It does not fit the conspiratorial argument that a change in the coaching staff had been under consideration long before the season review. It’s a cute notion that during the course of May’s two hour meeting with Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon and chairman Tom Werner, Rodgers unveiled a masterplan to ditch his pal Pascoe and not renew Marsh’s contract. The reality is somewhat less opportunistic. Indeed, the first tentative discussion regarding the addition of a more experienced coach was 12 months ago – after Liverpool finished second - when former Manchester United number two Rene Meulensteen was a genuine contender. Rodgers was not keen then. He did not feel it necessary on the back of such an excellent campaign. Few argued with his rationale at the time, and Rodgers was clearly empowered on the back of his new contract. Meulensteen would later wreck his chances of a fresh approach by publicly criticising Rodgers’s lack of an experienced number two.