The Roy Hodgson Thread

[the dude abides]

Couldn't agree more.

And who are NESV turning to for football advice?  Where did they get Comolli whatever his name is from??? Who told them that hiring this guy would be a good move?
 

exactly.

so much for all this listening to fans stuff, that NEVS say they have been doing.

judge us by our actions, not what we say, they told us.

okay, well I will say it now.........based on their two key decisions to date - the creation of a Director of Football role......and this appointment of a yankee, know-fek-all-about-football, Managing Director, they have fecked up big time.  And this same new MD wants the 39th abroad game.

they are not taking us back to the Liverpool of old.....instead they are turning us into bluddy Tottenham.

For goodness sake, get on the phone to david dein.  It will all fall into place if you have appoint one top man like him.    Mind you, I wouldn't be totally surprised if dein wanted a 39th game as well.

[Tes]

exactly.

so much for all this listening to fans stuff, that NEVS say they have been doing.

judge us by our actions, not what we say, they told us.

okay, well I will say it now.........based on their two key decisions to date - the creation of a Director of Football role......and this appointment of a yankee, know-fek-all-about-football, Managing Director, they have fecked up big time.  And this same new MD wants the 39th abroad game.

they are not taking us back to the Liverpool of old.....instead they are turning us into bluddy Tottenham.

For goodness sake, get on the phone to david dein.  It will all fall into place if you have appoint one top man like him.    Mind you, I wouldn't be totally surprised if dein wanted a 39th game as well.

Dude, what we want I think we'll only get from our memories.

[the dude abides]

Dude, what we want I think we'll only get from our memories.

true, Tes.

and we both know Tes, that these first two decisions they have made, are not what we are about. 

so much for listening.

who the hell did they listen to.

[Tes]

true, Tes.

and we both know Tes, that these first two decisions they have made, are not what we are about. 

so much for listening.

who the hell did they listen to.

And they've yet to totally rule out groundsharing also.

I hate that they aren't appearing to use football people for advice about football. I understand the general comparison between ourselves and the Red Sox, but it's only a very general one. I guess we've got to reserve judgement but the taste at the moment it's leaving is none too sweet.

[Clem]

All excellent points, red men

Maybe NESV are listening to the English media, and to the no mark in our dug-out...but they sure aren't listening to the Kop.  I was disgusted against Napoli when Fulham's manager of the year suddenly becomes animated and jumps up and down on his chair because he's trying to impress his boss - why the f**k wasn't he doing that trying to impress usand his players when we were in the relegation zone? Too late now Royboy. 3 'tough' fixtures or a bad one to Stevie G and you're a gonner.

I'm not going to totally stack into Henry and dust down my Yanks out of our home banner just yet but I am really concerned that our club is about to be reshaped around our heads into something we just don't want to recognise and care for anymore. They're backing Roy, but we told him loud and clear he wasn't a Liverpool manager ("Dalglish, Dalglish"); they appointed that most Tottenham (media flavour of the month, anyone?) of positions - a fuckwit Czar of Football; they haven't ruled out a groundshare, or even actually promised a new ground at all; and now we have a man in charge of the most unique football club in England who doesn't even know what the usual dross clubs in England are run like.  He's a baseball man apparently.  I guess Henry made the connection because that too has 'ball' in the title. As in 'Head-the-ball'.

Sorry fellas I don't want to come over all negative at the very start of the new regime, its just breaking my heart to see basic decisions being wrongly made now that will affect our lives for years to come - again!

[the dude abides]

And they've yet to totally rule out groundsharing also.

I hate that they aren't appearing to use football people for advice about football. I understand the general comparison between ourselves and the Red Sox, but it's only a very general one. I guess we've got to reserve judgement but the taste at the moment it's leaving is none too sweet.

agreed Tes and clem.

After all this supposed listening to fans and local people, NESV go and make two major decisions that are blunders IMHO.

And as you say Tes, they have not as yet ruled out groundsharing.    I don't worry so much on that issue, because if they were ever to even try it, the repercussions would be massive across our fanbase.  It would be akin to burning an effigy of the pope in the vatican square on Easter Sunday. 

