As ever, the sacking of a manager at one of the country’s leading clubs has led, irrepressibly and depressingly, to an inevitable and counter-productive bout of blood-letting. No sooner had the termination of Brendan Rodgers’s contract been announced when fingers began being pointed, either at the Northern Irishman himself or at some of those he worked alongside, particularly the now notorious transfer committee.

For those who believe Rodgers was hard done by, Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s director of performance analysis, has become a convenient scapegoat; a bogeyman with a laptop who should follow Rodgers out of the club. For those who believe Rodgers had only himself to blame, his departure was not just merited, it was overdue and the role played by anyone else is largely