The Roy Hodgson Thread

[the dude abides]

What bothers me is that our identity is being eroded under Hodgson, I mean Liverpool under him stands for nothing IMO. It's difficult to know where we are going (are the problems sorted out now, does anyone know what the problems are/were?)

this is my fear too, Ed.

Liverpool were always a special club...........we had an aura.

Now, it seems to have gone.  We are turning into a Spurs or a Newcastle (if we aren't careful).

[Gurdeep]

Lucky you only have to play Stoke twice in a season hey Woy..lol

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9187402.stm

ps.  Why does he constantly poke his finger in his face.  Every interview he does the same thing....hilarious!

[Juan]

I just dont understand why Rafa gets brought up so much. Hes no longer our manager yet he still gets blamed for everything at the club.

And of course his name is never mentioned when we win. Did he get credit for Torres or his two goals against Chelsea, No, so why should he take the blame from Roy when we fall to inept defeats like today.

Its Roys team when we win, its Rafa's when we lose, Roy cant lose.

Likewise Houlliers team won the European cup in 05. Give me a break.

It is a common fact that you do need a decent level of investment in the premier league to compete. But I would also expect a top manager to be able to come to a club  and before being handed significant investment organise / galvanise a squad of international footballers, 3 world class, to perform to a standard far better than what we have seen at Man City, Birmingham, Man Utd, Northampton, Sunderland, Blackpool, Everton, Napoli, Wigan and Stoke. Even seeing the list of teams we've lost or played horribly against is embarrassing.

[Juan]

I have to say as a person I feel sorry for Roy Hodgson. Watching him on the sideline today he had the cut of a lonely figure that knew probably nearly every Liverpool fan watching the game either at the ground or on tv was cursing him, his team selection, his tactics or his inability to make this team play.

I just wish this Liverpool story could work out for Roy. He left a very good job at Fulham where he really seemed to find his level, he was worshiped by the fans and expectations were moderate. At Liverpool you get the sense that things are alot different than he expected. The pressure, the expectation, the media are all far greater than he seems to be able to deal with. Its basically just the wrong man for the wrong club. And I dont like hearing fans chanting for Dalglish as much as I would have him as manager if it meant Roy would step aside. Roy still deserves better than that.

At the end of the day, as much as I want him out I guess I realise hes only human and the way Liverpool are playing and the way the fans are reacting must hurt Roy to the core. Hes a nice man thats bitten off more than he can chew. But now its up to Henry and the new Liverpool board to put a stop to this, for the good and health of Roy Hodgson as well as the good of the club itself. Roys actually alot like Audley Harrison. Both nice guys, checkered careers that often promised more than they delivered. And just when both thought their biggest days were behind them each got an unexpected shot at the top. As Harrison found out against Haye tonight hes probably fought just one fight too many, his best days are behind him and its time to bow out graciously with his head held high. Roy might not be finished in football management but today's loss to Stoke was his one fight too far and its finally come to the time where he needs to walk graciously or be pushed.

[Tes]

So what are we predicting/fearing for the rest of Black November - West Ham home, Spurs away.

[Ed]

this is my fear too, Ed.

Liverpool were always a special club...........we had an aura.

Now, it seems to have gone.  We are turning into a Spurs or a Newcastle (if we aren't careful).

Agreed Dude, and I wouldn't mind being dragged down to this humiliating level if I thought that there was a way back to the top under his stewardship, but I can't see that happening. As we've all said a million times Fulham was a club out of the spot light that only got noticed when they did something positive like beat United, they could lose the next 3 and it wouldn't register....Hodgson's entire psyche must be built on this cycle of overachieve, get praise, fail, lie low hope nobody notices....how he could possibly transform himself (not even mentioning the squad) to the Liverpool mentality is difficult to comprehend.

[barticus]

So what are we predicting/fearing for the rest of Black November - West Ham home, Spurs away.

Barticus channels the spirit of Hodgson....ohmmmm.
'Tricky game as West Ham have just come out of a decent wesult against Blackpool (we lost to them wemember) and the pwessure will be on us at home, we might scrape a 1-0 if the gods are with us'
'As for Spurs, well it's away so enough said, i'll take a dwaw wight now, because let's face it, we're not going to play that attacking football milarky, that style of play might be all vewy well for fancy dan teams like Liverpool, but not for my team of Fulh...oh wait a sec'....

