the thermometer reading mario balotelli shared on social media to prove he was too ill to play against blackburn on wednesday night will make no difference to brendan rodgers liverpool’s manager had already gone cold on the italian, concluding some time ago that he has no future at anfield rodgers will admit he ignored the warnings about balotelli he knew jose mourinho considered him ‘unmanageable’ and he listened to the anecdotal evidence he received from the members of his staff who had encountered the troublesome striker during their time at manchester city but rodgers rather hoped balotelli might be maturing with age, and he made the mistake of thinking he could succeed where others had failed in actually getting through to him mario balotelli has no future at liverpool after manager brendan rodgers lost patience with the striker  rodgers will admit he ignored the warning signs but had hoped balotelli was maturing as he got older  balotelli shared an image of a thermometer reading to prove he was too ill to play against blackburn  liverpool’s manager was desperate too, of course attempts to recruit other strikers, in particular alexis sanchez, had proved unsuccessful last summer and he was concerned that rickie lambert would not provide ample cover in a champions league season if daniel sturridge suffered further injury problems he was right to worry about sturridge’s physical fragility but wrong, he would probably now concede, to spend £16million on balotelli for three hours in his office at melwood he attempted to lessen the risk before asking his employers to part with the money he spoke both to balotelli and his agent, explaining what was expected of every liverpool player and sharing his philosophy on the power of the collective over the years his core principles speech – commitment ownership responsibilities excellence – had worked with players he would use a flip chart to deliver his lecture on the standards he demands and, for the most part, players had responded accordingly but not balotelli not the player who already had a reputation for having no respect for authority, for his considerable talent or for the clubs he represents liverpool missed out on alexis sanchez last summer and instead paid £16m to sign balotelli from ac milan  balotelli has endured a torrid time at anfield and has managed to score just once in the premier league  rodgers is saddened by the fact italy international balotelli appears to have no respect for liverpool  crystal palace (a) lost 3 1, november 23, 2014 reason: hamstring and groin injuries  ludogorets (a) drew 2 2, november 26, 2014 reason: hamstring and groin injuries  stoke (h) won 1 0, november 29, 2014 reason: hamstring and groin injuries  leicester (a) won 1 3, december 2, 2014 reason: hamstring and groin injuries  sunderland (h) drew 0 0, december 6, 2014 reason: hamstring and groin injuries  basle (h) drew 1 1, december 9, 2014 reason: hamstring and groin injuries  bournemouth (a) won 3 1, december 17, 2014 reason: groin injury  arsenal (h) drew 2 2, december 21, 2014 reason: one match ban  leicester (h) drew 2 2, january 1, 2015 reason: not selected  aston villa (a) won 2 0, january 17, 2015 reason: illness  chelsea (h) drew 1 1, januray 20, 2015 reason: illness  bolton (h) drew 0 0, january 24, 2015 reason: not selected  west ham (h) won 2 0, january 31, 2015 reason: not selected  bolton (a) won 2 1, february 4, 2015 reason: not selected  everton (a) drew 0 0, february 7, 2015 reason: not selected  swansea (a) won 1 0, march 16, 2015 reason: illness  arsenal (a) lost 4 1, april 4, 2015 reason: knee injury  blackburn (a) won 1 0, april 8, 2015 reason: illness  rodgers is saddened by the fact that balotelli appears to have no respect for liverpool, and no apparent willingness to even follow the simplest instructions in sturridge’s absence rodgers told balotelli he needed a striker who would ‘press’ at the point of liverpool’s attack; who would play high up the field and in so doing set the pattern of liverpool’s play balotelli, much to his manager’s frustration, just wouldn’t do it, in the misguided belief that he knew better on the training field there have been similar issues; a situation that has offended team mates who do buy into rodgers’ methods and want to build on the success they enjoyed last season so there will be no second chance for balotelli at liverpool next season; no opportunity to redeem himself rodgers is continuing to use him when absolutely necessary but he is at the very top of a list of players he will be putting up for sale this summer he has to get him out and put what money he can recover for him to better use, if only to improve morale in a dressing room that probably lost patience with the guy before even he did liverpool players are offended balotelli has not followed simple instructions from his manager this season 
liverpool blackburn brendan rodgers mario balotelli anfield balotelli robbie savage
mario balotelli missed liverpool's clash at blackburn due to illness  the striker has no future at anfield after brendan rodgers lost patience  the liverpool boss will concede he made a mistake in signing balotelli  read: robbie savage brands balotelli's absence at blackburn 'pathetic' click here for all the latest liverpool news 