Is Hodgson the right man for LFC

[Kenneth]

Been saying for ages that I think 4-3-3 is the way to go

Gerrard, Meireles and Lucas in the centre

Cole, Torres, Kuyt up top

No brainer given the players we have surely?

If he picked that team and gave them no instructions at all, I think they'd do better than they have been.

[red g]

Now we hopefully have money i was thinking about Roy's past purchases, has he ever signed anyone for decent money? what were his top signings?

Andy Johnson for 10 million(ish) springs to mind and Kevin DAvies for Blackburn at 7.5million, cant really think of anyone decent he ever bought for big money?
Don;t think he had any money at Milan either?

[red g]

oh yeh Martin Dahlin to haha!!!

[red g]

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt insists the team is making progress under Roy Hodgson even if results on the pitch have not suggested as much.

A third Premier League defeat of the season at home to Blackpool left the Reds 18th in the table, their worst start to a campaign since 1953-54 - when they were relegated.

Their poor performances have been somewhat overshadowed this week by off-field matters after a sale of the club was agreed with New England Sports Ventures, which is being challenged in the High Court by owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

But Kuyt, who is set to play for Holland in their Euro 2012 qualifier against Moldova tonight, said there were positives to be seen on the training ground and he was certain it would not take long to transfer those to match days.

"If you could see the training sessions, you could see the progress that is being made every day" he told LFC Weekly.

"We have been working really hard and we believe in ourselves. The progression is there and I believe it's just a matter of time before it comes out on the pitch and the good results will follow.

"We are working hard on playing with the shape of the team that the manager likes to use and we have been making progress.

"We didn't have a lot of time in pre-season to work on things but it is definitely starting to come together."

One of Hodgson's summer signings Paul Konchesky has revealed he hopes playing for Liverpool can re-ignite his international career.

The 29-year-old won two caps under Sven-Goran Eriksson but has not featured for the national team for five years.

But he hopes if he can put in some decent performances for his new team he may yet catch the eye of current England coach Fabio Capello.

"I want to do my best for Liverpool first and if I can do well here, and then the England chance comes, then that's a big bonus for me," he said.

"But my first aim is to do well at Liverpool and try to win something here."

Asked if he felt he hard done-by, considering his international exile had coincided with some selection problems at left-back, Konchesky added: "Yes, maybe. But the England manager can pick who he wants to pick and lets face it I am not very good"

"I don't let that bother me when I'm playing, and hopefully I can now show him what I can do here with Liverpool.

"I've always got to be confident, and if I'm doing well and the team's doing well, you never know what's going to happen."

http://www.teamtalk.com/premier-league/6434056/Kuyt-Reds-progressing-under-Roy

[Shaggy]

oh yeh Martin Dahlin to haha!!!

Spent pretty big at Blackburn. £5m on Christian Dailly, £5m on Nathan Blake (purchased at around the same time I think - ten ****ing million on that dross!)...plus as you say £7.5m on Davies. Nearly £20m combined on those three

He also bought a lot of Scandinavian cack.

[Shaggy]

THE MAN WHO LOST EVERYTHING; Hodgson was considered arrogant, slightly vain and conceited; Blackburn 0 Southampton 2.

IT IS the biggest fall from grace since the Emperor with no clothes.

A few short weeks ago, Roy Hodgson was heir apparent to England coach Glenn Hoddle.

On Saturday night he was booted unceremoniously out of the job of Blackburn manager.

Hodgson had lost his players, lost his staff, lost the plot and, inevitably, lost his job.

The sadness of his going as Blackburn's manager, out through a side door in tears and too distraught to drive, should not disguise the madness of his final weeks.

Peak

To the outside world, Hodgson was the multi-lingual, multi-talented manager of the modern era.

Full of coaching talk and sharp repartee.

But behind the scenes at Blackburn, he was considered arrogant, slightly vain and conceited.

He was a man at his peak and did not mind telling you.

Now some of Blackburn's players are big-time charlies in their own right, but even they thought that Hodgson was a bit too large for his own good.

It was all right in the first season when they chased the title, the old-guard proving that they still had some life.

No one mentioned Hodgson's bad buys, just his so-called shrewd management.

Hodgson had been happy to stand alone and take the plaudits, leaving his backroom staff in the shade and ignored.

Suddenly this season it all changed and Hodgson needed his players to respond to his promptings and also wanted help from the staff.

However, his manner grew strange and there were sniggers behind his back.

Like the day the training ground was buzzed a couple of times by a light aircraft and he asked a coach to find out who the pilot was.

