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Merson: Suarez talk is rubbish, Chelsea should appoint Rodgers

Paul Merson doesn’t think Brendan Rodgers gets the credit he deserves from his time in charge of Liverpool, while he thinks the Celtic manager could do a good job at Chelsea.

The Scottish champions have “very reluctantly” given Rodgers permission to speak to Premier League side Leicester City over their managerial vacancy with widespread reports claiming he will be appointed in the ‘next 24 hours’.

And Merson thinks he will have to sort out a big problem in the Foxes dressing room with the players currently having too much power.

“It’s a strong dressing room, you’d have to go and sort that out very quickly, because I think they have a big say in decisions,” Merson told Sky Sports.

“I like Brendan Rodgers, and he’d have to go in and make sure he sorts out the dressing room. I think he’s one of the best managers about, I really do, I think he’s top, top drawer and I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. I’d take him [at Chelsea]!”

Rodgers – who has led Celtic to back-to-back domestic trebles – came close to winning the Premier League in 2013/14 at Liverpool and Merson has labelled talk that his achievements at Anfield are lessened because he had Luis Suarez as “rubbish”.

“Whoever gets hold of Brendan Rodgers will have a very good manager. People say: ‘Oh, what he did at Liverpool [is lessened] because he had Suarez’. That’s rubbish.

“He had Luis Suarez, but when you have a quality player like him you have to get a tune out of him week in, week out, and get all of the other lads playing too!

“I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves, he’s a proper manager!

“If you could wait, you’ve still got Newcastle as well, you don’t know what Benitez is going to do at the end of the season.

“He is top drawer, he brings kids through, he plays good football. Leicester is a different way of playing, they play counter-attacking football on the break, and he’s not really like that, he wants to roll it out and play from the back. I don’t think Leicester have those kind of players.”