[the dude abides]

Agreed Dude, and I wouldn't mind being dragged down to this humiliating level if I thought that there was a way back to the top under his stewardship, but I can't see that happening.

exactly, Ed.

we have been under some pressure since the roy evans era.  The fear of losing touch, with the top teams, has been there for nearly 20 years.

our fears, back then, were not based on fact.

Now, however, our fears are very very real.

[Tes]

His only real history of being in a similar situation to ours is when he joined Blackburn Rovers two seasons after they'd won the league under Dalglish. They'd finished seventh the season after the title win under Ray Harford and then 14th under caretaker Tony Parkes.

He got them to sixth in his first season but then got sacked in the December of his second season.

People talk about foreign managers 'not understanding' the Premier League and what it takes to be successful.

Roy's record:

1997/98 – Blackburn Rovers - 5 Away wins – Finished 6th
1998/99 – Blackburn Rovers – 0 Away wins – Sacked when 20th in December
2007/08 – Fulham – 3 Away wins – Finished 17th - Joined in the December
2008/09 – Fulham – 3 Away wins – Finished 7th
2009/10 – Fulham – 1 Away win – Finished 12th
2010/11 – Liverpool – 1 Away win – Currently 11th - 5/21 points

[the dude abides]

fascinating data, Tes (thanks for posting it).

When looking at managers, I have always looked for balance (between defence and offence).  THAT is the key to being a top manager.

Patently, Roy is much too negative.  And this is very obvious on his travels.

[Gurdeep]

Great post Tes. 

Just out of curiosity would you be able to get Rafa's/GH's/Roy Evans's stats as well?  Be interesting to see what the comparison is between the managers we've had.

[Kopite999]

I havent moved to the 'dark side' and defending roy, but Rafa was also very negative away from home. Lets not forget Wigan away last year and numerous other games that were just as depressing. We need a manager that lets our team loose. Make teams worry about us rather than us petrified of them. Somewhere hidden in our current squad is a team that isnt that bad

[Juan]

Roy is now having a laugh. Hes just gone and moved the goalposts yet again.

Its no longer judge me after 10 games, Roys looking for an extension to that view and wants to be judged after 38 to 55 games.

I dont think I have ever heard a manager to change their outlook on the season so much. Why does he bother. Its gone from dont rule us out of a title challenge to look at what Benitez left theres no way we will challenge. There was too-ing and fro-ing then for a month or two where Roy couldnt decide what we were going to do in the season but after chelsea he was back to dont rule us out of some kind of challenge and now we are back to this. Hes an embarrassment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/nov/15/roy-hodgson-liverpool

Roy Hodgson has called on his Liverpool players to resist "doubting what we are doing" following Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Stoke City. The Anfield club had recovered well in recent weeks after a slow start to the season but came unstuck once again over the weekend, with the loss at the Britannia Stadium their fifth in the Premier League already.

"I don't see why it [the defeat] should give us enormous reason to doubt what we are doing or doubt what we are capable of doing," Hodgson told the club's official website. "I don't expect this result to dent confidence any more than any bad result does or any end to a good run dents your confidence. We are talking about two or three games in a season. I find it hard to have to explain that every time you win a game things are flying forward and when you get a bad result they are flying backwards.

"I'm a 38-to-55-game-a-season man and I make my judgment over that period. I don't get euphoric when we play well against Chelsea and I certainly won't become anything other than realistic and determined to move on to the next step when we lose a game. The conclusions that are being attempted to be drawn are too big conclusions."

The international break will frustrate Hodgson's bid to work with his players over the next few days, but he remains confident he will get it right: "All you can do is work, but unfortunately we won't have a lot of chance to work as some players are going away with their national team. The longer we work together the more the players become attuned to what we want from them." Liverpool's next game is at home to West Ham this Saturday.

[the dude abides]

Liverpool's next game is at home to West Ham this Saturday.

I suspect that Roy, at this moment in time, is only one bad result away from the sack.

West Ham, stuck to the bottom of the table, with no wins from their away games to date, could be that team.

Even if we draw or scrape a win, it's gonna be very hard for Roy.

The Chelsea result, which was out of the blue (forgive the pun), saved his skin just a little longer.  But time is fast running out.

[Clem]

I havent moved to the 'dark side' and defending roy, but Rafa was also very negative away from home. Lets not forget Wigan away last year and numerous other games that were just as depressing. We need a manager that lets our team loose. Make teams worry about us rather than us petrified of them. Somewhere hidden in our current squad is a team that isnt that bad

Great post, totally agree. If we attacked teams we would win more than we would lose in this league. Man U have always had that philosophy under ferguson and it has made teams back-off, give them respect etc - helping them attack even more!