that Quebec and Manitoba didnt want to play. Its not a game that anyone wants to play." Menard agreed. "Ill try to be nice, but this game shouldnt exist, its useless," he said. Stoughton said the winner of the 3-4 playoff game should decide the bronze medal. That would have seen Quebec take it, since they beat Manitoba to qualify for the semifinal. Menards five-game winning streak overcame his weak 3-4 start at the Brier to get him into fourth spot and the playoffs. He then defeated Stoughton 7-6 Saturday as missed shots allowed Quebec to steal two for a three-point lead in their playoff game. But he lost 9-8 in the semifinal later Saturday to Alberta and Kevin Koe, who plays John Morris and British Columbia Sunday evening for the championship. Stoughton finished in a three-way tie for the lead at the Brier at 9-2 but the way the tiebreaking formula was applied and pushed him out of the 1-2 playoff game, which B.C. took over Alberta. 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