Brendan Rodgers admitted he was disappointed at the reception afforded Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren on their first return to Southampton since last summer’s high-profile transfers to Liverpool, suggesting both deserved better than the chorus of boos which greeted their every touch.
The visiting manager, whose side extended their unbeaten league run to 10 matches with an impressive victory to move to within three points of third place, also bemoaned a lack of acknowledgements in the official match day programme to mark the efforts put in by Lallana, Lovren and Rickie Lambert over their time on the south coast. All three were actually referenced in the club captain Kelvin Davis’s column on page 82 of the Saints magazine, though Rodgers felt the trio merited more.
“It was always going to be difficult for the likes of Dejan and Adam,” said the Liverpool manager. “I was a bit disappointed for Adam. He was captain here for two years and gave incredible service to Southampton. I know he could have left a number of times and didn’t, so to get the reception he did was disappointing. There was nothing in the match programme referencing his time here, either. I know Dejan was only here for a season, but there was no mention either for Lambert. Those two guys, Rickie and Adam, gave their heart and soul to Southampton and were big supporters of this club before moving on to one of the biggest clubs in the world at Liverpool.
“This is a fantastic club, a club who were in the Premier League but had to drop to League One to grow again, but those two guys were wonderful servants here. It was a massive decision for them to come to Liverpool, but what about everything they gave to this club? There’s usually a form of appreciation, but today there was nothing. For me that’s a wee bit sad. I was thinking of them today looking at the programme before the game, about everything they gave to this club to get them where they are today, and not a mention.”
While Lambert was granted a warm reception by the Southampton fans when he warmed up on the touchline, the locals vented their spleen regularly at Lallana and Lovren in recognition that both had agitated for moves to Merseyside, for around £24m and £20m respectively, last summer. Lallana appeared to have gone back on his word, having suggested he would see out his career on the south coast when signing his previous long-term contract. The midfielder was booed throughout while his father sat among the away supporters, his mother having opted against attending for fear of the reception her son might be given.
Southampton ended frustrated at the performance of the referee, Kevin Friend, who denied them at least two penalties, but Ronald Koeman was just as infuriated by his own player Sadio Mané. The Senegalese was late to attend a pre-match meal and was dropped from the starting XI, eventually coming off the bench for the last 33 minutes. “He was too late, 25-30 minutes too late for the pre-match,” said Koeman. “We have rules, instructions with the players. Everybody can be late one day in the morning, but you can’t be late at 1pm when you have to play against Liverpool.”
“We spoke and his explanation is between the player and the coach, but he was too late. I can’t and I don’t accept that. If he has to pay a fine, he pays the fine. But, in my opinion, the best way to keep the discipline in the team is not to pick him today.”