But people like Dalglish want to talk to everton about groundsharing.  It staggers belief.  A lot of other ex players want it too.  Houghton, Kennedy, etc.

My fear, and I finally got very suspicious with the twitter cra.p from mrs henry in midweek, is that all this talking and listening stuff is pure media/marketing spin.  NESV want to be seen to be doing the right thing and to be great people.  But what use is it, if they end up going and doing whatever they want (and most likely had previously planned to do anyway).

Creation of a Director of Football role is a massive mistake.  Appointing an american chairman, who knows nothing about the running of a premiership football club, is a massive mistake.

Two decisions taken so far - two massive blunders made.

[Tes]

agreed Tes and clem.

After all this supposed listening to fans and local people, NESV go and make two major decisions that are blunders IMHO.

And as you say Tes, they have not as yet ruled out groundsharing.    I don't worry so much on that issue, because if they were ever to even try it, the repercussions would be massive across our fanbase.  It would be akin to burning an effigy of the pope in the vatican square on Easter Sunday. 

But people like Dalglish want to talk to everton about groundsharing.  It staggers belief.  A lot of other ex players want it too.  Houghton, Kennedy, etc.

My fear, and I finally got very suspicious with the twitter cra.p from mrs henry in midweek, is that all this talking and listening stuff is pure media/marketing spin.  NESV want to be seen to be doing the right thing and to be great people.  But what use is it, if they end up going and doing whatever they want (and most likely had previously planned to do anyway).

Creation of a Director of Football role is a massive mistake.  Appointing an american chairman, who knows nothing about the running of a premiership football club, is a massive mistake.

Two decisions taken so far - two massive blunders made.

The CEO/MD appoint will prove more than interesting now. Having 'talked' so much about Arsenal and a few passing nods in the direction of Bayern, their first appointments seem to be taking us in any direction but the expected (or most likely desired) one.

[Tes]

If Roy gets 7 points from the next two games I've got no problem with him ruining my Christmas by still being at the club.

[the dude abides]

The CEO/MD appoint will prove more than interesting now. Having 'talked' so much about a*senal and a few passing nods in the direction of Bayern, their first appointments seem to be taking us in any direction but the expected (or most likely desired) one.

agreed.

rather than turning us into an arsenal, they are turning us into a spurs.

[the dude abides]

If Roy gets 7 points from the next two games I've got no problem with him ruining my Christmas by still being at the club.

 

bad dismissal, bad appointment.

but who is now at the club, senior enough, to know enough to bring in the right football man.

benitez was a brilliant appointment........we probably won't see his like again, anytime soon...I am afraid. 

[Tes]

but who is now at the club, senior enough, to know enough to bring in the right football man.

Exactly, Dude. That's the catch 22 problem. Dalglish is the only one steeped in football, played under Paisley, successful player manager (a monstrous feat in itself), championship winning manager with two seperate clubs, that has enough football experience and knowledge and is intelligent enough as a human being to stand any chance of pulling off the required decisions. He should be a central figure in the re-shaping of the club as chief advisor to the new owners. Parry, despite his limitations and monumental error with the Toxics, is still knowledgable enough through his work setting up the Premier League and has moved in the right football administration circles to be able to advise on board member requirements and the required administrative structure of a football club.
Why Commoli, and why ask the General Manager of a Baseball team for advice on roles and structures, and specific personnel to fill them, within a football club?

I'd have no problem, in fact I like the idea of a football board that would make the footballing decisions, whilst the board (in a more traditional sense) ran the business/financial side.  But where does a DOF's responsibilities start and a manager's end? The football board would decide the broad outline of the direction the club follows and the manager instigates it, fills in and carries out the details. It also means there are checks and balances against poor transfer decisions or least a reduction in the chance of mistakes.
It seems as though Commoli will decide the football ethos but if that ethos is wrong, though correctly actioned by the manager, because it's flawed therefore doesn't work, who is accountable and pays with his job, the manager or Commoli?

[the dude abides]

good to see you positive on Parry, Tes.

despite his toxics link, and his slow pace, I always  had respect for Parry.