Or the day he stopped a session with the first team stars to chastise the youth players for making too much noise on a nearby pitch.

What had at first been seen as eccentricity, was now the subject of mickey taking, being viewed by many as a mixture of the aloof and the big-headed.

In the closed world of a football club, such weaknesses spread a lack of confidence.

Like some Shakespearean play, Hodgson found himself isolated, waiting for the knife between the shoulders.

The tragedy really began when Hodgson basically blew it last summer. Two key moments would undermine him and make this final day just a matter of time.

First the signing of Kevin Davies from Southampton. He is football's white elephant, the over-priced striker who has not scored since his pounds 7.5m move and been dropped four times.

Quite why Hodgson had to buy Davies, a lad of painful shyness and fluctuating weight, to split up the partnership of Chris Sutton and Kevin Gallacher only he knows.

There was no need and the feeling within the camp was of shock and no little horror.

Raiding

The message was that Blackburn were signing the wrong men when Hodgson had arrived with the prospect of raiding Serie A, not Southampton.

The second disaster was the leaving of Colin Hendry, their favourite son going when he saw how the squad looked before the season began.

When someone of Hendry's loyalist nature thinks the ship is sinking, then you really have problems and the rocks must be on the horizon.

With the heart removed from the side and Hendry's battle-hardened frame from the defence, there was no way that they could survive the coming storm.

Hodgson had got it wrong with his buying and could not convince Hendry to stay.

He told him that he would not stand in his way because as a manager he would also take a similar opportunity, like England, if it came along.

That was honesty, but tinged with arrogance again.

The FA may not be calling too soon now, Roy. Football is a fickle game.

To lose Hendry was to lose the spirit of the club. It would not surprise me if Jack Walker rang him this week and asked Big Col if he fancies the job. He is the popular choice.

Blackburn are the ultimate mercenary club, they bought their way to the top and have tried to buy to stay there.

But they also need spirit and leadership. Apart from re-signing Hendry or giving him the job, they have to find someone with those qualities, a man who can guide and inspire, a boss who is not remote and too full of himself.

There is a great legacy at Blackburn, not left by Hodgson, but certainly dating back to Kenny Dalglish. Damien Duff, Damien Johnson and David Dunn will all be top players. Someone is going to get lucky.

Appointed

Relegation is a reality, but would be avoided if a quick decision is made and the right man appointed.

Bringing in Hodgson from Inter Milan seemed a good idea, but they now need someone as down-to-earth as the old tramlines that used to run behind the ground.

But the truth is that none of this fancy philosophising matters to the one man who really counts, the owner and dictator, Walker.

The decision came down to him and he took it in the same ruthless and blunt way he conducts all of the business affairs that have made him a millionaire almost four hundred times over.

Walker is the ultimate fan and when the others turned he did too.

Did he think about what the players thought or the staff? No, he reacted and just fired another employee.

Poor old Southampton. Young Matt Oakley and Steve Basham scored cracking goals to bring them their first away win and nobody seemed to care.

Manager Dave Jones must have reflected as he heard the news that he is at a club with lesser demands than Blackburn.

Just a few weeks ago, his record was even worse than Hodgson's and yet he lived to tell the tale. However, Saints still have problems ahead, starting with keeping Carlton Palmer happy and getting the most out of the ageing legs of Mark Hughes.

Jones is delighted with the veteran Welshman and said: "When I signed Mark, I had an eye on playing him in midfield. I knew that he was capable of doing it from seeing him for Wales. We lose him around the box because we are asking him to sit a bit more.

"But he has done a superb job for us and it is just a matter of adjusting him to his new position."

FROM CHAMPS TO CHUMPS

Breakup of the title

team of 1995

TIM FLOWERS:

Still at Blackburn

HENNING BERG:

Sold to Man Utd for pounds 5m

GRAEME LE SAUX:

Sold to Chelsea for pounds 5m

COLIN HENDRY:

Sold to Rangers for pounds 4m

STUART RIPLEY:

Sold to Southampton for pounds 1.5m

TIM SHERWOOD:

Still at Blackburn

ALAN SHEARER:

Sold to Newcastle United for pounds 15m

CHRIS SUTTON:

Unsettled

JASON WILCOX:

Still at Blackburn

PAUL WARHURST:

Sold to Crystal Palace for pounds 1.25m

IAN PEARCE:

Sold to West Ham for pounds 2.3m

MARK ATKINS:

