It could all come crashing down for Rodgers and Stevie G

Does Brendan Rodgers have just one week to save his Liverpool job?

This is a big week for Brendan Rodgers. The next seven days won’t make Liverpool’s season but they certainly could break it.

On Wednesday the Anfield club journey the 31 miles to Bolton’s Macron Stadium to try to stay in the FA Cup. On Saturday the Reds travel an even shorter distance across Stanley Park for the Merseyside Derby against Everton.

It would be neither fair nor accurate to suggest that Rodgers has two games to save his job.

However, if he was beaten by Neil Lennon’s Championship side, then lost to a chronically out-of-form Everton, Rodgers would be left far more vulnerable to the future whims of his American bosses.

This season promised so much for Liverpool. If by next Saturday evening the only realistic way of retrieving it is by winning the Europa League, it will go down as failure.

It was generally accepted that Liverpool were slightly unfortunate to lose to Chelsea over the two legs of the Capital One Cup semi-final.

They’ve generally been playing better since Christmas than they were before, and Rodgers has talked about his players “regaining their identity.” The bottom line, though, was they failed to score at Stamford Bridge and didn’t go through.

For all those desperately looking to get Steven Gerrard to Wembley in his final season, the options suddenly halved.

The sentiment around Gerrard is understandable, given all that the skipper has done for his boyhood club over the years.

Evertonians have already pointed out the added poignancy of the FA Cup Final being on his 35th birthday. Wouldn’t it be nice, they argue, if someone could get him a ticket!

Gerrard was rested three days before the second leg of the Capital One semi, while Liverpool failed to score at home to Bolton. The task shouldn’t have been that difficult, even without Stevie G.

Rotherham managed to do it four times in 57 minutes in Wanderers’ next match.

You can be sure that Gerrard will not be rested on Wednesday nor, obviously, for the game at Goodison Park, which will be his last-ever derby.

After almost winning the Premier League last year, it would be an anti-climax if his final season with Liverpool effectively finished in early February.

But it’s not how it impacts on Gerrard’s farewell that’s really important. It’s what losing the next two games would do to Rodgers’ long-term security.

This is his third season in charge. Season one was reasonable, season two exceptional.

Season three has been hugely disappointing, with the meek surrendering of hard-won Champions League football and the failure to contest the Premier League.

Rodgers has recently resolved many of the team’s defensive issues by switching to three at the back, and overall they are certainly closer to last season’s standards than they were.

But the swagger has never really returned, and they haven’t come close to reproducing the frightening incisiveness that blew away so many opponents.

The loss of Daniel Sturridge since August through two separate injuries has been a big blow, but his absence has become the excuse for everything when it should only have been a contributory factor.

Likewise, his return has been viewed as a cure-all. Having Sturridge back is bound to help, but in terms of goals and his ability to press opposition defenders, it would be unwise to expect too much too soon.

Managers are judged on their effectiveness in the transfer market, and having taken in £75m for Luis Suarez, Rodgers chose to spend the cash plus an extra £30m on what’s turned out to be quantity rather than quality.

So far the £10m outlay on young German Emre Can looks the best money spent, while the £16m on Mario Balotelli the worst.

Far more was expected of established Premier League performers Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert, and while both Lazar Markovic and Alberto Moreno have shown flashes, the jury is still very much out.

The Fenway Sports Group which owns Liverpool set great store on getting plenty of bang for their buck, and they will be disappointed with what £105m has acquired.

But, no, Rodgers isn’t going to be sacked, even in the worst-case scenario of FA Cup elimination and derby defeat.

No manager, however, can afford to be seen to be going backwards for too long.

Sooner or later, Rodgers will need to validate his stewardship with a trophy and a return to the Champions League.

And sooner would be better than later.