And who knows, someone like him may well be now appointed as Chief Executive.  The paragraph at the bottom of the article below, quotes the yanks as wanting a Chief Executive who has connections with the club, knows the club and it's fans.

Hodgson has welcomed the appointment of Comolli, saying: “I think clubs need a strategy and they need a long term strategy and we football managers cannot guarantee long term strategy, that is fairly obvious,” he said.

“I can’t be running Liverpool and at the same time wondering what 12 year old is going to be joining the academy and how the academy is going to be run and how the scouting system is going to be run.

“You need people to do this and all clubs have got this, it's just a case of what you call them. We have a good man. Damien Comolli is a good man and he knows his football and he is experienced and had great success at Tottenham and St Etienne and I’m delighted to welcome him here and he will be a great help to me because the time I have had putting down on other areas, maybe now somebody will be there taking the burden off my shoulders or at least easing the burden but at the end of the day it will be us working together in terms of recruitment.”

Having appointed Comolli on Tuesday the club have begun the next stage of assembling their new team at Anfield by engaging a London head-hunting firm to help find them a chief executive. Henry and Werner met with recruitment specialists on Friday evening but do not anticipate an imminent appointment.

“We want to have a wide net but in a perfect world we want someone who has a connection with Liverpool and who understands the connections between the fans and Liverpool,” Werner said.

[Tes]

Hodgson's talking more as a European style coach. Everything from the reserves down is not really the domain of the coach.

I can see the need to share the load. Football clubs now are huge, complex businesses in compared with what they were in the past.

The manager though should always be the one to decide the make up of the squad, indentify the targets and the players he's willing to lose.

I would much prefer a three man football board so the policies are as a result of concensus and pooled knowledge as opposed to one man, like a DOF, deciding almost unilaterally. 

If 'the club' is going to set the footballing philosophy then it's vital that any manager appointed shares that philosophy, and again a consensus based decision using pooled knowledge stands more chance of identifying the correct candidate than a single figure.

And then there's the question of accountability and who pays the price if things aren't working out as intended.
Is it the manager's fault that he was appointed to work with players who he wouldn't neccessarily choose and aren't the sort around which he would fashion a team, given the chance? And if he doesn't get to make the decisions about who he wants to change the team and improve it, can he be deemed to be at fault as much as if all the decisions were his?

[Clem]

And then there's the question of accountability and who pays the price if things aren't working out as intended.
Is it the manager's fault that he was appointed to work with players who he wouldn't neccessarily choose and aren't the sort around which he would fashion a team, given the chance? And if he doesn't get to make the decisions about who he wants to change the team and improve it, can he be deemed to be at fault as much as if all the decisions were his?

win-win for Roy: all the current squad, it seems, are Rafa's disaster, and anyone from here on in is Damien's damage. He's smarter than he looks. And talks.

Parry helped Moores sell to the Yanks - he cannot come back. He failed in his duty of care to the club and its fans by not examining that deal properly. Besides, what did he achieve here? One thing we need is an old anfield hand on the board - like Kenny. Currently we have two Americans and a group of London 'head-hunters' deciding our immediate future.  Does this worry anyone else or am I just still tetchy after H&G???

[the dude abides]

I would appoint Kenny as our worldwide ambassador.....similar to bobby charlton's role at united.

I wouldn't give Kenny any managerial authority.  I do not agree at all with Kenny's desire to speak with everton about groundsharing.  And I lost some respect for him, in the way he threw his own cap into the ring when it came to looking for a new manager.  Apart from a big pay day for him, I saw nothing else that would have came out of such an appointment. 

Agreed Tes, clear idenitification (if it is possible under such a stupid structure) is essential.  Arsene Wenger makes that same point as well.  Personally, I don't think it is possible.  Any new man, worth his salt, wants his own lieutenants/team around him.  Any existing manager, working with a DoF, will have much scope for conflict. 

I would have no problem re-creating some form of bootroom.  People like John Aldridge (even Roy Evans) who are highly intelligent and love the club, need to be used.   They would be there for a lifetime and provide continuity.  People like Collinni will be at anfield for 10 minutes.

Top clubs need continuity.