Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers, born 26 January 1973 is a Northern Irish former footballer turned manager.
Rodgers began his career as a footballer at Ballymena United before moving to Reading, where an injury forced him to retire at the age of 20. He stayed at Reading as a youth team coach before José Mourinho invited him to join Chelsea as the manager of their youth team in 2004. He was promoted to reserve team manager in 2006. In November 2008, he was appointed manager of Watford, before moving back to Reading as manager following the resignation of Steve Coppell in June 2009. He left the club by mutual consent in December 2009, and returned to management with Swansea City in July 2010. The following year, he led Swansea City to become the first Welsh team to win promotion to the Premier League, and guided them to 11th in their debut season.

As a player, Rodgers began his career in Northern Ireland as a defender for Ballymena United. He made twelve league appearances in three years before being signed by Reading at the age of 18, where he played in the reserves. His playing career was cut short at the age of 20 due to a genetic knee condition.
Managerial career

Watford
On 24 November 2008, Rodgers was appointed manager of Championship side Watford. It was his first managerial position, following on from spells in charge of the Reading youth team and Chelsea reserves. Watford won only two of their first ten league games, and were in the relegation zone by January. However, Watford's form dramatically improved, and Rodgers was able to guide them to finish 13th.
Reading
After Steve Coppell resigned as Reading manager, Rodgers quickly became the favourite to replace him. He later distanced himself from leaving Watford, stating his "concentration is fully on Watford". and that those linking him with other clubs were questioning his integrity. Rodgers agreed a deal to become the manager of Reading on 5 June 2009, after a compensation package of an initial £500,000 had been agreed, which rose to £1 million. The Watford Supporters' Trust stated that Rodgers' reputation was "severely damaged" in the eyes of the supporters, but the Trust did "thank Brendan for his efforts last season and wish him well for the future". On 11 August 2009, Rodgers got his first win as Reading manager with a 5–1 win over League Two team Burton Albion in the League Cup first round. Despite a good start, a very disappointing string of results followed, leading to Rodgers leaving Reading by mutual consent on 16 December 2009.

Swansea City
Rodgers was appointed as the manager of Championship side Swansea City on 16 July 2010. He got off to a winning start, and results were very positive, leading to Rodgers being awarded the Championship Manager of the Month Award for February 2011, after Swansea winning five out of the six league games they played that month, whilst keeping four clean sheets. By 25 April 2011, Rogers had managed to secure Swansea City's place in the Championship Play-Offs for promotion into the Premier League with a convincing 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town at the Liberty Stadium. On 16 May 2011, Rodgers led Swansea to the Play-Off Final after overcoming Nottingham Forest. He faced his old club Reading at Wembley on 30 May 2011, in a game which Swansea won 4-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Scott Sinclair, meaning Swansea became the first Welsh team to gain promotion to the Premier League.
Rodgers' first win as a Premier League manager came on 17 September 2011, when Swansea beat West Bromwich Albion 3–0 at the Liberty Stadium. Despite many predicting before the season began that Swansea were favourites to be relegated, their impressive season continued, as they picked up points against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, keeping them well above the relegation zone. In January 2012, Swansea claimed their first away win of the season at Aston Villa, a month which saw them beat Arsenal 3–2 at home and hold Chelsea to a 1–1 away draw, which earned Rodgers his first Premier League Manager of the Month Award.In February 2012, Rodgers signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract to keep him at the club until July 2015. Swansea eventually finished 11th in their debut season in the Premier League.

Personal life

Rodgers is married and has two children – a daughter and a son. His son Anton, who was born on his father's 20th birthday in 1993, is also a professional footballer with Brighton & Hove Albion. Anton played for Reading academy before moving in 2004 to the Chelsea academy where he signed scholarship forms in summer 2009, but was released in 2011. Brendan also has a daughter Mischa. He speaks Spanish and is learning Italian. In June 2011, in honour of his mother, who died in 2010, and his father, who died of cancer on 10 September 2011, Rodgers joined a team representing the Football League to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. Among the team was the man Rodgers succeeded as Watford manager, Aidy Boothroyd. His nickname is "Buck Rodgers", after the Buck Rogers character with a similar name.