Welcome to LFC Roy Hodgson (Officially Confirmed)

[Darkon]

That must be a joke. Kill me now.

The only decent name on that list is van der vaart.

[Jop]

Read - it will make you feel better :-)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jul/01/roy-hodgson-liverpool

A legacy of the Bill Shankly era is that a Liverpool manager is expected to double up as priest, community leader and father figure at an institution that retained its family feel until two American speculators took it for a ride. The bonds are still there, under crushing corporate debt, but Roy Hodgson ought to be spared the cult of the leader.

The Kop could grumble at Hodgson's arrival on Merseyside only if they think Liverpool needed a Hollywood gesture to end a 20-year wait for their 19th league title and restore them to the Champions League. What they need is 34 years of experience at club and international level and a restoration of the side's forthright spirit. By the end of the Rafael Benítez reign one of the game's great clubs had adopted a kind of mechanical pragmatism designed to destroy the opposition's plans rather than impose their own.

Anfield's regulars were suffering but were too loyal to complain. They filed out through the Shankly Gates bored. It was inimical to Liverpool's followers to see their heroes win games by calculation alone. They revered Benítez for the 2005 Champions League win in Istanbul but could recognise the creeping joylessness of his football and his apparent inability to derive any pleasure from a goal.

Assuming the deal goes through, Hodgson's Liverpool will get back on the front foot. They will assert their pedigree. Nullifying the opposition will not be their religion. This is the first step out of the darkness for a side who finished seventh in the Premier League and now face a second Europa League campaign. Some will shout that keeping Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano and Pepe Reina is the real first step to a renaissance and they would be right, except that those stars may be persuaded to stay only if they think Liverpool will recover their old identity and stop playing chess.

High on Hodgson's to-do list will be a purge of all the obscure shadow men brought in by Benítez during a carnival of talent speculation. Clearing out the no-names and nearly men is a vital task which Hodgson has performed already at Fulham. This will lighten the wage bill, provide money for acquisitions and offer chinks of light to a marginalised academy, the finishing school for Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Jamie Carragher and Gerrard.

A widely expressed doubt is that Hodgson's main skill is reviving the careers of discards and journeymen rather than dealing with household names, which would be news to Internazionale, who hired him to coach a team sporting Roberto Carlos and Paul Ince.

At Fulham he turned capable players into good ones by vigorous pattern-of-play work on the training ground. "Width in attack, depth in defence" was one of the first lessons he was taught. Liverpool will advance with pace and ingenuity but defend resolutely. His Fulham back five were a marvel of consistency achieved through familiarity. Mark Schwarzer, John Pantsil (a figure of fun at West Ham, but now a World Cup quarter-finalist with Ghana), Aaron Hughes, Brede Hangeland and Paul Konchesky were serial over-achievers. Hangeland's arrival from Norway displayed Hodgson's eye for an undiscovered talent: a virtue to be appreciated at a club £350m in debt.

So Liverpool have taken the sensible course of not chasing Marcello Lippi or Frank Rijkaard but hiring a sage who understands every nuance of the English game and will perform expert surgery on a bloated squad. Nor was a punt on a young manager advisable at this point. "There's no question in my mind that an experienced manager who retains the passion and enthusiasm of his youth is going to be arguably a better manager than the energetic youthful one who doesn't have the experience," Hodgson said before Fulham's Europa League final.

[SB]

Who wrote that? Purslow ?

Just kidding, I feel better already

[kop-al-74]

And we all believe every word the papers say don't we . Cause they don't have a hidden agenda do they?

Whooooosh!

[Lecter]

Nah, they're on their holidays

Carragher isnt on holiday at least he wasnt yesterday

I saw him dropping his kids off at school as my daughter goes to the same school

[meffin]

Carragher isnt on holiday at least he wasnt yesterday

I saw him dropping his kids off at the pool

[SB]

Quote:
Originally Posted by kop-al-74 View Post
guilleme balague just been on talksport saying that none of the players he has spoken to,Torres being one of them last night,knew anything about Roy Hodgsons appointment,none of them has been contacted by the vlub for there opinion.....so all this bollocks in the majority of the papers saying that his appointment has the seniour players blessings is exactly that,bollocks.



He is also likely to speak with Steven Gerrard before the club captain returns from holiday on 18 July and may already have done so. Gerrard, one of the senior players made aware last week of Hodgson's impending arrival, has offered his tacit acceptance of the new appointment, though he is also weighing up his future having left England for a break following the World Cup exit. As yet, there have been no approaches for Gerrard.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sp...#ixzz0sPFtqCjD


See what I mean Al. Who can you believe hey?

