Newcastle United Football blog

Over the last few months I have watched the fly-on-the-wall documentary Being: Liverpool. Below are my thoughts on this ground breaking program.

The first episode starts in the Liverpool changing rooms with Brendan Rodgers asking his players to huddle around him so he can offer his final words before the first pre-season game. "Today's the start of a long hard journey for us," he tells his player. "You can only trust yourselves, no one else, you can trust the supporters because they're the best and you can trust your family at home." This is the first of many Rogerism's we hear throughout the series.

For Liverpool fans a behind-the-scenes look at life at Anfield must be a real treat. Fans see inside the homes of Captain Gerrard, Lucas and Brendan Rodgers. The camera is allowed into the unseen headquarters of Melwood - and even venture into Chief executive Ian Ayre's inner sanctum. In terms of a football documentary Liverpool are breaking barriers and setting a new standard.

Being: Liverpool however feels like an hour long promotional video for the club - From narrator Clive Owen and a local Scouse playwriter all we hear are stories of Liverpool's glorious past and how in twined the local people are with their football club. Both of these are very admiral and gain nothing but my respect.

Much of the series focuses on new manager Brendan Rodgers. It must be said that Rodgers comes across as eloquent, intelligent and above everything, determined to succeed. It feels as though Liverpool are determined to show their new manager as a cutting edge leader of a new pure football revolution. It is as if Liverpool are trying to convince themselves that they have hired one of the worlds top managers when in reality Rodgers is unknown outside of the UK. It could also be argued that even on our shores he has limited experience or success. As a club Liverpool seem desperate to raise the reputation of their new manager.

It is obvious that Rodgers picked up so much from his time at Chelsea working under Jose Mourinho - the certainly listened hard during his time at Stamford Bridge. "It's not just about winning, it's about how you win on and off the pitch," Rodgers explains in a of sit down interviews. "It's not just about training players, it's about educating players. You train dogs," he says in another. "We were brought up not with the silver spoon but the silver shovel," he says of his upbringing. You can imagine Jose Mourinho coming up with many of Rodgers footballing quotes, however the difference being that Mourinho is one of the greatest managers ever, and has a CV to back that up. Brendan Rodgers does not. Rodgers comes across as a likable guys, however for me there are many cringe worthy moments during his interviews. Rodgers talks a great game

For me Liverpool fans with enjoy seeing their hero's in a different light - and if this was a Newcastle documentary there is no doubt I would be fan. However I can see the older fans feeling this is a sell out for their once glorious club. Liverpool are one of the biggest names in the footballing world and for them to be the first to allow TV cameras access to one of footballs true cathedrals will not sit right with football purist. I could not imagine the bastions of old - Shankly, Paisley, or Souness posing for the TV camera, especially during a time when the current squad fall way short of Liverpool teams of the past.