Sold to Wolves for pounds 1m

HODGSON'S FLOPS

INS FROM FEE

Patrick Valery Bastia Free

Stephane Henchoz Hamburg pounds 3m

Martin Dahlin Roma pounds 2.5m

Anders Andersson Malmo pounds 500,000

Tore Pedersen St Pauli pounds 500,000

Alan Fettis Notts Forest pounds 300,000

Callum Davidson St Johnstone pounds 1.75m

Jimmy Corbett Gillingham pounds 525,000

Darren Peacock Newcastle Utd Free

Sebastien Perez Bastia pounds 3m

Kevin Davies Southampton pounds 7.5m

Christian Dailly Derby County pounds 5.3m

Oumar Konde Basle pounds 500,000

Dario Marcolin Lazio pounds 100,000

Nathan Blake Bolton pounds 4.25m

TOTAL: pounds 29.725M

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Football:+THE+MAN+WHO+LOST+EVERYTHING;+Hodgson+was+considered...-a060614755

[Shaggy]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/1998/nov/21/newsstory.sport25

Roy Hodgson's spectacular fall from grace was sealed last night when he parted company with Blackburn Rovers within an hour of his team slumping to the foot of the Premiership. The 2-0 defeat at home to Southampton ended with home supporters clamouring for his head - and they got their way.

Hodgson was summoned to a meeting with the club's benefactor Jack Walker straight after the final whistle, and the decision was announced at 5.50pm by chief executive John Williams.

'Following the recent run of poor results, Jack Walker and Roy Hodgson have agreed that he will leave the club,' said Williams. 'We regret the outcome but feel it's inevitable and in the best interests of Blackburn Rovers.'

Williams, accompanied by club secretary Tom Finn, refused to answer any further questions or verify whether Hodgson had been sacked. Earlier in the week Hodgson had spoken about his commitment to the club and it seems more likely that his departure was enforced, and that he was a victim of Walker's growing impatience.

Only two months ago Hodgson, 51, was the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Glenn Hoddle as England coach. He had also been considered as a successor to Berti Vogts as Germany's coach, largely because of his successful spells in charge of Internazionale in Milan and the Swiss national side.

After his arrival at Blackburn in July 1997, his appointment appeared to be inspired. Blackburn set the pace in the Premiership early last season, and in January they were second. But a dramatic slump left them in the middle reaches and they secured a UEFA Cup place only on the final day of the campaign. The club's downward spiral has continued this season, with yesterday's defeat against an unimaginative Southampton side the final straw.

Shortly before the final whistle, disillusioned home supporters showed the first signs of dissent with an angry chorus of 'Hodgson for England'. The irony was replaced by malice when substitute Steve Basham scored a last-minute goal to confirm Southampton's victory.

Hodgson's reputation may have suffered irretrievable damage from this sad ending. The biggest question mark hangs over £20million spent since the end of last season.

Of his recent captures, Kevin Davies (£7.25 million) has been a major disappointment since his arrival from Southampton, failing to manage a single goal, while a combined outlay of £10 million for Christian Dailly and Nathan Blake has also been seen as a failure. On top of that, foreign acquisitions such as Martin Dahlin, Anders Andersson and Tore Pedersen have misfired and the club have also been afflicted by disciplinary problems, with five players sent off this season.

The sudden departure immediately sparked speculation about a possible successor, with Kenny Dalglish among the early names linked with the club that he led to the championship three years ago.

[Craig_H]

Careful Sean, this is starting to turn into a one-dimensional witch hunt

[Shaggy]

It's all factual!

[Craig_H]

I am sure you have no agenda other than to get to the bottom of it all, and find the truth

[red g]

Careful Sean, this is starting to turn into a one-dimensional witch hunt

Well i did ask the question!!

makes sad reading that though, and very worrying !!!

[Shaggy]

He signed Darren Peacock and Callum Davidson

[Roboklopp]

Get out of our cluuuub. You ****e *******, get out of our club.

[DannyMan2006]

I am sure you have no agenda other than to get to the bottom of it all, and find the truth

One could say that is also Hodgson's agenda

[chadrtc]

I'm fed up of arguing with people about Roy, supporters of every other club still seem to think he was a brilliant appointment, a better manager than Rafa and that our league position has nothing to do with Roy as it's all Rafa's fault. It's driving me insane, he must be everyones favourite manager, he's just so nice and personable...AAARRRGGGGHHHH!

It's mainly delusional Spurs fans who let a lofty 4th place finish go to their heads, **** me I hope Inter spank them.