Whooooosh!

[SB]

Carragher isnt on holiday at least he wasnt yesterday

I saw him dropping his kids off at school as my daughter goes to the same school

Name dropper

[Lecter]

How would people react if he stated that he wants to challenge for the title with positive attacking football?

Plus why are people getting worked up over a story by the Daily Mirror? Since when have they been accurate? Roy knows that the fans would not accept half rate journeymen.

I'd call Help The Aged if Woy said that

As for the fans not accepting half rate journeymen, well it looks like the board are already asking us to do that

[malg]

Roy's bottled it. He just called me, crying hysterically about how the pwwessure is too much and he can't go through with it so he's staying at fulham

Pellegrini or Lippi now

Wow is this true.........................How did he get your number?

[fred_plasticine]

I just find this vitriol against Hodgson a bit unrealistic.

I'm not going to express my dislike for the owners by taking it out on a man who has decided to leave a club where he is loved to try to win things with Liverpool, before he has even had a chance. Turning against the manager and hoping he fails does the club no good. The owners are on the way out and people should be careful what they wish for if they want Hodgson to fail. I would never, ever want any Liverpool manager to fail. I want to win every single match, friendlies and reserve matches included, even if we were owned by Herman Goering!

Those claiming its a disappointing appointment... who did you really think we could get? Mourinho, Hiddink, Capello? - the fact they are already in big jobs not an issue then? The only realistic candidates for the job were

Hodgson, Dalglish, Pellegrini.

There were no other realistic candidates, and I challenge anyone to name one more available experienced manager.

There are question marks over all three. Hodgson has experience, but no success with a big club. Dalglish (who is my idol) - my heart would say yes but deep deep down this would have been an appointment based on sentimentality alone. He was not a success in his last few management roles and has been out of the game a long time. Put it this way, if any other club had a managerial vacancy, would Kenny be considered? The people who appoint managers are not dreamers at any club. Pellegrini would have been a decent bet but again there are doubts, the main one being the fact that La Liga is totally different story than the Premier League. Look how long it took Rafa to adapt? In terms of knowing this league Hodgson wins that hands down. The other alternative was to appoint someone young and unproven like Martinez, but I can't imagine the stick he would have got for taking the job.

So there we have it. Was Hodgson really the disastrous appointment some are saying? Worse than Milan appointing Allegri? City appointing Mark Hughes? Juve appointing Ranieri?

As for players leaving? All totally unfounded speculation until it happens. Wring your hands all you want about Gerrard, Torres et al, who may or may not stay, just like any player at any club every summer. Whats the point moaning about how Torres will leave when no-one only Torres himself knows what his intentions are. Baseless speculation at this point.

Hate the owners as we all do. But get behind the team and what's happening on the pitch. It's possible to do both.

[Frenchie]

OK I've slept on it and my rantings yesterday and signature were over the top, probably too much caffeine and noTHC in my system.

I still think this is a huge mistake but if I have offended anyone I apologise.

The owners have taken us all for a ride, Hodgson is not the calibre we require just look at who he wants to bring in..Gilberto Silva FFS.

Anyhow I will bite my tongue and hope we're not in a relegation battle.

........................leaves the room stage left downbeat, tail dragging.....sniff wail.....

[Jop]

OK I've slept on it and my rantings yesterday and signature were over the top, probably too much caffeine and noTHC in my system.

I still think this is a huge mistake but if I have offended anyone I apologise.

The owners have taken us all for a ride, Hodgson is not the calibre we require just look at who he wants to bring in..Gilberto Silva FFS.

Anyhow I will bite my tongue and hope we're not in a relegation battle.

........................leaves the room stage left downbeat, tail dragging.....sniff wail.....

Roy is 62 years old .... what is that above your avatar ...... Respect the Aged ?

[SB]

OK I've slept on it and my rantings yesterday and signature were over the top, probably too much caffeine and noTHC in my system.

I still think this is a huge mistake but if I have offended anyone I apologise.

The owners have taken us all for a ride, Hodgson is not the calibre we require just look at who he wants to bring in..Gilberto Silva FFS.

Anyhow I will bite my tongue and hope we're not in a relegation battle.

........................leaves the room stage left downbeat, tail dragging.....sniff wail.....

[SB]

Roy is 62 years old .... what is that above your avatar ...... Respect the Aged ?

Ha Ha Ha Get in there